So far, in editing, I have learned the basics of Adobe Premiere Pro cs4. Although I worked with this software for my last project for AS, I needed to know more about the effects available on there and how to cut small sections from a large clip in the preview area because of the lengths of the clips I captured.
I came across many problems when editing the second time. When opening my film that I had previously started, nothing was playing. Once I had closed the programme down and restarted it, it managed to fix itself.
I then had problems with the video and audio link. When I pulled a clip down from the preview area, only the video would show up on the timeline and not the audio. This is probably due to how I was putting in my narration. I would use the drag audio only button in order to do this and it seemed there was no way to reverse it. I therefore had to start my whole piece again. This time I decided it would be better not to adjust any of the audio until I had all my shots in order. Although it may stop this problem occurring again, I am going to find it much more difficult to figure out how long the shots should be when there should be a voice over on top. I am hoping that when adjusting this towards the end, it will not effect my film very much.
When I started putting all my shots in order, I then wanted to add effects to them in order for one shot to blend into the next one. It took me a while to understand how this worked as I kept dragging the effect bar to far on the next shot causing three images to be blended together. It took me a while to get my head around how to use this effect, however, I do understand now. When previewing what I had done, the image seemed to glitch a lot. I had done the effect correctly so am thinking it’s to do with the shot itself. I’m hoping that it’s just with these two shots that I blended together as I would like to repeat this effect throughout my film.
Because of the way I have filmed, I am not following my script so strictly when editing it. Although, it has proved much more difficult when choosing where some clips should go, I can be much more creative. It has allowed me to experiment with effects and when something goes wrong with my script, I have many other clips I can replace it with.
As time is going to be a potential problem due to problems booking the editing computers, I wanted to make sure I understood ways in which I could edit more quickly. As well as cutting from the preview area, I am adjusting to using the keyboard to do most of the work such as ‘I’ and ‘o’ for selecting what I wanted to cut and then the comma to drag that down to my time line.
For the moment, as well as concentrating on the editing, I am trying to understand Adobe After Effects so that I am able to add the glitched shots I wanted. So far, I am finding it quite difficult and complicated and am hoping there are tutorials on YouTube for this effect rather than using the help bar which I thought was far too complicated. I didn’t find many useful effects on Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 which is why I am going to be using After Effects. Although I am still learning how to use this software, I am well aware of how to add the clips I have made on there, easily to the Premiere Pro timeline.
Overall, although I didn’t get much of my film done, I still think this day was successful. I learned more about the software, such as effects and cutting, as well as learning time saving ways of editing. I think that if so many problems hadn’t occurred, I would have got much further with my editing, however, I now know how to overcome these problems if they ever happen again. It has made me aware of how long I am going to need to complete my film. I don’t think that the time I will be able to book in the college computers will be enough so am hoping to use a friends computer who has this software to help me finish it on time.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Update - Editing: Day 1
Capturing the film onto the hard drive proved to be fairly simple. There were no major problems other than occasionally pausing without reason or having problems with audio. However, within about half an hour all of it was uploaded onto premiere pro and each clip worked perfeclty fine. Most of the clips are in big chunks with no real order so I may decide to cut each scene out to make editing less complicated. However, as ive had a chance to get some clips in order on the timeline already, ive felt the process of cutting it out of the 1st preivew screen just as easy so feel this will waste time.
So far I am just reminding myself of the features on premiere pro such as learning how to just drag the audio into the timeline or mute or cut vision out of one of the levels of the timeline. Im making sure that everything that I want to put into my final piece is available ont his software such as the glithing affect.
I haven't faced any problems so far in editing. I am slightly worried about adding the music into my piece. I have already chosen all the sound affects and songs I want to add but am just worrying about the dialogue which will be added over the top or the transition between one song an another. I will look on the editng software to see what audio transitions there are or research back into other trailers to see how it was done it them.
