Critical Evaluation

In evaluation to my finished product, overall I am satisfied by what I have created and excited with the progressions that as a programme it could lead on from here to become. There are some things I think couldn’t have gone any better, but some things that made it look rushed and really rough.

After planning to create my video, I planned to make it into a huge production and kind of ‘bit off more than I could swallow’ with the time I had to create it. I wanted to have various endings but eventually had to settle for one ending, I also had to narrow down the options the character had to choose due to construction plans outside the Redmond’s Building, as another one of the dilemma’s Daniel would come to would be as if to go inside the building or do various things outside, this was a comical part in the video and because I couldn’t do this to think of a quick replacement lost a bit of the humour, which I wasn’t happy with. The main problem I had which left me with little time to think of a solution is the elevator edit which I talked about in my previous post. It looked really rough as Daniel left the elevator, and I just couldn’t create an effect that would look like Daniel was walking out of the elevator, so I eventually had to settle for a zoom that would give the effect that he was teleported in some way. It worked but it didn’t work how I wanted it too, I would have like for Daniel to turn around and re-enter the elevator and filmed for this to happen, but it just proved impossible.

But I did enjoy the way in which you look at things in a new light, where you involve the user in everything you do, it was new to me when working in pre-production, you’re constantly thinking about what different users would like to see happen next instead of telling them all the same story, it was good to be able to cater for more than one audience and I enjoyed working like this. It was also good to see how the narrative worked when showing my video to people, it kept the story from ever becoming boring and always kept them switched on during the longer sequences, this was something I wanted to achieve from the off and think I got it to a tee.

I also like to think that where I tried to make a video that would be similar to the game; The Stanley Parable, it also had a lot of differences. I kept the key features of the game in the likes of the use of POV and the Narrator, but also gave it a visual appeal by using different shots and angles allowing for a cinematic experience. This was something that during my research had never been looked upon; nobody had created a similar format of this game. I also created a similar ending to the main ending of The Stanley Parable, but with a twist, The ending of The Stanley Parable was pointless and ended with no happy ending and mine was similar, however it lead Daniel into a coma and the narrator revealed that he could awaken anywhere at any place which would allow a continuation of the video, in which I would look forward to creating Remember Daniel? – Part 2. The series would allow me to expand on the original and do the things I would have wanted to do previously without any time constraints.

I have already thought into this as I look into the future development of Remember Daniel? I would have wanted to create a series where part 2 would have 2 possible endings and then there would be two different part 3 videos, which the user would be directed to depending on their ending on part 2. I have also thought into meeting new characters and back tracking their stories to see what they were doing at the same time as Daniel e.g. When Daniel awakens there would be another character who wakes next to him and you can look at how she came to this position in a flashback. The user would then find out how they are linked to each other by switching from each user.

This video is just the beginning for Remember Daniel and I am pleased with what could become of this series. I am also satisfied with the start I have made to it after reaching some complications, but considering it was a new concept of editing that I was exploring, it was an enjoyable project that I felt my knowledge of user interactivity grew along the way and I will look forward to any other projects I come across in which I have to make a YouTube annotated video.

Remember Daniel? - Post Production

Finally finished editing! 2 days of editing and editing is finally finished and I am more than relieved to be done. I am more than happy with the final product.

Editing took longer than I expected but it was all worth it in the end, uploading and basic editing was fairly simple on Adobe Premiere until I got to the elevator part, basically I made the mistake in filming handheld and then trying to edit it, which proved almost impossible, so I had to go back and film a couple of shots using the tripod. The reason I originally used a handheld shot was because it was a POV of Daniel leaving the elevator into a new location, but I couldn’t edit it. So using the tripod it would be stable but I wouldn’t actually leave the elevator on the shot so to do this I would need to zoom the original shot into the different location ... All very confusing I know. However this still couldn’t be done using Adobe Premiere, so I had to use Adobe After Effects to edit. In the end I created the right feel and the viewer got the impression that they had been transported but it still looked quite rough.

