CONTENT
There’s been so much talk about clones and AI in alternative news I thought it would be interesting to explore this topic. I couldn’t find what I was looking for about clones (it must be classified information!) but I found some interesting articles on robots becoming self-aware.
These articles raised more questions and comical notions than answers, and I felt like this video was going to be a humorous series of questions!
I had the idea to bring in my old puppet mate Miso, who I used to perform with a lot. The script then started to write itself, and I feel like I had very little to say about it! I created a structure before I started to write content, which helped to make it all fit together.
PLANNING
This is the first time I’ve actually drawn out a story board for a video. Normally I shoot a conversation ‘talking head’ style and simply add stock overlays to enhance it. This time I created a script in the style of a conversation, which is the first time I have attempted this with a puppet. This required more rigorous planning to shoot both wide shots of myself and close ups of Miso, to help illustrate the points I was making.
STYLE AND POSITIONING
The aesthetics of these characters hasn’t changed in nearly ten years, so the costume and props were ready to go. I wanted it to feel like you’re in their kooky home listening to a story. Fortunately there are loads of great images online both of robots for the framed images and steampunk stylings for the surroundings, so I had no issue finding plenty of stock. The shooting position was mainly to get square clearance of green screen around me and Miso so I could more easily cut out the background.
MUSIC
Music for this was super easy for a change. The cute song I used for intro and outro has been sitting in my folder of CC audio for years waiting to be used, so luckily it fitted perfectly. I really wanted to add more sound effects to the video, but I ran out of time. When I re-shoot it I’ll definitely have more of a play with audio.
LIGHTING
Shooting this was a massive challenge! It took me nearly 3 hours to set everything up, so I was wiped before I even started! Usually I have no issue shooting green screen, but for some reason the lighting proved very challenging, possibly because there are so many colours and contrast in the costume.
I couldn’t figure out how to get enough light on the green screen, without totally overexposing my face. In a close up a ring light is enough to create an even tone on the skin, but for wider shots I’m going to need a different lighting system in future. Also I couldn’t get enough difference between the sequin table and the background, so you can see it’s a dodgy patch up job. Again this will be much better with a lime green screen at the back.
AUDIO
I brought in an extra accent for this, so working across three accents proved too much for my face haha! I ended up recording Miso’s voice separately, as going from Scottish to American is super hard! (Normally I do Desmerelda with a French or Russian accent so it’s easier to distinguish.) I also discovered the hard way that doing accents is not like riding a bike – without practise the mouth forgets how to create other accents. I haven’t performed for a few years so it was hard to pick it up again! Now I’m thinking in a Scottish accent. What have I done?
This all made the shoot interesting. I learnt a few lines at a time, and then had to hum Miso’s response to try and keep the rhythm. Later I cut her vocal mutterings out of the audio and replaced them with her voice. The audio files in Premiere looks like a patchwork quilt! One day I’ll try something like this with other puppeteers as I think the flow will be much better.
CHALLENGES
To sum up the challenges, pretty much all of the production was a massive challenge. From lighting to audio quality to green screen to camera quality, none of it came easily. I have learnt a huge amount going through this process though, and with a few equipment tweaks and upgrades, the next version will be much improved.
I did find the story itself and the ideas flowed easily. So with all this new technical insight under my belt, I’m looking forward to creating a series of info-tainment videos in this way, looking at other elements of technology and the broader scope of the worlds we play in.
WRITTEN AND PRESENTED BY
The Amazing Desmerelda (aka Tjoni)
And Miso (aka Miso)
PRODUCED BY
in-Spiral Media
MUSIC
‘Alice in the city’
by VJ memes
(CC0)
IMAGES
Robot Unmasked by Didriks
*-*-*-*-* – *-*-*-*-*
Light Bot by Garrette
OTHER STOCK
All other public domain stock
thanks toPixabay and Videvo
ACADEMIC REFERENCES
Fedosik, M 2018, ‘Adoption in Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence. Kinship in the Posthuman Context’, Adoption & Culture Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp.182-206 . LINK
Gonzalez-Jimenez, H 2018, ‘Taking the fiction out of Science fiction:(Self-aware) robots and what they mean for society, retailers and marketers’, Futures 98 (2018), pp. 49-56. LINK