Revamping The Entire Show

Yep, CK has decided that due to stressful reschedules and a few unreliable actors that the first season of FLoNC desperately needs to be revamped to get it off the ground.  The original plan was to simply get people together, film, edit, & post.  Though the grand ideas turned out to be more than CK was really prepared for.  There were three locations to film at, props & costumes to prepare, and there were enough volunteers (10-12 actors + 3-5 crew) to create a schedulers' nightmare!  From the photos below you should be able to tell how many were around at times.

So now the plan for the coming fall will be to have 2 or 3 actors for the first few episodes, with 2 to 4 crew members to help make sure things are filmed right.  Once the scripts are written it should only be the matter of securing the locations, making sure the costumes fit, and making sure the right props are available/made.

So really, after having to do most everything by himself (except for the amazing Camara Rauen's help, she was a great Production Assistant!) the daunting tasks CK was performing had been growing so immensely that eventually it was unbearable.  Though when very few, if any, people believe you can do something (plus the said person already has poor social skills, including SAD), the loneliness seems to be a burden that must be born till proof is provided that the idea/project CAN BE DONE, enticing more to join the party.

Here's to seeing you as part of it soon!  ツ

A Special Thanks To Cody Ketcher

It all started a year and a half ago in December of 2012 with inspiration from Fallout: Nuka Break's first season.  As the idea grew and matured it became a goal, then as that goal was worked on and improved it became a project, finally the project was in motion and was to become the real deal, a legit film, something awesome... everything seemed to crash down.

1. The day before a couple actors & a crew member messaged that they couldn't participate in filming the next day.
2. A key actor was feeling ill production morning.  With some coaxing he still came along, being a good sport but feeling weak the whole time.
3. On location some equipment & props were discovered forgotten and makeup & hair were turning out bad due to the lighting.

With the weight of the all the responsibility, of having taken all these new & old friends valuable time (including the fact that Cody Ketcher had traveled all the way from Salt Lake City to help), and the disappointing developments creating a impossible adequate film... CK could've been no closer to giving up 100% on the whole project/goal/idea (even with all the time and great amount of money put into it all).  Just as he sat down in the dirt pondering on how to tell everyone "Sorry, thank you but let's go home," but leave out the despair he felt and how he was not only going to give up this Fallout project but FILM altogether and forever, he heard Cody say his name.

We don't know what Cody was thinking or why he was prompted to speak at that moment, but he loudly took a sort of charge and suggested to CK that the day's shoot and the coming couple of film shoots be just a rehearsal.  Coming from the one person that had given the most, second to CK, that meant so much more than anyone can understand.  ...So with that we move on and begin again, going on to create & build a great idea.

Whew, That Was A Close One! :j

So sadly we were not able to get Episodes 1 & 2 filmed these last few weekends.  Though it may have turned out for the better because what was supposed to be a really awesome setup, was not really prepared like it was supposed to be after all.  That's all an afterthought anyways, so let's back up a bit to mid October:

Day -14
It's two weeks before the first scheduled film shoot, we have had a short meeting with a bunch of the extras already and now we're meeting with Cody Ketcher (playing Running Red).  We do a Skype meeting with him since he's moved up to Salt Lake City, most of the crew are physically present along with a couple other actors.

Day -10
All actors, actresses, & crew are still commited and keeping their schedules clear for the film dates (bless their volunteering hearts).  CK & John Johnson meet with Darrell Phillips to see their prosthetics being created for the film, they look great!

Day -3
Due to school, work, and other film duties CK isn't able to get some costumes made for some of the characters till today.  Some of the accessories aren't mailed on time and arrive the following Monday, clearly after the scheduled film shoot (but it's due to a babysitter's slacking, not the seamstress that created the parts).  Another full costume is made and ready the day of filming.

Day -2
7:00pm  ~  A actor playing a raider extra texts CK telling him he wants to drop out.  CK spends the next 30 minutes recommiting him to show up (he was needed because another actor had to work, making this recommitment essential).

