We filmed on the second of April in the auditorium's Grimm's Tales set when at the same time primary students assembled to watch a presentation. There was no way of contacting Paul because he wasn't at school, so the lighting could not be in anyway altered. Filming was quite difficult because the space was limited as the projector screen was down and also walking around the set was extremely noisy due to the creaking. A teacher complained but we got the three shots filmed in the end.
We followed the schedule on the fourth of April and filmed in Kowloon Tong, Kai Tak and Shau Kei Wan. The schedule that I made stated that filming would begin at 7.45, but I actually intended filming to begin at 8.00, for I expected my group members to be at least 10-15 minutes late. Other members arrived on time and I was five minutes late myself according to the schedule. Even worse, Alec - the actor - was half an hour late: he arrived at 8.15, very much to our disappointment. We managed to catch up with the schedule anyway... until we wasted nearly an hour trying to find the abandoned school in Shau Kei Wan because I wasn't sure of which way to go from the MTR station.
I was the cameraman during filming and I felt that I had assumed the role of the director, which I was not supposed to. Louise was the director and I was supposed to be receiving instructions and direction from her, but she was reduced from directing to writing down the timecodes of each shot (the shot log sheet was not even used in post-production, unfortunately). I knew of this problem halfway through filming and I told her about it. I told her about how I was stealing the job from her. I continued to direct even after telling her about this problem, but she still managed to give advice.
I ended up directing because I knew the screenplay well and I knew what was going on. If Louise were to direct then she must get to know the screenplay and storyboard better. But I don't think she had a chance to know them better so I unfortunately stole her role during production, despite knowing what the problem was during filming and actually telling her about it.
We were lucky to have everything filmed in a day. We had to overcome some obstacles during importing and there was time wasted, but still, we managed to start editing on Monday. By Tuesday after school, all the shots were cut and placed together. By Wednesday, special effects and color correction were added to the first half of the chase scene. I was there to help the editor out by looking at whether the cuts were smooth or not. Whenever necessary, I taught the editor about Final Cut Pro. I shouldn't have had to teach her about it because (not as a producer, but just as a film student generally) I could have easily given her a couple links to editing tutorials.
As a producer, I sometimes wondered why I was hanging around in the multimedia lab, as it was not my job but the director's to inject her vision into the chase scene by guiding the editor during the editing sessions. But as stated earlier, I had inadvertently assumed the role of the director, so it was logical for me to hang around in the lab. I shouldn't be doing this. Instead, I should give the director a chance to "redeem" her role by guiding the editor and the sound editor (that's me, by the way) throughout post-production. But it was hard to give her a chance, because Louise (director) and Ella (editor) were unavailable most of the time. Ultimately and inevitably, I pieced most of the footage together and edited them. Ella did come during the editing sessions, but usually towards the end of them. When she did, we went over what I did and she gave feedback and we worked together to improve on what I originally did to the footage.
Over the Easter holiday, I will be scrounging for free sound effects on the Internet, which really means that I will not be receiving any direction from the director. It's a shame really, because I always end up unwittingly "stealing" all the roles from my group members, and even when there is room for them to "redeem" themselves, I don't give them any. Perhaps I should be more passive. Perhaps I shouldn't even visit the editing room when the editor is unavailable so progress won't be made; because if it is, then I would be stealing roles from my peers. Wait, that didn't sound right.
I think the director shouldn't be too passive. But if she weren't, I am afraid that there would be a lot of disagreements between me and the director, as that was occasionally the case. During the one editing session in which the director, editor and producer were present (class time, of course), I would say something along the lines of "why didn't you say something earlier?", and the director would reply by saying something along the lines of "I didn't say it because my opinion is probably going to be rejected by you and your strong vision". This was problematic not in the sense that it was impeding our progress on the chase scene, but our progress on teamwork and communication. No one was "right" in this situation. I had cultivated a strong vision due to heavy involvement in the film and as a result, I came to be quite stubborn and unwilling to listen to people's opinions. On the other hand, the director processed things with a defeatist mindset, thus, the passive direction. Teamwork-wise, this was unhealthy. Our resulting chase scene may be testament to this observation, but in my opinion, we've been improving as a team. I was less stubborn during the last editing session before the holiday, which was a sign of change for good.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
4/1/09
After a hectic session of planning, we finally began to shoot today. I was happy (a debut incorporation of positive words in my blog posts!) that we were finally getting things done.
Before I get to positive things, there definitely were a couple of hiccups during pre-production. Planning was frustrating; quick changes to our ever-evolving plan were made. I couldn't find anyone to act as the masked figure in our film because I thought it would be easy to get a person to act in our film last minute. So Andy was cast to play as the masked figure. A safe choice as he is part of our group and would definitely be obliged to act in it. But it is not a good choice because Andy is the cinematographer and in small groups like this, cinematographers tend to assume the role of cameramen. So again, like in the previous project, I will be assuming the role of the cameraperson. But this time, Andy storyboarded ninety five percent of the film and I drew a neater version of it so I can follow his storyboard when I film. So in a way it's all good.
As a producer, I made a schedule and handed it to my group members (and Alec) this morning. We were to film today and on Saturday and Sunday. The schedule is bound to change because it has been extremely difficult to negotiate with Alec. His days are laden with activities like Big Band and tutor(s). Also, it is difficult to convince him to cancel tutor on Saturday because there is actually an upcoming math assessment next monday. Persuading him to revise for the math test by himself and pay attention during class instead of relying on a tutor did not work. Getting people who are not involved in film to act is not a good idea, because they won't be as committed. Besides, what kind of incentive will they have? Doing something for us but getting nothing in return? I guess altruism is hiding in a cave.
