Project Review

My final outcome is a short plot based fashion film. The story and theme are inspired by the spookiness of the cartoon series Scooby Doo. My film is very loosely linked to the original theme as during my research stage I sourced inspiration from many other points, this helped my film be more original and more my own than a direct homage to Scooby Doo. The project has come along way and developed itself almost naturally. Everything came to be almost instinctively and with the helpful guidance of tutors.

My Blog helps to show how my learning affected my project as I wrote down and reflected on the challenges and situations I had to overcome to progress and finish my project. I used my blog to critically think about my project, to evaluate the good and bad and fully dissect the ins and outs. My sketchbook was one of the most important places that showed my learning and my development in this project. I recorded everything that I was thinking visually in my sketchbook. This was a useful tool when it came to finally creating everything for my film and the actual film itself. It was also a useful planning tool as I could sample and sketch everything before the final creating. I also kept a personal notebook throughout the project where I would note down thoughts, ideas, things to research, and lists. This notebook was basically my brain, everything was recorded in it, including thoughts that did not end up having any use towards my project. This notebook helped to remind me of things I wanted to do and needed to do to help push my project further. This notebook was similar to my sketchbook in that it was a helpful way for me to plan every little detail of my project. 

One of my targets was to make an interesting visual film which I think I have successfully done by taking different mediums and putting them together. Another target of mine was to scout good locations that gave a good feeling to the film, I found some great locations that had really strong character and worked wonderfully in the film. I had another target to create props and sets for the film, this target I feel I have met very successfully, I put a lot of time and effort creating these details for the film. I had also planned for there to be more than just a film as the final outcome, I wanted to create some sort of promotional piece to go with it. I decided this promotional piece would be a poster so I set a target to create an interesting and fun poster to compliment the film.  Targets I added later revolved primarily around the editing process, I set a target to go through and make sure the film was under 10 minuets long. I did not want the film to be dragged out and dull rather have it be snappy and exciting.

I had a few developments that contributed to the final outcome. One of these was re-finding the director Michel Gondry and particularly the film ‘Be Kind Rewind.’ this film really inspired me a lot and really gave the direction for my film. Another development that contributed to the final outcome was on the shoot day realizing how much of a challenge shooting with a camera connected to the wall was. This changed the way I approached filming and changed the types of shots I got with the VHS camera and also led me to make the decision of including digital footage in my film. 

During one on one tutorials I received helpful advice from my tutors particularly with the actually filming elements and research pointers. There were a few scenes that did not look quite as good as I had wanted them too and I was given useful tips to make them look better. For example, I have a scene where a zombie is attacking one of the gang members, it was originally rather slow and dull. My tutor suggested that I play around with the edit a bit more, try and cut it up and add some more elements to it, he suggested I watch the murder scene in Psycho and this really helped inspire me.

One thing I would change about  my approach is that I would allow myself to delve deeper into research. I would collect and explore more than I did this time. I would also go into the directing position with a more confident attitude. I learned that if you are directing people and feel confident and assured about what you are doing they will feel the same, but if you go into something feeling timid and unsure the people you are leading can feel that too and it will effect their performance. I think these skills will affect my future course and career as they are things I need to improve so that I can make even better work. I would definitely keep exploring alternative methods such as using a VHS tape recorder and making props and sets myself, I found experimenting with such mediums exciting and interesting and would want to continue doing this further in my practices. I would also like to continue looking into the film side of promotion and learning as much as possible about techniques, editing, every little detail. Next year I will be attending London College of Fashion and studying creative direction. I think this will be an exciting opportunity to learn new things and begin developing my own knowledge and understanding of the fashion industry.

Green screens

I really wanted it to look like my characters were flying up into space during their abduction scene. I thought of a number of different ways to do this such as having them jump up on the trampoline, or using a clay model, and then I began thinking if only I could manipulate the background to make it look like space without having to make a background, at this point I began thinking about green screens. I have never before used a green screen so I knew it was going to be a learning point and something I would need to research. I found a few videos on youtube that explained the processes very clearly and it turns out it was much easier than I anticipated. I had my characters spin in front of the green screen and then put this footage into the software. To make it look as if space was the background I simply took an image of outer space and layered the spinning footage on top of it, then click the adjust icon which opens up a tab of other icons the icon furthest on the left gives you a selection of choices one of which is Green/Blue Screen and this will change the background. I used this technique a number of times throughout the film and it worked really well. If I had learned how to use this technique earlier on I may have used it even more throughout the film because I feel like it works well with the style and the aesthetic. One thing I could of done to improve the space background is if I had drawn or made it myself, this would of continued the homemade essence and feel of the whole film. 

