Kill it Kid - Evaluation

The finished edit of Kill it Kid is far from what we originally set out to do, and if it weren't for the problems with audio I'm certain our finished product would have been a lot better. Mainly because the visual side of things was really good, we got a decent variety of different shots from standard, to abstract angles, and the lighting and set up of the stage looked really nice in shot. Therefore if we had been able to do a multi camera edit i think it would have looked really good once polished. That said I think what we ended up with was good and was a good way of getting around the issue of sound.

The first edit myself and Tom started creating took a long time, and I think the fact we had been working on it solidly for 2 days caused us to lose judgement and clarity on what we were making. We spent so long trying to make it work, I think a second opinion was what was needed to make us realise we were fighting a lost cause trying to sync it. Although we essentially had to start the project again, I'm glad we did, because the new idea was much stronger, and accommodated for the mis haps in the production stages. It also freed us up to use less of the footage. So we didn't have to stretch the same footage over as long a time period which keeps the viewer interested in the new and changing images. We were able to use quotes, soundbites, and images to bulk out the film and create a structure.

There were certain things that let the project down during production, and had they been sorted we would have had a lot more options in the edit. The interview was a big let down and had it been better it could have provided a structure to base the film around, something we did try but the interview we ended up with was pretty poor. Firstly because of its sound and framing, and secondly because of its content. The sound was really quiet and the background noise from the gig was too prominent, and the questions asked weren't really too good, and didn't really work for this new edit. The bad sound levels definatly come across in the edit, as the dialogue is much quieter than the level of the music. I think the interview should have been filmed, and structured a lot better than it was, as it was kind of a back up incase anything went wrong, which it did! It was really annoying because myself and Tom were left to pick up the pieces and try and make something out of nothing, and there was a lot more pressure than normal as the whole groups degrees were resting on it. It would have been nice to have been told when the footage etc was captured how big the problems were, and possible ideas to get around it, instead of leaving it for me and Tom to find. It was really annoying and made the project so much more stressful.

Positives to be taken from the film are the shots. Like I've said before if the sound had been good then Im certain the finished product could have looked amazing. There was great lighting on the stage, and with the band being so lively, we could have masked the fact the crowd weren't really going for it and made the gig look intense from start to finish through the band members enthusiasm and tight framing. The idea behind using quotes at the start was to try and create anticipation, before revealing who the films about. I think it works well and the slow fades of the quotes, compared to the instant appearance on the beat of the Kill it Kid logo contrasts well. If we'd had more time I would have liked to create some motion for the title. For example, key frame it in to shot and make it vibrate or shake, to reflect the bands gritty image and sound.

Overall I am happy with what we created under the circumstances. It wasn't anywhere near as could as it would have been, but the main reason for this is sound, and it is something that was out of our hands. If I ever do a multi cam event again for a music event or any other really, my priority will be to meet up with the sound technician before hand and run through everything to make 100% sure we are receiving the full audio mix.

Kill It Kid Post Production

My Post production roll for the Kill It Kid project has been editor. Myself and Tom have edited it together, taking it in turns at some points and working together at others. The main problem we have had in post is the audio. As suspected on the night, the audio feed we were receiving from the mixing desk was faulty, and only one of the Mic's was coming through. This was a real blow, and has made things much more difficult in the edit. Our original plan on discovering the dodgy audio was to instead use the footage to create a music video. So Kieran got a track from the band, and luckily it was one they had played on the night. This is the song:

Pray On Me by Kill It Kid

But after trying it out with the images it was no where near the same tempo, and the live version they played was a lot quicker than the recorded version. We tried to sync up bits here and there that would work, and some looked alright, but it didn't work overall because we didn't have enough cut aways to cover large parts of the vocals we couldn't sync. So for example we'd have a 30 second section with nothing we could sync, so we would have to use cutaways. But we didn't have enough cutaways not to show something that was out of sync. This is why I tried to stress to everyone at the start to film who they had been assigned, and not to always follow the action. This way we would have had a large variety of footage of each band member the whole way through, whether they were playing or not. Thus giving opportunities to cut away in situations like this. We also tried to use the interview Kieran filmed but the questions asked didn't really prompt any decent responses, and most of the time it was like a conversation, so there wasn't enough we could use to carry the film, and base it around, also the framing was off and the sound was pretty poor.

