Re-shooting and Editing-

Re-filming:

So after getting feedback and giving our own opinions on our rough cut, it was time to make a few more trips to our filming locations to re film certain shots that weren't clear or as good as they could be. 

First meeting- scene 2: 

In this scene we had a few shots to add and re film. The first was when Mallory and Peter walk away and begin talking. We thought Kris looked like he was out of character and looking too much at the camera so we decided to re film this shot. 

Rough cut

Final Cut

When Mallory walks away from the Peter when he suddenly has to go, there is a jump between the two shots due to them not flowing and cars appearing etc. So we went out and re filmed this shot so that we see Mallory walk away, stop and turn rather than her go to walk away then turn suddenly. This will enable the shot to run smoothly and see the whole routine flow.

Rough Cut

Final Cut

Park Meeting- Scene 3

So this scene in this scene there was no real way of showing the different location and the scene just began. We decided to go to the location and film an establishing shot to help aid telling the audience that we are in a different place and at a different time. So with this establishing shot before the action begins it just sets the scene rather than just starting and her walking as if its a follow on of the same day.

One of the main shots that needed sorting was the tracking shot in the park. There were shadows from the camera equipment and one of the film crew and it was too obvious to cover up so we needed to re film. This was a longer shot to film as it took a while to set up and it needed to be a smooth running shot. After running the shot over and over we finally solved the problem of the shadows. It helped there was no sun to get in the way (sorry sun) and so we had no shadows the day we filmed.

Mallory's house- Scene 5:

All that needed adding in this scene to show that time had passed was a shot of a clock to cut away to during the time Mallory is doing work on her laptop. This shot enables the audience to see that the time has passed before she decides to research Peter.

Mallory meeting Alex- Scene 7:

This scene was all about adding in some shots of Mallory and Alex to show their emotions clearly to the audience about how they feel about meeting each other. These shots below were used to show how happy Alex and Mallory were about meeting each other and to suggest to the audience that romance between these two is inevitable (if it wasn't clear enough already). 

In this shot that was filmed, it shows Mallory and Alex gazing into each others eyes to show that a spark of love is here and that Mallory has finally found someone. The audience don't really find out but they are left thinking she's happier than she was earlier on in the day. Basically we just wanted to ramp up the soppy factor!

The final shot added was a shot to go behind the credits. The credits will go over the top of this shot to show Mallory and Alex walking off together, just like she and Peter did but this time it shows them continuing which I think will work well to end the film in the background. Them getting further down the path suggesting a long future for them when added in.

So these are all the re shoots of the film we made in order to make the film make sense just a little bit more. Now its time to move on to the editing of the film and we have a hell of a lot to do, lets see what we're up to.

Re-editing:

So we then got the footage and added that into the timeline. However this was only part of the job. We now needed to sort out all the sound and lighting for the film which is going to be a big job as you'll soon see. 

Lighting:

Within the film there are a few issues with the lighting within scenes. One of the main scenes is in Mallory's morning routine where we filmed on two different days and so the lighting changed. This problem as you will see was solved by just adjusting the exposure settings within the final cut pro x software. 

Before the exposure in the right hand side bar was adjusted.

After the exposure levels were adjusted to match the other scenes.

So in the right hand side bar there was an exposure setting which enabled us to change how bright or dark the shot was. By using the other scenes that weren't so dark and the right exposure, we matched this scene colour with those so they looked as if they were all filmed on the same day in one shot. 

Sound and Music:

We needed a way of showing the audience that Mallory and Peter were meeting on different days rather than through her clothes or the on screen action and so we decided that we needed different types of music for each of the days. The music style begins slow and quite sad to show she is alone in her life then each time she meets Peter her romance builds and the music blooms. Then when she finds out he's dead the music shows her sad and lonely emotion again but the moment she meets Alex a different style of music kicks in to show her life is picking up. Its almost like a roller coaster of music (english skills coming into play here).

So rather than it being just two tracks.... the sound ended up looking like this:

Addition of more than two pieces of music to show different days and emotions.

