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mollysfilmblog · 11 months ago

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Group 12 Scene Recreation

American Psycho: Hip to Be Square

Our group had originally chosen to recreate a scene from The Royal Tenenbaums, when in our tutorial we were told it would be incredibly difficult and we would need special lenses which were not available to us. As we had already spent nearly half the allotted time planning for a scene we were no longer going to use, we had to have a very quick turn-around and pre-production process. Choosing a new scene was difficult at first and we went through many options until we settled on American Psycho, it was the the first one we were all equally excited about. I was not heavily involved in the pre-production process, but served as primary director, set designer, and secondary editor. I also was in charge of the fake blood effects.

Shooting took place in Olivia's student accommodation which was very challenging. In every scene with Logan (Paul Allen) we had to completely re-arrange the furniture to give the impression that the kitchen was facing the window, when actually it was to the left of it. This was made even more difficult by the fact that this was a small space which served as a living room and kitchen to at least 6 students, and there was furniture, decor and filming equipment immediately out of frame in every shot. Figuring out the geometry and blocking of a 'fake' layout proved to be very hard for me, and there are some shots where it was almost impossible to maintain spacial continuity, but I felt that for what was available to us the blocking and set design was done well.

I really enjoyed directing for this shoot, (Matthew and Olivia also assisted with the directing) Matthew served as DOP and together I feel we make a very good team and were able to create some shots I was really proud of. We realised pretty early on that due to the limitations of the space we were unable to recreate things as exactly as we had imagined, which meant most of the night became a series of problem-solving tasks to get the shots as close as we could manage. I found this aspect of the shoot to be incredibly stimulating. I have really enjoyed working with my production group this past semester and will be very sad to split up. We work really well as a team and each have naturally slipped into roles. I have found that I have mainly become the de-facto director of the group which was surprising to me as it was not my original are of interest. I felt that this shoot was the culmination of all of that experience, and was by far the shoot I enjoyed the most. That being said it was also the most difficult, with shooting taking around 10+ hours, not including set up time. There were some shots where we had to do an hours worth of takes for about 10 seconds of footage, but I felt that the crew all maintained a good energy and positive attitude.

Matthew is by far our most experienced editor and has edited all of our films thus far. I am not very experienced with editing but have a strong interest in it so briefly helped with the last project, and helped more in depth with this shoot. Olivia helped as well. We edited on DaVinci Resolve which I have found to be more user friendly than other softwares I have used. We started out by watching and selecting all our best takes, ordering them, and syncing sound. This in itself was an arduous process and took well over an hour. As the pacing and the blocking of the film was slightly skewed during filming, we spent a long time finding the right place to cut shots to make it look as natural and smooth as we could. We also added music. During our crit some people pointed out that in a couple of the shots with the window, it seemed as though the colour grading was very intense, that was because in every window shot the reflection of the crew was visible in the window. I was not a part of this process, but this meant that Matthew had to find a mask plugin for the window and erase our reflections, which yes may have made the colours more contrasted, but I found to be very impressive and much better than having the crew visible in the reflections. The scene where Dylan walks to the bathroom for me was the largest blunder in the film and although I had some ideas for an editing work-around, there were too many other things that required attention once I had left so unfortunately we were unable to remedy that. Overall I feel that even just assisting with the editing for this shoot really boosted my skills and confirmed my strong passion for editing.

The fake blood was quite a risky element when shooting because it means there is really only one chance to get it right unless you want to spend an hour cleaning and resetting. For the shot where Dylan swings his axe we rehearsed the movement at least 20 times to make sure our timing and movement was right. We had to get creative with our tools because the fake blood was just in a jug, so I found a spray top from some kitchen cleaner and screwed it on to the jug. I then hid just below the frame of the camera on the couch and sprayed the bottle up at Dylan's face at the moment we had been rehearsing. I felt very happy with how this turned out, and the last 4 shots with the fake blood were my favourite of the whole scene recreation. We spread the fake blood around the side of Dylan's face to mimic the half and half of the actual scene. With Logan we had to put an excessive amount of fake blood on him to try and make it look realistic, especially with the absence of the more advanced, higher budget effects they use in the real film.

This scene recreation may not have been exactly prefect, but for the time, budget, and space that we had, I feel very proud of it. It was by far my favourite experience of the term and I hope some of that energy is captured in the shoot. I feel that I learned a lot from it, and can genuinely say I'm proud of all the work we did, and will really miss working with my group.

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kiwicitowritesanessay · 2 years ago

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Extra: Some of the events currently happening with Ai Tools and Creators.

With the imminent advances of Ai technology, artistic branches like film and animation have become part of the long list of things that Ai can manage to do. Recently Studio Corridor released a short film animated with Rotoscope. Now this way of animating scenes is nothing new. Rotoscope according the dictionary, is “a projection device that allows images from live-action films to be traced to create an animated sequence.” (DICTIONARY, 2012-2023)

A more technological definition from the dictionary states that Rotoscope is “A software application that merges live-action footage with digital animation and other graphics to create composite images.” (DICTIONARY, 2012-2023)

Rotoscoping has been used by studios and artists as early as 1914. Max Fleicher released his short animation called “Out of the Inkwell” back then and due the big success, he proceed to release other short animations and stablished his own animation studio. Disney Studios made rotoscoping more relevant with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan and Cinderella. (Bedard, 2020) More recent films like Alois Nebel (2011), The Case of Hanna & Alice (2015) and Loving Vincent (2017) are just some of the outcomes where the studios made use of Rotoscoping to animate their films. (Bedard, 2020) As stated above, this animation technique has been for a while in the artistic field but in the last couple of days has called the attention of artists and animators. Studio Corridor released “Anime rock, paper, scissors”. They filmed their short film with help of cameras and a green background, then trained an Ai Tools known as “Stable Diffusion, Dreambooth, and DaVinci Resolve“ with the work (they uploaded screenshots of multiple frames) of Hideyuki Kikuchi “Vampire Hunter D”. The result was an “animated” film with an art style similar to Hideyuki’s. (EDMUNDSON, 2023) Of course this film had positive and negative responses from the Ai community and professional animators. Some Professional animators saw the film as a mock of their work and argued that it couldn’t be considered as “animation” because there was no animation process in-between. Some users went ahead and called it “a film with a filter on”. Other animators were excited because it meant to they could use this tool to complete their work faster.

As an artist, I don’t like the fact that someone can take my work and do as they please by using Ai Tools. But I’m not against technology advances, I know these type of tools can help professionals to perfect their work or provide creative direction if used correctly (by using their own work and not the work of someone else). Tweets available at: https://twitter.com/corridordigital/status/1629905059281776641?s=46&t=QubXDtZSblddPoSJLd5oEw Sources:

Bedard, M. (2020). Rotoscoping: The Perfect Marriage of Live-Action with Animation. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-rotoscope-animation-definition/.

