Interactive Film and Online Video Research Project - Final Conclusion

From my research project to my artefacts I have been most interested in public participation through online video and film. People can build a community in order to create a piece of work such as comments/suggestions through YouTube, filming a part of their day to create a larger project or having input on the structure of an interactive story. Film-makers can take a step back and pass the control to the audience; the people who watch the entertainment can also create the entertainment. Interactive film creates distance for the viewer from the entertainment so they become more of a spectator and less immersed. This means the audience are left with a story that challenges their mind; so they think about the choices and the consequences. Having choices means viewers are put on edge, the film becomes an experience, one which questions their morality on if they want the character to succeed or feel pleasure from their demise. I've found from my artefacts that the entertainment is less immersive and you can’t empathise as much with the “puppet-like” characters. Instead the entertainment focuses on the viewer, what choices they would make being in that situation and what you would do being that character. Interactive allows viewers to analyse themselves as well as entertain.

Online video is a tool of self-expression and freedom in creativity, although argued it can be hard for artists to be noticed online with the mass material available, it is definitely a good place for self-promotion. Everyone can share videos, contribute to work and build collaborations. Interactive and online video builds a community where people can unite through participation.

Showreel 2013

Here is my latest showreel including my most recent work:

Research Document - Artefact 5 (Collaborative Film Project)

A collaborative project where people can borrow a camera attached to a hat to film 30 seconds of their day. I will compile the footage to achieve a short film all in point of view style. Participants will be able to share a part of their day and the viewers would experience it as if they were seeing through their eyes.

Here is the poster I created to advertise the project:

Here is my final video:



I embedded my final video into an online survey so I could ask questions on the project and get responses on what people think of online video.

http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/chris-thorby/interactive-film-and-online-video-artefact-5/

I didn't get any people to help as I hoped. Initially I wanted 10 people but I only managed to get 5. I allowed them to choose what they wanted to film as long as it wasn't offensive or inappropriate. The 5 people included filming; walking around university halls, driving a car, making cups of tea, a house party and loading a van at a workplace. I found it interesting that they are all so diverse and the audience is thrown into these different perspectives. With more publicity and backing on the project this could of become much more. I would have loved to show more exciting activities such as someone skateboarding, riding a horse or even attach the camera so it’s in the perspective of a dog or baby. Seeing through the eyes of a dog or baby would be really interesting, for a baby the world is completely new and we can never remember how they must of felt. At first I had a video with the 5 participant’s video entries all with its original sound but this wasn't very entertaining to watch and each 30 seconds felt long. I added a music track throughout which delivers more excitement and pace to the video. I liked the concept of public participation and collaboration with this film project, where I have taken the back-seat and allowed them to shape the video. I only took the role of a producer and editor but I thought it was important to not cut each 30 second entry. The idea is that for 30 seconds they can share a part of their day without it being tampered with. The only issue was that each video was a lot longer than 30 seconds so I had to choose which part to put in. This fits to both topics of online video and interactive film; both involve sharing experiences and participation whether it’s interacting with a story or contributing to an online video through feedback/response. My research into these topics has reached its final focus point which is public participation through video and film.

Results

I asked people whether they liked the idea of it being filmed in point of view perspective and overall I received good feedback. People felt as if they put into the position of the character within the film because of the camera but some would have preferred more exciting activities instead of the clips I used. It was suggested I should have shown a range of different lifestyles such as a bus driver collecting tickets, milkman and a nightclub bouncer as well as a way all characters within the video could be connected in some way; they could meet up or cross paths. Someone stated that the ‘handy cam’ shakiness results in an unprofessional and low budget look/feel than having an immersive effect. It seems the shaky camera is one thing that makes my film less appealing; someone stated that they felt a bit of motion sickness from watching the clip of driving a car. In terms of the point of view camera it has been successful, from looking from the eye perspective viewers felt immersed into the characters and what they were doing. 

I collected responses of what people thought about the participants having 30 seconds each in the video without their footage being cut. I had mixed feedback on this; some didn't like it because it felt too long and that it didn't give much chance to express their day as a whole, one scene each didn't fully express who they are and what they do. Someone suggested I should have cut between each narrative and have an obvious start for each one which all concludes together. This idea would build a better sense of pace and provoke a message that these lives are different, they are happening simultaneously. It is clear that making each participant’s entry link would have been more entertaining, such as narratives that at some point cross over. I could have shown clear differences between their lives; what different people do at the same time of day and how different their lives are. Perhaps it could have been a section from people’s lives at 3.00pm on a Friday for instance. Others thought because it was not a glamorised portrayal of their life, it was unscripted and real. It was truthful, no matter how boring the activity was. It gave a better sense of time frame and normality to the person’s actions. From my feedback it seems people didn't enjoy the person walking down the stairs of the driving scene, one person mentioned they  found the party shot much more interesting and it didn't feel as long as the others. The experiment focused on whatever people wanted to film because it was real and truthful but more exciting activities would have made a more successful film.

The majority of people agreed that removing the audio from the footage was a good idea as it made it more entertaining to watch. Less than half wanted to hear the voices and sounds the participants made in their footage. It’s clear that a soundtrack throughout made my film more exciting, it made some of the more mundane activities more appealing to watch. I found a royalty free piece of music and choose something that had a beat to keep viewers engaged in the film. The beat begins as soon as the first piece of footage begins and during a quiet section of the track the beat returns as soon as the ping pong ball hits the cup in the party scene. I believe this made the party scene the most exciting to watch in the film.

