Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Rear Projection Tests for Likeness
As mentioned in a previous post, for our projection effect we first tested rear projection as a method. In the end, we used greenscreen, which proved a more effective method; below you can see the issue of light from the projector falling on the subject in a close-up staging, and the lack of clarity in the projected image.
Friday, 24 February 2012
A low-angle DIY dolly setup at SIF, made possible by the small size of the 7D
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
DIY Track Dolly Tests With the 7D
For Likeness, we chose to shoot on 7D, due to its portability, shallow depth of field and performance in low light situations.
Using the camera we shot a series of dolly and track tests before starting principal photography.
You can see an example of the results below; I was pleased with the stability of the dolly once weighed down slightly.
Friday, 17 February 2012
Super8mm Projection Effect - Likeness
The most interesting and successful part of the Likeness shoot has definitely been the chroma keying with the super 8mm projection effect placed behind each character. In order to achieve this we considered two options; we conducted several tests with a video projector in EMB, but found that it lacked definition and clarity, while limiting our post-production choices in terms of which moments of the film were projected behind the characters. In addition, the proximity of the projector to the screen was very limiting in terms of our specific camera angle, and so we felt that the use of greenscreen was a preferable option.
Fortunately, we were able during our time in SIF to utilise their greenscreen; I was very pleased with the end result. The lighting provided at SIF allowed for a consistent exposure on the screen while the space available to us allowed separate lighting on the actors. The process was very efficient as the shots were easy to obtain, and the shoot fit in nicely with the sequence we were shooting against SIF's black walls.
The projection effect itself used a layer of super 8mm-style footage over the top of our 7D video; we then colour graded it to give a vintage film aesthetic. This was completed in Adobe AfterEffects, using mostly shots that didn't make it into the final cut of the other parts of our film.
The projection effect itself used a layer of super 8mm-style footage over the top of our 7D video; we then colour graded it to give a vintage film aesthetic. This was completed in Adobe AfterEffects, using mostly shots that didn't make it into the final cut of the other parts of our film.
More Inspiration - Copy Shop
A while back, I was watching one of the Cinema16 collections when I came across a quirky short called Copy Shop, by Virgil Widrich. The film is experimental, using visual effects throughout to sell the idea of multiple copies of the same character on screen. In Likeness, we have attempted to duplicate this technique in a small way, in order to convey the idea of the mass-produceable nature of photographic images. In this way, our core themes resemble in some ways those of Copy Shop.
The film focusses strongly on repetition of the same day, similarly to the way in which time repeats itself in Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon. From both this film and Deren's films, I was inspired to include in the story a sense of manipulated time, so that the narrative we have chosen is somewhat circular.
While our own attempt at the Copy Shop effects are drastically smaller in scale, I feel that it effectively conveys the meaning we were hoping for.
The film focusses strongly on repetition of the same day, similarly to the way in which time repeats itself in Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon. From both this film and Deren's films, I was inspired to include in the story a sense of manipulated time, so that the narrative we have chosen is somewhat circular.
While our own attempt at the Copy Shop effects are drastically smaller in scale, I feel that it effectively conveys the meaning we were hoping for.
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