Video about a Senator and an Audio about a Soil Scientist

I finished and posted "The Desperation of the Wretched Senator" last week. This week I posted audio of my writing exercise: "A Journal for a Silly Social Scientist".

"The Desperation of the Wretched Senator"

A politician tries to keep his past deeds from coming back to haunt him.

·         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isWKL7U34CI

I have been more lethargic than dynamic the last few weeks. I let this video sit idle for weeks. I finally got back to work on it last week. I made a few changes and got it posted.

 

"A Journal for a Silly Social Scientist"

A panel of Scientists are taken aback by an unexpected request.

·         https://soundcloud.com/dynamiclethargy/a-journal-for-the-silly-soil-scientist

I lollygagged on my most recent writing exercise too. But I got it done this week. I wasn't too inspired by the title, but I felt the end result wasn't too bad.

Stalled Projects

I have several projects that I have let lie over the past few weeks. I have pretty much all I need to make videos of “The Sad Lady and the Hesitant Father-in-law”, “The Dread of the Daring Rocketeer”, and “Time Enough for the Anxious Social Media Manager”. I just need to get myself back on track.

Animation Programs

After a period of procrastination, I planned to try out Unreal Engine 5 this week. Unfortunately, it turns out that it won’t run on my computer. My graphics card is too old. I think the rest of the system may be OK though. I think that if I want to run it, I'd be better off to get a new computer rather than trying to upgrade my old one. I'm not keen to do that just yet.

As a result, I decided to have another look at what I can do with Blender for animation. People have used it to do a lot of the same things as Unreal Engine. I just haven’t figured out how to do them.

I also found out about another program, iClone. I think I'll take a look at. Unlike Unreal Engine and Blender, you do have to pay for it, but it doesn’t cost very much.

None of these other programs seem as easy to use as NAWMAL.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

A New Writing Exercise, Animation, Trigger Warnings, and a Video

I posted a new writing exercise this week. I took a deeper look at Unreal Engine. I got into a discussion of trigger warnings. I procrastinated about a video I did.

"Time Enough for the Anxious Social Media Manager"

At our writer’s group we did a writing exercise based on this title. I recorded it a couple days later and then posted it on-line.

Albert meets with his social media manager. Derek is anxious about the new campaign.

·         https://soundcloud.com/dynamiclethargy/time-enough-for-the-anxious-social-media-manager

I've been posting my recordings to Soundcloud, but there is a limit to how much I can upload. So, I did some experimentation to see if I can post them on my website instead. It worked, but I don't think there is a high priority to start doing that.

NAWMAL, Blender and Unreal Engine

My plan was to stick to NAWMAL and Blender for my animations, but I saw a video about Unreal Engine that suggested that it was much easier to learn than Blender. I know how to do some things in Blender, but I find it hard to learn how to do the more sophisticated animation I want to do. So, I installed Unreal Engine on my computer. I had a quick look at it but didn’t try to do anything with it yet. I did download some of the free assets that they provide.

Trigger Warnings

At our script group meeting this week we talked a bit about trigger warnings. Apparently, the idea is controversial, since some writers feel that a warning can undercut the effect of their story. I felt that you need to be aware of your audience and avoid anything that would cause someone to 'drop out' of the story. I've dropped things from my films because of that, even though I felt they would have added to the story.

"The Desperation of the Wretched Senator"

I haven't done anything more with the video I did. Next week, for absolutely sure, definitively, I will get it polished off and posted.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Sunset Movie Update 2017 August 20

I made a few more steps forward on my Sunset video. I've run into a few issues I'll have to over come.

A short time ago I posted about my idea to do a video of a sunset. http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/sunset-2/

Since then I've tried to get a good video several times. I'm on “Sunset #6” now. I am not all that happy with the video I got so far. For the most part, the sunsets were not as impressive as I would have liked.

This week I noticed we had some much more visually interesting sunsets. The Sun has been a bit dimmer and red in colour when it nears the horizon these days. There has also been just the right amount of cloud cover to produce a pleasing image. Not too much and not too little. Sometimes the Sun gives an almost golden colour to the clouds.

Unfortunately, as we more inexorably toward fall,  the Sun sets further south every day. When I started, back in mid June, the view from my study window was just what I wanted. Now the Sun is blocked by big tree long before sunset. That makes for a rather dull sunset video.