I questioned whether people would like to participant in a film project like this where they share a part of their life to a public audience. 8 out of 11 people liked the idea whilst only 3 would prefer not to and would watch entertainment produced by others.  I wanted to see whether people would mind broadcasting a part of their day to a wide audience and it seems people are fond of this. I would have thought people would prefer to watch creative entertainment produced by others as it can be of a better quality but instead the public like the idea of having input on a film project. The public like to express themselves.

I asked how people felt about online video making us more connected and collected a range of opinions. It was said that when uploading a video it’s more than likely your video will be lost to the millions of low-quality stuff out there online. It can be hard to be acknowledged with the amount of material uploaded every day. However others said how because there is so much access to online video it’s become easier for work to be seen. Social networking and sharing has become a big part of our lives through Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Behance, Blogs etc. Most people spend their time on a computer looking through online videos to share to their friends. People have said how they enjoy exploring into the personal lives and cultures of others through online video, such as vlogs. Online video is a great way of sharing everyday experiences with friends as well as being a great platform for music/art work to be seen by more people. It also helps people share opinions on things for good or bad and builds a discussion.  One response was that it makes things more personal, when people video their lives it makes the viewer’s feel connected to them. They are given an insight to their world. It was clearly stated that online is the future, most people own smartphones and laptops so why not use these platforms to our advantage.

To see whether the public contribute to online video I asked people whether they provide feedback through comments or video responses. The majority said sometimes, 2 said they do and 1 person doesn't at all. People mostly contribute to online video by providing feedback which I think is important. I believe being able to upload work and gain responses from your audience is great in terms of understanding what they like. Being able to gain structured criticism from others makes people develop and produce better videos in the future. The idea of video responses is interesting; the way people collaborate and contribute to work through video which is similar to my experiment. Perhaps through one video someone can respond to it with a similar idea, this could a chain of videos which compile into a film.  Through commenting on videos online people can collaborate with film-makers and video bloggers by suggesting ideas for their next piece of work.

External Client Project - Short Film: Drawing Greg

For my external client project I collaborated with Daniel Bissill and we decided to create a short 15 minute film which we will enter to the 'Bang! Short Film Festival' in Nottingham.

Daniel Bissill and Chris Thorby

Synopsis
Colin, a shy, young and lonely artist who enjoys reading comic books discovers a coupon for a free sketchbook. He eventually learns that anything he draws within this sketchbook becomes real. He fulfils his loneliness by drawing a friend called Greg who brings fun to Colin's life.



We called our film collaboration 'Giant Panda Productions' and we have a Facebook page which we used to keep people updated on our progress.

facebook.com/giantpandaproductions

Here is the behind the scenes video of 'Drawing Greg'. During the shooting our film we set up another camera to film the process. We have edited some of that footage together in this video and we recorded a voice over of us talking about how it all went.

This is a short teaser trailer we created in a silent film style. We didn't want to give too much away so we used this style to present something short and comical with a brief description of the story. Using Premiere Pro we put it in black and white, added noise to create an old film look and used silent film speech cards.

These are all the storyboards from the film. I worked on these from the screenplay I wrote with Dan Bissill. In the end we had to change a few scenes so some of these storyboards were rejected when we started to shoot the film.

Dan did a photo-shoot of the characters and crew in the green screen room. I edited this image to create this poster for our film and I am quite pleased with it. I think the comedy of the film comes across through this image of Greg on Colin's back. Greg is holding up the drawing of himself so the audience clearly know he's the character drawn to life.

Research Document Artefact 4 (Interactive story)

A website called "inklewriter" allows people to write interactive stories. I have used this to write a piece of interactive fiction called 'Altered Being' and it can be viewed here:

http://writer.inklestudios.com/stories/jrv4

I created this story about someone waking up in a strange hospital and given special powers through experiments. The main character is the reader, I have deliberately not specified the gender. I use the word "you..." throughout to make the reader feel as if they are placed in that situation, making them feel how I describe them to feel. The idea was so they could investigate the hospital and discover what has happened to  them.

This was the story structure I was going to follow:

This is the structure I came up with for my interactive novel; there are six possible endings and a range of choices of where the reader can take the story. I thought of such a large number of choices to keep the reader entertained and have a lot of control on what happens. The story is focused on putting the reader in the position of the character so I believed it was important to let them decide what the character should do throughout the novel. 

I decided to leave this project idea to pursue something different and I have created an interactive film. Using a graphics tablet I haven drawn a series of images which compile to make a simple interactive story about a martial arts tournament fight. I am exploring into the topic of interactive through practice and developing interactivity through the YouTube annotations feature. From this video I want to gain some feedback of how people found the experience compared to a regular story.

I have created an online survey for people to watch the video, interact with the story and then answer questions: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/chris-thorby/interactive-film-and-online-video-research-project/

I thought from doing this people who may not understand interactive film would be able to get an idea on what it's about. After watching my video the topic would be fresh in their mind for answering the questions of how they found the viewing experience.



Creating this interactive video was a challenge, I spent a lot of time creating drawings on Photoshop and used Premiere Pro to add key frames for motion. Developing an interactive video was difficult as you have to think about all the different story paths and it can get really confusing. It was like creating pieces of puzzle which needed to be fitted together at the end. It almost felt messy because the story is broken up. I found the outcome was far more enjoyable than the process creating it.
This story was based on a storyboard I made a few years ago and I used key frames to animate it as I would like it to be filmed, such as pans and zooms. I have already created an interactive film before for YouTube so I decided to try something different by making a whole video from drawings. From this I could develop a film idea with settings, characters and costumes I wouldn't be able to film. I find the annotations feature is the best way to create an interactive film.

Structure of the interactive story

There are four possible endings; two lead to victory, one is escaping from a mugger outside the tournament and the other is losing the fight. I had to have a good and a bad ending for the main character so people had to think about their choices and consequences.