As you can see the tracks blend into each other as well as us adding in foley background noise to add to the outdoor sound and the typical foley that would be in the background if this were to happen to someone in real life, its more believeable. 

The missing foley sounds were added too into the mix to ensure that all the things that would make a noise when touched or used made the noise they would. This included changing the clock being turned off using a more realistic sound as well as adding in the dropping of folders and passing cars in the background. 

Transitions:

Another one of our problems was showing that the meetings between Mallory and Peter are on different days. So we decided a way to solve this was by adding in transitions between each of the days to show that time has passed. A simple fade out to black and then a new scene begins, will show the audience that Peter and Mallory are meeting on different days without suddenly appearing in a new location. 

The purple area on the image above shows the transition between the first day and the next day to introduce to the audience to the next scenario clearly using both the music and the transitions to do so which we think works a lot better with a clearer meaning.

Credits:

So we then added in all the names to the credits now we knew where we were putting them and had chance to think of made up names (its a difficult process you know...). We decided to do as suggested and add the credits over the top of the scene filmed where Mallory and Alex walk of into the distance (*reaches for the sick bucket*) and so the writing needed to be clear enough to read as well as being slow enough to fill the whole of the scene.

So as you can see the credits are added over the top as they walk off rather than having the black background we planned. Gives it a bit more of a story continuation instead of the same old boring credits!

Evaluation of re-filming and re-editing:

I think the re filming sessions went really well. We worked out exactly what we needed to add in so all we had to do was go out and re-film the shots we needed and run back home for some warmth. The shots we got were exactly what we needed to complete and improve the short film we have and really added to the emotions and storytelling side of the film. All of the shots now matched meaning there weren't any jumps between the shots such as the walking away from Peter scene where Mallory now doesn't suddenly turn round with a car appearing from her head!

The re-editing was a great success too, even more so really . The sound was where we were let down in our rough cut and so this was one of our main focuses. We managed to get all the sound level and in the end, even ended up re-recording the whole of the audio so that we were guaranteed level and clear audio without high wind levels (from outside..). Clearer audio meant a clearer understanding of the action going on rather than them listening to 'chhhhhhhhhhwuuuuuuuush' from the wind. The actual flow of the film compared to the rough cut due to us having the transitions to show the different days, the variety of music and the addition of the jump cuts to show the passing of time or the scene in which the characters are in. The lighting is now much better and clearer as you can see the characters and it also looks all one colour rather than the lighting changing from dark to light which just looked odd. 

So there is nothing more we can do, but hope our audience like the film. So watch out The Illusion of Existence is on its way!

Feeback Evaluation and Group Review

Group Evaluation

All in all I think our group are pretty pleased with the first cut of our short film. We know we have some improvements to make but we also think there are some things that have gone really well. So here is our evaluation of some of the processes we have gone through so far: 



So as the video shows, we know what the strengths and weaknesses are in our film rough cut as well as showing that we really are enjoying working in our group as a team. 

Review of Justice:

Finishing the basic structure of the film can only mean one thing....PEER ASSESSMENT . The time when you get to tell the real truth about your group...or not just incase word gets out that you really don't like them! So below you will see our peer assessment rating in the middle of the chart. Overall it looks like we're all pretty happy with the way in which we are working. A few dips in the group but overall looking pretty level.

Filming:

As a group I think we've worked really well so far. Shooting we all took it in turns to take on the different roles within the filming process from director to camera person, sound to pipe putter together (yes this is now an official tracking dolly job title). We all got experience in each of the roles so that we were comfortable in all aspects of filming, not just one or two. We each took on our responsibilities and if one wasn't pulling their weight, the rest of us were there to push them into completing tasks and helping out when needed.

Tom- Tom worked really during filming especially on the sound recording. He was a team player and there for filming on all occasions ready to film and help out when needed. He worked well in directing the actors and spotting continuity when watching back the clips on the camera and is now willing to shout up and suggest ideas of improvement.
I would say the only thing he could improve on when filming is using initiative to think outside the box when something goes wrong rather than panicking a little. 

