Update

This assignment started under a week ago, so I thought to show my intentions for the week end and next week. For the weekend, I intend to conduct research into the process of designing a product on an I pad. This will be covering both usability and user face design aspects to help what and what not do. In additional I will provide many detailed examples of E pub books and website with interaction to enable me to get a better understanding of the features used.  I

I have already structured my content into chapters but now it is a case of expanding the bullet points into paragraphs. sourcing the videos and images will be done of on the week end as well. I will be creating an assets audit or register to monitor my information.

My sketch book also contains a chart containing my interaction concepts, the problems and the solutions. I answered the concept's problem and the solution to fix it to ensure I develop ideas that do not reduce the user experience.

Af 106 interaction design

Welcome everybody to my first post of this assignment. Today's posts discusses the overall the brief. This includes analysing the requirements and the overall project aims, which is creating an Ibook document for level 3 students.

This current brief requires me to produce a piece of interactive I book document that enables level 3 students to learn a specific aspect of nature.  The book must utilises on wide range of media and interaction to ensure the Ibook is suitable for the iPad. Reefs or coral reefs was the selected subject. During the task of discovering the facts, I discovered hat reefs is a massive topic therefore, I had chose the most relevant concepts to ensure I meet the pitch deadline. However, I have found interesting facts about corals and etc that makes me determined to carry on with this project.

Overall the blog and sketch book aspect of it requires me to conduct research on existing and inspirational E pub books that offer interaction and great interface design. To make this activity benefit my design, I will be using the questions provided in Bowel's article and the terms used by many scholars familiar to this field.  In addition, I will find out the design processes and considerations  of producing products on an iPad. This will include image size and other sources from the web that will assist me.  Topic research is required to enable to produce a comprehensible book that enable level 3 students to get a grasp of the overall topic.

Another massive requirement is the assets folder. Simply this is to enable me to track our information to see whether it is included in the book.

Although this blog has covered certain aspects of time management, the site must have screen shots of me arranging my time. A time management post will be published online two to three times a week to demonstrate by strong ability organising my time.  In terms of order, I will develop my ideas first to ensure my own concepts are established rather than depending on existing ideas. I was influenced by reading articles based on facts and experiences of designing interfaces and usability to ensure users accomplish task.

Eva Lotta Lamm's presentation into the process of designing a user face and interaction design has inspired me to use my sketch book to an advance level.  I will draw out a structure of the brief, which providing level 3 students with captivating information on an I pad. This type of brainstorm will include the devices used, location, where, how and why.  There will be low fedility flow ch and storyboards to enable me to get feedback. Producing high fidelity documents will include prototypes, mocks ups, such as showing the visual style and navigation.

For my research, I am going to write bullet points, add word counts, plan in my sketch book to ensure there is no unnecessary content. I might get people to peer mark my content, such as a friend to give me any suggestions to improve.

After the presentation I will attempt to allot enough time for user testing in the public. The user must not be designers because they would already aware of the design.

Crit and review of post production stage

Earilar today was the crit of my final product. Overall I was very nervous because I feared the video was not up to standard. However, I was very surprised with constructive feedback.



 

This is the improved video

Overall the product receive very positive critical reviews. The choice of shots and the noise were the best aspects of the entire video. Everybody thought the journey I was conveying was clear. The use of the chip junk speak was an excellent decision on my peers part. Many friends suggested to add that the symbolise fast talking.

As for the theme, the beginning had a nice contrast compared to the bright room.

Many of my peers constructively said that the pace of the overall products was pretty good. Unlike the other example, I did not increased the speed of the video.

As for the criticism, there was not much. The only things that needed applying was synch the only finger clip scene. I only had a interface/ science fiction sound to symbolise the computer being on. I added a finger clip to fix the problem.

Legibility of the credit text was the other issue. A display font was white, making it legible on a white background. To solve the issue, I had to apply a thin drop shadow and then change the font into helvetica bold. As a result of applying these new design attribute the text can be read with ease.

As for the crit, I think that I am really glad with the constructive review.  I asked anyone for any more improvements but there were none. I have also demonstrated my ability to tell a story that justifies the process of planning this story.

Review of my video product

Overall I am pleased my with my overall product. One of the many little surprises of the entire video is the lighting effects. I used many glowing and blur effect to enhance the interface scenes. In a way this made the green resemble a science fiction designed interface.  

The pacing feels right as a result of making minor changes. Although there is an extra edit, it is still faithful to the storyboards. I manage to kept the timing consistent and the shots. 

Time Based Media Review

Compared to the other assignments, this video assignment is the most difficult. Film editing is not my strongest point, so I conducted research into time based media clips, such as Go Pro. Defining the different shots, such as aerial view and so on, was the most essential 1^st task after reading the brief.

When hearing the words, time based media, I immediately thought of Go Pro videos. These videos show a timed based event that was summarised into 1-2 minutes. A mixture of car scenes were reviewed to help get inspirations in terms of camera perspective and movement

In order to create the most effective concepts, I categorised the ideas into 3 groups, 10, 20 and 30 minutes. I thought the event taking 30 minutes would be the best solution. With a long event, I was able to list over 30 things to present in the video.

An activity taken indoors was the most appropriate idea for many reason. The bad weather and obtaining the permission outside of a café were factors that influenced me to not film a task involving me traveling to the shop.

To get inspiration for sound, I went of Vimeo for no diegetic sounds.

Storyboard

Before I started with my general storyboards, I developed a couple of summary movie boards for each story. I was able to conclude the Audio recording had the most shots, therefore it made sense to develop an idea that I could visualise the most.

The next stage of development was to produced detailed storyboard. This documentation had a minim of 30 boxes represent a scene each. A brief description was provided for each scene. To explore the feel and other ideas, I created storyboards for alternative endings and moods. With a combinations good quality images and low fidelity documentation, it gave me a clearer picture.

Overall the next stage of the storyboard was hard. I developed an idea where I should draw big. This method was chosen because of my peers suggested when they are scaled down, they would look extra crisp. To increase the fidelity, I used blue were the camera is going to focus and orange for the highlights. To make this professional, I included the types of camera, sound and detailed content about the scenes.  Overall this enabled me to developed my skills in creating story boards.

Some suggestions from the presentation applied that I needed to delete some scenes and add more talking scenes to allow the video to make sense. I used the relevant scenes and applied new ones. Live trace in Illustrator was the best tool for making the storyboards look more professional.

Applying digital pictures of the film were the next step of increasing fidelity. This was the clearest story board, demonstrating that I have taken lots of time over these storyboards.

Positive

Overall, the project enabled me to improve my sketching boards. Putting the concept onto the paper without using stick men was a great achievement. The discovering a logical process is another accomplishment. Attending a workshop will enable me to pitch to professional standards.

Overall I do feel that the project was step up due to the time constraints. However, taking my own leisure time to work on the production was a decision that had to be prioritised.  I am now able to develop my initiative skills.

This time I was able to use my reflection skills to see whether the video made sense if I saw for the first time. When I got the feedback, I developed another set of storyboards with the new sequence. This will help me out in future projects. 

Negative

The most frustrating process of the entire video assignment was the planning. I categories many ideas into groups but most of them were unachievable due to the factors involved. I concluded to use the voice over for documentary idea because it did not require me to film outside. 

Although I have really improved,  I find easier to draw the entire landscape. The blue line is t he area where the camera will focused the most and where it will be positioned. I feel that the storyboard with more detail would make sense to me.  

Time management

When we were given the brief, the initial thought of creating a 20 second clip with 30 edits was impossible. A schedule was developed to ensure I do not get stuck in too much in a particular aspect of the design process. In the first week, both research and the basic ideas were completed. Developing the ideas took about 2 weeks. This was problematic because the presentation was within week 3. I used my own personal time to get a wide range of inspiration and develop rough storyboards. 

From the presentation onwards, I had to priortise my work a bit. Due to my computer being sent for repairs, there was no choice but to use Final Cut Pro 7. This version of the software was only available at the college. I filmed the shots in the first weekend after the presentation. This was to ensure there was enough time allotted to converting the videos and the post production stage.

