The next six short films I am going to make will be:
-One of the trees along The Queens walk
-One by car from the other side of the river
-One by bicycle along the floor level of The South Bank
-One by train, route yet to be decided
-One of the approach to The South Bank, from Waterloo passing under the railway arches and along the steps besides Royal Festival Hall
-One leaving The South Bank or one travelling past by boat.
How can the lighting from the film be used to sculpt or develop new space?
I will take stills from the films, I will need them in sets of 30 so every few frames I will take a still. These will then be printed out all in the same size. I will have sheets of acetate that I will mark on where the points of light are using the print outs. Then I will puncture a hole where the centre of the light point is. The hole will be just big enough for a needle and thread to fit through. Then I will need to assemble the acetate to a card base. The base will be scored evenly so that the acetate can slide into it. Then I will thread cotton through the holes following the journey of the light. This could start to sculpt new spaces which have been generated by my films and become physical 3D models of the speculative space.
I will then need to bring the space that has been created and the films back together. The film would start off with one of the recordings made, then the film would fade and we would start to see this space being built from lines. It would keep switching between the films of the existing space and the new spaces that are being built.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Films on the South Bank
These films have extracted the light from the site and have turned it into a black and white film. White is the light coming from the site. The first set of films shown are the recordings of the site which have then had a process applied to give these films as the outcome. The second set of films are the stabilized versions. There is still some shakiness in the films which were recorded whilst I walked along.
The most successful film in terms of steadiness are the ones that have been recorded whilst being in the car. The films that have been filmed whilst walking have to have more stabilizing applied to them. You can see that this brings of a quality of flickering to the film, sometimes almost like a camera lens shake. I need a way for device to eliminate this completely meaning that the editing process would be quicker.
First set of films.
Car Journey 1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Looking up 360 degree turn from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Eye level 360 degree turn from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Moving through the trees from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
One level up from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Second set of films.
Car Journey 1 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 2 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 3 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
The most successful film in terms of steadiness are the ones that have been recorded whilst being in the car. The films that have been filmed whilst walking have to have more stabilizing applied to them. You can see that this brings of a quality of flickering to the film, sometimes almost like a camera lens shake. I need a way for device to eliminate this completely meaning that the editing process would be quicker.
First set of films.
Car Journey 1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Looking up 360 degree turn from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Eye level 360 degree turn from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Moving through the trees from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
One level up from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Second set of films.
Car Journey 1 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 2 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car Journey 3 edited from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Results from Car Test Films
Test 1: Quite a jumpy film where it has been stabilised but the quality and definition of the light is what I want to show in the film.
Test 1.1: There appears to be a camera lens flicker that has been reduced compared to the other Test 1's. The white light is still very defined. There is a smooth flowing motion through sections of the films.
Test 1.2: The blur is helping to reduce shaking which has come from the stabilising. The blurring effect used in these has transformed the rounded shapes of lights into squares, which almost look like giant pixels.
Test 1.3: The white light is defined. Any of the light further away has a camera lens flicker and shake to it. As the light moves closer to the screen it smooths out and glides past.
Test 1.4: Very smooth fly through. Very little camera shaking lens effect. The blurriness of the light is less than the rest yet has the smoothest outcome.
Test 1.5: Less definition of the white light, when watching the film it looks to be more like a fly through. The blurriness helps with smoothing out any shakiness and creates a smooth fly through.
Test 1.6: There is a slight camera lens shake, this is an effect that has come from the stabilising. There are parts which jump due to the stabilising missing a point or not tracking properly. When the white light is solid and has a defined edge, the shaking becomes more visible.
Test 2: To begin with this film was quite smooth and just needed to be stabilized. The white light was well defined from the original film meaning that no effects were used and the quality wasn't compromised.
Test 2.1: The film is very blurred due to the effect used. The more steady the film is, means the more defined the white light can be. The only reason for the blurred light is when the film isn't great and there is quite a lot of movement ,the blurriness seems rectify this and merge the light patterns into one.
Test 2.2: The light is well defined. There is very little shaking or flickering created by the stabilising. The way the film enters the screen from the top right hand corner is very subtle and introduces you to the film slowly.
