All Done!!!

So it's taken the best part of 2 days, but my finished piece is finally done!

I won't bore you with all the details of this, that, what went wrong and what went well, but all in all it came together as well as it might under the circumstances and conditions, and it certainly communicates my idea well enough for the module I hope!

Quality isn't amazing, but it's just on here to wrap up this module. I might make another post or two detailing the ins and outs of the editing of this, although that might be a very boring post, and maybe one about how the presentation of it went after Friday's submission, but for now, this is this project wrapped up!

Thoroughly enjoyed it, start to finish, learnt new skills, took chances, achieved things I didn't expect I could, and pulled off an idea I didn't know I had in me. It's been a really insightful project, allowing me to look into the past of a place I know, yet never took the time to study. I now have a new way of looking at the city as I walk its busy streets, having seen it through other eyes, in a time long gone. It's been amazing to see where things started, how they've grown, and to channel that into an actual project that I hope pays homage and respect to its rich heritage, and honours the memories of its people.

Sure, I feel the end result could have been much, much better, and when I watch the video back there's so many things I hate about it. But then again they say that's a good thing, to be critical of your work. Not sure I agree totally, I'd much rather be over the moon with something I've done than underwhelmed by it, but still, it's done now and I'm looking forward to the next project!

Rebuilding the Past

Right then, with all the footage shot, and enough clips cut and background stuff on hand, it was time I started to bring the past back to life! Or at least try to anyway!

I'm gonna use one example of photo in order to demonstrate the process I used to do this, in this case, the Moors one.

So, taking the initial scans I made and images I found...

I cut and pasted the appropriate image in order to set it apart as it's own canvas...

Then painstakingly erased all bits of life and movement from the image...

Then started to add bits of footage, one at a time in order to give the shot some motion and life again. I'd worry about the transition crossfade at a later stage when I brought everything together, but for now, I just concentrated on one image at a time.

I didn't want to cram it too much full of stuff, I kinda liked the bare streets and minimal life, made it look much older and authentic, especially when transitioning into a busy modern day version of the scene.

Once all this was added, I looked for a quick tutorial on old film effects, and found a great one here...

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/old_film_look/

...which also provided some old 8mm movie grain footage that could be directly applied to your work and blending accordingly to give the old look. I used it and it suited it perfectly! I also slowed down the speed so it looked its age more, and the finished thing came out as follows...

It was quite exciting seeing all the elements come together, and felt really rewarding to bring the past back to life, albeit in my own crappy,dodgy way! :P

I got hooked and blitzed through the rest of the videos, and wrapped the lot up ready to be edited in the final piece, which I was now ready and able to crack on with!

Green Screen Footage

So in the confines of my own personal studio, I shot the rest of the footage I had in mind. The tests I'd done previous helped and I adjusted the angles and lighting etc to compensate and hopefully stop any problem before they started, and in the end I was left with alot of decent footage that I've already played around with and found good for my plans!

The footage is a mix of my actress interacting with the frame and the shots of me all kitted up for background footage. I took this shot incase there's any problem with the location footage of Bec holding the frame, this might be an easier way of putting the old footage in there...



This was for the shots for an idea I had of the tablet user pressing some "full experience" button that brings her into the old Sheffield directly. This would be directly placed on old photos as she "walks around" it.



It's just an idea I have in mind, would have to mess around with it and see how it turns out. Although it could be a good way of making use of the old photos that I couldn't get decent enough modern day footage of... hmmmm...

This is footage for the shoe shine idea, where bizarrely I'd be shining my own boots by being both the shiner and recipient! You'd only see my feet though, so you wouldn't be able to tell on screen.

And lastly, I got some footage of just me in full gear, just standing around doing a few basic actions to give a little movement to the shot...

...which would work well just off in the distance somewhere, as I noticed in many of the actual images, there were people just kinda hanging around.

Can't wait to have a play with all this footage properly and start animating my photos now!

Giddy Up!

From this image...

...I thought how cool would it be if I actually had a moving horse and cart in my pictures? I figured it would be both a great way to bring the streets to life, and also help set the scene perfectly, being a great sign of the times which you just do not see anymore.

So I had a look for some decent footage of horse and carriage, and came across the following...

...which was actually a promotional piece offering "authentic 19th century horse-drawn carriage experiences in Connecticut." Sounds nice.

Picking an angle that best suited the majority of my clips, I started the longwinded cutting and pasting process again...

...adding each frame to its own blank background...

And it turned out as follows...

Probably my best cut of them all, certainly my favourite! I got away with the fine details at the bottom as I'll be blending all the white away, which should get rid of this too.

When applied to a shot, I think it'll work a treat! Least I hope so!

Dressing to Impress!

I wasn't happy with some of the looped footage I'd cut from the footage, so decided to film a bit of my own stuff, with the same intent of using it in the background of the shots. I'm not ruling out using the cuts, I'll have to see how they look, but it would be nice to get some better stuff filmed for the main focus of shots. As I also wanted to do some further green screen filming anyway, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.

So, first things first, I needed the appropriate gear. I went out and invested in some old fashioned clothing that would suit the era. I got a jacket, flat cap, and scarf, with the intention of just using my own trousers and boots...

All in all, the outfit cost just over a tenner, which would hopefully be a small price to pay for the results I aimed to get from this.

As the footage would only ever be seen in the background anyway, I wasn't too concerned with exact details, so for the task in hand, this outfit would do. Colour wasn't an issue really either, as the footage would ultimately be rendered black and white to fit in with the old photos, so it's all good.

While the outfit provided a good body, I needed to add something to my face. So I invested in a little disguise kit...

