Client Project finished

Client project is now finished. Testing earlier in the week revealed that I had some web compatibility problems Internet Explorer 7. As I had included some example HTML pages in my final product, in order to display the animation how it would be seen on the web, this was a potential problem. After re-exporting the flash files as version 6 instead of 8, it seems the problems have been fixed and the animations work across various web browsers. There is a small amount of difference in the synchronisation of the sound however from Firefox to Explorer.
The best versions can be viewed in Mozilla Firefox:

Version 1:
www.adamart.co.uk/general-store/widescreen.htm

Version 2:
www.adamart.co.uk/general-store/widescreen2.htm

Sidebar version:
http://www.adamart.co.uk/general-store/sidebar.html

Client Project progress: Music recording session

On Monday I had Bonnington studio hired out for recording the music that accompanies the General Store advert. It went well; with several variations of style and length recorded. I had used Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me" as a pointer to what I had in mind. This proved to set a high standard that was difficult to match, and obviously we couldn't simply copy the track. However, I was happy that we had a lot of recording that could potentially be used and the edit is looking good so far.
Thanks go to Henry Cole for being sound engineer and pressing the right buttons. It is down to him that we got such a clean and clear sound with expert microphone selection: one true stereo Mic and two mono mics were used to create four tracks of sound which were mixed together to create a single stereo track. The streo mic was put up to the piano strings and the two other mics were placed in a triangular formation further back in the room in order to capture the reverberations of the sound as they bounce around the room.
Thanks also to Asha Patel for her piano playing skills.

This clip is just for fun and not an indication of the finished music:

Client Project progress

The sound production for the General Store advert is now well under way.
I recorded the voice over with Jennifer King last week and it went well. Amazingly we were all done after about 2 hours. Jennifer didn't need much directing at all; she had good sense of pace and timing and understood when to add emphasis. At first I was concerned that her voice lacked character but now I am thinking that it fits the brief very well - sweet and young and should catch the ear of the target audience of students.




I have gathered and recorded other sound effects and am mixing a track for the conveyor belt. The latest version is below.
All that is left to record is the music - fixing a date when my musician and sound engineer are both free at a date when the studio is available has proved very difficult. I am currently waiting for Rob Squirrel to confirm that the studio will be available next monday during the holidays. If we cannot use the studio next week then I will use the easter holidays to fully complete all the versions of the advert minus the music and record the music as soon as we are back from easter. This would be cutting it finer than I wanted but is still perfectly feasible to complete before the deadline.





Other news is that Fairtrade want the advert to clarify the use of their logo much more precisely. Their general attitude is that with more work we would get approval however they are concerned that the store may not stock a high enough proportion of Fairtrade branded goods and that the advert refers to products which are both Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade. I think we can get the organisations approval (we must to avoid legal entanglements) However, I plan to complete a version of the advert which fits what I think they need, and also have a version that does not contain their mark in case they do not approve the version in time for the deadline.
This means some extra work but not too much as the large part of the versions of the adverts will be identical.

Client Project progress

Had my proposal presentation with Deb Tuck today. Went well mostly although managed to fumble the order of things and muck up PowerPoint. Good things were said but it is Deb's concerns that i want to document. First, I should show the storyboard and sound plan:

The storyboard shows a conveyor belt with various items rolling into view. The belt is erratic and the crockery keeps clinking. The room is noisy as the narrator calls out the items that come along - he/she is obviously bored.
When different items start rolling into view the narrator is at first surprised then excited. The noise dies down and seconds later is replaced by up beat piano music; the items are sparkling and all of a sudden colourful; the conveyor belt becomes smooth. The items progress into representing experience - the main element of General Store - smelling, tasting, learning or just looking.
This means that we have a crescendo of noise and shambolic movement followed by a sudden calming, rhythm and sparkle. This is also reflected in the sound design below.

Main concerns are that the progression around 13 - 18 seconds of the 30 second advert will not be realised well enough. The viewer needs to properly understand that when the feeling changes in the advert to be sparkling and upbeat; this relates to the good things that the shop represents and has on offer.
Hope that wasn't too badly explained.
The voice actor and music should ensure that this is not a concern but the visuals must play their part in the transition aswell.
Another concern was that the monotone colour is too flat and boring. A more colourful pallet should be adopted to accentuate the transition. This can be added without detracting from the brand pushing that the add is doing. (the design all stems from the store logo).

Sample can be found HERE!!!

Live Client Project

Click above to link to General Store.

Following a meeting with Graham of General Store a few underlying principles have been established that must be adhered to in the production of the advert .
Key bits:

• (a visit is an) Experience
• Finding things out - Learning
• Ethical sources
• Quality Ingredients
• Specialist in hard to find items

The store must be set apart from main stream coffee shops - General Store customers do not tend to be Star Bucks customers - and the store should capitalize on a feeling of loss of identity that coffee shops like Star Bucks are suffering from (http://tinyurl.com/ypxfy3).

