Our new seminars were taught by Jools who's specialised in Flash software. He asked us to design an interaction piece of work where the user has full control. Jools gave us a "gotostop" template with all the coding done for us so we dont need to code it ourselves. I decided to make a "virtual tour" of nottingham which shows the daily life of a student in university.
The template consists of 2 buttons which if you click them will take you to a certain frame, so for e.g. button1 will take you to frame 20, button 2 will take you to frame 30. My project started off in the Nottingham city square which I got from google images (have made a bibliography so no plagarism :P) and it ahs two options for the user to choose e.g. left button takes the user back to the student halls or the right button takes them to the shopping centre. I continued this and I reached 110th frame so the tour is relatively quite long. I also inputted sounds to my project so that the user can click or move the mouse arrow over a certian object in the picture to make a sound, hence giving the user a more interactive feel (the feel of the user actually being there). So this project concentrates on the whole interaction of the user and the computer, and my project accomplishes this by making the user feel that hes in Nottingham and actually seeing the different places he could go.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Editing the film
As you can see from the raw footage it needed some editing done to it to make it look professionally done because there is a lot of blurring from the camera we used and there are odvious bits in the film that needs to be cut out. Firstly I decided to have a title screen saying "Why me" emphasising the pain of the main actor. Then I cut out the beginning so the start of the movie is plain darkness then the light comes on to me. I added an effect to the film to make the main actor stand out, so the audience concentrates on him, maybe fade out the other characters of the film a bit too. At the end I also added credits, names of everyone who helped make the film.
One shot film (RAW FOOTAGE)
This took at least 7 shoots to take. Now im going to get on with editing this.
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Final - One shot film
Donna one of my group members wanted to do the scripting and the story line for our film so she made a really good storyline where it is perfect to emphasise the main characters loneliness. Then everyone joined heads and we all thought about how we can use the lighting, background and camera to create a really effective film set that will enable us to film this story plot.
Firstly I was chosen to be main character as out of all of us I had the stronger voice so the dialogue will be heard. Donna contacted me to let me know that the scripting was on her blog so I went on her page and decided to learn the lines to get me prepared for the shooting.
The plot of the story
Basically the story starts with the main character (me) where he has found out that he ahs been betrayed by 3 of his closest people in his life. One being his girlfriend (played by Donna) where one drunken night she has slept with my best friend (played by Thomas). This has completely destroyed the main characters's life and is indeed the loneliest guy.
What's going to happen during filming
The main character will be in a spotlight in a completely dark room so all the focus is put on him. The other two will be behind him but less visible and once the main character starts talking about what he feels about his girlfriend (Donna) for example, Donna will then step forward to the spotlight so the audience knows who I am talking about. Once i finish she will slowly step back into the darkness where I will continue on about my best friend (Tom) etc.
Then once this is over, it will show during framing that there is no one next to me showing that I am alone, then the lights come off showing complete darkness which emphasises that he is truly alone.
How we filmed it?
When we met up on Wed 21st, we set out the set using the main light and the fill light on a raised level so pointing straight to the floor creating a spotlight for the main character. The room was in total darkness and we saw using the camera that it was too bright having two lights on because we need the characters Donna and Tom to exit the framing without being seen walking off set. So we decided to use one light in a 45 degrees angle so that concentrated light is pointing on one side of my face. This made a perfect set for the other characters to leave and we also took advantage of using the studio curtains for them to walk behind making sure they are not in the frame whilst they are leaving.
During filming we needed one person to control the light (Hayley) because at the start of the film and end of the film we need someone to turn off and turn on the light. (Also Hayley did a sound effect of a body dropping to the floor using a bag :P )
The filming began, there was not much trouble, except for me forgetting some lines and everyone else trying to keep a straight face lol :P but other than that, shoting went down perfect and we all thought we did a really good job.
