2001: A Space Odyssey

Drilcorp Ltd

I've been briefed by a company to create them a new website as the original one is beginning to look dated and as far as SEO goes it really isn't working. I started some initial visuals which have now been signed off, I've recieved copy and photography from the client which speeds things along even further. The site will feature a blog which will feed through to the home page when a new blog entry has been inputted. It will feature some Jquery and MooFX javascript element which will add interactivity and some nice sliding animated imagery/menu system.

Below are the visuals. Hopefully the site build will commence next week and a further week of testing thereafter.

Graphic Design

Okay, a little while since I've updated my blog as I've been busy with work. I've created logo designs, stationary, business cards, brochures, comp slips and letterheads. Unfortunatly I'm unable to show some of this work yet as requested by clients in there contracts but all in all everything is going very well at Alight, and I'm very pleased with my work.

I've learnt an incredible amount about design, right from the initial stages through to the printing. My knowledge of Pantone and using Spot Colours has made me a better designer and I've found it very interesting researching various different papers, emboss effects and metallic film finishes involved in print. It's especially helpful to know this if a client requests 100% recycled paper if they want there business to be known as a green company.

Other work that I have been involved in is initial front end web design and passing this work onto a .net developer to code it and give it the functionality and accessibility through all web browsers.

Sitting infront of Illustrator, Indesign, and Photoshop 9 hours a day doesn't half make you a lot more confident in your work. I pretty much know every shortcut and trick going which is very handy and I recommend getting to know them as this can speed things up immensely if you are into design work ofcourse.

I've been offered a part time position at work throughout my final year of university and a job when I graduate which is fantastic news.

Below are some initial visuals of a website I've created for my uncles business, the site will incorporate MooFX's to add interactivity without damaging SEO or accessibility options.

Bookmarks

Some useful sites to help spark some ideas when doing design work.

http://styleboost.com

www.faveup.com

http://ffffound.com/

http://blog.iso50.com/

http://reformrevolution.com/

http://www.cesarvillegas.com/

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/

http://www.injectiondesign.com/

Work Placement - Alight

I had an interview at Alight on monday, Alight are a design company based in the lace market area that do pretty much anything multimedia related. I think my interview went okay and they were really nice people. I showed them my portfolio and they seemed to think I have an eye for design but I'm lacking in technical knowledge, which is very true and something I'm wanting to improve on. I've been asked to go there on friday to see how I get along, with the possibility of it been a full years experience after a couple of months trained up. Fingers crossed it goes well!

Pathology

Not a bad film, not for those that are squemish though! I dont think the acting of the main character was all that good and I kinda predicted what was going to happen. I think it tried to do the Se7en thing but the impact was no where near, I didn't feel as much sympathy for the victims at all. On a cinematography point of a view I thought there were some great shots in the film and I liked the overall cold look the DP obviously tried to put across, it seemed a little de-saturated with the contrast reduced to give a flatter look, I think the film was shot HD as most new films are heading for this option due to budget, but I could be wrong. Ekkehart Pollack is the cinematographer, I will definitely be checking out some of his work.

The Ruins

Just watched this film, and I felt the need to write about it because I thought it was a pile of ****. I thought the acting was good but the whole film is a let down. I would have gone for a more isolated and psychological feel between the characters. I liked the idea of isolation and mysteriousness but it just didn't seem to be pulled off enough. It's almost like a horror comedy for all the wrong reasons. Anyway that's just my opinion some may like it but it wasn't my cup of tea!

In Bruges

Just watched this and thoroughly enjoyed it, the comedy in it is quality and right up my street, however I do think the film could have been a little shorter. Bruges looks like a well nice place as well, wouldn't mind going over there sometime! From the guy that done Six Shooter. Recommend watching it! Colin Farell plays a well good part.

