FLASHBACKS IN POST-PRODUCTION

Film grain, un-natural glows of light, vignette and shifted focus are all common features in many flashbacks that are seen in TV programmes, film, shorts etc. Their unnatural style and essence subconsciously tell the audience they're watching a flashback; this is best shown in the Dexter flashback I analysed earlier in my portfolio.

I have watched the video below that demonstrates one of the quickest, easiest and most-effective ways to make a flashback scene look like a flashback, and will most-likely be using this technique on our flashbacks in 'Home Away From Here'. As to date, I have never put together a flashback/dream sequence, so I am looking forward to experimenting with the different visual techniques available on FCP7.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdveOL3AZ5o (Last accessed 30/04/2014)


After watching the (above) video, I quickly experimented with the different levels of vignette and focus on a dream sequence for our film. The results were pleasantly effective -

 This picture displays a shot that has the 'soft-focus' effect applied, giving it a 'dreamier' feel to the clip.

This picture shows the process of applying the vignette effect to the clip.

(BEFORE)










This is the resulting effect. I was happy with the way the character appeared in-focus, with the surrounding interior the opposite. I believe the audience will be drawn to Jack's younger self (in the picture)  as intended by applying the effects.

(AFTER)

I will continue to experiment with the techniques shown in the video by applying them to the dream sequences in our film. Thusly becoming more confident in achieving such effects for any future projects.

INSIDE THE EDIT - A SHORT ANIMATION

This animated short (below) is a great visual representation of what the role of an editor is. The video expresses the editor's importance on storytelling through the use of sculpting, slicing, shaving and carefully selecting clips. It goes on to say that we impose form and go through hundreds of creative, selective and structural decisions.

Many people underestimate the importance of an editor's role... I have always had to explain to people what the role involves and why it means so much. After viewing this short, it gives me an even clear understanding to what tasks an editor is confronted with on a daily basis.



THE EDITOR from Inside The Edit on Vimeo. (Last accessed 30/04/2014)

ROUGHT-CUT SCREENING

For the rough-cut screening we showcased scene 1, half of scene 9 and a montage of interior/exterior cutaways. After receiving the footage approximately one week before the screening, it was my duty to convert and log the footage. These tasks took four days to complete giving me just a few days to assemble something for the screening. I took an executive decision and decided that instead of creating a rough assembly of all 10 scenes for the screening, we would instead assemble a strong cut of the first scene and half of scene 9 (the torture scene), as scene 9 is considered to be one the key scenes in the film. The director agreed that due to the lack of time available because of our filming schedule being pushed back one week, we preferred to showcase a better quality cut than a bigger cut that lacked depth and structure. The montage sequence towards the end featured cutaways that are to be included in the final. Both the int and ext shots connote an eerie atmosphere and setting for the piece.

The rough-cut was assembled in the following order-

Scene 9 -> Scene 1 -> Montage

I decided to arrange the cut in this way because scene 1 and the montage synced/merged with one another.

The rough-cut that was shown at the screening is displayed below.


Home Away From Here - Rough Cut from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.

Feedback from the tutors during the screening -

Annie - Beautifully shot. Cinematic. Complex character connections, make sure the film has 'room to breathe'. 

I believe Annie is correct in saying the film should have room to breathe. This coincides with Jordan's vision of having pauses after certain shots, to allow the audience to connect with the main protagonist and reflect on the events that take place.

Jordan - We are looking to lose some lines of dialogue.

Certain lines of dialogue delivered from James (played by Jack Simmons) aren't well acted, therefore as a group we have decided to lose some of lines, and we are seriously considering re-voicing him as his accent/dialect is not like the strong Yorkshire accents delivered from the other actors (his family within the film).

One key point I am taking from the production of this film is the extra time one should allow for fixing problems i.e. Re-voicing the main protagonist. Throughout the last 3 years at university I have learnt that problems will almost always occur. 

Mark - Locations are good. Play with the natural elements.

Joel has thusly decided to emphasise the elements of nature in the film by introducing the sounds of wind, animals, water etc. The atmosphere correlating with the footage should connote a sense of solitude and vastness. 

