So I filmed today. I think it went very well. I had all but one person here, and he's coming up on Tuesday to shoot his portion. I'm fairly confident that I got all of the video and still footage I should need to fill the time for my project, and if not, everyone is close by and willing to come back for a second round if necessary.
The process was a little intimidating, with 8 people to go through, and setting up a makeshift studio space in the townhouse lounge. I was lucky enough to have Gen here before everyone else, helping me play with lights and spacing and all of that so I had everything pretty much nailed down when the rest of the "cast" showed up.
Everyone was very helpful, and very funny about things, which helped us get through it at a reasonable pace. I got some footage that wasn't even intentional, and it may be some of the best stuff I have. Funny how that works out.
In any case, I'm hoping to capture it all tonight/tomorrow, see what I have and what I may still need, and then go from there. It will be good to get started on the actual production process soon!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Project Timeline
Week 1 (8/28): Initial proposal
Week 2 (9/11): Storyboard/strong concept
Week 3 (9/18): Formal proposal/storyboard
Week 4 (9/25): Basic animatic. Film.
Week 5 (10/2 – Initial version): Edit footage. Film again if necessary.
Week 6 (10/9): Put together bare-bones version for midterm.
Week 7 (10/16 -- Midterm): Create graphics in Photoshop/Illustrator
Week 8 (10/30): Begin work on transitions. Finish any graphics.
Week 9 (11/6): Continue work on transitions. Start planning music/record voice-over.
Week 10 (11/13 – First revision): Finish transitions. Begin detail work.
Week 11 (11/20): Continue work on details, transitions as necessary. Music.
Week 12 (11/27): Music. Tweaking.
Week 13 (12/4 – Group critique): Any final changes needed for finished version.
Week 14 (Finals): DUE THIS WEEK.
Week 2 (9/11): Storyboard/strong concept
Week 3 (9/18): Formal proposal/storyboard
Week 4 (9/25): Basic animatic. Film.
Week 5 (10/2 – Initial version): Edit footage. Film again if necessary.
Week 6 (10/9): Put together bare-bones version for midterm.
Week 7 (10/16 -- Midterm): Create graphics in Photoshop/Illustrator
Week 8 (10/30): Begin work on transitions. Finish any graphics.
Week 9 (11/6): Continue work on transitions. Start planning music/record voice-over.
Week 10 (11/13 – First revision): Finish transitions. Begin detail work.
Week 11 (11/20): Continue work on details, transitions as necessary. Music.
Week 12 (11/27): Music. Tweaking.
Week 13 (12/4 – Group critique): Any final changes needed for finished version.
Week 14 (Finals): DUE THIS WEEK.
Formal Proposal
For my project, I plan to create a short motion graphic (approximately 15-20 seconds) with the appearance of a television opening theme, starring my friends and myself. I am basing the idea off of the open of the now-cancelled program Arrested Development, using their general format and certain elements of their style, while making several stylistic changes so that the project is personal, and not just an element-for-element recreation of the already-existing piece
The project (and, consequently, the “television show”) is going to be titled “The School of Hard Rock. The concept driving the piece will be that my friends and I, a group of poor college students who are all very musically inclined, have found out about an American-Idol-type national contest with a large monetary payout as the grand prize. Thinking that we can take over the world with our talents, we come up with a grand scheme to win the contest, become rich, and solve all of our problems.
The graphic itself will be broken into 13 separate stages, each smoothly transitioning into the next, as in the original. Pacing will be key. The graphic will open on a group photo (there will be 9 people in the piece). This will transition into an image of a poster advertising the contest we wish to enter, with a highlight of some sort on the “big payout”. The graphic will then transition between images of each of the 9 people involved. Each person will be named, and have a tag of what their “role” in the show would be (vocals, guitar, manager, etc.). During this part, the most obvious use of the style of Arrested Development’s open will be used – I plan to involve their use of arrows, and the jumping frames of each person, rather than smooth video. This, stylistically, is what caught my eye about their open in the first place, and seeing as I wanted to develop my skills in After Effects during my senior year, I felt strongly about experimenting with this style on my own as a way of enhancing my portfolio. After the last person, it will transition to a logo I will create using the title, and some sort of end credit.
