You will form groups of three students for this project. Once formed, the teams will have to select one of the five minute video clips from the project DVD to use in this assignment. The clips provided have had their original sound removed, and it will be the job of your team to provide new original sound for the clip. Using one of the Zoom audio recorders (available at the checkout window) your team will record sounds captured from the environment as well as sounds generated in a studio setting

Project Criteria:

- You will NOT be able use any spoken words as a sound effect for this assignment

- You may use your voice to make abstract sounds (grunts, whistles, burps, etc)

- you may use word-like or communicative sounds for dialogue as long as there are no discernable words

- You may not alter the original video in any way other than to add sound to it.

-  I want your team to Primarily use sounds that it captured using the Zoom audio          recorder. Downloading premade sound clips should be a last resort, relying heavily upon downloaded clips often leads to generic sounding videos. Your video will be a lot more fun to watch, listen to, and make the more creative you are in inventing your own sounds!

- You may NOT use music as a melodramatic element of the video ‐ i.e. dramatic            background music. If a scene has an environmental inclusion of music (for example ‐ in an elevator, at a party, or if the scene has a radio or tv in it) you may incorporate musical sounds but they must fit into the environment and sound as if they are a part of the environment.

- The sounds do not have to be literal, though they must in some way sync up with the  action of the visuals, Feel free to play with the sounds to make the scenes surreal,    funny, or even menacing (for example, characters could make the sound of bees       when they open their mouths, or you could make soft touches sound like punches)

Sound Design Notes:

- Sound can reveal as much about the space of a scene as the visuals.

- Things sound softer when they are far away, simply increasing the volume of a sound can create the impression that it is getting closer.

- Acoustical situations alter the way we hear sound: the carpet, bedding, and popcorn texture of your bedroom walls and ceiling tend to muffle and isolate sound where the hard flat surfaces of your bathroom give sound more echo.

- The size of a space also effects the way you hear sound: imagine the way a scream     would sound in an empty auditorium vs. that same scream performed inside of a            cardboard box.

- Try to record sounds in places that have a similar acoustic profile as visuals in the scene: is the scene taking place in a bedroom? record some sounds from your own bedroom. is the scene in a cave? find someplace which has a lot of echo and hard floors. many of these acoustical effects are replicable in FCP, but you'll find that recording sounds naturally often gives the best results and is less of a hassle.

- Room Tone: even vacant rooms have a sound. fluorescent lights have a slight buzz to them,             central air makes a soft blowing noise, refrigerators hum away in kitchens. even rooms      with absolutely nothing in them will have an acoustical tone to them which we almost      universally ignore or don't notice. But these subtle sounds            become noticeable when they           are absent (and I'm talking here primarily about scenes where there are few sounds             and lots of 'silence'), such scenes will sound empty or off. So take care to capture room   tones to use in the more subtle scenes in your video sequence.

- Think in Layers. Generally you should try to have about 3 layers of sound going on in a scene

-There should always be some sort of background sound (like a room tone, or the howling winds of a desert etc.).

- you will usually have secondary sounds. things like a characters footsteps, the sound his clothes make as he moves, water dripping off a stalactite in a cave, papers rustling as   a character handles them, etc. these sounds often add specificity and veracity to the sound design of a scene

- And then there are the primary sounds. in cinema this is usually a characters dialogue, or sound related to the primary action of the scene. Often the primary sounds are accentuated by raising their volume or reducing (ducking) the volume of the secondary and background sounds.

- Sound Variety: when you are capturing sounds make sure to record multiple versions. if, for   example, every punch sound you use is exactly the same it will be   noticeable (and bad)

- Sync Recording: in many situations it may be to your advantage to record sounds and sound sequences already in sync with the video (footsteps and fabric sounds are often good to record this way) a good strategy is to have your video on an ipod or laptop so whoever is performing the sounds can watch the video and move in time with it.

