On Thursday June 5th we screened our final films a the Showroom Cinema Sheffield. It was weird but very satisfying to see the final film on the big screen, (a taste of future things to come) both cast and crew were happy with the outcome and the film was very well received by the audience. It was a rollercoaster ride of months of hard work but I am very proud with the outcome.
Friday, 6 June 2014
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Coming to a close: Final Updates
Although the official deadline for the films finish is the 6th June, because of the screening event on the 5th of June; Capture 14 we had to have a copy finished by Friday the 30th for testing purposes etc.
This wasn't a problem and in fact gave us a reason to work more efficiently.
I had a look at the over colour corrections on the picture cut. It was difficult to find a balance between shots looking to red/overexposed white and the outdoor shots looking too dark and being too grainy. But I chose what was more important per scene.
I used the final day to make a few additions to the sound design such as adding "club" music to the gentleman club scene, making it seem like the victim was leaving a busy establishment, worked on a few fades and dead sounds in the dialogue.
Ron gave the film a quick run through and had no major qualms with what we had and so I did one final watch through, making minor adjustments along the way before I left Owen to do the leveling, before handing the final sound design over to Jess.
This wasn't a problem and in fact gave us a reason to work more efficiently.
I had a look at the over colour corrections on the picture cut. It was difficult to find a balance between shots looking to red/overexposed white and the outdoor shots looking too dark and being too grainy. But I chose what was more important per scene.
I used the final day to make a few additions to the sound design such as adding "club" music to the gentleman club scene, making it seem like the victim was leaving a busy establishment, worked on a few fades and dead sounds in the dialogue.
Ron gave the film a quick run through and had no major qualms with what we had and so I did one final watch through, making minor adjustments along the way before I left Owen to do the leveling, before handing the final sound design over to Jess.
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Final Sound Updates
At various dates between the 19th and 30th of June I got into a system of working with Owen on the sound design: I would give him a list of tasks to complete, then disappear for up to an hour before coming back and listening to what he had come up with. Then I would make suggestions of how to improve what he had to give a better effect, and sometimes hand over sound that I had found online during my time away, that I thought matched the theme and tone of the film. I would do this until we worked through the check-list, then repeat the process with a new list everyday/meet up.
It was very monotonous for me, to babysit but it was a method that worked and guaranteed that work was being done, but at the same time I think having me reassuring that I liked what he had come up with helped Owen be a little more confident in his own work.
It was unfortunate that our actors were completely unavailable to do any ADR, due to their own final year deadlines and requirements, and so we did the best we did to cover up any messes in the sound, especially when it came to the outside shoots where dialogue was at times echoy or eclipsed my the sounds of cars, and in the hotel where a creaky floorboard can be heard every now and then.
There was a limit to the amount of feedback that I could give to Owen, as sound is my weakest area, and so I got Emma, another sound student to listen to out film a few times, she helped give Owen a number of suggestions on how to improve and adjust certain sounds/tone to give it a certain feel.
Neil and Ron were also very helpful in giving feedback as we went along, stopping in every few days and listening to certain sections and highlighting weak areas to improve.
It was very monotonous for me, to babysit but it was a method that worked and guaranteed that work was being done, but at the same time I think having me reassuring that I liked what he had come up with helped Owen be a little more confident in his own work.
It was unfortunate that our actors were completely unavailable to do any ADR, due to their own final year deadlines and requirements, and so we did the best we did to cover up any messes in the sound, especially when it came to the outside shoots where dialogue was at times echoy or eclipsed my the sounds of cars, and in the hotel where a creaky floorboard can be heard every now and then.
There was a limit to the amount of feedback that I could give to Owen, as sound is my weakest area, and so I got Emma, another sound student to listen to out film a few times, she helped give Owen a number of suggestions on how to improve and adjust certain sounds/tone to give it a certain feel.
Neil and Ron were also very helpful in giving feedback as we went along, stopping in every few days and listening to certain sections and highlighting weak areas to improve.
Titles and Credits
We had an overall picture lock in place but I used this time to go through the title and credits with Jess, as well as colour correcting the bloody hand shots, as this was the alternative to doing a re-shoot.
The credits of most horror films are rarely the default setting, and normally have quite a ornate/musical tone to them, befitting to the style of the film.
I went for a more cursive look because I felt it fit with the characteristic of the mysterious character of Jeffrey, well spoken and charming with a slight sharp edge.
The credits of most horror films are rarely the default setting, and normally have quite a ornate/musical tone to them, befitting to the style of the film.
I went for a more cursive look because I felt it fit with the characteristic of the mysterious character of Jeffrey, well spoken and charming with a slight sharp edge.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Second Screening Session
As stated in the previous feedback, we had to upload a low quality version of the film due to upload problems, but it also turned out that Jess was exporting the file incorrectly which also affected the picture quality. This time around all of these problems had been fixed and as the picture was also locked it made for a much better viewing experience.
We got overall a very good review. The film was chilling and the build up to the final scene was very effective. The main issue was the look of blood, which due to the lights that was trained on it, gave it a syrup type look, which was said to be quite distracting, it was suggested that we should reshoot it, which was quite funny as little did they know what they were watching was in fact a reshoot. Unfortunately we couldn't reshoot even if we wanted as the actress was no longer available. The ending is also something that held mixed reviews as it held two different connotations. I think it's nice that it did because it matches with the theme that you're not sure if what you're seeing is real or not.
Not much could be said about the sound as there was barely anything there that could be commented on.
We got overall a very good review. The film was chilling and the build up to the final scene was very effective. The main issue was the look of blood, which due to the lights that was trained on it, gave it a syrup type look, which was said to be quite distracting, it was suggested that we should reshoot it, which was quite funny as little did they know what they were watching was in fact a reshoot. Unfortunately we couldn't reshoot even if we wanted as the actress was no longer available. The ending is also something that held mixed reviews as it held two different connotations. I think it's nice that it did because it matches with the theme that you're not sure if what you're seeing is real or not.
Not much could be said about the sound as there was barely anything there that could be commented on.
Reshoot
Because we couldn't go back to the theatre to do a reshoot, I improvised by using the Workstation. I cleared an area and pulled across a black curtain which would mimick the black curtain used in the theatre scene. Josh was unavailable due to his own work load and schedule and so Tom stepped in to be his "Arm double" as the shot would be quite quick it would go unnoticed. Unfortunately the actress turned up with the wrong outfit and so I had to improvise again. I asked if she minded getting the black vest top she was wearing dirty, and used that instead. I had to be careful with the shot because in the original shoot she had a pink vest top underneath a black armless top. So I had to avoid shooting her from the side. We also had to avoid getting in any shots of the floor as it was clearly different from the one in the theatre.
This reshoot took just under an hour and we got a multitude of shots and the blood looked a lot better which was a relief.
This reshoot took just under an hour and we got a multitude of shots and the blood looked a lot better which was a relief.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Sound Updates
As previously stated; the picture copy we gave Owen had gaps for the establishing shot and I asked him to stay away from the last scene as that was due to change. Just like Jess I arranged to see Owen on various dates to check his progress.