I dedicated two whole days on planning (that's five hours of sleep per day). I wanted things to be well planned so that filming will be quick. I wanted the storyboard to be comprehensible so I numbered the shots and did all sorts of things (like including a legend complete with color-codes). As a sound editor, I also thought of the incorporation of voiceovers (which I had written to complement the script) into certain shots. In those certain shots, I would either prolong or freeze the frames. As for looking for sound effects: I will do that once we're done with filming. Kudos to Andy anyway for storyboarding.
Making schedules and casting people like what producers should do? Check. Re-drawing the storyboard so I can easily follow it as a cameraperson? Check. My role as the sound editor? Check. Having all mentioned these, I'll move on to talk about the first day of shooting.
April fools' day. We originally planned to film in the Grimm's Tales set in the auditorium at lunch, as it was available at that time. But we were stuck in a two and a half hour performance of Hamlet. Lunchtime was over by the time we arrived school and we had to go straight to class. Quick change of plans: we'll be filming tomorrow at lunch. To keep things safer, I told Ella to ask Paul, the drama department technician, to give us permission to access the lighting room during filming in the auditorium. Hopefully, we'll be able to light up the set tomorrow so the shots will look nicer.
I was supposed to be the one asking Paul since I am the producer, but to him, I am an unfamiliar face. Ella is a familiar face to him so telling her to ask Paul for permission is the best option.
But it is a producer's responsibility to ask people for permission after all! It is his job to step into unfamiliar territory and put his persuasion skills into good use!
But getting Ella, who knows the technician, to ask for permission decreases the chances of declination. I wouldn't be a risk-taker and ask Paul myself and risk getting a "no" from him. After all, members of the faculty tend to have erratic mood swings!
But it is a producer's responsibility to ask people for permission after all! It is his job to step into unfamiliar territory and put his persuasion skills into good use!
And so it goes on...
Postponing filming in the auditorium until Thursday lunchtime, we filmed the scene in the art corridor and the scene in the long staircase near Pacific Palisades after school. With Alec promising me that he would be willing to sacrifice Big Band (a co-curricular activity) for helping our group out, the original plan was to film immediately after school. But when he went to the music room to tell Ms Neil about how he would be involved in a film project and would therefore skip a session of Big Band jamming, Ms Neil's response was "No, you're stuck in Big Band for another hour... then you can join your friends and work on your film project" (These aren't exact words but that's basically her message to Alec. And yes, I have taken the liberty to demonize teachers.). So I stayed at school for another hour doing homework. And then we filmed.
Filming took a lot longer than expected. We spent nearly fifteen minutes filming two shots in the art corridor. Two shots! This was mainly because Alec was not very well informed of what he should do in those shots. After filming and en route to Causeway Bay, I explained to him how actors should perform the same actions between different shots so that match on action cuts can be achieved in Final Cut Pro. After filming in the art corridor, we filmed in the staircase near Pacific Palisades. The location wasn't really a decent one because there weren't really any bushes for the actors to run into. But then we improvised and they went over a railing and ran down a slope with bushes. Albeit a little dangerous, we got that filmed.
More filming tomorrow.
Before I get to positive things, there definitely were a couple of hiccups during pre-production. Planning was frustrating; quick changes to our ever-evolving plan were made. I couldn't find anyone to act as the masked figure in our film because I thought it would be easy to get a person to act in our film last minute. So Andy was cast to play as the masked figure. A safe choice as he is part of our group and would definitely be obliged to act in it. But it is not a good choice because Andy is the cinematographer and in small groups like this, cinematographers tend to assume the role of cameramen. So again, like in the previous project, I will be assuming the role of the cameraperson. But this time, Andy storyboarded ninety five percent of the film and I drew a neater version of it so I can follow his storyboard when I film. So in a way it's all good.
As a producer, I made a schedule and handed it to my group members (and Alec) this morning. We were to film today and on Saturday and Sunday. The schedule is bound to change because it has been extremely difficult to negotiate with Alec. His days are laden with activities like Big Band and tutor(s). Also, it is difficult to convince him to cancel tutor on Saturday because there is actually an upcoming math assessment next monday. Persuading him to revise for the math test by himself and pay attention during class instead of relying on a tutor did not work. Getting people who are not involved in film to act is not a good idea, because they won't be as committed. Besides, what kind of incentive will they have? Doing something for us but getting nothing in return? I guess altruism is hiding in a cave.
I dedicated two whole days on planning (that's five hours of sleep per day). I wanted things to be well planned so that filming will be quick. I wanted the storyboard to be comprehensible so I numbered the shots and did all sorts of things (like including a legend complete with color-codes). As a sound editor, I also thought of the incorporation of voiceovers (which I had written to complement the script) into certain shots. In those certain shots, I would either prolong or freeze the frames. As for looking for sound effects: I will do that once we're done with filming. Kudos to Andy anyway for storyboarding.
Making schedules and casting people like what producers should do? Check. Re-drawing the storyboard so I can easily follow it as a cameraperson? Check. My role as the sound editor? Check. Having all mentioned these, I'll move on to talk about the first day of shooting.
April fools' day. We originally planned to film in the Grimm's Tales set in the auditorium at lunch, as it was available at that time. But we were stuck in a two and a half hour performance of Hamlet. Lunchtime was over by the time we arrived school and we had to go straight to class. Quick change of plans: we'll be filming tomorrow at lunch. To keep things safer, I told Ella to ask Paul, the drama department technician, to give us permission to access the lighting room during filming in the auditorium. Hopefully, we'll be able to light up the set tomorrow so the shots will look nicer.