-Out of frame sound: don't forget to include sounds that aren’t in the view - just because a person's feet are out of frame doesn't mean they don't make sound. also adding sounds not visually referenced can add dimension and subtext to your sound design.

File name should be as follows:
            GroupName_ClipName_Foley.mov

DUE DATES:

ROUGH DRAFT DUE FEB 24th
FINAL PROJEcT DUE MAR 5th

Foley Competent Project Sheet spring2009

Zoom_Notes

aditional reading material and resources

BeginnersGuideToFCPSound

WorkingWithAudioInTimelineFCP

AnIntroductiontoSoundinFilm

DesigningaMovieforSound

FOLEYTheArtOfFootsteps

someFoleyThoughts

kdmc-audio-protools

kdmc-audio-soundtrackpro

Links to Video Files:

Coffy
DeathSport
Europa
Le Derneir Combat
MachineGirl
Mark Twain Adventure
Son Of Rambow
Switchblade Sisters (ver. 2)
The Blob
The Fall

This project is intended to be quick exercise to help you guys develop technical skills in creating your shots and handling your cameras. As such this project will focus upon the formal qualities of your video and technical achievement with the hardware.

I will be looking for well composed shots, clear thoughtful color schemes, and attention to camera movement. Content will not be a focus of this project though you may certainly inform the shots with your personal interests (from your studio practice or other sources)
In this project you will be required to create five types of video shots. Each shot type should be made into its own discrete video of about 15-30s in length.

The Five Sequences:

#1) Slow zoom: a shot involving a zoom which changes the viewers focal subject (simply starting with a wide shot with an obvious subject and zooming in to a tight shot on a different subject within the framing of the original wide shot -or vice versa)

#2) Point of View: Shot which creates the impression that an inanimate object is looking at something. I do not want you to animate the object in this shot! you must create this impression through the movement of the camera, the placement of the camera, and the way you cut the sequence.

#3) Dolly Shot: A shot where you smoothly follow the movement of you video subject through a space (this means not a handheld shot - you'll have to rig some sort of dolly to accomplish the shot - you could use a rolling chair, a bicycle, or a car for example) you may need to recruit a friend to push you around for this shot.

#4) Depth of Field: A shot which has a distinct depth of field (foreground - subject - in focus, background out of focus, or vice versa). The shot should alternate between foreground and background focus.

#5) Simple Action: A short sequence describing a person performing a simple activity (dialing a phone, boiling water, playing an instrument, etc.). The sequence must have at least three distinct types of shots, for example you could have a close shot of a hand pulling a cell phone out of a pocket, then a very tight close shot of the fingers pushing buttons, then cut to a mid or long shot as the figure puts to phone to her ear.
I do not want any music used for this project, natural sound only. That being said I DO NOT want to hear you operating the camera. It is ok for you to dub foley sounds in the video.

The five shots will be turned in to me at the beginning of class mar 10th. You can either turn in each shot as a separate .mov file or if you want to turn in all the shots as one .mov file you may as long as you give each shot its own title screen which clearly labels which shot type it is.

Things to keep in mind:

- Be sure to set up the white balance before shooting - If I see yellow tinged videos for this project I will take points off

- DO NOT use the auto focus on the camcorders. If I see focus flicker caused by the camera's auto focus I will take points off.

- Think about where you are shooting, I want you to get out of your apartment and look for interesting placed to create these shots. Bonus points will be given for creative and/or interesting locations.

-Give some thought to the lighting. use this learning project as an opportunity to play with unusual or dramatic lighting situations. Bonus points will be given for cool lighting.

- Consider the color palette of your shots. do you want lots of bright colors? how does the color of your subject relate to the color of the environment?

- If you are going to use a rolling chair or a shopping cart for your dolly shot, try to minimize the noise created by your ad-hoc dolly, and try to pick a location which has smooth floors!