Survey results

From the survey I have collected results from 11 people who participated in watching my interactive film and completing the survey. 100% of people enjoyed interacting with the story and the majority of people liked being in control; with the ability to change what will happen. The minority prefer not to be in control and taken on a ride when watching a film. It seems the concept appealed to people who participated in my interactive film. From my interviews with Al Clark and David Mew they believed interactive film was more like a video game than a film so I decided to present this question to the public. 7 of 11 people said my film was more like a video game because you are in control of the character against it being a film with optional story paths. It seems then interactive is more of a video game experience than an actual film. I believe this is because viewers cannot sit back and relax whilst watching but have to participate and engage into the experience. Interactive could be negative in the way viewers are forced to make a contribution when they may not wish to.

In terms of the options to direct the story most people said they selected am option and went back to see the other choice. The minority thought about which choice to make and the consequences. The majority didn't care as much to which option they went for as they knew they could re-play it again with the alternative. I think this makes it less exciting but this is because it’s not a collaborative interactive film, people are viewing this within the privacy of their home. Perhaps if it were something screened in a cinema with an audience to select choices based on votes, participants would be more focused on the options and the outcome.

The majority wanted the main character within my film to succeed whilst 1 person wanted him to fail. It seems the viewers are more focused on a good ending than a bad one. My research document focused on an aspect of the viewer’s morality when watching a film. The disturbing film ‘Funny Games’ includes a character constantly reminding the audience of their choice to turn off the film and questions us why we are watching. This led me to question the morality of viewer within an interactive film, if the viewer is controlling the character’s choices then they become more involved with them. Choosing for the character to fail can represent the morality of the viewer, what they wish to witness through a fictional context or perhaps a form of catharsis.

From the survey most of the people said they can connect to the character more in an interactive film because they are controlling them and put into their position. Less than half said they can connect more to the character within a traditional film because they are not in control of their situation and can empathise more. I thought more would agree than can connect more to a character within a traditional film. David Mew (Manager at Savoy Cinema) thought that an interactive film would never be as a good as a traditional film in terms of emotional depth, he didn't see how the viewers would be able to connect to the main characters though this entertainment as he believed they become more one dimensional puppets. I understand this to a point, being out of control and left to witness the character struggle, fight and overcome enemies does take you on a ride. Interactive allows the viewer to step in and alter this so it could lose the mystery and unexpectedness when watching a film. 

I allowed participants in my survey to describe if they feel that can be immersed within an interactive story as much as a traditional film story. One person responded that as long as the story has great characters that you can relate to then it doesn't matter if the film is in an interactive form. The person believed I captured the emotional feelings of the struggle the main character felt and that he felt 'real'. It seems that my interactive story had was enough to build a connection between the audience and the main character and was immersive. However other people suggested that not being in control can be more immersive because you are completely unaware of how the story will pan out, what plot twists might occur and that it removes the surprise element. Some thought that interactive film feels like a game because when a 'wrong' option is selected in the video it feels like a 'Game Over' screen and you find yourself going back for the correct ending. People are not watching it as a film story as such, instead they are selecting the options to achieve a good ending like a video game, otherwise the experience is not complete and in that way it's less immersive. Although one person thought its more immersive being in an interactive story because you become the main character, making the story personal to you but enjoys relaxing watching a traditional film more.

In my survey I asked people to provide any ideas of other interactive features they can think of to improve the viewers experience when watching a film. I received a variety of interesting responses such as smell, narration and eye tracking. Smell was something used in cinemas in the past but was never anything popular, using scratch-and-sniff cards at certain points of the movie would be distracting and annoying. It was interesting to read about different responses to eye sight with tracking points when your eyes follow to a certain area on the screen. That kind of technology is like a computer screen instead of a cinema screen and that your eyes become a mouse to interact with the film. Someone else suggested it would be interesting if you could select your own character traits and see how you would do in that situation. This could also suggest the morality of the viewer; how their own personal character traits and choices would work in a 'film-like' scenario, for instance "would you survive a zombie film?". A participant mentioned interactive feedback whilst the film was being made, so it could be written by the audience. Just set the scene and let it write itself with the film-maker picking the best ideas and filming it section by section until there is a complete film. The audience would then have a film with ideas that people have contributed to. Another idea following from this would be to have some kind of interactive screen where you can choose how you would like the film to pan out from selecting a range of ideas and character traits. It is interesting to allow the audience to contribute in creating their 'own' film and watch it back. It seems more audience participation when watching a film can be positive thing if new technology was developed to engage the viewer.

Research Document Artefact 3 (Interview)

For my third artefact I interviewed the David Mew, the Duty Manager at Savoy Cinema, Nottingham. I thought it would be really good to hear opinions about interactive facilities from someone who works within cinema and see if it was positive or negative. As someone who works in film exhibition I thought it would be useful hearing his views on interactive film, public collaborative projects and amateur film-makers exhibiting work online.



Chris Thorby: How do you feel about cinemas with interactive facilities?

David Mew: I think it depends on the context, I think it could be a positive thing. I couldn't really see it being a particularly mainstream kind of experience in the same way as a multiplex showing them. I don't think it would be something the cinema going public would really take to. I think it's quite suited for an art house thing but again only as a special one-off event rather than a regular Saturday/Friday night kind of thing.

Chris Thorby: Interactive film allows viewers to analyse what they are watching, the decisions they make and the consequences. Feature film completely immerses viewers within a fictional world. Do you believe interactive film is positive or negative in this aspect?

