(MP3003) Film Festival

From conception it has always been my intention to submit my documentary in the film festival circuit. Today I began researching which Documentary Film Festivals would be appropriate for submission of my film. There were many suitable festivals all over the world from the sun-dance documentary festival in california to festivals in our very own Bristol. The majority of festival submission dates had closed for this season leaving me no choice but to apply to those next year, although I have found two festivals that I'm going to submit to. Amsterdam International and Sheffest. Sheffest documentary festival is perhaps the biggest and best in the UK. I have registered as an applicant with them on their website. Submission closes on June 14th, which gives me plenty of time to get the film ready. My ultimate aim would be to sell the film to a film company or television channel but I also hope this film will raise my profile within the media industry - and - a win would look pretty good on my C.V!

(MP3004) Editing Pedestrians

I have finished editing Pedestrians! It proved a real challenge, some of the artifacts captured during the recording stage made mixing the drama quite difficult. In scene two the natural reverb of the space in which the recording was made muddied the speech and the reflections colored the sound. I tried the workaround suggested (double tracking and gating but found it difficult to mix the two because of the high noise floor on the original track. Using a touch of EQ I did eventually find a mix I was happy with. I also created the musical sting for Pedestrians, which I wanted to keep simple. This music was to be used to break up scenes, I wanted the music to be ironic, whimsical, slightly comical and melancholic. I achieved this using a four chord guitar riff. In scene five the noise floor was so high that the sounds of duvets and pillows being ruffled was inaudible unless I drove the level really high but this made the noise too obvious and didn't sound good so I dropped it from the scene. In the final scene it had been suggested that when phil goes to get coffee we should hear sounds of a coffee machine. However upon listening to the scene i felt this didn't work very well. The scene suggests Phil goes far enough away to get coffee that he surprises them when he returns as we hear George say ' Here he is now'. I did however include hospital background noise, which gave the scene an authentic feel. The final task was to record the foley for the fight scene. I was fairly limited with the equipment at my disposal but one of the good points of the scene being recorded in the toilet (mimicking a cell) is that it provides sound camouflage( DID I JUST COIN THAT TERM??). I set up a mic to record Dani the technical demonstrator at ArtWorks and myself wrestling, slap our legs and faces and even punching myself in the stomach! Do I need a risk assessment for that? Finally I had a few good foley effects which i overlaid into the scene. Over all I think it works well, If I was able to do it over again, despite I would want to be present at the recording stage even if I was just observing.

(MP3001) Midsummer nights dream

I have received an email from Kate Cross with details on the 2nd part of the brief, the Booker's trailer:

Dear Michael

Here with our suggested cut-ins for Midsummer Night’s Dream promotional showreel. The piece needs to be only a few minutes long…and we have chosen these extracts to give the viewer an insight into the style of production because obviously everyone knows the story. Does it jar a little if you have short extracts with sound? Just a thought….

Captions should read:

The egg/Shakespeare Unplugged Festival presents

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Adapted from William Shakespeare’s original by Hattie Naylor
Director – Lee Lyford
Designer – Hayley Grindle
Music – Paul Dodgson
Lighting Design – Anselm Harrison

First produced in the egg and on tour to schools in February 2008 for the Shakespeare Unplugged Festival

For booking information contact kate.cross@theatreroyal.org.uk
01225 823435

Suitable for small to mid scale arts venues, aimed at children and adults aged 6+.

We may ask for further words, e.g. we may quote some of the script, but that bit will come next after we have seen the next cut.

Hope all this makes sense. Good Luck,



Kate Cross
Director - the egg
(Work Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath BA1 1ET
Tel: 01225 823435 Fax: 01225 444080
Box Office: 01225 448844
www.theatreroyal.org.uk

(MP3004) Editing Pedestrians

I've almost worked through the list of changes given to me by Lloyd, which if I'm honest seemed slightly over the top, but never the less I have done as he asked. I've worked very hard on this project to make up for the fact I was away during recording putting almost a weeks worth of work into it, if not more. I have locked down the arrangement and will be doing the final sound mix tomorrow. The only headache I have left is the fight in scene 3 as I have no fight sound effects, none were recorded in situ which is unfortunate as it would have been much more realistic than overlaying the sounds. I'll have to see if I can record a couple of the lads having a scuffle at paint-works tomorrow, Jona and Lloyd maybe?! Really anyone will do though!! Want a fight Nic??

