An introduction video was suggested a few weeks ago on the facebook group, and after goood feed back from the majority we have decided to make one! The aim of the video is to create an over exaggerated video, to introduce ourselves to the students, and by making our selves look stupid/ look like we can have a laugh, we will hopefully make them feel more at ease. it is also a chance to show them what we can do and the standard of our abilities.
After hearing about the idea, i instantly thought of the 'Jackass' movie intro's. They use slow motion and freeze frames to capture the characters doing stupid things, and it works really well!
Our take on it is going to be more media focused than the examples above, although using the same editorial concepts. So for example we might have someone turn round holding a boom mic, to face the camera and pose in slow motion. Or have someone catch their finger in a clapper and cry in slow motion. The aim is to be funny, and to entertain them, much like the videos above do.
We are meeting on thursday (30th March) as we are all in uni, to sort out a plan, to film it, and are aiming to have it edited by early next week.
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Media Event - The Big Draw
The big draw is an idea Brad suggested, and one which my group, and myself are going to be the most responsible for. The idea is to get a big piece of paper hung up on the wall, and then have the students draw on it bit by bit, and take a picture in between each time they draw, so when edited you get a nice stop motion animation. We will also set up another camera off centre behind the other camera that will capture them stepping in and out of the frame, and doing there drawings. it was suggested that we filmed the students from behind the camera, but after myself and james spoke about it we agreed that it would be best to use still image, as 40 mins of video would have to capture in real time, which would mean 2 hours of capturing overall for the 3 groups.
However there are some potential risks with this activity:
1) In the days schedule it has only been given 40 mins, which may or not be long enough. i personally didn't think it would be if the kids were going to have to all come up with individual drawings, practice them, and then get started on the big draw. So some alternatives are to give them a theme, therefore its easier to come up with something. One picture for them all to draw, for example a tree, simple and straight forward. Although the only thing with doing one big picture is people will want to draw it differently and, there might be points where not everyones involved. And finally, chloe said they might ask the kids to come up with something in advance when they go to see them next tuesday, at the college, which i think would be best, if the kids are up for it. however if they don't seem keen then a set picture or theme will probably work out better.
2) Scale is another issue, but is something i think we will be able to figure out during the run through. and it'll be better to shoot from far back because if the drawings don't fill out the frame ( leave margin for error) we can always zoom in in the edit to best frame the animation.
3) Turnaround is probably the biggest potential risk, and something we need to be well practised at before the day, as we will have 3 groups worth of photos, (2 Cameras for each) which means a lot of photos, and a lot of things that could go wrong. We are going to try different methods of importing/exporting the files to find out the quickest way of dealing with it. One method we've been looking in too is hooking the camera up directly to final cut so the photos go directly on to the time line. I also need to find out whether we are burning to disk, or transferring to USB, to try and get an idea of what time the edits need to be done by to start burning, and how many computers/people i will need to help.
We have scheduled a run through for friday this week (1st April), so from that we will be able to gather important information about the issues above, and finalise our plan for the actual event.
However there are some potential risks with this activity:
1) In the days schedule it has only been given 40 mins, which may or not be long enough. i personally didn't think it would be if the kids were going to have to all come up with individual drawings, practice them, and then get started on the big draw. So some alternatives are to give them a theme, therefore its easier to come up with something. One picture for them all to draw, for example a tree, simple and straight forward. Although the only thing with doing one big picture is people will want to draw it differently and, there might be points where not everyones involved. And finally, chloe said they might ask the kids to come up with something in advance when they go to see them next tuesday, at the college, which i think would be best, if the kids are up for it. however if they don't seem keen then a set picture or theme will probably work out better.
2) Scale is another issue, but is something i think we will be able to figure out during the run through. and it'll be better to shoot from far back because if the drawings don't fill out the frame ( leave margin for error) we can always zoom in in the edit to best frame the animation.
3) Turnaround is probably the biggest potential risk, and something we need to be well practised at before the day, as we will have 3 groups worth of photos, (2 Cameras for each) which means a lot of photos, and a lot of things that could go wrong. We are going to try different methods of importing/exporting the files to find out the quickest way of dealing with it. One method we've been looking in too is hooking the camera up directly to final cut so the photos go directly on to the time line. I also need to find out whether we are burning to disk, or transferring to USB, to try and get an idea of what time the edits need to be done by to start burning, and how many computers/people i will need to help.
We have scheduled a run through for friday this week (1st April), so from that we will be able to gather important information about the issues above, and finalise our plan for the actual event.
Silent Disco Edit - Things to do
After viewing dans rough edit, and the rest of the footage I made note of things that need to be changed, and reshot for the final edit:
Shorten, tighten up, cut to 6 mins from 9, speed up pace of the film, Its dragging at the moment.
