Ideas for my Essay

Idea: How Cinematography creates tension in "The People vs OJ Simpson" American Crime Story
Possible to expand to Crime Drama / True Crime Drama

How do stylistic conventions create tension?

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021979797948657

Possible Question:

How important is cinematography in creating tension in true crime dramas?

possible Theories?

older true crime dramas as well

what could be the possible chapters?

Critical Perspectives - Shape of your Proposal

• You do not need to tackle topics that are way too big
• Or far too small 

The proposal will be approx 2000 words

Intro will include

• Introduce and explain main focus and aims
• Clarify areas of research 
• A brief overview of the discussion

The main body will include:

• Chapter 1: Beginning: Definitions of terms used in the questions. Basic Theory. Background info.
• Chapter 2: Build on C1 Info, Application of theory, any info and ideas that need to be discussed before the question can be fully answered 
• Chapter 3: The end. Where the question is fully answered or the aim is fully realised. 
• Conclusion: Remind the viewer of the aims and the questions you were intending to answer
• Highlight the key findings
• Discuss 

Make sure it is/has

• in a logical order
• identified info and evidence
• Main focus
• areas of research

Expectations

• Star with a clear, focused and research informed question
• Be theoretically informed
• Opportunities for analysing viewpoints and evidence
• Be focused and specific and have a clear articulated aim 

Avoid the question being:

• Thought up
• Already knowing the answer
• ???

What TV Shows/ Films could I work with?

• Louis Theroux (Presenting)
• Louis Theroux (Editing)
• Dunkirk (Sound)
• The people vs OJ Simpson (Cinematography) How it creates tension
• ?!?!

Critical Perspectives - Week 1

Caleb Turner
Matching your professional interests with an academic topic and approach.

Going to start to understand how to write a dissertation.

DEADLINES:
Draft: 23 MARCH
Final: 11TH MAY

Proposals can build on the solid foundations of academic substance in more depth.

Formalism - The elements that make up the structure the films "form"

Style:

• Mise en scene ( performance,, colour, lighting, set design and props, costume/makeup)

Editing:

• Continuity editing
• Discontinuity editing (soviet movie)
• Arthouse cinema (jean luc goddard)
• Avant-garde / experimental 

Cinematography:

• Framing
• Composition
• Frame rate

Other:

• Narration
• Story and plot
• Characterisation

Sound - Michel Chion

Realism and social realism:

• Documentary modes
• Poetic realism
• Neo-realism
• British realist
• social realism
• Sociology of urban spaces, class systems

Auteurship:

• Francios Truffaut - Auteur policy
• Andrew Sarris - AUTEUR THEORY
• Roland Barthes - Death of the Auteur
• Auteur Structuralism - Wollen, Author as unconsciously channelling social conventions
• Post Auteur - Collaboration with actors, producers and screenwriters

Genre Theory

• Formal elements
• Iconography
• Tone
• Lighting
• Music
• Cinematography
• Plot
• Themes
• Archetypes

Rick Altman: Vocabulary or Ingredients 

Thomas Schatz

Steve Neal: Difference and repetition of formulas, familiarity and innovation 

• Categories
• Subgenres and Hybridity
• Canon formation, revisionism and cycles
• Allegory and metaphor
• Industry and audience

NATIONAL CINEMAS

• british new wave
• french impressionism and surrealism
• soviet montage
• italian neorealism
• german expressionism
• french new wave
• new German cinema
• new Mexican cinema
• new Hollywood and independent American cinema
• hong kong cinema
• iranian new wave

Spectatorship

• Psychoanalysis (Male Gaze in Vertigo, Phallic symbolism)

Feminism

• Male gaze in vertigo
• post-feminism and consumer choice of branding, beautification and neoliberal exploration in new feminism.  

