The Edit Begins..

During today’s production meetings with the tutors we discussed where our film was at, what footage we had shot and where we wanted to take our film now. This was an important meeting as from this point we will be able to tell what the outcome of our film will be like after seeking through the footage and gaining various feedback on our work to date, also with some tips for improvement.

First of all we discussed how we thought the shoot had gone which is what I wrote up on my blog yesterday, this led us into showing the tutors our footage. With not actually having looked through all of the footage ourselves yet we showed the best shots that we had seen in our short playback sessions after the shoots and those that stood our according to our Continuity Edit Forms. Below are some screen shots of some of the clips we showed;

The shot above is tracking shot I particularly like this shot as we filmed several of the same shot throughout the store using different aisles and the distance adds to his loneliness.

Again talking about the characters loneliness this shot captures this again with Daniel as the tiniest  pinpoint in the distance, just before he reaches the final stage of letting go. suggesting where his conscience is at at this moment, not quite ready to go forth with what he is about to. I really like all of the shots we took in the St Nicholas Church location as there is so much depth to the shots and even the colours add to the dreariness of Daniels life at this time.

This shot is not one of my most favoured ones however that moment when he looks up the stairs as though looking up to his wife is a real touching moment in the film and the further events like this add to the longing to see his wife again.

Next this close-up of the anniversary card is the first time the audience begin to grasp the story and this is the moment when and audience first expects to meet his wife. I like the off-centre framing of this shot as he pulls the card towards him, this will be followed by a point of view shot of his face as he looks again longing for his wife. Moments like these are really important to the story and I think in the edit these are the shots that will slow down the pace as the other parts of the scene will be quite quickly edited then when a moment like this appears it gives time for the audience to think about the character and relate with him, which becomes more and more clearer what the audience is relating with (loss) as the story unfolds.

This was useful to do as we were able to see exactly what the shots looked like, however one of the problems we did have was finding the right clips as none of them had been labelled nor were they in a time-line. The tutors were able to give us some feedback particularly on our lighting set-up and some issues we may face with grading due to this. Also they commented on as a whole how well shot the piece seemed to be as we had an array of shots/angles for every scene, which was very good to hear but we will see if this is the case when an actual edit has been put together. Another issue with showing footage this way was that you could not get a real sense of the films pace, story and continuity as as it stands there is no structure to the piece. Therefore we set ourselves a target for the next two hours to pull together a rough cut of the film so that we could get a sense of the previous and be able to receive more constructive feedback.

During the rough cut we stuck closely to the structure of the script and as a whole used shots that were held for a long period of time in the scenes, as still the clips had not been labelled and therefore finding all of the close-ups we wanted to insert in such a short time period was highly time consuming. Therefore after the edit had been seen I took it upon myself to sort through the clips, labelling each as I went and inserting those that were not so good into a ‘Not Using’ folder so should we need to use them later on we still had copies of them but all of the ‘best’ shots were all in one place. The edit once together stood at 6min 45sec, which still did not give justice to the film in terms of pace however the structure and the fitting together of dialogue/atmospheric sound became apparent. At this point we realised how important the sound design would be in the final edit and how unimportant some of the dialogue seemed, as although we can see by his facial expressions how he is feeling I think that it would be even more effective with the correct atmospheric sound and possibly some form of voice over, also in terms of the dialogue some of the lines come across half-hearted when played back compared to when we actually filmed which is quite problematic as our piece is quite emotive – when the tutors came back we spoke to them about this. During this discussion we spoke about re-recording some of the sound which we had already anticipated like in the supermarket where because we were filming after hours there was no one in the store and there were constant bangs of the staff stocking shelves, however this sound we still wanted to keep to a minimum without the hustle bustle of a normal supermarket to highlight how empty Daniel’s life is, also in the house we want to record the sound of a TV/Radio crackling in the background to make it seem as though he could have company in the house, although it is clear that he has not as this is one of the key things about his piece making the audience think that his wife is still there. At the discussion it also came about about a voice over but possibly not from Daniel but from a narrator/point of view, as this would give the piece a whole new level of onlooking and I think would add to the audiences emotions and bring more of their involvement into the film. This we thought about in the form of poetry/monologue which is something we researched after the meeting. The voice over we would like to write ourselves but draw from other pieces for inspiration, as through this we would like to show the development of his thoughts from his love for his wife ‘like a poem for an anniversary’ that moves to the stages of bereavement to finally letting go. I really like this idea of a poem as it will en-capture the story through another level if written well and through some extra research it will be interesting to see exactly what stages people go through in the grieving process and look at pieces they have written. This is quite close to home as this is a process I have been through, as have most of my group, but with a grandparent and not a lover – so in the research it will be eye-opening to see how this differs.

Moving on during the rest of the feedback there were a few more suggestions made about the edit – using a stabiliser effect to make some of the shots less ‘jerky’ which is a very useful tool to have, this was of particular notice in the tracking shots in the supermarket although the tracks were all connected correctly with no gaps and they were placed on a flat surface. When we tested out this effect a couple of days later it does make a lot of difference to the presentation of the shot and takes away the slight movement. We will also apply this to a couple of the other shots as although every shot was shot using a tripod there is some slight movement in selected shots which could have been down to not having the tilt/pan locked off, but with this effect we have solved the problem. Finally the order of the edit was mentioned and it was suggested that we could move away from the linear narrative by playing with the structure of the scenes, so for example we tried this with the extreme long shot of Daniel walking through the trees and placed this at the beginning as a way to set the scene for the audience and using the same shot later on where he is closer to the camera. I liked this was of structuring the piece as the opening shot was much more interesting and draws the spectator in compared to what we initially had at the beginning (Daniel eating), which was quite mundane and almost questioned why exactly does an audience want to watch it.