Edmundson, C. (2023). Anime Rock, Paper, Scissors Video Highlights A.I. Art Controversy. [online] ScreenRant. Available at: https://screenrant.com/anime-rock-paper-scissors-ai-art-controversy/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2023].

‌Evans, J. (2022). 21st Century Rotoscope: 10 Noteworthy Roto Films From The Last Two Decades. [online] Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. Available at: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2022/21st-century-rotoscope-10-noteworthy-roto-films-from-the-last-two-decades/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2023].

Twitter. (n.d.). https://twitter.com/corridordigital/status/1629905059281776641?s=46&t=QubXDtZSblddPoSJLd5oEw. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/corridordigital/status/1629905059281776641?s=46&t=QubXDtZSblddPoSJLd5oEw [Accessed 6 Mar. 2023].

‌www.dictionary.com. (2012-2023). Definition of rotoscope | Dictionary.com. [online] Available at: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rotoscope#:~:text=verb%20(used%20with%20object)%20ro [Accessed 6 Mar. 2023].

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ghostlymallow · 2 years ago

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youtube

A little animation I did for school

PROCESS NOTES

I did everything on paper, fountain pen for the foreground, and I used my shitty uneven ink brayer to coat the backgrounds with linoprint ink for that ~texture~

then I scanned it and composited everything digitally. for the beginning I copied and cut out all the foreground elements and used a plastic sheet to layer over the bg in the scanner (which is why it's Like That). I used OpenToonz to sequence everything and reframe some timing issues as well as to do some basic comping. (the part where he pulls out the diamond is on 3 animation layers, not including the bg) then in After Effects (i don't like Adobe, but that's what's available at school), I resized everything and added the zoom out at the end. I realized that I made the opening square too big, so I had to resize everything again, but that meant that the margins of my animation (with all the notes and frame numbers and messiness) would show, so I layered up some texture files to create the vignette effect.

Afterward, I used DaVinci Resolve to add sound

Notes for next time:

x-sheets and timing charts are a godsend! -- while animating, I had no way of viewing playback, so I just had to trust that the "math" would check out, and it pretty much did! I still had to adjust some timing, but less than I feared. considering that this is the first thing I've done on paper in like 3 or 4 years, i'm glad

double check the math on sizing -- yeah, I made a few errors that bit me in the butt

scanning takes way longer than you think it will -- it took like 5 hours to scan less than 120 frames of animation. also, apply that to inking, especially if you're relegated to only working after you get home.

having individual assets will save your ass -- I am SO glad that I had the warewithal to do this

resize everything at the same time if you want them to match up -- I resized all the animation in opentoonz and then the bgs in AE, don't do what I did, kids. even if you have registers, it's still a pain, it won't be exact

reserve some time to learn your software with small things first -- i think the only reason I was able to pull this off without staying up into the wee hours of the morning was because I was at least partially familiar with all the software already, also old forums are still my best friend. I think I want to learn Fusion next

FINAL THOUGHTS

in all, I'm proud of what I've done, this is the longest animation i've ever done, the first thing I've done traditionally in YEARS, and I did quite a bit of troubleshooting

i am so so tired, so I think it might be a bit of time before the next one, but as much as i might bitch and whine, I LOVE this process, it's so much fun, and the frustration was just part of the challenge.

just, I think next time I'll try not to leave myself with a 1 week turnaround lmao

#my art #animation #traditional animation #fountain pen #pen and ink #hand drawn #hand drawn animation #acme paper #ink #art process #process post #heist film #Youtube #gallery

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mandiemon3 · 3 years ago

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Dreams

Chapter 3

Word Count- 4.4k

Content Warnings- none

Ever since Loki broke the silence between us, he had grown more talkative by the day. He was still reserved and calculated, but he seemed to actually enjoy talking about his home and how things worked on Earth. Now that we found ourselves on decent terms, we spent a good portion of my time as his guard talking. This was good in thought, but it greatly diminished the amount of time that I could spend studying. Gone were the days of relative quiet and uninterrupted work time, and in were the days of intellectual conversations that, although stimulating and interesting, were in no way helping me get my degree. I obviously couldn’t reduce my hours with Loki, or ward off his peaceful advances without jeopardizing the entire point of my working at the Compound.

There was only one solution I could think of, and it meant talking to one of the most intimidating Avengers of all- the world renowned scientist, and my personal idol, Dr. Bruce Banner. After a week of successful conversations with Loki, I resolved to ask the Doctor for a favor before I left to go home.

I knocked on the glass door of the lab before tentatively poking my head in.

“Excuse me, Dr. Banner?”

Bruce’s head jerked up, looking surprised to be reminded that a world existed outside of the slides of his microscope.

“Oh, uh, hello!” he mumbled politely. “What can I help you with? Did Tony send you for something?”

“Oh no, I just wanted to ask you a small favor.” I fiddled with my hands. “Would it bother you if I were to study here with you, in the lab? Staying with Loki has been taking up a lot of my time, and I refuse to let myself fall behind in school because of it. I’ve read about body doubling when studying, and I feel like being around you could really help me relax and focus enough to get my school work done. Loki likes to talk too much for me to get much actual work done, and my roommate is just too stressful to be around when I need to study. I promise I won’t get in your way or bother you, and I’ll leave whenever you want me to-”

Bruce chuckled, stumbling over his words a bit. “Oh, um yeah, of course you can study here, Andi! And no need to worry about ‘bothering’ or ‘disturbing me,’” he added, using air quotes. “I’ve seen you on the cams and around the Compound trying to get some work done, and you look quite dedicated once you get going. If you ever need any help- not that I mean you aren’t highly intelligent,” he hurried to explain, “but I do have quite a bit of experience when it comes to chemistry and such- if you ever need any help, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He smiled. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, what is it that you study?” “Psychology. I’m considering becoming a clinical psychologist to focus on abnormal psych and treat those with mental health issues and developmental disorders. Might as well put all the ‘cool and calculating, while warm and compassionate’ energy that I get told I have to good use and help some people.”

The doctor nodded. “I see. And I assume that I would make quite the interesting case file for such a student.”

I frowned. “I suppose you would. Geniuses are often studied by the ordinary folk around them who are desperate to emulate them. Truthfully, I do find you fascinating. But it is much less in the ‘wanting to pick you brain’ sort of way that I’m sure you are used to by now, and more in the vein of admiration and respect.” I grinned, quickly adding “Not to get too emotional, especially after you just granted one of my nerd heart’s dreams by letting me study with you. It’s like being near DaVinci, but I don’t feel self-conscious wearing jeans and eating peanut butter out of a jar around you.”

Bruce laughed- a real, loud laugh- not the quiet, polite laugh that he usually allowed himself.

“Well,” he said after collecting himself enough to speak, “I’m sure your snacking is no match for Stark’s. I swear, every day I have to recalculate a formula or theorem because he smeared salsa or cheese on it. The other day he zapped a ham with the arc reactor to see if it would be flash cooked or if it would simply explode. It exploded, although you wouldn’t be able to tell after the scrubbing that his robots gave the place.”

