Editing and final thoughts...

After completing the filming it left us with two weeks to complete the edit. As Katy owned a mac book with Final Cut Express on it we decided to use that rather than one of the macs at uni. This was easier for us as it meant we could edit at home. Katy and I were the main editors for our film and Lyndon and Kay came to a couple of the meetings to help. I really enjoyed the editing process and I'm keen to get more involved in the post production side of things in the future. After uploading all our footage we first went through it and took out all the good footage and then cut all the scenes together for our rough edit. This was a long process but by the time we had done this we were pleased to see that our film was about the right length and only needed shortening a little more to tighten it up. It was then a case of putting in some transitions to make the scenes flow together more smoothly, adding music and credits etc. Katy and I luckily have a joint friend who does commercial music so he was able to help us with out and made a track. We wanted something quite melancholy that would be appropriate to put on in the background. He achieved this but when we put it against the film it didn't seem to work, it was slightly too sad for our film. We got him to take out the electric guitar melody and we just used the acoustic version, which I think worked a lot better. We still needed further music, which we managed to find on KPM music. This is an online site where you can download tracks from a wide range of music. We spent a long time trying to find the right music so that it fitted the characters mood. We also then had to try and make it flow with the next song so it took a while but I am pleased with what we managed to find and I feel it has really uplifted our film.

If I look at this film as a learning experience for the next film then I feel it has been useful because I’ve learnt quite a lot. I’ve learnt what is relevant to put into a screenplay and what you’re not meant to. I know now how to write a shot list to make it easier come shooting weekend. I’ve also leant a little on how to use the Z1 cameras and Final Cut. I’m also glad we got put into groups for our first film because although I originally wanted to choose who I was going to work with, this way I have made some new friends and it’s tested how well I can work with a group.
As a screenplay on paper, I wouldn’t have ever picked it to make if I had a choice in the matter. However, it is almost quite good that I had no passion for the script as it enabled me to keep a level head in the whole process and possibly learn more. It was interesting to see how the other groups in the class interpreted the screenplay and to see what they did with theirs.

A Blind Perspective

This animated short shows what it's like to be blind for the day. The clever use of animation shows the characters imagination.

Scummy Man

This is a short made by Paul Fraser. This film is an extension to the music video 'When the Sun Goes Down' by the Artic Monkeys. It's a very gritty film but one worth a watch. If you follow this link you can read some background information.

Click here for background information

Here is the video. Sorry it is in two parts.

Scummy Man Part 1



Scummy Man Part 2

Saltmark

This is a brilliant short, starring two great actors. Watch now...

Saltmark

Club Flix Plans

Last night I had a meeting with other Club Flix steering group members. This is where I help plan events with other young film makers. We have lots of excititng new events happening in the near future! So I just thought I would share some of them! As I feel all the opportunities coming up are relevant to this module and anyone who takes a keen interest in film making. Club Flix is open to trying to establish a wider network of people so if any of the ideas sound interesting and you would like to be part of it then let me know, as it looks like I will be running Club Flix from late January for a while.

In January we are hoping to film a music video, and fingers crossed Colston Hall maybe at our finger tips as a potential venue!

We are also trying to make a community based film in collaberation with the police around Bath on issues about citizenship, drinking etc. This should be fun liasing with the police.

We are also applying for funding with 'First Light' and if we are successful then we will have a large some of money to make two to four films with. This could be up to £30,000!:D

We are going to get some mentors in to give some training to those that want it on camera and Final Cut Pro. This will be really handy and will hopefully get everyone up to speed and at the same level.

We are having a meeting with someone from Bath Film Office about how to get permission to film in Bath. This is great as hopefully by the time we make our second film next term I will have a better idea of who to contact for my release forms etc.

Thats all that we discussed last night but we have new ideas for projects all the time which are great opportunities!

One of my fellow Club Flix members has won BBC Blast recently for his film 'From Choice to Change.' It was aired on BBC 2 just the other day and won the categories for its use of music and editing. I previously posted this film on my blog a little while ago but here is the link below to BBC i player where you can view it now if you want to in relation to BBC Blast. It is worth a look because we have to submit our own films next term to a festival and this programme tells you what the judges are after! Skip to 40 mins in to get to this bit if you want as it is an hour long programme!

