Another placement offer!

Seems Like I am having a lucky week. My title sequence seems to be impressing people. Frazer from Gyro in salford has asked if im up for a placement. I really liked the company when I went to visit.

" Hi Mike,

Nice piece, Are you up for a placement sometime soon?, you clearly have great skills and it would be good to get you on some live projects for your portfolio.

speak soon.
Frazer"

I will have to arrange different dates than Centre screens. But this one looks promising, Frazer is another who I send my work updates too. Looks like its been paying off!

Placement offer - Centre screens production

Please click on the image above.

Dan stayed true to his word and put in a good word for me with Hayley Saull at centre screens productions. As you can see she asked if I would be willing to do some work experience which I quickly emailed back too.

Hopefully a permanent job will come out of it aswell as some more proffesional pieces for my portfolio.

Will update blog when something happens!

Promoting my work and building contacts.

www.vimeo.com/MichaelHusbandmi
My vimeo page has most of my projects uploaded showing a range of my work. Its an easy way of showing someone like Frazer for example my work with a click of a button.

I still need to upload my end credits and making of.


www.uk.linkedin.com/in/michaelhusband
Everytime I go on linkedin it shows my profile has been viewed by people in the industry. This just shows how useful this website is for keeping contacts with other students,tutors and designers in the industry!

Feedback from Dan Lusby (Ex-Graduate)

I have kept in contact with Dan Lusby since Ex-Grad night. Every now and then I send him a few pieces of my work and he gives me abit of feedback. The other day I sent him my 1st edit of my title sequence and he gave me lots of tips on how I can improve. Im going to take all of this into account to make my piece strong for the show.

If you can see the email he also mentions the possibility of some work experience, So hopefully something will develop!

Kepping in Contact!

I decided to send my title sequence out too some contacts I have made in the industry. Fran from stylorouge seems to like it. They said I was welcome to go down and do some work experience in london at some point. I might take them up on that offer! Although accomadation is an obsticle.

Hopefully when they see my end credits and making of as a project they will give me an email soon!

Gyro HSR Part ll - Portfolio visit

In November I went for a portfolio Visit at Gyro Hsr. i I have stayed int ouch with Frazer Henessey the head of communications and been sending work over too him so he doesnt forget who I am!

So he invited me back for a second meet up in salford too speak to some of the designers at Gyro. Gyro is a marketing company who design packages for companies. I showed them my recent progress with my title sequence and they seemed to really like the idea and the colour scheme I have used. I had too take into account these guys wernt moving image designers but they still had the creative know how to give me some ideas. They gave me the idea of using a flash at the end of my sequence to introduce the viewer to the first shot of the film which is of a camera. I have taken this into account already and used a white exposure light to the end. I think this gives my piece a violent ending as if something is getting deleted or erased.

When I told them my plans for my end credits they told me too try and tie it in with the title sequence in some way...maybe using the same typeface, just too make a link. I think I left them with a positive view of me and they seemed impressed.

Frazer has already mentioned a placement possibility so fingers crossed as its a company that definitely appeals to me.

The build up of my collage

Example of what will be going in my making of. Collage build up - stop motion

End creds.

This is a sketch of how I want my robin williams face collage too look. I still want it to be recognisable but consisting of different photos in a montage. I may also photocopy parts and pixelate areas to make it abit different from the original image.

Composition build up

Camera stop motion.

This stop motion will be put into my composition. Reverting back to my style frames the camera is shown for the first shot. but then it will cut too a shot of the lens animating close up. This process was look and hard to then match the photocopy's up, but it was worth it. I like the jittering effect.

Irina Werning - Back to the future

I came across the photography of Irina Werning ( I have no idea where) and i have been meaning to put it up on my blog for ages. In a way it has a strong link to OHP because of the photography element but also it shows how a photo is a moment frozen in time. "Nobody ever takes a picture of something you want to forget." is a quote from OHP and its definitely true. everybody puts on a fake smile for a few seconds and you never go back to the exact same place/pose twice. This brief has definitely made me think about precious moments and has made me appreciate time as well.

Thinking about my end credits I could use a similar idea about someone when they were young and old,happy or sad. could make for an interesting credits which the viewers would stay interested with.

The work of director Mark Romanek

The reason I chose to do a title sequence for OHP was not only because of how deep I thought the film was, But after watching it I decided to watch the extras and an interview with the director Mark Romanek.

