Sunday 28 September 2014

Behind the Scenes: Where the Kitchen Ends!

Our current compilation caters for all tastes and is craftily compiled from various capers carried out in the kitchens of Hamish and Martin.

I know there has been previous mention of the kitchen and how it has been transformed for particular episodes, but we thought it might be interesting to see the different contexts together.  It was in Hamish's kitchen that we first started using projected images, and below, is an early one, from a series using clock-face projections.


The following two images show the same door, but with the different lighting, angles and projected images, we hoped to sufficiently disguise the fact.



In Martin's kitchen, we shot an episode centring around distortions through glass jars.  In the shot below, we aimed for a disembodied hand and also got some Dali-style distortion in the face shots.  It was all fairly close-up, so the nature of the room wasn't obvious.


These two images were shot at the same table, in the same corner of Hamish's kitchen.


The set was both lit and dressed differently, and the characters were also different.  In the latter shot, we aimed for more unusual camera angles and interaction with props, whilst in the first one the camera remained in the one position and the attitudes of the characters carried the narrative.


Stay tuned, and join the adventure! 

Shadow Laughter schedule: 
Tuesday - trailer
Thursday, Saturday, Monday - Episode posts
Sunday - Blog


Sunday 21 September 2014

Behind the Scenes: Two-Step Set-Up!

For the current episode, we went out to Hamish's studio.  In a cleared room, we set up to 'perform' the Shadow Laughter Assassination Two-Step.  We used a couple of lights and a camera with a timer on the shutter.


 


It took a little while to get the lighting and the framing just right, and we had to work out the limits of the space we could exploit.


It was Hamish's idea to create a kind of 'square dance' in the space.  We did a short sequence, to see if the shoot was going to be successful, but overall, the moves were all improvised based on the characters that we have developed over time.  Below are some cropped stills from the first take.






We concluded this shoot with some portrait shots, including double portraits, and samples of these compliment the video this week.  Here are a couple of the portrait shots that don't feature in the episode:



Stay tuned, and join the adventure! 

Shadow Laughter schedule: 
Tuesday - trailer
Thursday, Saturday, Monday - Episode posts
Sunday - Blog




Sunday 14 September 2014

Behind the Scenes: Trailer Park!

So, what's the big deal about Thursday?  Originally, our episodes went out on Thursday alone, so Thursday became a date, a person, a mystery...

Our regular Tuesday trailers have long been a source of word-play and graphic fun, compared to the often darkly brooding content of our episode posts.

The inspiration for our trailers comes from original graphic trailers for movies, such as this one for The Maltese Falcon:



In fact, we stole a line from that trailer for one of our own graphics:  


Usually, the trailer employs an image from the upcoming episode, in order to whet the appetite, although there are a few generic backgrounds that are used from time to time.  These are mostly shadowy textured images.


Shadow Laughter also has a penchant for alliteration, which some of you may have spotted in our episode titles.  Above, is an example of it creeping into the trailer.  'The bird sings' is also ambiguous, in the realm of film noir.

Below, the trailer employs a still-life of props from a card-dealing themed shoot, plus a local newspaper reviewing our exhibition from 2013 also found its way in!


 Below, is a still from an animated feature used for the trailer.


The trailers have become their own entity, with a certain style and formula.  They'll keep on appearing, on a screen near you!

Stay tuned, and join the adventure! 

Shadow Laughter schedule: 
Tuesday - trailer
Thursday, Saturday, Monday - Episode posts
Sunday - Blog