Finalising Edits

Comparing the original box to Rach's 3D Model

Whilst Rachel continues to finalise the editing of the box clip, I am editing together the stop motion clips in order for us to know about the best timings etc for the clip. We have decided to use a stop motion sequence close up shot on each scene followed by it's own film shot of the lights that we produced.
 I am editing the colour compositions on After Effects to neutralise the RGB colours to make sure that the photographs of the stop motion captured matches up to the colours that are shown within the filming of the house. This allows the photographs and the films to flow more and seem more convincing in terms of aesthetics and matching together as one whole piece.

Sketches of Potential background angles

Original Basis of the box

The considerations of the piece were being made more and more apparent when editing our final pieces together, the fact was that the box we originally based the 3D storage box on that Rachel produced on Cinema 4D is definitely one which has worked effectively, however we are struggling to decide on what will work as a most effective background to the piece.
Currently although an effective composition of the box with the dollhouse inside of it, there is a problem that includes the fact that the box appears to be floating, and compared to the realistic looking animation of the remainder of the piece, this needs to be worked on and thought about so that it is most effective.
Discussing this problem we have thought of the idea of making the box actually be one that is laying down on a counter, perhaps a kitchen counter, or other texture from the home, and the camera is looking down at the box, this way the movements of the lid won't look false compared to that of if the box was suspended against a wall or lay on its side. Another idea is also to just have a simple looking background with inserted shadows into it to look as if the piece is lay down properly or propped on its side, whilst still looking effective enough to match
the rest of the box.
I have been testing some shadowing on Photoshop by using the 'Burn' tool to see what the box looks like on a more textured background and we like the aspect of having a purple texture behind it as the rooms themselves aren't very colourful and it would link back to the appearance of the box itself.

Music Possibilities

We'd like the
The Benny Goodman Orchestra - Sing Sing Sing

Tweak Week Feedback

After having worked on a few potential compositions and being stuck between the real life footage and the aspect of stop motion, we were glad to have met up with our peers in order to give feedback on our work that we had produced so far.
We showed a few stills of what we reckoned the full composition would look like as well as a few of the stop motion and real life clips and 3D compositions. In these clips I'd inserted the Foley of one of the boxes clicking, and the stop motion of the objects moving to tidy themselves up. However some of the feedback revealed that when watching the piece, that it was not always visible as to what objects were moving and what had tidied itself up, something we need to work on to be more obvious as this was the whole aspect of the movement and the purpose of it.

The general feedback we got was very positive, but pointed out that the aspect of the sound Foley for this piece is really important, the fact is that if there was no sound with the still rooms, it would start to possess a horror sort of theme.

Feedback received on sticky notes:

"Great set, dollhouse idea looks really well. Think the click idea will work well as will the transition into the box - sometimes it's tough to tell which objects have been tidied up" I'm glad that the composition of the piece works well overall as the intricacies of the set that we used were picked up on so I feel we have succeeded in this area, however the feedback that the movements aren't very obvious is something we'd have to work on so the audience know what is going on.

"Spend Longer in rooms, less on the logo, maybe fast cut to the graphic logo with a second click sound" We found that this was interesting feedback, as it allowed us to interpret the fact that the logo is important, however having it on the lid isn't necessarily important. We could manipulate the fast nature of the clicking and closing of lids in the piece effectively. The idea of the graphic logo clicking onto screen was a positive idea that we agreed with the feedback to use on our piece.

"It has a clean look, lighting and authenticity of the filming, however needs consideration of sound" Again, we agree with the effectiveness of the set, however we know how important the foley will be to the composition of the piece, so need to seriously look into the production of this.

"Beautiful Illustrations, nice lighting in the rooms, good story development, nice ending" Overall this is positive feedback, and we went into further detail into why it was an important part to have the big reveal at the ending and the graphics afterwards, as it was important as it's the build up of the whole house to be in the box. 