General Store has real advantages in it's character and quirkiness. The store is eclectic in it's presentation and Graham notes that the layout of the store is designed to reveal surprises along the way as you walk through.
The sort of items stocked are intended to provide customers with all the items in order to be self sufficient in their coffee/tea making. For instance grinders, percolators, stove tops, containers, etc are stocked. This is a deliberate attempt to make people more knowledgeable and progressive in their consumption habits. Books are a big part of the store and the web site also has a 'guru' explaining thousands of words and terms used in the coffee/tea/chocolate worlds.
Graham prides himself on his ability to cater for people looking to avoid or find certain ingredients.

Insect Advert follow up - quality control

SEE PREVIOUS POST -
Insect Repellent Finished version (Wednesday, December 05, 2007)

"What I need to find out is how to convert video clips into web friendly versions without loosing so much quality. The horizontal lines that appear during movement seem to be a familiar characteristic that occur after file converting."

After a number of failed attempts at exporting the video from Premiere with varying compression types resulting in worse quality, I went back to exporting as DV AVI but with the deinterlaced box ticked (still lower field first). Then normal procedure of taking the file through Flash results in far less horizontal lines on the swf exported file.

Insect Repellent Advert - Finished version

Right click and open in new tab on the still above to see a low quality version of the film.

Production thanks to:

Edward Allan - actor
Matt Choules - acting and crewing
Russell Tanham - Voice acting and foley
Adrian Snodgrass - use of flat at an inconvenient time

What I need to find out is how to convert video clips into web friendly versions without loosing so much quality. The horizontal lines that appear during movement seem to be a familiar characteristic that occur after file converting.
I tried using an AVI to SWF converter which was a bit more dynamic than Flash itself but still did not achieve the required level of quality.
See any depict shortlist (http://www.depict.org/shortlists/206) for a good bench mark of what the level of quality should be.

Client short follow up - Static & Noise example

Moon Shot UK by James Harris

A good example of the use of static and noise to depict time elapse of an undetermined length:

http://www.depict.org/shortlists/206/


It's actually very convincing transmission break up with varying degrees of static, flicker, buzz and white noise.
Will try to find out from the makers how it was achieved.

I got my static burst in Insect Repellent from an old VHS tape which has break up between programs. I recorded it from VHS to Mini DV and then captured into Premier. Problems arose during the transfer because the player seemed to automatically cut out static break up in order to keep quality high. Luckily for me this cleaning process is not perfect and a short burst - maybe 1 second - was recorded onto the DV tape. This was enough to use in the advert.
A more controlled and deliberate creation of the affect (as I presume was done in the above "Moon Shot" video) would be what I would want if I were to use the affect again.

Client Project Progress

Following an evaluation of a rough edit by Debs several problems have been identified.

See Storyboard here
The main problem is with the lack of suggestion of the passing of time between 1 scene and the next. The time passing between scenes needs to be roughly 2 minutes. So, too short a period of time for a fadeout and also needs to happen too early on in the ad for a fadeout as that would ruin the pace.

What I plan to do is to create a 1/4 second burst of static and noise that mimics a channel being changed on an old TV. This could be used in between every scene that requires passage of time suggestion. This is a relevant solution as the TV featured in the ad is a retro TV which really does make this static burst.
The below video demonstrates the visual static i am talking about.




I have also edited in a short scene of the fly changing the channel on the retro TV (much to the mans annoyance) so aesthetically this can all link in. Granted - the audience may not notice this link but it makes me feel better about making this change.
In trying to solve this problem I have edited in a montage of very short scenes in what is frame 3 on the storyboard. This in part solves another problem that I have - the video has a lack of variety of shots and feels a bit flat as a result. The montage section livens things up a good deal and accentuates the build up of the man being irritated. I hope it also reinforces the way the passage of time should be read by the audience.
I will try and find an example of how this channel change technique has been used before and post a link.

Insect repellent advert PRODUCTION

These are a selection of on set photos from the advert production that happened last night.

Good things about the shoot:

1. It was a good learning experience in realising alternatives to ways of shooting certain scenes.
2. It was useful to hear other ideas from cast/crew not just for the scenes filmed but for alternate scene ideas along the same theme.
3. The location was perfect aesthetically and had a luxurious amount of space.
   
4. It was fun dressing Matt Choules up as a fly.

Bad things about the shoot:

1. My 1st choice Fly cancelled due to a foot injury.
2. 2nd choice Flies were not available.
3. 1st choice crew had to step in to be the Fly and so I was one crew man short.
   
4. Scenes that I thought were straight forward turned out to be technically tricky to film. (This is also good point number 1)
5. There seemed to be no ideal way to light the set in terms of creating the correct mood.
6. Getting all the elements for production to fall together on one evening was stressful.

The film is now also captured and ready t edit.

Full fly costume

CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE
This shows the costume almost finished.
The wings still look too angelic and black face paint is needed around the eyes.
It also goes to prove that you can't do a superman pose wearing tights without looking camp.

Insect repellent advert costume making

This video shows the beginnings of the fly costume required for my AV advert.
I am hoping the look says "fly" and not "terrorist bomb maker".
All you need is :
A balaclava
2 sieves
A belt strap
Some black card
Black tape
And some sticky back plastic .... sorry I went all Blue Peter then.






Also full storyboard: