Prop - Filming

Today was a bit of a bumpy ride. It took a while to get out of the seminar to film and set up. I was hoping to get everything done on the morning and in a few hours (which I did) as I had thorough plans and shot lists. I asked Jamie to film the behind the scenes stuff which were very important to the video, and Beth to model for a few of the shots. I'm greatful they gave up a few hours to help me out. It ran quite smoothly on a whole (apart from a bulb on a red head going off as soon as I wanted to film the three point lighting set up). 

Picture by Jamie

The only major issue I had was the shadows on the bunny didn't quite work, so the voice over seems a bit weird and overreacting to a bunny. My survey results also suffered for it as it doesn't generate the emotion I wanted. I will still include it in my final video, I just need to say it didn't work because I did voice over first, and what I have just mentioned above. A bit of an inconvenience. I've just had to put all the footage of the bunny that looks vaguely scary at that point instead.

Editing/First Draft

Just noticed as I was editing that I didn't pull focus on the suitcase shot (basically because I was short on time and didn't check the script, but also because the movement happened a bit fast and I wasn't sure how to frame it). So I've had to cut that out. This probably could have been avoided if I did my narration after filming the props, but I couldn't do that due to equipment and studio availability (and also deadlines). 

I'm also panicking as I can't find the clip of the voice actor talking about rule of thirds which is very important! I know we did it on the day, but I don't know where the clip has disappeared to. *UPDATE* I found it. Crisis averted. I also need to put the grids on this part of the video.

The bulk/first edit is not officially done. It's 5 minutes 30 seconds so it might be a little too long. I can take the gaps out later, at this point, I was focusing on getting the best audio takes together with some visuals. I also need to look at colour correction (especially for the blackmagic footage) at one point. There are a lot of gaps at the moment, which I will hopefully fill with titles made in After Effects (research for this will be on another post). 

Voice Over - Filming

Today was the narrator shoot for my Minor instructional video. I got the equipment out, set up and tested on the morning (first time I have used the Zoom!) and got the actor in on the afternoon. The Zoom was fairly easy to get the hang of and straight forward, but all my clips went into like 20 different folders which was a bit of a pain. I also had to move rooma halfway through as I could hear people in the edit suite/base room being very loud even though I said to stop (people were also editing sound in there, so I dread to think how they were managing). I ended up moving into the Gallery (there were still some heavy footed people outside for a few takes and an annoying hum, but it was much better). 

My original set up in the client suite. The gallery set up was very similar.

Ideally, I would have liked to film the visuals first, then the narration, but due to equipment and actor availability (and deadlines fast approaching) I had to do it the other way around, which lead to some problems, including lines being cut and visuals not working. I will talk about this more in my concluding post and evaluation.

To-Do List/Schedule

To-Do List (for my Minor)

• Research (and upload to Moodle) (could I do more? No time)
• Record narration (forgot to record Google voice!)
• Shot list for filming props
• Film props
• Edit main bulk of film 
• Survey Upload results
• Look at Do kinetic typography in After Effects Export typography
• Colour correct
• Boost audio
• Replace doll video with images
• Set up presentation

Schedule (mostly so I know what I'm doing these next weeks)

Tuesday 31st October: Guest speaker morning, setting up Beth's minor afternoon

Wednesday 1st November: Filming Beth's minor

Thursday 2nd November: Guest speaker morning, voice over afternoon

Friday 3rd November: Hutch lecture?, minor filming

Saturday 4th November: photography for wedding (PRINT BUSINESS CARDS!)

Sunday 5th November: Dissertation and Editing

Monday 6th November: Filming Beth's minor, (maybe editing), Alyson tutorial on the night

Tuesday 7th - Friday 10th November: Editing

Saturday 11th-Monday 13th November: Away

Tuesday 14th November: Alyson tutorial, presentation final prep

Thursday 16th November: Set up studio for presentation afternoon

Kinetic Typography

There are a lot of gaps in my main edit video which I will either fill with stock footage if it is an example, or I will fill it with text from the audio. I am looking into moving text titles, called 'kinetic typography' in After Effects. I have never used it before and it took me about an hour to type in a word, and it crashed while exporting. Hopefully (time permitting, I'm focusing on the bulk edit at the moment), I can look at this further next week and actually export something without the computer crashing.

