Movement Capture to Motion Picture

Movement capture to motion picture

View more documents from charmaine22.

The Art of Fight - Moving Image

The Final Piece

Overall I'm pleased with this.  It's not a movie fight scene but its as realistic from a fighters perspective as I can get.  I believe I capture that 'moment' I talked about by creating the flashing black shots and the slow motion scenes.  I put as much thought into the audio as I did the picture as  I had to have sound of some sort for the viewer but I wanted to show how sound disappears for the fighter.  This is why the audio comes and goes in between the black flashes as well as the images, and why it again disappears at the end when the wining fighter lands that knock out punch.

My Moving image

Getting toward the final piece!

I like the dramatic effect of silence towards the end.  I believe it has a bigger impact than sound.  I think 'that moment' I have talked about is as close to the reality of the fight as I can get the viewer.  My memories of getting punched in the ring are no more than flashes as it happens far to quick from my perspective.  I went with 2different heartbeats to make it more effective and to make the change less between the 2 less dramatic.  I need to tidy up the ending and somehow make the shift between being dazed and coming to for the win more recognisable.  The black flashes show the loss of time the eventual winner is having during the fight as these are the parts he won't remember when it's all over.

Stop Clock

Trying the stop clock

Just a short test to see how the stop clock would look in this piece.  I don't like it, it doesn't give the same effect as the seconds hand ticking away with the sound too.  Without the ticking sound you don't get the illusion that time is important and counting down to something, that urgency to complete the task at hand before time runs out.  So I think ill sick to the clock face.

My Moving Image

Moving image with sound.  

Just testing out some sounds.  I used the recording of the clock, heartbeat an the audio from the footage.  Although some of the audio doesn't match the scenes I was really just testing the fades and volumes.  I like how for a little bit towards the end the choppy scenes and the dimming volume of the fight creates the real drama when the heartbeat gets louder. (you may need to listen hard for the heartbeat its still a little low) Although this is far from my finished piece it is giving me a clearer idea of what works and what I need to do.  I know I definitely want to edit the clock into the piece and have it get fast paced then have the heart beat get louder with the other audio fading out completely just for a moment - to help define THAT MOMENT that I have referred to alot.

Time

Trying different clocks and timers for the film.  I recorded the clock face from my alarm clock and the rest of my phone.  I don't think clock face is big enough a clock similar to the on in the Bruce Lee story would be perfect as it is designed to count down but unfortunately my gym doesn't have one. I like the timer and the stop clock but will try them all in film to see how I get on.

PLEASE IGNORE COME DINE WITH ME IN THE BACKGROUND 

all my sound will be edited separately and added in after. 

Close as I could get but still show the all the numbers.

Close up to the clock.

The stop clock off my phone.

                                  

The timer from my phone.

Sound effects

Trying to create sound effects.  I used my phone to record some sounds them edited them.  The clock is something I'm unsure where add in or not but if I do I think the sound should be prominent at some point, to help define time.  The clock will have to continue to count down in really time whilst the video changes speed.  The heartbeat is important it will definitely be added into the sequence at the point before the fighter makes come back.

Heartbeat & ticking

Ticking- this sounds better than the next one but its not loud enough.

Ticking again

First attempt at editing

There are things I think work about this and alot that doesn't.  As I used my laptop on the ground and my bridge camera by hand you can tell when it changes camera because of the quality.  There is no sound yet as I am only trying to work out the scenes as of yet and trying to blend them together well enough to look like the same fight from different cameras.  Toward the end I try to create the illusion of alot of action by changing the angle often.  toward the beginning is slowing and from a distance as I want it to be realistic as possible and at the beginning of any fight an experienced fighter will suss out their opponent before getting in too close and attacking.  This was created using only a few pieces of footage, and I am worried about the quality a little.  I don't think its as good as it could have been.  It still has glitches and I getting used to, as well as experimenting with, crops and zooms.

Shooting some film

Just a quick look at a bit of the footage I have taking of the guys fighting.  I used alot of different angles, and 2cameras.  I had my laptop on the ground and I held my bridge camera.  The guys were great to work with, they only needed a little direction and were more than happy to take a punch.  After recording and reviewing the footage I think I realise how much goes into getting a professional look.  After seeing the lighting changing between clips on my own and finding it hard to change scene but keeping it looking fluent is alot harder than I imagined!  I thought I had my scenes well planned but I think if I had of had more time to work on recording rather than a Saturday morning I probably would have made editing alot easier on myself.