Overall, I am pleased with how it looks now that it has been uploaded to a bigger screen. None of the shots seem to dark which it the main issue that kept coming up in filming. Although I was hoping to have more takes of the more important shots, so far, when looking back over the foutage, there arent any shots that look as if though they will cause any problems.
So far I am just reminding myself of the features on premiere pro such as learning how to just drag the audio into the timeline or mute or cut vision out of one of the levels of the timeline. Im making sure that everything that I want to put into my final piece is available ont his software such as the glithing affect.
I haven't faced any problems so far in editing. I am slightly worried about adding the music into my piece. I have already chosen all the sound affects and songs I want to add but am just worrying about the dialogue which will be added over the top or the transition between one song an another. I will look on the editng software to see what audio transitions there are or research back into other trailers to see how it was done it them.
Overall, I am pleased with how it looks now that it has been uploaded to a bigger screen. None of the shots seem to dark which it the main issue that kept coming up in filming. Although I was hoping to have more takes of the more important shots, so far, when looking back over the foutage, there arent any shots that look as if though they will cause any problems.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Filming: Day 2
My second filming day was on the 5th of February, starting at 2 o’clock and stopping at around 6 o’ clock.
On the first filming day, I followed the script exactly and found that some shots didn’t work or was to dark to do. Because of this, I decided that on my next filming day, I wouldn’t use any script and just shoot things I thought would work.
I started off with me just walking with the camera recording, going in and out the tunnels. As the light from the torches wasn’t enough to do the establishing shot, I did this all in the day. I was disappointed by this as I didn’t think that it would give the creepy feel I wanted however, the weather was very cloudy and fairly dark on the second day which helped. When walking around, if I thought something would look good in my trailer, I would shoot it. As I shot so much, I think that this will be good when editing as I will have a lot of choices there for me. So although, I don’t think I will be able to follow my script very well, I have a lot I can work with.
Being so free with my filming actually allowed me to shoot some great shots. For instance, as it was windy, there was a large metal door that kept banging shut on its own. Not only did it look good, it also gave me a great sound affect.
I thought this day was very successful, not only because I was freer without the script, but I had a lot more time. Not being restricted allowed me to think things through much more thoroughly and discuss with my helper and actor what shots I could do and how I could do them. I was also able to take many of the same shot to make sure that I had choices when it came to editing.
Having someone there that wasn’t an actor helped with lighting, organising and helping me with the camera when I needed to be in the shot.
The biggest problem I faced when I was there was that I only had one actor available. I originally wanted to retake some shots where the whole group was there but these might have to be replaced. Although having one actor was difficult, it did help with time issues, organising and noise. I found it so much easier to work with just the one actor and as a result, I thought it helped getting shots I wouldn’t normally have come up with.
The only major problem I had was that I wanted more shots with the ghost and the only character I had was the main investigator. As I had the same sort of hair, I tried doing these shots myself. The cameras screen was able to twist round so I could get a general idea of what it would look like before it was recorded. These shots took the longest as I had to go over and over them but I think that it was quite a success. I don’t think that the character will look noticeably different when I edit it together but it may mean that some previous shots may have to be cut out.
I decided to record the voices separately. I did this for many reasons. Firstly, it will allow me to be freer when editing it. I won’t have to put some unwanted shots in just because of the dialogue. Secondly, the recordings on the camera when the people are further away was poor, so having it separate meant that I could put the camera closer so hopefully, the quality will be better. I am unsure to how well I did these recordings though, however, if these seem to be a problem they are easy to redo.
Lighting was hardly an issue on this filming day. I decided to go up earlier when it was light so I could get all the establishing shots I needed. Some of the shots in the tunnels that were originally to dark were helped with the light coming from the end of the tunnel. I only had 2 torches to work with in this one but this wasn’t a problem at all.
Overall, I thought that this filming day was very successful. I don’t think that there was any major problems but if there are some shots from my script that didn’t quite work, I know that I have plenty of other shots I can change this for.