The green screen I see was a simple little pop up one, the main struggle I had was getting it back into the tiny little bag that it came in. 

Editing: Changing the colours

I found while going through my footage that a lot of the digital footage was very cool toned. I compared the colours to that of the VHS footage and noticed theVHS footage colours were much warmer. I thought that It would be a good idea to try and warm up the colours in the digital footage by playing with the saturation and the contrast. I tried changing the colours around on one clip and noticed a big improvement, the footage instantly felt more alive and more exciting. The bright warmer colours suit my film more than the cooler tones as the warm colours have a funner and more playful essence. I decided that since it looked good on the one clip to go ahead and change the colours on all the digital footage. This was a rather tedious task as their were quite a few digital clips and I wanted to make sure the saturation and contrast were just right on each of them. I originally had not planned to mess about with the colours of the clips because I liked the VHS look and wanted to keep it exactly as it was. However once I decided to use another film type the colours and look changed so making it fit into my aesthetic and aimed for look was necessary. I am pleased with the look of the colors now after editing them .

Trailer

I thought it would be a good idea to create a mini teaser trailer for my film to show at the exhibition. Generally most films have trailers so I decided it would be ideal if mine did to, I can also post this trailer on all my social media to gain some intrest . To create the trailer I chose a few sections of clips that I thought gave off a strong message of whats in the film without giving away the entire plot. I also chose clips that were dramatic and had a good cinematic effect. I wanted the trailer to be fast and impactful the type of trailer that doesn't drag on and leave you bored. I chose to pair it with some dramatic music and an eerie sound for the very end when the title pops up. Everything I do has an element humor to it, all the decisions I make are for comedic purposes. I think fashion can be entertaining in a humorous way and that that is what I am to do with my film and project.

For the title I imagined the word spooky literally dribbling down the screen. To full this vision I created 4 different versions of the spooky type with the drops getting lower and lower each time and then edited them to show up of 0.4secs one after another. I made the letters green thinking that I could use this as a green screen and have some video playing behind the letters. I thought it would be interesting to have the letters be the static from the old VHS tapes that I recorded. This turned out really well and I am pleased with the final outcome. However if I were to do it again I would make the drips off the word spooky last longer.

Video and images all authors own

Poster part 2

I have spent two and a half hours creating the poster. It is not realistic like the work or Boris Vallejo who created the poster that inspired me, mine is more cartoon like. I enjoy the cartoon style because its fun and dramatic which matches the essence of the film. To create this poster I used a graphics tablet and the brush tool on photoshop. I have had practice doing this in a previous project so I felt confident when I began and did not have trouble whilst creating it.

After finishing the background I wanted to add the title of the film as most film posters have the title on them. I had been thinking about using a goosbumps type font, letters that seemed to ooze. The ideal font is one that is spooky itself. I couldn't find a font that suited my criteria in the fonts that photoshop provided, instead of downloading one from the internet I decided to just add drips to a font I already had. I did this so I could have a very personalized font and make it look exactly how I wanted. I chose the bright slime green because it is a classic spooky colour. Also a main spooky feature in my film is the green space aliens at the end so I wanted to incorporate that alien green throughout my film and project. Another reason why I chose this colour is because the band that features in my film is called Little Green Men so it all ties perfectly together.

Images all authors own

Poster

I decided to accompany my film I should make a poster. When I first began thinking of doing this I  had a vague idea of what I wanted to do. In a previous project I took my photographs and drew over them in photoshop to make them appear cartoon like and I thought that would be a fun way to present my film as a poster. I also looked at some other film posters for inspiration. One of the film posters I liked and thought was quite humorous was from a terrible film called 'National Lampoons Vacation.' This film is seriously worth avoiding but the cover art is exactly what I wanted for my film and is the main inspiration for mine. The artist who did the poster is a Peruvian artist called Boris Vallejo. Boris Vallejo is primarily a fantasy painter and creates intense and beautiful pieces. I love the drama and irony in the poster I find it very humorous. Another film poster that has inspired me to make my film poster is the poster for Star Wars A New Hope. Similarly to to the European Vacation film poster it is very dramatic, however it is also a dramatic film so it suits the film. My film is dramatic in more of a humorous way and that is what I want to get across in the poster.