Lucy- Lucy's quite evenly spread, she was confident on all the equipment and had a clear understanding of all the shots that needed to be filmed on each of the locations. She also was clear in directing in some of the scenes as well as collecting the steady establishing shots needed at the beginning of the scenes. Lucy, like many, can sometimes go off track a little, especially when animals are around and so I think we lose a little time there as well as some of the camera focusing on close up shots.

Jack- Jack was strong with the camera work, especially on shots such as the tracking dolly where he could see the tracks weren't straight and so found way around this as well as preventing the tracks showing on shot. He was the 'outside the box' person of the group which is what we needed. He directed as well as controlled the group in times of panic or stress (which thankfully wasn't often).I would say his weakness again like lucy the focus on the camera when filming as it was easy to lose focus in some of the shots. 

Charlotte (Me)- I think my strengths were the camera work. I worked out how the focus pull shots could smoothly be created with the camera as well as getting clear crisp selective focus shots within the film. I think I directed actors well like the others in the group and generally felt comfortable using all the equipment. I think angling the shots was something I could work on especially in sunny weather. I think if the shot for the tracking dolly was shot at a different angle, there wouldn't have been shadows so noticing errors straight away is a weakness. 

Editing:

The editing process was a success in many ways, however as you can see from the previous post, there are some improvements to be made on the film. I think there was just so much for us to do in so little time that we just couldn't complete everything to a final film standard, hence it being the rough cut.I think the actual footage was mostly done well and we worked really well together, allowing each other to edit and add their flair to the film. 

Tom- Tom worked well on the editing software, adding in clips and especially at spotting continuity errors within the clips that had been entered onto the timeline to prevent us showing footage with errors or inaccurate clip choices.He did spend a lot of the time watching the film meaning we did lose a little time. I think he prefered the filming side of it to the editing. 

Lucy- Lucy seemed to really enjoy the editing side of it and showed she knew a lot about the software, adding in effects and matching sound clearly to the clips. She had a creative flair which allowed the film to come alive. She aided those who were struggling in the group with using the software at a basic level. As much as she loved it, she did with hold the computer from others to use but eventually let go and helped others out rather than taking over.

Jack- Jack was strong on the mac software, focusing mainly on the sound which seemed to be his strength, matching the audio to the clips accurately and choosing appropriate music for some of the footage and adding in the foley too.I think sometimes he could be so intricate with the sound editing that the larger things didn't get done at times. In all our cases I think time was against us.

Charlotte (me)-I think I was strong in the musical area as well as the addition of the clips to the timeline specifically in the meeting scenes and the final scene. The main strength for me was probably the actual clips, matching them up and then dubbing the music to match over the top. Again I feel sometimes I did take over a little but realised and turned it into help rather than taking over. 

As the ratings show I think we're working really well as a team and are well on our way to producing the film we planned out. Now we've got all the rough cut out the way its time to make this film beauty! Lets get going again! 

Rough Cut- Feedback

So now its time for our film to be ripped apart. Sorry, that wasn't very positive. Ok so its time for us to get feedback from our peers on what they think of our film. 

The film was going to be played 3 times and then rated against the following criteria: 

Group Feedback:

So the class had watched the film once as a passive viewer and now it was time for them to watch and give us feedback about what they thought was good and where our improvements needed to be made. We had an idea but we wanted to see what they had to say. So here is the feedback we were given: 

So this is some of the areas to improve feedback given and our objection to what was being said or agreement to the comment: 

10:47- 'Alarm came in too early' 

`We disagree with this completely. The Alarm is perfectly timed so that it goes off the moment it turns 7. The only reasoning for this comment we can think is if the board was lagging in which it was presented on but this will not be changed as it is timed perfectly for when the clock changes. 

10:54- 'Not an appropriate sound for turning off an alarm' 

 We agree with this as it does sound more like she has just punched someone rather than her turning off an alarm which wasn't exactly what we were going for. So this will be changed. We thought it might work if we turned it down but realistically we will be searching on online royalty free sites for the right sound as apple loops don't have any that are appropriate as you can see. 

