It is the season to be distracted

This time of year is shocking for getting things done due to the number of distractions. I've decided now would be a wonderful time to begin sharing the context presentation I gave earlier in the semester.

Since I was intended to make a B movie I thought I should thoroughly investigate what a B Movie was. Many people seem to consider them as bad low budget movies but this is not actually the case.


So what I shall do is break the presentation down in section and post it in anti-chronological order. This way it will appear in linear order to those who don't follow the blog daily.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.03

Now Gigh has been made to appear as though he grows out of the tree. At the moment it looks like too much like an ordinary morph but after the branches and leaves are added this should be reduced.



Next I shall fix the "morph" problem.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.02

Tree Fitting Gigh

Step 1

---

First I just lay pieces of tree over Gigh roughly where I want them to grow. They're just pictures I've taken from near my place and they probably aren't the best choice so I'll replace them later when I find the "perfect" tree for the role. We better hold some tree auditions...


Step 2

---

Now using a warp mesh I shall conceal Mick behind the tree.


I'll drop the opacity of the tree down to 50% so you can see what's happening.

Now we have Mick within the boundary of the tree but the tree doesn't look very good so that requires improving.


Step 3

---

I adjust the tree so the branches look like they're blended better although they're still not right yet but they will have leaves on them by the final version.




Next I did a render to see what it looks like so far... Kind of like Mick is standing up from behind a tree.


Now I need to make it appear as though the tree is growing into him...

The Last Confession of Martin Pearce

Yesterday auditions for extras were being held for a docu-drama called The Last Confession of Martin Pearce.

Seeing it as an opportunity to gain some experience on professionally funded project I decided to volunteer my services. My assistance was met with open arms which was very fortunate for them because they were flooded with an absolute deluge of auditionees.

A couple of days prior I was told there were 75 people coming along to audition and there may be a few that just walk in. In the end 153 people registered to audition and that's not including those who didn't return after I had to tell to them to come back in an hour. So the response was quite good!

It was very hectic (which I quite enjoyed) and afterwards I got to spend some one-on-one time with director Michael James Rowlands and he gave me some directorial advice and a further insight into the film.

It was quite a good learning experience!

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.00

Several weeks ago I attempted to create the visual effect depicting a tree growing from the ground and then into Gigh. As I was missing the footage I required to complete the shot I was having great difficulty in achieving the animation I desired.

I now have that missing footage thus providing me with the visual references I require to achieve the effect.

Here is the footage I shall be working with:



You'll notice Mick stands in the same position for 5 seconds then walks out the frame.

For greater flexibility I need to separate Mick from his background so I take the first frame and cut him it out using image editing software. I've made the background magenta so he contrasts nicely and you can see what I've done.



The part of the video after Mick steps out becomes a background plate:




Now I insert Mick into the background plate:



And I can now move parts of him around without interfering with the background. Mind you it doesn't look natural, partly because

1. The material of his shirt isn't blowing in the wind.
2. The shadows aren't adjusting as he moves.
   
3. This is the first time I've used this tool and I'm not very good with it!

I could improve upon this things but they're not really important to the shot I'm attempting to achieve.

Next I must "tree-fit" Mick...

Location Scouting for Tavern - Blue Bell Inn

Since I've been busy of late I haven't been producing any new material and consequentially my recent blog entries have been very textual. So to break the monotony I've decided to delve into the vast backlog of content I didn't have time to blog earlier.

Today are some location scouting images of the Blue Bell Inn which was taken into consideration for the Tavern. The reason it wasn't selected because the rooms are a bit too small for filming purposes.

I admit the photography in these pictures probably isn't the best I've taken either.

Preview DVD

If anyone involved in the production is interested in seeing the Preview DVD send me a message and I'll mail one to you.

The Preview DVD is the first 5 minutes of the film which I submitted for university assessment. Being a preview it's still not the final edit, because the effect shot take hours (or in some cases days) to complete I've decided to press ahead rather than spend more time refining the first half.