We attempted to make the film like this anyway, but after watching it back it was clear it wasn't working, and the combination of un-synced and synced footage was somewhat off putting. So it was back to the drawing board to think of a new angle we could approach the film from, with what we had. It was really hard to come up with a concept for the film with the footage being so limited, but after exhausting all options we decided to change the idea and make it a kind of intro film to the band, a little taster to introduce people to Kill It Kid. This way we could use quotes, still images, and multiple songs to portray them, rather than worry about syncing.

This concept was much better for the footage we had, and once we started on it the ideas started to flow. For the structure we wanted to use quotes over the music as an intro, to introduce the band without mentioning who they are, to get viewers intrigued. And then showing the bands name after them. I feel this makes the song then work with the slow motion, un-synced footage because the song is already established, so you don't try to connect the 2 as much as if you watched them together from the start of the song, and it seems more like a montage sequence. We then focused on each member of the band, with a sub title reading their name. I think this looked good and the combination of moving image pausing on a pose worked. After this we had another montage before a voice over that we found on youtube, as none of the interview really worked for this purpose. We then went on to show the interview, a few answers from it, but the sound is so quiet compared to the audio track it is a really noticeable transition.

Kill It Kid - The event

I met early with Kieran on the day at Newton park to pick up the equipment. Between us we had to get 4 Cameras, 2 Tripods, and the sound equipment down to the venue on the bus. We arrived and met the others in good time, before the sound checks. So we were able to discuss camera positions and everything else, and try them out during the sound checks.

We wanted to get a varied amount of shots, so we decided to have a fixed camera, at the back of the room in the centre to use as a master. Another on the balcony, to the right. We mainly went for this side rather than the other because this way we could look across the stage at the singers, which created a nice 2 shot. Plus the bassist didn't sing so he wasn't really a priority, and could be covered by other cameras. We then had 2 roaming cameras, the first was in the crowd that myself and Tom operated, to get nice low angles, and close ups of the band members. The other was operated by Kieran and was put at the back of the stage and in the wings, this was to get close ups of the drummer, and to give another angle of the band, but also to get shots of the crowd from the bands POV. I mentioned it was important to have a varied amount of shots, and to not have us all filming the same thing at once, so we would always have cut aways. So each of the different cameras job was to cover a certain part of the band.

During the Sound check we were having problems getting a decent feed from the mixing desk in to the camera. And listening through the headphones it was really hard to tell, but it didn't sound right to me. So we got 2 secondary opinions and decided to leave it as it was even though it didn't sound perfect. Once the sound check was over we had a chance to meet the band, and their manager. This gave us a chance to explain what we were doing, and to also ask for a set list so we knew the big songs to cover. But unfortunately they told us they don't write their set lists until right before the gig, so we'd just have to wait. They were really friendly and also agreed to give a short interview before the gig, which Kieran filmed. This was great as it will make a really nice intro/end to the film, or even the basis of a structure, and I'm looking forward to watching it, and hearing what they have to say.

Whilst the second warm up band was on I double checked all the cameras were on the same settings, and had their internal mic's on to get a recording we could use as a reference when syncing in the edit. I also made sure all the batteries were charged and each had a charged back up. We also planned to all change tapes after the 5th song, therefore making the syncing easier, so we could edit it in 2 parts.

When Kill It Kid came on we all started our cameras recording at the same time. Myself and Tom took it in turns to film with ours, I mainly tried to get close ups of the guitar's, and vocalists, whilst trying to get shots of the crowd as well, although the crowd weren't to lively and didn't really get in to it, and the huge venue didn't really feel very full. I got some nice low angle shots looking up at the band with lights in the background. I also played around with crash zooms and pans to add variety to the edit, as well as some pull focus's. The band were really animated and really got in to their set. I was trying to get close ups of the guitarists hand playing chords, but he kept jumping around so it was hard to get a decent shot. The gig went really quickly and at the end I was really happy with my personal performance. I was mainly trying to get the generic close ups you see in live sets (Below) both of the singers faces, and their hands on their instruments.

kill it kid pre production

For our module retake we filmed a band called kill it kid at Komedia in bath. We had originally been planning on making a short film, but this was a much better opportunity and really helped us, given the amount of other work we had on this year.