Representation

• Class
• Sexuality
• Gender
• Psychoanalysis

Digital cinema

• Manipulation of spaces and early effects
• Perceptual realism
• Persuasion tactics and paratexts
• Remediation
• Motion capture and performance
• Humanness and technology
• Transmediality
• Participatory culture and citizen journalism
• Convergence and spreadable media  

Animation

• Early animation
• Disney
• Warney Bros and UPA
• Pixar
• Music and abstraction
• anime
• stop motion

Industry, Production and Distribution

• Commercialism, Globalization, Marketing, Ratings, Franchises, money and spectacle

Art and fashion in Films and TV

• Art history
• Surrealism
• Dadism
• Situationism
• Mannerism
• Cubism
• Abstract modernism
• Deconstructionist
• Precisionist

Stars and Stardom

• Star system
• Studio system
• Celebrity studies
• Star presence

Audience reception

• Gathering information and codes and behaviour who why where how?
• Sources
• The hypodermic needle model
• Stuart Hall - encoding and decoding 1980

Politics and Political Economics

• Globalism, neoliberalism and free markets
• Marxism and Frankfurt School 

Structuralism and post surrealism

• Semiotics
• Mythology
• Deconstruction 
• Postmodernism

Phenomenology and Embodied spectatorship

• Haptic Visuality
• Carnal Senses

Film and TV History, Cultures, Criticism, Festivals

Pitching and Development Workshop

Pitching

• Pitching ideas is an inevitable part of programme-making
• Whether it is to a room full of colleagues on your prod team or direct to commision editors, it provokes fear into most people.

Purpose of the pitch

• Allow you the opportunity to deliver a presentation of your idea and to flesh it out so your audience can visualise it

• To do before a pitch: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, treats AKA Swot analysis

Prep for pitch

• Your idea must have an objective
• You should then write this into your proposal which is always in the present tense and has an active voice. Written representation of the visuals and your treatment
• Needs to ONE page in length
• Prepare this alongside your oral pitch which supports the written proposal. Expands on the idea.

In the pitch, you will be responding to a request for a submission to a particular brief.

SUGGEST ELEMENTS OF PRESENTATION

• Working title & location
• Your idea in one sentence
• Synopsis of your idea
• Target audience and channel
• Style and tone
• Central and minor characteristics/contributors/talent
• Format that adds to the programme, storytelling and usp
• Why this programme should be commissioned
• Running order
• VTS
• Basic camera plan and floor plan

How should you present your pitch?

• Use visual aids
• Show examples of clips and existing content which could illustrate what it is going to be like
• Bring it to life. Engage us to help us understand.
• Logically, walk through the show step by step.
• Check the viability

Body language and style

• Important to be enthusiastic and add colour to the written proposal in your verbal delivery
• Emphasise it's USP
• What makes it relevant now? Why should this be commissioned now?
• The more practice that you have, the better the pitch will be.

Responding to questions

• Be prepared to expand your presentation
• Take your time
• Have facts and figures
• Remain positive if you do not have an answer

Do's AND Dont's

DO'S

• Be brave and surprise
• Be passionate
• Challenge conventions
• Pitch ideas in a paragraph
• Pitch a top line
• Know existing output
• Develop dialogue with commissioners
• Pitch ideas and stories and not subject matters

DONT'S

• Send lots of ideas
• Don't have gimmicks
• Don't water down ideas
• Flog a dead horse
• Develop old message
• Make promises you cannot keep
• Ensure ideas are worked up
• Worry about fancy presentation

What is "AS LIVE?" and LIVE TV?

As live are recorded programmes with a live feel.

Usually recorded in studio location.

require full gallery roles.

Post-production is a minimum for this project.

Why are we choosing "AS LIVE?"

Advantages

• Less often it is left to chance like true live. more control
• The opportunity to re-record elements of the programme and make improvements to the intro and closing shots
• Don't need a satellite

Disadvantages

• Trying to manufacture a feeling of a true love programme and loses edge
• Truly live is often more polished
• Tension of live is hard to recreate
• Post Prod may compound this problem, may feel manufactured
• Overshooting is easy

Common Themes

• Audience
• Usually recorded in a studio, require full crew.
• Often involves on-screen guests and talent and a main presenter
• Often topical/ driven by event
• Often use VT Inserts 

Genre

• Genre conventions may dictate the sort of content and location
• Can be recorded on location or a studio

Audience

• Passive, not participating 
• Participatory and active, actually taking part in some way
• Appreciative, responding through laughter, clapping etc
• Supportive, there to offer support to a particular contribution
• The role the audience plays depends on the type of format that you are producing. Value judgements must be made as to their role

AS LIVE Content

• Theoretically, anything can be presented in an as live format.  
• It is only limited by considerations such as.
• Time
• Location
• Budget
• Logistics 

Timings

• It is essential that as lives consider timings
• A good idea would be to test the timings before pitching
• 1 Min for titles and the same for credits. The ins and outs for VT's and guest intros all take up time.

