Second Cut

Following Liz's advice, I set about making my second edit.

I couldn't rerecord the narrative as my boyfriend's boiler was being replaced today, which obviously would've caused a lot of background noise, and I can't do it tomorrow as he has uni all day. All of the equipment to do so is at his house. Instead, I cut it up using the razor tool so that I could leave gaps in between the razored files that act as natural pauses and therefore make the delivery of the narrative longer. To demonstrate, here is a section of the narrative that in my first edit was all one track:

And here is the same section of the narrative in my second edit with the changes made:



I recut the visuals to give the film a slower pace and to further add to the feel of the film. I did this by looking at the file in the source window and extending the time in the clip, checking that the visual content was the best it could be (nothing in the shot that shouldn't be, no disruption to the shot, etc). After inserting the visual clip to the timeline, I then unlinked the camera-recorded audio from the visuals, leaving audio 1 free for the atmos tracks.

All atmos tracks were amplified in Audacity by selecting the track and highlighting it...

Then going on "Effect - Normalize"...

Which amplifies the track.

This worked for the majority of the tracks, however, the atmos of the clock came out with a lot of hiss. The hiss can be removed, however to do so it lowers the volume of the track, therefore compromising it. I did not add in a clock atmos when making my second cut. 

To fade the atmos audio in and out, I expanded the timeline for audio 1, and went about it in the same way as I did to fade in and out the opacity of the footage. I scrubbed the playhead to the beginning of the track in the timeline and marked the beginning with a volume keyframe, before scrubbing in a bit further and marking with another volume keyframe. I then lowered the first keyframe to -00db, creating a diagonal line in volume.  I also repeated this step to create a fade out at the end of a track.

The yellow line indicates opacity on the blue file (visual), and volume on the green file (audio).

To mix two tracks together, I used an audio transition from the Effects folder. I used "exponential fade" to smoothly blend the two tracks. To do this, I dragged it from the Effects folder to the timeline and placed it in between two audio clips, where it centres itself. It can then be adjusted to be longer or shorter (I adjusted it to be longer on both sides for a more gradual blend).

I am pleased with the second cut and feel that it is a lot better than my first cut. I am a little disappointed with the clock atmos and that I didn't record any atmos for the clips with the sweets. I feel that if I had those atmos tracks it would be near to perfect, however, I feel that for my first film, it is very good and a strong piece of work.

First Cut Feedback/One to One #5

I showed Liz the first cut of the film today. I already knew I had to improve on the pacing, as I felt it was too fast.

Liz said that the visuals were fine, but they have to be longer, which is something I already anticipated. However, she said the sound needed work.

• The narrative needed to be rerecorded as she felt that it had no emotion and it was like I was just reading it out. I explained that I intended it to be almost "chatty" due to directing it towards him (using words like "you" and "we", etc), but she believes I need to rerecord it in a slower pace as if I am speaking to him. Liz says it's not a bother if I can't get rerecord, but if this were my third year project I would have to.
• The atmospheric audio tracks are too quiet and need to be louder. I can correct this in a music program called Audacity. I also need to speak to the media centre about fading the audio in and out at the beginning and end of each cut, as the blunt cut can be quite harsh. I also need to "bridge the edit" - blending the atmos tracks together to smoothly transition.

Overall, the visuals are good but need to be longer, and the audio needs a bit of work.

Recording Narrative Audio

I recorded my narrative audio at my boyfriend's house before I started editing my film as I felt the duration of the audio dictated the length of the film. My boyfriend is a musician and a music student at uni, and has all the necessary equipment for me to record audio. I would have used a Tascam, however, the media centre was not allowing equipment to be booked out over the two week Easter holiday.

He set up a microphone on a stand in his doorway which is the best place in his room to get a clear audio on dialogue without interference (computer activity noise, etc), and linked it to his laptop, where he would record in Logic. We put my narrative and storyboard on his tablet so I could read out my narrative.

