A complicated scene

When it came to filming the last scene in Kirstens house where Nicole finds out her boyfriend has been killed (the tear jerking scene). We had always had an image in our minds of her watching back the video on the handheld video-camera that Luke had been filming on. We especially wanted her to watch part where Luke is talking to the camera saying how 'you only get one chance to do everything you ever want to do'. But the complicated thing was how we were going to show this clip as well as her watching it. What we wanted was to have the clip playing and then for it to zoom out showing that it is on the video camera and that she is watching it, however we weren't sure whether we would be able to get this to look good.

Anyway we recorded the clip of Luke talking to the camera and then got Aimee (playing Nicole) to sit and watch it, we positioned the camera behind her looking over her shoulder and zoomed as far as we could so that the screen on the handheld camera was just about filling the screen on the main camera. This did cause a slight blur but we expected that, then as the clip plays and Luke's speech goes on we started to zoom out showing the camera in Aimee's hand and as the clip ends she closes it. Also the blur goes away when the camera is zoomed further out, the problem was getting it lined up right on screen, as it was fully zoomed in Aimee had to make sure she did not move the camera at all otherwise it went off screen on the main camera. After filming this 4 or 5 times we managed to get one that we were completely happy with.

Now the really complicated part was editing this bit together, because the way we visioned it was to put the clip we originally filmed on and then fade this into the clip of her watching it, this way you get to see the start of the clip and then realise when it fades in and starts zooming out that it is Nicole watching the clip. However the problems were that we needed to make the fade quite subtle and just before zooming out so we didnt have that much time to fade it in, also we had 3 things to match up, we had to make sure the two clips were but together so the flowed on, then we had to match up the sound. This meant the two clips had to be cut together so that there was no breaks or jumps inbetween movement or mouth movement, and then the sound had to match up in both clips. With all the problems we've had this year I wouldn't have been suprised if this didn't work, but not only has it worked but it looks just like we had imagined it. The clips fade together brilliantly and it really does fit the whole scene, we couldn't be happier with this and I can't wait for people to see it. As for the rest of the film, we have been editing sections together and hopefully it will all look just as good.

Different Shots From The Reshoot

Having to redo a whole scene at Kirsten's house was something we would have rather not had to do, however it did allow us to rethink some of the shots we were going to film. Due to the footage from the handheld camera being overwritten, we still had footage from the main camera but for continuity reasons we couldn't use that without the handheld shots from the same time. But this did mean that we could look at some of the shots we had tried and decide whether we liked them or not. As well as managing to spot a mistake in that the main character in that seen isn't wearing striped socks, however in the scene before in johns bedroom I was wearing striped socks which due to having to refilm anyway I was able to correct by making sure I wore the right socks.

Having looked at the shots we decided that some did not work, either they were bad shots or they were hard to cut together with other shots smoothly. This meant that when filming again the other day we filmed the shots that we had liked, but also added in some different shots, using different angles, pans, zooms and tilts.

Once this has been edited together we will go back to the shot list we are using as a guideline to our filming and create another draft of it replacing the shots we didn't use with the ones we have used. This hasn't caused any problems, the shot list is useful to have so that we have an idea of the shots we really need to get, but sometimes those shots arn't as good as we thought or once we get to the location we find better angles etc. that we think may look good. So we will make corrections to our shot list once we have finished so we have a record of every shot we use, and also so that we can compare it with the shot list we did orginally and see how different the shots used actually were.

Small filming documentation

Although the finished film is the only *real* important video that we need to submit, we have constantly been taking short videos and snaps along the way to document our project. This has become more of a fun project to do, rather than simply a college project.

This small shot has since been put on the computer, and is outstanding.

Basically, we were filming the small camera screen with the big camera at some previous footage that we had shot. The original shot fades into that shot before zooming out. It's actually hard to explain.

This time we had a tripod

Reshooting most of the first scence between Luke and Melissa today was a little repetitive, but . . . . . .

We had a tripod and plenty of tape this time!

so, all the shots should be smooth and seamless. Hopefully we shall be able to edit it all together without loosing half the footage this time :P

The Unexpected Snow

Who could have predicted we would see this much snow in such a short period of time! The days are getting colder and shorter and it's beginning to play havoc with our filming schedule. The snow around my house must be at least 6 feet deep and its taken a week to get any cars in and out of the estate, so that spelt trouble for re-filming.

Wednesday 8th December, we finally managed to get everyone down here to film the necessary scenes again. But the snow did add a nice effect to a short scene in the film; the ending piece with Luke talking about all his experiences in Europe which Nicole watches back on his camera. The snow makes a nice backdrop which differs it from other settings in the film.

Other than that, the snow is a nuisance :)

More Snow Forecasted

On the week of 1st December 2010 Britain was hit by a heavy snow storm and almost every where was affected and many businesses and schools closed and whole towns and cities came to stand still. 2 weeks later after all the first lot of snow had just about melted away another bulk of snow is on its way this may affect any filming plans we have as it will make it a lot more difficult to reach locations.

Snow Delays!

The weather in the United Kingdom in general has been terrible for the past week! The entire country has been blanketed with thick snow, cold days and ice. As a result, our college was even closed for 4 days last week!

Although being students this was a relief, it actually hindered our shooting schedule! We have had to delay the shooting by a week, as around 13" of snow feel within 4 days. This prevented me or Kirsten from getting off of the street where we live, preventing us from even driving on clearer main roads!

This was a picture taken at 2am on the 2nd of December 2010 from my window.

Artists that we cannot use

As we have found it very difficult to find licence free music, we decided try and find music which WAS licensed and see if we could get permission (after we contacted the exam board).

