Thursday 29 January 2009
Pitching and storyboards.
Todays lesson we created several different ideas and tried to combine them into one solid idea. There was a bit of dispute in which idea to choose but we tried to pick in a fair way so nobody felt like there idea was being ignored. We pitched our plot to mickey who was not too sure about our idea. And neither was I. I didnt like the idea at all and felt that it was half of our media grade and we needed something more intresting, something that the audience would want to continue watching, however i did not think any of this. I came up with a new idea which none of my group members paricularly liked, but after hearing the other groups ideas we had felt like ours was not as good as it could be, nor up to the potential that we could make it have. In the end we decided to stick with our first idea as i was constantly reminded by various members of my group, that it't not about the plot, story nor acting but on the way in which we edit and use sound which really makes or breaks our grade.
filming day one.
Today we all met up at holloway to film, we went to silvesters house and captured all of our different shots we needed inside the house. We used lots of over the shoulder and point of view shots to make sure we had enough footage for when we came back to edit. We had to remember that we needed a good variety of clips for when we came to editing so beared in mind the 5 second rule before and after filming to ensure that we could close cut edit. We also filmed things twice or even three times incase one take wasnt that good or something was in the wrong place. We had to take note of everthing that the people who were in the sequence were wearing this ensured that when we resume filming everything looks like it had been shot in the same day. Next week, thursday when we resume filming we need to work out how to stop the natural light from effecting our sequence. Numerous shots we had were ruined from the natural lighting and to prevent this the only solution was to break the 180 rule. As we cannot do this we may have to redo many of our shots as we as a group do not want to get marked down for our faults. We also did not follow our storyboards very well which is something we need to improve on and learn to stick by in time for next weeks filming.
Friday 23 January 2009
Newspaper Thriller..
We were asked to create a short thriller clip, which revolved around a newspaper. My group were quick to think of an idea over a 2-day-lesson-break & when it came to videoing, we were ready. Before we began, we recieved an induction on how to use the cameras. Individually, we were all taught how to work the basic & more challenging feautures on/of the camera. Basic things such as inserting & ejecting the tape where practiced be each member of the group. More complex things such as adjusting the camera to the tri-pod & panning where also practiced by each member of the group. Although others grasped the actions quicker than others, we began filming.
The story behind our shooting was that Marika, the main character, was reading a newspaper in the coffee room. As she turned the page, she saw a disturbing image on the page which allowed her to remember something tragic. She fiercely ripped the paper & ran out, shocked. She ran all the way down the stairs, no time to even think of getting the lift. As she approached the exit, she ran in between a couple, Zanele & Nathan, disrupting their affectionate hand-holding.
The story behind our shooting was that Marika, the main character, was reading a newspaper in the coffee room. As she turned the page, she saw a disturbing image on the page which allowed her to remember something tragic. She fiercely ripped the paper & ran out, shocked. She ran all the way down the stairs, no time to even think of getting the lift. As she approached the exit, she ran in between a couple, Zanele & Nathan, disrupting their affectionate hand-holding.
5th January
On this day, the class went into the MAC room & we were given a sound editing task. We were first shown a '007: Casino Royale' trailer where we were asked to pay specific attention to the sound. Next, we did an excercise where there were different scenes which we selected & had an opportunity to add & take away essential sounds like the music track; atmosphere tone & dialogue. After exploring, I established the importance of playing every sound at the right time in every scene.
Aftwerwards, the class had a go at composing together sound tracks & effects that would fit into different scenes of the film. I selected an airport scene where there is a variety of crashing, screeching, braking & police sound effects. I had a wide range of sounds to choose from which differed in volume & length. It was difficult & challenging but beneficial to figure out what sounds to use & when.
At the end, I had created a sound track that I was proud of, it wasnt near the original however I felt that it could still be used.
Aftwerwards, the class had a go at composing together sound tracks & effects that would fit into different scenes of the film. I selected an airport scene where there is a variety of crashing, screeching, braking & police sound effects. I had a wide range of sounds to choose from which differed in volume & length. It was difficult & challenging but beneficial to figure out what sounds to use & when.
At the end, I had created a sound track that I was proud of, it wasnt near the original however I felt that it could still be used.