Day -1
11:05am  ~  Cody sends CK a text telling him due to unexpected financial difficulties he might not be able to drive down to STG from SLC for the film shoot.
12:00pm  ~  CK pulls out all the stops and tries to see if any of his many great relatives in the Salt Lake valley can talk to Cody and/or help him out.
2:05pm  ~  Cody sends CK a text telling him that CK's Grandpa & Grandma Stratford visited him and that he should be making it down to St. George.
5:45pm  ~  CK speaks to Katherine Tyler for some advice about creating a prop and gets a second confirmation that Cody is indeed coming down for the film.
7:00pm  ~  Due to time constraints CK has to tell a actor that since the actor can't get a ride, and CK is swamped with other film duties (preventing him from driving up to Cedar City to pick the actor up), he'll have to let the actor go for this coming film shoot.  Thankfully the actor understands and is still willing to act later.
7:05pm  ~  One of the main characters, one of the guys that know parkour, texts CK telling him he's sick and can't show up.

Day 1
7:00am  ~  A actor texts CK telling him he's really sick and can't show up.
8:45am  ~  CK sends a couple actors to pick up the still sorta sick/queazy parkour actor.
10:30am  ~  CK contacts Darrell to make sure he doesn't waste time showing up to a "practice" film shoot

Then on the morning of that first scheduled film day, BESIDES the actor problems, a bunch of the equipment was either missing or didn't work (gunshot effects, missing batteries, forgotten camera parts, etc).  So CK had gotten so depressed and lost at this time, not because he couldn't do the film he wanted to create but because he was letting everyone down and felt he was wasting everyone's time.  Especially those that had truly gone out of their way to help him out.  It was at this point that CK Stratford very seriously considered pretending to film for just a couple hours, canceling that night's shoot, and then never EVER look to film or anything like it again.

Thankfully at this extremely low time, Cody of all people (the one that had given the most time & money) suggested that the filming just be considered a "rough draft" and that we just film at a later date.  So that's what we've decided, have done, and will do.  :)  We'll see you later!

Bzzt! ...Is Secure! I Repeat, Location Is Secure!... Shhsk!!

Well, we've done it!  =D  And we are now more committed than ever before!  We have spoken with the desired film location's owners and have been granted permission to shoot the coming webisodes on their land.  CK went to a meeting a few days ago and presented his plan of filming and discussed the responsibilities & the desired compensations.  We were crossing our fingers and praying that we'd be granted their permission, partially since the permission for an alternate location that would've been in a couple scenes was denied.

Now due to the agreement, we are not allowed to tell you where we are filming so if you just happen to know: DO NOT REVEAL THE LOCATION, please.  Thank you.  :)  In addition to other various contracts being made, we're in the works of creating a contract so that all those involved with the film (collectively) will be held accountable for all the involved's actions done to the land during their times spent on set.  This'll include responsibility for helping make sure things are better than when we found it.  Just a head's up to those involved and actually reading this.  ;)

Getting Better And Better!

Boy, this is just getting better and better! These coming film shoots will be two webisodes filmed at once, officially episodes #1 & #2, and thankfully the Lord's blessed us with even more interested talent. The few flyers around town (& on Craigslist) have produced many more connections to create a MUCH better film. How much better will these episodes be than the pilot? Let us count the ways...

1. Bob Willard
• Professor at Dixie State University, but before teaching he'd worked on a multitude of films (most recently Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) with special effects. He teaches classes in special effects, lighting, & production design. He'll be lending some of his effect equipment.
2. Cragun Clayburn
• Excellent makeup effects artist with body parts, but learning how to create great face masks too (he's a sort of apprentice to Darrell). Deals mostly in pretty gruesome prosthetics, hopefully he'll branch out.
3. Darrell Phillips
• Awesome face mask/prosthetic creator, has done legit creations for many films.
4. Eric Pickett
• Great guy beginning into the lighting field, owns a few lights with gels to create the right mood. Also an aspiring actor!
5. Chris Johnson
• Good amount of audio experience by helping his father who has been dealing with audio (including DJing) for over 40 years.
6. _____ ________
• Great portfolio of music experience, has the ability & talent to go really far in life with their work.