David Mew: I think in terms of interactive film against traditional film, I think interactive would be less immersive because you are constantly been drawn out of the plot/story and be prompted to make decisions or trying to effect what's happening on the screen...and it does depend on how often you being prompted to do this and the way your doing it at all, if you're being asked a question every 2 or 3 minutes then that's going to get quite frustrating perhaps, quite annoying but then again if you're not being asked enough times or enough of your opinions then again it could be frustrating. In terms of being immersive I don't think you have to be able to interact with something for it to be immersive. The danger is that the plot and the characters will suffer because if you are just controlling someone on the screen then the character (the protagonist) becomes just a puppet it doesn't become someone you can connect to and can build an emotional bond with. Characters in computer games tend to be quite one dimensional, they're not someone you tend to meet on the street or whatever, they're quite very fixed stereotypical roles and I think the danger with interactive film is that the characters might just become just that, just a blank slate for the audience to control.

Chris Thorby: With an interactive film the control of the story is passed to the viewer. The film-maker sets the pathways but the viewer directs it's route, in a way ownership is passed from the author to the audience. How do you feel about this?

David Mew: I think from the viewers point of view it could end up being not as great experience I think in terms of cinema and why it's so popular is because of the fact you're not in control. You're basically sat down and you're telling someone else "take me on a ride...show me what you've got" and I think cinema, great cinema should speed you up and take you along this kind of ride at it's own pace. The director knows "you need to be sped up at this point or he needs to have a lull in this story at this point" and I think the idea of the viewers then becoming "actually we want to hurry past this bit or we want to run away from that bit" I think that experience could lose what it means to be gripped by a truly great film. Having said, you know it's an interesting kind of experiment, an interesting novelty to go and take part in an interactive film. I wouldn't want it to replace traditional cinema, which I don't think it ever would.
From a director's point of view I think it would be quite an exciting challenge to try and do, I think it would be a lot harder to make a good interactive film than it would be to make a reasonable traditional film because you have to think about all these different branches and I guess the film would end up being defined as to what the audience can't do. If they get used to being able to control this and control that, make the character do all sorts of things then really it's up to the director to try and not limit that in order to make it a good experience...but also to make sure that at the end they've still come through something that has sort of meaning and depth to it rather than just a computer game on a screen, which wouldn't be worth it. An interactive film would never be as good as a computer game in terms of that role player kind of role but it would never be as good as a traditional film in terms of the emotional depth.

Chris Thorby: Online video provides a shared community for people to experience a range of entertainment across the world. Do you feel this makes us more connected?

David Mew: Yeah definitely, yeah definitely makes us more connected. I mean growing up I kind of feel I had a good idea of what it meant to be a student at an american college for instance because I'd seen Hollywood films. I've seen 'Road Trip', 'American Pie' that sort of thing...I had an idea of what it means to live in a suburban american town and yet I don't really know what it would be like to be a French teenager or a German growing up and going to school because you don't get exposed to that media. So I think YouTube and online video in general you can just have a window on someone's life that you would not really have access to where it not for the internet, so online video is really a great way of actually being able to experience things that aren't backed by multi-billion dollar marketing industries. You can see a small film-maker who's said "I've made a film, I've put it up" and people can look at it, enjoy it and share it. Yeah definitely makes you more connected, you definitely get access to a lot more creativity and less homogenized creative people, so yeah definitely a positive thing.


From the interview with David Mew I gained some useful opinions of interactive film and online video from someone who works within film exhibition. Again like Al Clark he believed cinemas with interactive facilities would work better with a smaller audience, not so much with a mainstream cinema but a more art house one as a special one-off event. David thought interactive would be less immersive than traditional cinema because you are constantly drawn out of the plot; you don't need to interact with something for it to be immersive. Being prompted to make a decision every 2 or 3 minutes could become frustrating but then again if you're not asked enough it could be annoying. The danger with interactive entertainment is that the characters and plot will suffer. The protagonist becomes just a puppet that the audience can't connect or have an emotional bond with, but more of a one dimensional computer game character. He said that great cinema is popular because you're not in control, it takes you on a ride. Having the ability to change what you do such as being able to skip or runaway from something could lose what it means to be gripped by a great film.
From a directors point of view it would be harder to make a good interactive film that it would to make a reasonable traditional film; you have to think about all the different story branches and the film ends up being defined by what you can't do. It's also important that with an interactive film the audience come out of something that has depth and meaning rather than just a computer game on a screen.
David Mew believed that an interactive film would never be as good as a computer game in terms of role playing and would never be as good as a traditional film in terms of emotional depth. His view was that interactive would affect the viewing experience and story of a film in a negative way. With a traditional film you want to be taken on a ride, put out off control and left with something with meaning and in his view, interactive does the opposite.

David agreed that online video definitely makes us more connected. YouTube and online video provides a window on someone's life that you wouldn't have access to if it weren't for the internet. It allows you to experience things that aren't backed by multi-billion dollar marketing industries such as small film-maker's work which people can share. Through online video there is access to a lot more creativity and more experimentation.

Research Document Artefact idea (Collaborative Video)

I want to get about 10 people to film 30 seconds of their day so I can compile a short collaborative film involving public participation. I have a camera attached to a hat which I want people to borrow to achieve a point of view shot. This is an interesting idea exploring different perspectives. I was inspired by Ridley Scott's 'Life in a Day'.

I used the bottom part of the camera which would attach to a tripod. I found a screw that was the right width and length to fit into the camera as well as long enough to go through the hat. Using a knife I pierced into the front of the hat and used a screw driver to create the hole for the screw. I used a screw and a washer to fasten the camera in place. I attached the camera underneath the hat so it was eye level to achieve the point of view perspective. It films upside down but I can change that in post-production. 

