(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group meeting 24th November

Every week we meet up to discuss various topics for the coming week at artswork media

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group meeting 24th November

Every week we meet up to discuss various topics for the coming week at artswork media

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group project log 28/11/08

Following mondays group meeting I was asked to take a lead roll on the midsummer nights dream project and liaise with other group members in order to complete the job. I have decided that I will split editing of the second tape between Lloyd and Kirsty and that I as project co-ordinator will be responsible for bringing the rough edit together, colour correcting and grading the film. I will also be the first point of contact for the clients, Phil Pervis and the Egg. I have drawn up a brief list of the items to next weeks meeting...

midsummer nights dream 2nd tape remaining...

lloyd or Kirsty

rough cut by xmas...

kirsty and mike to meet with phil pervis

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 13- Feedback 27/11/08

Email from Nic Jeune

Had a look at your file and a lot of good things there.

Thoughts
If a bit Louis Theroux and as I think you are good on camera are you planning to film you as in on drives down to Glastonbury and or maybe an introductory bit about being brought up round there. Also had a quick look at Bath Spa site but other Unis may be better, there is a pagan scholar there in The School of History and Cultural Studies religions section a Dr Paul Reid Bowen and it might be fun to get the academic take on Druids.

Best

Nic

(MP3002) individual Project Log 12- Location Reccy 27/11/08

I’ve had some problems recently in obtaining permission to film at certain locations around Glastonbury and I must admit this has left feeling really angry at the powers that be in the town. I mean why is it that I’m having so much bloody difficulty in finding locations to film at! To this end I decided to look further afield for places to film. I did some research on the internet in to pagan sites in the south west and discovered a stone circle only 10 miles away from Newton park in a village called Stanton drew!

The Great Circle, a henge monument is the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury). The stone circle is 113 m in diameter and probably consisted of 30 stones, of which 27 survive today.

On Wednesday afternoon armed with my trusty Tomtom Elana and I set out on a Reccie to see if Stanton Drew would be suitable as a location. On arriving in the village we decided to park a little distance from the monument and walk so we might get a feel for the place. It paid off because we stumbled upon a pub called the Druid Arms! Unfortunately though it was shut so we couldn’t go in…

The stone circle was tucked away behind a housing estate and felt barren and bleak. There were bare tree’s that appeared to have been hit by lightening and many of the stones were on their sides or completely eroded. There were sheep grazing in the field one of which was using a stone as a shelter from the wind! I think Stanton Drew has potential and would make a good location for my film even if just for some cutaways and artistic shots.

information on stanton drew at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanton_Drew

(MP3002) individual Project Log 11- Revised Treatment 21/11/08

Beyond the weird is an affectionate human interest film based on the life of arch druid Brian Conquer and how we can often perceive things as weird or strange simply because we don’t understand them. This film will deal with the stereotypes society labels people like Brian with and get beyond the weird to show ordinary people living extraordinary lives.
The film follows Brian a Glastonbury resident in his daily life and documents the juxtaposition of his two lives that of a druid, and that of a husband and pensioner. We will see him shopping, drinking in the pub talking with friends about his beliefs, in his workshop fashioning esoteric tools and see him performing druidic rituals at the winter solstice.
The demographic for this film are 25-55 year olds who watch programs like Body shock, Louis Theroux and other observational documentaries. It targets channels like BBC2, Channel 4, Sky 3 and Discovery. It would also have appeal as an educational program on the subjects of psychology, Sociology and Religion. It would also have a broad appeal to the southwest, people who live in and around the Glastonbury area.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group project log 14/11/08 - midsummer nights dream

I decided to spend the day editing midsummer nights dream as I felt with my individual project and creative writing I had been neglecting it a bit. I must confess that having watched it over and over again I was becoming a little bored and tried to combat this by taking regular breaks! I continued with the approach i'd adopted previously to cut to the angle which had the best shot composition. This is in keeping with the style of the play. I discovered some reaction shots of the crowd laughing so i cut them in at various points. I now have a rough cut from the first set of tapes. The next point of call is to bring the other tapes into the project and begin to form them into a rough cut.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 17/11/08 - Producer Survey

It wasn't possible to find two plays produced by the same person.I Chose two plays from radio 4 that were based around musicians. That though was the only real similarity as these plays were quite different. I believe that part of the reason that the production techniques vary between the two so greatly is down to the fact that they are different genres. "Quartet" is a comedy whilst the "Singer" is a drama and a love story. Different approaches have been taken to produce the best work possible, and they are both great plays.I have endeavored to pick out the parallels where i can find them in this producer survey.

Quartet TX Thursday 21st November

By Donna Franceschild A musician loses everything and accidentally gains a jazz quartet.

Robbie ...... Gerry Mulgrew
Stuart ...... Callum Cuthbertson
Iain ...... Stephen McCole
Delilah ...... Katy Murphy

Piano by Eoin Millar; director Kirsty Williams.

