Evaluation.

Evaluation.
My research has helped me to produce a very creative piece of moving image as I have been looking at contemporary, mainstream artists such as Danny Boyle, Mark Simon Hewis and Dan MacGee, who, in their films deal with surrealist themes and styles of editing that help to create fantasy effects such as flash editing, layers and juxtaposing scenes.
In this module, I have learnt extensively all the filters and editing techniques used within “Final Cut Pro” – for example, colour balance settings, filters and layers, as well as sound editing on which I have come to rely very heavily to create various moods. This is avery painstaking and time-consuming part of the making of a video. This was my first time on “Final Cut Pro”. Previously, I was using “I Movie” which was quite limiting and not as advanced. Also, we have used most types of equipment not available at college such as the synthesizer that helped to produce the unusual sounds and the projector for the lighting effects. Within the team, this was one of our key points to get everyone to rally round and organize times, equipment and props. I felt that our team worked very efficiently and swiftly. Also, with the planned out jobs that were allocated, we swapped around so that each one of us learnt all the new techniques. I found that this module was very useful as I have learnt why video-making is so time-consuming and now understand why brainstorming is so vital and also video planning so as to build a truly conceptual and flowing video. The equipment we could get from college was quite extensive. What would have been better would have been if we had known exactly how much equipment was available to us – for example, the HD cameras, dollies and tracks etc. I felt we could have done more if we had been provided with a full list of all the equipment available to us at the college.
We were able to spend more time on video editing and this is the most important part of video production. The editing room closes at 4pm but B89 is open until college closing time so we made full use of this facility. The main problems that we faced during the production of the video were the time element and the obtaining of permission to record in certain locations. Where permission was refused, we had to revise our plans and some of our scenes had to be changed. A whole new style was created in order to detract from the time of day that some of the scenes had to be shot. Scenes were actually shot in a different chronological order than originally planned. Another problem was that maybe our video ran for too long – but I felt that its length was crucial to give the audience sufficient narrative to understand its content. Another problem occurred in the middle of our video, as, due to the time limits, we did not get permission to film in the location required for a particular scene. Therefore, I felt that this scene fell down in comparison with all the other scenes in the video. Also, the time allocated for editing was quickly used up, before we had chance to run through the whole video to check it for any glitches or problems that might have occurred.

bibliography
"28 Days Later" Daniel Boyle
Blueprints Big Push by Daniel MacGee
"Trainspotting" (1996) Daniel Boyle
http://www.channel4.com/fourdocs/film/film-detail.jsp?id=45385
http://www.hewis.co.uk/LSZpresstimeout.html

http://182light.blogspot.com/

Evaluation.
For this scene, I used a hand held camera that was placed on top of the supermarket trolley. Thus I obtained a shot of the Parker character pushing the trolley away and wandering around as if he has no knowledge of what he is doing. In the post production editing I used two layers to create the same flowing effect but changing the colour saturations so that one was black and white and one was cross processed colours due to the changes of curves and contrast colour. By changing one of the video layers by a second this created a very uneasy scene to look at as the scene actually appears as if it is repeating itself over and over connoting the sense of insanity and mental breakdown.
For this scene I could have used a shot outside of the trolley but I felt it was better to get it inside the trolley with raw action.
Due to the opening times of the supermarket, our time was limited for filming inside Morrisons but once we were outside on the concrete floor of the shopping centre we were not able to replicate the smooth motion of the shopping trolley which had been achieved on the laminated marble effect flooring inside MOrrisons

For the opening scene of the dream I am focusing on the idea of the character's mental instability which is reflected in his nightmare. In the dream I show a pair of eyes overlapped with the fuzziness of a TV screen. This is presented in the first sequence and is the underlying visual icon which echoes the constantly repeated appearance of eyes in "Bladerunner" where Ridley Scott used a shot of human eyes which were intended to connote various meanings.

