Watch this!!!

Please watch, rate and comment on this little short produced by some of my students for the Virgin Media Shorts film competition, by clicking on the picture above.

They have worked very hard in a very short amount of time to pull this off and deserve praise for their effort and achievement, especially considering this was all done at the busiest time of year for their course, and one of them was also directing a major TV show as well.

You need to register with virgin media shorts, but it only takes a short while. Please help us bring it up the charts. I’m not sure what VirginMedia did to it, but when uploaded, it is difficult to see the faces in some shots, and it’s quite jumpy. But this is not the case on the original.

Title: The White Devil Running time: 02′20″

Synopsis – Spaghetti Western/Horror short. Sheriff Nero is on the hunt for the Diavolo Bianco, a fugitive gunman. He is wanted on charges of murder: dead or alive. 5 weeks ago my tutor suggested we enter this Virgin competition. So we did and here’s what we made. Every stage of production was meticulously planned and executed. A dedicated work ethos was an essential ingredient to the project. We all had a good laugh and few beers though, despite on the day of the shoot it pissing down. The Hereford & Hell crew has worked successfully together previously and is assembled from talent residing in both Nottingham and Bristol. We are a tight, hard working and passionate group of film fanatics led by Hereford & Hell co-founders Cassidy Kirk and Matt Harradine. Crew: Cassidy Kirk Matt Harradine Trent Pyro Emily Bashford Louisa Vernon Josh Sibson

Free After Effects Tutorials online

The web is a great resource for learning software, and I’ve pulled together a few of my favourite Free resources for learning After Effects. Adobe After Effects is post production software for Motion Graphics, Compositing, Visual Effects etc. After Effects is a bit of a beast in comparison to video editing software, and although a bit tricky to get your head round initially, with a little practice you’ll find out why so many people use it.

So I’ve included below some of the best sites for AE tutorials and resources. Of course, you should remember that a tutorial should be a starting place, something where you learn a technique or process, but you should alter and adapt it to suit your needs, rather than slavishly copying it. 

 

Video Copilot

Hosted by the inimitable Andrew Cramer, Videocopilot offers a wealth of easy to understand tutorials covering Motion Graphics and Visual Effects. This is certainly the best place to start off if new to After Effects, as his excellent Basic Training will get you up to speed. http://www.videocopilot.net/basic/

http://maltaannon.com/

Jerzy Drozda Jr presents an interesting selection of tutorials, often more detailed than video copilot, but not quite as accessible. Jerzy also follows them up with an interesting array of plug-ins. check out the 3d shape extruder for example, which fixes the eternal problem with After Effects – making text more solid.

http://visualfxtuts.com/

A new kid on the block, but very good. A well updated resource with loads of new tutorials daily. It looks like their aim is to link to every tutorial of merit on the web. There’s a lot of After Effects on here, but obviously lots of other visual effects software as well.

http://aetuts.com/

Another new one, and also very good. The quality is very good, and they pay people to publish their tutorials so if you have a great idea then you could make a few quid.

http://www.graymachine.com

Harry J Frank is an old hat at this After Effects game. Very good for Trapcode plugins and expressions, he also does a great range of detailed paid for training. Also while I’m at it you should check out the Trapcode site to see how great their plugins for AE are and they also have some good tutorials as well.

http://aescripts.com/

Lots of add-ons for when you get a bit more advanced. Scripts add floating windows for a multitude of uses. Check them out and bolt them on.

 

Sorry – I’ve got a bit bored now, but here are a few more links

http://aenhancers.com

http://www.ayatoweb.com/ae_tips_e.html

http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffects

http://www.maxafter.com/tuts.htm

http://vfxschool.blogspot.com/

http://www.aeioweyou.blogspot.com/

http://www.adobeforums.com/

After Effects Tutorials

Just getting round to posting my favourite After Effects Free tutorial sites, but I came across this linked from Videocopilot and thought it was worth putting it up while I get my act together. I’ve only checked a few out, but there seem to be a lot of text and image based tutorials. I don’t know about you, but I need video based tutorials where you can see exactly what’s going on. Anyway, my set of links will be coming soon. Click on the image to get to the site.

Bruce Lee – Better at ping pong than Jamie Oliver

OK so most of you have seen the C4 promo (below) with Jamie Oliver revealing his prowess at ping pong.

But wait a minute. Have you seen the real master, Bruce Lee. Now there’s showing off.

Wow. Another great use of compositing and motion tracking to make a funny and believable video. I’m in the process of putting together a few posts and tutorials on greenscreening, compositing, motion tracking/ matchmoving so watch this space for more. 