Jump cut sequence needs fixing in scene 2
Opening shots aren't really relevant, and quite boring(bed etc), plan to get more if theres time, if not, run titles over the top.
Phone exchange needs to be made smoother.
Edit after bitch comment jumps, reorder shots.
Remove random fades, mainly in the morning scene.
Possibly add floating subtitles for sign language (near their hands)
Colour Correction,
First scene, some shots are dark.
Party scene - holding hands is dark, most of the fridge scene needs to be made whiter.
Getting home, shots are pitch black, maybe just replace with another take, or remove completely.
Morning after shots, some are bright, some dull.
Plan sound
POV shots use 'dull ringing sound'
plan bridges, overlap sound from scenes to carry the cuts.
Use cheesy romantic music, with rewind at the end, over holding hands/being sick
Get some good tracks for the party, something upbeat and happy.
Shots to get in the reshoot:
More POVs from hannah, of people talking/signing
hannah POV fridge magnets
Whole fridge scene.
His reaction shot to 'im deaf'
live action of them moving the fridge magnets, to be sped up in edit.
Fixed shot, camera on top of the fridge looking down on them.
Shot at top of stairs, maybe not have them sit on bathroom step? room up top or step round the corner might look better.
When he leaves jojo have a shot looking down at her from stairs, and her look past the camera as he walks behind it.
Entrance to house, if weathers similar.
Sign language between jojo and hannah, if possible. Get more shots from in front rather than looking over their shoulders.
Shorten, tighten up, cut to 6 mins from 9, speed up pace of the film, Its dragging at the moment.
Jump cut sequence needs fixing in scene 2
Opening shots aren't really relevant, and quite boring(bed etc), plan to get more if theres time, if not, run titles over the top.
Phone exchange needs to be made smoother.
Edit after bitch comment jumps, reorder shots.
Remove random fades, mainly in the morning scene.
Possibly add floating subtitles for sign language (near their hands)
Colour Correction,
First scene, some shots are dark.
Party scene - holding hands is dark, most of the fridge scene needs to be made whiter.
Getting home, shots are pitch black, maybe just replace with another take, or remove completely.
Morning after shots, some are bright, some dull.
Plan sound
POV shots use 'dull ringing sound'
plan bridges, overlap sound from scenes to carry the cuts.
Use cheesy romantic music, with rewind at the end, over holding hands/being sick
Get some good tracks for the party, something upbeat and happy.
Shots to get in the reshoot:
More POVs from hannah, of people talking/signing
hannah POV fridge magnets
Whole fridge scene.
His reaction shot to 'im deaf'
live action of them moving the fridge magnets, to be sped up in edit.
Fixed shot, camera on top of the fridge looking down on them.
Shot at top of stairs, maybe not have them sit on bathroom step? room up top or step round the corner might look better.
When he leaves jojo have a shot looking down at her from stairs, and her look past the camera as he walks behind it.
Entrance to house, if weathers similar.
Sign language between jojo and hannah, if possible. Get more shots from in front rather than looking over their shoulders.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Media Event 25th
For our media event i have been assigned to the technical group. So it is our job to make sure all equipment is booked, the rooms run smoothly, and we all know the exercises well enough to know how to get round any unexpected errors. Our groups role is more based around the event than pre production, and we will have the most work to do on the day. Although we will have more to do in the weeks before the event, than in early pre production.
So at the same time i haven't really had much to do in the earlier weeks, apart from help with ideas at the start before we were all assigned roles. I came up with the idea of doing the shoot out, in front of a green screen, but using the students teachers instead, i thought this would be good to do as an earlier exercise because it would break the ice, and make the students bond with us as we'd all have a funny medium to laugh at, rather than them feel like they were being put on the spot straight away. All the Ideas that revolved around practical activities were what i thought would be best, because i though back to when i was 16/17 and the last thing you want is to listen to people talk at you, you want to interact and learn in an entertaining way.
Brad came up with the big draw idea which i was keene on from the off, as its a fun and interactive activity and one which we are able to turn around and show them at the end of the day, and as suggested, give to them on DVD/USB key. I think this is important, because they will have something to take away with them, and can say they've achieved.
My individual role is to produce the final edits for The Big Draw, and burn to disk/USB drive if were going to be giving them out to the students. This will mean working under stressful conditions, and on multiple computers to get them all completed on time, which I am a little worried about because there is a lot that can potentially go wrong.
