Got some wee problems with the sign and the opening credits are blurred out for some reason... But here's the video
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Crimson Desire: Corrections
After doing testruns with audiences, we decided we definitely needed to correct the banner and state explicitly that its Valentine's.
We compressed the rapid sequence of past killings, to make it more rapid and so we don't lose audience attention by repetition of the same thing over n over. To make its POINT, to pack a punch, we made this even more flashing and rapid.
We also removed the two Rebecca's from the rapid sequence as it seemed to confuse audiences.
The general however was successful the first time round and remains.
We are thrilled about how the song and video have fit perfectly and all our hard work turned out well in this artistically dark piece.
Personally I am thrilled at the result and how I have managed to cover the very sweet side of Valentine's (in Assignment 3) and the very dark side (in Assignment 5).
We compressed the rapid sequence of past killings, to make it more rapid and so we don't lose audience attention by repetition of the same thing over n over. To make its POINT, to pack a punch, we made this even more flashing and rapid.
We also removed the two Rebecca's from the rapid sequence as it seemed to confuse audiences.
The general however was successful the first time round and remains.
We are thrilled about how the song and video have fit perfectly and all our hard work turned out well in this artistically dark piece.
Personally I am thrilled at the result and how I have managed to cover the very sweet side of Valentine's (in Assignment 3) and the very dark side (in Assignment 5).
Crimson Desire: Editing
Editing was by far the most difficult part.
It's not easy to do simultaneously so I worked endlessly alone to create the vision for the video. It's hard to share an artistic vision for a production during the creation process also so it made sense to do it myself first but because of timing it was quite impossible. Quite the marathon!
The girls took charge of cutting out the irrelevant scenes first from the hours of footage to just fit into 5minutes. It took a long while just to get it down to 21mins.
After this I took charge. We did a trial run and realised the most fitting way tod o the video is to have very sharp flashing shots that matches the hardness of the song. THe initial plan also involved the fast rapid sequence.
So cutting down, although tedious, was possible.
After this I had to cut out irrelevant shorts and shorten as much as possible.
Then I edited according to the soundtrack so it matched the changes in tempo. This was hard in the middle parts where we had to do leaps between scenes/years within the same verse. Unfortunately the song and video are independent processes so one has to conform to the other. It worked out okay but not perfect. Some parts however, especially the beginning and end, was a brilliant fit but took very meticulous effort.
Then I added some black and white flashes to match the harsher tones in the song when he is about to take on his first victim, this is to give the audience a hint of the darkness to come.
The saturation of red in the opening scenes also gives some foreshadowing to his bloody nature but the activities are actually innocent ones to create an interesting blend that only hints but doesn't ensure that is a killer movie.
I also played with the speed to slow down some parts (like the Calendar which is important because audiences need to recognise its Valentine's) and speed up others. Sometimes it simulated realtime and sometimes it was obvious as a quick flash.
I timed certain sequences with lyrics too. For instance 'obscure' goes with him covering up his knives and 'hold' goes with him holding the first victim's hands.
Overall I really like how it turned out. The only problem was that rendering removed the very important layer that signified that this was VALENTINES and SINGLES NIGHT at a bar and that's where he goes to prey.
We added whitish highlights to show flashback sequences, to contrast with realtime sequences. We also added more contrast to make it striking and scary at the same time, and to mark this video as an ARTISTIC presentation which was the main idea. It's meant to be very artsy and slightly abstract. The ideas are not always openly interpreted but that is intentional. Different layers are tapped on by different audiences depending on how insightful they are. Basically we do not simplify for audiences. We play with their senses, mix up the narrative sequence, and give some hints to guide them along, and a general plot but the layers (metaphorically) are more intense.
The changes in speed helped to create some variation and excitement, most apparent in the killing scene.
I would have loved having more time to work on this as it took alot of effort but not enough time to perfect. Art pieces are a pride for every artist so it isn't great to do something mediocre. Thus the effort. Still I think we weren't far off the mark. The only problem was the missing banner -- this lost more mainstream audiences from the joys of watching the video.
