Wynyard - Further Updates

I have booked myself in next Tuesday and Thursday to finish off (touch wood!) the Wynyard videos. I am giving priority to people with deadlines that week, but if no one else books in, I have them for now. Hopefully I will only need these two days as I do not have a lot to change. *touch wood* I will update this post with any major changes and how I fixed them.

Wynyard Hall - Further Editing

I've been in the past week editing the Wynyard videos. We did some more shots a few weeks ago of the farmshop, the glasshouse, edible gardens and also another interview. The other editor dropped out due to other commitments and time issues. With my jobs mostly being production, I was free during post production and a few odd days so I stepped up. I got a few pages of feedback with what to edit and added the new shots in. I will send an annotated one back with what I changed and why if I didn't (as soon as the videos export. Writing this as I wait!). I will talk about a few changes in this post.

I decided to remove all of the terrace interview due to sound issues and the most recent interview saying similar things (which has higher quality audio). They also wanted some of the dialogue and shots in one video to put in another, but I didn't do this as I wanted to avoid repetition. So I got people saying similar things, and put different shots on them. 

There was a few audio feedback issues such as being a bit quiet, I couldn't boost some of it anymore, so I toned down the music. If it's still an issue, I may have to get the lecturer to show me how to do noise reduction and boost the volume even more. 

Removing the shots of one of the interviewees maybe an issue as she may not sign it off. I tried to avoid putting shots of her in, but I felt like I had to include one at least as she does have a vital part in one of the videos and introduces herself. I hope this will be okay. 

Another huge issue was the staff in the restaurant video. Most of them have left so they wanted them removed, however the shots look really great and it fits well with the interview talking about teamwork. We can either put other shots on (not sure if we have any (maybe some of the fresh bread in the farmshop?)) and it may look weird as it doesn't fit the dialogue. Or we can cut out that part of the interview completely. Or we can keep it as it is (my personal favourite option). I have asked which they would want.

Wynyard Feedback and Colour Correction

Today, the clients for the Wynyard Hall came in to see our edits so far. I only edited (and quickly colour corrected it this morning) the restaurant one, but it was nice to see the other edits. 

Before and after colour correction!

I gave the lecturer my notebook to make notes so I couldn't make any, but I remembered most of what to do for my edit and on a whole. The corporate events edit needs to have less animals and put them in the garden edit. There's quite a few clips that need moving around, but the lecturer is going to talk to the other editor about it.

http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/17280235125/not-my-division-master-post-international

I did four different colour corrections on flowers to show the client. Here's a few notes on them so I don't forget what I did to each one;

'Colour correction 1'

Here I boosted the saturation up to the highest for the bright colours, and also did an S shaped curve on the black and whites.

The flowers look very bright, but maybe a bit too dark.

'Colour correction 2'

I have kept the saturation on the highest for the bright colours, but made it a bit lighter.

'Colour correction 3'

I have kept the saturation on the highest but less of an S curve which has made it less 'in your face' and toned down. The purples look a lot better with this one too.

'Colour correction 4'

Purples are the same as in 'colour correction 3' and the reds are the same as in 'colour correction 2', but saturation of reds are toned down. This is my personal favourite.

I have sent clips of all of them to the clients so they can choose their favourites. I will also know then the feel of the adverts and how to colour correct the other clips. I have also sent them the garden's manager interview as requested, and also my edit of the restaurant with adjustments from this morning. I am back in next week to finish colour correcting and exporting the other edits.

Wynyard Hall: Filming Day 4

Today we were scheduled to film Sir John's wedding anniversary in the Grand Marque 5-7. We arrived at 4:45 to get the all the preparation, including decorations and the food. We also got a few filler shots, but the place was very empty, so we were saving ourselves for the actual party later on. 

Thanks Liam for the picture. I was too busy running around to take photos.

However, when we were discussing where to have cameras in the night, Beckie suddenly said that we couldn't film it. Someone probably refused to be recorded or she didn't ask. We were all very upset, especially when we found out that there was BBC and ITV people there. I dressed up and in high heels for nothing. Now we have loads of footage of empty chairs at empty tables.

https://beausbreeches.wordpress.com/tag/empty-chairs-empty-tables/

Wynyard Hall: Filming Day 3

Today was an even earlier start at 8:30am so we could get an exterior shot of the mansion with no cars. However, there was still cars there and we needed to be in the Gardens by 9:00 for an interview, so we will have to make do with the one we filmed the other day.

Me and Liam were the only ones again today (Lee not turning up until 10:00 so he could return the slow motion camera). We did an interview with Sara who in my opinion was the best interviewer with the most useful information. I actually learnt something and didn't feel belittled in anyway!

When Lee turned up, we got to filming the Gardens which was also hosting a Beatrix Potter event with a petting zoo and general arts and crafts. It was full of children so we had to be on guard with permission forms, luckily Beckie and Beth were on hand with forms, giving them to parents.

The animals and children were a bit of a nightmare to film, such as getting them on the same level and getting them in the right place for the shot. I got scrapped elbows as a result from kneeling on gravel. I also seem to have stretch marks on my arms from carrying equipment (I'll be hench after this) and I also dropped a magic arm on my foot. But that wasn't the worst injury- the wide angle lens suffered the most. Lee got very close to the water fountain and the wind blew, soaking the lens and the battery pack. He then also quickly put the camera down on the bench, which wasn't very safe and dropped like a tonne of bricks, breaking a bit of the lens. I believe the camera is still ok, I have no idea about the lens.

We also had a small heart attack when we couldn't find the other half of our equipment, and our sandwich platter not arriving until an hour after they said it would.

Even though we were behind, we made great time and even ended a little earlier than planned. We filmed a quick sound only interview with the current head chef (who is leaving soon) and also him plucking vegetables from the edible garden.

Wynyard Hall: Filming Day 2

Today we had a few extra hands in the form of Shaun and Jack. It really helped us and we felt less tired afterwards. Another start at 9am, and Lee left us to finish the rooms in the mansion while he went to pick up the slow motion camera.

We had a break for dinner today! A nice sandwich platter and vegetable crisps. Soon after, we got started on filming the kitchens. Only two people were allowed in so Lee (with the slow motion camera) and Liam did the first half while me, Shaun and Jack did the Spa and the lake. Our memory card soon got full (apparently Lee said to format them on the morning but we have no recollection of this). Me and Jack took over the kitchen filming while the rest relaxed in this scary looking staff room bunker.

We then finished a little bit earlier than planned, so while we still had the slow motion camera, we did a few test shots with it at CCAD. The camera was really heavy and awkward to carry. But what we had shot looked stunning and was great fun.

Jack and Shaun were knackered but it was a lot worse yesterday and would have been if they weren't there. Good days filming once again!

Few students had a chance to use a #sonyfs7 yesterday. Yes it might be the holidays but we're active #slowmo #camera #students #summer

A photo posted by Film & Moving Image Production (@ccad_cfmip) on Jul 27, 2016 at 2:22am PDT

Wynyard Hall: Filming Day 1

Today me, Liam and Lee turned up and went straight to work filming the different rooms in the mansion at 9am. Since Brad is still on holiday, Lee took over role as director and I took over as the interviewer. I also did sound for the interviews while Liam did camera. Beckie was very helpful and made sure we were catered for and set each room when we were ready to move onto the next one.

We then did a few interviews on the afternoon. Lee went to go get something so me and Liam interviewed Sir Brian.

We were supposed to have a lunch break after Sir John's interview but the next person (Anne?) came down after, not giving us a chance to have dinner or just a sit down. She wanted loads of screen time! We filmed her saying different things for the rest of the day. I felt a bit redundant and looked down on, calling us "amateurs" and just being a bit hostile. Anyway, we stayed professional and soldiered on despite us dying of hunger.

Safe to say we were all dead later. We didn't finish until 5:30pm, and I was going out on the night (I nearly fell asleep).

Overall a good days filming but very drained as a result.