I was supposed to be the one asking Paul since I am the producer, but to him, I am an unfamiliar face. Ella is a familiar face to him so telling her to ask Paul for permission is the best option.
But it is a producer's responsibility to ask people for permission after all! It is his job to step into unfamiliar territory and put his persuasion skills into good use!
But getting Ella, who knows the technician, to ask for permission decreases the chances of declination. I wouldn't be a risk-taker and ask Paul myself and risk getting a "no" from him. After all, members of the faculty tend to have erratic mood swings!
But it is a producer's responsibility to ask people for permission after all! It is his job to step into unfamiliar territory and put his persuasion skills into good use!
And so it goes on...
Postponing filming in the auditorium until Thursday lunchtime, we filmed the scene in the art corridor and the scene in the long staircase near Pacific Palisades after school. With Alec promising me that he would be willing to sacrifice Big Band (a co-curricular activity) for helping our group out, the original plan was to film immediately after school. But when he went to the music room to tell Ms Neil about how he would be involved in a film project and would therefore skip a session of Big Band jamming, Ms Neil's response was "No, you're stuck in Big Band for another hour... then you can join your friends and work on your film project" (These aren't exact words but that's basically her message to Alec. And yes, I have taken the liberty to demonize teachers.). So I stayed at school for another hour doing homework. And then we filmed.
Filming took a lot longer than expected. We spent nearly fifteen minutes filming two shots in the art corridor. Two shots! This was mainly because Alec was not very well informed of what he should do in those shots. After filming and en route to Causeway Bay, I explained to him how actors should perform the same actions between different shots so that match on action cuts can be achieved in Final Cut Pro. After filming in the art corridor, we filmed in the staircase near Pacific Palisades. The location wasn't really a decent one because there weren't really any bushes for the actors to run into. But then we improvised and they went over a railing and ran down a slope with bushes. Albeit a little dangerous, we got that filmed.
More filming tomorrow.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
3/26/09
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohesiveness - Group cohesiveness. This is what we as a group really need right now.
Going over the film-noirs on the twenty-fifth and noticing how well done The Broken Beautiful was, I learned that the crew who made the short film worked well together - everyone had a fair share of work and everyone did what they were directed to do.
Therefore, I jump to the conclusion that if group members were willing to learn (if they were inquirers - the first explicit IB Learner's Profile reference!), then they would not only gun down incompetence and laziness, they would also be eager to tap into their pool of freshly acquired knowledge to use it for the benefit of the film. Now imagine if everyone in the group were inquirers. The film would be greatly benefited because of each of the group member's effort. Having one guy who does everything in a project would simply not work because his imagination would be limited and the resulting film would be limited in variety and vision. Two(+) brains are better than one.
Going back to the first point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohesiveness - Group cohesiveness. This is what we as a group really need right now.
Group Cohesiveness: (also known as cohesion) is the force bringing group members closer together. Cohesiveness has two dimensions: emotional (or personal) and task-related. The emotional aspect of cohesiveness, which was studied more often, is derived from the connection that members feel to other group members and to their group as a whole. That is, how much do members like to spend time with other group members? Do they look forward to the next group meeting? Task-cohesiveness refers to the degree to which group members share group goals and work together to meet these goals. That is, is there a feeling that the group works smoothly as one unit or do different people pull in different directions?
Task-related group cohesiveness was clunky to start out with, as (mentioned in my previous post that was extremely rude) some group members failed to carry out group goals. But it is currently improving: we planned to visit the locations on the twenty-seventh so that the cinematographer can storyboard on location; and the script - a mash-up of Louise's, Andy's and my work - is nearly finalized (voice-overs are still needed and I'm currently working on it). It's not the best script, but we can work and build on it as we visit the locations.
There are things that are holding the task-related group cohesiveness back. Communication has increased between Louise, Andy and I and that is indeed a good thing; but because Ella never uses instant messaging, so it is difficult to communicate with her. Her role as an editor in a sense means that she will be mostly involved in the post-production and not the pre-production, but still, it would be better if a brain were added to the three brains. It would be better if she assisted the cinematographer (by thinking of portals and transitions and such) and did some Final Cut Pro research on her own so that I, as a producer and sound editor, won't have to assist her during post-production. Also, she is not available most of the time during both school hours and free time. So Louise, Andy and I will be scouting tomorrow and she won't be there. It is safe to say that, for now, she is contributing the least to the group.
I also need to stop hiding things away from the director. I have a vision of the chase scene and it is heavily influenced by Fight Club and The Machinist. I asked Alec to act in it because he is tall and lanky and fits the scruffy character type, just like Edward Nortan in Fight Club and Christian Bale in The Machinist (seriously, Google that and you'll see pictures of a malnourished, messed up Christian Bale). But I don't tell the director about these things because I automatically assume that she won't get what I mean because she hasn't seen those movies before. In fact, I keep things to myself because I assume that I am superior and nobody would get it and that is a very bad assumption to make because it hinders group cohesiveness. Okay, I'll say chances of the director having not seen those films are close to nil. But that doesn't mean that I keep things to myself and inrterrupt her during filming and say "this is what we should be doing because it is Fight Club influenced". I should explain to the director how the two flims are main influences and tell her to look them up on Youtube. Yeah, I think I will do that tomorrow.
End of post that was written after some serious introspection.
Going over the film-noirs on the twenty-fifth and noticing how well done The Broken Beautiful was, I learned that the crew who made the short film worked well together - everyone had a fair share of work and everyone did what they were directed to do.
