65daysofstatic (Ancillary Task)

65daysofstatic are a band I really like. They are particularly well known for their effective and interesting album covers. They are a band that have built up a reputation for their arty and mysterious image.

Here are some of their album and single covers:





You can see that they aren't really linking by any running theme or style, but are more based in an intriguing central image, presented simply. The band name and titles are discrete and do no detract from the image.

Detailed Action Plan

3 December - Stop-animation workshop

10 December - Models made

3 January - All filming complete

10 January - Rough cut complete

21 January - Have final cut completed

28 January - Final deadline for main task

11 February - Complete ancillary task

18 February - Final deadline for ancillary task

My Pitch to Eugene

I recently pitched an idea for a music video a song by 'Betty Curse' to Eugene, who visited us a little while ago. It was a nervous experience, but certainly one that has taught me a lot about presenting my ideas.

Above all, the experience taught me that you can present an idea however you want, if it isn't any good, people will never be interested. I watched other people presenting ideas in a very innovative way, which was great, but if their ideas didn't work, Eugene wasn't interested.

I also learned that as well as ideas being interesting, your pitch needs to make them easy to understand. If you are trying to explain something to somebody and they just don't get it, they will likely become very bored, very quickly.

In terms of my own pitch, due to a technical fault, I had no images to help me. I think, however, this didn't limit me too much (it may have even helped me) and I think I explained my ideas clearly and concisely. Eugene seemed fairly interested throughout and picked up on several key points. He complimented my delivery and said that my plot was easy to follow. He did raise the issue that it may be difficult to produce the video on budget given the complexity.

Good Evening (Dream Big)

Good Morning, Good Evening
I hope you like dreaming
You live to learn and you learn to live
It's positive and negative
I can't sleep but I dream Big (3x)

Well it hard to get to bed with a head full of dreams
pocket full of loose change rippin at the seams
and it hard to keep move with head full of steam
It's the green It's the scene It's everything

Hard to gain perspective when ya eyes wont close
It's hard to stand tall when you already on ya toes
money can't grow on trees yea I know
It's the dough It's the show that got me all froze
en I wanna change my whole lifen
runnen out a gas tell me who gon scifen
I'm liken my chances but I don't say jack
spin the wheel of fortune like I'm sajak
all I wanna do is is a ride in a maybach
look real important but please don't say that
thats all that matters  to meeeee
why can't I just dreaaaaaaaam

Hook

Well its hard to find peace when you fighten in a war
hard to see the stars when ya sleepin on the floor
take what you can get grab for a little more
at the mall lets ball who cares about debt anymooooooooooore
no freeebies
stay aliven  like the bee gees
if they renting on easystreet believe me
I'm buyin a penthouse yea
until then tho I got to get those flows
that I do thru the ghettos
and suburbs alike
cause I really like things that are nice
greed my only vice
but I know its only natural  (ooh)
so imma do what I have to do (yea)
and when I finally get some rest (uh huh)
I can dream bout shit thats fresh.

Hook

Contacting Outasight - The Answer

Contacting Outasight

I've just contacted Outasight (the artist of the song I'm using) via his Tumblr blog page to make sure he does mind me using his material.

This is what I wrote:

" Hey Outasight!

Can I just say, I think your music is amazing. It just seems to get everything right.

What I wanted to ask was, whether you would be happy for me to use your song Good Evening (Dream Big) for a school project.

We have to make a music video and I choose your song because I listen to it almost every day on my way to class, starts the day off right. The sound is so optimistic!

I can't wait to hear back and get the project moving!

Also, I wrote about you on my Tumblr blog a while back, have a read if you are interested! "

So that's the message, lets hope I get a possitive reply soon!

My Mood Board

Eugene Riecansky

We recently had a visit and lecture from music video director Eugene Riecansky. He's a leading figure in his field and it was really interesting to hear how he go to where he is. As he was talking us through his work it was easy to see how he went about coming up with an idea. He has loads of really useful, practical tips that would only be realised through years of experience. For example, he made it clear that it was important to get your filming done over one day. Whilst that may not be possible for me, I realise now that filming it quickly over consecutive days would make things a lot easier.

When he was talking about planning, he told us that he never used story boards. Whilst he acknowledged that planning a shot list was crucial, he said that using story boards will often result in little to no creative variation when filming. This is a very valid point. Despite planning to use storyboards it may be an approach I try to use when planning my filming.

I asked him whether he preferred filming indoors or outdoors. He said he preferred indoor location largely due to the fact they result in fewer complications due to weather and other factors. This is helpful to me as I plan to shoot indoors anyway, so it served to confirm my decision.

Most of all, however, he focused on the fact that for any piece of work to be successful, the basic idea has to work. If you do not have a good, well formed idea to start with, you will struggle to make a good video. This has encouraged me due to the fact that I knew my idea right from the start. Though it has changed somewhat, I still think the basic concept is intact. I always planned to use stop motion characters, in a home setting, within a fantasy world.

So... How does Adobe Premiere Pro work?

A little while ago, we had a workshop in After Effects (our video post-production software.) Useful as that was, I still need to become proficient with Premier Pro (our editing software) making stop-motion films.

So, I went online and found a tutorial which has proved very useful. It takes you through the process step by step, setting out what you have to do clearly. How very helpful!

Click the link here to read for yourself!

Characters

Stop motion is go! But aside from my single human character, I need not a small number of clay characters. This is useful as a film maker because clay characters don't have other commitments. Nor do they need feeding or paying, and they never get tired/cold. Easy! I just have to make them first... But how?

Well, I've found this article here which has all sorts of useful hints and tips for creating a stop motion cast. This bit of particular use...

" Clay Figures: One of the main ways that Stop Motion figures are created is using clay. This can be found in many productions, from Gumby, Bob the Builder, and Celebrity Deathmatch. Clay allows you to create your figure from drawings or imagination and because you are not relying on action figures, that will be a lot more flexible and allow for a smoother animation.

To begin making a clay figure, you need to build a skeleton. Just like humans have bones to keep them up, clay figures need what are known as armatures. There are many ways of doing this and one of the easiest ways is simply creating a wire structure. Using aluminum wire and tools, you will twist and shape the wire to form the basic shape and size of the body you would like to create. Then, at key anchor points, either hot glue or melted clay would be attached for a stronger bond and less amount of breaking. These anchor points are at the head, hands, feet, pelvis, and anywhere else necessary to create the figure. "

So that's it. I need to go out and buy/find some...

• Modelling clay
• Aluminium Wire
• Willing helpers

Then I should be all set to go about making my models and start making my film. Exciting!