#digitalcultureandpractice

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Digital Culture and Practise Bibliography:

Andy Shuttleworth Boogie Nights Opening Steadicam Scene. (2012). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiXtFyZqvQQ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].

Bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk. (n.d.). BBC Sound Effects - Research & Education Space. [online] Available at: http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/ [Accessed 28 May 2018].

Biss, L. (2018). Microsculpture - The Insect Portraits of Levon Biss. [online] Microsculpture.net. Available at: http://microsculpture.net/ [Accessed 23 May 2018].

Chanel 4 (2015). Pockets - Short Film. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOUyx2XafMU [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].

Clark, D. (2017). Assigning ICC profiles. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUhxXWEdecw [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].

DSLR tutorial: How to make a timelapse. (2014). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwv5nJJveq4 [Accessed 6 Feb. 2018].

DigitalRev (2018). How to timelapse properly. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOsDj7AKrjM [Accessed 6 Feb. 2018].

Godard, J. (2011). Le weekend - Jean Luc Godard - Una Moeda. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er206-cGHAo [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].

Granger, M. (2013). Calibrating your monitor. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkHDzE4bj5s [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Granger, M. (2015). Workflow. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekh140HCnGo [Accessed 1 May 2018].

Heaton, T. (2018). Thomas Heaton. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q/featured [Accessed 5 Mar. 2018].

Hoddinott, R. (2018). Landscape, Wildlife & Close-up Photography & Workshops. [online] Ross Hoddinott. Available at: https://www.rosshoddinott.co.uk/galleries/show/category/six-legs [Accessed 22 May 2018].

MacAskill, D. (2018). Wee Day Out. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_7k3fnxPq0 [Accessed 18 Feb. 2018].

Miguel, P. (2017). Wildlife photography in the Field. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui1XuDn_Sl4 [Accessed 20 May 2018].

Movieclips (2012). The blair witch project - House scene. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmYsRcLMvO8 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].

National Geographic (2016). Beauty through the microscope. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMefm1thqiY [Accessed 23 May 2018].

Nielson, S. (2015). into the woods. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0EbGe0EBNk [Accessed 15 May 2018].

Oreilly, G. (2016). London - Hyperlapse. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8WE8jIJTqc&t=79s [Accessed 20 Feb. 2018].

Powerup Timelapse (2014). Hong Kong Timelapse and Hyperlapse. [video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/101046247 [Accessed 5 Feb. 2018].

Sharpxmedia (2011). Children of men: Car Scene. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfBSncUspBk [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].

Short of the Week. (n.d.). Watch the Best Short Films | Short of the Week. [online] Available at: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2018].

Slater, C. (2018). Macro photography specialist - Home. [online] Colleen Slater Photography. Available at: http://www.colleenslaterphotography.co.uk/ [Accessed 23 May 2018].

Visit England (2010). England in 1 minute. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYyXt6j05po [Accessed 15 May 2018].

WEX photo video (2016). Advanced Photography: Macro: Composition and Sharpness. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIRk-8Ndr7k [Accessed 20 May 2018].

ZapSplat - Download free sound effects. (n.d.). Insects - ZapSplat - Download free sound effects. [online] Available at: https://www.zapsplat.com/sound-effect-category/insects/ [Accessed 28 May 2018].

[tristanpotokarfda-blog]

Digital Culture and Practise Evaluation:

The digital culture and practise module has probably been my favourite module of this term. I have really appreciated the freedom it has given me to investigate new areas of photography and videography.

My initial instinct was to work on making timelapses of Bristol. Experimenting with time lapse was both fun and interesting however extremely time consuming and slightly repetitive. I felt a loss of interest after a few weeks and a loss of motivation. This is the reason I I made the decision to move away from timelapse and explore the genre of observational documentary. I don't feel that my initial work on timelapse was pointless however as it allowed me to learn new techniques and I am pleased with some of the videos I made such as ‘Fire’. I will be using the techniques I learnt such as how to use an intervalometer in the future, I am sure.

I wanted my observational project to interlink with my other projects throughout this year. I therefore made the  decision to shoot all of my videos and images in the nature reserve near my house where my other projects have taken place. I felt that this worked really well, I haven’t seen each module as a different project but more that they are all interlinked and part of one big project that has been my first year of this course, exploring the nature reserve photographically.