I rolled my eyes, chuckling. Nothing would seem so outlandish to the general public, but so in character to those who knew the brilliant moron than a scientific ham explosion.

“Well, I hate to keep you, Dr. Banner. I’m sure you have more important, scientific things to do, like maybe tazering a pineapple, for instance, than talking to a college student employed as an overly glorified babysitter.” I walked to the door, and leaned in the doorway. “Do let me know if you plan on tazering anything, though. I definitely want in on that action.”

“Will do. And please,” he waved a hand dismissively, “call me Bruce. We spend way too much time together for formalities. Normally I prefer the doctor title, and I appreciate you using it, but I can tell we’re going to be friends by the end of the week with you working here, so we can just make things easier and skip it.”

I smiled widely and twitched my hand excitedly.

“I look forward to spending more time with you, Bruce.”

“Oh, one more thing!” he said. “I’m going to talk to Tony about setting up a room for you here. You’re here a third of the day, at classes another third, and sleeping for the rest. It seems like you could save a lot of time and effort if you just slept here a couple nights a week. I’ve been a bit worried about you getting enough sleep as it was, let alone now that Loki is actually socializing with you.” I smiled sincerely. “Thank you, Bruce. That’s really considerate of you. Honestly, sleeping here would save me a 30 minute commute both ways, and I could really use that extra time sleeping or studying, or even having a social life. Maybe I can plan a little get together for the other Avengers. I feel like the person I know the best in the Compound is Loki, and I was assigned to prevent him from escaping, so I don’t think that’s a very healthy relationship.”

I pointed to Bruce. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll order a pizza and we can all spend my first night here hanging out and getting to know each other better. Does that sound good, or is it too much like a teenager slumber party type of thing?”

“That sounds like a great plan,” he said, nodding. “I look forward to getting to know everyone a bit better. The only person around here I really know at all is Stark, and even then, everything I know is surface information, nothing you can’t learn from his Wikipedia page.” “Awesome, I’ll talk to Tony about it and I guess he can get the word out from there. Looks like we’re going to have ourselves a little party!” I pumped the air with my fist. “Well, I have to go now, but I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Dr- Bruce,” I corrected myself. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Bruce.”

Bruce smiled and waved. “See you tomorrow.”

The next day, I was surprised to be welcomed by Tony as I entered the Compound. He was waiting for me fiddling with what looked like a way more advanced version of a smartphone, with clear paneling and no visible buttons. I barely had time to notice that he was working on blueprints of some kind before he looked up and greeted me.

“Ah, Andi.” He clasped my shoulder and began gently steering me down the hall to the elevator. “I have a quick little surprise for you, before you clock in. Do you clock in?” I shrugged, walking with him, his arm still over my shoulder. “Kind of. The only person here for me to relieve is Natasha, but even she can only do so many 16 hour shifts in a week. Why do you ask?” “Oh, just wondering. Bruce has asked me to design a room for you to help you manage what time you have away from the green menace in the containment room. I figured you would want to be close to him, but also close to the lab to work with Bruce, which he also told me about.” He paused. “I have to say, I’m a little surprised he agreed to let you work near him. Usually he’s pretty uptight about his space because of, y’known, the big green monster. The Mr. Hyde to his Dr. Banner. He was resistant to even working with me, but, it’s my lab in the first place and he was too polite to refuse for long.”

Big green monster, I pondered. Did I miss another metaphor or something? Then I realized, freezing in my tracks.

“Holy shit,” I said out loud. “Tony, I think I may be a bit stupid.” He shrugged. “Most of us are. So, what’d you forget? Or remember? Or realize?” I looked at the floor.

“I forgot that Bruce can turn into the Hulk,” I mumbled quietly.

“What was that?” “I said I forgot that Bruce can turn into the Hulk.” I glanced up at Tony to gauge his reaction. He stifled a laugh.

“You forgot about the giant green dude that was swinging around Manhattan around, what, a month ago? That the quaint little scientist isn’t the only reason we keep Banner around?” I sighed and resigned myself to my fate.

“Yep,” I admitted. “I forgot that my super cool role model turned coworker of sorts can turn into a giant green person with rage issues who literally fought off an alien invasion barehanded. Go ahead. Laugh away.” Tony grinned. “No, I mean, we all make mistakes. I’m not saying that I’ve ever forgotten something this big, but I’m sure it happens to lots of people.”

“I’m sure the average person’s life is filled with much more mundane issues than a sweet and absurdly brilliant man having the ability to turn into a giant mutant dude who likes to smash aliens,” I replied. “Given, I’ve never really had an average experience in life, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a normal thing that goes on in most people’s lives.”

Tony shrugged. “Normal is boring. Normal is bleh. You never hear of a normal person doing something great. Anyway,” he grabbed my shoulder again, “back to your surprise.”

We walked for a few minutes, taking long hallways and elevators. I fiddled with my hands the whole time we walked, excited about the surprise, but slightly uncomfortable because Tony was touching me. I was significantly more comfortable with him than with most people, but it still felt odd for someone to make physical contact with me, especially as his arm grazed the back of my unprotected neck. Normally that direct kind of contact would make me flinch away or start twitching. Thankfully, Tony was familiar enough that it was no more unpleasant than being forced to smile awkwardly for a photo.

I think the average person would enjoy this, I thought as we walked. Man, people are weird. How are they supposed to swing their arms while they walk if they’re this close? What if they walk weird like me? Logically, holding hands and stepping away from each other would make more sense. Or a nice elbow escort. Oh well, he’s doing his best and I appreciate the assumed affection that this represents.

Finally, we reached our destination, a door a few floors above Loki’s containment chamber. The door was made of the blackest black material I had ever seen and had a curved top. I glanced at Tony, who released my shoulder and smiled at me.

“Welcome,” he gestured dramatically, “to your new room!”

I grinned as he showed me the elaborate way of unlocking the beautiful door and how I could customize a password so that only I could unlock it. After he finished his quick tutorial, which he seemed very proud and a little smug about, he opened the door and walked inside, gesturing for me to follow.

Hello, Ms. Berch,said the robotic voice of JARVIS as I crossed the doorway.

“Hello, JARVIS. Tell me, how long did Tony work on setting up my room?”

Quite a while. 17 hours and 32 minutes to be exact.

I shoved Tony playfully. “I don’t know why I expected anything less, you giant goof.”

The room was, in a word, fantastic. It was a large room with hanging plants and mirrors everywhere. The bed was full size with an ornate headboard made out of solid mahogany, with leaves engraved into it. The double dresser matched, and had a large golden mirror hanging above it. The comforter on the bed was a deep maroon, as was an armchair in the corner. A candle sat on almost every surface, all in different elaborate shapes. Two open doors revealed a walk in closet and a full bathroom with a claw foot bath tub. There was a desk against the wall across from the door, already stocked with study supplies. Above it was what appeared to be a window, although we were far underground. I frowned and looked at Tony.

