Interactive Evaluation.

Evaluation...

 Over the last term we were given the task to become comfortable and familiar with Adobe Animate (digital animation). We would use adobe animate to create a series of animations from scratch, however before doing so we did some research, this included exploring the different tools used in animate and how I would be able to adapt and apply these newly found skills to my animations.

  After the research was done, I went into photoshop and created a character in which I would drag into Animate, and animate. After this was complete we had a brief in which we were to complete, I found this interesting and challenging at times. I had not previously used Adobe Animate so it was an interesting journey to learn from scratch, which was some what enjoyable.

   Over all I would say this term has taught me alot about Adobe Animate and what you can really do with the software, I enjoyed making my character do a number of things, however I also wished I added some more detail in my animations, this is something I will ensure to do next time.

LookBook Feedback.

Feedback

 Upon creating my final look book and first draft printed, I was able to collect opinions and feedback from peers as to what they thought was good and what could be changed about it etc. I created a google sheet in which I asked 7 questions, these included 'what things do yo particularly like', 'do you think the font is appropriate?', 'would you buy any of the items' etc. Asking these questions allowed me to gain constructive criticism on my project which will help me next time I create something like this.

 

  What two things do you like about the look book?

  This was the first question I asked, the feedback I received was hat the layout of the book was good, the images used made it look professional and also gave it individuality. In addition to this, one peer liked the colour theme I used. These are points in which I agree with, I was really happy with the photographs and editing I done on them, I also really enjoyed it.

  Do you think the font is appropriate?

 The font for the brand was described as 'classic', however in addition to this point, the peer also said that it doesn't however flow throughout the look book. In my opinion the font for the brand should stay consistent throughout, so when writing my blurb and brief description I wanted to use a different font, this would differentiate between the clothing, and other pieces of text. Saying this, if I didn't use such a 'classic' and 'old style' font I would consider having the captions, descriptions and other pieces of text in the same font.

  Lastly I also received points that the classic old style fits in well with the brand and aesthetic and that the formal look and font fits well with the overall layout.

 What do you like about the layout?

 I gathered feedback that was very similar for this question, all of the feedback said that the use of full images gave it consistency and a quality look. The double page spread was also described as 'fitting really nice'. By having multiple images on one page it also gave readers a good variety and a lot to look at. I would like to agree with these points as I wanted to ensure I had a page or two which consisted of multiple images layered, this gave the finishing aesthetic I wanted.

 What two things would you change/improve?

 The comments for this question were very similar and consistent, they described the different use of fonts and how it doesn't link together, as previously explained. In addition to this I was told adding more text to describe and elaborate on the brand would be useful, this is a point I agree with the most. In my opinion I wanted to add some more text to the images and I wasn't happy with my last page as I rushed it. Next time I create a project like this I will ensure to provide more information on the brand itself as well as the images, almost like a description. 

 Do you think the imagery is appropriate? 

 All feedback for this question was positive, all saying yes and that the model,logo and pieces of clothing fit nicely together. When creating this project this is something I wanted to ensure I did as a look book is all about visuals, I wanted to make sure the colour theme, locations and over all layout all linked together and would represent the brand in a way I envisioned.

 Would you buy any of the items of clothing?

 This was a mixed response, half of the peers said that they would purchase the clothing as they have been well edited together, and the other half said they would not. One reason being because of the gender of the peer. When creating this I didn't actually assess and think about what gender I am aiming my clothing at, as my ideas progressed and I realised I was creating a t-shirt and black hoodie, I would like to think it would be appropriate for male and female, however I can see that it is a more feminine brand, including the logo and choice of colour for the logo and over all aesthetic and colours for the look book were more feminine than masculine.

 Is there anything you would add to the look book (texts, images)?

 One point said to add a few more shots of the garments, a point in which I agree with. The other feedback point said to perhaps extend the clothing line itself, adding more hoodies and a winter coat. These suggestions are very useful as I now know that for next time I will include a lot more shots and angles of the clothing to give a better idea. The suggestion of adding more clothes itself is interesting as I will add this to a future look book or project.

Final LookBook.

