Experimenting with colour brightness and contrast in shots.

This task is proving quite time consuming, especially as I filmed different animations of numerous occasions. Despite photographing each scene around the same time of day (between 9am-12pm) in the wooded area, weather has caused varied lighting. On top of this, I want to use lighting to create the creepy atmosphere attached to the narrative. I have documented the changes I made on some of the shots that were photographed on the same day to cut down time.

Here are some screen shots of some colour edits I've done over the course of the day...

The image below is the second shot in the post-transformation section. I found that this was a lot lighter in brightness than the pan shot before.

 This image is the contrast I have applied in the current draft of the final outcome. Its much higher in contrast and has made the colours look much more vivid and more interesting visually compared to the image below this one....

Also the video below shows a more refined animation for the first third of the animation, including colour corrections and better transitions. 

There are still corrections I'd like to make, such as some sort of blurring at the edges of the antagonist attack frame. This way it will focus the audience's attention on the antagonist's approach and also the mask. Also there are couple of shots that need to be elongated such as the antagonist moving around the tree. There isn't enough time for the audience to take in the information. I may try the freeze frame technique I used on the blink test.

Adding blur to initial wake up shot

After initial trouble with After Effects, I'm finally getting my head around it and keep on finding new tools that are making my animation much more variable in shots and transitions. Since yesterday, I have added a blur to the initial viewpoint in the blink. This makes it even more believable as someone waking up. This will be the last effect I add to this shot as I fear that anymore effects would be too much.

The blink test and using the opacity transform tool in After effects.

Since finishing with all shooting of the film, I have placed each animation in chronological order, to analyse what needs to be cut shorter, changed in colour brightness/saturation ect. This is the third draft of the final outcome...

There is obviously still a lot of room for improvement in terms of consistency in colour/lighting and better transitions. However, in particular i needed feedback on the blink effect I had to the first scene in the aftermath of the metamorphosis. It was important for the audience to understand that they were seeing from the point of view of the character. One of my peers stated that they were confused why the character only looks to their right side for a fraction of the time they look to the left. This distracted them from the purpose of the shot. Taking this criticism on board, I went back to photoshop where I essentially cut out the extensive look to the right, then re-added fading in and out to re-create a blink. I am much happier with this result.

Blink test edited...

I have found the opacity tool extremely useful for creating transitions between shots as well as creating a blink in the waking up scene. It works particularly well in the transformation animations going from one to the other. I think it creates an almost dream-like atmosphere as well as depicting time passing.

I had previously been taught how to use the transform tool in the after effects workshop at the beginning of term. Putting this knowledge in use for the blink test in particular needed time for trial tests to see what looked best. As well as using the opacity tool on this shot, I needed to time freeze the frames at the beginning to give a better depiction of the character waking up disillusioned. This technique I learnt from an online tutorial on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA1VvCeZV5c. Using this technique was very straight forward, however getting the right frame frozen and then connecting it to the rest of the animation was fairly tedious. Here are some screen shots during the process of this technique.

Step 1: Set the time indicator to the layer in which you want to freeze a frame and highlight the layer.

Step 2: Zoom into the timeline moving the indicator with the mountain icon next to it.

 Step 3: Your timeline should now show you the number of frames instead of seconds. Move the time indicator to the frame in the animation that you want to freeze frame. Press CMD + Shift + D to separate the layer into two. Highlight and delete the layer you don't want.

Step 4: Hover your mouse at the end of your layer and a transform icon should come up. Drag the layer to the number of frames you want to have the frame frozen.

Step 5: Now you can drag another copy of the animation from your project collection into the timeline and adjust the layer so that the two layers flow as if they were one.

After I used the time freeze tool, I then applied my previously used fade in/out technique to the new adaption of this animation. Here are two of the results of these techniques...

In the above video, I tried to apply time freeze frame to two areas of the previous animation. The first being at the beginning where the blink would be and then a freeze frame as the view goes to the left. This was to try and slow down the view. This proved far too jumpy and didn't work as a smooth animation. In fact I believe it made it more confusing to watch. In the next experiment, I only applied the technique to the beginning of the animation to concentrate more on the blink being right. The opacity was applied both layers as it made the transition between the two much smoother and make it hardly noticeably edited.