Overall, we have found the feedback interesting and helpful for the production of the piece and know that there is plenty more work that we could produce on the side as well. In addition to this we also had to use the feedback in order to produce more work and plan what we actually need to do as a pair in order for the piece to get finished on time and it has helped us to plan what needs to be put on our timetable more for the next few days so it reaches the deadline well.

Further Box Progression

Whilst Rachel continued to produce more of the box and edit it together, I have been experimenting with different aspects of Foley of the clicking of the boxes, as well as testing different outcomes of using stop motion vs the aspect of using the live filmed light pieces.
I have edited a few of the compositions of the room together to see what they will look like when in the zoomed in shots, whilst seeing what Foley would also work well with the featured clips.
We have made sure that we looked into what we agreed on as a collaborative piece, and we have decided to use both techniques but one in a much longer composition that will be edited together as well as the final bumper that will be used as our presenting work to the client. I have also started to experiment with the end shots of the box fully zoomed out, as this is important to ensure that the wide shot looks as aesthetically pleasing.
Rachel has been editing the rooms of the Dollhouse properly into the 3D box itself, allowing more time for me to experiment with the potential background for the end shot.
We are collecting our work together to show it to the class and Rick for some feedback, which hopefully will let us have more of an idea as to what we can improve for the pieces to fulfil the clients brief more.

I have found with testing with the stills that Rachel is producing on Cinema 4D, that the box at the end shot does look like it's floating so we need to think of a solution to ensure that the piece looks well suited with the rest of the video.
There is the problem that we have had feedback on that the box does look like it is floating in thin air, so may need a drop shadow for a bit more effect.

Heather Benning - The Dollhouse Project

Heather Benning is an artist who underwent an 8 year project to convert an abandoned 1960's Farmhouse into an open sided Dollhouse design. As an installation piece, the house was left open to the public in 2007 and remained open for 6 years until unsafe to keep and burnt down.
I think this piece relates to the aspect of our dollhouse project as alike we are doing with the storage box for Wham, the artist has converted a desolate object into a homelike environment again, with the piece once being an abandoned home, to being a home that is now still not lived in but very much a homely and recognisable dollhouse design.

Editing Footage Together

Through the project so far we have certainly come across obstacles, having to change the file sizes using Photoshop on each image etc. However we have decided to edit separate pieces of footage to see what works better, the stop motion images or the filmed light images. We also needed to change the filters of the images and colours that they include through After Effects and Photoshop to see what works out best.
Rachel is continuing to work on the 3D storage box to try to insert the footage into the box and ensure that it looks aesthetically pleasing together as a composition despite the real footage and 3D being very different techniques. In the meantime, I have begun to record some clicking noises as Foley for potential sound effects for the footage that we decide on, and I have been editing together some stop motion as well as real time sequences to see what we as a group prefer and hopefully our group meeting with our peers will provide some useful feedback for us to decide what looks best and is most effective out of the stop motion and real time techniques.

In addition to this, I have also edited some of the stills that we shot during the production of the footage for potential handouts to the client as well as helping us to build up the visuals of the composition that will be inserted inside the box.

Through the experimentation of the two techniques of filming and of stop motion, we have begun to prefer the filming technique as it's shorter and more effective however we have also discussed making a longer version of the bumper for the stop motion to take place.

Dollhouse Production

DaRachel setting up the camera

Day 1.
With production of the box going well and us both plotting the measurements of the footage in the boxes, we have managed to begin filming now that I have decluttered, cleaned and put the dollhouse furniture back in place. Rachel had managed to collect some lighting and a tripod from home, whilst I have taken a camera out from Uni in order to get going with our filming to ensure we keep to our time plan and ensure that there is plenty of room for trial and error as this is going to be an important part of us getting our perfect shots.
We decided to shoot some stop motion pieces of footage using the camera, as we had the idea of having cluttered areas of the dollhouse reappearing into tidier areas and clicking with box noises as it did so.

props and set design

 We produced these pieces of footage within roles that naturally formed between us. Rachel suited the camera work and directing of the filming, as she has technical skills in terms of focusing and balancing the colours within the frame, whereas I controlled the lighting elements and the small intricacies of the props and stop motion movements of the footage. In addition to the stop motion performances we produced some close shots of the dollhouse rooms, to trick the audience into a false sense of security with knowledge that they're in a dollhouse, whereas really it will reveal the fact it's a storage box and that the rooms metaphorically represent the aspect of a home life stored away.