LookBook

 After the photoshoot had taken place I went on to edit the photos using 'VSCO' cam and photoshop. The initial edit I did was to change the exposure, shadow, tint and general appearance to fit the aesthetic I wanted to achieve, a few of these can be seen as below:

  I next went onto photoshop to edit my branding on the images from the shoot, this was very simple so I was able to quickly go onto In Design to do my final look book. Upon looking at my plan and then the final execution of the project was interesting as I decided to do the layout different to how I planned. Initially I wanted to do it horizontal, however when editing the images I discovered that when it will be printed I think it would look better in portrait. A few screenshots of my final look book are as below:

      On the third page I decided to add some more text, this included where the clothes come from, however due to time restraints I didn't get the final layout and look I wanted, so I made it work. If I were to go back and improve this I would add more text on another page and ensure there wasn't a white background as it doesn't look good and I personally do not like it.
  Through doing this project I discovered that this has been the most enjoyable for me, I enjoyed every aspect of this, including the planning (location hunting) as well as taking the photographs myself in the locations, then editing them and putting them in to the right layout that looks aesthetically pleasing. I would be more than happy to do this again, or a different version of this, for example a video type look book.

Peer Assessment || Castles In The Air.

Pre-Production

 This blog post will be my self evaluation of my project, discussing my experience with pre-production, production and post-production. It will include peer feedback and what I would like to do differently.

  Starting with pre-production I believe I was well organised and I knew exactly what I was doing as I had prepared the necessary documents which are all linked in my brief and explained in a previous blog post in which can be found here. 

Production

  When it came to the production of my film I had hired out a DSLR camera, tripod and microphone as instead of filming in given lesson time I filmed on my day off ( Friday 27th). I needed to do this because my locations for filming was inside a house and therefore required me to be filming in Trowbridge, rather than college. The positive thing I took away from this was that there weren't necessarily and time restrictions and I was able to film as many takes as I wanted, it also of course allowed me to film in the place I wanted to, to fit the aesthetic and visual I had of my film. Upon reviewing this decision I also came across some negative points, for example in the lesson time we had to film I could only complete the pre-production part of the brief and help others film. When reviewing my decisions I feel like I could have put my time to better use and tried getting some shots in college, rather than completing more 'theory' than 'practical' tasks. On the other hand by helping out my group I was able to give my opinion and film for one of my peers. So although it wasn't 100% on my project it was interesting to interpret others' scripts and see my style and how I could incorporate it into theirs with the given locations etc. 

   When it came to filming I was more than happy with the shots I had, the only downsize was that I came to the realisation that I didn't actually have a lot of footage. The only shots I got was the scientist writing and 'figuring' out the formula and waking up in bed, which in my treatment, scripts, storyboard etc seemed to be perfect length for a short film I felt it was too short. However to contradict that point, from the very beginning I knew I would need to have news reports playing and interrupting the film, in addition to the multiple cuts to the clock ticking etc so I thought at the time it would be enough. In my opinion, when I next create a film I want to be more adventurous than 'playing it safe' and use multiple locations, both internal and external. This will give me more to think about in regards to audio and more difficulties to deal and overcome. 

  I rather liked the idea of having no dialogue in my film as it made it seem like an advertisement and short snippet of the film that would engage the audience to want to watch more and know more about the character. So I personally wouldn't want to say next time I want to have a large script and multiple characters, however it would be nice to have the variety, it would also open up more options for more interesting shots to use and things to keep and eye out for (for example the 180 degree rule).

 When on set it was just myself and the character, as previously mentioned I did this outside of college hours so therefore didn't have a massive production team to help out with lightning etc. Together I was able to direct her and allow her to interpret the storyboard and script I had provided as well as film and ensure I got the shots I wanted. I enjoyed the filming process of this project, however when it is just me filming on set I realised it is nice when working in larger groups. I found this because when I worked closely with my group inside college we were able to share opinions and different options, as well as keep an eye out for things on set that might not look right or take away from the aesthetic, this would have been helpful and nice to have when filming my film.

Post-Production

Once I had edited all my footage in Premiere Pro I was able to show my peers the final project and gather their comments, both criticism and constructive criticism, along with other artistic opinions on the way I filmed and edited it together, taking into consideration the footage, audio and general execution of the project. Before the film was completely edited however I was able to get advise and comments along the way, for example a peer discussed how they like the fact I used news reports, it added interest and makes it also relatable as the issue that happens in my film is genuinely happening.  I was also given some advise on how to make my film slightly longer, for example having more suspense (black screens etc) as this would make my project slightly longer but without it being bad, this was very useful along the editing path as I believe opinions and constructive criticism helps me open my mind to others and their artistic views, rather than just sticking to my own and my preferences.

  When the film was completed I uploaded it to YouTube and got peers as well as others to view it and gather their comments and opinions. I received feedback that included the fact I should include more locations. It is clearly filmed inside a kitchen so next time I will film in various locations. I agree with the point as that is the main thing I wanted to improve myself for my next project.
  Another constructive criticism I got was to make it longer as currently the length is just under two minutes. This is understandable as currently I myself think it is too short, despite this I feel like I also have enough footage to make the story flow and make sense.