I have come up with a voice-over to contribute to the pacing and add to the narrative of the piece, along with music I hope to create throughout the semester. Over top of the graphic, the narrator will state, “This is the story of a group of poor college kids, and the national contest they thought would solve all of their problems. It’s The School of Hard Rock.” This immediately gives the audience an idea of what they are watching, and were this an actual TV show, they would know what the premise of the upcoming program was.
My target audience, specifically, is potential future employers, as I am looking to improve my portfolio with this piece. However, I don’t think there is a group of people the piece would be limited to in terms of entertainment value. While it will be short, as long as I complete the piece with the high production quality I am planning on, most audiences should be able to appreciate the graphics and the humor of the content of my project.
In planning this project, the list of resources I need available to me is fairly significant. Early on in the project, I will need access to a video camera, tripod, and potentially the lighting kit from the art department, to ensure the lighting and production values for the captured footage in my piece are excellent. My own digital camera will suffice for still imagery. Once finished with filming, the shift to the software side of production will be fairly easy. I have access to After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator on my own computer, and can access Final Cut Pro in Holman as necessary. Being able to work from home, for the most part, should make working on this project much easier than previous work I have done.
On the creative side, I have a pretty clear vision of what I want my final product to look like. I have my inspiration from the Arrested Development piece, and want to use those ideas to develop my own style in that vein. I’m putting a high priority on pacing and keeping the flow of the piece light-hearted and fun. The same goes for the coloring and general look and feel. I want the whole project to have a sense of humor about it, and to be entertaining and fun in the style that comes out of it. I’m also keeping current trends in motion graphics and broadcast design in mind as I am designing and planning the layout of the piece. In researching existing television opening sequences outside of Arrested Development, I came across a variety of methods of doing things. Many rely mostly graphics. Arrested Development’s is mostly in this format; House and The X-Files were other good examples. Others relied on footage of the actors and/or the show itself, for instance Firefly or The Office. I found several that were very well done that relied solely on imagery that was tied in to the show in some way. One very good example of this style is Law and Order SVU. They use footage of New York City and crime scene photography, blended with cast photos, to successfully put viewers in the correct mindset for the program.
In viewing each of these opening sequences, a couple of common things struck me as being important to the success of the open. Perhaps most important was the pacing, and along with that, the music. The themes I viewed ranged in time frame from 12 seconds to a minute, but each piece felt correct in the amount of time it filled. Other themes I viewed felt overly dragged out, or too concise. The best themes fit their music perfectly and felt like they were a good length – not rushed, but not too lengthy either. Another important element I found to be common among many of the best opening sequences I viewed was setting a mood with a consistent style or “look”. Whether this was through a certain editing style, color scheme, or even the use of certain graphic or font elements, each open set the tone for the show with the pacing and the style of its brief opening sequence. Although I’m not actually producing a television show, I think it is important for me to be consistent with these ideas so the piece looks professional when I am showing it to future employers.
However, it will also be important to develop a style that is unique and eye-catching that makes this project stand out. While taking into account the techniques and styles out there today, I want to make sure I don’t create a cookie-cutter piece. I want to use the ideas that I’ve picked out of these other, already existing works, to put together my own creative work despite potentially borrowing ideas from others. I think my driving concept and some of the stylistic ideas I have will help me to achieve this.
The project (and, consequently, the “television show”) is going to be titled “The School of Hard Rock. The concept driving the piece will be that my friends and I, a group of poor college students who are all very musically inclined, have found out about an American-Idol-type national contest with a large monetary payout as the grand prize. Thinking that we can take over the world with our talents, we come up with a grand scheme to win the contest, become rich, and solve all of our problems.
