Thursday, September 17, 2009
Never Underestimate Your Kids' Creativity
Many of the character names in City KREW were invented by my son, Kieran, in a moment of creativity. As I've been thinking about storylines, I've used bedtime as a forum for developing those ideas. He's always got questions and ideas about what happens. And while he was playing today he offered another gem for the prime location of a future episode. I won't reveal more, as it will spoil the surprise.
City KREW Episode 001, Progress Report
Halfway through September, I expected to have shot all the backgrounds shot and be wrapping up the voice overs. I'd hoped to finish Episode 001 by the end of the month. Unfortunately, things are far behind schedule.
With the family sick all week, I've made no progress at all. The loss of the original equipment I'd planned to use, forced a rethink on that front. That actually worked out in my favour as I used that and my birthday as an excuse to invest in a new HD camera. Ordering that and waiting for shipping also set back the schedule, but now I'm very pleased to have a brand new Canon HG20. And for the deal B&H Photo was offering, I got myself a slick new mic and wide angle lens as well, all for less price than Best Buy's price for the camera.
I've had the camera for most of the week, but with the family sick and a hectic week at work (whose idea was that?), I barely had chance to use it.
Luckily, not everything has drawn to a halt. The first voice over was completed by Shanti and now Winny's lines are ready for editing. The results were excellent and motivate me to get going on mine (once I get the frog out of my throat). If the weather cooperates this weekend, I'll be shooting the backgrounds.
Here's hoping next week is a productive one...
With the family sick all week, I've made no progress at all. The loss of the original equipment I'd planned to use, forced a rethink on that front. That actually worked out in my favour as I used that and my birthday as an excuse to invest in a new HD camera. Ordering that and waiting for shipping also set back the schedule, but now I'm very pleased to have a brand new Canon HG20. And for the deal B&H Photo was offering, I got myself a slick new mic and wide angle lens as well, all for less price than Best Buy's price for the camera.
I've had the camera for most of the week, but with the family sick and a hectic week at work (whose idea was that?), I barely had chance to use it.
Luckily, not everything has drawn to a halt. The first voice over was completed by Shanti and now Winny's lines are ready for editing. The results were excellent and motivate me to get going on mine (once I get the frog out of my throat). If the weather cooperates this weekend, I'll be shooting the backgrounds.
Here's hoping next week is a productive one...
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Customizing Lego Mini-figures
I've been doing a lot of reading about customizing Lego mini-figures to learn how best to create the KREW. Their uniforms and logo are designed, but I want to ensure it doesn't look too amateur.
My first attempts were to dismantle the mini-figs tools (that's what model builders call the arms, legs and body) and spray paint them. It seemed like a good idea and looked good, until I tried to reassemble them. Some paint got on the joints and made it difficult to pop in the arms or legs. I had to scrape away the excess, and then they were still a tight fit. I could imagine this causing a lot of trouble during the animation process.
The next challenge is how to get the uniform customizations on the Lego pieces. There are many options such as hand painting, stickers, or transfers. There are lots of helpful tutorials out there and it seemed like stickers were the way to go. After printing a few tests, I was not confident it was going to work. The clear labels I had did not pick up the colours vividly enough and would not show up over the dark background.
This called for a rethink... or more like a uniform redesign. So last night I completely changed the design to use stock Lego colours. There would be no need for spray painting and instead of stickers, I'll try water-slide transfers. With the help of the Lego Digital Designer and some creative Photoshopping, I mocked up the designs below. Now I just have to buy the parts.
My first attempts were to dismantle the mini-figs tools (that's what model builders call the arms, legs and body) and spray paint them. It seemed like a good idea and looked good, until I tried to reassemble them. Some paint got on the joints and made it difficult to pop in the arms or legs. I had to scrape away the excess, and then they were still a tight fit. I could imagine this causing a lot of trouble during the animation process.
The next challenge is how to get the uniform customizations on the Lego pieces. There are many options such as hand painting, stickers, or transfers. There are lots of helpful tutorials out there and it seemed like stickers were the way to go. After printing a few tests, I was not confident it was going to work. The clear labels I had did not pick up the colours vividly enough and would not show up over the dark background.
This called for a rethink... or more like a uniform redesign. So last night I completely changed the design to use stock Lego colours. There would be no need for spray painting and instead of stickers, I'll try water-slide transfers. With the help of the Lego Digital Designer and some creative Photoshopping, I mocked up the designs below. Now I just have to buy the parts.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Adobe Story
Adobe Story has been released on Adobe Labs and I'm giving it a try. It's an online collaborative script writing tool that injects metadata into your script that can be used later on in the production workflow. I've been using Buzzword for my scripts until, which is an online word processor. Story is based on Buzzword, so the learning curve is not steep.
So far, it's a quick and efficient tool for writing and organizing scripts, character bios, and synopses. I have noticed some limitations though, especially in the Character Dots feature that assigns coloured dots to each character in the script. This allows you and others who view the script to quickly see in what scenes particular characters appear. Unfortunately, there's a 6 dot limit so it's likely not all of you characters will get a dot. This probably won't be addressed in the initial release.
I'm most interested in seeing how the metadata flows down the production pipeline and is used by the other Production Premium apps. I'm usually pretty disorganized with my footage and hope this with provide an opportunity to save time and frustration.
For now, I've completed the script for episode 1, and the synopses for episodes 2, 3, and 4. I'll be working on those scripts in the coming weeks.
So far, it's a quick and efficient tool for writing and organizing scripts, character bios, and synopses. I have noticed some limitations though, especially in the Character Dots feature that assigns coloured dots to each character in the script. This allows you and others who view the script to quickly see in what scenes particular characters appear. Unfortunately, there's a 6 dot limit so it's likely not all of you characters will get a dot. This probably won't be addressed in the initial release.
I'm most interested in seeing how the metadata flows down the production pipeline and is used by the other Production Premium apps. I'm usually pretty disorganized with my footage and hope this with provide an opportunity to save time and frustration.
For now, I've completed the script for episode 1, and the synopses for episodes 2, 3, and 4. I'll be working on those scripts in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Birth of The Project
Unfortunately, I missed out on this year's 48 hour film contest, but hearing how things went gave me the bug to get creative again. The idea had been fermenting for a year or so, and it seemed like the time was right. This was reinforced by Kieran inventing some fantastic names that will now be characters in the story.
While out for a walk at Hamlin Park, I had trouble keeping up with Kieran as he darted in and out of the trees and up and down the hills. I had a sudden moment of clarity and the City KREW was born! Four everyday heroes working together to help the community.
By the time we left the park, I had the first episode running through my head. The KREW would meet while trying to rescue someone who had fallen in a remote park. Now, the script is written and cast, and production is imminent.
While out for a walk at Hamlin Park, I had trouble keeping up with Kieran as he darted in and out of the trees and up and down the hills. I had a sudden moment of clarity and the City KREW was born! Four everyday heroes working together to help the community.
By the time we left the park, I had the first episode running through my head. The KREW would meet while trying to rescue someone who had fallen in a remote park. Now, the script is written and cast, and production is imminent.
Monday, September 7, 2009
In the beginning...
Since I'm in the midst of a creative project, I thought it would be interesting to catalog the process. I'm sure some other things will come up as well, but I plan on limiting them to multimedia-related topics.
Let's get started then...
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