Route

In preparation to go out and film I drew up and planned out a route for me to take through Brighton, based on the findings of my previous journeys and investigations. Whilst filming I have the freedom to wander off down any road that may catch my attention, however, there were a few roads that I know contain some interesting shop windows etc so I want to ensure that these roads are filmed correctly.

King Street- Fun Fair Club

Vine Street- Beyond Retro and is in centre of lanes

Duke Street- Book shop, retro sweet shop etc.

Kinetic Typography Practice

To prepare myself ahead of the creation of my project I looked up and followed a few youtube tutorials to learn the skills and tricks of creating exciting and interesting kinetic typography animations that I could use to enhance the visual aesthetics of the project.

Below are a series of screen shots of how I got on;

You have the option to personalise the layout slightly by re -positioning or lengthening certain parts etc. This is the basic layout I went for, with all of my layers and transitions to the left, with the timeline taking priority for size, along with the preview display, as to me these are the two most important aspects that I like to see in as greater size as possible.

This print screen highlights the edits you can apply to each particular layer, or all of them at once. I began to learn a few keyboard shortcuts to speed up the process . Learning a few shortcuts also increases my confidence with the kit and encourages me to experiment and push on. A you can see above 'opacity' has been selected for each layer and this is done by pressing 'T' for 'transparency' .

Or in this case 'P' for 'Position'.

The following screen grabs are taking at interim stages as the development of the kinetic typography progressed;

As you can see here, the transition on the word 'are' is to begin small, this is set with a key frame, and then moving on around 3-5 frames usually you will insert another key frame which will be set at the desired size for the word.

In this grab, the transition of the word 'end' is an increased size and reduced capacity, that will grow in opacity as the word reaches is desired position. 

As you can see here, the word 'animate' is gradually appearing from left to right. This is done by the use of a mask, which in this case, in basic terms is a black box that moves from left to right revealing the word 'animate' beneath it. 

For the final word I decided to go against what the tutorial suggested and play around with a few animation presets that after effects have saved and on offer for use. I decided to use a text rotatory as it reminded me of something I would do when I was younger using Word art. Not the most professional or creative but it made me chuckle.

Time to Go Pro...

After doing a trial run with a handheld video recording device, I recognised that the quality of the footage was not as good as I had hope, as it was a too jumpy and the quality was slightly grainy. Although I do want the footage to be realistic and a slight shake helps to represent that, however, I felt the handheld recording device was too shaky and jumpy and therefore ruined the impact of the footage. I began to look into alternative ways of capturing the footage and came across the Go Pro camera. I am familiar with a Go Pro camera as I have used it whilst skiing and from memory I felt it could be a valuable piece of equipment.

Go Pro cameras come in a high definition format which would solve my issue of the grainy footage from the handheld recording, whilst they are also very light, agile, wearable and are designed to block out unnecessary noise such as wind etc. The quality and sharpness from a Go Pro camera is astonishing giving the size of it leads you to believe it wouldn't have the capabilities to capture such high quality image. With this in mind I felt it would be an ideal piece of equipment to use for my recording and felt that if I just strapped it to my mid rift, or my head I could capture the desired footage. 

Adobe After Effects

After a frustrating time with Adobe Flash, I looked to seek advice on if there were any other programs available to me that I could use that would help the production and flow of the project. On consultation with my tutor, I was steered towards Adobe After Effects as it is known for its greater fluidity, powerful colour adjustments and the ability to play with sound, moving image, still image and illustrations all within the same timeline. Flash is a lot more rigid and I felt it didn't allow me the freedom to play around and experiment enough and After Effects offered this.

I looked up a few beginners tutorials of After Effects and they confirmed my tutors advice in telling me that After Effects offered the following features:

• Motion graphics and video
• Freedom to work with illustrator/ still image/ video/ sound combined
• Rotobrush feature- Allows the user to grab juts a particular park of a layer and to animated appropriately.
• Powerful colour adjustments allows for a more visually engaging experience throughout the work.
• good for animating objects/characters using the 'puppet tool'. 
• Puppet tool allows you to take a flat 2d frame and organically bend it etc.
• Good for compositing footage with text
• Stylistic text effects

Experimenting with Binaural...

I rented out the new Binaural equipment from the office, and after long discussions and the process of trial and error with Chris I managed to understand the Swedish instruction book and headed off around campus to experiment with the recording device. Unfortunately for myself, I picked a cold, snowy February afternoon to do this, which was great for the sounds that were recorded but not so great for the numbness of my fingers by the end.

Below are a few snap shots of the equipment and the two most successful recordings:

A lyrical journey...

