This is the our finished opening sequence, we have exported it from premiere pro as a HD video, and uploaded it onto video sharing website YouTube( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKxQ4TmyoS0)
Showing posts with label Contribution Mari Leach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contribution Mari Leach. Show all posts
Friday, 14 March 2014
Sound Mix
When Editing our project, we realised that it was necessary to edit the volume levels of individual clips throughout the sequence in order to create a professional sounding opening. We used the volume and denoiser audio effects in order to correct the sound in particular shots, lowering background noise when necessary to make the dialogue clearer.
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| Using Audio effects to improve sound in one of the shots |
Music
Initially we were going to use this royalty free music from a website we found online
During editing of the final cut we decided that this music was more appropriate because it connotes the thought-provoking indie atmosphere that we are trying to create.
During editing of the final cut we decided that this music was more appropriate because it connotes the thought-provoking indie atmosphere that we are trying to create.
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Main Shoot: Photo Evidence
Here are just a few action shots of us filming.
Group 1 and actors on set
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| The actors in role for the final scene |
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| Mari Taking control of the camera on set |
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| Vivian and Gina getting into role |
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Titles
Between our test edit and real edit, we made changes to the look of the titles, using our titles reference point- Somers Town, to guide our choices.
We wanted our titles to be subtle as not to distract from the action and to connote the naturalistic themes of the film, but in doing this they vanished off the page and were easily missed.
The titles in Somers Town achieve what we were aiming for- they are subtle but still stand out against the footage. The font size is smaller then ours but the use of capitals and bold, makes it more effective.
Therefore we took this into consideration when reconstructing our title sequence, we kept the same font, but reduced the size and made it bold. we also decided to keep the titles in either the bottom right or left of the shot, like Somers Town, as we found this was less distracting for the audience.
We wanted our titles to be subtle as not to distract from the action and to connote the naturalistic themes of the film, but in doing this they vanished off the page and were easily missed.
The titles in Somers Town achieve what we were aiming for- they are subtle but still stand out against the footage. The font size is smaller then ours but the use of capitals and bold, makes it more effective.
Therefore we took this into consideration when reconstructing our title sequence, we kept the same font, but reduced the size and made it bold. we also decided to keep the titles in either the bottom right or left of the shot, like Somers Town, as we found this was less distracting for the audience.
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| Our titles in our test edit. |
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| Somers town Title reference |
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| Titles from our main edit |
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Colour Grading
When grading our footage, we wanted to achieve a gritty urban look similar to that of the TV show Misfits. To achieve this, all bright colours were dulled. This meant keeping the saturation, contrast and brightness low. We used Procamp and Three-way colour corrector to grade our shots.
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| The colour of the jumpsuits before grading |
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| Scene once graded |
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Test shoot finished edit
This is our finished edit of the test shoot, after exporting the video we uploaded to youtube where we can review it:
Friday, 14 February 2014
Test Edit Evaluation
WHAT WENT WELL:
When moving from location to location we attached the Go-Pro to the skateboard and Louis skated from location to location, this ensured we had ample amounts of footage to put in between shots if necessary.
The location was easy to film in with little to no distraction from members of the public, even though we were filming in an estate the people we did encounter were friendly so we didn't feel intimidated or like we needed to rush.
The locations were very easy to navigate around and now we know the benefits and difficulties of each which means on the next shoots we can remember and factor this in.
We managed to get the actual FILM 4 clip to put at the beginning of our film which made it look more professional.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNERED AND SOLUTIONS
Problems/Solutions surrounding the conversation.
PROBLEM: After watching the final edit, we feel as though the conversation is not naturalistic, the slang that has been incorporated seems forced and it doesn't accurately represent London youths, it seems like it was written from the perspective of an adult.
Further there is no distinction between the boy who is being talked about in the conversation and the skateboarding protagonist so the audience could easily get confused and get the wrong message from the conversation.
SOLUTION: Re-writing the script to make it clear that they are not talking about Louis, and with different jargon that flows more naturally.
Problems/Solutions surrounding the bus-stop scene.
PROBLEM: When the male protagonist gets to the bus-stop he is suddenly walking when for the entire sequence we have seen him riding a skateboard, breaking the rules of continuity.
Before the male protagonist approaches the bus stop, he pauses at the lamp-post and looks over at the female protagonist. From watching the final edit, we thought that again this looks extremely unrealistic and unnecessary and is uncomfortable for the audience to watch.