After this we had a group meeting to discuss the outcomes and brought together our thoughts. As a whole we were pleased with the feedback as a lot of it was what we were expecting and I think that although there is still a lot of work to do given that we still have two weeks everything is possible so long as we keep on top of what needs doing. At this point we designated who was to do what so as to not waste and time. From here onwards Matt and Faye were to edit and therefore would gain feedback from the group when we met and receive the extra parts of the edit to insert as and when they were ready – sound clips, voice over piece, also look into grading in more detail. Kayleigh was to look in detail at the sound development and bring in what sounds were needed for the edit. Then Lydia and I as Co-Producers were left to over see the films development, research for the voice over and pass on this information for Kayleigh to write and help with sound recording and any other components that need completing. We have a lot to do over this next week yet I think we will in turn for our hard work produce something to certainly be proud of.

That night I went away and researched into bereavement/grieving stages for the voice over, below are a selected few that I found would develop our ideas for what we would like to write as a poem;

First of all I found a site which allowed me to see the seven stages of grieving and looking at the final stage this was: ‘Acceptance and Hope’.

you learn to accept and and deal with the reality of your situation. Acceptance does not necessarily mean instant happiness. Given the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled YOU that existed before this tragedy. But you will find a way forward.

I think that this is a vital moment in the stages of grieving because of course you will never get over something as such so quickly and from experience it is something that will stick with you forever and it is something that you think about each and ever day no matter how hard you try not to. So in terms of the poetic piece we would like to write I would like to see a quite emotive journey underlying beneath it as we follow Daniel on his final journey.

Another site I came across was really helpful in terms of wording: http://www.thebereavementjourney.com/Poetry/index.htm The selection of poems that people have written, it is clear is from the heart and although in our piece we do not want Daniel to be saying it, it is still from his perspective and I would like to see the development of this and his train of thoughts from start to finish as it begins with his ‘undying’ love through to that acceptance that Ellie has gone and she will be missed greatly.

Some of the poems I found really useful I have labelled below and just added in the lines that stood out and read almost as I would like to see our poem read;

(For For Moms Memorial – Linda M Noyola)

I listen for your voice in the sighs of the wind

I find you in everything.

You said you’ll always be with me

You are as close as my breath.

We cannot be apart

The words used here particularly in lines 4/5 I like how although it speaks of death and missing the person it could also be used to describe them if they were still with us. Which in terms of wording is how I would like the first few verses of our poem to sound like. Also line 1 just stands out and really made me think about how you are always expectant to hear the person one more time and for the case of Daniel, his wife this is something so poignant particularly as in the film we want to have moments where we see him reminiscing, thinking about her which is a very important part of the process.

(Superman – Elizabeth Casella)

I stand within this room blanked and stripped of your essence

Please forgive me, I didn’t hear you. Were you calling me? If only a little louder

I search for your face, I search for a sign, where are you? Reveal yourself to me, Oh I know, you will be there in person soon, so my heart tries to deceive me, Oh will this nail ever be taken from my heart?

I also like the form of the poem above – as though talking to the person and how the lines are broken up by pauses listing the emptiness of their lives now, yet still expectant of their loved ones person.The use of questions are really moving as well, as they open up the thoughts of an onlooker to the poem and deepens their awareness of the loss.

Moving on from this I found a couple of videos that also had some really interesting lyrics/lines;

Loss – Sebastian Deledda:

Take a breath

Take another step

Take one more

Take a breath and let it go

Now another day has come live once more

Now another day is done here’s the sun

Now another day is new live this one

We just might make it through

What I liked about these lyrics is the repetition and the simple structure as this gives the audience a time to think and engage in more depth rather than trying to analyse a complicated text with a deeper hidden meaning. Also the first part to the lyrics strikes me as the first notion of coming to terms with a loss ‘take a breath’, the line is simple and informative. However although I would like to hear a poem that is self explanatory I think that this style is too simple and only has a light ‘on the surface’ meaning.

Tonight I Hold This Candle:

My love will shine through

I close my eyes there are so many things I want you to know

I miss you

Again I like the short, simple lines used here which allow thinking time but there is something about the delivery that is not right when watching the video and some of the lines really stand out as ‘cheap’ rather than well thought about – take line 1 I drew out above for instance, which lets the whole piece down that is something we will need to look out for when writing our own.

Finally, How to Save a Life – The Fray

Where did I go wrong

I lost a friend

Some where alone in the bitterness

And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Looking at the lyrics to this well known song sums up exactly how Daniel is feeling in the film, he has lost his best friend his sole mate as it were and the questions that are asked throughout the lyrics ‘where did I go wrong’ are all the types of questions you ask yourself at this time of bereavement. This is quite a good angle to look at the situation and that self-blame is one of the early stages of loss, so although I don’t think that this way of writing is the way we would like to for the end poem I would like it to have some sense of questioning that results in why do these things happen?

In conclusion to all of my research I now feel a lot more aware of how to write about feelings and hope that when I pass my research and explanations on Kayleigh will see the same. The poem needs to have real depth to it and I think the best form would be in short verses and bursts of various elements so for example; memories, figure of his imaginations of her, sensing her warmth, emptiness and letting go.