So how does all that sound? Oh, you want pictures too?!  ;)  Okay, here's a few samples for you:

Interest Growing On It's OWN!

HOLY SMOKES! We didn't think there'd be much interest in this series so early! As you can see from this photo, there is already curiosity growing just from the Wanted Ads that have been posted around town. In one location, actually at the restaurant that CK works at, someone took a photo of the flyer and posted it online.

As you can see from this screenshot it created a great amount of interest within only 20 hours, then within that 20 hours a musician named Sasha Szlafarski contacted us for more information due to the shared interests in Fallout fan films.  Sasha looks promising, but like the Boy Scout Motto "Be Prepared" we have other music options in the works.

Actors Signing Up, Costumes & Props Being Made!

Alright! We're getting where we want to be, we've recruited most of the actors (& actresses for those curious), we've bought better equipment (a legit sound recorder, recommended by the YouTube Personality DiCasaFilm, & a flycam nano), and we're in the process of securing permission for three great locations. Now mostly all that needs to be done now is finish designing the costumes, building a few props, and keep looking for a film crew and a few people for our main leads. Just today we had two people show interest in one of the ads we've posted around town, and they each sound like the type that we want for two of our leads.

We're really excited because these first two episodes of the series will be MUCH bigger with more cast, more locations, more dialog, more story, more fun! If you've seen the pilot episode then you may know that, while it was a good short film... it wasn't the great short film that we wanted.

Now just a word of warning though, cus these two episodes will be long in coming since the following film dates are the Saturdays in February 2014 (this shoot's scheduled for the Saturdays from (October 26th - November 9th). As we all know, when one has school, work, family, & holidays demanding attention, it's harder to do everything one wants to do for themself. Also, without a film editor CK has to edit the coming footage himself. Special Thanks To His Family & Friends For Their Support. We'll do our best to keep y'all updated, stay tuned for more!

Fallout: Light of New Canaan (FLoNC) Intro Description

Okay, many of you fans & applicants have asked "What is F:LoNC about?"  Well, to put it simply it's going to be a new style of story that follows not the "heros" or even the "villians", but an object or idea.  You may be wondering "What in the freakin world does that mean?!"  Let us expound, first with some background:

The Fallout series is takes place in a unique world that is not quite set inside the genre Steampunk.  Although set in and after the 22nd century, its story and artwork are heavily influenced by the post-World War II nuclear paranoia of the 1950s. The series is lightly based on the Mad Max film series. The series is sometimes considered to be an unofficial sequel to Wasteland, but it could not use that title as Electronic Arts held the rights to it.¹  Our favorite way to explain the Fallout universe as if our world's culture froze with the late 1940s & early 1950s, but the technology grew leaps and bounds ahead anything in our world we've currently created (though strangely mixed with Acceptable Breaks from Reality).

Before the nuclear exchange took place, great underground Vaults were constructed across America, supposedly to protect the populace from the dangers of radiation. Although only 122 were constructed, over 400,000 would be needed to protect the entire nation. This is because the Vaults were not intended to save humanity; rather, they were social experiments being conducted by the United States government. Most vaults featured some variable to test how certain things influence people (and presumably the personal characteristics of the vault's occupants) such as Vault 69, which reportedly contained 999 women and one man.²

Our series specifically extends the storyline from the Fallout: New Vegas expansion Honest Hearts (which deals somewhat with Mormon descendants), and will continue to do so all the way to mid-east America and then even expand the story from there if fans & other support permits.

Each installment of the series takes these facts as the context to the subsequent adventures: much of the landscape the player travels through is scarred with wreckage as well as radiation. These effects are not limited to the environment. Mutated survivors - those who lived through the attack outside a vault - are often physically unrecognizable as human. Even livestock - mostly represented by cows - are rarely if ever seen with fewer than two heads.³ And those cows are called Brahmin, just FYI cus they're used in caravans like mentioned in F:LoNC's pilot episode.

Well, we hope this post helps you understand this series a little bit more and kickstarts you into watching & supporting the series.  Thanks for your time!

It's Up! It's Up! It's Really Really Up!

