Some Stills from my second shoot

These are some more stills (they also have accompanying film) from my second shoot, i mostly focused on close ups during this one since i was using an indoor location. i thought that Amber my subject matter was perfect for filming because she looks so modern and i've tried to introduce contrast by making the photographs look older and grainy ( again lots were portrait so i blacked out a lot of the background so hopefully the photographs will look like they're appearing in amidst  the darkness which will hopefully instigate drama).

 The photograph above is a lot softer, ive burnt in the edges slightly to frame the portrait and increased the brightness and hue to give it that brown tint erasing the filter from the head ribbon and the flag itself to incorporate brighter elements. i made my subject look directly to the camera in hopes to create a more striking image and im not sure if it looks to posed.

 although i like how white the photograph above is and how theres a really sharp contrast i think the pose may be too forced ( i wanted to include some of people looking happy since the speech was about increasing british moral) but im not sure if it really works.

 i was exploring a cooling filter in this photograph which i thought would match the flag, again not totally convinced of its success but i like how the flag conceals the face and again ive blacked out the corners of the frame.

 the photograph above is one i think is really lovely, the sepia tone is warmer than the one used in Lauren's photographs and i love how soft it looks particularly on the face the pose is more relaxed than the previous ones and i think it could work well within my trailer.

this close up is another favourite- a hint of the flag which helps to segment the frame diagonally and make the eyes the main focal point- even the fringe runs parallel to the flags line. due to the eyeline and the framing of these elements i think the photograph is made more striking and dramatic which would work perfectly within my trailer to contradict the playful elements that fun throughout.

The Pitch

these are some print screens from my pitch, some modern trailer research to research effective transitions, the Dunkirk film trailer ( the event that Churchill refers to throughout "beaches" "sand dunes" "defended" etc). and some stop motion research since i plan on including my own.

this is my first storyboard so it is subject to change, but initially i want to begin with a close up of someones eyes looking directly at camera and then flash out to my first clip of Lauren spinning with the flag on eastbourne beach. i would then show about 10seconds of my stop motion- toy soldiers moving a teapot into frame (a homage to britishness a theme which i feel embodies the era and the style i want to generate). i would possibly punctuate that with a few stills of the beach before flashing to a different closeup and returning to lauren and the flag again. ideally my kinetic text would start at about -58 secs from the end "we shall fight on the seas and oceans" and form a union jack flag ontop of the final still for my stop motion. overall i'm aiming for about 1 min 45 secs but that is really subject to the amount of footage i get ( its more than likely that i may need to increase that).
overall people seemed to like the lightness of my ideas and no criticisms or idea changes to be made at this point.

Some still images from my first film shoot

these are some still photographs from some of my initial films. Although they and my films are in portrait format i am going to try and integrate them into my trailer- hopefully i can frame them in a way which makes them look more effective. i mostly wanted to play around with the overall style to get an idea of how i could manipulate certain parts of the film.

the photograph above reminded me a lot of someone standing to attention and it is set against the obvious beach background referenced in churchill's speech. i upped the contrast to fully whiten the sky since i think it worked better as a blank background and introduced colour into the flag to make it the main focal point and to introduce a modern element. 

i sepia toned the photograph above to give it an older feel and added a small film grain - i liked the position of the flag which was clearly visible within the frame and the overall pose which was supposed to convey British support which is another reference to the speech.

i manipulated a texture on this image to give it an otherwise fairly bland photograph a more interesting quality. altering the blending mode to soft light created a smoother texture and i burnt in the edges to frame the scene and draw the eye inwards.
overall im really pleased with how my films so far have turned out, hopefully keeping the flag as a common theme should ensure the continuity.

Angela Kohler- Stop Motion animater

Angela Kohler designed the Lost things stop motion i researched earlier, i love how fun her animations are and i especially like how how fabrics are used as backdrops to integrate contrasting textures. Below are two advertisements created to portray the kindle. Again one character has been used which helps to ensure the continuity and the pieces fluidity. The colours are fun and the red helps to establish other focal points ( something i can think about using since Red and blue are the colours on the Union Jack). The stop motion moves downwards which again instigates a flow. I really like how different colours and objects are created out of jumpers and items of clothing which further emphasises the playful aspect. Even the Kindles bunny ears conforms to this atmosphere and it successfully matches the last character:the magician.

i like the clouds which i may use within my own backdrop they're simple and simultaneously textural.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAnWsr8BFlk

again the last shot of the kindle cements the products importance but again its a fun portrayal, the added mask almost gives the kindle itself its own character. This was also generated in the Lost things animation,  where the household objects had lives of their own. The Kindle needs this fun character persona to add interest its such a bland shape on its own i think  that this manipulation of a playful personality really highlights the product and entices the market.

i love this beam of light, its solidity really contrasts against the black and it directs the eye  outwards across the frame.

i think that my favourite part of this stop motion is this section with the fabric sea (the yellow and blues remind me a lot of Van Gogh's starry knight) its textural, it flows and it also helps to frame the 3 dimensional elements of the boat and the main man. it's a lot darker than the other one but i think i prefer it it looks more dramatic and the movement of all the fabric is really very tangible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imUlJnq0t00

