Interactive Rotoscoping

Here is another idea for my interaction. It will be something interesting for the user, but before working with the final version I will make a video test. 

Rotoscoping - is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator. This projection equipment is called a rotoscope, although this device has been replaced by computers in recent years. In the visual effects industry, the term rotoscoping refers to the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.

The technique was invented by Max Fleischer, who used it in his series Out of the Inkwell starting around 1915.

Patent drawing for Fleischer's original rotoscope. The artist is drawing on a transparent easel, onto which the movie projector at the right is throwing an image of a single film frame.(wikipedia)

• Below are links to tutorials. This is a very informational video, helping me understand the basic techniques and rules.  

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/oconnell_pete/roto.php

• A roto vector animation using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZOHv9B0j7o&feature=fvw 

 

• An example of Kanye West - Heartless - rotoscoping music video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co0tTeuUVhU&ob=av2e 

Objectives of Honours Project

 Objectives as agreed with Alison Varley and Phil Turner

1.     Nature of the Project The idea is to create an interactive movie presenting full-motion video of live-action footage. The main tasks that will be completed to meet my objective are divided: I.     Preparatory work ·     Analysis of interactive movies, technology and literature II.     Development ·     Design the interaction ·     Develop pre-production plan. Components contributing to such an interactive movie may include: 1.     Storyboard 2.     Script 3.     Characters 4.     Visual Style/Techniques 5.     Use of foreground/background elements 6.     Use of Camera Angles 7.     Influence/References to other media 8.     Setting/Environments 9.     Notes ·     Produce the interaction movie  1.     Recording scenes 2.     Editing scenes 3.     Adding Visual Effects III.     Evaluation IV.     Report including self-appraisal During my studies I have learned a range of skills that I will demonstrate in my project, including use of several professional suits Adobe Flash and After Affects. Some of the modules, such as Digital Storytelling and Motion Graphics might be very helpful to produce my media piece. By now I should have realised that the work I can do draws upon a wide range of skills that include: animation, digital imaging, visual design, video production, use of text and visual effects. The information sources that exist for my project idea are mainly: ·     Websites: http://www.creativecow.net/ http://www.kaleidoscope-multimedia.com/gameDesign/gameDesign.pdf http://www.sufferrosa.com/ http://layersmagazine.com/ http://artbeats.com/video_tutorials ·     Literature: Krasner, J. (2008) Motion Graphic Design: Applied History and Aesthetics. Focal Press Adobe Creative Team (2008): Adobe After Effects CS4 and Adobe Flash CS4 Classroom in a Book. Adobe Press Hand, M.(2008) Making Digital Cultures: Access, Interactivity, and Authenticity. Ashgate Press

2.     Interim Deliverable: Week 12 Report The milestones are research and analyse of interactive movies, which will be useful to draw up pre-production plans, put the production into action by creating an interactive movie and evaluating the visual artefact. This will be related to preparatory work and draft of pre-production plan discussed in the previous section). The interim deliverable may include: ·     Literature review (I. Preparatory work) ·     Draft of pre-production plan (II. Development) including: Characters, Storyboard, Script, Visual Style, Use of foreground/background elements, Use of Camera Angles, Setting/References to other media, Notes ·     Outputs from initial exploratory fieldwork with potential audience/users of my deliverables

3.     The Additional Deliverable The additional deliverable will be an interactive movie: ·     A cross-platform CD or DVD containing: ·     A “Project” folder (interactive movie) containing the Adobe Flash/After Effects project file (.fla, aep.) and all of the assets used to create the interstitial.

 

Week 6 Planning

Week 6th so far and I'm still thinking about direction for my documentation, is this going to be Research or Production document? Before that I need take into consideration the audience of my video.

My interactive project will be aimed at the audience that enjoy neo-noir/film noir movies as well as people that like to watch and play with video games, such as:

• people connected with Multimedia Industry 
• people that spend a lots of time in the Internet
• people that enjoy interaction, games, movies
• students and researchers in media subjects

Two Strangers

One of my friend posted a link on Facebook with an example of black and white, slow motion movie called Nuit Blanche which explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy. Film is directed by Arev Manoukian. It is a great piece of work with very impressive visual effects (face in the glass made in 3D Maya). Worth it to watch even couple of times!

Click here to watch

Watch the MAKING OF here

Film Noir

After setting down to read crime novels written by Vernon Sullivan and to watch Alphaville I have decided that I will go through more examples of Neo-noir films and literature, for instance:

    * Casablanca by Micheal Curtiz (1942)

    * The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity by James M.Cain (1970) 


This kind of knowledge could be very essential for my story. Modern themes employed in neo-noir films include identity crises, subjectivity and technological problems and their social consequences.

On the other hand the classic period of film noir (the early 1940s and the late 1950s) had a amount of common themes, plot devices and characteristic visual elements, such as low-key lighting, outstanding camera placement and effective usage of light and shadow. Usually the main character was anti-hero, trapped in difficult situation often to make immoral choices

Ideas

I have decided that I will base my project on my interpretation of the movie called Alphaville by 

Jean Luc Godarda (1965) 

movie trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE_sjuYvd0o 

 

and crime novels written by Vernon Sullivan 

More info about the author:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vian

Both of these examples are the same that the Sufferrosa was based on. In my opinion it will give me a lot of freedom when it comes to my story of the project. Additionally, there are also a lot of similar resources across the Internet, that I will be taking notes from them.

Software

I was discussing my ideas with Alison Varey and I have come to the conclusion that my Honours Project is to create a short interactive movie presenting full motion video of live action footage into an exciting array of extras. This would demonstrate a range of skills learned including use of professional suites such as:

• Adobe Flash 
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator 
• Adobe Premier Pro
• Adobe After Effects 

My first main idea is to use Adobe Flash to create an interactive movie to navigate through sciences, displaying the knowledge of the program.

Research

I've found a really good example of Interactive Movie.

SUFFERROSA, a new neo-noir interactive movie made by Polish director Dawid Marcinkowski.

More info:
www.sufferrosa.com

From my point of view is a really extraordinary piece of work. It's beautifully shot, simply designed and cleverly written. It's non-commercial experiment, but rather the way showing the absence of existing commercial distribution platform for interactive film makers.

The Story

You are the user, who experiences the story of Detective Ivan Johnson, he searches for a missing woman. Your investigation leads you to the clinic on Miranda Island. After a few days, you wake up in a cell. From there your journey begins. It is up to you how you going to finish the story.

The aim of this video is to find Rosa von Braun or just get out from the clinic.

From the interactivity...

This part might be the most useful for my project. The movie consists 110 scenes, using 20 different locations and 25 actors. There are 3 different endings, the scenes change every time they are viewed. It is a really interactive experience, where the user affect the outcome.

Navigation

To move in the video, user watch the scenes and then look for directions, left or right. There are also additional info boxes about characters and stories.

This example gave me some ideas about my story. I could change the end of the plot and think about different choices to make.

Choosing topic

At the moment I’m still thinking on what I want to do for my Honors Project. I attend to decide which idea I’m going to go through with by the end of the week.

The topic of interest that I may wish to take forward into a project.

My topic of interest is INTERACTIVE MOVIE

My initial ideas about how I would carry out the practical aspects of  the project.

First of all a lot of research will have to be done into how interactive movies work. This will be done by reading up on a number of resources and speaking to lecturers regarding the issues I have. The additional deliverable or prototype would also have to be created to show what I have learnt throughout the project. The prototype could consist of a short scenes which would be animated using Adobe Flash and Adobe After Effects which the user can interact to see the reaction this has in the plot. The player would be allowed to move around this scene freely.