We first tried recording it all in one take, which didn't really work out due to me stumbling over words or in some cases getting a bit upset, so he ended up piecing that together into one long track. We then re-recorded it, but this time reading from the storyboard and recording it in small parts as it is presented in the storyboard (e.g., "The name Pie came from a misspelling of “Grampy” and it stuck. Even seeing it spelt correctly with a “y” after all these years looks weird and wrong."  in one go, all as separate files). I felt that this way would be easier to edit in Premiere, as I wouldn't have to time the film to the length of the whole big track, or cut it up into smaller pieces.

When we were finished, we saved the files onto a memory stick for me to save to my laptop. I like the clear audio, there is no hissing or background noise, and it was easy to use as I was editing my film.

Making the Film

I made my film in Premiere Pro using the tips that I picked up by attending the two introductory workshops.

First, I copied the chosen clips of footage into a folder together. I then listened to my various atmospheric recordings to find the ones that had the longest, clearest parts of audio without background interference (e.g., garden noise without planes or traffic, sea noise without wind, etc) and moved them into a file at the same destination as the visual recordings. I also moved the narrative recordings into a folder at the same destination so that when I had to import audio and visuals into Premiere, they were all in the same location and therefore easier to find in the media browser.

I created and labelled the bins in the project window accordingly (sequence, titles, atmospheric audio, narrative audio, and moving image) before importing the content from the media browser to their correct bin.

As I had my storyboard with the narrative of the film already planned, all I had to do was cut the footage in the source window. I firstly listened to the narrative audio recordings to see how long they were, and added a few seconds on to that time so that the clips would be longer before the narrative dialogue came in. I did the same to the audio recordings - listening through to find good sections of audio with no background interference, added a few more seconds onto that time, and then cut that section of audio before inserting it into the timeline. With the visuals, I watched the whole clip to see where the best part to include in the film was, and then went about cutting it to be longer than the narrative dialogue.

Cutting both visuals and audio is done in the source window. To cut, I would insert markers to the media to suggest the length and content of the media, before using the "mark in" and "mark out" buttons to enclose the length of the media. I then inserted it into timeline by scrubbing the playhead to the required section on the timeline before using the "insert" button in the source window.

The green pentagons are the markers to indicate where to mark in and out, the brackets show where the clip has been marked in "{" and out "}" and the blue higlighted section shows how much of this overall clip will be in the timeline.

Once the video clips were in the timeline, I had to seperate the audio recorded camera. This is quite easy. To do this, I right clicked on the clip in the timeline...

... and selected "unlink"...

... which seperates the video and its audio...

... leaving the camera audio free to be deleted.

When it came to layering the atmospheric and narrative audio, I utilised the different "channels" (so I call them, e.g., audio 1, audio 2, etc) I placed atmospheric audio in audio 1, and narrative audio in audio 2 (as seen below). 

In terms of what "feel" I wanted, I wanted for pretty much each shot to have part of the atmospheric audio and footage alone to build an atmosphere before beginning the narrative audio (as seen in the printscreen above) and to pace the film. However, I feel like in my first cut, I need to pace it a bit more slowly, so I will make the appropriate changes. I am showing my first cut to Liz tomorrow and will get her feedback then on my first cut.

Feedback on Narrative and Storyboard

I emailed by storyboard and narrative to Liz for her to check over before I recorded the narrative:

Hi Liz,

I've included my narrative and also a storyboard per-say featuring screencaps of the clips, what atmos, and what narrative will be accompanying it, for you to look over. The track which I'm thinking of having over the end titles is something that I listened to on the day he died and thought it was mournful but also uplifting in a way. Here's the URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVJnQ7T1TJc 

Lorna

She replied with:

Hi Lorna 

Sorry not to get back till now as ive been busy filming in Spain. Just heard this soundtrack and think its lovely and fitting for your grandfather as it is nautical in its theme.. its also quite Scottish which could be misleading (in that hes not Scots).. I think it could work though, lets see nearer the time. Now I'm going to look at the storyboard etc you sent me, will send an email anon.

Liz

And then:

Hi Lorna 

That is lovely.. it made me cry!! (seriously).  You have a done a good job on this and I can see it will work as you have it. Only  a few suggestions...

DSLR*- change to camera as its less technical and more people will relate to camera.

