Student Arts Film

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Hi, I would just like to share a short visual piece I produced as part of my Universty degree (BA Media Culture and Communication), to gain a general feedback on it.

The concept is simple - it is a series of visual images in relation to an old Indian song. The song is about hope and aspiration and the images support and also contradict the dialogue. The film is about dreams in a city environment.

The film is entitled 'The Urban Context'.

I shot it in South East London using an XL1s and was editing and graded on Sony Vegas 5.

Please feel free to view or download at the following link:

http://www.burninglampproductions.co...ontextfilm.wmv

I would much appreciate any feedback - positive or negative!

Thank You,

Sunny Dhinsey

[Mitchell Stookey]

I liked your piece quite alot, and you had some really nice shots in there. It was very pleasant to watch, and had great imagery. Congratulations.

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Thank you very much for your kind comments!

Fortunately it has been well recieved at my university and will be played in the public gallery there.

Thank you once again!

[Tom Pauncz]

Sunny,
I really liked it! Well done. Couldn't take my eyes off it.

I'd be curious how you did the effect of the B&W with the square moving over being coloured.
Tom

[David Mintzer]

Originally Posted by Tom Pauncz

Sunny,
I really liked it! Well done. Couldn't take my eyes off it.

I'd be curious how you did the effect of the B&W with the square moving over being coloured.
Tom

Very nice work--gave me a real sense of the duality of Indian culture. Keep up the good work.

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Thanks for your comments guys! Much appreciated.

Tom, the coloured box effect was done using Sony Vegas. The first thing you do is create two duplicate video tracks of the same video clip (for example the cockerel in this instance), ensuring the two video clips are in sync with one another.

Then desaturate a clip on either of the tracks (say the top one for example). Then also apply the Vegas 'cookie cutter' tool to the video clip on the upper track. Select the shape/size/border etc of the 'cookie cutter'. What happens in this instance is that the 'cookie cutter' is cutting a 'hole' in the top black and white clip to show through the coloured clip beneath it.

You can then keyframe the effect to create a motion and size variation etc of the hole cut by the 'cookie cutter'.

I hope this makes sense...I am sure there are other ways of achieving this effect using the masks tool etc in other NLEs.

David you are totally correct about the duality of Indian culture. India is indeed a nation of stark contrast. Had I been filming a mile down the road, you would've seen a McDonalds and a very large shopping complex!

******

I also have another film called 'The Urban Context', which again I filmed for my degree. It is a series of visual images in relation to an old Indian song. The song is about hope and aspiration and the images support and also contradict the dialogue. The film is about dreams in a city environment.

I shot it in South East London. It can be found at:

http://www.burninglampproductions.co...ontextfilm.wmv

Hope you enjoy it.

Regards, Sunny Dhinsey

[Tom Pauncz]

Thanks Sunny. I sort of suspected it may have been the cookie cutter.

Your other film is very very good. Enjoyed them both.
Tom

[Sunny Dhinsey]

No problem - it does give a nice effect.

[Rob Lohman]

Sunny: I have merged your two threads and left it as one in the DV for the
Masses forum (our showcase forum).

Edit: where there two different films Sunny? If so, then something went
wrong. All the replies are still there. But I just now saw that you mention
there is "another" one which is the same as the first post by you. So that
might indicate we are missing one now?

I thought the one that is currently in this thread was done well! Entertaining.
One thing though: did you get the permission to use some of the people in
this? I can clearly identify individuals, which may be a problem if it is displayed
or broadcasted somewhere!

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Thanks Rob. Cleans up the message boards!

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Originally Posted by Tom Pauncz

Sunny,
I really liked it! Well done. Couldn't take my eyes off it.

I'd be curious how you did the effect of the B&W with the square moving over being coloured.
Tom

The above post is in relation to the film 'The Water Pump' - found at

http://www.burninglampproductions.co.../WaterPump.wmv

which was noted in an earlier post not found in this thread.

Regards,

Sunny

[Rob Lohman]

Ah, so that was the problem. Thanks Sunny! Sorry I messed it up a bit on this one.

p.s. also see my edited reply to your movie

[Sunny Dhinsey]

No problem Rob, I have added the link to the other film.

With regards to your query about permissoin from people - indeed all of the people featured in 'The Urban Context' are aware of their involvement in the film. Many are relatives (children for example) and the people in the park too were aware of their involvement in the film. As a part of my film production degree, I am required to account for those involved in my films in terms of consent etc - and this contributes towards my final grade. The only people in 'The Urban Context' that I can recall were not asked for permission were the Marathon runners and the National Front members. Perhaps this would pose a problem - I am not really sure. At this stage, this film is for the purposes of my degree only, but should it be broadcast somewhere then I guess I would need to seek advice regarding the clearances of showing these people in my film.

With regards to 'The Water Pump' film - again a small number of the people were relatives, however, although this may sound somewhat pompous, the majority of people featured in that film probably will never gain access to means of seeing it. Many of them were delighted to being filmed too!

However, consent for filming is something I always keep in mind when planning a film.

Sunny

[Jay Gladwell]

Very nicely done, Sonny! I took the liberty of posting links to your videos on the Sony Vegas forum.

[Sunny Dhinsey]

Thank you for your kind comments Jay :-)