SW14

=Cosmic Dust= media type="youtube" key="52F5y0LnF-Q?list=UUtjrxJISABi-Ls0gJnPKfTg" height="480" width="853" align="center"

Please watch in ** 720p ** with headphones on (no distractions - very important)
 * Media:** Nikon D5000, Canon 550D, Canon 600D, GoPro Hero 2 - **Size:** 1280x720 - **Month of completion:** January 2013

** Description: ** This piece is a cinematography montage I filmed during a trip I took with an Applied Science class. I was assigned as a photographer for the trip to  photograph a planetary alignment. I decided I'd make the most of my opportunity and create a montage video for IB Art. This piece takes the viewer on a journey through the White Desert. I only had one night to shoot this so I had to have more cameras. I was able to obtain 2 cameras from my friend Nourhan El Gendy, and my teacher Mr. Darell Hardman. The trip was also free thanks to Ms.Bickham. Without them this wouldn't have been possible to execute in one night. **Analysis:** **What were the artistic and/or cultural influences for this project?** **Who/what influenced either the composition and/or the style.** In terms of style of editing, I was influenced by GoPros' commercial/ad for their camera GoPro Hero 2. I was inspired by the connection of audio and video. I liked how the video was cut to the music perfectly and I focused on applying that to my video. Working with the song I chose it certainly extended my editing  time since it took me 84 hours to complete to achieve cutting video to the music. **What materials/media/processes did you use and or experiment with, and how?** I used 4 cameras. I owned 2, and borrowed 2. I had an extra lens to work with thanks to Nourhan. I put all the cameras in a big bag that was on my trip the entire time. I did this so I could have fast access to all the cameras if I see a good shot coming as we were driving. I hacked 2 Canon cameras and installed a software that gives me an intervalometer feature. The intervalometer helps achieve timelapses by taking a photo every few seconds(or whatever you set it to). I used Adobe After Effects to edit the video together and Adobe Soundbooth to edit the music. **How do you think you have responded to advice and criticism during this project (and during the term), both from fellow students and the teacher. Did you actively seek advice? If so, was it useful?** I actively sought advice and opinions from my family as I was editing the video. I would finish sections of the video and ask them if they liked it and if they saw anything wrong with it. It was very useful as they were the only people I had access to during the winter break. **Clearly explain the weaknesses/areas for improvement -** The weaknesses start at limitations with slow motion. I don't have a slow motion camera so that affected my video a little bit since I applied fake slow motion. Fake slow motion works by creating fake frames in between your real frames. Sometimes a little morphing would happen at the edges of the video. Another weakness is the glitches at the end of the video. The glitches were done to the music but they felt like they did not merge/connect together very well. That is partly because there is one image of the milky way that gets flipped around in one frame and makes it feel a bit strange. **Clearly explain the strengths of the piece –** The strengths for this piece start with the editing. I think I edited the video well and to the music that I had. Another strength is that I was able to cut down the song from 5 minutes to 3:50 minutes without distracting the viewer. A third strength would be the fact that I was able to pick the best shots for this video. I had taken a lot of footage and I never stopped filming throughout the whole trip (until someone shut the car door on my finger, which was at the end). I was able to capture the milky way this time and because it was my second time out I knew what type of shots mattered. I think another strength is the fact that I was able to get good shots in the morning/afternoon before sunset. This was a struggle for me in the last desert video but I filmed entertaining shots that worked for the first part of the video. **What could you take through to the next project and develop further? This could be anything, from a technique to an idea, not neccessarily just the theme.** I could develop this further by taking a longer desert trip and shooting for much longer to try to perfect it. I could also make paintings/drawings based on the footage I have captured. **ISSUU PAGES**   media type="custom" key="21894316" align="center"