Research Document - Artefact 2 (Interview)

I want to gain interviews with cinemas, film enthusiasts and film teachers to ask questions based on interactive film, online video and collaborative projects. I think it would be interesting to see what opinions I can get from people who have a lot of knowledge within film and people working within film exhibition, perhaps to see if there would be a market for developing specialist interactive cinemas.

From my first artefact of an online survey which focuses on asking questions to the general public, I have now created questions fit for people with knowledge on film.

I managed to get an interview with Al Clark a producer at Wellington Films, Nottingham.




Chris Thorby: How do you feel about interactive film within specialist cinemas and having the ability to change the narrative?

Al Clark: I think interactive film being screened in cinemas is interesting. It probably to my mind work with a smaller audience than traditionally watched feature films, maybe based in an environment like the lounge in Broadway which is very much like a home lounge. My question is...does everyone there get to play a part or are they passively watching others? if everyone can be involved then I think its really interesting.

Chris Thorby: Would interactive film stop interpolation with the film? What qualities do you think this entertainment could add to the viewer’s experience?

Al Clark: I think its a different medium really to traditional film. I mean feature films are very passive entertainment you sit there and you're fed the whole storyline from start to end that the director/writer has come up with and you don't get to change it obviously. Interactive, that totally turns it on it's head and you do get to engage and change the story but presumably only within the parameters that the writer/director has already set. I mean even video games are always within the world that's been created, you don't have total freedom, you can't wonder out of the environment. So I think it's more to video gaming than feature film I would have thought.

Chris Thorby: Is it important for viewers to be immersed within a fictional world through film? Should film be thought-provoking and allow us to analyse what we are watching?

Al Clark: I don't think it's more important either way it's just a different choice of entertainment. This sort of 'Choose your own adventure' entertainment has been around for some time in book form, I remember reading them as a kid before all this interactive film where you get to choose different options has been made available. I don't think one is more important than the other it's just down to choice. Whether you can say passive entertainment is less important than interactive entertainment on a more psychological level? then maybe. It's good to stimulate the brain obviously...but your always thinking about a fictional story even if you're not interacting with it, you're engaging with it but that engagement probably takes the form of discussion in the pub afterwards rather than during the actual program.

Chris Thorby: As interactive promotes discussion, how do you feel about communication within cinemas when a film is running?

Al Clark: Well if people are discussing the options, if you somehow have to come to a collective decision then clearly there's going to be order-able communication in the cinema itself, might get quite heated, might be quite entertaining and it's going to be a different viewing experience to watching a film where everyone shhs you if you even cough. People would have to be aware of what kind of viewing experience it's going to be before going in, if there not willing to engage in discussion with the person they don't know next to them or in the 5 rows behind them then it's not going to be the right experience for them.

Chris Thorby: Do you think that online video provides amateur film-makers creative freedom?

Al Clark: If there making a film self funded for example then they don't have any restrictions whatsoever they can make a film on whatever they want that's always been the case, the exhibition is the problem. Online exhibition opens up that wall, breaks down boundaries, you no longer have any barriers to your market, which is the audience. So you can make a film yourself, you can stick it on YouTube yourself, Facebook whatever and grow your own audience, say exactly what you want to say so yes absolutely, it gives film-makers total freedom of expression.

Chris Thorby: Do you think online video is making the world more connected?

Al Clark: Well the whole social media networking is making the world far more connected, we know what everyone is doing at any time.I can tweet right now that I'm sat in an interview with you and straight away however many thousand people are following me potentially know, they don't necessarily know they have to check their phone at that time but we're all connected all the time. Online video is a part of all that and grows community, you as a film-maker, upload films regularly, you get thousand, million however many followers...which would be nice! and they will then watch your next film and we're more connected in that way. People can comment on your films which is kind of interesting, have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth on that.

Chris Thorby: What are your views on the public producing collaborative projects to be screened in cinemas such as  ‘Life in a Day’?

Al Clark: Public collaborating; obviously there's always someone that's steering the project and at the end of the day it is authored by the director. So it's always got a film-makers stamp on it; what to choose, what not. They're curating it so it's not total open access by the public but I think it's a very interesting project.


From this interview with Al Clark I have gained some useful opinions on interactive film and online video from someone who works within feature film. It was interesting to hear opinions from someone who works within film and see if interactive appeals to him as well as his views on amateur film-makers producing work online.
In terms of interactive film Al Clark thought it would work better with a smaller audience which is understandable if it involves a large amount of people within a cinema discussing options. It could become quite heated. If everyone can be involved in an interactive cinema experience it could be really interesting but if some are passively watching others the viewing experience would not be so good, not everybody will be getting the most of out the film. It could be said that with an interactive film you are granted more freedom than a traditional feature film as there is room to explore and shape the story however you're not granted total freedom. You can only choose where to take the narrative through the parameters the director/writer sets. Al Clark thought interactive film becomes more of a video game than a film.
Looking at feature film in comparison to interactive I asked which he found was more important; being sucked into a fictional world or put in a position thinking about what your watching and the choices you make. He believed one wasn't more important than the other but was just down to choice, but the question he raised was that interactive could be more important on a psychological level; to stimulate the brain. Through this entertainment viewers are given room to analyse what they are watching and the consequences of the choices they make, in some ways it makes the audience more involved with the characters. However Al Clark said that you are always thinking about a fictional story and engaging with it, it just takes the form of discussion afterwards instead of during the film.
If interactive promotes discussion in cinemas the audience would have to be aware of the viewing experience before they enter as some may not enjoy it as much as others. Some people in cinemas are fine with a small amount of noise such as people eating snacks, coughing, sneezing whatever but others maybe more frustrated by this. Again it's all down to choice.

