REFLECTION

Week 1

During our first two lessons back, we practised collecting raw footage for our own dailies - and we learned about the importance of using different lenses for different purposes. When collecting footage, we were told to specifically film shots that could be used as a cutaway. Cutaways are B roll footage which are used to prolong a scene or to resolve/create tension. Our group wasn't too focused on creating tension, and so we created cutaways that could be used to introduce a new location; or something along those lines. We then moved from the town to a graveyard - a perfect location for creating tension via superstition. I spent some time filming the gravestones, attempting to focus on one grave and have another one in the distance start blurry but becomes focused later on. I wasn't able to get these shots - but I did film around the edges of the grave yard, zooming in on certain graves to create some mystery. My personal opinion on cutaways is that they are excellent story tellers. Cutaways take the time to paint insignificant and great details without directly giving things away to the viewer. Using cutaways to slowly navigate through a story lets the audience take everything in while also keeping the movie long enough for it to be profitable for cinemas. For today, I was only filming a setting that was ultimately uneventful and boring - but in future, I'd like to experiment with filming cutaways for comedic purposes and tension.

The following Tuesday, moved on to camera lenses. Cameras can have different lenses that have their own purposes and functions. The lens features we looked at were aperture, image stabilisation, focus pulling and image control. Learning about this would help us when we come to film our project.

Week 2

During the first half of the week, we began to learn more about scene analysis and operating different filming equipment. Monday, we were given a small assignment and brief - we were hired by a tele-shopping channel to film an advertisement for some kind of product. In groups of six, we had to take on the roles of different crew members in order to film this advert. I decided to handle the boom and capture the sound coming from our actors. I knew that boom mics were heavy - but the one I was using didn't seem too difficult to hold in the beginning. However, after a few minutes of holding the boom in place - my arms began to feel weak and I was finding it more and more difficult to keep the microphone out of the shot. By the end of the production, I managed to keep the boom at a steady distance and the film recorded didn't show the boom mic at all. After this experience of working with the boom and recording the sound - I do feel even more interested in the technical side of filming, than I did before.

On Friday, we learnt more about sound production. However, we didn't just sit and write about what Foley is or what kind of fruit sounds like someone's neck braking - our teacher thought it was best to set us with some practical work so that we could learn first-hand about the methods we would be using towards our final project. First we practised snapping and crushing different food items to replicate methods used by real sound producers. Each item sounded different from one another - carrots had a hard snap that sounded like a bone braking, stabbing a watermelon sounded like flesh and peanuts sound like the squishing of guts. Making all these grotesque sounds was very enjoyable - and I was amazed at how realistic some of our sounds were when it was put against a video. I did find it difficult to find specific sounds to place in the video, such as a thud sound and nice sounds of flash being impaled by small blades - but we didn't think about going back and checking the sounds we had already made to see if we needed more; and we did. The voices of the characters weren't the best either - you could hardly hear the woman's grunts and the alien sounded... funny, not too frightening or in pain. If I were to go back and do this project again, I would definitely take more time in listening back on all our sounds to make sure that I was happy with how they sounded compared to a video.

Week 3

For Monday, we were finishing of our ADR and Foley work - making sure that we had everything synced and were happy with the way our work sounded. During this time I had finished my ADR scene, it wasn't too complicated as I just needed to sync the voices and find some ambience and music. I did have trouble moving onto my Foley work, however. As I said on Friday, we didn't manage to record all the sounds we needed to really make the scene feel authentic - we needed sounds like the whooshing of Tanya's blades and I wasn't too happy with the quality of our latex sounds either, as they sounded off at times. I searched on the internet for sounds that I could use - however, everything I heard sounded off or had background noise that ruined the audio. I am currently still working on this project so that I can take my time in looking for the right sounds. Overall, working with Foley sounds has shown me the importance of being patient when working with sound - rushing through and trying to get all the important sounds recorded makes you forget about how the quality would sound in your video. Getting specific sounds should also be an objective of ours in future, so that we can create realistic and detailed projects.

After finishing most of our work - we moved on to something that I have been looking forward to. Receiving our assignments for our third project! All we were told was that we would be re-creating a script from a movie/TV Series, and so I was excited to see exactly how we had to carry out everything. Once I had the assignment and skimmed it - I was confident that this new project would be fairly straightforward. For unit 1 we have to analyse two film scenes - looking at both visual and audio aspects to criticise, as well as the techniques being used. That would be simple. Then we need to plan our production via paperwork - but it looked as if we would be sharing our work with the group, something I wasn't to happy about. I liked to do things a certain way and put as much effort into my work as possible, and although I'm not doubting my group - I'm worried that the work they produce isn't as detailed as I'd like it to be. The third unit was obviously about the production - so I need to start thinking about what role I'd like to take in the filming process, such as sound operator or actor depending on the genre. The final unit was about the review - easy enough as all i'll need to do is keep my reflection page up to date and write a final evaluation of my project. So far, this assignment is turning out to be really interesting and I look forward to what me and my group come up with for the final scene.

