Reflections film - evaluation

I think our group worked well together as there was good communication through out and we all enjoyed working together.

I think the video could have been better, we could have chosen an inital base video with less cuts so it didnt look as messy, how ever it was hard to find a simple video with only one or 2 actors to replicate so i think we made the right choice based on our selection.

I feel we could have uped the production design and quality, such as finding a location and props more acurate the the orginal film to highlight the change in memory more, how ever as we only had a week to 2 to finilise and plan the idea i feel we did the most we could.

i think they video shows its original concept of how memorys differ from person to person even if it wasnt in the layout we orginally planed.

reflections film - making of

Pre production

In the pre production process once we had finalised our idea, leanna/hannah/amy created the story boards and scripts ( interviewing there friends on what they remembered about the video )  for the parts they would be directing.  I organised all the paper work and other preparations, they main part to this was the prop list and shooting schedule.

As the 3 videos are so similar, continuity could easily go astray so making sure the same props and changes were kept in each video was important ( eg if leanna use brown cake mix she didnt then pick up amys pink cake mix in the next shot  )

The shot list was also important as we needed to film all the raw cake mix shot before placing them in the oven,  and then shot it  film by film ( eg  filmed all of amys, then all of hannahs ) as too make sure the ingredients didnt spoil under the lighting making it look bad.

Filming -

when filming we had an isssue that the kitchen needed a middle work surface but the location only had counters on the outside meaning we had to make a table into the kitchen, this took up most of the space meaning there was limited movement and no more than the necessary amount of people could be in the room.

leanna, hannah and amy each directed there shot and i was ad and continuity, it was pretty simple to film as we were copying shots from the original video so we knew exactly what needed to be scene

Editing

when editing i edited the videos to the timing of the original video, amy composed them all into the correct order and layout, hannah recored the sound and leanna did the colour correcting.

when editing the video as we were basing it off of peoples memories, they didnt remeber some of the shot eg close ups of her cooking

i orginally made the shots before and after the missing ones longer  how ever this went out of time with the orginal video so ended up looking all clutted and messy when all 4 played at the same time.

see rough cut - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eP1FXlULU4


to over come this we edited the original video to look all hazy as if it was a really vague memory and cut that into the footage we filmed so we could keep the timings correct with out having blank bits.

we also decided only to play 2 videos at a time rather than 4 so people wasnt bombarded with information.

see final - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22l8MlygqU

reflection photography - Finished

I decided to change the presentation style, to look like a the photos are decplayed in a living room as in my house there are miss matched photo frames all over the walls and i felt this looked better than a book.

this is an example of what i wanted it too look like

how ever as i probably wont have the space to do it like this, i have decided to mount the pictures onto wall paper and put them in frames to make it seem as if they are on a living room wall, depending on how much space i have i might cover my area in wall paper and place the frames on top of that to make it feel even more homely. 

the final 5 images i have chosen are 

i choose these 5 as i thought they were better edited than the other and the ones with my dad in seems a bit out of place with the rest being of just me and my mum 

i think the series works well together as it shows the meaning i wanted to say with out me having to explain it much and it has more of an explanation be hind it than my original idea of make up storys for abandon buildings. If i was to do it again i would probably try a different editing technique so it dosent look like if just just coloured out the necks/sleeves in photoshop. 

Reflections Photography - edited images

To make the images i used the smudge tool in photoshop to make the collars/sleaves on the outfits, i then used the clone tool to cover up her head and arms. i then used the burn tool to make the insides of the shirt seem in shaddow

Reflections photography - presentation

I am going to present my images in a scrap book too keep the personal vibe going.

scrap book styles 

Reflections photography

im thinking of going through old family photos and erasing the people in them who have died but leaving the clothes there so its like the memory still exists but the person dosent

Reflections photography - testing

i wanted to see if the structure i had created made it look like someone was in the clothes

with a bit of editing i think they look like someone is in it 

Refelctions photography - memory research

• forgetting faces 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200609/quirky-minds-forgetting-faces
http://news.discovery.com/human/health/brad-pitt-forgetting-faces-disease-130523.htm

• memory and emotion 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory
http://www.memory-key.com/memory/emotion
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-feelings/201203/emotional-memories-when-people-and-events-remain-yo

• music and memory 

https://musicandmemory.org/
http://www.spring.org.uk/2013/12/music-and-memory-5-awesome-new-psychology-studies.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music-related_memory

• memory loss 

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/memory-loss/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.webmd.com/brain/memory-loss

Reflections photo - idea development

I want to shoot in ST peters mourge in chertsey.

• i here i want to pad out a priest outfit ( black shirt, white collar , cross )   sit him on the desk  next to an old worn down bible and some rotting flowers 

• in here i want to have a nurse walking down the coridor, holding a clip board and a stethascope 

• in here i want a man in a lab coat like examining dead bodys 

• outdies there is a woods so i want to have two childern playing in it 

i cant get to this location untill the 6th of april 

to make sure my idea would look right and work i will test it out before hand in my house 

Reflections photography - initial idea

I want to photograph old buildings but remember how they used to be and the people who used to be in them.