(CS3003) Script Writing for Television

Last wednesday my step out line got work-shopped in class and guess what? I survived! What's more I learnt from and enjoyed the experience. When I wrote the step outline I was conscious that it was quite short (a page) and also that it lacked a clear direction. This was reflected in the feedback i received from the group, who felt that in parts my step outline was vague and could benefit from some development in areas. One part of the step outline that the group felt I could develop further was the story-line about the witches from stanton drew warning Brian off of holding a ceremony there. This story line alone could take up an episode and could even see Brian could do battle with the coven! It was also felt that the title of my script needed to be changed to something more fitting, some of the suggestions that came back were 'you runed (ruined) my life', 'ritual humiliation' and 'stand on ceremony'. Great suggestions I'm sure you agree! So in summary the group feel it's a great idea for a script and it is coming together it just needs more direction. Doug also added as a footnote that he felt the script almost felt as though it started somewhere in the middle of the story and would benefit from a beginning, if at least just to fill out the pages of which, there were few! Some good advice and lots for me to think about as I start work on my treatment!

(MP3003) Syncshare.com

Here's a video of the preentation from syncshare. you can check out their website here

(MP3002) individual project

I'm writing this blog entry as I sit on a coach bound for London! I love my iPhone. I'm attending my brothers graduation at NTFS. It's quite exciting. There will be many industry professionals at the event so it will be a good chance to network. The other purpose for my visit is to work on the rough edit of beyond the weird withy brother Lawrence. I spent yesterday on the assembly stage. I wanted to have something to show him so he could get an idea of what I'm trying to achieve with this film. Also this allows me to have some creative control on the edit rather than give Lawrence free rane over it. Right that's enough blogging for now I need the rest of my battery to listen to the prodigys new album!

(CS3003) Script Writing for Television - Pitch

I felt quite anxious about starting this module. My script writing abilities are fairly limited and I wasn't looking forward to producing a TV pilot due to the sheer amount of work thats involved. I decided to turn my documentary into a script so I wrote a pitch and pitched it to the class. I'm quite lucky in some respects as I've done several pitches in the past so I knew what to expect from the experience. I also brought along some visual aids, pictures from the shoot and recounted my experiences from the project. Doug felt that when pitching an idea based in reality its important that you make the panel aware of it. He also thought that because the idea was based on reality my passion for it shone through during the pitch.

Beyond the pale
Sitcom in a Mockumentry style following Student Paul Cowling, Druid Brian Conquer, his wife Jacquie and their lodger a Witch/Druid called Nick Oxbow and their preparations for the winter solstice. (Think last of the summer wine meets wicker man!).

Characters
Brian Conquer is a 60 something retired postal worker and arch druid. He drives a green robin reliant that he calls Felicity (happiness). He smokes like a chimney. He has health problems because of this. He’s married to Jacquie who’s his second wife. Brian is slight but has a huge character and seems very genuine. He’s passionate about his beliefs, which is infectious.

Jacquie Conquer in her late sixties is Brian’s wife is a retired nurse and a Witch and according to Brian she’s the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, which in supernatural terms makes her very powerful. Jacquie loves to dance although she has a bad back, which has given her a stoop. This prevents her from dancing too often.

Nick Oxbow is in his forties an unemployed bricklayer, who’s on the dole. He claims to be a witch and is Brian’s apprentice. He believes himself to be clairvoyant. He’s tall and surly. He takes himself very seriously. Socially he’s quite clumsy and doesn’t have many friends.

Paul Cowlings is a thirty something struggling ex addict and wiseass student. He’s Australian but he’s been living in this country for 10 years. He’s making a documentary on Brian and his friends. He’s got a very dry sense of humor. He gets on well with Brian but Nick is weary of him and doesn’t trust him.

(CS3003) Script Writing for Television-Step Outline

Here is my step outline for beyond the pale, which I found challenging to write. Especially writing in present tense!

Brian, Nick and Paul are in the pub discussing the project: a documentary about Brian’s life as a druid. Brian secretly hopes the film will become his legacy. Nick is suspicious of Paul’s motives and worries about being publicly ridiculed. Paul wants to expose them as being completely mad but appears sympathetic to them.
Nick refuses to be involved and hates the prospect of being filmed, but Brian blackmails him and says he will not continue his apprenticeship, unless he agrees to be part of the project. Resentfully, Nick agrees, but vows to make life as difficult as possible for them. He casts spells and concocts potions to delay the project.
Plans are set in motion to perform a ceremony at Stanton Drew, stone circle. Brian prepares for the event and collects materials from the woods to make magic tools.
Nick seeks revenge on Paul and Brian for blackmailing him into taking part in the film. He tells them that the local coven of Witches sent a warning not to perform a ceremony at Stanton Drew. Brian decides to call it off and makes the decision to perform the ceremony in his back garden. At the ceremony Brian hears Nick tell his girlfriend that he was responsible for the ceremony changing location.
Brian confronts Nick and relieves him of his apprenticeship. Paul’s beliefs about the Pagan way of life begin to change and he decides to ask Brian to take him on as his new apprentice.

