With the time remaining, we were persuaded to make some more radical changes. What we did was cut some shots of no real significance and reduce the amount of narration. For example, we took away the line "my phone rang" as it seemed just slightly too ridiculous/obvious, even considering the slightly satirical mood of the piece.
We also used some footage of the gate being opened where Mike opens it normally instead of breaking in, and therefore removed the line about a "Gladsmith one-way lock". After rearranging some of the narration we had left, the last thing we did was add a small note at the end: 'Five days earlier'. We feel this helps to establish the feeling of an opening better. The second half was the most drastically altered, with the phone conversation cut much shorter.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Differences Between Storyboard and Final Cut
Firstly, the fact that we changed the last two thirds of our storyboard when actually filming which was the main change we made. Although we did film the storyboard as we drew it, we filmed extra footage and in the end our final cut looked very different to how we originally planned it. However the original ideas are still visible.
The main change we made was cutting the scenes from the interior of the house which made up the second half of the storyboard. We relocated the phone call from that part to within the alleyway section of the storyboard. This also meant that we cut the lighting of the cigarette scene. We did this to improve the pacing so that there would be no long sections where nothing of interest happens. A lot of what we did film is shot for shot the same as the storyboard along with some additional filler shots. Despite this, in reality the storyboard was never designed to be exactly what our final cut would turn out like, it was simply scaffolding.
We didn't put any of the voice over narration into the storyboard even though we knew we would be using it because we didn't think there was a specific alignment between the sentences and the action on screen. We wrote the narration some weeks later than we drew the story board.
The main change we made was cutting the scenes from the interior of the house which made up the second half of the storyboard. We relocated the phone call from that part to within the alleyway section of the storyboard. This also meant that we cut the lighting of the cigarette scene. We did this to improve the pacing so that there would be no long sections where nothing of interest happens. A lot of what we did film is shot for shot the same as the storyboard along with some additional filler shots. Despite this, in reality the storyboard was never designed to be exactly what our final cut would turn out like, it was simply scaffolding.
We didn't put any of the voice over narration into the storyboard even though we knew we would be using it because we didn't think there was a specific alignment between the sentences and the action on screen. We wrote the narration some weeks later than we drew the story board.
Monday, 1 December 2008
2 Minute Film Opening Voiceover Narration Script Long Title
It was October 9th. What's my name? That's not important.
What is important is that I was being followed. Of the top of my head I could name 14 reasons why I could be being followed. The most likely, I thought, was that I had taken too much of an interest in the Murton Murder Case - unsolved. Then my follower gave himself away. Not very professional.
It's all part of the job. What's my job? I'm a private detective.
My phone rang, unknown caller. It was a woman's voice. I politely told her that she must have the wrong number. She said she knew where I was going. She was right: the old Murton house. She said I better stay away from there. I said I'd take my chances.
The world is black and white. That is clear enough. All I have to do is tell the difference.
The gate to the Murton house grounds was a Gladsmith one-way lock, not designed to be placed on a bar frame. Amateur workmanship. That's how I got to the scene of the crime. Little did I know, things were just getting started.
What is important is that I was being followed. Of the top of my head I could name 14 reasons why I could be being followed. The most likely, I thought, was that I had taken too much of an interest in the Murton Murder Case - unsolved. Then my follower gave himself away. Not very professional.
It's all part of the job. What's my job? I'm a private detective.
My phone rang, unknown caller. It was a woman's voice. I politely told her that she must have the wrong number. She said she knew where I was going. She was right: the old Murton house. She said I better stay away from there. I said I'd take my chances.
The world is black and white. That is clear enough. All I have to do is tell the difference.
The gate to the Murton house grounds was a Gladsmith one-way lock, not designed to be placed on a bar frame. Amateur workmanship. That's how I got to the scene of the crime. Little did I know, things were just getting started.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Editing
We ended up not actually using most of the footage we had recorded at the house except for the exterior shots. In the shot of the outside of the house, with the lamppost, we added a lens flare to make it look as if it was on. When Mike walks past the lamppost we made it so he would block out the light for a split-second. To combine the scenes in the alleyway and the house grounds, we faded to black to emphasise the time gap between the locations.
Throughout the duration of filming, we took lots of long takes and didn't cut a large amount of time off them for a thoughtful and naturistic feel. We used the matched cut to show the different angles of Mike answering his phone. This kind of shot seems natural to the viewer because they understand the action.