The graphic itself will be broken into 13 separate stages, each smoothly transitioning into the next, as in the original. Pacing will be key. The graphic will open on a group photo (there will be 9 people in the piece). This will transition into an image of a poster advertising the contest we wish to enter, with a highlight of some sort on the “big payout”. The graphic will then transition between images of each of the 9 people involved. Each person will be named, and have a tag of what their “role” in the show would be (vocals, guitar, manager, etc.). During this part, the most obvious use of the style of Arrested Development’s open will be used – I plan to involve their use of arrows, and the jumping frames of each person, rather than smooth video. This, stylistically, is what caught my eye about their open in the first place, and seeing as I wanted to develop my skills in After Effects during my senior year, I felt strongly about experimenting with this style on my own as a way of enhancing my portfolio. After the last person, it will transition to a logo I will create using the title, and some sort of end credit.
I have come up with a voice-over to contribute to the pacing and add to the narrative of the piece, along with music I hope to create throughout the semester. Over top of the graphic, the narrator will state, “This is the story of a group of poor college kids, and the national contest they thought would solve all of their problems. It’s The School of Hard Rock.” This immediately gives the audience an idea of what they are watching, and were this an actual TV show, they would know what the premise of the upcoming program was.
My target audience, specifically, is potential future employers, as I am looking to improve my portfolio with this piece. However, I don’t think there is a group of people the piece would be limited to in terms of entertainment value. While it will be short, as long as I complete the piece with the high production quality I am planning on, most audiences should be able to appreciate the graphics and the humor of the content of my project.
In planning this project, the list of resources I need available to me is fairly significant. Early on in the project, I will need access to a video camera, tripod, and potentially the lighting kit from the art department, to ensure the lighting and production values for the captured footage in my piece are excellent. My own digital camera will suffice for still imagery. Once finished with filming, the shift to the software side of production will be fairly easy. I have access to After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator on my own computer, and can access Final Cut Pro in Holman as necessary. Being able to work from home, for the most part, should make working on this project much easier than previous work I have done.
On the creative side, I have a pretty clear vision of what I want my final product to look like. I have my inspiration from the Arrested Development piece, and want to use those ideas to develop my own style in that vein. I’m putting a high priority on pacing and keeping the flow of the piece light-hearted and fun. The same goes for the coloring and general look and feel. I want the whole project to have a sense of humor about it, and to be entertaining and fun in the style that comes out of it. I’m also keeping current trends in motion graphics and broadcast design in mind as I am designing and planning the layout of the piece. In researching existing television opening sequences outside of Arrested Development, I came across a variety of methods of doing things. Many rely mostly graphics. Arrested Development’s is mostly in this format; House and The X-Files were other good examples. Others relied on footage of the actors and/or the show itself, for instance Firefly or The Office. I found several that were very well done that relied solely on imagery that was tied in to the show in some way. One very good example of this style is Law and Order SVU. They use footage of New York City and crime scene photography, blended with cast photos, to successfully put viewers in the correct mindset for the program.
In viewing each of these opening sequences, a couple of common things struck me as being important to the success of the open. Perhaps most important was the pacing, and along with that, the music. The themes I viewed ranged in time frame from 12 seconds to a minute, but each piece felt correct in the amount of time it filled. Other themes I viewed felt overly dragged out, or too concise. The best themes fit their music perfectly and felt like they were a good length – not rushed, but not too lengthy either. Another important element I found to be common among many of the best opening sequences I viewed was setting a mood with a consistent style or “look”. Whether this was through a certain editing style, color scheme, or even the use of certain graphic or font elements, each open set the tone for the show with the pacing and the style of its brief opening sequence. Although I’m not actually producing a television show, I think it is important for me to be consistent with these ideas so the piece looks professional when I am showing it to future employers.
However, it will also be important to develop a style that is unique and eye-catching that makes this project stand out. While taking into account the techniques and styles out there today, I want to make sure I don’t create a cookie-cutter piece. I want to use the ideas that I’ve picked out of these other, already existing works, to put together my own creative work despite potentially borrowing ideas from others. I think my driving concept and some of the stylistic ideas I have will help me to achieve this.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Storyboarding...