One of the early versions of the poem written by Kayleigh is as follows;

EDIT ONE OF POEM

Blissful happiness when I see you smile
The glint in your eyes so bright
Sitting, talking, times going so fast
Rushing past in indecent haste

One year has passed since that crisp autumn day
The White dress of linen still hangs
I still see your smile, much larger than life
Ready for our next big adventure

I hear your voice through the whisper of the wind
The crunching of leaves beneath my feet
Sometimes its nature just calling to me
Just one last step, one last breath, one last touch

The wonder of realisation is a beautiful thing
The loss of the loneliness I feel
You are not to be pitied in your peaceful slumber
No last step, no last breath, no last touch

Firstly I really like the style of her writing and the short verses allow for the thinking time, also when read out loud it reads really well and fluidly fits verse by verse telling that story and adding to his journey. However there are a few problems with this version there is a few repetitions which seem irrelevant (her smile), the repetition seems unintentional which is why it does not work whereas if it had been purposely inserted to the start of both consecutive verses. Also the ‘Autumn’ day, because of when we filmed the scene is certainly not autumn and more early spring like therefore this part of the poem is not fitting with time and space, taking away from the actual story. After making these changes and developing the notions through the verses we came up with a second version which Kayleigh, Lydia and I worked on to get it right:

EDIT ME/LYDIA

The wonder of realisation is a beautiful thing
I hear your voice through the whisper of the wind
Sitting talking times going so fast
It seems so hard to forget the past

The white linen dress still hangs high
I find it so hard to say goodbye
The glint in your eyes so bright
Everything seems so perfectly right

Blissful happiness when I see your smile
A year has passed since that walk down the aisle
An empty house, an empty chair
A wifes love no longer there

You can remember her and only that shes gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on
You are not pittied in your peaceful slumber
No last step, no last breath, no last wonder

Your heart can be empty because you no longer see
But I feel your still with me finally free
As the sky calls you home you fly like a bird
My sweetheart, my love, dont say another word

Its hard to move on, its hard to cope
I wish for you back but can only hope
A gap in time even I cannot undo
Dearest Ellie I miss you

I much prefer this version and when you read through it you can feel the journey of emotions, from verse 1 where he appreciates her for her beauty, verse 2 the connection is lost but it could be through anything, verse 3 missing her now she has gone, verse 4 trying to think about the good times, verse 5 she is still there in spirit and verse 6 he can move on in time. This is really fitting with what we want the audience to understand from the piece, that although times are hard you always find a way to live on. Next and most importantly on the list is getting someone to perform the voice over, it needs to be read with emotion but not to a theatrical point so much so that the visuals still apply and the voice is just in the distance. For this Brian Mansi helped out as he has done many voice overs in the past and we have been pleased with what he has done.

The Shoot

04/03/11

Today we conducted a final Test Shoot to ensure that we would be able to set up the lighting correctly in the house location. The reason for doing the test shoot was so that we knew exactly how we are going to set up the lights tomorrow. One of the main areas we already knew would be an issue with the lighting is in the kitchen and this is down to the room lights being a series of spot lights and the large amount of natural sunlight that on a bright day could wash out the whole room as the window area is so big. We had to use both light sources to make the room look as natural as possible on camera. One slight issue with the lighting as it was, was that the ‘spots’ cast a down shadow on any objects/characters in place which is not what we wanted as we wanted to see the whole of the characters face with only natural shadows, like that that three point lighting gives. This we went on to achieve using a single Dedo light pointing upwards at the spots to counter balance the shadows, and decrease the brightness of the room.

Another aspect we looked at was the JVC-700 camera itself as the most experienced of us all and camera person Matt is unable to join us on day one of the shoot. This could be an issue in the edit as the set up and style of shots could be different later on but Faye the Director will make sure that this will not be the case and guide both camera people on the shoots. However we all refreshed ourselves with the camera as some of us are more experienced than others so that should there be a problem one of us would know it.

During this day we also went over the final shooting schedule for the forthcoming next two days;

Saturday

• 09:00 dress set at house location
• 10:00 actor arrives and brief
• 10:15 begin shoot – all house scenes (kitchen, hallway, leaving, driving off)
• 13:30 lunch break
• 14:00 taxi to graveyard and shoot
• 16:30 depart

Sunday

• 16:00 arrive at Tesco – verify permission and recce again
• 17:00 actor arrives, brief and begin shoot in Tesco
• 19:30 depart

We did the shooting schedule to make sure we are keeping within our time limits when filming, although particularly for the house shoot I have arranged for more than enough time at this location as there are quite a few separate scenes that will need more time than others.

Also today I brought together all of the documents I had written and completed that we would need during the  shoot so that all of the equipment and paperwork is all in one location ready for the morning. This meant the Health and Safety/Risk Assessment Forms for each location, Actor Release Forms, Location Release Forms and Continuity Edit Forms. All of these are vital to have on me as Producer during filming should someone approach us and ask to see any of them and particularly with the Risk Assessment Forms so that we have our own backs covered.

Next together with Faye the Director we went through the Shot List we had put together to check that all of the relevant shots were written down now that we had seen all of the locations, minus one which I am still in the process of contacting (Tesco). We also went through Props Lists and checked the scenery to ensure that all of these objects were in place and all together ready for the shoot.

