Please use the link above as I had a problem where Blogspot would not allow me to post the video on my blog directly.
Friday 6 June 2014
Workflow: Time Management
Time management took a very big role in this term's project. Last term I found myself with the weight of the world on my shoulders as I typically left everything until the very last minute. I knew that this project would be time consuming, and combining that with the fact that I was determined to outdo myself and improve of the performance of last term, I became much more organised and concious of my time.
Our tutor kindly provided us with a schedule of work and what is expected from the class for each week until the end of term three. On our first session I saved the PDF and printed out a copy to stick on my wall at home. This gave me a constant reminder of where I should be at in terms of my work, and I found this extremely helpful in making sure I did not fall behind the rest of the class.
I successfully managed to keep on track with the schedule by being disciplined with myself and knowing how to separate free time and work efficiently. I got into a routine of relaxing, socialising and exercising until 4-5pm, I would then eat dinner and then sit down and use the rest of the evening for work. I turned this into a daily routine, with the exception of the weekends, otherwise using them to catch up on work that wasn't complete. I found this process to be very successful and it worked very much in my favour.
One time when my time management became complicated was during week 6/7 when I had a formative with my tutor. I had started my work using a certain piece of dialogue that I realised was not suitable the night before presenting to my tutor. That night, I changed my audio clip and decided to allow my tutor to approve for me to go ahead with it before I committed to it. This meant that after my formative I had some catching up to do, however within a few days, I was back on schedule.
I am proud of my time management this term and I feel as though it has benefited both me and my work.
Workflow: Camera and Lighting
The last part of my workflow timeline was to create light and set cameras within my scene. The two elements combined add a sense of narrative to the scene; they can also exhibit a desired emotion and visually speak to the audience through it.
I first researched into existing media to give myself an idea of the conventions of film and particularly my genre. It only made sense to begin by looking at the footage I took the audio from.
'Interview with an Applicant'
Light
The shots are lit enough for the audience to see the action on screen but are not overexposed. The light gives off an almost clinical feel; by that I mean the lighting is fairly drab and 'plain'. This works well in favour of the content as the office environment the characters are in is quite mundane. The shadows cast aren't harsh or very dark and the lights are colour graded to be a bluey grey colour, again giving off a 'boring' atmosphere. This works well to set the scene for a dull everyday activity such a job interview, tricking the audience into believing this by emitting a particular emotion in the way the light is used; this allows the comedy to make more of an impact and surprise the audience, allowing the humour to be the shining feature of the film.
Camera
The camera is used in a similar way also, in terms of the emotion it conveys. The whole scene is mostly comprised of over the shoulder shots and sometimes quick cuts to the next character to show a reaction to a certain line. As the two are sitting and not much action is happening on screen, I think this camera work has benefited the piece. It keeps the scene simple and easy to understand for the audience; it gives way for the acting to take centre stage.
Next, I looked at other examples:
'Step Brothers'
Light
The lighting in this scene varies a little from the previous example. As well as the studio lights that would have been used there is also a lot of natural light and artificial light also in the form of lamps dotted around the set. This adds more of a warm and light-hearted feel to the scene whilst remaining in the environment of a formal job interview. This lighting works particularly well in this scene as it is driven by humour and the lighting is comfortable and homely, making the audience feel at ease.
Camera
The camera work, again, is standard for the type of scene. A running dialogue between parallel characters almost always calls for the typical over the shoulder shot. The audience is accustomed to this type of camera shot and so it is a film fail-safe. Every now and again however, the camera cuts to a shot that is placed much farther away from the action, showing all the characters in the frame and some elements of the environment around them. I assume this is because there is more that two characters within the scene and it is a good way of establishing the relationship of the three.
'Good Will Hunting'
Light
The lighting in this interview scene is very different from the two others. There is a strong orange gradient over all of the shots giving the impression that it isn't the typical interview. The intensity of the light is fairly dim- Even though there are windows letting in natural light, the yellow tones overpower all other light sources in the scene. The warm colour denotes happiness and so can suit the comedy genre, acting as a more obvious metaphor for emotion.