Tuesday 20 January 2009
19th January
In the lesson, we finished editing our second practical film.
We then added sound to it aswell, to create an effect when Nathan walked into Sly's Office, this made the dialogue get sounded out, so it you could only slightly hear it, this created a unexpected great effect when we watched it over, as it made the film, more mysterious and create suspense between the two character to make the audience want to know what the two people are saying to each other, and create the question was it good or bad reason for them to meet?.
After we had finished editing our film to the standard that we wanted it, we uploaded both our film sequences we had done , from Final Cut Pro, on to our blogs.
We then added sound to it aswell, to create an effect when Nathan walked into Sly's Office, this made the dialogue get sounded out, so it you could only slightly hear it, this created a unexpected great effect when we watched it over, as it made the film, more mysterious and create suspense between the two character to make the audience want to know what the two people are saying to each other, and create the question was it good or bad reason for them to meet?.
After we had finished editing our film to the standard that we wanted it, we uploaded both our film sequences we had done , from Final Cut Pro, on to our blogs.
Monday 19 January 2009
Sunday 18 January 2009
The Preliminary Film.
In the last lesson we had done our planning for this lesson of filming,
we had a 3 hour lesson to do our second filming and editing the clips together aswell.
Our second filming when extremely well, this was because as a group we had all gain knowledge from the lesson which we had tutorials and helped each other when filming to make our film the best it could possibly be.
The things that we learned between the first and second filming sessions were mainly match cuts, but this made our film so much strong and more professional in the long run.
When we did our filming we followed the forms and conventions of real films, we did this by making the lighting dimmed when Nathan walked from one room into the room were Sly was sitting to create suspense, our mise-en-scene was two people in a room, wearing normal clothing, we used no props as it created more suspense when no props were used.
We then went to the editing suite and edited our film , we uploaded it to the apple mac computers, we then used final cut pro, to start editing out clips.
Unfortunately we did not have enough time to finish editing our film , or add sound to it, but the editing that we did , we did very well , and the match cuts we used were very good and unnoticeable when we watched it through.
Our second filming was a lot better then our first filming, and hopefully we will learn more and get better at filming and editing by the time we do our final thriller film.
we had a 3 hour lesson to do our second filming and editing the clips together aswell.
Our second filming when extremely well, this was because as a group we had all gain knowledge from the lesson which we had tutorials and helped each other when filming to make our film the best it could possibly be.
The things that we learned between the first and second filming sessions were mainly match cuts, but this made our film so much strong and more professional in the long run.
When we did our filming we followed the forms and conventions of real films, we did this by making the lighting dimmed when Nathan walked from one room into the room were Sly was sitting to create suspense, our mise-en-scene was two people in a room, wearing normal clothing, we used no props as it created more suspense when no props were used.
We then went to the editing suite and edited our film , we uploaded it to the apple mac computers, we then used final cut pro, to start editing out clips.
Unfortunately we did not have enough time to finish editing our film , or add sound to it, but the editing that we did , we did very well , and the match cuts we used were very good and unnoticeable when we watched it through.
Our second filming was a lot better then our first filming, and hopefully we will learn more and get better at filming and editing by the time we do our final thriller film.
Learning how to match cut.
In this lesson we learned about 'Match Cuts'; a match cut is a transition made when editing, this is when two different clips are cut together directly the same, of a person of an object, to make the film flow from one cut to another, this should be done so that it is unnoticeable to the naked eye.
As a group we had to do a written exercise of match cutting a scenario of a man chain smoking then taking a Cd , and posting it.
Once we had some this exercise Mickey showed us a film in which he had done previously of the scenario, and we had to identify the match cuts then see if we had chosen any of the same match cuts in which he had done in his film.
This exercise was very good, and it will help us a lot when we next film and edit.
In this lesson we were also told to plan out our next practice film we would be doing next lesson, we had a scenario that we had to follow.
The scenario was; a person walking then sitting down in front of another person then a short bit of dialogue.
As a group we had to do a written exercise of match cutting a scenario of a man chain smoking then taking a Cd , and posting it.
