A Walk in the Park | Final Advanced Film Project

Here is my final project in advanced film, titled "A Walk in the Park".
I think the successes within this film are the directing, cinematography, and acting, although there were a lot of things that could be improved. A few things that could be improved are cinematography (a few shots were a little too blurry), the audio, color correction, and color grading.

Final Production Checkpoint

For a long time, almost three years, I have been working on fan content, and I used this class to further that idea instead of creating super original content. However, with a lot of the works I did this year, instead of just making fan content that was pure entertainment, I attempted to add what I believed to be the heart and soul of the character, and also my theme; I wanted to add personal messages that I learned throughout my life through the character of Spider-Man, as well as personal experiences that have added to my understanding of that character and who I am as a person.

This year, it all started with The Marvelous Spider-Man, my overall second fan-film, but the first one I had done for this class. It had originally started as The Sensational Spider-Man 2 back in 2014, but as 2014 and 2015 went on, I lost the drive and steam I had because it was becoming something a lot bigger than I could handle. As this film meant so much to me, I didn't want to completely drop it, but I didn't want to keep working on it, so I compromised; I re-purposed it, and changed the story to better fit what I had learned while also transitioning into my new style of film-making. Sensational Spider-Man 2 was just a Spider-Man fan-film, but The Marvelous Spider-Man took the events of that film, turned them into flashbacks that Peter would revisit, and that would give it the true meaning behind the film. The meaning of the film became to "rise out of all that rubble", which was a nod to my late brother. During his year and a half long battle with pancreatic cancer, he always kept a smile on his face, and never let his affliction get to him. I think this message is the most important one that I've learned so far, and has really helped me move on with my life with everything that I do, and I wanted to be able to spread that message through an already established character, that way it would easily connect with anyone that watched it.

As I continued on with making that film, I started conceptualizing the sequel, which became The Marvelous Spider-Man: Shocking Developments. I took an already existing character, the Shocker, and morphed him into what could fit within the story that I was crafting, and where I could fit a theme in with his character that would carry the heart of this story. Shocker was turned from his normal bank-robbing roots into a nerdy but disturbed teenager, almost as a mirror to Peter Parker, as a sort of "What If", showing a completely different road that Peter Parker could have went down had he not gone through his experiences and dealt with them in the way he had always been guided. As this road continued on, I had to create the theme that would deal with these characters in a rational and modern way, and in that style of thinking, the first theme/message that came out of it was to always be nice to people, as you never know what they're going through. This was brought out by the idea that over the past few years, things like school shootings have been cropping up, and whenever it's by a student, it's usually because another student or group of students had harassed them, and I felt like that's something that needed to be addressed. When it comes to the final film, I don't think it was executed as well as it could've been, especially when compared to how it was originally conceptualized.

When it comes to the messages of this film, I had tackled the message and theme that would accompany the antagonist of the film, but I also had to develop the arc of the main character, Peter Parker, as well. Within the film, one of Peter's former antagonists talks about his life situation, and how and why he looks up to Peter's alter ego, Spider-Man. I felt this was a growing point for both Flash and Peter to grow in a sense, where both have to realize that while Spider-Man is needed, he can only be a sort of support in a way, and that you have to be able to use strength he has given you, not rely solely on his strength to "save the day". I think in the past, I may have relied on the character too much, and in this sort of idea, I'm giving myself a new footing, and also delivering a message to others that may want or need to hear the same thing, that they can do anything if they put their minds to it.

Documentary Assignment

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Model Cornerstone Assessment | Reflection

In reflection, I could have followed my visual column a lot more closely, but after seeing a friend's documentary, I changed up my design in which I didn't include title cards.
If I had to do it again, I'd probably redo the audio and add a lot more clips instead of having a lot of Spider-Man to use. I only went that route since I knew a lot more about Spider-Man than anything else, and it's kind of where my fan-films had started.