On the first filming day, I followed the script exactly and found that some shots didn’t work or was to dark to do. Because of this, I decided that on my next filming day, I wouldn’t use any script and just shoot things I thought would work.
I started off with me just walking with the camera recording, going in and out the tunnels. As the light from the torches wasn’t enough to do the establishing shot, I did this all in the day. I was disappointed by this as I didn’t think that it would give the creepy feel I wanted however, the weather was very cloudy and fairly dark on the second day which helped. When walking around, if I thought something would look good in my trailer, I would shoot it. As I shot so much, I think that this will be good when editing as I will have a lot of choices there for me. So although, I don’t think I will be able to follow my script very well, I have a lot I can work with.
Being so free with my filming actually allowed me to shoot some great shots. For instance, as it was windy, there was a large metal door that kept banging shut on its own. Not only did it look good, it also gave me a great sound affect.
I thought this day was very successful, not only because I was freer without the script, but I had a lot more time. Not being restricted allowed me to think things through much more thoroughly and discuss with my helper and actor what shots I could do and how I could do them. I was also able to take many of the same shot to make sure that I had choices when it came to editing.
Having someone there that wasn’t an actor helped with lighting, organising and helping me with the camera when I needed to be in the shot.
The biggest problem I faced when I was there was that I only had one actor available. I originally wanted to retake some shots where the whole group was there but these might have to be replaced. Although having one actor was difficult, it did help with time issues, organising and noise. I found it so much easier to work with just the one actor and as a result, I thought it helped getting shots I wouldn’t normally have come up with.
The only major problem I had was that I wanted more shots with the ghost and the only character I had was the main investigator. As I had the same sort of hair, I tried doing these shots myself. The cameras screen was able to twist round so I could get a general idea of what it would look like before it was recorded. These shots took the longest as I had to go over and over them but I think that it was quite a success. I don’t think that the character will look noticeably different when I edit it together but it may mean that some previous shots may have to be cut out.
I decided to record the voices separately. I did this for many reasons. Firstly, it will allow me to be freer when editing it. I won’t have to put some unwanted shots in just because of the dialogue. Secondly, the recordings on the camera when the people are further away was poor, so having it separate meant that I could put the camera closer so hopefully, the quality will be better. I am unsure to how well I did these recordings though, however, if these seem to be a problem they are easy to redo.
Lighting was hardly an issue on this filming day. I decided to go up earlier when it was light so I could get all the establishing shots I needed. Some of the shots in the tunnels that were originally to dark were helped with the light coming from the end of the tunnel. I only had 2 torches to work with in this one but this wasn’t a problem at all.
Overall, I thought that this filming day was very successful. I don’t think that there was any major problems but if there are some shots from my script that didn’t quite work, I know that I have plenty of other shots I can change this for.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Planning Story and scripts
Plan 1 - Brainstorming ideas and locations
Plan 2 - Planning the story and characters
Plan 3 - Story in more depth
Dialogue script
Main script
Screen Script draft - 8-15
Plan 2 - Planning the story and characters
Plan 3 - Story in more depth
Dialogue script
Main script
Screen Script draft - 8-15
Monday, 17 January 2011
Filming: Day 1
I filmed on the 11th of January, starting at around 6 o clock. Along with my actors I had two other people to help with carrying the equipment and script. As I was filming later than I originally planned because of trouble with travel, I had much less time to film and the lighting wasn’t good enough for some of the outside shots. For instance, shot one (the establishing shot) could not be filmed as the location, even with the use of torches, wasn’t visible on camera. This is the same for a few other shots. Because of this, I will be filming again in the day to get these final shots.
When in the tunnels, I had a few problems. Occasionally, something would get in the way such as misunderstanding some areas when writing the script. For example, in shot 24 when the ghost in dragging someone through the hole, I realised that this hole in the wall was too long to be able to reach through so I filmed one shot with her grabbing him with only the arms visible on her side and then another shot with him pretending to be dragged into the hole. This seemed to look believable but may face trouble when editing this shot.
