Skills Audit: Livetype and Sound

In the editing suite, we learned how to use Livetype and Soundtrack Pro, we learned how to make a title with an effect, at the same time we also learned how to make a soundtrack for the tutorial clip we were demonstrating on. when we finished the soundtrack and the titles we put them together on the beginner clip we had.



This is an image of the work we done in Livetype, this shows how the work came together.

Intro to Cameras & Health and Safety Tutorial

In class, we learned how to operate a camera as well as doing a health and safety check, so that we know the cons and pros of using a camera, which was a very useful lesson because they warned us on how to use a camcorder before hand and also let us know about the consequences of breaking the health and safety rules.

Final soundtrack

Screen Grabs for Editing

In Media, we were asked to show some screen grabs of the editing process. This is a before and after snapshot of the process from Final Cut to Quick Time.

Screen Grabs

In Media, we were asked to make some screen grabs showing the transformation from Livetype to Final Cut. Here are the before and after of two titles from both programs.

Screen grabs of our thriller

ON SHOOTFOOTAGE & PICTURES

In today’s lesson we were set a task to take pictures during filming to show the different scenes. We also have some recording of a few shots that we are planning to use in our final opening sequence. We then used final cut pro to make a small movie of the shots we recorded, we then have a speech of each member of the group talking about their job and how they enjoyed it. I enjoyed helping out the director as I done some of the camera work, which I thought it will help me in future with the camera work. Editing programs was advantage in many ways, skill audit helped us improve our skills as we had practise before.

TITLES

We created our titles using the Livetype program. Our creation process was just looking at different fonts but our initial idea was to have a white font with an effect. We settled for the font you can see in the pictures and they have a fade out effect so when they appear on the screen they stay long enough for the viewers to see and then they fade out. For the production association company and the main title they have a different effect , all the letters are jumbled up and then they go in order. We decided to use this font because i think it made it more obvious to the audience what kind of thriller it was going to be. The pictures above demonstrate the creation process from creating the titles using livetype and then importing them to final cut pro. The process was easy because our font style was quite simple and i thought it reflected well with our opening because if we would have used fonts with bright effects it would have made our opening look less professional.

EDITING SCREEN GRABS

Here are some screen grabs of when our group was in the process of editing our footage, we used Final Cut pro to edit the scenes. This program was very useful because we were able to shorten clips, cut clips and add effects such as the flashbacks. When the editing process was finished we were able to add the soundtrack and the titles on to Final cut pro so we could see how it will look together and whether any changes had to be made.

R.E : ROUGH CUT

Our group had to produce a rough cut of what our opening sequence would look like, we used all the editing programs ( final cut pro , livetype and soundtrack pro) to produce it. It was hard work because we had so much editing to do but we managed to complete it. At the moment i am very happy with the outcome because the music goes well , it creates the sense of suspense and thrill we wanted, the shots are clear and consistent and we got a positive feedback from our teachers which was very good. I'm just really happy that u can tell what is going on and that it portrays our chosen genre which is a psychological thriller. However after producing the rough cut there are a few things i would like to improve on for example the titles, we have to change the speed because at the moment they are going too fast, we have to try and get some close ups for our actor so that the audience will be able to connect with the character but apart from that everything is good.

R.E: ON SCEEN FOOTAGE & PICTURES

For this task we had to take pictures during while we was filming to show the different scenes that we were filming. We also have some footage of a few shots that we might use in our final opening sequence. We used final cut pro to make a small movie of the shots we might use and at the end each member of the group spoke about what their job was in the movie and what they liked about it. I liked making the small movie because we are using the editing programs to our advantage and we are using are skill audit skills so the more we practise the better are skills will be.

ROUGH CUT

ON SCENE FOOTAGE 'DAY 56'

ON SHOT PICTURES

In today’s lesson we had to finish of the diary scene at one of our group member’s. The pictures we uploaded show the main part of the scene. It starts off with David running to his flat, entering both doors, entering the house and writing in the diary.