Just a short announcement... The pilot episode of the Fallout: Light of New Canaan series is up!  If the link isn't enough for you here's the actual video, enjoy:

I hope you enjoyed it.  Remember that this was all done with two prosumer video cameras, prosumer audio equipment, and volunteer beginning (first time for some) actors.  Went pretty well considering all that.  Thanks for your support and keep checking back for more!

First Draft (FLoNC 01x00) Is Done!

YES!!  The first draft of the pilot episode is done!  Now all we need to do is add sound effects, add the music Lisle Crowley is composing, create the series logo, type up the credits, and rerecord the sound!  Before you get lazy and think that's gonna take too long, remember that that's actually not much left for post-production compared to all the duties pre-production & production had.

CK's been working his butt off getting ready for this webseries since he was inspired to do so last Fall of 2012.  He's invested a lot (maybe too much) into it and will keep it going till he physically/financially can't or some person stops him.  Well, try to keep up and we will do our best to keep you informed!

Beginning Webseries Looking For Part-time Actors

Here's a little post we put in the classifieds on Craigslist recently:

We have just filmed the pilot episode of a webseries (self-funded) based off the video game series called Fallout.  For those unknown to the game, it's set in a post-apocalyptic world but has the culture of the late 1940's combined with advanced technology...  Interesting setup to many, just search out the genre (it's not quite Steampunk, but you could say it's a branch of that) that we fans call Fallout. 

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR YOU SAY???

Well, we have some actors & actresses already cast.  What we really need are twelve male actors (at least somewhat fit, & ages from 18-35), though we have one opening for a female (must be fit but not necessarily athletic, & age 18-30) that are willing to work/play alongside their regular lives & jobs with the definite opportunity to progress in the entertainment industry.  Three of the male actors will need to be able to commit to long-term, possibly another year.  We know due to currently limited funds that's not yet appealing, but if you could just live in southern Utah for that while & take time off from your regular job during that year when we film (we'll work w/ ya) it'd be very appreciated.

We have a great musician/composer doing the music for us, we have decent equipment, we have a great script, we know of great locations, we have the tentative dates ready, we just need maybe someone like YOU!

If you have any questions feel free to look up our Hawc Productions blog or email us.  Have a great day!

• Location: Southern Utah
• FUTURE possible pay! No pay currently, investors will come eventually though.

Annnnnd We're Off!! (Our Rockers?)

Wow!! That was a intense film shoot!  We should've taken pictures afterwards that night because many of us were very sunburned.  Oh, and sorry for not getting back to y'all sooner.  We filmed on the 23rd of March and just today are beginning to edit the footage, though we may have to go back and do a little more with some of the actors (individually if we have to).

As one can tell from these photos, everyone said they had a great time.  For being a pilot episode with non-experienced actors & prosumer equipment, we put forth a pretty well done video.  Oh, and since we're calling this the pilot episode now, it's been changed to episode "0". This revises the last post and makes the episodes being filmed in October 2013 episodes 1 & 2, and the February 2014 episodes 3, 4, & 5.

With only being self-budgeted on a practially no-budget, we may be thought of as crazy but we're determined and with the grace of God we will get it not only all finished, but it's going to look darn awesome!  We'll be looking for additional actors (& a actress or two) during the summer to prepare for the October filming so keep an eye out for new posts!

Location, Location, Location, & Acting!

 Well, it's been awhile since the last post, but that doesn't mean we've been laying around!  There's been a lot of prepping going into making the first F:LoNC episode, which will be filmed at the end of this month of March 2013 and posted by the end of June 2013.  Due to other projects & mostly due to lack of finances, the second & third episodes will be filmed the end of October 2013 and posted at the end of January 2014 with the fourth, fifth, & sixth episodes done the end of February 2014 and posted by the end of May 2014.

Though just last week CK showed his first three lead actors the shooting location and gave them their scripts.  They all seem very excited to be a part of this, Cody even posted his Instagram photos of it to show the world.

