Tech and Actor Rehearsal

Today we had our first tech and actor rehearsals together, with all the crew that would be there on the day too (the sound mixer (pt1)/floor manager(pt2) made a brief appearance though). We focused on getting the spooky ending blocked and confident with as the actor supplying the voice had to be gone at a certain time. We also lost one of our camera ops at that point too. I have went through my different shots with them for each ending, and gave them my notes (this will also go up on Moodle). Also, special credit to the lecturer for taking stills today.

I told the actors to learn their lines for today, but May was really struggling. Our director came up with an idea to have tarot card cue cards (worst case scenario), so I have made them. Another thing that was apparent was May's hair. I have brought bobby pins to tie it back, and hopefully, when she learns her lines, she will look up.

We did quite a few streams, some of them are just the endings as we were running out of time, rehearsed the beginning quite a lot and needed to go through each ending. 

The first stream has really out of sync audio for some reason. The microphone for the voice also didn't work. Otherwise, it went well.

The second stream has better audio. However I have noticed a few times, the VT is very loud and echo-y. Not quite sure why, I will have to ask the lecturer. The actor for the voice needs to be more familiar with their lines so they know when to come in. I also faded out the actual lights for George to exit. A better idea would be to cut the actual vision mixer. The lecturer also presumed we were off air at that moment, so the actors were stood waiting to act like "um what".

A side note for the different vision mix transitions:

• Violent ending needs a straight cut when the hammer goes to hit Benny
• Spooky ending needs a straight cut when Voice says "that is not possible" for George to exit. Floor manager needs to signal the actors when to start acting again/when the feed is back. to normal.
• Happy ending needs a fade when they leave the tent. Floor manager also needs to signal them to stop moving when the fade has stopped.

The third stream was with the happy ending. I am pretty sure I told May to speak to the entrance while delivering her lines at the beginning, but looks like it didn't happen. The actors were also supposed to leave via the entrance to the tent, but that also didn't happen.

The fourth stream was with the violent ending. We needed to time it just right to cut, and this was just a little out. I think we have the beginning bits nailed though!

We then did a few streams with just the endings. This one, was the happy ending, however the sound effect didn't work and the light is not blue enough. We have fixed this by making the sound effect work on the computer so we don't have to use a phone through the sound mixer, and put another gel on the light. This one was also the happy ending, but we got the sound working on the vision mixer, however it went on for far too long. I did script it so the light and the noise ended at Benny saying "you? I mean yeah" but the main director wanted to see what it would be like throughout (the answer is "very annoying"). We also did another one but only streamed the end.

Fortune Tellers - Research

Human beings have always searched for a glimpse of the future. Any good country fair has its fortune-teller, modelled on the image of a mysterious gypsy woman swathed in colourful scarves and dripping with earrings.

There are hundreds of techniques for divination (fortune telling), many dating back to before recorded history. Evidence indicates that forms of fortune-telling were practiced in ancient China, Egypt, Chaldea, and Babylonia as long ago as 4000 BC.

Predictive methods of fortune-telling include astrology, numerology, and the utilization of objects such as playing cards, tea leaves, crystal balls, dice, fire, water, and scattered salt.[1]

https://66.media.tumblr.com/cccdcef3a96b23c70774baf0e30e417c/tumblr_o31zlrl0VT1rlii8to1_500.gif

But forecasting also had deeper roots the inherent of human beings to find certainty in life by knowing the future: What will I be when I grow up? Where will I live? What kind of work will I do? Will I be fulfilling? Will I marry? What will happen to my parents and other family members? To my country, to my job? To the economy in which I live? Forecasting addresses not just business issues but the deep-seated human wish to divine the future. It is the story of the near universal compulsion to avoid ambiguity and doubt and the refusal of the realities of life to satisfy that impulse. [2]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/29/4a/60/294a6044fd611f62d993a71ee5f96a36.gif

Traditionally, throughout history the Gypsy people have been associated with fortune telling. The Gypsies, who call themselves Roma or Romany, are a nomadic culture which throughout history been mistreated and discriminated against. The Gypsy people have been associated with fortune telling, magic and shamanism. Gypsy fortune telling traditions are much the same everywhere, gypsy women used normal playing cards to predict the fortune of the person they were telling the fortune to. [3]