Suggested Blog Research

• Why was as live chosen
• Impact on final product
• Was it convincing
• Audience experience

Points for analysis

• Content
• Style
• Location
• Presentation
• Contributors
• Format 

LIVE TV

Live on location

• Tech advantages in satellite tech have led to the advert of outside broadcasts.
• Sporting
• National Events

Possible case study: Live Aid 1985

Live shows can make news. When the broadcasters and viewers do not know what will happen next.

New Media

• Programme makers increasingly appeal and cater to viewer / user created content.
• End of live tv? By 2020 an estimated share of 50% of viewing time is to be spent online.
• Through social media like Facebook, YouTub etc...

Live relies on planning

• Scripting
• Timing
• Casting
• Safety
• Cabling
• Running order planning
• Legal wrangling

Standby VT's

VT can be moved around in the running order as necessary

Live and the Law

• Lives are particularly vulnerable to legal problems. inappropriate language before watershed for example.
• In 2002 Matt Wright revealed a name of a person who did not know.
• Producer in the gallery has to work hard to mitigate such accidents

Run VT

• Even pre-shot VT can experience problems live.
• Whether it is that the wrong VT is played or the VT Simply won't play. 
• Job of the gallery team to keep to time and make way for new stories

Live In Trouble

• Integrity of material presented as live
• Competition winners being mocked up to deal with problems experiences by the production team
• Major fines for shows being deceptive
• BBC now identify something that is not live so that the audience is not cheated.

Blog ideas:

Possible for people to record TV

On demand

impact of broadcasting live upon viewing exp

Practical issues

Value of being live

Why do live shows have large audiences

"FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS" Live Show - Further Research

Over the weekend both Cailan and I got to work on further research into our project for this live show. Cailan did work on the studio plan and research into Top Gear and how it influenced our plan over the weekend. I worked on possible routes for our VT Challenge, Ideas for the 15-22 Min segment, Channel Tech specs, possible presenters and worked on the format.

Possible Routes for VT Main Challenge

A few possible routes that could work with this idea:
Paddock wood to Maidstone
Meopham to Sittingbourne
Stonegate to Tonbridge

All of these routes would be good as they are fairly short (around 30 minutes) and they only have a couple of minutes gap in terms of the time difference between Car and Train. A bus or cycle route may be longer but we may introduce challenges for the train and car "people" so that it would be closer to the time of bus and cycle teams.

Ideas for the 15 - 22 Minute Segment
We think that there we could have some sort of game/quiz show in this segment. This would need further work but it would be a good way to include the audience and also be a way to broaden the subject matter from just commuting.

Channel Tech Specs

Here are some of the tech specs for Dave.
25 FPS, 50 fields interlaced at 1080i
format - MPEG-4 (smpte 370m)
1920x1080 16:9 approx file size of 98GB
Would work in 40 min programme slot with two parts and one advert break.
This would be with a total minimum delivery time of 29:30 mins which would work with the show.
Should include 30 seconds of credits and include the UKTV TV Card.


Possible Presenters

We have worked with a presenter called Andrew Phipps in the past on a previous university project and we feel he will be a perfect for our show. He has an energetic personality which should be able to carry the show. We are starting to look through other actors on Mandy Actors for other presenters who would have a comedic background and a personality that bounces off of.

Is The Audience Passive?

The audience is not passive, it will be very much involved with the show. We think they will be included in an opening vote and also the quiz show later on. We want the audience to be close to the main stage and try to be interacting with the presenters as much as possible.

Show Format

Panel show based on "first world problems" where the three presenters take on a new topic each week. There will also be a new guest each week who is of a comedic background, just like the presenters.

"First World Problems" Live Show - Developing The Idea

After a positive first meeting, I decided to go ahead with the First World Problems idea. Today we had our next meeting with Helen and Cailan attended today as well so I got the chance to listen to his idea.

Developing my idea further

I first developed an idea of potential timings for the live show. This is a 30-minute live show but with an interval at the 15-minute mark. Here is my first attempt at a schedule for the show.

