Rushes - Short Film

Footage Organisation - Short Film

In my hard drive I have organised my footage into a folder labelled 'SHORT FILM'. This folder is categorised alongside other folders for my previous Creative Media Projects, for my advert, documentary and music video. In the folder for my short film I have organised all my documents and footage to make it easy to access. 

I then have separate folders for my editing research, pre production. footage and rushes. The 'Pre Production' folder contains all my documents that I used for my short film pre production, and my 'Rushes' folder contains my rushes document. I have organised my folders like this to ensure that I can access the right documents at the right time, and can keep all my work separate for different processes of my short film. My 'footage' folder will help me when I'm editing, as a way to keep my workspace clean and to make my footage easy to reach.  

Inside the 'Footage' folder I have categorised my footage into scenes, with a folder for scenes 1, 2 and 3. This will help me keep organised when I'm editing, as I can quickly access footage from a certain scene, and it will help me to keep my work tidy and organised. Also it will prevent me from having to comb through all pieces of footage every time I need a file. As well as this, I have a folder that contains my audio files for my voiceovers that will be played as voicemails in the opening montage sequence. This helps me to separate the audio from visual files so that I don't get confused looking for the audio files.

I will be using my rushes log to help me identify what footage is excellent and I should use, or what footage is unacceptable and I should avoid. This will save me time when trying to find the correct piece of footage to use in my edit. I have organised my rushes into my 'Rushes' folder (see picture above).

In my editing software Adobe Premiere Pro, I have organised my footage into the same way that I have in my hard drive. As before, I have arranged my footage by scene, with a separate folder for each scene and another for my audio files. This way, whilst editing, my files are easily accessible and organised, thus making the editing process much quicker as I don't have to spend too much time looking for footage. As identified earlier, my rushes document has helped me to only place the usable footage into each folder in Premiere Pro, so that only the best shots are used. This helps again to save time as I have filtered out all the bad and unusable shots. 

This is a screen shot of my editing software, which I will be editing my film on. To the left is where I have stored all my footage in folders (see above). Alongside the footage bin is the 'Effects' tab, which is easily accessible as I need to use this often. In the bottom right is the timeline, which is the most important part of the editing process. I usually have this section, or the viewing monitor (top right), as the largest sections of the screen, as they are the parts that I need to be observing in detail. When editing, the timeline usually takes up the majority of the screen, and when viewing what I have just edited, I make the viewing monitor bigger. Finally in the top left is the source monitor, where I can view footage and select the sections I wish to put into the timeline. This section is very important, however when not needed I simply make it smaller on the screen in favour of the viewing monitor and/or timeline. 

Short Film Progress Diary

04/04/17

Today I recorded all of my voiceovers for the opening montage sequence, which I will use as voicemails to help convey the character's story to the audience. I was intending to have the actors call my home phone, and then to simply record the voicemails from my home phone and use that recording in the production. However when I tried this, the sound was not clear enough and therefore unusable. So I have decided to simply use the original recordings of the actor's voiceovers, and I will add a 'radio effect' to them, and insert voicemail 'beep' noises between them, to make the recording sound like a voicemail machine.

05/04/17

Today I completed the photoshoot with my lead actress and the actor playing her brother. All went very well, and was completed on time.

10/04/17

Due to prior engagements, filming has been moved forward from the second week of the Easter Holidays, to the first week. Filming has been moved to the 12th and 14th April 2017.

12/04/17

Today was the first day of filming, and I'm very pleased with how it went. I managed to film scene 2 and 3 (with some small exceptions from scene 2 that can be easily filmed). The actors were brilliant and very patient with me, as I am still getting used to being in the role of director. As well as this, they were confident with their delivery and listened carefully to and stuck to my directions. Overall, I'm very pleased with their performance and how the shots look. However I did have some issues with lighting, as I'm not confident with how to successfully light a scene. So I had a friend help with the lighting arrangements, who was able to calm my anxiety about it, and taught me some tips so that on the second day of filming I could successfully light a scene by myself.
The lighting in scene 3 is rather bright as it is in a white room, however I have discovered that I can dim the brightness in post production. As well as this, any white noise picked up by the microphone can be easily rectified in post production.

14/04/17

Today was the second day of filming, which I did by myself. I only needed one of my actors to film scene 1 and the beginning of scene 2. I am rather happy with the finished results, however two of the lights I was using to film, broke during filming. This meant that I had to resort to natural light for some shots, meaning that some shots have a blue colour temperature, whereas others have an orange one. To rectify this I will attempt to colour correct in post-production, and I hope that it works well enough so I don't have to re-shoot. In spite of this, the filming went well, and I believe I dealt with the problem effectively, finding ways around it such as using natural light instead.

