The research that I have done such as the elements: animals, human eye, how blind people see will assist my piece in two ways one by helping to give the audience access to the research and by giving information to be used in conjunction with visuals and sound to create a mood in the audience of the different perspectives in reality. The analysis of the poetic pieces I have researched will help me to create my factual poetic piece on reality to more of a professional standard and I will be utilising some of the visual and audio techniques used in the pieces. The research I have done in this research portfolio has been vital in creating a proposal for my piece as it was important first to find the appropriate genre before a concrete specific idea could be fully formed. A research portfolio is important in the professional industry to back up statements and facts in a factual to prove that they are true and facts aren’t just being made up.
I researched the genres of documentaries first to pick a specific genre and then went onto the initial ideas stage as well as research and analysis of familiar poetic pieces. I did this research because it is important to back up ideas with research and techniques before creating a proposal. After researching these documentaries I came to the conclusion that I was going to create a factual poetic piece. I Found three similar poetic pieces that I liked how they used techniques to create a mood. I picked the three pieces because each one used a different set of techniques to create a mood or tell a story and I plan on using some them techniques in my piece. After evaluating each piece I was able to come up with some techniques and then generate an idea of some of the techniques I will use to create a mood.
The research I have done will be effective towards the creation of my factual piece although in the future I could improve further upon my research by making it more in-depth and varied to other forms such as books and websites and primary.
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The initial ideas I have come up with have helped me to create my final specific idea on how reality is perceived differently.My initial ideas were good although most were not fully formed or specific enough for this project, I used a combination of initial ideas and joined them with techniques and ideas I was inspired by the poetic pieces I analysed. I did a short analysis of each which was more effective than analysing each frame alone as I know the visuals I need in my piece its the techniques I needed some inspiration for.
The research I have done will be effective towards the creation of my factual piece although in the future I could improve further upon my research by making it more in-depth and varied to other forms such as books and websites and primary.
Proposal/Treatment
The proposal I’ve done for this factual project is effective at getting across my idea as well as some of the possible issues involved and how they will be overcome although to a professional standard the next time I do a proposal it needs to be officially referenced in the bibliography section. It is important to create a proposal for professional standards as they are used all over the media industry and are used to portray a developed idea. In my proposal, I discuss effectively how I will go about creating a mood in the audience of the different ways reality is perceived although in the future I could improve upon this by making it more in-depth. I came to the conclusion of reality being perceived differently by combining some of my initial ideas together.
Pre-production
Links –H&S, Hillsborough Park Recce, Gleadless Field/Common Recce
I created pre-production documents necessary for the creation of my factual poetic piece on reality. I created the health and safety first and then went out and did a location recce at the places I would be filming around gleadless and in gleadless field/common as well as Hillsborough park. I created an H&S first in case of any potential hazards that may have occurred which is important when a whole crew would be filming on a bigger project as they need to know what precautions to take before going on a recce. I create a recce after going to the locations to look out possible locations as well as look for possible problems or precessions that may need to be taken. I created a health and safety to professional standards although next time I create a recce I can improve upon it by making it more in-depth and analytical.
Shot List/Order, Storyboard/Visualisation(Mind-map of structures – Proposal)
I created a shot list/order and visualisation for how I wanted my factual piece to look and the order of it. I did this because it will make the post-production stage go faster as well as making sure that on location shots aren’t missed and un-filmed it was also useful for helping me to come up with ideas as to how the factual piece will look and give an outline as to how the edit will go. I create a shot list and order together because it will be more effective to film on my own although separate documents would be expected on a professional production with a crew. The storyboard will be useful to make a reference to when editing to make the process more effective and quick. As well as giving a baseline. I can improve further upon my storyboarding in the future by adding more visual and written detail. It needs to be more in-depth and correctly formatted. I created a mind map to structure and order my ideas for different elements, in reality, this is useful for showing structures which will make up the final video. This would also be useful in a professional industry for explaining the different elements in a video to a crew. I could improve upon this by creating it in an editorial order to give an idea as to how the video would be laid out. Although a storyboard is what should be used to show how a video will be edited using a baseline.
Production
Whilst on location filming shots I went to different locations to get the shots I needed, I did this in an order of location and time for example at Hillsborough park I got there for 10 and filmed till 12 so first I got the time-lapses because I wanted visible cloud movement and due to the weather forecast the clouds would have cleared in an hour so I would have missed the shots. I then went and filmed the ducks and then the squirrels I did this because there was a gathering of ducks due to someone giving them bread I decided on location it was smarter to go and film them first in case they started to fly away. I didn’t create a floor plan because I had already been to the location and had ideas for all locations in mind. Although in a professional industry it is important to create floor-plan so that a crew knows where equipment such as camera tripod over equipment needs to be placed in order filming to commence. I used a shot list/ order to film shots according to location and decisions made on location, a shot list is useful and necessary when working in a bigger than one crew and on professional productions as more than one person will need to know what’s going to be shot where and when. I didn’t use a logging sheet because it was just me in the crew and so it would have been time-consuming and might have caused me to miss shots of animals I needed such as the squirrels which after being approached I only got two good shots before they disappeared. Although using a log sheet is useful and if the editor is a separate person it will make editing more effective and fast if they know which shots to use and which not to. I also didn’t use a Call sheet as it was just me filming although it is important to create such a document when working in a crew to a professional standard.
