Wednesday 22 February 2012

Showreel

So here is my first ever Showreel! I've already had some great feedback on it, loads to change, but not before my interview tomorrow. Once Project Duplicity is done I shall make a new one with the the feedback I have had. Anyway enjoy!


Showreel 2011-2012 from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Rough Showreel

So I have a rough version of my showreel up and ready for feedback. We have interviews on Thursday so it is imperative that I get it looking good before then. So far feedback is positive, but I kind of feel its not snappy enough. It's almost as if by making it more montagey, I'd loose the information I'm trying to convey. I think I may add some chilled out music to it, and make it feel like it should be slower. It's a shame we haven't got a shot in the bag for Project Duplicity yet, as that would go great in the showreel. I can not wait to start putting those shots together!



Feedback, is as ever, wonderful and incredibly useful. 

Friday 17 February 2012

Project Duplicity

Project Duplicity is well under way. Fin and I have been busying ourselves with planning and storyboarding. Check out the website for a full synopsis. Scripts are going up soon with storyboards and character designs. It's so exciting because we have been in talks with the drama department to get actors in to audition for some roles!

Check us out! http://project-duplicity.tumblr.com/

In other news, I have an update regarding the SFX Weekender to come and why I have totally forgiven Lucas for Phantom Menace. Watch this space!

Friday 10 February 2012

Final Major Project and The Mudlark Paradox

The time has come.

So, what are you doing for your Final Major Project? I hear you all ask. Well, Fin and I work well together, and our skill sets tend to fill in the gaps in the others, which means it makes perfect sense for us to work together.

Right back at the beginning of the year, we had a conversation, about how cool it would be to mix Pokemon and Sin City. This was how we pitched our idea to the animators a few months back, but in reality it has evolved considerably since then.

We propose a pilot for a post apocalyptical survivors tv show. In the pilot we would introduce the main characters, show how the world ends, and leave the characters in a position to start on a quest that would drive the series (if it were made).

Without giving too much away at this point, this project will incorporate live action, with CG fantasy animal characters, in a futuristic, but run down city scape. We have several animators on board after our pitch to the department a few months back, and a few actors interested. We also have the go ahead to pitch to the drama department once we have a presentation put together.

Because this is a massive team project, Fin and I set up a website where all members of our team can upload their own work, providing a proper "making of" resource for anyone interested.

Introducing: Project Duplicity

The site is still under construction, but more will come soon!

In terms of roles:
Amy Carpenter: Co- Team Director, 2D VFX, compositing and matte painting
Fin Duncan: Co-Team Director, 3D environments and modelling
Paul Seipt and Keith Carpenter: CG Artists
Rachel Williams and Chris Norman: Animators
Rosie has also agreed to do a title sequence for us, though I do believe this is an extra rather than her actual project, so we will have to fit into her schedule on this front.

Hopefully this will be enough to pull off the project sufficiently.

I have also been asked by the lovely Kathryn Kettle to film a book reading on green screen and add a beautiful victorian matte painting in behind her. Her exact brief was "a creepy victorian Jackanory." As her book, The Mudlark Paradox, is currently seeking a publisher, I hope to help promote this novel so one day it appears on the shelves of Waterstones and the like.

I will be running these two projects side by side, but I imagine I will have The Mudlark Paradox largely done whilst still in the planning stage of the FMP.

Friday 3 February 2012

Shutter Speed, F-Stops and ISO Settings

I have experimented with the dSLR considerably over the last two projects trying to find the middle ground between depth of field and grain. Sadly I have yet to find the perfect settings for a green screen shoot. As discussed in the previous project the issue with the F-Stop and ISO settings are that you are stuck between blurry lines or grainy footage, neither of which are particularly suitable for keying and compositing.

This project three in another aspect which created more problems. Shutter speed. When working in slow motion it is important it is important to increase the shutter speed to prevent motion blur, allowing for a clean crisp image at the point of standstill. However, this also reduces the amount of light entering the camera making the problem of depth of field vs grain worse. At the end of my film shoot I walked away with perfect for slow motion footage... But pretty much impossible to key without stepping and thick grey lines around the edges.

I consider everything I have done up to this point as practise for my final major project, and walked away learning an important lesson. The dSLRs produce gorgeous footage for on location shooting, but in the green screen they are less reliable. However the Z7 produces much more usable footage and this is the avenue I will go down for green screen shoots in the future.


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Wednesday 1 February 2012

Final Edit

I have finally finished my project. I have to hand in a few days early due to personal commitments, so there are still a few tweaks that I would like to work out but I feel I don't have the time. There was also a great idea for a falling shot, to fit between the leap of faith and landing shot.  I opted however to spend my time trying to clean up the flaps in the opening shot, as this is the hero shot of the piece and ultimately the shot I am most proud of. I have also gone back through each shot cleaning up keys and colour grades where possible, and trying to carry out the advice of my tutor and the guys on concept share.

There are a few things that I did not do however. The general consensus seemed to be that lengthening the camera move in the opening shot would have been an improvement, however, without refilming this was incredibly fiddly. After experimenting for a short time in Maya with some static footage and extending the camera move, I decided that there was no way I could do this and make it look good in the time remaining and I preferred to spend my time fixing the shots I already have. I am keen however to return tot his project for my showreel, as the opening few shots would look really great if polished.

I have also added some Assassin Creed style interference/static and echo. Though this film has a more orange and green colour scheme (Heinz Salad Cream colours) as opposed to blues and purples (Assassin Creed colour scheme) I have tried to emulate the feel of the games adverts at every opportunity. Hopefully it works!