Our four days of production is now officially over, and it went really really well. We now have around 109.4gb and about 2.5 hours worth of footage to sift through and hopefully produce something watchable. In the photo above we are basically sifting the clips and trimming them into just the good bits. This is to hopefully speed up our editing process, starting on Monday.

The film has to be between 2 and 5 five minutes in length, so we shouldn't have TOO much of a challenge finding the right footage to use. The issue is finding the RIGHT footage to use.

But yeah, this experience has been really exhausting, but genuinely super fun at the same time.

WOOo we finally started production and it has gone SUPER well. We arrived at the fire station at 8:50am and introduced ourselves to Blue Watch (the watch that was doing that shift). They then had their pre shift briefing, discussing what they were to do during the day. This we filmed, so basically we were thrown in the deep end, having to set up immediately and film literally everything.

We then spent most of our morning obtaining interior footage for part of our overall piece.

Later on in the day we had the opportunity to film a visit from a charity that takes care of people with learning difficulties. For this the watch showed them all the gear, inside the fire engine and even the water hose and the pump. This was a great opportunity to practice our handheld skills and also our ability to film on the fly and to make snappy decisions to capture the events as they happened. We really enjoyed this opportunity.

IT'S GOING REALLY SMOOTHLY.

I went to devon for the weekend (last weekend) before the manic week that we just went through. The weird thing was that I KNEW it would be busy this week, and whilst I was with my family it almost felt as if uni didn't exist, at least for a short while.



Some decent candids tho

Here it is, my final piece. It has been quite the slog but it definitely has been worth it.


Respite noun: a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant.

I chose this title to reflect how I interpreted the dance itself. I felt that the dancers were representative of two beings wherein one felt strong enough to continue with their journey on their own, believing that they did not require the others' help, and the other being who knew that the first was going to need some rest.
 But in trying to catch up to the first being, the second being grew tired of chasing, and when the first being saw this she realised that they needed each other to rely on; to provide each other with a short period of rest or relief from an unpleasant experience (shown through the chase). 

And it is through these two beings' brief coming together they provide each other with that "Respite" both of them have been craving all along.

EDITING

From a practical standpoint, looking back at the actual process of editing and the scope of edits produced by people on my course, it has really shown me how many levels of interpretation can come from the same set of rushes.

This unit has really taught me how to combine standardised linear editing and continuity editing  with very basic clip manipulation (such as freeze frames and opacity control) to create  unique visual styles that have the potential to give films that little bit more to make them special.

I adopted the idea of montage in my video (hence all the jump cuts n stuff).


I used frequent jump cuts to give the film a disjointed edge, but to also hint at the possibility of the dancers being intertwined in a  surreal nature where segments of time are skipped forward and backward that can result in freeze frames from the past and future that distort the dancers' reality. This is why they are searching for each other in this dance - to gain a respite from the chaotic, confusing world around them. This is done to create a slight narrative, sort of adhering to Tordorovs idea of 'equilibrium' although not all elements of the theory are seen throughout the duration of the piece. The basic idea of equilibrium is that the character undergoes a semantic shift from one state of thinking to another in a series of stages. Whether these changes are for the better is another question.
In a way the two characters both undergo a shift in understanding when they realise that, in working together, they can give each other respite from a nasty situation.

GRAPHIC STUFF

Probably my favourite part of my video was the graphic design. I was going to make the titles on Premier, but I couldn't get my fonts to work at all and so I made the graphics in Illustrator, exported them as .pngs and scaled them accordingly to fit the frame.

MUSIC

For our Image Factory unit we must produce a two to four edit of an alternative dance video we shot a couple weeks ago.

The set up for the shoot was fairly simple. We were split off into five groups of four and had 45 minutes to record the entire dance. This meant that in post we could compile all five groups' footage and perhaps use footage that we may not have had the time to capture, or was simply better.

