Chapter 9 review

Movie Trailer

Chapter 8 review

Commercial rationale- script

 For this project, I chose to create a commercial that would be interesting yet humorous for a product that in time I am sure some scientist would think is a great idea. For all shots, I used a green screen. The shots of the scientist, who is played by my wife, were keyed over a science lab background image that I sourced online. I took the original image and tweaked it in photoshop. Once I had the separated layers, I imported into after effects to add lighting and logo’s on the computer screen. The shots of my son, who played the guinea pig for this experimental chip gone wrong were simply keyed over a solid white. This is the first project in which I used my new digital still camera for video. It shot in full 1080, so I wanted to give it a go. For this project I also ordered a much needed full lighting kit, unfortunately it did not arrive in time and actually because of the snow we received this past week is still m.i.a. So I set up the green screen in my dining room which has a large row of windows to allow natural lighting. I have a wireless sennheiser body mic that I planned to use as well, however for some reason it would not work so I had to use the built in camera mic, which is lousy. In final cut pro I edited the narration that was recorded via the camera and used the waves plug ins that I have to clean up some of the hiss. I also mixed in the foley sounds, which I sourced at freesound.org.

For the cgi work, I used after effects to make the holograms as well as particle playground to create the swarming alpha and numeric symbols. The shattering glass is actually a movie file that came with one of the Video Co-Pilot packs that I bought a few years back. I edited all of my clips in Final Cut Pro and exported to youtube.

I forgot to mention, the scene where the chip is installed was done using a still shot of my son. I imported into photoshop, created the "door" in the neck and saved as separate layers to be animated in after effects. The circuit board was an image I found online which I placed a photo of the ic chip that I bought at Radio Shack for the project. I added the lighting, glows and movement in After Effects. 

 The script-

Scientist female narration

Everyday life is boring.

That’s why the scientists at Futura industries have designed

the technology to bring the future into the present .

With the futura chip, you are the computer.

Once the chip is installed into the host, the 42 gigabyte processor overrides the major systems in the human body.

That’s not all, the chip also provides on demand web surfing for checking email or even online schooling and other technological features like the future callendar.

Test Guy

Time For My Date!

This process um… this um…. Process. ( Blank Stare. Then look horrified.)

 Oh My God!!!

RUN!!!!!!

 Scientist runs past camera

ECU of Test Guy. Smoke coming from head and neck area. Acting erratic. Eyes glowing. Charges camera.

Futura Industries……. Stop Being Boring!

Commercial

 For this assignment, I wanted to do a parody of a technical product. Somewhat like the Terminator meets one of those late night infomercials. It has cheese as well as a few After Effects tricks mixed in.

Semiotics in Film

 The whole semiotics talk has me a bit confused. I took a class on signs in art so I understand the signifier and signified some but at first was lost on how this translated into film.

 Initially I was immediately reminded of the silent film era and how without sound, the film spoke to the viewer. Then I thought about signs and how certain things that we know, when shown on film would not need an explanation. I envisioned a street scene, where cars are stopped at a traffic light. The red light prompts the cars to step on the brakes and hold tight until they see the green change. This to me is an example of how signs could work in film. The meanings are implied by what we know about the colors red and green. 

Another example could be sound in a film. With the film series Jaws, sound is a crucial part in triggering the audiences sense of danger. 

 In the film Halloween, the theme song is played whenever Michael Myers is near, symbolizing the danger and ultimately a whole lot of knife slashing is about to come up. Cover your eye's kids!

 Another way that semiotics can be portrayed on film is through the narrative. The writer/director can convey a message without stating the obvious. An example of this would be in Star Wars. Actually there are tons of examples in these films but lets focus on Darth Vader. 

His costume is black and cold metal looking. He is taller than most people in the film. He is powerful to the viewer’s eye without having to be told. We know from the first frame that he is the bad guy. 

Chapter 7 Review