Now that the re-shoots and re-edits are finished we can finally post our finished version of Life of Hermit.
Thursday 12 February 2015
Re-editing
When: 29th January 2015
Who: Tilly Whitehouse, Daniel Vidmar, Robbie Gale
What: Edit the new clips, change credits, sound and colour
Now that we have re-shot scene 6, we decided to re edit that scene first. Instead of using re-editing the whole scene from scratch, we decided to use the old 6th scene as a basis to assist us in editing this scene again because it will be able to give us an idea of how long each shot should be and where the narration should begin and end. This scene didn't take very long to edit as we already know how to edit this scene so there was no issues when it comes to editing this scene however we took our time with the shot where the two Hermit's are facing each other because this was one of the main issues from our audience feedback of the rough cut so we wanted to ensure that this shot was perfectly edited which luckily we believe it was.
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| This is how we overlapped this shot.
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| This is how much we cropped one of the shots so the effect of Hermit looking at each other works. |
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| This is how the shot looks now that it is cropped.
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We decided to next work on the credits for Life of Hermit as the change wouldn't take very to achieve so all we had to was replace the 'Mask 1' with the emotions that each actor actually portrays. This wasn't difficult to achieve as all we had to was type each of the emotions in the credits.
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| This is how we changed the credits. |
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| This is the final results for Life of Hermit's credits. |
After changing the credits, we decided to move onto the change in speed of the spin the bottle shot in scene 3. One of the feedbacks from this scene is that it had looked like Hermit's thumbs were moving to fast that it looks unrealistic so in order to prevent this issue, we decided to re-edit that shot so it looks like Hermit is moving his thumbs at a normal, realistic rate. This took a while to achieve as whenever we altered the speed at that part on Hermit, his thumbs are either moving to fast or too slow therefore the process of finding the right became time consuming however we eventually succeeded on finding the right speed.
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| We overlapped the shot so the speed can change. |
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| This is the speed rate in which we changed the shot. |
Now that all the shots were edited, we decided to move on changing all issues with sounds. We begun with altering the volumes of Hermit's narration throughout the film. By looking at the audience feedback, we found out that at some points of the rough cut, it was difficult to hear what Hermit is saying so to solve this issue, we simply changed the volume so the audience can hear Hermit clearly. Another sound issue that distracted the audience was with short film's score at the end of scene 5. When this scene ends, you are able to hear a woman singing with the score. While this part of the score wasn't poor, some of the audience found it quite comedic which is not the mood that we are aiming to achieve in this short film so to prevent this, we found a part of the soundtrack that we could repeat without ruining the effect of the film. Although it took a while to match the soundtrack together, we eventually achieved this effect.
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| This is how we changed the soundtrack in scene 5. |
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| This is an example of how we altered the volume of Hermits narration. |
Finally, the last thing we wanted to achieve for the final cut of Life of Hermit is to amend the lighting on the final scene of the short film. Although there was no one complained about the lighting in the rough cut feedback, we believe that in order to maximise the quality of Life of Hermit, we need to perfect every scene even if no complaints were made. In order to change the lighting we firstly balanced each shot so the character's faces are clear. Then, we matched the colour of every shot to the first shot of the scene as that was the only shot that had the right lighting. This caused all the other shots to have the same lighting as the first shot, thus preventing any lighting issues with scene 7.
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| This is how we colour corrected each shot for the last scene. |
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| Before. |
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| After. |
Overall, we are more than satisfied with what we achieved during the editing stage for the final cut of the short film. After weeks of editing and re shooting, we are finally ready to distribute the final cut of Life of Hermit.
Re-shoots
Now we have finished our rough cut, got feedback and decided what we are going to do to improve. We are now starting to make these improvements. This post will be the evaluation of the re-shooting for our final product.
27/1/15
Location: Drama Studio
Actors Required: David Twohey, Jake Bennett
Crew Members: Daniel Vidmar, Robbie Gale, Tilly Whitehouse
Time: 3.30pm - 6.00pm
Scene: 10
Storyboard: Shot 31-34
Props: Calm Mask
Review of Day
3:30 - We set up the equipment, the tracking dolly and the tripod. It took us a long time to put the tripod on the tracking dolly perfectly because we wanted to make sure that Dave (Hermit) and Jake (Calm Emotion) were exactly under the lights, and that the lights were equal either sides. 3:50 - We then shot when Hermit and the calm emotion walk into the centre to each other. This took many many attempts. We had to mark the floor to ensure that their feet were directly under the lights, and we had to make sure they walked with the same feet and stopped at the same time, all while tracking the camera in. We did this many times as sometimes the actors weren't directly under the lights, or walked too quickly, or the camera was too quick or slow or didn't flow well.
4:10 - We decided that we would keep the camera in the exact same place and film the end of that scene (When Hermit is facing himself). Last time we did this at the end, and it was a mistake as the camera moved and you could clearly see Dave (Hermit) had moved. So we drew around Jake's feet as that is exactly where Hermit should be standing in. This was our main problem in our film, so we thought the solution would to be mark where he stood as we failed to do this last time. Dave (Hermit) didn't move from his spot as we filmed the last scene. He then quickly got changed into the clothing Jake was wearing. We made sure that the camera was not moved in any way as this way of effected the shot. We then filmed Hermit standing where the calm emotion was.
5:10 - After Hermit got back changed we then filmed the shock scene. We decided we weren't going to attempt to re-do the vertigo shot as we realised it didn't work the first time, and we got a few compliments on the alternative we did. So we moved the tracking dolly and positioned it so Hermit was perfectly in the centre and then tracked into him as he pulled a shocked reaction. We did this many times as we wanted to get the perfect reaction.
5:20 - We then filmed the over the shoulder shot. We started with it from Jakes point over view. We positioned it so Hermit was in focus and the calm mask's shoulder wasn't. We left this recording while we directed him and shouted out different directions and facial expressions to him, so when it comes to the editing stage we can look trough the clip and decide which part we prefer.
5:30 - We then filmed the other over the shoulder shot. We started with Jake (calm mask) with the mask on, we filmed him looking at hermit and then taking his mask of. Then David got changed into his clothes and then we filmed him taking the mask of in the same way. We made sure we didn't move the camera from the first time, and we used Daniel to double Dave's neck in the scene. We had to film this twice because we will use the cut away of Hermits reaction in-between when he takes his mask off.
Evaluation of Filming
I feel overall filming went well today, we were a lot more organised than when we first tried this shot, as we feel like we rushed the rest of the shots last time as we spent most of our time on the vertigo shot. At one point the brighting was a problem, but because we couldn't get into the control room we couldn't turn the lighting down so we had to work with what we have. We marked all the actors and were they stood which we feel will really help us getting the positioning of Hermit right in the reveal scene. We are going to edit this footage and hopefully the shot with Hermit and Hermit works well.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
Editing- Day 4
When: Thursday 15th January
What: Scene 6
Who: Dan, Robbie & Tilly
Evaluation:
On this day we started off editing the reveal scene, as the feedback we got from our rough cut for this shot suggested that we should crop it slightly in order to make it look more effect. Also we had to make adjustments on the shot that shows Hermit by himself in the cinema as the original shot was criticised for being to long. Finally we had to try and improve the last shot in our film which is the crane shot of Hermit sat in the park as there was a few minor problems that was identified during the rough cut feedback.
This image shows us cropping the height of this shot so that the ceiling is not visable. This was easy to achieve as it was just the matter of cropping it down to the appropriate length.
This is the cropping tool that we had to use in order to crop the shot to our wanted extent.
Once we had finished cropping this shot, we then had to begin shortening the rest of the shots that feature in this scene so that our film was a maximum of 5 minutes long including our ident, title and credits. The purpose of this was to shorten the shots and to show the difference between Hermits mornings.
Editing- Day 3
When: Wednesday 14th January
What: Edit the scenes 4 and 5 for the rough cut.