Here in these photos the actors are shown with the pendant that the series will circle around.  CK's gone to great lengths to keep the feel of Fallout: New Vegas going with the webseries script, along with hooking up with two legit prop makers known as "SkruffyNerfherder" and "emptysamurai" (a very special thanks to each of them, along with best wishes to their projects).  Emptysamurai is actually working on a film himself that'll take place in the Washington state area.  Thankfully as far as we know their projects won't interfere in the Fallout Universe with CK's background story he's created.  Just as a teaser we'll reveal that the story will eventually end up in the area of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, & Wisconsin with two great factions that would overshadow NCR, The Legion, The BoS, The Enclave, or The Commonwealth should any of those individually venture into the two said factions' territories.

Well, pray all goes well with the film!  This is a long-term project that has BIG goals!

The Assignment (Card, Site, Video)

The final assignment for the Visual Communication class that CK Stratford is taking turned out to be a little more than he originally thought.  Due to the desire to remain consistant with the rest of the semester in the subject of Fallout, he had to go "lone wolf" on the final project.  CK mainly wanted to just do a fake commercial for the final, but when taking to the professor he found that to do so would require certain conditions. The professor told him that there was not a high likelyhood that people would want to go along with this specific idea, so he'd allow it to go forward if a business card & a update to the website were also done.  Below is the completed works for these three projects.

Business Card

 

The phone number has been removed to discourage the spammers worldwide

Here we have the business card, we made sure that everything lined up as needed using the laws of Similarity, Proximity, Continuity, & Closure (not sure where Pragnanz fits in here).  In short, all the words are lined up and using the space effectively with the word "of" and the website address pairing up to use the most outer right edge instead of leaving it blank.  It is complete with all the essential information needed to contact your Hawc Productions representative, information that should be on most any business card:

• Name of the employee
• Title of the employee
• Name of the company
• Phone number to reach the employee
• Email to reach the employee
• Physical location of the company
• Website of the company

Updated Website

On the left there's the old format, while on the right is the new format.  There was quite a lot of negative space in the old format, as well as very small navigation links/buttons.  Each of these were fixed in the new format by organizing the information better, enlarging the navigation (as well as putting all the navigation on the bottom so the viewer will be required to go from top to bottom), also the film on the wooden banner is put on the bottom to signify the cutting room floor.  Another couple items were the logo didn't really stand out like it could and the video didn't draw your attention with it's picture or size, so each of those were spiffed up as one can see.

"New Holotapes For The PipBoy 3000" Clip

 

Here is a clip that will be inserted into the final version of the commercial titled "New Holotapes For The PipBoy 3000" where the vault boy will be showing future vault dwellers the perks of registering for a Vault-Tec fallout vault.



This is the set that will be used when the commercial is filmed.  As is shown, not everying in the picture will be the same as is.  Special thanks to CK's aunt for letting us use part of her kitchen!

"New Holotapes For The PipBoy 3000" Commercial Progressing

Well, so far so good!  We're making progress toward the web series.  We have a short bit of the commercial that'll be called "New Holotapes For The PipBoy 3000".  We used a green screen for the part we just filmed, making it able to be put into the final commercial.  Just to give y'all a taste of the progress, here's a photo we took during shooting.



Special thank you to Nathan Gledhill & Katherine Gledhill!

Additional progress for the commercial is in getting the actors for the Vault Boy & Narrator agreeing to work with us in their parts for the commercial, we're just waiting on a few props and then we should be a golden go!  Thank you in advance to Stephen Ballard (aka skruffynerfherder), Sullivan Uniforms, Vogue Wigs, and Brooke Call for supplying props & costumes.

In other news, our website is in the process of being reorganized/redesigned (though actually posting the final website design will need to wait till April when there's more funds) and a business card is almost complete just needing a few finishing touches before print.

Rule of Thirds, Diagonals, & Vectors (with a F:LoNC teaser screenshot!)

Now this time the assignment was to take a self portrait and then explain the laws of composition that apply to it.  I again chose to do something taken from Fallout, and more specifically from our planned webseries that's abbreviated F:LoNC.