Therefore, I jump to the conclusion that if group members were willing to learn (if they were inquirers - the first explicit IB Learner's Profile reference!), then they would not only gun down incompetence and laziness, they would also be eager to tap into their pool of freshly acquired knowledge to use it for the benefit of the film. Now imagine if everyone in the group were inquirers. The film would be greatly benefited because of each of the group member's effort. Having one guy who does everything in a project would simply not work because his imagination would be limited and the resulting film would be limited in variety and vision. Two(+) brains are better than one.
Going back to the first point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohesiveness - Group cohesiveness. This is what we as a group really need right now.
Group Cohesiveness: (also known as cohesion) is the force bringing group members closer together. Cohesiveness has two dimensions: emotional (or personal) and task-related. The emotional aspect of cohesiveness, which was studied more often, is derived from the connection that members feel to other group members and to their group as a whole. That is, how much do members like to spend time with other group members? Do they look forward to the next group meeting? Task-cohesiveness refers to the degree to which group members share group goals and work together to meet these goals. That is, is there a feeling that the group works smoothly as one unit or do different people pull in different directions?
Task-related group cohesiveness was clunky to start out with, as (mentioned in my previous post that was extremely rude) some group members failed to carry out group goals. But it is currently improving: we planned to visit the locations on the twenty-seventh so that the cinematographer can storyboard on location; and the script - a mash-up of Louise's, Andy's and my work - is nearly finalized (voice-overs are still needed and I'm currently working on it). It's not the best script, but we can work and build on it as we visit the locations.
There are things that are holding the task-related group cohesiveness back. Communication has increased between Louise, Andy and I and that is indeed a good thing; but because Ella never uses instant messaging, so it is difficult to communicate with her. Her role as an editor in a sense means that she will be mostly involved in the post-production and not the pre-production, but still, it would be better if a brain were added to the three brains. It would be better if she assisted the cinematographer (by thinking of portals and transitions and such) and did some Final Cut Pro research on her own so that I, as a producer and sound editor, won't have to assist her during post-production. Also, she is not available most of the time during both school hours and free time. So Louise, Andy and I will be scouting tomorrow and she won't be there. It is safe to say that, for now, she is contributing the least to the group.
I also need to stop hiding things away from the director. I have a vision of the chase scene and it is heavily influenced by Fight Club and The Machinist. I asked Alec to act in it because he is tall and lanky and fits the scruffy character type, just like Edward Nortan in Fight Club and Christian Bale in The Machinist (seriously, Google that and you'll see pictures of a malnourished, messed up Christian Bale). But I don't tell the director about these things because I automatically assume that she won't get what I mean because she hasn't seen those movies before. In fact, I keep things to myself because I assume that I am superior and nobody would get it and that is a very bad assumption to make because it hinders group cohesiveness. Okay, I'll say chances of the director having not seen those films are close to nil. But that doesn't mean that I keep things to myself and inrterrupt her during filming and say "this is what we should be doing because it is Fight Club influenced". I should explain to the director how the two flims are main influences and tell her to look them up on Youtube. Yeah, I think I will do that tomorrow.
End of post that was written after some serious introspection.
Monday, March 23, 2009
3/23/09
*Approximately four hours after posting this blog, I'm starting to regret the way I wrote about my group members. I was being insensitive and rude and I hope to eventually adopt a new, optimistic attitude. Yes, I was reading over the post and I thought, "Gee, I must be be really fed up four hours ago." Anyway, here is the fed up me writing about today's lesson:
For the Twilight Zone project, I am the sound editor and the producer. As a producer, I told other group members to scout for loccations over the "long weekend" (as we did not have school on friday). I scouted for locations with the cinematographer on the twentieth of March. I convinced Alec Laband to act in our film as the protagonist. I fulfilled my role as a producer. As for sound - I found a song under the Creative Commons license, which means that I can use it for our film. And it is not one of those freeplaymusic songs nor one of those mediocre Garageband loops. I can do more as a sound editor when I receive a proper screenplay from the director.
An excerpt from the 3/11/09 blog post:
How was I to know if one would really work hard if I were to allow one to do what he was supposed to do?
- If I did allow one to do what he was supposed to do and the person were lazy, then he would end up doing nothing and I would have to swoop down and do everything for the person last minute.
Unfortunately, what I stated on the eleventh is increasingly becoming the case for our current project. The director sent me a draft of the screenplay the day before class. I went through two pages of "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why am I being chased? What is happening?"; I shook my head upon completing the read. The head shaking did not cease: there were no references to the characters' actions and locations (or even at least a vague idea of the setting of the scene). Worried, I wrote and saved a document named "actionscript", listing an order of events that occur in the film in different scenes, ideas for portals, actions and locations to compensate for the lack of them in the screenplay. Locations for each scene were not confirmed, so I planned to bring my "actionscript" into class. This way, I could go to class, open the "actionscript" and fill in the blanks with locations which Andy and I had scouted and get the editor and director to fill in the rest of the blanks.
And get the editor and director to fill in the rest of the blanks with locations they that had scouted. Yeah.. well, they didn't scout for locations over the long weekend. The editor could be excused as she had to perform in the school production (but still). The director? Thanks for the screenplay.. but, er, maybe there's a little something missing in the screenplay? Maybe, maybe it's lacking in descriptions and locations? Maybe the dialogue is near-awful and should be refined and honed to the point that people don't actually laugh at it?