“It’s a false window,” he explained. “I figured that you would want some sort of nature relief after being trapped underground with Loki all day, so I tinkered around a bit and created this. You can change the view and weather to whatever you want. You can even simulate having an open window with a breeze. All you have to do is tell JARVIS what you want, and he’ll do it.”

With pleasure, chimed the polite AI.

Issues with touching aside, I couldn’t help but hug Tony.

“This is beautiful! Thank you so much, Tony,” I mumbled into his shoulder. “It feels like home already. And you even did Gryffindor colors!” Tony rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah. That was basically mandatory, given you absolute obsession with Harry Potter. I also brought in some plants because I know you like taking care of things, and candles because you find smelling things comforting.”

I let go of him, feeling deeply touched. “Oh my gods, you really listen.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I know you listened to me, but this is so sweet! This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Usually people either make me feel uncomfortable and I won’t talk around them, or they start to tone me out after I do start talking. Basically, this is significant to me, and you’re just going to have to deal with me being dramatic about it.”

Tony shrugged. “I’d rather deal with you being dramatic and overly emotional than Bruce or Natasha anyday. C’mere kid.” He wrapped me in side hug. “And for the record, you may be a bit obnoxious at times,” he said in a teasing tone, “but you deserve to be listened to. You’re one of the few people trusted enough to protect the world from literal gods. You’re owed respect.” I shrugged. “It is what it is. But I appreciate you listening to me and doing all this just to make me more comfortable. Especially because it absolutely worked! This place is seriously amazing, and the window is brilliant, Tony.”

“It was no biggie. I’m sure you would have done the same for me. Now, let’s get you to your shift before Natasha snaps and puts a bullet between Loki’s ears.”

“Okay.” It was hard to walk away from such an inviting room, but I tore myself away, somewhat excited for my talk with Loki.

I greeted the mischievous captive as I walked into the room housing his containment chamber.

“Hey, Loki. What’s up?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” he drawled sarcastically from where he sat on the floor. “I’m still stuck in a glass box with nothing to do.” He sat up slightly. “You seem to be in a good mood,” he noted. “I don’t supposed it’s because you’ve decided to release me and runaway with me to Asgard to experience true culture.” “Oh, yeah, you got me. I’ve come to free the man I love so we can live happily ever after.” I fluttered my eyes dramatically, clasping my hands to my heart. Loki scoffed, although his eyes showed a hint of humor. “Actually, it’s your lucky day, my dear prince. You may be seeing more of me from now on, now that I live here!” I pumped my fist, to Loki’s chagrin. “Stark set up a room for me so that I can stay here some nights and be on call if you ever need me,” I explained. “Also, that news definitely deserved more of a reaction.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Ah yes, glory days. I have to spend more time with a mortal assigned to ensure I stay trapped. Lucky me.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I replied. “We both know you like me.”

Suddenly, Loki was on his feet, his face mere inches from mine, only glass separating us.

“Please,” he hissed, “I would sooner force you into this cruel fate than show you any affection. The only reason you haven’t met your face yet is because I am biding my time.” “Yep,” I deadpanned. “I’ve never heard that one before. Allow me to rephrase. You may not like me, although let’s face it, you totally will in the long run, but you are fond of the relief I provide from the monotonous life you live in here without me. I am the only relief you get from this boringness and isolation because I’m the only one who can bare to be around your entitled, self-glorifying ass. I would recommend you stop relying on your old, outdated, and frankly, weak scare tactics and come up with a better plan for getting out of here, or, better yet, accept that you’re not going anywhere unless it’s as an actually decent person.”

Loki scoffed again, although he returned to his spot on the floor. I noticed that he was obviously attempting to display confident and unbothered body language, but I had clearly gotten to him a little, just enough to make him uncertain of himself.

“Well,” he said in a much more polite tone, “why are you so excited about living here? What does this tower have to offer that the outside world does not?”

“For one, it isn’t thirty minutes from my job. I may actually get a decent amount of sleep if I stay here, and I can actually get my schoolwork done. I can also hangout with the rest of the team, which is cool. And believe it or not, I was actually a bit excited about spending more time with you too,” I admitted.

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “Me? You choose to live in a castle to spend time with its prisoner? What odd tactics you have.”

“I thought you might appreciate more access to the outside world. Unfortunately, there’s no safe way for anyone to bring any books or anything in to you because of your magic.” I frowned.

“What?” questioned Loki.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I just had an idea, but I’ll tell you about it later. Anyway, I guess I’m spending the night here tomorrow. I would tonight, but I need to make sure my roommate is up to date and will take care of my cats, and I need to pack an overnight bag. Maybe if you’re good, I’ll visit you tomorrow night.” Loki stared at me, expressionless. Even to someone who spent their life studying human emotions and body language, he was hard to read.

“Is that a promise?” he asked. “If so, I’ll have to plan my behavior carefully.” Well that cleared up precisely nothing.

I decided to change the subject. “Okay, conversation time. What is your favorite meal?” Loki raised an eyebrow, obviously judging my choice of conversation, but chose to reply, which was more than he did a lot of the time.

“I doubt you have the exact thing here, but basically a slow roasted piece of meat served in its own gravy with mashed potatoes, peas, and rolls. Which traditionally would be followed by a sour type of dessert pie.” “Okay.” I nodded. “Mine is actually pretty similar, sans peas and sour pie. Well, that or the classic grilled cheese.”

“Grilled cheese? That sounds disgusting. Wouldn’t the cheese just harden and burn?”

“Ah, common mistake, my prickly prince. A grilled cheese is a type of sandwich. It consists of two pieces of bread with cheese in between them. Different people like different cheeses, but I prefer cheddar and mozzarella. It’s pretty simple, but it’s a classic for a reason.”

“That sounds…palatable.” “Oh!” I exclaimed. “High praise from the prickly one! If only you found me as palatable as a grilled cheese, then we’d really be getting somewhere.” Loki smirked slightly.

“I don’t find you entirely undesirable. I may not like your personality,” his eyes trailed along me, “but you have other qualities that I admire.” “Aw, so sweet. Honestly, I think you’d be a lot hotter than me as a woman.” My eyes widened as I had an idea. “Hey, Loki, you can shapeshift right?” He sighed. “You know the answer to that, and I know where this is going. Luckily for you, I do not mind taking the form of a woman.”

Loki stood and was enveloped by the swirling cloud of green mist that I had seen a few weeks previously. When it dissipated, a gorgeous woman with pale skin and long black hair stood in Loki’s place.

“Damn, Loki! I knew it, you’re way hotter than me!” I exclaimed with glee.

Loki laughed, her voice much higher than usual. “So,” she said in her familiar drawl, “this is a form you find appealing? This is one of my two favorite forms, but I’ve been preferring my more masculine one recently. It’s a pity, I would quite like to have you look at me the way you are now all the time.” She smirked.

