Craft and Media Technologies One
One Minute Video
Assignment Brief
To produce a film of exactly one minute in length. The film had to have a narrative - a beginning, middle and an end. A link to the official brief can be found here.
Pre-Production
After receiving the brief I came up with some initial ideas for a short film before deciding on a final idea to develop. My ideas ranged over various genres and filming styles but one recurring theme was that I wanted to try and use some form of animation using either Flash or stop motion effects. The reason for this was that I felt it would be different and that it would allow me to use a production schedule that only depended on me being free to film and not rely on other actors.
After deciding upon the use of stop motion animation i researched websites such as http://www.stormthecastle.com/stop-motion-animation/index which gave me some good information about how it is important to light the scene.
At this stage during the preproduction I was not sure if I would use a digital stills camera to record my animation or a DV camcorder so I also looked at http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/stop-motion-digital-camera/ as it has a lot of tips on using a stills camera to create a stop motion animation. Despite the good information that the website provided I decided to use a DV camcorder to record my film as it would be speed up production times and allow for easier editing with Adobe Premiere Pro.
With a final idea roughly decided upon I then proceeded to storyboard the film so that I could plan out the required shots and to get a sense of pace for the film. The pacing was especially important as keeping the film from exceeding 1 minute had the potential to prove troublesome. The storyboard also meant that I could use it as a production schedule so that when it came to filming I would know all the shots I needed to take and could keep shooting time down to a minimum.
While creating the storyboard I decided that I would use several action figures that I owned as the principal cast for the film as they were of the right scale and had articulated joints that would make animating them easier. I also realised I would need a suitable filming location that would allow me enough room to film upon and would enhance the film itself. After a conversation with a friend of mine he allowed me to use the gaming tables at the table top miniatures shop he owns.
The final idea for my film is called Make love not Robot Wars and is supposed to show the violent end of two robots relationship. The film will use a variety of editing effects and music to try and convey loss and love in a slightly comedic way.
Production
On the filming day I used a Canon XM2 and tripod that I had booked from the equipment library as well as 2 small desk lamps to provided additional lighting. After setting up the set, camera and lighting I realised that the rear of the table would be exposed and the shops shelves visible. Deciding that this would spoil the look of the film I jury rigged together a back drop to the table using a green sheet used for gaming terrain.
I have included below links to several stills taken of the set to so that I could show the placement of the lights, camera and backdrop. I also took these images so that if a reshoot was necessary I would have a visual reference of where the set items were placed and the angle I placed the lighting.
The filming proceeding according to plan with only a few changes required to the storyboarded schedule. The first of these was the reduction in the amount of stop motion animation. When it became apparent that it would take a greater amount of time than I had allotted to complete certain scenes but as it did not affect the film too greatly I saw it as a willing sacrifice. The other change was the inclusion of a short additional scene that used a piece of scenery I was not aware that the shop had.
Post-Production
I decided to edit my film in Adobe Premiere Pro as it was the software I found the easiest to use and allowed me to apply the cuts and transitions that I wanted.
After capturing the various scenes from the DV tape on to Adobe Premiere Pro, I began to create a rough cut of the film. This cut was used to make sure I could add all the necessary scenes that I wanted while keeping the film within the time constraints as well as matching the soundtrack and sound effects with video images.
After completing this cut and loading it on to Youtube I then proceeded to refine the final cut. I added various transitions to different scenes including dissolves, colour filters and bright flashes. I also added a soundtrack to the piece that consisted of two separate songs and a series of sound effects that I purchased from iTunes and then edited together. I also added title frames to the opening and closing of the film.
After completing the film I then exported it in .avi and .f4v formats so as to comply with the brief. I then uploaded the film to both Youtube and to blog and flash websites. A link to my final film on Youtube can be found below.