University Results

I decided not check my university results because I knew I'd passed and getting a high mark wasn't important to me. I was quite happy to go through the rest of my existence not knowing the actual mark but unfortunately a certain lecturer informed me that I got "top mark". That foiled that idea...

I still haven't checked the exact score yet...

New Non-Film Projects

It appears my Web Design clients I have almost paid off the websites I designed for them in 2006. This means I better do some more paid work because having the extra finances is very pleasant but there is a downside.

The downside is there will be further delay in the recommencement of post-production. Perhaps annoying because it pushes back the completion date of the film but unfortunately websites make money, working on this film does not.

Pity how life gets in the way of these things...

The Rehersals

Someone reading this blog for the first time might see the footage from the final rehearsals and think "What the hell is this?".

Despite the outlandishness of the final rehearsal session the actors nailed their roles during production and their performance were pretty much spot on. I think the acting is probably one of the stronger points of the film.

So give a round of applause to the actors!

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Fianle

Finale - Take #1



Finale - Take #2

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Tavern

Tavern - Take #1



Tavern - Take #2



Tavern - Take #3

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Back to Uncle Bulo

Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #1



Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #2


Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #3

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Gigh Resurrection

Gigh Resurrection - Take #1



Gigh Resurrection - Take #2

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Uncle Bulo 1

Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #1



Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #2


Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #3



Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #4

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Trollins Encounter

Trollins Encounter

Good news everybody!

I've decided to take the week off from working on this project!

I badly need a break to because I've been working on this project 6 or 7 days a week since about mid July - so that's around 4 months.

A week (or maybe even a bit longer) should be sufficient to rejuvenate my creative powers and enable me to see the project through to completion. As I've have few breaks I feel somewhat exhausted and feel that I'm not producing my best work so some time away will be highly beneficial.

Of course I won't have the luxury of sitting around and relaxing the whole time, instead I'll be starting new projects and continue others that I've been delaying over the past four months. When I do return to completing the film it'll probably be part time to enable me to continue these other projects simultaneously.

But fear not! This blog shall not be neglected as there quite a backlog of material that I haven't had time to upload yet. If I blogged everything I created then I wouldn't get any work done.

This week I will share the final rehearsal - the rehearsal in which Rebbeca Tilley was absent so each of the other cast members took turns playing Panache. It's quite amusing!

Preview - First 5 minutes - Enchanced

List of amendments

• Adjustment to colours in "Gigh Running Through the Forest" & "Trollins Encounter" scenes.
• Major upgrades to the exterior of Uncle Bulo's Abode.
• Frogs now chirp in stereo instead of just the right channel.
• Improved colours in "Panache Collects Gigh's Ashes" scene.
• Clouds in opening shot of "Gigh Resurrection" scene have been improved.
• Upgrade to both scenes featuring megalith.
  
• Changed "offine editor" to just "editor"
• Corrected grammatical in "Hell Raiser: Hellbound" credit
  

Gigh Resurrection - Approach - Visual Effect WIP

I've made a couple of tweaks to make the megalith "sit" better in it's environment. It still looks cartoonish on a computer monitor but I'm afraid changing it too much will make it look unrealistic on TV screen. So those viewing over the Internet will have to tolerate the cartoonishness for the time being.

Gigh Resurrection - Opening Shot - Visual Effect WIP

In the previous version I thought the clouds looked too much like an image floating over the top of a background. I've tried to blend them in a little better but I'm still not happy with the result.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Uncle Bulo's Abode - EXT 2 - version 1.2

Just as the shot when Panache approaches Uncle Bulo's Abode has been upgraded so has the shot where she has departed. Same updates as the previous shot but better virtual camera movement.


I think this shot needs something extra... I imagined having an owl sitting on the wind seal which flies away when the shuts. Unfortunately I don't know of any owl trainers who would freely offer their services for what would be a quite experimental shot - it would have to be filmed in front of a blue/green screen then composited into the shot.

The other option is to have a CG owl but I don't have the skills to design one that would look convincing enough. If anybody has such skills and would like to offer them then don't hesitate to contact.

