Color Correction & Color Grading

Color Correction is the process of changing every clip in a sequence to get good exposure and good Neutralization is the process with in this process when a clips colors are neutralized and flattened to allow an editor to color grade footage with a clean slate, bringing out the colors and schemes they want to instead of working with what is already there. Temperature is adjusted by implementing more orange to even out a cold bluish clip or vise versa, the allowing the editor to come in an give it the temperature they want to convey in the shot. Instead of editing footage based on how it appears to the human eye, SCOPES help show the balance of colors and contrast and make correcting easier by leveling out such features.
light.

Color Grading is done after color correction and is the creative process of adding and manipulating colors, lighting, and exposure again, but in this case instead of flattening and neutralizing, color themes, schemas, gradients, and more are introduced and give the footage a specific feel. This is a purely creative process and grading varies from editor to editor, but there are certain looks that give video certain feels such as using orange tints to convey warmth; increasing contrast to show suspense; adjusting lighting during a different type of day; and countless other possibilities.


Order of Operations:

1. Remove artifacts and de-noise.

2. Balance your shots by adjusting BLACKS/MIDS/WHITES, SATURATION and WHITE BALANCE.

3. Relight within a shot using power windows or masks.

4. Add gradients, diffusion and other lens filters.

5. Add vignettes

6. Grade your images

7. Simulate a film stock of your choice

8. Resize and sharpen

Work Log:
I worked on animating and editing my outer space earth logo all week in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom Review

In 2012 I remember laying on my parents’ bedroom floor when they decided to watch a new movie that recently became available on onDemand. It was the first time I watched “Moonrise Kingdom” and artistic coming of age story about an orphan khaki scout named Sam Shakusky and borderline psychotic Suzy Bishop. The movie is directed by Wes Anderson who is most well-known for his distinctive visual and Narrative style, specifically his use of flat space camera moves, obsessively symmetrical compositions, knolling, snap-zooms, slow-motion walking shots, a deliberately limited color palette, and hand-made art direction often utilizing miniatures. This makes his works extremely intriguing to younger and old eyes because of its beautiful aesthetic. All these years later and “Moonrise Kingdom” still has a special place in the back of my head so I decided to rewatch it.

Due to their circumstances a twelve years old boy and a girl who fall in love with each other runaway from their homes. At the beginning of the movie 'Moonrise Kingdom' produced by Wes Anderson the viewer sees Suzy's home and a first impression of the relationships between the family members. After that you get to know about Sam's surrounding who lives in a scout camp right now. The camp master embodies discipline and strength. All children have to wake up to eat breakfast. In this moment they noticed that Sam is missing. He left a note in his tent which says he left the camp and he will never come back. The scouts start a posse to find Sam. Meanwhile captain Duffy Sharp who helps to find Sam contacts his previous foster parents. In this conversation the viewer catches a lot of information that Sam has emotional problems and is not longer welcome in the house of the foster parents. Sam and Suzy, got to know each other on a theater play, meet on a meadow to escape together to an unknown bay. On their adventure trip through the nature Sam takes care of Suzy that she does not hurt herself. They converge and begin to trust each other. In the meantime every scout khaki, the police as well as Suzy's parents are looking for the two adventurers. Thereby the relationship between Suzy's parents and their attitude towards their own daughter becomes obvious. When they are found by the scout khakis they defend themselves and manage to flee to their secret bay. Out there Sam and Suzy enjoy their togetherness and come closer. In the next morning the scout khakis find them again in their tent and they have to go back. Both become separated from each other. Sam is threaten by going into the orphanage and Suzy's mother reacts uncomprehending and prohibits any contact to Sam. Before Sam has to leave to an orphanage the other scout khakis start to think about his situation. Their result is that Sam is not so different from themselves and that everyone has blemishes. They resolve to help him to flee again. Together with Suzy Sam and the scout khakis flee to St. Jack Wood Island where Sam and Suzy get married. All children hold together. The situation gets out f control because everyone is looking for the troop. Plus, the long-awaited storm arrives. Sam and Suzy's last chance to escape is to jump from a building, but Duffy Sharp save them by telling that he adopts Sam. In the end the viewer can see Sam hanging around at Suzy's place. When his new adoptive father picks him up Sam says to Suzy: 'See you tomorrow!'.