Once we had some this exercise Mickey showed us a film in which he had done previously of the scenario, and we had to identify the match cuts then see if we had chosen any of the same match cuts in which he had done in his film.
This exercise was very good, and it will help us a lot when we next film and edit.
In this lesson we were also told to plan out our next practice film we would be doing next lesson, we had a scenario that we had to follow.
The scenario was; a person walking then sitting down in front of another person then a short bit of dialogue.
Sound Tutorial
In this lesson we were told that for our final thriller we cannot use copyright music in our thriller, so it that case we had to make our own music, so Mickey came into our class and gave us a tutorial on making sound from scratch for our thrillers.
We used a program on the apple mac's that enabled us, to mix different sounds together to make a beat. Mickey showed us how to use the program then gave us an example of how to do it, then we were told to make our own ones, and remember that it was for a thriller , so it should include instruments that are used in thriller movie soundtracks such as violins.
When i made mine, it was a good way of mixing and matches different sounds together, although it didn't quite come out sounding thrilling, it did sound very good.
This tutorial i found really good, and extremely helpful, and i will have to be using it in the future when filming the final thriller movie title sequence.
We used a program on the apple mac's that enabled us, to mix different sounds together to make a beat. Mickey showed us how to use the program then gave us an example of how to do it, then we were told to make our own ones, and remember that it was for a thriller , so it should include instruments that are used in thriller movie soundtracks such as violins.
When i made mine, it was a good way of mixing and matches different sounds together, although it didn't quite come out sounding thrilling, it did sound very good.
This tutorial i found really good, and extremely helpful, and i will have to be using it in the future when filming the final thriller movie title sequence.
First Practice Filming
In the previous we were given homework of having to storyboard for filming in the next lesson, being honest we did a quick story board of what we were going to film. When it came to filming in the lesson, we had a rough idea of we were going to film, we used filmed from different angles in and around college, we used the 5 second rule when we filmed , so that we were able to edit our films easier.
When we filmed Marika running down the stairs, we used a slow zoom into the college which was very effective when we did our editing.
I found that filming was hard, as we had just started and we were a bit like toddlers just learning to walk, as we didn't know that much, but for a first time filming it when very well and our film came out well.
After we had done our filming we had to start to edit our film. We uploaded our film on to the apple mac computers then we used final cut pro, to start cutting and editing our pieces of clip into making a final film. I found that this process was not very difficult but just very long and repetitive, so i found it had to focus.
After the clip had be finally done, we had to at sound to our film, we had never had a tutorial on using sound, so i was adding different sounds randomly to make a good sound, it did end up coming out well... but it would have been better,if we had had a proper tutorial on it... i was sure that soon we will have one before our final time filming.
When we filmed Marika running down the stairs, we used a slow zoom into the college which was very effective when we did our editing.
I found that filming was hard, as we had just started and we were a bit like toddlers just learning to walk, as we didn't know that much, but for a first time filming it when very well and our film came out well.
After we had done our filming we had to start to edit our film. We uploaded our film on to the apple mac computers then we used final cut pro, to start cutting and editing our pieces of clip into making a final film. I found that this process was not very difficult but just very long and repetitive, so i found it had to focus.
After the clip had be finally done, we had to at sound to our film, we had never had a tutorial on using sound, so i was adding different sounds randomly to make a good sound, it did end up coming out well... but it would have been better,if we had had a proper tutorial on it... i was sure that soon we will have one before our final time filming.
Tutorial On Using Camera's.
After the last lesson on the tutorial of Final Cut Pro, and editing, we did some practical camera work.
Mickey came into our class and show us how to use the camera's, for example, putting a battery into a camera, inserting and ejecting a tape..etc. When we first got told that we were having a tutorial on how to work the camera's, i thought that it would be easy doing simple things like inserting and ejecting a tape from a camera, but after getting the chance to actually do it, i found it difficult but after practicing these simple procedures i found it easy.
We then learned how to record with the camera, and pausing, fast forwarding/rewinding things using different settings on the camera's aswell.
After we had learning to use the camera we learned how to use a tripod, this consisted of putting it up and down, the different heights it goes to , and the different angle shots it could be used for, and how to clip the camera to the tripod.
