Sound Design

I was chiefly in charge of sound design and wanted to be as creative as possible with it. Perhaps the best example is during Martin's 'exercise' scene when he is playing a fighting game. The sound was created from a mixture of the obvious Stock punching FX, and original techno inspired track on Garageband, and vocal recordings of myself and a friend which were combined to created an exaggerated parody of the videogames violence with a match of onscreen action.

The foley sounds of his button bashing on an arcade stick were also incorporated and little touches, such as volume reduction, were used such as when he wipes his forehead with his hand, which maintains continuity and realism.

The sound drop-outs surrounding the voiceovers were also carefully considered, as we wanted the diegetic sounds of his activities to introduce each each scene without impeding his narration. An example of this is when he is watching The Empire Strikes Back, and we used the musical score as a cue to drop the sound out on the last note.

Also during this scene I panned the sound of Star Wars to the right in relation to the TV in the establishing shot, and centralised it when it cuts to the action in the film.
During his introduction, atmos and foley sounds were recorded as Martin goes about his daily 'breakfast' routine, however we ommited those in favour of just using the sound of a keyboard and his voice over as they established that he was on his computer prior to actually seeing it on screen.

Lighting

The lighting was the most difficult issue to overcome whilst shooting by far. As this was the first time we had used lighting in a film much of out approach was based on trial and error. We used grease-proof paper on the Dedo's to diffuse the spotlight effect but sometimes this was still not enough to negate obvious shadows.

Maintaining consistant well-lit shots that looked natural was difficult and In some instances we did not get the shots we hoped to achieve, and whilst some issues could be amended with colour correction others had to be abandoned. We also aimed to give the audience a full insight into Martins routine which would require shots that appear to be night time. This shot was particularly successful in creating the illusion that it was taken late at night when in reality it was shot in the middle of a sunny afternoon.

Location transformation

My house served as the set but required considerable redecoration. My flatmates room was to serve as martins bedroom as it was the largest and we had to strip it down and remove the girly decorations that originally adorned the walls. The furniture was also completely rearranged to match the storyboards and create the easiest possible shooting environment.

We then redecorated the sets with stereotypical 'geek' memorabilia we had accumulated between us, derived largely from comic-book, sci-fi and videogame iconography. 

We also moved furniture to accomodate certain camera set ups and overcome the limited space we had for the crew and equipment, giving the illusion that nothing had moved.

The living room also underwent similar transformation and was difficult to maintain in between shoots due to 6 people living there.

Drama Idea Development.

We watched Clerks to inspire character interaction and dialogue but ended up changing our original script idea, so there would now only be one character. We still sought to emulate Kevin Smith's Low-budget approach to film making however, with simple static shots and even framing used to depict the mundane everyday nature of their job being an approach we used to convey Martin's isolated routines. We also wanted to emulate the way editing is used to cut down the unnecessary actions of getting ready, which moves the narrative along whilst giving the audience enough information of the procedure through minimal use of shots.

As much of the script centres around Martin's blog uploads, we turned to The Social Network for interesting ways to film someone at their computer. This scene in particular combines the use of voice over narration with close ups of the computer screen and the typing that accompanies the voice over allows for freedom to cut away from him sitting at the computer whilst letting the audience know he is still talking through his blog and not directly to them.

Whilst we wanted a certain comical undertone we wanted to Martin to be a sympathetic character for the audience. Ryan Goslings nuanced performance in Lars and the Real Girl was a particular inspiration for trying to achieve the dynamic of a lonely introvert looking for love who some in society would perceive as being odd, whilst endearing him to the audience.

Our Title sequence and 8-bit score can be likend to aspects of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, which incorporates arcade game aesthetics into the diegesis of the film.

This compilation was a comical insight into how badly a dating video can end up, also, moustaches.

Drama Idea 2

The film revolves around the attempt of a stereotypical 'geeky' character to find love on the internet. The story begins with the character posting a video dating bio on the internet and concludes with him finally getting some female attention and leaving his home to attend a date. The majority of the film will be made up of the 'bio' itself, being inter-cut with his day to day lifestyle. The second half of the film is the waiting game that follows and eventually the run up and preparation of the date. The film ends on a high as he leaves his home with high expectations of whats to come.