It's not easy to do simultaneously so I worked endlessly alone to create the vision for the video. It's hard to share an artistic vision for a production during the creation process also so it made sense to do it myself first but because of timing it was quite impossible. Quite the marathon!
The girls took charge of cutting out the irrelevant scenes first from the hours of footage to just fit into 5minutes. It took a long while just to get it down to 21mins.
After this I took charge. We did a trial run and realised the most fitting way tod o the video is to have very sharp flashing shots that matches the hardness of the song. THe initial plan also involved the fast rapid sequence.
So cutting down, although tedious, was possible.
After this I had to cut out irrelevant shorts and shorten as much as possible.
Then I edited according to the soundtrack so it matched the changes in tempo. This was hard in the middle parts where we had to do leaps between scenes/years within the same verse. Unfortunately the song and video are independent processes so one has to conform to the other. It worked out okay but not perfect. Some parts however, especially the beginning and end, was a brilliant fit but took very meticulous effort.
Then I added some black and white flashes to match the harsher tones in the song when he is about to take on his first victim, this is to give the audience a hint of the darkness to come.
The saturation of red in the opening scenes also gives some foreshadowing to his bloody nature but the activities are actually innocent ones to create an interesting blend that only hints but doesn't ensure that is a killer movie.
I also played with the speed to slow down some parts (like the Calendar which is important because audiences need to recognise its Valentine's) and speed up others. Sometimes it simulated realtime and sometimes it was obvious as a quick flash.
I timed certain sequences with lyrics too. For instance 'obscure' goes with him covering up his knives and 'hold' goes with him holding the first victim's hands.
Overall I really like how it turned out. The only problem was that rendering removed the very important layer that signified that this was VALENTINES and SINGLES NIGHT at a bar and that's where he goes to prey.
We added whitish highlights to show flashback sequences, to contrast with realtime sequences. We also added more contrast to make it striking and scary at the same time, and to mark this video as an ARTISTIC presentation which was the main idea. It's meant to be very artsy and slightly abstract. The ideas are not always openly interpreted but that is intentional. Different layers are tapped on by different audiences depending on how insightful they are. Basically we do not simplify for audiences. We play with their senses, mix up the narrative sequence, and give some hints to guide them along, and a general plot but the layers (metaphorically) are more intense.
The changes in speed helped to create some variation and excitement, most apparent in the killing scene.
I would have loved having more time to work on this as it took alot of effort but not enough time to perfect. Art pieces are a pride for every artist so it isn't great to do something mediocre. Thus the effort. Still I think we weren't far off the mark. The only problem was the missing banner -- this lost more mainstream audiences from the joys of watching the video.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Crimson Desire Shooting
Shooting took longer than expected, usually because technology finds a way to mess up at the best times.
Setting up everyday took a while. We got better as the days progressed but of course there was hardly the luxury of time. The first few days we had to try out various things like :
camera positioning
how much to zoom
what props were not visible enough and had to be replaced
colours & contrast
sequence
We also had to prepare various props.
Calendar:
1) This was problematic because Rebecca had prepared them according to my script which said he tears off Feb 14 each time. She pointed out that it made more sense to tear out Feb 13 and show Feb 14. So she redid this.
2) During shootings we had no room for error because the calendar was done in sequence. No re-takes possible.
3) We realised it was not bold enough. Being on a tight deadline we shot a calendar scene then Devi coloured up the date for the next shot while we shot other sequences, then we got back to the next calendar shot.
Rope around fingers:
1) The cinematic vision for this didn't come out right because it didn't look sinister nor red enough.
Framing:
1) Some wide shots were difficult to frame because we wanted to keep consistent with the artistic partial body shots rather than reveal his whole face
2) Marijn moving in natural motion also disrupted framing of shots. Working with non-professional actors is of course a cause for issues like this.
