I am my dreams, ideas thoughts and imagination, this rather than my physical form or actions is what I wanted to portray. There is no one specific idea that I feel encompasses me but rather the pool of ideas and possibilities. If the eyes are the window to the soul then here is the window from which I look out onto the world.

Technical.
Lighting was specifically chosen to assist the blue screen process, and then to have a well light subject that would fit in with a pure white background (minimal shadows).It also had to tie in with the window frame photographed on a very sunny day (outside at the tip shop)

Filming went smoothly, I followed a shot list to ensure I had all the angles I was after.
More attention should have been made to the qulity of the footage rather that just the action and camera work. The footage turned out slightly grainy and I didn’t have any blue screen behind my feet and lower legs. (these two issues caused a lot more time in post to extract the blue-screen, more work could still be done on this but time better spent on the edit and audio).
The graininess didn’t affect the overall quality as I ended up adding more noise to achieve the effect I was after.

Editing.
There were many quite different edits before the final simplified option was decided upon. The original one matching the story board was paced incorrectly. to get cuts in within the ten seconds was too frantic, and the hard edges of the window frame ruined the soft ethereal feel. Subsequent cuts improved the pacing but were still trying to put too much in in the time available.
The final edit with just the slow zoom in builds some tension before the figure steps forward ending the sequence.

Effects.
Adding noise and static worked well. Originally there to add to the idea that this thought of what it was to be me was just a though not quite resolved fading in and out. Not only does this match my persona, it helps hide many blue-screen sins but more importantly it helped to unpolish the production (I was concerned it might look too technical.
Overall The final product ties in well with my initial vision.
On a personal level it worked very well as I identify with the window headed figure and it contains symbols important to me.

To others it a 10 second glimpse of me stumbling around in a dream slightly, lost, burdened by my own thoughts and ideas, with the underlying music giving overtones of childlike vulnerability. A glimpse they have sneaked before I notice and shut it down.

Some people like the ending some don’t , it works on some levels, but it would have to be the weakest part In retrospect this should have an end that opens up not closes down.

Next time I visit this topic I think I will spend more time on what goes on in the window.

The session was fun, and it was interesting viewing and discussing peoples work (I just can’t help myself and as usual did to much talking).

My project went fine but sme questions about the start being stronger than the end, maybe I tried too hard to make an end when there isn’t realy one, maybe it is a bit soft. I sort of went for a turning off effect (different to the interference effect I had earier) more of that was the advice. Wasn’t so sure at first but it could fit in.

Sound seemed the main element in question – which is fair.

Sound comments -bring the sound up as image comes up, tie the sound more to the image include static when the image shifts, maybe go for one of those music boxes rather than the processed computer generated sound.

I like all those ideas but not shore about the static on the audio, not sure its necessary, might seemed to forced particularly if I’m going for a more honest sound.

I brought a music box, not twinkle twinkle ,(they didn’t have it) but GreenSleeves. the only one that sounded appropriate, it’s quite good, and still evokes the right mood.

I started to follow my story board but, it dosn”t quite work in my head I imagined just brief flashes of the content with mainly white. I went off this idea to start with as it gives me very actual image on screen time, this seems a bit of a waste of 10 seconds. The pan is also nice and smooth so I might use it all.

I did keep to the rest of the story board, and cut in images of the frame flashing up.

This looks ok the the frame is just too angular and ruins the feel of it all. I was going for more a soft vague feeling and the hard angles of the frame flashing in completely contradicts this.

I added my tv feel and some soft borders to the screen as I hoped this would add to the feel that I’m after an soften the window frame. (really happy with look but the frame still isn’t working)

Version 2
Drop the frame popping in and out.
I think this option is better but…

Version 3 just the one shot (wide full body) I quite like this version but I have lost the whole idea of the reveal.

Needs more thought away from the computer.

I really wanted my feet in the shot but I forgot that I was standing on grey floor (very close to my clothes colour) lots of keyframing masks.

The next technical issue was matching the window to the proxy board. This turned out to be much harder than I thought I actually need to match this in 3D space. I tied a few methods but ran into problems as the woint I wanted to match ended up out of frame.