Evaluation.
In the creation of this piece of video I had to first obtain a projector and use a camera that would give me the correct white balance in manual setting with a white piece of card in order to produce the colour I wanted for the eyes. The production featured a TV set filmed on a mirrored setting to create the weird fuzziness. The eye was photographed on mirrored effect also in order to create the perfect symmetry. The second shot was achieved with a CAMERA MOUNTED ON A TRIPOD REVOLVING AROUND THE SUBJECT
and this was shot in a Morrisons supermarket using one of their trolleys. This created the slick smooth style that I required to convey the idea that these images are hovering around the subject. Of course I could have used a handheld camera which would have produced a more realistic effect but this not what I wanted as I needed the dream sequence to appear unreal.
In the post production aspects and editing for the eye and the TV I laid them on top of each other by using opacity and placing the TV on the lower level so as to make it shine through.
I changed the colour levels to create the contrasts that I wanted with a fade out to sink each scene. For the next scenes showing the character lying on the floor, I used the same techniques but I placed the levels at a fraction of a second different to create the ghostly figure that flickers slightly to suggest that the soul of the character is trying to escape from the dying body.
I felt this worked very well and helped to create a very vivid scene.
Also, I used non-diagetic sounds to create a heightened sense of emotion. I could have used natural sounds but this would have made the scene seem too real and I wanted it to appear unreal and like a scene from a fantasy/horror film. For the editing of the music I blended the sounds from the TV into the music by gradually blending the two together to create a beautifully flowing scene. I wanted the music to be as obscure and unrecognizable as possible with no lyrics or memorable tune. I came across an orchestral band called "God Speed You Black Emperor". They are an instrumental band that play psychedelic avante garde music. By copying and pasting their music and using only 30 seconds of a one and a half hour track I achieved the effect I wanted but it was quite difficult to cut the music down in this way. By selecting a very eerie section of music with voices and supernatural sounds

Research and Development of Ideas

In this clip, one can see my inspiration for my shots of the Parker character walking through his environment to his destination. Danny Boyle used this same effect to indicate that his character, Renton, is dominated by his environment and is in a state of isolation and loneliness. Also, this shot is very symmetrical and reveals Boyle's background of Fine Art studies and photography. Due to this, he is obviously very technically accomplished. Also, he applies the same concept in "28 Days Later" as he was here also trying to present an apocalyptic view of the urban landscape in which his character is dwarfed by his surroundings.

Amateur Film Maker replicated the opening scene of "28 Days Later between 4 and 5am on a summer morning with excellent results.

Footage from actual film "28 Days Later."
Made in 2001. Has since become a cult classic. The cinema photography for this film was done by Anthony Don Mantel and this is absolutely breathtaking in the apocalyptic opening scenes and won an award on its own.

Research and Ideas
Another individual artist whose work I have been studying is Daniel MacGee. One of his premier videos was for a Document issue done for the Blueprints Company's Big Push edition where he constructed a series shots for the intro where he used a number of dollies and tracks to create a very visually edited special effect where the background swirls around the foreground due to the motion of the camera whereby one zooms in whilst moving out making a very striking surreal effect. This technique was first employed in Stephen Spielburg's "Jaws" in a very memorable scene where the main character is looking out to sea while the shark attacks. This is a very effective shot to get the audience's attention. Also, this technique has been used on various "slowed down" commercials produced by the Government which is exactly like Danny MacGee's scene and this is probably where he got his idea from. The idea is to catch the eye of the target audience and get the message across as clearly as possible. Another style which I have also been inspired by is the old fashioned vignette-ing effect used by Danny MacGee in this production whereby the outside edge becomes darker to replicate the hand-cranked film camera of the late 1900's. I intend to use this for my dream-like sequence as this is a clear visual ident for the audience to tell which state of mind my subject is in as it has a non-linear pattern narrative. Also, the connotations of this editing effect help to establish the mood and atmosphere that I want to create for my film eg. the insanity/isolation. Also, the vignette-ing replicates many motion pictures that try to encapsulate dream sequences as dreams are often portrayed in this way. I have also noticed that a lot of mainstream and prime time television programmes such as "Top Gear" and "The Apprentice" and many other reality T V shows use this vignette-ing effect to create glamour and expensive-looking shots but this is not what this technique was originally intended for as it was in fact a mistake which occurred due to the poor quality equipment available in the early days of filming. Also, this method is at least 100 years old and one wonders why these effects now have these con notations

Research and Development of Idea
For the juxtaposition of the two states - reality and imagination - I needed a very subtle but dramatic edit similar to the edit used by Daniel Boyle in "Trainspotting" (1996) where Mark Renton jumps over a wall into a drug den leaving his normal life behind and entering a nightmare existence. Also, the following scene where Renton goes into a coma I have tried to replicate in my scene where my character becomes insane as I felt this had the same connotations as Boyle's scene. Renton and my character are both in a state where they are in their own private worlds with the real world revolving around them. In my version, I have tried to create a differentiation between the two worlds - one being saturated in its colours and one de-saturated. This helps to connote different states of mind - depression, isolation and insanity in turn.
"Trainspotting" is a good example of a film that focusses on a main character and how his actions affect other people and his own state of mind through insanity and final rehabilitation after drug abuse.