Improvements

Overall there is always a room for improvements. However, I would say that I just want to use peers rather than tutors as this course goes along. There is a case where I should have researched the terms first. Before the next project starts, conducting a report on user experience and usability will develop my lexicon on the responsive website and IPAD apps field. 

Post production

 

After the pre-production, I managed to logged my process, ranging from converting the clips to using Final Cut Pro. To ensure the rendering time is low and the software would read my I Phone clips. I used  Compressor. The only issue with Compressor is its faulty functions on the new IMAC. The best solution was to used the older versions.

 In order to convert the clips to Pro Ress 24 FPS and high quality, I had to find the settings and then applied it to the settings. After this was done, I submitted my clips to finish the process. Pro Res is a codec that enables Final Cut Pro to render the large videos in a fast pace.

 

On final Cut Pro, I set the rendering and the other attributes to be saved on the local system. This is to ensure the process of transferring to another computer is successful.

As for setting up my clips, I set two bins; one for my clips and another for the audio. Obviously, I named my sequence time based media.

 The software has multiple functions but the....(4 T's) selected all audio and clips ahead of the play head. This enabled me to reposition the clips.This was many times whenever the sounds and the clips had to be applied at the middle of the film.

Extra contrast were added to the clips to convey interesting moods. I increased the blues in the darker scenes to provide a scary mood. Three way colour corrector was the tool to add the attributes. Increasing the blue values whilst lowing the brightness caused the hallway scenes convey a intimidating atmosphere.

 Some clips were to long in length, therefore I used either the ripple or arrow tools. I managed to clip of some the footage in order to meet with the brief. I also added a slow motion effect to one clip by decreasing the speed by 50%.

I managed to recorded the most essential clips and will be inserting them into the software. Intro and the the outro are going to be very simple. 

Whist experimenting with the features, I came across with the glowing and the blur effects. The interface scenes were one of the least visually pleasing sections. Applying crazy look glows and the blurs enabled me to made the interface resemble of a science fiction interface. The glow caused the green to shine, making it very noticeable.

As the brief stated that only exaggerated sounds should only can be heard in the video. The audio was disconnected from the video and then deleted from the audio layers.

Thanks for reading.

Soundtrack and update

Soundtrack is one of the most essential aspects of this video design. They create the atmosphere and exxagerates the movement. Overall I have used many whooshes, metal sounds, background nosies to achieve a darker effect. Sound Track Pro's library is fantastic but there were sound only available on the web.

WWW.FreeSFX.com is a copyright free sound site that had great variety of sounds. Some audio clips on my clip originate from the site.

Overall the use of dark sounds and a chipmunk sound makes it obvious that this is about voice recording for a documentary. 

I have created many storyboards. I am going to create another digital that shows that I have listened to feedback and reconsider some of my chosen shots. I had to  delete and add some to ensure the time base video make sense. The pacing of the scene had to altered to ensure the video has different pacing.

There will be a quick recordings of a disk inserted into the laptop. This signifies that this going to be a voice recording for a video. Having it exiting the machine is a good cliffhanger because it is a strong action. 

The kitchen scenes were deleted to quicken the pace of the video. The original video did not convey a process of doing a voice recording for a YouTube. 

An intro and outro will be filmed tomorrow.Both of the them will contain a check list of what to do. The following instructions: get laptop, assemble microphone, turn on computer, do voice over and export on disk.  

Reflecting on the product, I think there is not enough very short clips of me speaking. Tomarrow I aim to record the last clips and insert them into Final Cut Pro in preparating to the pitch.

The next blog will be about the post production. I am still referencing to my 5 storyboards.

Licenses 

patent

The main aim for a patent is to protect inventions and other recourses from being used unlawfully. This legislation provides owners the legal power to prevent their work from reproduced for commercial use.  In order for the product to be protect it must follow the guide from the list below(from the website) 

Your invention must:

• be new
• have an inventive step that is not obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the subject
• be capable of being made or used in some kind of industry
• not be:
  
  a scientific or mathematical discovery, theory or method
  
  a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work
  
  a way of performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business
  
  the presentation of information, or some computer programs
  
  an animal or plant variety
  
  a method of medical treatment or diagnosis
  
  against public policy or morality.