Meanwhile here is the latest update to Exterior 2 of Uncle Bulo's Abode:

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Uncle Bulo's Abode - EXT - version 1.2

There were quite a few things bugging me about the Exterior shots of Uncle Bulo's Abode. Primarily the moon which looked like a circle rather than a moon and bush in the lower (our) left hand corner.

I've improved the moon significantly by giving it a moon surface texture and correcting the penumbra. The previous bush was merely a 2D image which I created by "stacking" copied and pasted sections of the source image till the bush was the desired height. This new bush is actually a bush which I filmed in my backyard and the part seen is actually 2 metres off the ground.

I also upgraded the fences. Once again the fence was extended by means of a 2D image taken during different lighting conditions thus creating an inconsistency. I've taken a frame from the source footage and overlayed on over the existing fences and now they should be consistent.

These differences probably aren't very noticeable in the YouTube video but on larger displays they stand out much more.


Latest Version - 1.2




Previously Uploaded Version - 1.08
See the entry on 4th October 2007 for more information



Once again the shot still isn't finshed because I want it to begin entered on the moon then zooming out and tilting down to reveal Panache running to the cottage door.

Audio Out of Sync

I've received several reports that the audio is out of sync. I played the video back myself and the audio is fine up until the first exterior of Uncle Bulo's Abode. From that point onwards it goes hideously out of sync and I'm not entirely sure what's caused this.

I presume something has went wrong in the encoding when YouTube converted the video to Flash Video format. This may have had something to do with the format I uploaded which was a WMV file. Usually I upload DivX files which have few problems but for some reason the DivX encoder kept crashing when I attempted to convert the full length film from an uncompressed AVI.


I shall upload the full length film at the end of this week using different codecs and then we shall see if that fixes the problem.

Preview - The first 5 minutes

I needed to submit something for assessment so I've submitted the first five minutes.

It's not easy submitting incomplete work and I'm not even allowed to explain what stage of development the film has reached or what improvements will be made in the future. It must be presented "as is" under the assumption this is the final version.

Here is the first 5 minutes - add an extra minutes for the credits. It's been heavily compressed to fit on YouTube and with the small frame size it's going to lose a lot of quality. Better than nothing though.




Interestingly enough when viewed on different displaying devices (such as a CRT TV or a plasma screen) the quality of the video varies. For example the megalith looks much more realistic on a plasma screen while on a computer monitor it looks very cartoonish (as Phil has noticed).

Artist's Statement

As a mandatory requirement for E-Meda 312 I must also submit an Artist's Statement when I submit my project.

Here's what I came up with:


My aim was to produce a B Movie drawing influences from the low budget fantasy and adventure films of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Though I didn’t intend to recreate such films, I wanted to create a new contemporary form of B Movie retaining the old charm while utilising modern filmmaking technologies.

I devised a story set about 150 years in Australia’s past, yet I avoided representing actual locations. I wanted to create “a world of my own” and steer away from mimicking a “Tolkeinesque” fantasy. I helped this along by allowing the Australian actors to retain their accents and displaying indigenous flora in some of the exterior shots.

Rather than tell a “damsel in distress” tale I wanted the female protagonist to be a saviour and rescue her husband while plotting to intellectually defeat the villain. I the kept the dialogue mildly campy because I didn’t want to portray the characters too outlandishly, however I did accentuate the B Movie atmosphere by borrowing scores from old movies.

The film contains no pertinent messages or has any underlying significances. Its purpose is to simply entertain those with an appreciation for B Movies and to explore the possibilities of what can be achieved using modern video editing software.

Gigh Resurrection - Panache Approaches the Megalith - Examines - Visual Effect WIP

Panache examines the megalith.



This is actually a still image. The reason I'm using a still is because I didn't have all the first 5 seconds of the shot and the footage I did have wasn't long enough. So to extend the shot I'm using a still but I haven't had time to add the video footage.