Adjustments to props 

Example of 'Clutter'

There were some problems that we have faced in the filming of the footage, and that is with the camera footage being grainy through lack of light, therefore we chose to film the majority of the footage in the peak time of natural light, such as in the earlier hours of the morning and afternoon. However, some problems such as overcast skies etc. did delay our production, but it was important for us to replicate the aspects of natural light coming through the window, as this was an aspect that we wanted there to be in our footage. However, we wanted some vacant movements of light to replicate the aspects of light travelling through windows alike to that of your home. We had some UV lights that we were able to use to shine through the windows off the walls to look interesting and like a vehicle was passing, this was an effective technique that we felt should have been carried through to all the rooms, and hope that the footage is effective when edited.

As part of our research we also found this piece by Anton Mishenin on Vimeo, and were inspired by the lighting used and the aspect of lights flooding through the windows, using the lights as the movements in a stationary room. I think this could be an effective overall composition if we manage to replicate the style as it imitates the movement of the sun and lights in a  real life home that we may not necessarily see or notice. We are using UV lights to replicate movements of the sun in the windows of our doll house in order for a similar effect to occur.

Doll House from Anton Mishenin on Vimeo.
Day 2.
Whilst reflecting on yesterday's production of footage, we were able to look at what did and didn't work in terms of the compositions, lighting and movements etc. We revisited the shots in the room, making sure that we concentrated on certain elements such as the gaps in lighting, as some of the shots were blurry or grainy so we decided to reshoot them but rethink the lighting. We filmed the bottom room first as we knew the natural light wouldn't light the room as well as the others, so needed the best of the sunshine, whereas we used extra lights also to illuminate certain areas.
We also decided to start to gather the footage together so that we could make the most of what we have, and delete what didn't work as well as other pieces that we had made previously.
In addition to this, we also worked on the lighting elements more in terms of shining it through the window, as we liked the effect it created but wanted to do more. Using small UV lights and one larger one, we were able to capture lights passing through the window alike a normal house, inspired by the research we had previously developed. We also developed the wide shot for our piece as this was the shot that finalises the very element of the house actually being a storage box, we tried to make this precise, however we may have to reshoot if the footage doesn't quite match up to the 3D box created.

Box Production

Production of the 3D Storage Box

Basis of Idea

Since beginning the production with Rachel, we settled on some roles when it came to filming the actual footage for the dollhouse idea. The box is going to be a 3D replica of a similar Wham! Box that we have seen and decided to work with originally for the idea. Rachel is going to conduct the making of the 3D box whilst I will be in charge of the editing and stop motion side of the footage production. Rachel finished producing the box and we're both really happy with the results.
We have worked out that with the different measurements of the box that we will need to have 4 main rooms and side areas for the stairs, which allows us to be able to see how the dollhouse would actually look rather than the original idea which was to split it into six separate sections for all the different rooms. We are hoping the footage will fit in nicely with the aesthetic of the plastic Wham box that she has produced and that it will run smoothly as an idea as a whole.
Creating the box through the aspect of using cinema 4D was a challenging aspect as a basis of the idea, so we knew that it was a good choice to collaborate so that we could separate certain roles in terms  of who does the Cinema 4D software and who does the aspects of After Effects and where these skills cross over.

Rachel used the alternate material settings of Cinema 4D to ensure that there was some texture to the object in order for it to look like the storage box that we had decided to base our idea on. I believed that it was important for the box and the footage that we produce to look like they suit each other and are of a similar aesthetic despite being completely different pieces of footage and techniques.
 It was also important to ensure that the measurements of the dollhouse matched up with that of the box, therefore as Rachel did the box on Cinema 4D, I cleaned and set up the dollhouse for us to eventually film in, as well as measured the dollhouse to ensure that the rooms filmed match up with the measurements of the box, this way the two techniques will hopefully edit together well and produce a nice outcome.