Firstly I was chosen to be main character as out of all of us I had the stronger voice so the dialogue will be heard. Donna contacted me to let me know that the scripting was on her blog so I went on her page and decided to learn the lines to get me prepared for the shooting.
The plot of the story
Basically the story starts with the main character (me) where he has found out that he ahs been betrayed by 3 of his closest people in his life. One being his girlfriend (played by Donna) where one drunken night she has slept with my best friend (played by Thomas). This has completely destroyed the main characters's life and is indeed the loneliest guy.
What's going to happen during filming
The main character will be in a spotlight in a completely dark room so all the focus is put on him. The other two will be behind him but less visible and once the main character starts talking about what he feels about his girlfriend (Donna) for example, Donna will then step forward to the spotlight so the audience knows who I am talking about. Once i finish she will slowly step back into the darkness where I will continue on about my best friend (Tom) etc.
Then once this is over, it will show during framing that there is no one next to me showing that I am alone, then the lights come off showing complete darkness which emphasises that he is truly alone.
How we filmed it?
When we met up on Wed 21st, we set out the set using the main light and the fill light on a raised level so pointing straight to the floor creating a spotlight for the main character. The room was in total darkness and we saw using the camera that it was too bright having two lights on because we need the characters Donna and Tom to exit the framing without being seen walking off set. So we decided to use one light in a 45 degrees angle so that concentrated light is pointing on one side of my face. This made a perfect set for the other characters to leave and we also took advantage of using the studio curtains for them to walk behind making sure they are not in the frame whilst they are leaving.
During filming we needed one person to control the light (Hayley) because at the start of the film and end of the film we need someone to turn off and turn on the light. (Also Hayley did a sound effect of a body dropping to the floor using a bag :P )
The filming began, there was not much trouble, except for me forgetting some lines and everyone else trying to keep a straight face lol :P but other than that, shoting went down perfect and we all thought we did a really good job.
Monday, 19 November 2007
One-shot film continued...... (My story plot)
I was thinking if this film can only be a minute long it should be a quick story so I came up with that there will be a group of 4 people in the studio working on building a set for a film shoot. So they are setting up camera, lighting etc and out of the group there will be 3 people who are really close friends with each other which leaves out one person feeling left out. The 3 close friends would be making jokes, laughing with one another; chatting about old a time etc whilst the other person is quietly doing his own stuff and then maybe makes an attempt to try and include him in the group but fails.
Then at the end where our main theme of loneliness will come up, one of the friends will suggest getting some lunch and all three of them leaves the studio leaving the other person alone in the room. At this time the room will get darker and we will use our lighting to concentrate on him with the camera zooming out showing the audience how alone he is.
Then at the end where our main theme of loneliness will come up, one of the friends will suggest getting some lunch and all three of them leaves the studio leaving the other person alone in the room. At this time the room will get darker and we will use our lighting to concentrate on him with the camera zooming out showing the audience how alone he is.
One-shot film
Deborah Tuck has set us a project to do in a group to create a film using all the methods that we have learnt to shoot a really good film, keeping in mind to concentrate more on the framing rather than the story. I was set in a group and we all took each other’s phone numbers down so we can keep in contact with one another to make dates and times to meet up and plan our film.
We finally met up one day and sat down and looked at the scenario that we were all given and started jotting down ideas about what the theme would be for our film so we can analyse how we can emphasise this.
Theme – Loneliness – this was decided together because we had an idea that we can use the lighting shooting at the main character in a dark room showing that he’s really alone.
Location – We decided to shoot the film indoors in one of the studios so that we could use the lighting more efficiently, and we can also use darkness in the film as well.
Then after we figured out our theme and how it could be emphasised we decided before we leave that each one of us will come up with a story of how the person could be left in a dark room feeling alone.
We finally met up one day and sat down and looked at the scenario that we were all given and started jotting down ideas about what the theme would be for our film so we can analyse how we can emphasise this.
Theme – Loneliness – this was decided together because we had an idea that we can use the lighting shooting at the main character in a dark room showing that he’s really alone.
