For this project we are tasked to describe ourselves in images, we can interpret this many ways but the main idea would be to create a short storyboard to then capture and shoot a cinema graph animatic. To understand and explore how I can interpret this I decided to make a mind map noting down the main themes which stuck out to me:
Going through my ideas I wanted to play with a visual theme so jotted down styles of film or colour choices which I would like to work with. Through this I found that the theme of retro styled film is something which would be interesting to explore, not in terms of story but in the aesthetic of how the piece would look. I paired this with the idea of cinema and the popular film genres from those times like horror or films based on the working class and thought that with my project I could explore the idea of visually exploring a chosen theme. Another idea which stuck out was exploring my day to day routine, focusing on the organisation of what happens when or what it is like for me like that of a visual diary.
Combining the ideas I liked I figured something which I could do would be around the idea of going through a usual day with the look of it being like that of a flashback or walking through a day. Something which would be interesting to explore through this would be looking at how flashbacks are usually portrayed in films and what film makers usually do with the concept: first person perspective, vintage styling to suggest its from the past. I feel to further develop my idea I should explore films and possible ‘stories’ which can help towards the cinema-graph having a planned out story with some type of purpose whether its to be visually appealing or play of a theme.
Finding a theme:
For this project and the style I’d like to explore I went with exploring the style of retro vintage most prominent in the 1960’s and 80’s. The reason for this is I find the choice of colours and lighting to be very nostalgic even though I was not around during those times, in a way it is able to showcase a different time of film making with the types of stories and how the films are made. An interesting idea I had from this was exploring the contrast between the present and the ‘past’ and the idea of bringing them together through the way I would capture them. Most of the iconic brands and places we go for today had only started back then, where they would have looked different compared to what we’re used to today. Through my cinema graphs I’d like to bring the past into what is currently seen with the idea of a ‘flashback’ starting of light and sunny and ending of dark like that of going through a day with visuals to create the atmosphere of it being set in the past.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/flareblitz4/vfx-inspiration/
Here I created another mood board honing in to what I visualized with my idea of the past into the present using pinterest. I gathered images which not only capture the idea of looking as if it where set in that period but also played with the concept such as a Polaroid styled photo being shot in 2017, I liked the contrast between what we see and what we know being a prominent feature.
To quickly test my ideas I used a small mini arcade game I had and took some photo’s using my phone. I wanted to test the idea of contrast between light and dark as well as see how the scene overall comes together and if it creates the feeling i’m aiming for. With the ISO changes I wanted to see if I could capture a washed out and airy feel as well as a dark and rough feel, I felt I was able to though the contrast of colours were not as prominent as I had hoped. I then moved to playing with my exposure settings seeing what gets changed lighting wise and how it affects it: I found that whilst the first held the silhouette of the arcade machine so its recognizable the second was able to capture the feel of playing in an old styled arcade with the limited light source of the screen. To experiment with this I used my lava lamp which has a pink hue and held it above my scene to see the effect, whilst the light of it was dim there are subtle hints of pink in the scene which I think adds to the atmosphere as it brings out some of the original colours such as the red control sticks as well as help to define certain sections of it. Working from this I’ll look at visual references from films which capture the aesthetic I’m aiming to achieve.