Front Page News!

After posting some of the photographs taken for this project on a popular Lego / Bionicle message board (TTV Message Boards), I've made the front page!

Videos & Evaluation

The 6 videos I have made for the final piece of this project can be found in the playlist below - preceded by a 'teaser' trailer which was made exclusively for my YouTube channel to alert my audience of the coming uploads - as I have not uploaded over a year.

Once you click play, the videos will play one after the other until the playlist is over. Alternatively, to skip through, you can use the arrows either side of the play/pause button on the lower left to navigate through - though I recommend watching them as a whole.

Evalutation

My original aim for my final piece of this project was to create a set of six videos which would appropriately represent one of my MOCs ,based on the personality traits I have created for them during and after the building process, via the use of music, editing and photography. I feel that I have done this successfully, in a way that is watchable for both fans of Bionicle and non-fans, with viewers able to appreciate aspects of the video outside of the Bionicle featured in the video. Another one of my goals was to include more texture, which I have also done, via the fuzzy / lined glitch effect brought over from the 'OZKABOT' intro. I think this has been successful, in that it adds some more variation to the video itself, but doesn't not impede the visibility of the MOC for viewers.

However, I think the videos could have been improved by maybe some more visual effects, such as adjusting the clarity. I used a similar technique by using high contrast at certain points, but I think it may need some more to set itself apart from my previous work. That said, it could distract too much from the MOC itself.

Eleos Photographs

As explained in my Aidos photographs post, both Eleos and Aidos were photographed on the same day, and as such both suffered from the same initial lighting issues. I was able to fix this for the most part in photoshop, having to scrap any that were beyond repair. Outside of the technical issues, I think Eleos's photographs turned out more successful that Aidos. I think this may be due to the weapons, as Eleos feature some very unique but not unwieldy weapons that made her more challenging to photograph - despite it taking some getting used to at first. I made sure to focus a lot of close-ups on her weapons, mainly the tentacle-like part which connects to her back, as this is something I have not seen done before, so I wanted to make sure that I drew attention to it.

These are the raw photographs, shot in JPEG on a DSLR with manual settings. Totally unedited.

Google drive link to photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuN3VYM05wcndRaGc

There are less edited photographs than the raw versions, as some were scrapped during the editing process. In order to make these their current state, I have increased their contrast, saturation and cropped them down to 1920 x 1080.

Google drive link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuMGg0TEk1MEhqUVk

Aidos Photographs

I found Aidos especially difficult to shoot. This is primarily due to the MOCs top-heaviness and giant weapons, which do not allow for a wide range of poses. As a result of this, I ended up relying a lot more on close-ups and many of the full body sots were too similar for my liking. Another problem I faced was that the lighting was too dark, I think because the studio flash wasn't bright enough. Due to this, the usually white background came out grey, which I had to adjust in photoshop with the 'magic lasso' tool which automatically selects a an area, stopping were there is  a dramatic shift in colour. To make it worse, I broke one of my own rules and shot Eleos on the same day, so I had to do the same editing process for two batches of photographs. Fun!

These are the raw photographs, shot in JPEG on a DSLR with manual settings. Totally unedited.

Google drive link to photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfucGtGbTFiWmVENDQ

There are less edited photographs than the raw versions, as some were scrapped during the editing process. In order to make these their current state, I have increased their contrast, saturation and cropped them down to 1920 x 1080.

Google drive link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuaVN2V1pyb1U2RUE

Phobos Photographs

Previously I intended to keep the low angle shots exclusive to Polemos, however upon beginning to photograph Phobos, his overall structure lent itself well to low angle shots. His large shoulders and giant hammer clearly imply a powerful warrior, so I don't think I could properly do the MOC justice without giving it that extra sense of power. The thing to keep in mind is most people who watch the video will NEVER see the MOC in person, so it's important to occasionally exaggerate to get the point across.

These are the raw photographs, shot in JPEG on a DSLR with manual settings. Totally unedited.

Google drive link to photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuVzRGQWdSSmNTUTg

There are less edited photographs than the raw versions, as some were scrapped during the editing process. In order to make these their current state, I have increased their contrast, saturation and cropped them down to 1920 x 1080.

Google drive link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuN2d1QWljYVZlVkE

Thrasos Photographs

The photographs I've taken for Thrasos make use of more shot types shared by Kratos rather than Polemos, as I want to set Polemos apart with the low angle shots. One of the main differences is that Thrasos's weaponry is more defensive, conveyed by his shield, so I focussed more-so on poses in defensive positions (e.g. hiding behind his shield) - whereas Polemos and Kratos were more offensive. I think today's shoot turned out well, even though the photographs weren't particularly unique when compared to previous shoots. I hope being edited into a video will help to make each one feel more unique.

These are the raw photographs, shot in JPEG on a DSLR with manual settings. Totally unedited.

Google drive link to photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuamFRVGl2RDZBQkk

There are less edited photographs than the raw versions, as some were scrapped during the editing process. In order to make these their current state, I have increased their contrast, saturation and cropped them down to 1920 x 1080.

Google drive link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfudWRUSXpDdzBGS0U

Polemos Photographs

For this MOC I wanted to experiment with some low angle shots. Story wise, he is the strongest of the 6 Harbingers, so I wanted to put him in a position of power to portray that. Polemos isn't the tallest of the group, however, hopefully, the photography and the video will portray him as otherwise. I think this shoot went more successfully than yesterday, as I put more focus on full body shots this time around, so now I have an equal variation of shot types. I was also able to sneak in a photograph resembling the box-art of the set it's inspired by; Onua Toa of Earth, released in 2001. Comparison below.

These are the raw photographs, shot in JPEG on a DSLR with manual settings. Totally unedited.

Google drive link to photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuZnMtZWtSbmQxUFE

There are less edited photographs than the raw versions, as some were scrapped during the editing process. In order to make these their current state, I have increased their contrast, saturation and cropped them down to 1920 x 1080.

Google drive link to photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8qlnydNYVfuMTRqbUMtNFlYWk0