Join Mission LTD

http://joinmission.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7

A short web video I made for a friend of mine in Hong Kong who runs a fashion house for ladies and mens wear.

London Land

London Land from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the final edit for the critique held at The Bartlett School of Architecture on 2010/12/14. This short film will form part of the overall edit that will last close to 15minutes. The following parts will explore deeper into the artifice of London and potentially into the realm of globalization and condensed geographies.

Inhabited Canyon

On 'Jed's' journey he ventures into the deep canyons created by the multiple Centre Points. As he explores further it becomes apparent to him that only what he sees is actually constructed. Finding himself to the rear of the film set unveils that all the buildings are only partially constructed.

Following his nose he ascends into the skyscrapers to find that the spaces within these high rise studio constructions are actually inhabited. The internal organs of these buildings have functions and facilitate studio upon studio that are either the remanence of past film productions or studios in full use.

Backstage

The rear of the film studio shows how the panels of Oxford Circus are simply made of timber panels with the fronts painted by matte painters. They are hung from mobile hoists which enable the production crew to fully erect the large scale matte panels.

Overall Warehouse Shot

The overall warehouse contains the constructs of the false version of Oxford Circus. The model itself involves faking facades of Oxford Circus with panels that sit in forced perspective and replicates matte painting techniques used in film making processes.

Warehouse Studio Production Drawing

Once 'Jed' completes the transition, between the confines of his domestic space and the synthetic space of his imagination, two spaces await him. Beginning in the warehouse space, it is unveiled to him that what he may have perceived as real space is actually constructed out of flat planes that simulate built form and therefore construct the world as he knew through artifice.

The first space is the foreground of the warehouse which is at a scale that falsifies the scale of Oxford Circus so that it could fit the physical and spatial constraints of the space that houses the overall production design.

As the exploration continues into his synthetic space, he finds that the scale of the environment has warped and increased to that of the real world.

This warping and growth signifies the effect that his imagination is having of his mental state of mind in that what is generated within his mind becomes evermore real.

Opening Sequence Drawing

Capturing the main moments in the film, this drawing represents the moments at which the mind of Jed slips into his synthetic creations of urban landscapes induced by his consumption of film and the perceptions he builds up of filmic geographies.

Set Design

Iain Sinclair Quote

“I think more than any other city, London absorbs whatever horrors are enacted upon it,” Sinclair insists. “We can swallow Millennium Wheels, Domes, all of these things. Whatever’s put up is absorbed into the story and narrative of London.”

Iain Sinclair

On the Bridge

On the Bridge from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is lured closer to one of the buildings and must cross a bridge to gain access to the structure.

Bridge

Bridge from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is drawn upward towards the flashing lights that were visible from ground level. His inquisitive nature leads him to explore further into his imagination and discover what lies above him.

Levels Above

Levels Above from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Lights flickering on the levels above are an indication to Jed that there maybe inhabitants in these structures.

Upward

Upward from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is amazed by the scale of the structures that appear to half built.

Into the Canyon

Into the Canyon from Richard Young on Vimeo.

As Jed enter his imagination, he arrives in the constructs of of what he thought was a film set in London. To his surprise it is exposed as a film that was not about its location but about how the film itself represented the location of London.

Transition

Transition from Richard Young on Vimeo.

The film then plays and the location that the viewer is put in is then shifter to within the film that 'Jed' was just watching.

Remote Control

Remote Control from Richard Young on Vimeo.

As the films start to malfunction, two of them begin to merge leading to a film that begins to really challenge his imagination.

Tight Face Shot

Close Up from Richard Young on Vimeo.

THis shot begins to show how the obsession with film has taken a grasp on his life and perception of life.

Character Wide Shot

Front View Wide from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Establishing the character and his obsession of watching film.

Opening Shot

Over the Shoulder from Richard Young on Vimeo.

The opening shot sets the scene as an ambiguous location with no reference to anything other than the characters location within this room, watching movies.

20101202-Draft Edit

20101202-Draft Edit from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Moving on from the animatic, I began tests of the various shots, and started getting them down onto the timeline. The Opening sequence needs to be tighter and a little bit more punchy. All of the tighter street shots need animation of the various components that I have added to the shots to give the impression of a growing rate of construction in the stage set of London. The CG world sequence needs to be worked into a lot more and carry more weight in relation to the composition as a whole. I think the length is about right and that the sound can start to be developed a little more with more accuracy.

Stills of the London Stage

These stills are shots from the test below. I intend to work into the model alot more and build the idea that this version of London is very much so a stage set that aims to deceive the viewer or user of the space into believing that the space they inhabit is real when in actual fact it is completely developed out of artifice.

Fabrication Warehouse

Warehouse Sequence from Richard Young on Vimeo.

I managed to get some footage whilst doing some set building, I am going to composite some of the parts of London in fabrication into this footage.

London Film Set Test

Film Production City Test from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This clip is part of the main reveal of the artifice of London. Using Maya to model the geometry I have matched it to the footage that I have created in other sequences so that the two seamlessly blend together.

New Animatic

New Animatic from Richard Young on Vimeo.