Also check out the Gremlins fan film for more fun and a great making of video which explains the processes involved.

Slitscan (photography/moving image)

Slitscan is a photographic technique which creates interesting results by stretching movement over time.

This is done by masking off the lens so that only a very thin strip of light enters. Instead of taking a standard photo, the film is wound through the camera, so that the end result is a long strip which changes over time. In the example above the person slowly rotated and thus showed all angles of their head. An easy way to understand it is to think of a photocopier or computer scanner. A bar of light scans or copies the image over a few seconds to create a full image of what is under the lid. If you put your hand under the lid instead of a piece of paper, and move it about as the scan is made, then you get a strange stretched out hand.

It was reportedly first adapted for moving film use by Douglas Trumball for the superb ’stargate’ special effects in the film 2001. various footage was processed to create the bizarre ‘trip’ sequence, including aerial shots flying over landscapes.

Slitscan was also used by Zbig Rybczynski in his 1988 film The fourth Dimension. Can’t find a copy of it on youtube, but come to one of my sessions and I’ll show it to you. 

 

It remains a technique that is widely used in experimental circles and lots of people have fun playing with it. For more info please click on the links below.

http://www.mefeedia.com/tags/slitscan/ – a great collection of slitscans

http://caseypugh.com/slitscan – plug in a webcam and see

http://vimeo.com/438009 – casey’s example

http://www.flong.com/texts/lists/slit_scan/ – great looking resource.

http://processing.org/discourse/yabb_beta/YaBB.cgi?board=Exhibition;action=display;num=1213382538 – processing slitscan code

Don’t Forget about me – posts from the past

Ink Tank Experiments

Here are a couple of companies who have been doing really interesting things with the classic film technique of filming ink and other substances. By experimenting with this technique and then treating it in after effects or other post-production software you…

Pixilation 

Pixilation is a great technique for producing quick and fantastic looking animation. Based on stop motion, where the animator places clay figures or other 3d objects in front of the camera, takes a frame then moves the objects and repeats. The difference…

 The Action Cats

a group of designers, animators and filmmakers who use interesting experimental and traditional techniques to produce an innovative and dark look for their piece “The Experiment”. “The Experiment” was produced for Adobe’s “See what’s possible”…

David Anderson – Door

There is a great power in inanimate objects and architectural features, and exploited here is the door. A closed door is a very powerful image. Just seeing it places questions into the audiences mind, raising their emotional expectation. A closed…

Dangerous Parking

This shows some really interesting text, being deformed in a wispy, smoky way…

Rojo TV

Full of really interesting creative video work, this site really spans a wide range of artistic video and motion graphics work. This should prove to be a great source…

Richard Fenwick

Richard Fenwickis a designer/filmmaker/animator who works across a wide range of formats. He goes where the idea takes him, flitting between animation/design…

 

Mark Lewis

I saw his work at the BFI Southbank gallery in October 07. He often uses strong effects, like the ‘vertigo shot’ / dolly zoom (or whatever you want to call it)…

 

Rosie Pedlow / Joe King – Sea Change

A beautifully simple idea executed very well, Rosie and Joe’s film takes a seaside caravan park as its subject, and reveals through a series of smooth tracking shots…

 

Idents

Is there anything worth watching on TV anymore? Not a great deal, but there’s usually a lot of nice idents about. For a while BBC2 and Channel4 have been… 

 

 Jan Svankmajer

Jan Svankmajer is a real influence for me. Often miscribed as an animator, he should really be classed as a surrealist filmmaker as his work moves effortlessly between…

6pli – Experimental visualisation of bookmarks.

I know, It sounds rubbish. But I’ve been investigating the 6pli visualisation tool for delicious bookmarks. A bit geeky maybe. But it does look great and it’s really useful for working your way around hundreds or thousands of bookmarks – which I have. I’m looking at using it when building my new creativevideomovingimage weblink archive for students, so this is a test run. 

The only problem I’ve found is that it seems to start you off on a random page. In order to get home, and to a nice starting point I suggest clicking on the CLICK ON THIS IF YOU’RE LOST AND WANT TO GO HOME link that should be on most pages – if not then try clicking on a few things, especially the floating tag categories and it’ll soon appear.

PLEASE CLICK ON HERE OR ON THE PICTURE BELOW – GO ON IT’S REALLY NICE. 

Every time you click on something the whole thing animates and reveals new links and tags. If you want, you can spin around by this 3d visualisation clicking and dragging the mouse in an empty piece of space. 