Pushing forward on my project. This week I'm focusing on really solidifying my idea and the concept driving it. I sketched out a basic storyboard over the past two days, just to give myself an idea of who would go where, how long everything would be, what I thought transitions would look like, etc. It is mostly stick figures, arrows, and words right now, but once I've truly finalized everything I will make a more formal one.
As I worked on that, things kind of fell into place for the rest of the project. I realized the group looked somewhat like a dysfunctional family, or like we wanted to start either a bad band, or try out for something like American Idol. Several of my friends had decided on poses that were music-related (we're all very musical people -- there's the common thread Phil was talking about in class on Tuesday) and it occurred to me that some sort of "musical quest" as the driving concept would work fantastically. A contest for money perhaps? I'm still bouncing the specific goal around, but I think that will be the general direction I go in. It definitely feels good to have that decided on. Over the next day or two I'm going to pound out the specifics, pick a title, and write my voice-over.
Edit: So as you might have guessed from the blog's title change, I've come up with a title, and a story. I think I'm going to have the driving concept be that the group of us, as poor college kids, have decided that the answer to all of our problems is to enter this American-Idol-esque contest that will win us bundles and bundles of money. Each person will be given a title (lead vocals, guitar, etc) in addition to being named during the sequence. The voice-over, though I'm still working on tweaks, will sound something like this:
"This is the story of a group of poor college students, and the national contest they thought would solve all of their problems. It's The School of Hard Rock."
I also did some research -- looked around the internet at motion graphics demo reels, other television show opens, etc. I'm not on my computer right now so I don't have the links I saved, but I'll edit those in or add them in a later entry.
I'm hoping that once that is done, storyboarding in more detail will really fall into place, and I can start getting to work! I'm excited about this project, more than I have been about many things I've worked on the past couple semesters, and I hope that translates into something awesome.
As I worked on that, things kind of fell into place for the rest of the project. I realized the group looked somewhat like a dysfunctional family, or like we wanted to start either a bad band, or try out for something like American Idol. Several of my friends had decided on poses that were music-related (we're all very musical people -- there's the common thread Phil was talking about in class on Tuesday) and it occurred to me that some sort of "musical quest" as the driving concept would work fantastically. A contest for money perhaps? I'm still bouncing the specific goal around, but I think that will be the general direction I go in. It definitely feels good to have that decided on. Over the next day or two I'm going to pound out the specifics, pick a title, and write my voice-over.
Edit: So as you might have guessed from the blog's title change, I've come up with a title, and a story. I think I'm going to have the driving concept be that the group of us, as poor college kids, have decided that the answer to all of our problems is to enter this American-Idol-esque contest that will win us bundles and bundles of money. Each person will be given a title (lead vocals, guitar, etc) in addition to being named during the sequence. The voice-over, though I'm still working on tweaks, will sound something like this:
"This is the story of a group of poor college students, and the national contest they thought would solve all of their problems. It's The School of Hard Rock."
I also did some research -- looked around the internet at motion graphics demo reels, other television show opens, etc. I'm not on my computer right now so I don't have the links I saved, but I'll edit those in or add them in a later entry.
I'm hoping that once that is done, storyboarding in more detail will really fall into place, and I can start getting to work! I'm excited about this project, more than I have been about many things I've worked on the past couple semesters, and I hope that translates into something awesome.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Initial Proposal
For my project, I plan to create a short motion graphic (approximately 15-20 seconds) with the appearance of a television opening theme, starring my friends and myself. I am basing the idea off of the open of the now-cancelled program Arrested Development, using their general format and certain elements of their style, while making several stylistic changes so that the project is personal, and not just an element-for-element recreation of the already existing piece.
The graphic will be broken into 13 separate stages, each smoothly transitioning into the next, as in the original. The graphic will open on a group photo (there will be 9 people in the piece). This will transition into a “collegiate” photo – I have yet to decide exactly what this image will entail, but as the project develops, and I form a title, and a working voice over, I think an image that fits will become very clear. This will then transition to the image of me. At this point, the most obvious use of the style of Arrested Development’s open will be used – I plan to involve their use of arrows, and the jumping frames of each person, rather than smooth video. This, stylistically, is what caught my eye about their open in the first place, and seeing as I wanted to develop my skills in After Effects during my senior year, I felt strongly about experimenting with this style on my own as a way of enhancing my portfolio.
