Mother Nature is a Tease

Well, the weather is a bit of a toss up at the moment, but supposedly its going to get better again here coming up. Progress is at a little bit of a standstill at the moment, seeing as I am more or less just waiting on the weather to film (still aiming for middle/end of March). I got Final Cut Pro on my laptop, so that will help once production/editing time comes around.

During our group meeting last week, you told me about getting/making a steadycam, WELL ALEX TRIMPE SAVES THE DAY! He has one that he said that I could borrow to shoot with!!!! I am mega excited about that. I have also contacted some of my models and sent them the .mp3 of the song so they can start learning the song itself. Alex gave me a lot of great advice, when I go out to photograph my locations, he advised me to shoot all of my b-roll then, so its one less thing that I need to worry about in the midst of the actual film day with all of my models. So, this has also been postponed due to the weather, so on to the next week of studying weather forcasts!

The Weather is on my side!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go out and shoot my locations this week, but I'm hoping this weekend it will be more likely that I will have the time (fingers crossed!). THANKFULLY it looks like spring is among us (again, fingers crossed!) so I may be able to shoot by the time spring break comes around! Naturally I can't shoot RIGHT after the snow melts because the drainage tunnel that I'm shooting in for the second scene can't really be gushing water. So now I am hoping the everything melts completely, and the earth starts to dry! It would be nice if things became greener too ^_^ FINGERS ARE MEGA CROSSED! :D

Continued Progress!

I am almost entirely finished with my storyboard! I'm only a little stuck on filling about 14/19 seconds in the middle of the song (roughly between 1:44-2:05). I feel fantastic about this plot, and my vision kicks the you-know-whatty out of my rough- very rough- thumbnail sketches. My goal for next week is to go seek and photograph all of my locations. I also need to go to my old highschool and see if I can get permission to use the back of the school for this project, which I don't really see being a problem. My only concern is the weather. I won't be able to shoot until much of the snow melts, but I'm trying to keep a good eye on the weather. Honestly, I'm aiming at [hopefully] shooting during spring break, because I think I'll have the best luck getting my models all together at once. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! But needless to say, I'm still completely excited about this project and CANNOT wait to film! :D

Below are the images of my storyboard, as well as specifics on the third page.

Progress: The Cave

I am so jazzed up about this project! I have already chosen my lead for this piece, and I am collecting models for the rest of the video. As far as my story boarding goes, I have it all in my head and my hands just can't move fast enough to get it all on paper!

 

 

 For this video I will be looking to rent some battery powered smoke/fog machines where I will use in the beginning. My light source will almost entirely be that of natural light, and I have several locations chosen for each scene. I need to get permission to shoot in my first location, as of now, I'm looking to shoot in the back of my old high school up in Worthington. From there, back into my neighborhood where we have a big creek in the woods which works perfectly. From there, I will most likely move it to the woods in Highbanks National Park. The woods scenes will all work sequentially appearing as one forest, but there is something that I need from every location to meet my vision. I'm still very much in the research phase but its all mentally coming together. I will have to wait to shoot until the ice and much of the snow melts because I need the creek to be thawed. 

Let me know thoughts and opinions! :)

Artist Statement Redo

For my semester long project, I will be creating a musical narrative in the way of a music video to the song, The Cave, by Mumford and Sons. The reason I chose this song was because it of the lyrics powerful message and its uplifting, heart pounding rhythm. The moral of my piece will be, "Don't be afraid to break out of conformity; be yourself and do what makes you happiest." This piece will show power and individualism while getting away from our industrial society and getting in touch with nature.

Artist Statement

I tried so hard at finding local bands, but I couldn't find one that truly inspired me. However, I did find a song that did just that; The Cave by Mumford and Sons. As soon as I came across this song I just knew it was the one. I'm currently story boarding ideas and time sequences. This song's lyrics really resonated with me, from my past to my present, this is the song for me. Ironically enough, my vision pairs perfectly with the lyrics, and that was more or less accidental! Below are the lyrics to the song.

The Cave :

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

 

 

I want this video to be an expression of breaking out of conformity, and to strive for what actually makes you happiest; not what makes everyone else happy. 

I will have thumbnails uploaded later! 

 

My Prediction(s)!

For this upcoming project, I would really love to dabble in video for, more or less, the first time ever. Naturally I love photography, but video offers a whole other level to the word "image". I'm taking Video I this semester as well, so the idea of class crossover really appealed to me. Besides just filmed motion, stop motion really interests me too. Fall semester last year I took Time Based Media Design and made a stop motion video. This has really inspired me to take a second go around with this method as well, because while it was incredibly time consuming, I absolutely loved doing it. Below is the link to the stop motion that I made, its to the song "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit.

http://www.vimeo.com/8112386


Its funny, looking back at it now, I see MILLIONS of things I would love to change/do over/etc. If I do go with motion picture, I will most definitely be doing something a song, a music video perhaps, or even a story like sequence with music elements. I'm not certain if I want to take the stop motion route again, or try and stick with genuine filmed video.

If video fails, another idea that I have is that I would really enjoy doing a very large photo series. Whether they are portraits, or landscape, (I think definitely portraits) I would want TONS of images. Perhaps a fashion series of images incorporating the outdoors and secluded scenes, or something much simpler than that in regards to portraits of the human body, of all different body types. I got a really nice Macro lens in November that I think could work out very well in my favor if I were to take this route. For example, I could take 50+ images of different peoples eyes, stomachs, legs, lips, smiles, hands, skin, hair, etc. So basically, breaking down the simple aspects of the human body in a beautiful light.


Thoughts and opinions? I could sure use them!