Additional scenes

Last week after a focus group session, I decided to test some additional scenes in the film. These scenes were flashbacks, and took place in-between scenes on the bench.

The scenes were interesting and they did add some variation to my film in the sense of locations, angles and characters. However I felt, and so did my test audience, that the scenes just did not fit the flow of the film. I think the film works best with what I already had.

Reflective Comment:

I'm glad that I was able to test some additional footage, but it just didn't fit. I didn't want to upset the flow and atmosphere of my film by adding more scenes, but the testing was worth the time.

Wind Issue Solved!

So one issue that has been plaguing me since the very start of the editing process was the wind being too loud in the final scene. However it seems that I have finally found a solution. First I added Greg's music, which does slightly mask the wind. However I then used the Final Cut Pro audio editing software to use sound reduction to make the wind even harder to hear. With this combination, the wind is barely a problem anymore.

Reflective Comment:

I am very happy that I have found a solution to the problem that I was having. Without the wind problem there is very little outstanding issues that still need to be dealt with.

Third Magazine Draft

This is my third magazine draft. I have moved the grade until what I think is a better position and I also have added a fake author to the article. I'm waiting for more feedback off my peers and teacher so I can improve it further.

Sound Editing

I've finally downloaded Audacity on to my computer and I am now currently editing the sound levels and trying to fix the wind problems.

My short film's audio.

First of all I just listened to the audio of the short film, without any footage. It's quite interesting and actually makes it easier to notice where the audio jumps a bit, where normally I would be distracted by the footage. Just listening makes it very good for identifying what sounds well and what doesn't.

So to try remove the wind sound what I do is I select a scene where the sound is fine. I then set this as the sound profile. I then highlight the scene with excessive wind, and then I click ok. This then filters the wind sound out of the scene.

It did not work as I planned, I will be honest. Without the footage, I find it hard to tell how good it is. But I do think that is an improvement. I have several saved different audio files and compare them to the footage I have at school. The files are nicely organised, as seen below.

Reflective Comment:

I sort of always knew that I would never be able to completely get rid of my sound issue. However I feel that Audacity has helped a little bit, and it I do think it sounds better than it did before. It adds a strange whistle sound to the audio, however I feel this may fit the film.

Second Magazine Article Draft

Above I have attached a second draft for the magazine article. I think it's definitley an improvement on the first draft and is closer to resembling what a review article from IndieWire looks like. I have added a banner on the side, with the 'most popular' articles on the site at that time. I have also shifted the article and main photo to the left to accomdate for the banner.

It does still need some work however. I can't really seem to place where the grading of the film should do. I also feel that some of the proportions of the article themselves are a little off.  I also still need to add a author to the post.

For the 'most popular' banner, I created fake articles about productions from fellow students. These include Max Shephard, Adam Anderson and Fabian Harrison. 4 is a previous project that I have helped create for media and 5 is a mockumentary that I starred in year 10. I added a photo from Fabian's production as the most popular article always has an attached image with it.

Reflective Comment:
I'm starting to feel a whole lot more confident about the final ancillary task. Before it overwhelmed me slighlty, but now I understand what I have to do and how I can improve. My next plan of action is to show my magazine article to some people and get to complete a survey for me.

First Magazine article draft

Above I have attached my first draft of the magazine article. My film would fit well on the IndieWire website as they have a large portion of website dedicated to short films. I used one of their articles as a template and worked off of that.

To improve I think I need to improve the layout of the text and the grade. (A staple of IndieWire's reviews.) I think the photo and everything above it works very well and looks good, and would certainly fit it in with image of IndieWire. 

Reflective Comment:

I'm pleased with my first draft of the magazine article and how it has progressed. It looks like it would've fit in with the IndieWire website. I've already had some over the shoulder feedback and I know how to improve the draft futher.

Testing Some Music

Today I added some of the test music Greg sent me while I wait for him to get back to me about my timings. I added it over the bench scene to try see how well it would cover the wind. And it does cover the wind very well. It also compliments the scene nicely, but since it's only test music it can get a bit repetitive at times. However it works quite well and I am looking forward to adding more.

Reflective Comment:
While the music isn't long enough to fit the scenes it still works very well. Once Greg gets back to me with some more music I'll be able to create some more footage with music.

Music timings table

I have created a table for timings for music for my short film. In this table there is a time-stamp, the mood of said scene and also the actual content of the scene. This is going to be sent to Greg so he can create some music for the short film. Greg has created some test music which has helped us both in deciding what would fit best.

Reflective Comment:

This time-stamp table is going to be very helpful for creating music for my short film. Spilting it all up makes it very easy to make sure that each scene is given the correct music.

