Final Video completed

Final Video @  https://vimeo.com/55483538

Artist Statement

            “The Crow” is a video art piece that explores human behavior and how humans treat the earth.  The video is a fortune-telling story about the destruction of earth and how humans have a roll in it.  The video combines different elements like video and graphics to tell the story.  The crow represents a bad omen from the fortune-telling card and it guides the viewer through out the story.  The black sections in the water and in the air throughout the video represent pollution and the crow guides the viewer through the different sections of this pollution.  The end reveals that this fortune hasn’t actually come true and that there is still time for people to change behaviors to help the earth by reducing the pollution that we put in to environment in present day. 

            I created this piece to show awareness of our society and how we can impact the earth.  Today people are more aware of global warming and it is said to be due to the actions that humans have had on the earth.  Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased greenhouse gases that help trap heat near the Earths surface, increasing the average temperatures on our planet.  Although we cannot completely stop the progression of global warming we can slow the process by reducing our CO2 levels and to do that it takes everybody’s efforts to help keep our planet  healthy.  

Monday dec 3rd

Fixed and edited more in the video and put in some sound today.

Meeting with advisor today to have it looked over for more critique on video before the Final Defense on Wed. 

progress

Last week I finished up the video with out the music added.

Had critique this week and things I need to work on:
  -changing earth to the abstract earth from the tarot card
  -tighten up clips in final cut
  -changing puppet tool on the crows wing at the beginning section
  -change order of cards being laid down-- (world card first, then fool, then crow)
  - Get rid of smoke coming off in lightning scene

I plan on working over the weekend on cleaning everything up for the final defense at 11:20AM Wed dec 5th.

progress this week

This week I worked on reshooting the shots that I needed and continued editing.
Here is some of the footage for the end of the video piece......

https://vimeo.com/53723687


I want to finish the video portion by the end of the week/ beginning of next and then next week I want to work on sound.   The goal is to have a finished product in time for group meetings on Mon. the 26th.

Roughly Edited Video

Here is the ROUGH edit of the video.  I needed this so I could visualize the entire piece and know which areas are going to take me the most time for me to work on.

Through this process I have recognized the areas that I need some major reshooting. 1- Intro tarot cards 2- More dead atmosphere shots 3- End shots of city are my key reshooting shots right now.

Its good to get full renders of this video every now and then because it seems different to me each time I view it as a whole and I can see more adjustments that need made.  While editing this one there were spots that the video jerked and made a cool effect but did not render out that way so now I need to go back and try to recreate that.  Also something happened to to first 30 seconds or so in the beginning so i need to find that.

VIDEO @
https://www.vimeo.com/53377973

Progress this week

completed a rough edit of the first page of the storyboard.
Taking longer and longer to render out examples so now I am holding off on rendering every class.

GOALS: I want to work on completing a rough edit of the whole video by the end of the week.
NEXT week I want to continue refining the effects and making them look better
2 WEEKS: I want to have a finished product to be critiqued so I can make proper adjustments before the end of the semester.

smog

This is a test of moving smog in water using a mask.....
          -trying to find a mask that has more points and that can curve to look more fluid

Thursday Crit Notes

-for the black water: try a moving mask and color correction in final cut.

-reshoot tarot cards

-consider location of reshoot and the look of the cards

-timing of how long the cards are on screen for.

-consider technical aspects of how to approach the video as a whole.

Intro coming along...

Came across this tutorial. May be useful somewhere in my video... http://www.gomediazine.com/tutorials/ink-bleeding-effect-in-after-effects-like-gnarls/

Here's a ROUGH intro.  Needs a lot of work... I want to get all of the footage together and then go from there on finishing up the effects and making them look realistic.  The crow is a tough one to get the flight patterns together... not sure if I'm going to keep the look that I have.

Video rendered wrong. The bird flying part has mixed up photoshop layers that are not in the actual animation.  

Wed class

Digitized the Tarot card section.

Modernism/Postmodernism In Class Discussion 

            For my senior studio project I am creating a video.  My video is going to be about how humans destroyed the world.  Modernist did not like how photography changed art so my piece would not be art for arts sake.  My piece has a postmodernist view because of the format that it is in. 