With a few scenes rethought this overall structure of the film sequence is much closer to how the final edit will look and feel like. Sound is still undecided and more than likely will move more towards a narrated soundtrack.

Ballard Quote

“Given that external reality is a fiction, the writer's role is almost superfluous. He does not need to invent the fiction because it is already there.”

J G Ballard

Ballard Quote

“Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will help the inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out there, but the stuff inside your head. It's going to be commercial and nasty at the same time.”

J G Ballard

Possible text for monologue

"Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse".

William Wordsworth 1802

Possible text for monologue

"A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping In sight, then lost amidst the forestry Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; A huge, dun cupola, like a fools-cap crown On a fool's head - and there is London Town".

Lord G Byron (poet)

And this city looks like so much fun

Maybe Iain Borden would like the skateboard city in the middle section of this clip.

This is a fantastical living room....

Unit 15 Showreel

UNIT 15 3D SHOWREEL from Paul Nicholls on Vimeo.

Centre Point from Richard Young on Vimeo.

As the ships pass over Centre Point the shots become tighter and focus in on specific landmarks and how they have been affect by the production of London. As this was an initial test I have not yet worked into the actual physical state of Centre Point yet but will do so in the next couple of days.

Test 02

Primrose Hill from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This shot again portrays London how many people visualise it whether it be through 1st hand experiences or visual representations.

Test 01

City of London from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is a test of the London Transportation Ships approaching the city as a fleet. It encompasses the essence of London in that the horizon is 'that horizon' taht everyone knows and recognises.

More Location Shots

Some more location shots that I took when out taking footage for the few tests that follow this post.

Animatic

Animatic from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the initial animatic that I have produced that has the same explanation as the storyboard previously posted.

Synthetic Scenes

These are two major graphics which are now governing the aesthetic and potential themes of artifice within the film. Based as a destination point for the London Ships they begin to illustrate how the mass production of London Landmarks is affecting the urban fabric of London. The way this image is composed is such that I can cut and layer the planes in various z-depths and create the illusion that what you see through the camera is apparently real. As the film goes on the falsification of the synthetic London begins to increase. Then comes the reveal which will take place at Oxford Circus. It will expose that the london you are seeing is a complete con and that it exists in a completely synthetic environment which, is constructed through the combination of multiple London Landmarks existing in a fabricated production space governed by how we interpret the vistas of London.

Development of London delivery service

These are the models of the London ship. It is made of many landmarks such as The Millenium Dome, One Canada Square, The Gherkin. This ship forms what I see as the link between the ideas I have had about the false production of London that occurs in locations that have no relationship to where the buildings are actually situated in the geography of London. As there is mass production of these landmarks the actually products from the landmark factory are fabricated and then transported, by this ship, to the sites of the impossible geographies created by the all so familiar vistas and camera shots of London.

London Delivery Service

This the idea I have in mind for the moving city of a collection of London Landmarks. The actual graphic on top of the montage is also a rough plan of the route through the film.

Storyboard

To begin with after last weeks tutorials I started think about how I was going to create a synthetic space of the imagination. Perception and interpretation being two drivers are what I used to inspire the scenes that I captured as stills in the previous post. These are a few selected images from the initial storyboard. The main outline is that the open shots would be of all encapsulating panoramic views of 'iconic' vistas of London. The blobs in the sky are something I have developed as a representation of a mobile and free to move London. That element is a work in progress. Once the open sequence is complete the next sequence is from within a production house that appears to be manufacturing the landmarks of London. These are produced and them made ready to be shipped out to the urban landscape and fill the existing fabric with more and more buildings that have no rational geography. Finally we end up at Oxford Circus and it is at this point that the great reveal will occur in that the synthesised London is brought to life and the artifice of the city is exposed.

Landmark London

These are a few shots that I took as potential sites for the opening and 'locating' shots to happen. Aswel as the framing of these shots simply containing landmarks of London it is these landmarks that will form the components od cinematic London, its planning and its formation of impossible geographies.

An idea on an A4 piece of paper

Starting with the idea that architecture exists within film there occurs a formation of boundaries between narrative, production and existing space. ‘Movies and cities have different kinds of temporalities, and are constituted, through different imperatives, of various spaces and events’. It is these events that form the blurred boundaries between the three above-mentioned types of space.

Narrative space will always take ‘place’. It is this translation from narrative to place that presents an analytical viewpoint through which the imagined or perceived world of the film simultaneously occurs with the referential aspects of the film itself taking ‘place’. As a viewer, and individual, that experiences space, both imagined and materialized, there is a consideration towards the film whereby attention and perception of space must slide between the location of the fiction and the real world that the film resides within.

Individual perception and experience of space are what I think will drive the content of the project. Through analysis of existing space I wish to dissect selected cinematic spaces that, through visual digestion influence and inform our experiences of landscapes. By stating that there are three main architectures of cinematic space the analysis of these will produce a newly formed composite space comprised of the three aspects that contribute to an individuals perception.