In terms of online video, Al Clark agreed that self funded film-makers have no restrictions on what kind of films they make. Online video takes away the barriers in your market and through YouTube, Facebook and social networking you can grow your audience. There is total freedom of expression.
Social media networking is making the world far more connected, we know what everyone is doing at any time and online video is part of that. It grows a community, you as a film-maker and a medium to gain followers who will watch your next film and we become more connected in that way. People can comment on your films so you can hear the thoughts and opinions of your work from your audience.
With public collaborative projects such as 'Life in a Day' are authored by the director and always has a film-makers stamp on it; such as what videos to choose or what not. It's not total access by the public, not everyone would be able to freely express themselves through a film project but Al Clark did agree that this idea is very interesting. There could be more room for work like this.

Research Document - Artefact 1 (Online Survey)

I created a research document which was a study of interactive film and online video. To progress my research I am making 5 artefacts.

My first artefact is an online survey I made which can be found here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FCCLG3B

For this video I created all the line drawings with a graphics tablet using Photoshop and imported them into Premiere Pro to create this simple animation. I used a royalty free piece of music called 'Bull Dawg NO BASS' by Royalty Free Kings (http://www.royaltyfreekings.com/). I think this video is a good way of clearly illustrating the information from the survey. It has also been useful for the question; "Have you watched any short interactive films on YouTube or other websites?" because I could use annotations so viewers can click and view the video examples.



I collected the results from the Jan 6th - Feb 11th and created this video with charts, percentages and examples of responses.
From this I wanted to see what interactive films people have seen and their opinions of it against regular linear film. I also wanted to see what videos people watch online and what videos they upload.

I found out the majority have watched interactive film on the internet such as "YouTube Street Fighter", "Create a Rapper" by Dormtainment and "Haircut" by Niel Cicierega. I haven't come across these before so it has been interesting to find out new interactive videos and what kind of interactivity appeals to them. It seems short funny interactive videos are more popular to interactive films.

I asked if people would find interactive more appealing to regular linear film and the majority said no. People stated that it would be time consuming, disruptive of the narrative flow and that it's better to relax with a film without missing out on part of the story. However some people agreed that interactive film could potentially be more interesting and liked the ability to change what happens in the film. It seems that people are more interested within short humorous interactive videos with no strong narrative and that an interactive film with different directions of the plot would be too disruptive.

Over 60% sometimes navigate through the interactive annotations feature on YouTube so its clear that the interactive function is well known and that people understand navigation through interactive YouTube videos. This means interactive YouTube videos could become more popular with new features developed for better interactivity.

About half of the people watch short films on YouTube and the other half prefer music videos/covers, funny videos and video blogs. There is a huge following for artists trying to progress with their music online and some support for short films. Short films aren't that popular against the range of material that's uploaded, the majority of people from my survey enjoy funny videos the most.

People enjoy uploading and sharing videos of friends online but their is also many which try and post their work for recognition. The internet is used as a platform for sharing experiences and to become acknowledged. Posting video online is a good way to broadcast work to a mass audience.

Everybody who participated owned a recording device of somekind, even a camera phone so sharing experiences online is widely accessible. The majority use phones for filming whilst a few owned digital cameras, camcorders and DSLR's.

The majority only subscribed to 1-10 channels on YouTube meaning their isn't a huge following for amateur talent online.

Research document

I have created a research document which is a study on Interactive film and online video, I believe these two topics link through the means to interact, communicate and share experiences. This explores the participation of the viewer through interactive cinema - how it’s the changed the fundamental nature of the film experience for the audience, collaborative projects and shared material through online video.

With interactivity a connection is created with the fictional world whilst online video connects with the real world. I am interested in viewers having participation and involvement with film. I have combined the topics of interactive and online video as a means to contribute and collaborate. Viewers contribute to the story through interactive and within online video the public are sharing experiences around the world. This form of media unites us, providing more to see of the world as well as providing a voice for the public; a way they can be seen by a mass audience. I am promoting the idea of a project which has been contributed to; people can collaborate and unite from different cultures and backgrounds in order to reveal an insight of their lives. Through interactive film the similar idea applies, the contribution to the film story allows the viewer to own a piece of the work.

Advanced Textiles Research Group: Knitting The Future

An advert I created to promote the products developed for health care by the Advanced Textiles Research Group at Nottingham Trent University

Internal Client Project

Project Concept

• To produce a 45 second video documenting some of the work within the medical field of the Advanced Textiles Research Group (ATRG). I am documenting the work they've done because I can gain a better understanding of the research group and get an insight into future prospects.

• Show the uses of these medical products, why they are needed and how they are unique.

• Gain an informative interview about the research group and their work within the medical field.

• Promote the innovation of the group.

• Aimed towards patients and doctors who require this technology to aid diseases and illnesses. For investments from health care services, such as care for the elderly.

Products

Healthvest – A one piece garment with integrated sensors for vital sign monitoring of old people. Sensors detect changes to wearer’s respiratory rate and tidal volume, based on changes caused by expansion and contraction of the chest.

Compression garments for the treatment of venous disease, lymphoedema and burns. Scan2Knit technology ingrates a 3D limb scanner to accurately measure the size and shape of the lower leg and foot. This is sent to a computer aided compression stocking engineering system which allows the doctor to prescribe the desired pressures for differing clinical applications. Seamless knitted stockings for patients.

Heated gloves for treatment of the for the treatment of Raynaud’s phenomenon; where a short exposure to the cold can cause a temporary restriction to the blood flow to the fingers resulting in discomfort and pain.

