This was our final edit of our film “mislead” this was a great change to test my editing skills. I believe the final edit went well and this is our finished result.
ENJOY!
Many thanks for all your help dean!
Category Archives: Introduction To Lens Based Media
Rough footage edit
Thursday was a blast we got lots of great footage and it was all great stuff. I quickly threw together a small rough edit of our film to see what other shots where needed.
After the rough edit I let the guys know that we were going to have to re film some of our pub shots luckily they were all in doors. The pressure of pulling all the things together has eased now. We’re still a while off completion, but now the abilities of my teammates have been demonstrated, I’m confident that time management is not an issue. Looking forward to filming on Wednesday.
Filming Finished
We have just finished filming and its gone perfectly changing some of the pub interior shots so that it flowed better was some of the key changes. I’m very much looking forward to editing this film. With another no-show from Dan on our second day of filming we were disheartened at the fact there was some filming techniques. DEAN IM FUMING DAN HASN’T SHOWED UP LEAVING 1 CAMERA MAN! This drove me crazy because we needed two camera men “at least” I asked dan why he hadn’t come and helped and he sent an email back but it was still incredibly annoying. We have all offered help, but Dan’s input has been minimal. He offered to produce the title screen and closing credits. Witch never showed.
With the rough footage, we learnt in our Motion Graphics lesson that we could add colour grading and vignette effects to video footage in Adobe After Effects. Once overlaying these effects onto the footage, we were very happy with the outcome and vibe that it gives off.
Wapping Up The Story
After helping Chris out with parts of the script I now feel comfortable using the Celtx software, I now feel that I have confidence in writing a short production, should the need arise again. When we film, I will ensure each of our team members has a script to refer to should things go pear shaped. Although I am aware we do not need to stick to the script line for line, it is defiantly a valuable resource for keeping our story on track.
Script approval and equipment
Our script was approved by our tutor yesterday, and has relieved me massively. Our story was described as well structured with a real twist, blowing our other script away. We are now ready to get filming, and with little over 12 days to complete the project, we’ve no time to spare. We have arranged to meet up at 9:00 AM at University this Thursday to begin filming our short film. A few alterations must be made to the script before we go ahead, but Dean was more than happy to sign the forms giving our filming the go ahead.
Booking the equipment at University is a complex of tasks including getting signed approval forms from tutors, actors and any non-university affiliated members of the public. When booking the equipment we had to take into considerations the time frame and the locations of where we had to film. We decided against booking a lighting kit as most of our film is situated in public areas, and may possibly object upon a whole lighting rig in the middle of an open pub.
We’ve booked out:
- Canon HF10′s X 2
- Medium Tripod X 2
- External Microphone & Boom
We are fortunate enough to have Grant Francis in our group. He lives in the campus’ halls, and is able to house the equipment. His conveniently local residence is also where we hope to shoot the beginning sequence of our film.
Script Decisions
As script is a specially formatted document that details a screen or stage production. It is not written in a story kind of way, but rather from the point of view of the audience. All of what the camera can see and hear is detailed in the script. Adjectives are not used to describe anything that is not real or of importance to the viewable screen. Scripts are also made to be simple and legible so that they can be printed and easily referenced.
A person’s thoughts would not be described in the scene, but their actions would. A script tells the story from a visual point. Scripts have also got a very particular style of formatting that separate scene headings from dialogue from action.
We have been introduced into a script-writing piece of software called Cetlx. This program is superb for creating perfectly formatted scripts. It also has several other tools for producing productions including the ability to print cue cards and shot templates for cameramen.
Over the last week, Chris Hoare, Grant Francis and I had an idea of producing a film that revolved around a man who comes across a light switch that turned the world black and white. He then rushes home and uses his oddly identical switch to turn back the world into colour. His friend then comes in and flicks the switch, plunging the world into black.
Towards the end of the lesson, he told us that going back to the drawing board is sometimes the best approach. It was a blow, and although we now have no script, we have learnt valuable lesson for our creative practice; that we should not stick to the first idea that we come up with!
Camera techniques! HF10’s
To shoot our short film, we will be using Canon HF10′s. These are compact high definition cameras that are class leaders with their performance. In our recent lesson we had the opportunity to get used to the feel of the cameras, making sure we were aware of certain controls such as zoom and white balance.
Another piece of information that was valuable to us was the battery life and memory card size. Because high definition video encapsulates more pixels (1920 X 1080), every frame is larger in size than a camera with a smaller sensor. Therefore if the footage is larger, it will take up more space on the memory card quicker than video of lower quality. The memory cards included with the camera are 16GB as well as having another 16GB of on-board storage.
Here’s what we learnt about the camera:
- Shoots in Full HD – 1080p
- 32GB memory = 4 hours of footage (at Full HD)
- 3 hour battery life
- 12x Optical Zoom
- Suitable for use with external microphone
- Manual settings for white balance
Our group was very happy when shown these cameras as we could see from the price of them, that they were more than just for holiday videos. Although they did not have a manual focus that we feel we could have experimented with to get some cool footage, we were pleased as a whole.