06/05: At this point there wasn't too much to see in terms of a sound design as Owen had been mostly working on syncing sounds/dialogue fixing and other not so obvious, but important things.
08/05: When I came back he had added a few tones that started to give me a feel for what the rest of the sound design would be like. Telling him that I liked what I was hearing so far I told him to continue along with where he was going and gave him a list of things and ideas that I would like to see completed by the next time we meet. This included: A sound motif for Jeffrey, a design for the "argument" section and a high pitched violin type tone for the killing scenes.
14/05: My initial meeting with Owen was supposed to be on the 12th, but he told me to bother coming as there was a technical issue and so he wouldn't have much more to show me. When I finally came in on Wednesday I was disappointed to find that Owen had deleted the progress he had made, claiming that he wasn't too sure about it. He didn't save this other copy anywhere and so we essentially had nothing. I told him to recreate some of it as I reminded him that the next screening we had was supposed to be a sound screening and he would have nothing to be analysed. I also gave him the final picture lock. But told him I was more concerned with him getting a decent sound design in place.
Overall I came to the conclusion that I would have to stay with him during the sound designing process as opposed to how I worked with Jess, which was checking on her progress and making suggestions at pre arranged days. That way I would assure he was getting work done and not deleting any progress due to any unsureness.
06/05: At this point there wasn't too much to see in terms of a sound design as Owen had been mostly working on syncing sounds/dialogue fixing and other not so obvious, but important things.
08/05: When I came back he had added a few tones that started to give me a feel for what the rest of the sound design would be like. Telling him that I liked what I was hearing so far I told him to continue along with where he was going and gave him a list of things and ideas that I would like to see completed by the next time we meet. This included: A sound motif for Jeffrey, a design for the "argument" section and a high pitched violin type tone for the killing scenes.
14/05: My initial meeting with Owen was supposed to be on the 12th, but he told me to bother coming as there was a technical issue and so he wouldn't have much more to show me. When I finally came in on Wednesday I was disappointed to find that Owen had deleted the progress he had made, claiming that he wasn't too sure about it. He didn't save this other copy anywhere and so we essentially had nothing. I told him to recreate some of it as I reminded him that the next screening we had was supposed to be a sound screening and he would have nothing to be analysed. I also gave him the final picture lock. But told him I was more concerned with him getting a decent sound design in place.
Overall I came to the conclusion that I would have to stay with him during the sound designing process as opposed to how I worked with Jess, which was checking on her progress and making suggestions at pre arranged days. That way I would assure he was getting work done and not deleting any progress due to any unsureness.
Monday, 5 May 2014
Research: Berberian Sound Studio
This film helped me to realise how uncomfortablness in sound can be used as great advantage in thrillers, the more uncomfortable the more effective. So I shouldn't be afraid to use sounds that are over the top at levels that would normally be deemed inappropriate. The more you have the deeper it effects the audience. Much like in Berberian Sound Studio towards the end, where the actress has on headphones and Gilderoy and Francesco increase the high pitched noise coming through her headphones.
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Extra Shooting: Establishing Shot
We had all been away for Easter and working on another assignment and so to arrange a time to meet up prior to this date proved difficult. But finally today, Owen Chris and I went to film a few establishing shots.
Even though we shot at The Montgomery Theatre the exterior didn't match the theme/tone of the film.
Instead we headed to the Lantern Theatre and filmed that exterior, I went in and asked them if it was okay to film the exterior explaining a little about who I was and what it was for and they were more than happy to comply.
Getting the exterior of a hotel was a little more complex because we didn't want the establishments name in their, the word "Hotel" would be sufficient. Chris mentioned that at the hotel he worked (the one we originally filmed at) there was an arch way that had the words "Hotel". Because I wanted to get this shot at a later time, because the character is only seen in his hotel room at night, I asked Chris if he minded getting the shot alone later that evening as he was going to be there later. He did and later showed me the footage which was exactly what we needed.
Even though we shot at The Montgomery Theatre the exterior didn't match the theme/tone of the film.
Instead we headed to the Lantern Theatre and filmed that exterior, I went in and asked them if it was okay to film the exterior explaining a little about who I was and what it was for and they were more than happy to comply.
Getting the exterior of a hotel was a little more complex because we didn't want the establishments name in their, the word "Hotel" would be sufficient. Chris mentioned that at the hotel he worked (the one we originally filmed at) there was an arch way that had the words "Hotel". Because I wanted to get this shot at a later time, because the character is only seen in his hotel room at night, I asked Chris if he minded getting the shot alone later that evening as he was going to be there later. He did and later showed me the footage which was exactly what we needed.
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Research: Sound Design in Psychological Thrillers
One of the first films that I through of as a point of research is Black Swan, in terms of the similarities in the degenerative psychological states of the characters. As well as that because of the elements of the sound design inspired by/used to emulate Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (One of my favourite pieces of music) it was only natural that it was one of the first films I thought of to analyse its sound design.
The excerpt of Craig Henighan, sound designer for Black Swan, is great because of the way he explains the hows and the whys of the sound decisions he's made. Also there are a lot of factors that he talks about that mirror what me and Neil have discussed in the past when we were starting to think about the sound design. For example: Building up the sound, only to bring it back down again to silence/almost silence, or bring it up to a level of intolerance, only to pull it back - playing with the dynamics.
Like Ridley, Black Swan starts off in the here and now, as we explore a little bit of his reality, before it takes a tumble down the rabbit hole and into a world of uncertainty. When Craig talks about being making "this regular everyday movie that was just a little bit left of centre" I feel that we can exploit the same premise with Ridly by using sounds that are slightly off key and borderline creepy in between sounds of normality, to sort of unsettle the audience and give then cause for concern/foreshadowing danger.
What Craig says about using sound to push the story forward is something that I really need to keep in mind because mostly the benefits and the overall power that a good sound design can have, is often forgotten or back shelved.
Overall this clip gave me a lot to think about as well as a range of ideas to bring to the table.
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Research: Sound Motifs
Something that we talked about very early on was the use of Sound Motifs namely for the character of Jeffrey to give the audience a foreshadowing sense of danger/mystery and intrigue about him. With this in mind I went about research how sound motifs are used in other characters, analysing their meaning their power and their effectiveness.
The first show that came to mind was Orphan Black (2013-Present) The reason this immediately popped into my head is that the shows premise revolves around the idea and reality of clones. There have been a few that have come and gone, but the series essentially follows five main clones at a time, all of whom are played by the actress Tatiana Maslany.
INTERVIEW: Orphan Black’s music composer Trevor Yuile by Martha
How do you connect to each clone and subsequently, compose a theme or music score that fits their character? Tell us about the creative process or energy that goes into getting it right.
To answer the first part – it was always part of my plan to help separate the personalities of the clones with particular sounds for each character. The way that works is not in any sort of melodic theme per character – rather, I try to look at it as a texture, palette, or vocabulary for each. And the reason for that is, that way, at least in my mind, if characters cross paths, I wouldn’t be handcuffed to a harmonic tonality, or stuck crossing melodic motifs – I would only have to change the texture or the palette.
http://marthainafewwords.wordpress.com/tag/orphan-black-music/ [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
Of the closes there is one that has a particular distinctive sound motif attached to them; Helena.