Who: Tilly, Daniel, Robbie
Evaluation
Firstly, the first two shots of scene 4 was difficult to edit as it was vital for both shots to match as the first one includes the angry emotion pulling Hermit out of the screen and the second shot includes Hermit being pushed into the lockers therefore it was important for both shots to work together so they can create a influential effect on the target audience as it would show how the angry emotion is consuming Hermit. Eventually, we managed to edit these shots efficiently and moved onto the next shot which consists of the angry emotion shoving Hermit aggressively into the lockers. This shot wasn't very difficult to edit however we just had to match Hermit's face from the previous shot to this shot which didn't very long to achieve. The next shot involves Hermit pushing the angry emotion's hands away from him and walks away from the location. This shot also wasn't very difficult to edit however it was also important to match Hermit's face with the previous shot or else it will create a continuity error. From this, we matched Hermit's face in order to prevent this issue.
The next part of the scene involves Hermit in another part of the school, upset from the incident with the angry emotion. This part of the scene wasn't very difficult to edit in as it was just one shot however when we filmed the clip, the happy emotion turned her head towards the camera so we had to make sure that when we edit this shot, her head is facing towards Hermit as there is no point in her turing her head towards the camera as it would ruin the effect of the film. We prevented this issue as we filmed this shot many times and fortunately we found a shot where the happy emotion is looking at Hermit.
The next scene involves Hermit in his bed with the happy emotion while the calm emotion is sitting by the Hermit's table. This scene wasn't difficult to edit either because this was just one pan shot but the timing between each straight cut had to be short or else the audience wouldn't find this scene interesting. Eventually, we cut the shot at a length that we believe to be at the right timing.
Overall today was much better then the previous editing day as we only had two scenes to edit therefore we had more time to perfect each scene. On the next editing day, we will be working on the last two scenes of Life of Hermit.
Editing- Day 2
When: Monday 12th January
What: Edit the scenes 1-3 for the rough cut.
Who: Tilly, Daniel, Robbie
Evaluation
We begun editing with first scene which involves Hermit waking up and leaving the house. This was one of the scenes that we were most concerned of when filming as we wouldn't know if the overall scene will be presented well until the actual editing stage. This was because each footage in the scene would be edited into quick, rapid shots from one another so it was vital for each shot to be edited well together or else if it doesn't, then there is the risk that we have to re-film the whole scene again. Fortunately, each shot worked well together in the scene due to editing. At first each shot was edited for too long as this scene ended up lasting over 1.30 minutes and we didn't want this as we needed to fit the 5 minute mark for the overall short film therefore we decided to shorten the length of this scene in order to fit all the other scenes in. This worked to our advantage as the scene looked much smoother then previously and the overall presentation has improved. Once the editing of the shots was complete, we added the foley sounds and soundtrack in the film by using the same diegetic and non diegetic sounds from our animatic.
Now that we completed editing on the first scene of the film, we decided to move onto the next scene. This scene wasn't very difficult to edit in as it was just one continuous tracking shot however the main issue with this scene was adding the foley sounds. The non diegetic music from the previous scene would continue onto this one so that wasn't a problem but adding the foley sounds of all the characters laughing was one as the sound wouldn't match their movements. It was vital to prevent this issue as it would create a continuity error as it would seem that the characters aren't actually making those sounds therefore it would ruin the effect on the audience. Although we didn't have time to record all the actors/actresses laughing, we found a diegetic sound of people laughing that matched with the scene in the short film.
Next, we was going to produce the title for the film however we decided to leave the title, credits and narration until the end as we wanted to perfect each scene first.
We now moved onto the third scene of Life of Hermit which consists of a dance scene with Hermit and his masked friends as well as all the friends playing spin the bottle. The first part of the scene wasn't difficult to edit in as it was just one continuous shot with only the diegetic sound of music playing throughout the scene. However we found the next few shots difficult to edit in as it begun with the happy masked friend spinning the bottle so it was vital for the next shot to match with who the bottle lands on or else the scene won't look as acceptable and it would overall ruin the effect to our target audience. Once we eventually matched the two shots together, we had to alter the speed of which the camera is moving around each masked friend until it reaches Hermit where it should slow down to suggest that the bottle has landed on Hermit. This was a very time consuming process as either the clip went too fast or it went too slow however we eventually got the shot at the speed we wanted. The last two clips were to edit in as it consists of a tilt shot and a handheld two shot however adding the diegetic sound of the masked friends laughing and clapping from the kiss was difficult to achieve as it was hard to match each sound to the film. After a while, we managed to match all the sounds on the final shot of this scene.
Overall, this day of editing has been good however quite challenging as we found the diegetic sounds difficult to edit in as we needed to make sure the sounds matched perfectly onto every shot of each scene or else this would ruin the effect to the audience. In day 3, we will be editing scenes 4 and 5.
Editing- Day 1
Now that shooting on location is completed, Laconic Productions can now move onto the editing stage of our film, Life of Hermit.
When: Friday 9th January
When: Friday 9th January
What: Going through all of the clips and picking out the best ones and there is a lot of clips so it will take up all of the time.
Who: Tilly, Daniel, Robbie
Evaluation
In order to keep all of our clips well organised, we created a 'Library' in Final Cut Pro X and imported all of our footage on it. From this, we decided to create an 'event' for each scene so it would be easier to identify which clips we need for editing instead of all of the clips in one event as this would've been a time consuming process to find the clips we need.
Before we actually get started on editing the rough cut for Life of Hermit, we decided to go through all the clips we shot during production and choose the best ones so when it comes the official editing, we know which clips to use in order. Although this took a long time, we would find it more beneficial in the future as we wouldn't need to go through every footage we filmed when it comes to editing each scene.
Overall, this was a good start in the editing process as each production member worked well with each other to ensure the right clips were chosen.
Tuesday 3 February 2015
Rough Cut Feedback and Evaluation
After finishing our rough cut we have now got feedback from peers. This will help us develop our film so we know what improvements to make, or other suggestions that will help us improve our film before the final cut.
Questionnaire
We gave a questionnaire to people who are in our target audience for them to fill out after watching our rough cut.
We asked the following questions:
- Are you aged between 15-24?
- What are your first initial reactions to the film? Liked it? Didn't? Why?
- Did you understand the plot line?
- What do you think about the style of the film at the beginning? Any improvements?
- Are there any moments you did not like?
- Any improvements we can make that you think would be useful for us to know?
We realise that the footage with Hermit in the reveal scene needs to be re-shot. Due to him being closer to the camera in the second shot it doesn't have the effect we hoped for, so we are going to re-film and mark where he stands so we can be sure that it will look effective. We are also going to make improvements to our overall sound.
| We are going to make improvements to the sounds and adjust the volumes of the narrative and soundtrack and foleys so it flows really well. |
If we do not re-shoot the scene at the end, on Final Cut Pro X we are going to attempt to edit the brightness so it is much less brighter.
| Again, we are going to re-shoot the scene when Hermit is facing himself as we realise this is a big problem in our film.
Survey Monkey
We created a survey monkey with the same questions as the questionnaire but asked a difference audience to answer our questions, this time anonymously so they can give any feedback they would like without us knowing who wrote what, which may lead to having more honest answers.
Q1.
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Q2.
Q3.
Q4.
The only negative comment/improvement we had is that the voice over was quiet in parts. The sound is something we are going to make improvements on.
Q5.
Q6.
The improvements included making Hermits speech louder in the cinema scene. We are aware that some of the narrative volume needs altering, and the sound is something we really need to work on. The brightness at the end is also mentioned in this feedback, and if we are not re-shooting we are going to try and work on the brightness settings in Final Cut Pro X for this. We also got the feedback about the Hermits being different sizes, we are re-shooting this scene so hopefully we will solve this problem.
So overall from the survey monkey survey we got some good feedback! Everyone really liked our film and all gave positive comments. Some didn't have any improvements for our film, but some believed that we should improve sound, or brightness and someone said we should "Explain whats going on more". This feedback will help us know our improvements for when we come to re-shoot/edit or final cut.