How this links to us

We haven't gone for the full on stereotypical gypsy fortune teller with the earrings, but we have included a few scarfs and materials around the set, as an influence. We have also just decided to focus on the crystal ball method of fortune telling, again not conforming to the gypsy stereotype of cards. We wanted ours to stand out, but still have a few influences of the roots of fortune telling. 

https://67.media.tumblr.com/29b140ff467a1dd04b8cb878317a2ecd/tumblr_nx3ox7MajB1qbvkmso1_500.gif

Fortune telling is also still popular according to Friedman, so we still have an audience for our live stream. Wanting and craving to know the future is a human instinct.

--------------------------------------------------------------
[1]‘History of Fortune Telling’ http://istina.rin.ru/eng/para/text/614.html (27.11.2016)
[2] FRIEDMAN, W. (2013) ‘Fortune Tellers: The Story of America's First Economic Forecasters Princeton University Press. New Jersey
[3]AMBER. ‘Gypsy Fortune Telling Traditions’ https://tarotamber75.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/gypsy-fortune-telling-traditions/ (27.11.2016)

Mood Board

I started a mood board for the live show and the 2nd unit a while ago. I keep reminding the main director to add stuff to it, as I love pinterest, it's addictive and also looks great. I have just gave it a kick start.

Tech Rehearsal

Today we set up everything; headsets, cameras, sound mixer, everything, to rehearse with it and get to grips with our job roles exactly. 

Thanks Andrew for the pic

The first stream we did was a bit of a disaster, I keep saying "live in 10" on the headsets, when it actually starts with a VT. I need to make sure I say "VT in 10" on the live show. This resulted in the actors acting over the VT and you can hear them in the background. The VT itself was buffering a lot because it was going off the avid drive, I needed to copy them over to the computer itself. We also didn't have anyone to read George and the police officer at the end so it looks like May has multiple personalities. We also need some sort of countdown timer, our graphics designer will hopefully make one, as well as our credits, next week. The floor manager in the first 3 streams also talked throughout it rather than using hand gestures.

The second stream was a bit better, until I have just watched it back and realised there's no sound. Possibly my fault as I may have left the mic on mute on the computer, possibly the sound mixer (we didn't have a sound mixer, so we had to cue sound in ourselves), not quite sure who. It went much better as we had a George, but a reoccurring theme throughout is that the stand ins didn't know our blocking, and we had arranged our cameras/shot list around it.

The third stream did have sound, however, we lost camera 3 during the first part of the show, and couldn't get it back until afterwards. We directed around it, and did well considering. The vision mixer now knows how to do this, in case it happens during the stream. We also gained more confidence to talk to the camera ops and say what each camera should be doing, and telling them when to stop moving and to frame up. 

The fourth stream was a lot better and our best. We got camera 3 back and it went much more smoothly. The floor manager also did their hand gestures. However, acting and blocking was a huge issue, as one point, I cut to a close up of George for him to drink the potion and fall over (note that they never fell over in each stream so we didn't know when to cue VT), but it's a prolonged shot of George for no reason, and not drinking the potion.

I have asked two of the camera ops from today if they wanted to do it for the live, and they seemed available and wanting to do it.

Thanks Andrew for the pics

Just a few notes for me;

• CUT to 2 (cut to camera 2, don't say "camera")
• "VT in 30 seconds"
• Send vision mixer my shot list
• Camera 3 in my first half and the violent ending is a close up of George. In the happy ending, it's a close up of May (camera one will be a close up of Benny). In the spooky ending, it's a close up of George then a close up of Benny as soon as George is off screen.

Rehearsal #3/Prop Hunting

Before our rehearsal, I went to the weekly market in Hartlepool to see if I could find a wooden shelf (since our plastic one isn't great for production values). I found a tattered one (which really needed a wet wipe) for £10, a bargain if you ask me. So we carried it through town.

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6gEfJP9GvTt8mb9S/giphy.gif

Today was our big rehearsal with all the cast at once. I was hoping some would learn their scripts, but only George at the end was off script. May I can forgive with casting her short notice. I have told them to learn it by the rehearsal next week. It went really well, we went through it quite a few times, with all the different endings. I timed it when people were more confident later on, to be 13 minutes and 33 seconds (median) which is perfect as that isn't including the narrator parts (which is about 2 minutes).

