(MP3002) Individual Project - Paper Edit

Here are some pictures of my initial paper assembly. I have a tendancy to get obsessed over detail and this is where i have found a paper edit helpful as it is very broad and doesnt deal with the artistic material but rather the footage itself as an asset, which I was able to group together in blocks.



This method of working has allowed me to take a step back so to speak and look at things from a different perspective. the yellow post its are scenes, the purple are questions asked in the film, the green extra scenes or themes and the orange are lines of dialogue central to the strucure.



This paper edit is a work in progress but for me a great way of clearing my head and helping me to see the bigger picture! The purple post it set up the documentary by asking a question "what is modern druidry?" and the idea of spending time with a druid, preparing for ceremony. The yellow post it scenes are grouped by content, that is to say, they link in someway. The orange are specific lines of dialogue that have an impact or link to new scenes.

Artswork Media Snow Day

(MP3001) Enterprise Project -Midsummer nights dream Project Brief

(MP3002) Preparing to edit

Arghh, what a frustrating day! When I started this project I was warned it could prove challenging especially when it came to the edit phase. This part of the process basically means I create a story from the raw footage that I have shot, and this is much harder than i thought it would be. Because of the nature of the film, that of an observational documentary, it cannot be pieced together in the same way that say a drama could be. There are no story boards or scenes although that being said one of todays task was to begin a paper edit. That involved me noting down the characters, themes and common threads of the material and organizing them into a structure. This doesn't sound too difficult but i have found it really hard work especially when you bear in mind not only has the story evolved but my competence as a film maker has improved too. As a result of this the quality of the footage and direction of the film has changed in terms of quality as time has progressed. Shots that I thought I had dialogue that I need to set up certain scenes I don't actually have. I seem to have this mental block when it comes to arranging the structure in that in my mind I see the film sequentially as i shot it but this isn't necessarily the best way to tell the story. In fact it doesn't make sense if told sequentially as some of the scenes weren't shot in order. I'm not sure whether this block is a result of my logical way of thinking or the tendency I have to become slightly obsessed about things being neat, tidy and ordered! Also my previous editing experience has been on drama's and music videos...

(MP3002) Individual Project - Photo Bucket

some photo's from the final days shoot.

(MP3002) That's a wrap!

So the big day arrived! It was with mixed feelings that I began the final day's shoot for my project. Part of me was relieved as I've been filming since November and fun as its been i felt glad to be nearing the finish line. Another part of me will miss it too, meeting interesting people, learning about different faiths and customs, seeing the countryside of somerset and although i don't like to admit it, i'll miss Brian - he's a good bloke. I think that its only natural when nearing the end of a project to reflect on how the experience has been. I have overcome technical frustrations, snow, gale-force winds, crew off sick and developed a good relationship with Brian and his friends which helped me gain their confidence with filming their lives.
I faced some difficult challenges with the the last day of the shoot. Firstly there were people at the ceremony whom i'd never met. I sensed their lack of trust and when I asked for their consent to film two of the women who seemed quite subversive began bargaining with me which left feeling quite uncomfortable an in a sense on my own, surrounded by strangers who didn't trust me. It was partly my fault though as i'd forgotten the consent forms which would have solved all the bargaining from the contributers as they are set contracts. Other than that though filming went well and for the first time we used a two camera set up so we could record some wide shots and get some footage which we appeared in too. I was also very happy with the sound too and having an extra camera meant we were able to capture more audio. We used a boom mike, a camera mounted shotgun mike and the clip mike attached to Brian's hat ( i learnt my lesson from last time!). Horror of horrors though, looking back at the footage from camera 1 it seems as though the lens has some dirt or something on it. I presumed Paul had cleaned the camera or would be aware if there was dirt on the lens, which he obviously wasn't and if I'm honest, this is my film and the buck has to stop with me. Its my responsibility to ensure all the kit is clean and working correctly before the shoot. That being said the footage is still usable and in fact the smudges on the lens aren't really visible in close up shots. I will be posting a do's and don't list very soon drawn up from my experiences over the last few months but as frustrating as it can be there is no substitute for learning from your own mistakes!