For Thursday and Friday, we worked more on shots and sound recording. Thursday, we were taught about dolly shots - where you mount a camera onto a tripod with wheels/rail and record a scene where the camera is moving. We spent maybe a few minutes taking turns to set up the tripod so that we could replicate this technique in our project - than we were group and sent to record a dolly shot. The shot was of a person walking down a hallway - the camera following close behind. For this lesson, however, we were short of tripods - so we were taught how to improvise. Using a shoulder rig, wheelchair and a willing volunteer - you have yourself a dolly mechanism. All of these being... realistic items you'd have on hand - I will look forward to be using the dolly shot technique in this project to look more professional and less stationary.

For Friday, we were given sound recorders and directed to go out to random places and record ambience - the background noise in an environment. Simple enough, I went everywhere looking for ambience - starting with a cafe, then a busy road, town, stairway and classroom. I trimmed down the audio and added effects to dampen down wind, shuffling and the collision with the recorder and my headphone wire. I enjoyed this lesson, taking the time to sit patiently and realise how many sounds one environment can have is important for creating an atmosphere in future.

Week 4

Monday was the day we finally got our script. On first glance, we need three actors - which leaves us with one cameraman and sound operator. I originally thought I wanted to be the sound operator, as it was easy enough during the commercial project, but as I glanced at the lines of dialogue - I wanted to be an actor. Thankfully my group asked for my opinion before assigning roles so I could snatch up one of the actors. I was then asked which character I would prefer. My group recommended the reporter, the character with the least amount of lines. Fitting for my actual person, they must have thought. I wanted to one up them though, so I chose the character who says the most lines - detective 2. And if we're all assuming here, I only picked the most talkative character because I doubt the others in my group could get through one line without laughing or being silly. But we'll have yet to see, of course. This decision was also prompted by a childhood desire to become an actor - and the only way to find out if I fit as one is to act, of course.

On Tuesday, we got back into groups to discuss more about how we were going to plan out our scene. We split into pairs - one would look into camera shots and technical details and the other would work on the acting and atmosphere being created. I was working on the acting and atmosphere - figuring out the different moods we would have to present as actors, and the small details that would insinuate that the detectives are tired and agitated and the reporter is very anxious (all taken from the script). While working one the acting and such, I also wanted to have an input in what was being filmed, cinematography wise. To do this, I made small post-it notes with camera shots and placements that would look fantastic and also demonstrate to our examiners that we could use a number of different shots other then just establishing, medium close-up and the regular close-up shot. I hoped that this would inspire the rest of my group to use more interesting and complicated shots that we've learned.

Nothing much happened on Thursday, we carried on with our pre-production work - looking at what we still needed to do and correct any mistakes we were making. However, I discovered one thing that made me re-think our approach to this project. While looking at the digital version of the script, I noticed that were missing an entire sequence of the scene. In our script, the reporter/murderer pops up out of nowhere and complains to the detectives - which was odd. We tackled this weird interaction by writing in a few lines of our own along with some stage directions - this way the reporter wouldn't seem so out of place and had a reason to complain about the detectives. We wanted them to sound frustrated and unlikable so that the audience would resent the reporter, or get the hint that they are the murderer.

However, the digital version says that the reporter does have an entrance and a reason for being annoyed at the detectives - and so we now have to work out a new approach to this segment and disregard the current shots we already planned. I looked passed this though, and went straight to work creating a tradition storyboard to see exactly what the script wanted and started planning shots that would portray characters in aesthetic ways. I want to show the rest of my group the shots I have planned - however I don't want to take over the roles of story boarder and director, since I really do want to see what my peers can come up with too.

On Friday, me and some members from my group went out looking for our all-important exterior shot. While scouting about, we were looking for a place that we didn't need permission to film (although we brought the permission proposal too), looked like a building with a large stair case inside and had some doors for us to walk out from. Scouting out on near some car parks, we found a nice set of double doors with some stairs behind them. The location was pretty empty and there was enough space for people to walk by us - so we all agreed that this could be our exterior shot. Heading back, I worked more on the location recce putting in the pictures I took and writing about the benefits/advantages and everything else.

Week 5

On Monday and Tuesday, we went through the final stages of our planning. We all wanted to plan what we wanted to do in the next half of the week and how we would manage our time. We worked out that we would need around 2 days to record the entire script - so if we did that this week, we would be able to spend the next week recording and ADR or going back and Re-shooting certain shots. This made me relieved that we'd have enough time to get this done properly. After this, I went of to write more on my scene analysis and update our production schedule for accuracy.