Test 2.3: To begin with the film enters in the top right hand corner. There are light flashes of light as the film enters the screen. As the journey progresses the lights in the distance are dull but as they move closer it increases the brightness.
Test 2.4: There is really smooth movement which has come from stabilising the film. The effects seem to dull the quality film.
Test 3: Well defined white light path, no blurriness. There is a slight camera movement and occasional jumps. This is all down to my skills of stabilising the film.
Test 3.1: The effect used has created a pixelated film. This is not what I want to show in my films. You loose the quality of the light path which is what I want to be seen in the films.
Test 3.2: Blurriness has helped to smooth the shakiness out from the videos. It does dull the tone of the light path but becomes a film that is easy to follow as it is a smooth film.
Test 3.3: There is too much movement in this film. The film when shown is only occupying part of the screen. The light path becomes grainy when following the journey that is being made.
Test 4: The white light is defined. The last two clips move very smoothly through the space but there is some camera lens shake which has come from the stabilization.
Test 4.1: The film is very shaky and removes every element that the film was a recording of a space.
Test 4.2: The blurriness in this film has now become a pixelated effect. It starts to look as if it is a recording of a space with lights not a film that is an extraction of lights from a space.
Test 4.3: This film does look quite grainy but its nice to see that when this was recorded it was at night so the car headlights were on, not only can we see the lights recorded on the road but also the projections on surfaces from the car headlights.
Test 1.1: There appears to be a camera lens flicker that has been reduced compared to the other Test 1's. The white light is still very defined. There is a smooth flowing motion through sections of the films.
Test 1.2: The blur is helping to reduce shaking which has come from the stabilising. The blurring effect used in these has transformed the rounded shapes of lights into squares, which almost look like giant pixels.
Test 1.3: The white light is defined. Any of the light further away has a camera lens flicker and shake to it. As the light moves closer to the screen it smooths out and glides past.
Test 1.4: Very smooth fly through. Very little camera shaking lens effect. The blurriness of the light is less than the rest yet has the smoothest outcome.
Test 1.5: Less definition of the white light, when watching the film it looks to be more like a fly through. The blurriness helps with smoothing out any shakiness and creates a smooth fly through.
Test 1.6: There is a slight camera lens shake, this is an effect that has come from the stabilising. There are parts which jump due to the stabilising missing a point or not tracking properly. When the white light is solid and has a defined edge, the shaking becomes more visible.
Test 2: To begin with this film was quite smooth and just needed to be stabilized. The white light was well defined from the original film meaning that no effects were used and the quality wasn't compromised.
Test 2.1: The film is very blurred due to the effect used. The more steady the film is, means the more defined the white light can be. The only reason for the blurred light is when the film isn't great and there is quite a lot of movement ,the blurriness seems rectify this and merge the light patterns into one.
Test 2.2: The light is well defined. There is very little shaking or flickering created by the stabilising. The way the film enters the screen from the top right hand corner is very subtle and introduces you to the film slowly.
Test 2.3: To begin with the film enters in the top right hand corner. There are light flashes of light as the film enters the screen. As the journey progresses the lights in the distance are dull but as they move closer it increases the brightness.
Test 2.4: There is really smooth movement which has come from stabilising the film. The effects seem to dull the quality film.
Test 3: Well defined white light path, no blurriness. There is a slight camera movement and occasional jumps. This is all down to my skills of stabilising the film.
Test 3.1: The effect used has created a pixelated film. This is not what I want to show in my films. You loose the quality of the light path which is what I want to be seen in the films.
Test 3.2: Blurriness has helped to smooth the shakiness out from the videos. It does dull the tone of the light path but becomes a film that is easy to follow as it is a smooth film.
Test 3.3: There is too much movement in this film. The film when shown is only occupying part of the screen. The light path becomes grainy when following the journey that is being made.
Test 4: The white light is defined. The last two clips move very smoothly through the space but there is some camera lens shake which has come from the stabilization.
Test 4.1: The film is very shaky and removes every element that the film was a recording of a space.
Test 4.2: The blurriness in this film has now become a pixelated effect. It starts to look as if it is a recording of a space with lights not a film that is an extraction of lights from a space.