There’s a lot of great performances from known actors in this. Bill Murray delivers a great performance as Walt, Suzy’s father. There’s a certain sadness to Walt that Murray really brings to the screen. The way he speaks, moves, and just the way he looks evokes a sense of disappointment. Murray also plays off co-star Frances McDormand (who’s also quite good in this) very well. Not to mention several of the film’s funniest bits come from Murray. Edward Norton delivers one of the best performances in my opinion. It’s hilarious seeing Norton play such a goofy character with so much conviction. Goofy as his character is though, there are points where you really sympathize with him, and eventually respect him. Bruce Willis is great as a lonely police captain, and actors Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, and Harvey Keitel all of very fun cameos.

What I didn’t expect to realize the second time around was the quality of performances from the child actors. Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward are both great as the lead protagonists. Both are very likable, and they have good chemistry together. You root for them to succeed throughout the film. I also like how the film didn’t avoid the darker sides to their characters. Likable though they may be, these are two seriously disturbed children, and the film never pretends that they’re not. The performances from the other children in the cub scouts are also solid.

Stylistically, this film has a lot going for it. There are several impressive tracking shots, but almost every shot has something interesting about it. I also really like what Anderson and cinematographer Robert Yeoman did with the color scheme. Some scenes had an almost golden like shine to them, while the film’s climax had a really cool dark blue thing going on.

All in all I would rate this movie up there with my all time favorites. As a kid I enjoyed the movie because it was abstract and different but I never understood the true darkness behind all the humor until I rewatched it. The cast, script, soundtracks, and director made this film nearly flawless.

Work Log:

Monday- No School

Tuesday- researched and watched videos of how to set up and use a lavalier mic to its full potential. I also went around the school to get some B-roll footage in case I need more clips later in the project.

Wednesday- Mr. Bomboy taught me how to use the lavalier mic including setup and which cables to get and attach it to. Then I got my camera, sd card, mic and chords, and tripod and went to the studio and set up everything. Then I recorded myself talking with the mic on.

Thursday- I downloaded the footage I got yesterday and listened to the audio which was a little rough even with the mic. So, I worked on manipulating the audio and adding a few affects to get rid of background hum and audio grain.

Friday- Today I storyboarded what angles I will get of Jack when I shoot the interview and what shots I want to capture of him playing his music.

Photoshop

Photoshop Investigation

I have never used photoshop before so this week was all new to me. It kind of reminded me of the old painting app on dell computers but was obviously more advanced and much less straight forward. I struggled for a few days as I felt my way through the program, eventually I turned to watching youtube videos in class and at home to further expand my understanding and give myself a background before I started this project. I've always found making logos to be one of my favorite things and I enjoyed learning a new way to make them on a new application.

My idea is completely original. I did watch numerous videos on how to create logos but I wanted to make something that I came up with, not just following the steps of another person's ideas. I did learn a lot about some common themes with digital logos, the first being a shape that encloses the text. This defines the area that you want viewers to look at and gives a kind of unity to the project. Rather than just having text, by adding a shape, the logo becomes more complex and professional. Secondly most of the logos had some kind of emblem, I wanted to make one but I found it extremely difficult to work with shapes in the unfamiliar program. I also noticed that some logos had one or two letters that were bigger than the rest and kind of acted as the logo. So instead of just frustrating myself with messing around with shapes I went online, found a really cool text that made the letter "A" look unique and i downloaded it into photoshop. The font made the letter so different that I used it as my emblem. I then attached the two D's to the "A" ad to each other. I had to make a bar out of i's in order to fill the gap at the top and connect the two D's. Then I added the "LIFE ON" part and thought I wanted to put in somewhere that connects it to the rest of the project. Understanding that people read from left to right I wanted to incorporate the words on the left side so people would read the logo as "LIFE ON ADD" instead of some other wording. I also did this in order to avoid any confusion in that respect.  So I put it in the letter A which brought the words together and into the piece while also keeping them to the left side.