   To conclude, this project has been very interesting and enjoyable to complete, it has made me realise how much pre-production and thought goes in before filming anything, and that I actually enjoyed the pre-production side of the project. When I next create a film I will use various locations and more characters as this will lengthen my film and also make it more challenging for the Pre-production, Production and Post-production. 

         

Sketchbook.

Character Animation- Playing.

This is my animation of my character playing. I added three layers and ensured that when the ball hit the floor it slightly changed shape from the impact. I also tried to alter the facial expressions of the character very slightly.






                                             

Character Animation - Sleeping.

 Here is my animation of a character sleeping. I animated the character moving slightly and then 'z's coming out of its mouth. I simply created a few layers, one for the background of the windows, one for the character itself, and one for the z's so that I was able to move and animate them easily. To ensure I didn't move anything else when moving both the character and the z's I ensure to lock all layers except the one in which I was working on.



                                         

Design Ideas.

Ideas

After generating ideas based upon my individual fashion style I was able to create a brand of my own. I first started out by decided that in my look book I would have a t-shirt and hoodie, black and white as this would allow me to photoshop my branding on, and also would be nice and simple to portray my brand in a look book. After I had decided this I came up with the name 'Sterling' meaning very high standard. I liked this name as the meaning behind it meant quality, and high standards which is something I look for in clothing brands and brands in general. After this I sketched out some ways of wiring this, I wanted to stick with a 'calligraphy' type font as I really like the aesthetic of this.

The sketches show me going through the process of how I want it to look, I also decided to add some very subtle imagery to it as I felt it was very plain and simple without this. I therefore wanted to add an arrow, or a star somewhere. 

Development

After deciding my final font ( coming from DaFont) I was able to download this and open it up in photoshop. After this I wrote out my name and added in the arrow situated at the bottom, now I was able to change the colours. When deciding on colours I wanted something simplistic, either a nice subtle sky blue, or baby pink, maybe with a bit of copper to it. I wanted these colours as they would go nicely on black and white garments and wouldn't be too 'outrageous'. Below is some screen shots of my attempts, changing the colours of the outline of the wiring, along with the arrow etc.

Once I had successfully chosen my fonts, colours and general aesthetic I opened up some templates of t-shirts and hoodies into photoshop to test what they would look like, results are shown below:

    After creating these I now know I want to use a black hoodie and white t-shirt, for the black hoodie I intend to use white with baby pink colours for the font and arrow, and for the white t-shirt I will most likely use the same. I have done a variety of different designs of where the logo would go, I like the simplicity of the 'S' so I will have this on the back of my garments ( First image, second row) and then I am torn between having the logo across the chest or just to one side. I think once the photoshoot has been done I will play around with the placement of the logo and see what suits best as I cannot tell right away which will look more aesthetically pleasing.

Next once I had my ideas down I was almost ready for the photoshoot. Before hand I wanted to come up with a rough layout of what my look book will eventually entail and look like, so I created an 8 page spread of where I wanted the images to go. This not only give me a good idea about layout but it allowed me to know how many images I would need to take for my book. This was created on Adobe  Illustrate.

Idea Generator.

Inspiration

 Our new task is to produce a Look Book and have it printed by the end of the 5 week course, so to start off we looked at our own inspirations. To come up with my fashion inspirations I took to Instagram to find individuals who's style I look up to, or just generally like. For inspiration I mainly look at my friends and what they wear, as well as people such as Eleanor Calder, and general models that you see, either in shops or online (asos for example).
   Personally I don't like items that 'stand' out too much, I like simplistic and comfortable clothing. When thinking about my own style, inspirations and pathway to how I dress I am able to apply this to a brand that I would produce. For example I wouldn't be able to produce a clothing company / line that included really 'different' and perhaps 'eye popping' items as that is not the style I aesthetically am drawn too.

Brand

After looking at my own personal style and inspirations we later went on to look at personality traits, and this in which you would want to be associated with a brand. My list consisted of Sweet, Sarcastic , Friendly , Lazy and Humorous. From there I took the word friendly and branched out in to multiple other words I associate with that description. I used the word friendly because a brand in which is deemed to be friendly, often is reliable etc.

These are the words I would want a brand to reflect, these are key elements to a successful business as people often reach for comforting shops with nice familiar items. I consequently took this all into consideration when coming up with a brand and 2/3 items of my own. 

   I plan to incorporate these words with my brand, both for the logo and items of clothing as I feel that best reflects and represents me as an individual and therefore would be something I would be comfortable doing, as well as enjoy.