The seal on the envelope:
1) We couldn't find a good seal so spent some time trying to rework some props for the same 'wham stamp!' effect.
2) Using a red kiddy chop I had, we tried out with poster paint if we could create the effect. It took some time before we found the right consistency but it worked.
3) We had to conceal the kiddy stamp so we adjusted the frame to be really tight and wound rope around the stamp
The killing scene:
1) We shot the knives layout and the bedscene on separate days. So from Day 2 onwards, in most aspects, the tiring part was making sure we were consistent
2) We switched from ropes to bands to ties to make a convincing tie-up
3) We tried to find the best lighting position to get the knife to glean in the light.
The Eating:
1) The red meat turned grey upon cooking instead of red. Problem! Again we used framing to focus on the reds on the inside.
2)Marijn also had to drink the horrific juice/syrup/dye combination in order for the juice scene to be consistent with the one before.
SHOOTING:
The Lead:
1) Without David to star in our movie, we finally cast Marijn into the role. The tough part? He was supposed to be behind the camera. He & I set up the shots before he got in front and did his part. Runnign back n forth was time consuming.
Getting Dressed:
1) ALready tired by this time, it was tough to do the dressing up 7 times over and make sure we got every single sequence down
2) Especially tedious because it would only be used in rapid sequence but real time shooting took ages
The Girls:
1) We did shooting with the girls on the 3rd day so the order was pretty much in order and was not too difficult
2) The difficult part was rushing to finish and trying to keep track of year-outfit-tie-girl to ensure consistency. As the overall producer, I had to ensure this was all in track when everyone was taking care of the more immediate tasks. It was very difficult to be director, camera woman, oversee what props needed to be in the scene, manage everyone to do their parts, motivate the tired actor and keep track of the outfits when everyone was eager to just get it over and done with. Details are important but ridiculously difficult to ensure when cramped for time!
Outdoor Shoot:
The shoot at the 2nd location went fairly quickly and was done very efficiently.
1) Problem: Our main problem was that some of the actresses we used had changed their outfits or decided not to show up for part 2. We had to work around this immediately. We employed the help of passers-by and improvised to rework the script. We were after all using rapid sequence that was meant to get shorter with each year (so as not to bore the audience). This turned out to be very quick and effective. Thanks to some helpful Singaporean ladies.
2)We had 2 options for our bar shoot. We were lucky enough to have Crazy Elephant agree to host us for a while. We did get shooed out but shooting outside the bar turned out to be more productive in the end. Thanks to them for helping us out.
Overall the process was quite taxing and very rushy but worked out.
Setting up everyday took a while. We got better as the days progressed but of course there was hardly the luxury of time. The first few days we had to try out various things like :
camera positioning
how much to zoom
what props were not visible enough and had to be replaced
colours & contrast
sequence
We also had to prepare various props.
Calendar:
1) This was problematic because Rebecca had prepared them according to my script which said he tears off Feb 14 each time. She pointed out that it made more sense to tear out Feb 13 and show Feb 14. So she redid this.
2) During shootings we had no room for error because the calendar was done in sequence. No re-takes possible.
3) We realised it was not bold enough. Being on a tight deadline we shot a calendar scene then Devi coloured up the date for the next shot while we shot other sequences, then we got back to the next calendar shot.
Rope around fingers:
1) The cinematic vision for this didn't come out right because it didn't look sinister nor red enough.
Framing:
1) Some wide shots were difficult to frame because we wanted to keep consistent with the artistic partial body shots rather than reveal his whole face
2) Marijn moving in natural motion also disrupted framing of shots. Working with non-professional actors is of course a cause for issues like this.
The seal on the envelope:
1) We couldn't find a good seal so spent some time trying to rework some props for the same 'wham stamp!' effect.
2) Using a red kiddy chop I had, we tried out with poster paint if we could create the effect. It took some time before we found the right consistency but it worked.
