production

draft one

This is the first version of our production. We are going to be filming again as I thought we should have some more camera angles to work with. This will make the editing more varied and fun to watch. 

First I started by importing all the chosen clips into my premiere pro. I then started placing them into my timeline and cut them down into a possible edit for the scene. I found though while editing I wanted more angles as the variation was simple in this draft. We had issues with the boom mic while filming as the SD card would not register, so we used the raw audio from the camera. This sound was actually pretty decent as we placed a microphone on top of the camera as well. 

I then exported the first draft and uploaded it to youtube. What I want to achieve in the second filming day is more camera angle we can use for cuts and maybe a handheld scene where its from the reporters point of view. While I was playing the reporter the idea came to my mind as it shows the possessive or creepy feel of being watched to the scene. I also wanted a chance to get some sound recording experience so we will bring a SD card that will work. 

second draft

For the second draft we went and filmed some new angles. This allowed us to have a wider variation in our video but also meant i could pace by having more or less cuts in a sequence. 

To begin with, I spent time looking through all the new clips we filmed and I picked out the ones I wanted to use. After that, I imported them all into my first version and started the editing process again, this consisted of placing new camera angles over older ones. 

I wanted the video to start with a long shot so you can be introduced to the characters and setting at the same time. I cut to a medium shot of Natasha when her character shows anger so we can see the emotion on her face. Then it cuts to another medium shot but of heather allowing it to flow nicely with the conversation. 

Then the next shot is a high angle letting the audience gets introduced to the reporter. Having a high angle shows how the detectives have more power over the reporter but they are trying to gain power by getting higher up throughout the scene. Next, it dramatically changes to a POV shot from the reporter's point of view which is a close up of Natasha getting angry. 

Then there's a mix of medium shots from different angles showing the climax between the reporter and the detective. Finally, there's a mix of 3 long shots for the last scene with the two detectives walking down the stairs and out the door. I get them walking towards the camera at the start which continues with the next angle, but the last one shows them walking away symbolising the end of the video.

The first foley sound I added was the thump against the wall, the one I decided to use was heather punching a padded wall as we had many versions. This I had issues with as you can't see it happening with the POV shot. I tried my best to guess where it should happen and placed it where it seemed most appropriate. The sound of the thump is not realistic so I tried to make post-production alterations to it by adding the preset 'locked in the trunk' This gave it a deeper sound.

Then I started adding footseps, the ones I used were Caitlin walking around on her tiptoes. I made sure all these footsteps had a set gain of +5 so that they could be heard over the soundtrack and dialogue. I placed these steps over me walking up the stairs as no footsteps could previously be heard then over heather and Natasha walking to the door in the last scene. Part of the scene had no sound as I wanted to pace the scene out so the steps were really important so the sound could flow.

Then the last foley sound I added was a laptop shutting for Natasha clapping her hands together. This I left as it was cause any presets made it sound less realistic. Adding this there added more emphasis to the scene allowing Natashas clap to seem more aggressive.

I decided to make a credit scene at the end in the style of an actual movie one. I did this on After Effects as doing it on Premiere Pro would take a lot longer. Once After Effects was open I wrote down what I wanted in my credits and made sure it was in the middle of the screen and spaced out appropriately. I put 'the end' at the start in a bold font and made sure that it was of screen before the credits rolled on. Then I pressed 'p' on the keyboard to bring up the positions bar and dragged the numbers down until the text was out of the screen and make that the first keyframe, then drag the numbers up so the text is out of the screen at the top and add that keyframe to the end of the timeline. I left it at that and made it quicker by moving the ending keyframe closer to the start making it last for around 9 seconds. I exported this and added it to the end of my video in Premiere Pro. I wanted 'the end' to fade in over the last scene when they walk out and it to turn to black when the credits arrived. So I added opacity to the end of the last clip and the start of the credits. But I made sure the credits clip started when the opacity started on the ending scene. Making it look like it's overlapping but it gives a smoother opacity transition doing it this way.

I also had to fade out the soundtrack at the end so the track did not end abruptly. I had a long track in so I was not using it all meaning I had to make sure the ending faded out giving it an ending feeling.