Final preparations and the last of the animations (10th and 11th May)

Considering saturday was the last of filming in the woodland setting, I needed to make amendments to the costume and mask. Seeing as I have only previously shown the finished result of my experiments, I thought I would show some of my working progress, photographed on the friday.

The Mask:

Some of the 3D paper elements were coming away from the base of the mask therefore, I had to re-stick them down. I have been using double sided tape to secure these aspects of the mask. In the future when I make masks, I think i will use a different method of attaching the paper together.

Fixing the ears back onto the mask. The ears are were constructed by cutting an oval shape with a straight edge and enough room for tabs to stick to the base of the mask. Then I cut from the edge to the centre of the oval. Next, I constructed a short cone by moving the right side of the cut over to the left. The ears I used on the final mask were much smaller than the ones I constructed for earlier masks. This is as I found they were too noisy and distracting. These are definitely more in proportion to the rest of the face when looking back at observations i did bears in the initial stages of the project.

As you can see all the 3D elements of the mask have been secured at the back of the mask to prevent noise and make the front of the mask more sophisticated. However, due to previous wear in the shooting of the film, the tabs connected to the cheeks of the bear started to come off. This was easily fixed with tape for tomorrow.

(you can see how I originally put the mask together from the shapes i cut into the mask to enable me to push through the 3D elements and secure with tape.)

Re-making an ankle bracelet

As I cut away at one of the ankle bracelets during the making of the leg transformation animation, a replacement needed to be made.  This is the Here's the process...

The last of the animations

Unfortunately in the last shoot, the actress previously playing Callisto wasn't able to make it due to uni work commitments. Therefore after attempts to find a replacement, I decided to step in as a substitute. This decision seemed legitimate as both Camilla and I have blonde hair and a slim frame, and the factor of the human face not being viewed in these shots meant I could easily pass as Camilla. Although, at first this seemed like a set back, I really enjoyed taking up more of a performing role in the animation as well as photographer and costume maker. Similarly to directing Camilla, I tried to adopt some of techniques Ellie Nixon taught me about how to use the body as means of expression when wearing a mask. Obviously, I am not an actor but I hope that my movement was fairly convincing as a transformed creature.

As I took the role of the actor, I required an assistant to help photograph the shots needed. My friend, Hannah Coombe presumed this role. Even though, I wasn't actually behind the camera, I was in control of what was being photographed, before each shot I explained to Hannah what I did and didn't want shown in each shot and where to stand ect. 

New animations include:

- Waking up shot

- Bear exploration in the woods

-Bear Collapse

- Full bear face reveal

- Empty chair and leaves animation.

The empty chair and leaves animation was a new addition to the storyboard as I identified last week that there was evident gap between the pre-transformation and transformation sections of the animation. Seemingly there was no clear connection between the two sections except for the face transformation at the end of the middle section. The empty chair (where Callisto was previously seated) suggests that something bad has happened following the antagonist creeping up on her and gives a pause for the audience to be intrigued before revealing the transformation animations.

Waking up shots: Again I needed a clear indication of a new scene and an a suggestion of the character gaining consciousness in her new form. This shot was created by lying on the floor as the character would and photographing upwards at the sky, moving the camera as the hear would to look around. 

1. Too quick. Its doesn't give the audience time to register the surroundings the character is in and generally feels a little rushed and unrealistic to how someone who'd just woken up would move. 

2. This test has much better pacing than the previous. However, I do have concerns about the repetition of side to side panning. I think it would be better just to look slightly to one side then the other then slowly pan downwards as if the character was sitting up. I will ask my peers what they think of view given in this animation.

Bear Exploration: 

This shot follows on from the previous photographed and animated when shooting with Camilla.

1. In this first test, the bear walk is photographed in a long shot to give a voyeuristic view. This wasn't as successful as thought, and I found that the foliage blocked a lot of view, making it very difficult to make out the actor. This, of course, defeated the point of the shot altogether. As you can see also the lack of consideration to the composition made the shot look scruffy.

