Individual Project - Conclusion

Upon finishing my project, there were things i was happy with, and also things that i could have done better. I learnt from the experience, which was a good thing. I learnt that sometimes its best to fully take into account, how a location can be a big variable to the film's outcome. Choosing the woods, made it hard to get equipment around safely, and the cover of the trees, along with the ever changing sunlight, dramatically effected the lighting within my film. In the future, i will scout the location and take notes on any possible dis-advantages of the area, and prepare ways in which to resolve them.

I think, that getting more people to help out with filming, due to our small group size, would have made the filming day a lot more efficient, and less problematic. however, due to the problems of lighting, equipment being in shot, and bad acting, this tested my editing skills. I found myself working with video filters, four point matte's, colour corrector and various other editing options. Through using these i was able to change the footage in positive way. I tested a lot of the video filters, through process of trial and error, to see what each one did. Now i have a better and more practical knowledge on these filters, and will benefit me, when editing in the future.

I thought that the music i chose to use in the film, worked very well, and spent some while editing the music into the film. The music was an important factor, because it can really add mood to the film. it wasn't just the music i edited however, i edited a lot of the sound caught directly to tape. In one scene, there was a deafening airplane in the background, but i really wanted to use the shot, so managed to use sound editing to almost erase the noise, but still have the speech clear and concise. Another point in the film, i used the sound of the rain on the videotape, and looped it over a music track to add even more emotion to the film, as it was a dramatic part. I am mostly, but not perfectly happy with the final result, but i can use the experience as a learning curve, and enjoyed it very much.

Individual Project - Editing

The editing process of my film had some difficult task to overcome. After i had captured the video to Final cut pro, on video playback i noticed alot of lighting problems. Many shots, and unfortunately some of the most important shots, were very dark. So this was going to prove a problem in the near future, but my first task was to create the film, in its narrative order.

some of the opening scenes, which involved the two characters having a conversation on the log, was quite difficult to edit. I took a list of different angles for these shots, but through bad acting, and the boom mic entering almost all the shots, it proved a problem. why didn't i notice the boom in the shot? well because we had such a small group, two of us were acting, and one was on the boom mic, leaving the camera un-manned. in the end i actually included shots that had the boom mic in, but using an editing feature, called the four-point matte; i was able to layer one shot over another, cutting out the boom mic in one of them, and filling in the gap with a shot that had no boom in shot.

Another example where i used the four-point matte technique, was a scene where i had two of me, on the same screen, at the same time. i took a static shot of the landscape, then keeping the camera in the same position, i took a shot of me with the mask on. Then i took a second shot of me, on the other side of the shot, looking in despair. when using the matte, to cut both shots in half, and layering them over each-other, it gave the desired effect.

now, for the shots that were too dark, i spent a long time using different filters. unfortunatley each shot that had come out dark, had to be edited with different filters individually. There were many 3 way colour corrections, gamma level and brightness alterations, along with a few over variables i had to tweak among the video filters. Also, i decided that i wanted the film to look grim, and pale, so i desaturated all the shots to my liking, which certainly added to the mood of the film.

i edited the music into my film to also enhance the mood, and flow of the visuals on screen. I edited the music in hope that the audience would connect more emotionally to the narrative. All in all i was quite happy with the outcome of the film, but thought that i should have collected more material on the filming day. Also i think having more people when filming, would have resulted in a much easier editing process.

Individual Project - Filming day

So finally the filming day has come. The locations i will be using are; the Weston woods, and also, for a very small scene, the outside of my own home. I made sure i was well prepared with DV tapes, and also made sure the battery was fully charged the night before. Dan, Monish and I were all going to be the characters in my film. Having only three of us to use the equipment, and also star in the film, meant that things could be a little tricky at times. We asked for a fourth member, Oliver Foulds, to help out, but couldn't make it at the last minute.

One of the big problems with the filming day, was actually the location. The woodland i chose had no paths, muddy and slippery terrain, and for the most part, involved steep, uphill treks. i brought my old army bergen bag, which was big enough to fit in all the equipment apart from the boom. climbing the slippery slopes we had to work as a team to progress, taking turns with the bag, and passing equipment to the highest man. little did we know that coming down would be a lot worse.

The filming went very well, although on reflection, getting some drama students to take part may have been a better option - we cant act to save our lives. It was difficult in the fact that we were underneath the trees, with the sun coming in and out, it constantly changed the lighting. Due to this we had to take more takes than usual, to ensure continuity. i also had to remember i got some cut-away shots ready for the editing process, and certain other shots were needed, in order to be prepared for editing also.

We worked really well as a team and enjoyed the whole day, we all did well on the equipment, and despite being a group of bad actors, i think we brought the best out of us. Monish helped out as long as he possibly could, as he had work in the evening, i may have taken a few more shots of him if he stayed. Luckily the filming i needed to do after he left, did not involve him, and was completed to a good standard. I appreciate Dan and Monish's massive effort in making my individual film - cheers guys!

Individual Project - The idea

For my individual project, i was quite well prepared, as i knew a day would come where i was able to make one. I had been creating an idea for an individual film, in my own mind, for some time . But of course every idea has its inspiration, and this time i had two sources that inspired me.

A film which inspired me, is a British film called "Shrooms" This filmed is based on a few americans coming to Britain to meet their friend. Their British friend offered them the best "shrooms" that nature had to offer. obviously shrooms is a term used to describe the mushrooms that contain illegal substances. Anyway, when they are all "high" they all start being attacked by a strange masked figure. The only survivor, at the end of the film, realises she is the one responsible for killing all her friends. The delirious visions of the figure had all been an effect of taking the shrooms.



So i based my idea around the film, and knew that it would be difficult, and tricky to portray the narrative on-screen. after acquiring recent knowledge from an editor who came to our course, i learnt a way in which a character could appear; as two on-screen people. I knew this technique would visually benefit the audiences understanding of the characters self-realisation; where he learns he is responsible for killing his friends, not the drugged-up mirage, which he had been seeing.

Something else that inspired me was a piece of audio, and not even a whole song, a segment of a song, by a band called Bring me the horizon, typically a loud heavy metal band, but at the start of one track, called "The sadness will never end", starts with an instrumental, that i have to say is the most sad piece of music i have heard, and as it played i pictured images of my film visually.

I found the idea very difficult to explain and pitch to my class-mates, as i was reluctant to let them in on the twist at the end. I wanted it to be a surprise when the film was finally finished. Rather than just make some form of horror film, i tried to make it a horror/drama, with an anti-drug message with a clever twist, that hopefully the audiences can't see coming.