Kill it Kid are a band originally from Bath, and over the last 3 years have quickly progressed in to a well renowned, and much anticipated young band. And after several tours and even one in America, they are returning to finish off a UK tour in their home city. They are signed to One Little Indian Records and have received high ratings (8/10, 9/10) from such prestigious magazines as NME and Clash. Below is there latest single 'Pray on me'

There wasn't really much to do in pre-production, compared to say a short film, and was all a lot closer to the actual event. So a few days before (pretty much as soon as we found out we were going to be filming this) I went down to Komedia with Tom to check out the venue, and figure out different places we could put the camera, we also to met the event organiser and staff. This was good because we were able to talk to her about where we were allowed to go, and film. She was really helpful and even gave us access to the balcony to get a high angle, where the public weren't allowed.

It really helped checking out the venue before hand, because when we went away we had an Idea of where we were going to shoot from, and the size of the venue. We could also plan how many cameras we would need to cover the event, and what equipment we would need. I then went away and researched the band, and listened to a wide range of their songs. Mainly so I could try and remember big bits to film, for example solo's, guitar solos, breakdowns etc.

Silent Disco - Final Evaluation

The overall outcome of Silent Disco was good, and there are lots of strong points to take from it. That said there are lot of things to learn from and take in to my next films. I was pleased with my personal performance although there were some things i could have improved, and aim to in future productions.

Location research being the first. I was really happy with some of the locations i managed to find, including Hannahs bedroom for the first scene (as seen below). The main reason i chose this room was because of its length, with the idea of using pull focus's as mentioned in my earlier blog Shooting Day 1 - Thursday 3rd March 09. But also because it was a nice space, and a clear girls bedroom. The sound was difficult to get at points, but after editing I decided to cut the sound from the first scene completely as in the feedback we were told it wasnt ultimatly clear she was deaf. This works really well and is a strong intro to the film, especially combined with the deaf sound (which will I talk about later on).



But I feel like some of the others could have been a bit better. In particular the party scene. The room it's self and lay out were really good, but i feel like it was kind of let down by the amount of extras. After reading the script etc and planning, I think we were all under the impression it was going to be an actual party scene, rather than a gathering, so i went out with the intention of finding a big open plan down stairs to fit lots of people and fill out. So with that in mind i didn't really focus on the location of the fridge. I think a better location for this scene would have improved it a lot, one with the front room separate from the kitchen. We then would have less problems with light during the fridge scene as well. Also more extras would have made the scene look more authentic, but unfortinatly we were let down on the day or very near to it by the majority. Although i think I did a good job of making the party scene look lively, and we did well fo fill the space with the amount of extras we had. And the choice of music really speeds up the pace of this scene.

The party scene was amoung the hardest, and most tedious to film. On the second day of shooting we shot all day, with the fridge scene being the last. The original script had alot more fridge sentences than we decided to shoot on the day. This was mainly down to a lack of variety in the shots and we thought it would be better to be concice, than cause the scene to drag. As this was the last thing we filmed at the end of a long day everyone started to get tired and this attitude was quickly reflected in our work rate, and enthusiasm. After reviewing the footage, and the rough edit it was clear this scene needed to be reshot. This was a good decision and although not everyone could attend the footage was alot better that the first time round. It was also easier to make it better because myself and Ed were able to write up a list of shots we had missed, new ideas, and ultimatly things to get and we could learn from what we didn't do in the first place, and reviewing the footage. (this list can be found here)

The music for the Party scene was a track by Fred V. I think it was a good choice and fits the scene well. During the edit i contemplated EQ'ing the sound to make it as if it was in the room. I tryed it out and could get it sounding good by cutting out a large amount of the high and low frequencys, and adding slight reverb. But as I progressed in the edit i realised the sound from the scene its self wasnt great, and there were some points where the wild track wouldnt fit the image, especially the sweeping shot of the party because i wasnt able to follow with the boom so we didn't have a good sound recording for it. So i decided to scrap that and mute all the diagetic sound and just run the music as a soundtrack instead. I think this works well but after watching the finished edit back, i think its hard to tell whether the track is meant to be diagetic or non diagetic, due to the fact i used fades and cuts during deaf sounds etc. looking back i wish id just used the EQ'ing i constructed and used low quality sound for the scenes themselves, with the wild track laid over. After fiddling around with the cue points in the track and cutting it to fit, i was able to align the drop with the start of the sweeping shot. I feel this gives the party scene a lot of impact and i was really happy with its placement, regardless of how its EQ'd. The POV shot's were something we talked about in pre production and i was really keen on doing as it would really reinforce the fact shes deaf, and show the audience the world from her POV. I created the deaf sound using Logic Pro using a sign wave, playing a C# and pitching it up 3 semitones. The sound came out nicely and i was happy with how it accompanied the image. I originally was planning on using a low pass filter on the diagetic sound so that it came through out the deaf sound as dull, distant thuds. But after trying this it didnt really cut through in the audio mix, so collectively myself and Ed chose not to use it. Looking back i wish I'd spent longer doing this, and maybe played around with pusing up the gain to help it come through in the mix, as i think this would have added some depth to the POV shots instead of just hearing a ring.