(MP3004) Editing Pedestrians

So I finally managed to get the other group members together to listen to the rough edit of pedestrians. Here is a list of the feedback and points given to me by Lloyd.

Scene 1

1/ Needs pedestrians (the cast) walking sounds at the beginning of the drama.
2/ Existing walking sounds, needs to be louder in the mix.
3/ The movement of the sign needs to be louder
4/ Dialogue (page 5 line 10) “I’m fine” needs to be tightened up (silence before needs to be shortened) also the same process for (page 6 line 3) “No”.
5/ Electric window of police car is far too loud.
6/ Dialogue (page 7 line 9) “Well, I think you should know better don’t you” needs to be tightened up (silence before needs to be shortened) also the same process for (page 7 line 11) “Just get yourselves home”.
7/ Car driving off is far too loud and fades too quickly.
8/ Sign being picked up by John (after page 8 line 3) is far too quiet in the mix.
9/ Not enough walking on the street (John, George and Phil) (from page 8 line 6)
10/ Longer tail on the fade in of the returning police car
11/ Sign being dragged and hitting pavement (page 12, between line 4 and 5) needs to be louder (approximately +4 volume adjustment in Logic).
12/ Pissing on the floor sound effect needs to be present (page 12, between line 5 and 6), (suggested a bottle of water with a nozzle to be used to pour water on the floor and record)
13/ More prevalent fade out on police car effect.

Scene 2

1/ The cell door sound far too loud in the mix.
2/ I suggested that the vocals (voices) in this scene are doubled up with one track much lower in the mix with heavy compression and the natural reverb tail on the voices gated. This done the same track should be equalised so that some more bass frequencies are brought out. Phase cancellation may be a problem if they are not position in juxtaposition exactly. This will be avoided if lined up correctly.
3/ Mattress sounds / seating in cell could be used to enhance the atmosphere of the script.
4/ Cell door lock sound wasn’t in the mix.
5/ Dialogue (page 19 line 1) “Settle down George” needs to be tightened up (silence before needs to be shortened)
6/ Movement of bodies as a fight ensues needs to be present in the mix.
7/ Cell lock far too loud.
8/ Dialogue (page 20 line 2) “I’m afraid they’re all full.” needs to be tightened up (silence before needs to be shortened
9/ Dialogue on page 20 line 3 needs to have the cell door hatch closing sound over lapping it. “There’s only one bed for god’s sake. This isn’t right. We can barely move in here.
10/ George’s dialogue (on page 22, lines 4 and 6) needs to be brought up in the mix slightly, to enhance his statements about his life. The level is just a little too quiet.

Scene 3

1/ Soft bed covers or duvet sounds need to be in the mix over the dialogue (page 24, line1) “Do you really have to go?”
2/ The actress who plays Alice stutters (12minites 45 seconds into the recording)
3/ Soft covers and duvet sounds need to be present to indicate movement within the scene.
4/ The dialogue on page 25 line 9 “Goodbye Phil” once finished needs to have a smoother cross fade into the next scene so that the noise floor is less noticeable in the mix.

Scene 4

1/ Shuffling sound of the holding cell mattress needs to be present (13minites into recording). Line 1 page 26 “Hey”.
2/ Prison cell door sound is far too loud in the audio mix.
3/ A shorter gap is needed (more silence removed) between line 9 and 10 on page 27. Less silence (on line 10 page 27) “Ok, time to go”. This will increase the tension slightly in the drama.

Scene 5

1/Traffic sounds far too loud (over all the dialogue) unable to hear footsteps on pavement.
2/ Telephone dialling and telephone voice too quiet (suggest +2-+3 volume increase in Logic)
3/ Traffic sound of a car passing by edit is too abrupt and needs to be faded out to seem like the car is passing by (15minites 48 seconds into the recording).
4/ Dialogue from page 31 line 4 “Right. We’ll walk it then.” needs to have footsteps (subtly) at that point to end scene. Then fade out.

Scene 6


2/Male footsteps walking away from scene and in the background stopping when coffee machine is reached (timing2-3 seconds. After line 2 page 33).
3/Coffee machine noise needs to be low in the background (atmosphere)
4/ Footsteps at the moment in the ruff cut seem too random.
5/ Page turn still present after page 34, line 9. (After “Clara”)
6/ Male footsteps running away should be present and faded into silence after line11 page 35. “Phil. Run!”

I will implement these changes then represent the program for the group to listen to.

(MP3003) Group Meeting Agenda

Email from Nic Jeune:

Hi all,

Agenda

Sync Share
Noise
Creative Bath
Café of ideas
Wells
HR
MPA
Web site
Entry cards


I have no time left on Monday for one to one but time on Tuesday apart from
11 - 12.30 and after 16.00

Best

Nic