Dollhouse Research

In order to gather some information on the Dollshouse and other ones around it, we have taken initial photographs of the dollhouse as well as some research into existing animations themed around the aspect of a dollhouse.


Ikea
Through the alternate research that we conducted, Ikea's advertisements kept cropping up throughout, the aspect of using a dollhouse as a connection to designing the house the way you want it to look. Something which seems effective with the production of the pieces.

TalkTalk Advert
Although the characters again don't necessarily link to what I've been doing the effect of this I think is interesting.

Collaborating for Wham

Due to the 3D element of the box needed to be created, Rachel and I decided to collaborate on this idea, as it is a complex idea for one individual person and we feel our separate skills can help to develop this idea better. Rachel is currently mocking up a 3D version of the box we would like to use, based on the brief measurements I took of the dollhouse that we shall use, she does this whilst I try to visualise further storyboards of our idea and how we want certain elements to move.

The basis of the idea is to have a series of rooms with zoomed in cuts of each room, then becoming a wide shot of the dollhouse within the grids, it will then have the lid close on the box to reveal the end graphic. We also would like to produce some text that will relate to the 'home' element of the idea.
In Order for our collaboration to work well with the deadline approaching, we decided we would ensure that there was structure in the production of time management so that each role was fulfilled well between us both. I have produced a timetable of things that needed to be done on each of the days and what we intend to do to complete the project in time.

Doll House Idea

Similar sectioned box

Overall Dollshouse 

When looking at one of the boxes in the Wham collection, I noticed that one of the boxes was sectioned out to be like a house, as to me it looked like the boxes could actually be rooms. Coming along from this idea, I decided to photograph a dollhouse I had at home, as this reminded me of the overall layout of the boxes being a house. I intend to produce some more detailed storyboards of the idea and research into what it could be and how to involve the dollhouse in more of a way.

Kitchen of Dollshouse

I have decided to photograph the dollhouse I have at home, as I initially thought this would be a nice thing to film or work from, I'd like to produce a series of drawings to work on of the rooms I take photographs of in the dollhouse project.
 The idea would be to use an open Wham storage box with the compartments to relate to the open plan style of a dollhouse, with the rooms all lining up. The kitchen would be in the 'downstairs' bottom section of the box, with the bedroom at the top etc. I can visualise it being a close up of the rooms in the dollhouse, and then zooming out to reveal that the actual house was in fact in a storage box after all, revealing the graphics of 'For Organised Living' however, I feel like there should be an additional slogan to mix in the living part of the dollhouse so that it all ties in together as an idea.

Close up of table

 I think first of all learning about the actual layouts of homes and dollhouses would be a good way to research the idea further, for it to look realistic, and the audience to immediately know what is happening.
 I think taking photographs of the dollhouse is helpful as it helps to see whether I could use it as the animating tool for this project, or simply use it as a form to animate from and research into. Another technique could be drawing from the dollhouse and using it as a study to work from.

'Wham' Live Brief

We were briefed by John and Jack from Holden's, who explained their own agency and their own projects and set us the 'Wham' brief, a brief for us to make the aspects of 'Wham' storage boxes more appealing. I have looked into the actual aspects of the pieces involved, the colours of the boxes etc. and how these could be used in the potential idea.
In my sketchbook I have written up and planned some additional ideas that I'd love to further explore.  These ideas explore the shapes, colours and overall nature of the boxes, and I feel that their motto 'For Organised living.' is an important end message as Jack and John had made clear that they'd like the end motto and logo graphic to be shown.

I think from the giving of the brief, there are certain things that have been known to be important and these things are:

• The fact that the audience is first time buyers, and aimed at adults, so certain things have to  be considered like the fact that they are likely to have the boxes to organise new homes and places to stay.
• Colours used, mostly bright or primary colours so these should be used within the animation.
• The fact that the shapes of the boxes is mostly square or rectangular, there are some with wheels etc.