The Screwtape Letters – rough cut

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Showreels

I have been watching a bunch of show reels lately as part of research/learning how to make mine. Here are some that I found really cool:

This one (is not really a reel but is cool because it) uses elements of the music to create kaleidoscopic patterns. A friend was telling me the other day that music is key to making a good reel. It’s something that could make/break it.

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This one is meant to showcase interactive work.

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Beginning is cool!

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Found out that there are different kinds of reels (i.e. design reel, 3D artist reel, filmmaker reel, director reel, composer reel). I’m still a little bit confused as to how design reels would stand out in an industry with animators, 3D artists, filmmakers who seem to know so much more about motion, or at least the technical parts of it. I’m curious to know what people actually look for in a reel: is it your technical skills? pacing/framing? your way of thinking, and how do they do this with a fragmented collection of your work in less than 2 minutes?

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This one has interactive too.

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Love the intro countdown for this one. I also liked the coffee stain work (1:23) and the yellow-ish something-to-do-with-anatomy looking piece they have near the ending. I am not sure about their selection of music though.

Whereas this one uses music to its advantage:

(This guy really knows how to match up the right mood! Impressive. 1:09 ish seems a pretty interesting aesthetic for Screwtape)

…and some whose music overpower their work:

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This one’s by SPARKLE, post-production firm.

P2: Schedule (revised)

Pre-production

April 10 (Friday)
√ research about the book and the author
√ re-read the book
√ initial brainstorming of concepts

April 17 (Friday)
√ book summary and breakdown of themes
√ preliminary moodboard
√ finding inspiration
√ researching various AE techniques

April 24 (Friday)
- storyboard done
√ reiteration of approach in blog format
- content/scripting finalized
√ research existing book trailers / title sequence

Production

May 1 (Friday)
√ sound done
- animatic done
- video sketches done (of initial captures, or AE explorations regarding new techniques learned)

May 8 (Friday)
- rough cut to show for critique

Post-production

May 15 (Friday)
- editing and compositing of footage
- refinement of cuts

May 20 (Thursday)
- packaging and presentation

May 21 (Friday)
- submission date

P2: Approach

The primary message I want to convey with this piece is the idea of interruptions, such that of devils in people’s lives. I envision something that seems to (or is designed to) happen smoothly, but jerks off path due to the devil’s influences.

Secondly is the idea of this upside down universe, where right is wrong and wrong is right. Ideas of morality is reversed. This opposite nature can also be reflected in a black-and-white/negative-positive/yin-yang kind of way as metaphorically illustrated in this excerpt:

Letter 4, pg. 25 “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things in their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

Third is dialogue, the back and forth conversation between Screwtape and Wormwood. We only see one side of it but the other is implied. It is key because it is the medium where the whole story is laid.

Rainy Day Recess by Impactist. I was particularly inspired by this video with its combination of hi and lo-fidelity imagery, and the emphasis on form, simplicity of color palette. I also like the overlaying of basic shapes on top of the dramaticly lit shots (effective contrast).

Again, I do not want the interpretation to be too literal, as it says in the book that it shouldn’t be:

Letter 7, pg. 40 “If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.”

Meanwhile, I wanted to include a bit of randomness to the piece by including things that seem to be disconnected. This adds to the element of satire.

Letter 2, pg. 15-16 “When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face…Your patient, thanks to Our Father below, is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbours sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous.”

Letter 8, pg. 44 “Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal.”

P2: Soundscape

(Click on image for a detailed view)

Although the book is satirical and could be humorous/entertaining on the surface, the issues C.S. Lewis touches are actually quite serious and profound. It covers deep Christian theological message on ideas of good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell, and God vs. Satan. Lewis even admits that it was not easy writing the book, and similarly, actors who have portrayed Screwtape found it a bit disturbing to get into this character.

Because the book is reversely oriented (i.e. God is referred to as “The Enemy” and Satan is “Our Father Below”), I figured it is appropriate to mimic this in the soundscape. With the same music playing simultaneously but with one reversed, one could perhaps imagine a world moving as it is, and another one moving down below with inverted views/perspectives.

I included 3 characters in the soundscape: the “patient” (human breathing), Screwtape (senior tempter), and Wormwood (junior tempter), although I did not want this to be too obvious nor literal. The subtlety leaves room for the listeners to have their own interpretation of the visuals. Nevertheless, one interpretation could be that the two devils are conversing with each other (as in their correspondence), while the patient/human exists independently.

(Credits after the jump)

Book trailer commandments

Stolen from the book trailer blog.

Length: Keep it to 1:30 or shorter. Even the most impatient of us will watch for a minute and a half.

Voice Talent: Hire a professional or just use type and music. Authors are not voice actors.

Visuals: Keep some kind of visual continuity.

Typography: Avoid overused fonts such as Helvetica, Trajan, Courier, and Onyx. Integrate the type into the overall design.

Tone: Don’t be overly dramatic.

Soundtrack/Voice Over: Again, don’t be overly dramatic.

Video: Avoid montages of cheesy stock video footage. Shoot your own or use stock wisely.

Text: Keep it short. Billboard short.

Fictional Characters: Preferably keep them anonymous—let viewers use their imagination.

Canned Effects: Avoid them.

Book trailers

Sharp Teeth excerpt (book trailer example). Animation directed by Limbert Fabian. Produced by Matt Thunell.

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The Book of Spam. Innovative interpretation/animation of the book using toast! Here they show how it’s made:

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Sweetheart (book trailer example). It’s made of still photos, but the way they animated it, made it seem as if it’s multidimensional.

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This one I just find the content funny. =)

SHIFT.chroma

Here is a detailed flow of how this guy made this. Pretty sweet considering he had limited budget as well. The premise was to record himself in front of a green screen and apply some sort of visual effect.

trapcode

Question: Do any of you guys have Trapcode?

Rainy Day Recess – Impactist

Rainy Day Recess by Impactist.

Handmade miniatures numbering over fifty were captured via digital still cameras. Post processing includes conversion of digital typography to analog and back via 24p video and still photography. Finally portions of the total piece were output to paper, hand manipulated, then recaptured using high resolution digital scanning. All content and audio created by Kelly Meador and Daniel Elwing.

Look at that process………crazy!