This lessons was very useful , and helped me extent my knowledge on using different cameras, and i also realised that tripods are very important when filming to create a steady surface when filming and also panning can be done using a tripod rather than doing it unsteady when doing it hand held.
Mickey came into our class and show us how to use the camera's, for example, putting a battery into a camera, inserting and ejecting a tape..etc. When we first got told that we were having a tutorial on how to work the camera's, i thought that it would be easy doing simple things like inserting and ejecting a tape from a camera, but after getting the chance to actually do it, i found it difficult but after practicing these simple procedures i found it easy.
We then learned how to record with the camera, and pausing, fast forwarding/rewinding things using different settings on the camera's aswell.
After we had learning to use the camera we learned how to use a tripod, this consisted of putting it up and down, the different heights it goes to , and the different angle shots it could be used for, and how to clip the camera to the tripod.
This lessons was very useful , and helped me extent my knowledge on using different cameras, and i also realised that tripods are very important when filming to create a steady surface when filming and also panning can be done using a tripod rather than doing it unsteady when doing it hand held.
Match Cuts and Planning
We learnt how to use and identify “Match Cuts” this lesson. I learnt that a Match Cut is a transition in which something in the scene follows in the next cut directly matching a character or object in the previous scene. Or in simpler terms, a change between two different cuts, however, their focus is on the same thing meaning the change or transition can go unnoticed.
We were given a task to plan shot types, angles and actions in order to film a short sequence about a chain smoker illegally downloading secret files, burning them onto a disc and mailing it to the unknown.
We then watched the clip that Mickey had done for the scenario (above) to see if we had anythings in common but most importantly, see if we were able to spot the match cuts used. They were quite difficult to notice, however half the class including myself noticed them after a second viewing.
Secondly, we had to plan what were going to do for a short piece of film that we were to shoot next lesson. We were asked to make sure we use certain shots. The scenario was someone walking into a room to sit opposite someone else and then start conversation. My group and I all thought it would be good if we used real life scenarios and had an idea of a modern gangster theme. The clip would feature a charter entering a dim lighted room sitting on a table and having a heated disscussion with a drug supplier who he owed money. We knew we had to film from many different angles to be able to do a successful match cut when it came time for editing.
We were given a task to plan shot types, angles and actions in order to film a short sequence about a chain smoker illegally downloading secret files, burning them onto a disc and mailing it to the unknown.
We then watched the clip that Mickey had done for the scenario (above) to see if we had anythings in common but most importantly, see if we were able to spot the match cuts used. They were quite difficult to notice, however half the class including myself noticed them after a second viewing.
Secondly, we had to plan what were going to do for a short piece of film that we were to shoot next lesson. We were asked to make sure we use certain shots. The scenario was someone walking into a room to sit opposite someone else and then start conversation. My group and I all thought it would be good if we used real life scenarios and had an idea of a modern gangster theme. The clip would feature a charter entering a dim lighted room sitting on a table and having a heated disscussion with a drug supplier who he owed money. We knew we had to film from many different angles to be able to do a successful match cut when it came time for editing.
Watching Thillers
In this lesson Mary showed us clips from the following thillers, 'Let Em Play God' and 'The Shinning'. These films gave me ideas on how to create suspense and the right times to entice the watcher.
Examples of suspense in the films-
One of the scenes is when the father had to check one of the hotel room for the old women who had hit his son. The scene we know whether the old women excited or not. The suspense was due to the music which had us hooked because we knew that something frighting was going to happen. I think the music had a major role on what we thought was going to happen and it did and its effect was increased by the music.
Another example was the boy in the hotel with the camera following him from behind. This meant the audience had no control and surely left me open, as when the boy goes to the door and suddenly we see the two girls, presumably on the other side of the door, i had a little fright.
I feel the idea of a tracking shot from behind, where the audience is taken to the action or moment of thrill, along with effective music will go along way to creating a successful thriller.
Examples of suspense in the films-
One of the scenes is when the father had to check one of the hotel room for the old women who had hit his son. The scene we know whether the old women excited or not. The suspense was due to the music which had us hooked because we knew that something frighting was going to happen. I think the music had a major role on what we thought was going to happen and it did and its effect was increased by the music.