I was out for a walk a couple days ago, and there are some other places where I could get a better view. However, when I can shoot from my study, I can set up the camera and go do something else. At another location, I would need to stay and babysit the camera until the sun was down. On the other hand, if I don't try a different location, I'll have to wait until next June before I get another shot at it.

I worked on the audio for the video too. The sound I got from the camera really wasn't useful.  I used a microphone I got recently to get some ambient sound. I matched it to the video I had. It is better; the microphone gives much cleaner sound.

Unfortunately, there wasn't very much interesting sound. Over the hour and a half I recorded, there was one bird that squawked a bit, one car drove down the lane, and a couple of planes flew over. I think I will need to construct an artificial “natural” sound. Many of the so called natural soundscapes you can get are done with a lot of creative intervention.

 I think I'd need to collect sound for many days, and pick out the interesting stuff. I missed an opportunity to get some good wind sounds a couple nights ago.


This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Sunset #2

I started to work on a small movie project this week. I've not done much work on any of my other, higher priority, projects, but I thought this one might get the ball rolling.

Recently I've watched a lot of the relaxation / autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos on YouTube. They helped me cope when my wife was sick.

I also noticed that they are quite popular; some have millions of views. So I thought I'd like to make my own.

One thing that I noticed about some of the ASMR videos, after my brother pointed it out, was that while it appears to be a “live” video, it is actually a still photo. They've added in some animated bits to make it seem more real. My brother pointed out that the clouds in one video didn't move, even after a couple of hours. I've seen several 4 hour video where the angle of the Sun doesn't change. I'd like to do one where things do change.

I tried twice to do a video of the sunset from my office window. The second one turned out better, so I decided to work with it. I got about 1 hour and 50 minutes of usable video. Unfortunately, as it gets darker outside, the image starts to get noisy. I've noticed that other cameras do the same thing when I shoot in low light conditions. Maybe I should do videos where it doesn't get dark out.

I used a Kodak video camera I got for our visit to China in 2009. It was a simple fixed focus, auto exposure camera with only 4 buttons to control it. Not exactly a professional camera. I was worried that pointing the camera at the sun would destroy the image sensor, which is why I decided to use my old camera. While I didn't want to emulate Alan Bean, if it did get damaged, that would give me an excuse to buy a new camera. As it turned out, the image sensor seems to be just fine. All the same, I think I should look into newer cameras to see if it makes sense to get one.

The camera will only record for an hour or so and then stop. That is a bit of a hassle, but checked on the camera every 10 minutes or so, then stop and restart the recording just before the hour was up. The camera shut down completely after a little over 2 hours. I think it over heated.

I ended up with three segments of video. There was a slight jar each time I stopped and restarted the camera, which I needed to cut out. With the stuff I had to cut out and the time it took to stop and restart the camera, there is a slight gap in the time line. Although the gap is only a second or so, it produced a noticeable jump. I used a cross fade and it looks much better. The movement seems to speed up for a second or two. I could likely fix that too, but I am not sure it is really necessary.

Another problem, which I should have caught when I set up to record, was that you can see the reflection of the camera in the window in the corner of the screen. I got around that with a zoom in. That isn't an ideal solution. I will need to avoid that problem the next time.

To finish it off, I added some simple titles. I've played the video on my TV several times and I think it looks OK.

What I still need to do is develop the soundscape. In a proper ASMR video, you need to have some sort of white noise run through out the video. This is usually wind or rain or water falls. None of those sounds make sense in my video. While I did record sound, because the camera was inside, the sound is very quiet. You can hear me walking around. There is also a slight hum. I think that is the computer. That really won't do. I will need to record some typical outdoors sounds in my neighbor hood: people walking, people walking down the gravel lane, some wind, some birds, dogs, cats, and maybe the occasional car or bus passing in the distance.

This is a good first try, and I do plan to finish it up. However, I want to try it again. I know we get some much more beautiful sunsets now and then and would like to catch one of those. I also would like to get some day time videos at other locations, like along the river or maybe in the woods or mountains.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Retrospective and Tranquility

I've been working on two projects, although it is really a piece of work I need to do for both of them. It isn't going well.