0-2 Minutes: Intro cars & Live show introduction. Presenter/s introducing the show
2-4 Min: Audience vote about commuting (who hates it?) and then a VT Insert with a presenter asking the public about their opinions on commuting and what their preferred transport is.
4-8 Min: News/ Discussion segment  about relevant topics
8-15 Min: Main VT Insert PT1: The challenge
INTERVAL
15-22 Min: Interview? Presenter challenge? New technology? (This segment is TBC)
22-28 Min: Main VT Insert PT2: The challenge
28-30 Min: Wrapping up the challenge and Outro & Credits

Plausibility of Main VT Insert

The toughest part of my piece would be the main VT insert because it would be the most complex to film. Therefore, I wanted to work out the plausibility as well as some possible costs.

Types of transport needed:
Car: This should be simple, we either hire a presenter that agrees with us using his car or hire a car which from my research would cost around £25 per day. Whatever car we end up using can also be used in the set.

Bicycle: This will be easy as I have 2 bikes and we may cast someone with the intent of using their bike. This will be discussed in the interviews with the cast.
Bus: Only problem with this is getting filming consent
Train: Only problem with this is getting filming consent

3 Presenters would take on a transport challenge each. We are thinking of having a guest be on the 4th option. As we think the cast would either be three males or three females, the fourth option would be the other gender.

We would need a camera crew of around three persons for each person in the race. One camera, One sound, one assistant.

Set Design

Without looking at the studio and knowing the dimensions, I took a rough estimate and design a possible set for the show.

My idea for a set would be based on a central main stage with two exhibits, one either side of the main stage. I was thinking that this would be a car on one side and on the other, possibly a bicycle and another item.

I wanted to raise the seating but Helen said that this would not be possible. Afterwards, I decided we would then have a seated audience but not raised but it would be closer to the main stage.

The walkway would go down the middle of the set. This would enable the guests to get to their seats and also be a good introduction for the presenters to walk down the walkway.

This set design will be adapted and changed over time and will be to scale once we have dimensions as well as an idea of what we can and cannot do.

Choosing The Idea

After I talked to Cailan, we realised he was not as confident with his idea so we decided to go further with my idea and take that as the main idea. In the meeting with Helen, she mentioned other things for us to do before the pitch. These included.

• If the audience is passive or not
• Picturing the studio and set, what are the possibilities?
• Getting a video of a presenter talking through a few lines
• Get possible presenters locked down and get some contact with them
• What shows is it trying to emulate? Research into them
• Channel - What do they want? (tech spec) and identify a specific target audience

Questions & Problems

We asked about the costs of last years productions so we could have an idea of what we have to work with. We got told there was no set number, but Helen said that looking at our ideas that we would not need to worry as we do not have anything elaborate. 

Helen and Jo both said that we may need to expand on just the idea of "commuting" for a whole episode. This was probably good as we did have a 7-minute slot in which we were unsure exactly what we were going to do. This opens up each show to be a little less specific to a small topic.

We also need to identify what the audience interaction is like. How can we link this to first world problems?

Initial Ideas and Discussions

My initial idea was this:

• Motoring show styled like Top Gear with the live audience who interact with the show more than Top Gear.
• Live audience (or planned guest) gets on stage and gets involved in some experiment.
• Sofa with 2 or 3 presenters who have a car themed backdrop and two real cars in the studio.
• VT will be useful cutaways of car tests and experiments. An initial experiment could be something like is public transport (bus, train) faster quicker than using a car. 

After thinking about how this could be different to current programmes (Top Gear & Grand Tour) I decided that it may be best to change my idea from a motoring show to a commuting show. I would then still be able to use some of my initial ideas in this show.

However, this quickly changes as I was thinking about the viability of this idea getting commissioned. It seems like the commuting show may come across dreary. Helen also mentioned to me that this show may struggle. In the meeting with Helen, I thought of a way I could use the commuting issue but in a broader context.

My mind then wandered to it being a show around "First World Problems". Each show would have a focus on a new "first world problem" and the first episode would be around commuting. Helen liked this idea but I would need to develop this further and see if it was viable.

My idea for possible tv channels that this show would work with would be channel 4 and channel 5 as well as dave/uktv. They have the audience that I would be aiming for, which would be a quite wide age range (from 15-60). I would aim for this show to be aired from 8-10pm. Near watershed but maybe slightly before as I do not feel there is a need for it to be kept until after watershed.