Synopsis:

Bruges, the most well-preserved medieval city in the whole of Belgium, is a welcoming destination for travellers from all over the world. But for hit men Ray and Ken, it could be their final destination; a difficult job has resulted in the pair being ordered right before Christmas by their London boss Harry to go and cool their heels in the storybook Flemish city for a couple of weeks. Very much out of place amidst the gothic architecture, canals, and cobbled streets, the two hit men fill their days living the lives of tourists. Ray, still haunted by the bloodshed in London, hates the place, while Ken, even as he keeps a fatherly eye on Ray's often profanely funny exploits, finds his mind and soul being expanded by the beauty and serenity of the city. But the longer they stay waiting for Harry's call, the more surreal their experience becomes, as they find themselves in weird encounters with locals, tourists, violent medieval art, a dwarf American actor shooting a European art film, Dutch prostitutes, and a potential romance for Ray in the form of Chloë, who may have some dark secrets of her own. And when the call from Harry does finally come, Ken and Ray's vacation becomes a life-and-death struggle of darkly comic proportions and surprisingly emotional consequences

Roger Deakins

I've just recently joined Roger Deakins website and I have been browsing the forum, if you sign up as a member you can also gain access to his lighting diagrams from films such as No Country for Old Men, Jarhead, Hudsucker Proxy and The Man Who Wasn't There, its definitely worth checking out if your into cinematography and lighting, he even replies to most people's questions in the forum which is very helpful.

http://www.rogerdeakins.com/

http://www.rogerdeakins.com/light/lightIndex.php?cat_id=4

Follow Focus

Decided to do further research of cameras as i was wondering what the small attachment on the side of the camera was on the previous post's picture, turns out to be a follow focus.

Taken from Wiki:

"A follow focus is a piece of equipment that attaches to the focus ring of a manual lens via a set of rods on the body of a film or video camera. It is ergonomic rather than strictly necessary; in other words it does not contribute to the basic functionality of a camera but instead allows the operator to be more efficient and precise. It is usually operated by a focus puller (often called the 1st assistant camera, or 1AC) but some camera operators prefer to pull their own focus (the act of changing focus is called "pulling" or "racking" focus)."

Depth of Field

Ive recently joined a cinematography forum and have been researching the technical jargon associated with cameras, as brought up in my review. One thing that has interested me is trying to get that cinema look, where a background is highly out of focus whilst the object or character is sharply in focus. Having done some still photography for sometime now I know that this technique is produced using f-numbers, affecting the depth of field. The lower the f-number say f/2.8 the larger the aperture would be, this creates a shallow depth of field, giving that blurred background look. larger f-numbers would keep an entire scene in focus, ideal for long shots, however this would give a smaller aperture, therefor less light would enter.

Above is a picture of a redrockmicro system attached to what looks like a sony hvr-z1e, this allows 35mm lenses to be attached to dv and hd camcorders through the use of stepdown rings and lens adapters so long as they arent over 72mm. They can give greater lens control allowing for a more cinematic look to a piece of film. I've seen some videos on youtube of them in action and some of the shots look great and really do look quite like 35mm film. Something I would defintly consider using if only I had the cash!

The Case - Evaluation

After finishing my 6 minute short film I am extremely disappointed in the final product, although I think that some of the shots are to a decent standard and the editing is acceptable the overall feel and direction the film went was completely off track due to actor problems, Unfortunatly I had to change my story in the final stages of completing the project, this proved very difficult indeed and involved me trying to think on the spot as to what to do. This really affected my film.

On top of this I had around 60-70 mins of footage on essentially was around a 30-50 second scene this made editing a nightmare but has also proven to learn me a great deal in AV. I find that I am way to analytical on the overal composition and look of a film and this has defintly compromised my film. I should have concentrated more on the actual story and characters than the aesthetic feel of the film, I've learnt that sometimes its absolutely necessary to cut a shot that looks brilliant but does nothing for the film. Getting this balance right is essential, it just turns out that I am way to fussy over the look of things. I have this trouble when creating anything visual such as production documents, dvd menus etc. anything that is out of line or compositionally looks wrong I will spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get it to look perfect rather than concentrate on the actual work, thus affecting my work. This is something I certainly need to overcome.

