Since we completed filming last weekend, Rosie and I have been editing our film. We have encountered many problems, such as the loss of some footage due to technical issues and the need to refilm a difficult sequence. However, I think that we have dealt well with these issues, prevailing with a rough cut edit (as of this weekend) which includes all the necessary film in the order we intend to keep it in; at the moment, I'm very happy with our progress, as well as the overall aesthetic results we are achieving within Premiere.
Sound continues to be problematic. After consulting many fee- and copyright-free websites, we decided to create our own music taylor made for our film. I am about to rendezvous with the musician in question and take a preliminary recording using a Dictophone on loan courtesy of the school. As a group we have used this equipment to record the dialogue and further diegetic sound necessary for our piece; using a sound proof recording booth in school, Rosie and I voice-acted a series of variations and situations, that we had previously written, that could fit our film. These included a conversation between numerous characters, enacted utilizing many layers of sound (to indicate the presence of more than the two of us), and a monologue of the victim to be run over the chase sequence of film.
We also recorded many diegetic sounds to use for the montage we plan to create (see earlier posts), which included continual laughter which could be made intimidating by sound technology in Premiere. This was incredibly hard to do, as neither of us are professional actresses, and found it difficult to maintain the level of composure needed for our film to retain its credibility.
Once all the sound has been recorded, I plan to post it online as a composition piece (via Youtube) and will embed said video upon this blog at a later date.
Saturday 27 March 2010
Tuesday 23 March 2010
RC - Editing so far
Casey and I have been editing our opening sequence material for a couple of weeks now and it has definitely been an experience.
Using Adobe Premier has been quite an easy task (retrospectively), as I feel that I have now become accustomed to the mechanisms of this program and can use it to my advantage. Obviously there are some areas where my editing skills can be improved, but practice makes perfect.
We have exactly a week to go until the completion of our opening is due and I do think that, on the whole, things are going well. Through editing we have managed to capture the idea we envisioned from the beginning, although we do have quite a few things left do, which include: recording the necessary sound for each part of our sequence, editing the last section of our footage and adding the film titles and lastly, making sure we have all of the required shots to complete our opening.
This next week is going to be the most difficult and most challenging.
Sunday 21 March 2010
CH - Filming continued (Finished Draft)
Yesterday, Rosie and I filmed the remaining material needed for the final edit. Having already filmed it once (but experiencing problems, see past posts) we were quite familiar with the necessary methods in this particular shoot. Thankfully the actress we needed was available to film it once more, and we were very grateful to her for doing so; the filming itself took approximately 40 minutes.
The shots we had to complete were quite difficult, including the use of a ringing mobile phone and lighting specific to morning (getting increasingly difficult as time passed), but in the time we had we completed them to the best of our ability; the framing, in my opinion, was quite successful, with the use of doorframes and matresses to create interesting shapes to film within.
I liked the colours used in these shots, as they contrasted well with the chase sequence in our opening. The bedroom created a safe, reliable environment (much like the school would have done if not for the sinister aspects) that followed the conventions of a teen horror movie.
We can now continue editing our piece.
The shots we had to complete were quite difficult, including the use of a ringing mobile phone and lighting specific to morning (getting increasingly difficult as time passed), but in the time we had we completed them to the best of our ability; the framing, in my opinion, was quite successful, with the use of doorframes and matresses to create interesting shapes to film within.
I liked the colours used in these shots, as they contrasted well with the chase sequence in our opening. The bedroom created a safe, reliable environment (much like the school would have done if not for the sinister aspects) that followed the conventions of a teen horror movie.
We can now continue editing our piece.
Friday 19 March 2010
Group - Audience Research
During our lesson today our class sat down and watched each others film openings (what we had done so far of them anyway). We then reviewed each others and advised on how each could possibly improve theirs.
From our classmates watching and reviewing ours Casey and I came to the conclusion that the footage we had edited so far was of good standard and that we had achieved quite a few of the assessment objectives within the mark scheme. However, we did learn that some of the footage could be further edited to achieve greater effect, such as changing the colour tone for some of the clips to match the mood of the action.
It was also apparent from watching our classmates footage that the pace Casey and I were working at could possibly be quickened as the deadline for the completion of our opening sequence is now fast approaching.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Group - Further sound
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=37575
This link leads to another sound sample on www.Freesound.org; whilst editing, we came across some problems attaching the previously found sound to our rough cut. For rythym, pace, style and pitch to all fit correctly was near impossible.
After some deliberation, we continued to look through the free download sound, and found the above link. We may use this at the end of our chase scene, as it is appropriate and fits the timing perfectly.
However, we still had many problems concerning the sound fitting the rest of our film. I consulted many people of similar age to my target audience, and the overall results concluded that a piece specially constructed to fit the sound in the style of current popular music would be preferred.
Rosie and I spoke to a musician we know locally, and he agreed to design a few pieces of instrumental guitar music to fit the timing of our film, based loosely on the work of Muse (particularily Knights of Cydonia, see below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI
I particularily liked the riff at 3:14; the fast paced rythym and innovative use of scales creates the perfect chase sequence backing track.
Once we are shown the pieces created for our film we will evaluate them accordingly.
This link leads to another sound sample on www.Freesound.org; whilst editing, we came across some problems attaching the previously found sound to our rough cut. For rythym, pace, style and pitch to all fit correctly was near impossible.
After some deliberation, we continued to look through the free download sound, and found the above link. We may use this at the end of our chase scene, as it is appropriate and fits the timing perfectly.
However, we still had many problems concerning the sound fitting the rest of our film. I consulted many people of similar age to my target audience, and the overall results concluded that a piece specially constructed to fit the sound in the style of current popular music would be preferred.
Rosie and I spoke to a musician we know locally, and he agreed to design a few pieces of instrumental guitar music to fit the timing of our film, based loosely on the work of Muse (particularily Knights of Cydonia, see below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI
I particularily liked the riff at 3:14; the fast paced rythym and innovative use of scales creates the perfect chase sequence backing track.
Once we are shown the pieces created for our film we will evaluate them accordingly.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
RC - More shooting troubles
This weekend I was able to film the bedroom/bathroom sequence, which I thought had gone reasonably well; managing to capture the required shots and more. However, it wasn't until Casey and I reviewed my filming the monday after that I realised that I had made an unrepairable mistake - I had filmed most of the shots sideways. This was a bad mistake to make, as it now means that these shots are unusable because even if we do rotate them the pixel quality will be reduced and the shot would have to be zoomed in so to fit the screen of the camera. Despite this, there are a couple of shots that can still be used.
Due to this unfortunate incident Casey and I are going to attempt this part of the filming again this weekend, which will hopefully go a lot more seamlessly. As they quite rightly say - you learn from your mistakes!
Due to this unfortunate incident Casey and I are going to attempt this part of the filming again this weekend, which will hopefully go a lot more seamlessly. As they quite rightly say - you learn from your mistakes!
Thursday 11 March 2010
Group - filming the group sequence
Today Casey and I did some filming for our opening sequence, where we focused on the sequence where the group of girls are walking through the corridors of a school. On the whole I think that this went well and we managed to capture the correct amount of shots necessary to fit in with our sequence. Due to doing the filming during lunch hour (which was the only time that we could get all the girls together) it was clear that we were in a rush to try and get everything that we drew on our storyboard done.
After beginning to edit this sequence of shots we realised that the shots where we filmed the close ups of the girls' eyes may not have been shot for long enough so we may need to possibly go back and do these again, depending on what the shorter versions look like. It may also be that we do these shots again but this time a little bit closer, so that we are more focused on the eye(s) and not the whole of the face but like I said; we will just have to wait and see what it looks like when put altogether.