Before One Hour photo I had never heard of the guy so I decided to do abit of research and I purchased the dvd of his work. Not only is he a film director but has directed music videos for Nine inch Nails/Madonna/Johnny Cash and my most favourite music video, Jay Z - 99 Problems as seen below.

When talking about this video he says how he wanted to give rap music videos a new breath of life, a cool/non cheesey look. He has achieved this with the black and white video with fast cuts and slow-mo. He actually had to persuade jay z to be shot in his own music video, It is this decision which made the video as high profile as it is now.

I recently started to follow Mark Romanek on twitter where I asked him which music video is he most proud of making.

Although I was hoping for more of a reply at least he took time out to reply, hopefully he will answer more of my questions in the future. Looking at his work in more depth has really inspired me, I have always had a love for film/editing and directing so Mark has become a role model to me and someone I would love to emulate.

Music video - Seventeen. After effects parallax

I stumbled upon this the other day. It was produced by an american company called Thought division. One of my first ideas was to cut out the foreground from the background an in aftereffects I would make the layers parallax. Although I decided not to follow this idea I could use the music video as reference for any future personal projects that I may be thinking about.

I think the way scribbles/handwriting is used in the piece also works and gives the animation a warm(home made) feel. Maybe I could use this handwriting style in some way within my piece.

Comedy connections intro - 2.5D

When I went on my portfolio visit to stylorouge and spoke to teh creative team. They said how my style frames reminded them of a 2.5d piece where text and lines and image animate towards and away from the camera. They suggested looking at the intro to comedy connections on the bbc.

As you can see the camera never stays fixed in one spot...its always 'floating' which ads to the lively tone of the program. I guess once they have planned out where everything will move at the storyboard/animatic stage they can easily put it all together in 3d space and animate the camera to move wherever they want. Hopefully I can do this in my piece...setting the stage and moving my camera.

Agfa Montage - Soundtrack

This is the song choice I will be using for my titles. I decided on this track because of its gradually build and change in beat half way through. this enables me to show the change that develops in the film but in a more subtle way in in my sequence.

The soundtrack is used during a lab scene in the film and it gives off a certain level of eeriness which is teh emotion the film is trying to portray.

Portfolio Visit - Stylorouge

I emailed stylorouge before we went down to London. Besides working in the creative industry I couldnt pinpoint what they actually specialized when I looked at their website...their answer? ABIT OF EVERYTHING. What they said was that when a client comes along asking for a certain

thing they work all ends meet to try and adapt their company to meeting the clients demands.

Their work includes Music promos, Print design, tv advertisements, rebranding which is quite impressive of a company with around 10-15 members of staff. So I sat down with 3 of their members. Managing director, A member of the creative team and the video editor/tech guy.

They seemed impressed with my my showreel which showed a wide range of work and they recommended I learnt 3d just so I have another skill under my belt. The guy who studied in salford before moving down to london gave me input on my current project from the style frames I showed him. He suggested instead of designing in flat 2d why not use the 2.5d feature in after effects to give it more to look at and more visual interesting. I though this was a great idea and I could almost see my style frames looking 3d with depth between layers added in after effects.

The manager director mentioned how when a big project comes in they struggle towards teh end with only having one person specializing in video editing, she said that in the summer if I was willing to do a few weeks work experience I could join the team and maybe a full time job would come out of it which would be great for me!

Call of duty intro - Miles christensen

Every time I turn my xbox on I see this short activision intro. I wondered who made it so I did abit of stalking/searching and found out through vimeo that a guy called Miles Christenen a motion graphics designer had created the piece.

I love the fast paced cuts and the combination of video and text in the composition. It reminds me of the Rubicon titles and the focal sound really add to the feeling of high energy. Again I have to remember the pace of my piece has to be slower. So I cant just punch someone in the face with fast moving graphics;It just wouldnt work.

Portfolio Visit - Trunk

While we were in London Andy mentioned that he had been in touch with a company called TRUNK and that we could go for a joint visit. So I did abit of research by look at their site.

I recognised this piece of the tv THE WORLD’S… AND ME 2 I remember seeing it on channel 4 and loving the way it looked hand illustrated and composited together in after effects. When I got to the studio I actually complimented the guy on how much the piece inspired me for my office and euro 2012 title sequences.