3) We had to conceal the kiddy stamp so we adjusted the frame to be really tight and wound rope around the stamp
The killing scene:
1) We shot the knives layout and the bedscene on separate days. So from Day 2 onwards, in most aspects, the tiring part was making sure we were consistent
2) We switched from ropes to bands to ties to make a convincing tie-up
3) We tried to find the best lighting position to get the knife to glean in the light.
The Eating:
1) The red meat turned grey upon cooking instead of red. Problem! Again we used framing to focus on the reds on the inside.
2)Marijn also had to drink the horrific juice/syrup/dye combination in order for the juice scene to be consistent with the one before.
SHOOTING:
The Lead:
1) Without David to star in our movie, we finally cast Marijn into the role. The tough part? He was supposed to be behind the camera. He & I set up the shots before he got in front and did his part. Runnign back n forth was time consuming.
Getting Dressed:
1) ALready tired by this time, it was tough to do the dressing up 7 times over and make sure we got every single sequence down
2) Especially tedious because it would only be used in rapid sequence but real time shooting took ages
The Girls:
1) We did shooting with the girls on the 3rd day so the order was pretty much in order and was not too difficult
2) The difficult part was rushing to finish and trying to keep track of year-outfit-tie-girl to ensure consistency. As the overall producer, I had to ensure this was all in track when everyone was taking care of the more immediate tasks. It was very difficult to be director, camera woman, oversee what props needed to be in the scene, manage everyone to do their parts, motivate the tired actor and keep track of the outfits when everyone was eager to just get it over and done with. Details are important but ridiculously difficult to ensure when cramped for time!
Outdoor Shoot:
The shoot at the 2nd location went fairly quickly and was done very efficiently.
1) Problem: Our main problem was that some of the actresses we used had changed their outfits or decided not to show up for part 2. We had to work around this immediately. We employed the help of passers-by and improvised to rework the script. We were after all using rapid sequence that was meant to get shorter with each year (so as not to bore the audience). This turned out to be very quick and effective. Thanks to some helpful Singaporean ladies.
2)We had 2 options for our bar shoot. We were lucky enough to have Crazy Elephant agree to host us for a while. We did get shooed out but shooting outside the bar turned out to be more productive in the end. Thanks to them for helping us out.
Overall the process was quite taxing and very rushy but worked out.
A Bloody Valentine
The final project was a big challenge.
What we needed that was hard to get:
- Four-post bed
- 7 formal outfits
- Actresses for several locations
- A house that was manly or neutral enough to be manly
- A spacious location for our camera to be positioned properly
- A calendar and mirror positioned naturally near a door
Scheduling was also terribly difficult
Creative applications that Adobe produces, require a lot of practice and getting used to. No one wants to do the bare minimum. Unlike an essay, a creative piece reflects a lot about a person and you can’t tap on uncreative sources to come up with something mildly creative. (Where in an essay you can skip the research and go with what you know). I found myself lost and grappling to make sense of these programmes.
This assignment was particularly difficult for me. Aside from being torn about graduating, my other modules have been particularly heavy during the end period.
I did not contact the group with updates. What bothered me is that I didn’t hear from them either. A week before submission, I gave out instructions because by that time I couldn’t afford to be diplomatic. At every point, Marijn was very active in doing what needed to be done.
We had several discussions and brainstormed to solve our problems with getting a proper cast for instance. He was cooperative enough to star in the lead.
No one appropriate for the role had gotten back to me and 2 girls who were willing backed out. It was nerve-wrecking.
Saving grace, my aunt gave me permission to shoot at her house and it was perfect.
I went through the script to note all props that were needed. Devi was in charge of props but I couldn’t afford to have any missing items so I sourced out the more difficult items like syringes and a rose. I scrounged around the house for gloves, cloth, outfits. On the 2nd day I brought a whole myriad of outfits for actresses who might not be dressed appropriately.
