3208 Doodlez

Ok, here's some updates on these 2 Assignments.

1. I did the proper colour corrections and touch-ups with the curves and all. and OMG it looks so much better than before! WOW! :)))
2. Will be changing the Assignment 2 website a bit to suit to the theme more. Making it look grundgy and dirty and wat-not. But the pictures will be the same. I just have to do my aligning as per normal. I got used to that since Assignment 1.
3. Assignment 3 will have to stay the same in terms of pictures and lyrics I feel. I couldn't make it rhyme without changing a lot of the other stuff. It's like a snowball effect I'm afraid. But still, it's good enough to fit into the theme. So as of now, I'm just going to pour in more After Effects magic on it. The last time I did this assignment was during the time when I was still quite a noob at After Effects. But now I'm more comfortable with it, I really show try to do more about to make it look awesome.

Ok more to do now.

Here was what I presented to class the other day.




Well, I'm hoping to really improve those transitions, making them less annoying than they are right now. Yeps.

Ok, so after showing the first draft to the class, I knew what I had to do to make my Ken Burns assignment better.

Here's the list of changes I hope to implement soon enough (will spend one night burning midnight oil to do the editing):

1. Do colour correction on all the pictures, which I have yet to do since it was a rush just to complete the assignment to show the class the other day.

2. Redo-all the transitions into those zooming in kinds and do the usual motions on the pics for the Ken Burns requirement. I feel this is important as I noticed that a lot of my peers merely did transitions and movements that did not highlight the sacredness of the Ken Burns effect, which states the use of motion on pictures to highlight key aspects of a certain part of a picture in a way that looks like it came from a movie (I hope I got the interpretation right) plus the idea that the movement can say a lot about the kind of picture it is and what story it brings out to the audience.

3. Add on more lyrics to the video. I was going to add in more pictures focusing on the small things we take for granted in NUS (like the power sockets, the clean toilets, the NUS lift, the many stairs, cool activities to do, etc.) I got new pictures of NUS from my filming locations recently and some do look good, so I thought, hey why not just add it in here?

4. MAKE MY SCRIPT RHYME!!! This will be my ultimate goal. I will attempt to make my whole script rhyme. But if I can't, I will just stick to that melodious tune I had going on in the beginning.

I do intend to keep it emotional and real, as that is simply the style I chose to do, and I aim to make it look good at what it's supposed to do: to make other NUS students cry after seeing it.

I am considering Photostory to do the simple transitions and working on those videos on after effects and add the script on after effects. But if I get really good at after effects from my 3B experiment, I will consider doing more complex motions on after effects for everything. But it will also depend on how much time I have to do this.

I had a BIG change in this Assignment since my last post. I thought of something better. Going to have a different feel to it altogether now. Wheeee... Here's an update.

So I went to take pictures around the campus recently for this Assignment... paying close attention to my photography techniques. I really took note of the golden ratio and all. Plus the focal points in a shot. You know, that 9-part grid technique. And I have to admit, my photos look a lot better than ever, ever since I gotten conscious abotu the way I angle my shots. Hmmm... Cool. :)

I'm currently working on the video now. It's not done yet but it will be soon. Due to my time limitation (plus mid-terms this week! EEEKKK!!! >_<), I decided to go with a tip Jia Xiang offered me and the other students: Create simple transitions with a simpler video editing software, export it as a movie and then make it look better with After Effects.

Yup, so that's what I'm trying to do now. But I'm having problems with the video I imported into After Effects. One of the picture kept going missing. It's really weird. I tried changing it even, but no luck. Haish. A kink I must somehow overcome.

So here's a little snippet of what I thought of so far:
- I decided to go all sentimental with my pictures. I actually came up with a non-rhyming poem (although the last bit does ryhme)
- I got some very melodious royalty free music that fit nicely with my storyplot.
- Speaking of the storyplot, I followed the Assignment 3 guidelines and came up with an introduction, a middle part and an ending.

The title of my movie will be "More than just a university". The movie will comprise of 32 pictures with into and ending scenes, narrated by short sentences. The pictures are not funny, but when coupled with certain sentences, it seemed rather hilarious to me. :) I wonder if the rest would find it funny. It is about 3 mins long (don't worry, it did not exceed).

The music I chose came from danosongs.com. I picked 3 songs to be played in the video.

A brief description of this movie would be a guide through my entire journey in NUS, in chronological order. 

Here's the storyline for the entire movie and each line is a new scene (pic):

Title Scene (with title and my name)

Your flags wave, (pic of flags)
Greeting me, (pic of welcome sign)
As I started out my journey. (pic of university hall)

I was once lost, (
But then I was saved.

Along this winding journey,
You showed me a straight path.

I soared to new heights,
And saw the beauty that surrounds me.

When I had to walk a mile,
You gave me a free ride.

Be it a snack,
Fast food,
Or a gourmet spread,
You made me run for more,
While I remain afloat
As I make every shot count.

Amidst the learning journey,
I was swept in a calm sea,
Regaining my sanity,
As I rejuvenate
In your vast abode.

As I await my destiny,
I looked up, and there you are,
guiding me through
My final phase.

I will rejoice and pose shamelessly here,
Waiting to be part of something new.

Although my time here would eventually pass,
I will never forget you.

Because to me, you are
More than just a university.

I showed the simple version of this (done by Photostory) to my dad, and he said it was touching... Awww... :)

Ok, I have to go now. I may not have school today, but I have to hand in the CD and a storybook for the Random Blends exhibition. See ya.

I just thought of a theme.

"There's no place I'd rather be."

This theme is all about NUS as a campus. It allowing me to explore, create moments, meet friends, the perfect environment for work and play, etc. It's going to be heartfelt most of the time with a bit fast paced in the middle.

Now what I need to do is:
- Storyboard
- Music accompaniement
- the kind of arrangment of pictures...

I'll have to think more about it.

Ok, so we got news of Assignment 3 yesterday. Sounds simple? Perhaps. But I really wanna do something different and creative. While Dr. Julian was explaining (come to think of it, I think he's the only one reading this blog) about Assignment 3, I have this idea formulating my mind.

Let me try to visualise it here in words. Hmm. It's something like... a grid of 9 pictures at a time. And each photo will swivel around on itself to show another photo. And the whole theme is "Sights of NUS", revolving around the vibrant locations and places to see and do in NUS. I will take crafty snapshots of places which I can cut up to form a jigsaw of different images pieces together tastefully. Maybe I can form the word NUS out of pictures? Hmmm..... that will take coordination... and accuracy in the details and sizes...

Well, that's one idea for now.. I want to see if it's possible to do first.. If not.. I'll think of a narrative plot.. I have this great idea on how to end it.. A picture of me, left of the picture, back facing the camera, looking up at the night sky (and I will edit the photos and insert bright stars), and the words "Where do you want to be?" and flash the NUS logo, at the bottom right hand corner. The scene will be dark, so the words can be clearly see in white. I'm thinking... for this plot... maybe if I have the whole thing to be like... different locations in NUS that will represent things people do there.. not just taking pictures of the garden or what not la (I have no idea what people do in the garden at NUS... god knows...). Maybe pictures of lecture theatres, science labs, library, computer areas, dance studios, canteen, etc.

Ok, that's what I have at the moment... Will be thinking more into these ideas...