I chuckled. “Hey, I never said your male form wasn’t highly attractive. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to be as gorgeous as a woman too. It’s pretty unfair that you get to be so beautiful all the time, even in different forms and genders. Also, side note, what gender do you identify as? Is the form switching just an aesthetic thing, or is it tied to your gender presentation?” “I consider myself man, woman, and other, depending on the time,” Loki answered.

“Oh cool, so you’re genderfluid. My sibling is genderfluid too, but just goes by he/they pronouns. Do you have a default pronoun preference, or should I just go with whatever sex you present as?” Loki narrowed her eyes. “I would prefer you use the pronouns that are paired with my current sex. It is not very common for people to ask me so many questions about my gender,” she observed. “Why do you ask so many questions?” “For one, this is just really cool and it blows my mind that this is an opportunity you have, to just change your sex to match your current gender. I mean, wow, people would kill for that ability. And secondly, I just want to make sure that I refer to you properly. Being misgendered sucks, and I don’t want to do that to you, even on accident.” Loki was once again enveloped in green smoke, returning to his male form. He stammered for a moment, clearly hesitant about saying something.

“I appreciate your consideration,” he finally managed to get out. He glanced at me. “Do you really find this form as attractive as my female form?” I nodded. “Yeah. Your female form definitely had the ‘wow factor’ because I’m not used to it, but you’re just a very attractive person all around. I may have a slight preference for women at times, like a lot of bisexuals, but I could completely understand someone going after you in your current form.” “Bisexual?” Loki tilted his head in confusion.

“Man, I’m really just educating you on all sorts of human concepts today. Okay, a bisexual is someone attracted to two or more genders. I’m a bisexual because I like men, women, and people who identify elsewhere on the gender spectrum.” “Ah. I believe that by your mortal standard, I am a bisexual.” I frowned slightly, looking him up and down.

“Yeah, okay, I believe that. I figured this whole time that you’d be a member of the LGBTQ+ community in some way or other. You’re just way too dramatic to be straight or cis.”

Loki held up his hands. “Okay, I need you to go back and define at least three more terms.” “Oh my,” I said, scratching my head. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.” I spent much of the rest of the day’s work period educating Loki on LGBTQ+ matters, including gender identities, sexualities, and the struggles faced by humans who identified as LGBTQ+. He was rightfully angered when he learned that people much like him, sans godlike abilities, were often in danger just because people hated them for existing. By the end of the session, Loki was much more educated on human culture and issues, and I was rightfully exhausted from teaching him all day.

Despite how tired I was, though, I couldn’t help but visit my new room again, just to admire it. By the time I made it through the advanced security of my beautiful door and customized the password to my liking, I was even more tired. I sat my backpack down in the desk chair and asked JARVIS to please show a rainy day outside my window before plopping down on the bed to assess its comfiness.

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “This will do quite nicely.” And with that thought spoken aloud, I drifted off to sleep, the sound of the rain hitting the false window lulling

#my writing #loki (marvel)#loki fanfic #bruce banner #hulk #x reader #loki x reader #loki x oc #bruce banner x reader #hulk x reader #bruce banner x oc #hulk x oc #autistic bruce banner #autistic characters #mcu #marvel

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ikeromantic · 4 years ago

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Not Cold Enough

An Ikevamp Leonardo daVinci fanfic, approx 1200 words. Pretty fluffy stuff. This is a continuation of the scene in Change - that’s mid to end of Ch. 9

That boat ride was the moment I actually started to like Leo ^_^

First: That First Night

Previous: Change

Leonardo took a deep breath. He found these kind of direct conversations difficult. “Ah, I wanted to say. What you’re going through, it’s not strange. This anxiousness you feel won’t last. Things will resolve themselves in time. You’ll see.”

His compagna took a sharp breath, clearly not expecting that turn in the conversation. “I’m anxious?”

He settled a hand on her shoulder, glad for the glove that separated his skin from hers. It was one more thing he didn’t need to feel right now. Not if he wanted to . . . maintain. Leo steadied himself and looked at her again. “I know you’re afraid you won’t be able to go home.”

“No! You’re wrong. I - I never thought that!” Her sudden stiffness gave the lie to her protest.

“Mmm, cara mia, you’re a terrible liar.” Leonardo leaned closer to her, though it made the boat rock to move. “I saw you that day, in le Comte’s study. You were looking at the hourglass and thinking you were all alone.”

She blinked at him with those wide, guileless eyes. He thought he saw the beginnings of tears behind them, but he had not brought her here to see a goddess cry.

“You said a smile would make it better. And then you smiled.” He stroked a thumb along the side of her face. “You were so courageous, cara mia.”

His compagna let her cheek rest against his hand.

Leonardo shook his head. “I know you did it for us - to keep everyone from worrying about you. But I can’t stand by and watch my compagna do that to herself.”

Her little face scrunched up in thought and then she said his name.

“Yes?”

“All the things we did this last week - you did all of that on purpose? To cheer me up?”

Leo sniffed as if offended. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, cara.”

She stopped leaning against his hand and frowned. “No. It was a plan! You’re plan. It’s all too spontaneous, even for you.”

He wondered briefly what she meant by that. How could she know what was impetuous for him? He would have to ask Sebas if he’d been sharing certain written works. But her next comment derailed him.

“It’s fine - don’t answer. You don’t have to tell me anything.” His compagna didn’t say it angrily. She sounded apathetic, as if she’d given up on talking to him about it despite her animation a moment ago.

“Ah, so disheartened. That wasn’t my intent at all.” Leonardo hated that she saw through him so easily. Admitting it was like - like losing a game to Arthur. You might know it was coming but it still stung. He fished a cigarillo from his pocket and lit it. After a long, slow drag, he nodded. “I confess, cara mia. I decided if you were going to force yourself to smile even when you were alone, I’d make sure you weren’t alone.”

“Why?”

“Mmm, because when we are all alone, we belong only to ourselves. Trust me, cara. That’s not always a good thing. And,” he paused, “By happy chance, you started opening up to the others in the mansion. Making friends.”

His compagna smiled, a real smile. “Did I?”

“You did. And you started smiling your true smile. Just as you are right now. Beautiful.”

She laughed softly. “And that was your plan all along.”

“Just so. But I will apologize for ruining whatever you wanted to do this week with my selfish desires.” He was glad she believed just that far - that he wanted to cheer her. Not the rest. That he wanted to spend this time with her. To enjoy her.

The girl looked abashed. “I, I’m sorry too, Leonardo. I shouldn’t have -”

Leo shushed her by brushing the hair back from her face. “Don’t apologize, cara.” He toyed with the loose piece of hair. It was hard not to touch her, even in these little ways. “Would it be alright if I kept helping you smile? I am your compagno, afterall. Even if only provisorio.”

His cara mia shut her eyes tight. Then a tear squeezed past her lashes, and another. A torrent of them, sliding down her cheeks like little jewels of sadness.