We (Andy and Daniel) have been searching for literally weeks, trying our hardest to get into contact with that artists that we have found. Here are some of the artists that we love the sound of, but haven't got a reply after contacting them. As the deadline is nearing, it may be that we have to indeed find alternative music.

Strained Tendon :X

Whilst at the Gym, I (Andy) strained a tendon in my ankle, which prevented me from properly walking for a couple of days, and driving for a couple more!

Although everyone in the group is quite capable of operating the camera just fine, there were points where everyone (but me) were on shot - So I was the only one as times that could operate it. Of course, this unexpected delay prevented us from shooting for an additional week, ouchies. Although I had to take a couple of days off college, we had allot of editing to do - so spend time being productive

Recreating Europe

In our Film the main character Luke goes traveling to Europe which left us with the problem of how we were going to make it look like he goes to Europe. First we have him going down to Hull where he gets the ferry to Belgium. Obviously we cannot get the ferry but we are going to Hull and will film by the docks as he is waiting for the ferry. Then we are going to film in a local hotel, their corridors are going to be the corridors on the ferry which will be made clear in the narration.


(Image from Alleratt.com)



Once he is 'in Europe' we have a lot of car shots, this is fine apart from that they drive on the other side of the road than we do. Obviously we can't go driving on the wrong side of the road over here, as it is not only illegal - but dangerous.


(Image from Telegraph.co.uk)



So we considered flipping the video, which would be fine but I then realised that the license plates would be reversed, and the car would suddenly become left hand drive, so we can't really flip the video.




(Original image from Mattters.com)

Additionally, the road signs would be flipped around which would be incorrect also



(Original image from Wikipedia.org)


Therefore we started looking for more rural roads that don't really have markings or that you won't be able to tell we are driving on the normal side of the road. We have also added more sections where he stops off, which means less time on the road.

We did however want various road shots - to give the impression that he is indeed travelling. So, we have decided to use allot of 'incar' shots from the passenger window.

Dollying: an interesting concept

Eventually, a point in our film came where we had to decide upon our shot list. In an earlier post, we discussed things that we had learned from last year, one of which was that the camera very rarely stays *perfectly* still - after watching multiple short films, large scale films, music videos.. infact the majority of professional films.

As we studied camera operations last year, we were aware of all the terms used to describe the camera techniques used. In our first AS project, we tried to use many pans, tilts and zooms to not only help with continuity, but to subtly help the film appear, essentially, less boring.

I wondered. Why do students rarely use Dollies?

First of all, we had to understand if the difference between a dolly and a zoom. It is difficult to explain this concept without the use of a moving image, so the video below explains (as well as my interpretation/explanation)

My explanation: With a zoom, although everything in the image appears to be getting bigger (or closer), they are actually getting bigger at a constant and exact same rate. I.e. There is no real indication of distances or perspective. With a dolly, however, things appear to get bigger (or smaller if you're dollying/zooming out), at different rates - the perspectives of objects change.

Identifying a dolly from a Zoom is usually very easy, but I think it is hard to recognise the differences unless you take the time to learn about them.



The Dolly-Zoom effect, or the Vertigo effect has been used in many Movies. They are used for a huge range of reasons (Usually, to make distances really apparent, but I will not digress). It is basically Zooming one way, whilst dollying the other way. The video below shows examples of many movies which have used the technique, such as Jaws, Poltergeist, Goodfellas, and The Fellowship of the Ring (and should make apparent the differences between dollying and zooming)



So why are dollies rarely used, and zooms are used extensively?

First of all. Optical zooming is built into almost every modern camera available on the market today, including the models that Barnsley College has available. Essentially, zooming is easy. You have 2 buttons, one to zoom in... and one to zoom out. It is easy as pie.

To dolly, you have to have a method in which the camera is able to move on the X/Z axis. The easiest way would be to use a tripod with wheels. Although I have seen a few of these around college, they have enormous cameras attached to them, and are huge! Trying to take that equipment to each scene would be a real hastle, not to mention things such as uneven surfaces, lack of room, not knowing how to fully operate the camera and gaining permission.

Essentially, we had sort-of disregard dollying shots (Not by knowingly doing so, but ignorance of not knowing the effects of the two.. or not knowing what is in this post). If we wanted a similar effect, it would have to be a handheld shot, (which has been proven to be extremely difficult). Although, ideas such as using a Skateboard, Push Bike, Cars or Roller Blades were all considered (but promptly disregarded due to the safety of it, and wrecking a very expensive camera).



However, I came across an article just a couple of days ago on TutsPlus.com (They have a network of subdomains, covering a large area of creative techniques for photography, filming, editing, music, Photoshop.. etc). Which explains how to make a dollying platform for around $20 (£15). Here are a few photos of the tutorial, each of which links to the tutorial.







Although it's likely that we cannot use a propper Dollying shot (due to the shot list already been completed, deadlines.. etc) - This is a great technique to bear in mind for when I do projects in the future. It's a shame that naivety has caused the loss of an interesting camera technique that WAS available. But it is all a learning curve so I don't mind too much :)

Schedule Is Starting To Get Busy..

Now with the January exams coming up as we are nearing the Christmas holidays time available for filming and editing is starting to reduce day by day as we are getting closer as our other subjects will start to need more attention. Plus with the snow over the last few weeks means it was hard to get to location and also with what has been mentioned in other posts we had some re-fliming to do and with the snow it made it hard to keep with the continuity of our film.

Our group has a tendancy to film more then we need which is not always a bad thing since we deffinatly have enough footage to make our five minute film but because we do this it means filming takes longer then it should as we are shooting the same shot or scene from different angles and trying different things. This also means editing takes a lot longer aswell since we have to go through all of our footage and decided which shots we want to use out of all the shots we have to use from.