Here it is ...

BBC Blast

Now that he has won the competition he has been given a bursery to make another film and has a mentor to help him. He also has made some great contacts in the process so it just goes to show it is worth getting youf films out there!

Shooting Weekend

It is sunday night and we have just finished filming. It has been a tiring weekend but also a lot of fun! We started filming friday night and I'm glad that we did as it took the pressure of for the next two days. By the end of saturday we had shot most of our film and only had one location left to do.

Saturday morning was the scene that I was most worried about because we had to film inside Treds (shoe shop) in town but I was aware that we needed to be quite quick about it, so that we were out of the shop before it got busy. Luckily the shop assistants were very friendly and helpful towards us, so we managed to get all the shots we needed.

Despite the weather forecast, it was a blue sky at first and we couldn't believe our luck. However, we could see rain clouds coming! Mid shoot the rain got quite heavy so we had to get out all our umbrellas out and do our best to protect the equipment. However, it got too heavy at one point so we had to go under s shelter while the rain settled and then we continued filming. We all felt that the rain worked quite well with our film anyway because it added to the mood.

Today we shot the last two scenes up at the changing rooms at uni. This is our key scene in the film so we wanted to shoot it right. We took a little extra time so that we could get a variety of angles so that when we come to edit it we have a good choice of what to use. Some extra ideas sprang upon us during filming too which I think work well and will help create more suspense.

Overall I feel really happy with the way the weekend went. I think that we worked great as a team and everyone took on their particular roles well. Evie, our actress also did really well and she was very patient when we told her to re shoot things over and over.

One week left...

With just a week before we go into production we need to finalise all our plans. As Producer my role is to sort out locations, so I went into town with Katie and we managed to get the all clear from Treds! This is great news and a great relief of my mind as I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult.


I have also had my Z1 camera and Final Cut Pro demo this week. Both were helpful and even though I'm not in control of the camera it was useful to be able to know how to use it in order to help out Lyndon come filming weekend. I have used Final Cut before but not for a while so it was also good to brush up and some things I had forgtotton.

I have been finishing of the storyboard too. I tried to use all the locations we will be shooting in. Although it doesn't match the script perfectly, this was helpful as it gave me a clearer idea of what the film is going to look like.

Work Experience

This week as part of my work experience I went to help out with a workshop with the Club Flix Juniors. Club Flix is a film group run by Suited and Booted Studios, for kids who are interested in film and want to start making some. All the children are under the age of 14. It was a very interesting day and the reason I am writing about it on my blog is because I feel it linked really well to what were are doing during our own film making process.

The group of children were given a genre of ‘Horror’, which made sense since Halloween is lurking over us. They then had to come up with an idea in a day and then make it in just two days. The filming process is the same as ours as they too only have two days of filming but to add to the pressure they only had one day of pre production, whereas we have several weeks, which allows us to be slightly more organised come shooting weekend.

As a starting point the children had to come up with examples of horror films and then specific clips within the films that they could storyboard to show how horror is conveyed cinematically. From this they came up with their own scary sequences. The workshop leader was very good at taking all their ideas and putting them into one whole short film. Once the idea was in place, a rough screenplay was written up, while the rest of us explored the building to find the best shooting locations. We also wrote up a list of props we needed to get hold of and talked about how lighting could be used. All this was done in a day, which just goes to show how much you can actually do in this space of time.

The script writing process was particularly helpful for when I have to write my own screenplay over Christmas. It was clear to me that there are just a few questions you need to be able to answer explicitly in your own mind before you have a really good screenplay and no matter how old you are making the film, the same rules apply.

To see an example of work completed by the Club Flix Juniors last year in also just three days, click on the following link which will take you to the Club Flix web page. You then need to click on the first film on the left where you will see a young boys face. The film is called 'Broken Circle'.


Club Flix

Development on Shoes

Katie, Lyndon and I met up this week to shotlist our new script of Shoes (which we still need to think of a title for). It was more straight forward than we thought it was going to be, as once we had the re written script in front of us, it was easy to number each shot. We went through the script together and discussed various types of shots for each scene and came up with the final decisions together.

