Lesson: Green Screening

In todays session we mainly looked at how to manipulate Green Screen as two out of three of the groups used it in their piece. In order to play around with the Green Screen we used the software: Adobe After Effects.

This is a software that I am not all that comfortable with using but I felt that by the end of the lesson I was grasping the basic concepts and could most likely re-create what we had done in session with minimum prompts.

I had a look at a few tutorials online, a lot of them go off tangent or talk a little more about certain elements we didn't explore in lesson but it'd all be beneficial in the long run and they all have the same principal goal.

Lesson: Torture Group

In this session the Green Screen or Torture group filmed their piece. There wasn't a lot for us to do in this session so I helped the group in a vocal way. Making suggestions and providing opinions when needed, mostly in this aspect when Joeley was adding face paint to Marks face to make him looked a little more bruised and battered. And just in little odd jobs that they needed help with. Their scene I think will be particularly interesting to watch if they make a final edit, especially because of the complete green screen aspect as well as the cutting of the finger. Seeing it all come together.

Research: Location

Location...

As the exterior shot of the house will be used for establishing purposes only I found a list on Wikipedia of  18th Century built houses in Sheffield

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_buildings_in_Sheffield_S6

The house that I have however had in mind for the location of the sequence would be Mr Darcy's house in Derbyshire seen most notable in Pride and Prejudice but also in The Duchess, which is also one of the films that I have used in reference to the costume and era i wanted the seen to be set in.

Chatsworth House is located in North Derbyshire which is only a 30minute drive from Sheffield and has many convenient bus routes.

In terms of actual likeliness of being able to use the house to film in I have emailed Stephanie Cliffe as there are opportunities to film in both the interior and exterior of the house but I would be more than pleased if I had the opportunity to just film in the exterior of the building because it also backs a wooded.
Also though the house was built in 1549 certain areas of it have been re constructed around the 18th century, also visually it just looks like like the right area and I don't feel an amateur watcher would know any difference. As the Duchess was set in the 18th century and used the house.


For the wood/forest sequence then I though Ecclesall Woods would be a good location to use as it is close and easy to get to via public transport. It also has a lot of areas that can be used to create a different feel, as none of it looks the same

Research: Costume

Costume...
Using Dress Up Game software I have gotten I rough idea of what I want the main character to be dressed like...

 

I feel as if these looks give off the right sense of style and wealth in the 18th Century that my character would come from. The colours vary in terms of what it says about the leading lady. The Blue (Which is also one of the colours in my colour pallet) suggests calmness, juxtaposed with the white patterning and the light brown hair we are lead to assume that the character is very innocent. The Purple clothing suggests royalty, that matched with the white hair which we are lead to assume is a wig (which is natural in those times) perhaps makes us believe that she has something to hide, she is not as posh as she comes across or she is incredibly pretentious about her social standing. Final the gold clothing again exudes wealth but the dark hair and long gloves make you more suspicious of this character, thinking that she perhaps has a mischievous nature.

In terms of what I am looking to create I am leaning towards the final out fit choice.
This is for a few reasons.
-Material Wise it would be cheaper to get something without a pattern
-The Design is uncomplicated
-The colour would be easy to find at many fabric shops meaning I could hunt for the cheapest option

My theory is that werewolves must have been able to live in secret as humans for decades if there are only rare sightings once in a full moon, therefore I thought it was important to give one of antagonist the impression of wealthy humanity with a dash of werewolf.

The idea is that a lot of his body is covered so there are only certain aspects that I need to manipulate to give them the werewolf physique. Such as the animal teeth and claws, I can add long and tangled side burns as well as a tail.
That is something that I never noticed about the werewolves in my research. While they were in that in between phase they had no tails. That can be my unique aspect to the werewolves I create when they are half in form.

Lesson: Filming the uncanny

In todays lesson we finally got round to filming our uncanny piece with the help on the cinematography class.

When we got into the studio, someone had tidied up our set probably mistakenly thinking that we didn't mean to leave it looking like a mess. We didnt have time to get it back looking as we last left it so we had to make do and make sure that the camera focused on the corner where all the acting would be taking place.