I also took a few production stills which can be used for marketing. I've also told our graphics designer to make a poster of the live stream with them, and also to make some credits (which is hard until we know who we have on crew).

Overall this was a very good rehearsal. We made a lot of progress. Our actors know their blocking and are gaining confidence with the script. 

Lipstick Test #3

Another software I could use for my Sin City effect is Davinci. Jamie quickly showed me some of it, but he was still trying to get his head around it. So I installed it and looked at this tutorial to do the effect.



It went well with the flowers, creating a serial mode, boosting the saturation, then adding a parallel mode, picking a colour using the qualifier tool. Then going back to the serial mode and decreasing the saturation and boosting the saturation on the parallel mode.

However, the red of the lipstick blended with my hair so I did the same with the nodes, but had to use the 'window' tool to select the colour of just the lipstick on the parallel node.

Finished test is below. The flower at the start isn't perfect, so I will have to touch up on that small black gap in the middle of the flower. The lipstick colour still isn't perfect. This is the less time consuming of the other tests. So this looks like my best bet.

The Music

Music is quite an important piece for my film. I've been told that I can use any song I want to for my creative piece so the first song that came into my head is Muse - Exogenesis (Part 3). There's one lyric repeated ("let's start over again") which is really relevant. It's very emotional. Starts off sad, ends happy! Exactly what the film I'm making is like. Muse also means a lot to me and so does this film.



However, I really want to be attatched to a charity too, so I would need to use a song I have permission for if I do this. I have found one song that could do, but doesn't have the same emotional impact (I have a feeling nothing I will find will have the same impact as Exogenesis).



I like this one a little better, but I still don't feel it has the impact of Exogenesis. I might wait to see how my footage turns out before asking a charity to be attatched to it. If it turns out well, I will use this one.

It's A Man's World - Interviews

Today, I went to Verity's house to interview some of her friends about feminism. I only had one camera so I set it up on the interviewees and said to film Verity saying the questions and 'noddy shots' later on. However, I realised half way through that Verity talked more than the interviewees and they started asking her questions so I had to move the camera back and forth. I'm not sure how much of the first half is usable because the interviewees didn't say a lot, but luckily they talked more after the first half and repeated a lot of the things they said. 

I have 2 hours of footage. Some of it needs to be cut due to being too personal. I also strongly disagreed with some points raised but I couldn't say anything as I'm just a humble camera op. I also need to email someone who filmed for them last week for their footage (which made me feel great *sarcasm*) 

Dog was cute though.

Update, I've just looked at the footage/interview the other person did and looks completely different to how I set mine up. Verity should have sent me it before the interviews so I could have set mine up similarly and have the same eye-line.

Headsets and Props

Today me and the sound designer were in so we set up the headsets and made sure they were all working. Janice was also loading her camera in the studio at the same time, so we had to stop in complete darkness. It was very nerve racking.

Very noisy pic because of the dark!

We had an issue with one of the headsets in the studio where they could hear the gallery but they couldn't hear them. I found out it was because of a dodgy headphone, so I swapped it. They all work fine now, including signal lamps. 

Thanks Ethan for the pics

We then quickly went prop hunting but only bought potion bottles. We did find some bow ties but they were expensive. Our set designer is buying some in Primark when they are at work. We also tried to find a wooden shelf but the cheapest one we could find was £70. I will look in some more charity shops when I can.

Rehearsal #2

Today we planned to rehearse with May and George on the afternoon, however, one of the filmmaker groups also has our George as an actor and they postponed their shoot until the afternoon, so he couldn't come to our read through, which I am very annoyed about. We still rehearsed with our May, who also brought her costume and we did a quick make up test which looks good (we have to keep the glasses so she can see!)

                          

We managed to get the actor who plays George in (sadly after May left) to do some quick read through's and blocking.

Our director had a bit of a moment with the printer, ending up with £8 worth of print outs. I hope that doesn't go on our budget. :/ 

Review - Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Review may contain mild spoilers (sorry I tried my best to avoid them!)

