I was given another scene, from the film Watching and Waiting, to edit in which ever way I felt necessary. In our practical, we went and watched everyone's work, leaving feedback in the form of 5 positives and 5 negatives about what we thought of what we watched.
Pros
When people watched my edit, they generally thought that I had done a few things very well. The viewers enjoyed my use of a fade at the start and end of the scene as this is a nice and smooth transition.
They also liked how I timed my use of shot reverse shots, as well as my reaction shots, because this propelled the conversation in the video.
The audience particularly liked how I timed the generally cutting, during pauses and mid sentences, between the two characters in the conversation, as this made the edit look very smooth and interesting.
Finally, the reveal of the second character, Dickie, was also very well done as I didn't suddenly have him appear out of nowhere; I used a shot where he was out of focus at first, but then brought into focus as Katherine notices him being in the room.
Cons
One bad aspect to my edit was the loud volume of the dialogue, which can be easily rectified by turning down the decibels on each audio file to a comfortable level at an average volume that is used on the computer.
Conversely, the ambient sound at the beginning sounded too quiet for the viewers, so this made it sound somewhat empty. This can be sorted out by turning up the volume.
When Lisa, the girl wearing white trousers in the video, is supposed to have exited the room with Michael, I didn't include this at all. It gave an illusion that she simply disappeared without an explanation. This can obviously be sorted out by finding the appropriate clip and arranging the existing timeline in a way that accommodates this new addition.
One shot, where Dickie says "There is a time when technology won't get faster, was considered by one viewer to be a little too long. An easy fix for this is to add a shot reverse shot for more variation of content onscreen.
While the general continuity is considered to be very good by the audience, some aspects look somewhat out of place, particularly when Dickie is looking down and then he is looking back up in the next shot. Timing of the in and out points of the clips in question can be rectified here for a more consistent viewing.
Link to video: https://youtu.be/E-ZseHb0GcA
Monday, 31 October 2016
Saturday, 29 October 2016
Late - Draft 2
This is the second draft of Late, with only two minor improvement.
The second shot of the video is now audible, so the beginning of the video now makes sense as you can hear the character's exclamation.
We also sorted out the issue with the black screen running at an extended length at the end of the video. By removing the in and out markers, we can now show the video and have it end when it was intended to.
Unfortunately, the audio sync up towards the end cannot be rectified due to time constraints with other modules that we are having assessments on.
The final shot was also left in due to allow it to make sense for the video's ending. Taking out the final clip makes the ending anti-climactic, ruining the humorous effect that we intended to create.
The second shot of the video is now audible, so the beginning of the video now makes sense as you can hear the character's exclamation.
We also sorted out the issue with the black screen running at an extended length at the end of the video. By removing the in and out markers, we can now show the video and have it end when it was intended to.
Unfortunately, the audio sync up towards the end cannot be rectified due to time constraints with other modules that we are having assessments on.
The final shot was also left in due to allow it to make sense for the video's ending. Taking out the final clip makes the ending anti-climactic, ruining the humorous effect that we intended to create.
Thursday, 27 October 2016
Late
In our final weekly assessment, we were asked to make a transitional sequence form indoors to outdoors as a way to see if we could show consistency, in terms of lighting and sounds, in both scenarios.
The story involves a university student waking up late for a lecture. Pacing indoors was very quick because of his rushing to get dressed. The majority of the cuts in this scene last either one second long or less than that, as this emphasises how fast he is moving to get ready for his lecture.
When outside, we couldn't use a boom in the shots because we used long shots that would have easily shown the boom on camera. As a result, we decided to overdub the dialogue to get the boom mic sound that we needed for coherent audio.
One of the characters is only heard through the phone, and so when we edited his overdubbed lines, we used the EQ effect and spiked the 2000 Hz area, the upper mids, and flattened every other frequency. This resulted in a very phone like sound which our lecturers were very impressed with due to us experimenting our post production methods.
The video does come with many faults due to improper procedure and a lack of time. When passing the project from one computer to another, the audio file from the second shot was lost, resulting in the student mouthing his words and losing the tension of the fast paced scene.
There was also a syncing problem with our outdoor scene where the student says "We have a lecture in 12 minutes." The dialogue is simply off time and will need to be fixed for a second draft.
The Gunfighter - An Example of Diegetic Narration
Narration is always done via post production; more often than not, it is confined to non-diegetic space in which only the audience can hear it. In this short film, The Gunfighter, the narrator in this video actually interacts with the characters seen on screen. This is an example of a diegetic narrator as it is found within the space of the film's fictional world.