Possible Tag-lines

1.Innovation within garments

2.A knitted future of technology

3.Knitting a future

Moodboard

Design Ideas

• Integrate digital line drawings with film. Using a graphics tablet I can draw over images with Photoshop. The line drawings will show the design of the products such as diagrams of the functions. They will also express the innovation of design and the threads of yarn. These drawings will transform info live action film.

• A cross shape transition that expands outwards between different scenes. This would be like a medical cross.

• Use text and typography to show the words from the interview so they are bold and striking. Leaving the audience remembering clearly what has been said.

• A one-shot of tour of the facilities, handheld or with tracks. Perhaps in fast time to leave the majority of the video for the interview and products.

• A continuous movement with the camera; film moving around the facilities to filming moving around the products in use. Voice over and ending the video with a few second shot of the interviewee.

Storyboard

Monkey Thinker Productions

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/monkeythinker

TWITTER: www.twitter.com/monkeythinker

          CONTACT: monkeythinkerproductions@gmail.com

Terror Cellar

I went to France over the summer and whilst I was there I developed a French and English film-making collaboration. For this production we worked on a very small budget of just 22 euros. Our idea is to work in two countries, providing films that are understood by either the spoken language or subtitles. We have combined our artistic skills and passion to create a concept which we would like to continue on by travelling between the two countries. This is our first video, an interactive horror film with a little touch of humour. The video is shown from the point of view perspective letting the spectator explore and make choices for the character. We have embraced the idea of making the spectator immerse into the character entirely, like a game; allowing you to see through a new pair of eyes.

Investigate 'Terror Cellar' and enjoy!

In French with English subtitles - Subtitles created by Chris Thorby

Many thanks to Steve Kennison and Highlands Cafe

                      Monkey Thinker Productions: Gregory Granados and Chris Thorby

We created the point of view perspective by attaching a camera to a hat - a very cheap and effective idea. Our footage was filmed upside down so the camera was at the exact point of the eyes, this was obviously very bizarre for the cameraman! In post-production we rotated the video to the correct way.

Depict: 'Past' - Final Film, Production Photos and Promotional stills

PAST - My DepicT submission

Shaun Howard comes home from work one night to witness something which changes his life forever. From then on he is haunted by the loss of his wife and his anger towards the killer through reflections. Everyday is a chore and he cannot focus on his future without being haunted by his past...

Soundtrack created by Li Tsang using 'GarageBand'

Production Photographs

Promotional stills

Depict: 'Past' - Character Profiles and Storyboards

Shaun Howard

A man who has witnessed a burglar break into his home and murder his wife. He is now living his everyday life haunted by this past, he cannot let go and constantly sees the traumatic event everywhere he goes in reflections.

Time seems to drag out for longer than it should, when he is at work he is riled by the constant repetitive clicking of a mouse, keyboards and the ticking of the clock. His life turns around once a girl walks into a café and speaks to him.

Shaun has dark hair, he looks distressed and restless, he has insomnia and bags under his eyes. He wears his work clothes which is a white shirt, dark tie, suit trousers, a pair of formal shoes and a dark coat. His shirt is slightly creased as he doesn't always iron his clothes and his hair is slightly messy. Shaun always drinks coffee at work and doesn’t drink alcohol.

Burglar

Burglar breaks into Shaun Howard's home and murders his wife. This character haunts Shaun in his reflections, he will wear a balaclava, a black leather jacket and black gloves. He will have a knife which he will show in the reflections. The burglar will look evil and merciful.

Jean Howard

Wife of Shaun Howard who is murdered by a burglar who breaks into their home. She only appears in his reflections which haunt him, showing her eyes and face which clashes with the face of the burglar. There will be fades between the reflections but I will show how his memory of her is damaged by the image of the burglar who killed her. Jean wears casual clothes such as jeans and a long sleeve top.

Emma White

Meets Shaun Howard in a café and releases him from his haunted past. Her appearance is very brief. She enters the café Shaun is in at the end of the film and approaches him. They both glance at each other smiling and they introduce themselves as the screen fades to black. She has long hair and wears a dress.

Storyboard 1

I decided to change this storyboard as I wanted more tension when he's sees the burglar in the mirror. I want to make this scene more intense. I will focus on him panicking; with sounds of a fast heart rate, heavy breathing and showing  him shaking. I also decided I wanted an extra character in my film, giving Shaun a friend who is supportive towards him as I didn't want him entirely alone.

Storyboard 2

I have removed the time lapse of the clock for this storyboard as I think that shows time moving quickly rather that showing it move slowly for Shaun as he is suffering and bored. I have changed some of the reflections focusing more on faces rather than the event. In the bathroom mirror I have changed it so the burglar is standing behind him instead of being his reflection as I don't want the audience to think that Shaun is the burglar. The car wing mirror will show Jean Howard's eyes, the car door glass will show the side of her face and the puddle will show her face fading to the face of the masked burglar. I have changed my storyboard to this as I believe it's more powerful, he loves his wife and keeps thinking about her face but the burglar's image invades some of these memories. I am pleased I added a new character, Stuart who is Shaun's friend as I found the story was too sad for him to be alone as well, he needs someone to support him. I didn't want to make his life seem so hopeless.

Storyboard 3

I have changed my idea slightly so that instead of Shaun witnessing the burglar kill his wife he only witnesses her dead after the break in. I wanted the image of the burglar to be what he imagines the killer to look like as he doesn't know who he is. He is living with anger with a thirst for revenge. I have also changed a lot of the scenes so the memory of his wife is behind him in the reflections, like she is watching over him, which I think is more effective. I have also changed it so he is speaking to a female colleague at the end who suddenly changes into his wife representing how he sees his wife in this new girl and how he finds it hard to move on.