Kasey Straff being held up by someone in the upcoming webseries F:LoNC

Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is important for any photographer/cinematographer to know about so they can make their pictures look the best they can.  Here, horizontally the photo is divided up pretty well with the sky taking up about the top third & the shotgun taking up mostly the bottom third.  Then dividing it up vertically, there's the character Kasey Straff straddling the right side line & the blown out TV, along with the joint of the shotgun, squarely on the left third.  Considering CK was the subject (he had help from two others to shoot this) and only set up the camera angle, gun position, and moved the trash into one spot that was already there (orginally just scattered around), it turned out pretty well.

Diagonal

When thinking up this shot, CK had specifically two other laws he wanted to include besides the obvious Rule of Thirds.  The angle of the shotgun, being Diagonal, was the first of those two.  The Diagonal angle of it moves one's line of sight toward the subject it's pointing at, actually the purpose of any gun really.

Vectors

CK wanted to include as many Vectors as possible here without ruining the photo, but as any seasoned photographer/cinematographer may know, it's really hard to do that.  So here out of the categories of Graphic Vector, Index Vector, and Motion Vector we have the latter two.  The Index Vector is the same as was described in the Diagonal paragraph, the purpose of it being to point towards something.  The Motion Vector is here in the form of limited space.  Kasey Straff has very little room to move in the photo frame, making it seem he has no where to go and a trapped feeling.

There you go!  Just a update, the commercial preceding the webseries may not be really finalized till late December 2012 or early January 2013 due to prop creation delays.  Of course some will be finished, but the final product won't be done till then.

(Fallout) Costumes Revisited

In the September 5, 2012 post we mentioned the Gestalt Principles and in the last post we forgot to incorporate them w/ the costumes.  Same with the September 11, 2012 post with those three principles as well.  Well, here's a little correction (minus the images to save on room) for those of you that cared how that these eight principles might apply to them.

Image 1
This photo of a veteran NCR ranger draws ones attention first to the holes in his trenchcoats' shoulder, part of the Proximity principle with some Pragnanz mixed in.  It's a lot of little holes put together in one location among a simple blank brown trenchcoat.  The Continuity starts here where your eyes travel down to his belt, where one can clearly see the ammo (maybe from the body of the enemy that made the holes), and use Similarity by noticing another hole in the knee signifying a tough fight or something & the gun above (for the ammo belt).  Closure & again Pragnanz come in when your eyes "zoom out" and take the whole costume in and figure that this must belong in a post-apocalyptic era.

This image looks like it might be toned down to only have the brown, black, & white colors, making it different for the next three principles. There's definite Contrast between the brown & light greys in the costume, as well as the background and shadow.  Dispite this, there's a Balance with the light grey of the background and the dark shadow, and it helps to make parts like the arm shields noticeable.  The black scorch marks, arm shields, & small white markings on the trenchcoat create a Harmony with each other and Balance with the light & dark greys elsewhere on the costume and in the setting.

Image 2
Here the eyes (unless you're purely sexually driven) will see her head & face first, then noticing the goggles on top, all part of Similarity & Pragnanz (eyes = goggles).  This photo's trickier (for some) because of the chest distraction, but due to the closeness of the gloves to the goggles one's eyes may use Proximity and thereby Similarity to travel to the other hand in Continuity and going to the belt.  What's happening there is grouping the closeness & color of the gloves & goggles, then relating the hands to each other and relating the Pip-Boy 3000 to the items on the belt.  Closure happens just as it did with the NCR ranger, after notice the wear marks of the clothes & other strange gear one can conclude that she's of a different place & time.

Now color's important for these next three principles because the red hair has been unique in all cultures (except the Celtic lands) and stands out providing Contrast.  This keeps the black goggles from blending into dark brown or black hair.  Along with the black goggles the same color of gloves, stockings, & boots Balance out the costume like tent poles.  The green leaves in the background may not be part of the costume, but they provide Harmony with the blue of the cut-down jumpsuit.