Due to the lack of faith I hold for the director, I will be completing the "actionscript" and think about voiceovers and such for the lesson on Wednesday. I'll probably pen the whole thing (isn't that what producers are supposed to do? According to Wikipedia, the principal writer is almost always credited as an executive producer rather than the more descriptive title of "head writer."). I better swoop down now before realizing it is too late to do so.
*I'm trying to be not as bitter/jaded as before, but I am utterly disappointed at the lack of effort (or is it incompetence?) that the director had put into writing her script. I also have a phlegm-infested sore throat, stuffy nose, and a mild fever, which results in a sour mood and the usual misanthropic attitude towards people. Had I stayed at home and rested to get better, the group would be sitting around in class without an "actionscript" to work on. Hopefully, this will be the last bitter/jaded blog post.
For the Twilight Zone project, I am the sound editor and the producer. As a producer, I told other group members to scout for loccations over the "long weekend" (as we did not have school on friday). I scouted for locations with the cinematographer on the twentieth of March. I convinced Alec Laband to act in our film as the protagonist. I fulfilled my role as a producer. As for sound - I found a song under the Creative Commons license, which means that I can use it for our film. And it is not one of those freeplaymusic songs nor one of those mediocre Garageband loops. I can do more as a sound editor when I receive a proper screenplay from the director.
An excerpt from the 3/11/09 blog post:
How was I to know if one would really work hard if I were to allow one to do what he was supposed to do?
- If I did allow one to do what he was supposed to do and the person were lazy, then he would end up doing nothing and I would have to swoop down and do everything for the person last minute.
Unfortunately, what I stated on the eleventh is increasingly becoming the case for our current project. The director sent me a draft of the screenplay the day before class. I went through two pages of "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why am I being chased? What is happening?"; I shook my head upon completing the read. The head shaking did not cease: there were no references to the characters' actions and locations (or even at least a vague idea of the setting of the scene). Worried, I wrote and saved a document named "actionscript", listing an order of events that occur in the film in different scenes, ideas for portals, actions and locations to compensate for the lack of them in the screenplay. Locations for each scene were not confirmed, so I planned to bring my "actionscript" into class. This way, I could go to class, open the "actionscript" and fill in the blanks with locations which Andy and I had scouted and get the editor and director to fill in the rest of the blanks.
And get the editor and director to fill in the rest of the blanks with locations they that had scouted. Yeah.. well, they didn't scout for locations over the long weekend. The editor could be excused as she had to perform in the school production (but still). The director? Thanks for the screenplay.. but, er, maybe there's a little something missing in the screenplay? Maybe, maybe it's lacking in descriptions and locations? Maybe the dialogue is near-awful and should be refined and honed to the point that people don't actually laugh at it?
Due to the lack of faith I hold for the director, I will be completing the "actionscript" and think about voiceovers and such for the lesson on Wednesday. I'll probably pen the whole thing (isn't that what producers are supposed to do? According to Wikipedia, the principal writer is almost always credited as an executive producer rather than the more descriptive title of "head writer."). I better swoop down now before realizing it is too late to do so.
*I'm trying to be not as bitter/jaded as before, but I am utterly disappointed at the lack of effort (or is it incompetence?) that the director had put into writing her script. I also have a phlegm-infested sore throat, stuffy nose, and a mild fever, which results in a sour mood and the usual misanthropic attitude towards people. Had I stayed at home and rested to get better, the group would be sitting around in class without an "actionscript" to work on. Hopefully, this will be the last bitter/jaded blog post.
Monday, March 16, 2009
3/16/09
Okay, so I got over the fact that we were put into groups pick-from-the-hat style. I am sure that I am able to work with my new team members, although we did experience a double period worth of awkwardness. Both Louise and Andy are in my science and PE class, and Andy is a friend of mine - not so bad after all. Ella, on the other hand, used to be my friend. I found it extremely awkward to be in the same group with her today. Worse thing's that I will have to be present for every editing session to educate her about Final Cut Pro in the almost immediate future. Three words: worst case scenario.
I wasn't too happy when I was assigned the role of sound editor (and producer). But to hell with that, I will contribute to the group in every way, despite starting off awkwardly and unproductively. I'm going to present a bunch of ideas on Wednesday for Louise - the screenwriter-director - and hopefully, elements of my screenplay will be incorporated into hers. I will also assume an "alpha position" if anyone were unable to carry out their jobs. Cynically speaking, this means that I will be stealing their roles. But I'll do what's necessary to keep everything in check.
Right now, ideas are forming: I have several ideas - dolly zooms, reverse shots, fast forwarded shots, freeze frames and "B-footage". As for editing, I'm trying to think of the weirdest ways to string the clips together (this "weird thing" also applies to the cinematography). As of now, this is a major inspiration (film's called Brick; I want to watch it):
Take a look at 0:35 to 0:40. The shot is innovative and the effect impressive. This is of course heightened by the editing: a cut from a long shot (involving a fast forwarded dolly zoom) to a medium shot.
Another one of the inspirations is the opening sequence of City of God. As shown from 4:08 to 4:15, the protagonist is smoothly and cleverly transited to the past:
And another one of the inspirations, which is the opening scene of Narc, depicting an intense foot chase:
Everything - the sound, the cinematography, the editing - makes the scene extraordinarily well done.
I showed these videos to my group for them to be inspired. A job as a producer is more important for the moment. Sound editing can wait.
I wasn't too happy when I was assigned the role of sound editor (and producer). But to hell with that, I will contribute to the group in every way, despite starting off awkwardly and unproductively. I'm going to present a bunch of ideas on Wednesday for Louise - the screenwriter-director - and hopefully, elements of my screenplay will be incorporated into hers. I will also assume an "alpha position" if anyone were unable to carry out their jobs. Cynically speaking, this means that I will be stealing their roles. But I'll do what's necessary to keep everything in check.
