Individual DIGI PACK Ideas

I am the first to admit that I am rubbish at art and I realise that my efforts at fonts look kitch to be polite and nasty to be honest. I think however that my still shots could used somewhere, if only on the inside cover, as they aere well lit and create interestingly shaped pathways and contours which could be used as a metaphor for the passage of time our pop promo will go through.

Editing

Over the course of two lessons I logged all of the footage we collected from our three filming sessions in order to begin to cut it together. Following that I cut together the shots to form our desired narrative. I quickly realised that some of our shots lasted too long (7 or 8 seconds) and that they were not in keeping with the traditional quick paced cuts of pop promos. However we didn't want to lose great swathes of the footage we liked so I broke up the longer takes into two or even three sections and placed other shots, as well as dissolve cuts in some cases, into them. I was mostly pleased with the results as we got as it enabled us to see our main character's physical journey and therefore his enveloping sadness over loss of his partner.

Mostly I employed conventional edits in order to establish a narrative based video but when we switched either timeframes or locations I decided that it would be appropriate to use more unothodox edits that were often symbol based as this drew the attention of the audience so that they were fully aware of the change. I also decided to use our extensive footage of animal life in the instrumental chorus as these were our shots with the highest degree of quick movements but after several views I have become unconvinced by this and am considering putting in recaps of the couple's exploits instead and using the animal footage more as way of establishing location during the less allegro like section of both verses. I think it's important now to cut rapidly between both time frames during the chorus in order to show the stark contrast of the main character's feelings from one period to the next.

After studying our first edit I am fairly pleased with the footage of our main character looking despondent as well as most of the shots showing the couple's jovial times. However I am still slightly concerned by how we are linking them together and making best use of the juxtapositional nature of our video, i.e the upbeat song with the end of a relationship. It is alos important to note that as of yet we have not finalised the method which we will use to make the flashbacks look like Super 8mm film footage which I believe will be vital in establishing contrast.


The following log was created by Chris Kenworthy and I have modified the personal pronouns to refer to myself.

Log, Capture and First Edit
Today we managed to sort out the problem we had last Friday with logging and capturing our footage. There was one minor hiccup, where we started to record instead of playback our footage, but we only lost a couple of seconds of footage which wasn't that important anyway.

After logging and capturing the footage, I started to piece together all the shots in a timeline in Final Cut Pro, whilst Chris continued his research into the aged-film "Super 8mm" Film Effect using both the internet and Final Cut Pro to experiment with different effects. Emily, meanwhile, continued to develop her own individual ideas for the Digipack (CD Cover) and Poster.

Chris exported the first edit from Final Cut Pro into a ".mov" file. The cuts and transitions are not yet perfect, as this is like a first draft of the project so far. Therefore, don't expect to see perfection. He then uploaded the file to his YouTube Channel, and will soon upload it here once he has compressed the file to a smaller size.
The photographs above are screenshots Chris made of the handheld shot which rotates 360 degrees in a circle - we used this shot in our editing.





Research into the Super 8mm Effect for use with Final Cut Pro
Although Chris is not Chief Editor, and I am, he might be working in cooperation with me as the Co-Editor. Therefore he has kindly devoted himself into finding some research into the "Super 8mm" Effect we had discussed about in Group Production Meetings and agreed to use if possible for the flashback elements of our Music Promotional Video for "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale. He found the information below on: http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/918311, when someone had posted on this forum "Can anyone suggest the best way to emulate a super 8 or an aged film look in final cut pro?":
There are many plug-ins (Nattress is one) that simulate the effect. But if you want something cheap and free. Export the clip out of FCP using "Quicktime Conversion" Then, under Option-Filter-Special Effects, you can add some a film hair/dirt effect that's not too bad. Combine that with color correction in FCP and possibly some speed adjustment (Old 8mm always seems sped-up a bit) it might just work for free. Ernie Santella Santella Film/Video Productions

http://www.santellaproductions.com/.

Chris also found the following useful information on this website:
http://www.nattress.com/Solutions/solutions.htm#6:
I want to make my video look like film: The Film Effects package was designed for you! Whether you are using PAL, NTSC, or HDV (or HD or SD) Film Effects has settings which will make your video look much more filmic. Film Effects does 25p conversion for PAL frame rates and 24p conversion (with 3:2 pulldown added) for NTSC frame rates. It has over 20 presets and you can make your own. There are over 27 plugins, all designed for different aspects of making your video look filmic and can be used in combinations or separately. Film Effects also gives you immense control over the gamma and tone of your image, so it can be a great tool even when you're not trying to make your video look like film.
I want to make my video look like old Super-8 film: Film Effects has a preset called "Old Projector". This might be exactly what you're looking for, or you can use it as a starting point.