Although the shots that needed to be filmed were very basic, it took a lot longer than expected, this is due to the lights needing to be set up with every shot.

Jacob was our actor as he was handling the pigs heart, first we got him to try and look a little dirty and gresy as he was after all living in a hovel  then I celotaped a ziplock bag to his chest which we then filled with a little fake blood before inserting the heart. As Jacob would be sitting down for the whole of production it we didn't have to worry about the bag and heart falling out. I was director so stayed close to the camera and made sure the shots were the right angle and keeping an eye to show no props were being shown (Gaffe tape inside shirt etc). Sadly because there were only 3 people in our group including Jacob the Producer who was acting in the piece I didn't get more than a glance at what the "Mirror Group" were filming as I had to be on set at all times. From was I did see it looked like everything was going exactly to plan and the actress they were using looked like she was doing a decent job.

Overall  though the filming went relatively smoothly, the "Heart Out Of Chest" bit was a lot more simple to achieve than was originally assumed especially as we didn't get to use the heart that I had made in the previous session. I think it would have been nicer to have had a few more complicated barriers to creatively realise.

Research: Creating The Monster

In my previous post about Transformation we have seen me research into the various props I could acquire to create the monster but I felt that as well as that it may be beneficial to scour the interweb and find people who have done it themselves on budget and to see if I could maybe find how they create the effect on various films and TV sequences....


I think this look was very powerful especially seeing how easy it was to create, this also confirmed my idea about using acrylic nails for the claws. Something I didn't consider is that I could use nail clippers to help me mould the shape. Also I forgot that it doesn't have to be perfect, in fact the more rugged and raw the better. The only downside from this video is that she was female and that my main werewolf character is male.



This video on the other hand was at a major professional level but I felt using the werewolf prosthetic would be risky as I wouldn't be using an expert and though I could essentially do it myself or find another member of the team to I think it's just to overkill for the sophisticated werewolf look I was going for. Although the videos maker does have a website with a range of fake wounds and monster transformation effects that I found very interesting because of how real they looked. It is a little pricey but if I could get the effects just like the pictures then I think it would be worth it, especially if I ever need to create any gaping wounds or scarring.
http://www.nimbacreations.com/special-effects-supplies/

I think that both videos have given me sufficient information so that I could use them as a step by step guide if need be.

Lesson: Set Creation Part Two

It became increasingly harder to make the set look like a bedroom as there are a lot of props needed to create something that believable. I felt as if we were just looking for things to add to the room to fill the space that things just started to get a little ridiculous in terms of the messages on the walls and the dirt and stains that was splashed around the area. This being said, as time progressed so did our idea and after a discussion with Joeley we decided that the space would be best suited to look like a squatters area.

This meant that we it wouldn't look so sparse and that we had a little more creative outlet in terms of this new set design idea. Sadly our Art Director wasn't around to concur the idea so as Director I creatively decided to go ahead. As per an idea from martin we took random but matching strips of wallpaper and pasted them on to the wall to make it look old and peeled, as if the majority came off a long time ago and parts refused to let go. I felt this helped give the space the forgotten look that surrounded the squatters corner.

A key aspect if the piece is to have a heart being pulled out of a chest. Jacob wanted to use a pigs heart.... which would have been sufficient but I still thought it would be nice to play around with how one might go about achieving this without the use of an actual organ. I then started hunting around for material and decided to go with yellow foam.

I then began trying to make it heart shaped before I got Jacob to paint it heart coloured. It was suggested that the edges shouldn't be smooth and and to give it a rougher and more worn look which I did my just pinching off the edges as opposed to just cutting it with scissors.

I added tubes which Tom painted white to pass for Arteries and Veins and with that we had our make shift heart.

