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Tip #1615: Screenwriting: Utopian Societies

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1615: Screenwriting: Utopian Societies

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Drama can be built from utopias – just look for what can go wrong.

‘The Good Place’ (2016) CREDIT: NBC

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Dysfunctional, dystopian societies are at the core for many films – BladeRunner comes first to mind. But utopian societies, where everything is “perfect,” are also film-worthy.

This article, written by Jason Hellerman, first appeared in NoFilmSchool.com. This is a summary.

As the famous maxim goes, “There are no stories in the village of the happy people.” A utopia seems like a great place to live. What could go wrong?

In fiction, we see people striving to create these perfect worlds, where things are fair for everyone. Utopia is a powerful world. Today we want to cover its definition, some examples in film and television, the specific tropes within the genre, and look at the characters that inhabit these worlds.

These kinds of stories almost always include a downfall. Either the society fails, or some of the mechanisms holding up the society are perverted by human nature.

When you’re working on a utopia, you need to think about how it exists and what other genres you’re bringing into play. Is it like Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings or is it more like Washington, D.C., in Minority Report?

The article provides utopian examples from films and TV with images and a brief analysis of each. For example, one of my favorite shows of all time is The Good Place. For those who have not seen it, the pilot takes place in a utopia where it feels like heaven. It’s the perfect place… but we’re following a gal who thinks she’s not supposed to be there…

It’s one of the more hilarious conceits in TV history, and the show builds on the real idea of what a “Good Place” should look like and also questions what kinds of humans should go there. It’s a really great way to subvert the expected tropes.

As you can see, the utopian story is actually really malleable, just a “perfect society.” You can use it to examine human flaws, existence, and even the way we structure our governments.

The idea of perfection and utopia might seem far-fetched, but the best writers know how to make them feel prescient in our society.

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Tip #1609: Prompters for Remote Production

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1609: Prompters for Remote Production

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Prompters aren’t just for studio use today.

Prompter People iPad Free-standing Prompter

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TV Technology reports that remote production and IP are driving telepromper innovations. This is a summary.

In this in-depth article, the ubiquity and effectiveness of prompters now extend to independent and individual internet broadcasters, to the extent that there are regularly videos on YouTube selecting the best teleprompters for YouTube.

By its very nature, this end of the market is serviced primarily by systems in the $80–$1,400 price bracket but over the past year the higher-end manufacturers have been looking more closely at how their technology can be used both at and from home, for traditional broadcasters rather than YouTubers.

“We have seen an increase in the need to use smaller, more portable displays for prompter text, especially when home working,” said Robin Brown, product manager of Autoscript (part of the Vitec group with Autocue). “These screens are mostly tablet-sized and the ability to connect an iPad into the system as a prompter, without any added latency from streaming video, has been significant for many of our customers.”

“Everyone wants smaller but the problem is that the talents’ eyes are not getting any better,” said Michael Accardi, president of CueScript. “Small consumer-based products fall short on readability, connectivity and dependability. Now more than ever, people are depending on prompters to get the message out the first time and we have been designing systems that meet the customers’ needs. There is no room for error.”

The article takes about three minutes to read and is filled with descriptions on the changing nature of prompting in today’s remote world.

Link.

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Tip #1613: A Weird Effect to Cheer You Up

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1613: A Weird Effect to Cheer You Up

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Nothing like messing with text to create interesting backgrounds.

The Polar filter applied to text. Note that Polar to Rect is checked.

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Here’s something weird – yet easy – to play with: the Polar filter.

  • Type some text – or use a Gauge, Gadget or Line
  • For text, apply a Gradient fill
  • Select the text in the Layers panel
  • Apply Filters > Distortion > Polar
  • Check the Polar to Rect checkbox

Done.

EXTRA CREDIT

To make this more interesting:

  • Animate the gradient colors
  • Apply a Z-axis rotation
  • Add Behaviors > Text Basic > Quiver
  • Apply a Blur

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Tip #1612: What Do Red Numbers Mean in Motion?

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1612: What Do Red Numbers Mean in Motion?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Red numbers always indicate values set by keyframes.

Red numbers in the Inspector indicate a parameter that has keyframes applied.

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You are happily creating stuff in Motion when, all of a sudden, red numbers appear. What do they mean?

Red numbers, illustrated in the screen shot, indicate parameter values that have keyframe settings applied.

Most of the time, you created the keyframes and all is good. But, sometimes, Motion creates them without you knowing about it.

Tip #1611 explains how to get rid of them.

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Tip #1611: Remove Keyframes in Motion

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1611: Remove Keyframes in Motion

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Here’s how to get rid of keyframes you no longer want.

The small white arrow allows removing keyframes by resetting a parameter.

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Sometimes, Motion creates keyframes when you don’t expect them. Here’s why and how to get rid of them.

There’s a keyboard shortcut in Motion that’s the culprit: A. Yup, one letter. And it is also the shortcut for the Arrow tool in Final Cut – one we use ALL the time! When you think you’re selecting the Arrow tool in Motion, you’re actually creating keyframes.

Sigh… Really. Dumb.

To turn off this setting, type A again.

If you see parameter values in red, that means that they are set using keyframes. (That’s the give-away.)

To remove keyframes that you don’t want, click the small arrow on the right of a parameter name (red arrow in screen shot) or setting and choose Reset Parameter.

EXTRA CREDIT

You can change this keyboard shortcut using Motion > Commands > Customize. Or use the Final Cut Pro command set.