Although this project has been the most difficult thing I have ever done, I would say its been a huge learning experience. It's made me realize that I have a passion for filming more than I thought I did, pulling a shot into Premiere and editing it and see it come together is very rewarding and gives you a thirst to do more filming. It's made me want to get a camera out and start filming because I know from this experience I can do alot better. It's certainly something I would like to do in the future, and working with real professional actors would be a great experience, I just didn't feel confident enough to work with professionals earlier in the project, as my camera experience isn't great, this is something I regret and wished I done, I need to believe in myself more!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Another film I watched a few weeks back was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, I wasn't too keen to watch it at first but the first 5 mins got me engaged immediatly, It was totally unexpected and I love it when you watch a film that you don't know anything about at all. The title sequence was something I really liked and it reminded me of the late great Saul Bass. Robert Downey Jr is quality and Val Kilmer is great, he kind of has that Ari Gold thing from Entourage going on a little. The film is very funny and well directed. Quick Synopsis:

"A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor."

Watch it!

Dead Mans Shoes

Recently I watched Dead Man's Shoes, a film by Shane Meadows, I've previously seen This is England and Room For Romeo Brass by Shane Meadows and this one didn't disappoint either. Quick synopsis:

"A disaffected soldier (Considine) returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally-challenged brother (Kebbell) years ago."

The film is very dark and Paddy Considine plays yet another great role. I particularly like the scene where Sonny see's Richard this is where you realize how far this man will go as he shows no fear. The acid scene is unreal and very disturbing as well.

My favourite thing in the film was how natural the characters where and there interaction with each other, I watched the extra features and realizied Shane Meadows doesn't really work with scripts and storyboarding, but relies merely on the improvisation. The film was defintly shot on a small budget and the audio is not of great quality in areas but I think this enhances the film somewhat with the natural dialogue between Sonny, Al and the lads. The locations are fantastic and they reminds me of a few places back home that would make fantastic locations for a film. Which is something that has always inspired and influenced me. It just goes to show you don't need a large budget to make a great film.

Music Production

Below show's a track I have been working on recently, the percussion was programmed with multiple samples edited, messing with adsr setting's and compression. I have recently been trying to learn some very simple piano chords and scales from websites.

I created the piano sound using a plugin called LizardLounge, the chords where played using a midi keyboard this recorded the notes into Ableton Live, this plugin basically replicates the sounds of old Fender Rhodes, Wurli's, and Hammond Organs, as well as standard pianos. This suits the deep house sound, which primarily relies on old soul and funk samples, such as vocal edits and guitar/piano loops. I created the bass using Spectrasonics Trilogy and a basic Sine Wave I programmed in a synth.

I would really like to work with a vocalist one day to get some original material down rather than sampling old records as well. Other software that was used was the Waves Package, which includes compressors, limiters, eq, reverb and various other effects.

DVD Authoring

I have created a few basic ideas in Photoshop regarding layout and design to help me for my DVD Authoring. I want the look of it dark and eerie as the film draws on suspense. The text will float around the screen and fade in and out of a gaussian blur, it will feature animated menus for the extra features content.

Problems

Okay just a little catch up, I have done a thorough shotlist for my coming scenes in The Case, but I have a slight actor problem, my current actor is not available till may 5th this in my eyes is cutting it all to short but there's nothing else I can do. For now I will complete the shots that don't require my actor in the scenes, for instance there are a number of opening shots in the film that I can do.

So I'm planning, May 6th - 9th Shoot final scenes of film, 9th - 11th Edit (long weekend, no sleep). I am currently working on an interactive dvd menu in Adobe Flash, pictures will be posted soon.

Robert Henke aka Monolake

I came across this video after reading through various music forums. Robert Henke is a software engineer for Ableton. He is also part of Monolake an electronic music act based in Berlin along with Gerhard Behles (CEO of Ableton), and Torsten Pröfrock.