(MP3003) Business Link

Today David Green, an adviser from business link came to Artswork media to do a presentation on self employment. The presentation lasted two hours in which time David went through the requirements for starting your own business, from examining personality characteristics to formulating business plans. He encouraged us to invertory our strengths and weaknesses using tools like a SWOT analysis. He talked at length about the positive and negative about working for yourself, your earnings aren't capped, job satisfaction are plusses, whist long hours, no benefits and no floor on earnings can be negatives. David also talked about many of the roles involved in running a business, marketing, sales, financial, administration etc...He suggested that its helpful to be realistic about your skills and workload from the outset and to ask for help when its required. I spoke with Dave about my situation as a self employed free lance presenter, he offered me some 121's and agreed to follow up with a telephone call soon. I found his advise very helpful especially when thinking about offsetting tax and taking out business insurance. I recorded the seminar which, i will edit and put up on here soon.
Check out their website here

(MP3003) Professional Practice

where does the time go? It seems to have gone quickly for me anyhow, I'm nearing the end of my course and that means thinking
about my employment options. I think I'm in a fairly strong position, well strong as anyone can be in this financial climate. I have 5 years experience in broadcast and a degree in media (hopefully!). I have begun to put out feelers with some of my contacts. Amy Williams is an old school friend of mine who works for the BBC in networking services. We chatted on face-book (the way all business seems to be done nowadays!) and Amy told me that she'd be happy to help me with the process of applying for a job at the BBC (application forms) and that she would keep an ear to the ground for me and let me know if anything comes up. It's a promising start!

Here is a link to skillset a great site with helpful advise for people starting out in the industry.

(MP3004) Editing Pedestrians

This morning I continued editing the group project, Pedestrians. Armed with a copy of the Script and a very strong black coffee
(late night last night!) I began work. I had hoped to save the project file to the xsan so others could access it but unfortunately pro-tools will not recognize network drives. For this reason I had to save the project locally. Today I continued the task of comp'ing together takes and removing paper rustles, this was made easy for me as the actors paused reading to turn pages allowing me room to make edits on the audio. Having done that I started working on the atmosphere and fx for scene 1,2 and 3. For the scene in which they leave the police station and walk in the street I decided to add the sound of rain. I feel the effect compounds their depression at having spent the night in the cells and the fact they're nursing hangovers! For the police station holding cell scene I have used a dripping tap effect to signify how damp and dingy the cell is. I'm also on the lookout for a prison door closing sound effect to use as a bridge in between scene 1 and 2. Today I recorded several foley effects for scene 5 which involved a mobile phone. Using the mbox and lapel mic ( I had to improvise as we don't have much in the way of mics) I set about recording a wrong number message and some keypad noises from my iphone. I was really pleased with the results! I have to make some decisions around the music for the play but as we have a meeting at artswork media tomorrow I will ask the guys what their thoughts are on the matter.

(MP3002) Individual Project Journal

I faced several challenges on the shoot this week, namely the fact that Paul was unable to attend. That added to the fact that stanton drew was a foot deep in snow made things difficult for me. My role in the filming is sound, which I am comfortable with - camera is one area i need to improve on. That said this was baptism of fire, of sorts and operating solo meant doing the sound and trying to maintain some control over Brian and Nick! I found filming in the snow, although something that is visually stunning on film, difficult to capture well as there seemed to be a fine powder mist all around us. Still at least white balance wasn't a problem! I had to make some compromises with some of the shots I wanted. It was impossible to film them walking from the front as walking backwards in the snow with no one to guide me and carrying £3000 worth of equipment just wasn't happening, I did try and tripped up on a mole hill! For that reason most of the shots were static or wide shots but this is ok, after all I only wanted a few minutes worth of footage. It was after we'd finished shooting that things started to get really interesting! We retired to the local pub, the druid arms. Brian and Nick felt the presents of some Spirits (not the alcoholic kind) in the pub! Nick went into a trance and brian began talking to the "entities" as he put it! I managed to capture some of this on film. All the locals in the pub seemed really open to Brian and Nick and asked that they return to continue their work as soon as they could. I had initially arranged with them to film the ceremony on friday 13th of february but Brian texted me to tell me a very close friend of his had passed away and that he is unsure as to when they will be able to shoot the final scenes so for now that is on hold.