Do you have any other alternatives to the coffee cup? Its ok and not a problem to use, I was just wondering if you had an alternative shot that was less literal?

Otherwise, its lovely and I think its important it remains YOUR vision and personal piece.

Well done and see you next week.

Liz 

I'm glad that Liz likes it because I didn't know what else to write really and how I could link it to my footage if she did not feel that it worked.  

*I had changed it to camera when recording, which is why my narrative in this post reflects that

Storyboard

After writing my narrative, I used it to come up with a storyboard so that editing my film would be easier. I tried to match up the dialogue with images that related to the narrative, either in a subtle way or a more obvious way.

The storyboard can be viewed here.

The opening shot of the framed portrait is a good opening shot that establishes what the film will be about. I used this as the opening shot as it fits with the beginning couple of sentences. The atmospheric audio of a ticking clock signifies the passing of time and particularly ties in with the line "seeing it spelled with a 'y' after all these years looks weird and wrong".

I paired the shot of the dolphin ornament with dialogue about myself and Pie, as he bought me the ornament because it looked like me. This is quite a subtle pairing for anyone who does not know this. This shot will be paired with the atmospheric audio of the sea at Clevedon to match the dolphin and sea-inspired ornament.

The shot of the birdbath I paired with dialogue about being in the garden and art, due to the green garden setting, and also because the shallow depth of field evokes a watercolour painting, which links to the content of the dialogue about the art we used to do together. The audio for this will be atmospheric audio of the back garden.

The next shot of the garden bench is matched with dialogue about him building my dollhouse. This narrative section is paired with this subtly because he refurbished that bench. The audio will be atmospheric garden noise that will continue on from the previous shot.

The short sentence "That sense of humour didn't diminish even when you were ill" will be paired with a black screen and no other audio. I feel that this signifies it to be a changing point in the narrative, this is the mid point of the film, and as Liz suggested, the middle of a film usually features a realisation or event, but for me it may be a location. This is then followed up by a shot of Clevedon pier - the location that features in the mid point of the narrative. The dialogue that features here directly refers to our day out at Clevedon and features atmospheric audio of the sea at Clevedon.

The following shot follows the thread of dialogue of the day out at Clevedon. The dialogue about Pie's humour about coffee is explicitly matched with the footage of the cup of coffee, and the atmospheric audio of making a cup of coffee.

Another short sentence is paired with a black screen and no atmospheric audio - "There are insignificant things that remind me of you. These small things keep you near to me even though you are gone". This also signifies a changing point in the narrative of after his death, and leads the film towards its conclusion.

The dialogue "The glitter of sweet wrappers, the ones that you liked" is matched with the image of the bowl of Werther's Originals, and "and ones that we'd play for with Gran over a game of Bingo" is alongside the shot of the Cadbury Eclairs on the tabletop. This is an obvious link between image and audio. No atmospheric audio goes with either shot.

"The smell of the box that held our favourite board game" is again an obvious pairing with the footage of the board game and counters. The atmospheric audio will be the rattling of the dice in its shaker, the roll of the dice, and the moving of the counters on the board.

I paired the line "It always gets worse before it gets better" with the boat, as it has connotations of death, moving on, and change. It also reminds me of an analogy of death, that it's a boat moving away and people are sad, but at the end of the journey when it reaches its destination it's a new beginning. This shot will be accompanied by the atmospheric audio of the waves at Clevedon.

The postcard as my last shot has always been something that I wanted as I feel it is a good closing shot and concludes the film well. The focus on the words "Love, Pie" are a sentiment to our relationship. This especially fits well with my closing line "I think it's getting better now". Together, it demonstrates that I am feeling better about my loss, but that I have fond memories and will always cherish his love for me. There will be no atmospheric audio in this shot as I feel it would conclude better without any.

I'd like to use "Farewell Aragog" by Nicholas Hooper in the credits as this song has special meaning to me in relation to Pie. I listened to this a lot after he died, and I feel that it evokes feelings of mourning, but is also uplifting, linking in to the final shot and its narrative audio.