From here, the project will then smoothly transition through each of the other 8 people. It will hang on each person just long enough to jump through 2-3 frames of motion, and to be able to read their names, then shift right off to the next person. The pacing will be a key part of the project. After the last person, it will transition to the logo for my fake television program’s title and some sort of end credit.
As previously mentioned, there will be 9 people, including myself, involved in the project. I have contacted each of them already, and they are each very willing, and excited, about the concept of the project. They are aware of what is required of them in order to be in the project, and are working on their parts with me already. I plan to have one weekend afternoon shooting day in which I capture (ideally) all the footage needed for the project, and will use more time from there as necessary.
Also important to this project will be the voice-over and music holding together the whole piece. One of the people who have agreed to be involved in the project has agreed to provide me with a voice over, once I have written it. I plan to write a clever one-liner, much like Arrested Development did, because I think it pulls the piece together nicely. As for music, I am hoping to learn Garage Band or the other audio over the course of the semester, and therefore write my own little piece to use as the backdrop for the project. If this does not work out due to time constraints, I will seek the help of other students, or visit other options via the internet.
Essentially, I hope to create a short, clever composition, one that has the appearance of my own television show open in the vein of Arrested Development, so that I may add a very strong piece to my portfolio to show skills in After Effects as I begin applying for jobs in the spring.
The graphic will be broken into 13 separate stages, each smoothly transitioning into the next, as in the original. The graphic will open on a group photo (there will be 9 people in the piece). This will transition into a “collegiate” photo – I have yet to decide exactly what this image will entail, but as the project develops, and I form a title, and a working voice over, I think an image that fits will become very clear. This will then transition to the image of me. At this point, the most obvious use of the style of Arrested Development’s open will be used – I plan to involve their use of arrows, and the jumping frames of each person, rather than smooth video. This, stylistically, is what caught my eye about their open in the first place, and seeing as I wanted to develop my skills in After Effects during my senior year, I felt strongly about experimenting with this style on my own as a way of enhancing my portfolio.
From here, the project will then smoothly transition through each of the other 8 people. It will hang on each person just long enough to jump through 2-3 frames of motion, and to be able to read their names, then shift right off to the next person. The pacing will be a key part of the project. After the last person, it will transition to the logo for my fake television program’s title and some sort of end credit.
As previously mentioned, there will be 9 people, including myself, involved in the project. I have contacted each of them already, and they are each very willing, and excited, about the concept of the project. They are aware of what is required of them in order to be in the project, and are working on their parts with me already. I plan to have one weekend afternoon shooting day in which I capture (ideally) all the footage needed for the project, and will use more time from there as necessary.
Also important to this project will be the voice-over and music holding together the whole piece. One of the people who have agreed to be involved in the project has agreed to provide me with a voice over, once I have written it. I plan to write a clever one-liner, much like Arrested Development did, because I think it pulls the piece together nicely. As for music, I am hoping to learn Garage Band or the other audio over the course of the semester, and therefore write my own little piece to use as the backdrop for the project. If this does not work out due to time constraints, I will seek the help of other students, or visit other options via the internet.
Essentially, I hope to create a short, clever composition, one that has the appearance of my own television show open in the vein of Arrested Development, so that I may add a very strong piece to my portfolio to show skills in After Effects as I begin applying for jobs in the spring.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Documentation
So here we are in yet another Projects class. As a senior this time around, and due to the upcoming changes in the IMM department, apparently I have to do a metric ton of documentation (or 20 pages, whichever), so I'm starting a blog now, and I intend to stay on top of it this semester, instead of panicking and going back and documenting everything at the end as I have a tendency to do.
Proposal to come soon.
Proposal to come soon.
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