Whilst the boys were painting I started to experiment with what effect the foam would have when reacting with fake blood which I made using Strawberry sauce, Red food colouring and water. I had to use acrylic paint to thicken the mixture as there was no Coco Powder or Cornflour on hand (As known per a recipe I have used in the past) This gave the mixture a more "raised" and less smooth look but I felt that this wouldn't cause a major problem when it came to production. What I did find was that what I expected to happen with the sponge did not. I expected the sponge to absorb the mixture quite heavily and thus with a slight squeeze of the fist allow blood to come pumping out of its pores. What did happen was this: Firstly the heart was completely taken to the fake blood mixture, which meant that any painting we did to it prior would not be noticed (On the other hand the sponge was yellow so I suppose it was best we got rid of that straight away) Secondly the sponge seemed to be a little too good at absorbing as it took a lot of squeezing to actually get any of the fake blood mixture out of it.

Though I only tested the effects on a small duplicate of the real fake heart so results on a larger scale might be different. Also this made me realise that we would need a lot of fake blood mixture, but this wouldn't be to difficult as we need the mixture to be quite runny for obvious absorption reasons.


This session was useful for experimentation and I also felt that I learnt something from watching the other two groups work. From the mirror group they just had a lovely set that you could see a lot of effort and planning went into.

As for the torture group the way they created the finger chopping really made me start thinking and understanding how the budget creative thinking really worked. How you can find anything from something.

Lesson: Set Creation Part One

In todays session we started to create the backdrop for our individual sets.

The uncanny piece we're working on is set in the bedroom of a messy student/young person. After the boards were put up to give a two wall space for us to create our scene, we proceeded to paint the space white, as this was the easiest colour to make look dingy. Once the painting had been done and dried we used watered down acrylic paint to give dirt marks all around the set. Then we added a dirty carpet to the set to give it that homely look. The set still looked quite sparse so then I had the idea to have messages around the walls to give it a more student-y feel.

After that we called it a day and decided to bring in props for our next session.

Seeing how easy it was to find various items such as carpet, wallpaper and paint and just jump in there and create something was very inspiring.
This session was very useful as it has started to give me an idea for how I would go about creating the office space that I need for my sequential idea.

Research: Moodboard for Film Sequence Idea

My mood board for my film sequence where I have highlighted four key areas that will be fundamental in the sequence.

I used the online software Glogster to make my moodboard, it is one that I have been using for a few years to create moodboards, I find it very easy to work with and it helps you create the feel and tone of your moodboard through its background suggestions and texts etc.

To see the original file please click the link:  http://www.glogster.com/sarahjenniesteph/creative-project-realisation/g-6l6r2kn4k5nptb38kqqcma0?s=imgglog

Research: Plot Idea

Based on my ideas about setting the scene in the 18th Century and involving the supernatural elements of Werewolves I have come up with a film idea, and most importantly a sequence that will best highlight these elements.

After watching her father be murdered by a group of men who she assumes are demons by their oddly coloured eyes, Annabeth, who was hidden from view during the murder, has to make a break for it. It’s not easy as this involves running through the labyrinth that is her house and the thick wooded area behind it before she even has a shot of reaching some form of safety from her supernatural predators…

The sequence is kept relatively short and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes of screen time. 

Characters needed... 
-Annabeth
-Her Father
-The lead Werewolf 
-Two lackies.

It will involve two major speaking characters though the dialogue will be kept to a minimum, and a few words from the subsidiary characters.

Location would involve....
-An establishing shot of a 18th century styled mansion
-An office decorated in the fashion of the era
-A few corridors
-A back door to escape from
-A forest.

Once more of the sequence idea has been established I will be able to make a prop list for Art direction purposes.

Research: Transformation

It's not just about including a Werewolf in the sequence. A Werewolf is originally a man.... or a woman, so therefore I need to show the transition between the two.

How it's done in various mediums....

This first clip taken from Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban we can see that they actually have the actor (David Thewlis) half made up like a werewolf using make up and other prosthetics before it switches to make the rest of the transition happen using CGI. This is one way I could opt to make my transformation take place but due to budget reasons and my being unfamiliar with the process of CGI this idea isn't very practacle, I could end up spending more time learning the process than making it happen. That being said it still shouldn't be disregarded as an option.  

