Unit X Key Post 3: Reflection

Over this unit, I learnt how to use programs such as Adobe After Effects, Nukex, and Adobe Flash. After Effects was the most useful for this project as I was able to use it to create the special effects for the video.

I looked into the story of Giselle and the theme of Underworld, seeing that the Underworld in Giselle featured ghosts. I also looked at different types of Underworlds such as a criminal Underworld and thought of looking into the Manchester Underworld when we realised that Manchester had a physical underworld we could explore.

After attending a Projection Mapping workshop I was excited by the idea of being able to utilise it in our project and went into some further research in looking at how would be best to incorporate it into our project. I found the software needed as well as developed a plan which I pitched to the group however, I felt that this plan was ignored which I wouldn’t have minded too much if I felt it was in favour of another idea, however I felt that the group ignored it without really having a thought out idea to replace it.

The idea we went with, was based on an artist that Lauren found and showed us that she said we could try. I suggested that we could film people walking around and change them into ghosts in Adobe After Effects during Post Production. I suggested that the background be a still image and then we could project the ghosts on top of the environment. We soon realised, however, that projecting white light this would just lighten the area of the image being projected onto, so we changed our idea to use a screen for a section of the piece and to extend our image with prints.

A workshop in Adobe After Effects was put on which helped me get a handle on the software such as how the layers work in the timeline and how to apply special effects onto each clip such as green screen as well as animating the different transformation options.

The photographers went out around Manchester and took photos of some more spooky/ dingy areas of Manchester for us to use for the backdrop of our film. The Filmmakers then went about shooting and directing the video of us walking. At this point, I informed them that we shouldn’t be wearing black or dark colours to help stand out from the background, as well as informing them that it would be best to film individual ghosts separately. The footage from this shoot couldn’t be used as the camera kept shaking and hands kept coming in the shot as the filmmakers kept holding the camera when it was already on the tripod. Due to this, Samantha and I had to re-film this sequence on our own, which was initially to be used as test footage to practice the special effects, however, we ended up using his for the final footage. The effects I then used were Difference Matte, Brightness and Contrast and Gaussian Blur. Additionally I also added in a fog effect found on YouTube. The sound for the video was then created by the filmmakers using free sounds they found online.

When it came to setting up the exhibition, my group seemed intimidated by the size of the 50” screen we were given and did not believe that we could produce the prints large enough, and so they opted to change put our idea. The new idea still kept the screen work me and Samantha had produced, but instead of extending the image, we would have other photos that the photographers had taken dangling down around the screen on different levels to help create a chaotic atmosphere. I didn’t particularly have a problem with the idea, however Samantha and I felt like it was quite late in the game to change our idea like this as I believed that our original idea was possible. Additionally I felt that the images floating around the screen were hard to make out as the room was quite dark and our group had opted to black out our area to separate our space.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oZT7ZWEPGM