Secondary Liability

This term refers to the person who arises when a party or a person breaks the law. The law comes into action when the person is either  'those who induce others to break the law' and  'those who control others who break the law'. 

Royalty Free

Music libraries, like Istock,  provide royalty free music applies the people do not have to pay any royalties. A royalty is a payment that has to made every time his or her work is used in public media. However, this does not suggest the songs are free to use. People have to pay a one of sum to gain the rights of using the music. Royalty free recourses are good for designers who are on a budget. 

Free SFX

In order to use the music on any videos, the creator and the website must be credited. As for use, it can be used commercially, such as on advertisements, You Tube videos and so on. However, the licences can be broken if the music is remixed, reproduced for profit and cannot claim to be the owner. Luckly, I am not to do any of those things listed above. 

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-royalty-free.htm

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-about/p-whatis.htm

http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/secondary-liability/

Shooting

For my shooting, I referenced my storyboards to ensure I get the timing right. In this article I am going to log what I filmed and then why I used those specific feeling and shots.

Once I had a free weekend I was able to film all of my clips. To ensure the quality was high I managed to use my lights to offer contrast. I had an assistant to help film the clips. I used the iPhone C5 to for its camera quality.

For the first scene I decided to film it from an aerial view to ensure the camera looks captivating for the audience.  The next part shows the process of me walking towards the stairs. A mid shot view was used to show the computer to make the main focal point. Having the light flickering was a design decision to ensure a dark theme is included in the design.

 The next scenes revealing the prepare process of preparing the voice over. I included a shot of me slamming the door and then placing the computer on the table. Overall, I took a lot of lighting and shots to ensure the most effective clips were recorded. I originally had shot me opening the door but it was made redundant to ensure other important scene were featured.  In this section is used many point of view shots to present a clear journey.

The next edits reveal the process of assembling the microphone. This included getting it outside of the box and then screw in the bolts. I took my time with the screwing process because I intend to apply a very good slow motion effect to ensure the pacing of video feels right.

  The next shots reveal the process of connecting the microphone to the computer. A side view of me putting the microphone on the table is needed to prevent the audience from getting lost.  I thought the very close shot of turning off the mute button was needed. There is a close shot of the USB cable being connected to the lap top.  The use of pushing buttons and banging stuff is to balance the use of movement against interacting with objects. Overall these scene would enable the clip to show jump cross edits.

  To activate the computer, a side shot of the switch being activated appears next. The use of the scene signifies to the audience that the task being performed requires the computer. This makes the earlier scenes relevant.  The following scene just shows me logging onto the program. 

 Many time based media clips have scenes where objects appear suddenly. I thought the disk would be a great idea to apply. The disk is an iconic signifier that connotes I am recording the documentary's voice over onto a disk(logical). This was filmed at the 11th hour due to idea being conceived at the post production stage.

These quite close shots reveals the last moments of the preparation. This includes drinking a drink, turning on the volume and opening the file. I decided the shots of graphical interfaces and me should be filmed at different times. This was to prevent any confusion between me and the director. I am also bias of filming everything at once. 

Overall the first part of the film has a nice pace. I intend to demonstrate the more important section of  the video. 

 This is the beginning of the recording process. These scene shows a comical way of recording my voice. The chipmunk voice is used to exaggerate the sound of speaking and apply that it takes quite a lot speaking to complete a professional voice over for YouTube. I added more light to signify enjoyment. I included an interesting shot of the timeline to provide a sense of time.

The director took many shots of me speaking from different perspectives. This was ensure the video maintains the audiences' attention. I used the design principle, repetition, to enhance quality of the video. I used different sections of the clips to present different moods.  10 minutes of time were used to record all of the recording scenes.

 This is a effective shot of the audio levels increasing. A sound, such as a clank or a bit, acts as some kind of countdown for the voice over to end.