It would be criminal to go without getting a few words from you about Helena’s theme! How did you create this piece of music? Once again, could you let us into the creative process behind it?
Helena’s theme was born from two ideas I had. The first thing that I had experimented with was taking a few little choir sequences (monophonic) I wrote and slowing them down… not just a little but a lot. I took a 30 second sequence and slowed it down to 2 hours long without changing the original pitch. On top of that, I knew I wanted to approach it like a John Cage piano piece. Those two were the foundation of Helena. and it was good, but it was missing something. It was creepy and angular, dissonant, but wasn’t frightening enough to me. So I have these custom made musical instruments that make really weird sounds…kinda like circuit bent toys. I was playing around with them to try and fit them in, left one running and got up to make a cup of tea. When I came back, I had no idea it was still running. So I pressed record to start working with it, and as soon as I did that was the sound that happened to come out. At that point…the theme was born.
http://marthainafewwords.wordpress.com/tag/orphan-black-music/ [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
The first show that came to mind was Orphan Black (2013-Present) The reason this immediately popped into my head is that the shows premise revolves around the idea and reality of clones. There have been a few that have come and gone, but the series essentially follows five main clones at a time, all of whom are played by the actress Tatiana Maslany.
INTERVIEW: Orphan Black’s music composer Trevor Yuile by Martha
How do you connect to each clone and subsequently, compose a theme or music score that fits their character? Tell us about the creative process or energy that goes into getting it right.
To answer the first part – it was always part of my plan to help separate the personalities of the clones with particular sounds for each character. The way that works is not in any sort of melodic theme per character – rather, I try to look at it as a texture, palette, or vocabulary for each. And the reason for that is, that way, at least in my mind, if characters cross paths, I wouldn’t be handcuffed to a harmonic tonality, or stuck crossing melodic motifs – I would only have to change the texture or the palette.
http://marthainafewwords.wordpress.com/tag/orphan-black-music/ [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
It would be criminal to go without getting a few words from you about Helena’s theme! How did you create this piece of music? Once again, could you let us into the creative process behind it?
Helena’s theme was born from two ideas I had. The first thing that I had experimented with was taking a few little choir sequences (monophonic) I wrote and slowing them down… not just a little but a lot. I took a 30 second sequence and slowed it down to 2 hours long without changing the original pitch. On top of that, I knew I wanted to approach it like a John Cage piano piece. Those two were the foundation of Helena. and it was good, but it was missing something. It was creepy and angular, dissonant, but wasn’t frightening enough to me. So I have these custom made musical instruments that make really weird sounds…kinda like circuit bent toys. I was playing around with them to try and fit them in, left one running and got up to make a cup of tea. When I came back, I had no idea it was still running. So I pressed record to start working with it, and as soon as I did that was the sound that happened to come out. At that point…the theme was born.
http://marthainafewwords.wordpress.com/tag/orphan-black-music/ [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
Of course there are a number of other popular and well renowned sound motifs from films spanning across the decades.
They all show them the importance and effectively the power that a good sound motif can add to a film. I think I would like to go with something a little more subtle than the ones talked about in this post, as not to exclipse the film itself, but I have a few ideas now generating after doing this research that will allow me to have a much easier time coming up with a particular tone.
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
One on One: Sound Thoughts
This time, with a lot of changes made and the film being down to a much more suitable 12 minutes, we sat down with Neil, who went through and made a few more suggestions of how to make the film flow a little more smoothly, and then went in depth about how plot out the sound, in terms of tones and melodies.
We discussed, a motif for Jeffrey and certain moments within the film. About building up the sound and taking it down again, to build suspense within the audiences mind. And about what the sound was supposed to help say about the character Ridley, his state of mind, foreshadowing future actions etc.
A little later than antipated, we handed over the picture lock to Owen the next day (10/04/14) we had left gaps of where we were going to insert some establishing shots, once filmed, and I told to ignore working on the final scene until we had decided on a suitable ending for it, which would include some refilmed shots after Easter.
We discussed, a motif for Jeffrey and certain moments within the film. About building up the sound and taking it down again, to build suspense within the audiences mind. And about what the sound was supposed to help say about the character Ridley, his state of mind, foreshadowing future actions etc.
A little later than antipated, we handed over the picture lock to Owen the next day (10/04/14) we had left gaps of where we were going to insert some establishing shots, once filmed, and I told to ignore working on the final scene until we had decided on a suitable ending for it, which would include some refilmed shots after Easter.
Friday, 4 April 2014
One on One: Feedback
After the not so informative feedback session yesterday, Jess and I arranged to meet with Chris again to get some constructive feedback.
He kindly went through the film frame by frame, giving his opinion and suggestion for change/deletion and addition.
A few key examples: We had no establishing shots, the dancing scene at the end added nothing to the film and could be either deleted, or trimmed immensely. Also he suggested getting a shot where we actually view the kill of the girl.
With all of this an more in mind it made things a lot easier for me and Jess to work through what we had.
He kindly went through the film frame by frame, giving his opinion and suggestion for change/deletion and addition.
A few key examples: We had no establishing shots, the dancing scene at the end added nothing to the film and could be either deleted, or trimmed immensely. Also he suggested getting a shot where we actually view the kill of the girl.
With all of this an more in mind it made things a lot easier for me and Jess to work through what we had.
Thursday, 3 April 2014
First Screening Session
Jess had trouble uploading the footage onto the Vimeo page at a high quality version and so had to upload a low quality version which really effected the viewing of the film.
The outside scenes were basically black and the theatre scenes were an unseemly shade of red.
The comments were all stemmed around those two problems, although it made it difficult to judge the film, ultimately nothing constructive was said about how to improve the film or any ideas given about what to cut, and so I was a little disappointed.
The outside scenes were basically black and the theatre scenes were an unseemly shade of red.
The comments were all stemmed around those two problems, although it made it difficult to judge the film, ultimately nothing constructive was said about how to improve the film or any ideas given about what to cut, and so I was a little disappointed.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Rough-Final
Over the weekend Jess did some more editing, and the structure of the film was at a solid place.
Due to how bad the "bloody" shots looked, we couldn't use them in the final scene and so had to devise a way to build up to the characters death without actually showing it. We experimented with a range of techniques including voice-overs and blackouts, but ultimately when with a flash of images, replaying the main characters transgressions.
Jess neatened things up in preparation for the screening on Thursday.
Due to how bad the "bloody" shots looked, we couldn't use them in the final scene and so had to devise a way to build up to the characters death without actually showing it. We experimented with a range of techniques including voice-overs and blackouts, but ultimately when with a flash of images, replaying the main characters transgressions.
Jess neatened things up in preparation for the screening on Thursday.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Assembly-Rough
Originally me and Jess we supposed to meet up for a check tomorrow (Friday) but we rearranged for today, which luckily managed to sync with an edit tutorial with Chris.
