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Final Edit

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Evaluation

For Practice 10: Major Project Two, ‘In-Between’, I was able to explore and expand on the concept of portraiture, as well as of performance and the camera. I was also able to actively demonstrate a collaborative process and performance piece with Julie Havelund-Willet. From early on into the project I knew I wanted to collaborate with Julie and create a visual piece exploring the moving body, embracing change and motherhood.

With old footage from last year, of Julie heavily pregnant, and new footage taken during and for this project, I was able to portray a before and after; a reflective journey of change, and the navigation of chaos and peace that Julie is experiencing and embracing in her first year of being a mother. My intensions were to create a poetic journey, of looking backward and forward, embracing the old and new, and to symbolise the flued process of adjustment.

For this project I used a Blackmagic 4K camera, with a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 lens to capture the bond between Julie and her baby, a Canon EF 50mm 1:1.4 lens to capture the details of Julies garments, face, and skin, while dancing. I also tried the Canon 17-55mm EF lens and Samyang 24mm VDSLR EF lens to capture the wide shots, and mid to long shots of Julie’s performance. I then moved on to editing via Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After effects for the credits and title, and Adobe Audition for the completion of the sound design. I began the process of the project by researching and taking inspiration from film dance, portrait film, and short films via many platforms, such as Nowness, Directors Library, Beyond the Short, and Films Dance via Vimeo. The most prominent film works that I took inspiration from were from Maya Deren’s entrancing ‘A Study In Choreography for Camera’ (1945), ‘AT DIFFERENT RIGHT TIMES’ by Gasser Brothers, and ‘The First Touch’ by Fee-Gloria Groenemeyer.

There were many technical errors throughout the production, and I found the postproduction process hugely challenging, due to circumstances out of my control. I would have loved to have included various other footage, such as the footage filmed indoors and wanting to do more to the sound. I also originally wanted to play around with two screens, between old and new footage, however during the postproduction process, this no longer made sense to pursue. Looking back, I feel I have successfully represented what I intended to portray. I developed a strong working relationship with Julie, maintaining good communication, and provided a safe space to direct our creative practices. Finally, I closely entangling the piece with elements of earth, water, and air, In-Between became a flued, poetic portrait film, on performance, the changing body and motherhood.

In the end, I chose to showcase my final film as a single screen piece, one which will be available to anyone online, with the freedom to submit to film festivals, without needing to readjust the format. My film also aligns to what I intend to do after university, to create emotive stories doused in a poetic structure. My knowledge of the moving image, and film through experimentation, sound and collaboration has greatly improved since the degree began and I look forward to continuing creating film through intuition and experimentation.

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Final edit and reflection

There were ups and downs; technical errors throughout and the post production process seemed immensely challenging, due to circumstances out of my control. At one point I knew I was too close to the piece, that I was unable to effectively work passed this block for weeks. However, I was able to overcome this, by a sudden break through in my drafting of the timeline. I suddenly knew what I needed and needed to continue doing to get me to the finishing line. I feel incredibly glad for being able to break through this hurdle, and yet still follow the direction of my original plan and proposal. The final piece is different yet close to what I envisioned, and I am glad I have finished off the year with this body of work, which I can also add to my showreel. 

“In Between” is an intimate visual journey of the moving body and the relationship between the then and now. 

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Final piece for the exhibition

The final edit for the exhibition

In the end, I chose to pursue a single screen piece, which has the freedom to be viewed in many forms, online, in person, on a big screen, small screen, projector or even your phone.  Originally I had my heart set on a 2 screen piece, with an installation, however, during the post production process of the piece I realised a single screen would be more beneficent. 

Visuals

I am so glad at how well the final piece now flows, considering last week I was still battling between trying to create a flowing visual piece. Last week, half the film appeared fluid and the other appeared too lineal and direct, in terms of editing choices. After some hard-hit comments from friends and my tutor I was able to see what they saw which helped me see what they saw, which helped me make the right choices for my film and the concept of the film. 

I now feel the balance is right between old and new, Julie, her surroundings, and the poetic symbolisms. I also feel the sound is at a point where it sounds fluid, meditative, and calming. However, I noticed the sound needs a few little alterations to create a more flowing sound piece. I also noticed that the sound is slightly too quiet when installed on the projector, which I will correct for the viewing of the exhibition. 

An extension of the final edit

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Drafts

29th May draft of In-Between

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Song choices

As much as I like how the sound score feels and sounds on the video below, I feel the music slightly manipulates the visuals. So far, the two song choices 2 and 3 are the closest to how I envision the sound to be. I am going for a sound score that compliments the piece, which feels calm, and almost meditative. I feel this will compliment the portrait of Julie as she is a yoga instructor as well as a dancer and has a calm presence. In all, the sound score is almost to a point where I’m happy with. There is texture, depth, and the volume varies between the sound of waves, wind, birds and non diegetic sounds. All I need to do is make sure all sounds blend well together and there are no surprises where the volume jumps.

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Final touches

Colour grading

Another example of the colour grading process.

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Colour grading part 2

A brief example of the process and how I edited these layers/clips to create the stylistic appearance of the work. 

With scene which were similar in exposure, I simply copied and pasted (as readjusted the levels if needed,) the lut effects and noise effect. Overall, I feel I was able to visually bind the piece together into a cohesive whole, by following this technique.