The choice of specific location could be endless so I may choose one film or theme that is set or part set in London as a starting point for the investigation. The main focus will be on the formation of new spaces constructed out of the processes behind filmmaking itself. Elements such as logic behind the narrative form geographies of the city and some times impossible geographies for example in situations when the camera is used to cheat and bend the reality of space to conform to the needs and requirements of the production process and the direction of film. The production process itself whereby physical entities are used to create synthetic space that form part or entire sequences of the motion picture. Fabricated landscapes, such as built sets or virtual environments are the physical and virtual constructs of the cinematic spaces that exist in fiction and non-fiction. This leads to the final contrasting architecture, which resides in reality. Location shoots for instance, occur in the realm of everyday life and there then becomes a duality of existence between the two. Where do the borders of the cinematic space end and the borders of reality begin? At anyone site of filming there will always be a governing force through which the blurry borders occur, and this is governed by what the camera sees and intends to show the viewer. It is only when you step just outside of this zoning that the blurred borders become apparent. From this establishment of cinematic space you can then begin to break down how any one space involved in the process of film production defines multiple borders that respond to time, physical and metaphysical based parameters.

What comes from the aforementioned components of film is the ability of individuals to consume this information, digest it and form perceptions of what cinematic spaces look, feel and act like. Obviously from one film to the next the experience of space may differ but it is these variations in experiential visual space that all combine to allow ones mind to enter into the fictional or non-fictional existence of filmic space. Further to the cinematic space contained within the duration of any film it is important to also understand how these visions and interpretations of space contribute to the data bank of information we hold within our minds of landscapes. Can one fully understand a space simply through the visual portrayals of it in cinema and how do these interpretations affect the experiences we may have or have had of existing space.

At this moment in time the over-riding interest I have in these issues is how the fabrication of physical or virtual environments form the elements, landscapes or even worlds of the narratives found within film. Further to on screen existence they are obviously conceived through various processes of thought and one in particular is how they may be formed and arranged with respect to the cheating of space though camera techniques, requirements and visual manipulation. It is these environments that I wish to draw focus to and begin to dissect and illustrate how that no matter what level of reality they may hold they will all have to exist somewhere and it is that somewhere which I intend to create the proposition of cinematic architecture within.

The cinematic city will be constructed out of multiple spaces and composited together. The imagined landscapes of the city will grow out of the abstraction of the pragmatisms and logistics of film making processes.

Thoughts of Rudolf Arnheim-Theorist

In Rudolf Arnheim's 'Film as Art' he seeks to confronts representational inadequacies of the film image as a fundamental fact to be overcome. He also believes that the art of cinema comes not from a faithful mimicking of reality, but through artist's triumph over the two-dimensional nature of the image.

European Cinema

"A setting is not more "true" because it exists in actuality'

Pierre Sorlin - European Cinemas, p.112

Pretty Pictures

"At best, a pre-existing street expresses a script imperfectly. The street will be read as itself before it reads as a particular street in a particular story; that is the purpose of using a location, to achieve lived, social recognizability. However, if recognized, the location brings the narrative to a halt, as the spaces as physical fact triumph over the narrative service".

Charles Tashiro - Pretty Pictures, p.33

London in Cinema

"Movies and cities have different kinds of temporalities, and are constituted, through quite different imperatives, of differnt kinds of spaces and events".

Charlotte Brunsdon - London in Cinema, The Cinematic City Since 1945, 2007, p.6

London in Cinema

"Cinematic London is only one contribution to the myriad histories and textualities of the city".

Charlotte Brunsdon - London in Cinema, The Cinematic City Since 1945, 2007, p.5

33a

33a from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the final edit for the 2nd November Critique. Focusing on the constructs of the previous two films, 33a visualises the imagination of the creator of 'Camden' and 'Creator's Camden' at the pre-production stages of the film making process. Through representing the characters perception and cognition of space he begins to form the framework of the city in which he sees himself and wishes to base the following films (Camden and Creator's Camden) within.

It is the focus on the his cognition of space that results in his over-run personal space that contains multiple architectures of varying sorts. Not only does this realm of imaginary cities exist in his own mind but it will begin to also exist in the exterior world that he ventures into throughout his day to day life.

33a Animatic

33a Animatic from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the animatic I created pre-production of 33a. It establishes shot lengths which helped me formulate what route to go down interms of sound and the edit.

Thirty Three a Graphic

These are two graphics that illustrate the filming process. Camera angles and positions are identified through the usage of diagrammatic plans of 33a.

The second looks at how that FOV view of the camera creates architectural space that lies outside the FOV.

Animatic and Tests

These are the two clips I produced for the discussions yesterday, The animatic is much the same as the one previously posted however, I have changed sound and think it works much better. I am also leaving that edit now and continuing to the next edit of a slightly different film that I see as one of the issues that was touch upon in the previous films. It is the ability of the creator of 'Camden' to visualise his perceptions and cognition of spaces as something that is more intrinsically embedded in his conscience and visions of his own personal space.

Production of 'Camden' from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Buildings in My Room from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Finally!

Scene 01

Scene 02

Scene 03

The Matchmoving process is finished!

Here are the final tracked pieces of footage. Three scenes but I will concentrate on the first two for compositing. If I have time I will try and do the third scene of the desk.