Third Draft of my Film

Above is a HD third draft! Edited and ready to be shown to some more test audiences. I have already started the editing process of the next draft, but overall I am quite happy with this draft. One problem I did face was that some sound effects I have added have decided to remove themselves. Hopefully I will be able to fix this problem by the time of the fourth draft.

New to the third draft

1. New scenes. These new scenes add a little bit more humour and actual content to the first half of the film. These scenes include the fob watch scene and the file scene.
2. New sound effects. I've started adding more sound to the film to make the film more varied and immersing. Some sound effects add to the atmosphere while others are crucial to establishing the scene. I am going to do a blog on sound effects soon.
3. The title card. The title card has finally been added and it fits quite well in my opinion. It still needs tweaking but it does work well.

Reflective Comment:

I am very happy with the my short film so far. I feel that it flows well and is improving with every draft. Test audiences have enjoyed it as well. While I would like to do so much more with the film, being realistic I think I'm getting very close to be finished with the film.

Woodland Footage

Today I went and got some woodland footage for my opening title sequence. It only took about half an hour and I got about two minutes of footage. I really only need about twenty seconds of footage for the OTS, but the more I have the more I experiment with.

This is the footage that I captured and have imported.

This is the footage imported into Final Cut, ready to be edited in.

Reflective Comment:

Today was a very simple task, it took very little time and was just to capture around half a minute of footage. With this footage I can continue to edit my draft.

Editing My Third Draft

I have completed the editing process of my third draft. I have added scenes, added to scenes, edited sound levels and cut it, and have even begun the process of adding transitions and sound effects. Also, I have begun my editing my cold open and title card.

This is the entirety of my film. Purple boxes represent text and titles. Blue are clips. Green is sound. The grey boxes are transitions. As you can see, I have tried to make the first half of the film a bit more exciting as it was just my two characters walking around.

This is how I've organised all my media. These folders include footage, pictures and sound. This has helped me when I am trying to find particular scenes that I need to use. While not needed, it just makes the overall editing process a whole lot easier.

This is the title card and cold open section of the film. As you can see,  I have two blank spaces that still need to be filled with woodland scenes. I have utilised Final Cut's sound effect feature and have added footsteps, heartbeats and a male breathing. The footsteps lead into the scene, the heartbeats are to signify that Nathan is having a heart attack, and his breath is there to tie it together. I did have Ronan do some heavy breathing but the file was corrupted. I also have a LF sound effect for the title card, which has an ominous impact.

This is the fob watch scene. I have added a very quiet ticking sound under the footage, just to add to the scene. It's not too loud or distracting, but instead ticks quietly in the background. I made the mistake on the day of not filming a scene where the Reaper puts the fob watch away. To solve this, I used a backup scene of the Reaper pulling out the fob watch, and just reversed it. This makes it look like the Reaper is putting away the fob watch.

This is the final scene for the film. The only change I have made is the addition of a 'cave and wind' sound effect. The howling of the wind guides the film to a nice exit, and adds to the atmosphere nicely. If I am unable to re-shoot the ending scene, I'd be happy with this.

So editing has been time consuming but worth it. The film is improving with every draft. Here is a full list of changes for this draft.

• New scenes. File scene and fob watch scene.
• Additions to scenes. Body scene, floor shot.
• Several sound effects. Heartbeating, footsteps, LF, ticking, breathing.
• Title card added to the film.
• Cold open to the film.

But I still have things that I need to complete in the fourth draft. Here is a list of new things I need to add.

• My music still needs to be added.
• Balance the lighting in the forest scenes.
• Film some woodland shots.
• Minimise the sound of the wind in the final scenes.

Reflective Comment:

I am very happy with my third draft. I feel that is my best draft yet. I'm making steady progress already to my next draft and therefore my final product. I know what I have to do to improve this draft and I know what steps I have to take to do this.

Title Card Test

Today in lesson I spent most of my time importing and organising the footage and photos from yesterdays filming. I didn't have time to edit, so I have decided to leave this until Wednesday. For the short time I had, I decided to do a test of the Title Card that I mentioned last week.

Title Card Test

Above is the title card test. I quite like it, but I feel it does need work. I think I'll keep the silhouette idea, but I think that I need to make the text possibly animated. At the moment it looks to still and I feel it would seem awkward in the film. If I could, an animated sytche would be very good as well. Anything to make the title card look less still and awkward.

Reflective Comment:

For a quick test I'm pretty happy with the title card. I think if I were to make it more animated it would look more professinal and more unique. After creating my third draft, I think this is what I will aim for.

Title Card Planning

After filming today I finally decided on what I want my title card to be. I want the film to have a short 'cold open', with a montage of grim woodland shots mixed with dark shots of the Grim Reaper, with the sound of Nathan's heavy breathing playing over the top. Then cut to the title card.