Id would do this by going to an old run down locations and padding out clothes and placing them in the building  to make it look like people are still sat there but no one is actually there.  Like the memories are still in there but the people have faded.

i got this idea for a play called beaulah as they only had two actors they used clothes  hung up on the wall to make it feel like the other  people were there.



locations like --

churches
castles
graves

Reflections- photography - Artist reserch

here im just jotting down a few notes of what i like about the images i have been looking at 

• i like the use of double exposure
• memories part of who you are 
• b+w

• sam taylor wood 
• use of montage 

• blurred - shows how you cant remember faces

• i like the strip style 

• interesting / different 
• better as an installation so you can see all pictures 

• iconic celebrities from the 80 compared to modern day celebrities
• i like the overlay style  

• covering over the past 
• cool to look at 

• like the style 

• fragmented memory 
• simple 

• emotions 
• could montage pics around it to why so emotional ( memories ) 

• over laying  image
• same place is in image 

• simple 
• fade - remembering something that used to be 

• reminds me of my childhood - use old family photos ?? 

• forgetting 
• erasing memories 

Reflections - Development of video idea

This is an ongoing post so keep coming back to see what we are up to

Meeting one  notes- 

find a 2 min scene from a film, get someone to watch it and make 3 re enactments of the video based on what they remembered

Keep cast low ( 1 - 2 people )

We can find actors at short notices  from  the uca drama club

All do pre production equally

List of job roles when filming  - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuUp5rpgxf4ldFNPUlZTNGZCV2YtNGlZbDZhWjIteUE#gid=0

edit –

sound – leanna / Hannah

rough –laura / amy

colour – leanna / Hannah

pre final – amy / laura

What we need to do next is  find a base video to recreate 

initial ideas 

Bridget jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDUll2cqJcw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXVpbAje6V4

Finding initial video 

We decided to do this scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNYrzzev9rY  as it was simple so would be easy to recreate  but had enough detail that things would change. 

Pre production planning 

Reflection - my group and idea

I am in a group  with hannah, amy and leanna. 

We are doing  a 4 screen video bassed off of hannahs pitch. 

See here pitch here - http://hannahsfabulousresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/pitch-recollection-reconstruction.html

See her blog  here - http://hannahsfabulousresearch.blogspot.co.uk/

Reflections - eye witness basic idea

idea 1 - eye witness testimonies

To show how eye witness testimonies are un reliable.

Scene 1 -  Have 3 eye witnesses telling there memory of a crime
            -  Screen to show there memory vs the real one
            - audio cut up of each witness and played next to each other

EG    Police man "can you tell me what the man looked like"
          Original crime plays

           Witness one  "Im pretty sure he had  brown hair "

           There memory is played 

witness two "Blonde hair and he was wearing a rabbit mask"

witness three -  " and he had a pink shirt on " 

scene 2- the police take all the things they have said and try make a facial match the key words from the statments would be played over the top 

eg "blonde brown  rabit pink " 

scene 3 -  the wrong man is seen to be arested while the real one is sat at home chilling. 

Reflections - lighting workshop

In our lighting workshop we learnt the health and saftey of how to use the lights, what a dop does, different types of lighting and lightning styles

What is a dop-  they are in charge of the technicalities of the image  and take work closely with the lighting department and camera.

Safety on set -

• Beware of exposed cables, keep unused plugs switched off.
• Don’t overload the circuits.

• Don’t put your hand near the light.
• Don’t change gels while the light is on.
• Uncoil cables
• Allow lights to cool before packing.

• Don’t leave studio lights down, other people may fall into them.
• Be aware of the safety procedures.
• Bulbs Shattering
• Tripping on Cables
• Tidy up cables and kit.

types of lighting 

• -         frontal , side, under , top
• -         back
• -         highlighting
• -         fill
• -         key
• -         three point 

styles - 

• High Key Lighting = Very Bright Overall, Not allot of contrast
• Low Key = Allot of contrast between light and shadow areas
• Soft / Hard Lighting
• Natural Light
• Stylized Lighting

using this  information we created a video using high key, soft lighting 

here is the video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXqnMPxv6D4

i think it would look better if it was low key lighting and if we weren't against a dark background as our dark clothing blends in.  

Reflections - artists evaluation

"La jetée" by Chris Marker

I like that this film used photographs to tell the story. It was kind of like watching an animatic story board. 
Even though it used images rather than videos it still managed to capture the emotion and tell a story. 

"Blue" by Derek Jarmans

I thought this film was interesting, i like the voice over as it was quite calming, which i was i associate with the colour blue. I also like the use of additional sounds as it aloud the  viewer to feel like they are with the character and imagin there own visuals eg " i step of the kerb and a cyclist knocks me down  *  you hear a bike and him shout *   "   when i herd this i pictured my self stood on a rood and a cyclist coming past. 

i like the idea of colours being able to represent things and maybe could base my project on this. 

"Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y" by Johan Grimonprez

i didnt like this film. I felt  there was too much information going on in this film for me to understand what was going on.  I felt the visuals told a good story but combine with the random music and the voice overs and the chopyness of it it was to much to focus on and bored me. 

“Radar” by Volker Schreiner

I like this film as the way it was edited and the audio managed to give off an creepy feeling. 

i liked the style of how this was done and want to look into it further . 


"The Five Obstructions" by Jørgen Leth and Lard Von trier
i like the idea of setting limitations  on what you can and cant do in a film, i think this would be somthing interesting to try out. 

Bruce Naumann

He was crazy ... but in a good way. 

Sam Taylor-Wood

I like the way sam  presented her work. I like  the piece where there were 4 videos playing next to each other but the audios kind of intermingled.  I think  i might look into that style more and  maybe use it in my project. 


The Conquest of Happiness" by Oliver Pietch

I like this film  as i thought it was edited together really well, and flowed nicely making it not feel long or boring to watch.