Strengths and Weaknesses
FMP
2
MUSIC VIDEO
After returning from a long break we started the year with this project. It was a good project to get started on because of how engaging and demanding the whole process was. It was the first time I needed to work in a group, this challenged me greatly but I learnt a lot from the experience and am glad I started the year like this. The media type was an interesting introduction to the craft, I'd never done anything to do with music videos before so in a way I felt like a newbie (ironically like my Year 1 start). Mainly, I learnt that I over-stretch myself even though it was only a pass/fail unit.
ENJOYMENT - 5/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - 6/10
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - 8/10
EASE - 2/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 9/10
30/50
VFX TASK
I felt slightly burnt out after the music video so I didn't want to do anything too labor some, so I could recover and prepare for the FMP. This task was a group task, we were all put into groups to create a short heist film which consisted of at least 5 different VFX shots. This project expanded my knowledge on VFX greatly but mainly opened my eyes to pitfalls of group work. It was a large group that didn't communicate very well, it all felt very misguided. This project did get me down slightly at the time but I pushed through. It unfortunately didn't put my perspective on VFX in a very good light but I'd still be willing to give it a try in future projects.
ENJOYMENT - 1/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - 5/10
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - 2/10
EASE - 2/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 10/10
20/50
RESEARCH PROJECT
This was a project that I'd been excited about the moment I heard we were doing it. In the past I've excelled at research and upon entering this project, I was determined to improve those skills even more so that they are at a distinction level standard for a Year 2 FMP. This unit was tasked to teach us skills needed for the FMP and because of this unit I feel I can document a range of primary, secondary, academic and practical research at a very high standard.
ENJOYMENT - 10/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - 10/10
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - N/A
EASE - 9/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 7/10
36/40
RESEARCH PRACTICAL
This practical task was tied to the research project shown above. I wanted to develop my graphic design skills on photoshop given the short time frame we had for the project. I made a series of film posters which really helped improve my skills in Photoshop and I feel I executed my vision well. This project developed my understanding on putting my vision into reality despite time restrictions. I will admit, stress was high for this one and I saw a side of time management in myself which pushed me to my limits. My abilities to work with other was also tested in this project. I worked with talents and other graphic designers to help develop the posters and it was proven to me that the reliability of others can't be what the project stands on; if you are directing the project, you need to have your own level of control over the state and condition of the products regardless of the people involved.
ENJOYMENT - 9/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - 7/10
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - 4/10
EASE - 6/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 9/10
35/50
CLIMATE CHANGE UNIT
Having done most type of media during my time at college, I was yet to attempt an animation of any kind. But I wanted to try a new thing before I began my FMP so I created a stop motion product. I surprisingly enjoyed the project and didn't expect how much work went in to a stop motion film (even if it's 60 seconds). I worked under guidance from a professional and followed their instructions well. I did feel very dependent on my mentor though so I don't know how confident I would be at doing an animation independently.
ENJOYMENT - 7/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - 2/10
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - 6/10
EASE - 6/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 10/10
31/50
SUMMER PRODUCTION 'Short Film'
Whilst this didn't have anything to do with college, I had to include this in my evaluation because of just how much it has taught and prepared me for this final major. Tommy and I created a short film over the summer where Tommy focused on cinematography and I worked on writing and directing. The experience opened my eyes to the workings of an actual set, we managed to work with professional actors for the film so my directing skills were really pushed. I loved every minute of this project and am inspired to do something at a similar scale (if not, bigger) for this FMP.
ENJOYMENT - 10/10
ABILITY TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY - N/A
GROUP ENGAGEMENT - 10/10
EASE - 9/10
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING - 10/10
39/40
Skills Analysis
ANIMATION
I've chosen these 3 areas from my past year at college as possible forms this FMP could take. I've assessed my choices based off of my enjoyment I had during the unit, as well as, and more importantly, where I can see the most potential in learning over the next few months. I want to see myself learn in the final few months I have at college. I also want to treat this FMP as a transitional project readying myself for university study and even practical, industry standard work. I could achieve this in many different ways with which I'm yet research but I will look into it later in the project, definitely.
I want to highlight some of the skills I have learnt from these units as well as some of my own skills that developed from these units. I then want to take a closer look at some listed skills that I want improve and focus on during the FMP process and maybe in the weeks prior to ensure I don't feel under-prepared.