The video is a 1hr 35mins long workshop in New Zealand and is defintly worth a watch if your into Audio Engineering and Live Performance/Music Production.

Click to watch the video

No Country for Old Men

Saw this a few weeks back and although I thought it was a good film in parts it just didn't seem to explain enough for me, the ending never came to anything although it left you thinking afterwards which I did like. I thought Javier Bardem played a really good antagonist and thats what made this film shine. I'd give it a 7/10 and would still recommend it as a watch.

Directed by the Coen Brothers.

In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart

Closer to the Edit

Richie Hawtins 2001 album named DE9: Closer to the Edit got me thinking about producing. I stumbled across this on the web a while ago and it made me think.

"After recording, sampling, cutting, and splicing over 100 tracks down to their most basic components, I ended up with a collection of over 300 loops, ranging in length from 1 note to 4 bars. I then started to recreate and reinterpret each track, putting the pieces back together as if an audio jigsaw puzzle- using effects and edits in between each piece. This 53 minute piece, consisting of over 70 tracks and 31 ID points, represents what those loops became, and how their interactions created something that had not existed before."

Richie Hawtin

This is something that has given me ideas for producing, I always struggle with arrangement but I have a few loops I've made myself. I am going to strip them down even more to there basic components and try to make a small mix using simple edits in the same vein as Richie Hawtin to see if my work will flow better!

The Orphanage

I've just watched, The Orphanage and I've decided to write about it on my blog. I thought it was a brilliant film that was really well directed. It's geniunely creepy in some parts and the acting is excellent, there is a very creepy atmosphere throughout the film, in the same vein as Pans Labyrinth which coincidentally was directed by Guillermo Del Toro, he however Produced this and is directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. Some of the shots will have a big influence on my short 6 minute film, which I hope I can give a similar feeling of atmosphere.

The film did feel like it dragged a little in parts but this only adds to the films atmosphere, its defintly better paced towards the end of the film when her Husband leaves her in the orphanage alone. The ending is fantastic and don't be put off by the subtitles. Go and see it!

Interview with J.A Bayona and Sergio Sanchez on The Orphanage

40 Second Pilot

Underground TV

A few weeks back I was working for the Underground TV, which was initially a student project but it managed to get a contract with Propeller TV sky channel 195, the programme is about underground dance music and looks at a lot of upcoming as well as estabished artists.

My role as one of the camera operators, gave me the experience of working in a professional environment whilst working towards a deadline. This left no room for error so the setup had to be perfect for the one take as a lot of the artists where under time constraints.

Music Production

Bit of a catch up

Decided to post a link to myspace as I've put a couple of tracks up that I done a while ago, although these are still not finished I thought it would be suitable to post, as I've had a serious lack of updates on my blog. Style: House/Techno

www.myspace.com/davidgowansmusic

I've had a few DJs requesting me to finish them so they can play them out, mainly extending intros and outros for mixing purposes and putting a few variations in the beats and a bit of filter play to build areas and drop them. Im trying to get my tunes so they sound as though they are all the same style without sounding samey. Im quite pleased with them so far and think they are a good basis to work from.

They were produced in Ableton Live 7, plugins used where mainly Simpler for messing with samples using the lfo envelopes, pitch attack etc. Impulse for programming the beats and the Waves package for compression, EQ, Delay and Reverb, using Automation to bring the Dry/Wet of effects to build parts and drop them.

Luckily I've had the benefit of producing from two different computers with there own monitors, Tapco S8's and Yamaha HS50Ms, this has given me the ability to realize that monitor speakers can sound completely different, I realizied the bottom end on my speakers (Yamaha) was too much so when I tested my tracks on the Tapcos they barely had no bass at all!

Spin

I stumbled across this short film whilst looking for something to spark an idea for my short film I have to create. I really like the overall look and feel of the video, especially the lighting and the simple concept.

Synopsis:

A mysterious DJ is sent to a busy city block to mend a series of tragic events that occur in our everyday lives. Winner of 35 film festival awards worldwide.

