Anamatic

By Callum Brown

The 'Unraveling' track from the Shame soundtrack has worked perfectly for this piece, and I am truly impressed and have high hopes for this film after viewing this anamatic. We are looking into using original music based on this track since it fits so well. there will be a 2 minute version for submission to the D&AD brief, but as an honest story we felt it necessary to have a directors cut where he can tell his story to his own time frame with it still being a short film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHAZewr6pt4

Evaluation

During the Pre-production stage, I feel I worked very well. I considered a wide range of ideas and settled on one I am passionate about. I feel this was a good idea as when I enjoy the project I’m working on I do more work for it and indulge myself further into each stage, although I understand I should produce an equal and same quality of work no matter what the project, however due to the subject I do feel the project has benefited.  

When proposing my idea, I was told it was very ambitious project. While this is true, I have been told this twice in the past in film projects and have excelled the expectations of my tutors and made very high quality films. So though I kept it in consideration, I continued with my desired idea.

I enjoyed researching, and finding out as much about the characters as possible in different stories and media so when creating my film I remain true to the source material. I think this stage was strong if not perhaps a little too much time was spent upon it. Not however, as much time as I spent on storyboards. My time management lacked here, as this was arguably my favourite part of the project and the area I would like to become professional in, I wanted to ensure here I gained as much marks as possible and could provide a good amount of work for my portfolio. Looking back, although I believe my work is of good quality I could have spent longer on other elements, such as the overly lengthy costume making part.

I did not quite accurately guess how long this would take, and I spent much time sewing through multiple layers of leather with the wrong tools. When I finished this, I remade it in a day using the correct tools and more suitable material. This I think shows a poor time management and planning and in future I should consider the quality of the materials before starting the making.  This said, I am still very happy with the Thor finished costume. The Scepter I was proud of, but simply whished it was feasible to make multiple ones as it broke twice on set. It wasn’t a flimsy or weak prop, but as it was used to fight with I’m sure it wasn’t quite as strong as it needed to be. Had my budget and time increased I would have made several different ones (one for show, one strong on for fighting, one light for running/ jumping scenes ect) as this would have saved time on location.

Although I produced many storyboards, I felt it necessary as they had to clearly also demonstrate some of the choreography I created. If I had done less I defiantly would have made them better quality, and if time had allowed it I would have loved to make a comic based on my film, and comics are much like storyboards in my opinion: shot based stories without sound relying on visuals to tell the story.

I was proud of my anamatic and made two, as I wanted one for a director’s cut I was going to put together and one for the 1 minute time constraint.  I have as yet not made the director’s cut as I am happy with the film as a minute, I don’t feel the extra dialogue is essential and regret not trying harder for it to fit the 1 minute time constraints better, as it made editing more difficult. I also didn’t plan the sound I was going to use, though I had in mind which I was intending to use.  I think the anamatic would have been more enjoyable and gained a better atmosphere for the film if I had planed the sound a little better. I did overlay some at a later stage when I was filming but I feel this is too late and should have been done on time.

The final part of pre-production was planning the shoots. I spent a lot of time planning offsite filming in the Rosebowl car park with senior Health and Saftey advisor Christopher Domeracki, and one very detailed plan of a one day shoot on two different moor locations. This I feel I did very well in as for example, shoot 1 in the Rosebowl car park was complete in the time agreed and to the risk and method statement written in conjunction with my tutor, me, and Mr. Domeracki. The locations were (in my opinion) perfect to film at and it was because of very well thought out and organised planning. A little too much time was spend on the first shot, and I quickly realised I had to explain in detail what I needed from my actor as even the smallest piece of choreography proved difficult.  Other than quickly learning the speed the tracking dolly could move at (as our camera man at one point fell off, but was caught by a runner standing close by) filming went smoothly and I was very proud of the responsibility I had taken on by the shoot and learned from it, and was ready for the next one.

Shoot 2 was fairly simple. I had planned to use the green screen but as the frame was not available, (even though it had been booked) I had to compromise and attach it to a wall, which meant not being able to light through it like intended. Choreographing had already been rehearsed before shooting so both actors new what to do, but unfortunately a prop broke on set. I had the equipment to fix it but as I had roughly the footage I wanted and was running out of time I decided to take it home. I fixed the prop with spray paint and super glue.