An idea to make this distanced from shows like Top Gear is making the audience more involved. An idea to do this would be to get the audience to get involved with a yes/no vote at the start of each show. This would from the outset get the audience involved and hopefully be a good foundation for the rest of the show.

 My main idea for a VT Cutaway would be a challenge. This challenge has maintained from my initial idea around cars but has evolved. This challenge would consist of various forms of transport racing from a point A to a point B. This has taken inspiration from the old Top Gear challenges, I always thought that they were some of the best parts of that show and I wanted to incorporate something similar into my show.

I also wanted to include a chatty segment early on in the show were the main presenters as well as a possible guest would talk about topical issues around first world problems. Scripting would be important in this scenario as it would have to be topical and relevant at the same time as being funny. This would no doubt be a late script session as topics can change from day-to-day. (Could include something about funny social media pictures and messages in this news segment) Other ideas for the news piece include: Silly inventions, new technology and keeping the humor relevant.

I also we could have an interview in the show at some point. However the more I have thought about this, it could drain the pace of the show and also not be that exciting. I have got this idea here just in case, but it is on the back burner for now.

I had already thought about the type of presenter I would have liked. I wanted to have three comedic personalities as the main presenters and possibly one more as a guest if we had an interview. We worked with a great actor in a previous project who we thought would be perfect for this role, as one of the three main presenters. Andy Phipps worked with us in the documentary unit and we really enjoyed working with him and think he would be perfect as a presenter.

Over the day the idea certainly changes, but I now have a good base line for the meeting with Helen on Thursday and we will see what Cailan has done as well. Cailan missed the first meeting so I just explained my idea and I am interested to see what his idea is.

As Live Production unit Intro and Brief

Looking back and understanding what to improve:

Scripting: You can plan as much as you want with the script but if things change you have to think on the spot. Trying to think of all possibilities next time.

Communication: Trying to get every single fact before filming. Little details such as what was going on a particular day. It meant I had to change plans on the day in one scenario.

Watford Ladies Commission: Evaluation

This project has definitely been the toughest for personally so far in university. It has challenged me in all areas which have led to me learning new things about the industry.

I started this unit always wanting to do the commission because of the mix of being in a professional environment as well as having my own creative freedom. This played out well because I managed to work for a company that let me basically do everything, meaning I made all of the creative decisions in this project. While it was nice not to have someone pestering me about the project, I would honestly have loved a little more support from the club in terms of improvements for the project. This is because all of my feedback was generally "we like it" but nothing about how I could improve. This led to me asking peers for feedback instead.

I enjoyed being the presenter for the second project in a row. I feel I have become more confident in front of the camera and my presenting is becoming more and more authentic and natural. I was happy to go through the extra stress of doing this myself because I knew about the subject and also the project was created from the ground up by myself so finding another presenter that fitted the bill may have been a waste of time.

I enjoyed planning and preparation for the project. Storyboarding and scripting went smoothly but it is the part of the project I enjoy the least as it always ends up giving me anxiety about if it is going to run smoothly and also if it is ever going to actually happen. (I was worried after many obstacles in the way whether at some point it would just fall through)

Thanks to my thorough planning, however, the shooting did go pretty smoothly and I managed to get all the plans I wanted in a much shorter shooting period than I expected. The club was going through some tough times meaning shoot days had to be cancelled as well as my whole idea had to be changed around 10 days into the project. I think the filming went smoothly thereafter and after a change to the script once again we got a good amount of footage to work with.

The editing process was enjoyable. I had all of the creative freedom with this as well, I assume Watford did not have much background in media because they were happy with everything I produced. This did make feedback and improvements hard though. After a number of different versions it felt like it was getting there and with the addition of graphics and drone shots late on, it gave it a much more professional look.

Overall this unit taught me a lot of things about the industry. It taught me that no two clients are the same and some people don't really know much about filming and what you have to get a good documentary. It was a challenging process early on with the changing of ideas which did keep me worried for weeks but I kept planning and it all went smoothly from the shooting period until the end.

I am happy with the project but would have done a few things differently if I was to do it again.