Shuey (fighter one) shadow boxing into the camera

The fighters sparring naturally, no choreographing involved

Terry (fighter2) shadow boxing into the camera

Dragon - The Bruce Lee story (Rob Cohen 1993)

Legend! What's brilliant about this is the clock. A fighter only has a limited time in the ring to finish or win the fight, wither that is 60 seconds 6 mins (3rounds). After seeing this I have a lot of new thoughts about capturing time, past and presence and incorporating the concept of that important moment in a fight. I think film with the clock in a few shots counting down in real time while time itself continues to change about to the different perspectives of either fighters and the crowd? The sound is so important here too, speaking form experience, when in the ring the crowd dims away and you just about hear your coach - if your lucky!

Moving Image stills (2)

This is as far as I am going to take this piece,

I will experiment wit techniques using different 

footage, and I think I will try to capture my

concept by shooting some scripted film.

Really need to be thinking of sound!!

Cinematography (2)

This process is so time consuming!  Here I used then same 

techniques (photography&video)as before but I deleted the tweens in

 between to get a much smoother finish and its starting to look like the

 music video I posted previously.  I supposed I kept it black and 

white as the music video is too, but I kind of regret it now.  

I think it needs some colour.

SOUND????????

Cinematography - Tweens

Creating a cool effect using video, photos and tweens.  What I did was 

splice the video up and put it back to together in pieces and adding photos 

and placing tweens in between to get the 'onion skin' effect.Can get hard

 to see the movement and overall its not what I want, but it was

 interesting to play about with video in photoshop for a change.

Cinematography - first attempts

This is the final 'jab/cross' technique done in the 

cinematography style, I'm happy with this as

it shows the speed and the movement in

performing this technique.

getting there...

Trying to create a ghost like trail of movement,

needs alot work so far.

This does not work, simple as..

The Inadequate (Sara Holbert,Vimeo,2011)

The Inadequate from Sara Holbert on Vimeo.
Like the black and white style of this cinematography piece. As I have never completed an animation in this style before I am going to have try a few tutorials before I decide to complete my final moving image piece in this style and to see if it shows the movement of kickboxing off in the way it needs to be seen.
 Animation by Sara Holbert.
Photography by Robb Paniconi.

Stop Motion style cinematography (francismediaent 2011)

Moving photography using old photos, it is cleverly editing to capture the movement of the sport. Could be a solution to my photography becoming a moving piece. Stop motion style? I especially like the old film style and sound effect.

Moving Image - Stills (2)

After the first attempt I recreated the scene a 

bit smoother by carefully placing the images

in an order that matches there placement

and composition.  I do really like this style,

I think it display the movement of kickboxing

well, but as I said before I have to answer

not only the brief, but the concept I wrote.

Motion Photography (3)

Tying to create the motion styles that are in my research, and it's proving
to be difficult.  

Moving Image - Stills

Here I have been playing around with the photography,

What I think works here is when the difference between 

compositions are small.  For example between the first 2

photos blends well together.  Although I can see the photography 

in an moving image piece I still not sure how I am to capture that

important moment when time changes within a fight.  With out

showing that moment I specified in the Concept, I'm not sure

I am answering the full brief correctly.

Motion Photography (2)

Trying some black and white photography for a change against the colour of the red mats on the gym floor.  Showing the push kick then the roundhouse kick below and some of the motion the body dose when performing these moves.  I think maybe a little bit of colour is needed.

Capturing the motion before the Push kick

Capturing the motion as you strike, showing the arch in the
chest and bend of the knee

The knee moving into the roundhouse position

This shows the recoil of catching the kick as well as
the leg itself, see how the training has to brace for the impact

Showing the leg lifting up to the height

Showing the knee up into kick position, I like this the best!

Howard Schatz Photography

I love this photographers capture of motion.  I really like his use of colour.

His step by step style of the tennis player and basket ball player work well

but I think his most effect is the dancer at the very top.  Although she is very

distorted you get a sense of the movement without actually seeing it!  I will 

try recreating something within this style using my photography and the blur/ 

smudge tool in photoshop.  The golfer is interesting with his figure standing still

 and the blur following the clubs swing shows direct movement.