The title card itself I want to be all black. I want there to be a silhouette of the Grim Reaper with his scythe, and the text above him. I don't think this will be too hard to create. I am planning on using the photo below for the outline of the Grim Reaper. The only part that I think will take lots of experimentation and audience feedback is the typography.

Reflective Comment:

I am regretting leaving the title card so late, but it's not a major problem. I think that I should be able to complete it in good time, enough time that I can get a bit of a feedback and refine it if I need to. 

Magazine article attempt #3

On the first of February I completed my second attempt on a magazine article contents. Since then my teacher has gone over what I have written and has identified some changes that I can be completed. I have made some changes. These can be observed in red.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't really know." The following line is said quite a few times during the short film about the Grim Reaper and his unfortunate companion. While many would expect the Grim Reaper to know everything and anything about life and death, but Dying Denial, a new short film by up and coming film maker Jack Cullum, offers a much more humorous and clueless Grim Reaper.

Dying Denial leads with only two characters, however they are extremely convincing characters. Nathan, who has recently died, is perplexed about his current predicament and just can't stop asking heavy loaded questions. Asking about religion and the meaning of life, Dying Denial explores several different subjects, but does not offer a definite answer to anything. The film is very open ended and definitely up for discussion.

The visuals and soundtrack compliment the writing well too. The eerie setting a early morning forest, empty and desolate. The music is at times dreamy, while at times it's quite sombre. This combination is very interesting and can really does add to the atmosphere established by the characters and story.

A highlight of the film is certainly Peter Long's portrayal of the Grim Reaper. Serene, wise and amusing, Peter excels in the role. Acting as a guide for Nathan, and in part the audience, you'd hope that the Grim Reaper is quite alike to how Peter portrays him. His chemistry with Ronan is strong, as Ronan plays the poor guy who has unfortunately died. Ronan plays his role exceedingly well and convincingly.

When you break the film down, all it is is one man's passing on. It doesn't focus on dramatic goodbyes or second chances. Death comes, and there is nothing you can do about it when it does. It's a sombre ending, but as an overall film, it's quite a touching take on dying. The film is open-ended and open to interpretation, so much to the point where anyone could enjoy it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reflective Comment:

I am much happier with my third attempt, and think I'm getting closer to the final content that I am going to use. After another review from my teacher, I will refine the changes.

Update post

This is an update post to update on the current situation. Due to unforeseen consequences I was not available to film on the Sunday that I had planned. Therefore I have moved the filming a week back, to the 12th of February. This, while not ideal, is not too much of a problem.

I am making steady progress with my poster ancillary task. I am now creating the sixth draft, which I am hoping will be my final draft. I have received feedback from several different people, from those who know about the film and those who do not. I am planning to have to complete by the end of this week.

The second ancillary task, the magazine article, I am struggling with but still making progress. My teacher is going to be helping me with how I write the article and this seems to be my weakest point at the moment.

Despite my set backs I still feel that I am on track to meet with the deadline. The filming should be done this weekend and once I've edited in the changes, my main product will hopefully will be close to finish. The poster is the least of my worries right now, as the progress there is steady and stable. While the magazine article is difficult to complete, I still have plenty of time to do so.

Reflective Comment:
I started a lot of my production early, meaning that even with these setbacks I still have time. I am not overly worried about not meeting the deadline, as I just seem to refining the majority of my work, with the bulk of it completed.

Photos for the posters and outside lighting

While I did spend the most of my time on the 23rd filming, I did try get a better photo for my poster. I was able to get some really nice photos that I think will fit very well. It was 2 o'clock when I started meaning that I was fighting against the sun, but I managed to make it work in my favour. Thankfully my good friend Fabian let me borrow his camera.

We will now go through the photos.

So first we tried from behind the two actors. The sun was coming in the from the top left corner, and made the lighting a little too harsh. I didn't really like what the lighting was looking like. However I did still like the way the sky faded with the blues.

I then tried the photo from the front. This worked even less. For a start, I don't want the poster from the front and this didn't convince me otherwise. I think it's too bright for the subject matter of the film and you can also see the shadows. The sun was behind me.

I then tried directly from behind and closer up. but this again made the sun too bright. Also, I didn't like the shadows that the actors were casting. It's also a little too close for my photo. The sun was directly on my left during the shot.

I then moved in line with the sun to experiment with what it would look like. This was a lot closer to what I wanted, just a bit too close and not at the correct angle. The lighting just looked perfect for the poster.

This was the photo I most happy with. I think the lighting here is best, with the two actors looking like silhouettes and the sky looking a nice faded blue. I think the photo is taken at a good distance, and the photo fits the rule of thirds quite well. I can have the information at the top, the title in the centre, and the two at the bottom. To capture this photo I had to go down the hill slightly, crouch down, and keep the out of shot. The sun is just on my left. This is the photo I am going to be using for the poster.

