Logic Pro: Cliché Soundtrack Play-Around

Cliché Soundtrack Play-Around 

In this moving image lesson we experimented with different sounds in Logic Pro. We were told where everything was such as instruments, sound loops and how to add software tracks and how to use the typing keyboard as a musical keyboard. After that we played around creating various different sounds and getting a feel for Logic in general. 

Once we all had a general play around and had gotten a feel for the software we were then set a task to create a backing track to a clip of our choice from a short film from the previous second year Moving Image students. 

Below is the clip that I chose and the final music that I created:

Impact on the characters:

The music I created for this was made very specifically to fit the scene. In the scene there is a person tied up to a chair in a dark room with a bag over their head and they are screaming. Straight away I wanted to create something that would turn emotions cold for the audience so I decided to use a medium pitched synth and a lower-end pitched synth. These working together created a tense atmosphere right from the start, especially when you are greeting with a tracking in shot into this tied-up character. The amount of music/instruments used is very minimal but I wanted it like this because anything else added to it would create a completely different atmosphere and where it was, was just spot-on. 

What did I know before/what did I learn?
Before I was aware of everything that we had taught in this lesson but I had never actually independently tried it out myself, I was aware because I just followed what the teacher did in school on the projector. 

It was good to have that Independence to just crack on and get the job done and experiment, that's one of the best ways to learn for me I find because It actually stays in my head more. So I was aware of everything we had been taught but it was good to have it fresh in my head and hopefully I wont forget it as quickly or as much as I did 3 years ago.   

Christmas: In Design Christmas Jumper

Christmas: In Design Christmas Jumper


In todays lesson we were assigned a Christmas task, this was where we had to design our own christmas design and follow and set of instruction from a website, that can be found here: http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-a-christmas-jumper-pattern-in-illustrator

What did I know before?
Before I had basic experience in shapes and how to rotate/colour them, I was also aware of how to duplicate a shape by holding down 'alt'. 

What have I learnt?


Today I have learnt how to merge two shapes together. This can be done via the 'Pathfinder' tab. You select the shapes you wish to merge by holding shift and click them both, and then click the 'Unite' icon on the far left. Once this is done you will have a shape that has merges various shapes together. 

Here is the final version of that poster: 

You can also find a time-lapse video of the process here:

Art Movements

Phycedelic 60's

The Phycedelic 60's was all based around drugs and hallucinations, believe it or not. It was seen as 'funky art' for some. The main drug that initiated the whole psychedelic era was LSD, this basically caused people to alternate between states of consciousness, causing them to hallucinate and paint what they see. When other drugs were used this cased people to have different experiences, causing the art to be slightly different.

The design idea is still used but very rarely, for example, some Music Festivals sometimes use the idea. It is also used on a popular youtube channel, known as Good Mythical Morning.

Post Modernism:

Post Modernism was very popular around the time of 1960's and onward. It was a move by a lot of artists to try something different and breaks some rules to create a great new movement of art. It doesn't strictly follow any structure either so the possibilities are endless. Well-known people such as Banksy, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollcock all use this style of art in the modern age. 

Futurism

Futurism started in the 20th Century in Italy.It appeared to be based off of the concept of the future, such as speed and technology, often empathized with objects such as cars or a plane and the industrial city. It was also about geometrical shapes, curves and jagged edges. The 'main players' of this movement were David Bomberg, Gino Severini and Primi Conti.

Soviet Realism

This is a realistic style of art that was developed in the Soviet Union, it became a dominant style in other countries too. This was an officially approved type of art in the Soviet Union for nearly 60 years. The whole purpose of it was to enhance the goals of socialism and communism. 

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international style of art, used in many places across the world and influenced the design of man-made items such as furniture jewelry and so on. It was one of the most popular art styles from 1890-1910 and because in 1880. From then it spread around Europe. It then even went onto being used in art and craft forms/movement. It also has no political references and is easily recognizable.

Swiss Style

Swiss Style started back in the 1950's and is mainly a graphic design style designed in Switzerland (big hint in the name). It likes to show cleanliness, readability and objectivity. The font style was sans serif. Interestingly the style is also associated with photography in place of illustrations or drawings, that's something I never knew! The main players of this art movement was Josef Muller-Brockmann.