Location – We decided to shoot the film indoors in one of the studios so that we could use the lighting more efficiently, and we can also use darkness in the film as well.
Then after we figured out our theme and how it could be emphasised we decided before we leave that each one of us will come up with a story of how the person could be left in a dark room feeling alone.
Audio and Visual classes
In the past three weeks, we have had a different lecturer called Deborah Tuck teaching us more about the audio and visual side of multimedia. Yet again we have had lectures telling us about the importance of framing (way of filming) rather than the actual plot itself. Also we have learnt different effects that can be used to enhance the film itself, so far we have had an introduction to how lighting is used to emphasise certain moments in films e.g. the theme loneliness can be emphasised by concentrating light onto one person surrounded in darkness.
Pixilation and filters
This part of the multimedia course we had Andrew Love teaching us about the usefulness of pixilation when it comes to filming. We also had a lot of lectures beforehand to give us a brief idea of what pixilation is, so in the seminars Andrew Love set us all practical work, to make a one-shot film using just a camera. This involved taking at least 300 snapshots from the camera to make. I was set in a small group of 5, including me, and we decided to use the advantages of one-stop-motion to its full extent to create a film that you cannot do using a camcorder e.g. making an orange un-skin itself (if that makes sense :P). But the main part of the project was to edit the film using a program called Adobe Paint shop Pro where we can create our own filters to give the film a really effective look e.g. change contrast, saturation etc. Below shows the film that the whole group has made. I will shortly add my film with my own filters to my blog when I get the chance to buy my hard drive.
Whiteboard animation continued
At the beginning of the course, the multimedia lecturers thought it would be a good idea to put everyone into small groups and create a white board animation. I thought this was really good idea because this project got everyone talking as team work is essential in completing this task. In the end we all created a really good animation and made friends at the same time. Below shows our white board animation.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Monday, 5 November 2007
Multimedia
Introduction to Multimedia Systems
Introduction to Multimedia
I picked up this book from the library titled "Introduction to Multimedia Systems" and literally taught me exactly what its says on the title. I learnt the whole concept of what Multimedia is from the different types of elements it has to what exactly Multimedia is and its importance to the world today.
Below I've written some interesting points from the book which I found really helped me get the understanding of what multimedia is.
Communication is an important aspect of life, without it no one would be able to interact with each other. In the early days, communication between two people started off as having a face to face conversation using speech, facial expressions and even sign language. Now today, technology has advanced from a person sending a letter to another person to a person sending a video which includes sound and visual interaction so the other person gets more information on what the other person is actually doing e.g. a video of him or her on holiday.
This is when Multimedia comes in because now that computers have developed from simple text as output, now we can get sound, pictures, videos etc. So the course multimedia is about the combination of text, graphics, sound and motion delivered to you by a computer.
The word “multimedia”
The word multimedia is derived from multiple and media. The word media means a transmission channel e.g. sound is transmitted through the medium of air, or electricity is transmitted through the medium of wires. So mix that with the word multiple and multimedia means “multiple ways of transmitting mediums.
Elements of multimedia
Audio – Audio is one of the most appealing elements as the impact of sound sets the mood and establishes the ambience e.g. a really sad and depressing part of a movie, the sound will be set to suit that mood by playing a really slow, sad song.
Audio can:
Reinforce a message or theme
To set the mood
To catch the interest of the audience
To alert the audience
Graphics – In multimedia, graphics i.e. pictures and images conveys information in a easier form to understand, Graphics can be:
Still pictures e.g. photographs
Two dimensional
Three dimensional
Animated
We could mix these elements together to create a really good form of communication e.g. mixing graphics and audio to create a video which is a effective way of communicating.
Interactivity
In a multimedia system, if the user has the ability to control the elements of when and what is delievered to the audience, then this system is called an interactive system. For example most mass media such as television and radio, these are all controlled by the user of when and what will be delivered to the mass audience originating from one source, hence the name “mass media.”