Pictures of the group working as a team:

• A picture of David (the actor) holding the diary with a hair dryer in his hand.
• A Picture me fixing the tripod
• A picture of Jennifer filming
• A picture of Sarah making sure the camera is working etc.

We used the hair dryer to make the pages flip over, which we thought it would create a good effect. I enjoyed fixing the tripod as I had experience in camera work in the past when doing it at secondary school and I was happy we got everything finished, which shows we can work as a team.

LOCATION SHOTS

In today’s lesson as a group we had to decide the key part of the film which was to pick a suitable location. As a group we came up with a lot of ideas but established with filming the character running in the park. We thought of many parks but Hampstead heath was the right idea at the end, as it was quiet and had many trees which were suitable for our film. We started filming in Hampstead heath on our Monday lesson from 9am- 12.30 pm. We didn’t waste a lot of time because we knew which scenes we were going to film. When we arrived at Hampstead heath it was a bit confusing in ways of choosing the space but once we got started we got used to it. We then filmed in our group member’s house which was in Stoke Newington. We started filming the diary scenes.

ANAMATIC STORYBOARD

In today’s lesson as a group we had to form our final idea for our opening sequence and we were set a task to create an opening. We first started talking about the thriller opening, e.g. the angles and camera shots by making it unnoticeable that the character had amnesia. We had a few sketches of the storyboards, which were shown to our teachers. We then took pictures of our final storyboard which is on our blog; we then created an anamatic storyboard by using final cut pro. I didn’t find final cut pro hard because I used it before when doing our shot movies.

RE: ON SHOOT PICTURES

Today we was filming at one of our group members house to finish off the diary scene. The pictures shows the main part of the scene. Him running to his flat, trying to get in through both doors, entering the house, writing in the diary. There is also a picture of the actor holding the diary and a hair dryer in his hand , the hair dryer was used to make the pages flip, it created a good effect. There are also pictures of the members of the group doing there jobs e.g a picture of me filming, there is a picture of caglayan fixing the tripod and Sarah. At the end there is a picture of the whole group. I liked filming today because we managed to get everything finished, it was fun to make and we all worked together which was the most important thing.

ON SHOOT PICTURES

RE: LOCATION SHOTS

In our group we had to make one of the most important decisions which was to choose our locations. We came up with many ideas but we settled with filming the character running in a park. There were numerous of parks to choose from such as Hyde Park, Regents Park but we wanted a park with tall trees , a scenery which would emphasize on the suspense of our psychological thriller. The perfect location was Hampstead Heath because it was quiet, there was tall trees, there was so much space and it was just great for our film. We went to film in Hampstead heath during our Monday lesson from 9am- 12.30 pm , we had enough time to film our scenes because it wasn't a long journey away from college and because we already knew what we had to do so we didn't waste any time. Although when we first got there it was a bit confusing because of all the space we had to choose from but once we got started there was no stopping us. Our second location was at one of the group members house, he lives in stoke newington which is also quite close to our college. In his house we filmed the diary scenes , the mise en scene was perfect because it was dark which heightened the suspense.

LOCATION SHOTS - HAMPSTEAD HEATH

PITCH

( my group have tried to put up the pitch for a long time now but it doesn't seem to upload so i will put the info on this blog)

The title of our movie is 'Day 56'. As a group we came up with many ideas for the title of our movie such as unforgettable treatment and memory lane but as a group we decided that Day 56 was the best title that reflected our idea because we didn't want an obvious name and we wanted to create a sense of curiosity because Day 56 is based on present and past events occurring.

The outline of our film is based on a person who suffers from amnesia and in order to remember everything he does he has to write his memories in a diary however when writing in his diary he gets flashbacks about past events. Our idea was influenced mainly by ‘ The Butterfly Effect’ movie because the film is also based on a diary and flashbacks however we also got inspired by ‘Arlington Road’ and ‘Marathon Man’ because for the flashbacks we plan to use shots of houses and the actor running in a park so we get the sense that he may be lost and past events are ruining his life.