1. I would ask a few more people if they could help me film so that I would have had an assistant on the match day to cover more angles. 
2. I would have asked the club, even more, question about the clubs weekly activities before we started filming to get even more knowledge on what they do on certain days
3. I would have liked more time to edit, some of the transitions are a little "un-smooth" but in general, they are ok.

But in reality, I feel like the project was a success. I challenged myself and took on all of the roles for this project, even being the presenter. It led to me being super strict on my time management but it worked. I also managed to film a 12 min documentary from start to the end with only help on 2 shoot days which was a massive challenge but one I have completed and learned a lot from. 

Watford Ladies Commission: The Editing Process Part 2

Before I started the last part of my editing I decided to get pick up shots to make the documentary a completed product. I had noted these shots to be completed, but they are time-dependent.

• Drone shot of the London Bee's Stadium
• Drone shot of Harefield (area of training sessions)
• Piece to camera to end the documentary
• Some scenic filling shots between the days, so it doesn't jump for me at the training ground back to me at the training ground.

I had decided to just focus on getting shots of the Harefield area and film a proper ending for the project. Picking up these shots were important to me to make this project feel complete. "In filmmaking, a pick-up is a small, relatively minor shot filmed or recorded after the fact to augment footage already shot. When entire scenes are redone, it is referred to as a re-shoot. Both types of shots usually occur after continuity, logic, or quality issues are identified during the film editing process." (Wikipedia, 2017) I wanted to get to the London Bee's stadium to pick up these shots as well but as I was short on time I decided to stick to one location and get the most important shots.

I filmed multiple some drone shots of the area which will work as a nice transition between days, they all look different so unless you knew, you probably would not know they were all shot on the same day. I also recorded an ending to the documentary. "Ending your film with a conclusion can help the audience members make up their minds about the information you’ve presented. Your conclusion summarizes the main points covered in your film and brings the story to a natural end, leaving your audience feeling informed." (Dummies, 2017) While I don't have a massive conclusion, it was important to round off the documentary with a piece to camera otherwise it would just not feel right. From my research, I have noted that most documentaries end with a piece to camera.

Once I had these shots I could finish off the edit. I placed the drone shots into the gaps at the start of the film and then between day 1 and 2 & 2 and 3. This worked as a nice transition rather than just a hard cut which just did not work and my feedback from peers suggested I change that. "Transitions can be a lot of fun but be warned: Over-using transitions is a common mistake made by amateurs. In most professional productions, almost all transitions are simple cuts or crossfades. Too many animated transitions are distracting and impact on the flow of the video." (The Video Transition, 2017) I decided to stick with crossfades in my project, with the occasional fade to black to help signify the changing of days. As the drone does not record audio I decided to add in some "atmos" that I found online. I regret not filming my own buzz track on the day as that would have made the atmos more authentic.

For the drone shots, I also added a letterbox, in hope of making it feel more cinematic as well as making the viewer pay attention to the center of the screen. I also slowly fake out the letterbox and it goes back to full screen by the end of the drone shot. I wanted to do this and it worked effectively. It may not make a massive difference to some people but my creative decision was to do it for these shots to draw the attention of the viewer.

I added in the ending that I recorded near where I had filmed the drone shots. While it wasn't in the place the viewer thinks it is, it needs to have a proper ending and I could not record an ending like this on the actual day because I was a one-man crew. This completed the edit in terms of the clips that made up the documentary but I still had a few things to edit.

One thing I kept on making sure was perfect was the audio levels. I notice a problem with a lot of student projects if the up and down audio levels. I always seem to leave the audio until the end and I think in the future it would be worthwhile planning more around audio because it is important. "You can perhaps begin with the levels and panning of the elements. This refers to the arrangement of the elements; say drums, bass, piano and vocals, in such a way that they make sense and tell a story. At this point, you can group together the same elements so that the mix won’t sound cluttered and disparate." (DCC Studios, 2015) While this is referencing music, it works with video editing as well. I spent a good amount of time making sure that the "peak" audio level throughout the project was -6db and all of the project was between -6db and -18db. I took into consideration background noise meaning some are louder than others.

I am happy with the edit, it has gone pretty smoothly and I have enjoyed editing it. If I had more time I would have probably filmed the extra clips that would have made the project more professional. I would probably also work on the transitions as some of them don't quite work as I wanted them to. It has been a fun edit and great to work on a project that I completed all the way through by myself with some help of filming days.

