Well thanks to my partner in crime (ha ha!) we had a great day filming today! It's been a steep learning curve as I never shot video before. As I was in front of camera I had to learn to perform as well as help plan, stage and direct the shoot.
First we produced a storyboard using photos to help work out camera angles and narrative. This was much more complex than I anticipated and I'm sure glad we didn't waste any time getting started! The main problems were simply trying to communicate visual ideas to to each other and (of course) understanding what my partner meant. This turned out to be VERY frustrating and required every ounce of professionalism to avoid falling out. I'm glad to say we were both equal to the task and put together what I think is a great conceptual storyboard with enough flexibility to make changes at the shoot or edit stages without putting the project in jeopardy.
Then we rehearsed the shooting schedule as thoroughly as possible to avoid having to waste time making mistakes on the day. This proved to be very useful as we were able to draw conclusions about the validity of certain scenes and raise questions about others. It was also essential as we needed to be well organised to complete shooting in the timescale we set ourselves on location. Again professionalism won through as there was barely a hitch the next day in filming.
Luck was on our side too as we were able to charge the camera I'd forgotten to the night before (not so lucky next time if the location is out of doors!) We decided not to use the tungsten light we'd brought as the white balance in the mixed light shots seemed under control on the day. Fingers crossed the edit proves us right. Bring it on!
I caught this article in Computer Arts today. It's about graphic designers helping album cover art to make a comeback in the digital age. He casts a look back at the way that selling music has changed and how that relates to its presentation.
Made me feel a bit nostalgic for the days of riffling through twelves in record shops. Good to know that vinyl is still being played, even if it is just into a usb port on a pc.
Starting from Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC I've explored the process of illustration in different media. Along the way I've discovered the masterpiece that is Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, whole new subgenres of feature films, artists that inspire and new ways of approaching the creative process. I didn't expect to learn any of this and I'm left with the desire to teach myself the skills I wanted without worrying whether I attain a certain expertise but knowing that I will learn something useful whatever happens. I now know that I can give myself permission to do things my way or even no particular way and the result will always be positive.
It's difficult to be certain where the new world of technology is leading us as designers and as a culture, but finding my own path seems less daunting now. Having unlimited choices can be scary but by learning to trust my instincts I am confident that I will be able to take full advantage of the many opportunities that digital media present.
Browsing the web turned up this page. The site is a resource for designers which supplies stock images, footage and typefaces for graphics work. I could not believe how much money changes hands over these illustrations! Obviously we're all wasting our time doing any other job - if illustration is this lucrative!
Just had a great idea to make the subject of my main photo stand out from the background a little better! Pro photographers will often use a short depth of field to blur the background and focus attention on what they are shooting. With a little trickery in GIMP, my photo editing software, I can blur the background of my photo to give a similar effect. And it works! Handy to know this for future too, I reckon.
BEFORE
AFTERI really wanted to put a lot more feeling and expression into my sequence after seeing the animatic I produced (see below). I started out with a few ideas for close ups and editing some of the narrative out for effect and ended up practically redoing the storyboard altogether! Some valuable lessons about project management to be learnt...expect the unexpected kinda sums it up! This is not how I anticipated making progress but it has been a thorough process which gives me much more confidence that the finished article will live up to the terms of the brief. I've given a cartoony feel to the imagery and employed a few comic strip devices (as they did in early 20th century animation) like movement lines to emphasise action. Zooming in has proved an effective way of highlighting important themes. I hope it comes across well cause it's almost impossible to evaluate something you're standing so close to.