11:19- 'Lighting change too drastic' 

This is an issue with this shot however can easily be rectified with the exposure setting on the editing software to bring the light and shade up within the image to blend it in with the other shots in this sequence.

 12:23- 'She puts all her hair up here but in other scenes she doesn't have her hair all up' 

We didn't want to show the whole 30 seconds of her putting her hair up and so showed snippets of the morning routine to prevent the viewer from getting bored. This shot only shows half of her hair routine not all of it but she does continue to do her hair in this sequence, we just don't see it. Therefore this shot won't be changed as we don't want to waste time showing a not so important part of her routine. 

12:47- 'Some things make sounds others don't.' 

We have objects within the film that make make sounds and some haven't got sound effects. This can be solved by creating foley sounds ourselves using the actual props in which the actors use to create the sounds. This is a problem that needs to be solved as we either need all the sounds or no sounds for any of the objects which wouldn't be realistic.

13:15- 'Bit to bright.' (Shot overexposed)

The shot is brighter than all the other shots and so you can't see the actress on screen as well as we could have it. This will be improved by changing the exposure and shade of the image to darken the shot and make the actress visible. This is a little change that can be made but we do agree that the image is too over exposed.

13:56- 'Change in pace of walking.' 

Ryma and Kris due to the match on action shot, it looks like they are walking at different speeds rather than it looking like a fluent walk. This can be solved one of two ways. We will either be speeding up or slowing down the clip that is too fast or slow to match the two clip speeds. Our second option will be to re-film the shots in which they walk and keep track of what speed the walk to ensure the pace matches. Also if there is speech over the top of the so it would make the audio out of sync or sound sped up and robotic so we will probably be re-filming it. 

14:13- 'Too quick of a shot. One second she's walking then she suddenly stops.' 

The cut between these two shots isn't smooth. She suddenly stops walking and turns rather than letting her walk a little. This is partially due to continuity error of cars on the road appearing then disappearing but this will be solved by re filming part of the scene when there are no cars or include them within the scene just to look as if there is busy traffic.

14:17- 'Camera wobbles' 

The camera does wobble a little as she walks away and so we will be re-filming this. Due to it being a windy day, the camera wasn't as stable as it needed to be to ensure a static shot. It isn't that noticeable but now it has been pointed out we will need to re film it. 

15;05- 'Not sure if it's a different day'  

The way in which the days change so that the female meets the male character isn't clear to the audience as it needs a transaction or a mother way of showing that the day has changed. We are either going to address this by adding in transitions between the shots or we can use the soundtrack music to show the development of a relationship each day between the two characters.

16:30- 'Sound too loud for males voice' 

Due to having the on location recording kit mic closer to the male, it made the sound a lot louder than the speech by others. This can be solved by turning down the volume in this specific clip to ensure that all of the audio of the actors is smooth and of equal volume to each other.

16:58- 'Crew shadow in shot on cast.'

We did debate about this a lot as we felt that the shadow was from the actor rather than the film crew. However if the audience felt that it looked like a shadow then we wanted to make it clear that there definitely wasn't any evidence of film crew to give them nothing to pick out. So, we will be refilling this tracking shot as a solution.

18:09- 'Shot too long.' 

The shot in which Mallory is walking towards the train station is said to be too long. We wanted to show her journey, however it was suggested that we just needed to show her part way to the train station. Therefore on the feedback given we agree that by shortening the clip it will prevent the audience getting bored and the shot being to long and unnecessary.

18:54- 'Shot too bright.'

 It was said that the shot was too bright, however others disagreed and said that the light isn't always going to be consistent depending on where you are standing. We are unsure whether to change this however we are considering changing the exposure just to take the light down a little to see if it has a major effect on the way in which the shot looks.

19:27- 'Incude a focus pull down the track'

It was said that it would be nice to include a focus pull to show how empty the track was when Peter appears. However, we didn't agree with this idea much as we had a focus pull as the next shot, as well as their being speaking and not fitting the moment within this scene. Mallory is supposed to be shocked and so the shot changes quickly to see him to show her quick reaction and Peter's sudden appearance.

