Why i added a 3rdtwist at the end of the film

I wanted to add a second twist to the end of my film to give it more depth so i looked into films that i thought would help me find what i was looking for.I started off by looking at the film series saw.This was very helpful as it gave me an idea about what i could do at the end of the my film.The idea was inspired by the first saw film as throughout the whole film you see a guy laying down in the middle of the room appearing to be dead when in fact he is the mastermind behind it all.This shocked me when i was told it at the end of the film and I wanted to re-create something similar to this as i believe it would make my film so i decided At the end of my short film i would reveal that the whole house burning down was just a trap to capture the thug.I did this by adding a 3rd twist to the film,i replaced me sitting in the chair that was in front of tv to a skull head and stuffing in the clothing i was wearing to make it look like a skeleton was there the whole time.In the end i believe everything came out well as i had 3 twists to the film as at first you think the guy walking down the road is a thug trying to rob the place then you see he is actually trying to save the place and finally you find out he was in fact being trapped by someone that obviously wanted him killed.

Character creation

I had to think hard about this as if i chose the wrong character for my film the film it would just make no sense. I wanted my character to look as if they were about to rob a house so I looked into pictures of robbers and thugs. In my search I found a common trend between most of the thugs in cities,they all wore hoodies and sometimes caps. I then looked into the film top boy as this is all about thugs to see if i could get any more inspiration for my film. When watching the series i didn't get anymore inspiration but it did make me decided for sure what i wanted.I decided I needed to get a hood a cap some air max and preferably dark clothing.In the end i believe i pulled it all off very well as if i had not looked into what people think thugs look like in towns i might of ended up with a character that would make no sense in my short film point of view and would therefor ruin the film.

sound track selection

As I had been inspired by the guardian advert “points of view” made in the ‘80s I listened carefully to its soundtrack and it is interesting as it is an authoritative voiceover. It is like an old pathe news report almost. Interesting but not very current, I think in the 1980s this would have come across in a different way than today, but I also did not want to have a script as this too is telling people what to think in a way. I looked at the site below to find out some real life issues with sound tracks and copyright etc and this is really interesting stuff. So I decided I needed to make music myself to use, either electronically or in a beatbox style. http://www.shockwave-sound.com/Articles/106_Choosing_Music_for_Short_Film_Projects.html I looked at other classical type violin soundtracks, but to me those seem to be taken as either romantic or horror films, that is what springs to mind when there is no narrative, so I looked at creating some electronic music. I also listened to famous classical soundtracks – like The William Tell overture, which is probably best known for the lone Ranger, and as I listened to the soundtracks and realised how many were so familiar just because of the adverts or films they had been associated with, it made me realise how important the soundtrack is. http://listverse.com/2011/04/07/top-10-best-known-classical-melodies/ As I am a beatboxer, this is a great option for me, and I can match the sound to the rhythm of the film, and also I think it is a current sound, and so brings the film up to date and relevant today. I am pleased with the soundtrack I made, it matches the atmosphere of the film and gives it an edge.

looking at other films about points of view

The advert that most appealed to me was this advert made in 1986 for the guardian newspaper. It is short, in black and white and really challenges peoples perceptions as it is about a skinhead who is seen running, then you see him running towards a business man and reaching out for him (so you think he is going to rob him) and then from another angle you see that he has seen a palette of bricks about to fall on the man and is actually saving him. and the moral of the tale is not to judge a book by its cove and to read a newspaper that will give you the whole story is the guardian. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8gqsh_the-guardian-points-of-view-1986_news In this piece each different point of view reveals a bit more about what is really happening, and each uses a new camera angle. This is like visual paragraphs, and separates the film into three parts. The voiceover is the constant, and though it seems patronising now, I can see it would have sounded more like commonsense back then. And it is very powerful. The viewer is left thinking about their own point of view and feeling silly for having been fooled by the skinhead stereotype. If I could create that kind of confusion or distortion in my film I would be very pleased. I really wanted to make people have one view and then change that view through the film, and I think I did achieve that.