-The point of view shot is easier that it sounds. for example: say your inanimate object is a troll doll. start with a shot of the troll doll standing on a desk, then place the camcorder on the desk about where the troll doll was and then drape some of the troll dolls hair over the top of the camera lens, this second shot will instantly establish itself as being from the POV of the troll doll.

-If you do the bare minimum to simply complete the requirements of each shot you can expect to get a B. To get an A you'll have to show me that you put some thought into the formal elements of your clips and that you put some effort into setting up (lighting, location, etc.) and executing your shots.

File(s) should be turned in with the following name format:

studentlastnameFIRSTINITIALheptathlonShot#.mov

or studentlastnameFIRSTINITIALheptathlonALL.mov

Project Sheet

Camcorder Overview

Nice paper about the Language of Film

In Class Video Project - A little poison anyone?

-Class will be divided into two teams of 9 people.

-Each group will have two sub-units:

-A 6 person A-Unit group consisting of:

-director
-2 camera operators
-Boom operator
-2 Grips – in charge of set and lighting – also operate dolly

-and a 3 person b-roll unit

-director
-camera operator
-grip

-Each team will be responsible for bringing at least 3 camcorders to the film session (2 for the
primary group and 1 for the b-roll group)

Each team will have 1hr 20min to film a short scene with the actors
While one team is working with the actors the other will be filming using a miniature set.

The provided scene and script should be seen as just starting points. I am not expecting you guys to create a shot-per-shot recreation (in fact that would be impossible in the studio environment provided). Your team will have to be creative with what locations and props are available around the studio to create your sets. Also lighting is a great way to alter and/or mask environments. Obviously we will not be able to create a realistic looking set but you should be able to through use of lighting and set/prop elements give a viewer enough clues that they would what sort of space they should be imagining.

Be sure to get a good variety of shot: close-ups, extreme close-ups, long, and middle shots. Also don't be afraid to try a scene out multiple times in different ways - with different camera angles or camera movements (it's always good to have more options in post production)

A-unit: this will be the primary unit which films with the actors

-director: makes sure everyone is working together and in sync quality control for actors and set. Is the person most responsible for giving the actors direction in regards to performance and placement.
-Camera Operators : You guys are the ones with the cameras. it's up to you to frame a nice shot and make sure everything is alright looking through the camera. don't be shy about telling an actor to move so that they fit in the shot better, or to have a light moved to provide a better shot.
-Boom Operator: You'll be manning the mic pole. Try to keep the mic out of the camera's   way. try to follow the action with the mic pole and not make any noises (like bumping the pole) that'll mess up the sound recording.
-Grips: you guys are in charge of setting up the set and helping out the camera operators by either pushing the camera dolly, or adjusting lights, props, and set elements to help the camera people get a nice shot

B-Roll Unit: this is a secondary unit responsible for getting supplemental footage and sounds for the production.
This means going out and getting environmental and location shots (for example: getting a 20s shot of the front of a house that can be later used as a lead-in shot which sets up the interior scene - or a shot which examines a location w/out the actors). Your group can also gather Foley sounds to supplement the A-unit footage.
Your group will be allowed to drive off from the studio to gather shots. BE creative, there are a lot of flavor type shots that you can make to place in with the principle footage.

StoryBoard Sheets: 16:9 or 4:3

Project Sheet

Poisoner's Script

Project resources (the Video)

This is a long term group project due near the end of the semester. Your group will have about a month and a half to plan-out and execute a Fluxus / Situationalist International (SI) style event or happening. You will document this public action and turn in a ~2-3min video via the class Youtube.com page.

a little history.

The Fluxus and SI movements were both (in different ways) engaged in subverting classic models of art creation and distribution - i.e. the museum/gallery value system; the commoditization of objects, of experience, and of artwork itself; and the boundary between the viewer/audience and artist/artwork. The Fluxus movement was very much interested in playing with the idea of art, and often made 'non-art' objects and events which broke all of the rules of stage audience relationships - humor was a large part of their work ideology. the SI people on the other hand were very heavily influenced by Marxism and the Letterists and saw their work as a catalyst for social change and revolution. 

