What I Did Every Day of the FMP

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
0 √	19th March	FMP Brief: Changed	Visit to Kubrick Archive and Tate modern	WORK	Write up Kubrick Archives	Write up Tate Modern visit	Researching effects (YouTube)
1 √	26th March Come up with ideas. Choose final idea.	Adapt final idea. Research after effects	find pictures for costume, location and after effects.	WORK	Start writing proposal	Start writing proposal	1st April  Easter Day off
2 √ Easter Hols	2nd April Email Elena proposal to see if I am doing the correct thing	Picture research	Knole garden visit Reply from Elena	WORK	WORK Extra email from Elena	Knole Garden write up	East Grinstead Location rekki. Finish Proposal 1stdraft
3 √ Easter Hols	9th April Write up about the location rekki	Science Museum Visit	WORK	WORK	WORK	Write up Science Museum visit	Personal time.
4 √	16th April 1st Draft Proposal Deadline Proposal review. Research: – Altered Carbon -The Host -Divergent	Research: -Illuminae -Drug side effects -The world without water -Cape town water shortage	After effects research and note taking and simplified instructions. Proposal final draft complete.	WORK	WORK	Personal Time	Test Shoot for after effects and effects in general.
5 √	23rd April Edit in the effects. Create Survey. Skills Audit.	Edit in the effects. Casting.	Script ideas. Brief Narrative. Finalise locations & costumes Fin: Creates music	WORK	WORK	Seeing Avengers: Infinity War at the cinema.	Write and send out Self Tape Scripts. Draw character costume
6 √	30th April Scripting draft 1. Peer feedback Character profile. Context checklist	Scripting draft 2. Feedback & focus group. Create story board template. Choose final cast.	Final draft for script. Filming Paper work for Monday. Contact cast.	WORK	Story boarding.	Personal Time.	Story boarding.
7 √	7th May BankHoliday Filming- abandoned building.	Update Blog Reflection Filming Paperwork Create self-tape video compilation	Film in TV studio Acting for Dan’s film	WORK	WordPress updating	Filming last few shots	Personal Time.
8 √	14th May Editing- hologram person Blog	Editing- hologram watch and drug side effects Blog research and reflection	Editing- rough cut Paperwork Filming for Troy	Deadpool 2 at the cinema	Editing- dialogue WordPress. WORK	Personal Time	Personal Time
9	21st May Editing- colour grading, creating title	Filming for Troy Editing- Title	Filming for Troy Editing- adding transitions, re-ordering footage.	Editing- background disruption. Feedback on film so far.	WORK	Personal Time	WORK
10 Half term	28th May BankHoliday	WORK	Prep on blog for future posts	WORK	Final Edit	WORK	Personal time
11	4th June Hand in work	WordPress	6th June WORK	Personal time	WORK	WordPress	WORK
12	11th June WordPress	Group Crit	13th June Diploma Show Group Crit Folder	WORK	All WorkCompleted	WORK
13	18th June
14	25th June Term Ends

Do I like my Film?

Overall, No.

There are parts I like and am proud of but in general I do not like my film.

I am always over critical of my work and whenever there is group crit I am usually the one to contribute the most criticisms towards my own work.

Elena says I should be proud of my work especially for a first year student but I find it hard to oversee this.

I like my film for the way some frames look:

I am also proud of the way I used after effects- I still have a lot to learn but I don’t think I did a bad job for a rookie!

My film also follows all the codes and conventions of a trailer So I guess that makes it a successful film. But…

One big reason for me not liking my film is because I have spent so much time creating it, coming up with this big idea in my head. Now that I have created it I feel the initial picture in my head is different and not as good. I had high expectations that were in some ways too high.

I think I also lost a love in my project by the end of the process as I had been working on it for a long time and then realised there was nothing more to add to it to make it better (well… in the time limit). I know perfection is not achievable but I always strive for it.

Looking at my film I would approach the whole concept differently. For my film I chose an easier option of creating a trailer for a film of TV series. In some ways I wished I had chosen to make a pilot episode. It would have required a lot more work but I feel it would have kept my attention for it longer than the trailer. In someways I don’t think I’m ready to do such a big project.

In my film I have a voice over. I feel the voice over is very cheesy and has no art to it. It is very explicit and I feel like it should have been more implicit. I am a massive reader and feel I could have done better.

I think the trailer is too short, I said I was going to create something two minutes thirty seconds long and failed to do that.

I need to do more research into creating a strong narrative and then being able to portray it on screen.

When I go to get feedback on my work I always feel peoples answers aren’t honest. I usually get positive feedback but I don’t ever care about the positive feedback. I would much prefer the negative feedback as it helps me to improve.

Compromising

For my film I was extremely luck to have a music student make some original music for my film.

Fin has also been completing his FMP and when I came near to finish editing some feedback I got on my film is that the music needs a big bass dramatic bit when it finishes to really make it a trailer. Unfortunately with Fin’s deadlines and a mountain of work he couldn’t edit the music. Therefore I have left the music as it is.

In the real world this would’t happen as Fin would be paid to do the job. In my case I am poor and can’t pay him.

I don’t think this compromise is too much of an issue, I like the music the way it is.

Many thanks to Fin Mowen.