After analysing my own style and brand I put together a mood board on photoshop that incorporated images that relate to me and my style and personality.  This reflects me as a person and I can consequently build from this mood board to produce my own brand. 

Film Dialogue Infographic.

Pre- Production || Castles In The Air.

Pre-Production

 For my short project I devised a small plan and rough idea to stick to, this would enable me to build my work and better it every week. My initial idea was a scientist that discovers the formula but just imagines it. I really liked this idea so I therefore built it up and created a backstory to the character and the plot itself. I did this by thinking of questions like 'why would he imagine' 'how would it look like' 'what would be a key feature' etc. So once I had built the idea to the current one, that being a scientist finds the correct formula ( what the audience is persuaded to think) then jolts up in bed and the whole film was a dream.

   I decided to make the scientist dream because this would enable me to build him as a character. For example his boss makes him work over time, leading to loss of sleep and hallucinations, as well as making reality dreams and visa versa. As I am only creating a short film I planned to shoot the sequence, showing a few shots of the scientist at work, with breaks in between, showing the clock ticking and the boss's voice to be heard. These would then be made in to key elements of my film as the ticking of the clock becomes gradually louder, enabling me to link the character for an environment of an office/lab, to a bedroom.

Mind Map For My Project.

    In addition to this, some would question whether the character wakes up and imagines the entire scenario (wake up and attends usual 9-5 job) or on the contrary that he wakes up and is under such a severe amount of pressure from his genuine job as a scientist and the world is in what could be described as 'turmoil'. There were a lot of questions to consider whilst creating pre production tasks, not only the story line needed to be created and thought about, things such as locations and style were also planned. After I had completed my treatment for my film, I went on to produce a story board in which entailed specifics for each individual shots as well as visual representations of these ideas I had. Extra details that were included in the story board were things such as shot types. I had made an individual list of shot types that I would use so I later went on to develop and expand that list, thus showing the separate shots I would use for each new part.

Plan For Shooting

 Once I had the basics down and had added a script to my pre production projects I was able to create a recce and risk assessment table. It's important to do a recce for a film as this is the main part. In order for the film to have the right feel it needs to be aesthetically fitting to the script, this can take many locations to find the right one. Personally as we were creating very short, individual films I decided to keep it simple and shoot inside a house. Although a lab would have been more fitting to the script I decided to do the shots I needed in two locations. Upon reviewing this I now wish I had gone that extra mile and shot in the lab. I have this opinion because although filming in a kitchen was not wrong, it wasn't the style I was aiming for, regardless it did work out successful and I was able to shoot in my chosen place without any issue or hassle. Next time I create a project I will use more aesthetically fitting venues and locations, as this can really bring a film to life ( as well as props etc).

   With the recce I had produces I briefly touched upon an possible issues or problems that may arise, however this was then discussed in more detail with the Risk Assessment I created. My risk assessment included hazards, assessment and resolution, making it a simple 'guide' for my film and those acting in it.

   The more creative part I produced when doing pre production work was the mood board, this consisted of multiple images layered on each other to give an overall feel and style to the film. In addition to this I also compared and contrasted 3 directorial styles before any shooting had taken place. By doing this it allowed me to look at other people's work and vision and see how it compared to mine, influencing my work further. Doing this secondary research opened my mind and made me realise that the environment I film in isn't necessary the key element to a film, which was good for me as I knew I wouldn't be able to find the exact locations and actors within the given time frame, along with permission to film in certain locations and record audio etc etc.

Audio Planning

In regards to audio and filming I will use the built in camera mic, along with the additional microphone for the camera. I will also separately use an audio recorder to record extra sounds I will dub in when editing, for example a clock ticking, the sound of the bed sheets moving etc. These can be found on my Audio List. I decided to not use a boom mic when filming because my film isn't based upon dialogue and I therefore made the decision to not use a boom mic. In my opinion the sound the mic will capture, plus the additional audio I will capture as well as downloaded will be more than adequate. 

  Furthermore I also decided against using a boom mic and any other additional audio recording equipment as I will not come across the issue of sound interference some may come across when filming in external locations (wind etc). All of my film is based inside and therefore I do not need to think of the weather and how it could interfere with my audio, this is my justification for using the basic recording equipment in regards to audio. 

  In addition to these point I will also need to download some footage and audio to use in my edit, there is no issue downloading the necessary files, I will just need to be cautious with copyright. Other than this I believe I have made the correct choice of audio and recording, if I were to film in external locations I would use a boom mic and look into wind resistors if necessary.