So we finished our animatic on the Friday before our test shoot. Raef chose some music suitable for opening sequence and we added some titles, using a font we all agreed on, though we might decide to change it later. Anna matched the shots to the beats in the music so that footage and music generates a stronger impact. Movement was added to the frames, something we could not have done with a storyboard.
Creating an animatic has helped us get a gerneral idea of which shots work best and what changes need to be made, for example, we originally wanted a central shot of the hacker's back but after creating the animatic it seemed appriate to change it to a over shoulder shot, focusing more on the screens infront of him. It'll also be easier to edit when we have our test shots captured as we can then match the shots to the animatic frames, then if we notice anything that doesn't work we can change it.
The animatic will be uploaded onto the group blog in a while.
Last week we worked out a shot list and began sketching/outlining frames of our storyboard, we managed to finish this yesterday and began taking photographs of each frame so that we can create an animatic on Adobe Premiere Pro. So far, it has been going smoothly, although we have come up to a total of roughly 53 shots, which means an average of 2 seconds per shot.
After our first pitch we received some feedback and suggestions. Here are some of the issues that was highlighted and some ideas of how to solve them.
Opening sequence and film plot is too complicated. We need to cut unnecessary parts or change change the opening sequence/plot of the film to something more straightforward.
Adding a gun shot would be unrealistic to the situation and complicates the process. We could simply take out the gun shot and have the agent simply knocking out and/or tying up the hacker.
Lacking use of film theories. Could rethink some aspects of our current characters, settings and plot to fit more of theories such as Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium, Propp's theory of character roles and Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites.
Will the audience understand the hacking details? We could limit the detail the audience sees, but seeing as we plan to have the hacker speaking out loud, similar to the scene in The Social Network, we'll have to research basic hacking terms and other details, but being careful not to make it too complicated.
Today I caught Anna up with the ideas and suggestions that had been going around during the meeting that she was ill for, then I finalised a post that Raef and I had been working on the day before. Here are some quick ideas that I've been having between then and now:
I am happy to work with the latest idea since I feel as though we'll be able to cast more actors to play hackers, not just the stereotypical nerdy boy, but some females, adults, etc. Having a wide variety appeals to a larger audience, therefore generating more interest.
However we still need to establish the plot for the rest of the film, this could incorporate Todorov's theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium.
For the characters we can use Propp's theory of character roles, our protagonist is the hero, the princess is one of his friends who we may see in the opening sequence, the helper is the other friend who we may also see, etc.
Perhaps we could construct the narrative using Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites and create a clear contrast between our rookie hacker and lead hacker.
We'll need to plan the new film treatment and schedule a repitch.
Just finished sketching and uploading "The Hacker"'s character design sketch on the group blog, I also uploaded some photos of my room as a suggestion for the set of the hacker's room last night.
I will now be working on our opening sequence and recording my personal progress here. Any other work will be posted on our group blog. So far we've had two meetings where we've developed our idea and assigned tasks. Today I was given the task of sketching some character designs and doing a location recce for the hacker's room. The sketch for "The Agent" has been posted on the group blog.
1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? I worked in a team of 3 with Nico Socratous and Raef Commissar. During the planning, we discussed the brief, created an idea and wrote a script together. Nico wrote a shot list while I drew the storyboard then Raef filled in the technical details on the storyboard. During filming, I took most of the shots since Nico and Raef were acting as the characters in the clip. In the shots where only Nico was acting e.g. where he was walking towards the room, Raef would film and I would hold the boom pole. Similarly, the shots without Raef were filmed by Nico e.g. reaction shot and pen spinning close up shot.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?
We first looked at the brief and started thinking of ideas for the task. The brief was strict in some ways e.g. it had to have two characters, but open to interpretation e.g. the characters did not have a set dialouge. After deciding on our general story, we started writing our script.
Our script
Using our script, we drew a storyboard, taking a wide range of shots into consideration in order to create a short clip that draws the audience in. We made sure to make use of continuity theories such as the 180 degrees rule, match on action, shot/reverse shot and others to create narrative flow. A shot list was then typed out so that we could cross off the shots we had taken as we were filming.
A sample of our storyboard
3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
A Canon Legria HV40
The camera we we used was a Canon Legria HV40 which had a multiangle screen. This allowed us to shoot from unusual angles, such as from the floor, and still be able to see what we were doing. Sometimes we used the playback mode to check if a certain shot had worked well, but we mostly stuck to the shoot mode.
We could use the tripod to keep the camera at a fixed position. It was easy to adjust the height and angle. It also helped when we wanted do a steady pan shot, as the tripod kept the camera at the same level and pivoted. The camera could then be removed from the tripod is hand held shots, then reattached later.
With the boom microphone attached to the boom pole we were able to get the microphone closer to the speaker so that the audio would be clearer. Although since there were some shots where only one person was behind the camera (when two people were acting) we had to lean the boom mic on tables or chairs instead of supporting it ourselves.
The non-linear editing program that we used was called Adobe Premier Pro CS3. It is very user-friendly and we captured and edited our footage easily. It offered many useful features such as the razor tool (to split a clip into several sections, this was convenient when I was editing parts of the conversation), being zooming on the time bar (using this to improve the accuracy of the timing), clips attaching "magnetically" (so that it would automatically connect to the end of another clip when dragged nearby, which saved a lot of time).
A screenshot of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing? Planning
What settings are available to us at our allocated time?
Is the lighting in that particular setting suitable? If not, could we alter it?
Who is most suitable for certain tasks? (e.g. acting, cameraman, director)
What order should we set-up shots in to improve efficiency? Would it clash with the other group or public activity? (e.g. classes ending)
Is the story easy to follow?
Do we have enough time to get all the shots in?
Shooting
Is the acting consistant?
Does the shot break any continuity theories?
Is the shot framed correctly?
Are there any foreign noises?
Did that shot go well? Should we retake it?
Is the boom mic out of shot?
Editing
Are there any continuity errors? Can it be edited so they are not included or not as noticable?
Is the shot order smooth so that viewers can follow the change of space easily?
Do the cut actions match up to each other?
Are there any audio volume adjustments necessary?
5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/ do differently? Overall, it turned out successful as I had stuck to the brief and created a continuity sequence involving filiming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite a nother character, with whom he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
Despite following the brief, there were still many errors such as his arm being by his side in the first shot, but raised in the second shot that follows it, and unwanted objects being in shot. There is also bit of buzzing background noise. At some point during editing, one of our shots did not capture correctly, so we had to set up the original footage again and recapture that shot.
My favourite shot of the whole sequence would be the photo slide shot because it smoothly and steadily follows the photo across the table. The 180-degree and 30-degree rule was not brokend. We also managed to add a match-on-action shot with the hand slamming on the table, although we had already planned to have a match-on-action shot of his hand opening the door.
6) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think? I had not edited footage before this task so I was taught the basics of editing at the start of the capturing and editing time we were given and picked it up quickly. I also learnt how to set up a boom mic, boom pole, tripod. The continuity theories such as match on action, shot/reverse shot, 180-degree rule and others, that I have learnt will also become useful later on as it is important to create narrative flow. I now know it is important to shoot many takes of the same shot if you are unsure if it turned out well in order to give yourself more choice during editing, just in case some shots had minor errors. This task taught me many thing and I'll definitely remember what I have learnt and use it during the rest of my foundation coursework.