MUSIC VIDEO
SUMMER PROJECT
STOP MOTION
COLOR GRADING
GROUP WORK
SET MANAGEMENT
AFTER EFFECTS/
DRAGONFRAME
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
EDITING TECHNIQUE'S
PROFESSIONAL INSIGHT
AUDIO PRODUCTION
CAMERA SETTINGS
COLOR GRADING has been a skill which I have never quite been able to understand throughout my years at college. I have needed it in many of my projects but have only ever done the bare minimum, if any at all. It's a skill I would like to progress in my prep work and within my major project. I don't have long until my FMP begins so I'll want to focus on a niche area of the skill that covers a basic level of color correction that I could apply to most media types. I'm aware of the Key White, a phase of the coloring process which makes sure all of your footage matches in color balance; the whites are the same in every piece of footage which means so are the blacks, the core pieces of visual film. There are also other areas of the craft that I'd want to look at specifically in depth during my FMP, coloring your film is one of the defining methods of formulating a style which could be the difference between your film and every other film. Saturation, RBY values, highlights, shadows; these settings are some that you see constantly when you open up the coloring workspace in Premier Pro, which I've always seen but never known how to use, and the potential they have can be endless. One of my objectives for this FMP would be to apply a style to my media product through the process of color grading and visual stylisation that conveys a specific meaning which, in turn, drives the message of the product.
AUDIO PRODUCTION is an area which I'd like to look into for this project as well, it certainly isn't something I want to focus my creative direction on but it has been an area of film making where my own progress has seen the most development over the years. I remember in my year 1 FMP when I picked up a boom mic for the first time, this skill was completely new to me. Since then, I've made two short films where I've worked closely with an audio producer who's taught me many different technique's in the craft. But despite my progress, I know I can do so much more. FMP's are an opportunity to learn new skills, but it's also a chance to develop skills you may already have.
EVALUATIVE THINKING is a skill which I don't have listed as something I've developed or something I even need to develop but is a skill which certainly needs mentioning. Last year, I feel I accomplished the success I did because of my evaluative progression. Every step of the way I was reflecting on my work, either through a reflective log, evaluating my research, practical thinking, whatever it was I made sure I reflected. Over the year I've learnt that it's such an important skill to have, it allows you to create thinking processes like this which help you pin point which areas you need to study, which areas you excel in etc. It's a soft skill which is valuable anywhere you work, I can apply this skill to my personal life as well as my studies. I mentioned this skill to remind myself of the importance that this skill can have over a project such as this, and I intend to apply this skill to the best of my ability.
Mini Proposal
MEDIA TYPE
I am going to practice and develop my skills in colour correction over the next two weeks. It's a skill which is required in most
areas of media and I need it to be progressed to a higher standard of quality before my FMP begins and even before I begin any other projects. In the past, my efforts in colour correction have always been subliminal or baseless, I hadn't even begun to attempt colour correction until last year's FMP in which I eventually gave up anyway due to time restraints. My first real attempt in the craft was during the music video unit where I decided to present half the film in black and white. Unfortunately, I couldn't say that this unit gave me any understanding of colour correction but it did inspire me to develop my knowledge before my next FMP would begin. During my climate change unit, I looked into the use of colour and how it can tell a story subconsciously; but even at this time, I didn't touch the dials in premier pro. Colour correction is a necessary part of the post production process and, considering I want to see myself improve in a professional environment, I need to develop this skill if I want to produce something of, the sought after, 'professional' quality.
If my skills in this area are improved by the end of this task I could possibly apply them to previous projects which may need a polished look. A lot of films can be fixed using correction and grading; colour motivates style, evokes emotions, it's a key building block in a visual story's structure. I would definitely use these skills going forward from this task, as an aspiring director, I need to understand the process that goes into creating the look of a film. This project will probably open my eyes to many more possibilities that colouring has to offer, which I'm really looking forward to.
Throughout this process I also want to critically reflect my thinking and research as well as write an evaluative study of my work at the end of the task.
SUCCESS
I want to develop a deeper understanding of the laws and technique's of colour correction, more specifically white balance. White balance is arguably the first step every colorist takes in colour correction which applies a consistent look throughout your film. Finding a key white isn't easy it seems; I'm currently in the post-production phase of my short film project I completed over the summer and I'm having a hard time beginning the colour correction process. In fact, the summer project is one of my key inspirations to developing this skill. I want to come away from this task being able to complete a colour correction phase in this summer short film. I will do this by completing thorough analysis of existing films - of a similar dynamic range to my short film. I will also find tutorials online that communicate an adequate understanding of the coloring process which I will then apply to my summer short film to find a Key White throughout. I should come away from this task having learnt the basic steps of colour correction and, more importantly, how to find and correct a key white in a short film using premier pro.
COLORING RESEARCH
I started by talking Tommy, who volunteers as a photographer and edits using premier pro; he also worked as the cinematographer for the summer project. We decided to look at the film and do some basic colour correction on an adjustment layer with Tommy walking me through the process.