Right now, ideas are forming: I have several ideas - dolly zooms, reverse shots, fast forwarded shots, freeze frames and "B-footage". As for editing, I'm trying to think of the weirdest ways to string the clips together (this "weird thing" also applies to the cinematography). As of now, this is a major inspiration (film's called Brick; I want to watch it):
Take a look at 0:35 to 0:40. The shot is innovative and the effect impressive. This is of course heightened by the editing: a cut from a long shot (involving a fast forwarded dolly zoom) to a medium shot.
Another one of the inspirations is the opening sequence of City of God. As shown from 4:08 to 4:15, the protagonist is smoothly and cleverly transited to the past:
And another one of the inspirations, which is the opening scene of Narc, depicting an intense foot chase:
Everything - the sound, the cinematography, the editing - makes the scene extraordinarily well done.
I showed these videos to my group for them to be inspired. A job as a producer is more important for the moment. Sound editing can wait.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
3/11/09
I created the poster (pictured on the left) for the screening. Raphael was supposed to create one, but he didn't know how to use Photoshop. I don't know why we were asked to make one (it's probably for the film screening where everyone can watch the film class' films). Ours was not shown to the class during the screening (even if it were shown, as others were, the poster would be of no significance). But I created one anyway.The other groups' films were okay. I particularly liked the editing in Adrian Wan's' film and the classical noir style that Henry's Moulin Rogue-inspired film managed to evoke. But I was disappointed because there were shifts in background noise in between cuts for every one of the films. But sound effects were present in all of the films. This meant sound editors thought all they had to do was to search for sound effects and provide the editors with them. They possibly did not think of using Final Cut Pro to edit the dialogue. Because of this, editors would end up editing the audio of the dialogue, or just ignore the audio altogether and only work on the cutting. I think this problem should be addressed.
I wasn't fond or impressed by the film I directed. Sinclair, who played Cop 38, said the pace was too slow. I asked him whether he didn't like slow pacing in general or if the film was inappropriately slow. He replied the latter. Feedback on the 16th. I'll find out what's wrong with the film.
Throughout the process of filming and editing, I constantly wondered if I was doing a good job of directing. I planned a lot of things and I constantly reminded my group members to execute what they were supposed to do. But I was always the one working on every aspect of the film at the end. I was really disappointed; I didn't know if I was doing a bad job or not. It was either bad director or lazy people or a bit of both. If I fell under the bad director category, then really I don't know what I did wrong. Incompetence was also a factor. I wish I could teach everyone about sound, graphic, and visual editing. But I couldn't be everywhere at the same time. So I had to do what other people were supposed to do. Stating this leads to a question: How was I to know if one would really work hard if I were to allow one to do what he was supposed to do?
- If I did allow one to do what he was supposed to do and the person were lazy, then he would end up doing nothing and I would have to swoop down and do everything for the person last minute.
- If I did allow one to do what he was supposed to do and the person were incompetent, then I would teach him/her until he/she is competent enough. I would then help out at times. But I didn't end up teaching everyone everything.
While I taught Hannah about editing in Final Cut Pro, I wasn't able to teach Raphael about sound-editing. I knew that he was incompetent and lazy (being brutally frank does not make me feel good in anyway), so I started working on the sounds at the start of the production. And I got what I deserved: I got criticized because I stole his role. But if I don't...refer to my first bullet point. I could have given him a chance, but I was minimizing the risks of working last minute. I regret it, but it's for the greater good. Throughout this project, I found it hard to completely trust people, as most of them didn't carry out what I told them to do. (In an attempt to rationalize things,) This does not necessarily mean that I was a bad director. I planned things, I taught people, I told people to do what they were supposed to do. But it really depends on whether they listen and cooperate or not.
Until people finally agree to work hard, until people realize that effort and teamwork are the most important factors, I am not excited for the upcoming projects. I am left bitter and perhaps a little misanthropic. Uh-oh, a film-noir character is in the making.
Filming and editing: 2/23/09 - 3/10/09
On the 23rd of February, we completed the scene set in Julien's apartment. On the 24th, we tried filming the conversation between Sinclair and Julien on the rooftop, but it took too long so we went to Cyberport cul de sac to film the scene where Sinclair, playing as cop 38, is shot by the Button Man. On the 3rd of March, we completed the rooftop conversation between Sinclair and Julien, and then we re-filmed the tracking shot where Sinclair and Julien head towards the Button Man's whereabouts. On the 4th, we shot the last scene of the film, the scene in which Julien meets the Button Man (played by Chris). Between the 5th and 10th, the film was edited.
We filmed on weekdays. There wasn't an option to film on the weekends because Julien, the main character and cinematographer of the film, went to Japan from the 27th of February to the 2nd of March - shooting opportunities for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday gone. It was irritating shooting on weekdays, as it took a long time and it usually ended at midnight. Going home took another hour. I didn't particularly enjoy my birthday on the twenty-fourth; I attended school and did homework in Julien's apartment and filmed for hours and got home and slept at half-past one. Shooting the film took a long time because everything wasn't particularly well planned.
Time wasn't wasted shooting the interior scene, the first scene set in Julien's apartment. There was just a couple of close-ups and dollying to be shot. It was almost dialogue-free. Time wasn't wasted when shooting the almost dialogue-free scene. Time was wasted in all of the subsequent dialogue-heavy scenes. No one memorized their lines and shots were not planned. I can't really blame the actors for this, as they are anything but full-time professional actors. They, like me, are students who agreed to star in a film. This I respect. They, like me, have lots of work. They probably don't have the time to look at the screenplay and memorize their lines. This I forgive.