2. This time, the viewpoint has changed. Hannah moved to a position that meant that the character approached and went past the camera, allowing the camera to capture three different views of the costume. I was careful to direct Hannah not to include the head in the shot focusing more on the torso to knee area of the body. I felt that too much exposure to the head would spoil the climax of the short storyline. There are some faults in this test though, as the actress (myself) walked too fast not allowing hannah to catch many frames.

3 & 4: Using the same viewpoint as before, I was able to make two successful animations. In the final animation, I will use the 3rd test as it is longer in length giving me leverage for making transitions between this shot and the next.

5. This is an extra test that I undertook, trying to illustrate the same shot but from over the shoulder of the main character. I wanted it also show the character looking down at their hands. It didn't work as the camera isn't at the same eye-level as the character. Instead it looked like there was someone following behind.

Bear collapse:

As I had positioned the mirror fairly low on the tree, it wouldn't make sense for the character to walk straight up to the mirror and look at her reflection. Also, for poetic reasons i wanted to make the big reveal of the face far more dramatic. I envisioned, the character being so overwhelmed by this strange event that she collapses with shock and then uses the tree to pull herself up, only to be faced with this devastating new appearance. I filmed this from a couple of different viewpoints.

1. This test didn't work because the character's collapses too early, meaning they have to crawl to the tree. I think this looks clumsy but also quite forced when she crawls to the tree. 

2.  Close up and a different angle to the previous animation. This works well as a follow on from the collapse. To make this work, I'd have to use the next animation as they end/start with the same position. Generally this animation works well as a transition between the collapse and the full reveal.

3. This is much more successful than the initial long shot test, mainly due to the fall being much smoother.

Bear reveal:

These shots are probably some of the most important in the animation. I needed to make this clear as a dramatic moment in the storyline as well as illustrate the horror the character feels as she realises her new form.

1. OTS (over the shoulder) shot. This makes use of the mirror as a source of a multiple view of the character's reaction. I think I will use this shot in the final animation. But as a penultimate shot rather than the last, it seems more transitional than a dramatic and memorable image.

 

2. This shot is too far away from the camera as well as being too short in length.

3. This highlights the issues I had with lighting around the eyes. It was important to make the eyes visible as they were the acting tools in this shot.Without showing the panic and upset in the eyes, the reveal wouldn't be as effective.

4. Only the second half, specifically the character using her hands to confirm what she was seeing is real, is useable in the final animation. I don't like how the camera looks down onto the hairline. Personally, I don't think its a very attractive visual.

5. This test was much more successful in terms of animation length and pacing. Although, I will have to make alterations to the lighting though as it changes throughout the sequence. It could possible just to cut out some frames and overlap this animation with test 4.

Empty chair and moving leaves animation:

The animation uses leaves to suggest the literal disappearance of Callisto as well as a metaphor for her physical removal of beauty. 

2nd Draft of Final Animation

I've been using Adobe After Effects for effects such as reversing stop motions I had done, but the majority of my animating was focused around my photography and photoshop skills. Despite having a few more shots to get over the weekend, It was important that I started creating drafts of my final outcome with ALL my current animations. This way it would be easier to see the gaps in the narrative and identify how I could improve the animation further.

Looking over the current sequence, and receiving some peer feedback, I can identify that the following are needed for the next draft:

General

- Colour editing. Seeing as my animations have been shot both inside and outside, I need to edit some of the shots to convince the audience that all of the story is set outside. This I want to spend time experimenting with different effects to make sure the right mood and atmosphere can be demonstrated with the colour.

Pre-transformation

- A shot that suggests that something has happened to Callisto between the attack and the revealing of the transformation. Originally in my storyboard, I planned to have the character's body covered in leaves. However, after deciding to make the leaves out of paper, and with the drawing and cutting out of the leaves being much more time consuming, I decided to drop this idea. Instead I propose to use a shot that would spark more intrigue within the audience. I have had the idea to film the empty chair and mirror with the leaves moving from the chair towards the audience to suggest Callisto has been moved/kidnapped and something is about to happen.

- Trimming of some of the Antagonist shots. For example, I don't like the fact the character looks at the audience as I want the audience to be a spectator not another character in the narrative.


Transformation

- Smoother transitions between transformation shots. I like the fade in/out technique but it needs to be much more fluid, especially before the first shot and after the last.