“Cara, why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying!” She turned her face away from him.

“Heh, yes you are. Why do you cry when I asked you to smile?” His voice was a mixture of self-deprecating laughter and his own deep well of sorrow.

“You’re crazy! I’m not crying! I’m - I’m fine.”

“Then let me see your face.”

She refused to look at him, so Leonardo did what he had to. He leaned forward, trying to turn her toward him again. His cara mia lurched back, rocking the boat precariously. Leonardo tried to offset the sudden movement, but it was too little too late. The boat tipped and they both fell into the water.

Leonardo was the first to surface and he reached for his compagna’s hand. Her head broke the water’s surface and she spluttered for a moment. He helped steady her by pulling her close. Her body was warm in the cold, dark water.

“I didn’t expect this evening to end with a swim.” She looked up at Leo, her expression wry. “I don’t guess this was part of Operation Cheer?”

“Afraid not, cara. To be honest, bringing you out in the boat was spur of the moment. I didn’t think we would be in the lake - just on it.”

She grinned suddenly. “Then I guess I managed to surprise you!”

“Oh? So you planned to tip the boat?”

His compagna turned herself to face him. Leonardo tried not to think about her warm breasts pressing into his chest, or the way her legs kept sliding against his in the water. Just look at her face, he told himself. Ignore the parts below the water.

“I didn’t plan it but it was my fault. Sorry about that.”

She didn’t look sorry. Not in the least.

“Should I help you back into the boat, cara? Or will you begin your life as a mermaid tonight?”

“A mermaid?”

He grinned. “Of course! You are beautiful enough to lure men to their death. Even with your hair plastered to your head.” He lifted up a wet, tangled strand.

She batted his hand away, but it was playful more than outraged. “You don’t look so hot yourself. Your hair is wet too, and your coat is never going to be the same after this soaking.”

“Ah! My cigarillos!” He patted his pocket and felt their soggy remains. “Now I am truly sad, cara. This is disaster.”

“Can’t have that, can we? Not after all you’ve done to cheer me up today.” She leaned close and before he knew what was happening, placed a light kiss on his lips.

Leonardo was too shocked to move. His compagna took advantage of the moment to scramble back into the boat. He could not help but note her flushed cheeks and the guilty smile she wore. He stayed in the water a moment longer to calm himself. His galloping heart was one thing, but the reaction below . . . that she could not be allowed to notice.

He tried to think of calming things. Pancakes. Sunflowers. Violins.

“Are you getting back in?”

Her breasts taunted him beneath the thin, white fabric of her top. It clung wetly to her skin, showing her curves and pert, hard nipples. He felt suddenly thirsty.

“Leonardo?”

“In a moment, cara.” The water just wasn’t cold enough tonight.

Next: A Little Heat

#Ikemen Vampire #IkeVamp Leo #ikevamp leonardo #otome guys #otome #fanfiction #fanfic

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hotwaterandmilk · 2 years ago

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Magilumie 33

More a transition chapter to the next part of the story than anything else, this still managed to be a solid installment.

Kana’s week of training Akane wraps up and we get a few cute scenes of them together just living that worker life. The real insight from Kana taking the lead is that it has made her reflect on the way Hitomi has guided her from the start.

Fingers crossed we see Akane collab with MagiLumiere again! I just love to see these women mentoring and guiding each other in a risky role, particularly as it shows how well the companies can work together potentially against the mutating Kaii threat down the track.

Speaking of which, the tail end of the chapter focuses on Shigemoto attending a meeting between those heading up the tackling of the Kaii. This particular meeting was called because of the mutations. Shigemoto and Koga are “old members” of this group and given the amount of stink-eye Koga is showing to Shigemoto when he rocks up, the discussion between all these parties should be interesting.

Shigemoto made it clear during their expo meeting that he wants to collaborate with Koga and Ast to avoid whatever happened 15 years ago. Koga, on the other hand, was fiercely against the idea. Between that and the glimpses we’ve seen of the magical girl Shigemoto is representing in his appearance, it’s a fair guess to say that the loss of this girl/the events from 15 years ago play heavily into what caused the falling out between Shigemoto and Koga (in addition to their opposing management styles and goals).

Overcoming this past trauma and uniting Ast and MagiLumiere (along with the other orgs) is likely to be key to resolving the Kaii mutations, though we’re still left clueless as to what (who?) is causing them. Or honestly, anything much about the Kaii’s origin. Lots of potential for devleopment here!

Anyway I think one thing is extremely clear after seeing glimpses of the magical girl from Shigemoto’s past; she clearly meant everything to him and he is serious about embodying her spirit through his role in MagiLumiere. His little “ittekimasu” to what is likely a photo of her as he leaves for the meeting (wearing a suit) is just ;o;

Anyway all of this is me just thinking out loud, I’m looking forward to the next chapter as always so we can learn that bit more about the past as well as how the MagiLumiere team will factor into the future.

Don’t forget to vote for Magilumiere in the current davinci x niconico MangaNext Awards. It’s up in the web manga category, you can vote here in Japanese or vote here in English.

#magilumie #magilumie spoilers #i love this series idk #rambling on my lunch break again

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whatsanalec · 4 years ago

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Weeks 9&10

It’s been hectic and stressful to say the least, and a lot happened.

Firstly, concerning the “ ‘ “ idea: I made a portotype for each version (window and crowd). However, the only one I went forward with was the window one, because I feel like it’s more striking and intriguing as an image and concept, and because the crowd idea (seeing image) - although it took a while to draw - turned out to appear a lot more creepy than I imagined because of the eyes. Although I should have seen that coming, come to think of it.

For the Window prototype (first image) I used leftover painted card from last year for the background. For the end product it needs to be bright colour that communicates the feeling of desire.

For both prototypes, I used a photo of myself for the silhouette (which I had to photoshop because my jaw was still very swollen from getting my wisdom tooth removed at the time). This is my way of putting myself in the work, semi-literally. Since this concept is half-inspired by personal experience, it just makes sense for me.

Having decided to go ahead with the window idea, I set to work to get it done. I used another image for the background figure to avoid the same pixelation issue I had with the prototype.

This piece, initially inspired by the Imagine Dragons lyric, “I’m an apostrophe, I’m just a symbol to remind you that there’s more to see,” put you in the perspective of a person who, despite having someone directly in front of and facing them, decides to look through them and onto who’s behind. That person, however, is visually content without knowing or acknowledging you. And yet, you keep looking.

The top layer being plain white serves the purpose of blending into a white wall and emphasising the idea that you are looking straight through someone who is obviously right in front of you. Behind that, the black layer is to create stark contrast and amplify the white’s cutout, but invite you further into the centre of the piece.

The much more intricate application of the crimson and scarlet colours beneath are to communicate the feeling of desire and interest that you feel towards the figure in the back, who is maticulously detailed in contrast to the silhouette in front. This is to convey the idea that you, who is looking through someone that you see no detain in, look past them and onto someone whose body intrigues you so much more. The piece is sized so that the silhouette is life sized in order to make the concept more real to the viewer.