/////looking at other films about fires

The most famous disaster film made in the ‘70s the effects here are amazing for the time they were made and still amazing now. It made me realise just how powerful images of fire are and how emotive. The flames here burn to an almost white flame, very bright and it is very dramatic. Of course there was a real towering inferno on 9/11 and this footage shows what real flames are like in that situation, very black. Very smoky and very scary. I needed to find a fire effect that would be not just realistic but also would conform to what people think a fire is like as the viewer has to believe it. I looked at some real life images of houses on fire: And could see that there is more colour to the flames which also coincides with what people would associate with a real flame so that mixture of orange flame and smoke gave me a basis for my effects. Now I just had to concentrate on making the effects work!

adding effects

As this module was all about effects i needed to think about what effects i was going to add to my film. I started off by thinking about what sort of effects would i need to obtain if i wanted to make a house look like it was on fire. I wrote down a list of what i needed 1.smoke2.fire3.debris. i knew what needed so I started to look for the effects.I thought about filming a fire on green screen and adding it in but that would of just been to dangerous.I then thought about making a small fire and filming it but then i thought that would just not give the effect i needed as it would be way to small and i doubt there would have been enough smoke. I ended up buying some source fxs such as flames and smoke that i could add to my film using masks and other effects in after effects to give off the look i needed. I needed to add more effects to my film so i decided to look into ways in witch i could create an animated ending title sequence in the end i done this by following this tutorial I had to resubmit my work and was given a chance to add more effects i lost my original film so i had to just re-create bits of it so i decided that i would try and add a cctv camera.I wish i had thought of this when doing my actual film as this would of given it a lot more depth.

Post production issues

I had to think about how to divide the film up into the three sections: the beginning when you think the guy is going to rob the house; the middle when you see him being a hero as the house is on fir and finally the part where you realise he has been set up and drawn into a house on fire and is the victim.I thought that i would divide the first two fairly equally and then just at the end reveal the true nature of what was going on as if i made this bit too long the surprise would be lost a bit.It was an interesting exercise editing this film, and in retrospect I was lucky as i was able to use most of what i shot. i am pleased with how i divided up the film into sections, i think it works well.I used a piece of softwear that you get when you buy a go pro called go pro studios this was helpful but made it a lot more difficult to add effects at the end as i should of just put it all together on after effects so i could add different effects to each scene with a lot more ease.

Practicalities of camera angles and goPro

I had chosen to use a goPro to shoot my short film, the wide angle lens gives me the effect I want and it is small and easy to carry around, but I did have to think about how to hold it for much of the action. As fairly new to the goPro I did some research on how best to use it: http://www.chrisspooner.com/gopro-camera-tips-tricks-best-settings-advice as they say on their site the audio is a real problem with feedback etc so I was doing a separate soundtrack, this suited my film anyway, but is a real downside of the camera. I was able to use a tripod for much of the filming, and thought of filming some of it hand held, but as the camera is so light this can be difficult to keep steady, so I had to think about where I could place my tripod to get the angles I wanted and set up and try different angles and systems of camera support. http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2014/03/turning-your-gopro-hero-3/ This is an interesting article about using the best tool for the job, whether or not it is a go Pro or not, but this person had the option of setting up multiple cameras to get the same footage from different angles, I did not have this luxury! So I had to think in advance of the angles I wanted to shoot from, the different angles being so important for the telling of my story as this is how the “plot “ reveals itself, so I had to plan the shots to make sure I could do them quickly one after the other so for example the natural lighting was not too different from one angle to another. Again this research made me realise just how important planning is for every aspect of making a film or short film, just because it is short does not mean you can get away with a lack of planning! I was thinking of doing some running shots with a camera attached to my helmet for example, but this though technically feasible with a goPro – one of its many advantages - did not actually fit in with the filming in the end as I developed the story.

Technical Practicalities.

