More on Summer in February

I don't know how I forgot to post about my second week on work experience, I guess I have been pretty busy. Well, to cut a long story short, I loved it! I felt like I was really making a difference when I was sent out on runs to weird and wonderful places, from a big green house in the middle of no where with a dragon painted on the side to dig up veg to going to Newlyn to pick up loads of mackerel! One of my favourite parts definitely was being on set! It was incredible watching how the 'professionals' do it even if it was freeeezing stood on a beach. On the last day of our work experience we were taken out for a meal, it was lovely and I really enjoyed talking to the production designer, she was really nice and gave us a lot of useful advice. Everyone I worked with on Summer in February was a joy to work with, they were a great laugh and no question I asked was ever too stupid. I will miss working in the art department and I am so glad that I was able to gain so much from this experience. I will definitely be considering doing more work on feature films in the art department.

Tea: Fuel of the Nation

Above you can see the faces of a distraught Director and Editor. This is what spending most of your life for weeks in a tiny box room with no windows and masses of computer equipment pumping out hot air with no air con does to you. But it was worth it!

At the crit screening we got great feedback, everyone seemed to like it and there just a few things to change. Now we had seen it with the questions in it, it was clear that they were no longer needed. So we took those clips back out and did a few minor tweaks to the timeline before handing it over to Jamie to do the audio. 

Tasha then got on with changing the aspect ratios etc and I got Chris to do a colour grade on the piece. It is amazing the effect altering the shape of the video can do and how much a colour grade transforms the quality of the flat footage!

I saw Jamie in the protools suite and was astonished at the difference the proper sound made, it was like watching a different piece all together. The audio brought the piece alive and made you feel more a part of it.

Overall I am really pleased with this final video, for the first proper thing I have directed and shot I don't think it has turned out too shabby.

I think my favourite parts are:

• The ending sequence at Charlottes tea house, I was so lucky to stumble across such an amazing contributor and the perfect end shot. I would however like to be able to lengthen the sequence so I can get it to how I want it without the worry of time constraints.
• Burger van man, I really love the look of the van. I'm glad I didn't give up on it.
• Proper sound, it makes such a difference.
• Essence of Tea shoot.
• The fact that Jonathon is standing amongst tea in the rain holding the umbrella - genius.
• I love how the contributors are looking down the lens, it's like they are talking straight to you.
• Aspect ratio, not a bad idea even if I do say so myself.
• The tea party.
• WI tracking shot, the movement makes it look really cinematic.

The areas for improvement:

• The intro, we could not fix the fluctuations in the lighting as it was not to do with the exposure it was shadows. If I were to do it again I would make sure it was in a more controlled environment.
• Missing audio, the waitress at Charlottes Tea house has the wrong audio and it is really noticeable. In the future I will definitely make sure I save copies of EVERYTHING.
• I should have shot more cutaways. Luckily we were OK but I can see now what I need to get on shoot, I was really focused on getting the right interview shots that I didn't consider close ups of hands etc.
• The music, although I really like the composition of the piece of music I am not quite sure if guitar is the correct choice of instrument for the video.

I really enjoyed working as Director and Camera on this project and I have surprised myself, I was certain I would be no good. OK I am far from perfect at it but it is all a learning curve and I have definitely learnt a lot from this project that I can take on to my next film.

I must give thanks to my team, it would not have been possible without them, they all did such a great job and now deserve a well earned rest.

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into my next project. But first here is the video... I hope you enjoy!

Tea: Fuel of the Nation - Video

:)

The Edit Continues

We had our tutorial with Mel and overall she liked the film. The boys liked the video too which is great, I was hoping they would. Mel had a few pointers such as using the question amongst the answers so the audience don't forget what the question is. She also pointed out that Jonathon doesn't really introduce Tregothnan or the fact that the tea is in England so we decided to put in his quote about 'Putting the English into English Tea'. I think adding that in makes a lot more sense, I am not too sure about the questions but we will be able to get feedback at the crit.

As we had a little time to spare I decided it would be a good idea to do a quick colour correction on the video as it really was looking a bit drab. Pete showed the class how to do an auto colour correct in Avid and on the whole it worked really well just with a few tweaks here and there.

We have the crit screening tomorrow with Jeremy Gibson, a director from the BBC, I hope he likes it. The thought of having my work critiqued by someone as well established as him is quite daunting. I'm sure it'll be all right...

3 Minutes Woohoo

After spending another long afternoon/evening editing with Tasha we finally got it down to 3 minutes. We were trimming one frame here and one frame there, it was a very gruelling and tedious task but worth it in the end. I was better at being ruthless than I thought, I thought it would be really hard to cut things out but it went quite well. It is however very hard to fit so much footage into a 3 minute time frame. I am really pleased with what we were able to achieve and can't wait to see it with the additional visual parts put on and the good audio with it. We have a tutorial with Mel on Tuesday so hopefully that will go well too, that she likes it and doesn't want us to change too much.

10 Minute Wonder...

Today I saw the latest cut of the film and it was 10 minutes long, slightly lengthy for a 3 minute wonder I think. I was able to give Tasha quite a few suggestions. The Tregothnan bits did not work in practise, they didn't make sense split up and the piece didn't flow. So I decided to try out putting it all at the end before the Charlottes Tea House ending and shortening it, this worked a lot better. I think both myself and Tasha felt a lot better after my visit, I felt relieved that it seemed to be working as a film and I think Tasha was glad that I found a solution to the flow problem. I'm going to go over again tomorrow and we WILL have it at 3 minutes by the time I leave. That way we can give it to Jamie to start laying the audio down.

A Summer in February

I spent the last few days doing work experience in the Art Department for a feature length film. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I spent my time painting water colours, making diaries and sorting out the props list. I learnt a hell of a lot and I think I would actually consider a job in the Art Dept in the future. I love Art and I love Film, seems pretty obvious. I am doing another week at the end of January and I can't wait, I will be on set, it's going to be so much fun to see a proper film made!