There is no monologue in the introduction for this play and it begins with the two main characters. The scene is quite lengthly, I believe this was to enable the writer to set up the characters properly as there were 4 in total in this play. As a listener the initial length of the first scene led me to think that I would need to really listen and that this play would be a slower pace than "the singer", which had more and shorter scenes. The play was set in the lounge of main characters house. The producer used lot's of mic positioning techniques to give the illusion that the characters were moving around the room. Similar to "the singer", "quartet" used ambient weather sound effects which I felt helped to give the scene a lonely oppressive feel which mirrored the main character's mood. As with "the singer" music was used to great effect in the quartet only rather than being used to break up scenes it was used for comedy effect by the actors themselves( comedy drum roll etc...). All the music is diagetic in the play. The script for "quartet" is fantastic and it is this rather than the production( which is rather simple) that carries this play and as with "the Singer" in "the Quartet" Robbie's character arc is central to the story. His journey from his isolation and loneliness to happiness.

The Singer TX Tuesday 18th November

By Lizzie Nunnery

Frustrated musician Martin is infatuated by the sound of Kirsten singing from the flat downstairs and embarks on an affair with the singer and her voice that threatens everything he has.

Martin ...... Mark Womack
Claire ...... Emma Cunniffe
Kirsten ...... Liz Carter

All songs written by Lizzie Nunnery. Music performed by Lizzie Nunnery with Vidar Norheim.

Director Pauline Harris.

The play begins with a monologue from the main character although this is fairly short and characteristic of most of the scenes in this play, which are sharp, snappy and short. The play has several different locations including a flat, college corridor, cafe and train station. The producer has made clever use of mic positioning and eq'ing, rolling off the high frequencies to give the impression of music drifting up from the flat below. The music in this play is both diagetic and non diagetic. It is used to break up scenes and is also used in the scenes played by the characters themselves. There is on scene in which the music used to separate a scene then appears to come out of a radio in the next one. There are three characters in this play but only two appear at any one time, that coupled with the length of the scenes keeps things interesting and easy to follow. The singer also uses interesting ambient effects and like in "the quartet" the noise of rain seems to be used in a scene which is meant to be sad. I don't believe this to be coincidence rather a clever trick to provoke emotion from the listener. This scene made use of the proximity effect during the characters monolges to give the impression that they were talking directly to the listener. In summation of the two my favorite has to be quartet I found the dialogue and humor in the play are witty and sharp and the story line very original. Although the singer was a good play I felt the script weaker than quartet but the production values to be a higher standard and more complex

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 10- Revised Treatment 14/11/08

Beyond the weird is an affectionate human interest story based around Arch Druid Brian Conquer. We will see Brian at work making esoteric tools in his workshop, at play playing skittles for his local team and in his role for winter solstice as an Arch Druid. By following Brian in his daily life we will see that beneath the secrecy and mysticism is an ordinary man with an extraordinary life.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 9 - filming journal 12/11/08

I drove to glastonbury to begin filming on beyond the weird. Brian and I had agreed that I would film him at work making tools in his workshop. Just before I arrived in glastonbury I received a text message from brian saying he'd been called in to Chalice Well to do a cover shift. I felt quite frustrated by this partly due to my expectations on Brian that he'd already made arrangements to film with me and also in part because I had been refused permission to use the Well as a location so I couldn't film there. This is an unfortunate reality of making a documentary, even meticulous planning cannot prevent some things. I used the time that I had spare to go up Glastonbury Tor, practice with the camera and film some cutaways. I felt quite low after finding out I couldn't use the Well as a location and my first days filming going pear shaped! I called Nic who gave me some helpful feedback and suggestions on how I might proceed with the Chalice Well. He felt that they were perhaps fearful of being negatively represented or exposed in some way and that I might need to gain their trust before they'd allow me to film. I went to the Office to speak to Natasha (the manager), she was unavailable so I spoke to Ruth. I asked her if as a compromise it would be possible to take still shots for my project. My hope is that getting permission to take still shots could be a foot in the door with them. I also shot some film of Brian playing skittles in the evening at the Globe on Madeleine street. The Pub was small and badly light, some areas with fluorescent strip lights and others not light at all. This meant continually adjusting the f-stop settings on the Z1. I did manage to get some good footage, which i was quite happy about.

(MP3002) Individual Project Video Diary Log 10/11/08

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 07/11/08

This morning I contacted Glastonbury abbey to obtain permission to use it as a location. I spoke to the deputy trustee Francis Tyre. I briefly outlined my idea and what I wanted from the abbey. I spoke about Brian Conquer, his background and how important the abbey is to him. I happened to mention Brian's faith as a druid after which Francis became very guarded and defensive - refusing me permission to film at the abbey. He said that the trustee's had a strict policy against anything which wasn't Christian based. I attempted to alley his fears and try to change his mind but it appeared as though his mind was made up.
It seems as though tourist attractions in Glastonbury are reticent in allowing filming at their venues. It seems odd that in a place famous for it's mysticism, religious and occult beliefs would make it so hard for me to find locations to shoot at. I have learnt from this morning's failure and will try to calm Natasha's fears as i suspect she to may have concerns that I could paint them in a bad light or get in their way. I also have a list of points in case i get lost in the conversation.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project -Group meeting agenda 04/11/08

Here is the agenda for yesterdays weekly meeting

Weston Visit
Nic asked that we attend for their visit if possible
Competitions
Nic mentioned several competitions which he felt we might like to enter
Project bookings
We talked about project bookings mainly the wells cathedral project and the editing project for the egg.
Business Plan
We discussed the development of a questionnaire which we could give to clients to enable us to work more efficiently. Jonna volunteered to type up the agreed document.
Web
We discussed which direction to take the website. It was felt by some group members that we weren't getting anywhere with this so I suggested we arrange a meeting with the website developers which Nic Jeune wil set up.
Launch
Nic gave us the dates for the bath spa launch but also suggested we have our own commercial lauch and invite industry professionals.

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 05/11/08

Today we got into groups to workshop some scripts. I found the experience really helpful in developing analytical thinking and critique. It is something that i need to work on if i am to take a directorial role in the production of a radio drama, which according to Rachel can often happen with radio producers. We were also asked to do a producer survey to find out which techniques producers employ that are similar to others and if they use techniques with which one can define there work.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group project log 05/11/08

Editing Midsummer nights dream for the EGG is our first group project as Artwork media. We have been commissioned by Phil Pervis to edit footage of the play into a finished film. After setting up a new project in final cut my first task was to import the footage which had been captured across three tapes. Upon watching the footage it was clear that it had been shot in three angles left, right and centre. We decided to use a multi camera edit technique for this project but after checking the footage we discovered that there were time code breaks on the 2nd part of tape 2. We decided to adopt the approach whereby we would worry about the 2nd part of the tape after we'd edited the first. Ollie suggested when we did come to edit that part that we exclude the tape 2 from the multi cam edit and add cuts from it separately.
I began the multi cam edit by first selecting each clip in the viewer and finding some audio I could use to sync the clips. When i'd done that I made a multi clip to begin the edit. The first problem I found was that the camera kept moving and zooming in and out. The second problem was that some of the shots were under exposed leaving the picture looking dark and grainy (with noise).
After discussing the problem with Ollie and the group we decided the best and most pragmatic approach would be to edit the film so that we minimized the amount of camera movement and zoom and also to include the best shots with a view that we could color correct the film after it had been edited. I have decided to use the audio from the 2nd camera as that is central but to use the left and right angles as the 2nd camera is under exposed. At this point i have got the first scene into a rough cut.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 8 - Treatment for Beyond the Weird

The film will tell the story of the staff at Chalice Well and their preparations for Winter solstice We will see Brian at work interacting with people in meetings and 1 to 1 discussing the plans for Solstice. The film will culminate with winter solstice celebrations at Chalice Well people eating dancing and singing - a community celebrating together. It aims to get underneath preconceptions and stereotypes people have of the locals.

http://www.chalicewell.org.uk

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 7

According to 'cultural film making' by Barrabash and Taylor it's important when writing a treatment for a documentary to consider one's own personal stance on the subject. Having Grown up in and around Glastonbury. I have many fond memories of the town and the people in it. I remember a strong sense of community and shared experience, that some people beleive have been lost. Through my documentary showing one of Glastonburys best loved attractions, the staff and the patrons working together I aim to show that the heart of glastonbury is still beating strongly. I would like to work with the staff at chalice well and members of the public at the winter solstice. I'm particularly interested in working with Brian Conquer who seems like a very interesting character.

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 6 - Agenda Example

(MP3002) Individual Project Planning

I want to see the characters in my film going about their daily lives performing normal everyday tasks so I’m going to film in many different locations. I will shoot in brains home and around the town in various shops. I also plan to shoot on the Tor, in the abbey and also in the countryside accompanying Brian on excursions. For example on fishing trips, to the doctors or on walks in the woods or druid duties.

(MP3002) Individual project log 5 - Risk Assessments

(MP3001) enterprise project - multicam music video

This is the edit from the final cut tutorial book that I created last week...

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 30/10/08

Hey bloggers - Mike here!
I found myself feeling quite frustrated when I saw the equipment that we had to use. The Edirol wasn't suitable for recording a radio play as it's just a hand help dictaphone. One of the scenes required that the actor turn and walk away as they were speaking and due to the size of the recording space (mens changing rooms) and the constraints of the recording equipment I was unable to get a faithful representation. During the editing process I was able to effect the signal with a reverb effect to mimic a larger space.