I actually bought this for a joke, but felt it would be ideal for the task in hand here! Look at the sheer range of star studded facial hair on offer...

I think the RICH UNCLE would be best suited for this job! :P

So with costume sorted and fake tash in hand, it was time to get kitted up!

I say good sir!

Good to go! I'm ready for my close up Mr. Director!

Editing the Old Footage

In order to animate my shots and add a little life to the streets, I thought why not cut things out directly from videos? Sure, I could manipulate a tram moving from behind for example by simply adjusting it's scale and position along a time line, but how about actually making it turn a corner or something in order to bring it to life even more?

So using the old footage I gathered in my research stage, I had a look at the clips to see if there was any suitable sections I could make my cuts from.

Using the list I made previously about what things I thought could go in the background and help establish a scene, I searched the clips for anything suitable.

The "Sheffield - Last Trams" video was, as expected, ideal for the tram footage. It also gave me a couple of other shots that I thought might come in handy.

So, from this video...

I managed to cut the following clips to work on...

This one was of a tram turning. I thought it would be good to have it heading into the distance, then capture it turning, just to help keep it from turning a bit too generic if i simply made the still image of the back of one change its size. I'd probably use this in one of the long street shots.

So I cut the clip from the original source, then opened it up in Photoshop and started to cut if, frame by frame, from the actual footage...

Once each frame was cut, it enlarged it and put it on a bright green background, thinking ahead for when I imported it into after effects and used it within my shots...

As you can imagine, this took FOREVER. But if it worked, the effect would be well worth it.

So what I was left with was the tram by itself, making its turn, against an easily keyed out green background...

So that was one cut done!

I also used the footage to give me a couple of other things I needed, like a person walking in the distance for example...

Which was a little quicker, as I cut only two steps that were made, with the intent of looping them on and on to provide a constant walk.

Which came out as follows...

I also cut this old couple walking toward the camera in this shot...

...as I thought it would be nice to have them at the front of the frame, giving the shot a nice feeling of depth. Again, I looped this to try and make it last longer, giving me a much bigger clip to play with.

Using the same technique, it came out as follows...

...which didn't come out very well at all I thought, but I'll try and tidy it up a bit and see if I can make it look a little better.

Overall, the cuts don't look as well as I'd hoped, particularly for the amount of time put into getting them. But, as they will be placed within an old, gritty, grainy, crappy footage effect, most likely in the background somewhere with a little blur effect so the edges aren't as harsh, I think they'll look ok. Least I hope they will, and that the many imperfections will be hidden.

I want to do a few more of these cuts, as although terribly time consuming, I do feel they could be used well enough for what I'm doing. Although maybe it would be easier to film some of my own stuff against a green screen...?

Hmmmmm...

Trams, Trains and Automobiles!

Looking within the old imagery for ideas about what could be used to bring life to these scenes, I made a list about what I needed...

Obviously, an old tram, something that is seen in many of the images. If I can find some good images, or even video footage of trams, specifically ones from the right era, it would look great having them moving within the shots.

This image is unique to itself, showing a train leaving in the distance. It's unique in that I couldn't use it elsewhere, and it would be specific to this image alone. Either I find another shot of a train, or I cut the one directly from this.

A car could be quite handy, either from this kind of angle where it heads into the distance, or even side on to drive past the shot.

Also, given the layout of certain shots, and how I don't want them devoid of life, I could do with footage of people walking, both towards and away, from different angles. I don't need loads, and it's something I can't just use still images for and hope for it to look realistic. This shot for example would be great to have a small crowd of people walking away at an angle, into the distance...

Basically, the more I have going off within my shots, the more life I can bring to the still images, and the more convincing my idea becomes.

So, I searched away and tried to build my collection of trams, trains and automobiles!

The footage I found of Sheffield came in quite handy, I made a few screen grabs at the right moment in order to cut and paste the images I needed. From here, I got the following...

 A nice flat on side view of a tram, would be ideal for the Castle Square idea of a tram moving perfectly sideways.

This was a good shot of a tram from the front with a slight angle, which could easily be manipulated in after Effects to grow in size, thus giving the illusion of it coming towards the camera. The shot would have to end before the angle of it would normally change, otherwise it will look way too fake.

I also found the following images that suited the era and proved useful...

Tram shot, similar to previous, but with more of an angle to account for depth in field and change of view.

Similar angle tram but different design, might conflict with previous ones.

 Shot of car from the early 1900's period I'm aiming for. Would be a good side on view for one that drives right past. Although I'd have to add a driver! Nice wheels though, could come in handy...

 Good shot of car from behind with slight angle, would work going off into distance. Although I only just noticed the woman hanging out the window, which might render it unusable. Daft cow...

 Another side shot of a period car, this time with a driver. Would probably have to animate the wheels separately so that they turn realistically.

 Great shot fo a car from directly ahead, would be great to use it coming towards the camera from the distance, obviously cutting it before it hits our cameraman... :P

Another shot from side, with driver. Would need to animate wheels again, but can be used in same way as ones before. Might cut the wheels from the first car, as they seemed to stand out nicely.

I did a quick test to see if the wheels would animate okay and help give a decent enough illusion of the car in motion...

Turned out ok, and as part of a background with motion blur added as it moved from one side of the shot to the other, I think it would look fine!

I'm just thinking though, as I found some decent footage from the old Sheffield streets, I might even have a play around and attempt to cut stuff from there directly. It would certainly give that authentic feel I'm aiming for, and it's certainly worth a try, as otherwise, I run the risk of my idea looking to fake and forced by simply moving still images around to create a mock sense of motion.

That's the next test I think, cutting stuff from old footage.