(Gif doesn't play on a loop, please click to re view)

This transition taken from the 1985 Teen Wolf [As has been referenced a few time prior to this post] I believe is easier to re create whilst still giving the audience a realistic viewing. By having the camera go to and from certain points make it look as though whilst we were watching one the other has taken place. By making the shots so closed this means that I could have the actor in full make up whilst filming instead of stopping and starting production in order to add more make up to the character.

Transition Techniques I have noticed from these gifs and others I have encountered during my research...

Eyes: This can be changed using contact lenses which can easily be acquired from drugstores for around between £10-£15 and they are valid for a month

Mouth: I think this will be the trickiest to accomplish, based on authenticity, I have the idea of Vampires having clean teeth and werewolves being stained and grubby, like animals. You can by fangs from any costume store or online. My choice will be between the following types.

£4.99 (Ebay)

£2.99 (Ebay)

As you can see if I chose to use the werewolf fangs then it's possible that I may loose points in believability.

Claws: My idea was to use fake nails and either file them sharp and then stick them in dirt as opposed to trying to paint them in a dirty fashion. However I could also buy them as the length and style of the usual acrylic nails could prove difficult to obtain...

£16.29 (Ebay)

 £15.77 (Ebay)

Both of these items are from the USA so the time to get here would be at lease 10days, meaning I would have to order them way in advance to avoid delays as well as this it means that I wouldn't be able to assess how authentic they are. Again I could go to costume shops in the local area first before I resort to this option.

Facial Hair: This would be the most difficult, it would require me getting fake sideburns to match the characters hair colour as well as making it match the hair that would be visible on their hands.

(£0.99+ Ebay)

As nothing seems to be available in terms of loose hair to perhaps glue onto the characters hands and eyebrows and various facial parts. I creatively problem solved that if I bought two sets of sideburns or even perhaps a similar colloured wig I could just cut the hair myself to create the loose hair, thus allowing me to use it wherever I saw fit.

Based on these I think that if I decide to use a tail then the best way to do it would be once the character has already transformed, then they can just pull it from behind them during a midshot or a long shot. There are a few that can be found online but it will be difficult to make it more like a dogs scraggely tail than the streamline ones of the cats and panthas and tigers that seem to be in high supply.

Academic Research: Werewolves Past, Present, and Future...

This post is about the personification of werewolves through different periods in time helping me to pinpoint roughly what visually represented era I would like to base the creation of my monster on. All of which can be cited as (Anonymous, 2011, P. 17-19)

In the 18th century, wolves were an ever-present menace to people living in the European countryside. Now, werewolves seem to be as popular as vampires.

This is a reoccurring topic that keeps cropping up during my research, whether it just be for the sake of comparison or to slate this generations perceptions or in rare cases to praise it. This battlefield of opinion allows me to see the positives and negatives of both sides which thus helps me to narrow down my visual representation of the possibilities of my monsters.

The following three extracts help give a more detailed analysis of the development of Werewolves through time in the eyes of its varied generations.

You don't want to know what lurks in the shadows. 
It was March 1765 in the French countryside. A boy named François and his older sister were walking down a road, when suddenly, a strange beast sprang from the shadows. Francois's sister screamed in horror as the beast attacked her little brother. By the time help arrived, the boy was dead, his body mutilated.Nobody but the traumatized sister witnessed the crime. But villagers had no doubt what - or who - so savagely murdered François. It wasn't an animal. It wasn't a human. It was a werewolf.  

Why being a werewolf is sort of awesome.
So it isn't exactly convenient to sprout claws, fangs, and facial hair every time there is a full moon. But for teen Scott McCaIl, becoming a werewolf was just about the greatest thing that ever happened to him. It cured his asthma, helped him get a date with the girl of his dreams, and turned him into a star player on the school lacrosse team. It also gave him some seriously awesome biceps. 

I couldn't agree more when the text later goes on to state that Werewolves have joined vampires as entertainment superstars. This specific sentence is going to be in the back of my mind as I look to creating my monster as this is exactly what I want to avoid. I want to go back to the days when such beasts were feared and not idolised, when it was seen as a curse and not a cheat to life. As is clearly represent from the opposing texts above.