Having looked at the location issues previously, it became clear that I was actually quite limited with where and when i could shoot. I did have my actor lined up and willing, but his availability was going to be a factor. I had to rethink my ideas to bring them in line with the reality of my situation, the type of camera I’m using and the kind of film I want to make. I took inspiration from the site adamandeveddb.com, http://www.adamandeveddb.com/#/work/latest this was the company that originally made the famous guardian points of view advert in the 1980s (though under a new name now) This helped me to focus my thoughts on what I was trying to achieve and how best to show that. So I was limited due to my actor and due to the lack of budget for travel and also the access issues which pretty much narrowed down my location for me and so I had to look at the technical practicalities of my own street! Of course this ticked the boxes – power points n the house, access to the front and rear of the property for filming, and the possibility of easily reshooting as necessary. I had checked with my housemates that they didn’t mind me using the living room for example, and so I was able to focus my time and energy on the actual plot and how this would work out. http://www.raindance.org/7-rules-for-writing-short-films-2/ this site also gives great advice on the technicalities of filming in the “real world” . interesting to see how with a short film you still have to tell your story and so in fact you need to think carefully about every shot and every emotion shown to get something across in a short space of time. Reading this article made me realise that I wanted to shoot my film without a script, let the action tell the story, that way the viewer can focus on the action and has to think about what is going on, this subjectivity of experience is exactly what I wanted to put across. And technically, this is something I can do, I don’t need to rely on my actor (friend) to speak when he may not be comfortable with that, and can keep his input to a minimum, giving me more time to create a soundtrack and edit add effects etc.

How I will choose the location for my short film

I know that I have some ideas for what I want to get across on my film, but I need to be sure that I have thought about the location for it carefully. I have a few options, I have spent a lot of time in France over xmas for example so I did shoot some footage there, I read a really useful article on location scouting in an online magazine called Videomaker. This did help to focus my thoughts even though it was about a much larger scale production, however really good tips such as brining an extra memory card, and looking into the pros and cons of different locations too – thinking about the weather, my transport options and who else will be involved for example. Also this article reinforced why I should make notes about what I’m thinking, and the locations I look at as this builds up a useful resource. I did shoot footage in france but realised that this was not going to be practical – I would have no option ( well no practical option) to go back and re shoot anything, and as this scenario I was looking at was outside I would also be relying on weather conditions etc I also looked at other sites such as Independentfilmadvice.com and the advice to be found is interesting, and though most of the sites are not what you are looking for each one does have some little bit of advice that is helpful. These helped me to think about the actual practicalities of shooting my short film. For example I new hit had to be somewhere I know and that I have easy access to as the person I am using as my actor works and so is not around all the time and I need to be flexible about the filming and be able to do it anytime. So I made a short list of things to ;look out for. Firstly the atmosphere of the location. I need to think about what I am finally going to film and match this to the location possibilities. secondly The lighting possibilities, the use of outdoor shots means I will rely on weather to an extent, will I be able to bring in lighting if needed? Thirdly, access – I need to use a location that is available all the time, due to the actors commitments and availability. In other productions this may involve negotiating with for example shop keepers or passers by and I would need to be prepared for this type of thing to minimise difficulties when it comes to shooting. FinallyThe sound is a concern for many filmmakers, eg filming near a railway line involves more planning to avoid the noise of the train if that is what you want to do. I may choose to record the soundtrack separately however but I need to know what my options are.

A document that explores the concept of how you may develop a transmedia artefact from your original project

I believe my original project has helped me a lot as it has made me think more about the book i plan on creating about a kid called finn who is a devil of a child that lives in a fantasy world of nightmares the kid wont be an average kid he has the power to make a dream or nightmare reality.I have been looking into this idea for quite some time and this project has definitely helped me out with this. I want the book to appeal to teenagers rather than kids.so i can make it a lot more horrific.I first got this idea when i was a kid as i loved to read the books by Darren Shan I want my book to be a book with loads of writing but i all so want to have a lot of good concept art as i think this will give the book a lot of character this is another reason why the competitions have helped me.