Conclusion after this session:
From filming so far it is evident that it is difficult for Casey and I to stick to the arrangement of our storyboard, as this was only our initial ideas put together in a series of shots, whereas now that we have come to the actual filming of the sequence it is easier to work out what works and what doesn't.
All we have left to do now is filming the bedroom/bathroom sequence, which we aim to do this weekend.
After beginning to edit this sequence of shots we realised that the shots where we filmed the close ups of the girls' eyes may not have been shot for long enough so we may need to possibly go back and do these again, depending on what the shorter versions look like. It may also be that we do these shots again but this time a little bit closer, so that we are more focused on the eye(s) and not the whole of the face but like I said; we will just have to wait and see what it looks like when put altogether.
Conclusion after this session:
From filming so far it is evident that it is difficult for Casey and I to stick to the arrangement of our storyboard, as this was only our initial ideas put together in a series of shots, whereas now that we have come to the actual filming of the sequence it is easier to work out what works and what doesn't.
All we have left to do now is filming the bedroom/bathroom sequence, which we aim to do this weekend.
Wednesday 10 March 2010
CH - Shooting troubles and initial filming
Yesterday, I completed the filming for a sequence of our opening piece; the (predicted) eleven shots of the alley chase scenes. The filming went particularily well, with the lighting not only suiting the atmosphere perfectly but also being satisfactory conditions for our non-professional camera equipment.
In this shoot, I found myself following the conventions of a teen horror film; the female protagonist was presented as a very obvious victim, with many overhead shots (insinuating she was small, needy or vulnerable), shadows interspersed with shafts of light (much like that of a film noir movie, but still creating a sense of danger), and the POV action shots that follow the protagonist as if she is being chased by a sinister, threatening figure.
Even though we ended up following the conventions of a horror film, I was quite pleased to find myself straying from some of the iconography; our protagonist was portrayed as a victim, yes, but unlike the victims in many teen horror films she did not openly show her fear; this was only suggested by the soundtrack and the fact she was running in an environment that suggested danger. Also, although as a white female she was a stereotypical victim, her cropped hair and dark clothes strayed from generic victims, becoming more similar to a noir character in that they varied from the naive innocence of bleach blonde hair and feminine, overtly attractive clothing which is most common among thriller/horror victims.
I am pleased that editing can now start; we have not hit any issues yet that have caused us significant damage, and I am glad we are off to a good start. However, the weight of how far we have yet to go is slightly overbearing.
In this shoot, I found myself following the conventions of a teen horror film; the female protagonist was presented as a very obvious victim, with many overhead shots (insinuating she was small, needy or vulnerable), shadows interspersed with shafts of light (much like that of a film noir movie, but still creating a sense of danger), and the POV action shots that follow the protagonist as if she is being chased by a sinister, threatening figure.
Even though we ended up following the conventions of a horror film, I was quite pleased to find myself straying from some of the iconography; our protagonist was portrayed as a victim, yes, but unlike the victims in many teen horror films she did not openly show her fear; this was only suggested by the soundtrack and the fact she was running in an environment that suggested danger. Also, although as a white female she was a stereotypical victim, her cropped hair and dark clothes strayed from generic victims, becoming more similar to a noir character in that they varied from the naive innocence of bleach blonde hair and feminine, overtly attractive clothing which is most common among thriller/horror victims.
I am pleased that editing can now start; we have not hit any issues yet that have caused us significant damage, and I am glad we are off to a good start. However, the weight of how far we have yet to go is slightly overbearing.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
CH - Music Trials
Possible diagetic sound tracks to use on our piece from Freesound.org, a free download library of music, with no copyrighting limits due to independant artists.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=22039
I liked this piece, it fits perfectly with our theme of a predator; it creates an eerie atmosphere that would be good for setting the scene (using aural signifiers related to our genre).
