Concept Video Plan

 We've been assigned a 1 minute long video showcasing ur concept for the final project and I have decided to focus on the editing aspect of the film, making reference mainly to 3 films: Psych Out (1968), Wonderwall (1968), and Diary of a Teenaged Girl (2015). The main focus for this visual study will be a use of simple animations, using 2 to 3 slightly different techniques, as well as playing around with lighting and projection. When this was assigned I was immediately reminded of a video I did 2 years ago using drive in movies ads and excepts from a Timothy Leary video, as well as a couple more clips from other experimental videos. The link for this video is below:

This concept video will have a similar vibe, using mostly footage I have filmed rather than found footage. However I am considering using a couple clips from this in the new one, as well as either projecting this during filming or other videos I did not end up using during my research.

Animation

First I have drawn out the main three animations that I have planned out (as pictured on the right). 

1.  Prayer plant animation - for this animation I will be using Photoshop to copy the lines on the plant and then expand them out and draw them down. I am debating if it will look better to simply add the lines in the middle or if removing them for a frame will lead to a more seamless look. I am also debating whether this movement should take up 2 or 3 frames and whether the lines gaps should be filled by one or two lines. (this explanation is hopefully more clear in the diagram. 

2. Satin Pothos animation - for this plant I have a vision of the spots on the plant melting and dripping off the plant. This will be the most complicated out of the three animations. The first problem is figuring out what program to use. I have used illustrator, photoshop and adobe animate before, and have found the first two to be quite effective when it is only a small amount of frames being drawn, and used for something like a loop. I have done longer animations on illustrator but am unsure if this is the right way to go about this. I may also make an attempt to trace this image onto paper and animate by hand, then scan it into premier pro. However with the current time constraints this may be a technique I will have to experiment with at a later date. It will also require a deeper understanding of how to animate moving objects so that they have a natural flow. This will require more research into basic animating principles, as the animations I have tried in the past have not had a focus on natural movement but on shorter more stylised animation. 

3. - Frog Tattoo - the actress has a frog tattooed on her ankle, with a bottle of wine and a cigarette in his hand. My plan is to trace the shot with it in adobe illustrator and vectorise it so I can move the individual pieces. I'm planning to have his feet move in a small walking loop, hopefully only with 2 to 3 different frames needed. I will also be attempting to make the smoke on the cigarette move.

One of the more difficult parts of these planned animations is how to then take out the non animated frames in the original footage - should do more research on this and will come back to later.

Light  

For light in this concept video I've been most inspired by Wonderwall's use of colour in many of its shots through the wall as the main character looks in. As seen in the shot to the right, many have one main light flooding the subject with another color as the background. I'm hoping to achieve this using gels and LEDs. While I'm quite confident that I will be able to have the subject engulfed in one light, I am still trying to figure out how to keep this color out of the background. It could possible be the use of a color on the wall rather than a light, but I suspect that I may need a larger space to work with than the one I already have to create this effect with the LEDS. I will however try this and see how it looks using a few different light combinations and camera positioning. 

Editing

Other than animation, I will be trying to recreate two elements seen in Psych Out (1968). The first is a simple rainbow lens flare that has also shown up in The Love Witch. There are lens flare effect options on premier, and for the purpose of this short video I will be doing that, but when I continue my experimentation I would like to do this as a practical effect instead. The second effect is the kaleidoscope effect (right) as seen in Psych Out. I haven't been able to find how they did this during filming yet, but have seen a few tutorials as to how to achieve this effect in premier pro. However, these tutorials have two main issues: the pictures seem pasted on instead of as smooth as I'd like, and there is also no movement in a circle as there is in these films. I have a few ideas as to how to try to make this look more like the original and will update as I make progress on this.