Chris found the following useful advice on: http://library.creativecow.net/articles/smith_stephen/film_look.php (ALL CREDIT TO THIS WEBSITE AND THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!! WE WILL CONSIDER THESE IDEAS AND HOPEFULLY THE RESULT WILL BE AS PLANNED!!)
1. Black & White or Sepia
Black & White
Select the desired clip in the time line.
Choose Effects > Video Filters > Color Correction > Color Corrector 3-Way.
Double click on your clip and then select the Color Corrector 3-way tab in the viewer. Drag the Sat (Saturation) slider tab to the far left.
Drag the Whites slider to the right and the Blacks slider to the left slightly, this will add more contrast to your clip and make it feel more dimensional.
Sepia
Select the desired clip in the time line.
Choose Effects > Video Filters > Image Control > Sepia.
Double click on your clip and then select the Filters tab in the viewer.
Change the highlight amount to give the clip a more realistic sepia color. I find 33 works well for a lot of clips but it does vary.
Click on the triangle in the Tint Color box and then adjust the S slider to give your clip a more faded look. I find 58 works well in a lot of situations.
2. Export Clip
This is where you get to add all of the visual effects that are associated with old or damaged film.
Mark in and out points on the timeline of the clip or clips you wish to give that old film look to.
Choose File > Export > Using Quick Time Conversion.
Give the clip a name, locate where you would like to place it and select what format would work best.
Click the Options button. In the video settings section select the Filter button.
Click on the triangle next to the text Special Effects. Then select Film Noise.
Click on the Hairs button and change it to Scratches. Set Scratch Density to 0.
Adjust the Dust and Film Fading > Film Fading setting to None.
Change the Hairs settings and the Dust and Film Fading settings to your liking. I adjusted the Hairs > Hair Density to 48, while I bumped the Hair > Hair Length to 47.
Click Ok and then click Ok again in the Movie Settings box. Then click on the Save button.
When the clip is done exporting your in and out points remain on the timeline. Repeat steps A through D and then change the Scratches > Scratch Density from zero to around 6. Don’t worry about the scratches looking fake, that will be remedied in the next section.
Click Ok and then click Ok again in the Movie Settings box. Then click on the Save button.
3. Double Clips up
This section will take the edge off of the fake looking scratches.
Import the two clips and drag them into the timeline.
Place the clip with the scratches on top of the clip with out.
Drop the opacity of the top clip to about 30 percent.
4. Ad Flicker
This step adds that extra touch of believability to that old film look.
In the Viewer click on the A in the film strip.
In the drop down menu drag the mouse to the word Matte. Then click on the word Color from the menu that pops out of the side.
In the Viewer select the Controls tab and then click on the gray box.
Change the color to black and hit OK.
Select the Video tab and then drag the matte to the track above your two clips in the Timeline.
Click on the Clip Overlays button on the Timeline and lower the clips’ opacity to 17.
Select the pen tool from the Tool Pallet.
Add a keyframe to every four frames of the matte. Then drag every other keyframe to zero opacity.

Filming

In the last week of the Christmas term we filmed in two locations, Christchurch Park and the Ipswich Waterfront. We gathered all of the shots we were scheduled to get on those days but unfortunately on the friday when we were due to complete our filming heavy snow and staff absence prevented us from doing so. However we are endeavouring to work out an afternoon or two when we complete our filming. For the time being further heavy snowfall has made filming in our locations impossible so we are for the moment spending our time updating our blog and beginning to log, capture and edit our existing footage.

During the filming we have managed to execute we have been keen to produce a variety of camera shots and angles which serve to add both texture and characterisation to our video. For example we have played around with focus in some of our shots so that our main character (Chris K) is at first out of focus and then comes into it as the camera comes across him. We hope that this technique will produce the effect of portraying the character as someone who is not quite in tune with the world because he is in mourning. As well as that we have used several tracking and panning shots to show the character's journey, moreover his meandering struggle with his own existence.

Disruption

After this successful shoot we were forced to wait until after the Christmas break to complete our filming, however there then followed several weeks of snow and bitter weather rendering our filming capability obselete. As a result we were forced to fit our filming into the first available friday morning but this meant that our 'actress' Emily Halls was unable to film so our own group member Emily Swager kindly consented to play the 'girl.' We shot for around ninety minutes at Christchurch Park, filming her 'playing up to the camera' as if the main protagonist was holding it and deliberately making the camerawork slightly shaky and amateurish knowing that we would be adding effects to make the footage look like old super-8mm film. We also filmed some shots with both Chris and Emily in frame so as to provide a link between them in terms of relationship for the audience.

Additionally we went on to film by Ipswich Waterfront, employing many of the same handheld techniques as we 'followed' Emily along the quay side. We filmed here for around ninety minutes again and were satisfied that we had garnered all of the footage we needed.