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=65915
This piece was very short, but for creating a dramatic ending to a piece that would have already created substantial amounts of atmospheric tension it would be perfect.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=36406
This sound of breathing that has been distorted would be brilliant for playing underneath another non diegetic track, but alone it is not suitable for supporting such an important scene.
I will continue searching for appropriate music, possibly using other sites or looking for other options regarding copyrighting.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=22039
I liked this piece, it fits perfectly with our theme of a predator; it creates an eerie atmosphere that would be good for setting the scene (using aural signifiers related to our genre).
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=65915
This piece was very short, but for creating a dramatic ending to a piece that would have already created substantial amounts of atmospheric tension it would be perfect.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=36406
This sound of breathing that has been distorted would be brilliant for playing underneath another non diegetic track, but alone it is not suitable for supporting such an important scene.
I will continue searching for appropriate music, possibly using other sites or looking for other options regarding copyrighting.
RC - Shooting troubles
Casey and I have experienced quite a few blips in our quest to film. We had arranged that we would film the alley sequence this weekend just gone (06.03.10 - 07.03.10), however, Casey unfortunately came down ill so we were unable to do so. We then arranged for yesterday to film the group sequence but we were let down by a few cast members who were unable to make it. We then rescheduled to film the alley sequence yesterday but yet again we were face with another obstacle due to Casey's camera not working, as we had planned to use her camera throughout. We have now talked to our media studies technician about what to do about Casey's camera and luckily he said that it should be easily fixed, however, we are going to now use the school camera so not to run the risk again.Casey and I will hopefully be filming tonight, in the hope that we will finally have some footage to edit tomorrow! We have also re-arranged our group sequence to be done on thursday and we are making sure this time that everyone does turn up.
So fingers crossed!
Monday 8 March 2010
CH - Evaluation of our pitch
We presented our pitch to the class, working from the information and research we had collected prior and arranged in a presentation (link to which below). The pitch itself was a success in my opinion, with positive feedback which supported our current research (concerning audience interest and possible topics to follow up further, such as a different project title to our original 'Chase', now 'Drop Dead Gorgeous).
The pitch was nerve wracking, because we had decided that by simply evaluating the information beforehand, we would have enough to present a well thought out and more personal pitch without relying on boring or dull scripts. I felt that this reliance on our public speaking skills alone helped build confidence within our group; we managed to put across our ideas in a manner that seemed to be appreciated, with a more personal edge as we were able to speak more freely one-to-one with the audience, improvising if they began to become uninterested or confused; theoretically speaking, we tried to build our pitch around the audience.
The pitch just ran over the 10 minute time base, including questions that we were able to answer to a suitable degree; the video of which is embedded upon this blog. I think to improve our pitch, we should have spent more time on the aesthetics of the presentation, so as to maximise the overall apperance and proffesionalism. I was concerned with our PP slides becoming too full or childish, so I decided on a minimalistic view; however, a colour scheme or basic design scheme could have been implimented.
Overall, I think that our pitch showed that our idea was well recieved and had enough viable audience research to implement further development.
The pitch was nerve wracking, because we had decided that by simply evaluating the information beforehand, we would have enough to present a well thought out and more personal pitch without relying on boring or dull scripts. I felt that this reliance on our public speaking skills alone helped build confidence within our group; we managed to put across our ideas in a manner that seemed to be appreciated, with a more personal edge as we were able to speak more freely one-to-one with the audience, improvising if they began to become uninterested or confused; theoretically speaking, we tried to build our pitch around the audience.
The pitch just ran over the 10 minute time base, including questions that we were able to answer to a suitable degree; the video of which is embedded upon this blog. I think to improve our pitch, we should have spent more time on the aesthetics of the presentation, so as to maximise the overall apperance and proffesionalism. I was concerned with our PP slides becoming too full or childish, so I decided on a minimalistic view; however, a colour scheme or basic design scheme could have been implimented.
Overall, I think that our pitch showed that our idea was well recieved and had enough viable audience research to implement further development.
Wednesday 3 March 2010
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