Before meeting up with Chris, Jess and I discussed her progress thus far, what she had cut from the initial 20min copy and what we could do to reduce the current 18minute copy even further.
At 2:30pm Chris came to evaluate our progress and gave some useful tips about transitioning of scenes and what was just completely unnecessary to the progression of the storyline, an overall way of thinking to help make decisions about cutting shots and scenes.
My next meet up with Jess in on Tuesday 1st April
Before meeting up with Chris, Jess and I discussed her progress thus far, what she had cut from the initial 20min copy and what we could do to reduce the current 18minute copy even further.
At 2:30pm Chris came to evaluate our progress and gave some useful tips about transitioning of scenes and what was just completely unnecessary to the progression of the storyline, an overall way of thinking to help make decisions about cutting shots and scenes.
My next meet up with Jess in on Tuesday 1st April
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Assembly
On Friday I met with Jess and we sifted through the footage as she transferred the finished labelled footage from the Mac I used in uni to her own Mac.
On Monday Jess and I met up with Owen, where he handed over the sound files so that Jess could start syncing them after the initial assembly. After that I talked to Owen about what I wanted over the next few weeks whilst the Film was in the picture edit stage. Mostly to research horror films and their sounds and techniques they used
Today I met up with Jess and Neil so that we could look at the Assembly Jess had done. This initial assembly was around the 20minute mark, so we had a lot of work to do to get it to a more appropriate length
On Monday Jess and I met up with Owen, where he handed over the sound files so that Jess could start syncing them after the initial assembly. After that I talked to Owen about what I wanted over the next few weeks whilst the Film was in the picture edit stage. Mostly to research horror films and their sounds and techniques they used
Today I met up with Jess and Neil so that we could look at the Assembly Jess had done. This initial assembly was around the 20minute mark, so we had a lot of work to do to get it to a more appropriate length
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Research: Editing Techniques in Psychological Thrillers
The genre of Ridley, I would class under psychological thriller, and with this comes certain codes and conventions that need to be met. Although it is usually my aim to try and distort as many "rules" as possible, one still needs to have a basic understanding.
A lot of psychological thriller require the audience to have a degree of suspense the entire was through, as though they are holding their breathe waiting for something to happen. It is the job of me and the editor to create this suspense.
Editing for suspense is a simple technique. It's about understanding what the audience wants to see, and then not giving it to them right away. If you were editing a movie in which a group of friends decide to spend the night in a haunted mansion, you wouldn't show the ghosts right away, you would build up to the moment of reveal.
-VIDEO EDITING TIP: BUILDING SUSPENSE [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2010/12/video-editing-tip-building-suspense
In terms of Ridley the suspense comes from what Ridley is going to do in the end; Make his own choices or continue to be bullied by Jeffrey. We can achieve the suspence by creating moments within the film that make it seem that Ridley is leaning one way or the other, only to snatch the moment back from the audience, and prolong the decision until the climactic point in the film.
I started to look at trailers that have been recut to be a different genre to analayse the importance of when to cut and how shots can be fit together to give an alternative interpretation. This was also a good method for exploring the importance of a good sound design.
Of course editing a trailer is different from editing a full movie, but the art is the same; Taking certain clips to display a certain story, the story that I as a director want the audience to see, feel and believe. It is up to me to decide If I want the audience to sympathise with the characters, to feel nothing for them, or to make them feel like they are an arms length away from the action and events.
A lot of psychological thriller require the audience to have a degree of suspense the entire was through, as though they are holding their breathe waiting for something to happen. It is the job of me and the editor to create this suspense.
Editing for suspense is a simple technique. It's about understanding what the audience wants to see, and then not giving it to them right away. If you were editing a movie in which a group of friends decide to spend the night in a haunted mansion, you wouldn't show the ghosts right away, you would build up to the moment of reveal.
-VIDEO EDITING TIP: BUILDING SUSPENSE [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2010/12/video-editing-tip-building-suspense
In terms of Ridley the suspense comes from what Ridley is going to do in the end; Make his own choices or continue to be bullied by Jeffrey. We can achieve the suspence by creating moments within the film that make it seem that Ridley is leaning one way or the other, only to snatch the moment back from the audience, and prolong the decision until the climactic point in the film.
I started to look at trailers that have been recut to be a different genre to analayse the importance of when to cut and how shots can be fit together to give an alternative interpretation. This was also a good method for exploring the importance of a good sound design.
Of course editing a trailer is different from editing a full movie, but the art is the same; Taking certain clips to display a certain story, the story that I as a director want the audience to see, feel and believe. It is up to me to decide If I want the audience to sympathise with the characters, to feel nothing for them, or to make them feel like they are an arms length away from the action and events.
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Logging the Footage
Our editor is working on another project as well as ours and so because the first week of our first post production coincides with the final post production week of the first group, the editor Jess asked me to help her log and label the footage.
Me and Chris met up and we went through the process of transferring everything from his hard drive onto the mac.
Then went through the process of putting everything from the mac into Avid Media Composer 6 in the most organised way possible; I labelled three separate bins and started the importing process. After Chris left I then went through each shot and labelled them according to the clapperboard prompts.
This was an easy enough process, though there were times where we had to go off Shot List, but I labelled them as clearly as possible and had previously spoken to the editor about it.
During this process I noticed that a lot of the theatre scenes were very Red. This was due to a lighting fault in the establishment, which has been previously described.
Hopefully these will be able to be colour corrected later on as there is no chance of a re shoot. The next step is to hand the footage over to Jess on Thursday.
Me and Chris met up and we went through the process of transferring everything from his hard drive onto the mac.
Then went through the process of putting everything from the mac into Avid Media Composer 6 in the most organised way possible; I labelled three separate bins and started the importing process. After Chris left I then went through each shot and labelled them according to the clapperboard prompts.
This was an easy enough process, though there were times where we had to go off Shot List, but I labelled them as clearly as possible and had previously spoken to the editor about it.
During this process I noticed that a lot of the theatre scenes were very Red. This was due to a lighting fault in the establishment, which has been previously described.
Hopefully these will be able to be colour corrected later on as there is no chance of a re shoot. The next step is to hand the footage over to Jess on Thursday.
Tutorial With Neil
Today was just a short catch up with the progress we had made and any problems I had encountered along the way, which was ultimately none.
We then discussed sound:
Setting up ADR sessions with the actors as soon as possible if it was necessary.
The use of underlying tone; having a sort of low rumble the whole way through
Using silences, and how silences can be used to break down a soundscape and build it back up again
Neil also suggest that it might help me to draw a sound map when I watch the assembly.
We would next meet to watch the Assembly with the editor next Tuesday.
We then discussed sound:
Setting up ADR sessions with the actors as soon as possible if it was necessary.
The use of underlying tone; having a sort of low rumble the whole way through
Using silences, and how silences can be used to break down a soundscape and build it back up again
Neil also suggest that it might help me to draw a sound map when I watch the assembly.
We would next meet to watch the Assembly with the editor next Tuesday.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Talks with the Editor
I met with Jess, whom I haven't had much of a chance to speak to during the pre production and production phases as she is editing another project.
