final project: production & screening

The day of the shooting of our final project was crazy. Our group met at 4.30 pm to start setting up everything and we finished the shooting at 8.30 am. But it was worth it and I really like working in a team. It was the first time I got to do a group project since I am studying here at UCSD.

Building the four different sets, set up the camera and the lights, repeat the scenes over and over again, time every scene... It was a really tiring night but it was worth it. Even if I had to act and acting it is not exactly my strongest skill.

After the shooting Leo edit the video (the visual part of it) and then we met to do the sound design. It was harder than I expected. Since the scenes were already edited, without the clapperboard part, I had a hard time to sync the video with the audio. However I used the original sound from the camera as a reference. After it, I had to choose what room had to be louder in every scene, in order to get the audience's attention to that quadrant. Then I added sound effects, such as noise from the TV, the Super Mario video game (with the game over part), Facebook chat notification, Facebook video call, ringtone, cellphone vibrating, electricity noises, etc.

It was really exciting watching in the screening day. We could see all the details of every living room, something that it was kind of hard in the HD version. I felt proud of this project, giving the short amount of time (less than a week). Also the fact that I got to work in a team, instead of doing the project by myself, made the things easier in a certain way, since everyone could focus in only one thing and do it well. I guess that is how the film industry works :)

Here's our final project, in HD version:

4k : video

This was the video I made for our 4K assignment with Alyssa, Nick and Heidi. We had some technical problems during the shooting: we did not have the right lens, we did not know if we should use a tripod or not, the magnets were not strong enough, etc.

However the result end up being interesting and more abstract that the examples I showed a few posts ago. Also, watching it in a big screen gave us a completely kind of feeling. After the screening, I felt like I wanted to work again with ferrofluid but I did not have enough time to do it by this week (I had to order more liquid and to find someone that has macro lens). 

After Spring break I was thinking that I would like to do a 4K video again with ferrofluid. This time I would like to use a tripod and macro lens and get better magnets. I would also like to try to get less blurry images and to make the video look less abstract.

final project: ideas

For the final project, I've decided to join some of my classmates and do a group final. I am going to be working with Leo, Nick, Allan, Tommy, Donna, Courtney and Nathan. 

Today we had a meeting in which we discussed that we are going to do and what every member of the group is responsible for. The idea is to tile 4 HD videos to make a 4K. We are going to shoot in four different living rooms. In every living room, different kind of people are going to live there: a couple, a single man, a lonely girl and a social media girl. The idea is to give a doll house feeling and to try to make the neighbors interact with each other.

The script is still been developed. The shooting are going to be on Wednesday and Thursday/Friday. Me and Leo are going to be responsible for the editing. I may probably be also one of the actresses (we are going to try to be the actors of our video). 

I'm really excited to work on this project and to see the final result!

pocket cinema : the video

pocket cinema : ideas & thoughts & everything

1. change of idea

After thinking for a while, I've decided to change completely the idea of the Pocket Cinema project. I've start thinking that I should do something with lights - like paint lighting - because is something I've done before. I already had a playlist in my Youtube account with examples from previous months but I try to find new ones.

I found this one and liked the idea of the first part of the video. It is not exactly light painting but I like how the changes of the color of the light and the shadows on her face.

This video was my main inspiration but the result ended up being completely different.

2. production

I bought two different kind of fairy lights and asked a friend if she could be my model. The shooting was at night, in a interior with all the lights turned off. I used to take the picture an Iphone 5 and a DSLR (so I could have good quality pictures of this shooting for the future ;))

I tried to do a video with the Iphone to see how it would look but did not like so I just took pictures.

3. post-production

This was the hardest part because I wanted the video to look like the example I showed before but the pictures I took were really different. 

When I saw the pictures I knew they needed to be photoshopped.  However, I thought that for this project would be more interesting to use Instagram or any similar application. Sometimes I also deserve to be a hipster :)

I searched on Google and found an article that listed websites that let you get the same types of effects that Instagram. I used Pixlr-o-matic to add a filter (I used one called Anne) in all the pictures. It took me a while because I had to do one by one. 

Then it was time to make the video with the photographs. After playing with the pictures in the timeline I started to get desperate because I did not know how fast I should show every picture.

I decided to open the Windows Photo Viewer and preview the pictures using the right arrow of the keyboard. I liked the effect of the pictures moving fast and loading effect (my PC is slow, sorry). I remembered Heidi's project using a screen capture recorder and I thought I could use the same. I downloaded a software called Camtasia (the same used by Heidi).

I duplicated every pictures and started recording using the preview option. I also copied some of the pictures to different folders so I could have some of the pictures repeated more times.

I added Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" song because I like its minimalist tone and the way she plays with her voice. I had some problems rendering the video with the resolution and image quality.