The typical narrator in a film often propels the story forward by describing a character's events and actions to the viewers in a poetic manner. The Gunfighter humorously uses a narrator that propels the story forward by literally talking to the characters, and also describing their internal thoughts to the other characters that can hear the narrator.
In this context, the narrator becomes an actual character that is merely off screen all the way through the video. What this has taught me is that I can use post production to interact with characters dietetically in order to create a non conventional way to push the story forwards.
If I were to bare this idea in mind for a real production, I would have to make sure that the script includes dialogue that conveys interaction with the narrator, rather than simply recording what I want over the top of the scenes, or else the effect will be lost.
The typical narrator in a film often propels the story forward by describing a character's events and actions to the viewers in a poetic manner. The Gunfighter humorously uses a narrator that propels the story forward by literally talking to the characters, and also describing their internal thoughts to the other characters that can hear the narrator.
In this context, the narrator becomes an actual character that is merely off screen all the way through the video. What this has taught me is that I can use post production to interact with characters dietetically in order to create a non conventional way to push the story forwards.
If I were to bare this idea in mind for a real production, I would have to make sure that the script includes dialogue that conveys interaction with the narrator, rather than simply recording what I want over the top of the scenes, or else the effect will be lost.
Friday, 21 October 2016
Watching and Waiting - Scene 34 - Draft 2
After looking over my first draft of Scene 34, I managed to create a second draft of the same scene. The scene now has better sound, as well as less cutting to better pace the scene, and a better use of my shots.
https://vimeo.com/189168746
https://vimeo.com/189168746
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Nesting Sequences on Premiere Pro
During my last Technical Instructional session, yesterday, we learned about how to nest a sequence in Premiere Pro.
Nesting a clip is where a highlighted selection of video clips are simply grouped together into one item on the timeline. This means that all of your videos can now be moved around on the timeline without having to select each and every item in the sequence. It also allows for a lot of space to be cleared on the timeline if you are working on a large project.
I will be using my Windsurfing Project as an example.
Nesting a clip is where a highlighted selection of video clips are simply grouped together into one item on the timeline. This means that all of your videos can now be moved around on the timeline without having to select each and every item in the sequence. It also allows for a lot of space to be cleared on the timeline if you are working on a large project.
I will be using my Windsurfing Project as an example.
First, select all of the video clips you want to nest.
Ctrl+Click on the highlighted clips and select 'Nest...'
Call the nested sequence whatever you like.
Every one of your highlighted videos are now nested together
into one large green clip on the timeline.
This technique, as mentioned before, is brilliant for grouping everything together in order to clear space on the Timeline while still retaining your work. All transitions and video effects will be retained; the only difference is how the clip is presented on the Timeline. You can also undo this with Cmd+Z if you wish to.
Monday, 17 October 2016
Watching and Waiting - Scene 34 - Draft 1
For one week, we were given some clips and script pages from a feature film called Watching and Waiting; we were given the media and script pages for Scene 34. Our task was to edit this scene, paying attention to how we pace the conversation.
After editing, we watched each other's edits back and made 3 pros and cons for the way that we composed our edits, while following closely to the original script.
Pros
The edit was praised for how cleanly cut the various shots were. Those who gave feedback commented by saying that the shots were well timed in terms of when they were cut, so the scene was very easy to understand. This is good to know because it will come in handy for future edits when I need a coherently cut dialogue scene.
The second positive point I received was how I blended the audio in the clips quite well. The clips in this scene were notorious for having inconsistent audio; actors would sound too quiet and the sound of the oceans waves, as well as others in the background, were inconsistent. I had to use the Constant Power effect on my audio clips to create a smooth and unnoticeable transition, and I will be using this feature for other projects that require similar fixes.
The final positive was that I used the best takes possible in order to edit this video. I considered which shots were the best framed and had the best audio quality before using them. If I found the video to be good but it came with bad audio, or vice versa, I would try to sync the lips up with a different audio clip. The actors' deliveries were different in each clip, so I had to cut it in a way that didn't make this noticeable.
Cons
The first con that was noted was one continuity error late in the clip. In one shot, Thomas was standing up, but he sat down again in a shot after Katherine asked him a question. This threw the viewers off and can be easily mitigated by extending the clip or showing Thomas at least beginning to sit down.
The second negative point was how quiet Katherine was in some clips. This could have been improved by using the audio from a clip in which Katherine was loud and clear, and she wouldn't necessarily have to have been seen talking.
