CONCEPT

A fictional 10 minute short-film reflecting privacy of digital world and public data in 2017. Privacy is not about "to hide" - Privacy is about "to protect". I also wanted to show that you really never can get out of the loop once you have done wrong things in the past.

DESCRIPTION

Two best friends used to prank classmates in college using their social network data. Now they are university students, playing video games every Friday. One evening they meet and laugh about time in college, sharing how paranoid some classmates were. It was nothing very serious, only changing profile pictures on Facebook and sending naughty emails from other accounts, or just sending old archive photos. After one friend leaves his house, other goes upstairs and just takes a quick look online. A new chat window pops-up saying "Hi". He replies just for fun.

The conversation goes to the stage 1 where the money has been requested in one hour of time. Only GBP 50.00 but the guy just laughs and replies in a rude way. The stranger knows this guy and in a response includes some facts about his life.

Stage 2 requesting GBP 500 in exchange for peace.. He shuts the laptop, grabs the phone and calls his best friend telling how weird is this stranger.

Stage 3 - The young teenager receives a text message showing that the stranger wants to publish a private photo archive of him, the amount of money has been increased again. He agrees to pay, but only if they meet in real life. Old pub, main character sees a guy in his fifties sitting at the bar. The student asks to go outside to have a cigarette where his friend was waiting with a knife. Finally there are piece and they did not loose any money. then they both receive text:"STAGE 4 - It was just a joke, I still want my money".

CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING

I think I really want to focus on technical side after graduation. I want to explore more of Adobe sweets. I will focus on camera techniques, use of colour, audio, lighting and editing. 

RESEARCH

I don't want to make this short-film like any other hacker film. there won't be any "Matrix" green binary codes. I want to make it more realistic and simple, how new users never protect themselves, they go against the rules by the saying "The best defense is the attack".

Research theories of surveillance.

Michel Foucault - Surveillance and Crime Control

Bentham - Surveillance and Critical Theory

New media does all so people think they have choices - therefore, their underlying thoughts and desires - are unique, rather than programmed and shared with others

TECHNICAL AND CREATIVE SKILLS

Adobe sweets, I want to use some new lighting techniques and learn more of audio.

At the moment I will use low key lightning and a camera that is good in low light conditions. (FujiFilm X-T2)

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How does anonymous connection works?

White Wedding

We were also introduced to Copyrights and Protection of our work. 

For me, it will be a huge game where I need to protect all my data legally.

I liked the lecture and I will be visiting our tutor in next year before I graduate. 

I pointed some good points of this lecture as well

• Simple registration process with HM Revenue and Customs - fewer legal requirements
• Low National Insurance and flexible tax relief and payments schedule
• You can form a limited company later
• Can employ others
• Keep an eye on TAX and all your profit

Fire Flight is a promotional music video featuring the dancers from The Phoenix Dance Theatre in Leeds, England. The project was shot on the Phantom Flex camera at 1,000 frames per second. It was produced by Ink Films (www.inkfilms.co.uk) and the creative and director by Uber Agency (www.uberagency.com).



Directors idea was to add fire in the post to make it look like dancers have been set alight. The project took just over a year to complete with 6 months being dedicated by Ben Daure to create the rendered fire in Maya. Daure had never even opened Maya before and it was Chris Birks of VTR North that showed him how to use the program allowing him to focus on creating the fire post work. The video was edited using Maya, After Effects and Adobe Premiere.

Phoenix Dance Theatre is the UK’s longest standing contemporary dance company outside of London. I think the video stands out and works for the dancers how hard-working they are... Phoenix Dance Company was formed in 1981 by David Hamilton. Almost 40 years of work has been filmed in this art-piece to reach attention to their achievements over the years.

Watching this video, I try to notice all those tools they have used to implement the movement. VFX has been used a lot and it works amazing bearing in mind that the editor has never been using Maya before. I like the fire because it reminds my eyes where the motion was a second ago. It leaves a trace after every motion the body does. It is something that performer is in front of every thought.

GIRL HUNT BALLET

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, 1953. This dance piece is from the musical film “The Band Wagon (1953)”.

It well though out. Starting from lights and environment. Using different outfits, ages and using specific space. ending with an actual story behind it, ending with changes and interesting actions that turns out differently than expected.