But still, it greatly annoyed me. Imagine planning to film the whole rooftop scene on my birthday, but ending up with more than thirty takes of actors forgetting their lines on tape. And also in between the mess-ups were the trivial conversations and phone calls. I, as the cameraman, had to also think on the spot and improvise a little, as there was no storyboard to follow. All that thinking and improvisation were eventually shoved away - I didn't even have to film from different angles of the same scene because the thirty takes of mess-ups were spent on the establishing shot. Having wasted so much time on the rooftop, we planned to shoot that scene at another time. We went to the Cyberport cul de sac to shoot the third scene, as there were less lines for the actors to memorize. As it was getting late, I improvised shot the first-half of the third scene in a single tracking shot because I didn't want to spend too much time on it. The second-half of the scene didn't take a long time. I had planned shots in my mind, while Julien, the cinematographer, also gave me a couple of suggestions which I followed. I had to deal with the grumbling when gravy with red coloring was applied onto Sinclair's forehead. I was accused of not telling the actor about it, but I actually did. He just forgot about it. As a director, I accepted the flak that was directed solely at me. Anyway, good job Hannah for making the fake blood. (Filming was done. Exhausted, I went to the MTR station to get a ticket as I left my wallet and Octopus card at school. I bought the child ticket to Admiralty. Bad karma; I wasn't supposed to buy a child ticket - change fell from the ticket vendor onto the floor and disappeared. Wrong decision; I was supposed to head to Tsim Sha Tsui to be picked up by my parent, but I bought a ticket to Admiralty. I had to crawl through the ticket barrier at the Tsim Sha Tsui station. It was my birthday.)
When Julien got back from Japan, we re-shot the scene on the rooftop. They memorized their lines this time and I okayed Sinclair's suggestion improve upon the blocking, which he had planned in mind prior to filming. There was still no storyboard to follow, so I really had to improvise. With Chris and Raphael setting up the lighting the same way as last time's, the whole scene was shot from different angles. It turned out sophisticated blocking does not work well for films but only in plays, as we found out later on during editing. As a result, the cinematography of that scene isn't particularly strong when compared to the cinematography of the last scene, the confrontation between the Button Man (Chris) and Cop 22 (Julien). After filming the scene on the rooftop, we went down to the cul de sac to film the tracking shot again, because the shadows of the boom operator and the cameraman could be seen in the tracking shot that we first shot on the twenty-fourth. It was actually my decision to film it again because I am a harsh critic of inadvertent shadows. They ruin the professionalism of a film.
Fourth of March. There was still no storyboard to follow, as the cinematographer, back from Japan, was busy catching up with homework. Taking note of the rooftop scene's mediocre cinematography due to a lack of planning and complicated blocking, I storyboarded the last scene. I wanted it to be interesting, so I included shots which broke the fourth wall. Also, I included shots in which the camera panned back and forth between the two actors, which would heighten the tension of the scene. Filming was smooth compared to previous shooting days given that the blocking was less complicated, but was again hindered by actors who did not have their lines memorized...ended up sleeping at one again.
I supervised the editor, Hannah, when editing the film. I taught her about editing during this process and did some editing myself. I knew I was not supposed to edit and was supposed to only supervise and teach the editor; but the deadline was near and precious time could be wasted on teaching an incompetent editor, so I had to take up the role of the editor at times to complete the film in time for the screening. (This also means that I'll have to supervise and educate editors in future projects, even though I won't be a director anymore, as we switch roles. Something that I'm obliged to do, but am not particularly looking forward to.) Cutting the clips did not take a long time; we would find a point to cut (usually a match on action), select the next shot and mark the in and out points so that two shots go smoothly back to back. When inserted, we would adjust it so that the continuity was smooth. After cutting, I created the closing credits and also the color correcting and contrast increasing. I felt extremely narcissistic when creating the closing credits, as my name was almost in every single slide. I shouldn't have done that. People would smile and shake their heads at it. Well, they did during the screening.
I brought in some sound effects which I found on websites that offer free sound clips. Raphael recorded Julien's opening narration and mobile phone sound effects. Tampering with the sound effects was not necessary, as they were already well done. But I had to create two ambient tracks - one for interior scenes and one for exterior scenes by tampering with various sounds and compiling them together in the free program Audacity. Going over the film in Final Cut Pro, I noticed the background noise in scenes with conversations was different between cuts. This was very distracting (and disorienting: when checking for continuity errors, we would mute the sound); it was also unsurprising to me because the shotgun mike would pick up background noise which would be different because noise varies in between shots as footage was shot at different times. For example, we may cut from a shot with airplane droning in the background to a shot with wind blowing in the background. Because of this, I exported the audio of the last scene and went home to edit the sound using Audacity. I made sure the dialogue audio levels stayed the same as the shotgun mike's distance from the actors varied in different shots. I minimized the background noises and added in an exterior ambient track to run in the background so that the overall audio would sound seamless in between cuts to different shots. This worked out well at the end.
We filmed on weekdays. There wasn't an option to film on the weekends because Julien, the main character and cinematographer of the film, went to Japan from the 27th of February to the 2nd of March - shooting opportunities for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday gone. It was irritating shooting on weekdays, as it took a long time and it usually ended at midnight. Going home took another hour. I didn't particularly enjoy my birthday on the twenty-fourth; I attended school and did homework in Julien's apartment and filmed for hours and got home and slept at half-past one. Shooting the film took a long time because everything wasn't particularly well planned.