evaluation

Finn barmer OUDF503 Evaluation For this project i was set a task to search for a competition brief and complete it . For this I looked at a brief about a book illustration competition. The competition was to create 3 concept pieces of art work that illustrate scenes in the book and a book cover for the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad,which first appeared in publication in 1899.I thought this was perfect for me as i want to create a book when i'm older and need to get better with my concept drawing.I started off my research by looking into a few concept designers for inspiration,as i had to read the book i did that as well.I also re-watched the film apocalypse now for more inspiration.This was a great source of inspiration for me as the film really drags you into the nightmareish world of the jungle and distorted reality even though its not an animation the film work is so incredible it makes you think you are there and i found this a really use full exercise.Watching the film and reading the book got me thinking about nightmarish reality and nightmares in general.I think this was helpful when i was doing the illustrations for the competition.In conclusion to this competition i am very pleased with the final pieces of work as by looking at them you can tell they are all done by one person as i tried to make them look similar by what colours and technique i used.If i could do them again i would probably try to add more depth by adding more layers.My tutor said this project was not big enough so i had to do another one so I looked into more competitions.I came across this competition early on,in this competition i had to create a 30 - 1 min advert for a rolo advert.The advert competition was about rolo trying to bring back to life the old saying who would you give your last rolo to? I wanted to create this advert on my go pro so I got my m8s together to film the idea I had about a monkey fight.The idea was that I would have 2 monkeys fighting as monkeys are very cool I think and they appear in many adds for other brands but rolo hadn't done it yet so I thought maybe this could be time for them.I set up the shoot made handles out of cardboard and string to control the monkeys.I filmed the shoot but when i got on to my computer to look at what I had got I was very disappointed and decided that if i was going to do this film i would have to use a different camera but in the end I decided I wanted to just dump the idea and look for another concept art competition as this is what i want to do when i'm older and would be a lot more relevant to me.I looked at many concept art competitions then I came across the competition by spectrum a concept art paradise book. In this competition i had to design a series of drawings that would would be judged by a group of professional concept designers.As i want to create a book in the future about nightmares i knew i wanted to create 5 images that linked in with that theme.I was able to draw on my research from the previous competition and i found that my ideas all came together quite easily and seemed to follow on really easy and i am quite pleased with that. I looked into the film nightmare before christmas for more inspiration for this theme as it is about Halloween and what goes bump in the night. I love this film but i believe it did not give me as much inspiration as the film apocalypse now and this I think has shown in my final drawings as they look more realistic then cartoony I think.Before I started drawing my characters I decided I needed to have a theme so you could tell they were all in the same series. I decided I would use the technique I created and used for the previous competition on heart of darkness.I used this tecnique but improved it as I used way more layers to give off a cool and scary like feel. I looked at a tutorial on digital tutors about what colours to use and this was very helpful as in the end I think my colours varied a lot in every picture but yet the tone of colour was the same.If i could re do this module i would defiantly try and choose my competition sooner as when i get modules that gives you a long time to do I all ways seem to think i can just do it later this is one of the reasons why I handed it in late i was all so very indecisive about what i was going to do this did not help.I would all so like to add that I have been have been feeling very stressed as things have not been going well in my life and this is another reason why I took so long picking a competition and completing it.In conclusion I am very pleased with the work I have produced and the skills I have learnt in photoshop and will carry on trying to get better.I am very pleased as this module has helped me think about what I do want to do in the future and has given me the kick up the ass i need to start getting better at concept drawing and i all so belive after this very late hand in i need to get better at my time management so i guess in a way this has helped me realise i am poor at it and need to improve.

Work that i didnt use for my competiton

These are just 2 of the drawings i decided not to send as i thought they did not link in as well as the other drawings. I wanted to have a theme as this is what is needed if you are creating a book of drawings.

My finals for my spectrum competition on nightmares

I decided to do my series on nightmares as i thought i could come up with a few cool concept designs for a future book i might do on nightmares and thought this would be the best way to start doing some concept work above are 5 drawings i produced that depict what i think would be in a nightmare. I Used a range of colours in my drawings to add varity but i made sure i done them all in the same style so you could tell are meant to be in the same series of drawings.

Nightmare before christmas

As i am looking into nightmares i thought it would be silly if i didnt look into this film as it is one of my favourites. This film is an old classic and is about a fantasy land of halloween by tim burton. The film has many interesting and unique charecters that i looked at for inspiration for my drawings Below are just some of the charecters i thought were amazing. My favourite out of the characters above has to be the 3 children as they are evil yet innocent at the same time as they are kids. I believe this is a very good concept at it gets you to like them even though they are very evil. In the book i want to produce i will look into ways in witch i can do this looks good on the outside but yet you still know from looking at them they have some evil about them.

spectrum

I propose to do another competition as the first competition i done was very small.This competition is a competition to create a series of images to get published in the book spectrum.The book spectrum is a book that has many cool and interesting pieces of concept art from all around the world.For this competition i am to create 5 images that are linked in a series,they can be on what ever i want. I thought this would be a good idea as in the future i want to make a book on the theme nightmare and by doing this competition i can improve my skills on photoshop so i can do this in the future.