Still playing with the spread of information we wanted to base the piece on the passing and delivery of words, how things said by others can’t be monitored nor controlled. In the piece, you are viewing five separate screens working as a vocal circuit. Four of the Screens act as distributors of information. Starting from the left (Screen 1) something is said, moving along it reaches the middle screen, upon receiving the news the middle screen reacts, the reaction is later heard/seen by another passing on the story. The middle screen acts as a Breeder and Target for gossip it plays a victim of rumor. Shocked by the words it has come to hear, it addresses the viewer with the words “just between you and me” in hope to seal the spreading; in natural fact, nothing stays private. The circuit loops again, middle screen reacts with anger “Beat the shit out of a pillow” yet making another headline.

CIRCUIT

Having in mind this interesting video I look for another. Each video took my attention more and more.



After a good research, I found out what is Morph Motion - Still to Still. Soon I had a RE:Flex plugin on my Adobe After Effects.

I run few tests and realized that on trial version nothing is going to work. It put a huge cross over the image - watermarked.

Having this problem made me think of ways around it. So I came with a solution to generate huge pictures, edit them with the watermark and then just crop needed frame in Adobe Premiere.

I ended up with 11.5K footage on my computer. All videos and sequences were about this size leaving portrait area for FULL HD resolution. 1080x1920p PORTRAIT!

I watched tutorials how to use RE:Flex motion morph for different files - videos, still images and animations. I was very into this technique and I am glad I explored it. First tests went bad, but I got use to it. One portrait took me about 4 hours to turn sideways and open its mouth.

What motion morph does is basically takes the points defined by me and blends together with the image next. I have to go frame by frame and move shapes that are different for two frames between.

Here is a video that is taken for 4.5 hours.

In total, I made fully 6 portraits. Morphing and later on exporting through Adobe Premiere in .MOV H.264 1080x1920p 25fps.

After generating motion from still, it was time for motions. Each motion was trimmed separately like sequence. It was more like a sequence of the sequence of the sequence. Files on files.

In my opinion, we set roles very clever. Ivan was in charge of characters. As soon as he finished one face I began to draw shapes and move pictures in After Effects. I think his process was not easier, all layers and texture took a long time. Meanwhile, I was working with different sizes, trying to figure out pixel ratio and frame times in certain seconds. 

We had issues, particularly my Adobe crashed for like 5 times. 

I would say that I was excited by the process learning a new technique... but closer to the end and I got very tired. Every single point needs to be checked in all frames, keyframed every single second and because of different drawings, all shapes changed their form every single frame. 

It was challenging, even more, because of something I have never been aware of. I got new experience and a feeling of great teamwork. 

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

It is a Chinese saying, referring to the three monkeys of their divine pantheon. In another way, one can say indeed that if one tries to be positive in word, deed, and thought, that one can avoid doing evil and also avoid falling into the traps of the wicked. The evil ones fall into their own trap for seeing, thinking, listening to , and doing evil. In the film: Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston, these three famous monkey poses are actually referred to in the ape trial of the human. Mainly because these three behaviours are considered as major sources of evil in themselves. I would say that our installation is presenting to the audience the result of evil behaviour. It is about the communication nowadays... Source can be completely innocent so as the speaker, but the messenger is the one who makes the rules. Particularly in our installation the way of changing the message is cleared in three ways.

HEAR NO EVIL - you can hear it, just don't pay any attention to it

SEE NO EVIL -  you can either cover your eyes and literally not see it, or pay no attention

SPEAK NO EVIL - You often can't help when you hear evil, especially rumours about others, speak no evil is about that you shouldn't repeat anything further.

Doing evil will be represented through 5 screens. On each of them - one person. As I said above, the source is innocent, follows three “monkeys” and the speaker:

Screen 1: a victim (the source)

Screen 2: a policeman (the monkey)

Screen 3: a journalist (the monkey)

Screen 4: a news editor (the monkey)

Screen 5: a news reporter (the speaker)

TV screens not projectors? Audience is always more satisfied of physical things that they can view from different perspectives. If the artwork is explorable, it takes the person more into the message that artist wants to tell. That's our main goal - To deliver our idea and our thoughts to the viewer more efficient and much faster. We gather that physical installation is much more powerful and more interactive than just a projection on the wall.

To make some ideas of screen positions we took a look to other artists.

Valie Export, video installation at Charim Galerie, (2012)

TV screens are on many tables facing towards audience. It takes a lot attention but in same same the number of screens disturbs the viewer and making focus on many visuals.