Film Analysis

Ridley Scott's 'Alien' (1979) Quick synopsis:

The crew of a spaceship are taking there payload back to earth only to be interupted by Mother (the computer of the ship) of news that a non human signal has been identified and must be investigated. Upon arrival of the planet an Alien attaches itself onto one of the crew members and ends up loose on the ship, picking off the members of the crew one at a time.

I chose this particular scene because it is at the point in the film where you realise the crew are in danger and begin working together, where as at the beginning of the film there are a number of conflicts and differences between crew members, particularly betwen Ripley and Ash.

Scene Breakdown: (Ship Enters) this shot shows the actual scale of the ship as they head off into space I love this que as you know that the crew are now in danger and things are about to begin.

In this scene they are having to use and adapt materials onboard the ship to hunt the Alien. At this point in time the crew believe the Alien to be tiny but infact it is of a larger scale and is constantly growing as they speak.

Above shows the crew testing out the equipment before they split off to hunt the alien. The shots are very simple medium shots, flicking between Dallas, Lambert and Brett, to Ripley, Ash and Parker. The lighting in the scene is quite dark casting shadows across there faces and giving the feeling of claustrophobia, the captain in this scene is acting very cool and collected and the crew are working together well, as they know they have a problem.

The next shot shows Ripley, Brett and Parker searching the corridors of the ship for the alien. As you can see from the screenshot the set is darkly lit with only the flash light providing light. The corridor looks complex and industrial, and because it is a long shot it invites the feeling that something is going to jump across the screen. The scene is long and drawn out creating tension as we move along.

Once Parker has fixed the lights Ripley picks up a signal on the motion tracker and they slowly begin walking towards the next room where the signal is coming from. The beeping noise from the machine is a fantastic device that creates a lot of tension.

This next shot is from the room that the signal is coming from, I quite like how Ridley Scott decided to keep the camera angles quite low down to give the feeling that the alien may be looking up towards them, it also gives a feeling of false security towards the characters as you know what they are dealing with is a lot more sinister than what they think. Instead of using a shot that follows them from behind entering the room he has decided to let the actors slowly walk in, as the door moves up it brings in rays of light that sillouhette the crew, they move very slowly and the scene is incredibly drawn out creating even more tension, it is a medium long shot and yet again invites the feeling that something could jump out, the set almost engulfs the characters with its low ceilings and minimal lighting giving a feeling of danger.

Searching the Room:

The next shots shows the crew searching the room where they finally isolate where source of the movement is coming from, it is a small box, as they open box there is a lot of tension created as to whats inside it; eventually we see a cat scream and then run off, Brett holding the netting up to capture it lets the cat go, not realizing that they will pick it up later on the tracking device. Parker and Ripley laugh and tell him to go and get the cat, I particularly like this scene as the audience know that Brett has made a mistake and he doesn't realize it until Parker and Ripley laugh at him in a degrading fashion, making him look stupid.

This next shot is quite possibly one of my favourite scenes of all time, the tension created in it is brilliant. The que as Brett walks into the big room is timed brilliantly as the audience then realize that he is going die. Once again the shots in this room are timed brilliantly and are long and drawn out to create tension.

Remix Competition

I have decided to enter the Sasha remix competition advertised on beatport. The deadline is the 11th of February and the remix can be any genre you like. The winner wins a copy of Ableton 7 and will be interviewed by Beatportal, it will also feature on Sasha's emFire label, a label that currently only holds his solo work.

I've never entered a competition or done a remix before come to think of it, this is more of an exercise to get me to play with sounds and change them into my own style.

Details here:

http://www.beatportal.com/news/item/remix-sasha-for-emfire

Interaction Design

After having my SPP lecture on Interaction Design, I decided to have a look at the website Commarts.com, there is some very inspiring work on there, one site which has given me a very strong influence for an idea I have for my online portfolio is the look of the WhatNoise website which was created to increase the awareness of hearing impairment.