In other news, remember that floating MDF idea I had? Yeah I did that. This was very unlike anything I’ve done before and was very stressful because I was working on this and ‘ at the same time for over a week.

This started with me stealing (with permission) - bunch of lasercut rectangles from the digital making space, and the idea of “strangers,” which I came up with after a conversation with my friend about my social anxiety. After a slow back and forth with Ronnie about how to suspend them, I painted them all white on both sides and we constructed the... thing.

As I mentioned before, my first thought was to create some kind of crosshatch design - either out of assembled wood or lasercut MDF - and attach it to my studio board so that the pieces could be hung in seemingly random places, because that’s what I wanted. What Ronnie thought of was similar. We screwed a couple long, thin pieces of wood coming off the top of my studio board and I was left to play with it.

We were going to do the same thing with another piece of wood and then attach some pieces across the ones already there, parallel to the wall, but after some experimentation with hanging the MDF I realised that it would be much better if the wood parallel to the wall was completely movable. That way, I could move and swap them about freely to get what I want without the hassle of untying the thread and tying it back on in a different spot. And if I wanted to change the position of a single MDF piece, I could shimmy it over thanks to the slack on the knots, or I could loop the thread around the wood to make the MDF higher. Foolproof.

But this contraption isn’t the whole thing. To communicate the aforementioned idea of anxiety, I had the idea of projecting a video of an eye looking around restlessly, with audio of panicked breathing. Luckily, I have three things that made this possible on short notice: a phone capable of filming in 4K, a clip-on macro lens for said phone, and a willing friend.

My idea for this video was to make it very eerie and anxiety inducing. So when it came to editing it, I used Davinci Resolve to desaturate the colours and lower the temperature to make it seem cold and absolutely not uplifting. I then took it into Premiere Pro. There, I made an identical video track but reversed it and lowered the opacity to 33% so it looks like two eyes of the danger owner moving independently.

For the audio, I added a recording of my heavy breathing and upped the gain to make it loud but not deafeningly so. I also added a slowed down version of it for a creepy bass layer, and I also added a track of room time but made it louder to amplify the feeling of something being off.

So, I got a projector and a plinth, and it turned out pretty great. Without further ado:

Strangers is an installation with the purpose of portraying my experience with social anxiety and difficulty communicating with proper I don’t know well or aren’t comfortable around.

The projected video aims to induce the feelings of anxiety and panic, which are communicated through many aspects: i.e. the lack of vibrance, overlap of visuals and collection of audio. The use of colour gives anything but a feeling of happiness and makes the viewer feel on edge just by that alone. The overlap of video shows constant rapid movement, and along with the sound of panicked breathing, plus the sounds beneath that, the feeling of being overwhelmed is emphasised so much more.

The MDF pieces are suspended by transparent fishing wire to give the impression that they are floating. They are positioned in a way that appears random and they take up all three axes. These shapes represent uncertainty and/or people, and their positioning gives the idea that there is no escape from threes feelings of anxiety - you’re surrounded by them. They’re everywhere. These objects onstruct the projection and leave holes in it, furthering the relationship between the two elements of the installation and bringing the video forwards into the third dimension.

To see the video, click here: https://youtu.be/tAJWmACRYbY

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Moving Image module

Editing this thing together was an experience but less tedious than I expected. I used Davinci Teeolve for the first time to colour correct and whatnot. It was a slow process because my laptop isn’t great but I got there. I tried to make it look like there was more sun, to give a warm feeling and emphasise the light-heartedness, but some locations are visually overcast so it was kind of difficult to make them seem sunnier while being realistic. In some cases I ended up just being able to boost the colour which will have to suffice.

When it came to making all the cuts in Premiere, I divided a method for including all the locations without the film being a confusing mess: start with 3 locations and cut between them. 3 minutes in, take one out and introduce a new one in the former’s place. Repeat until all locations are introduced. I had to write this down in a way that visually represented it in a simple way my feeble little brain could understand:

This method was derived from Creature Comforts, which did near the same thing. The difference being that they had many more settings to cut between. After I developed the method, it was a matter of singling out the moray interesting parts/monuments with potential for the voiceover, and cutting them together. It came to about 11.5 minutes, which is respectable in my opinion, as long as we can keep the energy up during recording.

Speaking of which, I think the recording went well. We started with the traffic/weather track which was going well, considering we hadn’t had any practice, until Nathan forgot we weren’t doing voices yet. He realised after that track and we gained confidence through recording the others.

Being one take and in time with the video track, the audio was easy to implement. At first I lowered the sfx and ambiance tracks to give the speech one more prominence, but Nathan advised I boost all of them. This was alright, just meant I had to adjust the volume of some parts. Also, I only ended up using the direction track once, where the speech track peaked badly. If we did this again, I’d definitely speak more clearly during recording and be more cautious about packing the mic. But of course we couldn’t do a second take, because that would go against the whole point of doing a single take.

And that’s it done. I definitely believe we could have achieved something much more impressive if we went with my initial idea or something similar. But nevertheless, this was a fun process, especially the recording. At least I learned new software and hot more experience with editing. Link to the film: https://youtu.be/BoH4mZsXRac

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Now all that’s left is assessment. Please have mercy.

#apostrophe #strangers

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themoonmoonblog · 5 years ago

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Edit YouTube videos for free

Hi Guys! So, if you keep up with my YouTube channel then you’ve already seen my latest video for how to get started on YouTube (If you haven’t, you can see it here), but there’s some things I want to cover real quick that I didn’t in the video, which are what editors to look into. Now, what I stand by in regards to equipment is that you don’t need it to begin making videos, all you need to do is get started and worry about the equipment later down the line (Don’t worry, you will still get subs and views), but something I think you should start doing right away is finding a way to edit your content. The reason for this is because you will take more then one recording per video and you need to be able to edit them, or at the very least put all the recordings into one continuous video. For PC and laptop users, I suggest using Davinci Resolve or Hitfilm Express

Davinci Resolve, in my personal opinion, is the better of the two, but is also harder to learn or master, and is difficult to run on low-end laptops and PCs. The latter being why I often find myself relying on Hitfilm to edit all my videos. Both applications are fantastic for different editing, however, so don’t be too discouraged if you want to use one but find you can only use the other.

for phone users, your options are a lot broader. I haven’t used any phone editors, however after looking it up I’d say Adobe Premiere Clip, Quik, and YouCut are your best options, as none of them download with a watermark.

