HE Blog

After sending the final product of the Advertising Editing project to my lecturers, I was given a ‘1-on-1′ meeting with some lecturers where I would be able to showcase my research, ideas and the produced work, where, they would then give me feedback.

Link to work submitted

Bigbang promo

Upon reviewing the work, I believe that the feedback and criticisms they gave me were very fair. They asked me questions about research that I have done as well as my methods of producing this work.

(Blog Link)

In the blog, I’ve shown a large amount of ideas behind the piece and why I decided to include them while also including many test and instructions as to how I produced different parts of the work.

They said I should give reasons to why I use particular art-styles / colour palettes for my video or what media or art has influenced my decision making through the production.

Moving forward to my new project Sound Synchronization, I was then able to take the feedback from the (Advertising Editing) project, and apply it to this one coming up.

Here’s an example of a past student’s work:

Anaconda

By the end of the project, I should be able to visually represent the characteristics and dynamics of sound, understand the role of narrative in time based media & be able to combine these aspects in order to create a short abstract sequence based on a soundtrack - similar to the video above.

I’ve had a talk with some Jason regarding the blog and one point he made is to include some sort plan to clearly show what my production process involves on the way to create my the end product. 

As of now, I’ve made a start on the research and planning side of the project including an action plan that I will include in my blog, involving:

#1 - Research sound sync videos / pieces

#2 - Research various sound sync techniques

#3 - Decide on song & style for project

#4 - Analyze the audio

#5 - Break down audio track to a segment that I will use

#6 - Begin designing animated shapes / objects in the same style I have chosen

#7 - Render a draft Edit

#8 - Adjust & Tune visual and audio sync

#9 - Final project Render

On my coursework blog, I will use each of these points as a heading, indicating a new entry, then I will write/discuss further, depending on the context of each point, like what media or information did I use to conduct my research and how the said research would affect my song or style choice in the future.

For example, here is a list of various motion graphics pieces that I will compile over time, which, I believe would be helpful to me when I produce my final product.

I liked how the pieces used cuts between smoothness because it can help take out or place in other shapes / assets into the piece without too much complication while also being able change the pace of the piece visually without too much exaggeration,

#1 - Kim Jaeseo’s 2D Motion Graphic:

#2 - HappilyHyper’s Motion Graphic Shapes:

#3 - Viet Le Duy’s Basic Motion Graphics:

Or, another point that was made during my 1-on-1 talk, is if I am writing about the production aspect of the project, I would talk about the process and how I came about producing a specific segment.

For example:

Using Track Mattes

In this screenshot, I wanted to show some sort of Sunset in the background, with a few ‘windows’ popping out in each of the drum beats revealing the sunlight ‘pulse’.

So first, I created the ‘windows’ and edited them in line to the drum beats. Then pre-composed them.

Then, I created the ‘sun’ and scaled the size over the time that the drum beat ended. (I also copied the layer and offsetted and changed the shade to make smaller ‘pulses’)

After, I placed the ‘Drum_Sun’ layer (Windows) above the ‘Pulse’ layer and Alpha Matted it so that it only appears as the windows appear.

I also duplicated the ‘Drum_Sun’ layer and placed it below the ‘Pulse’ layer so that I could retain the shape of the window instead of the shape of the sun.

-   Including this kind of information or project development would help me show my lecturers my level of understanding on the various assignments I am given. 

From this year onward, I have many expectations for my developmental needs.

One thing in particular, is to become more proactive during workshops or to approach my lecturers regarding my coursework.

In some cases, I fall behind on class tutorials regarding practical work like new programs or techniques.

Although, I have been making a bigger effort into voicing my thoughts in classes, I’ve still yet to make bigger attempt’s at independent studying and applying things I’ve learnt into small ‘project’s and apply them in my own way, so that I can show my understanding and retain information with me in a physical way as well.

For example, during my ‘Advertising Editing’ piece, I showed the various steps I used in order to produce ‘3D’ light streaks using what I learned during Rosie’s 3D After Effect’s camera effects during her workshop:

- Color Streaks -

Firstly, I produced these streaks in Adobe Photoshop with a  white rectangle, then by using various brushes given to us by Chris, I erased some edges and parts of the rectangle at a 10-20% opacity to give it a rugged look.

In this screenshot, it shows a red rectangle, but I repeated the process by using blue, green, yellow and white respectively.

Then, I imported them into Adobe After Effects and enabled 3-D so that I can adjust the X,Y,Z Co-ordinates in a way that the 5 Stripes are depicted as a floor or a road.

Screenshot: I imported the 5 streaks into after effects-

Screenshot: I enabled ‘3D’ mode & 2 Camera mode so that I can see the scene in both ‘TOP’ & ‘Front’ camera views, then I adjusted the X,Y,Z Co-ordinates then placed my BIGBANG Logo in the center:

Since the default length of the rectangles were to short, I elongated them & moved the 5 streaks’ ‘X’ axis co-ordinates closer to the ‘Front’ view camera.

After, i added a new ‘Front’ view camera to the composition.

My first step in animating this segment was to make sure that the camera looked like it moved forward, so I keyframed the start point of the camera, moved my scrubber to the end point where I wanted the camera and moved the camera using ‘X’ axis point to bring the camera closer tot he BIGBANG logo.

After doing this, I noticed that the movement of the camera looked to ‘stiff’. So I fixed this by having each individual streak move backwards at different time. I basically used the same method as earlier, so there’s not point to typing it out again really.

Although, it wasn’t anything spectacularly amazing, I felt accomplished that I was able to combine the usage of 2 different programs and show that I understand the lessons taught in workshops as well as utilize it in my own creative direction.