05/03/11

During the setting up for the shoot in the first hour we gave ourselves, things ran smoothly – the lighting went better than expected as the natural light coming from the window was quite dull meaning we did not have to worry about over-exposure. At this point we designated roles as well as due to Matts absence we had to fill in for the camera person, meaning Faye was Director (as she is), Kayleigh took on the Camera as she felt most confident using the JVC-700, Lydia managed the sound and Boom Mic and I continued with my role of Producer filling out the Continuity Edit Forms, overseeing the whole process, making suggestions where needed and paying particular attention to detail (continuity of object placement, and actor movement). This set up seemed to work well until there were a couple of very minor issues with the camera; Kayleigh was unsure how to fix the focus using the ‘back-focus’ at this point I stepped in as I was aware how to manage this and fixed the problem ready for us to continue.

Just before 10am Chris Skinner our actor arrived and Faye briefed him while I wired him with the Radio Mic. With the sound checks we had saved ourselves time with having the set-up period before he arrived, but we still checked the levels of his voice for the dialogue sections and listened out for and rustling when he moved. This went to plan and we almost immediately then went on to shoot.

Our actor was brilliant and open to suggestions particularly when he did not speak lines how we wanted to hear them. Also he was willing to shoot the same sequence several times from different angles without getting agitated which was a bonus. A couple of times he used the wrong hand in a different shot but Faye was quick to pick up on this and we re-shot it to ensure our continuity would stay in place.

Some of the closer shots in the kitchen became quite dark and after opening the Iris on the camera and it not making a lot of difference we used a reflector to bounce the light to enlighten those darkened shadows that appeared. We were unable to borrow a reflector from the loan shop however we used our ingenuity and made one ourselves from tinfoil.

As a whole the morning shoot and all of the house orientated scenes went really well which I am pleased about. This is mostly down to our good organisation and by selecting the right actor for the job as the actors are the most important part, if they are not happy the footage does not work as you can tell the actors are not on form.

During the designated lunch break I rang Tesco again to check our permissions and to clarify times for shooting tomorrow. The Manager was unavailable the first time but luckily before our next part of shooting I was able to get hold of him and clarify this. Gaining the permission at such late notice after having such trouble contacting them was news to our ears. I was very happy about this as I have spent a good part of the last two weeks constantly ringing Head Office and various other areas trying to speak to the right people.

The next scene to shoot was at the graveyard. When we arrived the sky had become quite overcast which was a good element as on camera it added more colour to the preview/footage we recorded, which added more depth to the character as the bright sunlight would have distracted an audience away from the key meaning of the piece particularly at this key moment in the graveyard. Cinematically this was a brilliant location and the quietness and emptiness of the graveyard itself really added to the loneliness of the characters life now that his wife has passed-away. The only problem with the graveyard was given the quietness to the location there was a children’s play area nearby and throughout the shoot you could hear all of the children’s voices screaming and shouting, on occasions this was fainter than others. To overcome this we recorded a wild track of the ambient sound from the other side of the church where there was a lot less background noise which we can adjust in the edit.

Despite a few problems today went really well; first of all we stuck to our schedule, we all communicated well during takes, we overcame the problems that we faced, we stuck to the shooting list and shot further shots as well and finally after looking back at the footage we all really like the style and how the piece is coming together. I noticed from looking at the footage how some of the lighting in the shots varied which we had no control over particularly at the graveyard, but this was not something that was so wrong that it could not be adjusted and corrected in Post Production. The group has worked together really well, one thing I did find a little unprofessional/uncomfortable was when I was on camera person and two of the group members couldn’t decide which shot to go with next which began a small argument and you could see the actor getting distressed along with us, but this aside the whole day has ran rather smoothly and after talking to our actor about the day at the end he seems to be pleased with the films progress and has enjoyed working with us so far.

06/03/11

Day two and final day of the shoot. We arrived early at Tesco early to make meet the management staff and to clarify our permissions. This was quite an easy process as management asked again what we were doing and how long we would be then asked us to wait until close then we had the go ahead. After moving all of the equipment in there was still customers in the shop so we could not set up, however this meant that Faye and I could have another recce of the store so that we know exactly which aisles we would like to film in and from what angle. This was helpful as when we came to film we moved swiftly from location to location within the store.

Once all of the customers had left we began setting up at this point however there was only three of us Matt, Faye and Me so we had to move speedily so that we were ready for when our actor arrived. This set up time also gave us the chance to practice the tracking shots we had hoped to get following our character from aisle to aisle.

The set up ran smoothly and by 5pm both our actor and Kayleigh had arrived, to begin the shoot. During the shoot itself there were not any major problems. One aspect that was slightly problematic was the track at times occasionally when using it the tripod would bounce over the bumps, but to overcome this each time we moved the track we made sure that we had connected each of the pipes as closely together as possible. Another issue we had was the store being so empty as we had to film after hours – this positive to this however was that we are trying to show how empty the characters life is so the derelict supermarket brings this to life. In conjunction with this we did use ourselves as extras in the background so that the store did not seem quite as stripped. Another minor issue was the noise in the background as constantly through shooting you could hear trolleys banging and coins falling due to the staff re-stocking the shelves – this could be solved by recording and dubbing over the sounds from a supermarket, as the dialogue sections are recoded well through the Radio Mic.

After packing all of the equipment away this was definitely a wrap for filming. We had shot the individual interactions from several angles which should cover us in the edit should we need to use them.

