HND Photography

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Moving Image Storyboard

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Moving Image Research - Advert Inspiration

Volvo Advert (2013)

In this advert, Jean-Claude Van Damme carries out his famous split between two reversing Volvo trucks, to advertise the precision of Volvo's dynamic steering.

The advert was broadcast on Volvo's social media as well as on television.

The director and filmmakers used a variety of moving image techniques including using a gimbal, possibly on a crane/ jib attached to a vehicle, to produce a smooth final shot. They used the technique of tracking throughout, as well as having someone on pull focus to ensure the subject was in sharp focus the full time, with the camera moving positions and panning around to the right-hand side.

This advert was successful as it demonstrated exactly what Volvo wanted, how precise their dynamic steering is, keeping it in brand with Volvo having an excellent reputation for safety and precision, as well as having an effective soundtrack and it being a simple but very impressive one-shot take.

Sunday Times 'Icons' (2015)

In this advert the image makers have created a advert that seemly flows through characters, showing 'icons' and iconic moments in film, books and pop culture.

This advert was displayed on the Sunday Times website as well as being broadcasted on television.

This makers used a variety of techniques to create the final advert including a smooth tracking gimbal shot throughout, giving a seamless final look. They also used a variety of wide, medium and close-up shots to help portray each icon as well as allowing them to seamlessly transfer between characters.

This advert was successful as it was shot in a very interesting was, with what seems like one continuous shot throughout, seamlessly changing from icon to icon, with the use of lighting as well as effective camera movements and set dressing.

This advert shows all the media types the Sunday Times Culture covers, including art, music, film and television. This helps to communicate exactly what their brand is and what they do.

Dominos American Hot Advert

In this advert Dominos are advertising a new pizza called the american hot, it was broadcasted on television when it originally was released.

They used a selection of moving image techniques including panning, tilting and the use of a slider. Throughout the advert they use medium shots as well as close ups of the pizza and ingredients as well as using bird eye view shots of the pizza to show its iconic shape and its toppings.

This advert was successful as it has a catchy, well know sound track as well as having a variety of different shots, showing everything from the ingredients up until the final pizza product.

The advert communicates the brand of dominos well with its iconic pizza box as well as recognisable brand colours, relating it back to the brand.

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Moving Image Research - Camera Techniques

Camera Movements

Panning-

Panning is a camera movement where the camera stays in the same position and only pivots left or right horizontally. You aren't moving the position of the camera itself, but changing the point of view.

Tilt-

Tilting is when the camera base is in a fixed position. similar to panning except for the camera only moves up and down rather than left to right.

Zoom-

Zooming is when the camera is in a fixed position, normally on a tripod, and the camera operator uses the lens to zoom into a subject, making them bigger in the frame.

Tracking-

A tracking shot is when the camera moves to follow a subject or subjects throughout a shot or scene, helping to immerse the viewer into the shot.

Dolly-

Dollying is a type of tracking shot where the camera is moved throughout a shot on a set of tracks or on a slider.

Pull focus-

Pull focus is when the focus changes during a shot to bring a different subject into focus and change the viewers to it.

Composition

Long shot-

A long shot is used to show a full character or scene, sometimes used as an establishing shot to show a full character or scene.

Medium shot-

A medium shot is a type of camera composition that normally shows an actor or subject from the waist up, to show the character alongside the scene to help give some context to the viewer.

Close up-

A close-up shot is when the camera is either physically closer to the subject or filmed on a telephoto lens, positioning the subject to cover the full frame, not allowing much if any room for the background

Point of view-

Point of view shows what a character or subject is directly looking at in the first person. This gives the perspective of the character and exactly what they see, engrossing the viewer into the scene.

Bird's eye-

A bird's eye view shot would be filmed directly from above the subject or scene, giving an overhead perspective of the scene. This type of shot is commonly filmed on a camera drone or with a camera crane/ jib.

To aid a filmmaker in capturing steady footage they could use a variety of equipment such as a tripod, gimbal, or a camera slider.

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Moving image evaluation

I successfully completed moving image and used a variety of different shots to help reach the aims of the project brief, as well as attempting different shot styles I used the soundtrack to fit with the advert style.

I also used a slider and a tripod to help produce different style shots, including a push in and pull out shot.

I used a reflector to help bounce more light back into the shot, however I was limited by the amount of space I had to work with.

If I was to shoot this brief again I would try and use a larger space so I could fit in more lighting equipment, creating better lighting for the shots, ensuring it looked more similar to the advert I was recreating.

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Moving Image

To shoot my moving image project I used a tripod, slider, continuous lighting source as well as a silver reflector to bounce light back onto the scene.