Test 4.3: This film does look quite grainy but its nice to see that when this was recorded it was at night so the car headlights were on, not only can we see the lights recorded on the road but also the projections on surfaces from the car headlights.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Start Storyboarding
The technique I have been using to create storyboards is to, first plan what I want to show, this consists of looking at the photos and planning what the shot will show. I decided which device I will be using to create the film, which route I am going to be taking and an elevation showing the lights that I am recording. These are all shown in drawings. These are placed on the beginning of a long strip of paper, I then start to mark out on the strip what I want to show in the film, so for every few seconds there is a drawing. These drawings are made from ink.
Now these storyboards are going to be something similar in the style of Bernard Tschumi, shown below. When looking at this image we first see lines of drawings, these are showing events that happen, below these are spaces which have been designed from the events that happen.
These drawings show a lot of information in one single image. Looking at how Tschumi shows the forms he has designed from the events could possibly help lead me onto the next step in my project.
The storyboards that I have drawn give us four pieces of information. 1) Showing which route I explore along the site. 2) The elevation of the space being explored and the light which is being filmed is highlighted. 3) The device being used to film the space and 4) How I expect the film to look.
Now these storyboards are going to be something similar in the style of Bernard Tschumi, shown below. When looking at this image we first see lines of drawings, these are showing events that happen, below these are spaces which have been designed from the events that happen.
The storyboards that I have drawn give us four pieces of information. 1) Showing which route I explore along the site. 2) The elevation of the space being explored and the light which is being filmed is highlighted. 3) The device being used to film the space and 4) How I expect the film to look.
Sequence Four Tests
These tests have all been taken from the fourth film. They all have been stabilized but have had different effects layered on to them.
Test 4:
-Stabilized
Test 4.1:
-Box Blur: Blur Radius: 11 and Iterations: 1
Test 4.2:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 11.6 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
-Sharpen: Sharpen amount: 88
Test 4.3:
-Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 5.5 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Test 4:
-Stabilized
Test 4.1:
-Box Blur: Blur Radius: 11 and Iterations: 1
Test 4.2:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 11.6 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
-Sharpen: Sharpen amount: 88
Test 4.3:
-Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 5.5 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Sequence Three Tests
These tests have all been taken from the third film. They all have been stabilized but have had different effects layered on to them.
Test 3:
-Stabilized
Test 3.1:
-Box Blur: Blur Radius: 9 and Iterations: 4
-Brightness and Contrast: Brightness: 26 and Contrast: 13
Test 3.2:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 12 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Test 3.3:
-Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 7 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Test 3:
-Stabilized
Test 3.1:
-Box Blur: Blur Radius: 9 and Iterations: 4
-Brightness and Contrast: Brightness: 26 and Contrast: 13
Test 3.2:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 12 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Test 3.3:
-Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 7 and Blur Dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
Sequence Two Tests
These tests have all been taken from the second film. They all have been stabilized but have had different effects layered on to them.
Test 2:
-Stabilized
Test 2.1:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 8 Iterations: 1 Horizontal and Vertical
2.1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.2:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 8 Iterations: 1 Horizontal and Vertical
-Contrast: Brightness: 43 and Contrast: 100
2.2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.3:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 16.3 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
2.3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.4:
- Bilateral Effect: Radius: 209 and Threshold: 64
Test 2:
-Stabilized
Test 2.1:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 8 Iterations: 1 Horizontal and Vertical
2.1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.2:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 8 Iterations: 1 Horizontal and Vertical
-Contrast: Brightness: 43 and Contrast: 100
2.2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.3:
-Gaussian Blur: Blurriness: 16.3 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
2.3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 2.4:
- Bilateral Effect: Radius: 209 and Threshold: 64
Sequence One Tests
These tests have all been taken from the first film. They all have been stabilized but have had different effects layered on to them.