Bibliography:

(Wikipedia, 2017)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick-up_(filmmaking)

Accessed 13th December 2017.

(Dummies, 2017)

http://www.dummies.com/photography/video/how-to-structure-your-documentary-film/

Accessed on 13th December 2017

(The Video Transition)

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/

Accessed on 13th December 2017

(DCC Studios, 2015)

http://info.dcc-studios.com/blog/importance-of-audio-mixing-mastering/

Accessed on 13th December 2017

Watford Ladies Commission: The Editing Process

After finishing the filming process on Sunday, I got working on the edit on Monday. I started by separating the clip into the correct places, Day 1, Day 2 etc and in those folders I put the footage from each camera. This means it will be easy to find the files when it comes to placing them into an order. "If you’re going to call yourself a professional, you should work like a professional. An insanely disorganized project is a nightmare, and ultimately reflects poorly upon you as an editor." (Premium Beat, 2014) It was worth the time doing this because I found finding clips much easier once they were in bins. I also referenced my storyboard and script when finding clips to make this an easier process.

The pictures below show how I took the time to separate the footage up to save time in the edit.



I then set upon placing the clips in the general order with reference to my script. "The Importance of Script Writing. One of the first steps for creating a video project is the script writing. ... A script is a document that describes the video, which includes descriptions of the various shots and any dialogue/voice overs. A script also serves as a planning device for the video." (amifw, 2017) However, this did end up being a slight problem as we had to change a lot of what we filmed due to circumstances out of our control. However, I still got a rough edit together without touching colour correction etc. This was a very basic edit that I could send to the football club as well as getting feedback from my peers.

I sent this very rough cut to the club general manager Ed. He really liked it said he didn't feel that it needed any changes. This was a little frustrating in one way because I knew it was nowhere near finished and I wanted some feedback. However, in another, it was nice to know he liked what I had done so far.

"Client feedback sessions are an integral part of any creative project and are especially useful for video editors. Knowing how to make the most of the time, the questions and your answers, is an important skill to develop. Striking the right balance of being able to says ‘yes we can do that’ and ‘no – there isn’t time, budget or sense to do that’ is crucial to keeping everyone involved satisfied. Here are a few suggestions for video editors that might help keep the project on track in your next client feedback session." (Premium Beat, 2013)

I wanted some client feedback so I could drive the project in the direction that they wanted, however, I guess as the club is going through a tough time they were just happy that someone was doing something for them.  At this point, I realised this would be a very tough edit in terms of client feedback, so I used my initiative and asked some of my peers about what they thought about the edit.

George gave me some feedback on my rough cut, here is what he said.

• Colour correction
• Title cards, Day 1, Day 2 etc
• Fewer cuts when I am asking questions
• Injury scene - cuts could happen quicker
• Transition between injury and gym scene is fast
• Less shots of Ben in hospice, more of Helen
• Voice over of game is a little quick
• Give Helen a few seconds to speak before cutting away

I knew peer feedback would be helpful as I have had a pretty basic response back from the club. "Students benefit from peer feedback in that they are able to teach other about the tasks and provide feedback that they would consider relevant. In seeing that their peer feedback is relevant, students will be more engaged and invested in working to complete the task successfully." (edutopia, 2015)  This feedback for George was very valuable because when you edit by yourself you sometimes get into a pattern of not knowing what can be changed because you have looked at the same clips over and over. George's new perspective was very useful because it lets me see what the project was like with a new set of ideas.

I then got to work, starting with the colour correction, also known as colour grading. "Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image electronically" (Wikipedia, 2017) As I have a mixture of inside and outside shots, it was tough to keep the linearity throughout the project. Below are a few examples of what I have done to enhance the colours in my project.

The DSLR raw shot is on the left and on the right is after some colour correction. I noticed throughout the edit that my DSLR did struggle to get the "true" colours. Sometimes this may mean very un-saturated and sometimes saturated too much. I decided to match the colours to my main camera, which from the outset captured more realistic colour tones. I have to admit that Colour grading is a part of video editing that I do not enjoy, but as it makes the final project look a lot more professional, it is critical that you do it.

Here is a shot from my main camera and as you can see it looks much closer to the DSLR after colour correction.