 Before this scene appears, there are already used scenes of me speaking. After the scenes end, I put on the export scene. This was recorded before any of the speaking scenes. Stated in the storyboard, the sound typing will be included in this scene.

These scenes were also recorded at the 11th hour. The ending should end with an ending. With that in mind, I used my sketch book and developed new storyboards to draw a conclusion. The best ending was me pressing the button, resulting in the disk exiting the machine. 

There will be an article on the post production and there will be slide shares of all 7 storyboards.

Pre production log and justification: film

This post is logging my progress in the pre production stage.

Storyboards

I first developed summary storyboards in order to get the idea of what  the time base media is going to be about. I included every edit so that the seqence was clear in my head. I also made alternative endings and personality storyboards. Stick men were not used because they represent nothing. 

The detailed storyboards is the among the first things completed in this stage. I have developed storyboard that offers information about the camera shot, what the scene shots and the choice of sounds. This  method of defining the scenes is great for displaying the overall story to the peers. I have received positive feedback about the logical sense of the story. Although I had to swap a couple of scenes before the filming process, I did not have to make any more changes. Attending the work shop about visualizing gained me some skills to produce meaningful sketches.

In addition to this, I used orange pen to represent the highlights and the blue for the focal point. This established  hierarchy on my storyboard whilst maintaining low  fidelity, making it clearer for my audience to comprehend.

There are some additional storyboard for alternative endings and emotion. This painted a precise picture of the atmosphere and doing a voice over. There is finished storyboard where I used real photos to emphasize my ability to experiment.

Changing however I slightly altered the storyboard due to the feedback given by my peers inside and outside of University. I deleted many scenes at the beginning to ensure there were enough content of me speaking on the microphone. I also had to change the ending to allow the video to make sense.

Filming

The filming process was successful due to many factors. I used one of my friends to film me performing the task of preparing and doing a voice over. He has experience in filming so that was an advantage. Recording using Phone enabled me to gather clips taped at 1080p. As a precaution, I gathered about 5-10 minutes worth of clips to ensure there is enough to work from.

Lighting was the most essential factor that makes the clip look visually pleasing. The light sources created contrast between the shadows and the highlights, making it look dynamic.

Landscape was the chosen orientation for the entire sequence. Although it is not mentioned on the brief, I favor this to ensure that no issues occur in the production process. If I had more  time and knowledge about the issues about filming in portrait, I would use the method.

I thoroughly eradicated any continuity errors in films to ensure the impact in not reduced. Whenever there was a mistake, I re-filmed the clip. Although there is a minor mistake, it should not be noticeable.

Overall the clips taken are very faithful to the original storyboards. The next part of the process is to produce the short clip.

My audio

Welcome everybody to my post about my footage's audio.

In order to meet the requirements of the brief, I have found copyright materials found on SoundTrack Pro. All of the sounds are non-dietetic sounds, making the scenes offer exaggeration. Cars, quiet music, lights flicker and among others are my choicen audio for the intimating scenes. The clips have to be intense for the audience to experience.

In contrast, there are more calm and organic noises. Computer interfaces are usually easy on the ears, therefore, it provides a great contrast. Organic noises, for example me saying bing when a spoon is tabbed on a cub, would give the calm atmosphere a unique feel. 

Finally the right theme and contrast

I have been developing many concepts of what the themes that this clip should convey. After drawing some human figures showing emotions, I realized that scared and calm were the best contrast. These two feelings are appropriate for the psychological theme because many movies, such as Batman, feature a mixture of calm and intimidating scenes.

In order to create in an intimidating atmosphere, I have drawn an idea on the storyboards that the lights flicker on and off. To accompany this, there will be a lot of booms and sounds that signify horror. There is a plan where the screen I will display my scared face expression to enhance the atmosphere.

To provide this contrast, the best solution is to add a calm atmosphere when the I enter the room. This is the best section to apply this feeling because bedrooms are the most secure places that people can think of. Applying the darker theme into the scene would go against the experience of doing a voice over.

Come to think about it, it also creates a contrast between dark and light. I hope people can give me feedback on this concept.

For my next post, I am going to insert information about my sound choices.