The beginning of this module was fairly
easy for me. There was none of the usual panic about trying to think of a
concept for a project, I already had one. Over the summer I had planned a
project that was supposed to be for the Advanced Creative Media Project, but
didn’t really fit well for that module, so I decided I would do the same
project for this module instead.
I had taken the idea of linking the project
to last years final project and wanted something that followed the themes of
fashion and music. I had already gathered some media for inspiration and
started to build this blog so I had a good idea of where I was going with the
project. Despite this I was nervous at the beginning of this module, because
compositing isn’t really my strongest skill and I knew I needed to pull
something out of the bag this year, especially as this module is level 7 and worth
double the normal credits. I knew that I couldn’t cut any corners and would
need to strive for the absolute highest quality of effects at every step
throughout the creation of this video. I decided the best way to ensure high
quality of every effect was to test them all first, so that is what I spent
semester one doing. I did test shots of every effect I wanted to include in the
video, and also some new ones just to see how they would look. Doing this made
me feel a lot better about achieving the final video because I knew that I
would be able to recreate every effect and do it to a higher standard. It was
also a huge time saver because by the time it came to compositing the real
video, I already knew the techniques that I needed to use. I would definitely
do this again if I found myself in a position where I had the time to test
before a project.
I also took the time to organise a test
shoot in the green screen studio. I knew that the keying of this footage was
going to be vital in how professional the video looked at the end, and getting
a good key can only come from good lighting on shoot, so I wanted to test this
out. I hired the studio and lighting and camera equipment and went down with
friends to work out the lighting set up. This again turned out to be a massive
time saver and meant the real shoot only took around one hour in total. The
idea to pre plan the lighting did help me when it came to the keying and while
there was room for improvement, I did manage to get a key that I was happy with
for the most part. Whilst testing the lighting I also shot some footage so that
I would have something to play with during the ‘tester’ period in semester one.
With all of my planning done by December, I
organised the shoot and filmed before Christmas. I was lucky because I managed
to find the perfect model for the video. One of my course mate’s friends looked
perfect and was willing to help me, which I was really grateful for. In my
experience it isn’t often that people are willing to help you for no reason
other than they are nice people, and after having trouble with actresses last
year, I was nervous about using outside help for a project. Having someone that
looked the part rather than just any friend of mine also adds to the overall
look of the video and I think makes the whole thing look more realistic and
professional.
With my footage ready and all of my effects
planned out, I spent the next few months gradually building this video up,
literally layer by layer. I spent a lot of time going back and forward between
compositions and ended up doing quite a bit of unnecessary work, but it was all
a learning curve and I actually really enjoyed it. I was very aware of not
rushing through each effect and making sure I was 100% happy with it before
moving on to the next stage. During the compositing there were one or two
things I had to change, for example the ‘removing underwear’ technique, but
this was something I had a feeling would happen after I had failed to achieve
what I wanted during the test of this effect. I adapted things as I went along
and kept at it until I was at a place where I was half happy with it and half
out of ideas. This is when I turned to my tutor for his feedback. I was really
glad that I had achieved all of the effects I had planned for, but there was
something missing. Luckily, with a fresh eye my tutor was able to give me some
suggestions that got my creativity going again and I was able to revisit a lot
of things and make improvements until I was much happier with the final
outcome.
I think that if I had more time I would
continue to look into new effects and techniques that I could learn and apply
to build the video even more, but with the time and ideas I had I am very happy
with what I have produced. I feel as though over the last four years at
university I have learned what makes a great piece of work and I think that I
have finally found the balance between concept, content and quality and I am
really proud to add this video to my collection of work.