I am looking forward to the edit this week as it I really satisfying seeing how the project is coming together. Although I have only seen the footage on playback and quickly when uploading it on to my hard-drive I am beginning to get more of a sense of how the film will actually look and the compared realities of the locations.

Update

Since our dilemma at the beginning of this week with the casting and our auditions not going to plan we have begun to think on our feet.  After a meeting with our tutors it came about that we still have plenty of time to send out casting calls, audition and film with plenty of time to edit at the end of the process.

First of all I began e-mailing various local theatre groups and drama societies to see if anyone would be interested in the part, fit the role and was available for the not so distant weekend 5th/6th March. It seemed like a lot to ask but I knew that something would come of this, each of us set to work and hoped for a reply. Some of the theatres/societies I contacted were as follows; Concordia Theatre, The Loft, Cubbington Players, The Saints Amateur Drama Society, Priory Theatre and Ruby Theatre. In total I e-mailed 16 therefore there should be some chance of a reply from someone who would be interested, so close to the shooting dates. I also sent out e-mails to two contacts that Ross Varney one of our tutors passed of the details of. Furthermore Faye uploaded the casting call on to starnow, gumtree and a site I found on the off chance which may or may not be of good use thecastingwebsite.

Within two hours we had received a varied amount of replies mostly from the theatres, a lot were negative given the short notice however two actors seemed very keen so we sent them more details and

One of our tutors, Ross Varney, gave us two email addresses of friends who knew local actors. We have emailed them asking if they now anyone who would be suitable for the roll.

We posted our casting call on the website  and  We have already had two replies from thecastingwebsite. This website seemed the most professional because Faye had to contact someone by phone to be registered on the website. Instead of posting a casting call that is for all to access, we had to look and select the actors we thought were suitable and invite them to an audition.

While we were waiting for replies I used this time to create the documents that are needed ready for the shoot and indeed prior to this regarding permissions. Below I have included all of the forms (blank) ready for use towards the end of this week;

By Wednesday afternoon we had received enough replies to invite the actors to an audition which we were conducting Thursday afternoon at Coventry University and via Skype due to such short notice. A lot of the replies were asking for more information and we did not hear back off a few of the applicants after this or we turned them down as they did not suit the role. This meant that for the audition tomorrow we now have two people lined up, one at 4pm and one at 5pm. I prepared a structure for the auditions so that we knew where we were at;

• Introduce ourselves and our roles
• Ask ‘actor’ about themselves – hobbies what they enjoy
• Talk about their influences
• Talk about what work they have done prior to this
• Their Monologue
• Script Exert
• Any questions

The auditions went really well and lasted around 10minutes each which was a reasonable amount of time for the auditions to last considering how much we had to get through. There was quite an age gap in the two actors that auditioned one was in his mid 40′s and the other mid 20′s which meant their playing ages were slightly different too. The older male actor was not quite what we had expected his delivery of the lines was really good and suited the character of Daniel however he asked too many questions and when he spoke about what he had done you could see the amateur dramatics coming out of him. However our other male who was just as we had expected,

during the script exert he used breath and his line delivery was quite powerful and just for a moment here got us as media producers thinking how this could be used to develop our film further into something quite poignant. He also had quite wide facial expressions and was able to control this with out making it over the top. Another aspect to Chris Skinner the younger actor was that he was so young it brings the story to even more life as you would least expect someone to loose their wife after just one year of marriage let alone a young couple, with his playing age of late 20′s.

This whole turn around was a relief and with Chris’ confirmed availability I was able to begin putting the schedule together properly for the weekend. Now tomorrow all we have to think about is the location confirming, bringing together all of the props, dressing the set and conducting a test shoot.

As a whole the casting process was a lot like I had expected but in the beginning we were far too confident about using one site – Mandy. This has certainly been a learning curve and from holding an audition that failed certainly taught me a lot of things about this process – if an actor shows interest it does not mean that they actually want the role (it is an experience for them too), not to be afraid to say no to actors who just do not suit the role because should we have auditioned and actually used them it would have taken away from what we were actually trying to create in the film, stay positive even when it does not go to plan (the advice from tutors was brilliant after our failed audition and this was a moment where as a team we really pulled together and all helped with the casting finding new sites to post it on, e-mailing individuals and thinking on our feet), be finally careful when I tried to cast on Casting Collective we were nearly pulled into the agency and would have had to pay £250 per day for the use of the actors. Most importantly I have learnt from this is as soon as characters are confirmed in the script start casting, the earlier the better and to as many sites as possible and if this means holding a series of auditions to shorten the list of interest then this will be the case.

Symmetry

This weeks word is ‘symmetry’ and this can be perceived in many different ways from the simple symmetry that we learnt as a child with a butterfly to a reflection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this word I could explore so much and it gives me the chance to work on something really beautiful and indeed from this create a piece that could go into my final montage. This week we worked in groups to collate research and to work on our ideas process. The groups were already chosen for us which in some respects was quite good as it again gave us the chance to work with some people we have not worked with before. My group consisted of Anca Chifor, David Johnson, Laura Meades, Rochielle Parkes, Lydia Thomas and myself. However unfortunately after the lecture the only members of the group that were there were Anca and Lydia and of course myself so this meant we had to work extra hard to bring together our research.