This said I want to vary my practise and branch out more, which I am sure I will do next year. I used the macro lens to shoot all of my final images and clips for my final video of insects in the field by my house. I chose this for a number of reasons including the consistency of quality, depth of field and perspective that the macro lens allowed me to maintain.

I wanted the images to all work together in sequence as a coherent series. I feel that I did manage this to some extent however I would’ve liked to maintain the same colours in all ten images and not just my final three. If I were to re shoot the project I would try to ensure that all images and clips revolved around insects in the grass, focussing on the colour green. I would also like to capture more video and images of the insects next to the busy road, as my intended message for the video was to observe the close proximity in which nature and man coexist and I feel that this is perhaps not as evident as it could be in the video.

I really wanted to try and use sound effects to mimic the sounds of the relevant insects, to go with the clips I had filmed. I was frustrated that I couldn’t seem to find any of individual insect but only sound tracks of fields or woodlands as a whole, I therefore decided not to include this however if I were to re shoot the project I would do my best to record my own soundtracks of the field and relevant insects. 

I think my research had a great impact on my work. My research revolved almost entirely around a combination of tutorials and example videos to help inspire my project. Initially I looked at timelapse tutorials and later went on to look at insect photography tutorials, these videos gave me the knowledge needed to further my practise. Secondly I looked at example videos such as ‘In to the woods’ (Nielsen, 2015). These were i highly inspirational for my project and helped me plan the shots for my final video. They had a great influence on my project, for example I ended up using the same backing track from into the woods, ‘Window’ by ‘The album Leaf’.

I think i have progressed hugely this term, technically, visually, critically and professionally. In a technical sense I have learnt a range of new techniques including how to use pieces of kit that were alien to me prior to my research such as an intervalometer and a macro lens.

Visually I feel that my practise has moved forward greatly, I have tried my best to develop my own style within new genres such as time lapse filming and macro photography. I have made a number of videos and progressed in my filming in terms of composition and also in my editing such as using sound effects and premiere pro.

Critically I think I have managed to find many faults in my own work yet learn and grow from them. I have tried to be persistent and push my practise further. I have also been in depth in my research and have allowed myself to be inspired by a number of photographer and videographers such as Ross Hoddinott. I have used what I have learnt to push forward my own ideas and practise.

Finally I am pleased with my professional development in this module, I have worked on my time management this term to ensure that I maintain a steady, manageable work pace. I have also managed to ensure that all my work is well presented, for example all my images have been carefully mounted.

All in all although I have had some challenges to my work but I am happy with what I have managed to produce and I am looking forward to further developing these techniques in the future.

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Final Video

This video is about 1 minute video

Here is my final video. Please watch in 1080p HD. 

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1 minute video

This video is about 1 minute video

Here is an updated edit, taking on board the below feedback from becky, the class and Ben.

A zoom in on the first clip of the cars driving past the field and a zoom out of the last clip by 7% to help draw the audience in. This must be subtle and not seem obvious.

I could edit the clips so that they align the beat of the song with the middle of the clip rather than on the note, this could help link the shots in a more natural less obvious way.

Explore sound effects of insects which I could layer over the music to add to the context of the video and further draw in the audience, I will have a look on the BBC website.

Slower more gradual fade in at the beginning. It was also suggested that I could cut out the blank black screen at the end of the video however I like the way this works and draws closure to the documentary. I also like the idea of the start and the finish being identical in visuals and audio, It feels like the story has started and finished in the same place and gone full circle.

A slower focal pull at the beginning / end was also suggested, as the clips Ive used are all I have I will try slowing the clip slightly using the slow motion tool on FCP, perhaps to 70% to see how this looks.

UPDATE: I have decided I do not like the added sound effects over the insect clips, It feels slightly over bearing and distracting from the visuals which I would like to remain the focus. I looked on a number of websites including the BBC website and Zapsplat but I had difficulty finding any audio effects of individual insects and instead could only find soundtracks of the woods / fields including bird song and other intruding sounds. below are screenshots of the websites and effects I used but as I say they will not be included in the final video. All of the other suggestions from above will remain in the edit. 

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Professionalism: Printing and Mounting

I picked up the images on friday from clifton colour and spent this morning mounting them. Mounting the images was a very time consuming task which I struggled with but I feel like it was really worth it.  Below is my work flow. 

To mount my images I used: 

A cutting matt

A cutter (and spare blade) 

A cutting ruler

A pencil 

Double sided tape 

First of all I placed the image on to the mount board. 