I’m not sure really how useful it will prove to be, but please try it anyway. Especially as there’s a lot of really useful links out there. The direct link to the page is http://www.6pli.com/cvmi

UK Creative Film and Moving Image Festivals

Festivals are an essential part of the calendar and I have decided to pull together some of the most relevant (and local) festivals that students should attend / enter. You will be amongst people who share your interests and passion, and who would make great contacts / collaborators. You will be inspired to push your work further – by being astounded by something’s brilliance (or even by its mediocrity - thinking I can do better than that). These films will be something that you are unlikely to see on TV or the internet, and are often surrounded by talks, workshops and seminars. 

So go see some work – Raise your game – Enter some festivals – Meet some contacts – Win some awards.

This is a work in progress and if you have any more finds then please let me know. I’m mainly concentrating on UK Festivals / Conferences etc primarily concerned with Creative Video & Moving Image, but will occasionally drop in an international festival if I’m hoping to go to it or to take my students.

Oct

22-23 Oct 08- Power to the pixel. – London

“Power to the Pixel brings together the leading innovators, filmmakers and entrepreneurs who are changing the way independent film and media is financed, created and reaches audiences.” Looks very interesting for digital pioneers and runs alongside the London Film Festival. Has also run in Feb

All Month – Noise Festival – Online

“NOISE is not your typical arts festival. It has no physical location; the central hub of activity takes place on the NOISE website and across the media – print, television, radio and online – making it the first ‘virtual’ festival of its kind in Europe. NOISE exhibits the very best in creative talent from people 25 and under – any creative work that can be presented digitally (on screen or on air) including across fashion, film, music, design, architecture, written word, graphic design, fine art and illustration.”

Nov

12 – 16 Nov 08 – Aurora – Norwich

“AURORA is an annual festival in Norwich, UK which focuses on the manipulated moving image. A uniquely multidisciplinary, progressive event, it fuses artist retrospectives and thematic film programmes with discussion events, live performance and installations, alongside the very best new work from across the world for space and screen.”

12 – 15 Nov 08 – Bradford Animation Festival

“Bradford Animation Festival (BAF), the UK’s biggest and longest-running annual animation festival, is a project of the National Media Museum. Host to masterclasses, seminars, workshops, screenings and special events led by some of the animation industry’s top names, the festival’s high point is the annual BAF Awards, which celebrate the very best in new animation from around the world.”

18 – 23 Nov 08 – Encounters Short Film Festival  Bristol

“screening the very very best short films from around the universe!” ‘The big thinking short film festival’ the Guardian. Encounters offers an important platform for both new and established filmmakers to showcase their work and is the place to be inspired, to talk technology, share ideas and make new connections.  6 days of screenings, special events, workshops and masterclasses and those all important networking opportunities: the parties!”

29 – 30 Nov 08 – Bang Film Festival  Nottingham

“Bang! is a non-competitive festival of short films hosted and supported by the Broadway Cinema, Nottingham, UK, and mixes local, national and international films to create an original and exciting programme. Without filmmakers or an audience we would not exist, so we do it for them. Bang! looks at all short films, and has no genre restrictions whatsoever.”

Dec

29 Nov – 6 Dec 08 – Camerimage – Lodz, Poland

“The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography PLUS CAMERIMAGE is the greatest and most recognized festival dedicated to the art of cinematography and its creators – cinematographers. It is held annually in Lodz, the second biggest city in Poland, the capital of the Polish cinema. PLUS CAMERIMAGE contributes to the growth of cinematographers’ prestige. The unconventional format of the Festival, which awards films according to their visual, aesthetic and technical values, has turned out to be an alternative for traditional film festivals. As all our guests emphasize - PLUS CAMERIMAGE is unique. The Festival proves to be a great forum not only for presentation but also for further development of international moviemaking. PLUS CAMERIMAGE helps young filmmakers and integrates the community of those already recognized, allowing them to explore new artistic areas ”

Jan

Feb

TBC – Flatpack Festival – Birmingham

“The festival remains fiendishly difficult to summarise, but intrepid punters can expect to find shorts, animation, music documentaries, independent features, live soundtracks, discussion events, web oddities, installations, parties and plenty more besides – with a general focus on people using limited resources in imaginative ways. ”

Mar 

Apr

TBC – Cambridge International Super 8 Film Festival. UK

“The Super 8 format has undergone a creative renaissance in the last few years due to the digital revolution. Our competition and panorama programmes will show the best films originated on the brilliant Super 8 format. In 2008, the second Cambridge International Super 8 Film Festival was a successful event with more than 88 short films shown in three days! More than 20 filmmakers from all around Europe joined the festival for a great three days of networking and films. All genres were represented (animation, fiction, documentaries and experimental film), showing the  diversity of our selection.”