RESEARCH

First of all to find some different sites I have never used before I went into Google and typed in Video Artists. This is the first search that came up and is quite and interesting site;

http://www.videoart.net/home/?CFID=6323293&CFTOKEN=96783175

After navigating my way around the site I found a couple of videos that were of particular interest because of their individuality and began to analyse them. One of the videos I found was called Murmures;

I really like the simplicity of the video with the use of the same shot in several different positions around the screen, using split screen and rotating the image. The video as a whole gets quite monotonous after a while however the idea behind it works well. If I were to produce something like this I would like to look at it from different angles so the symmetry of the face and possibly use effects in the edit to emphasise this.

Another Video I found was by artist Roland Scheffers; http://www.videoart.net/home/Artists/VideoPage.cfm?Artist_ID=1756&ArtWork_ID=2079&Player_ID=10

This looks at the symmetrics of tunnels in reality vs grading/coloured footage symmetrically placed next to each other. I like this sort of thing and would like to perhaps look at how to do this creatively. There are a lot of effects that have been used to create this  piece and I have not yet had much experience using effects or indeed programs that I could get technical with with effects so this would be something quite useful to look at perhaps in order to create a piece that is different from the other work I have produced in the past.

Anca found these videos;

This is quite an interesting take on reflections particularly in the beginning where the screen is spilt on the portraits to see how the image would work differently in different light and movement. How this is creatively produced is of interest for me and triggered an idea that I could possibly use presenting the symmetry between the old and new of the city Coventry through buildings such as the Cathedral whereby there is the original building joint to the new build and there is a clear asymmetry between the structures through the heights, bricks used, images, stained glass and flooring.

Below are two more videos Anca came across and with these I found that they were very typical of something that someone would produce for the word symmetry, which is something I am trying to move away from. This is why I like the idea I came up with about the Cathedral and old/new parts to Coventry. The videos below are very self explanatory and in some respects have no particular meaning – take the second video for example the tripod is locked of in a setting of a home as though randomly produced in an afternoon and alls we see are various shapes made by hands and the two characters of which the image on the left side of the screen is exactly the same as that on the right just flipped. However in the first video it is a lot more engaging with the use of different angles and images of the girl using the frames well so that she moves across the screen and using splash effects to break up the images.

I then went on to find a video which is a stop motion based around concentric circles highlighting just how even shapes are, which could be quite interesting to reproduce however the whole take is quite mundane and long, I want to produce something with meaning and not something that is just because;

Another interesting video I found was through the use of water and a sprinkler in a garden looking at the shapes the sprinkler itself creates and also that of the water that it sprays too. I like this video because of its simple idea but the use of camera and colour in the edit makes the video for me, almost harmless pleasures;

Further from this research although the pieces are not like what I would like to create for this in-particular word they are something I could use for future reference, however in some of the videos the overlaying of images is what I will mostly look at during the edit of this project to see the real differences/similarities of the old/new, also through split screen like in some of the videos I looked at above to make it easier for the eye to compare.

I then went on to plan what I would do for my own piece. As I mentioned I am going to look at the old/new of Coventry through the architecture as all around there are half left old buildings right next to a modern building or in fact a new-build in progression. The biggest contrast is seen in the cathedral as I mentioned previously through the structures through the heights, bricks used, images, stained glass and flooring. I will film this using a variety of still shots, pans and tilts so that I will have enough footage for the edit to play around with various effects and ways of presenting the word.

In addition to this an interesting article I found talks about the change in Coventry comparing an archive picture to that of the streets today. It is still a central popular city where a lot goes on but it is still apparent what went on in the past. What I find most distracting about the city is the new-builds that are being built everywhere and when I look at the old buildings in comparison there is something so beautiful about the old city that should never be forgotten, if  it would be a devastation. Which is why with my symmetry piece I would like to bring to light some of this interest. Below is a picture of the Cathedral now with in black and white to old parts of the Cathedral pencilled in and what a site it was. In addition to this with the Cathedral there is a new part to it which is joined to the old structure yet the presentation is no where near that of the old.

THE PRODUCT

CHANGES

In the video as it stands there is a lot of the old compared to the new and this is because the old is a lot more picturesque and beautiful compared to the new structures and this is something that I would like to keep. This is one of the pieces I most favour out of what I have produced so far. In the edit there are a few things I would change should I re-produce this piece again and a few things that I would keep the same.

So first of all changes; the first change I would make would be the split screen. I put this in as an experiment however after looking back at it this shot really stands out rather than makes the piece run smoother. This is one of the comments I gained on my feedback as well but I am glad that I used it to see if it did or as it did not, does not work.

Moving on from this there were some beautiful moments that I have pulled out below; the image on the left is an overlay of two images of the cathedral, one is purely of the cathedral and the other looking through the windows which no longer have stained glass in them peering at the new-builds through the gap. The moment that I have frozen the video here is one of the key moments at this point, where by the old window stands directly next to the new and the comparisons between the two are so clear. The other shot I included below is of the paths around this area where the old worn down cobbles lay under the new clean cut tiles, there is something about the old that stands out and I am really proud that I captured this in the way that I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally below is my favourite shot, much closer than the rest looking at the stained glass in the window as the sunlight shines through it. However I am aware that there are a few problems with this shot first of all it is over exposed and secondly when I filmed I was using a Nikon D90 and it makes the pull focus I was trying to create look quite unprofessional, but should I get chance to re-shoot this is one of the shots at the top of my list to look at.