27/04/17

Today I finished my rushes log, recording my visual and audio files. I have also made sure to organise all my footage into easily accessible files on my hard drive, and have screen-shotted my files organisation as well as my rushes document, and uploaded them to my blog.

02/05/17

Today I have finished my edit decision list, documenting how I will edit my short film, and the reasons why. I have included the types of shots I will use, types of cut and transition, as well as discussing my reasons for using diagetic sound only. I will be handing in my rushes log, screen shots of my organisation and my edit decision list on Thursday.

09/05/17

I have started editing today and am pleased with how it is going. So far I have edited the montage sequence for the opening to my short film, with voicemail messages playing over the top. 

10/05/17

I am continuing to edit, and have started the second scene. Editing so far has been going well, however I have discovered that the sound from the long two-shot is quieter than the sound from the mid close ups of the characters, meaning that when I switch from one shot to another in quick succession, the audio doesn't flow as naturally as I'd like it to. To try and rectify this, I have increased the volume on the long two-shot take, and have doubled up the audio files in the timeline when one of the characters is speaking, as she is the quietest. As well as this I am adding a 'deNoiser' effect on all my audio clips to reduce any white noise, and to keep continuity with my footage.

11/05/17

I am continuing editing, and have discovered that the 'deNoiser' effect has made my audio sound muffled. Therefore I have added the 'Parametric EQ' effect, and increased the 'Q' to 20.0 to try and rectify this. Whilst it has not fully solved the issue, it has helped. I've also found a way to better the audio in the long two shot. I've synced the audio from the close up shots to the long two shot, to keep continuity and to not disturb the audio.  

16/05/17

I have finished editing the third scene with some exceptions. I have also colour corrected and brightened many of my shots to keep continuity with the lighting. In the second scene I have added some close up shots of my main character's hand tapping on a mug, and an extreme close up of her face (whilst she is biting her lip) to convey her anxiety about the situation. This will help tell the story and help the narrative flow. I am also considering adding some aspects of non-diagetic sound such as a clock ticking in the background and bird song for the opening shot. This will help to add depth and more emotion to the project. 

18/05/17

I am continuing to edit, and have nearly finished. There are only a few minor corrections left to make, such as cleaning up the last scene. Whilst editing, I have also been writing my evaluation on my editing choices and techniques, and have nearly completed this as well. Also, I have uploaded my short film (as a work in progress) to YouTube, and have emailed it to Bill Smith from Latest TV for professional feedback. I hope his feedback will help me to improve my short film.

22/05/17

I noticed that, even though I'd added a 'DeNoiser' effect to my audio, when I exported it, white noise/hiss could be heard intermittently throughout. I was very confused as to what this was, so removed all the effects I'd added to the audio to start again. I tried various different effects to rectify this problem, and have decided on the effect 'Lowpass', to reduce the white noise. Whilst this does not completely solve the problem, and there is still white noise present, it isn't as prominent as in the raw footage, and it doesn't create random bursts of hissing. I am going to adapt my editing evaluation to include the 'Lowpass' effect.

I haven't yet heard back from Bill Smith.

25/05/17

I made final adjustments to my short film and ironed out any small issues, such as the volume of the 'voicemail messages' audio clips in the opening montage. I have also completed my editing choices evaluation, and will be uploading my short film export soon, and sending a copy to the technicians at college. 

'The Konjac Sponge' Advert - Social Media Progress

The company that I worked with to make my advert, 'The Konjac Sponge Company', was so pleased with my two 30 second adverts that they asked me to make a 10 second version for their Instagram page. Whilst they posted my full-length 30 second versions on their Twitter, they used my 10 second version on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

10 second advert for 'The Konjac Sponge Company''s 

Instagram page

After posting these, they sent me an email to inform me of the progress my advert had made on their Instagram page, in terms of 'views' and 'likes'. 

They were very pleased with the progress, as it had performed very well, especially as it was not a review from a beauty blogger or one of their own productions. 

Since upload, my video is ranked #4 out of 7 videos in terms of views, and #3 in terms of 'likes'. This is very impressive and I'm very pleased with this result, as I'm very proud of my adverts and am pleased others like them too. Furthermore, around 21% of those who viewed my advert on Instagram, 'liked' it. Again, I'm very pleased with this result. 

In conclusion, I'm delighted with the progress my advert has made on the company's social media, as this is my first advert and my first time working with a real company.