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I used a tripod whilst shooting long exposures with a CPL filter I did this to show the difference in time perception as well as how reality is perceived differently through reflection. I used it on a tripod with an f.4 aperture and 2-second exposures because that’s the look I was going for and was successful. Throughout the filming I used different handheld, stabiliser and stabilised shots to create a mood in the audience, I did this because the slight movement in the shots creates a stronger mood and fits the difference in perspectives rather than having a lot of tripod shots would. I felt that In a lot of the shots movement was useful towards the creation of mood although the next time I do an poetic piece perhaps something I will think about on the Whitby trip I will put even more thought into the shots to make even a still shot express meaning and be effective at creating a mood. In the trees shot in particular, I used a stabilised shot to infer the flight of a fly to create disorientation this required the movability around objects for other equipment such as a slider wouldn’t have worked. Although effective and still useful I used a handheld shot of a squirrel close up to get a specific look although it might have worked better being on a tripod with a 70-300mm rather than using a 17-55mm which is something I need to think about in better detail in the future to improve. I got the idea to shoot through prisms from watching some of the world bending effects used in the film “Dr Strange” but rather than using only artificial effects I decided to use a mix of both to show an unusual view on the world through differently shaped prisms.
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I filmed at 120 frames per second a hand hitting a table with an f1.5 aperture because I wanted to focus just on the hand and use its motion to create a mood in the audience when linked with other shots inferring the perspective of a fly. For several of the shots of eyes, I got I used different variations of extension tubes, I did this because it reduced the minimum distance so I could get a closer perspective of the pupil. I did this to create a more in-depth mood in the audience. I filmed using different lighting situations inside and outside to get stronger and less strong reflections in the eyes to create different contrasts and moods. For the eye shots, I used a variety of different lens, cameras and extension tubes. I did this to get different results although using the extension tubes were troublesome as the more tubes added the less space I had that was in-focus giving me only a few millimetres in which to focus. I could improve upon this by in the future have done primary research and found different eyes with unusual defects and got a larger range of eyes, this would have made the production to even more of a professional standard.
Post Production
After Effects, Final Cut Pro X
In the postproduction stage First I created a rough edit from my Storyboard/visualisation and added in some experimental effects and colour grades to get the visual lockdown. I did this to make the editing process more efficient according to professional standards. After watching it all the way through and having a few others do the same I cut out some of the shots of the ducks as they overpowered the other elements and didn’t really add any to the piece mood wise, I also got feedback about an idea to add in a POV shot of a dog. I then went out and re-filmed the shot of the dogs perspective stabilised low to the ground and de-statured the clip. I did this because it added further mood and showed the perspective of the dog. I took on this feedback and edited out the duck pieces because it was interfering with the mood and because it made the piece more to professional standards as a poetic piece. I edited throughout the piece using different cuts a montage of shots such as rhythmic edits at points giving each shot a few seconds each although depending on the visuals I gave certain shots more time, I did this because holding off on cutting can at times be a useful asset. I used Juxtaposition of shots eye-line matches and fades throughout to join together visuals, tell a story and create a mood in the audience, an example of this is a shot of a hand in the air above table, a shot of a bee then the hand hitting the table then a POV of a fly going through trees. I used a variety of different cuts varying from quick cuts, crossfades, dissolves, blur transitions to disorientate the audience and create a mood.
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I experimented with different types of mirroring and Kialograph, as well as other effects and colour grading until I got the desired look. I did this to get the look of a warped reality to show a different perspective to the audience and make them feel the unusualness of it as well as create a mood. An effect I used was two cuts partially delayed overlay of a stabiliser shot through trees, I did this because it creates a mood/ disorientation in the audience as well as showing the perspective of a fly/bee. I used a final hexagonal filter over the overlay to finish this effect to represent the POV of a fly correctly. For a shot of a squirrel in the tree, I used an Artificial Zoom, I did this to infer the amount of vision a squirrel has which from my research is a more peripheral vision. I think this effect is effective at inferring this although if I were to do this again I could think about using a fisheye lens or a go pro to get a more in-camera effect look, as this could look more professional. I created different time lapses with different intervals and exposures some 1/60th of a second some at 2 second exposures one at 38 second exposures, I did this to show differences in the way reality can be perceived through the use of a camera such as cloud speed, smoothness or rigidness, as well as the speed of stars and light which normally couldn’t be perceived by the human eye. I also created an artificial panning of a time-lapse which I was able to do because I shot in raw 4k photos(introvelometre) and was able to zoom in, this was effective although the next time I create a time-lapse with a slider I will try to possibly use a motorised slider or something with a set timer and create the movement in camera.
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Throughout editing I experimented with different colour grades throughout to create a mood as well as to infer the way reality is perceived differently using colours from the research I did on animal sight such as the bee on the leaf first I increased the saturation a little, but I then decreased the saturation and it fit the project better and was more correct towards the current mood. I did this because after creating a draft edit it didn’t fit the overall mood so I changed it to enhance the mood created in the audience. I also did this because originally I had the thought of trying to infer the way bees see which is vibrantly but it didn’t fit the mood so I changed it, perhaps if it Hadn’t been a poetic piece it would have fit with vibrant colours. I experimented with different colour grades and masks to create different eye colours which wouldn’t be seen normally as well as creating artificial depth of fields that wouldn’t really be possible on a camera. I did this to infer to the audience the difference in reality and how it can be perceived differently through the use of blurs and colour. I experimented with different colour grades on each shot of the dog shots I created a classic view of how dogs see and then a red grade afterwards. (Black and white, Red, normal colour slightly brownish) I did this to show different aspects of reality as it is common knowledge that dogs see in black and white although from my research I found that they actually see in a red/green spectrum and this shows both sides of reality. I went with the colour grades discussed to create a more in-depth mood in the audience.
Dale 