I was relatively satisfied with the basis I ha created so far but I realized it looked flat and not really up to par with other works I looked at. So I added depth by duplicating the words and letters, placing them behind the previous layers, and changing the color to a dark blue/grey, my favorite color. It was starting to look better but I wasn't satisfied, I had this great gradient on my background but the text still didn't really look 3D so I did some research on how to make shadows. I do the idea of the eclipse shaped shadow by one of the logos that I looked at but I didn't know how to create it. My research failed in offering me a solution to my problem so I continued to mess around with the program. First I tried drawing out a thin eclipse and feathering it out but it didn't give me the effect i wanted. So naturally I asked my teacher and he showed me that by double clicking on a layer a panel shows up, in the panel it gives workers numerous options on how they can edit the appearance of a layer. One of the options was a drop shadow, so i applied it to my eclipse layer, dropped the show lower from the layer, moved my shape out of the screen so it wasn't in the frame, and finally feathered and smoothed out the shadow to what I desired.

Worklog

Monday: Today I started to fool around with photoshop but was frustrated because i couldn't find the tools I was looking for and didn't really know how to use them

Tuesday: I looked at youtube videos on how to create logos in Photoshop and started to become more familiar with the application.

Wednesday: I went back to messing around with photoshop and found it much easier to create something with my new knowledge. 

Thursday: I did some more research at home and started to draw out ideas that I wanted to make in Photoshop. However when I got to class i ditched everything I planned out and just had fun creating. By the end of the period I had the large "ADD" letters down and the "LIFE ON" part in the "A". I also made a background with a radial gradient.

Friday: I finished the Logo and am planning on animating it in illustrate next week. I added depth to the text, added the box, and put a gradient on the "A"

Lavalier Mics

Lavalier Microphones

About Lavaliers:

Lavalier Microphones are also known as a lavalier, lav, lapel mic, personal mic, collar mic, or even a neck mic. A microphone is an instrument for converting sound waves into electrical energy variations, which may then be amplified, transmitted, or recorded. Specifically, a lavaier microphone is a small microphone that attaches to a subject in order to allow that person to have their hands free while they are talking. It is used when the normal aesthetic of a visual microphone is not wanted, typically in movies, tv shows, theaters, and even in public speaking applications. Usually the microphone is attached to a small clip that allows someone to clip it onto their shirt or jacket. Some lapel mics can be wireless, however, they are expensive so most people use ones with wires. The wire can easily be hidden under the speakers shirt or jacket or can be manipulated so it is not in the frame of the camera shot.

History:

The lapel microphone dates all the way back to 1932 and the device ranged from suspended microphones on a belt around the neck in 1941, and telephone operators and air traffic controllers using microphones that rested on the chest and were secured by a strap around the neck. In the 1950s, some microphone models were officially designed to be hung on a string around the neck.Some of the mics were made with condenser diaphragms, ribbons, moving coils, and carbon buttons. The name comes from a small microphone that could be hooked into the buttonhole of the lapel of a coat. The term lavalier originally referred to a pendant worn around the neck. Its use as the name of a type of microphone dates from the early 1960s.