Adobe Premiere Clip has two editing modes: Freeform and Automatic. Freeform allows you to have control over your edit, and Automatic lets the app trim your clips and add transitions to speed up the editing process for you.The app can also automatically color-correct your clips, lets you add your own music to your videos or choose music from the built-in library. Quik is meant to speed up the editing process, so it can automatically search your video footage to find good shots or moments, trim and edit your clips, and add transitions, but it also still lets you do things manually if you want to. YouCut is a bit more manual than the last two editors, but still comes with a lot of features (You just need to know how to use them). It has all the basic features including trimming, clip merging, color adjusting, video borders, speed control, slideshow maker, lets you insert music, and has several effects.

That pretty much it for this post, I hope this helps someone out :)

#How to edit videos #editing #Tech #techreview #how to #youtube #youtubers #small youtuber #small youtube channel #small channels #yt creator #adobe #hitfilm #davinci resolve #edit #how to be a youtuber #becoming a youtube #aspiring youtubers

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bearphillips-pearce · 6 years ago

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Colour Grading and emulation

The history of colour grading

Colour grading is the process of controlling the final look and polish of video and is vital for presenting the intended viewing experience on the wide range of different devices and viewing environments that are used today. But colour grading has not always been the digital process it is today.

Colour timing (film stock)

The first example of the colour grading process was known as colour timing, this was used when the first colour photochemical film processes started to appear. the parameters adjusted in the process where often the same as used today (contrast, color, saturation, detail, black level, and white point), one of the biggest differences being that the colour timing process was not used to achieve artistic or aesthetic colour effects with the process being expensive and time-consuming as each change had to be made by copying the negative to a new strip of film and making small adjustments to the film exposure through different filters these were then composited into the answer print ready for release, because colour timing took a long time and was the last process before release it was often rushed to meet deadlines. with very little time for experimentation, the “Lab Timer” (who would watch a running film and instruct the lab team to make changes) would aim for the most accurate depiction of the colours that were present in the real world on set rather than a stylised colour pallet.

Telecine

The Telecine was a piece of broadcast equipment developed during the advent of pre-recorded television programming, this allowed the use of 16mm film with other pieces of standardised broadcasting equipment allowing shows to be recorded to film and then re-broadcast in the correct television standard format including colour space correction. This was achieved through the use of an internal projector that would shine a white light through the exposed film onto a prism that would split the image in to its red green and blue components, the three colors where then combined to form the final altered image that would be in the correct colour space to be compatible with other broadcast equipment. This quickly made the jump to the film chain post production as it allowed colour grading to be done quickly without the additional film processes associated with colour timing. results could be viewed live using traditional studio CRT monitors rather than specialist projectors and multiple grades could be produced and compared with the introduction of the first Quadruplex video tape recorders (VTR) VRX-1000, this meant more creative and experimental grades could be produced without the time and expense of committing the grade to film each time.

Digital intermediate

With the improvement of the Telecine allowing the use of higher resolution and a digital file output now being possible, colour grading began to shift away from using dedicated pieces of equipment into a digital work station environment. this was achieved by using the Telecine to scan film for use in the post-production chain that would later be transferred back on to film. This process is known as digital intermediate as the film is captured on an analogue format, transferred into a digital space for editing and colour correction and then ultimately ends with an analogue output as the footage is transferred back to traditional film stock for showing and release, allowing for the benefits of analogue capture and presentation to be combined with the efficiency and power of digital post-production.

This workflow was first pioneered in the late 1990s with the film Pleasantville (1998) advancing the technology to a point that the use of a digital intermediate was practical on a commercial film. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) then followed becoming the first film to use a fully digital grade, this was done by scanning the film negatives using a spirit datacine at a resolution of 2k, the colours were then digitally fine-tuned and output as a digital master that was then transferred to film using a kodak laser recorder giving an accurate representation of the digital master compared to an analogue recorder that would have used more traditional projection and film copying techniques to create the internegative that would often lead to artifacting.

Film emulation

In the current age of digital film where the entire film making process is streamlined through the use of digital formats from capture to post-production and even distribution and presentation of the final product, directors often seek out the analogue ‘film look’ without the expense or difficulty of what is being labelled as a “dying format” by many in the industry, but despite this outlook the use of film emulation techniques are becoming more commonplace and now it can often be hard to tell the difference between the real thing and its digital counterpart thanks to continuing advancements in the two main film emulation process.

Analogue (film) intermediate

This prosses is much the same as digital intermediate, say for in this instance the formats are inverted with the capture format being digital, the footage is then pre-graded digitally using LUTs that have been created using the desired film stock to capture colour calibration pallets and human subjects against a neutral well lit background, this shifts the colours to what would be expected if the image was captured on the film stock that it's trying to replicate. Once the LUTs and pre-grade have been applied the footage is then exposed on to the analogue intermediate using a digital projection process that aims to replicate a film camera using data from the films original capture including lens focal length, aperture and shutter speed, this varies from the digital to film conversion in digital intermediate and it aims to embrace the analogue effects and the noise created by the projection process rather than trying to negate it.

The analogue intermediate is then converted back into a digital format by using a high-resolution film scanner so that the final grade and any other post-production processes can be continued in a digital workspace. This prosses aims to get the closest it possibly can to actually capturing on film while still having the convenience, flexibility and other benefits of capturing digitally.

A good example of this is the short film curfew (2012) that was shot on high definition red cameras and then used a 16mm film intermediate to capture the organic noise and natural feel that film presents while still maintaining control over the fine-tuning of the films look in the final digital grade and polish.

Digital emulation

Digital film emulation is the cheapest and most accessible form of film emulation as the basic effect can be achieved very quickly in most post-production and editing software packages and can often be added to footage with drag and drop presets, this often gives an over the top stylistic effect rather than capturing the subtle nuances of the film look and creating a convincing and true emulation can he harder to achieve through this prosses than when using a film intermediate. The first two steps of the process are very similar to analogue intermediate with the film being captured digitally and a pre-grade being applied using pre-generated LUTs to replicate the film colour space.the next step is the biggest difference between the two emulation methods and is the way in which the film grain is applied. With this process, there are two ways the film grain is added. The first and simplest way this is achieved by compositing and blending high-quality scans of blank film negatives on top of the pre-graded footage, but this can often lead to a very uniform and sterile as the footage often feels as if its sat behind the film effect rather than being part of it. The other way to add convincing film grain is to generate the noise digitally, post-production houses that offer digital film emulation will have often developed there own noise generation algorithms and plugins based on reference film and comparing side by side captured digital and analogue footage. Using digital noise and grain generation gives the colorist more control over the final look and can give a more natural feel to the final emulation as the random generation lends itself well to the chaoticness of natural analogue film grain, this combined with artificial film shudder and slight variations in exposure between each frame can all be adjusted to replicate any film stock or format size while retaining the benefits of a fully digital production chain.

What I aim to do

During this specialist subject study project, I would like to produce either a short film or reel showcasing the digital film emulation prosses by attempting the whole process starting from in-camera settings and setting up the optimal shooting environment for film emulation all the way through to post-production, experiment with the emulation of different film formats and try grading in the industry standard software DaVinci Resolve.

#vfx #filmmaking #post production #color grading #film emulation

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