At one point in the video, Heather's high heels are really loud when walking down the stairs and sam told me to try to keep everything in a reasonable range. So I faded out the sound from 0 to -5 and then back up to 0 and repeated the process every time heathers foot tapped the metal part on the stair. This balanced the audio out better keeping everything below the red.

Finally I went onto After Effects again and changed the colouring with mbl to a more grey tone feel. I liked the change of colouring as it made the clips seem more old and in the right time for the script I believe. I then exported it and uploaded it into youtube to finish the process. 

webnode is not allowing me to upload photos anymore??? so I couldn't put my screenshots in.

evaluation

We had a task to film a scene from a choice of three scripts. My group consisted of Caitlin, Heather, Natasha and Joanna and we chose script three. We thought this script had more character depth and as we had a big group using three characters is possible. We then chose our roles, me, Natasha and Heather got given the acting roles then Caitlin and Joanna would work together on sound and camera. Before we even went out to film we had to complete the pre production. This allows us to be safe and prepared going into filming. The first date we filmed was the 10th march at my dad's work, a company called IHASCO. On this filming day we got the basic camera shots for a simple version. Then the second filming day was on the 16th march and we got more angles to create a better varied video.

Filming was a stressful process as it would be in any situation as there's a lot of pressure on the actors to get lines right and for everything to be filmed correctly. Filming could have definitely gone better but it was not the worst. Some of us had different ways of wanting to do things meaning it didn't run very smoothly. The pros of working in a group is that we can all help each other and get things done quicker as there are more of us. However, the cons are the possible conflicts you can have with the group and maybe not getting things done the way you wanted as you're not the only one in the group. You have to make compromises or do multiple things for everyone which can get hectic.

I think I did well in the editing and I tried to mimic the emotions through it. By doing this the audience could feel the climax through the editing as well as the acting as more cuts are happening. I don't think the sound went very well as the first filming day we didnt have a SD card that matched the H4n recorder. This meant we had to stick with the microphone we put on top of the camera which actually did pick up pretty good sound. But the boom pole would have been a more effective and professional recording method. We did this for the second filming day but I didn't end up using any of it as the first day's filming was all on the camera microphone meaning the consistency would not be accurate. I enjoyed doing the sound though and would love to do it for my next project. 

Things went well because of how we planned it out in the pre production. We made a storyboard to try to follow in production and had lists of equipment, dress codes, shots and so on. This means we were prepared for filming and any risks that could happen. We could have had better sound if we all brought our SD cards for the first filming day as we ended up not having one that matched. If we had one that worked that first day we could have used the more advanced and improved audio but because of consistency I used the camera audio. I did ask to go check if my dad had a SD card that would work but my request was denied. We got the chance to experience sound recording at least the second day we filmed. I could have also learned my lines prior to filming as I struggled to remember the small amount I had to say. If all of us had learned our lines we could have gotten straight into filming but instead we had to learn it all, this took up time we could have been filming in.

I will once again do better with time management as I seem to struggle with getting things done in a good time frame. Though I will say I made a huge improvement and had less to complete last minute than last time. I believe my reflections on class tasks could also be improved so i'm not just describing what I have done and analyse everything broadly. I've learnt how to do a lot of sound through this project and have a much better understanding of Adobe Audition since we used it for multiple tutorials. To finish the project I made post production alterations, these consisted of foley sound and audio editing in Premiere pro. My group went around the college with a H4n connected to a shotgun microphone and recorded loads of different sounds to try and get the most realistic version we could. Getting these sounds was very difficult as our resources were limited. The foley sound was a great new addition to learn about and I will enjoy using it in the future for upcoming projects.

I will use my new experiences in future projects and any creations I make in my free time. I will use these new techniques to make more advanced and professional productions. Also just having a better understanding can lead to a more enjoyable time as you can have fun with what you are doing instead of worrying about how to work it all. When you enjoy what you do the work you produce will be at a better quality. If this was to happen again I would do the filming differently and instead of running through the whole script in one angle and then going back another day and getting more angles, I would split it all into sections and film everything for that one section before moving on. This way of doing it will be quicker as the people acting will not struggle remembering the whole script at once basically and we could focus on one aspect and get the most out of that one sequence. I would also like to have the opportunity to film as I was needed for an acting role. I was very happy I got to do some sound but I would have loved to experience some filming and get confidence in that area.