Prelim Task Part 2:

On Friday we went to the edit suite to edit the video from last weeks filming task. We were agin using Adobe Premier Pro, I had learned the basics from the lesson in our first editing lesson, so I transferred my skills to this task.

We were given a blank timeline, with the files already prepared for us. I used a basic cut on action approach, this made the edits seamless, and made for invisible cuts. After time, my timeline became cluttered, and I found it hard to manage all of the clips, if I was to repay the task I would, try to keep all of the edits lower, opposed to going for the stacking like approach (see below screenshot).

Timeline before cleanup.

As you can see above the timeline is very cluttered, even after tidying it up a bit, I found it hard to move around the timeline and became confused, and found it strenuous to do any edits. See the right image for the timeline before clean-up. I had assumed that the audio worked in a similar way to the video, and that it worked by the further it is away from the centre the higher the priority, and all other audio would be blocked, but I was wrong, it simply accumulates the audio and combines it into one huge echoey cacophony. To fix the audio issue, I had to go into every single clip, and cut it to the exact length that it is going to be shown. I had learned that it is easier to use use "i", and "o" on the keyboard to pre-cut the footage.

As a group we decided to add a additional tense scene to the end, this scene was a nice addition to the edit, and allowed my show off my editing skills in both both dialogue, and action. A problem which we managed to fix was the fade to black, I am not a confident user of Adobe Premier Pro, so I had to fiddle around with the settings to find the fade to black setting. We added in the fade to black setting, because we wanted to show that a long time had passed since the last scene, and to add tension.

Normal editing done inside "Standard" the fade to black setting was hidden in "effects"

If I was to do the task again I would of made shore that when the actors were participating in dialogue, they had left enough time between lines, this would of made editing better, and of given me more flexibility in terms of timing.
In terms of editing I would of made shore that all of the clips on the timeline would be more organised, which would of allowed me to make edits more efficiently. Co editing proved difficult, because each edit you do makes a huge difference, even if it is only a few frames. If I was to do  the edit differently, I would try to collaborate with my coeditor, and make mutually agreed roles in the editing, and to do separate areas independently, to avoid conflict, and only at the end comment of each others work, and amend it as required.

Prelim Task part 1:

In Wednesdays lesson we had to film a short clip, so that it is ready for editing. We were split up into random groups, this helped me learn doing work with people that I would not normally chose, conflicts of interest occurred, and it was helpful to learn about merging everyones ideas into one. 

We first decided who our actors would be, who the camera man would be, and our director would be. I was the camera man, although I did contribute to the group with ideas, and shot recommendations. We then started looking at the story board, and the location of the shots, we picked the side of the classroom this worked well for the wide shot, but because of the door in the story board, in the over the shoulder shot, you could not clearly see any door, If I had done it again, I would more carefully plan out were the location would of been. 

When we were shooting the director said "roll camera",  I would then say "camera rolling" then the director would say "action", we found that this worked well, but it was easy to mix up the terms, and for the director to say camera rolling by mistake, and it would confuse the actors.

The first thing we did was set up the camera, focus it on the actors,then we white balanced the camera on a piece of paper. We decided it would be best to let the actors try out, and reverse there roles, and to iron out all of the mistakes.   We then shot every shot all the way through the scene, we did this to make shore that the actors are in the same mind frame, and to avoid confusion. We started with the wide shot because it allowed us to have the whole scene there, and for a reference for editing, we then shot the over the shoulder shots (running all the way through both times). We finished slightly early, so we added a new scene, which included a dramatic ending, in this scene, we added a few close up shots to show the tension.

As you can see above only a the back part of the gun is in focus. After researching online I found that if I was to reduce the aperture, then there would be a greater field of view, and if I only wanted a very small field of view, I would increase the aperture. If I was to do this again, I would experiment with a small field of view, and then move the focus from the actor all the way down the barrel, this would give a nice cinematic revealing shot.

During the process I learned that you should follow the same procedure on set up every time. The procedures I usually use are; Take the tripod out of the bag, and adjust it to the appropriate height for filming. Then Bubble the camera so that it is level. Attach the lens, and other neccacary accessories, before attaching the quick release plate to the bottom of the camera. After ensuring all the parts are together I can then carefully push in the tab, and slide in the quick release plate in, attached on the bottom of the camera. I then tighten the bolt finger tight. I would then insure, that the camera had sufficient storage space, and battery. By following these steps every time it minimizes mistakes, and errors that could occur.

During the recording I came across several issues, the main one was getting everyone to agree on the same idea, to solve this issue I could get everyone to sit-down at a table and discuss before the filming was to occur, this it would save time, with the on set quibbles.

If I was to do the task again, I would of planned everything beforehand, this would minimize last minute decisions on set, it would also give better, and more orchestrated results.

This task taught me a lot, and prepared me for planning, and preparing for the coming thriller. I learned that you should storyboard very accurately, this helps a lot for making everyone aware of the current situation, in regards to the shots. It is important to go to the location before hand, and mark were every shot is going to be exactly in relation to the room, and the character placement.

