Project 3_Evan Hoyt

 Project 3: Narrative Short Film

Title: SELF SABOTAGE

April 5 - storyboarding and idea storming

For this project, I wanted to try a horror-genre short film

The protagonist is at home going about their evening routine, but they are not alone. They are constantly being watched and interacted with by a figure that looms in the shadows, playing tricks and messing with them. 

 

I made some notes to plan out the entirety of the short story, down to the last shot, and I sketched them so I could visualize what I wanted the film to look like from beginning to end. I also tried to note any creative effects I wanted to use to develop my story in the way that I envision. In the past I have experimented a lot with FX and techniques until I found one that pleased me the most, but with this project, I have a specific vision in mind and I know exactly what I need in order to bring it to life. 

April 14 - shooting and stage 1 editing

I shot a majority of the scenes all at once in order to keep the storyline and backgrounds, etc., as consistent as possible. I didn't want there to be any visible mistakes/errors between shots or scene cuts. I had a lot of fun figuring out how to put myself in the frame two or more different times within a scene without overlapping with myself, which was something of a challenge at points. Notably in the 3rd image, when my evil counterpart emerges from the closet, I had more my chair forward so that he could send me a message from my own computer. During editing, I had to be careful with my cropping masks and clip alignments to make sure everything was as smooth and clean as possible. 

These clips show my cropping methods for stitching the two versions of myself together into one clip. 

I carefully placed these crops in order to keep consistent lighting, shadows, and 

objects so that there were no inconsistencies visible. 

April 21 - finishing up

At this point, I ended up not shooting any additional footage, so I had to figure out a way to wrap up my project with what I had. I focused on adding effects and transitions to bring my various shots together. Some of the major fx I ended up using throughout my piece were VR Glitch and Noise to give it a found footage/supernatural-technology-interference-type- feel. 

I also created a lose title sequence and end credit scene using some of the footage I ended up cutting. The footage is of myself slowly pouring a nice, big, juicy glass of red wine-which I really aesthetically liked the shot, but felt that the pace of the story needed to be sped up. I created the lettering using an over-the-top script, Vivaldi, and I added the VR Glitch I had previously used throughout the film to bring it all together. The letters go up in quick succession one by one to give the viewer just enough time to catch what it says before it is gone: blink and you'll miss it!

I take all the credit ;)

The video is a little over 3:00 long but I started with about 30 minutes of footage! I think I could've created a longer story arc which tied together a little more nicely-you can see a better idea of my full scope for the project in my storyboard pictured at the top of the blog, but I am happy with the finished product, and I had fun experimenting new techniques and ideas and playing around with different compositions.