The reaping - Danny Yount

The Reaping end credits from Danny Yount on Vimeo.

Danny Yount is a title sequence designer i have look at closely for some time now. Like me he is heavily influenced by Kyle Coopers work and now I am influenced by them both. Reading up about how he got the extreme close ups on this piece he apparently shot through a microscope with reflective light. This is great use of a natural filming technique that I wouldnt of known about if i had not read his comments on vimeo.

Cress experimentation

I set up four experiments. I put cress seeds on a damp paper cloth with room light. I put cress seeds on a sliced muffin and added abit of water. I then did the same for two more but put them under a shoe box with a small hole cut in the top.

This test should show me which grows best and if my idea of growing seeds from a

burger bun will work.

Considering how cold my garage is I dont think the temperature is suitable for the cress to grow. But we will see what happens.....

Portfolio Visit - Gyro

Gyro is a marketing design agency based at Salford Exchange Quays. After all the emails I sent out only Frazer Hennessey of Gyro got back to regarding a visit.

Fraiser sat down with me and I talked to him a bit about my background and the areas of design I am interested in. Along with Frazer two members of their creative team, Richard Pearson and James Currie sat with me and gave me some good critical feed back on a few pieces of my work.

They liked the design of my channel ident but gave me an idea that I could animate the words "Science channel" The same way I have animated the logo. They also liked the way my Office title sequence reflected the character of Ricky Gervais. I also showed them my sketch's and ideas for my new global warming video. They liked the way I had come up with different ideas based on facts and seemed very interested in my Decaying burger and melting ice ideas.

James gave me a great piece of advice is how to break into the industry telling me that designers employing graduates also remember people who's work stand out. For example "The guy who did that piece of a moldy hamburger." I completely understood what he was saying and its something I should think about when making my work stand out.

Before I went Frazer gave me some names of moving image designers that he thought would be willing to give my work a look. He seemed pleased with my ideas and said that if I ever wanted a placement at the office I would be welcome to. He explained that his team didnt really have alot of moving image experience and that it was an area that they want to build on.

Another global warming advert

Global Warming from Sublimeman Space on Vimeo.

This is another piece i stumbled upon that uses 3d as well as live footage similar to SEHSUCHT's Google earth piece. It takes more of a playful tone than the previous video where the animals commit suicide. However it still gets the message across about how we need to make a change before its to late. The only thing I dislike about this animation is the text. I think they could of thought of a better way to show the information. This is something Im going to be thinking about in my piece.

Strong Global Warming advert

Global Warming from Astvr on Vimeo.

While looking for existing Global Warming videos I came across this advert. The message "If we give up,They will" is displayed in a strong visual message.To create a piece as detailed as this it would take along time but maybe taking ideas of the tone of voice can help me visualize how my own ideas will work.

Good old Se7en title sequence

Se7en from Brian Kornic on Vimeo.

Everyone has seen this great title sequence before. So much so that it doesnt hold the same excitement. However I think that being a major fan of Kyle Cooper and that fact my idea is focusing on close ups gives me the right to take a a look at this title sequence again in great detail.

I have read Kyle Coopers book and he says how he put himself in the head of John Doe to imagine how the composition and editing could work. Putting yourself in the head of a character helps feel the emotions which is why this sequence has become so successful.

Studio Visit - Sehsucht

While visiting Berlin we visited Sehsucht - a moving image based design agency. We were given a talk by Mate Steinforth who talked us through a project they have just completed for Google Earth. Not only did he show us the finished piece but he showed us the stages from animatic to first edit to final render.

GOOGLE STREET VIEW from Sehsucht™ on Vimeo.

I really like the size of the design studio and the amount of people working there (around 8)

although working in front of a computer screen for 5 days a week seemed a bit tiring. If I was to work at a company like that I would have to be doing other stuff such as story boarding, stop-motion,researching.

Studio Babelsberg - Berlin

During my visit to berlin we visited Studio Babelsberg which has been the location of filming for blockbusters such as Inglorious Bastards,V for Vendetta,Bourne supremacy and most recently the three musketeers staring Orlando bloom.

The picture above is a street set which has been used and altered for different films including the cinema set in inglorious bastards. It was great seeing how the wood work and plastering guys could design photorealistic sets from weeks of researching.

As well as seeing the sets. We were able to look around the prop and costume warehouses where there were thousands of objects that had been used in films. A great moment for me was when the woman showing us round showed me the book used at the end of The lives of of others which is a favorite film of mine.

Above are some uniforms used in by actors such as Tom cruise in Valkyrie and Jude Law in Enemy at the gates. I really enjoyed the experience and it made me think about other jobs within the industry such as prop researchers for films would be a very exciting job.

Cress growth - time lapse

One idea I have is the idea of cress and mould growing or de-growing. Time lapse photography where I can take a frame ever minute or so would work better than film for a week. I could then add fake focus and blurs in after effects.

Dvein - Toca me

I went to visit Dvein in my first year when we visted Barcelona. They showed us a showreel of their work and ive been interested ever since. They use a lot of live action combined with 3d to the point that you cant tell which is computer generated and which is real. This piece uses close ups of materials growing such as liquids,wax,insects.

Close ups and depth of field are a big idea of mine with this project when thinking about growing plants and melting ice.

Global warming facts

This video has given me not only facts about global warming but it has given me a way of comparing data such as deforestation and the killing of cows. it has also giving me a way of displaying facts using icons/symbols.

Ice melting

The first thing that comes to everyones mind when thinking about the conscequences of global warming is the ice melting resulting in rising sea levels. Looking at time lapse in my first year reminded me of close up ice melting speeded up. I find this video visually interesting because of the detail within the ice.

Competition - Climate change

My new brief is a competition focusing on the effects of global warming. The competition is on http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/artists-project-earth-youth-visions-award/ and the aim is to produce a one minute piece displaying the changes in our world as a result of global warming.