The office was very small/ literally a converted studio apartment which I thought was really surprising considering the amount of work they have produced.

I her my euro 2012 piece which they seemed to like. she suggested maybe introducing live footage into the piece to make it more interesting to look at. I completely agree and if i was working for the bbc i am guessing I would be given some footage to include when design the piece. I also showed my style frames for my FMP. She suggested animating the camera and the buttons/dials on the camera....this is something I was thinking of doing anyway but I definitely think this will make my title sequence more interesting.

I found her feedback to be positive and constructive and it gave me few ideas for my fmp as well as tweaks I can make to my euro 2012 sequence.

London Visit - Tandem Films

While in London the hole group went for a pleasant visit to Tandem Films, A design studio which specialize in different types of animation from flash to 3D.

We were given a tour around the impressive studio which had a layed back vibe to the place(mainly due to the use of plants and umbrellas scattered everywhere.) The studio basement held a large green screen studio/editing suite and sound room. I couldnt help but wish stockport had a g/s studio that size for open use as it would encourage students to experiment different techniques as early as the 3rd year. Ive yet to try out green screen but its something I definitely want to use in the future in the industry.

The piece of work that I was most impressed by from tandem was Rockin & Rollin: Richard Jack/Daniel Greaves http://www.tandemfilms.com/#films/shortfilms/11 .

Being a lover of Stop Motion this piece grabbed me straight away. Not only the execution but the idea as well.... I found it interesting how this piece eventually led on to the Ribena adverts which hold the same characteristics as the snooker balls.

Tandem was a great studio, producing great work. Its a studio I could see myself working in from the different types of media they use.

Style fames - Visual look

Ive designed a few mock up style frames to I can get a better idea of how my piece will look. Ive decided to stick with the white and blue look to keep the colour palette contained and not to vibrant.

I now need to get an animatic sorted out so I can see how the animation will all be put together, I also neeed to picture how the title 'One Hour Photo' will appear at the beginning or end.

New idea - Camera manual style

Gaining inspiration from Dead man on campus. I have decided to design my title sequence in the style of a camera manual. This will allow me to present my titles in an information/diagram style.

Im hoping to use 2.5d to move past diagrams and use fades as a transition. Im thinking about using stop motion to animate certain parts of the camera to make my sequence more interesting rather than still images.

Rubicon intro - Motion Graphics

This piece I came across on vimeo, Its a short sequence for an american series based on an intelligence analyst. Without even watching or knowing about the series - the sequence paints the image in my mind.

The style of the intro is what I would like to aim for, The 2.5 d look is the technique I really want my piece to look like. The way that things are enlarged by sharp cut ins is also the way I want to edit my piece....The only thing I have to bear in mind is that my sequence needs to be slower to stay with the tone of the film as well as the music score.

50 Greatest Title sequences of all time

http://www.ifc.com/news/2011/02/the-50-greatest-opening-title.php

Ok so channel 4 is usually full of these rather exhausting countdowns, But this countdown is different! 50 greatest title sequences? Great

I thought that clicking on this list I would know every single sequence but I was wrong. A few rather nice surprises had crept into the list. One of which was the intro from the film GO - 1999,

"Want to know what it feels like to take ecstasy? Watch the opening of Doug Liman's "Go." I've never taken E myself, but the folks I know who have swear by Liman's faithful recreation of rolling."

The unreal speed and edit of this sequence is what real got me loving the style.... although this has no real connection to the style of title sequence I am currently working on. It gives me an idea on how to make a fast paced title sequence in which I have not fully achieved in the past.

Hopefully looking at more of these sequences will help me into finding the correct tone of my OHP titles. Im going to keep an eye on more of these lists to see what contemporary work comes out in the near future.

Honda hybrid - Colour change

This is a post I have put up before, When thinking about Mark Romaneks colour palette used in OHP I remembered this advert. It got me thinking about using a similar technique in my title sequence.

Its not often I see a cool car advert, But when i saw this one it reminded me of Tal Rosners work. mainly from the landscapes along with the ambiant sounds.

Honda's new advert for the CR-Z hybrid sports coupe is designed to promote the car's three driving mode, using the RGB colour channels used in image and video production.

The car boasts Econ, Sport and Normal setting that change engine response and driving dynamics accordingly.