The moment when they are sitting at the bus stop together doesn't suspend the audiences disbelief as they are too close to each other and the acting could be improved so the audience feel the connection and slight awkwardness between the two protagonists rather than the audience feeling awkward themselves.
In addition, after the female protagonist looks at the male protagonist we see quite an intense close-up of him looking at her, this makes it awkward and too intense for the audience.
SOLUTION:
A shot of him picking up his skateboard needs to be incorporated so it looks continuous.
Possibly have the girl approaching the bus stop after the boy, in a flirty way, this would be less intense and uncomfortable for the viewer. An establishing shot of the bus stop with the two teenagers would help audiences understand the situation rather than the montage of close ups, with is disorientating.
Problems/Solutions surrounding general technical aspects of the edit
PROBLEMS: From listening to the music with the music we chose, it is evident that we selected the wrong track. The music we picked creates a Sci-Fi futuristic atmosphere when we are looking to choose a backing song that evokes a gritty urban feel.
The framing in many shots, particularly during the shot reverse shot of the conversation isn't neat enough and therefore doesn't create a professional look
We positioned the Go-Pro in between Louis feet as that's how we had seen it being used on YouTube, however because we are filming for a professional film, it creates a bad aesthetic having Louis foot directly in front of the camera
Louis costume matched the style we wanted to create for the male protagonist, however, the two girls didn't look working class and also had to protect themselves from the cold weather conditions.
When the male protagonist is riding the skateboard around the corner of the estate and it switches from a shot on the Go-Pro to a long shot that zooms in on him, the zoom ruins two other very fluid nice shots as it makes them appear clunky.
Due to filming Louis skateboarding on the Go-Pro in random locations whenever we had the chance it wasn't continuous with the ordinary camera shots that we took of him - this made it more difficult in editing
SOLUTION:
Find new backing track, possibly less synthesized.
When re-filming position the girls differently, to allow space for tripod set ups, and ensure shots are tightly framed.
When attaching the go pro to the skateboard position it on the front of the board, also we can check footage whilst filming to ensure it looks professional.
Re-think the costume for the girls, maybe incorporate tracksuits and puffer jackets, for warmth as well as image.
Use zooming more appropriately so things don't look abrupt.
Take shots of Louis journey using the normal camera then re-doing the exact journey on the Go-Pro so we could piece it together continuously
When moving from location to location we attached the Go-Pro to the skateboard and Louis skated from location to location, this ensured we had ample amounts of footage to put in between shots if necessary.
The location was easy to film in with little to no distraction from members of the public, even though we were filming in an estate the people we did encounter were friendly so we didn't feel intimidated or like we needed to rush.
The locations were very easy to navigate around and now we know the benefits and difficulties of each which means on the next shoots we can remember and factor this in.
We managed to get the actual FILM 4 clip to put at the beginning of our film which made it look more professional.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNERED AND SOLUTIONS
Problems/Solutions surrounding the conversation.
PROBLEM: After watching the final edit, we feel as though the conversation is not naturalistic, the slang that has been incorporated seems forced and it doesn't accurately represent London youths, it seems like it was written from the perspective of an adult.
Further there is no distinction between the boy who is being talked about in the conversation and the skateboarding protagonist so the audience could easily get confused and get the wrong message from the conversation.
SOLUTION: Re-writing the script to make it clear that they are not talking about Louis, and with different jargon that flows more naturally.
Problems/Solutions surrounding the bus-stop scene.
PROBLEM: When the male protagonist gets to the bus-stop he is suddenly walking when for the entire sequence we have seen him riding a skateboard, breaking the rules of continuity.
Before the male protagonist approaches the bus stop, he pauses at the lamp-post and looks over at the female protagonist. From watching the final edit, we thought that again this looks extremely unrealistic and unnecessary and is uncomfortable for the audience to watch.
The moment when they are sitting at the bus stop together doesn't suspend the audiences disbelief as they are too close to each other and the acting could be improved so the audience feel the connection and slight awkwardness between the two protagonists rather than the audience feeling awkward themselves.
In addition, after the female protagonist looks at the male protagonist we see quite an intense close-up of him looking at her, this makes it awkward and too intense for the audience.
SOLUTION:
A shot of him picking up his skateboard needs to be incorporated so it looks continuous.