The last con was how quickly the characters talk back to each other. This is an easy fix because I can simply extend the clips before and after the characters talk, making a slightly more human sounding conversation that doesn't sound too immediate.
https://vimeo.com/187685863
After editing, we watched each other's edits back and made 3 pros and cons for the way that we composed our edits, while following closely to the original script.
Pros
The edit was praised for how cleanly cut the various shots were. Those who gave feedback commented by saying that the shots were well timed in terms of when they were cut, so the scene was very easy to understand. This is good to know because it will come in handy for future edits when I need a coherently cut dialogue scene.
The second positive point I received was how I blended the audio in the clips quite well. The clips in this scene were notorious for having inconsistent audio; actors would sound too quiet and the sound of the oceans waves, as well as others in the background, were inconsistent. I had to use the Constant Power effect on my audio clips to create a smooth and unnoticeable transition, and I will be using this feature for other projects that require similar fixes.
The final positive was that I used the best takes possible in order to edit this video. I considered which shots were the best framed and had the best audio quality before using them. If I found the video to be good but it came with bad audio, or vice versa, I would try to sync the lips up with a different audio clip. The actors' deliveries were different in each clip, so I had to cut it in a way that didn't make this noticeable.
Cons
The first con that was noted was one continuity error late in the clip. In one shot, Thomas was standing up, but he sat down again in a shot after Katherine asked him a question. This threw the viewers off and can be easily mitigated by extending the clip or showing Thomas at least beginning to sit down.
The second negative point was how quiet Katherine was in some clips. This could have been improved by using the audio from a clip in which Katherine was loud and clear, and she wouldn't necessarily have to have been seen talking.
The last con was how quickly the characters talk back to each other. This is an easy fix because I can simply extend the clips before and after the characters talk, making a slightly more human sounding conversation that doesn't sound too immediate.
https://vimeo.com/187685863
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Why Are We Here?
In our latest short video assessment, we have been asked to edit a 25 second long conversation. This had to include over the shoulder shots, close ups, a medium shot, and a master shot in or to be successful. Pacing of the conversation had to be kept calm in order to enhance the intimacy of the subject; doing it too fast would have not fit at all while a very slow edit would have been uninteresting to watch.
For humorous effect, we added in some angelic and meaningful music when one of the characters begins to waffle on about life and why we as humans exist. To top it off, we included a record scratch sound effect to abruptly end the music as the other character reiterates his question to "Why are we here, in this room?".
For humorous effect, we added in some angelic and meaningful music when one of the characters begins to waffle on about life and why we as humans exist. To top it off, we included a record scratch sound effect to abruptly end the music as the other character reiterates his question to "Why are we here, in this room?".
Monday, 10 October 2016
About a Girl (2001 Short Film)
Another short film we watched today was About a Girl by Brian Percival. It depicts the story of a 13 year old girl who talks about being a pop singer, as well as rambling non stop about whatever comes to mind. She talks about being in a band with her friends, as well as her relationship with her family. The chatter is interrupted with cutaways to show how her life really is. About a Girl ends with the girl throwing a carrier bag into a river, which is revealed to have carried a baby inside.
The editing within this short film, like Wasp, is quite interesting in that it suits the events onscreen.
Cuting
The cutting, for the most part, is fairly rapid especially when the girl is talking as she walks by herself. This is because she has a new, random sentence to ramble with each cut; including the pauses for thought between each line would have been awkward and long winded. The quick cuts adds interest and makes the video funny to watch as she says new, out of context sentences for the audience to listen to.
Some long takes, with no cuts, are shown, like at the start when the girl dances and sings to Britney Spears, and when she's in the cafe with her dad. This is done because it gives us a visual-heavy glimpse into her lifestyle. This drastic change between types of cuts and their correspondence to the action onscreen show similarities to documentaries, as interviews are usually cut up to interesting parts of the conversation with cutaways to activities the interviewee takes part in.
Sound
Sound in the video is mostly clearly recorded dialogue, and the Foley of the footsteps etc. The dialogue was edited in by using audio files recorded with a boom mic; the in camera audio would have been unclear and low in quality. Also, her thick Mancunian accent would have made it even harder for her to be heard of they were to have used in cam audio. The Foley allows the audience to get a proper sense of what the characters are doing at a clear volume.
Colour
Colour is mostly dull and mute, and this is possibly done to reflect the hard, poverty-led life that the girl lives. This is similar to Wasp in that the same effect is done for the same reasons. At the end of About a Girl, when the girl drowns the baby, the colours gradually fade into a higher and higher saturation. This could have been done ironically as the bright and happy colours juxtapose the death of a child, or it could have been done to reflect the happy mood of the girl at the end of the film.
Techniques
One action match is seen in the entire short film; the camera starts with a high angle of the girl dropping the bag into the river, then cuts to a close up of the bag upon making contact with the water's surface. This emphasises the action onscreen, making the audience think more and more about what she has really done rather than dismissing it and deeming the action as uninteresting.
About A Girl is interesting in the way it has been edited, making it unlike most other independent films. It's quite experimental in the way it has been cut and this is what makes the film intriguing.
The editing within this short film, like Wasp, is quite interesting in that it suits the events onscreen.
Cuting
The cutting, for the most part, is fairly rapid especially when the girl is talking as she walks by herself. This is because she has a new, random sentence to ramble with each cut; including the pauses for thought between each line would have been awkward and long winded. The quick cuts adds interest and makes the video funny to watch as she says new, out of context sentences for the audience to listen to.
Some long takes, with no cuts, are shown, like at the start when the girl dances and sings to Britney Spears, and when she's in the cafe with her dad. This is done because it gives us a visual-heavy glimpse into her lifestyle. This drastic change between types of cuts and their correspondence to the action onscreen show similarities to documentaries, as interviews are usually cut up to interesting parts of the conversation with cutaways to activities the interviewee takes part in.
Sound
Sound in the video is mostly clearly recorded dialogue, and the Foley of the footsteps etc. The dialogue was edited in by using audio files recorded with a boom mic; the in camera audio would have been unclear and low in quality. Also, her thick Mancunian accent would have made it even harder for her to be heard of they were to have used in cam audio. The Foley allows the audience to get a proper sense of what the characters are doing at a clear volume.
Colour
Colour is mostly dull and mute, and this is possibly done to reflect the hard, poverty-led life that the girl lives. This is similar to Wasp in that the same effect is done for the same reasons. At the end of About a Girl, when the girl drowns the baby, the colours gradually fade into a higher and higher saturation. This could have been done ironically as the bright and happy colours juxtapose the death of a child, or it could have been done to reflect the happy mood of the girl at the end of the film.
Techniques
One action match is seen in the entire short film; the camera starts with a high angle of the girl dropping the bag into the river, then cuts to a close up of the bag upon making contact with the water's surface. This emphasises the action onscreen, making the audience think more and more about what she has really done rather than dismissing it and deeming the action as uninteresting.
About A Girl is interesting in the way it has been edited, making it unlike most other independent films. It's quite experimental in the way it has been cut and this is what makes the film intriguing.
Wasp (2003 Short Film)
I watched a clip from a short film in my lecture today, and this short film is called Wasp. The plot is about a single mother who is struggling with her 4 children in their daily lives. She has a fight with a local and rekindles her interest in a man called Dave by visiting the pub with him.
The editing of this short film stands out in various different ways.
Cutting
The cutting of Wasp is fairly fast, which goes in hand with the shaki cam used throughout the film, as this accentuates a disorganised and immediate type of mood which accentuates how out of order the famliy's life is. Cutting in this film generally does show continuity, as the story line is clearly evident when played back, but the cutting is immediate enough to not show a very smooth flow in the sequence of events; it's more rough while still showing what occurs coherently.
Sound
Sound in this film is generally quite loudly mixed, as one can hear the wind through the microphone as they also hear the characters' dialogue at an elevated volume.
Colours
The colour grading in this film is shown to be somewhat dull. This could have been done intentionally to reflect the misery that the main characters could be feeling, as well as the general mood that is received in the area that they live. The events of the film are generally not very happy, so if they were then the colours would have been more saturated to show this feeling better.
Techniques
Eye line matches and shot reverse shots are used in the scene where Dave is introduced. This is to convey the intimacy between Zoe, the mother, and Dave. This intimacy that is built creates an onscreen relationship between the two, which further draws the audience in.
Wasp is an interesting drama piece that has a lot of typical editing conventions, following them closely to what is normally associated with them.
The family in the film.
The editing of this short film stands out in various different ways.
Cutting
The cutting of Wasp is fairly fast, which goes in hand with the shaki cam used throughout the film, as this accentuates a disorganised and immediate type of mood which accentuates how out of order the famliy's life is. Cutting in this film generally does show continuity, as the story line is clearly evident when played back, but the cutting is immediate enough to not show a very smooth flow in the sequence of events; it's more rough while still showing what occurs coherently.