Guy Debord, the founder of SI, criticized modern society (as he knew it in the 50's-60's) as being entranced by the spectacle of mass culture and mass media. Relegating people to the role of benumbed spectators in the face of the many (false) splendors at the beginning of the age of entertainment. Debord formed the Situationalist International in a effort to find a way to challenge/subvert this overwhelming sense of alienation in society stemming from the domination of the individual by mass media and consumerism.
One of the strategies employed by Guy Debord and the SI was the use of Detournement, which roughly translates as "turnabout" or "derailment." His desire was to unseat people from their daily routines to take them out of the daze of the spectacle of modern life, and shift them (however briefly) into a state where one is reinvested into the moment - where a person becomes aware of themselves and their phenomenological experience of the world - to, as Debord put it, focus upon and give rise to the 'passional' moments of life. SI was also very interested in taking established art or mass media forms/strategies and turning them against themselves to reveal their fallacy or hypocrisy (think like the power point presentation of the YesMen).

The Fluxus movement did a lot to push at the boundaries of what art is and where art should be. They would make semi-mass produce flux kits to sell, give away  or leave someplace to be stolen. These kits would be filled with strange games, tiny strips of film, and small art objects for people to interact and play with. They would also stage elaborate and bizarre performances (sometimes in galleries, or in vacant buildings, or anywhere they got together) that would bleed out into the audience and force the audience to participate in the artwork. Often there would be performers planted in the audience acting out simple actions like walking in a circle who would be hard to distinguish from a regular audience member. They wanted their art to be fun accessible and interactive with the real world.

Project Criteria:

-For this project we will engage in the process of Detournement. You will stage an event or happening in a public location while there is a reasonable amount of human traffic passing by. The location should be commercial location (parking lot, department store, etc.) or public area (street, sidewalk, etc) regularly travelled by people.

-This may NOT be filmed in an apartment, dorm, Frat or Sorority House, on Campus, or in a home, the idea is to be out in public.

-Please avoid doing illegal things -we will go over some ground rules in class.

-You will use at least one camcorder to document your performative act.

-You may use a tripod, handheld style, or any other camera mounting strategy you can      come up with (i.e. hidden camera in modified bag etc). Be sure to plan ahead and        consider what mobility needs your action will require.

-You should take at least 20-30min of video footage  of your performance which you will edit down to a roughly 2min video document of your action.

-The members of the team do not have to be the ones actually doing the performance - though at least one member of your team must be operating a camcorder. You may recruit as many other people as you wish to help carry out your action. Bonus points will be awarded to groups who are able to recruit 3rd party participants to help them stage the performance.

DUE DATES:

MAR 17: presentation DUE
Groups will have to give a 5-10min presentation with images to the class. The presentation should have photos of the prospective Happening location, details about what your groups is planning to do, and how you plan to record the event.
April 28: Final Video DUE
You will turn in your video document by uploading your finished quicktime movie to a class youtube account (despite how much this will make Guy Debord spin in his grave) which we will use to view and comment on the video in class. Name the video whatever you want but please put team member names in the video description. We will go over uploading instructions in class.

Class Youtube.com info: (please don't f' around with any of the other settings - just upload!)
Username: UIUCTimeArts343
Password: bobiscool

Project Sheet

Project Presentation PDF (~550mb)

A portrait is a work of art which depicts a specific person, a group of people, or an animal. Portraits generally represent the subject visually in some manner and (in good portraits) reveal the subject in a new intimate light. From the surreal imagery of the paintings of Frida Kahlo to the open vulnerability found in the photos of Diane Arbus, portraits in their finest form are about revealing aspects of the subjects personality and creating a psychological connection between the viewer and the subject.