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Colour grading

For the overall visual style I wanted to create a comforting, textural quality to describe a sense of time. Almost an imperfection to something sharp and softness and grain to replicate something old and new. To do this, I added the slightest noise effect to the clips. 

During the colour grading process I noticed by duplicating the clips, and treating them as layers with different opacity levels (similarly to editing a photo via adobe photoshop) I was able to create the colour, contrast, textural effects and brightness levels that I was after, that felt way more effective than only using one layer. This, however did slow my laptop down immensely, so I chose to leave the rest of the colour grading to the very end. This, in the end also helped me step away from the colour grading, revisit and readjust as I moved along with the project. I was also able to decide how the old and new footage can work together and compliment each other. 

As you can see the screen grab above, from raw to colour grade, left to right, the overall visual appearance is still dull, and washed out. After some time apart, I was able to see that the scene still  appeared flat and needed ore depth.

For the old footage, I have always had a soft spot for the melancholic appearance of the footage, so I wanted to try and maintain that look.  I deepened the contrast, shadows and exposure and played around by layering the clip, which helped balance the overall look between the original colour and the altered grading of the piece. One of the layers still had the same colour balance as the raw files which also helped maintain the blue tonal quality of the original footage.

Overall, I wanted to make sure the film was subtle in colour grading, not too obvious yet not flat and washed out. 

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Sound research in filmdancing and short films

BEARCUBS ‘Underwaterfall’ by Salomon Ligthelm

YANA - June by Magdalena Zielinska

EOREMA by Massimiliano BOMBA

The film EOREMA by Massimiliano BOMBA firstly caught my attention as the film style and colour choices made me think of my own film in progress and how I envisioned my own piece. When listening closely to the sound design of EOREMA, I realised that some elements within the piece are sounds that could be missing within my own film. Such as the sounds of breathing in through the nostrils at 00:16. I also like the choice of adding a voice-over of someone counting, which has been blended in well with the occasional bouts of instrumental (ambient music), which is rhythmically added alongside the clips transitions. There's a collective balance that works well between visuals and sound.

What stands out the most from the soundscore of the two dance films above is how the filmmakers have created a soundscape, which creates a sense of place and rhythm. The film is heightened by the non-diegetic elements of noises you wouldn't typically hear in reality. However, the sounds fit to add form, depth, different rhythms and symbolism.

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Drafting the sound

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notes to help

sound calming and in relation to relaxation. Think yoga. The visuals are also quite calming and sometimes sporadic to represent the attempts to stay on top of things. Being spontaneous. jumping from scene to scene in surprise. 

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Drafting and planning

Monday 16th May - Friday 20th May

I want my piece on Julie to be portraiture of the dancer and her body. As well as to capture the journey, and elements of the struggles and strengths she has found along the way. These will be charged and portrayed through her dance moves and editing of the piece. 

Below I have created 2 sequences of moments which I have chosen to focus on, within the final piece. These clips so far, are sorted out to help select and navigate my next steps. These are loosely fitted together and only organised in time of when they were taken. 

The last film is a very lose draft of where I am currently with my project. 

My plan is to have a performance and portraiture of Julie, to describe a sense of being and representation of Julie’s creativity and spirit. By doing this I plan to include snippets of Julie and her dancing to convey a sense of growth and freedom. 

I also want to highlight her energy within her dance and her appreciation of her bodies strengths and change. The piece will express moments of encapsulating memories and a journey, which revisits and reflects the past year and present. The deadline, 20th May marks the day of her birth to motherhood and her child, so it feels incredibly fitting to mark and poetically capture that. 

By doing this, I will still include stabilised footage and unstabalised (to create immersion and express an unrehearsed film of reality feel), to express the intimacy and have a varying range of material to use. I always had this in mind which is why I used mix of shoulder rig holding and hand held recordings. 

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Inspiration and research

To help me figure out a sequence that works well, I have decided to revisit some research material on dance performances that I explored earlier in the project. Such as The First Touch by Fee-Gloria Groenemeyer, and Maya Deren: A Study In Choreography for Camera (1945). I have also looked at new material located on Films.Dance’s page.

 PÁSSARO DISTANTE by Gabriela Mo

SAME SKY by Andy Hines

Same Sky, a dance piece of two dancers, explores the world in front of us, the differences amongst ourselves, and a likeness we see in others.

As I feel stuck on how to edit pieces together this week, I hope by analysing how film artists have portrayed and edited the material of the dancers together, I can form a narrative and flow of Julie that best speaks to her and her performances.

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Interview moments with Julie on the 13th May 2022. 

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The last day of filming

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Sound : Research

Portrait : Conversation, intro

The dance, performance, portrait, sound and visual aspect of this short dance film / portrait film is breathtaking. The piece is enlightening in how I could move forward within my own piece. The way the film is executed through post production adds to the exploration of emotions of the performance, and even adds to the narrative at play. There is a visceral style that truly connects to the portrait of Salomé Pressac.

There seems to be some similarities between the exploration of the dancers craft and her journey of this short film, and my intensions for mine, so not only does this piece inspire me in how I could use sound, it will also guide me in how I could execute, through editing.