Shocking Developments Process Page | Color Correction

Weekly Work Log 5/2 - 5/6

Monday: Filming
Tuesday: Filming
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: Documentary Clip Searching
Friday: Absent (Prom)

Production Checkpoint - 5/2/2016

Well, I'm nearing the end of production on The Marvelous Spider-Man: Shocking Developments. Filming wraps this week, and a new trailer has been released.

Sketchbook Page | Movie Poster

Weekly Work Log 4/25 - 4/29

Monday: Editing
Tuesday: Editing
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: Filming
Friday: Filming

Visual Column | Model Cornerstone Assessment

Weekly Work Log 4/18 - 4/22

Monday: Thought of ideas for District Arts Festival
Tuesday: Working on display ideas
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: Editing
Friday: Planning shoot for next week

Example of Crane Shot in Film

The crane shot I was studying is only the first 40 seconds of the video, and it establishes the fact that we are in Mexico City, during a Day of the Dead festival.

Quinn the Beatboxer | Multicam Editing Demo

Luke Does a Thing | Crane Demo

Weekly Work Log 4/11 - 4/15

Monday: Filming
Tuesday: At Senior Assembly
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: watched the first ten minutes
Friday: Filming

Storyboard | Model Cornerstone Assessment

Script | Model Cornerstone Assessment

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Weekly Work Log 4/4 - 4/8

Monday: Worked on Shooting Schedule
Tuesday: Scriptwriting
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: Scriptwriting
Friday: Checking location availability, filming

Shocking Development Unofficial Trailer | "Sketchbook Page"

This is the unofficial first trailer for The Marvelous Spider-Man: Shocking Developments. I say unofficial because the title cards are place-holders, I used the music from a trailer from another fan-film (Spider-Man: Lost Cause), and I need a lot more footage to use from the film itself.

Successes:
- I like the editing and how a lot of movements and changes sync with the music
- The music is inherently Spider-Man

Recommendations for next time:
- Use my own music or find different music altogether
- More footage
- Try to streamline it a little bit more, it seems a little complicated in this form

New Tough Cookie Media Titles

Weekly Work Log 3/14 - 3/18

Monday: Filming
Tuesday: Filming
Wednesday: Filming
Thursday: Filming
Friday: Editing

After Effects Production Logo

I like this a lot because of the particle systems that I have going on, the gravity of it changes so it switches from floating upwards to floating downwards.
However, I think I could've made it feel a lot longer or smoother, although I did use the Easy Ease keyframe option when changing everything.

OUTLINE: FAN-FILMS | Model Cornerstone Assessment

• What are fan-films?
• What was the first fan-film?
• What are the most prominent fan-films today?
• "Why are fan-films important?"/"What do they show/prove?"

March Production Checkpoint

SHOCKING DEVELOPMENTS

We've gotten a lot filmed, we probably have almost the first ten pages completely shot. I've also been working on the VFX for a scene, and I'll show comparison pictures here.

However, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done on this.

CHECKLIST:

SCENE ONE [X]

SCENE TWO [X]

SCENE THREE [X]

SCENE FOUR [ ]

SCENE FIVE [X]

SCENE SIX [X]

SCENE SEVEN [ ]

SCENE EIGHT [ ]

SCENE NINE [ ]

SCENE TEN [ ]

SCENE ELEVEN [ ]

SCENE TWELVE [X]

SCENE THIRTEEN [ ]  

Fan-Films | Sketchbook Page

So, I bet you're wondering:
What are fan-films? Fan-films are films that are made about an already existing character made by someone else (or a company). They are made by fans, for fans, and are always non-profit and for the love of whatever character it is about. (I actually work on my own, but this isn't about me).

Some examples of Fan-Films: Spider-Man: Lost Cause, Bat in the Sun's Super Powered Beat Downs, and the Nightwing series by ismahawk are all very good examples of fan-films.

SPIDER-MAN: LOST CAUSE

Spider-Man: Lost Cause is a full length fan-film, clocking in at 2 hours and 22 minutes (same length as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, actually) and it has one of the highest production values of any fan-film ever since it's the first of it's kind being full length and without a real budget.

