Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Finished :)
So we handed our films in 12 May so here is an update of how it all went.
The editing process using Final Cut Express was really gratifying seeing the film come together and I was pleasantly surprised by how my knowledge of the software has grown over three years, this year I learnt a lot more about audio transitions and colour correction.
Although when my film was 90% filmed it did reach 12mins and that was still unfinished so I decided to cut a lot out from script as I think my film might of totalled 16mins and our film had to be 7-10 mins. Finally it finished on 8:56 ish and I'm happy with that. I think if it went on any longer audiences would be bored.
The scenes I cut out did not really reflect my creative abilities when filming as they mostly comprised of long shots or mid shots of characters, they just merely furthered the narrative, however, the narrative is still quite strong. From audience response they really liked the twist in my film at the end as it moves away from the conventional "she's dead" ending.
As for soundtrack, which in my last blog entry I was stressing about cos I'm a fool and left it all to the last minute sadly one song is copyrighted. :( I feel like this will hinder my marks slightly as other students have really worked hard to do their own on garageband and I feel bad for taking a cover version of Green Day's Time of Your Life. Although it was very hard to not justify it as it fitted so well with the opening scene!! However, there are other students that have used copyrighted music especially very mainstream ones from other films.
My other soundtracks which are copyright free are from freeplay.com and Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts 1 which isn't under copyright :) woop! they all fit very well.
Overall I am happy with my film and would like to thank everyone for all their hard work for my third year film.
H x
The editing process using Final Cut Express was really gratifying seeing the film come together and I was pleasantly surprised by how my knowledge of the software has grown over three years, this year I learnt a lot more about audio transitions and colour correction.
Although when my film was 90% filmed it did reach 12mins and that was still unfinished so I decided to cut a lot out from script as I think my film might of totalled 16mins and our film had to be 7-10 mins. Finally it finished on 8:56 ish and I'm happy with that. I think if it went on any longer audiences would be bored.
The scenes I cut out did not really reflect my creative abilities when filming as they mostly comprised of long shots or mid shots of characters, they just merely furthered the narrative, however, the narrative is still quite strong. From audience response they really liked the twist in my film at the end as it moves away from the conventional "she's dead" ending.
As for soundtrack, which in my last blog entry I was stressing about cos I'm a fool and left it all to the last minute sadly one song is copyrighted. :( I feel like this will hinder my marks slightly as other students have really worked hard to do their own on garageband and I feel bad for taking a cover version of Green Day's Time of Your Life. Although it was very hard to not justify it as it fitted so well with the opening scene!! However, there are other students that have used copyrighted music especially very mainstream ones from other films.
My other soundtracks which are copyright free are from freeplay.com and Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts 1 which isn't under copyright :) woop! they all fit very well.
Overall I am happy with my film and would like to thank everyone for all their hard work for my third year film.
H x
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Here's an update!
Hello,
Well I've mainly finished all my filming. Everything since my last blog went as planned with Ceri. Got a really good room in the uni building for her interview scene and work scene. I think it went well, gutted that I had to star in my film as its nice being behind the camera however at least its done this way.
Only scene left to film is the Birthday party scene at my sisters house in Treffgarne and get some pick up shots. I had hoped to do it Thursday night but sadly my nieces are poorly so it has been postponed once again :( I think the hardest part of film is the arranging and organisation of other people to be honest. The pick up shots I want to get are just around the farm as she has some wonderful natural views of the landscape and she has some lambs :D which will help in developing the natural scenes and spring time with her pregnant and in bloom.
Also I need to do my shots of the refinery in Pembrokeshire. I went location scouting over the weekend and got some good ideas as to where to do that, but with travelling costs I'm hoping to do it when I film this birthday scene, if ever! I've delayed it til next week, and, well, if it doesn't happen next week then it will be not at all sadly :S don't know whether I'll have time to film and edit it.
I shot the park scene with Ceri also. That was a lot of fun and I got some good shots. Thanks to Sarah Harflett for helping me creating fake blood! Pics to follow.
Started editing also for my film. Its such a long and stressful process but really is worth it when they come together. I would have hoped to be done with filming at end of March and use this month for editing and my portfolio but sadly nothing goes the way its planned I guess.
Also, tomorrow, I'm doing my time lapse scene in which I will be (painfully) standing at the side of a road for hours capturing the chaotic traffic going past, including rush hour and the sun setting. It will be worth it in the end but will sadly take alot of time.