I set up in my kitchen as this was the easiest place to prepare for the shots. I positioned the light off to the right of the shot and the reflector to the left to help bounce the light back into the shot.

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Stop Motion - Pre-Production

Important rules for creating stop motion

Darken the room so you’re completely independent from natural light to ensure your lighting remains the same throughout shooting.

Ensure your camera is on a stable tripod to ensure it does not create shudders between takes.

Ensure your camera settings remain the same during the entire shoot to ensure a solid look throughout.

Take more images than you think you will need, you can always delete them but you can't add more in.

Equipment and tools

a tripod, lights, a table or space on the floor, something to cover the windows with.

a computer for post-production, with an animation- or film-editing programme. You may need image-editing software too, to help you edit the individual photos if necessary.

Resolutions

TV at home - 4k

HD (high Definition TV) - 720p

UHD (Ultra High Definition TV) - 1080p

Macbook Air - 2560 x 1600

Desktop PC - 2k

top spec iMac - 5k

Iphone 11 Pro Max - 2688 x 1242 pixels

Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio describes the ratio between the width and height of an image or screen. A 1:1 aspect ratio, for example, is a square. The first number always refers to the width, and the second number refers to the height.

TV at home - 16:9

HD (high Definition TV) - 16:9

UHD (Ultra High Definition TV) - 16:9

Macbook Air - 16:10

Desktop PC - 16:9

a top spec iMac - 16:9

iPhone 11 - 19.5:9

PPI

TV at home - 140ppi

HD (high Definition TV) - 81ppi

UHD (Ultra High Definition TV) - 108ppi

Macbook Air - 227ppi

Desktop PC - 81ppi

iMac - 218ppi

iPhone 11 pro max - 458ppi

Social Media Optimisation

Instagram-

Square video: 600 by 600 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio)

Horizontal video: 600 by 315 pixels (1.9:1 aspect ratio)

Vertical video: 600 by 750 pixels (4:5 aspect ratio)

maximum frame rate 30fps

Facebook-

Recommended size: 1280 by 720 pixels

Minimum width: 600 pixels

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 (horizontal), 9:16 (full portrait), 2:3 (vertical), 4:5 (vertical), square (1:1)

maximum frame rate 30fps

Youtube-

Recommended sizes:

426 by 240 pixels (240p)

640 by 360 pixels (360p

854 by 480 pixels (480p)

1280 by 720 pixels (720p)

1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p)

2560 by 1440 pixels (1440p)

3840 by 2160 pixels (2160p)

Minimum size: 426 by 240 pixels

Maximum size: 3840 by 2160 pixels

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 and 4:3

Vimeo-

Full HD (1080p)

Camera Resolution - 8688 x 5792

Recommended resolution for brief - 1080p MP4 with the codec H.264

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Final Image & Evaluation

Above is my final submitted image for the recycle brief.

I am pleased with my final image submission for this brief as it works well with the parameters of the brief. I enjoyed painting with light during this brief as well as the progression on the use of photoshop, two things I had very little experience with beforehand.

For my process of production I had planned out the shot I wanted, the lighting I was going to use for it, including researching and making a DIY modifier for the torch to give me the desired lighting I wanted. This planning made it much easier when it came to shooting as I knew the image I wanted and it was just down to shooting the images then compositing them together.

I has had little experience with photoshop before this brief, so using it has been a challenge, but has been useful in expanding my post-production skills. I have composited around 20 images together to produce my final image, and this was something that I feel went really well.

If I was to improve upon one thing during this brief it would be to ensure I had got all the images I required before moving the set, as this has resulted in me having to reshoot the brief. Other than that I believe the brief went well and I am very pleased with my final submitted image.

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Below is a before and after image of my final edit. In my final edit I have applied the dodge and burn tool to add more shadows and take away some of the highlights on the chessboard to ensure it doesn't take away from the main focus point of the image, being the clock. I have also used a brush tool on a layer mask to paint in the highlights that I wanted on the chess pieces.

I have also added some colour changes to the clock face as well as adding some more contrast to the layer mask. (screenshot below)

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Photoshop final composition and layers.

For my final image I have used layer masks in photoshop to paint in the highlights and parts of the separate images i want to project onto the background image along with some colour correction and contrast adjustments to the clock face to produce a better image. To create the layer masks I clicked option then add layer, giving me a black layer mask, allowing me to use the brush tool to paint in what I want, rather than having to remove what I don't, if it was a normal layer mask. I have also went to the layer that covers the clock face and have changed the contrast curve as well as adding in some colour balance to the image.

Below are all the different layers and masks I used to produce the final image.