We tried to make the shooting order so that it works to our advantage. For example, we are leaving the town shots until last as it will be quieter on a Sunday morning as the shops don’t open until a bit later. This will be easier when shooting as the busier it is, the harder it will be to film. We only have three other locations which will be the changing rooms up at university, and mine and Lyndon’s house. As they are interior shots they can always be shot at night if needs be, as daylight isn’t necessary.

We now need to start our storyboard. Katie is a natural artist so she is going to draw some of the shots and I (not such a good artist) am going to take out my camera and also get some shots. We are going to combine them and will hopefully end up with a comprehensive storyboard.

Cast wise we only really need one actress to play the main girl and luckily Lyndon has a little sister aged 14 which works perfectly for our film, so she is going to be our actress. We do need a mother and father but only the back of their heads so anyone could potentially play these characters.

We now need to start focussing on getting props, such as the shoes, which is obviously very important! We also need to finalise locations and start getting permission from the necessary people. Still so much to do... but I feel we are getting there!

Shoes

We have been given a script called 'What would you do for a pair a shoes?'and now have to re write it. We were given a week to come up with our interpretation of the script and how we would like to change it. I spent a lot of time thinking about the writers meaning and a story which would really engage the viewer. After a long hard think I came up with an idea, but unfortunately although I liked it, I think it was realistically too complicaed in the short space of time we have to convey it. In the end we came up with a good story as a group. It took a while going backwards and forwards with rough ideas but I think we have a pretty solid idea now which we can take into production.

When deciding what roles we wanted to take on for the pracical film making, no one was very demanding so it was nice as we were able to distribute the roles fairly . We all generally picked different roles, except for editing where pretty much all of us want to have a go.
I am producer, so my main roles are to remain organised through out production so that I can makesure the rest of the team know what they're doing. Once the script has been re wrote and we have a storyboard I will need to write up a shooting schedule. I will also be in charge of finding locations where we can shoot which should be interesting. I think it could be tricky at times when it comes slightly out of my control. For example, we need a shoe shop that we can film inside, so I will have to contact a shop and hope they say yes. I will also be working closeley with the director on the visual style of the film, which I am looking forward to.

I think because we are planning our film out clearly now it will be a lot easier come shooting weekend.

From Choice to Change- BBC Blast Winner!

This is a short film that my friend made, which has recently won BBC Blast! I think is a good short as it shows how a lot of teenagers might feel now that we we live in a world where our socialising is becoming dominated by online netwroking sites. I also think it has been written well and I like the voice over, which I feel connects the viewer to the character. The use of editing also brings this film together nicely.

From Choice to Change

Escape

Moving short film that doesn't waste any time getting to the story. The ending is quite ambiguous as the cinematography shows his remorse, however what the character says suggests something else.

Escape

CGI-brows

Very funny mockumentary

Mixtape (Grand Prize Winner)

This is a really well made tightly composed little short. I can see why it won at this years Virgin Media Shorts competition. The Director has taken a simple idea and shown it really well. I particularly like the close up shot of the young girl lying on her bed and the close up of the young boy looking into the camera. It really captures the feeling that they both have inside of them and the music compliments it beautifully. I also think the two young actors are really good for their age.

The Most Beautiful Man In The World

I think this is another great short film but for different reasons. The idea is a lot more simple but it works because it leaves the audience in suspense a little. All the sound is diegetic which adds to the feeling of suspense. There are some really nice shots in here too. The opening sequence is made up of quick shots which also makes the audience pay attention.

The Most Beautiful Man in the World

Alive In Joburg

This short directed by Neil Blomkamp is now famous for inspiring the feature length film District 9. I personally think it is a good short because the idea is unique and it captures the audience's attention immediately, which is key when watching shorts. It also contains some interesting point of view shots which draw you into the film. However, some would argue the idea is so large it is better for a feature length film and perhaps District 9 proves this.

Take a look

My First Task

My first task is to watch lots of short films and try to figure out why some work and some don't.

What is it that makes a short film successful?

This is the question I hope to answer but first I must watch a few shorts...