We've had a very rocky last half of finalising our edit together; at the last minute we decided on cutting out the narration whole together, as we felt it sounded better without it. This was a huge decision to make as the whole half of our final piece was meant to integrate the narration to help move along the narrative.
Recording the sounds went pretty well overall, however it took us a while to gather everything we wanted... We resorted to recording sound effects in bursts, as a majority of the time we were busy/had something scheduled, so we were forced to re-arrange another time to meet to finish off the recordings.
PROBLEMS - We hit a few dead-ends whilst trying to record, some equipment was faulty, for example the headphones and a shotgun mic, this forced us to head all the way back into Uni (stores) to return and swap the equipment. If i have learned one major thing to take on board for future reference, is to test/check the equipment before leaving.
Another problem we came across was only receiving one connecting cable lead with two shotgun mics in-which we intended to record stereo.. this furthermore emphasises the need to check the equipment before leaving.
As for the editing, initially it was a long and steady process of logging every sound we had into Soundtrack Pro (SP) and re-naming them.. this took up heaps of time and forced us to return to editing the following day... Once we had began the editing we knew exactly what we were doing. I began by creating the intro, introducing the egg frying clip whilst layering the running up the stairs clips, brushing teeth, the knock on the door etc. What we had learned in the workshop sessions really helped with the editing we were doing on the day - The shortcuts, editing in fade-ins/face-outs quickly and efficiently, layering and altering the EQ/compressing options.
Personally I feel our final piece was satisfactory, nothing we did was too out of the ordinary or ground-breaking. Perhaps I think we should have kept in the narration because it may have made the whole piece more interesting.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Sense of Space - Further inspiration
This famous scene from the award-winning 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) directed by Steven Spielberg has always been a strong influence/inspiration for me.. The way the sound changes from above the water and under the water really makes you, the audience feel you're there with them.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Sense of Space Inspiration
Inspiration never really came from anything specific.. in other words the inspiration I had was gathered from a wide-range of external sources. From movies, to radio sound-clips, games and everyday sounds in real life.
Sat on the train and closing my eyes whilst on a journey ironically opened my eyes to the sounds in our every day world; subtle background laughter that can be heard from the other end of the carriage, the subtle back and forth movement of the train as it sways on the tracks and the sound of a fast train approaching and swooshing past me with it's horn.
Walking through town also opened up my eyes to potential sounds to form a log - The rain bouncing off the tarmac and a leaking drainpipe that drips on the floor creating an almost 'echoey' noise.
As for inspiration that may have influenced our final piece, I would say that 'cliche' horror movies such as 'Scream' (1996) directed by Wes Craven and 'The Ring'(2002) directed by Gore Verbinski
These two movies offer some of the most well-known sounds that are associated with horror/thriller movies. They use soundtracks and sound effects to convey tension, atmosphere and fear.
Knocks at the door, phones ringing, creaking doors and unsettling voices are all juxtaposed together to create what is seen as an effective range of sounds.
Sat on the train and closing my eyes whilst on a journey ironically opened my eyes to the sounds in our every day world; subtle background laughter that can be heard from the other end of the carriage, the subtle back and forth movement of the train as it sways on the tracks and the sound of a fast train approaching and swooshing past me with it's horn.
Walking through town also opened up my eyes to potential sounds to form a log - The rain bouncing off the tarmac and a leaking drainpipe that drips on the floor creating an almost 'echoey' noise.
As for inspiration that may have influenced our final piece, I would say that 'cliche' horror movies such as 'Scream' (1996) directed by Wes Craven and 'The Ring'(2002) directed by Gore Verbinski
Knocks at the door, phones ringing, creaking doors and unsettling voices are all juxtaposed together to create what is seen as an effective range of sounds.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Sense of Space Planning
My partner (Christi) and I spent many days planning on the piece we were going to create.. many ideas were thrown around from the idea of portraying life and death, to a sci-fi piece. Eventually we thought of an idea that seemed to gel together well..
Our first idea was to create a thriller piece that situates the main protagonist in his home, who'm is then chased after and killed by a murderer. Whilst portraying this through the use of sound, we also decided on using narration in the piece.. the narrator was to be in fact the victim of the attack (the main protagonist) looking down from heaven, discussing what happened that dreadful night.
However after the feedback we received, more ideas were thrown around the room and we settled on changing the narrator from the perspective of the victim, to the perspective of the killer. Although we weren't to make it obvious that the narrator was in fact the killer, until the end of the piece.