I talked to her about what kind of footage we had captured and any problems that may arise as well as the tone and feel I wanted for the edit. I then whet through specific dates that wanted to see drafts of the film.
Hand Over Footage: Thursday 20th March (As I would be logging the footage)
Assembly: Tuesday 25th March
Assembly/Rough: Friday 28th March
Assembly: Tuesday 25th March
Assembly/Rough: Friday 28th March
Rough: Tuesday 1st April
Rough/Final: Thursday 3th April
Final: Sunday 6th April
Final: Sunday 6th April
Sound Handover: Monday 7th April
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Production Day 4: Outdoor Shoot
Our final day of shooting (which was originally supposed to be our first until I pushed it back to this week) was of the two outdoor scenes. We had previously scouted these areas and so all we had to do was get going.
Location 1: Outside Strip Club
The main problems faced in these scenes were as follows
-It was cold and one of the main actors didn't have a coat on in the scenes and so we had to keep him as warm as possible between takes.
-Filming outdoors meant curious passers-by
-We filmed near a round about and so the constant sound of cars
Location 2: Park
Owen said he would have a listen to the sound and let me know if we would need our actors for any ADR later on. Aside from that we again got everything we needed and worked around one of the main actors having to leave us at 11:00pm.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Production Day 3: Theatre Day 2/2
Today was incredibly manic.
We started off with the same problem as the day before, whereby the staff didn't know how to work the stage lights. This time they couldn't get help from the guy who did it before and so the only light we were left with had a red tinge to it. The woman couldn't work out how to change this, and ultimately it was this or nothing.
Whilst I was working with this issue I had the actors start rehearsing for the next scene and set out where I wanted the camera/lights and the action area with the crew. Although a lot of running around was involved everything turned out okay.
The second phase of the day was filming the audience and sadly we didn't have as big as an audience as expected, but it was still great of people to come along and support us.
After that time drew closer quicker to 5:00pm, and so it was a bit tight getting in the killing scene as well as a few other mandatory pick up shots. We managed to push things till 5:30pm which was when the actors needed to leave. And at the end of the day the important thing is that we got everything we needed from the theatre.
We started off with the same problem as the day before, whereby the staff didn't know how to work the stage lights. This time they couldn't get help from the guy who did it before and so the only light we were left with had a red tinge to it. The woman couldn't work out how to change this, and ultimately it was this or nothing.
Whilst I was working with this issue I had the actors start rehearsing for the next scene and set out where I wanted the camera/lights and the action area with the crew. Although a lot of running around was involved everything turned out okay.
After that time drew closer quicker to 5:00pm, and so it was a bit tight getting in the killing scene as well as a few other mandatory pick up shots. We managed to push things till 5:30pm which was when the actors needed to leave. And at the end of the day the important thing is that we got everything we needed from the theatre.
Day 2 Theatre Call Sheet (Production Day 3)
[http://www.scribd.com/doc/210273626/Call-Sheet-Theatre-Day-2]
(Done by Tom Hesford the Producer)
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Production Day 2: Theatre Day 1/2
We only had two days to get everything we needed out of the theatre scenes, each day had a 9-5 schedule.
When we got there, we were met with the first problem. The lighting technician had recently retired and the staff didn't know how to operate the stage lights. They had to call someone external in to rectify this. Chris and I went up and told then how we wanted the stage lit.
We also brought the dedo and kino lights with us which we used as well but it proved hard to position because of the areas of the stage we wanted filmed.
Originally intending to get rolling at 9:30 we didn't start till an hour later. This was a problem because one of the actor needed to leave at 12:00pm for a 1:00pm start at work. Luckily we didn't keep him to long after the time he had to leave.
Aside from that the day went smoothly, and it was a shame the actress we had playing the character Zoe wasn't available on the Wednesday otherwise we could have fit in one of her scenes. I did get a chance to explore the rest of the theatre space so that I could plot where to use for tomorrows shoot.
The first day went well, and now it was the complicated scenes of Day Two left to get through.
When we got there, we were met with the first problem. The lighting technician had recently retired and the staff didn't know how to operate the stage lights. They had to call someone external in to rectify this. Chris and I went up and told then how we wanted the stage lit.
We also brought the dedo and kino lights with us which we used as well but it proved hard to position because of the areas of the stage we wanted filmed.
Originally intending to get rolling at 9:30 we didn't start till an hour later. This was a problem because one of the actor needed to leave at 12:00pm for a 1:00pm start at work. Luckily we didn't keep him to long after the time he had to leave.
The first day went well, and now it was the complicated scenes of Day Two left to get through.
Day 1 of Theatre Call Sheet (Production Day 2)
[http://www.scribd.com/doc/210273628/Call-Sheet-Theatre-Day-1]
(Done by Tom Hesford the Producer)
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Full List of Pre Production Material
SCRIPT
Written by Tom Hesford (The Producer) and edited by myself
Ridley Final Script
MARKED UP SRIPT
Put together by myself, I originally started out doing it section by section based on what scenes we were shooting, but then altered it to contain the whole script as this meant I could make sure certain shots coincided with what we would shoot on another day.
Ridley Marked Up Script
Web Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/213882933/Ridley-Marked-Up-Script
SHOT LIST
Chris set up a Sky Drive account for the Shot List, where he wrote part of the second scene, before I took over wrote the restt and when he came to do the storyboard he would make slight changes to certain shots that were unachievable.
STORYBOARD
Was drawn entirely by Chris. Some shots were not drawn in because we needed to see the location before we could creatively realise it, as Chris pointed out to me, although I have an idea in mind and a shot list, it may not be possible to do.
AUDITION REEL
Filmed by Chris
Written by Tom Hesford (The Producer) and edited by myself
Ridley Final Script
MARKED UP SRIPT
Put together by myself, I originally started out doing it section by section based on what scenes we were shooting, but then altered it to contain the whole script as this meant I could make sure certain shots coincided with what we would shoot on another day.
Ridley Marked Up Script
Web Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/213882933/Ridley-Marked-Up-Script
SHOT LIST
Chris set up a Sky Drive account for the Shot List, where he wrote part of the second scene, before I took over wrote the restt and when he came to do the storyboard he would make slight changes to certain shots that were unachievable.
STORYBOARD
Was drawn entirely by Chris. Some shots were not drawn in because we needed to see the location before we could creatively realise it, as Chris pointed out to me, although I have an idea in mind and a shot list, it may not be possible to do.
AUDITION REEL
Filmed by Chris
DIRECTORS NOTEBOOK
This is where I planned out each scene and shot to take with me on set. The general layout is Location: The Scenes/What Happens: How many shots. From there it is a case of me making notes prior to production, based on any adjustments I decided would be necessary in the rehearsal time. As I also took this book with me on set it also has notes on, how to change the shots/alternatives to film as a handy source of reference.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Production Day 1: Hotel Scenes
Because the the scenes taking place in the Hotel were in the evening/night we wanted to start filming at around 6:00pm when it actually started to get dark outside. We told the actors to arrive for 5:30/6:00pm and we got there ourselves to start setting up and blocking out shots at 4:00pm.