Why my idea is appropriate for production in terms of context, available resources, expertise and time.

I believe this idea is appropriate as it gets the audience involved with the character's emotions. Instead of showing this traumatic event of a burglar breaking into his home and murdering his wife I am showing how it haunts him everywhere he goes; he is always thinking about his wife as well as his anger towards the killer. I am showing how in his world time seems to drag out and just getting through the day is painful enough. He speaks to a female colleague through a webcam conference call and sees his wife appear in the exact same position wearing her clothes, this represents how he sees his wife in her and finds it hard to move on.

I have learned a lot by experimenting myself through editing and finding new techniques which I would like to show through this project. Creating the reflections could be a challenge but I am willing to accept that to achieve what I want and create something I could be proud of. I have learned about blending options in Premiere which I will use in my project and adjusting the colours for dramatic effect. From my previous project I have experimented with layering and I will use that in this project, layering cracks over the top of my main character to represent that he is a broken man. I will layer sound effects when editing to make the film more intense such as screams, heavily breathing and a heartbeat.

I could create a lot of the reflections digitally by filming the characters in front of the green screen and overlaying them as casting reflections on glass and water could be difficult to capture. However I think if I film it right I could record the killer or wife standing behind the main character in the reflections. We have the available resources such as the camera, tripod, tracks, lighting and sound to create this short film. I have only briefly used the tracks and it has created some great smooth camera movements which I would love to use in this project. I want to use some smaller lighting kit however as I am not using a studio and using the large lights in small spaces would not be appropriate, I will also not use a boom pole if need be for the same reason.

Time is one of the things I am most worried about as it would take a while to film and longer to edit, I am also hoping I can get the help I need in terms of cast and crew. Fitting filming around when the actors are free or when I can get help with equipment could hold me back and take longer than I want. I am also a little worried about locations, I need a place that looks like an office so I'm hoping to use somewhere in  university for this.

It took me a while to come up this idea, I always wanted to create something surreal and this is perfect as a short. This project will be great for showing some of the skills and techniques I have picked up, I'll also learn more during the process which will help with any future projects.

I believe I haven't really taken film to my full potential yet, I have explored through effects in editing but I would like to focus a bit more on cinematography, even though this will have effects in  it I want to make it seem more raw and original. Although I have worked with actors before in my 'Malac' film I haven't really directed them myself which is a challenge I have set myself for this project. I will be working with four actors and I'm hoping for some good performances, I will have several takes for each scene until I get the right outcome as I want this piece of work to feel intense.

Depict - Proposal

Chosen Idea
Film Title: "Past"

Proposal

My short film focuses on one character, Shaun Howard. He is kept awake during the night and has a past which haunts him wherever he goes. I have tried to keep the traumatic memory relatively secret leaving all the focus towards how he is feeling and coping with his everyday life. Using reflections from mirrors, glass and water I will show how this memory haunts him; the memory is a burglar that broke into his home and murdered his wife, Jean Howard. I will show this however by memories of his wife's face and eyes clashing with the face of a burglar, as if the burglar is invading those memories. He cannot think of the happy times with her without being haunted by this burglar's image. I will show him having one friend from work, Stuart Adams who is supportive, lively and happy.

Shaun is restless and distressed, he goes to work everyday only to hear the repetitive clicking of the mouse and keyboard and the constant ticking of the clock. In his world time seems to drag out far longer than it should; he is a broken man. To represent this I will use the blending options in Premiere Pro to create a broken glass effect over his body. I will use slow fades so the audience can stay with scenes longer and think about them and I will use tracks to create smooth camera movements and draw us closer to the character.

I have been inspired by a few pieces of work for my idea. The first video when thinking about this project was 'The Black Hole' by Phil and Olly as part of 'Future Shorts' this sparked off my ideas. I loved the colour tones of the office making it look so dull and boring, I would like to use similar tones for my film showing how his day to day life is not the same and that he is suffering inside. I also liked the idea of discovering something that is an escape, giving you a chance to break free but in this film he becomes trapped because of his greed. A range of ideas came from that idea of a black hole on a piece of paper, I thought about lots of things that involve escaping from reality and finding a new world but I realised it was more interesting to focus on emotions and memories, something that is real.
I liked the idea behind 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' having a object that reveals what emotions and secrets lie within a character, which is a painting that changes. The painting shows his true self which is evil as he becomes morally corrupt. I want to use a similar idea but use reflections as a way of showing Shaun's real emotions and memories that he cannot express. Every time he looks at a reflection it's like he is looking inside himself, haunted by his past.
I have also been inspired by the film 'Mirrors' for the way it shows reflections as not being yours but more of a puppet for an evil spirit to control. The reflections that Shaun's sees are personal and not real, its his mind that is creating them and he only finds peace when he meets the girl at the end of the film.

I have kept to minimal dialogue as we can look more at the emotions, there is only a few lines with his friend Stuart in the office and Emma White in a café at the end of the film. The ending will be his life turning around and starting to look up, he sees a girl walk in and they both glance at each other and smile. She approaches him, sits next to him and the two introduce each other. He then looks at the glass window to see his own reflection smiling, she continues to talk as the screen fades to black. This is symbolic of being released from his haunted past suggesting that this girl could change him.

I will use some dramatic blue and grey colours for some of the scenes where he is haunted by this memory in his reflections but use more warmer colours like oranges and browns for the café scene where things begin to look up for this character. The lighting will be quite dark inside his house and the outside scenes will show over-powering shadows from his figure and his surroundings. I will use some scary ambient music for the haunted reflections and some dream-like ambient classical music for the café scene, there will be some muffled scream sound effects, fast heart beats and heavy breathing to really emphasise his trauma.