In the early stages we created a sound map that outlined our main idea -
On top of that we created more notes on what sounds we needed to collect, along with brainstorming ideas -
Our first idea was to create a thriller piece that situates the main protagonist in his home, who'm is then chased after and killed by a murderer. Whilst portraying this through the use of sound, we also decided on using narration in the piece.. the narrator was to be in fact the victim of the attack (the main protagonist) looking down from heaven, discussing what happened that dreadful night.
However after the feedback we received, more ideas were thrown around the room and we settled on changing the narrator from the perspective of the victim, to the perspective of the killer. Although we weren't to make it obvious that the narrator was in fact the killer, until the end of the piece.
In the early stages we created a sound map that outlined our main idea -
On top of that we created more notes on what sounds we needed to collect, along with brainstorming ideas -
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Camera and Edit: Exercise 1 Problem!
Nooo, this afternoon has been aweful.. we set off from Uni early afternoon to film some footage for our camera and edit project, two hours in we weren't doing bad at all, until we got an error on the XM2 camera saying the tape-deck or what not needs a good old clean... So we thought oh, okay then, and whipped out the tape-deck cleaner. Cleaning took place after having to work out what to do and all seemed well. This was until we decided to view the footage we had recorded in the last hour or so.
Dun, dun, duuuuuuurn for some reason all our footage was not there, apart from half a minutes worth that had gray bars across every clip. A very unhappy/annoyed Lewis and James was not what we were expecting. So, it looks like Friday will be a very long day indeed -_-
Dun, dun, duuuuuuurn for some reason all our footage was not there, apart from half a minutes worth that had gray bars across every clip. A very unhappy/annoyed Lewis and James was not what we were expecting. So, it looks like Friday will be a very long day indeed -_-
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Portrait of Place - Equipment and Editing
The camera we ended up taking out from stores was the XM2.. Various problems occurred whilst we were shooting on location including the camera resetting its settings every time we turned the camera off and on again. Luckily James (who mainly controlled the camera) noticed this immediately so we were able to work around it.
The weather conditions and lighting conditions changed throughout the day, so when it came to the post-production stage we had to select each clip and adjust the brightness settings to make the final piece 'believable'.
We received some positive/critical feedback when showing our rough-cut of the video. We took the comments into consideration and altered our video accordingly. Luckily a vast majority of the footage we filmed was useable, this allowed us to create an almost '3 minute clip' (2 mins 58 seconds overall). The criticism we received included comments about some of the shots being 'fillers', so we adjusted this and included more shots that seemed to fit with what was happening on screen.
The weather conditions and lighting conditions changed throughout the day, so when it came to the post-production stage we had to select each clip and adjust the brightness settings to make the final piece 'believable'.
We received some positive/critical feedback when showing our rough-cut of the video. We took the comments into consideration and altered our video accordingly. Luckily a vast majority of the footage we filmed was useable, this allowed us to create an almost '3 minute clip' (2 mins 58 seconds overall). The criticism we received included comments about some of the shots being 'fillers', so we adjusted this and included more shots that seemed to fit with what was happening on screen.
Portrait of Place - Edale Cinematography and Ideas
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| Wide, extreme long shot to display the opening setting |
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| Tripod MCU, to create a contrast between the two |
The following shot, after the blackout, reveals a still shot of some grass gently swaying in the wind. It creates a sense of place and connection with nature, whilst giving the illusion that someone may be watching, hiding in the undergrowth. Personally i find it highly effective combing long, expansive shots with close-up, more 'personal shots' as i feel it adds variety and takes the audience from one extreme to another.
The blackouts used were intentional to create enigma in the narrative. They were to promote connotations/connections to the main protagonist's mind and what he's thinking. They also allow the audience to interpret them in their own way.. perhaps they indicate the main character's delve into madness.
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| Still shot from behind, providing a sense of place |
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| Hand-held, more 'intimate' shot |
This shot, featured just over the half way point in the video is a complete contrast to the first half of the film. In this section, we aimed for a more personal, hand-held 'action' sequence to make the audience feel more involved in the protagonist's world. By using visual metaphors I feel it has helped portray loneliness (the main theme we were aiming for).
Overall, I feel that we have achieved the goals we were aiming for, however perhaps given more time, we could have expanded upon our original idea to create a more interesting movie. The combination of shots and the connection between nature and loneliness seems to have been successfully highlighted in out final piece.