Commarts.com:
Overview: Using experiential games, this innovative site brings the effect of specific hearing impairments home to its visitors. Intended to produce empathy and understanding, What Noise? also serves as a fundraising vehicle for the client.
Built with Adobe Flash, Photoshop and Audition
3 interactive games
$70,000 raised as of May 2007

http://www.whatnoise.org/

Minilogue - Hitchikers Choice

This video is quality! Minilogue are group of artists that produce Minimal Techno/Electronica music, they are linked to the right of this page, I would recommend downloading there free live set which has some cracking tunes on it.

High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music

Time Lapse

I came across this Michel Gondry video after searching for Time Lapse in YouTube, this is something that really interests and inspires me, especially the Minilogue Hitchikers Choice video.

Id never really heard of Michel Gondry before, but his name rang a few bells and as usual one thing leads onto another with youtube and I ended up watching more of his videos, he does a lot of commercial work and music videos and has won numerous awards, defnitly worth looking into!

Documentaries

I recently bought two DVD documentaries that I find inspirational and motivating, the first is a Slices dvd special of Richie Hawtin and the second is High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music, featuring the likes of Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson, basically the forefront fathers of the Detroit Techno music scene in the late 80s early 90s. I particularly like the way they are shot and how the interviews never bore, The slices DVD seems alot better produced, however I prefer the interviews of High Tech Soul, as you get a better understanding of the characters.

AVT Seminar: File types and Compression

We were asked to list a number of file types we might use, how we might use that format, and what software we may use to convert the files to other formats, below is what I found:

List of file types I might use:
.avi, .fla, .wav, .ogg, .mp3, .swf, .mpg, .pdf, .psd, .ai, .raw, .jpg, .gif, .bmp, .mov, .mpeg, .qt, .max, .3ds, .txt, .exe, .iso, .udf, .tiff, .wmv, .aiff, .nrg, .abl, .rtf

List of how I might use these files:
Adobe Premiere Pro makes use of a number of different file formats, not just in video but also in images and audio, most of Adobe’s software file extensions from there other software packages can be used in conjunction with Adobe Premiere Pro to gain the highest of quality in your work, such as .psd and .ai from Photoshop and Illustrator.

A small list of file extensions Premiere Pro can use:

.avi
.jpg .jpeg
.ai
.psd
.gif
.flv
.mpg .mpeg
.wmv .wma
.aif
.mp3
.wav
.ac3

List of what I might use to convert these file types:
I searched into google: “converter software” and the list was endless, there’s a variety of freeware tools to use but these offered limited file use and did not convert many different extensions. A decent one I came across is the one below, Blaze Media Pro.

http://www.blazemp.com/ - an extract from there website:

Audio Capabilities:

Audio Editing converter (mp3, wma, wav, ogg), and more.

Video Capabilities:

Batch video converter for .AVI, .MPG, .WMV, .MOV and more.
Convert, AVI, MPG, WMV to Flash.
All in one MPEG software solution, MPEG encoder, decoder, editor and converter.

The use of a converter is important in order to get your work onto different multimedia mediums, such as the web, for instance .FLV and .SWF files would be used for movies/animation on the web, or promotional videos need to be compressed down in quality to be shown on cd/dvd, it is important to use the highest quality setting when creating your work, you cannot convert a file from lower quality to higher quality!

An important thing to take into consideration as Danny noted is the use of codecs, an extract from wiki:

A codec is a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal. The word codec may be a combination of any of the following: 'compressor-decompressor', 'coder-decoder', or 'compression/decompression algorithm'.

A particular video may not work because the codecs may not be installed, popular codecs for video include, M-PEG part 1, M-PEG part 2 (higher resolution and bitrate, commonly used for SVCDs and sometimes DVDs.), M-PEG 4 part 2, M-PEG 4 part 10 (the latest, commonly used on the Xbox 360, HD/Blu Ray, iPod, and Playstation Portable.) DivX, Xvid and many more. For instance if a video file such as .avi was compressed using DIVX, you will need the DIVX codec installed in order to view the video.