Gigh Resurrection - Panache Approaches the Megalith - Opening Shot - Visual Effect WIP

Gigh Resurrection - Opening Shot - Visual Effect WIP

A nice long opening shot for the Gigh Resurrection scene - perhaps too long. Easily shortened if required.



Like most visual effect shots it still needs more work...

Portfolio DVD

As a require of E-Media 312 I must create a portfolio DVD or website showcasing examples of my past work. Since I appear to be a proficient web designer I opted to design a DVD menu. Ironically, due to time constraints I designed the interface more like a website rather than a typical DVD menu. It still looks decent but lacks the razzle dazzle of the more impressive DVD menus.



I decided to use Adobe Encore which I've found to be an un-intuitive and awkward program. It makes simple things unnecessarily difficult. Here's but one example; if I want to change the layer order I can just drag the layer up or down in the layer palette, first I must select the layer I want to move, then go to the Edit menu then the Arrange sub menu and repeat till the layer is in the appropriate order. There are shortcut keys but this could be so easily remedied with a drap and drop system or buttons above the layer palette.

Panache Collects Gigh's Ashes extended

To create a time delay from when Panache leaves Uncle Bulo's Abode and returns to the site of Gigh's ashes I returned to Kangaroo Bluff Battery and filmed some additional footage with my camcorder.

I'm still missing the footage shot of Panache entering the frame so because of that the dissolve from swamp to wall is a little rushed. As soon as I get footage I'll make the dissolve longer.

I've turned day into night and added a moon to justify the light source. Not sure if the moon looks right though.



The Trollins Encounter location was originally a moat which extended the entire circumference of the battery. Decades after the battey was abandoned a young boy drowned in the moat and consequentially most of it was filled, however two pockets of moat remain at either end of the area we were filming.

Even though the moat is ripe with tadpoles the sound of the frogs croaking actually originates from a ditch over my back fence. After hearing the little buggers every night I really wanted to use their croaking and this seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Panache Leaves Uncle Bulo's Abode

I've been experimenting with a new visual effect shot for when Panache leaves Uncle Bulo's abode.

Like most visual effect shots the first version needs a lot of work but here is the first version. The static image of the bush on the left badly needs replacing with live video and I don't like the pan/zoom which follows Panache.

Variation #1




The reason I've added the pan and zoom is to cover a continuity problem. In the previous shot Uncle Bulo begins opening the door to usher Panache outside but unfortunately due to rain we couldn't get a shot from the exterior of him standing at the door as she leaves. We had to come back the next day and film exteriors but we didn't have John so we only filmed was Bec leaving.

Some score has been added

I've been editing the score from some old movies, including Day of the Triffids, House on Haunted Hill and Metropolis.


So here is the soundtrack! Just sound, no visuals.

Sound Sweetening - Uncle Bulo (first visit)

Sweetened




Original

Sound Sweetening - Uncle Bulo's Abode EXT

Sweetened


Original

Sound Sweetening - Trollins Encounter

Sweetened



Original

Sound Sweetening - Gigh Running Through the Forest

This week I've been working on the sound so I've cleaned up the dialgoue and added Foley. I'm not sure how YouTube with replay the sound on different computers but here's the latest version.


Sweetened




Original

Questions and then Answers

The adoring fans have been asking questions and leaving feedback so now is a wonderful time to respond to them.

Anonymous said...
The gap between when Panache enters and when she first speaks worries me

Uncle Bulo does say "Panache" before he looks up but the audio may be too low for it to be heard. I'll be working on the sound next week so I'll increase the volume and add sound effects for her footsteps. That should fill the void nicely.


Phil said...
Why is Gigh still shacking on the ground? Shouldn't it be a continuos flow of lightning, and the throw back arms to> thrust forward would be a higher, more intensified bolt?

During editing I decided I didn't want Trollins casting lightning continuously. I don't have time at the moment but I plan to go back and replace the convulusing Gigh with a Gigh just lying there. Probably won't get to that till December though.