Unfortunately because we were using a room in the hotel on favours there was no way to see the room before hand, although Chris had described to me in advance the different sort of rooms the hotel had available. When we got there the room we got was decently sized and I began mapping out where I wanted what i.e.: The Camera and the Actors and movements of shots.
When both the actors had arrived I had a talk with them, describing what order we were filming the scenes in and where I wanted them to stand and where the camera would be and what kind of shots we were getting (establishing, close up, mid shot etc.) Then we went for it.
I ticked off the Shotlist as we went along, and used the Marked Up Script as the main point of reference during takes, referring to my Directors Notebook for any changes or additions I had thought up along the way, or had previously written down.
Filming took a lot longer than expected, even though I expected it to run over, but we got everything we needed from the Hotel room and then some. The actors and the crew all stayed motivated and pushed through to get the shots, no matter how many times I wanted it done again. There was one moment when the actors kept laughing in one shot and we must have done 5 takes before we got it right and I insisted everyone take a short break to get back in the zone. We had water and various snacks provided by Chris to munch on during the long shoot. In the end it was very successful first days shoot and I thanked the cast and crew for doing a great job.
Unfortunately because we were using a room in the hotel on favours there was no way to see the room before hand, although Chris had described to me in advance the different sort of rooms the hotel had available. When we got there the room we got was decently sized and I began mapping out where I wanted what i.e.: The Camera and the Actors and movements of shots.
When both the actors had arrived I had a talk with them, describing what order we were filming the scenes in and where I wanted them to stand and where the camera would be and what kind of shots we were getting (establishing, close up, mid shot etc.) Then we went for it.
I ticked off the Shotlist as we went along, and used the Marked Up Script as the main point of reference during takes, referring to my Directors Notebook for any changes or additions I had thought up along the way, or had previously written down.
Filming took a lot longer than expected, even though I expected it to run over, but we got everything we needed from the Hotel room and then some. The actors and the crew all stayed motivated and pushed through to get the shots, no matter how many times I wanted it done again. There was one moment when the actors kept laughing in one shot and we must have done 5 takes before we got it right and I insisted everyone take a short break to get back in the zone. We had water and various snacks provided by Chris to munch on during the long shoot. In the end it was very successful first days shoot and I thanked the cast and crew for doing a great job.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Production Prep
My preparation for the Hotel Shoot was basically me breaking down each scene in my Director Notebook. i worked out how many shots each scene had and also made side notes on specific shots within the scene. These notes were based on notes I made during the read through/rehearsals on Monday, what worked, what didn't worked and new ways to approach the shot.
This meant that unless anything was written down specifically in my notebook then everything was as per shot list/storyboard. As well as that, on set if I had to make any notes on a scene I had a specific section to add it too, which would make things less confusing for me.
This meant that unless anything was written down specifically in my notebook then everything was as per shot list/storyboard. As well as that, on set if I had to make any notes on a scene I had a specific section to add it too, which would make things less confusing for me.
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Reshersals
Originally this week we had planned to do the outdoor scenes on the Wednesday and the hotel scenes on Thursday. After some thought I pulled Tom aside and told him that we weren't 100% prepared for the outside shoots so we should push it back to the second production week. As we were technically filming in the final week of pre production I felt we had the time push it back. With that decided we went about rehearsing. Tom had booked a room in uni that had ample space for the actors to move around.
The three actors we had turn up were
Josh who would be playing Ridley
Conor who would be playing Jeffrey
Scott who originally auditioned for Jeffrey
As Scott was eager to play a role we cast him as Richard, the director. That being the case, I was still open to using someone else as I didn't think that he had the right air for the role.
How I ran the session:
I first got the actors to have a read through of the lines.
I asked whether the lines felt natural to deliver.
We got up to run through the actions.
I told the actors where to stand and gave them queues to execute certain lines and actions.
I checked that it all felt natural and if they had any queries.
I then proceeded with running it through a few times, making tweaks in queues, actions and gestures until it felt and looked right.
I first went through the scenes that involved Richard The Director so that Scott wouldn't need to be waiting around, and then we went through the hotel scenes using the aforementioned steps.
Josh and Conor were very forthcoming with questions and suggestions and letting me know if they had a problem with anything. One instance was in a scene where the action dictates that Jeffrey taps the bed and says "Sit Down" and then Ridley walks over to sit down.
Josh said that he was already moving towards the bed before Jeffrey tells him to sit down and Conor said that it felt weird tapping the bed and then saying sit down.
We ran the scene again with a few changes in place. Josh would just walk towards the bed at the same time Conor taps the bed, cutting the line "Sit Down" I felt this way worked better because it shows a mental link between the two characters. Josh and Conor also said it felt a lot more comfortable running it that way.
During the session I gave each actor a character to research through watching their show or some clips on YouTube. I asked Josh to look at the character Will Dancy on Hannibal. I wanted him to analyse how reserved he acts when he is around others, always folding in to himself with an air of haunting in his personality.
I asked Conor to look at The Joker in The Dark Knight. How has complete and utter faith in his beliefs and lunacy. Analysing how he sees through illusions and plays with Batman and can go from cruel to kind.
The three actors we had turn up were
Josh who would be playing Ridley
Conor who would be playing Jeffrey
Scott who originally auditioned for Jeffrey
As Scott was eager to play a role we cast him as Richard, the director. That being the case, I was still open to using someone else as I didn't think that he had the right air for the role.
How I ran the session:
I first got the actors to have a read through of the lines.
I asked whether the lines felt natural to deliver.
We got up to run through the actions.
I told the actors where to stand and gave them queues to execute certain lines and actions.
I checked that it all felt natural and if they had any queries.
I then proceeded with running it through a few times, making tweaks in queues, actions and gestures until it felt and looked right.
I first went through the scenes that involved Richard The Director so that Scott wouldn't need to be waiting around, and then we went through the hotel scenes using the aforementioned steps.
Josh and Conor were very forthcoming with questions and suggestions and letting me know if they had a problem with anything. One instance was in a scene where the action dictates that Jeffrey taps the bed and says "Sit Down" and then Ridley walks over to sit down.
Josh said that he was already moving towards the bed before Jeffrey tells him to sit down and Conor said that it felt weird tapping the bed and then saying sit down.
We ran the scene again with a few changes in place. Josh would just walk towards the bed at the same time Conor taps the bed, cutting the line "Sit Down" I felt this way worked better because it shows a mental link between the two characters. Josh and Conor also said it felt a lot more comfortable running it that way.
During the session I gave each actor a character to research through watching their show or some clips on YouTube. I asked Josh to look at the character Will Dancy on Hannibal. I wanted him to analyse how reserved he acts when he is around others, always folding in to himself with an air of haunting in his personality.
I asked Conor to look at The Joker in The Dark Knight. How has complete and utter faith in his beliefs and lunacy. Analysing how he sees through illusions and plays with Batman and can go from cruel to kind.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Research: Hannibal (TV Series)
Our next instalment was a suggestion by Neil, the TV series Hannibal. We watched the first episode and I was specifically looking at Tone and the artistic nature of shots i.e. framing
A lot of the shots were incredibly striking. This picturesque nature was then suddenly disrupted, making you feel unsettled.