Usually interacting with the system consists of using a keyboard, mouse, touch screen etc.
So the key difference between mass media and multimedia is the shift from audience to users, and one way communication to two-way communication which is accomplished by interaction.
The nature of Sound
Sound is a key element in multimedia. Imagine watching a film without sound, or the sound gets very distorted in one of the major scenes in the film. The presence of sound enhances the effect of a video or animation.
Use od audio in multimedia
You can use sound in multimedia projects in two ways:
Content sound
Ambient sound
Content Sound
Narration – provides information about an animation that is playing on the screen
Testimonials – sound tracks used in movies
Voice-overs – used for short instructions, e.g. to navigate the multimedia application
Music – may be used to communicate in a song
Ambient Sound
Message reinforcement – the background sounds you hear in real life such as the crowd at a ball game
Background music – set the mood for the audience to receive
Sound effects – to liven up the mood and add effects to the movie.
Introduction to Multimedia
I picked up this book from the library titled "Introduction to Multimedia Systems" and literally taught me exactly what its says on the title. I learnt the whole concept of what Multimedia is from the different types of elements it has to what exactly Multimedia is and its importance to the world today.
Below I've written some interesting points from the book which I found really helped me get the understanding of what multimedia is.
Communication is an important aspect of life, without it no one would be able to interact with each other. In the early days, communication between two people started off as having a face to face conversation using speech, facial expressions and even sign language. Now today, technology has advanced from a person sending a letter to another person to a person sending a video which includes sound and visual interaction so the other person gets more information on what the other person is actually doing e.g. a video of him or her on holiday.
This is when Multimedia comes in because now that computers have developed from simple text as output, now we can get sound, pictures, videos etc. So the course multimedia is about the combination of text, graphics, sound and motion delivered to you by a computer.
The word “multimedia”
The word multimedia is derived from multiple and media. The word media means a transmission channel e.g. sound is transmitted through the medium of air, or electricity is transmitted through the medium of wires. So mix that with the word multiple and multimedia means “multiple ways of transmitting mediums.
Elements of multimedia
Audio – Audio is one of the most appealing elements as the impact of sound sets the mood and establishes the ambience e.g. a really sad and depressing part of a movie, the sound will be set to suit that mood by playing a really slow, sad song.
Audio can:
Reinforce a message or theme
To set the mood
To catch the interest of the audience
To alert the audience
Graphics – In multimedia, graphics i.e. pictures and images conveys information in a easier form to understand, Graphics can be:
Still pictures e.g. photographs
Two dimensional
Three dimensional
Animated
We could mix these elements together to create a really good form of communication e.g. mixing graphics and audio to create a video which is a effective way of communicating.
Interactivity
In a multimedia system, if the user has the ability to control the elements of when and what is delievered to the audience, then this system is called an interactive system. For example most mass media such as television and radio, these are all controlled by the user of when and what will be delivered to the mass audience originating from one source, hence the name “mass media.”
Usually interacting with the system consists of using a keyboard, mouse, touch screen etc.
So the key difference between mass media and multimedia is the shift from audience to users, and one way communication to two-way communication which is accomplished by interaction.
The nature of Sound
Sound is a key element in multimedia. Imagine watching a film without sound, or the sound gets very distorted in one of the major scenes in the film. The presence of sound enhances the effect of a video or animation.
Use od audio in multimedia
You can use sound in multimedia projects in two ways:
Content sound
Ambient sound
Content Sound
Narration – provides information about an animation that is playing on the screen
Testimonials – sound tracks used in movies
Voice-overs – used for short instructions, e.g. to navigate the multimedia application
Music – may be used to communicate in a song
Ambient Sound
Message reinforcement – the background sounds you hear in real life such as the crowd at a ball game
Background music – set the mood for the audience to receive
Sound effects – to liven up the mood and add effects to the movie.
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