Research: The Representation of Werewolves in the 18th Century

Throughout this century there has been a building awareness of werewolves which has been sparked or been spread with the help of fairytales and heresay. The one that stood out to me the most happened at the end of the century. I feel like I can use this to help base when I would set my scene...               

1795 F - A Meteor strikes near Wold Newton in Yorkshire, England on December 13, 1795, resulting in a series of benevolent mutations in the bloodlines of those present.  Among the affected is Louis Lupin, a coachman and latent lycanthrope.  (This factual meteor has been used as the entire basis for the "Wold Newton Universe" concept first popularized by author Philip José Farmer in Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Further, Jean-Marc Lofficier has expanded upon the effect this had on the Lupin line in his article The Conspiracy.)              
 - Grigori Russoff is inflicted with lycanthropy while defending his wife Louisa from Dracula. The Russoff family bears the curse, even though Grigori's children had already been born at the time of the attack. [WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, Marvel Comics] (Please note that this report has been placed into dispute by recent sources suggesting that the Russoff lineage does not possess lycanthropy at all, and only the adoption of John Lawrence Talbot by Baron Ivor Russoff in the 1940s connects them.  See later entries on this timeline, taken from Chuck Loridan's MONSTAAH timeline, for this Wold Newton interpretation.) 
http://www.therianthropes.com/were_fiction_timeline.htm   

A few good key points from this text is that it involves other mythical beings such as Dracula, also the fact that they tell you that it may all be false only makes you think it could be more true. I can use this idea for my main synopsis. Whereby the main character doesn't want to believe even though all the signs are telling her too. Also I like the term "Lycanthorpe" which is what the Werewolves are called in Underworld. I feel that I might bring it in once or twice in the story but it feels to old school traditional for my film, perhaps it can be used when the main character is given a history about the beasts that killed her father.

Academic Research: Werewolf Origin

Based on my previous research posts, namely where I decided to make a film within the fantasy horror genre, I have concluded that the best thing to do would be to set my film sequence in the past. I have decided to go with the 1700's as I feel that the look will be adequate in terms of fashion and the naivety of the times. Creating an effective juxtaposition between the monsters of the night and the monsters of society.

Before I can pin down the story it's important to get some back-story on my monsters. Where they came from and the general response they caused in their unsuspecting victims.

Poems and Quotes from literary texts...

In Poetry one of the first mentions of Werewolves was in Ovids Metamorphoses
"He himself ran in terror, and reaching the silent fields howled aloud, frustrated of speech. Foaming at the mouth, and greedy as ever for killing, he turned against the sheep, still delighting in blood. His clothes became bristling hair, his arms became legs. He was a wolf, but kept some vestige of his former shape." - Book I:199-243. Translation by A.S. Kline.
http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.html

This poem written in the times of the Romans around 17 or 18 BC crushes all notions of  Werewolves being existent from the 1500's. It does though give a depiction of what a werewolf can look like... Keeping its human shape as it became a beast.

Pictures showing the visuals of stories as well as early sightings in history...

Vergilius Solis (1514-1562) 

Brooks Nathan, Metamorphosen, 1849

18th Century engravings of Werewolves.....

This has given me a better idea in terms of characteristics how I should portray the Werewolf I intend to create for my piece. Mean and unforgiving, raw and savagely.

Research: Werewolves In Television

After my research into the look of Werewolves in Film I have decided to look at Werewolves in Television for budgetary reasons. I figured the way they portrya werewolves has to be done in the most cost effective way as with Television as we know there isn't just a one off episode like a film, they have to consider the budget in terms of a whole season and then again as an episode. Televisions shows that I watch/have watched that are based in the supernatural/fantasy genre that also include a regular element of Werewolf-ery  include....

