STANDS

Well one big obstacle is out of the way.....i have found a company to make 3 life size Sindy stands for me. They wont be exactly how you see it below because i wanted to keep the cost down as much as possible. They are costing 100 pounds for the 3 and they may be powder coated if they have time to throw that in!! If not, i will have to hand paint them. Instead, they are having 2 poles coming off the frame at the top, onto 2 long bases as the round base cost more. They should be made for 2 weeks, hopefully I will have 2 more dancers to go with them by then........

TRAVELLING

This clip has been improved and added to and is the first druaght of today's rehearsal. I created a travelling sequence, based on the ballerina/active Sindy, which has the most moveability. I wanted a sense of tumbling, continuity, fluidity, up&down....an unbroken journey with slight glitches along the way. The sequence will be for all three dancers to do in canon and maybe at close proximity, weaving around each other. Tomorrow I will be doing more stop motion for my projections.

1 DANCER

Here is the new sequence performed by Leah. I need to get 2 more dancers as the others have pulled out so for new Vibes Leah may be doing it as a solo and I will have to try and make it as presentable as possible.
I went to B&Q to find materials for making the stands but no luck, it was a small store. I need them ASAP!!!! B.S.A never emailed back about them. Now there is no funding for my project I will have to either make the costumes or buy them. I think ebay will be my first visit.... Hopefully Gary is still interested in doing the music, or I'm in the F*CKIN$ SH%T!!
I just spoke to Dennie and she recommended i use my last film, 'Tormenture' with a solo for Leah. Cat, Leah and myself had been discussing this earlier at Dx and I think it's a good idea. Dennie said to save the 3D for M.A. This will give me more time to get it looking really good. i need to look back at the film to see where i can fit the dance in.

MORE STOP. MO

Again, the quality is rubbish after uploading it on here and also it was filmed near the window to get the best light for my camera, as it is useless in artificial lights. I think with a better camera and lighting, i will get a good result! Once your focus has adjusted with the glasses on, you can see the white platform coming out and the 3 sindys are out of the monitor.

STOP MOTION

I have been doing a bit of stop motion today as I thought I could do it successfully with 1 camera and shifting it over, as I did yesterday. The result is above. The clip is quite small so some of the effect will be lost but you can see the closest Sindy especially, is off the screen. It looks better before export, but it's a quick example.
They are a sequence of stills. I had to edit first in Adobe Premiere and place all the left eye clips in and change the speed to 1000, to look effective. I then cut the clips down to a 5th of a second each. Once I had done this to both left and right I exported them seperately and then dragged then into A.E. Then, as yesterday, I applied 3d glasses effect, and changed the colours appropriately and this was the result. I tried different ways to export it because some of them lost the quality that you could not see the 3d properly.
Now I know I can do stop motion with 1 cam I am going to have it in my final piece. The Sindys' movement will compliment the real dancers.

ADOBE

I have just played around with still footage in Adobe After Effects as it has a 3d glasses effect. After working out how to use it properly, (it took me about an hour) I got a good effect with the footage I had. Using a single camera, a rubbish Premier cam, I filmed the image then slid it over a couple of inches to the right and filmed the same thing. This is what I did with a Sindy doll with her leg pointing at the camera and then put the film into Final cut and got the best 3d image, out of all the different ways I have tried. The cam was pointed straight at the subject, on a flat, level surface.
Once the left and right images are imported in A.E I just applied the 3d glasses effect then chose which footage I wanted to be shown in left and right view. Then i chose a red/ blue balance to apply. You then go to composition to view it and hey presto, you get this...

There is no need to play the video as it's still footage...you need a pair of red/cyan glasses to see the 3d.The pixels are large because of the camera, but I am going to experiment with the 2 cameras again and I may use 1 cam to do the stills for the opening clip for the performance. I will feel happier when I have something edited and ready to project.

This pic is made up of 2 photographs, with the same process as above. I don't think it works as well because the distance to the camera was closer...maybe. The stool on the 1st clip looks really good as it's in the foreground but still a few feet away from the lens. The nearest cactus in this clip is about 10 inches from the camera so perhaps the key is to keep a distance.

MONDAY

Leah and I went over last wks rehearsal and I filmed it all. I wanted to make sure she knew the material pretty well and we went over dynamics and timing, etc for the material so far. I stayed for a while after to work out what Maria will be doing when the other 2 have a duet. I wanted to do a large travelling sequence for all of them, showing the movement of the active dolls, but my knee is not up to it. It clicked out again today but felt better after the pain had gone!!
Next rehearsal I should have all dancers so a lot will get done on Friday.

OVERALL AIMS

To summarise my plans for my final project....
A performance will take place using 3 live dancers on stage, along with 3d film projected onto a cinema screen. 3D glasses will need to be worn by the audience to view these images correctly. I am working closely with Gary who is creating the sound score and a dressmaker who will make 3 dresses in the style of Sindy patterns chosen by myself.
At the moment I am rehearsing 3 times a week with the dancers, creating dance inspired from the movement the dolls were manufactured to have. This changed over time, the active ballerina Sindy having the most flexibility in the limbs. A constant struggling theme will be present, back and forth, forced, mechanical, competetivness, unreachable targets, showing how women are striving to be like plastic images, alien type icons as advertised on billboards, tv, films, magazines, everywhere!! Sindy's image changed from the 1960's up to date, showing how society has become more fake and surreal with how it looks.
The projections are my main concern at the moment and will be the trickiest part as I have never done anything like it and am still not sure of the best way to do it. I have experimented with different ways but none have been good enough. I have emailed b'ham school of acting about life size sindy stands for my dancers, if they don't have any I will make them.