How do mics work:
https://youtu.be/PE6Qn4ZiEyo

Work Log:
Monday: watched a few youtube documentaries on ADD
Tuesday: Worked on question sheets for interviewees
Wednesday: Worked with lavalier microphone on camera
Thursday: Worked on question sheet for interviewees again
Friday: Storyboarded B-Roll footage ideas

Mp1 summary 2 week 2

MP1 Week 2 Presentations Summary

Tessa-Film on Anxiety
Tessa is currently working on a film about human experiences. This year she wants her concentration to be on human experience and how they shape people. The film she is working on is about anxiety and how in a normal, everyday situation and person with anxiety can be in these situations and experience a severe anxiety attack. The film takes place in a classroom and a student with anxiety gets called on to answer a question in class, being called on provokes the anxiety attack. The thoughts of the character will be displayed on the screen so they are visible to viewers. And as the anxiety attack intensifies and subsided the thoughts become more or less extreme with the characters emotions. She also wants to incorporate the sound of a heart beat as the audio and wants the heart beat to speed up and slow down with the anxiety attack. She basically wants to make a film that allow viewers into the world Of someone with anxiety and to visually show what an anxiety attack looks like to the victim

She has done a lot of research  and planning in order to get the film right. This includes her research of different colors that represent panic, camera angles that create suspense, and numerous other techniques that can evoke anxiety into the viewer. So far she has done blog posts on these things and also has started to plan out her shots and storyboard. On top of these she has also written a script. One of her challengers so far has been finding enough people to fill the space in the background of the film in order to make it look like an actual classroom. I too have had problems with finding people to film so I can relate to this struggle.

Overall I think she has done a lot of research and she is doing everything on her own. She’s made more progress on her own then other people have who are part of bigger groups. I’m excited to see how the film comes out and how she incorporates all these ideas she has into it.

Worklog:
Monday-presentations and notes
Tuesday-presentations and notes
Wednesday-ended presentations and notes. And then watched YouTube videos on camera setting involving quality of video because I’m still having problems with my camera at home.
Thursday- researched how to use a lavalier mic so I can use one in my next interview and not worry about wacky audio.
Friday- absent

MP1 Presentation Summaries

MP1 Presentation Week 1

Trevor/Tyler/Noah-Film Project Summary
This group is working on a film about a high school male student who attends a party and subsequently becomes addicted to drugs. The film apparently does not glamorize drug use but rather teaches a lesson abut the dangers of addiction. Some things that the group has been researching last marking period is the use of the multi-cam technique. This is when multiple cameras are use, usually three, in order to capture different angles in the same scene so you only have to shoot once. I myself have explored this idea and will most likely be using the technique in my next film. I could probably ask this group to help me set it up since they too have researched the topic and I will need extra hands on set.

Trevor, the group member who focused on multi cam, also looked into script writing along with fellow group mate Noah. They said that they found it hard to come up with ideas for the films alone but since they were working in groups it made the process easier because their were numerous brains working together and adding suggestions and ideas. I am a solo team so I have yet to work with anyone, however, I don’t find it hard to come up with films because I have quite and imaginative mind. But I do enjoy peer review and to get tips after I have made the film so I can improve my next one.

Tyler another member researched directors and actors to take his understanding of on screen performances to the next level. I found this surprising since this was a digital class and not really acting. But I guess it does play into the quality of the film they are producing and is a major aspect in making the film look cinematic. Tyler also feels uncomfortable in front of a camera so a lot of this marking period was done to make him feel more comfortable and to help him portray a character that’s is relatable and can satisfy the viewers.

Overall interesting bought the group has made a Some progress over a long period of time. They’ve had months to work and haven’t even come up with a title for the film. I don’t know if they aren’t showcasing all the work that they have done or this is all their work but it’s not that much for how many people they have. The planning process can take a long time and hopefully they now know how to get it done and next time it will be quicker. Their presentation of their work was ok. Nothing special but not bad. I’m excited to see how they make this film and to see how they made it with in school limits when they have such an intense topic.

Worklog:
Monday-presentations and notes
Tuesday-presentations and notes
Wednesday-presentations and notes
Thursday-presentations and notes
Friday- presentations and notes

real mp1 post