Rolo advert competition

I found a competiton and was deciding if i should go ahead and do it so I came up with an idea called Monkey Fight. I wanted to show two monkeys fighting over the last Rolo, trying to get away from the sentimental ads, just to be a bit different. I spent a lot of time setting up this footage (I used toy monkeys and made them into puppets with string to act out the scene) but I think the fact of using a go pro camera just limits what I can achieve too much and so when I looked at what I had got for all my hard work, it just wasn’t what I needed. So i decided i would change the second comp i was doing and look down into more concept art work competitions as this is what i want to do later on on in life. Below is the test work i had for my monkey advert.

My cover for heart of darkness

This is my cover piece for the Competition as i looked at many other heart of darkness book covers i noticed a lot of them had a boat in them as it is a vital part in the film so i thought it would be silly not to add a boat on my cover. I designed this to link in with the other images i produced by using the same method i created on photoshop to give off a very cool and interesting background.

Heart of darkness concept pieces of art and quotes

Below are the 3 drawings i created for the competition.I decided to go with a look that i would say made the book look evil as i believe the book is evil.I made up a new technique on photoshop to create these images. I wish to improve this technique in the future as i want to have my own style of drawing in books in the future and if i look a tutorials my work will just look the same as other peoples. I do not wish that as i believe in art the best thing is to be original. "I had no idea of the conditions, he [the harlequin] said: these heads were the heads of rebels. I shocked him excessively by laughing. Rebels! What would be the next definition I was to hear? There had been enemies, criminals, workers—and these were rebels. Those rebellious heads looked very subdued to me on their sticks." “I ordered the men to prepare to lift the anchor in case we had to leave suddenly. ‘Will they attack?’ whispered a voice. ‘We’ll be butchered in this fog,’ said another. Our hands trembled, our eyes forgot to blink. It was interesting to contrasting expressions on the white men and the black fellows, who were just as unfamiliar with that part of the river as we were. The whites were clearly upset and shaken, and looked shocked by such outrageous noises. The black men, on the other hand, looked alert but generally calm. Two of the men were even smiling as they prepared the anchor. Their headman was standing near me. ‘Hmm,’ I said. ‘Catch him,’ he said, flashing his sharp teeth. ‘Catch him and give him to us.’ ‘What would you do with him?’ ‘Eat him!’ he said, as he looked out into the fog. I would have been horrified, but it occurred to me that the natives onboard must have been very hungry. on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow. There was a vast amount of red - good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coast, a purple patch, to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer. However, I wasn't going into any of these. I was going into the yellow. Dead in the centre. And the river was there—fascinating—deadly—like a snake."