I'm slightly concerned that I don't have a soundtrack and have left everything til the last minute but I'm sure it will be done.
Peas out. H.
Well I've mainly finished all my filming. Everything since my last blog went as planned with Ceri. Got a really good room in the uni building for her interview scene and work scene. I think it went well, gutted that I had to star in my film as its nice being behind the camera however at least its done this way.
Only scene left to film is the Birthday party scene at my sisters house in Treffgarne and get some pick up shots. I had hoped to do it Thursday night but sadly my nieces are poorly so it has been postponed once again :( I think the hardest part of film is the arranging and organisation of other people to be honest. The pick up shots I want to get are just around the farm as she has some wonderful natural views of the landscape and she has some lambs :D which will help in developing the natural scenes and spring time with her pregnant and in bloom.
Also I need to do my shots of the refinery in Pembrokeshire. I went location scouting over the weekend and got some good ideas as to where to do that, but with travelling costs I'm hoping to do it when I film this birthday scene, if ever! I've delayed it til next week, and, well, if it doesn't happen next week then it will be not at all sadly :S don't know whether I'll have time to film and edit it.
I shot the park scene with Ceri also. That was a lot of fun and I got some good shots. Thanks to Sarah Harflett for helping me creating fake blood! Pics to follow.
Started editing also for my film. Its such a long and stressful process but really is worth it when they come together. I would have hoped to be done with filming at end of March and use this month for editing and my portfolio but sadly nothing goes the way its planned I guess.
Also, tomorrow, I'm doing my time lapse scene in which I will be (painfully) standing at the side of a road for hours capturing the chaotic traffic going past, including rush hour and the sun setting. It will be worth it in the end but will sadly take alot of time.
I'm slightly concerned that I don't have a soundtrack and have left everything til the last minute but I'm sure it will be done.
Peas out. H.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Poster for my Film!
:)
H
Filming Filming Filming!
So it has been a crazy week or two of filming and I'm a bit behind on my posts, sorry!
So, did my first lot of filming with Tom and Ceri in the park plus our two chavs played by Cai and Dan.
It went really well, got all the shots I wanted and everything went really smoothly.
Next we went to the beach in Pembrokeshire. I got some really nice footage. Sadly, I was hoping for a glorious sunset so when they did their kiss they would cut out the sun but the weather stopped me as it was a bit cloudy. However, there was a good orange glow which gave the shots a nice warm happy feeling :)
My favourite shot was as they walk away, the camera is low and they hold hands and walk away. I found here that storyboarding is so useful as I knew exactly what shots I wanted and it was easy as everything was planned nicely.
I also used some depth of field with the lens when Ceri and Tom wave to each other, although, looking back at the shots I would have liked it to be longer. However, still happy with it. I also had some great long shots and establishing shots of Broad Haven beach.
We had a really good time filming and had a couple of out-takes during the "kiss" due to giggles. :)
The next day I filmed with Ceri and my flatmate Catrin, both Welsh Actors. I did the "Driving Test" scene in which Ceri's character Isla has just passed her test. That was really easy, once again due to good storyboarding.
My next lot of filming was the big night scene in which my character Isla is walking home from work. I filmed in Carmarthen town, by Debenhams back entrance to show her leaving town and then used College Road to film the walk. Gethin Stone and Julian Owen acted as my "lads" that start bantering Isla as she walks home. I started filming at dusk/sunset but it got dark very quickly so I'm hoping that the light will be ok, although I did use the mini lights that fitted to the camera to brighten up shots. I just hope they wont make it look too "Blaire Witch". I got some nice long shots and close up's and did the hand held behind the wall shots where it feels like someone is following our protagonist. I was slightly disappointed that I had no one to play the roles of the "rough" girls giving Ceri abuse. Many actors are busy with their 3rd year show so no one was available apart from friends, but most of them have already been included in the film already. It would be nice and easier if we had actors available with our films as it is really hard to find willing ones.
That night I also filmed the "girly night" scene at our flat. My flat kindly offered to be in the film for me and they basically acted casual and normal whilst I filmed them. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible so instead of giving them cues I just randomly recorded to add to the realism. I also got nice close up shots of cakes, pop corn, nail painting and shots of fairy lights. The fairy lights shot isn't in my storyboard but the warm glow and change of focus really add to the warmth of the scene.