Use Of Sound Within A Thriller

In this essay I will be analysing the sound that is used in “Orphan”, in the “Esther’s Secret” scene. The scene is in the end of the film, it is when the little innocent girl swaps roles from a protagonist, into a antagonist. I will be talking about how sound changes the way that we peace

Ten seconds into the clip a one note non-diegetic sound starts to play, this connotes that the girl has not taken the telling off very well, this is contrapuntal, because it seems that she is fine, from her reaction, but the sound makes the audience notice something is not quite right. The sound continues, and then adds some more notes, but still continuing the general erie background noise with the addition of the girl crying, this displays the connotations that the girl is possibly dangerous, and something dramatic, and big is going to occur. After the woman picks up the phone and the man answers the music increases in pace, this connotes that the man is going to tell her something that is going to be significant to the scene.  After the doctor said that the little girl is not really a little girl the music develops rhythm, and pace, this further connotes that a  significant event is going to occur, and builds tension. The doctors voice sways in between being diegetic, and non diegetic in the sound bridge, this adds confusion and adds connotes that this girl is not normal.  When the doctor says “you do not have time” the music reaches a climax and the instruments are sped up, this connotes to the audience that action is going to occur shortly, and the girl is going to change drastically. Once the first thing in the girls room is thrown a strobe like audio affect is played further adding to the distress and severity of the girls anger, causing bamboozlement, and dismay. As the girl starts to unwrap the bandage like material, that is changing her bodily shape the sound starts to turn into a screeching like sound connoting that the girl is going to get violent.

The ringtone on the woman phone helps the audience to understand the situation the woman is in, she is in a dark hospital room, and attached to a drip. The ringtone that is used is a dark, dull and creepy noise, that reflects the dark and twisted knowledge that she is about to be told. The ringtone also reflects the sleepy state that the woman is in. 

When the door is franticly opened it makes a large banging noise, the use of the banging noise signifies that the race for saving her husband has began. The diegetic noise makes the audience jump, and scares them, this is done intentionally to prepare them for the significant scene which follows. 

When Esther starts throwing items across her room it creates a racket, this noise creates a sense of fear, and a realisation of the girls intents, we already know that the girl is not really a girl, and is a woman, and has severe mental issues, the use of the loud noises adds to our portrayal of her as a psychopath, but because of her still childish behavior we can still sympathise for her.

In the extract sound bridges are used to a great effect. The sound bridges allow us to see the transformation of Esther whilst the man dictates to us what her actual background is, and why she is this way. The sound starts of being diegetic when you can see the man on the phone, but when clip the cuts to Esther then there is a synchronous, non-diegtic, sound bridge. The sound bridges make the audience feel scared, and creates a gripping scene, forcing viewers to want to consume more of the media.

In conclusion fear, and a gripping revealing scene is conveyed through clever audio, and diegetic, and non-diegetic sound. During the clip non-diegetic sound is played that reflects the  general direction of the clip, sounds such as doors slamming, erie ring tones, and clashes signify the begging of a significant violent scene. The diegetic sounds are varied, and has  a element of both dialogue, and sound effects. ambient noise is omitted to add tension, and to allow the audience to focus on every little piece of diegetic, and non-diegetic sound that is played, and to add tension. 

1st Editing Lesson

We had our first editing lesson, in the lesson we went over the basics of Adobe Premier Pro.

The first thing we learned was the general layout of the program, there is the files to the left of the programs, they are called ‘bins’ because of the old fashioned way of hanging up film from the ceiling with bins around it. We then learned about the two frames, the most left one if for scrubbing on the unedited footage, and the right one for displaying the footage on the timeline. We learned about how you can trim the clip, without having to drag it onto the timeline. To do this we scrub until we get to the desired start point, and use “i” for in, and then scrub until we get to the end point and use “o” for out. After we have trimmed down the footage, can then drag the footage from the left window onto the the time line, were we can further cut the footage using the cutting tool, it looks like a razor blade. 

Above you can see the layout of the program, along with the setup, and timeline for our project.

On the right you can see the different tools, there is the selection too at the top, a cutting tool, a zoom tool, a moving tool, and many more advanced tools.

We learned about how the priority of the clips is managed, the higher the clip is, the higher the priority of the clip is, as you can see below.

Losing clips and shots is rare, but if it happens it can often ruin a production, to avoid this, we can bak up the work, and store it in more than one location. To do this we go to new bin, and then we can rename the bin, and drag in all of the raw files. The reason that we do this, is so that, if we delete the file in the editing bin, then we still can transfer the files from the backup bin.

When working on a project with more than one person editing it is very important to have a clear and organised file system, this can include renaming files and folders to include what it is inside, and to have a clear structure to your files, in a logical order. 

A very good way of playing and pausing footage is to use the space bar, this has more precision than using the mouse. To scrub by a few frames at a time we can use the left and right arrows, this allows us to cut in the precise frame.