What we needed that was hard to get:
- Four-post bed
- 7 formal outfits
- Actresses for several locations
- A house that was manly or neutral enough to be manly
- A spacious location for our camera to be positioned properly
- A calendar and mirror positioned naturally near a door
Scheduling was also terribly difficult
Creative applications that Adobe produces, require a lot of practice and getting used to. No one wants to do the bare minimum. Unlike an essay, a creative piece reflects a lot about a person and you can’t tap on uncreative sources to come up with something mildly creative. (Where in an essay you can skip the research and go with what you know). I found myself lost and grappling to make sense of these programmes.
This assignment was particularly difficult for me. Aside from being torn about graduating, my other modules have been particularly heavy during the end period.
I did not contact the group with updates. What bothered me is that I didn’t hear from them either. A week before submission, I gave out instructions because by that time I couldn’t afford to be diplomatic. At every point, Marijn was very active in doing what needed to be done.
We had several discussions and brainstormed to solve our problems with getting a proper cast for instance. He was cooperative enough to star in the lead.
No one appropriate for the role had gotten back to me and 2 girls who were willing backed out. It was nerve-wrecking.
Saving grace, my aunt gave me permission to shoot at her house and it was perfect.
I went through the script to note all props that were needed. Devi was in charge of props but I couldn’t afford to have any missing items so I sourced out the more difficult items like syringes and a rose. I scrounged around the house for gloves, cloth, outfits. On the 2nd day I brought a whole myriad of outfits for actresses who might not be dressed appropriately.
A Love to Die For
Our video was initially named this but later changed to Crimson Desire as we wanted it to be cryptic at the start. Just a hint of darkness but not a clear sign of death.
We had a very difficult time getting actors/actresses for our movie.
I casted a few people but the guys were all not fit for the role. He needed to be someone suave, upright and attractive but also able to have a very sinister, cunning expression for the last shot. My friend, David, was perfect for it but not available. We kept this option open to the last minute where we agreed that Marijn would have to do it. Marijn was not a far off option. He had the right look. Only problem was that he's not a suit-and-tie type guy, and also not an actor, so it was difficult for him to completely embody what was envisioned for a character who was very upright and revealed little on his face that was not INTENDED. Marijn is very relaxed and follows the complete opposite philosophy. In the end, he did a great job except for the scenes with the sinister smile. Those didn't work too well!
As for the girls, we had a few girls on board but pulled out at the last minute for shooting. This was very disappointing and put us in a bit of a frenzy. But I'd told everyone to bring appropriate clothes ahead of time, foreseeing that this might happen. So all the crew girls became the cast girls.
My Aunty allowed us to use her house for shooting. The location turned out to be perfect especially for shots where we needed a mirror and calendar near the door.
The difficulty was shooting a murder scene with 3 little ones running around plus a dog!
We had a very difficult time getting actors/actresses for our movie.
I casted a few people but the guys were all not fit for the role. He needed to be someone suave, upright and attractive but also able to have a very sinister, cunning expression for the last shot. My friend, David, was perfect for it but not available. We kept this option open to the last minute where we agreed that Marijn would have to do it. Marijn was not a far off option. He had the right look. Only problem was that he's not a suit-and-tie type guy, and also not an actor, so it was difficult for him to completely embody what was envisioned for a character who was very upright and revealed little on his face that was not INTENDED. Marijn is very relaxed and follows the complete opposite philosophy. In the end, he did a great job except for the scenes with the sinister smile. Those didn't work too well!
As for the girls, we had a few girls on board but pulled out at the last minute for shooting. This was very disappointing and put us in a bit of a frenzy. But I'd told everyone to bring appropriate clothes ahead of time, foreseeing that this might happen. So all the crew girls became the cast girls.
My Aunty allowed us to use her house for shooting. The location turned out to be perfect especially for shots where we needed a mirror and calendar near the door.
The difficulty was shooting a murder scene with 3 little ones running around plus a dog!
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