When inside the tunnels, I had little trouble with lighting. I had the two people who weren’t acting helping me out with the lighting. Although some of the torches have more of a spotlight than over all lighting, this sometimes was an advantage when filming the ghost as it gave a more selective lighting. For instance, in shot 41, I only wanted to the torch to light her up. This ended up looking a lot scarier in my opinion.
Having so many people on the set was a bit of a hassle. Not only was it a bit distracting but in some shots someone might not have realised it was recording and talked over it or someone would start laughing through the filming. It was also difficult constantly making sure no one was visible on the shot they weren’t meant to be in. However, having the two extra people proved a great help in lighting and helping out organising what shot is next. There was little issues with people passing while filming which I was not expecting in such an isolated spot. Although, they didn’t stay for long, the filming had to be delayed as they kept making noises in the background.
Other than lighting, sound was another big issue that I am still trying to figure out how to overcome. On the night, I was planning to have the dialogue over the top of the shots and the recordings done on that same night, however, time and volume got in the way of this. I am now going to record these separately and, while editing, put them into the shots. Most of the dialogue was fine but it was in the areas where the camera was far away from the actors when it started being a problem.
As we started much later than I planned, this made me rush through a lot of the shots meaning that I only had one shot of each. I would have liked to have more of an option for each shot so it would be easier editing it however, most of the shots looked well done expect a few that were unnecessarily cut short which I will reshoot on my next filming session.
Overall, the first filming day wasn’t as successful as I would have hoped; however, I have a lot more time to film to get all the shots I need and to record all the dialogue that wasn’t very audible on the camera. I will make sure next time that I plan time better in order for the lighting to be right and will organise more clearly which order I will do it in to make it a quicker and easier process.
When in the tunnels, I had a few problems. Occasionally, something would get in the way such as misunderstanding some areas when writing the script. For example, in shot 24 when the ghost in dragging someone through the hole, I realised that this hole in the wall was too long to be able to reach through so I filmed one shot with her grabbing him with only the arms visible on her side and then another shot with him pretending to be dragged into the hole. This seemed to look believable but may face trouble when editing this shot.
When inside the tunnels, I had little trouble with lighting. I had the two people who weren’t acting helping me out with the lighting. Although some of the torches have more of a spotlight than over all lighting, this sometimes was an advantage when filming the ghost as it gave a more selective lighting. For instance, in shot 41, I only wanted to the torch to light her up. This ended up looking a lot scarier in my opinion.
Having so many people on the set was a bit of a hassle. Not only was it a bit distracting but in some shots someone might not have realised it was recording and talked over it or someone would start laughing through the filming. It was also difficult constantly making sure no one was visible on the shot they weren’t meant to be in. However, having the two extra people proved a great help in lighting and helping out organising what shot is next. There was little issues with people passing while filming which I was not expecting in such an isolated spot. Although, they didn’t stay for long, the filming had to be delayed as they kept making noises in the background.
Other than lighting, sound was another big issue that I am still trying to figure out how to overcome. On the night, I was planning to have the dialogue over the top of the shots and the recordings done on that same night, however, time and volume got in the way of this. I am now going to record these separately and, while editing, put them into the shots. Most of the dialogue was fine but it was in the areas where the camera was far away from the actors when it started being a problem.
As we started much later than I planned, this made me rush through a lot of the shots meaning that I only had one shot of each. I would have liked to have more of an option for each shot so it would be easier editing it however, most of the shots looked well done expect a few that were unnecessarily cut short which I will reshoot on my next filming session.
Overall, the first filming day wasn’t as successful as I would have hoped; however, I have a lot more time to film to get all the shots I need and to record all the dialogue that wasn’t very audible on the camera. I will make sure next time that I plan time better in order for the lighting to be right and will organise more clearly which order I will do it in to make it a quicker and easier process.
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