I uploaded the opening sequences that inspired our idea for our opening sequence. Marathon man inspired us because of the way the camera has been used when the man is running and the cross cutting between two events occurring which will also be happening in our movie ( cross cutting between the diary event and the running in the park). The butterfly effect opening sequence inspired the psychological theme and its useful because it will give us ideas on what shots to use when our actor will be writing in the diary.

The sub genre for our film is a psychological thriller. A psychological thriller is a thriller where the actors conflict is mental and emotional rather than physical. We chose this sub genre because the character in our film suffers from amnesia and this creates the main problem. Also because flashbacks will be used in the opening sequence the audience will be able to gather that something is wrong with the character psychologically. I like this genre because it is very interesting and it is more thrilling and not as obvious as other thrillers.

We plan to film in two main locations which are a house and Hampstead Heath. In the house we will be filming the scene where the character is writing in the diary and in Hampstead Heath we will be filming the running scene and taking shots of other places in the area e.g. Houses, children's park.

For our film we will be using many props, the most important prop is the diary where he will be writing all of his memories, the character will be dressed in normal clothing because we don't want it to be obvious to the audience that he has amnesia we want them to realise that through his actions. Other props will be houses, swings and a music box, these props will trigger his memory.

The first shot that appears will be a shot of the production companies name in a white bold font and black the screen, it will be the same for the distribution company that appears after. Next shot will be a POV shot of the character running down the corridor and opening the door to a room. The camera will be panning to the right when he runs in to the room and sits in a corner. There will be an eye level shot of him writing in the diary , close ups of what he is writing , different angle shots of him writing and zooming in to his face. There will be fast flashbacks of different images of houses, jewellery boxes and him running frantically in the park. The titles will start as soon as we see the character and the sound will start when the flashbacks start. Last but not least the title of the movie will come at the end.

As a group we decided on what days we are able to film and what scenes we should film:

Mondays 9am- 2pm – Room scene
Wednesdays 3pm to anytime – Park scene
Thursdays 1:15 – 2:55
Fridays 4:30 onwards - ( final touches/ re doing scenes)
Sundays - (only if necessary)

In our media lesson we had a health and safety tutorial about using the cameras, what we should do and shouldn't do and the consequences of not following instructions. In order to be safe we have to inform our teacher where we are going to film, how long we are going to be there for and we will give them our mobile numbers so they can be in contact with us.

In our media lesson we have had tutorials in three programs and they are : Final cut pro, Soundtrack Pro and Livetype. We have learnt the necessary skills to edit shots, create titles and create soundtracks and we have put them in to practise with previous tasks so that when it comes down to editing our film it will be easier because we have already had practise with the programs.

For our institutional company we have chosen ' Working Titles' to produce our opening sequence. We have chosen this company because it is a British film company and they will be able to provide for our funding seeing as it is a low budget film. It will be beneficial to us if 'Working Titles' did produce our movie because they have a good reputation and they will attract audiences overseas i.e in America because they are intrigued by the British culture.

Our target audience our the young technically savvy from the ages of 16 – 28 because the film involves effects such as flashbacks that are fast, exciting and thrilling, the character is young so maybe they could relate to them or are purely interested to find what the film is about so that is why we think they will be attracted to the film. The movie also involves psychological events which could seem disturbing to younger viewers or people who are scared to watch these types of movies.

RE: ANAMATIC STORYBOARD & STORYBOARD

In our lesson , we had to come up with our final idea for our opening sequence and we were given the task of creating the storyboard. As a group we spent some time speaking about how we were going to make the opening sequence thrilling, what angles and shots were we going to use to show suspense and show that the character was got amnesia but not making it obvious. We made a few drafts of the storyboards and showed them to our teachers so they could give us their opinions. We got our final storyboard and we took pictures of our storyboard which is in a previous blog and for an extension exercise we created an anamatic storyboard using final cut pro. I like using final cut pro because we can use this program to make little movies just like we did with the storyboard pictures, i now feel more comfortable with using this editing program.

STORYBOARD

Animatic storyboard