TBC – Moves 09 – Manchester

“moves08!  focused on the interaction of sound and movement in film through screenings, debates and hands-on creative events. most films shown at moves and in fact most experimental film work, do not have dialogues, which gives a prominent role to sound in the pieces. moves’ remit is to present work with a strong take on movement and moves08 explore the connection between these two elements. 

24 – 30 April 09 - Sensoria – Sheffield

“The UK’s Festival of Music and Film: Sensoria 2008 saw a heady mix of films, music, exhibitions and fun. Jarvis came along and introduced his art school films, Richard Hawley kicked off the proceedings on the opening night, Reverend and the Makers joined in the industry day fun, Richard H Kirk gave an av installation in the surreal location of the Grosvenor Hotel and ITN gave a stunning soundtrack performance in the atmospheric surroundings of the cathedral.”

May

TBC – Lovebytes – Sheffield

“Lovebytes invites you to experience challenging and experimental new art and design at the wave-front of digital culture. Everything is free and open to everyone, welcoming both newcomers and seasoned festival goers alike.” – Last year this festival was scaled down considerably from previous years, but also made free. Some you win, some you lose.

13 – 16 May 09 – Futuresonic – Manchester

Futuresonic Urban Festival of Art, Music and Ideas 

Futuresonic is an international festival now in its 13th year occupying the orbits of both digital culture and music.  Futuresonic has 4 main strands: Art, Music, Ideas and EVNTS. At its heart is the Futuresonic Conference: The Social Technologies Summit.  Futuresonic 2008 featured 5 days and nights of live music, art premieres, exhibitions, club nights and events featuring a world-class programme of over 350 artists attended by 50,000 people in 30 venues and spaces across the city centre. Click here to visit the Futuresonic 2008 website.

Jun

TBC - B.Tween – Sheffield

“b.TWEEN events have networking, business and inspiration at their core. Our events provide a level playing field where creative innovators can meet potential collaborators and big industry clients“[b.TWEEN] creates unique opportunities for practitioners from the independent digital creative and content sectors to interact with broadcasters, commissioning bodies and brands”"

Jul Aug Sept

 

International Festivals

Camerimage

Simultan

Gremlins fan film by Sacha Feiner

Wow, now here’s a great little piece of film. Make sure you watch it in Higher Definition version if possible by opening it up in youtube.

 

Sacha Feiner has created a spectacular sequence using found footage, brilliant models and compositing skills, along with a great sense of humour. I really love this as he has avoided the “let’s do it all in CG” route that many of people would have taken. There’s a common misconception that you should do everything in a 3D package, but I find the result of doing this is often images that lack the life that only reality can bring.

But instead, Sacha has taken the best things that can be achieved from the puppets as used in the original films, and used computer compositing to put different shots together to build complex movements. This I like as it’s getting the best out of both worlds.

The making of video is extremely interesting, well worth a look as well. It gives you an idea of the dedication, passion and innovation that he has. 

I hope that this guy gets a job out of this. He certainly deserves it. 

There’s an interesting history of fan films, which I hope to write more about when I get some time. But you should certainly check out Troops, a parody of the TV show cops and Star Wars.

Twenty120 / Advanced Beauty / PSST! Pass it on

Oh dear, another set of amazing videos to while away your life to. But why not, these are a few interesting collections of work by a varied mix of artists, motion graphic designers, filmmakers and other creatives. 

Twenty 120 have just recently released their 2nd collection. Some great experimental work in here – thanks to motionographer for the heads up. As you may have guessed it consists of twenty x two minute films, and as you can just about see in the image below this years theme is Truth versus Deception. As they state on their website “The idea was to pull together a diverse group of directors free of any creative constraints to create using any medium to inspire by creating innovative content.”  The contributors are well established in their own right, and by creating content for a collection like this it must be a nice release. They have certainly taken it seriously, producing some really exciting pieces.

 

Their 2007 collection is also available on the site, click on the picture below for this.

 

 

Also, while we’re on the subject – PSST! Pass it on also has a similar scheme. This time a collaborative piece is produced by 2 artists, animators, filmmakers etc, with one starting the piece and one finishing it off. More wonderful stuff so feast your eyes.

 

AND, don’t forget, last but certainly not least the wonderful Advanced Beauty Video Podcast series are being released as I write, one a week for the foreseeable future. The Artists are very much influenced by the soundtrack, these are designed to be sculptural forms in video.

So set aside a few hours, or a bit here and there to check out the above. I guarantee there’s something for everyone.