Even 60 years on Swiss Style is still very relevant, you see it all over the place where that being big block colours on posters or websites. Ikea is also heavily know for using it with their designs of furniture.

Bauhaus:

Bauhaus was actually a an art school in Germany that focused on design. It was founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. It later closed in 1933. At the time 'Bauhaus' in German literally meant 'House of Construction'.  Bauhaus became on of the most influential design styles in modern design and art. It had a big influence on developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design and even typography. Bauhaus appears to be very neat with it's layout, everything lines up and is all the same angle, typically 45 degrees. 

Potential Political Campaign at College to Encourage Teenagers to Vote

College Campaign to Encouragement Teenagers to Vote

-What are young people interested in?
Most young people of today's generation are interested heavily in digital items such as phones, computers, tablets and so on. This is mostly because of how they've been raised into a generation that uses it the most compared to previous generations. It is also much easier to access information, images etc.. Not only that but there is something about technology that intrigues younger people. Myself included.

- How can these interests be used to get young people to vote?
This is pretty much self-explanatory, technology is a major part in advertising or gathering information in this generation. Even visiting a website is technically being part of the view-count for that website, which is classed as primary research. If you create a really interesting and visually appealing website or video or some form of media that can be posted around on social media sights, then people are much more likely to view it other than a poster in a corridor. 

- How can the act of voting in the election be made interesting/How to get young people interested in politics/voting?
Make the concept look more interesting, even adverts about politics/voting on the TV look really dull and boring, but imagine if that advert had a concept of teenagers going into the voting hall to vote (possibly alongside adults) and the whole colour-grade of that advert looked really visually vibrant and the graphics at the end were all various different shapes and colours. That would surely have even the smallest effect on persuading teenagers to vote?

- Which media formats would work for the campaign?
I would say various formats. Mainly something that is quick and easy, like the play of a button on a video. Most teenagers wouldn't want to pick up a newspaper or magazine because it's 'boring' or 'what old people read' or 'it won't look cool'. But some surprisingly do! Think of it in social media terms, a teen is scrolling down their news feed with a white background, and they suddenly see a video with a really vibrant and colorful thumbnail, it will stand out to them and all they have to do is click play and the information is being fed to them on a plate, whether they choose to keep listening or take in what is being said. he trick is to get them watching within the first 10 seconds, that's the most important part. 

- What would the style, content and information be like?
It would almost definitely have to be vibrant and colorful - it's just what attracts the eye. They create a much more positive mood and atmosphere compared to darker and dull colors. The information would have to be visually interesting, use graphs, graphics/images to illustrate what is being said. And the information would have to be compacted into short and sweet sentences. 

-How would I go about researching this to find out?
There are various ways, one would be to create an online survey and ask people to fill it out on various social media platforms. Another way would be to physically go out and ask people themselves. 

What people at college currently think of politics/voting?
As you would expect, the majority of people in college don't know or have any interest what-so-ever in politics. Some don't even know who the prime minister is, whether they were joking or not I don't know but some people genuinely don't. I recall only 2 or 3 people out of 50-60 asked read about politics everyday, which is such a small amount. 


What media I could create to promote voting?
Myself being heavily interested in the video world would mean that I would probably make some form of graphical video with some actual video element involved also. What would be best is to research into the best format that teens like, both in college and in general over the entire country/world and then work around that. 

Interactive Media: Adobe Flash

Interactive Media: Adobe Flash

In todays lesson we started another brief which involved using Adobe Flash. Adobe Flash is a software in which you are able to make animations digitally. We first started off creating basic shapes such as circles and squares on each key frame, making them move around the stage. 

Below is a link to the first animation that I did first. I wanted to create a ball bouncing and try to give it physics, what I mean by this is the shape of the ball on impact with the ground. I also wanted the ball to change colour. I did this by drawing the circle and then changing the shade of blue each for each individual shape. There are much smoother ways of changing the colour where it cycles through the colours between the two colour you are choosing (Red to Blue for example). But this creates a slightly different effect. 