The second thing I noticed was that the camera focuses on only those that are important within a scene/clip. This means the audience are subconsciously focused on what is happening right in front of them.
The tone of the film was very muted, like you are listing to everything with water logged ears, and then things slowly come in and out of understanding
*After we watched the pilot episode of Hannibal we went through our preproduction material to make sure everything was in sync, and reconfirming shots that he may have been unsure of.
A lot of the shots were incredibly striking. This picturesque nature was then suddenly disrupted, making you feel unsettled.
This another example of disruption. There is a dead body in the middle of the shot but you are distracted from the five figures moving around, the majority of which aren't acknowledging it.
The second thing I noticed was that the camera focuses on only those that are important within a scene/clip. This means the audience are subconsciously focused on what is happening right in front of them.
Here we are supposed to be more concerned with Wills reaction than Jacks, and so Jack is out of focus.
Will and Hannibal and very subtly the man in the back is out of focus.
Alana and Jack during their tracked conversation are kept in focus and everyone around milling around them is out of focus, that way even though they are in a busy environment, our eyes can never wonder from what's right in front of us, what we're meant to be focusing on.
*After we watched the pilot episode of Hannibal we went through our preproduction material to make sure everything was in sync, and reconfirming shots that he may have been unsure of.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Discussing Sound
Today I met up with Owen who had comprised a list of about 10 sound pieces that best displayed the Tone of the film. From which, as suggested by Neil previously, I went through and picked the ones I liked and why and the ones I didn't and why.
As well as that I gave him the three tracks that I thought I wanted to emulate within the piece
Evanescence - Good Enough
From which I liked the instrumental and haunting sound of her voice and the lyrics seem to match certain aspects of the film. Something like this is what I would like to use during the Theatre scenes I know something similar would be hard to find but it works as a starting point.
Knife Party Rage Valley (VIP Mix) [1:15 - 2:15]
Knife Party Internet Friends (VIP Mix) [1:49 - End]
What I like about these is that I think the party like feel could be juxtaposed to with the killing as it feels out-of-bodyish and something that puts you in a Trance like state which is what I think that Ridley would be in while he was watching Jeffrey.
Once Tim had changed the script and I had gone over it one last time I was going to highlight specific sections that I wanted these sounds to be in for Owen.
As well as that I gave him the three tracks that I thought I wanted to emulate within the piece
Evanescence - Good Enough
From which I liked the instrumental and haunting sound of her voice and the lyrics seem to match certain aspects of the film. Something like this is what I would like to use during the Theatre scenes I know something similar would be hard to find but it works as a starting point.
Knife Party Rage Valley (VIP Mix) [1:15 - 2:15]
Knife Party Internet Friends (VIP Mix) [1:49 - End]
What I like about these is that I think the party like feel could be juxtaposed to with the killing as it feels out-of-bodyish and something that puts you in a Trance like state which is what I think that Ridley would be in while he was watching Jeffrey.
Once Tim had changed the script and I had gone over it one last time I was going to highlight specific sections that I wanted these sounds to be in for Owen.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Auditions Round One
As this reel only contains a short sections of how I conducted the auditions I'll talk a bit about how I ran them.
First Phase was when they came into the room and I talked to them a bit about themselves. I did this to get an idea about the persons character and if they would fit in with the dynamic of the crew as we would be working in close quarters for a number of days. I also used this opportunity to see how forthcoming they were with information, because when we shoot I need my actors to be able to tell me if some thing feels wrong.
The Second Phase was the actors running through the lines (after a short rehearsal if need be), I would hear them acting it out then give direction of their tones, and let them know what I did like, and wanted them to continue.
The Third Phase was them doing a walk through, this again would happen twice. The first time they would run it through how they thought it should be, and the second time would be with me making tweaks in their actions.
The Final Phase was me sitting with them and just talking a little about what they thought of the character, and to check their availability for shoot days.
We also had our main actor Josh who would be playing Ridley during the auditions (Bar One) and so it gave him and myself to check the dynamic between them as the chemistry would show through on camera.
Research: Characterisation
During our second tutorial, Neil had gone through the script and made a few suggestions in terms of phrasing and deliverance of certain scenes and dialogue as well as the overall tone of the film.
Neil suggested a few research topics for me to look into:
A characters bridge between sanity and insanity: For this I looked at The Joker in The Dark Knight, the way we as an audience would be sucked into what he was saying despite the fact he was a murderous lunatic.
This can be projected into our film by making Jeffreys speech's be make sense, perhaps because he speaks in a completely rational voice, allowing the audience to be enthralled by him, making them feel guilty for almost agreeing with a murderer.
As or character would be killing a few people he suggested A Clockwork Orange, specifically the beating scene to analyse.
Like this clip I aim to keep a distance or at least an out of focus observation of the murder scenes. Something that can be taken from this particular scene is the close up of the side of Alex's face as he is talking the bum with his cane in his stomach. It makes him seem more eerie, and reckless, like you don't know what they're going to do next. The cane gives the audience a point to focus on an allows us to almost feel the bums pain.
Artificial conversations: The conversations that Jack Torrance in the Shining has with the bar tender Lloyd, and the way it feels like he's talking to himself.
This will be relevant for our film in two ways, the first being the way in which Ridley interacts with Jeffrey as the later is just a projection of the formers subconscious as well as the "fake" way that Ridley acts when he is on stage. I also like [1:12-1:35] where Jack talks directly to the camera, though he is actually talking to Lloyd. It makes the audience feel included in a hauting kind of way, especially as we have not yet met lloyd.
Another factor to look at in The Shining, is how the actor Jack Nicholson goes between being himself and the character of Jack Torrance.
Taken from Making The Shining, although this is Jacks acting technique it's a good point of reference for the character of Ridley to inhibit when he is on stage playing a murderer.
Having a unique element: Such as the thought process between Ridley and Jeffrey, which can be done during the edit ad not necessarily during production. An example of which would be Sherlock's though process on the BBC 1 show.
As I mentioned, I don't want to focus on the kill itself and so therefore can have a "Moment" before it, stopping/pausing time and the action to give focus to the scope of reality the main characters exist between, like with Sherlock's Mind Palace it will exist to the character alone.
Other things that he asked me to think about/ have at the back of my mind as I begin to stitch the film together include thinking about the sound and speed of the film, as it is a thriller so the deliverance of lines and the action can be quite drawn out .
I know have a host of material to consider and suggest to Tom so he can make changes and I can edit it for the final time.
Neil suggested a few research topics for me to look into:
A characters bridge between sanity and insanity: For this I looked at The Joker in The Dark Knight, the way we as an audience would be sucked into what he was saying despite the fact he was a murderous lunatic.
This can be projected into our film by making Jeffreys speech's be make sense, perhaps because he speaks in a completely rational voice, allowing the audience to be enthralled by him, making them feel guilty for almost agreeing with a murderer.
As or character would be killing a few people he suggested A Clockwork Orange, specifically the beating scene to analyse.