The colour of the CR-Z’s dashboard display changes with each mode, and these shifts from red to green to blue are reflected in each part of the film, together with the changing environments the car is travelling through. The ad reminds me of a 3d film layers of red and blue and is definitely the best car ad going at the moment.

The advert was created by Sam Heath and Chris Groom and directed by Frank Budgen.

OHP - Colour Palette

Watching an interview with director Mark Romanek it is evident that he has used three different colour styles to set the scenes.

In the supermarket where Robin Williams works the scene was lit to look heaven like - almost perfect. Because to him work is heaven where he gets to interact with people and he has friends.

However when Sy the photo guy goes home the scene is lit dull with a green tint to make the place look cold and boring. The director describes the look as ' Photo developing liquid' with the lights almost appearing green.

The last colour separation is at the family home where the scene is supposed to look friendly and warm... something that Sy wishes he had in his life. The director says that the look was achieved by sunlight shining through yellow curtains creating a warm look.

London Visit - 24 Hour film

While in London we stopped by to see Christian Marclay: The Clock. We heard it was a 24hour hour film about clocks but I had no idea what it actually was. I was amazed!

The film features thousands of mainstream films old and new all edited so that for 24 hours the film was synchronized with realtime. Every clip used related to the time wether it be showing a clock/watch or someone telling the time.

The thing that most interested me about this was the fact that the sound layers on these clips interacted with each other. For example, A woman throwing a clock out the window and a cut to will smith in I am Legend turning around hearing the clock hit the floor.

I love editing when there is a freedom about injecting your own techniques and the director definitely had that freedom with this 24 hour project.

Visit to London - Ray Harryhausen exhibition

I recently went to London to meet up with a few design studios. While I was down there a few of us decided to stop by at the London Film Museum which had a Ray Harryhausen exhibition on.

On show was a collection of models from his different films including Clash of the Titans which I loved as a kid. To be able to achieve a full film all in stop motion hits home just how time consuming the technique is. I remember as a kid being scared to life of some of his creatures even more scared than watching a shinny CGI film. I think films like this should be brought back as I think they have a greater effect on film viewers than modern day cgi films.

Im thinking about using Stop motion in my piece so hopefully I can learn from the examples of Ray Harryhausen films to get realistic emotions across to the viewer.

Dexter - title sequence

I found a lot of similarities in this sequence and the American psycho titles.

Both focusing on a serious subject but using everyday activities to give it a comical spin. Showing food being prepared seems to be an obsession with people making these style of films/series.

Overall both the sequences do their job narrating the genre before the main feature starts. however involving this kind of humour into my piece doesnt seem to fit the tone of the film because it is not conveyed in the film as light hearted but instead creepy,obsessive.

American Psycho - title sequence

After watching the dead man on campus title sequence I decided to look at other films that use a serious subject such as death but give it a more light hearted feel. American psycho immediately jumped to my mind because of the tone of voice the film holds which shows serial killing to be a fun sport.

The title sequence also take a fun twist by showing blood like droplets dripping down a wall, this later turns out to be red sauce dripping onto food. When the viewers notice this comical reference they immediately know this film is not a horror.

Photo parallax test

Ok one of my first ideas when thinking about the theme of the film was to have someone cut out of a photograph "Not belonging in the photo". Developing this idea, the idea of slowly moving someone out of view in a photograph came about. I scanned in one of my family photos and and photoshop I cut the people away from the background. I then took this into after effects and set up a camera, This allowed me to move the characters (foreground) away from the background in a parallax motion.


This is a rough example of something I was trying to achieve.

Euro trip - title sequence

Looking at the contrast between this title sequence and my last post of DMOC title sequence, I can obviously see how illustrations being animated as well as the soundtrack gives a totally different feel to a title sequence. Like the dead man on campus titles they both use illustrated diagrams. Now just for a second picture the DMOC titles being animated....It wouldnt work because it would be to fast and humorous and it would be distant from the tone of voice of the film.

However in terms of a comedy title sequence, The euro trip sequence totally fits the energy and comedy wit of the film. Looking at these examples of different genres and how illustrated diagrams are used gives me a clear understanding of how I need my sequence to feel.

Dead man on campus - title sequence

Me and chris had a discussion the other day about animation gives off a strong tone of voice. I said How I cant remember a lot of animation being used in a title sequence for a thriller before.