I completed a skill wheel to visually represent where my strengths and weaknesses lie in the central FMP (short film) soft/hard skills. These are skills which I've developed over the past year and I believe this is my current state in all of these categories. My confidence comes from directing, this has influenced me to create a cinematic project for the FMP where I can tell some form of story using this strong skill as bedding to accompany weaker skills and develop those during the process. Since audio production is one of my weaker skills, I'd like to make sure I include live recording as well as some Foley design which will then need to be edited and produced at a high standard. In last year's project, the audio production brought my films quality down, we filmed everything entirely outside which meant we had to compensate for the wind.
The first thing that stuck out to me was how small the changes you make need to be, or else the image will end up looking over blown. Tommy, as a guide, was really helpful, he was very simple in his instructions and explained to me why I needed to do certain things. He suggested I played around with all the dials to get familiar with what they do; this suggestion helped me in exactly the way he thought it would.
Tommy explained clearly that CONTRAST is key when starting a coloring composition. Contrast gives a visual layer the vibrancy that traditional films typically use.
This was the second video I looked at when beginning my research, it was incredibly helpful. It talked, in enough detail, about the fundamentals of colour theory and how they could apply to photography or videography. Although the creator didn't describe every element in complete depth, I still came away from the video having developed enough understanding to begin a practical test in Premier Pro.
I intend to use a shot from my short film with a naturally high, dynamic contrast, and apply the different fundamental levels of colour theory and assess how they change the feel of the shot. I then will have developed a familiarity with the tools and characteristics of the program to begin a colour correction process on the short film project.
HUE
Hue is arguably the most influential characteristic of the colour wheel. It's the selection of colour you want an object or visual asset to be. The hue, of a thing will typically refer to primary and secondary colours (Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Orange and Purple) but can sometimes refer to the tertiary colours where neither colour is dominant. Hue is rarely manipulated in colouring a film since even slight changes can make a vast difference to the image.
I'll try moving the hue around in a shot to see what difference it makes, and maybe discover new look which I might move forward with.
No Hue
Blue Hue
What surprised me the most about this test was how usable the result was. I manipulated the overall whites of the image to a bluer hue, this surprisingly worked out. Both shots are backlit with the TV which makes the blue work. If I did this on a sunny shot, it wouldn't have worked as well. The right shot shows a colder scene, the contrast of the lamp brings the characters forward which is what I think makes this bizarre test work so well. If the lamp wasn't there, the shot would look over-blown. The skin tones also balanced well in this change, to improve the shot, I'd lower the highlights on his cheeks and forehead slightly. His shirt becomes a neon colour, which is my only problem with the change, it looks as if there's a blue light shining on his shirt; the TV is behind him so this shouldn't be as strong as it is. Maybe if I tone down the intensity of the other levels I'd find a more balanced shot.
From this test, I've learnt how much control hue has over the scene. It can completely rework the look and feel of a shot. I think if I used it to change any other colour other than white, the shot would look completely unbalanced.
Green Hue
This shot above is an example of what happened when I changed the hue of the blues to a greener scale. I'm surprised by how much the shot appears to be split in half; the left side of the shot is bluer and the right side of the shot is layered in green. Even though this is a subtle change, hue should really only be used if absolutely necessary, first, use the other levels on the spectrum.
SATURATION
Saturation is used to increase or decrease the vibrancy or intensity of a chosen colour or the overall image. Saturation is actually one of the only levels that can be used to completely remove any colour from a given image:
Low Saturation
I used this technique in my music video unit last year. It's strange how much of the colour your brain fills in during this process; in my eyes, the lamp still looks red. The effect really helped my music video to give it a style, however, without a basic layer of colour correction underneath, the image can come away feeling flat. If I am to film my FMP in black and white, I need to ensure I light the scene enough so that there is enough contrast to bring the actors forward in the frame.
High Saturation
A higher saturation brings up the natural look of the image, if the raw footage is naturally quite warm, a high saturation intensifies that look. In the shot below, the pale green becomes a lot more vibrant, the blue is much more noticeable in his shirt, and the cabinets around him are no longer white but instead yellow. I would use this tool to make a dull looking shot pop in the frame better. If I hadn't adjusted the camera settings correctly on the filming day, then I would use saturation to get the general vibrancy correct.
High Saturation
LUMINOSITY
Another term used to describe luminosity would be tint, it controls the brightness of a colour selected. In the the art world, a tinted set of colours could be classified as pastel; the natural paleness of the colours gave them their own colour wheel. Luminosity is generally controlled by how much white or black is used in a colour; the more white you use the lighter and less saturated the the colour becomes, and the more black you use, the darker and less saturated the colour becomes.