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Recycle Contact Sheet

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Set Building Behind the Scenes

This is the final setup I came to after a few different attempts, I took some items out of the set and simplified it right down to just the clock, books, chessboard and the ATS release book. This makes it more obvious that the clock is the main object and the items around it help to compliment it. I prefer this set as it is more simplified but I believe the composition of the final image works much better.

I used a pop-up black background placed about 1-2 meters behind the table with the items on it, this is to ensure no light from the torch spills onto the background, ensuring it stays black.

I also added in the chess pieces to the set as I prefer the look they give off and gives the image more interest, also allowing me to capture the highlights on the chess pieces.

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Painting with light - Tools

I shall be using a small LED torch with a homemade diffuser for the recycle brief. (picture below) I shall be using this as the small torch is easy to maneuver around the set as well as not spilling too much light onto the set. I have made a homemade diffuser/snoot out of a cardboard tube with tissue paper on the end of it to help direct and soften the torch light. This shall give me less harsh highlights for where I want to paint with light allowing me to produce a much softer, more directed, light source.

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Julie Powell is a still life and portrait photographer, who has a large portfolio of light painting images. She creates images that have a very subtle and soft light to them, without any overpowering highlights. I like this soft light combined with the simplistic image, it's not overcrowded with items.

Harold Ross is a fine art photographer who uses painting with light techniques throughout his work. I like this image as he has used the lighting in such a way the image almost looks surreal and it is a simple composition, with plenty to drag in a viewer. Harold Ross has also managed to capture the highlights on the objects very effectively.

Finnish photographer Vilho Setälä began experimenting in 1927 with the photography field of creative photography, these explorations led to the image you see above know as “Electric Chandelier” from 1928. Electric Chandelier could be the first kinetic light painting, meaning the light in the scene stays stationary and the camera is moved to create the design during the cameras long exposure. Vilho was also known for helping German camera maker Leica develop lenses after defining the effect of the lens aperture on the sharpness range of the image and engraved the depth of field scale on Leica cameras. I like this image as it was a complete experiment for Setälä and had never been done before and he has used this technique to produce this very different and unusual image for it's time.

Dean Chamberlain is what many consider the 'father' of light painting photography in its present day form. He is the first artist to dedicate his entire body of work to the light painting art form. Dean was taking classes at Rochester Institute of Technology when he made his discovery of light painting in the spring of 1977, he was experimenting with photography and struggling to find his calling. The instant that Dean saw his first light painting image he knew he had found what he was looking for and what he wanted to do. From that moment on Dean has only made light painting images. I like this image for its contrasting bright colours and the fact it's so unique.

Photographer Jozef Sedlák was born in 1958 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Sedlák began his light painting work in 1980 with his series “Kurz Sebapoznania”. Kurz Sebapoznania translated means “Rate-Self Knowledge”. Jozef Sedlák uses eloquence of light, the relevance of the language of light, and the mysterious nature of human existence. I like this image above of his as he has used different types and colours of light to create the image and has resulted in the final image being rather unusual, but striking.

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Recycle Brief

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Surrealism/ Illusion

Surrealism originated as a philosophical, literary and artistic movement in France in the late 1910s. It was strongly influenced by psychoanalytical theory, in particular, Sigmund Freud’s ideas about free association and dream imagery. Embracing chance, randomness and the unexpected, surrealist writers and artists thought that reason obstructed access to the imagination.

From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the world, influencing the arts, film, writing, as well as music.

Surrealist principles presented an exciting challenge for photographers. While a painter can pluck from their imagination with brush and paint, a photograph is derived from real life and the physical, material, world. Using a variety of processes and techniques such as photomontage, solarisation, and photograms, photography soon became a powerful medium for demonstrating Surrealist ideology.

Photography’s connection with surrealism lies in its ability to represent the material world in strange and abstract ways. Surrealist photographer Man Ray used double exposure and reversed tonality to disturb the viewer’s recognition of images and used to suggest the overlapping of dream and reality. (Image above)

Werner Rohde (above)

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Photoshop Research

Layer Masks

Layer masks are a way to hide part of an image layer without permanently deleting it. This gives you more flexibility than using the eraser tool that will permanently delete the selected portion.

Selection Tools

Quick selection

You can use the quick selection tool to quickly select a portion of the image using a brush. As you drag the brush, the selection expands and automatically finds and follows defined edges in the image.

Marquee tool

The Marquee tool is the basic selection tool. It is used to draw selections in either rectangular or circular shape. To form the selection, simply click and drag the mouse around the desired area.

Lasso Tool

The Lasso tool is used for selections where there is no set shape, eg rectangular or circular. The lasso tool gives you more freedom in the shapes you select, as you can make it any shape desired, not restricted like the marquee tool.

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Animal Hybrid - Sloth Bear