Today I went to see Fantastic Beasts, donned in all my Harry Potter clothes and my Newt coat. I chose the 3D showing and I really do not regret it. The 3D was very subtle, and not everything was in 3D which I liked and did not take away from the viewing experience like 3D normally does for me. The special effects were also amazing, and you could not tell they were animated. Technology has really advanced and it's spectacular. I still can't get over how they did Niffler ruffling Newt's hair.

http://giphy.com/gifs/9etT6MUdNwERq

I had to make my own gif of this as I couldn't find one

It was also my fave bit in the film

The film at the very beginning did not hold back, and was straight into the action, and ended very similarly, setting things up perfectly for a sequel. However, it was a bit obvious who the main villain was (trying not to spoil anything here!) due to match cuts. The plot itself was very basic; good vs evil, stereotypical mainstream step outline, hero's journey, etc. But it was an enjoyable family film. A few deaths were a bit unexpected and dark (some very similar to deaths in Harry Potter now I think of it. One almost like a possession too) hence why it was a 12A. 

https://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/1192/461c6480-8d8f-0134-190b-060e3e89e053.gif?w=740&h=326&fit=max&auto=format

The characters (and creatures!) were very relatable, and even flawed. The government was flawed and even the villain seemed nice in some parts. Eddie as an actor is flawless and was very adorable in this movie, especially when he had to romanticise a Erumpent. Queenie was also stunning and underappreciated. And Jacob (the no maj (still a stupid name for muggles to be honest)) was like the audience projected into one character and was basically there as someone completely new to magic, handy if anyone in the audience hasn't seen any of the Harry Potter films before. I also love his and Queenie's relationship like YES SCREW THE LAWS OF WIZARDRY IN AMERICA BE HAPPY!

https://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/1192/ede80050-8e63-0134-18fe-060e3e89e053.gif?w=740&h=370&fit=max&auto=format

Overall, a fantastic (aye) and a very cute film. Each animal was adorable and Newt was such a sweetheart I am in love with him. Anyways! A feel good film. Would recommend the 3D. A little bit of a basic plot, but that's to be expected from a family friendly, mainstream film. (also forgot to mention, the art work was stunning)

9/10

http://cdn2.teen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/fantastic-beasts-clapping.gif

The Set!

Today we brought in all our props and started putting up our set! I made a time lapse of most of it (until the battery died).



It took us most of the day (mostly to de-rig lights) to set up but looks great so far! We still need a few more props, the crystal ball and the potions being the main ones. We also managed to get hold of some fake grass!! Me and some backup went to the reception and asked again if there was any going spare and the caretakers kindly gave us some. 

Afterwards, we had a quick blocking session with just people in our course so we could get an idea of where we would want people to stand and how they would act.

Studio Miscommunication and Camera Set Up

Today we planned to be in at 9:30 so we could build our set, however people were using the studio and the person with most of the props was missing (who had also 'booked' out the studio). I asked the lecturer what was happening and was told that we could have it on the afternoon. I was then told by the programme leader that we couldn't have it today at all (or until 4:30). I was very confused as I was sure we booked it out. So I have rearranged it for tomorrow.

I also went in the studio to set up the cameras with the lecturer and found out that the white curtain we would be using has been taken down and out lights have been rearranged. I thought people who last used it had to put it back the way it was, but evidently not, which is a bit shocking. I went in and helped put the curtain back up. Picture as proof:

We also set the cameras up today on the studio pedestal/tripods, also known as the Libtec 100's. There's a locking system on the plate, as modelled by the lecturer. And also a tripod like plate on the bottom of it. 

The pedestal when not locked off, should go flying up at a speed and wack you in the face. If not, it needs more air into it (use a pump). 

All the cameras have been set up now! Here's a mugshot.

Colour Splash Test (Part 2)

I filmed a quick bit of footage today with my new camera to see if I could do the colour effect any better (my low quality camera was an issue while editing so I treated myself and bought a DSLR).

Testing out my new #camera #canon #rebel #eosrebelt5i #selfie #dslr

A photo posted by Sarah Joy (@sarahtrix) on Nov 14, 2016 at 4:00pm PST

I filmed a shot of a flower which worked fairly straightforward as there was no movement and a defined colour. I followed this tutorial to do the effect on After Effects.