Shoot 3 was on a moor, and after having a superb team help me drag the equipment up it I soon realised the forecast was wrong and it was much windier than anticipated. The crane was immediately ruled out to be used as it was unsafe. Because of this, the shot I needed it for I quickly found a way around it. I filmed the actor from a low angle shot from the floor so that on film it gave the illusion the other character was looking up at him, rather than using the crane to film him half way up a monument. This I think shows good creative problem solving skills under pressure as on film I don’t think it comes across at all noticeable the way it was actually filmed.

The last shoot was by far the most difficult. Before filming even started the sceptre prop broke. It was far wetter and foggier than the forecast had predicted, but as I had had the same problem I knew how to fix it. I had brought all necessary components to fix it but despite having an umbrella, the wet weather simply meant it couldn’t be fixed. Thinking quickly, I took off one of my socks, tore it in half and wrapped it around the broken piece. I had brought 6 tubes of glue and used half of them to ensure it would hold, and then sprayed over the sock. Thought the prop was now fixed its details in appearance had now changed, and was not strong enough to last another fight sequence. I very quickly re-choreographed the sequence, and had a very handy camera man who knew exactly what I was describing and filmed the shots I asked for. I am indescribably thankful to my team and the help and hard work they all provided that very stressful day.  Good planning, quick thinking, and creative problem solving made this day a success.

As I tested many of my effects, they were not difficult to generate a second time. My hardest elements were cutting down the film down to 1 minute (as I filmed for a director’s cut and then re-arranged the last shoot) which I think I have done a good job at, and if I had more time I would add backplates (which I have) to the end/beginning of each teleport just to make the effect look better.

One piece of advice from the interm crit was to up the production value of the first scene as in comparison to others it looked weaker. To improve this I looked into a new piece of software: trapcode particular, which I used to create snow. I regret not having more time to use this software as although I am happy with the effect I made my only criticism was that  the snow dosen’t quite move with the wind as the characters cape dose, although its a small detail I would have liked to play with the velocity to make the wind more realistic.

Over all I have learnt an awful lot during the process of making this film, including green screen compositing, lightening, lens flare and bulge effects, how to create snow in trapcode particular, but most crucially the importance of planning and having a reliable, hard working team and people around you.

Thor: Finished Film

Here is my final film. I am pleased with the final film, and am glad each realm looks so individual. I am very proud of the whole film and feel I have worked the hardest I ever have of on every stage of production, which has resulted in my opinion the best film I have ever made, and possibly the best project I have ever completed. I have learnt an awful lot during the process of making it, including green screen compositing, lightening, lens flare and bulge effects, how to create snow in trapcode particular, but most crucially the importance of planning and having a reliable, hard working team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8pzCNJVi6c

Editing: Adding Snow

In this scene, although it was ment to be Alspheim, Some feedback I got from the interm crit wast that I should up the visual quality and production value of the first scene, as in comparison to the other scenes it was weak. So I decided to get round this I transformed this into Jotunheim, the Icy cold realm. I did this as it allowed me to use more visual effects, and I think that this realm is far more famous and reconcilable than Alspheim, and also it looked better and more other worldly.

To do this, firstly I had to make the place look blue, and much more lifeless. So I created a new blue solid, and used different blending modes. I used one with multiply, one with soft light, and one with hue to get rid of so much greenery, this however turned the people black and white and the cape bright blue, so I had to key much of it out and around people and use different effects.

After I was happy with this, I started to look at how to create snow. I looked at a tutorial (link here:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4radbmwqvBc but I found it didn't help as much as I had hoped. I used trapcode particular to create the snow, but needed to increase the winds and direction of the snow for different shots, for example, a low angle shot would look different to a wide landscape shot. This also differed the amount of snow (close up shots would have less snow) and the blend them in I used random size, opacity over life (where you draw a graph on,) lowered the all together opacity, and the speed of the snow. If I had more time, I would look further into using a snow flake as a texture rather than simply a sphere, and the velocity to be more volatile and aggressive, as I feel though its difficult to notice but I don't think the snow always matches the wind pattern seen in Thor's cape. Other than these two points, I am extremely happy with the footage and am glad I investigated a new type of software to use as I think using this has definitely improved the visual quality and production value of this scene.

Editng: Sound

There was one piece of dialogue that had to be recorded and placed in in post production, this was in the lava scene. To gain a echo like sound to the dialogue I used After Effects audio effects and experimented with some different sounds. The best was under Reverb, and by increasing the decay I was able to give the voice an echoing effect (like the weapons were making.) I am proud of this as knowing the first time it did not work I re-recorded and found a suitable solution in adding audio effects.

