Public Information Film Project: Storyboarding

Last weekend filming commenced on the public information film project. Moe, my daughter, will play quite a central part in the project. However, she was reluctant to be filmed. “My face is too spotty and it will not look cool” she said. So, after a little gentle persuasion (i.e. I’ll buy you that stylish, expensive top (£2.80) from Primark), filming got under away.

The theme of the information film is undecided at the time of writing though it will involve an everyday issue children/people face today such as bullying on the Internet. I intend to make the film more of a sound piece, the narrative being conveyed through the audio. I began by storyboarding the scene. Moe would be sitting at the dining table doing her homework. Like most children, when doing their homework, their mood is suggested in their actions.  I thought about the Britney Spear’s video, Baby One More Time (1998). A schoolgirl waiting for the classroom bell to relieve her boredom. The scene begins with action and sound; the shoe kicking against the side of the chair and the flickering pencil on the textbook. I’ve used the latter example in similar way. I considered other ways of ‘performing’ -balancing a pencil between top lip and nose, looking up and thinking, staring into the camera, looking down hand on brow in deep concentration, arms raised triumphantly etc.  Colour was an important consideration too. I wanted something that would predominate the visuals. I opted for a cold yet refreshing blue. Moe’s Italia 82 football top seemed the obvious choice. Now to the task of editing the footage in some sort of coherent order though I need to consider ‘how’ coherent.

Britney Spears, ‘Baby One More Time’ (1998) 

Public Information Film Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tokyo Underground: The Commuter Rapid (experiment 2)

Footage sequence: 25 seconds (approx.) Experiment 2 consists of three sets of footage. The commuters in various actions, as follows: Walking up/down platform steps, descending/ascending escalators and walking through tickets gates. The film speed has been altered to 48 frames per second using a posturizing effect. By doubling the film footage, I can remove the motion blur and any strobing from fast moving images.

Process/Outcome: During the edit the footage was chopped up into two second sequences on a high film speed. It was noted that the high film speed removed the motion blur and strobing and as a result, the footage is smoother and graphics crisper especially when using the posturizing effect. Having partly achieved my aim, I’m considering rotoscoping the footage. Later, I looked into adding audio. The visuals suggest a working community, cogs in a wheel moving though moving in various directions. The audio is a factory sound with metallic clanging. However, I’m unsure whether a factory ambient is relevant or enhances the visuals in any way. I’m interested in pursuing the performativity  aspect of the visuals. I feel I’m making some ground now but still a long way to go.

After the experiment, I researched into 48 frame film theory and came across an interesting article in Tested.com. Tim .J. Smith a lecturer in the Psychology Sciences department at Birkbeck University in London. He specializes in film cognition offers insight into how our brains process images and how perception interacts with the world of film.