I also chose to do a CU of the lipstick rather than a XCU of the lips. This was probably a mistake as when I was editing, the red of my hair was similar to the red of my lips. Luckily Jamie was on hand to suggest useful tips, such as using the pen tool to pick out the red of the lips but not the hair. But I have to move the pen tool every frame to track the movement. It's time consuming, but it works.

Jamie is doing something similar with the Pink Gym but on Davinci Resolve so I might sit in or look at his notes (with permission) as it would be handy for me too, if there is an easier version. However, I have installed the software on my computer, but it is very slow, so I would have to book out an edit suite to use it.

Bad Luck: The Read-through

Today we had our first rehearsal/read-through/quick blocking session. I met one of our actors at the train station and my friend, who I got at short notice (explanation can be found on this post here). 

We quickly went through what would happen on the actual live stream and hand gestures (that the floor manager needs to touch up on!) and also what blocking is to my friend. I played George since the person who was cast as him could not make it today, so we will have to go through it with him on Monday (we are hoping this is our next rehearsal date). 

We timed the happy ending today with the second unit material playing in the background. It came in at 15 minutes and 50 seconds, however the video was jumpy, and had a lot of pauses since actors are not too familiar with their script yet. We would like the happy ending chosen since it's the longest and the most tied up, however, we have told the script editor to change the other endings so that they are longer and start at the same point (the last narrator message) so we have time to tell the actors which ending the viewers have chosen.

The person in charge of costume have asked the actors to send pictures to the group chat of clothes they think would be suitable. My friend has also offered to make any props if we need them.

Overall, a good start! Everything is falling into place, despite a few hiccups... *looks at previous May actors*

PANIC

The actor playing May has just dropped out before the rehearsals tomorrow.

http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/1Yfeci9q8J0xtCIVjzkXxWMjMl0=/fit-in/1200x9600/http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F06%2FBeaker.gif

So now I am panicking so much as I need to recast and find someone tomorrow since the actor playing Benny has booked his train ticket (costing him £9?!) and can't cancel it.

https://m.popkey.co/76b7ee/LmY5p.gif

I have asked the back up May if she wanted the part but couldn't commit and her parents didn't want her getting the train in the dark???

http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/CL7xoiO0ql4WK6TzMZEmsuqyxc4=/fit-in/1200x9600/http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F06%2FHarry-Potter1.gif

I have posted on Facebook and asked around for anyone in CCAD at that time who can read lines or maybe even cast them.

http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/EfH6wbgpRTI-ptYQX8KgQTjFi4U=/fit-in/1200x9600/http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F06%2FJohnny-Depp-panics.gif

I will update this post when/if I found anyone and when I have calmed down a bit.

*UPDATE* I have managed to get my friend from Hartlepool to read through May for tomorrow's rehearsal, and if all goes well, possibly cast her. 

15.11.16 *FURTHER UPDATE* My friend turned up and was great and is reliable and can commit, so we have decided to cast her. Please see read-through blog post here for more detail.

Pink Gym Filming

Today we filmed at Spennymoor Gym for a client after "various shots" of gymnasts around the gym using different apparatus, a Christmas shot, and a mannequin challenge. The footage is mostly to advertise their own clothes wear line. The lecturer was in charge of close up shots and I was on the wide/slider. The slider was very faulty so I took it off half way through. 

Fun fact: Amy Tinkler (GB Gymnast) trains here!

(she wasn't here today though)

I had a bit of a shaky start at first with using the wrong lens and not having time to change it, and also the fact that all the action happened so fast. However, I did get quite a lot of nice shots (the lecturer did steal my camera for a bit (eesh taking over job roles)). My favourites are a one of a gymnast in purple on the beam, a gymnast doing some ballet in a mirror and a shot the teacher of the gymnasts wanted that happened by accident; a gymnast was on the bars and accidentally took a bit of square foam with her, in between her feet. The teacher was so glad I just so happened to catch it! I had a very proud moment.

A Quick Update/To Do List

We are now fully cast! Huzzah! Second unit material as been edited and exported (along with a teaser trailer and a trailer). The sound designer has done some testing to see which microphone set up is the best quality and most efficient (which is currently from the ceiling, which I will have to plan lighting around in case there is shadows). Rehearsals have been planned for next Tuesday the 16th at 3:30pm (only with May and Benny sadly since our George can't make it). We plan to live stream on the 6th December at around 5pm (we will see how long a rehearsal will take as we would like to rehearse before the real thing on the same day).