Susannah - Cellar is creepy. We should try playing around with the "Help me" dialogue. Too literal at the moment. Detach it from the images. Stutter it, create whispers.

Neil - Lose "Help me". "Space design" for sound.

Currently I am in two minds to whether Joel should include the "Help me" lines of dialogue in the opening scene or whether he should cut it out completely. I agree the line is too literal however by breaking the dialogue up (introducing a 'stutter' effect), it may reflect/relate to the character's current amnesia. 

Chrissie - Not as violent as expecting which is good. Good use of locations, decaying wood etc. "Can smell it!".

I believe what Chrissie is attempting to say is that by showing less, is giving more. A 'philosophy' I have always stuck by. I chose and a held shots that didn't psychically show the torture taking place to allow the audience to use their imagination. 

Chris - Likes the lake scenes and cellar is effective. Dirty lens noticeable.

Unfortunately almost every shot in the opening scene the lens features dirt. Therefore I will cut out the shots in which this is most visible. This is highly unfortunate as the shots that will require deleting are indeed the better ones.

It was then decided that a rough-cut needs completing within one week. I will achieve a full rough-cut by (approx.) Friday 10th May... In hindsight I am happy with the feedback on our film. I will take the comments into consideration and act accordingly. 

FILMING ON LOCATION - SLATER/RUNNER

After the crew had spent the week filming on location in a cottage out in Derbyshire, they came back to Sheffield to film the final major (basement) torture scene. The director Jordan Deakin requested that I attend the shoot to act as a runner/slater for the day. Therefore I attended the day long shoot and a handful of production photos I took are displayed below.

After deciding not to attend the week long shoot 

prior to this one, I was happy to attend and help out with the shoot as it rekindled my knowledge on what happens within film-set productions. Throughout the day I marked-up and slated with the clapperboard and fetched any items the cinematographer and director required. 

I believe the shoot was well organised as a  whole, the producer pushed the cinematographer and director to ensure they captured the shots they needed whilst still having time to get the rest. The director fulfilled his role overall by instructing the actors on how to best fulfil their characters' emotions and movements, and Luke for the vast majority listened to instructions and appeared to be sticking to the shot list. The art director Amy Jackson used a piece of meat for the leg stabbing section of the film, the crew and myself were more than happy with the results. 

In this case I enjoyed not having a key role in the production, as I was able to stand back and watch the production take place. I believe my experiences in filmmaking have expanded and I will be able to take these forward to future productions.

Initially I was attempting to construct an edit in my head of how the cut would form in FCP7. However the shots were not filmed in sequence so it was difficult to do so. The basement scene itself is currently in it's early stages of post-production. I am beginning to find continuity errors within the scene for example on more than one occasion Philip (the one inflicting the torture) all of a sudden has his glasses on. The takes themselves also drag on for a considerable amount of time, therefore I will look for ways to cut around this problem e.g. by cutting to interior
cutaways within the basement (candles, the wall,
the torture table etc.

I will discuss the problems of continuity with visible examples once I have fully constructed the scene together.

LOGGING FOOTAGE

                                                                        The logging process was completed over a period of two days. Unofrtunately this took longer than expected because around 50% of the shots were not marked with a clapperboard, which would've allowed me quickly type out the scene number, shot and take.

This was particularly frustrating as I specifically told the director and cinematographer to mark each and every shot, apart from the cutaways which were marked with a simple audio "Cutaway. This meant I had to look through the shot-list document and find which shot linked to the footage on-screen. In some cases, a take wasn't in the shot-list so I had to make a calculated guess as to what was happening.

The majority of shots were marked in the format of "SCENE, SHOT, TAKE, SHOT DESCRIPTION", and then organised into BINS. This will give me a clean and simple palette to work with whilst editing.

The following BINS were created:

• SCENE BINS

• EXT. CUTAWAY BIN

• INT. CUTAWAY BIN

• NG BIN (Footage that is "no good")

• SOUND BINS

The pictures on the left display the logging process.

After I had finished logging the footage, our sound designer Joel transferred all of his dialogue/atmos tracks onto my external HDD. I then imported the files onto FCP7 and created a separate 'BIN' for each scene.