(MP3003) Group Meeting Agenda

Here is a copy of the email that Nic sent out about mondays meeting

Given that a number of us live beyond the metropolis of Bath and Bristol and given the weather forecast for tomorrow afternoon and given that we do not want to camp at Unit 7.02 and given the bad weather of late and given that it is better to be safe than sorry, and many other givens I can think of...
I am moving Monday’s meeting to Wednesday. Can people indicate when would be good for them. I propose 11.00 am on Wednesday.

(MP3002) Slideshow

Here are some more pictures from the shoot for beyond the weird

(MP3004) Editing Pedestrians

When starting to edit a project such as pedestrians it's important to set up the file structure properly ( well it is for me!). I created folders on the xsan, protools/pedestrians. After I had opened the arrange I used workspace to import the raw audio in to the project. Rather unhelpfully the audio recorder used to capture the recording only allows numbering of tracks and not naming so I had to go through and listen to each track match it to the script, name and mark it. It was time consuming in part as I didnt know how many takes there were of each scene and they hadn't been recorded sequentially, which is understandable from a logistical point of view for the recordist. Once I had done that I dragged the audio files onto the arrange. This method automatically created the audio tracks required. I decided to follow Paul Dodgeson's template and created only 2 tracks for spoken word and 3 for fx. After this I arranged the audio files in sequence and began to top and tail them adding small fades where appropriate. The first scene requires fx of a sign being dragged on the pavement, which we had a field recording of. I comp'd parts of it together and consolidated the file giving it a unique file name. I then placed the file in the corresponding part of the scene. The second foley fx required was a car sequence, police car approaching, electric window opening, car starting, electric window closing, drive away. Using pre recorded effects from a sound library I created and mixed the sequence, which took some time to get right. I did find the control surface really useful for this task. With hindsight I think I may have got a little obsessed with editing fine detail rather than getting the program working as a whole first, that probably wasn't the best use of my time. Next week I will try to avoid falling into the same trap. After all finishing touches are added at the end of a project, not at the beginning!

(MP3002) Individual Project Journal

The two weeks that I was away put me behind schedule. I had planned to wrap filming at the end of January and begin the edit in February and although I have began capturing footage in into Final Cut I still haven't filmed all the footage I need. I still need to film the ceremony. After hearing how uncomfortable Brian's group were at the prospect of filming the ceremony at stanton drew I took the decision to allow them to film it where they want. I would like to go with Brian and Nick to Stanton Drew so that they can take me through what they would have done at the location. So I need to shoot for at least two more days, which sounds like no time but its a question of booking equipment and finding out when everyone is available. I hope to shoot this thursday. Paul will not be able to operate the camera due to prior commitments so I will have to do it myself.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - White Board

The artswork white board where all live projects are maintained

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Midsummer Nights Dream

Its been non stop since I got back from india. I completed the performance edit today. This project has been one of compromises. The footage was very bad quality. The phase "you can't polish a turd" comes to mind when thinking about the raw material we had to work with, but, polish a turd is exactly what we had to do! There were two problems with the footage, the first is the camera work that is shaky and uncoordinated. The second problem is the lighting, whilst it may have been appropriate for the performance, from a filming point of view its a nightmare. Shots appear washed out and grainy and in some the mids are blown out. Obviously there isn't much that we can do about shaky camera work other than try to cut around it but we were able to improve the colour using a three way colour corrector in final cut. It is a subtle effect but overall it is an improvement. We were able to bring out skin tones add some depth to the blacks and whiten whites. The overall effect it had on the film is that it looks sharper and more realistic.

Here's a tutorial on using the plug-in.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Midsummer Nights Dream

Having completed the final full length version of the performance I emailed Kate Cross:

Hi Kate,

Nic will drop off a dvd of the performance this afternoon. Please have a look at it and make some selections, which we'll go through together at our next meeting. When would be a suitable time for Kirsty and I to schedule a follow up meeting? Kirsty and I are pretty flexible so i'll leave the date up to you.

Many thanks,

Mike