So at the same time i haven't really had much to do in the earlier weeks, apart from help with ideas at the start before we were all assigned roles. I came up with the idea of doing the shoot out, in front of a green screen, but using the students teachers instead, i thought this would be good to do as an earlier exercise because it would break the ice, and make the students bond with us as we'd all have a funny medium to laugh at, rather than them feel like they were being put on the spot straight away. All the Ideas that revolved around practical activities were what i thought would be best, because i though back to when i was 16/17 and the last thing you want is to listen to people talk at you, you want to interact and learn in an entertaining way.
Brad came up with the big draw idea which i was keene on from the off, as its a fun and interactive activity and one which we are able to turn around and show them at the end of the day, and as suggested, give to them on DVD/USB key. I think this is important, because they will have something to take away with them, and can say they've achieved.
My individual role is to produce the final edits for The Big Draw, and burn to disk/USB drive if were going to be giving them out to the students. This will mean working under stressful conditions, and on multiple computers to get them all completed on time, which I am a little worried about because there is a lot that can potentially go wrong.
Saturday 5 March 2011
Shooting Day 2 - Friday 4th March 09
Today we met for the second day of filming. We first headed to canterbury road to film the outside scene where hannah drops her phone. One of the first shots ed wanted was a long shot of the girls walking round the corner in to shot, with the idea of jump cutting this in the edit. Picking up the sound here was hard as they were so far away and there wasn't really anywhere close i could get with the boom, so i recorded the best i could, and then recorded wild sound of the traffic as a back up. The next part went rather better and we used some interesting shots. One of the hardest to get right was the tracking shot in front of the girls, as we didn't have a track, so David had to walk backwards with the fig rig, while myself and Ed directed him, and i held the boom over his shoulder. It took a few shots to get the hand of but I'm fairly confident the later takes went well. A track or dolly could have improved this shot and would have been better to use than the fig rig. It was also hard to get this shot right because we had to judge the distance between dan and the girls from the previous shots. In the previous shots he had been fairly close to them, so we chose to film it again with him a lot further behind, so that when hannah drops the phone we can cut to a close up of it, and then in the next shot of him picking it up it doesn't matter if he skips forward a bit. Well i though it would be better to do this way that have him to close to them, because then in the shot of her dropping it he would be right behind her. There were also problems with Dans acting when giving the phone back to her. This scene is supposed to show him being quite apologetic when he gives the phone back, and to show he's empathising with her disability, but after around six takes I'm pretty sure they will all look the same. He was blunt and emotionless and we should have thought about getting an actor even just to play this minor roll, as I'm not sure its significance will be the same as it should be in the edit. We did however try to get a varied amount of shots for this scene but I'm not to sure we got enough decent angles.
We then went to Mikes house and firstly filmed the entrance scene (girls arriving and knocking on the door) which didnt take long, while we waited for the extras to arrive. Slight issues with traffic interupting the sound, but we had it after 3 or 4 takes. We then filmed the rest of the scenes with chris and hannah, to use the time wisely. The extras arrived shortly after so we were able to start filming the party scene. We got the wide angles fist so the extras wouldn't have to stay very long, and we could focus on the fridge and sign scenes. The turnout of extras wasn't great and we could have done with a lot more to fill the space, hopefully ill be able to cover this up in the edit. For the party scene i recorded a buzz track, to lay over a montage sequence if i choose to do one, or to maybe have running throughout the scene, to give an even level and avoid jump cuts in the sound.
The Scene with the girls on the sofa went well, i thought the signing came across really well, and the acting was good. After this scene the extras left and we were left with Chris, Hannah and Jojo to do the fridge scene. It took along time and near the end i think everyone had lost their enthusiasm, as I'm sure will come through in the footage. It was a long day and shooting for so long in the same room really started to grind. I don't think the footage will be great for this scene, and may need to be redone altogether. There were also issues with the fridge 'humming' which i could pick up on the mic.
We then went to Mikes house and firstly filmed the entrance scene (girls arriving and knocking on the door) which didnt take long, while we waited for the extras to arrive. Slight issues with traffic interupting the sound, but we had it after 3 or 4 takes. We then filmed the rest of the scenes with chris and hannah, to use the time wisely. The extras arrived shortly after so we were able to start filming the party scene. We got the wide angles fist so the extras wouldn't have to stay very long, and we could focus on the fridge and sign scenes. The turnout of extras wasn't great and we could have done with a lot more to fill the space, hopefully ill be able to cover this up in the edit. For the party scene i recorded a buzz track, to lay over a montage sequence if i choose to do one, or to maybe have running throughout the scene, to give an even level and avoid jump cuts in the sound.