Like this clip I aim to keep a distance or at least an out of focus observation of the murder scenes. Something that can be taken from this particular scene is the close up of the side of Alex's face as he is talking the bum with his cane in his stomach. It makes him seem more eerie, and reckless, like you don't know what they're going to do next. The cane gives the audience a point to focus on an allows us to almost feel the bums pain.
Artificial conversations: The conversations that Jack Torrance in the Shining has with the bar tender Lloyd, and the way it feels like he's talking to himself.
This will be relevant for our film in two ways, the first being the way in which Ridley interacts with Jeffrey as the later is just a projection of the formers subconscious as well as the "fake" way that Ridley acts when he is on stage. I also like [1:12-1:35] where Jack talks directly to the camera, though he is actually talking to Lloyd. It makes the audience feel included in a hauting kind of way, especially as we have not yet met lloyd.
Another factor to look at in The Shining, is how the actor Jack Nicholson goes between being himself and the character of Jack Torrance.
Taken from Making The Shining, although this is Jacks acting technique it's a good point of reference for the character of Ridley to inhibit when he is on stage playing a murderer.
Having a unique element: Such as the thought process between Ridley and Jeffrey, which can be done during the edit ad not necessarily during production. An example of which would be Sherlock's though process on the BBC 1 show.
As I mentioned, I don't want to focus on the kill itself and so therefore can have a "Moment" before it, stopping/pausing time and the action to give focus to the scope of reality the main characters exist between, like with Sherlock's Mind Palace it will exist to the character alone.
Other things that he asked me to think about/ have at the back of my mind as I begin to stitch the film together include thinking about the sound and speed of the film, as it is a thriller so the deliverance of lines and the action can be quite drawn out .
I know have a host of material to consider and suggest to Tom so he can make changes and I can edit it for the final time.
Monday, 10 February 2014
Research: Fight Club
My cinematographer Chris and I are going to be watching a few movies/shows that best emulate the perception of character through camera movement. Our first movie: Fight Club. I chose this film because it mirrors the plot of the film we are making.
Notes that we made during the film and how their connotations can be replicated within our film.
With insomnia nothing is real With this I feel we can show Jeffery (Our Tyler Durden) appearing during Ridley's weaker mind moments such as tiredness.
Flicker of Tyler Durden before his introduction This is something that I never noticed the first time I watched the film and although it's something that doesn't happen in our script I think I would like to include as a safe incase it isn't clear that Jeffrey and Ridley are one and the same. There are allegedly four times that Tyler flashes into frame, of that I caught two.
Invisible line between them I noticed that in the film The Narrator and Tyler dance around each other or stand on opposite sides of the frame.
Tyler Durden wears sunglasses and smokes. The Narrator later duplicates this. It will be good to include something that Jeffrey does that Ridley can later replicate, like a mannerism.
Initial hint that they are the same person as they have the same suitcase What I liked about this clip was The Narrators dazed surprise and Tyler's amused knowing smile. Although I cant have as many hints because it's a short film this subtly was very clever.
There were other phrases that stuck with me that though I may not replicate, I could use to help emulate the tone of the film.
Who you are in Fight Club is not who you are in real life
Sometime Tyler spoke for me
Tylers words coming out of my mouth
Although these sessions are namely about cinematography, I will also be making notes about the sound and the editing to discuss later with my post production teams.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Meeting the Actor
Today me an Tom met with Josh who was the main actor on our semester one project, where we discussed the best days of the week for filming as well as when he would be available from, just so that we could work within his own Drama deadlines.
We also talked about the auditions we were having the following week and I asked him to come along so that he could read with the other people we were auditioning. That way he could get a feel for the person he was going to be acting off of and I could get a feel as to whether the two of them worked together.
During this process me and Tom came up with a rough guide for filming in the coming weeks
12th Feb - Auditions
25th Feb - Rehearsals
26th Feb - Outdoor Scenes
27th Feb - Hotel Scene
4th Mar - Rehearsals
5th Mar - Theatre Day 1
6th Mar - Theatre day 2
Week of the 10th of March for any extra shots
We also talked about the auditions we were having the following week and I asked him to come along so that he could read with the other people we were auditioning. That way he could get a feel for the person he was going to be acting off of and I could get a feel as to whether the two of them worked together.
During this process me and Tom came up with a rough guide for filming in the coming weeks
12th Feb - Auditions
25th Feb - Rehearsals
26th Feb - Outdoor Scenes
27th Feb - Hotel Scene
4th Mar - Rehearsals
5th Mar - Theatre Day 1
6th Mar - Theatre day 2
Week of the 10th of March for any extra shots
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Location Scouting
Today me and Tom went around town to find the best outdoor locations
We were looking for an alleyway and the entrance to a strip-club as well as this we were looking for an alternative to the Montgomery Theatre which although we could get a discounted rate of, would still cost £100 a day and we needed it for two days.
The Outside of the Stripclub
Although we wouldn't need the interior at all Tom still needed to get permission for us to use it.
As an the alleyways we passed didn't seem to look very menacing we started to consider alternatives such as the subways under the roads. But to get an undisturbed shot would mean we would have to film very late and we didn't think it was worth it, as well as that, from the experience I had of filming under there people would disturb the shots I would want quite frequently. I suggested a park bench, and I knew of a park that wasn't to far from the location of the strip club (as we would be filming both scenes on the same night-weather depending) I picked a bench that had a street lamp near by so that it would make it easier for the cinematographer to get a decently lit shot. The bench for just outside the playarea, which I preferred as the playground in the background framed the shot better than if he was in the playground.
After our walk around town I left Tom to check out The Lantern Theatre which he had tried contacting via email and phone to no avail. I went in and had a chat with the technical supervisor who gave me an email address he said would be replied to. The response I got from said email was that the theatre would be in full use during March, therefore it was out of the question which is a shame because I think it really personificated the tone of the film.
We were looking for an alleyway and the entrance to a strip-club as well as this we were looking for an alternative to the Montgomery Theatre which although we could get a discounted rate of, would still cost £100 a day and we needed it for two days.
The Outside of the Stripclub
Although we wouldn't need the interior at all Tom still needed to get permission for us to use it.
As an the alleyways we passed didn't seem to look very menacing we started to consider alternatives such as the subways under the roads. But to get an undisturbed shot would mean we would have to film very late and we didn't think it was worth it, as well as that, from the experience I had of filming under there people would disturb the shots I would want quite frequently. I suggested a park bench, and I knew of a park that wasn't to far from the location of the strip club (as we would be filming both scenes on the same night-weather depending) I picked a bench that had a street lamp near by so that it would make it easier for the cinematographer to get a decently lit shot. The bench for just outside the playarea, which I preferred as the playground in the background framed the shot better than if he was in the playground.
After our walk around town I left Tom to check out The Lantern Theatre which he had tried contacting via email and phone to no avail. I went in and had a chat with the technical supervisor who gave me an email address he said would be replied to. The response I got from said email was that the theatre would be in full use during March, therefore it was out of the question which is a shame because I think it really personificated the tone of the film.
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