The Vampire Diaries (2009-Present)
Werewolf: Michael Trevino
Though once in fully transformed the Werewolves in TVD are real wolves with contact lenses, the transition phase shows interesting details. The eyes, the veins and the teeth. Making me realise something I never considered. Changing into a beast can't be all that pain free.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Werewolf: Seth Green
They have chosen to use facial hair, teeth and this time demon clad eyes to represent a werewolf still in half human mode. The black eyes make him more creepy, I think the facial hair looks messy and isn't giving off the right vibe to the audience as it almost contradicts the spooky eyes.









Teen Wolf (2011-Present)
Werewolf: Tyler Posey
It is interesting to see the journey this character has gone through as the Teen Wolf series is based on the
Michael J Fox 1985 movie. This is Scott Mcall in full Were mode. Note the Pointed and hairy ears and overgrown sideburns. The elongates eyebrows that get lost in the protruding nose. Naturally we have the headlight eyes and the teeth. Its good to see though that they've only chosen the canines to elongate.





Supernatural (2005-Present)
Werewolf: Emmanuelle Vaugier
I thought it would be nice to see a female representation of a werewolf as statistically speaking there are more males in the clans.
Again the main feature change will be the eye; this time sparkling blue which I think almost works better than being Yellow or Black, it makes them almost seem human. The teeth of course is another highlighted factor, another thing I have picked up on in the messy hair that all werewolves seem to pick up in transformation. A minor but effective detail.

In comparison with my post on the depiction of werewolves in film where they seem to skip the process between man and beast television series do the opposite. The characters spend half their time in the inbetween, or in some cases what seems to be the inbetween is actually full transition mode.
This is a good idea as it still allows the actor to be visible, coherent and enables me to pick key facial parts I can use to give my own monster it's own unique look.
As well as this looking at how the idea of Werewolves have changed over the years especially in terms of Teen Wolf, the 1985 and Modern versions it's as if less is more in terms of the scare factor. Or perhaps our generation are so used to the characteristics associated with the supernatural that creators no longer need to go over the top. Vampires no longer wear cape and white shirts, Witches no longer have warts and a broom sticks and werewolves don't need to be covered head to toe in fur.

Research: Werewolves In Film

As seen from my previous posts I was leaning towards making a movie of the fantasy Horror genre. A world that knows things that go bump in the night do exist. The only thing that was left to decide is what creature to recreate within the film and the sequence in particular. I have chosen to go with werewolves for a number of reasons. It will allow an aspect of creative freedom when I design my monster, whereas with something like a Vampire that isn't much that you can change in terms of what we know about them; The only manipulation to be had would be with their eyes and mouth, nothing the audience won't expect. With a werewolf on the other hand there are so many interpretations of what they look like and what they're shape-shifting abilities are that it allows some leeway into creating something unique.

Teen Wolf (1985)
D: Rod Daniel
Werewolf: Michael J Fox
In this movie Scott Howard one day transforms into a werewolf, because of a hereditary defect in his family. This film is classed as a Family Comedy. Explaining why the werewolf looks more like a giant friendly monkey than anything to be scared of.

Twilight Saga; New Moon (2009)
D: Chris Weitz
Werewolf: CGI
In a town already over populated with Vampires a Werewolf infestation also takes place. We see the character in human form a lot so there's an emotional attachment. It wouldn't make sense to make the transformed state something to be scared of, thus we end up with an oversized semi aggressive dog.

Van Helsing (2004)
D: Stephen Sommers
Werewolf: CGI
Though the werewolves depicted in this action horror movie or CGI it gives a different variation from the previous two. Almost a cross between the two. Obviously more fearful and more in the direction of something I'm looking for. An Unshaven Wrestler in a Halloween mask.

Other Werewolves in Film seem to be all done with CGI....

Underworld (2003)
D: Len Wiseman
Frostbitten Werewolf

Harry Potter and The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
D: Alfonso Cuaron
Starved Hyena Hybrid Werewolf









.........I unfortunately don't have that luxury. Films are big budget so the monsters they create only have to be around for a short while, but if you wanted to create a monster in Television then you have to be more careful with how much CGI you use not only for budgetary reasons but so believability in the long term with your audience. That I think that is where I need to get my inspiration from.