To do list (for me):

• Edit second unit material
• Sign and upload actor forms
• Line script 
• Basic storyboard (2nd unit and second half of show)
• Basic shot list/annotated script
• Lighting plan
• Screenshot important messages
• Bring props in on Thursday
• Risk assessment and booking form 
• Call sheets? I decided these were not needed as the group chat screenshots covers everything we would be doing in that particular rehearsal. And we also did every part of the script in each rehearsal, so it would be a bit repetitive.
• Morals and ethics form
• Type up auditions and how they went
• Budget (post-production)
• Evaluation

Visual Culture #8 - Colour

Aristotle studied light, colour and secondary colours and also how they linked to status. Da Vinci also looked at colour (see later on in this post for more detail). Baroque used chiaroscuro (dramatic shadows). Issac Newton looked at white light through a prism and came up with the hue circle. Goethe came up with the 'theory of colours' and physiological colours (the effects of colours). The lecturer then mentioned dioptrical colours but didn't say what they were and can't seem to find it online, I'll have to ask the lecturer about this. Josef Albers looked at the bauhaus and it's relation to colour. According to Albers, colour is deceiving, and we perceive it in relation to our surroundings.

https://filmutopiablog.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/a56af35026076d0afac79ab477827149-444x249x19.gif

A few other theorists that might be handy;

• Schopenhouer and Colour (1816). 
• Newton vs. Goethe (wiki). 
• Wiltgenstein - 'Remarks on Colour' (1950).

Colour in Film

This part will be mostly in note form as it was just the lecturer spit balling different filmmakers and each colour's meanings. 

Hand colouring with Edison's 'Dance Serpentine'. Barbara Flueckiger. Melies. Spellbound - Hitchcock. Hand tinted scene. Colour as a change of narrative; The Virgin Suicides. Change from black and white to colour; Schindlers List.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ab/1d/97/ab1d978332fa0caefcbf29c3a11ba9fb.gif

• Red - blood, passion
• Yellow- sun, happiness, gold, deception warning
• Blue - heavenly, exotic, gender, social media, chaos (Ancient Greece)
• Green - fertility, nature, jealousy, poison, money
• Orange - amusements, energy, fire

(we seemed to ignore quite a few colours)

Complementary colours are on the opposite of the colour wheel. Analogous colours sit next to each other. Triadic colours are 3 colours arranged evenly spaces around the colour wheel. Tedratic colours are 4 colours in complementary pairs. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Tuesday's lecture, we looked at colour and spatial theory. A few of these notes don't make sense as I believe we looked a bit too deep into it, with colour being multi-dimensional. I've also put something about 'map of the new art' which is art without borders and new horizons.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/796552b8f50d47675a639bd492e0046e/tumblr_mju2ozL3Id1s8dzsqo4_250.gif

Spatial theory is the study of space and place, this can be material objects, geography, and the environment. Space is a physical setting, where as place is an outcome of social processes. The spatial turn - space not static. Background action shapes ideas???? (notes don't make any sense)

Colour alters perception. Colour theory is still in it's infancy; computers can detect 16 million colours, we can detect 10 million, but there is only 11 basic colour terms.

• Aristotle came up with the theory of white and black being principal colours. Yellow and blue are secondary. 
• Alberti said there was 4 true colours, but more can be created from them. White and black are alterations of other colours.
• Issac Newton came up with the colour spectrum. White light was released into a prism and the output was a range of colours. There's 7 different segments.
• Goethe, Chevreul and many others said that there are 3 primary colours and secondary colours can be mixed from them.
• Scientists in the 19th century came up with RGB primary colours. 
• 20th century chemists came up with the 3rd colour model CMY. To lower ink costs, they came up with a 4th, CMYK. 
• Itten came up with colour combinations and hues.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Prisma-goethe.gif

There is primary, secondary and tertiary (3 colours mixed) colours. Then there is addative (RGB) and subtractive (reflects light) colours. Addative synthesis is mixing colours of light. [insert some eye diagrams here and some sciency stuff]

Hue is a synonym of colour. Tint is to go lighter and add white. Shade is to go darker and add black. Tone is dull/bright variants and adding grey. There are also aggressive 'warm' colours and passive 'cool' colours. The value is how light or dark a colour is. The colour wheel is the order of the spectrum and the relationship between them is very important. Complementary colours are opposite each other and contrast. Analogous are 3 adjacent colours. 