One of the main things aside from the photograph and the drawings on top of it that I need to focus on iss the type. I need to choose a font that I think will best represent the film and its style. The font is almost like a logo and a logo is basically a brands symbol so I want to create something that is perfectly symbolic for my film and project.

National Lamppons European Vacation art work taken from google.

Sound

The soundtrack and sounds of a film can change the whole thing. The sound and music help to tell the story, they help to convey the feelings and mood of certain scenes, the sounds tell the audience what they should be feeling. Because of this I have decided to spend quite a bit of time collecting curating sound effects and noises for my film. I have asked one of my musician friends if he would mind creating the soundtrack and he kindly agreed. This makes me very excited as I will have an original soundtrack for my film and won't have to stress over using other music that may be copy righted or finding royalty free music.

There are a number of instances in the film that need noises and effects to heighten it and give it more depth. I also can use these sound effects for comical purposes. For example when the gang are running I sourced a cartoon running sound effect form youtube. I sourced a bang sound effect for when Mike zombie hits the window. I decided it was definitely necessary to have a sound effect at that moment because otherwise it wouldn't be shocking. I also added ambient sound effects like wind blowing for out door scenes and cafe chattering during the dinner scene. This way I can completely must the videos sound that may have background noise and it still feel real. Because I am muting the sound from the clips I am going to voice over the dialogue between the characters. Having a voice over has a very low-fi B-movie feel to it and thats why I want to do it. 

Editing

I have already put together a rough draft of the film. I think it is very important to get feedback and criticisms to see how I can improve on it so I have showed it to a number of people including my tutors. I have gotten some interesting feedback form my tutors which has encouraged me and inspired me. One of my tutors wrote notes down while watching the film of points he think could be improved and points that were good but could be improved further. This was incredibly helpful as it gave me another view and more ideas of how to take this film as far as I possibly could. Some of the pointers he had were to think about the type and consider the fonts I use very carefully.  In my film I had a brief scene which was of an alien spaceship I made out of plasticine, he really liked this and thought it was very effective and encouraged me to do a similar style clip for another part of the film. I had been thinking of doing this but wasn't sure if I should make it a priority but after hearing him say that I decided to definitely do it.

I used iMovie to edit this film and I know I should've used premier pro or some more advanced software but I didn't want to give myself the extra stress of figuring a new program out. I know my way around iMovie and I feel very confident in using it to create my film and make it look how I want.

I edited the clips so they would be faster as I thought that it would look more like they were being abducted it they were spinning fast. 

Behind the scenes

On my shoot days I had a friend record some of the behind the scenes for me. I asked him to do this so that I could have a visual reflection of the day and of the way I work. In the video clips you will see me directing the actors and setting up scenes. Shooting this film was a very hands on experience. I realized how many different details I was responsible for and had to be in control of. Some of these include having the actors be in the right positions, making sure they know their lines and know the tone of what they're supposed to be saying. Another detail I had to be aware and responsible for was the set up of the shots, the framing, and the details within the shots such as if I needed smoke, or to fix the lighting. 

I learned a lot from choosing to shoot with such a large cast. Usually I only have one or two models, but this time I had six models. I had to be responsible for everyone and making sure they knew what they were doing and wearing the right thing and had the right make up on for every scene. It was a little overwhelming at the beginning, as I did not realize how much I control I needed to have. Once I got to grips with being dictatorial over all of my cast things got done quicker, better, and we began to have a whole lot of fun while working. 

The following video is a collection of these behind the scenes videos put together by myself. The footage was taken by Conor Langton. 

Second shoot day

Todays shoot ran smoother than smooth. I had made a schedule of what scenes I would film at what time and where I'd need to be and what camera I will use for each. This helped the day go by with such ease unlike last week which felt a little chaotic.

My goal for this shoot day was to finish the shooting the scenes I hadn't yet done and try and reshoot a few scenes to try and get some different angels. One of the angels I thought would be really interesting to try and shoot from is a birds eye view. To try and achieve this I climbed on top of my shed and precariously held my camera above the actors below. This shot turned out to be very effective and looks good. One director who is known for using this type of shot is Quentin Tarantino. 

One of the main things aside from the photograph and the drawings on top of it that I need to focus on is the type. I need to choose a font that I think will best represent the film and its style. The font is almost like a logo and a logo is basically a brands symbol so I want to create something that is perfectly symbolic for my film and project.

screen shot taken from here