Camera
The camera work in this scene is very unique as there is none of the usual back and forth and over the shoulder shots for the dialogue. Instead, the camera pans and rotates around the characters in a spherical motion. This captures the actions and reactions from every angle, giving the audience full exposure to the environment and the acting of the characters.
I decided to use over the shoulder shots for my scene to keep it traditional and easy to understand. As I am not the most experienced animator I figured keeping the scene simple would work the best in my favour meaning that the audience can feel comfortable and at ease when watching my piece. The camera work is quite passive in that it gives the audience the information without any fuss or complication; they can easily take in and understand the information I will be creating and broadcasting.
I wanted to use natural indoor lighting that was mellow and not too harsh. I wanted to replicate that plain office atmosphere as I felt it would work best for my scene, allowing the dialogue to do the work. Unfortunately, I could not find a suitable lighting. I played around with spot lights, area lights and global illumination amongst others, but more than often it would bleach out my scene, destroying the detail of the character's facial expressions and lip-sync. Therefore, I decided for my render I would purely focus a single, not too intense, spotlight on each character to show the character performance. Unfortunately this meant that my modelling of the room, door and table would be less detailed and prominent. However, I decided that the character performance was worth highlighting more so than the environment.
The camera is used in a similar way also, in terms of the emotion it conveys. The whole scene is mostly comprised of over the shoulder shots and sometimes quick cuts to the next character to show a reaction to a certain line. As the two are sitting and not much action is happening on screen, I think this camera work has benefited the piece. It keeps the scene simple and easy to understand for the audience; it gives way for the acting to take centre stage.
Next, I looked at other examples:
'Step Brothers'
Light
The lighting in this scene varies a little from the previous example. As well as the studio lights that would have been used there is also a lot of natural light and artificial light also in the form of lamps dotted around the set. This adds more of a warm and light-hearted feel to the scene whilst remaining in the environment of a formal job interview. This lighting works particularly well in this scene as it is driven by humour and the lighting is comfortable and homely, making the audience feel at ease.
Camera
The camera work, again, is standard for the type of scene. A running dialogue between parallel characters almost always calls for the typical over the shoulder shot. The audience is accustomed to this type of camera shot and so it is a film fail-safe. Every now and again however, the camera cuts to a shot that is placed much farther away from the action, showing all the characters in the frame and some elements of the environment around them. I assume this is because there is more that two characters within the scene and it is a good way of establishing the relationship of the three.
'Good Will Hunting'
Light
The lighting in this interview scene is very different from the two others. There is a strong orange gradient over all of the shots giving the impression that it isn't the typical interview. The intensity of the light is fairly dim- Even though there are windows letting in natural light, the yellow tones overpower all other light sources in the scene. The warm colour denotes happiness and so can suit the comedy genre, acting as a more obvious metaphor for emotion.
Camera
The camera work in this scene is very unique as there is none of the usual back and forth and over the shoulder shots for the dialogue. Instead, the camera pans and rotates around the characters in a spherical motion. This captures the actions and reactions from every angle, giving the audience full exposure to the environment and the acting of the characters.
I decided to use over the shoulder shots for my scene to keep it traditional and easy to understand. As I am not the most experienced animator I figured keeping the scene simple would work the best in my favour meaning that the audience can feel comfortable and at ease when watching my piece. The camera work is quite passive in that it gives the audience the information without any fuss or complication; they can easily take in and understand the information I will be creating and broadcasting.
I wanted to use natural indoor lighting that was mellow and not too harsh. I wanted to replicate that plain office atmosphere as I felt it would work best for my scene, allowing the dialogue to do the work. Unfortunately, I could not find a suitable lighting. I played around with spot lights, area lights and global illumination amongst others, but more than often it would bleach out my scene, destroying the detail of the character's facial expressions and lip-sync. Therefore, I decided for my render I would purely focus a single, not too intense, spotlight on each character to show the character performance. Unfortunately this meant that my modelling of the room, door and table would be less detailed and prominent. However, I decided that the character performance was worth highlighting more so than the environment.
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