Editing Workshop 1

Today's lesson was a workshop with Matt on learning how to edit. 

In the hour we had, we learnt the fundamental basics on how to edit using the software used at school which is premier pro. This software is used by all kinds of editors, ranging from beginners to people who do it for a living. 

When premier pro is first opened up we are presented with 4 windows. The top left window is the first video screen which is going to keep changing as you start editing. The top right hand window is another video screen which is linked directly to the timeline which is the bottom right window. The timeline is where the construction of the video takes place. The timeline goes from left to right. The bottom left hand corner is the project window which is the 'finder' of the software- footage, audio etc can all be found here. 

The first thing we did was made a bin where we put our rushes in. This process is called LOGGING. A rush is a completely unedited video file, it is called rushes because the film stuff is shot during the day and then ‘rushed’ off during the night to be used the next day by the producer and editor. (Called daily's in America because the process takes a day). 

Folders inside editing programmes are called bins. 

We logged by picking out the rushes we liked that we took in a previous workshop and moved it all to a bin. We renamed the rushes short and simple names so that they can be easily found in the future. 

(the square on the bottom left is the bins)

Once we had our bins we were able to use our footage. We first trimmed our videos down, to do this you mark the in point by pressing I. This tells the computer where to start the footage. 

 You press 'O' when you wanted it to end. 

We then moved the videos down to the timeline and put them together to create our final piece-

A few other important things we learnt were- 

• The trim handle is used to trim videos earlier/later
• We use Command S to save our work 
• Command Z is short for undo

 

Diary Entry pre-production 19th-24th

This week we found out the date for our shooting day which is the 3rd of May. We have two weeks to prepare and have a number of things to do.

Here are a number of things we did in preparation- 

Firstly, we went to our location to establish what we need to film and where. 

Here is some footage of the ideas we have - 

After establishing the location we were able to get onto our storyboard. 

A member of our group Nosa drew this for us whilst we discussed what would work and what wouldn’t- we didn’t finish our storyboard but will do this next week. 

Another task we had to do was order a few costumes and props. We split this out between us.

Nosa- is in charge of getting the doll house, headphones and the plastic sheet.

Amy- glasses, makeup and male costume

Mimi (myself)- fake blood

Tatum- white dresses

This week myself and Tatum got the fake blood ordered from Amazon and the white dresses for the female character from a website callee PrettyLittleThing. 

Lastly, we spoke to the dance teacher at our school about borrowing some shoes and some dance students offered to lend us some that we'll pick up next week. 

Camera workshop2- Thursday

 In the second camera workshop, we practised using two key techniques when filming which are:

The 180 degree rule-

This technique is used to make sure that the audience are aware of where everything and everybody is and know where all the action is happening in the scene. 

It is a basic guideline regarding the spatial relationship between the characters in a scene. The characters in the scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. 

If the 180 degree rule is broken, it looks and feels wrong because audiences have been conditioned for years of how things should look. 

Rule of thirds -

This is where the screen is split into three horizontally and vertically. It is more about where the lines meet rather than the boxes themselves. Where the lines meet is where point of interests go.

A mistake people usually make is placing the point of interest in the middle of the screen.

When adjusted and placing the point of interest on one of the focus points, the shot becomes more dynamic. 

We also learnt the language used whilst on set, to prepare to shoot a scene, dialogue goes as follows- 

Director- "Stand by"

Crew- "Standing by"

(these terms are used because they are short, simple and will not be misinterpreted.)

Director- "Roll camera"

Crew- "Camera Rolling"

Director- "Action"

Director- "Cut" 

It is important not to cut before the director calls it. 

I do not have footage from that day to show but what was shot that day is what we used in the editing workshop number 1. 

We shot a simple scene of me walking down the stairs and checking my phone multiple times with different camera angles. 

Camera Workshop with Matt-1

On Monday the 19th of April our media class had a camera workshop. 

During this hour lesson we learnt how to set up cameras and tripods. 

The Tripod 

Tripods are used so that a camera man doesn’t have to stand and hold a heavy camera for hours when film making. 