Elevator Transport on Adobe After Effects

 I chose to make the whole video in which when you annotate, you skip to a different part of the video rather than be redirected to another link, it makes the experience a lot easier and runs smoother for the interactive viewer. I also chose to add titles within the exported video on Adobe Premiere so that when it came to editing, it was as simple as circling the words and annotating, and i also had a wide range of font’s and sizes than on YouTube.

I enjoyed editing this as editing is something i can get lost in, i can get into the mind set of editing fairly quick and stay focused for long periods of time and this is something you need to do when creating this type of video, as it requires 100% concentration. It can be extremely frustrating to upload your video to youtube to find you missed a piece of text or audio and have to go all the way back, then export it over again and re-upload it to YouTube, so i was very reassured that i had done each part of the video correctly before uploading it.

Using Adobe Premiere

YouTube annotating went as smoothly as possible, i have never experienced many problems through annotation and i think the more thorough you are through editing you easier it is to annotate, and this is something i was prepared for with the way in which i edited. It was a little bit time-consuming because i had more annotations than i had before when using this method, but all in all it went as smooth as expected and i was extremely satisfied with my work.

YouTube Annotating

 

Click here to watch 'Remember Daniel?'

Remember Daniel? - Filming

 Filming for my final project has been difficult and I have had a lot of setbacks. I have also had to make a few changes to my original idea. I wanted the character to be able to fail and have to start over again, but instead I have chosen to narrow the results down by allowing them to re-choose their decision, so that they can always win and see the ending.

The project also has a name... ‘Remember Daniel?’ I chose the name around the narrative that the main character (Daniel) has awoken with short term memory loss and he can’t remember what he was supposed to do today. The user’s choices will help Daniel get back into his daily regime by choosing the correct options. I also wanted to make it quite comical in the options that you chose for entertainment purposes.

I began to script the storyline with the options already jotted out on paper and created a story in which the main character has no script, but the story is told by a narrator. This is how the Stanley Parable works and I think that if I could get the same dry sense of humour that they had achieved, then it would fit perfect into the storyline.

Basic Scripting for ‘Remember Daniel?’

 

I underwent filming with my main character who was my little brother, Daniel Molloy. I have a very good relationship with Daniel and he has featured in a number of my productions before. He also shares the same enthusiasm I have for my projects and listens very well to directions, he also fit the profile of the character I wanted for the film, a young adult who was just setting out in finding his feet with employment. Daniel is also a 2^nd year media student so it was good experience for him to be working at a higher level, so it was good to return something for his help in this project.

I began filming on location at the Redmond’s Building, filming on day where it wouldn’t be too busy, creating a lonely/isolated type of feeling. I chose this location because it had the elevators I needed in one of the choices the user came across. Filming had only a few minor difficulties such as; Other students using the elevators, but it only delayed the filming rather than damage it so I was happy with the way how it went, the second location was in my house. This was just for the introduction to the story and to ease the user into the story, it created a comfortable atmosphere and allowed me to add humour in at the right points with simple choices, I had no troubles at all with filming at home as I expected until I filmed the scenes of Daniel leaving the house. I had delayed filming for so long trying to find a good day to film these scenes as I wanted the weather to be nice, but I couldn’t delay filming any longer so had to have a dark moody day. I was disappointed because I wanted to give the film a good feel to it from the start and then slowly introduce darker lighting to make it more mysterious but I had almost been rushed into creating that feel simply because of the weather. This was also the case for the scenes where Daniel left the elevator/car to go to different locations, it just made the film look a bit grittier and rough which isn’t the look I was going for.

Stanley Parable Idea?

Having done a good job using YouTube annotations, I have decided that I will be using this technique for my final film.

I have a basic idea of what I would like to do and I want to create something around the idea of a game called 'The Stanley Parable'.
"The Stanley Parable is an exploration of story, games, and choice. Except the story doesn't matter, it might not even be a game, and if you ever actually do have a choice, well let me know how you did it."

The Stanley Parable has no logic ending it just has so many unique ending due to the choices you make through the game, you are the main character Stanley and the narrator tries to take you through to the ending by telling you a run through e.g. When you come to 2 doors, the narrator tells you to choose the left door. Choosing the correct door will get you to the happy ending, but the more times you choose wrongly the narrator stars turning against Stanley.