Another example was the boy in the hotel with the camera following him from behind. This meant the audience had no control and surely left me open, as when the boy goes to the door and suddenly we see the two girls, presumably on the other side of the door, i had a little fright.
I feel the idea of a tracking shot from behind, where the audience is taken to the action or moment of thrill, along with effective music will go along way to creating a successful thriller.
Using Sound
Lousisa took us to the computer suite again were Mickey introduced us to a Casino Royal Sound Software. The software featured sound editors, sound creatos who informed me through short clips, how to use the software as well as, sound and the soundtrack effictively.
After watching these clips we had to do the following. Firstly, we ha a task of using the given sounds and music, to create the sound for a still image from Casino Royale. There were 4 shots, one being a busy street, outside in the desert, etc. We had to match sound and alter their volume levels until it sounded real, normal and likeable to the ear.
After the still images we went and saw few more footages of the sound editors and sound crew of Casino Royale. The next task was to put sound and music onto a moving scene from the film. I chose the scence where James Bond is in the casino gambling.
Although, i found it hard to get the sound exactly at the right time needed, i was able to create sound which matched the moving image, implementing sounds such as, cards being placed down, playing with chips, the spy soundtrack and dialogue.
I found the lesson very enjoyable as i learned how to in corperate sound as well as, watch clips from a great Spy/Action Thriller.
After watching these clips we had to do the following. Firstly, we ha a task of using the given sounds and music, to create the sound for a still image from Casino Royale. There were 4 shots, one being a busy street, outside in the desert, etc. We had to match sound and alter their volume levels until it sounded real, normal and likeable to the ear.
After the still images we went and saw few more footages of the sound editors and sound crew of Casino Royale. The next task was to put sound and music onto a moving scene from the film. I chose the scence where James Bond is in the casino gambling.
Although, i found it hard to get the sound exactly at the right time needed, i was able to create sound which matched the moving image, implementing sounds such as, cards being placed down, playing with chips, the spy soundtrack and dialogue.
I found the lesson very enjoyable as i learned how to in corperate sound as well as, watch clips from a great Spy/Action Thriller.
Tutorial on how to use a camera
Mickey came into the class and issued us our camera. He showed us how to use the canon semi-pro camera through his self-made dvd. Firstly, we were told on how to position the battery correctly before sliding it on to the camera. We were also told on how to use the focus, zoom, playback, record button, and finally how to eject the DV tapes correctly which was quite trick, but i managed. Also, we were shown how to use the tripod, how to adjust the height of the legs and the angle of the camera. In addition, the dvd featured do’s and don’ts, for example, NEVER MOVING THE TRIPOD AROUND WITH THE CAMERA ATTACHED. The lesson went smoothly.
Tutorial on editing software
For our thriller preparation Louisa took us into to the computer suite where Mickey introduced us to final cut pro and showed us how to use it. Final Cut Pro is a software used to edit clips. This software is quite complex as they are many functions. Here are some example, you can put in lots of different types of transitions, bond two clips together, shorten the length of the clip. To make our editing skills better we had to put a clip in the right order and in this clip we had the opportunity to alter the order of the clip. I am sure all this will help with us putting together our thiller.
For the second part of the lesson we had to try and make a newspaper readthrilling and exciting. Prior to this i had to plan so myself, Sly, Marika and Zanele sat around and got thinking. For additional help Lousia gave us a story board sheet with 6 empty spaces and in those empty spaces we had to put in what type of camera shots we would take and also the angles and lighting. This made us think out all the things needed to create thrill and suspense as well as, keeping us organised.
For the second part of the lesson we had to try and make a newspaper readthrilling and exciting. Prior to this i had to plan so myself, Sly, Marika and Zanele sat around and got thinking. For additional help Lousia gave us a story board sheet with 6 empty spaces and in those empty spaces we had to put in what type of camera shots we would take and also the angles and lighting. This made us think out all the things needed to create thrill and suspense as well as, keeping us organised.