Overall i was happy with the finished edit, and the way myself and Ed worked throughout. Dan's rough edit was a good basis to start doing a final edit and a plan the sound (a list of things I planned to do with the rough edit can be found here) From this i was able to amend and cut down the film, and also start to get an idea of sound and plan it with Ed. I Loosely cut the film down as much as i could without the re shoot footage, leaving enough space/time roughly judged from the first take's, to put it in after. The reshoot went really well, as there were a lot less people, and myself and Ed had had time to go away and think about shots and plan for it, and because we knew the space i think it made it easier. So it was alot more focused and not as much pressure to rush as there was before. The new footage fitted quite well and I thought i did a good job of merging the different shoots together. Looking back i wish we had made her speech more muffled and not so clear when she says 'im deaf'. Becasue in the current edit we know whats said, and it seems silly that he wouldnt either. Although the intention was to show him not understanding her, and then her showing him on the fridge. But in the current edit, it looks like she tells him twice. There were also issues with Chris's acting in response to this. It was overdramatic in both shoots and even after telling him plenty of times in the second shoot he continued to do so. This is something i really wish we had changed and done more and more takes until he got it right.

I was really happy with the groups performance and think we worked well as a team. Everyone carried out their roles well and supported each other through out. The main things i will take forward from this are: Lighting, this project has really highlighted to me lighting every scene possible is important, and is something I had underestimated until now. without decent lighting even a nicely framed, and exposed shot will be degraded. EQ'ing music or making a clear divide between it being diagetic and non diagetic, this is something i fell down on in this film in places, and will defiantly look to improve in the future. And also location research, In future I will aim to go to the locations with the director before hand to plan the shoot. Rather than turn up and think it all up on the spot. This was proven in the reshoot - because we both new the space already it was so much easier to plan ahead of the shoot. And if we had done this for every scene I'm certain the overall outcome would have been higher. I feel as if i have leant a lot from the 2 films on this module, working in slightly bigger groups means you've got to work harder for your team as well as your self and I aim to take forward all these points in to my 3rd year.

Here is the finished edit:

Work Placement - Paint Works

Wednesday

I arrived at 9:45 and met danny at 10, we spoke about my interests and experience to try and sort out some work I could do. I was set the task of writing a guide to filming a skateboarding film. It had to include techniques and equipment used, as well as health and safety precautions. So i started on this straight away until 11 when some of the students arrived. Danny asked them if there was anything i could help them with, and there was a project that needed to be captured and edited. It was a political debate at BSU. I then spent the day capturing the tapes on 2 different computers, whilst working on the written project in between.

Thursday

Started the day by carrying on with research on skate project, and writing it up. I worked on that untill lunch, came back after lunch and finished it off, and then went through it with Danny, he was impressed with it and said it was going to be put in to a file at Paintworks for anyone interested in making a skateboarding film. After this i started on the political debate, but there was problems with the footage being from 2 different computers so some of the clips were named the same, so i had to spend the whole afternoon renaming them, and deleting all the clips that had copied them selves. It took ages and was really tedious but it was kind of my fault. One of the students set up the other computer for me so i just assumed it would have been done properly.

Friday

Arrived at 9:45, but Danny wasn't in till 11. So I spent the morning talking to some of the students and looking through their work, I was also involved in the production meeting for their showcase event. It was really productive and anything i wanted to know i found out. This was one of the best things about going to Paintwork's, and made up for the fact i didn't really have much to do whilst I was there. In the afternoon myself and Danny tried to get the multiclip going but it wasn't happening. There were to many issues with the footage and tapes and Danny told me not to worry about it.

