Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Exercise 7
Love at First Sight
This final exercise combines several elements explored in the topic. It has a
camera move, human pixilation, downshooting elements, and some composite
work. One more challenge that I incorporate in this exercise is the requirement
to shoot outside. Not only do you shoot outside, but it will be important
to shoot each frame at an even interval so that any shadow and light play
throughout the composition moves in an even fashion. The inspiration for this
exercise comes from the great designer and animator Tex Avery.
The camera approaches a young man sitting on a bench outside. The subject
looks left and right (in pixilation) and suddenly stops turning and looks
directly at someone offscreen. The camera cuts to a close-up of a girl batting
her eyes at the young man. The film cuts back to a close-up of the young man.
He blinks his eyes and vibrating paper hearts grow out of his eyes. His ears
blow steam (cotton) and then the young man starts to get up, heading frame
left. The couple glide together and spin around each other and glide away
from camera into the sunset leaving a trail of hearts (if you can time this right).
I recommend that you shoot the pixilation of the couple first, then go into
the studio and create and shoot the hearts and cotton steam on a downshooter
with a green screen. For the exterior pixilation work, you need a dslr camera
on a tripod with a 24-mm lens. The wider lens gives the shot a sense of drama.
This is another situation where it would be nice to have a laptop with a
program like Dragon Stop Motion or Stop Motion Pro for capturing the frames
and for frame comparison and registration. Having an assistant that carries
the laptop makes your life easier. If you cannot get a hold of a laptop, then you
have to shoot on a flash card and use practical means of registration, like you
did in Exercise 1. This means lining up your subject through the viewfinder.
Remember that some cameras have a grid-focusing screen for the viewfinder,
if this helps you register your subject. This is not a necessary component to
help you locate your subject within the frame.
ExErcisE Fig 7.A
The setup for the man on the bench and the camera on a tripod.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search