My primary project is a retrospective of my late wife to show family and friends. The other project is called “Brief Moments of Tranquility”. Both of these use videos I've shot over many years. Over the last few weeks I have gone through my videos to log them to help me select which shots to use.

Once I get started, the logging goes smoothly enough. I find it difficult to set my mind to it though and keep putting off to another day. Partly that is because logging video is not especially exciting work. I think that another issue is that I often find it difficult to deal with strong emotions. In the past I've had to find ways for me to distance myself from emotions that my films touch on. That isn't something that I can do with a video about my late wife.

When I do work on the videos, I generally don't feel strong negative emotions though. Often, it is the opposite. When I watch a video where she is happy, I find myself smiling and I feel some sense of happiness. Often that side tracks me from my logging.

The idea for my other project, “Brief Moments of Tranquility”, is to compile shots I've taken of things that make me feel calmer. I have video of rivers, snow falling, and various quiet places. Or at least I thought I had. I haven't found as many as I thought I had. Many of them are also quite short, and may not really work the way I intend. Maybe, as I log more videos, I will find others. I have started to think that I may need to go out and collect more of these moments of tranquility.

I don't have any kind of target date to complete these videos. Unfortunately, that allows me to procrastinate indefinitely. I can't put off the retrospective on my wife too long. It is hard for me to commit to a specific time line though.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

2013 goals

In my New Years Day post, I looked back at what I did in 2012. In this post, I lay out my 2013 goals. That is goals for 2013, not 2013 goals.

Some Days . . .

I finished this film last year and submitted it to the Hundred Dollar Film Festival. If it is accepted, I do have a little work to prepare it for screening. Not a big part of the work for this year, but something I’ll need to do.

My Most Difficult Case

I’ve let this project drag on far too long. It has been a difficult project for me to do. In many ways, the delay in this project has stopped me from moving forward. I really need to get this film behind me.

Xtranormal Film/Video

I want to make a long video with Xtranormal. What I really want to do is to make a feature film, but I don’t feel that I am ready. I have written some longer short stories and scripts, but I feel I need to do a film or video to really learn how to make a more substantial film.

In 2012, I made Make 'em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way, which, at a little over 9 minutes, is one of my longer projects. I want to continue my exploration of the capabilities of Xtranormal in 2013. I feel that Xtranormal might be a good way to write a script.

I have had several ideas for what to make. At one time or another, I’ve considered adaptations of several of my stories; Hello, My Name is Bob, The Crying Woman, The Gladstone Barrier, or The Glencoe Project. I’ve also thought I should create a new story.

I need to pick one of these options and move forward.

Stories

I still want to write more stories. If Pete’s Plan sells, then I may start to write more short science fiction stories along the same lines.

I have several longer stories in development that I would like to complete. My aim is to have each of them finished at novelette length.

Felix is another science fiction story. I based it on a H. P. Lovecraft story. This one looks like it will end up shorter than my target; unless I add in more twists and turns. On the other hand, maybe I need to explore the characters more. I have about half of the first draft done.

Heat Wave is also a science fiction story. I find that I have drawn a lot on my personal experiences in this one. Like Line of Taxis, it allows me to explore personal issues at some distance from myself. Like Felix, I am not yet finished the first draft.

Bright Freedom is a story I converted from a feature script I wrote. I have a first draft done. I’ve done some notes for changes to the first draft, but I want to leave the rewrite until I have some of my other projects out of the way.

I want to combine and rewrite my two transportation planning stories, The Gladstone Barrier, and The Glencoe Project, into a longer story. Maybe even a novel. Of course, I want to make them into movies too. I shouldn’t try to do both.

Work Habits

I had a commenter on my look back at 2012 post who suggested that I would be more productive if I set deadlines for my projects. I actually did set some deadlines for 2012, but I didn’t find that they really helped me.

Deadlines have their place, but I don’t like deadlines because I find they stifle my creativity. Most of my better ideas come to me when I was doing nothing and had nothing to do. Deadline change the nature of what I create in ways I don’t like.

Never the less, I recognize that I can be more productive than I am. I believe that the approach I need to do is adopt better work habits. Most of what I’ve read about writing suggests that good writers set aside a certain time every day to write. I don’t think it needs to be a lot of time, but it does need to be consistent.

It is not easy to establish new habits, or drop old habits. I can’t allow myself to give up, but I should accept that I might slip from time to time.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog