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Film Narrative 2- Post Production

After getting our final edit. My process into Protools began.

After getting the "dark art of sound design" lecture in our course, I knew that my Sound design was going to be abstract like the film,

My plan was to create the sound design in 4 separate sections.

Soundscape- Using Birds to symbolise freedom and having noise of wind, fridge noises and of the radio mainly. (in total I had 10 tracks for this section)

spot sounds- using sounds of hissing balloons and of kettles to create tension between the ribbon. or when the fall happens having a collection of noises of wood, glass and bubble wrap.

abstract noise- adding low hums at uncomfortable hearing levels and using sprinkler noises with EQ's D-Verbs and Pitch changers to create the mood and tone

Our background noise- Using a radio track along with another track for glitches, another for music through the radio and another for our dialogue written in the script. Merging all 3 showed as a challenge though it was fun to accomplish.

Overall I had a rich learning experience of answering the question of how we would use this lecture to help with our sound design.

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Film Narrative 2- Production

During the filming of our film, from a sound recorder point of view we ran into some issues. some were expected challenges like due to our location hearing cars and people at times.

Others were not.

For example having the actors speak over each others lines and issues like placement of the boom so to not get in others ways.

Overcoming these issues was something I found to be simple and to have an impact as I have learned from these

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Film Narrative 2- Production

We shot our film on the 23rd of March, with our last minute actors and set design being done the day before we shot the film.

We ran into a couple issues of lighting as clouds and the sun were being inconsistent. Along with other issues like our actors meeting that day and only being cast recently so them not knowing their script and not being comfortable with each other was to be expected.

Another main issue we had was that the booking of the equipment and the scheduling of our DOP. Having a 9-5 shoot meant that we had to rush and getting the perfect take was nearly impossible.

Having to overcome these issues was something that was challenging but as post production work was coming in soon. We knew we had no other choice than to carry on

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Film Narrative 2- Pre-production issues

Though while having a blast creating our story and our ideal vision, executing this hasn't been the easiest.

From changing locations to actors and actresses dropping out the day before shoots. These issues have tested our group strength to stay strong and to carry out our hard work.

We have tried our best to focus on other things like choreography of the scene, camera shots, sound design plans etc.

This allowed us to keep calm and focus on the light through the tunnel

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Film Narrative 2- Starting our project

So far in this module we have been getting feedback and having experiences to develop our screenplay.

Getting to find the vision with everyone in the group has been not the easiest task as we have had issues with not leaning the same creative direction, though through communicating we have settled on ideas of what our perfect world would be.

Our two characters Mary and Josef go along this journey as Mary realises she has no love for her controlling partner.

(All Preproduction work can be found on our Padlet)

We have continued to work with our amazing writer Annabelle and have got a final draft.

Our next step into pre-production relying on our producer, Monica to create the casting call and to book out equipment

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Film Narrative 2

For this semester so far, we have found our group and settled on an idea.

The concept follows the idea of 'red strings leading to your soulmate'. An idea of being bound to another person. Though the thought can be lovely, where does it become evil and ill intentioned?

We settled on our roles of Monica as our producer, Sam as our director, Dean as our DOP, Annabelle as our writer and me as the sound recorder and designer.

Meeting everyone has been an amazing experience so far and with this idea I feel hopeful towards a positive learning outcome.

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Planning and prep for recreation of scene

For the recreation scene task, our group decided to start planning as soon as possible. We knew that the first thing we needed to get done was to look for actors. For our other film we decided to look on Facebook, We did the same and found that we preferred actors that we knew which was friends who were into acting.

Our next step was organising all the equipment we needed, costumes and props.

__________

Prop list

Quilt Blanket 

Childhood photo

Baby Doll

_____________

Costume List

Clementine Kruczynski

Pyjamas

Winter outfit:

Navy winter coat 

Black gloves

Red trousers 

Band T-shirt

Red beanie hat

White winter Shoes

Joel Barish

Pyjamas

Winter outfit:

Black beanie hat

Grey winter Coat 

Black Trousers

Black winter Boots

_____________

Equipment we got

Blackmagic Pocket PRO 6K

650w Sachtler Kit - - HALOGEN LIGHTS

K-Tek K-102 Lightweight Boom Pole

MixPre-3 ii Mixer & Recorder

Blackmagic MFT Prime Lens kit

Clapper Board (plastic)

Vocas Shoulder Rig - FCR-15

Rotolight Neo II - 3 Light Kit

_____________________________

After completing the risk assessment and booking out all the equipment we shot the following days. This was done successfully and organised well as we had a schedule

___________________

FRIDAY

8:00(ish!) Mary starts driving to Edinburgh

WITH EQUIPMENT

9:30 Be there at Martha’s location

set dressing

10:30 (or earlier) Start filming

Everyone should be here!

14:00

Start packing up equipment

Drop off equipment at Martha/Nick accommodation

19:00 Start production at the bridge bit

21:00 Finish day’s production

_____________________

SATURDAY

7:00 Be at Martha/Nick accommodation

sunrise at 8:22

start filming asap

12:00 Be at the JKCC to begin editing

_____________________

SUNDAY

Editing all day

__________________

Behind the scenes photos

Overall I found the preparation for this film to be the most organised and most prepared. This is due to us being able to work for a while together and wanting to create a good final product. I hope to make more films with our group very soon!

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Short film review

This short by studio Ghibli has been a favourite as from a sound design perspective.

I have decided to analyse sound as we have recently learnt about it and it will be my role for our next film. Using this to analyse will help me further understand sound production

it is really well done. Sound effects start with the music, The instrumental is like any other studio Ghibli film, It presents a nostalgic and melancholy tone. The music dips in as the action in the scene increases creating more tension. Though out the film the other sea animals can be heard from their claws to them eating. These effects are done subtly and smoothly. The sound design all flows together, not creating any jarring effects.

The water sound effect is used throughout to create all different noises of bubbles, waves, underwater muffled effects and of dripping noises. Since the film takes place underwater, these sound effects have a huge impact in making the audience actually feel like they are underwater. This was done by keeping all the sound effects in the film but changing the volume depending on what was focused on in the short.

Overall I think this film was successful in creating the right atmosphere and creating a story without any dialogue. This normally presents as a difficult task but Studio Ghibli has done it at their normal high standard.

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Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind-Recreation Task

For our final submission in our module, We decided to recreate a scene from Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind.

The scene we recreated can be seen here

For this task of recreation. I got the role of Sound production.

I Decided to pick this role as I wasn't as confident as I liked with the sound equipment and wanted more experience with having to be independent with the equipment.

After Using the equipment, I realised that sound has become one of my favourite things, if not favourite role to have on set.

If I could go back in time, I could use the knowledge I have gained to increase the quality of our recreation. For example, the first line spoken by our actor Cameron. For this scene the audience can hear the echo in his voice while there is none for the other actor. This was an issue as a separate recording wasn't recorded properly and the echoed audio had to be used.

For collecting all the dialogue, I found this task educational as I got to use the mixer for the first time and understand how audio gained worked and how to label all the files.

For other background audios I had to collect the music used in the clip which was easy to find online. I also had to collect audio of voice over audio. Blanket noises. bell noises and wind noises. I also gathered footstep noises of different kinds, for example heels on concrete compared to men's office wear on stone. I collected all these before merging them together. I found this useful as all my audios were organized and ready. This also helped me understand how important audio is and how it goes unnoticed when watching films.

During the editing process, We had to use one of the songs from the soundtrack and cut it up, creating a glitchy effect. This was difficult as we didn't know how to replicate it exactly as it was in the film. However we managed this by cutting out every 5 seconds and repeating this process. Editing all the audios together was also a challenge as to get timing and the volume of everything correct.

Overall I enjoyed this role and would love to do it again as I have more experience now. Strengthening my sound skills is something I am passionate about and want to continue to learn from my past mistakes.

Our recreation can be seen here:

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Film (BA) Napier uni. week 11-12

Classwork

Film Narrative

For our film narrative class we have looked at acting and the importance of it. We have also looked further into screenplays and of unspoken dialogue. This came in as important to us since our second tableau film was due the next week and making the dialogue flow was important. For this task we had to pick a screenplay someone had written in our group. We picked one called Suicide Rock n' Roll. Inspired by the song. This film was about a teenage girl having an emotional episode as her father confronts her about the loud music coming from her room. During the shoot we had hired actors and had an apartment from someone in our group available to shoot in. We had hired out all the equipment we needed and also took out equipment for lighting and sound for the first time. This made our group feel more on task as everyone had something productive to do. During our last lecture, we all watched the films that everyone had made. Our notes from lecturers was to go more in depth of the characters internal monologue. This was useful to know as we didn't know if going down that route would be clear to the audience or not so we decided to keep the view external. We will take the note into consideration next time.

Communication and practice

For Communication and practice we have been focused on our two tasks of the Research Dossier and of our final 1000 word Essay. This has been interesting as we have had to do independent research on what cultural theorists are and which one we wanted to pick. For the 1000 word essay we have been given the task of dealing with a cultural issue and using a film to back it up. I have chosen Racial issues in finding the American dream and of Scotland's history with racism. I have used the film Limbo as it perfectly shows the story of someone going through this issue.

Workflow and Creative Camera Techniques

For workflow and creative camera techniques, we haven't had class as to focus on our assignment on recreating a film. For the recreation we decided to do Eternal sunshine of the spotless minds. (a separate blog posted after this will explain in detail about my role in it.) For this task we had used all the equipment and more from the previous shoot of the tableau film. This film was harder to shoot as we had multiple locations and were also cautions of time running out.

Positives about this shoot were that the actors were friends of people in our group which meant their free time aligned with ours due to class times. We also had another team member in our group, This meant there was less stress about time. Another person being able to help and make work lighter became very important due to the time we had left. Another positive was that since the scene was being recreated, it was easy for everyone to have the same vision and there wasn't any confusion.

Negatives about this shoot was that we didn't have as much time as we liked to get everything and had to settle for a couple of shots, sound recordings and for the colour grading of the film. We can learn from this as issues began with not being able to rent equipment and shifting schedules earlier so we could all film.

Overall I would say this was my favourite shoot we have done since beginning university as we have started to get used to equipment and have leant how to work together in our group.

I have enjoyed this module and have appreciated how much I have learnt and how comfortable I am with the equipment now compared to the start of the year.

Movies in the world

Movies that I have recently watched are Eternal sunshine of the spotless minds, Limbo, Morning Glory, He's just not that into you and The Fallout. This is due to a mix of watching films for the recreation task and for my personal goal of trying to get into other genres. I have tried to look at Romantic comedies as to see cultural codes used. I have seen patterns of specific light colouring being used. The use of montages or music in the background also seems like a common theme.

I have watched Eternal sunshine of the spotless minds and Limbo for my course work. I found that Limbo had an effect on me as the story was relatable as a child of an immigrant and of knowing people with similar stories. I found the location for filming was The Uists in the Outer Hebrides. This was interesting as no one has filmed a movie there before. Issues like signal and of weather are uncontrollable making the area hard to shoot in. Though the scenery captured in the film brings a specific atmosphere that makes it worth it.

My work

Scene Recreation for Workflow and Creative Camera Techniques:

Tableau film for Film Narrative:

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Film (BA) Napier uni. week 8-10

Classwork

for Film Narrative We had to submit our tableau film and review it in class our film had feedback of it being underlit. This was helpful as the lighting we had caused issues as our light died in the middle of our shoot. Having to edit the film also was trouble due to our IOS being too high. During this time we also looked at other tableau films and the use of depth to create narrative. We also had a meeting with a lecturer as to figure out what we should do for our next tableau film. This was helpful as the lecturer was able to focus on us alone during that time.

For Communication and Practice We have been busy with having our first test and having new topics like Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources. We have also looked at different types of research sources and locating them. Being able to look at research questions and techniques has helped my revision in my work. The upcoming week will be focused on the deadline for the Research Dossier.

Workflow and Creative Camera Techniques class has had a task of a 8 shot film. I enjoyed this task as it had to communicate a space without dialogue. Having to show this helped my editing skills and helped my teamwork skills as our group had to communicate the visual that we wanted. We also looking in class about follow focus and how to do this successfully. This was harder than expected due to having to measure out where the actor was and having to mark the focus lever. In this class, we have recently gone over lighting. This has been exciting for me as I have a lighting role in a production our group is making.

Movies in the world

Currently I have finished season 1 of Only Murders in the Building. As the last murder mystery I had watched was Knifes out. This series has been great so far. The use of cultural codes and technical codes brings the narrative clearly to the audience. The casting decision is also very special as you wouldn't put them together naturally, though they work amazingly together.

I have also looked at studio Ghibli shorts like, mon mon the water spider and Boro the caterpillar. These have been amazing as the soundtrack and animation style have a special atmosphere. Studio Ghibli films are usually in this field and carry the story very well.

My work

Currently what I have accomplished is the tableau film and 8 shot film. Using the feedback that we got from classmates and lecturers we will use this in the future. This will be used for our second tableau film, For this we have decided to show a teen character being found by their dad in a manic episode. Our other deadline is the film recreation scene. For this we have chosen a scene from Eternal sunshine seen here. We are planning to shoot these two films within the next 2 weeks.

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Film (BA) Napier uni. week 4-6

Class work

For these past few weeks in the Communications and Practice class we have been looking at essay formatting and submitted our first essays. Looking into methodology and researching has been something I'm not used to. We also had a preparation test to help us understand what our tests would look like from now.

In our Film Narrative class we have been looking at screenplay writing while also looking at the importance of sound in films. This has been new as I haven't looked into screenplays and the use of audio much compared to what roles I'm used to. This was refreshing and helped me have the role of sound in one of my groups productions.

In our Workflow and Creative Camera Technique class, technically we've been looking at sound equipment and also looking at lenses. We have also looked at editing with Avid. Being able to see the new equipment while beings physical during the lecture as helped me a lot and improved my confidence with handling equipment. Being expected to have independence and figure things out alone has improved my work as I have gained skills of being efficient and having good practice.

Movies in the world

Currently I have been looking at Flee, I enjoyed the sound production and animation style as the story gets dark. The animation style helps create the mental space the characters are in and the sound production enhances the thought process the characters go through with subtle details.

I have also decided to re-watch The Greatest Showman. This had surprised me as the first time I had watched it, I only paid attention to the visuals and camera work whereas now I understood how it was shot due to learning in class. Though what I hadn't paid attention to the first time was the film narrative and storytelling. The development of the characters specifically was one of my favourite parts of the film now re-watching it.

My work

So far my production work had been personal these weeks as I had done some filming with friends from high school for local competitions. These weeks were for Screenplay writing, Storyboarding and planning the shoot.

For university work we had a tableau film in the future so we had a screenplay writing assignment. We all had written and submitted a tableau film screenplay with different ideas so we could choose one in the future.

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Visual exercise 2

8 Shot film

We chose the location of Fleshmarket Close and specifically the pub called Halfway house.

Since we filmed on a heavily rainy day. This place had a lot of character, Having Edinburgh portrayed with the old stairs, yellow lights and small corners.

After 20 minutes we noticed how different the rain sounds were in the area. There was heavy rain in some areas while the drain made a completely different noise. 

The corner we shot in was behind Halfway house. This meant we could see their storage but also the litter that was left by the public. 

Due to the weather the lighting was also dimmer which made the area seem smaller. This allowed the space and tone of the area to feel dark and gloomy. 

We decided to use a mixture of long shots and close ups to capture specific details like the empty alcohol cans and bottles. This helps set the scene while having long shots also helps the audience understand the establishing shots. 

Sound also linked in as we recorded the audio of the different rain together. Layering these audio’s helped as we slowly came out of the small corner. This transition was also helped by using audio of people talking to show the area is becoming more public.

A Simile about this place would be

The rain, a blanket while the lights are like stars.

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Film-tober

For the month of October I've decided to watch a Halloween or horror film to analyse and to do this in the spare time that I have.

This week I have watched...

What we do in the shadows (tv) Season 3 episode 8- 2021

The film language shows cultural codes from the 80's like leg warmers and headbands. I selected this episode as combining the two different aspects of classic vampires and stereotypical 80's fashion was different.

I enjoyed the filming style as it looks like any other sitcom. A particular scene is where the familiar, Guillermo helps Nandor leave the cult like studio. As the two run away from the other vampires. The camera is shaky from being handheld and the footage is blurry.

Fresh-2022

As I had recently had lessons on lenses. I found the film making interesting as I could immediately tell what was a wide lens and what was telephoto. Examples being that the telephoto lens where used when she was drugged and wide lenses when she was running away in the forest escaping and looking for where the antagonist could be.

IT 2-2019

For this movie I enjoyed the colouring and the pacing. The movie seemed to have a faster pace. Quickly changing from each shot. The colouring goes from a red to yellow tone from the first half to a green and blue for the second. The differences creates a nice transition between the group getting together and preparing for a final battle and the actual final fight. At the end of the film the tone is yellow again. This shows the circular narrative of the adults being back where they were when they were kids, only that 2 of the group members couldn't survive.

Multiverse of Madness- 2022

Multiverse of madness included huge editing processes and skills. As most the film is CGI, Containing Wanda Maximoff and Steven Strange, This makes sense as the two are magic oriented characters. A certain powerful scene is when Wanda is trapped with mirrors surrounding her. Because of all these reflections and use of her powers. The hard work from the editing team would already be massive. The scene ends with her escape though a narrow space as all her bones crack into the right space again. Seeing this powerful visual shows how much CGI matters and the effect of it.

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Exercise 1

Framing & Composition

For our Film BA course, our task was to create 2 films around the same plot, only the difference was in framing and composition as one had to be centre framed while the other had to follow the rule of thirds.

Our prompt was 'following a task'. our group interpreted this into many ideas before we finalised on 'A mother looking for her son'.

The two videos can be found here

Centre framing

Rule of thirds

The way that the framing effects the two short films is that the centre framing makes the scene appear more isolated. Seeing the character look for her child makes the scene foreshadow that he isn't near by. While the rule of thirds viewing was more natural and the scene appeared to flow better instead of being more stiff.

With the pace of the different short films we found that the centre framing was more fast paced as the centre framing contained everything the audience needed to know in a short amount of time rather than the rule of thirds where more time was required which made the pace more slow. This added to the audiences suspense waiting for where the child had gone missing.

I have found that through these two framings that I prefer both in different settings. I liked how alone it made the main character feel in centre framing while the rule of thirds helped show the missing child with the empty space as the wife comforted the main character.

Using different lenses like wide and telephoto also helped enhance the framing as using the wide helped the centre framed shots seem more isolated while the telephoto lens helped the rule of thirds frame. This was during the last scene when the main character is comforted. The blurry background and shots helped get her mental state across as she can't seem to remember what has happened and life seems blurred to her.

We decided to have a short script as we thought we would challenge ourselves by only using framing to show what was going on.

I was happy with the final result as I felt that my group were all able to share how they felt during planning, filming and editing. Having everyone's input made it progress from our original idea.

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Film (BA) Napier uni. week 1-3

Hello! This account is for my Film Uni course and the progress I make!

Classwork

my 3 main classes are

Film Narrative

Communication and practice

Workflow and creative camera techniques

The past 3 weeks have been a great yet extremely informational. In Film Narrative we've looked at screenplay writing. I've loved doing it so far and the process of writing a screenplay is extremely satisfying to me. and have done a group project of a 48 hour challenge. For a first year class it was great to get introduced to people and be thrown straight into the course. Communication and practice has been on the complete other side of the spectrum as we're learning essay writing skills. The lecturer (although very short of just an hour) is eye opening as high school seems to have not prepared us as much as I thought. Currently the top book's we are reading are The basics of essay writing by Nigel Warburton & Writing about Movies by Karen. M, Gocsik, Richard Barsam and Dave Mohanan. In Workflow and Create Camera Techniques I've been able to see amazing camera equipment as well as being able to meet more people in the media industry. Our lecturers have shown us how to set up equipment. One skill I still need to focus on is finding the confidence to set a camera up on my own as that would be a goal to reach. I hope by the end of this year it does become muscle memory.

Movies in the world

Currently in the world movies like Nope, Blonde and Don't Worry Darling are all trending. I've only seen one so far. That being Nope by Jordan Peele. Like most people I would recommend the movie. I found especially the cinema experience to be incredible with how the sound and the visuals connect. Although I might be biased I found the film to be hard to dislike. For Blonde and Don't Worry Darling, I think the internet has seen a lot of controversy as they both have a main theme of Women's role in film. As Blonde audience ask the question of 'Is it okay for another movie about Marilyn Monroe to be directed from a male point of view' and Don't worry Darling having the issue with pay differences and respect for actors who are female.

Currently on my own I've been going down a nostalgic path of watching childhood movies like Casper the movie and The never ending story. Seeing how far film has come in the past view years has been amazing and leaves us curious to what comes next. Being able to watch childhood movies again has been great as I can see them from a new point of view while still having that nostalgia.

My Work

My most recent work includes being able to look at the difference between Telephoto and Wide lens's. Being able to work and understand the lens's with my own eyes and being able to work around difficulties has been a great experience.

I have also just finished our first project in my film group. The assignment was around 'Completing a task' This prompt led us in many directions until we settled on the final idea. Being able to work in the background and quickly get a script and storyboard done was refreshing as we haven't had a filming project in a while as I was expecting more practical assignments. It's been an amazing experience so far and I'm glad that my group all bring something new to the table.

See you next time :) Thank you for reading.