Research - Week 9

09/04/2019

Instead of casting and meeting with the accommodation officer, I had been busy with catching up with the other papers and only had time to complete a rough template on what I originally had in mind for the sequence, particularly aspects like colour and split screen.

We have been given the whole morning to work on our research project. In this time, I am going to go back to those links I noted in last week's blog and make use of them and make relevant notes. From there, I know what other types of split screen to experiment with and develop for this project. Good thing that I do not have a mental block today. I have my good days and I have my bad days.
I am aiming and hoping to complete it over the term break so that I have time to focus on the exhibition and dissertation. It could be wishful thinking, but it's still a goal I am aiming for.

Don't freak out about dissertation, we will work on it next term. Critiques and one-on-ones are part of the assessment. Doing weekly blogs are critical towards later when we get our dissertation done. We are to focus on being restful during the term break.

Timeline (modified)
Week 8 - Complete template
Week 9 - Complete split screen tests. Inform Accommodation officer. Organise risk management form. Revise script based on storyboard. Casting.
Week 10-11: Filming. Post-production and rendering.
Week 12-15: Exhibition (including artist statement) and Dissertation


https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/split-screen-editing-and-composing/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9soYHz9HDec

https://designshack.net/articles/trends/split-screen-design/

https://vimeo.com/23768767


Marco Heiter. (2011, May 15). Split Screen in Movies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/23768767
It's a video with more than 50 types of split screen used in film, however I only know some of what the movies are called where it shows the many examples of split screen in film. 
I can see how split screen in general can be effective, but I do not see how it can work with what I have in mind. If it was only colour or only black and white, it could work. But for both colour and black and white, it is likely going to be a big squash in a compressed form of 16:9 (1920x1080). 

Plus, it just really telling the story from different angles, which much more freedom to visually telling the story, but I believe it is going to disorientating in my case and I believe at this stage, the experimentation and trials will support this view.
I also don't believe I have enough footage as it is for split screen in both version combined. 

I would need to do a lot more footage and storyboards in order for it to work effectively.

It is possibly just me, but it seems like this video on split screen on Vimeo has opened another massive can of worms like that book on colour photography, but more practical.
It has shown me that my application of split screen (whatever the type) is transitional and as an editing tool, rather than as a special effect.

Some types of split screen as pointed below could be achieved by overlaying or masking with solid layers in After Effects.

I could do something similar with the extreme close up shot of Luqman from the test footage. But I think it could potentially slow down the story in the final film and not get to the point. I like how the soft edges gives an nostalgic and film look to the image.

Images in a split screen montage. The middle section with image snapping away like a choppy piece of film. This something I could consider and take photos continuously that gives the illusion of motion, rather than using video. Plus, taking photos tend to be better quality on my phone than recording video on my phone.

This is something that could work towards what I have in mind. It's the same scene, but with alterations and in my case, it would be the colour, not what is in the scene or setting.

Despite being from a silent film, it could be worth trailing, even if it does not work well. I think that also speaks for a lot of the trialing and experimentation that is yet to come this week.

This is just something else I just want to play around with in trialing and experimenting by using the test footage.

Gives a comic book look, but we will see how it looks in experimentation and trialing.

This is a nice, simple, bold line. A basic form of split screen that would separate the two videos for my project.

A nice, smooth, fading, and subtle split screen that blends itself in. You do not know where it starts or ends. It would be good for try out in trialing and experimentation for this project.

This is a split screen that is very much similar to what I have in mind. I was not expecting to find an example that almost directly dovetails with the type of split screen I want to apply.

This is a rough and simple use of split screen that I could quickly and easily achieve in trialing and experimentation.


Most of the use of the split screen would not support the aesthetic that I am aiming, only if it was story-based. The Vimeo source has provided me with much more practical and visual information than I would had imagined.


I created a new composition in the After Effects project and copied and pasted the layers from the first composition that I put together as documented in last week's blog. From there, I manually reverted the Scale back to 100% and immediately found that even if with the two videos moved, you only get up to half of the image of each version. I may need to experiment with animating the position to show what I want to be seen.