Reflective Comment:

I'm really happy with the photos that I was able to take. Working with natural light can be difficult and I'm glad that I could test out different angles. I am hoping to get another draft of the poster ready for the end of the week.

2nd Day of Filming 23/01/2017

So on the 23rd January I met up with my actors again and got some filming done and also took some photos. The photos look pretty good and can be used for testing my poster ideas. For the footage, I filmed the waking up scene and re-shot a few scenes that need to be re-shot.

All the footage and photos.

So for the next few days I have several things that I can be working towards. I can create a better poster draft with the photos taken, I can also update my draft of my film and in edit in the new footage. I also still need to make a blog post on the music that my friend Greg has made for me.

I was unable to film a additional scene that I had planned where the two characters cross the road. I realised the cars were going to be too loud and we didn't want to distract any drivers and cause any accidents!

I also wanted to reshoot the bench scene, however the wind was even worse than before! Also, a plane seemed to be circling above making a large amount of noise.

Reflective Comment:
I'm pretty happy with the filming done overall. We were unable to film a few scenes due to weather and sound, but I was still able to film the crucial scenes. I am looking forward to editing it all together. 

Deadlines

We now have just over two months to finish our media coursework. While that seems like a lot of time this time is likely to fly by, as first we have mocks to do. After mocks we just have over a month to finish everything up. Our final deadline is the 10th of February. To meet this deadline, I have set myself miniature deadlines.

I want to have both ancillary tasks done by the end of January. This is a realistic target, as I am getting closer to finishing up with them. This gives me a few weeks tweaking time if I need to fix anything.

I want to have all my filming done by the end of January also. I've already got a large amount of my filming done, so this should not be too difficult. I have one more scene to film, and a few re-shoots. This will leave enough time just in case I need to do some more re-shoots, but I think that this should be fine.

I want to have a final draft of the film completed the week before the deadline. I can edit fast so I know this will not be a problem, and will leave me time to fix any errors that I may find. This also allows me to make changes if audiences believe it can be improved.

Reflective Comment:
I feel pretty confident about meeting my deadlines. The only deadline that worries me slightly is the filming deadline, as filming is always the most difficult part of media. Several things can go wrong, however with the time I've allowed myself I should be fine. 

Music creating software

I have little experience in creating music, so creating some pieces for my short film is a daunting experience. My two friends Greg and Wil are both experienced in music creating so I know that I can rely on them for help. However I have found a list of potential music creating software, that is available for free, that I'm considering to use. The list can be found here!

Reaper

Reaper is a music creation software that is free for sixty days. The free trial is fine, as I only really have about sixty days until the deadline, so that's fine. It looks good, and looking on Youtube, it seems pretty good. There are also a lot of tutorials and comparison videos, so I'll have plenty of resources to learn from. 

Here are some videos: 1, 2, 3. 

Tracktion 4/5

Tracktion 4 is supposedly similar to Reaper except for free and better looking. It's very similar to Reaper in what it offers and how many tutorials there are online. My one worry with Tracktion 4 is that it seems to be more revolved around electronic music, which is not what I am going for at all.

Here are some videos: 1, 2, 3.

GarageBand

I'm pretty sure I've used Garageband before in music or something along those lines. Reviews say that it is user friendly, which is my biggest concern at the moment. It works on Apple Macs which is helpful due to the fact that's what we have to use at school. However I am unsure of how good the music itself will actually sound.

Here are some videos: 1, 2, 3.

Reflective Comment:

The next step forward is to actually test these programmes. I'll probably do this after Christmas, as I am revising for my mocks which are in January. 

Testing filters

I want to see if I can edit the lighting levels in my scenes to give them a better look. With a simple adjustment to the contrast, lighting and exposure you can change the atmosphere of the scene greatly. Below I'm going to attach some screenshots of the different filters I can create, and I'll collect votes to what one looks best.

Default. 

Looks normal. I think at times it looks too bright. Still good.

Edit one.

Looks a bit more gloomy. I think this does suit the scene better, as it's quite a depressing subject that they're talking about.

Edit two.

Similar to edit one, but a bit more saturated. I'm not sure which I prefer more. I think if it looks too saturated it can look less professinal.

Edit three.

Edit three looks more dark and depressing. I think this may of suited a more darker script, however my script is still pretty light-hearted.

Edit four.

This edit is quite close to black and white, and therefore looks quite dull and empty. I do think it fits, however I think again it's a little too gloomy for the final cut.

Reflective Comment:

I think that edits one and two look the best.  I think they suit the film as a whole well, and add to the atmosphere. I'm going to collect votes for each of the edits and see what tests best with audiences.