This title sequence for deadman on campus uses illustrated style diagrams in a school text style to show various ways to commit suicide or kill someone. Although this title sequence is not animated, the way the camera moves and the transition between diagrams gives it a light hearted feel. I also think if the music was an instrumental it would feel darker, but the fact that it has vocals again gives it a more light hearted feel but still stays with the strong imagery of death that has been shown.

Forget the Film, Watch the Titles DVD

Being very interested in title design I bought the dvd from the 'forget the film,watch the titles website' It gives around 20 examples of title sequences as well as interviews with designers around the world who give their views and tips on the art of title design.

The title sequence for 30 days of night by the studio Momoco in London is a favourite of mine and I have contacted them about the possibility of a portfolio visit while in London. Watching these interviews gives me added knowledge on the way these designers thing and how they come up with their ideas/storyboards. Hopefully I can take some of their tips into practice to my my final project more successful.

D&AD Lecture - OneDotZero

I recently went to a lecture about OneDotzero, I didnt actually know a lot about them until the talk so it was interesting to know that they were organizers of festivals around the world promoting the best of 21st century design.

The talk really opened my eyes to the installation side to design an how the public can interact with exciting new technology. The light box/light door exhibition in france was particularly interesting because of the way that both kids and old age pensioners were both interacting with a piece of modern art.

I will be keeping my eye on developments from Onedotzero over the next few months to see if anymore installations or talks will be happening in this country.

Tone of voice - Cape fear

In many ways the film cape fear is similar to onehourphoto. A film about someone who is over obsessed with a family and wants justice. The only difference is that cape fear goes down the violence route where as robin williams character in onehourphoto is against the thought of violence which results in seem stalking.

The title sequence for cape fear gives the viewer an uncomfortable feeling with the movement or waves and the eree music. I think my sequence will have to run at a similar pace to cape fear titles to build the tension.

Title sequence tone - Arlington road

Considering the film one hour photo is a psychological thriller I thought it would be a good idea to look at films of that genre to give me an idea of the tone of voice the title sequence should be in.

Arlington road is about someone who has his doubts about a family living on his street. The idea of hidden identity and paranoia are displayed in the title sequence.

I am a big fan of Kyle Coopers work and I think his design shows the key subject matter to keep the start of the film tense.

Final Major Project - OneHourPhoto Title Sequence

For my Final major Project I have decided to design a title sequence for the film One HourPhoto. I have decided on this mainly because of the interesting character a depth of the film as well as the subject of photo developing.

Title design is an area I want to move into eventually when I leave the course so i think it is a good opportunity to showcase both my creative and technical skills.

I joined Linkedin!

After hearing about a social link website dedicated to business and industry I quickly signed up and started following companies I have visited and heard about. The website seems like a great idea for people to stay in touch and find jobs. So fingers crossed it will help me find work when I finish!

Do you need to learn 3D to be successful in the moving image industry?

Since the start of the year I have wondered if I need to learn Maya to be successful in the moving image industry. So I have asked the question in a number of forum websites to see what advice I get.

This is an answer from a woman who sounds like she is a designer of some sort herself. what she is saying makes sense to in terms of learning it just so i have an extra skill in my arsenal.

Film posters and dvd covers.

Before I started studying moving image I was a keen follower of graphic design. I dont know what happened (Probably sidetracked by learning new complicated programs). Only recently having looked at polish poster art have I found an area with the creative industry that I fancy taking a look at.

Since the start of the course I have watched over 500 films from different cultures but have noticed a running theme in contemporary film posters.....They arnt artistic anymore. This is obviously because a picture of Brad Pitt on the front of a poster will attract viewers. But in a way I find it sad that iconic movie posters becoming a thing of the past.

I got thinking about this when I went to the cinema the other day and realised that The new film BLACK SWAN is using artistic visuals in some of its movie posters.

Being still heavily interested in graphic design I am thinking of redesigning some movie posters as a side project so that I can show design companies that im versatile.

Raw footage used in one day on earth!

I was contacted by Daniel Lichtblau From One day on earth the other week regarding using my footage in their film documentry. I sent him my footage through the online dropbox and hopefully it will be used in the final edit. Im very proud to have my footage chose even though I only planned it on the day.

You can see my final edit here...