Image 4
The first flag happens when one doesn't know where to look first, it's just too busy lacking any Pragnanz.  Continuity doesn't work here because if one tries to focus on the head, the eyes may follow the horns on top up and away from the whole costume itself.  The Similarity doesn't go well due to the tiny accessories on the front of the jacket and the huge backpack parts behind.  What in the world is a furry tail doing on the back of the head?  No Proximity there.  Where the backpack's cut off lends to the thinking there may be more dragging behind or that might be it, no Closure with that or with wondering what might be on their legs/feet. 

Everything has similiar colors so it's in a sort of Harmony, but it would get boring after awhile if the costume was only in a desertscape (where the costume actually might fit-in incidentally).  Also due to the colors being so similar, there's little Contrast and one can forget a part of the costume is the jacket, accessory, or something else.  The backpack lends to a unBalance with it looking unusally heavy and awkward to carry.

Image 5
Well, this costume certainly has a level of Pragnanz till you look at his arm where it doesn't quite match with the rest of the package, lacking Continuity.  The do-rag & vest may have Similarity but at the same time they're into Proximity due to the very similar colors of the shirt & pants (partially due to shadow).  One wants Closure, but the Pip-Boy 3000 on his arm just distracts so much that it's hard to find that Closure.

Not much Contrast here also due to the lack of variety of color, and this contributes to no Balance as well as the bright Pip-Boy 3000.  The clothes lack Harmony, at least at this angle of the photo, due to shadows & similar colors.

Okay, that's it!  Hope that helps you out there that're looking for examples in these visual principles.  Have fun!

The Good, Bad, & Ugly (Fallout) Costumes

Word of advice: Don't get behind on classwork (or anything important really, remember to put First Things First), you never know what's going to spring up in life that'll be "due" that moment be it work, classwork, housework, emergencies, etc.  Anyways, the most recent assignment in the DSC Visual Communication class is to compare a good product with a bad product.  Since we've been on the subject (& need to continue to focus on the continuing film project), why not Fallout costumes?!

Searching around, we've found that many of those that've costumes made for Fallout (or really any genre w/ lots of fans) are REALLY well done.  If one were to go to DeviantArt.com or Google and search Fallout/Fallout New Vegas/Fallout Costume they'd find people that don't just whimiscly make costumes for their favorite game series.  Once dedicated, they'll go all out and make the best costume they can so they can show it off to friends, ComicCon, or online.  So here's what I could find in not just good or bad, but a couple ugly ones too.

Notice: I think all these costumes, except those in the ugly catagory are decent and could work for certain purposes, but we're looking from a filmmaker's perspective.  My factors are compatibility, style, simplicity, & inexpensiveness.

The Good

There are just so many good ones!!  I put my three truly awesome favs here.  To your left we have what's called a NCR (New California Republic) Ranger, simply dressed with beat up Levi's & trench-coat, a belt with accessories you can find at a Halloween store, gloves, and boots.  The more difficult parts are the breastplate (probably easy enough to make by viewing a how-to video on YouTube) & helmet, but worth it for authenticity.

To the right is a cute, sexy Vault Dweller complete with the weapon called a rebar club and the Pip-Boy 3000 on her left forearm.  The "dirty" blue jumpsuit/dress is easy enough to color, the belt simple to put together, and the goggles, gloves, & boots one can just buy.  Just as with the NCR Ranger outfit, this costume is accurate, stylish, not too complicated, and probably not expensive to make.

A screen capture from the awesome webseries called Fallout: Nuka Break by Wayside Creations

 

The Bad

I had to search for awhile to find these so here's a couple okay, but could be lots better ones.  We have two from opposite sides of the spectrum here, I don't quite see where in the world (except maybe the outback) that the left would would fit into.  It's a different style I can't find anywhere else and was left wondering the application after reading the origin site.  It is also complicated and as such is too expensive to put together.

Now the right one looks more like he ran out of time for putting together a makeshift Pip-Boy 3000 then had to quickly put the rest of the costume together before some fan convention just so he could say he dressed up and wouldn't feel left out.  Sadly, it looks very simple and thereby is a cheap costume (minus the Pip-Boy 3000).

The Ugly

I couldn't believe this one.  I had to double check the origin website to see if it was even refering to a Fallout character, and sadly it was... somehow.  Um, I'm really not sure what to say about it.  :p

So there you go!  That's the best, the okay, and the worst of the bunch currently online.  Submit a photo/drawing idea if you'd like and we'll see if we can put it in a future Fallout episode!

