OUDF601: Acoustic Levitation

While I was researching ways to levitate the polystyrene ball, I came across this article of Japanese Scientists that Discover a Way To Levitate Objects Using Sound. 

The developers mentioned that they employ the ultrasonic speakers and you hear nothing around the device. The science behind it seems very complex and it is beyond my ability. Therefore I will stick to using the near invisible fishing wire.

Author Tim Williams wrote,

"The three Japanese scientists/engineers are from the University of Tokyo and the Nagoya Institute of Technology and the device they’ve recently unveiled uses sounds waves to move objects through three dimensional space. It uses four sets of speakers which converge their sound waves on one point that can be moved up, down, left and right using a set of controls, essentially allowing objects to be levitated and moved around. What’s better is that the sound is ultrasound so the machine isn’t even loud – it’s completely silent." (Williams, 2014)

Williams, T.

VIDEO: Japanese Scientists Discover Way To Levitate Objects Using Sound

In-text: (Williams, 2014)

Bibliography: Williams, T. 2014. VIDEO: Japanese Scientists Discover Way To Levitate Objects Using Sound. [online] Available at: http://www.sickchirpse.com/japanese-scientists-levitation/ [Accessed: 30 Nov 2013].

The video is below:

OUDF602: ASFF Aesthetica | Barry Ryan On Warp Films

Bio: BARRY RYAN HEAD OF PRODUCTION AT WARP

Barry is the Head of Production for Warp, and is responsible for the production of films across the Warp Films and Warp X slates.

He produced Grow Your Own, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Carl Hunter and directed by Richard Laxton for Warp Films and Line Produced Warp's first short My Wrongs 8245-8249 &117, which won the BAFTA in 2003, and Dead Man's Shoes, Warp's first feature which was nominated for the Best British Film Award at the BAFTAs 2005 and which won the Hitchcock D'Or at Dinard in 2004. Dead Man's Shoes, Hush and Bunny & The Bull have all BEEN nominated for "best achievement in production" at the BIFAs

Prior to working for Warp, Barry ran Cargo Films which made a number of successful shorts (Puffer Fish, Sound Effects of Death & Disaster, You Are My Favourite Chair) and the ultra low budget feature, Jelly Dolly, which won the best film award in 2004 at the Britspotting Festival in Berlin.

I thoroughly enjoyed this masterclass at York Theatre Royal as Barry gave a unique lecture on the things you learn from film making.

Why would you shoot a short?

• Showreel
• Practise
• Story to be told
• Fun/Experiment 
• Hang out with friends

Barry mentioned that he wouldn't recommend to just shoot shorts for a showreel otherwise you're gonna have quantity than quality. You need to do it to show your talent.

Thing you learn from film making:

• Budget
• Schedule
• Negotiation Deals
• Project Manager
• Technical Manager
• Human Resources
• Health & Safety
• Legals for closing Film/TV tax credit
• Cash flow

OUDF601: Practical Synthesis | Mood-boards & Concept Art

A lot of inspiration to this was taken from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The film feature Wizards such as Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White, this led me to also look at Albus Dumbledore from harry potter & use the inspiration. 

OUDF601: Practical Synthesis

On our CoP3 module, we're required to integrate our extended essay with a practical idea of choice; the definition of synthesis is the combining of separate elements or substances to form a coherent whole. In my case, my essay is about whether visual effects can improve or detract from cinema. I brainstormed through a couple of ideas that were likely possible concepts to use & I came to a conclusion of the following.
Practical Idea: To use two indistinguishable scenarios, in which they're both the similar but only one of them features computer generated imaging while the other uses traditional special effects. Judgment will then be made to which is the superior footage, the one with conventional special effects or the other that features contemporary digital effects.

A conceivable idea that can be done within the short amount of time that I have is as follows: To use an actor dressed in character as a man with magical powers, otherwise identified in legends and fairytales as wizard. The idea is to have the character hold a magical orb, through special effects the orb will be made to hover and glow. The second scenario is to use digital effects; use a CG orb modeled in Autodesk Maya and through compositing software such as Adobe After Effects and Nuke, I will add animated effects such as glow, particle effects & more.

Pre-Production:

· Brainstorm Ideas
· Research appropriate locations
· Storyboard
· Recruit an actor
· Equipment (Camera 5D MKII, Green screen, Lighting, Sound)

Production:

· Filming
· 3-D Modeling

Post Production:

· Compositing
· Digital Effects
· Colour Correction
· Editing

PPP3: Photo-shoot | UNAAAY Clothing.

My job as a nightclub photographer provides me with opportunities of meeting potential clients. Fortunately, on one of the Saturdays I was approached by a client who owns a clothing company, they were interested in marketing their brand through advertising & they needed a photographer. I was offered paid work & free clothing for my efforts, thinking this would assist me to build my portfolio further, I immediately accepted this task & we exchanged contacts.

After exchanging quite a number of emails from the client explaining what they wanted, we came to an agreement of a shoot day, payment process and other details. Prior to the shoot, I had to make a lot of preparation such as booking out the college studio as it provided a huge white backdrop and large studio lighting. Having recently purchased my Canon 5D Mark II, I was excited to use it with the Canon 24mm f1.4. The one setback I had was finding models that were willing to attend the shoot due to their busy schedules as the shoot was booked at an awkward time, which was on a Monday morning.

On the day of the shoot, I had to make sure my client was provided with a guest badge at the college reception in order to have full access to the institution. Luckily, the client provided they’re own model to pose for the shoot, I had to make more effort on the day to find people who would be interested & I found two. On the day, they were advertising they’re line of white t-shirts.

Setting up for the shoot was relatively not that problematic, I only needed help in attaching the diffusers to the lights as my last induction on them was 2 years ago. Another problem I faced was the fact that the lens I was using had an extremely wide focal length; it was a 24mm prime lens. To resolve this, I booked out a 100mm telephoto lens with a wide aperture of f/2.2. This set-up worked well as with a manfrotto tripod, my camera settings were set on ISO: 320, aperture: f/7.1, shutters speed: 1/125^th sec.

Photo Credit: UNAAAY Clothing.

The final images came out looking fairly decent, there wasn’t a lot of post-processing necessary due to a well lit environment & correct camera settings.

I appreciated working with my client & I feel this experience has given me self-confidence to work with other people at a professional level in the future. In my judgement, I feel the images are of a near professional standard & they do the job that they’re intended to do, to sell the t-shirts.

Copyright: Wisdom Makubile 2013.