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Tip #1619: ActionVFX: Crowd Stock Footage for COVID Times

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1619: ActionVFX: Crowd Stock Footage for COVID Times

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Crowds for sports and concerts – ready for VFX integration.

Image courtesy of ActionVFX.com.

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ActionVFX just introduced the first two VFX collections in the new Crowd category: Sports Crowds and Concert Crowds. Industry productions will no longer need to film individuals on green screens while bringing hundreds of other extras to create a massive crowd. We’ve done the work for you. This creates a safe environment for your set and crew as we navigate an uncertain world rattled by a pandemic.

Both Crowd products will have 330 clips, our biggest collections to arrive on our website. The vast amount of clips will allow easy replication of crowds with different variations, crowd reactions, and talent. The collections also come with 15 different angles, giving artists unlimited amounts of creativity to implement digital crowds into any scene, no matter the perspective.

The variations in the clips include:

  • People with different skin tones, body types, ages, and heights.
  • Each person performs different actions that you would see at a sporting event.
  • There are sitting and standing versions of each person so they can be used in a variety of different settings.
  • The clothing being worn is different throughout the collection.
  • All clothing was chosen specifically so that the people could be duplicated without any one person standing out.

Here’s a blog post with more details.

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Tip #1618: Game Design: “Galaxy’s Edge”

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1618: Game Design: “Galaxy’s Edge”

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Authenticity, movement and image quality were the driving forces of design.

Image courtesy of Lucasfilm and ILMxLAB.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Chris McGowan, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was produced by ILMxLAB in collaboration with Oculus Studios and launched last November on the Oculus Quest VR platform.

The primary narrative features new and iconic Star Wars characters and is connected to the Black Spire Outpost, a prominent locale in the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands of Disneyland and Disney World. As the player, you are a droid repair technician whose ship is boarded by Guavian Death Gang pirates and their leader Tara Rashin (Debra Wilson). To save your skin, you must jettison a mysterious cargo and flee in an escape pod to Batuu.

It was a challenge making Tales and moving the story forward while “giving the player more agency,” notes Jennifer Cha, Lead Animator.

Maintaining high-quality animation was another challenge. The volume of work increased for several reasons, including branching animations and AI trees, as well as longer shots and the resulting heavy animation files, according to Kishore Vijay, Lead Animator. “We don’t really have cuts,” he says. “The characters cannot really go off frame easily, so everything has to be animated to work from different viewpoints and distances. There are also technical considerations for interactivity and blending for branching cinematics and AI animation that the animators have to be cognizant of.”

The article provides an in-depth look at the design of the visual look of the game, as well as a number of production stills.

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Tip #1614: BorisFX Releases Sapphire 2021.5

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1614: BorisFX Releases Sapphire 2021.5

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

New version supports M1 Macs, more speed & more effects.

Image courtesy of BorisFX.com.

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BorisFX released Sapphire 2021.5. Sapphire plug-ins let you create stunning organic looks unmatched by any host native effect tools. Key features include over 270 effects and 3000+ presets, a powerful Effect and Transition Builder, and integrated tracking and masking with the Academy Award-winning Mocha. Sapphire’s superior image quality, control, and render speed offers massive time-savings — allowing creatives to focus on what matters most, delivering an impact that keeps audiences coming back.

According to the BorisFX website, new in this version:

  • Native support for M1 powered Macs
  • Support for Adobe After Effects multi-frame rendering (currently in Adobe public beta)
  • Speed and interactivity improvements for the Sapphire preset browser
  • Improved Sapphire PanAndZoom with added internal image cache (Avid Media Composer only)
  • Lens Flare presets

New in the 2021.0 version:

  • Metal GPU-acceleration: The fastest render speeds on Macs
  • S_UltraGlow: The world’s best glow just got better
  • S_UltraZap: The most electrifying results ever
  • LensFlare Designer: More customization = More photorealistic flares
  • 45+ presets designed by artists & 10 new lens flares

Here’s a link to learn more.

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Tip #1622: Reduce Audio Noise in Premiere Pro

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1622: Reduce Audio Noise in Premiere Pro

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Adobe licensed their noise reduction tool from Accusonus.

Noise reduction options in the Essential Sound panel.

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One of the new features in Adobe Premiere Pro is a filter to reduce noise in an audio clip.

Generally, you want to use this effect to reduce, not eliminate, noise. Why? Because the more noise you reduce, the more likely you are to damage the quality of the remaining audio.

Still, this effect can salvage otherwise unusable clips. Here’s how it works:

  • Switch to the Audio workspace.
  • Select the audio clip you need to repair in the Timeline.
  • Assign the Dialogue tag by clicking the word Dialogue in the Essential Sound Panel.
  • Check the Repair option.
  • Check Reduce Noise.
  • Drag the slider while playing the clip and adjust to where the noise is reduced while the remaining audio sounds good.

NOTE: Because noise and voice frequencies overlap, there will probably be some degradation of the remaining audio. Try to find the best balance you can – but every clip will be different.

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Tip #1621: Create Custom Workspaces

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1621: Create Custom Workspaces

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Custom layouts are easy to create and keep using Workspaces.

Window > Workspaces submenu.

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You can create an unlimited number of custom interface workspaces in Premiere. Here’s how.

  • Drag the vertical or horizontal borders between panels to resize panels.
  • Add new panels from the Windows menu.
  • Rearrange things as much as you want.
  • Then, choose Window > Workspaces > Save as New Workspace to save your work.

EXTRA CREDIT

To reset a workspace to its default setting, select it so it is displayed in Premiere. Then, choose Window > Workspaces > Reset to Saved Layout.

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