The editing stage proved to be fun, yet heavily time-consuming and sometimes consuming. We stumbled across a variety of problems from cutting up the tape into separate clips, to exporting the final piece onto a 'DVD menu' format. These problems were obviously resolved (thankfully!!) but it has helped us gain experience for future projects. Given more time, i definitely feel we could have gone away to create a more interesting, tighter edit. However I think getting to grips with Final Cut more may be more important at this stage than worrying about further editing.
Inspiration came from films, videos I have created in the past, pictures, internet videos and more. I prefer to apply ideas from many different forms of media into my own work, as well as introducing my own, original ideas.. If you were to put a title on our piece, I would say it's an 'Experimental video' that focuses upon the exploration of a person in a place, heavily touching upon the theme of solitude.
Final piece title - 'Solitude'
Portrait of place - Project
Ideas and inspiration for our final piece were sourced from various media extracts. For example, I thought back to the 'No Country For Old Men' opening sequence and really enjoyed the cinematography that was used. I felt as if the huge, wide landscaped shots would work effectively in our own project.
Initially i thought upon the idea of a person running/escaping from something, perhaps himself. We weren't too sure upon how to expand upon that until my partner, James came up with the idea of using the original idea to further create a contrast between a person in an empty space i.e. the countryside, where it's vast, open and lonely. We then further built upon that idea by creating a sense of enigma to disorientate the viewer, and further make the audience question what's actually happening on screen - for example what or who is the main protagonist running away from? Has he delved into madness? Etc.
The non-linear narrative in my opinion appears to have been proven successful; by using contrasts between nature and the main protagonist, as well as a variety of camera shots.
These two shots are just an example of what helped inspired us
Initially i thought upon the idea of a person running/escaping from something, perhaps himself. We weren't too sure upon how to expand upon that until my partner, James came up with the idea of using the original idea to further create a contrast between a person in an empty space i.e. the countryside, where it's vast, open and lonely. We then further built upon that idea by creating a sense of enigma to disorientate the viewer, and further make the audience question what's actually happening on screen - for example what or who is the main protagonist running away from? Has he delved into madness? Etc.
The non-linear narrative in my opinion appears to have been proven successful; by using contrasts between nature and the main protagonist, as well as a variety of camera shots.
These two shots are just an example of what helped inspired us
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
'High Rise' - Gabrielle Russel, 2002
The short video 'High Rise', made in 2002 directed by Gabrielle features a mother of one, who appears to be suffering from post-natal depression. The young mother seizes her chance to perhaps change her life when her baby crawls towards an open window that could ultimately end in death.
The key element that stood out to me the most in the video was depression; how the video was slow in pace and gradually got more tense over time. The pace related/connoted how the mother was feeling, a slow, uneventful life that she wishes to escape from.
Sound was used highly effectively in this video and i found the technique Garbielle used was very interesting. The key moment that captured the essence of the video for me was when the mother walked out of her living room, leaving the baby alone in the room to effortlessly climb towards the open window. Ambience and tension rises as she approaches and exits the room, following with a sudden fade/cut-out of the sound when she closes the door. I found this highly effective and interesting because this technique clearly provides connotations of the mother's mind; she wanted to escape everything and believed that 'shutting everything out' was the best possible way.
Another technique in which i found creative and interesting was the use of a hand-held camera that created a dreamlike flow to the video. It kept the audience engaged and involved in the scene without making it too obvious that the camera was slowly swaying from side to side.
One final technique that has been used countless times yet is still highly effective, was the use of high panning/tracking shots in the beginning that showed multiple windows. The camera then focuses on one particular window and gives the audience a sense of that we're seeing just one of many different stories hidden behind one window. (Voyeurism)
Overall i enjoyed this video as it created a true sense of tension and emotion.
The key element that stood out to me the most in the video was depression; how the video was slow in pace and gradually got more tense over time. The pace related/connoted how the mother was feeling, a slow, uneventful life that she wishes to escape from.
Sound was used highly effectively in this video and i found the technique Garbielle used was very interesting. The key moment that captured the essence of the video for me was when the mother walked out of her living room, leaving the baby alone in the room to effortlessly climb towards the open window. Ambience and tension rises as she approaches and exits the room, following with a sudden fade/cut-out of the sound when she closes the door. I found this highly effective and interesting because this technique clearly provides connotations of the mother's mind; she wanted to escape everything and believed that 'shutting everything out' was the best possible way.