I then drew the outline of the corners of the image using a pencil. This allowed me to know  where to put the sticky tape. 

I then placed the double sided sticky tape on to each of the four corners and positioned the image on to the mount board. 

Next, I used a ruler to measure out a 1.5 cm boarder around the image, and cut it using the cutting knife and cutting board. 

Which gave me this. 

The final steps involved smartening up the mounted image by rubbing out any pencil drawn lines and using some paper towel to clean off any paper shaving etc. 

It took me a total of 3 hours to mount seven x A4 images and one x 12x12″.

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1 minute video

This video is about 1 minute video

Here is the provisional edit for my final video, I wanted to make a first edit so I could ask for feedback and adapt it. 

Here is how it looked in final cut pro:

The longest clip is 6 seconds long, I wanted the video to be made up of many different clips. 

I chose to start and finish the video with a plain black screen.

I also chose for the first and last clip to be the same, to provide context to the video and bring the audience in to the location. I am really glad I did this as I think without this contextualisation the video would be weaker. 

I chose not to use slow mo, I shot all the footage at 25 FPS at 1080p for maximum quality and therefore didn't want to use slow mo on the insect clips as they may be juttery. 

I chose to use two audio tracks, one track recorded of the passing traffic on the Portway where the video was shot, again to contextualise the video, bring the audience in and set the scene. 

I also chose to use a backing soundtrack which I found through my research, ‘Widow’ by the album leaf. I chose the track as it is calm and has an even beat which allowed me to edit the clips together in a succinct way. 

I used the ‘fade in’ and ‘fade out’ tools for all audio tracks, I also chose to over lap the music with the Portway audio, I felt that blending the tracks created a slower and more natural transition. 

Finally I chose not to use any complex transitions, I feel that transitions can often look very un professional when used un necessarily. The only transitions I chose to use were the ‘fade to colour transitions’, to make the change from the plain black screen to the video more smooth and less sudden. 

Feedback:

I asked our class and becky to feedback on the video and the response was mostly positive but with some really useful constructive ideas to help me push the video further, Becky also showed Ben, a wildlife film maker, I understand who also gave some really useful feedback...

A zoom in on the first clip of the cars driving past the field and a zoom out of the last clip by 7% to help draw the audience in. This must be subtle and not seem obvious. 

I could edit the clips so that they align the beat of the song with the middle of the clip rather than on the note, this could help link the shots in a more natural less obvious way. 

Explore sound effects of insects which I could layer over the music to add to the context of the video and further draw in the audience, I will have a look on the BBC website. 

Slower more gradual fade in at the beginning. It was also suggested that I could cut out the blank black screen at the end of the video however I like the way this works and draws closure to the documentary. I also like the idea of the start and the finish being identical in visuals and audio, It feels like the story has started and finished in the same place and gone full circle. 

A slower focal pull at the beginning / end was also suggested, as the clips Ive used are all I have I will try slowing the clip slightly using the slow motion tool on FCP, perhaps to 70% to see how this looks. 

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Professionalism with printing:

I have just sent all of my final images of to print at Clifton colour... This included:

4 finals for my object story

1 final still life replica

10 final 6x4′s to accompany my 1 minute video 

4 final 8x10′s selected from these

I wanted to send these of early so that I have the opportunity to re print should anything go wrong.

I chose Clifton colour due to the quality of their printing, I have now experimented with other cheeper printers such as boot and happy snaps but neither had nearly the same print quality. In total the prints cost me £25. 

I will also be buying some mounting board from Cass art so I can mount all of my larger finals in preparation for Tuesday. Last term I was mounting my prints right up to 5 minutes before the deadline, this term I would like to get this done on the Sunday or Saturday before hand in. 

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Issues I had when shooting: 1 minute video + 10 images

The weather: 

The weather has made my project very difficult. I wanted the images and video to feel consistant in lighting and colour. Even slight shifts in the lighting disrupts the flow of the video. I tried to mitigate this by shooting all of the images and video on the same day with similar lighting for consistency however I still had problems for example when the sun went in and out of the clouds.  

Using a macro lens means there is a very limited depth of field, wind is therefore a big problem as it can blow the subjects out of focus. 

Patience: 

I really struggled with my patience for this project, insects are so unpredictable and uncontrollable. I found myself following insects around for hours in the sun and I got flustered easily. 

I also found it very difficult to even locate insects sometimes, especially in evenings when they are inactive and not moving.