Foley Sounds

I recorded some Foley sound effects too use in my film, but unfortunately they proved too quite in after effects. I was able to up to volume with some, others I found replacements for via YouTube and augmenting the sounds in after effects. Simply increasing and decreasing the speed of the sound I found often showed a range of results and reversing the speed also. Here is a list of the sounds I recorded and how I achieved them.

Scene 1
Fly + Landing - Blowing close to the microphone bang floor with foot.
"Brother! Your shifting between realms, I know the power you possess, and it is not one to be controlled, surrender it!" - Diolouge
Lightening strike - Lego Marvel Superheroes
Teleport 1. - Sucking the air out of a glass cup

Scene 2
Teleport 2
Crash landing - Stomping feet on ground
Footsteps - Recorded on site
Hammer throw - Lego Marvel Superheroes
Teleport 3+4
Stab through air- Quickly moving and wobbling a metal ruler.
Hammer grab - Lego Marvel Superheros + man made noise
Clash of weapons - Banging weights together
Teleport 5

Scene 3
Teleport 6
Clash of wepons - Banging weights together
Shot from sceptor - Made with mouth
Lava exploding - Volcanic eruption sounds
"You know not the power you wield" - Diolouge
Teleport 7

Scene 4
Thud landing - Bang on wall
Lightening bolt - Lego Marvel superheroes
Flying up.

As the diolouge was too quite, I will have to re-record this with a boom mike. The hammer noises were going to be recorded by turning off the music on the Lego Marvel Superheroes Game, but unfortunately even in the heights parts of the sky traffic and city noises can still be heard. Insted, I took clips from the Thor and Avengers films and used editing skills to decrease background noise and amplify only the hammer sounds. This worked very well and I am now happy with the strange sounds Mjolnir makes in my film. The lightening sounds I had to take from my tests as recording the game did not work, and the teleports sounds had to be changed as I had recently added a different effect and the sound did not match.

Editing: Teleports

To create a teleport effect I looked at some of the distorting effects on after effects. I felt the most appropriate was the Bulge effect, although there was also twist, which I felt looked a little too fake. To apply this I key framed the Bulge tool to increase and decrease the size of the character/s who are teleporting into and out of shot. So if they appear they become larger in a augmented style, and if they disappear they become smaller. I used this subtly to create the idea that the landscape kind of moves before and after the characters appear, as they travel in and out of realms. I think this effect worked rather well. Initially I was also going to generate light rays but felt the were too obvious and eye catching for the subtle, seamless effect I wanted.

StoryBoards

By Callum Brown

Editing: Non Diegetic Sound

When looking at sound, I was confident I wanted to look at the Thor 2 soundtrack. I think the Avengers soundtrack is too iconic and well known, and I much prefer the soundtrack in Thor 2 by Brain Tyler to Thor 1 by Patrick Doyle. This said, both are fantastic sound tracks. I looked at the Thor 2 trailer music (Helios) track 1 (intitled Thor: the Dark World) track 14 (The invasion of Asgard) and track 21 (The beginning of the end.)

Track 1: Thor the Dark World. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLj-ZBzE8sI

This one I like because of its scale of epicness. It fells and sounds like a huge scale of awe and still grasps that sense of excitment and action you want from a superhero movie.

Track 14: The invasion of Asgard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hvaGkKfUI

I like this one of its tense and edge of seat excitement feel, you can tell its made of an action scene, and contains a huge amount of suspense. It seems to have an element or creepy aspect to it, perhaps to show the expressionless dark elves as scary, and while I love the score I feel it dosen't really shout THOR at me, so for a 1 minute film it might not correlate well alone.

Track 21: The beginning of the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc_7r2Fa78Y

This piece seems very dramatic. Its suspense, fear, and drama, but while I like this track I'm not sure it suits an 1 minute action scene.

AudioMachine - Helios (Trailer music.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5KFjUTo2CE

I love this track, it suits the trailer pefectly, but if listened to the actual exciting part dosen't last long enough for my film, and while the build up is awesome it sounds like the accompanying visuals should be of huge beautiful landscapes and set peices, I think it suits the trailer perfectly but perhaps not a short film.

As all these tracks are fantastic but don't suit my film perfectly, I think I will create my own by cutting them up while watching my footage to ensure that the timing is in perfect correlation to the film.

Editing: Scene 4 (final scene)

I first thing I did to this scene was add a new orangey yellow solid, and experiment with different blending modes to make it look more like the dark world (right.) Darken and multiply were good, but I settled with overlay witch I think gives this scene a mush more cinematic feel and makes it look other worldly, I feel this simple effect really changes the atmosphere of the scene.