Another installation that inspired us was made by Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures at The Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Andy's work took us because of portraits. Our problem will be showed through portrait series on the screen. It is interesting way to deliver the message. People usually try to look into faces while getting the point of speech or emotional expression, meanwhile others actually try to avoid that, complete opposites, which could be also related to one of the monkey's behaviour “See no Evil” or “Hear no Evil” - trying to ignore the message and keep enjoying the artform.

It can be the hardest job on the crew. While everyone else is on a break, the Camera Assistant is usually working. Camera Assistants are usually the first people to start work and the last people to finish.

Main things they have to focus on:

1. Adjusting the camera lens or 'pulling focus' to follow the action on set

2. Managing and maintaining camera equipment and accessories

3. Following instructions from the Director or Director of Photography (DoP)

But to do all that you have to have excellent knowledge of cameras, lenses and all related equipment. He or She has to do a lot of homework, keep up-to-date with newest techniques and equipment. They have to be good at judging distances, have agility and speed. they have to pay precise attention to details. As the last but not less important they have to know about health and safety legislation and procedures.

What does a First Camera Assistant do?

As it is impossible to see whether the focus is sharp until the rushes (raw footage) are screened, 1st ACs rely on experience and instinct for each focal adjustment. Because re-shooting scenes is expensive and actors may be unable to recreate their best take

1st ACs are also responsible for camera equipment such as lenses, filters and matt boxes and for assembling the camera and its accessories for different shots.

They arrive on set or in the studio before the Director, Director of Photography and Camera Operator and ensure that the camera and all required lenses are prepared for the day's shoot. If the Director or DoP wants to try out a specific lens, the 1st AC assembles the camera so that they can look through the eyepiece to assess the shot. At the end of each shooting day, 1st ACs clean the equipment and pack it up in preparation for the next day.

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Main things they have to focus on:

To be able to that they have to have to know about all camera equipment, film stocks and processing techniques. They have to have understanding of all camera department paperwork and administration. that's why they have excellent organisation skills. They have to be fast, communicate effectively, focused on details and also know about health and safety regulations and procedures.

What does a Second Camera Assistant do?

During the shoot, 2nd ACs begin work early in the mornings, unloading, organising and preparing all of the camera equipment for each day's work. During rehearsals, they mark-up the Actors' positions, enabling the 1st AC to calculate any changes in focus. When the camera starts to roll, 2nd ACs mark each take with a clapperboard, which identifies the take and enables the Assistant Editor to synchronise the sound and picture in preparation for editing.
2nd ACs position themselves next to the camera, where they can anticipate all camera movements and monitor how much film stock is being used. They must know when a new film magazine should be prepared. At the end of each shooting day, 2nd ACs pack away all the equipment, label up film cans and dispatch them to the labs with detailed camera sheets.

Although he says something else about himself, "I’m not a writer; I’m a filmmaker. If I wanted to be a writer I’d be a novelist. If I wanted to write dialogue, I’d be a playwright. But I want to make films so I’m a film-maker; I’m no different than a costume designer, or a DOP, a director. I make movies for a living."

He very well known because of the film "42", the story of Jackie Robinson from his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1945 to his historic 1947 rookie season when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. I have seen this film and it takes me into the scene right away.
"I always think a movie is a giant funnel, as big as this building, with a little tiny pinhole at the bottom and everyone, whether it’s the production or whether it’s the screenplay, you fill this enormous funnel with all the stuff and one drop comes out and that’s the movie or the script when it’s the script. The more you dump into that funnel to get that drop, the better it’s going to be. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be any good, but that’s a whole other thing."

Human networking? Brian is interested in different countries. He tries to relate each area to people that lives there. His grandfather was a Norwegian, who moved to United States. Since he knows that he explores and tries to find points that works together in history. 

In his films like "42" he involves a lot of signs of politics and historical facts. He has explored environment to the smallest detail. In my opinion his key for films is perfectionism. I want to say that the films I have seen has been made very detailed visually and historically. I love his patience. 
"42" placed in 1946, Jackie Robinson is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Brian gives the viewer a sense of time, identity for each person in a film. Very well done work and a huge research under it...

Steve Rodney McQueen

McQueen's film pitilessly documents the beatings, lynchings, rape and brutality of a slave-owning class half-demented by its own moral corruption, and routinely reduces audiences to tears. "There's been a kind of amnesia," he says, "or not wanting to focus on this, because of it being so painful. It's kind of crazy. We can deal with the second world war and the Holocaust and so forth and what not, but this side of history, maybe because it was so hideous, people just do not want to see. People do not want to engage."