Narrative

I wrote my narrative in less than an hour. I thought about what I was going to write as I was writing it, and tried to create a linear narrative structure of a beginning, middle and end. I also thought about the footage I had while writing it, and afterwards used it to create a storyboard.

The name Pie came from a misspelling of “Grampy” and it stuck. Even seeing it spelt correctly with a “y” after all these years looks weird and wrong.

I only had one granddad when I was growing up. You made up for that. You would play with me under the kitchen table when I got shy. We would make bamboo and string into bows and arrows and see who could shoot the longest distance in the garden. We would make a lot of art with watercolours and plasticine. When you made my dollhouse, you even rolled up brown plasticine and put it in the toilet. You had a great sense of humour and had a laugh like the pilot from Flight of the Navigator.

That sense of humour didn't diminish even when you were ill. We went out to Clevedon for the day to sit and get some sea air and look at the view. I brought my camera that you had bought for me a few months previously. We went across the road to a tea shop for a drink. Dad ordered tea as always, me and mum ordered lattes, and you ordered a latte too. I think that you thought ordering a latte sounded posh.

There are insignificant things that remind me of you. These small things keep you near to me even though you are gone. The glitter of sweet wrappers, ones that you liked, and ones that we'd play for with Gran over a game of Bingo. The smell of the box that held our favourite board game.

It always gets worse before it gets better. I feel like it's getting better now.  

I wrote it in first person as I believe this voice fits in with the other personal content of the film. I also wrote it as if I were speaking to Pie by using words like "we" and "you" that are direct. I tried to be vague in a sense, and not to write a biography so to speak. 

It was quite emotional to write, and I tried to capture a sense of who he was as a person and who he was as a grandparent. 

Feedback on Second, Third, Fourth Shoots/One to One #4

After the bank holiday weekend, I showed my work to Liz for feedback.

She said that I had a good trial and error approach to getting footage, although I may need to invest in a video tripod if I plan on making more films, as there is some movement in the footage at Clevedon from the tripod moving in the wind.

I now need to think about writing my voiceover and editing. I'm thinking of having the postcard "Love, Pie" shot at the end as I feel it will conclude the film nicely.

• There needs to be a reasoning for the order of images/ film
• Opening - usually the protagonist is seen first (I'm the protagonist as it's my perspective and memories of Pie), it should give the viewer a feel of what the film's about
• Usually most filmmakers know the beginning shot, not the end
• Focus on getting a beginning and an end shot, there may be a need for a midpoint - in fiction films it's a realisation or event - for me, it may be a location or something that happened
• In the narrative - will it be a personal first person voice, or a removed third person voice?
• Do I write then build images, or build images then write?

Fourth Shoot

On my last shoot, I mostly reshot some of the stuff around the house that I wasn't pleased with, and shot some new stuff too.

For the reshooting of the ornament, I placed it on a surface near a window to eliminate a busy background, and used the macro lens to get a closer composition. I like the off-centre position of the ornament in the frame as I like the use of negative space, and I feel like the focus is good too. I prefer this to the shots of it on the shelf or in my room, as the plain background allows the viewer to focus on the ornament.

These are the other shots I captured for the ornament. The first few don't have the best composition or focus. I do like the last one, but felt that the whole ornament had to be shown.

I feel that this shot of Cadbury Eclairs is the best composition and focus. I shot on almost on a level with the table top and like the way the foreground is blurred with the depth of field. I shot some other footage of the sweets with varying exposures and focus but feel this is the best one.

These are the other shots I filmed of the sweets. One of them is overexposed, while the others aren't focused as well as my chosen shot. I didn't record any audio for this shot, and in hindsight could have had the rustling of sweet papers as the atmospheric audio for this shot.

I think this is the best shot that I recorded of the postcard. It obscures my address through the composition in the frame and by the depth of field. The focus on the words "Love, Pie" is the most important part of the shot. I placed the postcard at a diagonal (with the corner pointing towards the camera) as I feel it is more of a dynamic composition. 

I don't like these shots as I feel that the compositions are bland and the focus on some is not crisp enough. In some shots my address is visible, which is not something that I want to be viewed. I also do not like some of the angles that I recorded at, as they are not looking straight down on the postcard and I feel that they look a bit distorted.