 Next I added another lighting bolt, which this time had a bigger lends flare as the blast had to look powerful enough to knock Loki off his feet. I thought but having the bolt hit him but decided that this was a bit too much and he dosen't look remotely electrified afterwards. I also felt it somehow a bit too violent for the feel I wanted fore my film, true Thor electrocutes Iron Man in the Avengers but this dosen't hurt him, and I think if it did it would set a darker tone to the character.

The last element was to add credits and a simple fly upwards, which by know I know the process very well. I am proud of how my film looks, and while I am currently working on sound if I have time I would like to add a better effect to the teleports and I would also like to transform the opening scene into Jutonheim by giving it a blue solid on overlay (like this scene has) and adding snow. This was also advice I got from the recent interm crit. However, and sound is vital I will complete this first and ensure I have everything completed that the brief requires. Then I will work on improvement.

Editing: Scene 3

This scene I will use to complete my VFX breakdown, as it was by far the most complicated. Firstly, I filmed against a green screen that needed to be taller than college could provide a frame for, so I had to pin it to a wall, meaning my lighting would not work as effectively (as I was going to light through the green screen to gain almost natural silhouettes) where as now, harsh shadows are visible.

The next stage was to cut them out and put them on the background, meaning that each frame had to be individually key framed in the mask path to give them a junk mask.

I then set the screen colour to green to remove the green screen, and I looked at the screen matte and adjusted the black and whites to silhouette the characters. Now as the green screen was not lit properly, the characters have holes in (where the characters also have green in the costume and also where there is reflective material, the silvers in the weapons and costumes, that reflected the green and lit them up too much.)

The next stage was to add black solids animated behind them to cover these areas. I also had to remove the weapons and make duplicates on photoshop to animate in and these were simply too beyond fixing. I also made the background bigger as I had feedback it looked too much like a lava lake (which it is) and the angle wasn't quite working.

 Then, there is a bit in the choreography that has Loki shoot something at Thor, who deflects it. Originally, this was going to be a blast of power/energy, which I changed as I realised this would light the figures up which would result in a very strange contrast in silhouetting. changing it to a sharp blade that shoot at his enemy is a change I feel is perfectly fine as Loki commonly uses throwing blades anyway.

 And finally, at the end of the scene Loki is ment to push Thor down just before they teleport, but as the staff broke on set we didn't get a chance to film this, so I animated their arms to go down a fraction on a second before their whole bodies. I added motion blur to this and when the film plays I am very happy with the outcome. I also added a red blur around the characters to sit them in the scene better, which wast done by duplicating the layer, and the below/behind layer being made ever so slightly larger and more feathered.

Editing: Scene 2

In order to do the scene below, as I filmed Loki's run and jump separately to Thor's hammer throw, (so editing would be easier) I simply put both characters on the back-plate (masking out were the boom mike was visible at one point) keeping Loki's reflections and shadows on the floor and ceiling. I then masked around Thor's hammer, and using the same technique as I do for his flying, I added it as a seperate layer, freeze framed it, key framed it and finally added motion blur.

 The next part was to have Thor's hammer lift off the floor into Thor's hand. To do this, I took a back-plate of the hammer no on the floor, and a image of it there. So in post I masked around it, freeze framed the layer, key framed around it and added motion blur, as I did previously. I think this process is very useful and looks good for these kind of effects. Lastly, I added a shadow to the hammer as it moves, witch was feathered, key framed in position and reduced in opacity as the hammer lifts further off the ground.

 The last part was very simple. As I actually throw it down on set, I simply reversed the footage.

Editing: Scene 1

After completing the opening shot and the back-plates, the only difficult part was adding lightening. As I have used this effect in testing it wasn't as challenging as previously, but still took much time and attention to detail when animating the strike. I aslo added a lens flare and electricity on the hammer before the strike, to add an element of foreshadowing. I feel this allows the lightening strike to flow more believably.

Audio Consideration: Harry Escott

Harry Escott 'Unravelling'

 
By Meg Sugden and Stuart Brown  

This piece has no dialog and this is for the better. The soft, long tones in the music that slowly build up throughout the duration of the song give an attention filled, yet relaxing and very emotional atmosphere. The song somehow allows audience to relate to the emotions of the character on screen and the slow tapping beat feels like the characters heart beat. This piece in our opinion is the strongest and most suitable for our needs and is in all honesty some of the most touching and atmospheric music we had ever heard.