Phil said...
Awesome, lightning looks great despite YT. Is that your computer fan mixed in with the lightning sound
No, I'm not sure how you hear a computer fan because that audio is taken from an electric power coupling overloading and sparking.

Phil said...
That first pan is great. And good shots! Though...red post.
The post is a reference point for the megalith so it will be "covered over" when I get around to adding it.


Phil said...
Oh, I forgot to comment. is there any wind? I can't hear a thing, that wall may have a bit to do with it though... Anyway, I like what's going on with the sounds and voices.
There was no wind at the Kangaroo Bluff Battery location as far as I'm aware. In fact I think the audio recorded better there than anywhere else.


Bec said...
The dialogue between Gigh and Panache after Trollins gets frozen is rather fast - I mean, not the actual talking, but the time between each line. I know at the time we were saying it quite fast, but it seems you've cut it together even faster. It needs to be slower, it sounds unnatural.

The dialogue was cut too fast in most of the film so that's being rectified in the next cut.

Gigh Resurrection - Tree Grow

I somehow must make a tree grow from nothing and eventually emerge as Mick Lowenstein...

I still don't have the missing footage making it difficult to determine the timing but I must figure out how its going to be accomplished.


This is my initial experiment:

Uncle Bulo's Abode (first visit) - Next Cut

Here's the next cut. The pace has been slowed down a bit and the colours have been worked on. The sunlight shining through the window has also been removed.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Trollins Attacks - Shot 7 - Version 1

This one needs a lot of work.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Trollins Attacks - Shot 6 - Version 1

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Trollins Attacks - Shot 5 - Version 1

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Trollins Attacks - Shot 3 - Version 1

The YouTube compression looks hideous. The source video was nice and clear before it was uploaded.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Trollins Attacks - Shot 1 & 2 - Version 1

Short, seemingly simple shots which take hours to put together...







And they still need more work...

Artist's Statement

As a mandatory requirement for E-Meda 312 I must also submit an Artist's Statement when I submit my project.

Here's what I came up with:


My aim was to produce a B Movie drawing influences from the low budget fantasy and adventure films of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Though I didn’t intend to recreate such films, I wanted to create a new contemporary form of B Movie retaining the old charm while utilising modern filmmaking technologies.

I devised a story set about 150 years in Australia’s past, yet I avoided representing actual locations. I wanted to create “a world of my own” and steer away from mimicking a “Tolkeinesque” fantasy. I helped this along by allowing the Australian actors to retain their accents and displaying indigenous flora in some of the exterior shots.

Rather than tell a “damsel in distress” tale I wanted the female protagonist to be a saviour and rescue her husband while plotting to intellectually defeat the villain. I the kept the dialogue mildly campy because I didn’t want to portray the characters too outlandishly, however I did accentuate the B Movie atmosphere by borrowing scores from old movies.

The film contains no pertinent messages or has any underlying significances. Its purpose is to simply entertain those with an appreciation for B Movies and to explore the possibilities of what can be achieved using modern video editing software.

Gigh Running Through The Forest

There's the next edit of Gigh running through the forest. The colours have been altered and there has been some work done to the sound.

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Uncle Bulo's Abode - EXT - version 2

Here is the next version of the exterior of Uncle Bulo's Abode. Several people suggested the tilt moved too quickly so I've slowed it down.



The shot is still not complete and more work will be done on it later.

Rough Cut - Tavern Scene

Filmed at the Hope & Anchor Tavern last Saturday is the Tavern scene

Visual Effect - Work In Progress - Uncle Bulo's Abode - EXT

Whilst filming we could get the shot I wanted for Uncle Bulo's Abode because adjacent Rosny Cottage is the old School House leaving about a 50 metre gap between the two. The first problem was not enough space to frame the cottage in the shot and the other problem was the school house reflected on the cottage windows.

This was the footage I began working with.



Later I went back and took a still of the cottage. I resized the video footage so it sat within the image and this way I could fit the entire cottage in the shot. I added a virtual camera which to tilt down from the moon to Panche rushing towards the cottage doorway.