We spent the following Thursday on our production. First heading to our outside location to film the establishing and exiting shots. When we got there, we had a discussion about how we wanted to film the establishing shot. My original plan was to have the camera slowly pan up the building so I can fade it into my first scene. However, the director filmed the scene panning across the building from left to right. I agreed that this looked nice - and I am now planning on using this shot in my own edit. We did some re-takes and tested out some different shots - and then we moved over to the first acting scene. Since we were already at the location where we will film our exiting shot, we wanted to film that shot early on so we won't have to come back later. As an actor, I now had to start getting serious about the production - I put on a straight face and tried to look tired/hopeless to fit my character, shaking my head when exiting the building and look really tired from the case they're on. This was when I started to realise the pressure of being filmed might be getting to my fellow actors. Detective two was constantly laughing and getting all giggly - which I could understand as this was our first time filming. But we did end up having to re-take a scene of us walking around 10 times. My fellow actor managed to mess up so many times that we switched places so I was closer to the door - as I wouldn't mess up right in front of the camera. 

We then finished up and headed back to the college. Getting back we headed to our second location, and started the real production. At this point I had memorised most of my lines and was prepared to film. We began with all of the pacing shots - which was filmed nicely, since no one was talking/laughing. Then we moved on to the dialogue. The first two shots were of me speaking - yet we couldn't seem to take it seriously. When we filmed, the film crew were doing dances and laughing behind the camera - which messed with my co-star and made her loose all focus. Things became even more complicated when our equipment stopped working. The boom mic wasn't recording through the boom, so we tinkered with it until we became agitated. While the technical crew left to fix that issue - I decided to leap at this opportunity to record some shots that the director wasn't interested in filming. The other two actors were okay with this so we skipped most of the script and went to the introduction of the reporter. I wanted a shot of us looking down the stairs as the reporter took a picture, the camera looking over our shoulders. Since it was only the three of us (to which all of us had to be in shot), this proved difficult and we didn't know if the camera was in the right position or if it was out of focus. Then the others came back and I had to give up with that idea. We then spent the rest of the evening working through the first page of the script - becoming more serious and professional as we went on. This first day of filming told me that this whole project is going to take time if we want to film something that people would actually want to watch. Next time we film, I'm going to try and chip in now and again - just to make sure we are doing everything we can to stand out and collect all the footage we need.

For Friday, we were not in school - to which I spent the day looking through our footage and deciding what we could re-shoot in our next recording session.

Week 6

When we came back on Monday, there was an urgency to finish our filming today - otherwise we'd be strained for time when editing. Rushing back to our location - we began the 2nd page of the script. Most of my lines were finished now - and so the next hour would allow me to act more as a voice of reason with most of the shots, as I wasn't acting. This was a problem though. Our other actors were childish around each other, constantly laughing and falling out of character. Every time we wanted to retake a scene - they just couldn't keep it together. The director eventually moved on and tried to film the rest of the script, so I'll probably be faced with some tough challenges when I come round to editing this. After all that, we filmed the last few lines of the script with no problems and finally - I got to record some custom shots. Doing this added some interesting low shots and close ups that I wasn't satisfied with in the original footage - and moved me closer to the original idea I had in my head when I made my storyboard. We then left - not satisfied, yet not without hope.

On Tuesday, we finally had all the shots recorded and done with. All i needed to do was a bit of ADR and the editing. I began by putting all of the clips into the timeline, cutting them down appropriately so I could see a ruff cut of my video. It was at this point that I noticed the horrible quality of some of the clips. When Detective 2 had to run down the stairs to the reporter - the running was more like a light jog and didn't give me the energy I wanted for that scene. I could attempt to speed it up, but I think that would make the video feel/look unrealistic.

Later in the week, I continued to work on drafting my video - finally having all the clips in place I was no focusing on the more cinematic details. Because of the genre of being a detective film - I wanted to have a gritty and dark colour scheme. Sadly, the location we scouted had little colour to work with or looked too bright at times. To fix this, I planned on editing the colours in each clip, bringing out the blues while trying to mask all the reds and greens hoping that the video would overall look more cold and serious. After trying to get the colour grading right for an entire Wednesday, I thought I was finally happy with how the video looked - but I wasn't. The next day, I was dumbfounded. I had spent time masking all the bright and happy colours but they don't look too different to the original. I was now left pondering whether to give it another shot or to give up and decide on a different look. 

I remembered back to our story boarding lesson where I had made a short story with only black and yellow colours. I liked the style because it fit with the medieval theme and looked very aged. And so looking back at my video I thought to myself - what do you think of when you hear 'Detective Film'. What came to my mind was classic Noir films - shot in black and white. The lack of colour gave of an eerie vibe and really draws in the audience with the serious atmosphere being created. With this scene, I desperately want people to be drawn to my edit. I loved the idea of a black and white movie - but, I didn't want to feel lazy in my editing knowing that my peers would be putting more effort into their colour grading (and my already designed thumbnail had colour in it too lol).

Changing the colour would be an easily reversible edit - and so I went ahead and made the footage monochrome. When I stepped back and looked at the video - I quite liked the aesthetic. The mysterious feel from the lack of colour was great, but I still felt like I should give the original colours another shot. So I deleted my colour edits - only to go back and make the video look more cold.