Because of the unclear quality of the diagetic sound we decided to remove all the audio and replace it with our own sound effects we had recorded and found on the internet. We found many sound effects on soundsnap.com and we tested four sets of footstep sounds before picking the best one and then cropping it to catch the single footstep. We had much difficulty matching the sound effect to the actual footsteps on-screen but it paid off in the end. We didn't add footsteps where the movements of the feet in the video didn't look as if they could realistically make a sound. Another sound effect we used was the sound of the pebble being kicked under foot. This was quite loud as it was mean to be heard by the main character (Mike).
We went through a lot of soundtracks from many films and TV series to find the most appropriate. We were trying to find a soundtrack that was both orchestral and dramatic but we needed to find something that didn't sound to American. In the end we found one that was most appropriate, "The Seeds of Time" from the "Monster" (the anime) original soundtrack. To make it match the footage we had to make some cuts and fade certain parts of the music into other parts. This matched the most dramatic parts of the soundtrack with the most dramatic parts of the video, and the quiet parts of the soundtrack with the relaxed parts of the film. The cuts in the audio are generally hard to notice, as we used fades and sound effects on top to make them as seamless as possible.
The last thing we added to the audio was the narration, as there was no dialogue in the film. We recorded four narration tracks using a microphone, two by Richard and two by Mike. We were fairly pleased with all four, but tested out Richard's second one with the video and never went back. We had to crop the narration audio into sentences so that we could place them wherever we wanted on the audio track, and set the lines that needed to be in specific places, then placing all the other lines around them. We raised the volume of certain lines to make sure that they werre clearly audible.
Throughout the duration of filming, we took lots of long takes and didn't cut a large amount of time off them for a thoughtful and naturistic feel. We used the matched cut to show the different angles of Mike answering his phone. This kind of shot seems natural to the viewer because they understand the action.
Because of the unclear quality of the diagetic sound we decided to remove all the audio and replace it with our own sound effects we had recorded and found on the internet. We found many sound effects on soundsnap.com and we tested four sets of footstep sounds before picking the best one and then cropping it to catch the single footstep. We had much difficulty matching the sound effect to the actual footsteps on-screen but it paid off in the end. We didn't add footsteps where the movements of the feet in the video didn't look as if they could realistically make a sound. Another sound effect we used was the sound of the pebble being kicked under foot. This was quite loud as it was mean to be heard by the main character (Mike).
We went through a lot of soundtracks from many films and TV series to find the most appropriate. We were trying to find a soundtrack that was both orchestral and dramatic but we needed to find something that didn't sound to American. In the end we found one that was most appropriate, "The Seeds of Time" from the "Monster" (the anime) original soundtrack. To make it match the footage we had to make some cuts and fade certain parts of the music into other parts. This matched the most dramatic parts of the soundtrack with the most dramatic parts of the video, and the quiet parts of the soundtrack with the relaxed parts of the film. The cuts in the audio are generally hard to notice, as we used fades and sound effects on top to make them as seamless as possible.
The last thing we added to the audio was the narration, as there was no dialogue in the film. We recorded four narration tracks using a microphone, two by Richard and two by Mike. We were fairly pleased with all four, but tested out Richard's second one with the video and never went back. We had to crop the narration audio into sentences so that we could place them wherever we wanted on the audio track, and set the lines that needed to be in specific places, then placing all the other lines around them. We raised the volume of certain lines to make sure that they werre clearly audible.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Third Shoot
The third shoot was back at the alley in Southborough after we realised we needed to film another sequence to add to the tension of our film opening. Once again we filmed after school on a clouded day. We reserved the camera equipment and walked up to the location. The shoot went very well, mainly based around our lead character taking a phone call. Overall we were very pleased with the way the shoot went, gathering all the continuity and filler shots we wanted.
Second Shoot
Our second shoot was shot in an alleyway in Southborough on a clouded day after school at about four o'clock. We had booked the camera and tripod, and walked straight up, with all the props we needed. We had one person on lookout at all times, just to keep an eye out in case anyone wanted to walk past at any point. We had to stop about three times for passersby which in the long run wasn't to bad. At the end of the shoot we had achieved all the shots we wanted and walked back down to school to return the camera equipment.
We took atleast two shots of each sequence so it was ready for the edit. So overall the shoot was a success and we were pleased with the shot sequences we achieved.
We took atleast two shots of each sequence so it was ready for the edit. So overall the shoot was a success and we were pleased with the shot sequences we achieved.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Location Reccie
These are the two locations at which we are filming. The alleyway is in Southborough, which was discovered by me and Mike whilst we were out looking for the longest and most noir-esque alleyways in the local area. It runs behind a long row of houses and is almost always abandoned, making it the perfect location for filming.
The second it the house of a family who I know, which is easily the most impressive house that I could think of that I had any chance of being able to film at. The family kindly agreed to let us film there.
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