Sunday 11 January 2009
On the 5th of january we had a soundtrack tutorial, we were asked to firstly add different effects to pictures on james bond's casino royal. We were given a series of photos; a casino, a river, and a busy street. We then had to decide which sound effects went with them. We then had a short sequence of a segment of the film, it had no sound, and we were given various sound clips and were asked to place them where necissary. I think everybody enjoyed this exercise as it was our first lesson exploring sound and i personally didn't realize just how many sound clips you need in such a short seuquence. When your watching the film, you assume the only sound is the soundtrack, we had to select all different things like; cars exploding, police sirens, grunting of the men fighting, running, and cars skidding. This was something all needed to learn as it showed us without the sound and music theres no suspense nor tension created, its also not very interesting and does not display the meaning properly, it allowed us to explore in depth how the people behind the editing use diagetic and non-diagetic sounds and also allowed us to explore them in depth for ourselves.
On december the 11th we had to edit our previous filming into one stream of a flowing short sequence. First we had to import our filming and save it into segments so we knew where all our seperate bits of filming were, this would make it easier when we came to editing, and would save alot of time as we wouldnt have to be searching in clips for what we wanted. We followed our storyboard and combined all of the shots together making sure our timing was crucial. The bit that we found particularly hard to match cut was a worms eye view and a birds eye view of me running down the stairs it was very difficult but we then realized we had filmed this sequence many times as we said we would in our pre production as we had realized before hand how difficult this shot would be to edit. We went through all of the sequences and eventually found one that we could use. Once we had finished editing we used sound, we found a piece of music that built tension through the piece, it started off slow and as the piece went on it went louder and built into a creshendo.
We did pre-post production on the th of demember. This included; story boarding, a major planning key needed in all pieces and ofcourse a plot. We had to think carefully whilst storyboarding as this would state all the shots, order location, dialogue, and what was happening. We had to follow this, so we had to make sure we put all of our ideas onto rough paper first to ensure we wouldnt have any ideas later to confuse the order of camera shots. We as a group all put our ideas together and didn't just go with one persons idea, we thought as a goup we should work together and combine our ideas into one.
Now to put our editing and filming skills into practise, we as a class were asked to create a short 10/15 second thriller piece using a newspaper. We recieved a tutorial on how to work the camera before hand to ensure we all knew how to work the newest camera models, we were watched closely and had to repeat certain things for example ejecting a tape and how to turn the camera on and off to ensure we didnt have to interupt filming for something forgotten. My group decided to use the news paper as if it was an article somebody was trying to hide, we used various shots, birdseye view to show what i was doing with my hands but not to reveal the identity of myself in order to keep the audience in suspense, pan shots to show what was going on around me, an extreme close up on my eyes to keep the audience in further suspense as my expression was only slightly shown as shocked, this builds tension in the audience as they are eager to know what has happened/ whats going to happen next, a point of view shot to make the audience feel asthough they are the character, an establishing/wide shot to show the setting and location, and last but not least my favourite shot a pan up and down a 4 story high building; the college, to show the location, this makes the audience feel confused as they dont know what to be looking out for, the camera then slowly zooms into the building to see my frantically running down the stairs, the camera pan's me all the way down, we then had the idea to match cut a shot of me running down the stairs with a P.O.V of my feet running. There were various things we had to remember when filming, the key was to allow 5 seconds of running tape before and after the action on screen took place, this was to ensure that when editing we dont have to re-shoot thing and as we may need space before or after. We also had to remember that the persons head should always be near the top or side and you shouldn't have alot of space in the scene, this looks very unproffesional, and instead we should just move the camera closer to our character.
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Tutorial For Editing.
In the first lesson , we went into the computer room, and worked on the Mac computers.
Mickey gave us a tutorial on cutting different clips and putting them together.
Then we tryed it out for our selfs using a 'Bait' clip, and editing it.
I found this tutorial very helpful, and i learned new skills , as i have never used the program we had used before, and it will help in the future when editing out final thriller.
Zanele..
Mickey gave us a tutorial on cutting different clips and putting them together.
Then we tryed it out for our selfs using a 'Bait' clip, and editing it.
I found this tutorial very helpful, and i learned new skills , as i have never used the program we had used before, and it will help in the future when editing out final thriller.
Zanele..
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