I think I might have been wasting my time this morning working on the split screen, while I have a list of things to organise for this week in order to fulfill my timeline goals for this project. Experimenting and trialing other types of split screen may potentially be too time-consuming in my case and could also be irrelevant as the research question as it stands does not indicate the importance of the use of split screen.

Although, I could justify these actions by bringing back the split screen aspect in modifying the research question.


Progress during the term break could be mess because I also have to make progress in the other paper as well like the scene proposal (Screen Arts), the film treatment (Screenwriting), and organisng, and planning production for my showreel, as well as completing my video essay (Cinematography). I have probably asked myself too much in the goals for this week and the term break.


One-on-one with tutor
I need to focus on content by clarifying the story. I am in the right direction and just to keep going with the development. Bex suggested watching Pleasantville. After talking to Bex, I am now aiming to just play the whole project by ear.
She asked me how I would present my work in the RAW Gallery for the mid-year exhibtion; whether it was going to be projector or needed a digital screen like a TV? In my case, they are methods with the same flaw, which is glare. In any case, I am fine with either using a projector or TV screen.

I was starting to mask the screens by using the Pen Tool. This was to achieve a blurred edge on the videos. But then I stopped, realising it would be quicker and easier to use the Rectangle Tool...

I found that the Rectangle Tool was not of use because it made its own shape layer instead of including itself as a mask on the video layer that I had selected. So I abandoned using the Rectangle Tool

I switched over back to using the Pen Tool and drew a rough square shape, but I had to change a few setting like ridding the stroke and fill of any colour and inverted the mask. Unlike the Rectangle Tool, it did not exclude itself from the video layer that was selected. 
I manipulated the level of blurriness with blur effects like Camera Lens Blur and Gaussian Blur, but it would not do so like I envisioned and I was stuck on how to get it to where I want to be.

I tried to play around with the blending modes of the layer mask, but it just blurred the whole image and did stuff I did not want the image to do like darkening. The blur effects would not contain itself within the layer mask. Maybe a soft edge would do the job?

I watched an After Effects tutorial on YouTube, but it was done on an outdated version of the software and the use of blurriness was for the sake of blending in digital background and depth of field, not soft edges like I had in mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxeBjeunCn8


Computer Arts. (2012, April 5). Create an edge blur in after effects [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxeBjeunCn8

Reflecting on filming the test footage, if I had agreed with Oisin's suggestion, I would had not discovered the bright sunlight and exposure that proved to be a problem and I would not had been given feedback or solutions from the class concerning how to overcome that obstacle.

We were informed that we will be getting a $100 Pak n' Save voucher to spend for catering and that SIT will not be paying for the alcohol, so we would need to provide that ourselves. The end of year art and design exhibition I was involved in at Ara in Christchurch had the same rule about alcohol.



In the afternoon, we listened into the last of he critiques. It was done by those who were not present last week to present theirs.

Kasey

I like how you have made a more methodological concept for your research project, particularly when considering the context of the colours you will and have used. 

You are making steady progress with your medium, as well as great development.

Britney

Communicating a visual message is a very valid idea. From my own experience, using a calligraphy pen can make illustrations look great and stand out. Combining paint and calligraphy ink will potentially make you current work look screen printed.

Bo

I can definitely imagine a spoof comedy with your concept, or even if it was satirical. 

12/04/2019

I went along to the exhibition opening of work by the third year students. It's the first of many exhibitions that they will be holding. 

This type of exhibition was different to me because I have never been to a SIT student exhibition and exhibitions I have been to in the past presents the final outcome, not a work in progress.

This was interesting to see; a book on a podium for the public to record their feedback like a visitors book. 

This is something I could do to collect the public's perception on the colour and black and white version of my work for our upcoming exhibition.

It was interesting to see that it is possibly for students to place TV screens on tables or podiums to present their work in film or video. This is an option I would potentially consider for presenting my work at our upcoming exhibition.

This is potentially one other way where a TV could be installed to present my work at the upcoming exhibition.

This is yet another way I could present my work, which is by using a projector and placing the same projector on a podium. It reminded me how I used a projector for my work at the Ara student exhibition in Timaru. However, the difference in that case was it was placed on a mounted shelf and because of technical difficulties, it could not be shown at the exhibition opening.