Possibly have the girl approaching the bus stop after the boy, in a flirty way, this would be less intense and uncomfortable for the viewer. An establishing shot of the bus stop with the two teenagers would help audiences understand the situation rather than the montage of close ups, with is disorientating.
Problems/Solutions surrounding general technical aspects of the edit
PROBLEMS: From listening to the music with the music we chose, it is evident that we selected the wrong track. The music we picked creates a Sci-Fi futuristic atmosphere when we are looking to choose a backing song that evokes a gritty urban feel.
The framing in many shots, particularly during the shot reverse shot of the conversation isn't neat enough and therefore doesn't create a professional look
We positioned the Go-Pro in between Louis feet as that's how we had seen it being used on YouTube, however because we are filming for a professional film, it creates a bad aesthetic having Louis foot directly in front of the camera
Louis costume matched the style we wanted to create for the male protagonist, however, the two girls didn't look working class and also had to protect themselves from the cold weather conditions.
When the male protagonist is riding the skateboard around the corner of the estate and it switches from a shot on the Go-Pro to a long shot that zooms in on him, the zoom ruins two other very fluid nice shots as it makes them appear clunky.
Due to filming Louis skateboarding on the Go-Pro in random locations whenever we had the chance it wasn't continuous with the ordinary camera shots that we took of him - this made it more difficult in editing
SOLUTION:
Find new backing track, possibly less synthesized.
When re-filming position the girls differently, to allow space for tripod set ups, and ensure shots are tightly framed.
When attaching the go pro to the skateboard position it on the front of the board, also we can check footage whilst filming to ensure it looks professional.
Re-think the costume for the girls, maybe incorporate tracksuits and puffer jackets, for warmth as well as image.
Use zooming more appropriately so things don't look abrupt.
Take shots of Louis journey using the normal camera then re-doing the exact journey on the Go-Pro so we could piece it together continuously
Reflections on Test Shoot
- The location looked the part aesthetically as it provided both leafy middle class suburban looking areas, and urban estate, within a few minutes of each other. Also Vivian lived 5 minutes away from all locations providing a place to rest for lunch and to warm up.
- Due to the way in which the bus stop and pavement is built we were not able to get the long shot of the bus stop we had planned.
- The pavement in Cheshunt is bumpy, therefore not ideal for skateboarding, but not a major issue
- Shooting outdoors for the entire opening is risky weather wise, we were lucky as there was no rain, but it was extremely windy, meaning for some of the conversation scenes the sound is muffled.
- We had no issues with the camera and tripod. Due to the position on the skateboard in which we placed the go pro it was liable to falling over.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Test Edit
This is our completed
test shoot:
From this we were able to pick out what worked and what didn't work so that we can better it in our main shoot.
From this we were able to pick out what worked and what didn't work so that we can better it in our main shoot.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Animatic Group Review
-After completing our animatic and uploading it to our YouTube channel, we were able to see what did and didn't work and come up with some improvements:
-The music didn't fit with the atmosphere we are trying to create
-The titles appeared to be too large , and not minimals we had planned
-The script needed to be adjusted to fit with the sequence and provide a clearer narrative
-Follow the correct guidelines when applying over the shoulder shots to create a continuous sequence
Monday, 3 February 2014
Teachers Animatic Feedback
In a meeting with our teachers , they picked up on a few areas of possible improvement:
- More cross cutting between Louis' skate scene and Vivian's' conversation to make the two main characters more obvious
- Ensure continuity
- Arrows necessary to show movement within the shots
- More focus on the skateboard to maintain the urban teenage theme
-Too many distributor titles- unrealistic and overpowering
-Include more titles throughout in order to make the opening seem more realistic and similar to the typical film opening
- More cross cutting between Louis' skate scene and Vivian's' conversation to make the two main characters more obvious
- Ensure continuity
- Arrows necessary to show movement within the shots
- More focus on the skateboard to maintain the urban teenage theme
-Too many distributor titles- unrealistic and overpowering
-Include more titles throughout in order to make the opening seem more realistic and similar to the typical film opening
Friday, 31 January 2014
Research on GoPro
As part of our filming, we decided that in order to present the action of the skateboarding character's journey, we could use the GoPro camera made available to us.
However, as none of us had used a GoPro before, we researched how to use it, and the ways in which we could film with it as well as asking our technician for advice on how to mount the device to a skateboard.