Due to the nature of the project, there was barely any time to carry out any pre-production save a few minutes before shooting to watch the dance and then brainstorm. This meant much of the footage was done on the fly.

But enough about this mumbo jumbo that happened ages ago. I pretty much have no knowledge of how to edit a music video. And I guess this is there part where I watch a load of videos and see what I can draw from them.

"Starting West" - Filmmaker Michael

SCRAPPED ONE: "Our aim is to observe the day-to-day running of the fire station whilst attempting to give a meaningful insight into the complex but often mundane parts of being a firefighter."
















Bird Watching Synopsis/Treatment:

We also decided to pursue other options since it is only wise to give ourselves a plan B if the fire fighter idea falls through. Our synopsis is as follows:

 “Watchers” is a film that hopes to represent the disconnected relationship between humans and nature through the medium of Bird watching, and how this hobby has the potential to reconnect us with nature.



We intend to create a soundtrack that builds gradually throughout the film, starting in an urban environment that transitions slowly, climaxing with as many sounds of the countryside/wildlife as possible. This will hopefully reinforce the idea of reconnecting with nature and will take the viewer on an audible as well as a visual journey.

Initially we will try and use a shallow depth of field and close up shots combined with the sounds of traffic to show the absence of nature, and the dominating presence of man-made things. As we progress towards the location of the bird watching, the sound of the man made things will become less prominent and the sounds of nature more so (as aforementioned). As we get to the location we will use more wide shots, showing off the landscape as well as the subject in that landscape.

Interviews will be conducted either prior to filming commences or perhaps on location as it may give a more authentic feel as the responses to the questions will be influenced by what they are feeling in that moment.

Currently trying to write an e-mail to a councilman to get permission for our documentary idea.

Emily went in to the local fire station and inquired about the possibility of filming the day to day goings on there but also the possibility of asking some of the workers a few questions.

The workers at the station gave us the initial go-ahead but recommended that we write an email to the the partnership between the council and the fire station outlining what we want to film and our intentions with the finished film.

Progress is good but there is still a way to go.

This documentary project begins with research.
Lots and lots of research. But what I love about
doing a film course is the fact that most of this
“research” is watching documentaries that I
aspire to one day be able to rival.
The first one I watched was ‘Analogue people
in a digital age.’ 

Synopsis:
As the analogue age draws to a close, I
eight men sit in an Irish bar and battle to remain
relevant in the digital world; the TV in the corner
a harbringer of this technological future.

Set in a pub in Ireland, this film sets itself out as a
documentary about changing technologies, but then
as it progresses, becomes a film more about society
and lifestyle. And that is why I like it. It is very surpr
ising.

I’m sure the filmmakers weren’t expecting
to be encountering conversations about Einsteins
theory of relativity or politics or even poetry quotes.

I also love this documentary because it is beautifully
cinematic and just plain honest in the way the subjects
are portrayed.

A collage documenting my creative process from the beginning of the project (top left) to the end of the project (bottom right).

The reason I have so many attempts is because I hadn't done enough research for me to develop my initial idea (which was something to do with hiding or concealing ones identity). I discovered this in feedback sessions with my tutors, and it gave me the kick up the backside I needed to get into some books and the internet to find some inspiration.

My "inspiration" for my photo didn't come from looking at a photo and a light suddenly switched on. No. It came from Photographer Freeman Patterson who, when commenting on developing originality in portraiture said:


 "The camera goes both ways. In expressing the subject, you also express yourself."

Here I began to think about what I was trying to express about myself through my portrait. I guess I discovered how both creative expression is intrinsically linked to personal identity, and, on it's most basic level tackle the question;"what is identity?"

But I did look at some photographs for reference, to see if I could adopt some of the techniques they used and incorporate it into my own work. I looked at American based surrealist photographer Kyle Thompson.


And so that is a shortened down explanation of how I got to my final piece. I am a bit nervous to present but it's just what we have to do to develop as creative people.

above: final submission, titled "Identity (n)"