Another technique in which i found creative and interesting was the use of a hand-held camera that created a dreamlike flow to the video. It kept the audience engaged and involved in the scene without making it too obvious that the camera was slowly swaying from side to side.
One final technique that has been used countless times yet is still highly effective, was the use of high panning/tracking shots in the beginning that showed multiple windows. The camera then focuses on one particular window and gives the audience a sense of that we're seeing just one of many different stories hidden behind one window. (Voyeurism)
Overall i enjoyed this video as it created a true sense of tension and emotion.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
'Christmas With Dad' 2008 Documentary
'Christmas With Dad' 2008 Directed by Conor Mccormack
The short documentary 'Christmas With Dad'(2008) has a variety of themes running throughout. Their is an element of 'poverty' within the family, this is emphasised through the use of shots that feature some of the children walking around practically nude with unclean faces. The theme of an uncertain future is clearly seen in this documentary, hand-held cameras help create a sense of naturalism i.e. the audience is potentially seeing a realistic representation of the family's lifestyle. The sounds used in this video mainly consisted around diegetic sounds. The non-diegetic sounds used in the documentary appear to be simple melodic tunes that connect one scene/shot to another. They work well with the given themes that run throughout the documentary.
The film's main focus is the idea of a poor standard of living, and how these people live compared to others. I enjoyed the video because it evolved around it's main theme effectively, it highlighted the difficulties the family are going through and showed their way of life. The video was successful in dealing with its subject matter due to the small 'interviews' and talks they included combined with natural shots of an 'average' day in the household.
The short documentary 'Christmas With Dad'(2008) has a variety of themes running throughout. Their is an element of 'poverty' within the family, this is emphasised through the use of shots that feature some of the children walking around practically nude with unclean faces. The theme of an uncertain future is clearly seen in this documentary, hand-held cameras help create a sense of naturalism i.e. the audience is potentially seeing a realistic representation of the family's lifestyle. The sounds used in this video mainly consisted around diegetic sounds. The non-diegetic sounds used in the documentary appear to be simple melodic tunes that connect one scene/shot to another. They work well with the given themes that run throughout the documentary.
The film's main focus is the idea of a poor standard of living, and how these people live compared to others. I enjoyed the video because it evolved around it's main theme effectively, it highlighted the difficulties the family are going through and showed their way of life. The video was successful in dealing with its subject matter due to the small 'interviews' and talks they included combined with natural shots of an 'average' day in the household.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Lincoln bound!
A few of us drove to Lincoln on Friday night to stop in a friend's flat who's at Lincoln University. Went out and had an awesome night, got in ridiculously late!
I was thinking the other day that I'd really like to shoot some footage at my work in the cellar.. I work in a bar so i figure it could be a pretty interesting setting.
Just a picture from friday night :D wa'laa
I was thinking the other day that I'd really like to shoot some footage at my work in the cellar.. I work in a bar so i figure it could be a pretty interesting setting.
Just a picture from friday night :D wa'laa
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Interesting mini-movie
I REALLY like this short video and the way it transitions between life and death http://youtu.be/FxoEVw5prcE
Productive Lewis, what?
I've had a productive night! These happen every once in a blue moon :DD so Lew's completely changed his layout for this blogging site because quite frankly it was bleugh. Hmmmm what else? Well i've completed my 'homework' haha, (it doesn't feel right calling it homework, we're in Uni now not school) not that it bothers me!? Okay where was i... a'yus, rented out some sound recording equipment and walked around the house thinking of anything to record, if I'm lucky enough i'll have something decent to work with come Monday.
I've done more productive things but i'll spare you the boredom, back to listening to some Blink One Eighty Two (8)
I've done more productive things but i'll spare you the boredom, back to listening to some Blink One Eighty Two (8)
Blah blah blah
If you're bored and looking for small doses of inspiration in making films, i'd recommend checking out 'FreddieW' on Youtube. He's this guy who mainly creates action videos but uses really cool equipment and locations to bring his videos to life, and that's not mentioning some of the special effects used in the majority of his videos
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031Dshcnso4 for some short entertainment :)
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031Dshcnso4 for some short entertainment :)
My first blog..
So I've just signed up to 'Blogspot' and I'm guessing it's like Twitter, where i tell you all useless information that you probably don't care about aside from a few golden gems. Not too keen on the idea of blogging but hey'hoooo better get into the routine of it x)
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