19:56- 'Suddenly sounds like Ryma is locked in a box' 

We don't understand why but for some reason, Ryma suddenly sounds like she is trapped in a box for this particular shot. It was all filmed on the same location so we don't get why the sound changes. We have one of two things we can do. Either manipulate it within final cut or re record her saying the lines in the same environment again.

20:13- 'Sound a little out of sync.'

Some of the talking is a little out of sync when one of the actors talks it doesn't quite fit their lips. This can be solved by a little shuffle of the sound audio along the timeline to sync with the actors speech.

20:47- 'Needs an establishing shot.' 

There isn't really a shot that leads the audience into the new setting and so with an establishing shot, we can show the audience where the actress is before showing her actions. That or we will move the fire shot to the beginning of this scene to show she is in a homely environment.

21:41- 'Crew members talking on top of the shot'

There is some of taking from the crew member giving directions to the actors. The sound hadn't been cut in time to miss this out and so will be rectified by cutting the speaking not needed off the beginning. 

22:21- 'Other keys don't make a sound but the enter key does.

The keys on the keyboard don't make a sound other than the enter key which is rather loud so that needs turning down. This is the same as previous points and so can be rectified by adding in the foley sounds of her typing.

24:03- 'Sorry, What was that?! Sound too loud!'

For some reason this sound was much louder than the first alarm even though it was copied across so this needs turning down as we managed to deafen the audience! We needed them to hear our film really...

24:24- 'Music too happy after finding out the bloke she liked is dead.' 

The music is a little jolly considering yesterday she found out the man she was starting to like isn't real... so we need to either change the music round so that the sad music is at the end and the happy at the beginning or find new and varied music for the shots and scenes. This will be depending on their emotions within the scene so we will probably be getting a new set of music to vary the film and its emotions.

26:00- 'Shots too long for a repeat sequence.'

This sequence began the film and so the audience don't really need to see it in full again. We will be shortening the clips as suggested to ensure that the audience can just glance through and see that she does the same thing every morning.

26:54- 'Need a shot before they meet' 

There isn't really a smooth transaction between Mallory and the new male Alex. So we really need to shoot another shot to fill this gap within the sequence to show that she is going through the same routine again before she meets the new male.

27:29- ' Sound a little out.'

The sound again is a little out of sync with he actors speech which again can be solved by moving the audio along the timeline until synced in final cut.

27:38- 'More intimate shot, eye shot.'

It was suggested that we have a shot of the two new lovers gazing into their eyes to show that they like each other. This is another shot that needs adding to the film to show the relationship building between the two character to match the music that will accompany it.

28:00- 'Walking off into the distance shot over credits' 

Another good suggestion was to have the male and the female characters walk off into the distance after meeting, having a conversation and looking as if it was the start of a relationship for Mallory. This would be under the credits to show the two walking off into the distance and that as one thing ends another begins (deep stuff).


Other feedback:

So as well as getting feedback from people who have been involved in media or have seen the process of our film production, I thought I'd get some feedback from other audience members. I asked a few people from different age ranges who hadn't seen or heard the idea of the film to watch it and fill in a short questionnaire about some points of the film to see what they thought. 

Here is what they had to say: 

Questionnaire 1-

Questionnaire 2-

 Questionnaire 3-

Questionnaire 4-

Evaluation of Questionnaires:

So overall it was pretty positive feedback that they gave me. These questionnaires go to show that our film is suitable for a wide audience age but in different ways. There are elements people like and dislike but I think as we can see from this the main improvement is going to be the sound. They really seem to like the storyline with a few tweaks to prevent minor confusion. They do like the way in which the story twists and turns meaning you never know what to expect next or sudden changes in mood shown by the music used. Some of them just wish there was more music to differentiate the days in which the two people meet and to capture her true emotions. 

But I think overall it was a positive reaction to our rough cut and all we need to do is follow the feedback given to improve the film to suite our audience.