The shot still needs more work, particularly around the bottom corners as it looks two cartoon like.

Rough Cut - Finale

This scene is also missing a few shots...

Rough Cut - Return to Uncle Bulo

Missing some shots at the beginning...

Rough Cut - Gigh Resurrection

Once again there's some missing shots which I expect to recieve later.

Rough Cut - Panache retrieves Gigh's ashes

I seem to be missing the very first shot where Panache approaches the ashes. I hope to receive it soon.

Rough Cut - Uncle Bulo's Abode (first visit)

Rough Cut - Trollins Encounter

Rough Cut - Gigh Running Through the Forest

Just the shots edited together and nothing else... No colour grading... No sound editing...

How not to record Foley of footsteps

I did a small experiment to see how well I could capture the sound of my footsteps while running. It didn't turn out very well...

Rebecca Tilley

Behold Rebecca Tilley - a sumptuous cornucopia of talent! Brimming with enthusiasm she approaches her tasks with a steadfast dedication and the utmost pizzazz!

To discover the full extent of her wonder visit her work blog "Versatility is Vital"

Map to locations

Here's an overview of the locations we'll be filming at.

Location Scouting for Tavern - Hope & Anchor Hotel

Last Thursday Alan Jennison and myself once again conducted some Location Scouting and Sound Tests. We visited the Hope & Anchor to secure a location for the tavern scene.











The items which should not appear in shot or will have to be removed digitially during post production are numbered in the above picture.

Sound Tests - Hope and Anchor Hotel

Test 1




Test 2




Test 3

Location Scouting for Uncle Bulo's Abode - Rosny Cottage

On our continuing mission to find the best possible locations myself and Alan Jennison visit Rosny Farm to have a look at their cottage.

Visit the Rosny Farm website and see what it has to offer!


The numbers represent the items which should not appear in shot or will need digital altering in Post Production.

Sound Tests - Rosny Cottage

Test 1




Test 2




Test 3

Costumes - Alan Jennison

Alan Jennison has a number of costumes so he's photographg some that may be appropriate.

Gigh

That vest might work quite well with that John picked out.

Unlce Bulo

Hard to tell without someone actually wearing it!

Test build for Uncle Bulo's Abode

The original plan was to build a small set for Uncle Bulo's Abode so last week I attempted a test build.

Unfortunately the brushwood looked horrible when it was hung up so I decided to use it on the floor. The idea would be to composite a background during post production, however this may been unsuccessful.






It seems finding an existing location would be a better choice.

Rough Cut - Finale

This scene is also missing a few shots...

Costumes - Hobart Repertory

John Andrews (Uncle Bulo) has been digging around the Hobart Repertory's costume department for some suitable attire for the characters. Here's some suitable items he's come up with.

He models them so well doesn't he?

For Gigh

Not sure if that vest works with the shirt - not enough constrast.

For Uncle Bulo

Looks kind of Northern African Nomad, but may be suitable.

Looks like a blue Darth Sidious cloak. We'd need to do something with the arms.

Sound Tests - Droughty Point

In addition to the photographs Alan Jennison and myself conducted some microphone tests to determine how noticable the wind noise was. With the aid of a fluffy windsock the noise was reduced but there are still traces of it - a wonderful musical score would hide them nicely.

Test 1




Test 2 - No Windsock




Test 3




Test 4




Test 5




Test 6




Test 7




Test 8

Location Scouting - Droughty Point

On Thursday Alan Jennison (the photographer) and myself did some Location Scouting and Sound Testing around Droughty Point.

In the top left corner is the Tasman Bridge.




We both took some images, here are some of mine - digitially enhanced of course!

Location Scouting for the forest - The Domain

In case the Kangaroo Bluff forest is insufficient there is some more substantial forest about 5km in an area known as The Domain.

Location Scouting for Forest - Kangaroo Bluff

Kangaroo Bluff Battery also offers a potential forest however it is somewhat small and confined.

Here are some images...