I could have spent hours trying to accurately set up the whole 3D space but this shot was down to a few seconds so I did a basic tracker for x y movement then keyed the 3d movement.

Now most of my content is keyed and the window frame roughly matched. (I can tidy this all up later once I have the final cut), but it actually looks like it might work.

The shooting went well, I had a couple of pans but Omah seemed o do a nice smooth Job.

I always panic a little and don’t analyse the shots well enough, but gut feeling was that it would be fine.

Myself with window head an pure white (I may digitally add a shadow to ground it – see how it looks).

Ill shoot with a blue screen and replace the background with white to get the clean white I’m after.

But this is a video piece. I would like to just hold it for 10sec with just the sky blowing past.
Not cuts locked off camera – done.

But I guess there should be more to it.
I would like a gradual reveal hold on me then turn off, back to just white to give it an end.

This whole project is all about introspection so I will come to the full shot of me through the window (that is me)

The reveal will start with fragments of me (so viewers know they are looking at a person) then parts of the window before focusing on the whole portrait.

When I imagine how this will work the ideas for how this would look (like all my ideas flick past – the less clear the idea the faster they go) so this is how I will treat them in the ident, vage flashings of bits of me before the more solid idea of self comes into existance. I often feel trying to grab hold of particualrly soft idea is like trying to tune a tv or radio with a weak signal. so I may give the images a slightly tv static effect. (after all TV would have to be a dominant influence )

Audio – options so far include static – tuning noises – or some simple piano- child like playing of twinkle twinkle little star (how I wonder what you are).

I like the piano idea the most but I’m more visual than auditory so Id like to cut the piece together first. – also the timing of the visuals will be vital to get the feel I’m after.

I will do a cut of the still shot as well, I’m starting to think it may actually be the better option.

light, airy, undefined, intangible, and fleeting. They waft past and you see something beautiful in them, but try and catch them and mold them and they disappear into nothing. I like my ideas fluffy and undefined they are fun and perfect full of possibilities.

My window should represent this ideas wafting around, forming breaking apart. Sure some people will expect to see sky through a window and look no further, but to me the sky represent endless possibilities the entire thoughts of the planet.

I’m a pretty optimistic person so a happy blue sky will fit best.

Its old and broken, and far too big but it looks almost exactly how I had imagined it.

the tip shop want far too much money for it so I had to settle for dragging it out into the yard and grabbing a few pictures of it before hiding it back amongst the others. (Maybe one day I’ll come back for it).

I had been thinking about shooting it with a fan and curtains blowing, but I think I was only doing that because it would look good.

I don’t think I’m a curtain sort of person – it was never in my original image. In fact thinking about it more it would have been completely wrong – is wind blowing in or out of me either way thats not what this is about.

Next – what to have, if anything in the window ?

I have never felt comfortable with my own image it always surprises me a little (Like listening to recordings of my voice) , so to me a picture of me doesn’t represent what it means to be me.

The first inspiration for this came to me when playing lego’s with my son. Making silly creatures I made one with a window for a head, and instantly it struck a chord, I went on to make a small army of window headed people, there was something about tyhem that I realy related to.

It ties into the whole eyes are the window to the soul thing – hear I am here is my soul open to the world no eyes to hide behind.

Ive also always imagined my self to take a a space larger than my head, when I frame the edges of the inner me it tends to take up the space just out to the edge of my peripheral vision – the frame through which I see the world.

I have always had an affinity to windows staring out them for much of my early schooling, although door gave you a physical escape from the tedium of the class room they could only be accessed at specific times, where as windows were always available as a means of escape – particularly those high up one open only to the sky.

There’s still more to like about windows from the voyeristic thrill of peeking in through someones window, to all manner of screens acting as windows into other worlds.

So this is me, my soul bared in this case a fairly weathered timber sash window.

Why a sash window specifically ?
It just seems by far the best sort – far more options, bottom open, top open, part up, part down.

These things are more feeling rather that visual elements – its going to have to come down to something visual.

No thing represents me – I dont identift with animals or objects choosing one would be very false.

So its going to have to be a self portrait.

Is that a cliche ? maybe but at least its honest.