Comparing my Story Board to the Film

Here is the story board compared to the shots that I got. I ended out mixing the order of the story board up as it made more sense the way that I put it. The following order is the original order I planned.

In this shot I did not add the hologram distortion noise as it would have ruined the message coming from the hologram.

I didn’t include the cries of war as it wasn’t necessary and would have taken away from the voice over.

 

There are no during water sounds. I wished I had tried out reversing the music when the water is reversed.

 

 

In this shot I thought I had enough footage of feet walking so my actress Brigi offered up an idea of watching her stumble from one post to another. I liked this idea as it showed the struggle more clearly than trying to fake a close up of stumbling feet.

 

 

 

This shot was not included in the film as the actor that I wanted for the shot was not available for the film. I wish I had done a shot like this for all the actors that I used as I think it could have been used.

 

 

 

 

The following titles were not kept in the film

Skills Audit Before and After FMP

Over the course of this FMP I learnt a lot.

The biggest thing I learnt was how to use Adobe After Effects. This was really challenging and I am in no way an expert now but I have a very basic understanding. I still need to use tutorials to help me create something but it is a step into the world. I want to go into CGI/ FX as my profession; this has been an eye opener (in a positive way). In the future I want to learn more and include it more and more in my work.

The most important thing I have learnt is that planning is key! If you don’t plan you won’t have a film. I find filming days very stressful as everything relies on the filming, if the filming goes wrong you have to re-film and this can put you behind schedule. I found having a detailed script and story board helped me when deciding what shots to take, I had the information in front of me and it allowed me to improve the shots if necessary- it’s like having a second opinion. I also found having a detailed plan of how the day would work and following timings allowed me to not waste time procrastinating over the shots. On my story board I wrote what sounds, dialogue etc was necessary and this allowed me to keep track of what needed to be done when editing.

For this project I took time on who to cast in my film. I have had past films ruined by bad acting and the extra work put into casting was a very good idea. I thought I had a clear idea on who to cast but after looking at the self tapes I changed my mind and went on a completely different route.

01/06/18

On Friday I came into college to do the final bits of editing.

I exported multiple versions of the film using different kinds of voice overs. I did this because the original recording had a lot of background noise and when I tried to edit it out it made the voice sound very flat and robotic. I then asked my actress to re-record it at home in a quiet room on her phone. I received the recording near the end of the day and before that I tried using my voice for the audio. I don’t like my voice on camera but it was still interesting to listen to a different take on the voices.

During this session I watched the film on a big screen to make sure everything looked good. I found that the film was a bit dark on the projector but on the computer screen it is fine. I am putting it down to the poor quality of the projector.

I also edited the sound using the speakers. I adjusted the volume of the dialogue to music ratio. I then adjusted where the sound came out of so some parts of the film come out of the left speaker, others out of the right and some from all the speakers. I think this helps interact the audience with the sound by it changing. I also like the effect it gives.

 

Reflecting Back To My Proposal

The final title I decided was ‘Finite’

One sentence synopsis before: ‘Water has become a finite source, so tablets have been invented to supplement it. Unfortunately, the tablets have side effects. We follow the life of a girl living with the side effects.’ This leaves the reason for the effects very vast but if I rewrote it now it would say something like: Water has become a finite source, tablets have been invented to supplement it, the government include side effects in the tablets.

At the beginning of the FMP I thought I was going to create a pilot episode and everything would be shown from the perspective of the character who was living with the side effects. I then realised that it didn’t have a plot line or any substance. I then decided that making a film would be too big as I would want to cover the whole story. This is when I decided to create a trailer as it includes all the tense parts and is meant to make a viewer want to watch the film. I thought it would not only be a task to stretch and challenge myself but also to have some fun making.

Near the end of my editing process I had titles at the end warning the public of the very real dangers of water becoming a limited resource. At first I wanted to show that even though the trailer is fictional the topic relates to a very real issue. After showing some people the trailer they told me there was confusion over what the film is, a campaign video or a trailer. I wanted to keep the film as a trailer so I took out the titles.

My film has stayed very close to the proposal with only small changes and extending the plot line

Proposal Final Draft

 

Voice Over

In a previous post (A Chat With Elena) Elena said I should re-record my voice over using a lady who works in the college tuck shop. Unfortunately the lady is working and has no free time to record the voice over. This is a shame and I will have to keep my film’s voice over as it is.

Filming For Troy

I was camera woman for Troy over a span of two days. it was interesting being told what to do and not really knowing the story too well. I was able to input my ideas to help make Troys cinematography better.

Sometimes I am a control freak so taking a step back was difficult but I think I did an okay job.

I have learnt that it might be a good idea to have someone else control the camera as two opinions are better than one.

 

Editing… Some More…

By this point I have added transitions, titles, colour graded and I have sorted out the audio by taking out background noise and adjusting the volume at certain points of the film. I have also shuffled the order of some shots as I thought it told the story better.

I have decided to use found footage for the pouring water scene because I think the effect looks better.

Throughout my edit I have kept a red theme flowing through.

I decided not to include the gunshot as it ruins the trailer it doesn’t give the effect that I want as I have now moved it to the penultimate shot.

The next steps are to get people to watch the film and to tell me what to improve. Once I have finished the picture side of the film I want to go into a studio and edit the sound so that it sounds good on speakers as I am editing in headphones which means the sound will be completely different when transferred to live speakers.