Post-Production

Planning the production I will create

The Pioneer and Technique I'll be using

Lev Kuleshov

Lev Kuleshov was a pioneer film theorist. He studied the film techniques of the Hollywood directors, like D.W Griffith. Lev introduced crosscutting and montage into Russian films. Lev found that people responded differently to different shots, depending on the images they have seen before and after the shot. He could create a new meaning with two different shots, even though one image was repeated. Lev Kuleshov showed and proved the effects of juxtaposition.

Style of technique used

He then created the Kuleshov effect, where an actor would stare at the camera with a black expression. Then they would add different forage of different things/objects before and/or after the blank stare forage. He would add the image of a child in a coffin, or a bowl of food on a table, and many different images. Different moods and meanings were created with the same expression. When Lev Kuleshov showed an audience thought the actor had seemed unhappier or hungry, depending on the image before/after.

Brief overview of experimental work

I propose an experimental piece of works based upon the Kuleshov effect, where I create a close up on an animated character, looking expressionless off towards a side of the screen. Then the next image that follows will give the expressionless character an emotion, like sadness or excitement. The animated character will be a character I have already created in another class called Silver Jewel. The focus of these experiments will be to see if the viewer’s can identify an emotion the character Silver Jewel is feeling due to the images before/afterwards.

I will be using many different images to ‘change’ the character, Silver Jewel’s emotion. One image will contain some sort of food product. This will create a hungry emotion. Another image will contain some sort of death; e.g. a grave or a ripped picture of family. This will create a depressed emotion. The two different emotion introduced images are just two of many I can experiment with.

I could also show what type of personality Silver has is by showing an image before Silver, then showing Silver start emotionless but then having him smile, or frown. This could make Silver change from just feeling an emotion but having a kind or cruel personality. An example of this is having an image of an old man looking out, then showing a mother with her kids and then the old man smiling. This makes the old man a kind and sweet old man. But if you change the image from a mother and her children to a woman in a bikini, still with the old man smiling. It makes the old man creepy and sick.

Story/Script

Silver Jewel is actually mute, so this sort of production suits him very well, with him not specking but images used instead to create his mood/emotion. So for this production, the story behind Silver will be given to him via the images/objects he is looking at. No script needed for Silver Jewel. 

However, there can be two more characters featuring in this production. Oliver Moore and Gabranth Shadowend. Both these people could very well influence Silver's apparent emotion. They could provide a voice over or speak to Silver. So they could need a script. Meaning I might need voice actors. If this is the case, I already have a voice actor for Oliver set from another class project. The voice actor is called Chris Haymond. I would need to find a voice actor for Gabranth.

The story could be based upon the backstory of Silver. I could extend the experiment by using the other main characters as the main characters, instead of just Silver. This would capture multiple backstories and provide extra meanings and depth to each character. I will finalize this further as the experiments begin to take more shape.

Characters - Backstories

Silver Jewel

Silver Jewel is a 19 year old male, whose real name is unknown but given the nickname Silver Jewel because of the necklace he always wears. He is a shy, obedient, playful, and optimistically naive young man.

Silver was orphaned at 3 years old, given to his main foster parent Gabranth Shadowend. Silver never really had a real home but when given to Gabranth, made into a personal servant and sworn to be forever silent. Silver never went to school but taught himself to read and write. Silver ran away from Gabranth when he was 19 years old and now lives with his best friend Oliver Moore.

Oliver Moore

Oliver Moore is a 24 year old man that is the manager of the biggest company in the world. Oliver is a serious, apathetic, intelligent, sarcastically overwork young man.

Raised with an alcoholic father and an overworked mother, Oliver always had pressure pushed onto him to be the best at everything. Oliver is recently divorced from his high-school sweetheart. Oliver has a son called Stefan Moore, aged 3, but is not allowed to visit. Oliver ran into Sliver Jewel and let him stay a few nights, but now cannot get rid of Silver. Oliver sees Silver as a hassle to have.

Gabranth Shadowend

Gabranth Shadowend is a 68 year old man who started fostering Silver Jewel when he was 56 years old. Gabranth is a grumpy, serious, traditional, intimidatingly short tempered old man.

Gabranth has never liked children, ever since his own child at the age of 6 died due to cancer. He took Silver as a foster child because of Silver's sweet and caring voice, but in anger, made Silver swear to be forever silent. He, due to frustration and grief, made Silver his personal servant. When Silver ran away, he was outraged and still hunts for Silver till this day.

Software

The different softwares I could and will be using to create this product are Adobe Photoshop, Toon Boom Storyboard and Adobe Premiere-Project.