            My video “The End” is about borrowing information and putting it in new contexts.  My video is a story about humans destroying the earth, which has been seen before so the challenge in my piece is to express this story in my own unique different way.  I am also using different mediums to complete this project.  I am using drawing, digital imaging, cinematography, and effects to create this piece.  This video art does not need prior knowledge before viewing it.  Anyone can watch this without a prior message and either take it for what the actual message is or just appreciate the beauty in the shots and effects that are created. 

            I prefer art that does not have a meaning other than being beautiful.  I don’t like how some artist’s crumble up a piece of paper and then try to recreate that and call it art.  Unless it is described in the gallery that the artist recreated the look and the time it took to do it would I really appreciate the work.  In my work I just want it to be pretty.  I don’t think that it has to have an underlying message although if it is pretty and does have an underlying message I think is even better and more appealing.  

Tarot Cards

Finished up the tarot cards today.  Going to print and film the section tomorrow.

Wed Progress

http://marygreer.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/tv-movie-tarot-watch-list/
         "The future is not fixed, it is determined by the choices made in the present."


Creating cards.....

Monday Progress

Digitized more video of Water/ streams and woods.
Did more research on what "game" I should have at the beginning.
             -Either Tarot Card reading showing a human hand laying the cards out OR
             -a Fate Wheel that a human hand spins or manipulates


Fate Definition:  something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny. a prophetic declaration of what must be.  death, destruction, or ruin.

Tarot card "look"

Crows & "The Look"

I'm spending some time researching the crow a little more and making a few rough sketches.  The crow is a symbol of mystery, magic, and omens and can be associated with death, war, darkness, and destruction.  This will work nicely in my story of how the world was destroyed.

Original

Developing "the look": 

I'm still debating if I want the animation to have real time shots in it or if I
want to make backgrounds in PS

PS rough

real time

Storyboard

After the critique on Thursday last week, I went through and decided to change my original concept of being mostly in video and using final cut to doing it as an animation and using after effects to make this video instead.  Here is the storyboard I would like to use.  

The Title of my video will be "The End" and it will be about how the world was destroyed.  The story will be looked at from a future perspective on the earth that has already been destroyed and looking at the events as if they have already happened.  At the end of the video it will be as if the "Jeopardy board" was an insight of what is going to happen if things on earth don't change.  

progressII

made a sample of some of the footage that I have shot for the crit. next class.

started playing with effects to get ideas of what to use

progress...

Digitized and set up final cut pro document.  

Starting to get clips set for in-progress crit next week.

Shooting days

Schedule for Shooting Days:
Mon 17th-  Shooting windmill turbine out on st rt 6 in BG. 4-5p

Tues 18th- Solar panels near UT campus & Lake shots of either lake erie or lake MI.  11-

Thurs 20th- Swanton reservior dam out in Oak Openings Metropark. Some woods shots and stream/river shots in Toledo Metroparks.  11-4:30p

Fri/Sat 21st/22nd- Bird Feeder Shots. Grassy hills shots (BG area?) fri: 12-4p Sat: 8a-12p

Thurs 27th OR Sun 30th-  Caves shot in West Liberty, oh Ohio caverns.

Fri 28th- Ohio river bridge shot.

Final Concept

      The concept I would like to go with for my BFA video will be man vs. nature.  Essentially the video will be about exploring natural places and elements including wildlife vs how man has dealt with these elements.

Brainstorming for Storyboard

Things in nature:

trees, grass/ plants, wildlife, rocks, water/ lakes/ rivers/ streams, dirt/ sand, sky/ weather

Man Made:  

houses/ buildings, food, people, roads/ bridges/ transportation, fosset/ toilet/ bottled water, sidewalks

PLACES:

forest/ woods, lake/ river/ streams, grassland/ hills, cliffs/ caves

Solar power/ Wind Turbine/ Dams, bridges over water/ cliffs, tunnels through mountains, bird feeders

Where I can shoot these places:

Forest/ woods- Oak openings or Metropark on central.  Country woods either back home or random ones

Lake/ river/ stream-  Lake michigan or lake erie.  Maumee River, Streams in metropark on airport.

Grassland hills- ?? not sure yet

Cliffs/ Caves - Hocking hills, old mans cave

Dam- hocking hills area

Solar Power- UT solar panels near campus

Wind Turbine - Crawford county

Bridges over water- Maumee river

Tunnels through mountains- ?? not sure maybe hocking hills area?

Bird Feeder- home 

Brainstorming pt2 - Concept Ideas

Some ideas I am narrowing down to use for my concept:

mundane tasks -driving/ traveling/ getting from one point to the other. everyday tasks / weather

nature, exploring serene/beautiful venues

earth is important take care of it - recycle, pollution, exhaust

animals domestic vs. wild
time - in relation to man-made structures

Brainstorming

20 Things that I like visually or like shooting.

            -nature                                    -close ups
            -outdoors                                -abstract
            -contrast                                  -animals
            -organic                                   -sunsets
            -time-lapses                             -shadows
            -old things                               -slow panning
            -trees                                       -water, lakes, oceans, rain
            -old things                               -movement subtle or fast
            -slow motion                           -graphic matches
            -light                                        -gritty grungy overlays

20 effects that I like

            -geometric forms                  -vignettes

            -moving text                         -fluid objects

            -3d objects in real time         -masks

            -color changes                      -stop motion

            -combining videos                -speeding up footage to see things the naked eye can't

            -cloning                                -green screen

            -exploding buildings             -effects moving in a 3d environment

            -particles                               -title logos in motion/or moving

            -objects that match music beats    -illusions 

            -cartoon versions                  -mixing different effects together

Proj. 3: the contract

           For the BFA exhibition the piece I would like to work on is a video that will show a mix of video and motion graphics in the piece. I really want to have more work in my portfolio that shows that I can do effects and video manipulation and also include more complex motion graphics. This will be one video between 3-5 minutes in length. I want there to be lots of movement through the video.
           The idea for my project is still kind of unclear other than that I want to incorporate different effects in the video. I am trying to figure out right now what I will be able to personally record and shoot on my own so that is a current challenge and I am trying to figure out what will be the most appealing route. Some of the ideas I have played with include sports themes, music videos, global issues and awareness, top fears, and advertising.
            My project will be in video for the final format so whatever screen I can get it displayed on is what will be in the gallery. I could use a monitor or a laptop to use. Depending on whatever is available is what I’ll use for the final piece.
           Equipment I’ll be using during production will include my cannon rebel to take video along with a tripod from the ARC. Post production I will be working on in the MAC lab using final cut pro and after effects to create all the necessary things I need for my video.
           Production Calendar:
                       Week 4: Have final concept locked down and start a storyboard
                       Week 5: Complete storyboard and arrange shooting days
                       Week 6: Shoot Footage needed
                       Week 7: Shoot Footage needed
                       Week 8: Digitize and start editing footage
                       Week 9-12: Creating Motion graphics and effects
                       Week 13: Have final piece put together
                       Week 14: Make touch ups and export final piece
                       Week 15: Small Group Crits. Make any final changes.
                       Week 16: Final Presentations

BFA Thesis Project

For my BFA thesis project I would like to do a video that has motion graphics and effects in it. I am unsure of what my video will be on yet but I know I want to explore and get more detailed with graphics into video. Some concept ideas that I have right now include a video that has a simple concept but the graphics carry it along. Others I have thought about are sports related. I really liked the intro video to a football game and that sprung up more ideas of things that i could do for my BFA.

Project 2: Introduce your work and strengths Part II

In the digital arts I am primarily interested in time based art. I really enjoy video and motion graphics the most in digital arts. I find myself wanting to tell stories that don't out right tell you what is happening or what the meaning behind the story is. I like the viewer to make their own conclusions. I like movement in video and like to explore different effects and techniques that are available in this medium. There are a lot of different things you can do with video and I would like to explore them all. Although I like to explore different options in this medium I currently enjoy playing with motion graphics in video and have been focused on that for some time now. My video's currently are based on things that I have interest in such as dreams, psychology, movement, and a variety of animated pieces. I am a member on vimeo.com and from this site I get a lot of inspiration and ideas of areas that I can work on in my artwork. Some videos that can be connected to my work are videos like: https://vimeo.com/41692478 and https://vimeo.com/18305022.

 My Portfolio: http://digitalarts.bgsu.edu/portfolios/niesee/

First Day of School!

Yay! first day of class. Fancy notebook in hand and blog site all set up for the semester.