See more of the artists work here;

http://www.howardschatz.com/portfolio.php?galleryID=23&subcatID=43

Sparring photography

Trying different effects to mesh together sparring photos.  These are quiet busy even as one photo so trying to keep the figure clear and the movements simple is harder than I thought.  Although these photos are capturing the movements of past through to present I still have no idea how I am to capture the moment of fight I talked about in the concept.  Looking at my research I am thinking of recording the fighters sparing an using chopping fast paced editing to create a theme of chaos and fast paced action similar to the fight scene in Snatch.

Motion Photography

Just the same photo from before but I tidied up the face.

Showing a kick combination of side kick to roundhouse without adding in  the movements in between the kicks like above.  I do like the tone of the photo and although it looks great I still unsure that it works with the concept.  I thinking experimenting with video may be needed even just to capture stills from it?.

Showing a back knee from stance to kick, using opacity to  blend the movements together.  

Showing the left leg roundhouse in a sequence of movements, showing the leg starting from the ground.
Thinking with the kicks less is more as I don't want the movements to get lost in or the image not to look recognisable.

First Photography

Tryin a Norman Mc Laren style with this kick technique.   I inverted the photos then over layed them
on top of each other using the opacity to create the ghost effect.  With out the black
 background the images get lost, personally I don't think this is the best way to show off  kick boxing movements as they are not as artistic or dramatic as dance.

Using a mixture of black and white and coloured photography I created this image.  I think this is closer to the style I want.  I want the photos to have a classy look to them as well as show the movement and seem realistic.

Getting closer to the look I am trying to achieve.  Using 5photos of in stance to throwing a one to, I over layed
them using opacity and desaturation to create the tone.  I think this photo works because the fighter is standing still, creating pic with more complicated combos could be alot trickier. 

Rocky 3 (Sylvestor Stallone 1982)

Just because it's rocky

Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)

This is a very well edited fight scene. It's as realistic as it could be! The chopy way the scenes are edited are brilliant because sometimes in the ring before you realise how you got their your at the other side. The way the sound dims in and out is so important, it's amazingly realistic also. I love how the tempo in this changes, a fight isn't the same tempo throughout.  By using the different speeds the director has captured the fighter concept of time and the crowds.

Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese 1980)

http://youtu.be/-nAjurxttv4

Please watch this link that WON'T embedd....This link is to the Jake La Motta vs Sugar Ray Robinson scene in Raging Bull. Listen to how how the crowd dims in and out. The clip of Sugar Ray when he is about to finish the fight is tunnel vision I mention in the concept. How everything around you even sound dims and all your focus is on your opponent, I think the shadow effect works well.

Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie 2009)

Another Guy Ritchie piece, the man knows his fight scenes. I have watched this fight scene over and over and I dosn't get any less impressive each time. I love the narration, although if I was to use narration in mine whose voice would I use? The slow motion shot that slows down the speeds up just a bit then slows again is fantastic! Then to repeat the scene again in real time is a prefect way to capture the 'art of fight'. The slowed version is that moment I have referred to for a fighter, and the real time version is the crowds perspective, and the memory the fighter has when the fight is finished. Something like this in slow motion could be more effective than using stills when capturing the movement of combinations.

Movement photography

These do not work as photography pieces for my moving image piece, as they are more instructional rather then movement capturing.  I think trying the Eadwaerd Muybridge method isn't the way to go with these stills.  It would make a boring moving image piece and it wouldn't answer the brief. 

Roundhouse

Roundhouse

Duck, Jab 

Jab, Cross

Eadweard Muybrigde

Although not the most artist photography capturing movement, but it is precise.  For the stills I think somewhere between what Norman Mc Laren produced and Eadweard did is about right.  Using photography like this dose not solve how I will capture 'that moment'.

Muybrigde's first film using stills of horse

Norman Mc Laren

 These photos capture the art and movement of Ballet in a beautiful and artistic way.  I like the idea of creating my moving image with stills of kickboxing photoshoped in this way, but knowing myself the movements of combinations are not as dramatic as dance so this style may not work.  I will try the black and white negative style used here.

Inspiration behind the theme...

Back leg roundhouse to head

Front jab to head

                                        

Front roundhouse to body

Straight right to head

Some of the fighters at Westbank Full Contact Kickboxing club at training.  This is my club and these are the guys I train with 5days a week!  This project is personal to me, this sport is my passion!  The photos show the guys practising some basic techniques.

The Concept

The art of fight

View more documents from charmaine22