The story follows the origin story of Peter Parker, or Spider-Man, in his search for his Uncle Ben's killer. The story is heavily inspired by the Ultimate Spider-Man comic line in terms of the story of the villains and of how Spider-Man came to be.

BAT IN THE SUN

Bat in the Sun is a YouTube web series that is based all around movies, comics, and the other mediums involved with these characters. They have a small show that comes out every once in a while called "Super Powered Beat Down" where they have any two characters face off against each other. They've had Batman v Darth Vader, Deadpool and Domino v The Joker and Harley Quinn, Spider-Man v Darth Maul, and many more. They're very well known around the internet as they look very high quality, especially for a web series.

NIGHTWING: THE SERIES

Nightwing: The Series is a fan series that revolves around Nightwing, a former Robin that has gone solo from his mentor, Batman. The story follows him on his first real crime-fighting adventure against the villainous Deathstroke, a powerful mercenary.
The show had a kickstarter that backed it for a while, and powered the whole series and all the equipment that they used. They currently are working on other projects but they also have a second season in the works.

Weekly Work Log 3/7 - 3/11

Monday: Went over documentary assignment
Tuesday: Worked on tentative shooting schedule
Wednesday: shooting
Thursday: shooting
Friday: Shooting

Documentary Assignment | Topic Choosing

The topic I'm choosing for this documentary assignment of "emerging trends" in media arts is the topic of fan-films.
Fan-films are relatively new, with the rise of them starting in 2014 with the release of Spider-Man: Lost Cause. This was the first "big" fan-film, having been worked on for 2 and a half years, and having the runtime of a real Hollywood movie, as well as a lot of the production value of one. LC was a huge milestone for the fan-film community.

Takashi Murakami | Artist Investigation

Takashi Murakami

Short Summary: Takashi Murakami is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts. He coined the term superflat, which describes both the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society. Superflat is also used as a moniker to describe Murakami’s own artistic style and that of other Japanese artists he has influenced.

How the Artist Has Used Layering:

The idea of layering an image is, "overlapping and overlaying a multiplicity of images, devaluing the sacredness of any one picture." As seen in the above pictures, Murakami uses a multiplicity of different images that he has previously created alongside a varied color scheme, connecting each of the pictures and images to the point where changing an image to just be one piece would make it seem incomplete.

What have you learned about layering? I have learned that sometimes it can be better to use multiple images/videos to create an idea or piece of art instead of just trying to use just one.

How do contemporary artists use layering in their artwork? Montage sequences, emotional value, etc etc

How might you be able to use Layering in your own art? I could use it for a montage sequence (which I currently have planned)

Is there something that you found in your investigation that specifically interested or inspired you?

Nothing yet, but I'm going to keep researching it for something I may like

Process Page - Filming | The Marvelous Spider-Man - Shocking Developments

Production Logos

It seems to be that I really like logos that are simple like the Marvel Studios logo and the Pixar logo, logos that are black and blue in their coloring (Universal, New Line, Dreamworks), or logos with contrasting colors (Warner Home Video, Paramount, Colombia, etc). I also seem to really like formal balance in these logos and/or diagonal lines, all of these logos exhibit at least one of those two principles of design.

Weekly Work Log 2/29 - 3/4

Monday: Layering Seminar
Tuesday: Absent
Wednesday; Shooting with Luke and Kevin
Thursday: Shooting
Friday: Shooting

Weekly Work Log 2/22 - 2/26

Monday: Created tentative shooting schedule, edited shots together
Tuesday: Shot scene w/ Luke, Matt, and Kevin
Wednesday: Edited scenes together
Thursday: Edited scenes (cont'd)
Friday: Shot with Luke and Kevin

February Production Check

First thing's first, I have a finished Spider-Man film right here!


And recently, I've been working on The Marvelous Spider-Man - Shocking Developments, the newest film that takes place in my Spider-Man/Marvel universe. Here is a trailer for that:



The new film, Shocking Developments, is about 1/5th or 1/6th filmed out of the whole project.
I've been working on it with Luke, Matt, and Kevin during second period, and it's going very well.