At this point in the lecture, I couldn't take it seriously with the lecturer repeatingly saying orange (orangy orange).

Second Unit Material

Today we filmed our second unit. I sadly didn't get a lot of production stills, and those I got became corrupted on my camera somehow. It all seemed to go well and we finished ahead of schedule. The actor even learnt his lines which was a first for us.

Since we finished ahead of schedule, I started editing. However, on the first main wide shot, there is a mic in the way, and we only have one take of it. The lecturer said that this was a group mistake, which I think is unfair as I shouldn't have to constantly check on the camera and sound op. I was busy directing and going through the script with the actor. 

However, I came up with a few solutions to fix this; 

Option 1: cropping. The quality will not be altered but there will be bars on the side of the screen.



I will probably also need to put bars on the other clips, which seems very time consuming and will give a totally different feel to the piece. We want the second unit material to flow with the live stream. 


Option 2: cropping and scaling. This will see a quality decrease, however when I showed it to people, they could not tell the difference in quality between the two shots.



Option 3: photoshop. The lecturer showed me how to cut and fill to the surroundings, making the mic disappear, without the bars, and without loosing the quality. Then exporting the background as an image and resizing it on Avid. This is the best option.

I also looked at reversing a clip, since we only got a shot of the actor putting the book down, and not picking it up, and also the 'reverse motion' effect didn't seem to apply to the clip. I opened the motion effects menu then dragged the effect on, then rendered it.

10.11.16 - Today I finished editing the second unit material! I also made a TEAser trailer and trailer (with bits I had to cut out to make sure it's within the limits of pre-recorded material (3 minutes)). 

Line Scripts

As well as a shot list, the lecturer suggested to me that I look at 'line scripts'. Basically, using this technique, it's easier to look at what shots I need, of what, and how many takes it took/what slate number. 

Line scripts are typically in a red pen, a wiggly line shows dialogue that is off scene (and doesn't relate to the shot, usually a CU). You draw your lines in left to right in shooting order (I normally do wide, then CU then cutaways, but the video below does close ups first). If a shot continues on the other page, draw an arrow at the bottom of the line.

http://amyclarkefilms.com/how-to-line-a-film-script/

How to line a film script from Amy Clarke on Vimeo.

Digital Production #13 - Lighting/Set Test

Today we originally planned to line out the set in gaffa tape and block the script, but we ended up building a set with what we have in the studio and make it look like a tent (to save on building a set and budget). Some of the Filmmaking pathway also helped so shout out to them! We used the white curtain as a tent and some green material as the floor at first, and looked a bit low budget, and not like a tent. 

We then had a good idea of scrunching the ends to make it look like to reaches the ceiling.

We then had a test with lights. I wanted a back light behind the curtain so it looked like it was a different colour. Then this happened by accident, which I liked as it looked like the moon or a street light streaming in.

The set designer wasn't quite happy and wanted the curtain to curve around more. I was a bit cautious of camera placement as doing that would leave little space. 

We made it curve with plastic tags on the ceiling

We then planned out where to put the cameras. We are going to have two inside the tent near the curve on the outside, and one wide on the outside. One inside the tent will be an over the shoulder of May and the other will be a close up of Benny/George.

The studio lights we used for this effect is number 3, 11 and 12 on 25% and number 21 with a red gel on it on 100%. I decided to get rid of the backlight as it looked like a square light and only partially lit up the 'tent'.

I made a quick list of things we will probably need for the set/props;

• Fake grass (I saw some in the art cafe but I asked who owned it and felt very hostile as they were very adamant that I couldn't take it, not even for a day)
• LED's for lanterns and possibly scrim
• Bulldog clips so the curtain can look like it goes to the ceiling
• Thin fabric for dressing (my LED net curtain)
• Long pipe for smoke machine (to go from the gallery to the studio)
• Light's in bottles
• Table and chairs (table cloth?)
• Bookshelf
• Light bottles (see Janice)
• Crystals
• Cards