As mentioned in the previous post, I felt I had to add more snippets of text to the animation to flesh it out and to ensure something was always happening and maintaining the fast paced, fluidity that I desire throughout the animation. In order to do so, I felt it would be a good activity to sit and listen to music and pick out any interesting/ memorable lyrics that stood out. I felt the listening of music via headphones in a secluded and private environment was a suitable activity as it resembled how society uses pieces of technology to privatise themselves in the public space, and also distract them from their everyday routine by providing themselves with a soundtrack.

Below is a list of lyrics that I pulled out whilst listening to the radio for approximately 30 minutes:
I also went through and analysed the lyrics and thought about ways they could be animated on screen.

"I ain't got time to think about money..."
(Rather basic animation using numerous monetary symbols)

"Love you like a fat kid loves cake"
(Would tie in well with the theme of the inner child- Cartoon style illustration of cake/ child taking a huge/ un realistic size bite and ending up with cake all over his face).

"I don't see why I need a stylist, when I shop so much, I can speak Italian"
(Again, slightly basic but the inclusion of an Italian flag or a cartoon illustration of a stereotypical Italian blurting out Italian.. Mamma Mia, tres Bella...)

" Best things in life are free"
(Slightly cheesy but I could see this working well with passers by cuddling/kissing/ performing some sort of romantic gesture).



"She take my money"
(I wouldn't want to repeat the monetary symbols that are used previously but they are a possibility, other than that I would say this lyric if used would have to just be used alone with no animation to support, which isn't a problem as it would add variety).

The beat of Ludacris's track 'Growing Pains' has a very nostalgic beat and is something I would like to incorporate within the project in little glimpses as I feel it would encourage the audience to think nostalgically and remind them of the theme of the project.



"And that's how it went, when we were kids"
(Lyric that's fit well with the themes of the project and is taken from the Ludacris song above. Feel it could be used in collaboration with the songs beat and could cause a series of vintage effect pictures to appear on the screen in a memory/ cloud like pattern).

"Memories fade, like looking through a fogged mirror"
( I found this line really touching and nostalgic. It caused me to think of a few happy memories and I feel it would do the same to the audience. There are a few things you could animate with this lyric but I like the idea of creating a foggy effect on the screen and having numerous photos, again in a vintage colour effect, fading in and out of the shot. This would create quite an eerie, magical effect that resembles the floating, dream like nature of nostalgia and memories).

"Yo I once was a kid with the other little kids"
(I would accompany this lyric with the sound taken from the opening of the song which is off kids running around and screaming in what sounds like a playground. The sound is has been used in loads of different mediums but carries that instant memory and childhood and the school playground so I feel it is essential that it gets included at some point).

"My life is a party, I'm never growing up..."
(This lyric struck me as it reminded me a lot of how I wanted to end my project. The notion of the subject, an adult, reliving all of these child hood memories throughout the journey and ending with society slapping an end to this inner child and bringing the subject back to reality or a twist on this idea. I feel these lyrics would combine well with this ending either continue to build up the notion of the inner child before being shut down, or emphasising the celebration of the inner child and how it can still live strong in certain environments".

"

Kinetic Typography

In order to flesh out my project, I felt that I had to add not just pieces of illustrative animation but also pieces of text. It was already in my thought process to use text to highlight spontaneous observations, judgements, comments on passers by etc but I felt I had to expand on this. As I journeyed through town, I would often listen to music, or if I wasn't, hearing songs from car radios as they passed by, or out of shops would trigger me to start to sing or hum along to the song. This caused me to think about how music can trigger certain memories of particular places, events, periods of time etc and I felt that this notion could add another interesting aspect to the animation. Certain songs or even just lines from a song can remind me so much of certain events, but often particularly of my family, as we are a family that often listen to music together during social activities; in the car, during dinner, whilst putting the Christmas tree up, decorating etc.

I began to think of ways of which of presenting these thoughts and the most obvious form is obviously via the use of text appearing and flowing around the screen. This could either be done in rather basic form like in Hodgson's work or if it is a longer piece of text could be portrayed via the use of the technique, kinetic typography.  

Kinetic typography, to use the online definition is "is an animation technique that requires the mixing of motion and text to express ideas using video animation. This text is presented over time in a manner intended to convey or evoke a particular idea or emotion".

Kinetic typography instantly hit me as something exciting, fresh and inspirational. I enjoy the sense of freedom that is giving to the words as they move about the screen in an array of transitions and how the text can add so much more meaning or emphasis to quote/ phrase taken from the audio. Many examples of kinetic typography are used for film scenes or songs, so I was sure to pick up some interesting ways to present lyrics within my animation.

Below are a few examples of my favourite pieces of kinetic typography found on Youtube.

This is one of my all time favourite scenes in Lock Stock and I feel the use of motion graphics really emphasis the dramatic and cutting edge tension within the scene. The use of splat graphics to portray the idea of blood being spilt is so simple, yet so effective and also the transformation and rotation of the explanation marks, to create the allusion of them daggering into the screen is incredible and a technique I would indefinitely incorporate into my work, if I chose to follow this lead of animation.