So I've been doing alot of filming recently. Tomorrow I have planned to do the interview scene with Ceri at Trinity, hopefully it shall be ok to quickly use one of the rooms in our Dewi building for a short amount of filming. Fingers crossed! I sadly will be playing the interviewer unless I can find someone else, but most people are disappearing for Easter break, including my main protagonists actor Ceri who is leaving Friday and not back til end of April so I'm hoping to finish all her scenes tomorrow.
So far so good, although haven't started the editing process yet so will have hope that shots look the same on camera as on screen. I'm mainly concerned about the shots at night being too dark. However, it might be salvageable in post production. I have also been thinking about soundtracks for my film which will be developed in the next coming weeks.
All that will be left to film will be pick up shots.
So far so good.
Peas out.
H x
So, did my first lot of filming with Tom and Ceri in the park plus our two chavs played by Cai and Dan.
It went really well, got all the shots I wanted and everything went really smoothly.
Next we went to the beach in Pembrokeshire. I got some really nice footage. Sadly, I was hoping for a glorious sunset so when they did their kiss they would cut out the sun but the weather stopped me as it was a bit cloudy. However, there was a good orange glow which gave the shots a nice warm happy feeling :)
My favourite shot was as they walk away, the camera is low and they hold hands and walk away. I found here that storyboarding is so useful as I knew exactly what shots I wanted and it was easy as everything was planned nicely.
I also used some depth of field with the lens when Ceri and Tom wave to each other, although, looking back at the shots I would have liked it to be longer. However, still happy with it. I also had some great long shots and establishing shots of Broad Haven beach.
We had a really good time filming and had a couple of out-takes during the "kiss" due to giggles. :)
The next day I filmed with Ceri and my flatmate Catrin, both Welsh Actors. I did the "Driving Test" scene in which Ceri's character Isla has just passed her test. That was really easy, once again due to good storyboarding.
My next lot of filming was the big night scene in which my character Isla is walking home from work. I filmed in Carmarthen town, by Debenhams back entrance to show her leaving town and then used College Road to film the walk. Gethin Stone and Julian Owen acted as my "lads" that start bantering Isla as she walks home. I started filming at dusk/sunset but it got dark very quickly so I'm hoping that the light will be ok, although I did use the mini lights that fitted to the camera to brighten up shots. I just hope they wont make it look too "Blaire Witch". I got some nice long shots and close up's and did the hand held behind the wall shots where it feels like someone is following our protagonist. I was slightly disappointed that I had no one to play the roles of the "rough" girls giving Ceri abuse. Many actors are busy with their 3rd year show so no one was available apart from friends, but most of them have already been included in the film already. It would be nice and easier if we had actors available with our films as it is really hard to find willing ones.
That night I also filmed the "girly night" scene at our flat. My flat kindly offered to be in the film for me and they basically acted casual and normal whilst I filmed them. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible so instead of giving them cues I just randomly recorded to add to the realism. I also got nice close up shots of cakes, pop corn, nail painting and shots of fairy lights. The fairy lights shot isn't in my storyboard but the warm glow and change of focus really add to the warmth of the scene.
So I've been doing alot of filming recently. Tomorrow I have planned to do the interview scene with Ceri at Trinity, hopefully it shall be ok to quickly use one of the rooms in our Dewi building for a short amount of filming. Fingers crossed! I sadly will be playing the interviewer unless I can find someone else, but most people are disappearing for Easter break, including my main protagonists actor Ceri who is leaving Friday and not back til end of April so I'm hoping to finish all her scenes tomorrow.
So far so good, although haven't started the editing process yet so will have hope that shots look the same on camera as on screen. I'm mainly concerned about the shots at night being too dark. However, it might be salvageable in post production. I have also been thinking about soundtracks for my film which will be developed in the next coming weeks.
All that will be left to film will be pick up shots.
So far so good.
Peas out.
H x
Monday, 12 March 2012
Filming tomorrow! Chavs and all...
Helloo!
Well tomorrow I am set to film my park scene with my actors Thomas Hyde and Ceri Lewis. (Pictured) In the evening I am driving to Pembrokeshire to do the scene on the beach with Ceri and Thomas and get some really nice sun set shots too. Hopefully weather will stay nice and it will all go to plan. Fingers crossed.
This is the shot of where I will be filming in the evening at Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire.
Peas out.
H x
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