During our most recent lesson we were instructed to locate the white balance settings or the camera so that we could calibrate them properly when shooting in poorly lit scenes. I learnt that as people, we can determine what we know white looks like from memory, but a camera cannot. A came attempts to pick the lightest part of what it’s looking at to determine how it conditions the colours in the scene. Auto white balance tries to compensate for the lack of white by making the colours either warmer or cooler dependent on the type of light it thinks it’s seeing. Sometimes this works, although it often doesn’t. Manual white balance allows the user of the camera to choose what in the frame is white.
After researching, I found out that clapperboards have black and white stripes on them not only to make the clap easily seen, but also to allow the cameraman to calibrate the white balance accordingly with a real object.
Collaboration
At the moment, this project is going quite slowly. We have to come up with a story to shoot and edit for the deadline in just over a month. I’m not at a panicking point yet, but I do want to get at least the story sorted. Working in a group is a brilliant way to exchange ideas and share thoughts, but because we all live apart, it becomes increasingly difficult to collaborate. We are all friends in our group, but time management when we all have jobs and other responsibilities mean that there is a slim chance of us all having free time together.
Camera techniques
To shoot our short film, we will be using Canon HF10′s. These are compact high definition cameras that are class leaders with their performance. In our recent lesson we had the opportunity to get used to the feel of the cameras, making sure we were aware of certain controls such as zoom and white balance.
Another piece of information that was valuable to us was the battery life and memory card size. Because high definition video encapsulates more pixels (1920 X 1080), every frame is larger in size than a camera with a smaller sensor. Therefore if the footage is larger, it will take up more space on the memory card quicker than video of lower quality. The memory cards included with the camera are 16GB as well as having another 16GB of on-board storage.
Here’s what we learnt about the camera:
- Shoots in Full HD – 1080p
- 32GB memory = 4 hours of footage (at Full HD)
- 3 hour battery life
- 12x Optical Zoom
- Suitable for use with external microphone
- Manual settings for white balance
Our group was very happy when shown these cameras as we could see from the price of them, that they were more than just for holiday videos. Although they did not have a manual focus that we feel we could have experimented with to get some cool footage, we were pleased as a whole.
During our most recent lesson we were instructed to locate the white balance settings or the camera so that we could calibrate them properly when shooting in poorly lit scenes. I learnt that as people, we can determine what we know white looks like from memory, but a camera cannot. A came attempts to pick the lightest part of what it’s looking at to determine how it conditions the colours in the scene. Auto white balance tries to compensate for the lack of white by making the colours either warmer or cooler dependent on the type of light it thinks it’s seeing. Sometimes this works, although it often doesn’t. Manual white balance allows the user of the camera to choose what in the frame is white.
After researching, I found out that clapperboards have black and white stripes on them not only to make the clap easily seen, but also to allow the cameraman to calibrate the white balance accordingly with a real object.
The Plan:
What was going to happen:
One of the most important skills for the task will be the effectiveness as working as part of a team. To set ourselves each a role or two, will mean that we can all get on without hindering anyone else. The hardest part of this process is choosing who will be good at doing certain things. I am confident, that I am in a group of diverse and creative individuals with a high caliber of creative ambition.
Should he who comes up with the story assume ownership of the task, or should it be the person with the most experience? Questions like these need to be asked, so we know who’s doing what.
Jobs given to each of us are:
Director, Script Writer, Secondary Actor (if needed): Chris Hoare
Chief Editor & Producer, Primary Actor: Me – Ollie Lister
Director Of Photography, Logistical Planning, Safety Official: Grant Francis
Bits And Bobs: Dan Terry
These tasks are the most important for shooting our film, and any other tasks are most probably dependent on the chosen story.
We have chosen these tasks and assigned them to the person who we feel as a group will undertake them seriously and give them 100%. Both Dan & I have advanced editing and production skills that Grant and Myself were very happy to hear. Grant Francis lives at the university halls of residence, and is therefore the man we can rely on too store the equipment, along with checking out the local areas that we can use to film.
Rethinking The Script
Our idea for a script, which we have now dismissed was to show the hardship of a single male, trying to ask out a girl. We thought this idea had a solid grounding and was relative to us, the creators of the film. The idea consisted of an unsuspecting girl that a boy so desperately tries to build up the courage to ask out.
It was not however until the next step of working out who would be in the story, that we noticed a small problem. One of the main actresses in the story would of have to been a girl. The challenge would not have necessarily been in the creation of the film, but finding a girl who would be good enough, and willing to go through the filming process would have proved difficult.
The story also wasn’t particularly captivating, but who knows, maybe if we had chosen to stick with it, it may have turned out well.
After all i think we have made a good decision not going with this script it didn’t have enough substance.
Oliver Lister's 