Traditionally portraits have been the province of photography and painting, but in this project you will use the moving medium of film to create video portraits.

For this project you will create two Video Portraits:
1) A Self Portrait &
2) A Portrait of a person outside of class

There are several ways in which you may approach this project.
Here are some examples of possible strategies:

1) You may approach this video with a strong relationship to the history and traditions portraiture. This is to say you may attempt to engage the visual conventions of portraiture (how do you know a photo/painting is a portrait? what are the visual clues? how are portraits usually framed? how do portraits traditionally engage the subject?) with the properties unique to the video medium. You could directly reference a famous portrait ‐ appropriating its composition and other formal elements, or you could simply make a video that ʺlooksʺ like a portrait. But remember you are making a video and not a photo/painting! There are fundamental difference in the mediums and you must be sure to address those differences (i.e. the elements of time, movement, and sound).

2) or you could approach the idea of a video portrait in a more cinematic manner. Many narrative/character driven videos(films) include intimate, revealing, and often private moments with their subjects which hint at the characters motivations, desires, and personality. These types of scenes are often tangential to the main plot or action of the film, but help to give depth to the characters, and create and emotional investment with the viewers.

3) you could make a video which engages the subjects inner‐workings through the use of surreal or jarring imagery juxtaposed with the character. The imagery of dreams and of psychosis are often used as foils to provide insight into a subjects subconscious, and certainly there is a long history of using such devices throughout the history of portraiture.

Project Criteria:

-Each video should be 30s-1min in length

-One of the Videos must be a continuous, unbroken shot for the duration of the video

-The Other video may be shot in any manner you wish

-You may use music, but be prepared to have a good answer as to why you chose that music, and make sure that the music doesn't overpower what you're doing visually

Things to keep in mind:

‐how does the way you are shooting the video reflect the subject matter? how near or far are you from the subject, is there anything (undergrowth, windows, doorways) in‐between you and the subject, is your view of the subject obstructed or clear (is the subject behind frosted glass, or submerged in murky water)

‐How does the motion of the camera or subject create a relationship? are we moving towards or away from the subject; how fast? is the subject coming towards the camera, moving parallel, running away? Does the camera stay claustrophobically close to the subject as they walk along? is the camera being handheld giving the video a shaky documentary look, or is it on a tripod for precise steady shots?

-What is the subject doing? are they looking at the camera, are they yelling, are they walking away? are they chasing the camera? are they shirtless, riding an ATV in circles around a bonfire screaming into the night?

‐How does the location reflect the subject? Is the subject standing in a super swanky hotel lobby, an office cubicle, a classroom, a prison, a cave. How does the subjects appearance fit with their surroundings ‐ do they match the surroundings or are they out of place ‐ how comfortable is the subject with that relationship. (is the businessman happy to be in a cubicle? is the hobo strutting proudly in the swanky hotel lobby?)

‐Lighting & Color: is the lighting bright and happy does the subjects clothes match or contrast the lighting? mysterious noir lighting? filmed in B&W?

‐Editing: Fast frantic editing with lots of jarring cuts between disparate imagery, or is the editing slow and serene with no hard edges?

How real the portraits are in entirely up to you. You may use real life as a source of inspiration or you may create an imagined portrait which is performed for the video. Keep in mind that these portraits are not Biographies, but rather just snippets of information which reveal an aspect of the subject.

Due April 7th
File format as follows:            lastnameFIRSTINITIALvidportrait_self.mov
                                               lastnameFIRSTINITIALvidportrait_other.mov

Project Sheet

Project Slideshow

Project Sheet

Class Youtube Playlist

Some Helpful Programs:

FLV Crunch: Converts .flv (common youtube file type) to mpeg and .mov files (MAC)

Free Youtube Downloader Software for MAC

VDownloader - video grabber for PCs

FLV Converter for PCs

You can Also Search www.download.com (A Pretty Safe CNET site) for other programs to grab and convert video