For this shot of the ship in a bottle, I used a macro lens and moved the bottle so it was on a surface near a green wall, which I feel is a better background than the wood from the previous shots. I like this shot as the composition illuminates the glare from the bottle, and the close crop focuses on the mast at the front of the ship and some of the water beneath it.

These are the alternative shots I captured for the bottle. The focuses aren't very good and there is too much glare on the bottle, which in my eyes leaves them unusable. The compositions aren't very good either, as there is some distortion from the position of the bottle and therefore glare too.

This shot of the bench I reshot in order to correct the focus. In the previous shot, it was focused on the further side of the bench, so in this shot I adjusted it so it would focus on the closer side. I like this shot as the focus is clear and crisp on the nearer side. This shot also evokes feelings of loss due to the seat being empty.

This shot of the birdbath was reshot from a angle in order to make the most of the depth of field. There is some movement in the shot due to it being a windy day, however I couldn't get audio to match the shot due to the wind and the neighbours children deciding to play in the garden as I was filming! I have got some audio of birdsong from the garden which I will use over this and the shot of the bench.

These are the other shots I captured. The composition is the same as the chosen one, the only variable is exposure. I chose my favourite due to it being the shot with the best exposure.

This is my favourite shot of the Coppit boardgame. I think the exposure is correct and I like the composition. The board fills the frame with some counters in the background, although the focus is on the white counter and the dice. I didn't think of then when composing the frame, but the number on the dice facing the camera is two, which in hindsight represents me and Pie.

I don't like these three shots as the focus is not as clear as my chosen footage. Also, the exposures are not perfect. I recorded some audio of the dice rattling in the container, it being rolled, and the counters moving across the board as the atmospheric audio for this shot.

Thoughts at Clevedon

I was asked to reflect when I went to the locations as they might trigger memories for me. This is what I wrote while I was at Clevedon.

Last time we came, I was excited to be on a day out. It was nice to take Pie out for the day too, especially after his diagnosis, so that day was important to me. We sat and looked at the view (I took photos), then went to Tiffin tea shop across the road for a drink. Me and mum ordered lattes and Pie ordered one too - I think because it sounded posh and he wanted to be posh? I found it funny. I also took a photo of him holding a £10 note before he paid, he had his silly "Pie" smile on his face. The day was filled with Pie's humour, which is another reason why it is so special to me.

Third Shoot

On the 1st April I went to Clevedon to capture some location and object shots.

This is my favourite shot of the pier that I recorded that day. I used a 50mm lens for this in order to get a closer crop and therefore a better composition. There is a bit of an issue with tripod shake in the footage, but this is the best shot I have, so I will have to edit it carefully in Premiere Pro. There is movement in the shot of people on the pier and the waves of the sea, although it is very subtle. 

These are the other shots that I got of the pier. The first two, using a 35mm lens, are too distant in composition. The third one is out of focus, and the last one is good other than the group of people who decided to hang out on the beach in my shot. 

I also recorded audio of the waves coming in, as any audio recorded from where I shot would be of traffic and people talking, as I filmed on the main road. I took around five recordings, and got some good audio of the waves coming in, despite that it was quite windy at times.

We then went to Tiffin tea shop across the road, which is where we went on the day we came to Clevedon with Pie. On that day, me and mum ordered a latte, and even though Pie loved a cup of tea, he ordered a latte too, I think because it sounded posh. We didn't film inside because we didn't know if it was allowed, I would need my tripod which when set up in a busy tea shop could be a health and safety hazard, other customers might interfere, and also, the lighting would not be so great, so we filmed outside instead. Because of this, I couldn't take an audio recording, so when I got home I recorded the noises made when I made a cup of coffee, to give this shot some atmospheric audio when editing. I think this is the best shot: the composition is nice and at a close crop (I used a 50mm lens), however I would prefer if the focus was more on the contents of the cup, but parts of it are in focus, and I kind of like this obscure focus.

These other shots of the coffee cup are not focused correctly (although they look okay in this smaller size), as the focus lays mostly on the handle of the cup.