The tripod is made up of two bits -the legs and the head. When adjusting the height of the tripod, unclip the bottom clips and then follow up from there to avoid accidents such as the camera falling off. 

 

The Camera

A technique used when passing the camera is 'mine yours'- because the camera is heavy and expensive, when passing it around the person receiving the camera says 'mine' and the person giving it answers back with 'yours'. 

To place the camera on the tripod, you slide the bottom of the camera onto the tracks/grooves of the tripod, remembering to press the button on the left as you do so to ensure the camera clips on. Once you’ve done this you swap your grip to the right side and twist the fastener to make sure the camera is on securely and won't fall off. To test this, you can use the 'earthquake test' where you pick up and shake the tripod. 

Once the camera is on the tripod, you bubble it by making sure the 'little yellow circle' is in the middle. 

You then slide the battery onto the side of the camera and to ensure its in place you hear the 'click' sound. 

You also twist the handle round until it is tight to move the camera round like so-

There are two lenses on the cameras, the focus lens and the zoom lens. You simply slide them around and adjust it to the focus and zoom you want your shot to be- 

Props list update

List of props needed-

• the doll house
• fake blood
• mop and bucket
• headphones + cassette (I included this in part of the costume list and post)

We don't need that many props because the majority of our sequence if focused on the dolls house. 

A member of our group, Nosa, is bringing in his doll house from home. 

I am in charge of ordering the fake blood, which I found on amazon.  

We will be needing a lot of fake blood to make the 'pool' of it to give the illusion that she has been killed by a wound -(a cut) and that she has been left there for a while. 

Our group found a mop and bucket that the school already have which we will be using. 

Location for our opening sequence

During a media lesson, my group and I went and looked around the campus to see if the location we had originally chosen fit the part. 

We chose the basement of the main house of our school because we feel this will give a 'creepy' and mysterious atmosphere for our sequence.

We also chose this because there are rooms that the girl can be dragged into on one side of the corridor and there is also a room with washing machines and cleaning products which is perfect for our sequence as our murderer is cleaning up his dead body. Using this room we thought we could have some close ups of the washing machine spinning around clothes with blood on etc... 

I have taken some photos but will need to take some more- 

We thought that the hatch on the floor gives an idea that there could be hidden 'bodies' underneath.

In this picture you can see the side doors which will be good for the dragging of the body from the corridor. In one of the rooms will be the pile of shoes and possibly some of the dresses to give the impression that this is not the first girl he has killed and he is used to doing this. 

Costume List - update

Although I have done a previous post about costumes, our group got together to discuss final arrangements and organise assigned tasks for one another. 

Summary of what is needed:

• White dresses- Tatum
• Black (preferably jazz) shoes- myself
• Costume for the killer- Amy
• Headphones- Nosa 

We made this document with the costume and props list of things we need to buy or gather over the Easter and split the tasks out. 

For our killers costume, Amy was in charge of this and emailed our actor playing the character asking if he had any clothes that would fit the part.

                       This is the style we are going for:

We chose this because our sequence has got a 70s theme element to it- the music we play will most likely be from the 70's too. 

Tatum is in charge of getting the white dresses and we found a website that had some:

We chose these because they are plain and simple and connote the innocence of the young girl. 

Amy did a research task on makeup for the wounds. She researched brushing a large cut somewhere on the body and did some practice-

To do this, Amy used scar wax, red and black face paint, some sponges, make up brushes and fake blood. These products were bought from Amazon and as a group we thought it would be best to have these cuts around the girls throat. 

I am in charge of collecting the black shoes for the pile were going to use. 

(This is the type of shoe I was looking for)

We chose these because they aren't modern but again are plain and simple and also easy to collect. 

To get these shoes, I made a group chat with people from my year who I know do dance. I am also going to send an email to the dance teacher and ask around at school for the pairs of shoes. 

Nosa is in charge of getting the headphones and cassette player which are being sent to him. We chose this style of headphones to go with our 70s theme.