Sound
Sound in this film is generally quite loudly mixed, as one can hear the wind through the microphone as they also hear the characters' dialogue at an elevated volume.
Colours
The colour grading in this film is shown to be somewhat dull. This could have been done intentionally to reflect the misery that the main characters could be feeling, as well as the general mood that is received in the area that they live. The events of the film are generally not very happy, so if they were then the colours would have been more saturated to show this feeling better.
Techniques
Eye line matches and shot reverse shots are used in the scene where Dave is introduced. This is to convey the intimacy between Zoe, the mother, and Dave. This intimacy that is built creates an onscreen relationship between the two, which further draws the audience in.
David and Zoe in the pub together.
Wasp is an interesting drama piece that has a lot of typical editing conventions, following them closely to what is normally associated with them.
Friday, 7 October 2016
Tools in Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro includes various different tools that serve their own individual purposes for your specific editing needs.
The toolbar.
Selection Tool
The selection tool is the base standard tool within Premiere Pro. It's a versatile tool that is capable of highlighting and moving clips around the timeline. The selection tool can also move the playhead on the timeline to view a section of your sequence, and select various work windows in your workspace.
The Selection Tool icon.
A highlighted clip.
The playhead.
The clips in front of the cursor are selected.
Track Select (Forward and Backward)
As the name implies, this tool allows you to select tracks ahead of where you click (forward) or behind where you click (backward) on the timeline.
The Track Select Tool icons.
The clips behind the cursor are selected.
Ripple Edit Tool
The ripple edit tool allows you to edit your clips on the timeline while moving back clips that are in front of it. This saves having to move individual clips and saves time overall.
The Ripple Edit Tool icon.
Before.
After.
Rolling Edit Tool
This allows you to change the edit point of a clip, while also moving along any adjacent clips so that they are not affected by the edit.
This allows you to change the edit point of a clip, while also moving along any adjacent clips so that they are not affected by the edit.
The Rolling Edit Tool icon.
Roll editing a clip.
Both clip lengths have been edited at the same time,
rather than doing it one after another.
Rate Stretch Tool
Changes the length of a clip, and adjusts the frame rate to change the length. It is a quick way of making a clip go into slow or fast motion.
The Rate Stretch Tool icon.
A clip being rate stretched.
The clip is now in slow mo; noticed the
[58.62], which denotes its new speed.
Razor Tool
The razor tool cuts clips into whichever way you want, allowing you to make separate clips that can be deleted or moved on the time line.
The Razor Tool icon.
The clip about to be cut.
The finished result is now
a split clip.
Slip Tool
Adjusts the in and out time of a clip without having to move over clips in compensation.
The Slip Tool icon.
The Slip Tool being used.
The right hand video panel will show the times of the in and out points of
what you are editing. It also shows the specific frames of each part.
Slide Tool
The Slide Tool moves a clip in the timeline, while also adjusting the in and out points of adjacent clips. It's generally seen a variation of the Slip Tool that affects more on the timeline.
The Slide Tool icon.
The Slide Tool being used.
The in and out points of the clips before and after the one being edited
are being adjusted as the slide tool is used.
Pen Tool
The Pen Tool can be used to adjust keyframe points, meaning you can adjust fades in your video and audio.
The Pen Tool Icon.
Pen Tool about to be used.
The Pen tool has added keyframes, so now this clip fades
from 0 to 100 opacity in the time between the first and
second keyframes.
Hand Tool
The hand Tool simply allows you to move the timeline from left to right.
The Hand Tool icon.
One section of the timeline.
A new section that has been revealed by the hand.
Zoom Tool
Magnifies a section of timeline.
The Zoom Tool icon.
A section of the timeline.
The same section zoomed in.
In conclusion, Premiere Pro has many various tools that suit their own purposes intended to make your editing experience faster and more efficient.
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Drinking Tea Dramatically
Even the simplest of tasks, such as making a cup of green tea, can be made interesting by using clever editing. We filmed each aspect of someone making a green tea and edited it in a fast pace to cut it down to the 15 second guideline.
Upon realising how fast paced this turned out to be, we as a group decided to add in some dramatic music to go along with the rapid editing. This creates an ironic effect that makes someone making a cup of tea more interesting to watch.
Upon realising how fast paced this turned out to be, we as a group decided to add in some dramatic music to go along with the rapid editing. This creates an ironic effect that makes someone making a cup of tea more interesting to watch.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)