I also took George's advise on adding Day 1, Day 2 etc so that the viewer has a visual clue about what day it is. "The Role of Computer Graphics in Documentary Film Production. ... Computergraphics can be used to enhance the scenery, fill in the gaps in the missing storyline pieces, or animate between scenes. It can incorporate stereoscopic effects for higher viewer impression as well as interactivity aspects" (arxiv, 2011) After reading this I also decided that it would make sense to include name tags for each person who appeared on screen. I also sometimes put the name tag up multiple times in the socumentary if the time between the same person appearing on screen was quite long.

Here is an example of the day and name tags that I created in Photoshop to appear on the screen.

I also focussed on making the cuts between scenes less evidant as keeping a smooth feel throughout the documentary was important. "In the classical continuity style, editing techniques avoid drawing attention to themselves." (Film Analysis, 2017) As I was not doing a flashy edit, I needed to make sure that cuts didn't jump out at you. After adding some fade to black transitions and doing similar fades in the audio also helped the shots flow more seemlessly. 

Something that I picked up was also matching the audio levels across the project as well as adding in the Tascam audio (which is much better than the shotgun mics) which I had not added in all areas in the Draft cut. The audio cut out the wind noise from the gusts that we had on all days of shooting, so the Tascam's audio does make the whole project sound more professional. "Paying attention to sound, both in terms of good recording and how it’s mixed and the use of sound effects and music, can make a real difference. Even if you’re only doing a simple interview with dialog only, a rich sounding human voice will make a difference." (Kino Eye, 2013) After adding the audio from the Tascam it also made the audio sound more realistic, once again making the project feel a lot more professional.

I also had some Go Pro shots that I had not used, and I actually found they worked quite well. Even though we had a lot of footage, I had a large need for these clips meaning these extra Go Pro shots helped. I added most of this by the time I rendered a fine cut. This fine cut was pretty close to the end of the project meaning not much will change between this and the final edit.

Fine Cut:

After the fine cut, I realised there were a few things I could possibly film to improve the edit. Here is a list of possible things I could film to improve the project. There is a possibility that I could shoot this on Tuesday (weather dependent)

• Drone shot of the London Bee's Stadium
• Drone shot of Harefield (area of training sessions)
• Piece to camera to end the documentary
• Some scenic filling shots between the days, so it doesn't jump for me at the training ground back to me at the training ground.

This is the majority of the editing process in this blog post, but I will include my final thoughts and edits after I have possibly filmed these extra shots on Tuesday. I will also be re-recording the voiceover after feedback from my peers that it felt rushed.

References:
Premium Beat, 2014
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/keeping-your-video-editing-project-organized/
Accessed on 11th December 2017

amifw, 2017
http://amifw.com/the-importance-of-script-writing/
Accessed on 11th December 2017

Premium Beat, 2013
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/video-editing-feedback/
Accessed on 11th December 2017

edutopia, 2015

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/power-peer-feedback

Accessed on 11th December 2017

Wikipedia, 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_grading
Accessed on 11th December 2017

arxiv, 2011
https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.0663
Accessed on 11th December 2017

Film Analysis, 2017

https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/editing/

Accessed on 11th December 2017

Kino Eye, 2013
http://kino-eye.com/2013/03/04/sound-for-documentary-part-1/
Accessed on 11th December 2017

Watford Ladies Commission: Script Rewrite

After changes with the documentary due to circumstances out of my control, I have rewritten the script to better represent what has been filmed. This rewrite of the script is very important for editing as it will enable me to edit faster.

After some research, I found without a good script, it will make the final piece not as strong.
"What makes truly great creative video content? Alfred Hitchcock used to wind up his leading actors on the first day of filming by arriving on set a little late, slap down the final script on his chair and announce “Well ladies and gentlemen, that’s another one in the can.” Of course, what he wanted to draw everyone’s attention to was the importance of the script to the film. There are many, many films where a weak or non-existent story completely hobbles otherwise fine performances and camerawork. On the other hand, some modest films become very successful simply because the script was so good." (Chris Mugford, 2015)

I decided that writing the script through, nearly from scratch would be a worthwhile exercise. Even though I had already started editing, it would enable me to edit what I have left a lot faster. This will also be useful for the report as it will be included in that as well.

Here is the script after my re-write:

Chris Mugford, 2015

http://chrismugford.com/importance-of-a-script/

Accessed on 9th December