Post-transformation

This area has the most need for improvement, mostly because the shots I will be taking at the weekend are mainly for the post-transformation section of my animation.

- Callisto waking up. This is another forced POV (Point of View) shot on the audience, making them see through Callisto's eyes. This is the first few shots using this filming technique. The shot will include, a fade in from black, looking vertically at the sky and trees. Then from there, the viewpoint will suggest her sitting up and looking around. This will transition into my already shot viewpoint of Callisto sitting down, with the audience having a third party view of her transformed legs.

- Possibly more shadow shots. Following positive feedback from both my tutors and my peers about the full silhouette shadow shot, I intend to film some more during the weekend. Perhaps focused more on one element of the body such as the head or the back as the previous focused on the hands and feet.

-Back transformation.  This originally was going to be in the mid-section of the animation. Although, due to my lack of time with the actress, I was unable to shoot the back transformation. On the other hand, I have thought of a way in which I can possibly include this shot as well using it as a transition. This transition would be between the character standing/walking in the forest to then being on the floor, clawing at the tree up to a mirror. I've had the idea for the character to keel over to their knees, holding their back. I don't want too much focus on the actress (as it will be me, not the previous actress). The paper animation will then be able to happen and then the shot can transition into the hand clawing at the tree.

-Hands clawing up the tree. This is the build-up to the final reveal of the face/mask. I want a close up shot of the hands and I need to listen to the sound recording I made of the clawing of the tree to matach up with the movement I will be photographing.

-Face reveal. I will shoot this reveal in two different viewpoints, face-on and over the shouldering, filming the reaction in the mirror.

Re-mastered Hand and arm transformation

Since I did some of my transformation animating at the first stages of my animation, I decided to re-make the hand transformation. Some changes were needed to put in place such as the placement and angle of the hand, as well as the moment. I realised that my leg transformation was very similar to the hand. I wanted some variation in the shots, and the hand seemed a simpler method of showing changing in form.

 I worked with my hand again, but took into consideration the importance of keeping consistency between footage of the model and my own hand. Therefore I have used distinctive red nail varnish to be a key feature of the costume.

 I think the addition of shadows as the hand moves is really effective. It will hopefully fit in really well with the use of shadows later in the animation as Callisto explores the woods as a bear.

Title and credit animation

The introduction of my film is very important to both engage the audience and also give them an idea of the use of both real people and paper cut illustration. It was also important to introduce the vibrant colours I used in the bear mask to show consistency in my use of colour throughout the animation.

I was initially inspired for the font by the Native American patterns and shapes I have incorporated in my previous work in the project. Taking into consideration the readability of the text.

 As you can see, the title is much more detailed with pattern as well as colour. I decided not to do the same on the credits. As I needed to make the font legible and simply state the information included in the credits. All of these letters were then made into paper versions, making them easy to move around as I made the stop motion animation.

I did a couple of movement tests on the title at first. However, I found that the animation wasn't very exciting to watch and that it would most probably clash with the moving animation of the woods in the background. It was then decided that the title would stay still overlaying the background movement.

The format of the word has been split into three lines due to the long length of the title and the consideration to readership. I think this format draws attention to the title but works well with the moving trees in the background. Its bold and to the point.

I have since merged the two elements (type and animation) together on After effects to see the effectiveness of the two together. I had reservations about whether it was going to work, but after enquiring into the issue with Ed. I found that it is much simpler than I thought.

This is still some room for improvement on this test. For example, I think I need to re-evaluate how long the open title needs to be...I'm not sure if its too long. Either the fade in/out of the title or the opening in general needs to be changed.

I have also made end credit animations as well. The font in these is much simpler but still has the same type style and colour scheme as the title. Again I didn't want to make the credits too fussy by adding animation to the type itself. Instead I want to concentrate on making smooth transitions between each shot. To make the shot more visually attractive I have added the leaves used in the transformation as a border to the type. The only animation I have used is the reveal and covering of the text in the end credits . I liked the idea of leaving my animation with a clear end point, I like the fact it ends with the title, metamorphosis. This will hopefully give my target audience food for thought, making them look up more information on performances of 'Metamorphosis'.

I'm having some timing issue with the length of each shot. I intend on duplicating some of the photographs to elongate the shot, making it more legible.