Test 1:
-Stabilized
1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.1:
1.1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.2:
-Reduced interlace flicker: 0.5
1.2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.3:
1.3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.4:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 9 and Iterations: 1
1.4 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.5:
-Gaussian Effect: Blurriness: 20.7 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
1.5 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.6:
- Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 5.8 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
1.6 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1:
-Stabilized
1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.1:
-Reduced interlace flicker: 0.5
-Sharpen: 238
-Fast Blur: 10.0 Horizontal and Vertical
-Directional Blur: 14.8
-Contrast: Contrast: 100
1.1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.2:
-Reduced interlace flicker: 0.5
-Sharpen: 238
-Fast Blur: 10.0 Horizontal and Vertical
-Directional Blur: 14.8
1.2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.3:
-Reduced interlace flicker: 0.5
-Sharpen: 238
-Fast Blur: 10.0 Horizontal and Vertical
-Directional Blur: 14.8
-Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 94 and Blur Dimension: 30
-Contrast: Brightness: 100 and Contrast: 100
1.3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.4:
-Box Blur: Blur radius: 9 and Iterations: 1
1.4 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.5:
-Gaussian Effect: Blurriness: 20.7 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
1.5 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Test 1.6:
- Bilateral Blur: Blurriness: 5.8 and Blur dimensions: Horizontal and Vertical
1.6 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Film Test Editing
Now that I have recorded using a different journey, I can start to edit the films. I will probably need to stabilize most of the films. Even though the device is helping to eliminate most of shaking there is still parts where the device becomes unbalanced and there is an unexpected shake. I will edit out the parts that cannot be stabilized. After Effects will be used to stabilize the film and Premiere Pro to cut the film.
Using After Effects to stabilize the film sometimes means that when watching the film back you see something similar to a lense shake. There are several effects that can be used to help this run as a smooth film.
Bilateral Blur- Selectively blurs an image so that the edges and other details are preserved. The result is a softer look film.
Box Blur- Allows you to control the quality of the blur. It creates a smoother transition between colours and increases the blur.
Gaussian Blur- Softens and blurs the images.
These are all techniques that I will apply to the films to see how smooth they can become.
Using After Effects to stabilize the film sometimes means that when watching the film back you see something similar to a lense shake. There are several effects that can be used to help this run as a smooth film.
Bilateral Blur- Selectively blurs an image so that the edges and other details are preserved. The result is a softer look film.
Box Blur- Allows you to control the quality of the blur. It creates a smoother transition between colours and increases the blur.
Gaussian Blur- Softens and blurs the images.
These are all techniques that I will apply to the films to see how smooth they can become.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Experimentation with the Journey and Camera
The only way which I have experimented using the camera device is walking along the South Bank. I walk all along one flat path and follow the Thames. The journey that I take my device on records the space, this needs experimentation. Changing the journey, either by foot, car, bus, train or boat, will start to change the viewpoint of what I am recording.
The nine films below are testing how the device behaves in the car. The only editing that has happened to these films are the process of removing everything but the light. The experiment was to see how the well the device would behave now that I have changed form of the journey. In all of the videos you can see a swinging motion which is either when you accelerate or break in the car. The device constantly needs to be watched when you are recording otherwise you think aren't moving moving but your hand slightly is causing the device to swing. When you watch the films back you can definitely see when the car moves, for example when the road is bumpy, there is too much movement for the device to stabilize itself quickly. The surprising results of the films is how well the device behaves when you turn at a corner. It moves into the corner and then pulls itself back out quickly. Another surprising result is when you are driving at a steady pace, the lights are just slowly and smoothly passing by you. Almost as if you are just standing still and lights are flying pass.
Car test1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test4 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test5 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test6 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test7 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test8 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test9 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
The nine films below are testing how the device behaves in the car. The only editing that has happened to these films are the process of removing everything but the light. The experiment was to see how the well the device would behave now that I have changed form of the journey. In all of the videos you can see a swinging motion which is either when you accelerate or break in the car. The device constantly needs to be watched when you are recording otherwise you think aren't moving moving but your hand slightly is causing the device to swing. When you watch the films back you can definitely see when the car moves, for example when the road is bumpy, there is too much movement for the device to stabilize itself quickly. The surprising results of the films is how well the device behaves when you turn at a corner. It moves into the corner and then pulls itself back out quickly. Another surprising result is when you are driving at a steady pace, the lights are just slowly and smoothly passing by you. Almost as if you are just standing still and lights are flying pass.
Car test1 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test2 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test3 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test4 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test5 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test6 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test7 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test8 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
Car test9 from Lauren McEwen on Vimeo.
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