The Scene with the girls on the sofa went well, i thought the signing came across really well, and the acting was good. After this scene the extras left and we were left with Chris, Hannah and Jojo to do the fridge scene. It took along time and near the end i think everyone had lost their enthusiasm, as I'm sure will come through in the footage. It was a long day and shooting for so long in the same room really started to grind. I don't think the footage will be great for this scene, and may need to be redone altogether. There were also issues with the fridge 'humming' which i could pick up on the mic.
Thursday 3 March 2011
Shooting Day 1 - Thursday 3rd March 09
Today we met up in oldfield park at 3pm to start filming for silent disco.
The first scene to be filmed was the opening scene, in Hannahs bedroom. The room worked really well and because of its length we were able to get a varied amount of shots from one end to the other. One shot that we tried to get was a pull focus, from hannah sat in front of camera, doing her make up, to her house mate walking through the door behind her. I really hope this came out alright because it was a really nicely framed shot, and will be an interesting way to bring a new character in to the scene. Looking back I would have liked to have done more takes to make sure we nailed it, as it might not come out perfect, and could look shoddy if it wasn't executed well enough. As my job was sound for the production stages I was opperatig the boom, although in this scene sound wasnt really too important, as it consisted fully of sign language. However i did still record sound to capture sounds from the characters movement, and doors, footsteps etc.
There were a few shots when getting the boom close ehough to pick up the sound was hard, as the shot above shows. I think i should have stood with the mic further out of teh frame but higher up rather than lower, this way i wouldn't have had to move it as much during the scene and would have picked up more sound than i did from this low angle. Looking forward to the edit im not sure what to do with the sound in the opening scene, as i think it might be good to have it silent to really ehance the fact she is deaf. Although i really want to make sure i record the best sound possible so we are not limited with our decisions.
After finishing the opening scene went on to our next location (Eds house) to film the morning/night before scenes, but after setting up and running the actors through scene directions we were losing light. And a few takes in to the scene we decided to scrap it and film on saturday. Which meant we filmed the night scene first, which was something we originally wanted to avoid because it was the first time 'Hannah and Chris' had met, and because the scene involves a kiss we thought it might be a little awkward for them, and hinder the realism of the situation. But alas they did a great job and i was really surprised by how much they went for it, and improvised the situation. We tried to get a lot of shots for this scene so there were options in the edit, we used the fig rig to get some moving camera shots and some static shots. The lighting wasn't very good in this scene as we were using an over head light. I would have liked to have used some seperate lights, a back light to bring the characters out of the frame and a softer fill light to light their faces, as they looked pretty dark during the shoot. Although the dark lighting should contrast well with the light in the morning scene (which is the scene after in the film) as we will be shooting it in the day.
The first scene to be filmed was the opening scene, in Hannahs bedroom. The room worked really well and because of its length we were able to get a varied amount of shots from one end to the other. One shot that we tried to get was a pull focus, from hannah sat in front of camera, doing her make up, to her house mate walking through the door behind her. I really hope this came out alright because it was a really nicely framed shot, and will be an interesting way to bring a new character in to the scene. Looking back I would have liked to have done more takes to make sure we nailed it, as it might not come out perfect, and could look shoddy if it wasn't executed well enough. As my job was sound for the production stages I was opperatig the boom, although in this scene sound wasnt really too important, as it consisted fully of sign language. However i did still record sound to capture sounds from the characters movement, and doors, footsteps etc.
There were a few shots when getting the boom close ehough to pick up the sound was hard, as the shot above shows. I think i should have stood with the mic further out of teh frame but higher up rather than lower, this way i wouldn't have had to move it as much during the scene and would have picked up more sound than i did from this low angle. Looking forward to the edit im not sure what to do with the sound in the opening scene, as i think it might be good to have it silent to really ehance the fact she is deaf. Although i really want to make sure i record the best sound possible so we are not limited with our decisions.
After finishing the opening scene went on to our next location (Eds house) to film the morning/night before scenes, but after setting up and running the actors through scene directions we were losing light. And a few takes in to the scene we decided to scrap it and film on saturday. Which meant we filmed the night scene first, which was something we originally wanted to avoid because it was the first time 'Hannah and Chris' had met, and because the scene involves a kiss we thought it might be a little awkward for them, and hinder the realism of the situation. But alas they did a great job and i was really surprised by how much they went for it, and improvised the situation. We tried to get a lot of shots for this scene so there were options in the edit, we used the fig rig to get some moving camera shots and some static shots. The lighting wasn't very good in this scene as we were using an over head light. I would have liked to have used some seperate lights, a back light to bring the characters out of the frame and a softer fill light to light their faces, as they looked pretty dark during the shoot. Although the dark lighting should contrast well with the light in the morning scene (which is the scene after in the film) as we will be shooting it in the day.
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