The Pen story stop motion

This  is a stop motion film that focuses on Journeying created by a group of people named the pen story- the attention to detail is incredible each printed image tells as story and i love how they all travel round the room down surfaces over table legs, the photos even  travel through a fishbowl. each transition mirrors the movement of the photographs although panning in and out helps to generate focal points. Framing the pictures helped to create contrast from the layered up lines and images and the slight variation also contrasts texturally. the photographs style themselves matches the era from which they were shot and i love how filters make the images warm or cold which really conveys the location as well as the segment in time.

 the 3d add of the balloon is so fun and i love the fact that the images themselves are physically travelling through the house upwards which is elucidated by the upward pan and focus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Et7UQh1tg

Stop motion

I want my trailer to be playful - although i'm not literally interpreting any of the speech, i felt that the speech itself was encapsulated by a noble britishness. with Britishness as a theme i felt that the best way to keep my trailer fun and lighthearted was through the use of stop motion. Stop motion is also a relatively simple concept which would hopefully keep my trailer bold and clear, below i  have found some examples that are really fun and effective.

 Lost things written and directed by Angela Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths

This film is very fantastical which i think makes the trailer more playful, and there are even elements that i would associate with Britain, the teacups for instance as well as the vintage style. i love the layers evident within this film, the objects themselves are almost characters which further stipulates the playful atmosphere. The film itself manipulates the camera focus and lighting to transition from one background to the next and i love how everything moves onto the frame (they haven't been placed before shooting) they have glided inwards which conveys a fluidity necessary in generating pace. The song for which the film is based really matches the overall style, it is lighthearted and fun. Hopefully i can create this atmosphere within my own trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwX7uEiEWx4

created by Max Keily

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP0cSnJDYWE

This is a viral advertisement stop motion created for ebay. I love the hand drawn homemade style of this video as well as the three dimensional element integrated at the end, its simplicity is what makes it so fun and most importantly its understandable and light. the movement within this stop motion is generally an up down one ( to mirror scrolling) which also ensures the transitions between different pages. its well lit always in focus and isn't as busy as the stop motion above it relies upon the rough sketch style which i like. 

For my own stop motion i definitely want to include a teapot  as an emblem that is undeniably british as well as some toy soldiers bought of the internet that would reference the 1940s, after looking at these two stop motions i would like these soldiers to enter from the side of frame 'pushing' this teapot. the background itself would be still but i'd also like to integrate some kind of moving union jack. Hopefully all of this can be achieved using the same playfulness as these two trailers.

Recruitment trailers

I wanted to research a direct comparison between the 1940s and now so i opted to look into various recruitment trailers to see how much they've changed since the 1940s. it has already been established via my previous research that the trailers in the 1940s are overly dramatic and patriotic and i wanted to see how this grandiose translated to the modern trailers. Although this patriotism is a key element of Churchill's speech which makes the war effort sound noble and dutiful, i find it as an audience overwhelming so i wanted to research the more subtle methods manipulated in the present. 

This modern Royal Navy trailer revolves around journey (its meant to inspire change) its quick flashes of the main character growing up mirror that of the background heartbeat and simultaneously match the fast paced one phrase voice over. Focusing the film on one character ensures its relatability and keeps the overall purpose of the trailer understandable. although it is still very much patriotic and although it doesn't directly display the horrors of war it is a lot grittier than those in the 1940s. Panning across the frame helps to integrate smooth transitions between scenes and i like the camera spins that move upwards and round which once again relates to the trailers theme of journey. changes in filters in various sections helps to keep the trailer interesting but i think the most noticeable difference between the two era's is the pacing. Modern trailers, are shorter, faster and have a lot more impact because of it.  
http://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalNavyRecruitment/featured?v=avbuNGJveEQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCZfNnsbdq8

Again long narratives are used to voice over the trailer which slows the entire pace of the trailer. i do like some of the transitions between segments though since some of the pans follow the planes integrating a directionality and i prefer the birds eye shots of the landscape to the bland closeups on various men. The zoom in and outs used to focus the frame have a lot of potential and can be translated easily to my own work. id like to experiment with different focuses to see how they can be used to create some more abstract shots. Since i don't plan on using a lot of elements from 1940's film possibly adding some muted colour filters and a film grain in post production may help to reference and pay homage to the era without effecting the content and my theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl1Te4WWq8k

1930s-1940s trailers

After looking at modern trailers and the clips from the 1940s i felt that it would be prudent to research trailers of films within the 1930- 1940s genre.

Dracula was made in 1931 so its a little earlier than the speech but it matched a lot of the army propaganda clips that i had researched earlier right down to the voiceover and the block text atop the images. The clips themselves are very slow and the trailer is predominately made up of the voice over which in comparison to the modern trailers looks incredibly bland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpve3W6sq0U

The phantom of the opera trailer was made in 1943 and unlike the clip above the voice over was limited to the beginning of trailer - the rest is "dramatic" segments from the show although they lack fluency which makes the entire trailer disjointed, i also really hate the bold titles appearing on top of images which i shall take into consideration when placing my kinetic text.

Much like the phantom of the Opera this jungle book 1940's trailer manipulates a similar opening voice over and opening title sequence. The snippet of film are a little more fast paced but again there isn't a clear focus or drama which i think slows the pace. the music doesn't enhance or mirror any of the clips, again something that i shall carefully plan since i don't want my background music to over or under whelm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyESu-Zu9bI