I then went on to creative my own name in Flash with the Line Tool. I should also add that I changed the style of the line in 'Width' under the 'Fill and Stroke' tab. Doing this changed the style of the line to go from thin to think and then back to thin again. To the right is a screenshot to show this. After, I then went frame-by-frame drawing out my name, it would be a step further to make the lines rounded but to keep things simple I wrote in a 'box' style. As the screenshot below shows:

As I've said, to create the animation I simple drew each part of the letter on a new frame each time. The frame-rate of this document is 12 frames per second. The total amount of lines on this document is 13. This means that the average duration of this animation will be just over 1 second. Very quick. To slow this down It would be a simple case of pro-longing the time you add each part to the letter. So every 3-4 frames or something like that. 

Here is the final result of my name: 

Pre-Production: Shedule

Pre-Production: Schedule

As I've discussed in a previous post, Pre-Production is a vital part of the film making process as is all the other processes. But a lot of things come under Pre-Production; things like script writing down to casting and crew.

Today I'm going to talk about Schedule. As part of our 3 minute shorts that we are writing, shooting and editing,  we are required to do the whole process from start to finish.

Schedules are absolutely vital - as I've mentioned in other posts. It'll be like walking down a path in pitch-black without a schedule but with it you’re walking with a light at your feet - you can see/make out the direction you’re going to be heading.

There are usually schedules for each part of the production process, each involving different things, for example; a pre-production schedule will probably not have the things a production process will have in it. In big films, Pre-Production schedules typically involve things such as: 

Scripting

Shot-list

Risk Assessment

Recce

Script Locking

Script Drafts

Kit List (And hire)

Crew

Casting

Props

Auditioning

And, of course, so much more.

Because Pre-Production is basically what brings the film together in the first place, it's good to actually have something to follow in terms of times, it's good to be strict with yourself. It's a good motivation to get work done, this is what I find on personal project. But on bigger projects, it's there to actually keep everything in order and organised, and so multiple people can focus on what needs to be done and when.

It's good to break schedules down into days, some people ever go to the extreme of having hours and even minutes, Sometimes this is necessary tough! 

Below is an image of my own personal Pre-Production schedule for my project. You'll notice It's colour-coded and has a key. This not only helps me to view it easier, more quickly and helps me understand it more. But it is also visually interesting for me. I can't stand things that look boring. There's no harm in making things look more attractive, if the information is there then what's the harm? And if it serves multiple jobs then even better!

Biscuit Evaluation/Analysis

Biscuit Evaluation/Analysis

At the start of todays lesson we were each given a number from 1-5 and divided into groups. We were first told to open up an audio recorder on the computers and then presented with a plate of two biscuits.

There was a sheet on the table that said the following:

1. First Impressions

2. Smell

3. Texture

4. Taste

5. Visual Representation

6. Quality and Cost 

As soon as I saw this sheet and the biscuits I knew exactly what we were going to do. It all added up. So.. what we had to do was record ourself tasting a biscuit and then comment on the 6 things listed above. 

It all seems a little odd doing this, why biscuits? The whole idea of this was to get us into a 'focus group'. This is where people come together into a group and discuss about a topic, so similar to a survey and is a form of gathering research. 

So what did I do? 
I ate the biscuit and then described what I fought about the First Impressions, the smell, texture, taste, visual representation and the Quality and Cost ( as already described).

What did I know?
Before this task I was aware of what a focus group was and I knew what happened within a focus group but I haven't ever really been in a focus group too much so it was good to get into a focus group and do this task. 

Below is a link to our audio recording:
After this we then tought of the goods and the bads of a focus group. This is what the class came up with:

Positives:

Speed of response

More detailed opinion

Honesty?

Personal response

Negatives:

Influence 

Time for researcher
Not always what you want to hear
Questions not always answered
Difficulty with language

After this we were then assigned to a small group with people from the class and we had to find a group of people (focus group) to discuss our posters designs from the people in our group. We thought of guidelines to help the people in the focus group along with the analysis of the poster:

Target Audience?
Eye catching design?
Legible text?
Clear message?
Encourage you to vote?
Do you like it?
Best place to display?

After the focus group had finished discussing their views of our posters we asked them to fill out a survey to get a demographic. Below is the results of that survey:

We also recorded the focus groups audio so we could get their very first opinions/impressions of the poster, below is the link that somebody in my group uploaded:




Here are the images of our posters from the group:

First Impressions
Visual Impressions
Colour
Text
Effectiveness