I am really pleased with this piece and the edit. It just goes to show you can never have enough footage as well, for this piece I captured around 10 minutes worth and it was really difficult cutting it all down to create something meaningful however I think that I have been able to do this quite effectively. If I go on to create more pieces like this I will be proud of myself and indeed be able to produce a montage of beautiful things with no trouble.

The Edit Begins

Over the course of the next few weeks the real edit of the Hereward Documentary will be taking place. The week just past me, Yasmin and Kyrie began to sift through all of the footage and pick out the key elements according to our structure;

Beginning – What aspergers means to them and parts of the interviews relating to childhood experiences.

Middle – Struggles with the syndrome and how they have overcome this, particularly through the help of the college.

End – What their aspirations, dreams, goals are for the future.

The editing has gone well this week but already we can see that it is going to take a lot more hours than we initially thought even though there were three of us working on it and shortly David will join us with this once the Russell Tribunal on Palestine edit is complete.

We were meant to be having a meeting with Paul and Mandy on friday to show them how the edit is going so far however after e-mailing them we received no reply therefore it gives us more chance to have something a lot more constructive for them next week.

ACTION PLAN:

• Contact Paul and Mandy to see when they wish to see the ‘Rough Cut’
• Write a list of the shots we still need to gather
• Sort a date to film those remaining shots and film the opening of their aspiration letters to see where the students are at.
• Continue with the edit
• To be compete by 25th March

Meeting 22/02/11

Today we had a meeting with the tutors to check where our film is at and what we need to do to push things along.

During the meeting we explained our situation with casting and how we were going about overcoming this. From here I took it upon myself to contact the Belgrade Theatre and the Theatre tutors to see if we could have any advances on casting this way. Also I made a casting call poster which we are to distribute as of tomorrow.

We also looked at locations and all 3 tutors were pleased with our progress on this as we were and we asked advice on the final location we were still yet to find. Out of the 4 locations – house,supermarket, car and grave yard; between the group we have been able to get permissions for all of the locations apart from the house. This has been a problem throughout the project as we were aiming for a new build – show home, as Daniels house is very modern and this would suit him however we have been passed from person to person within companies. Ross suggested trying Cassidy homes which is a smaller company so hopefully they will be able to help us out or contact the council to see if they have anything available, if not we will use a house that is already available to us and will most suit the film.Also we were having issues with actors for the car scenes as they were asking about insurance and after research I was unable to find how to insure an actor to drive, which I brought up at the meeting and it was suggested to use ‘trick’ shots, so th getting into the car, a shot pulling off, pulling up at grave yard and then getting out, which logistically would make more sense. Finally with locations is the permission in Tesco although we have permission we need to find out if we are covered with public liability insurance either by the chain or the Uni.

Onto the script and story board so far the progression is good however there are a few things we still need to tweak to ensure that the film is an even bigger success (LINK to Storyboard). First of all the structure is fine it is just the way he does things and goes about the situation so for example at the moment the script makes him seem a bit mentally scared and the coming to terms with the flowers and graveyard at the end seems unrealistic. Therefore our options are to either tone down so it really is him mumbling to himself rather than as if she is there or change the ending so the film becomes a loop where he does the same thing the next day the next which is his way of coping.

Although there are a few minor and major aspects we need to conquer before filming I think that we will be able to produce and excellent product from what we have. As a team we work really well together and are all willing to put the extra hours in. I really like how this project pushes us and is very much how we would work in the real world, particularly with the production process, casting, progression, idea – product etc.

Meeting 21/02/11

Today was meant to be solely for casting however we have had a few problems with the actors which has come as quite a shock as everything was going so well. All 5 actors who were invited to auditions neither turned up in person nor on Skype which we had arranged as an alternative.

This means that we need to get on with casting again and indeed audition as we plan to shoot 5th, 6th, 7th March. I took it upon myself to set up on another casting site as I had already done one before with Mandy.com and this time used castingcallpro.com hopefullywe will receive some replies sharp as ideally we need to audition before the end of the week as the shooting dates are creeping up fast.

Looking at locations between us we have done a very good job and spent some of the time when we were meant to be auditioning ringing Tesco and various housing developments. Firstly Tesco have given us permission to film which is brilliant we are just awaiting a confirmation e-mail. However with the house we are unable to use some of the bigger companies such as Barratt Homes as they produce 10,000+houses a year and only allow people to film if it will promote them further as it would be taking time off their hands even if we produced them a copy and suggested contacting local house builders/smaller companies. Which is our next step for research. We will also check again on locations on screenwestmidlands.co.uk to see if anything else has become available.

Finally we decided on exact roles for the group;

• Producer – Me
• Co-Producer – Lydia
• Director – Faye
• Camera – Matt
• Sound – Kayleigh
• Lighting – Me
• Locations Manager – Lydia
• Set/Props – Me/Kayleigh
• Script – Faye
• Casting – Lydia

Car Insurance Issues: below are a few sites I found which seem to insure actors however there does not seem to be a policy for soley actors therefore I will bring this up at the meeting  tomorrow.

http://hencilla-firstact.mmbox.co.uk/Additional+Covers+Available/Motor+Insurance

http://www.quoterack.co.uk/HighRiskOccupationCarInsurance.aspx

Prague Friday 18/02/11

The final stages of the documentary are coming together and although we have had and overcome our fair share of problems this week I think that we will be able to produce a good documentary out of the footage we have been able to capture and luckily not all interviews were lost as they were recorded using the SQN sound recording system onto a separate hard drive.