4. conclusion

It was definitively a challenging project but it was interesting to me to get out of my comfort zone and use different devices, technologies and software. For me it was fun to play with all those different tools (even taking pictures with an Iphone was something new for me) and not knowing exactly what the final result would be.

4k : inspiration

For the 4K project my group is going to an abstract video using ferrofluid. We are going to take pictures with a DSLR camera and a macro lens. We already order a 4oz bottle of ferrofluid and we will start the shooting when we get the material.

Here are some similar examples we found on Vimeo:

class : Stereoscopic 3D

This week we had two really interesting classes about Stereoscopic 3D. I must confess that usually I am not a big fan of movies in 3D, first because the tickets are overpriced, and second because usually around 80% of the scenes look they are shot in 2D. However, after watching some examples from students from previous years and having a 3D camera in my hands, I changed my mind. Every group had time to play with a camera and record some short clips. In my group we shot some different objects and then shot at the supermarket. On Thursday we watched our videos and realized that the following things did not work:

- close up of objects

- long shots

- cut the edge of object when that object is in front of the screen (negative parallax)

Next week my group was thinking to try to do something similar to the opening of the TV show Boardwalk Empire:

pocket cinema : ideas

It's time to start thinking about our next project! I haven't decided yet what I want to do but I already had some ideas:

  1. Put a GoPro on different objects and see the different effects I can get.

2. Build a DIY rotational dolly and do a stop motion (even if the following example is a slow motion video).

3. Do an inception of videos: shoot something with a cellphone, then shoot with a tablet the cellphone playing the video, then shoot with the webcam of a laptop the tablet playing a video of the cellphone playing a video.

remix: the video

remix : process (ii)

This long weekend I started doing the project. I've started by searching Toddlers and Tiaras on Youtube. I have some full episodes, some small clips of funny moments, some others clips of their different costumes. But, the most surprising thing that I found was fan videos of the beauty pageant participants! I've also found some video bloggers that made videos criticizing or making fun of this reality TV show.

The next step was finding other materials that I could use for the remix. I've thought of using an Obama speech about education or a TV show for kids. Then, I remembered that in one of the clips of Toddlers and Tiaras the participant was dressed as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and did a research about other famous prostitutes/strippers in movies. I did not know if I should be so provocative and shocking, by comparing little girls with prostitutes/strippers... But then I realized that for me it is that they are doing: they use their body to make money and they are being objects and they are playing a role when they are on stage.

During the remix I also put some parts of the participants complaining or being funny, in order to humanize them and to show they are just kids.

remix : process (i)

I have decided to do the remix about the sexual objectification of women. I am going to focus on the TLC reality TV show called Toddlers & Tiaras. I used to watch this TV show during my Summer breaks in Portugal and I could not stop watching it, even if I knew how ridiculous/disturbing it was. Girls are competitive, mean and spoiled. Their mother are even worse: they force their children to participate in these beauty pageants; they make them wear make up, false eyelashes, and spray tanning. Their kids become sexual objects that can be sold. The little girls look like dolls and act like ones too.

I have done some research about this TV show and found some interesting articles that back up the message of my remix.

"Generation Diva: How our obsession with beauty is changing our kids" 

By Jessica Bennett. Article here

• Oversexualization of teens
• Young girls use more beauty products than before
• The responsible ones for this transformation: ads for the latest fashions, makeup tip and grooming up products. Also people know how to use Photoshop or the digital cameras come with retouching options
• There is another TV show like Toddlers and Tiaras - Little Miss Perfect

"From Alice to Alana: Sexualities and Children's Cultures in the Twenty-First Century"

By Lance Weldy and Thomas Crisp. Link here

• The author describes Toddles and Tiaras as a show in which "legal guardians provide an outlet for children to perform as miniature adults; contestants are not only made up as adults, but they also dress as popular adult characters"
• Controversial episode: little girl dressed as Julia Roberts in the film Pretty Woman.

"The sexualization of prepubescent girls; where we have been and where we are going"

Eliza Smithwick. Article here

• Children are being turned into sexual objects. Advertising and marketing objectifies and subjectifies them.
• We live in a capitalist world: making profit is the most important thing. Sex is a lucrative marketing tool.
• Sexiness and physical appearance are seen as “the pathway to power” 
• There are less and less boundaries between children and adults. Children want to act like adults.

remix : brainstorming

I am really excited for my first project but I know it is going to be hard to find and choose the right footage. After all the different types of remix we saw in class, I have decided to a political remix, such the one about the gun control PSA and the "Set me Free" song with Mad Men clips.

I am interested in these three topics:

• How social networks have transformed human interactions: we are more connected yet more alone than before.  
• Sexual objectification of women: Toddlers and Tiaras, Little Miss Sunshine
• Racial stereotypes on TV shows

My next step is to do some research about these topics and to try to find other related remixes, to see what techniques were used and to see what is the best way to show my message.

- Beatriz