Class Feedback
Our classmates and teacher watched our short and gave us feedback on ways we can improve, or if they see anything wrong, or anything that will look better with our film. This is extremely helpful because feedback from peers who are making their own film, and also study media who have experience they will have a better idea on how to improve our film both creatively and with the editing to make it better quality.
"I liked it when hen he is doing the narrative at the end and it is setting the scene."
"The bedroom is pink, the walls are pink etc, and its more of a representation of a girls bedroom than boys."
- The bedroom is actually red, but we want to subvert the stereotype that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Our characters emotions are both male and female showing how some emotions are seen as more feminine that others, and some more masculine, so by this we are subverting the stereotype that all males don't have "girly" emotions, or females don't have "manly" emotions. Hermit having a pink room is showing that he doesn't conform to the masculine stereotype and is not your stereotypical teenage boy.
- We had a problem overall with that shot, we had to speed it up because it was too slow and time consuming, but we wanted it to hold on Hermit, but because we didn't have any footage of where it is held on him completely still we had to try and slow the clip down at the end. This caused some problem as Hermit's fingers were moving, so we added the clip over the top but didn't speed it up, but this shows a clear divide from the sped up clip to the slowed down. But we are now aware that we will be able to slow the clip down at the end instead of adding a clip and will be doing that.
"I think you need a more natural yawn at the start because it sounds a bit false."
- We are either going to record the actor yawning, and over dub it with that. Or we may be taking out all the digetic sound out as suggested later on in this video. We are going to experiment and then see what we prefer in the final cut editing process.
- We are aware of this problem and we tried many attempts but the actor smiled in a variety of shots.
"The credits at the end maybe you should put the masks emotions and not just mask 1, 2, 3 etc."
- We were originally going to do this, but we didn't have time to list the masks but in our final cut editing process we are going to be changing this.
- The sound is from the soundtrack, we tried to fade it out but you can still clearly hear this noise, so we are going to either shorten the music or try to fix it some other way but shortening other clips.
- The noise you hear is from the cinema projector soundtrack because we didn't want the sound of the mask putting their hands in the popcorn. We will use a different part of the cinema projector soundtrack for this in order to change it.
"Does the actor in the red change? Like is that different person because the hair length changes."
- Yes the red masks hair changes because it is not suppose to be a person, but an emotion. The mask is a different persons emotions from Hermits. We are working on ways we can make this more clear for the audience.
- We are thinking about re-filming this scene, but there may be some issues and we feel if we can't re film we will edit it the screen goes blank when Dave is completely out of shot.
- We are aware of the volume changes, either in the music or the narrative and will work on this during the final cut editing process.
Interview
We got a few people who are in our target audience and we asked them questions for our feedback and recorded it. The questions we asked:
- What were your first impressions of the film?
- What was your favourite moment?
- What was your opinion on the soundtrack?
- What was your least favourite part of the film?
- What elements of the film would you improve?
We got good feedback from these students and we also got feedback from Dave Twohey who was the actor for Hermit in our film. Mainly the improvements we had are ones we are already aware of, like the sound and the Hermits reveal scene. The improvements are too drastic and are achievable in the time we have.
So our feedback over all is really important to us as a production company. Having an audience of both media students and non-media students is effective because it will helps us know if our film has an impact, if it makes sense and the good and bad about it. The feedback we got mostly said we need to make improvements on the sound, we didn't work on the sound until late in our editing process so we knew that there were improvements on that, but this feedback helped us locate specifically where the other improvements need to be made, and improved. A major problem is the reveal scene where Hermit looks at himself, we have already decided we were going to re-film this but this time mark where Hermit stands so we know he will be directly in front of himself. We feel this is a very important scene and has the biggest effect on the audience as it is the plot twist, so perfecting this will make a huge difference. Also we had different ideas of different effects we could use to improve the creativeness of the film, we will come together as a production group and discuss the ideas and decide what we will be re-shooting or what else we will be adding or changing to our film.
Now we have the feedback we will start to make improvements on our feedback. We have created a improvement schedule so we make sure we get all elements of our problems and we know the main areas and when and what we need to change and improve.
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