Shepard Fairey | Artist Investigation

So, for this investigation page, I'm choosing to do small investigation on Shepard Fairey, the creator of the OBEY image and also the Obama Hope image. Here is the image:

In this image, he stylized an image of Barack Obama and added the word, "HOPE," to it. The use of the word hope is to show that he feels about Obama, and in which he uses the interaction of text and image, in which the two different pieces of this image would not make sense simply by themselves; them being combined together is what creates Fairey's meaning behind the artwork.

Reflection:

What have I learned about Text and Image? I've learned that text and images can be combined to create more meaning within a piece of art, and that since artwork can always have different meanings, different text could always be placed to change the specific way something is seen.

How do contemporary artists use the concept of Text and Image? Same as before, they use it in ways to try and bring attention to their ideals or the world in general and possibly ways on how to change it as well.

How might you be able to use Text and Image in your own art? In my current project, The Marvelous Spider-Man - Shocking Developments, I have the idea where one of the character who eventually goes down the dark path believes everybody is against him, even someone who has been attempting to become his friend and make amends for what other people have done. I could include some sort of image or propaganda that this dark character could see that could show that maybe these heroes we see and know may not always be seen as the good guys, and have it be something that's ambiguous.

Is there something that you found in your investigation that specifically interested or inspired you? Just the idea that text and image colliding can really force someone to look at something from an entirely new perspective, whether they agree with that side or not.

Weekly Work Log 2/17 - 2/19

Wednesday: Rendered Webswinging
Thursday: Filming w/ Luke and Kevin
Friday: Going over script with Matt

Weekly Work Log 2/8 - 2/12

Monday: Interaction with Text and Image Seminar
Tuesday: Continuation of Seminar
Wednesday - Friday: Webswinging CGI work

The Marvelous Spider-Man - Shocking Developments | Design/Process Page - Tony Stark Flyer

Weekly Work Log 2/1 - 2/5

Monday: Finished Class Presentations
Tuesday: Went Over Class Schedule and Started Hybridity Presentation
Wednesday: Hybridity
Thursday: After Effects Testing
Friday: After Effects Testing

Critique Review

How to improve design cinematography: Keep principles of design working throughout shots that are moving; Lots and lots of principles of design. White balance done correctly

Ideas to improve technical aspects: Review, review, review! Make sure all audio levels are correct while shooting and during post, shots aren't awkwardly placed and/or paced, etc. etc.

Improve the performance of the action on camera: Take the shot multiple times from different angles and always have multiple shots to choose from so you can pick the best, rehearse a lot.

Chris Doyle | Artist Investigation

The artist that I chose to study was Chris Doyle and his animation Waste_Generation. Chris Doyle used hybridity in the form of showing the world and pollution in what has very bright colors in contrast with very dark and bleak colors. He also uses different sorts of patterns and projection mapping to bring the idea of a certain unity and variety to this animation and to the world around us.

Another sort of theme of hybridity is the fact that he's using technology to get his point across instead of attempting to use another medium.

The first screenshot is of a junkyard that is using very dark coloring, almost to the point of black and white to show how empty of color and health the world is..

The second is a screenshot of later in the animation of a jungle that is teeming with life and color.

Reflection:

What have I learned about hybridity? I've learned that it can be a useful tool, whether it be in showing a new interpretation of what I want to show or simply getting a message across.

How do contemporary artists use the concept of hybridity in their artwork? I think it's to show about how much the world is ever-changing and how far technology has come in such a short time and now it can be used to do a great amount of things within art.

How might you be able to use hybridity in your own art? To name an example, I could mix real actors with backgrounds that are heavily stylized and colorful to create a world that feels a little less realistic and more cartoon-like, and I could explore something within that range.

Is there something that you found in your investigation that specifically interested or inspired you? I really liked the use of the colors specifically within Waste_Generation, showing the junkyard of moderns items in the black and white compared to the jungle life living in full color that's incredibly vibrant. It brings a huge sense of how much technology has really changed everything going on, especially in this current generation and time period.