Editing Process

In the editing process it became apparent that what the contributors discussed was difficult to edit together, as whilst we asked them similar questions, they all digress into personal anecdotes about their own projects. Whilst this was interesting to hear we should have been more assertive with the kind of answers we wanted to generate, as it was difficult to edit a clear narrative arc together. We had to sacrifice a lot of footage and the ending feels anti-climatic, however there was no other way we could have. Using two different camera set ups resulted in some inconsistencies with the lighting, which we rectified using colour correct.

Documentary Audio

The First track used is a live analog production performed by james rand, as can be seein in the film. This was recorded on a marantz and i cut it in soundtrack pro to make a more consistant mix.

The second is a track by Liverpool based producer Dauwd, who gave us permission to use  his songs. This one particularly reflects the tone of the documentary we wanted to establish

Shot List

Production Schedule

March 5th

Arrive In Liverpool at 1pm

Capture cutaways at 4pm

Meet James Rand at Peacocks Bar at 6pm

March 6th

Meet James for interview at his home studio at 12pm

Meet Paul Hutchinson for interview at Peacocks at 4pm

Meet Andy Hill at Shipping Forecast at 5.30pm

Leave Liverpool at 6pm

Equipment List

Video


Canon 550D Dslr Camera
Canon 7D Dslr Camera
2 x 8 GB SD cards
2 x Tripods


Audio


Boom
Rifle Mic
Long Xlr Cable
Marantz PMD 660
Sony Headphones


Miscellaneous


Apple Mac Laptop

Documentary Idea Development

http://www.peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk/2011/08/chibuku-shake-shake-presents-j.html

This article would be a good starting point for doing a documentary on Liverpool in the vein of 'real scenes', It is essentially a review of a night featuring Jaques Le Cont and local DJ James Rand at a bar called The Shipping Forecast, which is run by the same company as Sheffields Bungalows and Bears.

"James Rand has been a notable player on the Liverpool club circuit for the last three years. His style of mutant techno with pop sensibilities saw him secure residencies at garage punk electro hybrid EVOL before later arriving at the legendary Liverpool institution Chibuku Shake Shake. This is turn has led to sets at Fabric and The Warehouse Project sharing DJ Booth with the likes of Seth Troxler,... Boys Noize, 2 Many DJs, Erol Alkan and Joy Orbison to name but a few. "

https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Rand/92216920420?sk=info

His tracks can be heard here:

http://soundcloud.com/rabenmutter

Documentary Project

The Resident Advisor 'Real Scenes' series explores the origins and impact of the electronic music scenes in prominent cities around the world. Contributions come from the prominent artists that propelled the genres, the promoters that organised the events and the party goers that experienced the underground rave culture flourish. Cutaways are frequently used, with time lapses and dolly shots providing a visual over view of the city and giving context to the locations mentioned by the contributors.

Real Scenes: Bristol

Real Scenes: Detroit

Ideally I would like to emulate the style in which these films are shot and edited, however the time constraint makes it difficult to capture effective time lapses, and we don't have access to a dolly. Covering a similar subject matter in Liverpool is an option although it may be difficult finding the right contributors as we have never been there before and haven't experienced the clubbing scene for ourselves.

Documentary project

Made by inexperienced film-makers, this is an excellent example of how successfully passion and determination can bring such a remarkable story to realisation.

The Art of Flight follows Travis Rice and co. as they snowboard uncharted territories for the first time, captured in high definition with mind blowing cinematography and flawless editing, this is undoubtedly the most immersive portrayal of the snowboarding experience and what i means for the riders.

 

Exit Through the Gift Shop follows Thierry Guetta's obsession of filming anything and everything, and his fixation on street art. Generating thousands of hours of footage as he followed street artists around the world promising a documentary as the end result, he had no real intention of editing one together. Banksy turned the camera on Thierry's remarkable obsession, and the resulting piece sparked debate over whether or not the film is genuine or a mockumentary.

Also watch:

Zeitgeist: Addendum

The Cove

Experimental Film Ideas