When researching luminosity, I came across a website designed for artists called BeachPainting.com, it talked a lot about colour theories and even the different forms of the colour spectrum. It mentioned that Luminosity is similar to saturation in that it can control the vibrancy of a specific colour. But the detail which makes Luminosity unique is how it's colour scale looks compared to saturation's.
Saturation Scale
Saturation's most intense colour is the farthest point to the right, the base colour's vibrancy can be increased by increasing the saturation.
Luminosity Scale
Luminosity cannot increase the base colour vibrancy in any way. The base colour on the scale is the highest vibrancy luminosity can reach for that colour.
Pale Luminosity
In my tests, I became curious as to how losing brightness could effect the image. The result gives a sickly look to everything in the frame; the main subject looks quite unwell, and the TV looks decades old. The shot generally feels older, it looks like it was filmed in a different time, decades before now.
Darker Luminosity
The frame looks warmer without feeling too over-blown, however, there isn't much contrast in the image. Because the blacks in all the colours have been intensified, the predominant colour in the image overrules all the others - that being: red. The lack of contrast makes the image feel too flat, the shadows in the original image have lost their impact because of the increase in blacks in the image.
TEMPERATURE
Temperature refers to how cold or warm an image looks; the more blue an image is, the colder it looks, and the more orange the image is, the warmer it looks. I tested the temperature dial on the same shot to see the differences. To my surprise, I think dampening the shot with the colder temperature improves the shot quite seamlessly. It brings out the natural contrast we had when filming whilst also still keeping quite warm; the TV is a little too blue for me but overall, I welcome change.
When increasing the richness in warmth, I knew it wouldn't work well considering the raw footage is already very warm because of the natural lighting composition. The whole shot feels unbalanced, the TV is unnaturally yellow, the actor's face is uncannily orange. Thanks to this temperature test, I've learnt that I'd only use the temperature dial to create contrast against the opposite end of the scale: if the the film is naturally cold, bump up the warmth, if naturally warm, the other way around.
SUBJECTIVITY AND COLOR HARMONY
Our perception of color is subjective and cannot strictly be determined by an algorithm or any advanced science. When we see a selection of colors, some will feel joy, inspiration, others could feel saddened or disheartened; it's impossible to target an exact feeling that any one selection could trigger. This is what subjectivity is. I noticed, from my earlier research, that temperature is determined by how orange or blue the image is. Tonally, blue can (generally) create a sad, lonely experience when viewed on screen; that could be because of how cold blue can make a scene look. This example proves that color can be used tonally for a general audience, but how far does this go?
In Kay's color theory video he suggested Adobe Colour as a free tool which can be used to define an infinite number of colour selections from the colour wheel which work cohesively. I don't know what I'd use this tool for exactly but I have tried using the wheel myself to see what groups of colours work in harmony. I find the program slightly useless in my current understanding of colour; but I'm sure once I develop my skills further in this medium, I'd be able to demonstrate a product which would perhaps utilise the applications the software has to offer (poster design, web design, physical art etc.)
RESEARCH REFLECTION
Based on this research, I feel I've gained a substantial understanding of colouring preparing me for my FMP and the media product I desire to make. From my helpful videos and peer reviews, I learnt of the importance of contrast, colour harmony, and how colour can change the feel of a scene. I aimed to complete a colour correction edit for the short film I made over the summer; I did this, using what I learnt from the research I've documented. I didn't run into issues because in this part of the process, there aren't really many issues you can run into. Colour correction is just trial and error; testing a look, asking: 'Does it work?', moving forward from the evaluated response, and then finishing with a style you're eventually happy with. The only issue I could think of that I did encounter was how my eyes grew tired from over exposure to the colour wheel. Due to the picture constantly changing, I found that the shot I was looking at started to feel less and less real, the colours started blending together. I decided to take a break from the project for a few hours then resume. I'm glad I did this, when I came back to the project, my judgement was clearer and I could appropriately analyse the state of the colour grade. I now know to take frequent breaks whilst colour grading so to not distort or compromise your accuracy in noticing crucial details that could affect your final product. For my FMP, I know I need to decide on a rough look for the film before hand; if the set is naturally warm, cooling the shot in post with a bluer hue will add a simple but effective contrast.
To conclude, I met the task I set out to complete, I completed a base colour grade on the summer short film: Will Man, using the research completed here on this blog. I feel my understanding of colour, harmonies, subjectivity and the tools in Premier Pro have dramatically improved since beginning this task. My approach to colour grading has changed from a dreading scepticism, to a curious excitement. Even though the adjustments you make are only slight, there are still so many different visual possibilities that your film can take.