Contrast, Balance, Harmony... & Fallout

Ok, we're on our way to making a Fallout commercial (later comes the series).  We've been stocking up on props, have the materials for costumes (plus some already finished, and are in talks to get more legit props (just waiting on financing to pay supplier).  So the Lord be willing, we'll get the commercial done in a couple months and have the whole or most of the series script done by January 2013.

Now the assignment from the DSC Visual Communication class this time is to take a picture/photo from somewhere (be it a picture you found, a photo you took, etc) and to describe the contrast, balance, and harmony in it.

The Mojave wasteland Wanderer/Courier in front of former Las Vegas from Fallout: New Vegas
(all rights reserved to Bethesda Softworks)

Pretty much any photo can have contrast, balance, & harmony.  For those that are not sure what these mean for pictures, here's some quick definitions:

• Contrast = How the items in the photo stay separate
• Balance = How the items flow together, are in a sort of evenness
• Harmony = How the items compliment each other

In the above picture, you have in front of you contrast with the open space around the Wanderer below (utilizing the Gestalt principle of closure, we can assume the area behind the Wanderer is also desert) and the crowded New Vegas city above (utilizing the Gestalt principle of proximity).

For balance there's the pretty level line of the New Vegas wall/baracaide dividing the city from the wasteland, and though there's a lot of commotion above it wouldn't feel balanced without it being "tethered" to the central lone figure (the Wanderer) below. If the Wanderer was even slightly to the side, it'd feel as though the whole picture was wanting to tilt.

The harmony of the colors first grabs me because of they all are shades of yellow, orange, red, & brown. Also, the lights of New Vegas not only shine bright around itself, but they flow down the center to illuminate the Wanderer & the clouds above.

Gestalt Principles & Fallout

We've got some new plans for a couple of YouTube series!  These plans will show up on the website soon, but the first & foremost film is going to be another background story (see Fallout: Nuka Break, Fallout: Population 1, & Fallout: Deprivation for examples) based off of the FPS RPG series Fallout.  Being based in the desert, our version will more closely follow the most recent game Fallout: New Vegas.  In anticipation of this project, this post will analyze the classic Fallout photo below (mainly because it's required for a class at Dixie State College) with the Gestalt Principles.

The Washington DC coast Wanderer/Vault Dweller & Dogmeat from Fallout 3
(all rights reserved to Bethesda Softworks)

For those that don't know, the Gestalt Principles contain the categories similarity, proximity, pragnanz, continuity, and closure.  Here's quick definitions I thought up:

• Similarity = Making objects in the image pair together (when the mind matches things together)
• Proximity = Making objects in the image group together (the mind doesn't seem to like empty space)
• Pragnanz = Making objects in the image into it's simplest form (what the mind relates image to)
• Continuity = Making objects in the image flow together (the mind dislikes sudden interruptions)
• Closure = Making objects in the image complete, when parts aren't featured/apparent (when the mind pieces "the puzzle" together)

In this particular picture, the first that caught my eye was closure.  I thought that though we can't quite tell what is in the distance, and can't see far behind the figures, one can guess what's there.  I thought of more road (maybe curved, maybe straight), more dying/dead plants, a few more ruined homes/telephone lines/etc.

I like how it flows with continuity (in my mind), it's all heading one way, pretty much straight ahead.  One will easily determine that the man & his dog are heading for the classic sunset scene told of in old cowboy movies.

The only thing I can think of for the pragnanz category is how the picture could remind you of a screen capture (if you've seen it) from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.  Looking back, that is probably where the Fallout series got it's inspiration.

Now for proximity, there's the houses grouped on either side and the telephone poles are all on one side.

Similarity is easy for this picture.  You have about half the picture a mirror-like image of the other half. There's broken-down houses on either side, there's a branched tree on either side in the distance, and though the telephone poles are different from stripped trees, they are placed similarly.

One simple, interesting notice: These categories were first listed in reversal alphabetic.