Blackmagic Test

Today I went in (Liam fell ill) to get a better hang of the Blackmagic camera. Lee also suggested trying it with the slider, having it overexposed and try the RAW format. I tried with the slider first which took a while to get the hang of due to it's weight. I could only slide it so far until the slider fell down, and I also had to constantly focus it. It's not ideal, but what I managed to achieve looked good.

Testing out the #Blackmagic

A photo posted by Sarah Joy (@sarahtrix) on Jun 21, 2016 at 2:29am PDT

I then went outside to try overexposing the shots. Met a few train spotters on my adventure who thought I was a train spotter too. I only brought the monopod with me so some of the shots are a bit shaky. I tried stabilising them in Resolve but it made the framing weird. So I left it be. I added a bit of colour grading to the slider (the first shot) but left the other footage untampered with (I wasn't adventurous/confident enough with the software to go adventurous while editing!)

Wynyard Hall Recce

Soon after the tech dem, we went on a Location Recce. We also took the Blackmagic to test for 'flicker' (some of the lights can cause a strobing effect on the camera). Feeling severely under-dressed, with multiple people in dresses and suits, we were greeted by two lovely women guiding us around the place. We even got in a minibus to the garden (very dangerous driving though).

One of the people said that they no longer wanted the Spa filming (something about it being always busy? I was a bit disappointed by this as I was looking forward to the Spa, but Lee is going to chase this up.

Another bombshell was dropped and now they want 4 videos, and an interview with Sir John (not sure who this is! I will have to research!) 

The place is stunning! Huge doors and ceilings and a beautiful garden. And even a little shop!! I will have to get a souvenir.

I also need to chase up about expenses and if food is catered for.

Blackmagic Tech Dem

For our professional client brief over the summer for Wynyard Hall, we have permission to use the Blackmagic camera to film to a high quality. Me and Liam have been chosen as the camera operators for this project so we both came in today for a tech dem and to practice using them (and a little bit using the editing software, Resolve). We were hoping for a bigger turnout so we could do an edit and sound tech dem but everyone is having a social life and are on holiday :P 

Notes
Bold is the settings we should use.

• Runs on SSD cards. Faster and more storage!
• Menu-settings-recording. DNS=Avid. 422=broadcast. HQ= normal, high quality. RAW= highest quality, but only records 30 mins of footage.
• Dynamic range. Video=T.V. Film=more info/colour grading info.
• 30 fps (YouTube settings).
• iso 800= camera's optimum. Film at 400!
• No auto white balance! 5400 outside. 2800 inside.
• Shutter angle (similar to shutter speed) at 180. 172.8 is smoother. The lower, the sharper.
• Don't bother with audio. Still use inside mic to sync sound.
• Mains charge. Battery lasts 1hr 30mins (not long!)
• Record button on the front and back
• Switch off camera when changing lens. Red dot to red dot.
• Iris button brings up wavelength= exposure levels. Don't let it peak at the end! Take off before recording!
• Focus assist. Green outline.
• Double tap screen to focus clearer. Make sure to zoom out before recording!
• Metadaler= name files. A= auto change number. Bit time consuming.
• Zebras at 90

Lenses

• 14, 35, 85mm we can use. Basic.
• 24-70 photography lens
• Cheap zoom but stuck
• 18-55

Me and Liam (and Lee, supervising us) went to get a few practice shots of CCAD at different settings, and just experimenting in general. We took it in turns and we both had quite a few, nice looking shots! I'm looking forward to working more with Liam when we actually start filming.

We then quickly looked at the edit software, which seems a lot quicker and easier than Avid (and is free! But it doesn't work with the P2 or AVC's :-( )

The software made quite a bit of difference for colouring! The raw footage came out very grey but it quickly put colour back into Liam's cheeks!

Lee then experimented with different colours and settings, such as Liam getting a phone call from God???

Lee then wanted to brighten Liam's lips as they looked dehydrated, then he ended up making it into lipstick.

I suggested adding blusher but that was just too silly.

Here's the edited together piece (original, untampered with) and the crazy colourful one!