Time wasn't wasted shooting the interior scene, the first scene set in Julien's apartment. There was just a couple of close-ups and dollying to be shot. It was almost dialogue-free. Time wasn't wasted when shooting the almost dialogue-free scene. Time was wasted in all of the subsequent dialogue-heavy scenes. No one memorized their lines and shots were not planned. I can't really blame the actors for this, as they are anything but full-time professional actors. They, like me, are students who agreed to star in a film. This I respect. They, like me, have lots of work. They probably don't have the time to look at the screenplay and memorize their lines. This I forgive.
But still, it greatly annoyed me. Imagine planning to film the whole rooftop scene on my birthday, but ending up with more than thirty takes of actors forgetting their lines on tape. And also in between the mess-ups were the trivial conversations and phone calls. I, as the cameraman, had to also think on the spot and improvise a little, as there was no storyboard to follow. All that thinking and improvisation were eventually shoved away - I didn't even have to film from different angles of the same scene because the thirty takes of mess-ups were spent on the establishing shot. Having wasted so much time on the rooftop, we planned to shoot that scene at another time. We went to the Cyberport cul de sac to shoot the third scene, as there were less lines for the actors to memorize. As it was getting late, I improvised shot the first-half of the third scene in a single tracking shot because I didn't want to spend too much time on it. The second-half of the scene didn't take a long time. I had planned shots in my mind, while Julien, the cinematographer, also gave me a couple of suggestions which I followed. I had to deal with the grumbling when gravy with red coloring was applied onto Sinclair's forehead. I was accused of not telling the actor about it, but I actually did. He just forgot about it. As a director, I accepted the flak that was directed solely at me. Anyway, good job Hannah for making the fake blood. (Filming was done. Exhausted, I went to the MTR station to get a ticket as I left my wallet and Octopus card at school. I bought the child ticket to Admiralty. Bad karma; I wasn't supposed to buy a child ticket - change fell from the ticket vendor onto the floor and disappeared. Wrong decision; I was supposed to head to Tsim Sha Tsui to be picked up by my parent, but I bought a ticket to Admiralty. I had to crawl through the ticket barrier at the Tsim Sha Tsui station. It was my birthday.)
When Julien got back from Japan, we re-shot the scene on the rooftop. They memorized their lines this time and I okayed Sinclair's suggestion improve upon the blocking, which he had planned in mind prior to filming. There was still no storyboard to follow, so I really had to improvise. With Chris and Raphael setting up the lighting the same way as last time's, the whole scene was shot from different angles. It turned out sophisticated blocking does not work well for films but only in plays, as we found out later on during editing. As a result, the cinematography of that scene isn't particularly strong when compared to the cinematography of the last scene, the confrontation between the Button Man (Chris) and Cop 22 (Julien). After filming the scene on the rooftop, we went down to the cul de sac to film the tracking shot again, because the shadows of the boom operator and the cameraman could be seen in the tracking shot that we first shot on the twenty-fourth. It was actually my decision to film it again because I am a harsh critic of inadvertent shadows. They ruin the professionalism of a film.
Fourth of March. There was still no storyboard to follow, as the cinematographer, back from Japan, was busy catching up with homework. Taking note of the rooftop scene's mediocre cinematography due to a lack of planning and complicated blocking, I storyboarded the last scene. I wanted it to be interesting, so I included shots which broke the fourth wall. Also, I included shots in which the camera panned back and forth between the two actors, which would heighten the tension of the scene. Filming was smooth compared to previous shooting days given that the blocking was less complicated, but was again hindered by actors who did not have their lines memorized...ended up sleeping at one again.
I supervised the editor, Hannah, when editing the film. I taught her about editing during this process and did some editing myself. I knew I was not supposed to edit and was supposed to only supervise and teach the editor; but the deadline was near and precious time could be wasted on teaching an incompetent editor, so I had to take up the role of the editor at times to complete the film in time for the screening. (This also means that I'll have to supervise and educate editors in future projects, even though I won't be a director anymore, as we switch roles. Something that I'm obliged to do, but am not particularly looking forward to.) Cutting the clips did not take a long time; we would find a point to cut (usually a match on action), select the next shot and mark the in and out points so that two shots go smoothly back to back. When inserted, we would adjust it so that the continuity was smooth. After cutting, I created the closing credits and also the color correcting and contrast increasing. I felt extremely narcissistic when creating the closing credits, as my name was almost in every single slide. I shouldn't have done that. People would smile and shake their heads at it. Well, they did during the screening.
I brought in some sound effects which I found on websites that offer free sound clips. Raphael recorded Julien's opening narration and mobile phone sound effects. Tampering with the sound effects was not necessary, as they were already well done. But I had to create two ambient tracks - one for interior scenes and one for exterior scenes by tampering with various sounds and compiling them together in the free program Audacity. Going over the film in Final Cut Pro, I noticed the background noise in scenes with conversations was different between cuts. This was very distracting (and disorienting: when checking for continuity errors, we would mute the sound); it was also unsurprising to me because the shotgun mike would pick up background noise which would be different because noise varies in between shots as footage was shot at different times. For example, we may cut from a shot with airplane droning in the background to a shot with wind blowing in the background. Because of this, I exported the audio of the last scene and went home to edit the sound using Audacity. I made sure the dialogue audio levels stayed the same as the shotgun mike's distance from the actors varied in different shots. I minimized the background noises and added in an exterior ambient track to run in the background so that the overall audio would sound seamless in between cuts to different shots. This worked out well at the end.
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