References



06.11.17 - I have experimented a bit more and this video is very long winded, so I have done a basic sync up. I had a quick look at the animations but I'm unsure if they are needed and looks like they will take up a lot of my time (which I do not have). I think I'll do another basic edit of everything like this, and if I have time, animate them where relevant. 

I've learnt a few shortcuts how to sync the words up (it did take me 2 hours to figure it out though).

A possible pointless step looking at paths and masks. Might come back to this later.

This is what I have done today. Doesn't look like much, but I'm hoping the rest will be quicker. I have installed After Effects at home too so I can have even more time. 

07.11.17 - I didn't get any further animating it. I also had a quick look at templates online but they were even more complicated! I've found a better video which I will use for the next part of the writing.




08.11.17 - I got a lot further with the above tutorial. However the software on my laptop wouldn't let me play the video and audio track together (which took me a while to figure out). 

Keyframing a bounce

Basically, I just had to keyframe where I wanted the writing to pop up (and I added a little bounce to it). I saved the animation and dropped it on the others. So hopefully it won't take as long for the rest. (I even had to tutorial the best render settings to upload this video). Okay it's taking me a while to do it for the rest so I'm prioritising at the moment. I'll see how much I can get done the next few days and if it's possible to do the whole video like it.



15.11.17. 292 layers later and I'm done. Most of it is very basic, and I only animated the Google voice (to make it stand out). I would have liked to experiment with more transitions but it was very time consuming and I had to prioritise. I feel like I have learnt a lot in After Effects so I will upload a blog post on all the skills I have learnt on it. I have almost the final edit! Just need to colour correct, replace the doll angle shots with images (they are too shakey!), take out some of the pauses and boost the audio levels. I had trouble exporting it, can only find answers on forums that say it is because of accented characters. But it's still coming up. Might have to ask Lee tomorrow if I still can't figure it out. This whole thing has been soooo time consuming. 

*UPDATE* A few various error codes later, I have an exported kinetic typography project! asjhshkj never using after effects again. I've also just noticed that the beginning typography is different to the end (it comes up in chunks rather than word by word). I don't really have time to fix this, I got my Mam to watch it and she didn't notice. However, I do want it perfect. Might do the other things first and come back to it, but part of me wants to do it now. To be honest, I'm not sure why I didn't do them all in chunks. Would have saved me a lot of time.

A whole lotta layers!

Render error

Onion Man - Filming

Today I went to see some of Janice's directorial project being filmed. Basically, some people from Leeds wanted to produce her project. It was a much bigger crew and I learnt a lot. I offered myself as stills photographer on the day for experience with a bigger crew and to see how filming was going. (I also took a few behind the scenes videos for my showreel).

Filming was off to a good start, all the actors arrived in good time, and the location looked fab. The 1st AD was also great at getting everyone on time and not afraid to speak up if we were behind schedule. However, I did feel a bit overwhelmed at times (can't imagine how Janice was feeling). I even got another job role with using the hazer when they needed smoke (however, someone took it at one point. We just alternated between ourselves who was using it. I was too busy taking stills!)

Catering was very nice and cozy, in a shed surrounded by all the actors (definitely needed on this very cold day full of outside shoots). The afternoon, however, was a bit of a slow burner. One of the locations we planned to film then dropped out, so everyone had to think quick and do an alley scene instead. It's a shame because the art department bought loads of vegetables and were making rosettes all morning for the location (the show). I hung out with the art department for most of the afternoon as the alleyway was very small and not a lot of crew could fit. I also found it the least stressful and independent of the departments (I think I know which I want to specialise in now). 

A 'Minor' Setback

(excuse the pun). I've had to put forward shooting (all the risk assessments and booking forms are signed off) more than I would have liked and I can't do any more until I have filmed (e.g. the voice over, script). I am researching, but have chosen this time to focus and get Dissertation done and out of the way. 

I'm also fishing for credits on everyone's Minor, which is good experience and I want to help out my fellow classmates. 

*UPDATE* I have decided to do the script first and do the narration on Thursday as I just won't have time if I wait until after. It's not ideal as I did want to do the visuals and then the script, in case I forget to film anything on the day. But it's all booked and sorted now!