I also feel the choice of colour scheme is spot on and really adds to the cutting edginess of the scene. The harsh contrast between the rough black font and the bright yellow background ensures the viewers eyes are transfixed on the motion of the text, it then reverses half way through to black background and yellow text as the subject of the audio becomes deeper and darker. I feel this is an effective and simple way to use colour to emphasise the change in tone within the subject of the audio.

This kinetic typography is of a Owl city song and I feel the movement and fluid flow that the technique gives to the lyrics adds an alternative and aesthetically pleasing visual. Although at times I feel a few of the movements are slightly over-elaborated I have taken inspiration from this piece and others I found online and realised that for my animation I would only have to use simple movements and transitions as the inclusion would only be for a few short sentences of lyrics, used just to add a break and contrast from the real life footage and the animation world and maintain the chaotic and fast paced flow of the project.

The next step was to practice creating some of my own pieces of kinetic typography and they will follow in the next few weeks...

Binaural Kit

I was still unsure to what music/sound I would use for my project, the use of canned, diegetic sound to enhance some of the objects of observations was something I wanted to include but I was still unsure on whether to provide a soft musical background to the project, or alternatively use the background sounds that are picked up from the camera whilst filming. The issue with the latter is that on video and audio recording devices the sound that is recorded isn't the same as the sound as what our ears here. Stereo microphones/ recording devices basically fake a sense of spacial audio by presenting our brains with a concept of left and right spacial sounds.

"The main field of sound recording heavily overlaps with both their left or right counterparts in front of the mic, focusing 40 percent or more (depending on the microphone) on the sound in front of us. This is not how we actually hear. We accept this because our eyes see forward in this rather narrow 40% overlap, therefore we think that is how the sound actually moves around us, but that’s not the reality of sounds audible presents around us. In addition, stereo never reaches much further than beyond a 180º sound plain. What about the sounds behind us that we can hear equally as well as the sounds before us?"

As the diagram above shows, a stereo microphone/recording device can by no means truly present the dimensions of sound which naturally emanate not only from the left, right, but before and behind us, in the same manner which our ears deliver to our brains the exact audible landscape we hear.

After this discovery I was introduced to the Binaural Kit. With binaural microphones, we are presented with an exact replication of the entire theatre of sound surrounding us in the exact same way our ears send the audible sensation to our brains. The audio recording from a binaural kit is a close to accurate representation of the dimensions of sound that the human hears. 

Illustration practice-Hand Drawn sketches

It came to the point where I need to experiment with separating video into jpg/png sequences and then illustrating over them, to then scan back into flash to create the desired effect of the animated and real world interacting.. A slightly strenuous, yet enjoying exercise to say the least...

When it comes to footage for the final project, I will use tracing paper above the images to then scan back into the computer, however, in this task I wanted to experiment with the use of tipex straight onto the original print out..

Illustration Practice

In relation to the end location 'The Fun Fair Club' I decided to sketch what my imagine when I think of Fun Fairs. The drawings can be used within illustrative animation within the project...

Edited storyboard

x

Planning a Route

Below is a few simple hand drawn sketches of a map of brighton lanes. I have the idea of using these sketches within my project and animating on top of them to highlight my movement along the roads. Within the sketches I have chosen to highlight street names, important shops / points of interest just to give the viewer a rough idea of where I am, whilst also keeping the sketches as simplistic as possible. 

Possible Ending locations: Fun Fair Club

Of all the situations to come across across possible locations for work, I came across this location whilst on a night out. A new club has opened up in Brighton called 'The Fun Fair Club'. As soon as I heard about it,  I instantly thought of my project.

" With its 18th century vaults, bearded ladies, strong men and adult ball-pits, FunFair seeks to recreate the feel good fun factor cherished from our past" 

The club emulates everything I am trying to say within my project. It combines the the kind of desires that capitalism proliferates within our society, whilst also providing a location for adults to relive their childhood moments. Such a location would provide an intriguing twist to the end of my project. As it is a club, I.D is required at the door for entry, if you are under 18 you cannot enter, which suggests that children and childish behaviour is unwanted, however, upon entering the club the ball pits and other fun fair, child like instruments and objects are revealed which serves to release the inner child of the adult and allow their nostalgic fantasies and desires to run wild and free. 

I feel that the club is an excellent location for the ending of my project and I have emailed them to enquire about the possibility of filming myself walking through the entrance and running into the ball pit during their out of hours.