heart of darkness

I saw this competition brief and as i like this book i decided to do illustrations in accordance with this competition brief. It is an amazing story, and links in with my earlier thoughts on perceptions of reality as this is really about differing perceptions of reality in a quite horrific way. I like the jungle setting and find this is quite inspirational for me. The story is dreamlike in many ways. Though more nightmare like, I like how this book made me think of the jungle as a dangerous place, most films I have seen portray the jungle as a kind of happy place, (think Jungle Book) but here it is the setting for isolation and desperation. In the competition im doing i have to design 3 concept pieces of work and a cover for the book heart of darkness below is a summary of the book. Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian concern organized to trade in the Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company’s stations. The native inhabitants of the region have been forced into the Company’s service, and they suffer terribly from overwork and ill treatment at the hands of the Company’s agents. The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man’s settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness. Marlow arrives at the Central Station, run by the general manager, an unwholesome, conspiratorial character. He finds that his steamship has been sunk and spends several months waiting for parts to repair it. His interest in Kurtz grows during this period. The manager and his favorite, the brickmaker, seem to fear Kurtz as a threat to their position. Kurtz is rumored to be ill, making the delays in repairing the ship all the more costly. Marlow eventually gets the parts he needs to repair his ship, and he and the manager set out with a few agents (whom Marlow calls pilgrims because of their strange habit of carrying long, wooden staves wherever they go) and a crew of cannibals on a long, difficult voyage up the river. The dense jungle and the oppressive silence make everyone aboard a little jumpy, and the occasional glimpse of a native village or the sound of drums works the pilgrims into a frenzy. Marlow and his crew come across a hut with stacked firewood, together with a note saying that the wood is for them but that they should approach cautiously. Shortly after the steamer has taken on the firewood, it is surrounded by a dense fog. When the fog clears, the ship is attacked by an unseen band of natives, who fire arrows from the safety of the forest. The African helmsman is killed before Marlow frightens the natives away with the ship’s steam whistle. Not long after, Marlow and his companions arrive at Kurtz’s Inner Station, expecting to find him dead, but a half-crazed Russian trader, who meets them as they come ashore, assures them that everything is fine and informs them that he is the one who left the wood. The Russian claims that Kurtz has enlarged his mind and cannot be subjected to the same moral judgments as normal people. Apparently, Kurtz has established himself as a god with the natives and has gone on brutal raids in the surrounding territory in search of ivory. The collection of severed heads adorning the fence posts around the station attests to his “methods.” The pilgrims bring Kurtz out of the station-house on a stretcher, and a large group of native warriors pours out of the forest and surrounds them. Kurtz speaks to them, and the natives disappear into the woods. The manager brings Kurtz, who is quite ill, aboard the steamer. A beautiful native woman, apparently Kurtz’s mistress, appears on the shore and stares out at the ship. The Russian implies that she is somehow involved with Kurtz and has caused trouble before through her influence over him. The Russian reveals to Marlow, after swearing him to secrecy, that Kurtz had ordered the attack on the steamer to make them believe he was dead in order that they might turn back and leave him to his plans. The Russian then leaves by canoe, fearing the displeasure of the manager. Kurtz disappears in the night, and Marlow goes out in search of him, finding him crawling on all fours toward the native camp. Marlow stops him and convinces him to return to the ship. They set off down the river the next morning, but Kurtz’s health is failing fast. Marlow listens to Kurtz talk while he pilots the ship, and Kurtz entrusts Marlow with a packet of personal documents, including an eloquent pamphlet on civilizing the savages which ends with a scrawled message that says, “Exterminate all the brutes!” The steamer breaks down, and they have to stop for repairs. Kurtz dies, uttering his last words—“The horror! The horror!”—in the presence of the confused Marlow. Marlow falls ill soon after and barely survives. Eventually he returns to Europe and goes to see Kurtz’s Intended (his fiancée). She is still in mourning, even though it has been over a year since Kurtz’s death, and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement. She asks what his last words were, but Marlow cannot bring himself to shatter her illusions with the truth. Instead, he tells her that Kurtz’s last word was her name. Taken from https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart/summary.html

http://www.gnomonschool.com/blog/career/vfx-career-profile-concept-artists this is a great site with really useful and interesting info about concept art as a career and techniques and discussions about concept art for contemporary games etc, really inspirational stuff. again they emphasis how you really have to try hard not to lose your art sketching skills as this is easily done when you work in digital 3D media. and they talk about creatiivity and the buzz of creating new worlds for work,

http://benmauro.blogspot.fr/ i also like the work of Ben Mauro, again this has a wide range of styles but i really prefer the less realistic ones, i think when it is obvious that it is art you can use your imagination more, when things, especially in films and animations are trying to look real you can become transfixed on the limitations rather than the possiblities, looking to see where it fails in its representation.

http://movingsketch.com/?p=1755 :I found this site with an interview with concept artist Alexandre Diboine. i have seen her pictures before when googling but didn't knwo anytign about her, this is a great inerview, she is really honest and i like the way she defines style in the interview. also i like how she sees each project in a new way and refuses to be put into a pigeonhole of "her style". i think I relate to her thoughts on 3d art, i prefer to work in 2d too.