Today we just picked up on a few of the cutaways we were unable to film yesterday of some derelict parts of Prague and some architecture of a communist building.

Finally I would just like to say that all of the pictures used within my blog posts from Prague are all my own, which I took over the course of the week.

Prague has been an amazing experience and I am so glad that I took on the opportunity. Although we have had a few problems along the way even from right at the very beginning changing from a Short Film to a Documentary I have learnt so much from this experience. Even from the simplest of elements like checking the equipment before taking it on shoot  to developing my confidence working with a new group of people and thinking on the spot to solve a problem or resolve a tricky situation. One of the major aspects I wanted to get out of this project was working professionally as a team and I think that together we have done this. The process of idea and development particularly while out in Prague progressed in a professional manner and together we overcome those minor/major problems we faced, which in itself was a result given the circumstances. Also I have developed individually while on this project and have become a lot more open-minded and willing to take on new ideas even at last minute, which is how the week unfolded quickly developing ideas and putting them into practice. In addition to this I have come to understand the actual importance of roles, which is something that almost failed us when over in Prague due to certain people not for-filling their given roles meaning others had to step in – this was an easy way to resolve it however this should have never happened in the first place. All in all however and like I said before although we have faced some hurdles that ideally we did not want to come across, how we went about overcoming them was professional and the footage we have got I think is something to be proud of and am looking forward to seeing the final outcome.

Prague Thursday 17/02/11

Disaster strikes! We meet at 7am to go through the footage and for some reason the tapes that we filmed on using the Z1 yesterday will not play back. After trying on two different cameras this was still the case. It seems as though the printing heads or something along those lines have failed us and due to this we now have none of the footage I shot yesterday however for the interviews at Jo’s Bar and at the Irish pub luckily the sound was recorded onto the SQN. Which means some of it we can still use as part of the Documentary.

However this did leave us with a quite a problem as what were we to film on now? This called for a major group meeting to discuss where about we were and what needed to be filmed again. We still had the HD handy-cam which we had been using all week and the SQN however all of the cutaways we had already filmed on the z1 were now lost.

Therefore we went out to delegate what had to be shot now. This we did using two Nikon D90’s on filming mode. My group consisting now of Me, Adam and Carly then went out to shoot graffiti, trams and traditional restaurants. At dinner we met and all seemed to be going to plan.

At breakfast on this day I really did feel like everything had gone wrong and we’d never be able to produce a good documentary however after pulling everything together and a long days worth of hard work really feel like everything is coming together and there are just a few pick-up shots that need shooting tomorrow.

I have developed personally so much already this week and have most certainly increased my thinking on the spot skills, also I have boosted my confidence when talking to strangers as I did not feel afraid to ask passer-bys for an interview and if they failed to respond still kept high hopes. The spirit of the group generally has been up and down due to the circumstances however we have all supported each other really well and I cannot forget the support from Steve, Bex and Clifton, keeping us on our toes and not allowing us to give up.

Prague Wednesday 16/02/11

After such a good day yesterday today was off to a good start with the interview with Michal from Tourist Information, the interview could not have gone better. Also he is able to get us some photographs/footage of Prague as it was before the western society moved in, which will play a key role in the Documentary.

After the interview we went around the main streets in the centre of Prague just off the Charles Bridge and filmed some cutaways of souvenir kiosks and shops, general shots of tourists wandering around and signs of more traditional and family run cafes compared to that of McDonalds/KFC.

While we were out capturing this the other film crew, group 2 went off to the football stadium for Sparta Prague and managed to get hold of come people who they could interview tomorrow, also they managed to get hold of a close contact of the American Ambassador who hopefully we will be able to conduct an interview with before the week is out.

We met up to discuss where we were at later in the afternoon and this was at a bar called Jo’s Bar which to our surprise was founded in 1992 and was the first American Bar to open in Prague shortly after the Velvet Revolution. Whilst catching up on what all groups had been able to film a group of Liverpool football fans came into the Bar and were happy to be interviewed about their reasons for coming to Prague (the football game vs. Sparta Prague) and happy to talk about what else they were to do in the few days they were here. Which to our surprise was to try out the Czech cuisine as been stereotypical and making assumptions we all presumed that they would be visiting the ‘restaurants’ that we as the western culture had provided over there.

Later on we that evening we went to and Irish Bar where we had arranged a couple of interviews with staff and public about their views on communism and what actually brings them to Prague. Some of their views were really strong and will play a key role in our Documentary. There were a few issues with the lighting in this Pub upstairs as it was really dark, luckily we did have some PAG lights that helped brighten the scene, otherwise it was a really good location and although removed from the main hustle bustle of the pub had a comfortable feel for the interviewees.

I cannot reiterate how pleased I was after the days shoot we had gained some fantastic shots and was feeling really enthusiastic about the next two days that can be used for catch-up shots of cutaways.

As a treat this evening we went on a night shoot where I made good use of my new Nikon D90 DSLR. Being new I was still coming to terms with a lot of the settings of the camera but was determined to keep all of the settings in Manual Mode! Although some of the shots of the castle we not quite as I had expected looking back I am really pleased with the professional touch that some of the photos I took have about them. One of the main issues I had was the image not being light enough particularly when looking down onto Prague city from above, where the street lights were just a tiny blur in the background even with a slow shutter speed.

Below are a mixture of shots from the night shoot and various shots taken from in the day for some of the locations we found;