Tuesday

I filmed with danny at Newton park for the Future Fairs, a day of talks about different subjects and ways of getting in their respective industries after uni. I arrived at 8am to meet Danny, Although he was 30mins late so we didn't have much time to prepare. It was a good experience because we had to set up really quickly, in front of lots of people. It was high pressure but i carried out my tasks well - Setting up camera's, tripods, tapes, batteries, and wiring up the mics. We had to film 3 1 hour talks in a row, and only had 4-5 mins between each one to change the tapes and get ready for the next one. For the first 2 I was on camera, responsible for getting close ups of who ever was talking, and for the last one i was on sound. It was a very useful experience and Danny was a great help, I just made sure to ask lots of questions where ever I was unsure and i was really happy with how i worked.

Media Event - Write up and evaluation of the Day

Looking back on the day there wasn't really anything that went wrong from a personal point of view. And overall the day seemed to run pretty smoothly. I arrived at 7:45 and went straight to the stores to meet Leila, where we waited for her so we could get the kit, and move it to the correct rooms. Once all the kit had been put in the rooms i went over to the big draw room to set up the cameras and make sure they were all in the correct format etc (VGA not Jpeg, as VGA is a smaller file size, therefor easier/quicker to edit/export, and even though this obviously means a loss in quality per frame, when running at 6FPS or higher it isn't going to make a noticeable difference). I then spoke to Chloe and the guys doing the shoot out about bringing over the tapes, and organised who was going to, That was the last thing i needed to check on before heading over to the main house to welcome the students and watch the introductions.

The students arrived around 20 minutes late which i think somewhat rushed the introductions, but alas Chloe's intro went well and the 'Epic Intro video' followed. This didn't go down as well as i think the majority of us would have liked, receiving very few laughs. Although at the same time they had only just come through the doors so we shouldn't really have expected much more from them. But the video its self i was really happy with, i think regardless of its reception, it did the job of breaking the ice and showed the students we were up for a laugh, which may have eased them in to the upcoming activities. I left soon after the Introductions to stock up on food for lunch as i was going to be editing for the majority of the day.

During the first activities I floated between the rooms and tried to get a look at each activity in progress, spending slightly more time at the shoot out to try and make the edit easier and quicker by having some idea of the shots captured. Once the first activities were nearing a close i made my way to the big draw and waited for the SD cards, which i then ran over to the gatehouse to start editing. The editing process panned out really well overall, and i was able to edit the stop motions really quickly using Quicktime 7. Which meant that by the time Ross had ran over the shoot out tapes, i was almost finished with the stop motions. So i just started logging and capturing the shoot out whilst i finished exporting the Big Draw's. The Shoot out edits were relatively easy, and mostly just a case of finding the best take from each shot, and putting it on to the timeline, however there were a few cases where it was slightly more challenging than this. for example the first group i edited had done all there shots, and then gone back and filmed close ups at the end, so it wasn't all in chronological order. Another issue was continuity in some of the takes, but we just had to disregard this and work with what we had. Another thing that really added to the finished product was gun noises, and the theme tune from 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' Which Mike was able to find. We quickly dropped this in to each edit and edited the gun noises to sync with the action.



I repeated this process 3 times, as the footage came through from the more recent groups. On the last Shoot out we were under quite a lot of pressure to get it finished, and as Tom was finished with filming the shoot outs, he came over to help. This was great as he was able to edit together the last shoot out, while myself and James exported the ones we had already edited. This also gave me a chance to put everything we had edited that day on to Tim's (the students lecturer) memory stick so he could distribute it to the students once they were back at college. I think although this wasn't planned in advance, it helped us out as it saved time, and if we had had to transfer all the projects on to individual memory keys we might have over ran.

Once we'd exported all the media we ran over to catch the guest speakers, who were very inspiring and just as helpful to us as the students. Once they were finished we showed what we had edited on a projector. The footage came out alot darker through the projector, and looking back i wish we had done a test run to discover this. Although it looked fine on the monitors in the edit suite, and im sure it will when they review it at home. The day ended with a fake graduation for the students, which i think went really well, there were a lot of laughs, and this gave the students a chance to mingle with us and the guest speakers. I think this was a really good relaxed way to end and tie up a really enjoyable day.

I was really pleased overall with my groups performance on the day, everyone knew their own roles, and was at hand to support each other where needed. James did a really good job of leading the group and his general attitude on the day was reassuring, it also made doing my own job easier. I was very happy with my role on the day and thought i executed my jobs to the best of my ability.