FRIDAY

Got another sequence done with Leah today and worked out a duet for her and Emma. The sequence used some dance similar to the other stuff i have choreographed so far. I haven't put up the duet footage as me marking it through with a bad knee doesn't really give a good idea of how it will look.
This 1st video is still mechanical but with more suppleness in the spine allowed. I like the quality of how leah dances in this one, i asked for her to be more dynamic and gave instructions on how to perform certain bits. There are a few mistakes in this clip but the next 1 is correct, though the quality isn't as good. I'm happy with the progress of the movement so far but it would be easier having all of the dancers there so that I know they all know it and creating the canons and duets would be easier.
Yesterday Greg suggested I try the i-sight cameras to film the projections as they are small cylinders that can get very close together....almost eye distance apart. He said i could place a piece of metal under them, as they are magnetic, so they stayed together and at the same distance, etc. This idea would be great if it worked, easier to carry to the studio, easy to plug in but i am a bit apprehensive as they switch on and off and the quality is pretty much that of a webcam. We tried to view both cameras simultaneously but couldn't do it in imovie or image capture. I am trying to email as many people as possible who know about stereoscopic filming to find the best solution for a good effect. Mike said i may need more than FCP for post production such as shake.
I have emailed the guy who runs the library theatre film nights to see if it would be possible to use their venue for my show and also he has a list of filmmakers so maybe someone will know about 3d. Fingers crossed.

NEW SEQUENCES

I had the studio to myself today which allowed me the time to think and choreograph. I have created a new sequence for all to learn as well as a duet for Maria and Emma. Leah will dance near her stand to compliment the duet. The sequence travels a bit more than the others but not much as my knee wouldn't allow it!
I have been experimenting all afternoon with the 3d filming. I took still footage with 1 camera of 6 Sindys. Then shifted it over to film them again. It wasn't accurate enough so I decided to copy the same footage (left eye) and duplicate this to go where the right eye would. Greg suggested this before but I didn't think the same angle would work. I applied the same filters but the image didn't appear when i changed it to screen mode. I put up the image and wire and shifted the image to the left to then reveal the blue/red images. I put on the glasses and moved it until it was in 3d. I couldn't believe it worked. However, the image is like that of a magic eye picture. The background appears flat and the foreground stands out, but not off the screen. I tried some moving footage to see if it was the lack of depth but again, the images stand apart but do not come into your space off screen. I looked on youtube to double check with the stereoscopic films i had seen and my footage looked flat as a pancake compared to them. For a minute I thought I was going to get away with filming the footage once with 1 camera! The footage I saw was filmed with a stereoscopic webcam and looked great. Perhaps Greg will buy me one!

DANCING

I worked with Leah on sequences already learned and went over the last one created. We had Gary's sample track to work with so that was good to have the timing there to follow. I have emailed Gary with a few changes and ideas towards the track. I found it hard to show a bit of new movement as my knee dislocated on Sat but i will manage!
The movement, as Leah metioned, Resembles that of manufacturing and conveyer belts, etc which i thought was a great analogy for this part of the sequence. It is very controlled, not much room for own personality from the dancers just yet as the repetetiveness, monotony and lack of individuality is accentuated.
I should have Em and Maria tomorrow and want to work on a trio with them. I wanted to do a travelling sequence but due to the knee injury I will wait until next week. I also want to film some still images of the different Sindys through time, to have at the beginning so should get that done in the afternoon and put into 3D.

2 CAMS

I filmed a moving image with 2 cameras, side by side, as close as i could get them. A lot of time was wasted getting used to a different camera and making sure each setting was the same for both. They looked too far apart though so i got the projector out to see if enlarging it and standing back further would help. The footage decided to jump loads and un-render itself.....somehow. I viewed one of the stills i did yesterday, with the shortest distance, using 1 cam, and this looked really good. If i could film dance with this technique it would be great but obviously the dancers will not be in exactly the same space each time i film so this wouldn't work. I need to experiment more with the 2 cameras again.

TUESDAY

The morning session went well with the girls, they learned what I taught Leah yesterday and a new sequence. I have emailed Gary the footage of Leah and asked for a timing of 3 bars of 3/3 followed by 1 bar of 4/4 for so long and then into 8s with 1 bar of 3 to change direction on the 2nd sequence on floor. It will be easier when the music is there and once the dancers' bodies have remembered it habitually! The movement is fairly simple but the repetition and timing makes it confusing slightly. The new sequence needs to be taught to Leah, it contains some of the elements from the other sections, with more suspension, to look relaxed and effortless.

STARTING DANCE

Today I was with Leah in the studio, creating the choreography for the 3d project. I used 2 ballet bars to act as the Sindy stands. The 1st section was created with the mechanics of the doll's body so each movement is a hinge. The movement is basic and repetitive, developing slowly and into a canon between the 3 dancers. I want the monotony to show the endless urge, without getting much further, the ridiculous goals that women try to reach.
After the bar is an extension of limbs and small twists on the floor. All dancers are in unison for the 1st time then Leah stands and does a variation whilst Emma & Maria repeat on a different angle.
Now I have the 3d glasses I tried them out on some still footage I filmed, placing cam 1/2 inch apart. It worked but I need to try it with a Sindy extending towards the camera for a greater dynamic.
Tomorrow I am with Emma & Maria in the studio and will experiment further with the anaglyph images.