Audio Consideration - Bruce Sprigsteen

Bruce Springsteen 'The Wrestler'

By Meg Sugden and Stuart Brown

The first song that we wanted to look at was Bruce Springsteen's song 'The Wrestler', it is a beautiful song that explains the relationship between Springsteen and the lead actor Mickey Rourke in the film. It is an interesting song that relates well to the events that take place in the film like when the lyrics state 'If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen me', it relates to the fact Rourke's character has a heart condition that means he's forced to quit wrestling, so what's the point in a wrestler that can't wrestle? Another line of lyrics 'My only faith's in the broken bones and bruises I display' shows that the only place he wants to be is in the ring as it's the only place that understands him truly and even though he's been physically hurt, during the fight he is not been emotionally hurt like he does when he's outside the ring.

This relates to the subject that we are going to look at well as many of the lyrics seem to tell the story of our character also. 'Then you've seen me, I always leave with less than I had before, Then you've seen me, bet I can make you smile when the blood, it hits the floor, Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?' These lyrics could be interpreted as a character (like ours) who was once very happy but whenever looks for comfort seems to loose more. But this character is still there for his friends and although feels detached from reality still feel the need to make his friends happy and look after then when they are sad, even though his current situation is far worse.

These next lyrics also strongly remind me of that characters mental state during his depression,'These things that have comforted me, I drive away, This place that is my home I cannot stay, My only faith's in the broken bones and bruises I display.' In this way the lyrics show that even though he didn't see his brother as much the fact that he is self harming because of it leads him to believe that its driving him away further and this seems to be a vicious circle. It also creates a guilt for doing this in a family home and he doesn't want to be caught or have them see him in this state, which increases his need to move out and be out of the house more. This also shows that he believes his future and constant coping mechanism is the escaping self harming, just rather than broken bones and bruises its blood and scars. But it could also be interpreted mentally. By this I mean that his way of thinking, though it's self hating seems to be something that cannot change and if it continues like this, though he may be down at least his friends and family remain happy, as long as they don't know his own suffering. 

Audio Consideration - Jonny Cash/Trent Reznor

Johnny Cash 'Hurt'

By Megan Sugden and Stuart Brown

Originally written by Nine inch nails artist Trent Reznor about heroin and Self harm, Cash's cover displayed an incredible depth and new meaning to the film due to his video, which won numerous awards. His shows flashbacks of his life and seems to be about growing old and the loneliness and pain in the ageing body that comes with it. Cash's wife died shortly after the filming (of which she appeared) and Cash just seven months after filming wrapped.

This relates to the subject that we are going to look at well and requires little words to describe why. Though its about self harm and drug addiction, our film entails mainly self harm but the overall subject would be escapism through this, also drugs and sex.

'I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything'

These lyrics quite obviously state within the first line that its about self harm, with the second line describing the need to feel something when you feel so numb and depressed. The sting and adrenaline focus' the brain to something else and distracts the mind from the mental pain the sufferer is feeling. Your trying to numb the mental pain but memories still linger and everything is unwillingly remembered. There is obviously talk about heroin here and although our character never used this substance, there was difference drug abuse involved and feels this still allows it to relate.

'What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt'


The chorus begins with self loathing and disappointment as he misses his best friend and blames himself, which reminds him that other aspects and people in his life have made him feel the same, making him feel alone and abandoned in this depressed state of mind. Then the second half seems to display the fact that if he were to die, he would give everything he owns to those he loves, even if it isn't a lot. He doesn't want to involve anyone else in his life, as it would feel unfair to drag someone into his current life or these secrets he keeping as it would only hurt someone else who cares about him. It's his addiction and he feels he wouldn't be able to stop this mechanism he's learnt, as for him it's the only way to live. 

'I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear

You are someone else
I am still right here'

The crown of thorns he wears would resemble the pain he is putting upon himself and his liars chair is the fact he keeps it a secret from even those closest to him. His thoughts cannot be change, his memories cannot be erased and because they cannot be repaired he avoids them and distracts his mind through escapism. He hopes through time he will get better and that his emotions will fade, though he hopes, the reality seems extremely unlikely. The final two lines are again referring to his best friend, his brother, who now spends less time around him. He feels he's still there simply waiting his return.

'If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way'

This last part to the song could be interpreted in two different ways. The first being the idea of moving away to start afresh and taking precautions to never feeling this way again, and positive attitude that would escape this way of life. The second being the darker route, death. Suicide would enable the sufferer to start again away from everything he knows and in perfect peace, which in this moment would be heaven even if there is no such thing.