Rough Cut 2 - Weird Sky

Here is my second version of Weird Sky, one contains some black lines to mimic the changing of the aspect ratio:

Weird Sky Second without Lines from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.


Weird Sky Second with Lines from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I think the black lines are a wonderful addition to the video. They help to make the narrative seem more cinematic and helps to really hone in and focus on the imagery presented. I will likely keep them for the final cut. I didn't actually change the aspect ratio of the clips, instead I merely layered two black bars in Premiere, simply due to the fact that I do not believe I have the means of changing the aspect ratio.

Now onto the video itself. I managed to find a second clip for the opening where my arm is not in shot however it does have a natural blur, I've overcome this by intentionally extending the moment the camera went out of focus and adding a provisional 'Weird Sky' title. I intend on animating the title myself, likely deciding on some kind of typography that will continue within my other products.

At the start, I still am unsure about the action match from the first to the second shot, so I will likely need to revise this. It is too late to reshoot but if I can just work on the editing then I should be able to make the continuity look smoother.

I also added a low angle shot of the clone in the dog mask at 0:44 in order to retain the audience's interest and not just use a repeated long duration shot of the three clones. I do have some more of these shots and create some psychedelic compositions within the later parts of the video - overlaying the shots over one another.

Again the middle section still needs filling in as I have some animation to do still, these sections are taking much longer than I anticipated and I am therefore having to spend extra time on them. There was some issue with loading them on as I decided to link my Premiere file to After Effects, however I will have to relink the media within these files as they aren't appearing in the final video. This is a minor problem that I am sure I can fix but definitely important if I want to ensure the animations appear. Additionally I would like to note that I still have some images that act as place holders to signify when certain parts of the animations come in, these will of course later be removed.

At 1:11 I've redone the overlay and even added a clip over Jack when the video returns to 'reality'. I wanted to better distinguish between Jack's drug induced perception of the world (or the segments that appear in his 'dreams' within the narrative) and that of the real world that is shown before he drinks the milk. I think the use of the overlay isn't the best idea and so I think I will opt for a more subtle difference; I intend to make the segments with Jack's character after drinking the milk more light and perhaps increase the contrast, the other parts that occur in the real world will be darker as to reflect some contrast between the real world and the drug fantasy one during his trip. Additionally, these overlays wouldn't work well with the animations that will be placed over Jack during these clips.

I've added some colour over the close ups of Jack playing the instruments and even added a little dancing Jack by overlaying him into the shot at 1:27. In order to fit the tempo I decided to speed up the footage, this works in making it look very unnatural and surreal as to fit with the psychedelic conventions I've highlighted.

The following few shots are extremely low duration and the visuals are increasingly overlaid and saturated as to indicate some sinister increase within the fantasy world Jack is watching on the television, it is rather reminiscent of the Evangelion opening. This is done as to build up to the moment the animation spills from the television. I even decided to cut to Jack during this section to show his jaded and 'drug-addled' character reacting to the sensory overload.

The shot at 1:40 includes some rotating camera shots overlaid. The dutch angles that appear are in order to reinforce the drug trip part of the video and show how Jack's mind is becoming unstable. This again links back to the StraitJacket video I mentioned in my animatic post, a song that is even about the artist having a poor mental state. This part acts as an indicator that the visuals from the TV will begin to invade Jack's life in the video as it is immediately followed by the section that I will animate fluid pouring from the television.

There is not much to comment on the other shots as they simply complete the narrative that I established within my storyboard and will have to include some animation that isn't there yet. One note I would like to make is how I have not included some parts to my storyboard such as Jack's head coming out of his mouth earlier in the video at around 0:51 nor do I intend to animate my own psychedelic visuals. I am struggling to find the time for the animations currently and will therefore have to resort to some royalty free animations that I will make a separate post about.

Moving on, the last shot shows Jack breaking the fourth wall by looking into the camera as to directly acknowledge he is in a music video, this being done for comedic relief given his exaggerated reaction but it holds some sinister undertones. The character's life has been destroyed and his perspective changed forever. I suppose that this does tie in well with the theoretical side of my course, especially Todorov and his narrative theory - which I may comment on later. Onto the editing of the last shot, I made the footage turn somewhat wavy and added some static as if to mimic the 'tuning out' and reinforce that the character is within a video. This technique is something that I learned during my AS media project in which I made a Dawn of the Dead style opening which contained some cuts just like that.