This video provided a clear, simple explanation of how to record using the device
This video gave us ideas about how we could mount the camera to the skateboard
However, as none of us had used a GoPro before, we researched how to use it, and the ways in which we could film with it as well as asking our technician for advice on how to mount the device to a skateboard.
This video provided a clear, simple explanation of how to record using the device
This video gave us ideas about how we could mount the camera to the skateboard
Treatment Proposal Feedback- Costume
- Consider weather, interpret coats into the costume
- Vivian would have a smartphone not a Nokia. Everyone (especially of her age) has a smart phone.
- Vivian would have a smartphone not a Nokia. Everyone (especially of her age) has a smart phone.
Treatment Proposal Feedback- Script
- Sounded too comical and appeared to mock our characters not matching the naturalistic themes of the opening.
- Careful use of slang, not to over do it.
New Script:
- Careful use of slang, not to over do it.
New Script:
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Treatment- Location and Filming Dates
Location: Cheshunt
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| Estate |
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| Road |
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| Bus Stop |
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| Louis Skateboard Sequence |
Why: Hardly ever any people in the area, therefore easier to shoot without human interference's, the backdrop of the estate with Louis within it introduces the idea that cultures will collide in this film
Filming Dates:
Test Shoot: Sat 08/02/2014Shoot: Sat 01/03/2014
Re-shoot: 08/03/2014
Permissions
Our filming will take place in public, therefore we do not need to acquire any specific permissions in order to film, however we will ensure that all proposed memebers of the cast are available for our set period of filming, in order to ensure that it runs smoothly and successfully and give them warning beforehand incase we have to change the dates at all
we have the permission of our school to use the camera and microphone equipment at their terms.
Treatment- Camera Techniques, Mise-en-scene, Composition and Continuity
Camera Techniques
Skate Sequence:
Go Pro
Low Angle Shots
Mise-en-scene:
Costume
Boy
Almost every item of clothing is quite an expensive brand which shows fashion consciousness and availability of money due to middle class background.
Accessories: Earphones in listening to music on an iPhone for age representation cigarette behind ear to show ‘indie’ boy stereotype.
Girl
Costume: Own personal style, quite urban and casual, only one expensive item (Nike Air Max’s in picture) as working class so money is limited but as a teenager feels the need to remain on trend in some way.
Accessories: Holdiing and interacting with Apple iPhone to conform to age and class representation
Continuity
We will abide to the rules of continuity throughout the opening, especially in the conversation between the two girls where we will use shot reverse shot.
Treatment- Titles
In order to decide on a font and the style of our title, we looked at similar films to ours to see how they decided to present their fonts.
- Simplistic fonts for example courier
- Simplistic fonts for example courier
- Subtly placed on image
e.g. Somers Town
From looking at Somers Town, we instantly knew we liked the simplistic, subtle font and title placement and will therefore mimic this in our titles.
The order in which the titles appear will be as follows:
Pigeon Productions (Our own production company), Film 4 (Distributors) , BFI Films (Funding)
Then director, assistant director, camera man, actors names etc will appear on the shot image.
Treatment- Visual Style
As a british British Teen Drama, the opening sequence will focus on
presenting the moods of the two main characters at the present moment in their
lives- iitaially a rather closed, emotionless mood expected of teens,
uninterested by their current lives
Both characters have their own focuses during the opening- vivian
friends and louis skateboarding
As a drama, we have ensured to place emphasis on the fateful meeting of
the character, leaving the viewer uncertain as to the relationship that has
been sparked and engaging them whilst also indicating what the narrative
revolves around: love struck teens with racial contrasting- white vs black-
stereotypes clear but also opposed
similar to somers town and submarine- both british- open with music and
introduce main characters with little dialogue- more focused on setting the
scene
Submarine Opening Sequence:
Submarine Opening Sequence:
Lighting
We will start filming early in the day in order to both ensure pedestrian flow is as low as possible and also so that we can utilize the short-lasting daylight at this time of year, and ensure for continuity reasons that the lighting is not lost as filming progresses, preventing the need for extra lighting equipment and avoiding the risk of running out of shoot time.
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| Misfits- British Urban Drama TV Show |
Ensuring Professional Style
We will ensure that our film looks professional by:
- Following the rules of continuity
- Having producer and distributor logos at the beginning of the opening- Shooting with professional equipment
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| Tripod |
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