Concept

While I was lying on my bed staring at the wall (as all of us tend to do sometimes during moments of reflection), I noticed how much the blue carpet and the white wall seemed like a horizon over the ocean. Could I represent this in film?

Planning

The planning for this project was pretty negligible. After the realisation described above, I started filming immediately.

Production

Phase 1: First shoot

I tried to cover as many obvious angles as possible. Shot, reverse shot, close, medium and wide within a simple spontaneous narrative of daydreaming and imagination.

Phase 2: AE Tests

After a number of cloud overlay tests in After Effects, I put together a rough cut and realised that the cloud sequence needed some stronger grounding in the room: I tried quickly to paste in digitally a sneaker.

Phase 3: Re-shoot

In a re-shoot, the slippers replaced the sneaker. I finalized a rough cut which included some looped stock traffic and rain noise gathered from the internet.

Phase 4: Whitechapel Open Film Forum Screening

I submitted this film to Whitechapel�s monthly open screening free filmmakers forum. There were three others exhibiting, one undergraduate from Goldsmiths and two beginning amateur filmmakers. I felt that the intended effect was well received. It was pointed out by Ian, the organizer, that Leonard Da Vinci commented on how the texture and swirls in plaster on walls was reminiscent of clouds and other vistas.

Evaluation

The previous title for this piece, Day Dream, seemed trite and lacking imagination. The name change to The Carpet Coast embraced a more appealing whimsical convention that avoided both these criticisms.

Subjective States

This piece could have taken more advantage of established editing techniques to better solidify the transition between the main character�s subjective dream state and the converse objective real state. The established editing techniques that can be used with purposeful intention to visually inform the viewer of changes in internal states include subjective camera placement, shifts in pace, changes in the use of art direction, narrative absurdity, differing grading and alterations in sound.

The Carpet Coast illustrates the transition from the everyday to the extraordinary by means of sound, visual effects and subjective camera placement. In detail, as the background traffic noise decreases in volume, the sound of rolling ocean waves increase during the transition. The superimposition of the clouds on the wall illustrates how visual compositing effects can illustrate changes in subjective states effectively. Lastly, while the character lies on an angle, the audience also sees the wall on an angle.

Amateur Video

There is an added difficulty to video making when the Director, DP (Director of Photography), DIT (Digital Imaging Technician), CCO (Camera Control Operator), EIC (Engineer in Charge), Grip/Gaffer/PA, Sound Man, Script Supervisor and actor are the same person. Of course, I am exaggerating the number of roles that are required but the point is the same: being behind and in front of the camera can lead to poor video acquisition. The more professional my practice grows, the less this set up should occur.

Example of bowout 3 , Example of blowout 1

For example, with the auto exposure on (it never should be) we can see how easily the white wall blows out all detail as I walk in frame

Secondly, notice how the bright backlight from the windows creates a small lens flare over my leg in the next image. Interestingly, the internal reflection and scattering illustrated by the bright back lighting in this shot can also occur in the human eye.
Example of Lense Flare

Figure 3: Intense backlight manifests as a small lens flare over my left leg

There is a professional effects plugin for nonlinear video editors created by Red Giant Software called Magic Bullet. It does a fantastic job of upgrading NTSC video to “prosumer” (above consumer grade but below professional) quality. It also creates film simulations and adds movie-inspired looks. This piece would have been a perfect candidate for the plugin; however, there still seem to be a host of problems involving the new Intel Macs (my current editing platform). Apple was so quick to launch the new processor on the market that software companies like Adobe and, in this case, Red Giant have not had time to catch up.

Tags: projects, video