Possible Ending Locations: Adventure Playground

Another possible end location would be a soft play or adventure park. These parks have a personal meaning to me as I would say they epitomised my youth. Many of my fond memories of my youth revolve around such play parks and I feel that this is most likely the case for many individuals. What I also remembered was that adults, or larger children were prevented from entering the parks, for reasons of safety to protect the smaller children playing. This was a useful insight as it is exactly this sudden barring that slams the inner child fantasies in the face of the subject within my project, therefore I felt research into possible play park locations around Brighton is a necessity. One issue I feel I will face is whether such business's will allow me to film in their parks, especially if young children are around, therefore, if I decided to use such a location I would have to ensure I contacted them to explain who I am and the reasons for my project to see if they would allow such filming in their establishment.

FunPlex-

Brighton's Premier Indoor Play & Party Venue

Possible Ending Locations: The Pier

As the idea of the ending was taking shape, I felt the next logical step was to go out and find/visit possible locations within Brighton. This would help to give me a visual idea of the space and shape/style of the age/height restriction signs and also give me a definitive ending point to plan my journey route towards.

The obvious place to start was the famous Brighton Pier, which was renowned for its playful and child like entertainment. The Pier has everything from arcades, rides, hook a ducks etc therefore I feel it would be an interesting contrast for the formerly dressed adult to find themselves in. Below are a series of images of particular rides etc that caught my eye and the height restrictions required to enter such areas/ rides.

Possible Endings

The ending of my project is arguably the most important aspect, as it will combine and finalise all of the themes that have run throughout the project and consequently leave the audience with a deciding sense of understanding and appreciation for what I have attempted to portray throughout the project. 


My idea for the ending is still slightly ambiguous, as I am yet to decide which way to sway in terms of what I want the final moment to express. My idea is based around the height/age restrictions that you see in ball and adventure parks and before entering on rides at Brighton Pier etc. One of the underlining themes throughout the project is the notion of the inner child in how the fantasies that come out of show windows and advertisements play on the nostalgia and immaturity of adults . From my own personal journeys throughout Brighton, I also feel that when alone, travelling through space, your mind begins to wander and the simple, slightly immature childish thoughts that run through ones mind can cause boring, every day journeys to become entertaining and satisfactory.  I have the theme and idea of location in mind, however, I needed to pick apart the finer details to work out how I can really form a satisfying ending, that accumulates all of these themes,  as otherwise the ending risks being abrupt or deflationary.

One possible ending, is that when approaching the height restriction, the subject is barred for being too little which provide a slight twist to the project, as the sub conscious thoughts and analytical observations/ comments throughout seem to come from a mature, adults mind rather than a small child's, which would lead the audience on to reflect about the power and imagination of young children and their judgemental skills. Just because many young children can not communicate their thoughts, it doesn't mean they do not have the capacity to think them. 

Alternatively, the idea I feel that would be more successful and have a greater impact would be that the subject approaches the age/height restriction of the arcade, adventure park etc, and his heights surpasses the restriction by a long distance. This would be shown via the camera being positioned high up (6 ft +) and panning down at an angle towards the restriction and clearly dwarfing it. This panning down would also reveal that the subject is dressed in a suit, to suggest he is a business man , however, regardless of his job, attire and height he continues to charge into the adventure/ball park etc without hesitation. This would effectively convey the notion of the inner child that runs throughout the project and highlight how it holds the irresistible power within adults to contain their sense of nostalgia and childish immaturity. 

Gangnam Style

Whilst casually watching television, procrastinating if I am being completely honest, the utterly annoying and repetitive PSY Gangnam music video came on. Now usually my instant reaction is to turn over, but for some reason I decided to watch it fully and bear the pain in my ears just to see what all the fuss was about. Although I still wasn't convinced, I noticed that the video carries similar themes to the notion of the inner child within my project, and even includes the male subject dancing and playing in children's play parks and riding carrousels whilst dressed in a suit. It was interesting to view the contrast of formal, adult attire in a child like environment that I had previously pictured in my head, and I feel it carries a successful and powerful meaning that would definitely work well in the ending of my project.

Initial Storyboard...

It was time to start thinking and experimenting with storyboards for my project. With my project being an observational account of journeys through town, the main part of the storyboard can be left open, filled in with a few different routes that allow me to capture the most weird, unusual and Brighton-esque places, however, every animation must of course have a starting point, and with my project commenting and playing on the idea of the inner child, the end location will work as a conclusion to this notion, so therefore needs to be meticulously thought about.  

My idea at the moment is for the video to end with me walking passed an adventure playground or of the like, double taking and then diverting towards it, standing up against the child's height restriction and clearly surpassing it and then running off into the playground . I feel this would conclude the notion of the inner child and visually portray the power of the shop windows and advertisements that I have passed on my journey to release the inner child that is within us all, whilst also providing a joyful tone to end the animation on, that hopefully brings a sense of joy in the audience and too plays on a sense of nostalgia within them.