Monday, October 11, 2010

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:
·     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

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

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!




Monday, October 4, 2010

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