I would like to use the same type of thing but in video, and only giving one chance to amend their wrong choice. If they choose wrong twice then the game will end and they will have to start from the beginning, if they amend it the story will go on.

As of yet I am still unsure of exactly what the narrative will be but I know how I want to film it and have an idea of what dilemma's the user will approach and how they can be amended.

YouTube Annotations: The Interview

After fully filming our Interview and already began editing a few days ago, piecing it together so as all we had to do was create the annotations, so that the users decision skipped to the appropriate scene. We edited it on Adobe Premiere and made the video all on one timeline rather than skipping to various links. We felt this would be easier to create the annotations on YouTube all on one editing screen rather than going to and from different ones.
It worked well and our editing went smoothly. My first experience of using YouTube annotations was a good one and I enjoyed it thoroughly and would like to do another user interactive video some time. Our narrative was simple which I thought was neccesary for a user interactive video, I feel that if they were to come across some difficulties then they may not want to carry on, so the simplicity of it being a mans preparation to a job interview was okay, but the comical twist in the cut scenes allowed for the user to remain entertained throughout.

After presenting our video, we got the response we wanted, it had a fun feeling to it and gave some laughs. Please have a look at our video and playthrough some of the possibilities and I hope you enjoy watching.

 

 

Below is a list of the possibilities after choosing each path:

 

How to get the job: Short Preparation > Change Shoes.
                                       Long Preparation > Be Cheeky.

Failed to get the job: Short Preperation > Take The Risk

                                          Long Preperation > Lie

                                          Long Preperation > Truth

 

 



Triptych and QR codes

As I was away for the first couple of weeks for creative media practice, I missed out on both Triptych and QR code sessions, but I still wanted to look into both of these and see how they worked and if they could be ideal for my final project.

Triptych

A triptych is a split screen video that is often split into 2 or 3 screens, but of the same storyline just at different angles or of different images, but they all stay to the same narrative, e.g. one of the screens may be a POV of a character walking somewhere and the second screen could be just be close ups and extreme close ups of the character and then the third screen would be wide angles and birds eye shots.

I liked the idea of creating this type of video and maybe wanted to create a video which tells the same story but from a different point of view, so have 3 friends taking part in some sort of activity or sport and film it from all 3 perspectives, the only difficulty in this would be re-enacting the same event 3 times to perfection, there would always be some things that didn’t go together like if it was a sport like football, to create the build up to a goal 3 times the same, would be extremely difficult.

I then looked into other classmates Triptych’s to get an idea of what they had created, and after watching a few videos I realised that triptych was a good was to make a video a lot more cinematic and I wouldn’t really be using it to its full extent with the idea I already thought of, so I have a lot to think about if I want to use this filming method in my final piece.

 

QR codes

A QR code, short for Quick Response Code, is a scan able code that links you directly to a link, whether it is an advertisement, game or website. Below is a picture of Yell’s advertisement to their own QR code.

 

 I was always familiar with QR codes but I had never really been a big fan of them, so to have created one would have been interesting into whether I might gain more of an appreciation for them. Once again I looked at other students work and liked how some had created narratives by introducing a story and then you can look at previous happenings in the story by scanning the codes, however I still wasn’t convinced that this would be the most creative method to make my final piece.

Isadora

Due to illness I was unable to attend the Isadora workshop, but looked into what it was,

“Isadora is the award winning, interactive media presentation tool that allows you to follow your artistic impulse. Whether you are an artist, designer, performer, or VJ, you can quickly and easily harness the limitless potential of digital media and real-time interactivity with Isadora.”- http://troikatronix.com/isadora/about/

 Isadora is an editing software that I wasn’t familiar with so missing the workshop meant that in the following session I attended where groups were finishing off their productions, I was completely lost! I looked at what Mark Nugent had created and he talked me through how Isadora worked by linking videos into other videos and effects, it was all a bit confusing and just seemed difficult and not very user friendly. I think other editing software was much easier in the way you could work on a timeline, Isadora just wasn’t for me but I could see the potential of it, some of the effects that Mark had created for his video were great and looked really good, but once again I didn’t think in any way it was superior to other editing programmes I was familiar with.