TECHNICAL REPORT

Software and hardware to be used:

- Final Cut Pro 7
- Adobe After Effects

- Magic Bullet

- Quicktime Player
- Canon 305
- Sony FS700
- External Hard-Drive (Lacie Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 1TB)
- Additional Hard-Drive (Buffalo MiniStation 1TB USB 2.0)
- iMac Desktop
- Macbook Pro Retina Display 15”
- Vimeo

PRE-PRODUCTION
10/02/14 – 27/02/14

The pre-production stage will primarily consist of pre-arranged meetings with the crew (director, producer, cinematographer, sound designer and art director), to discuss the following:

• The overall idea/concept of the final film and the editing approach we’d like to undertake. This will be achieved by brainstorming ideas for both the visual and oral aspects of the edit.

• I will sit down with the director and we will look at different films that fall into the same genre, we will take notes and inspiration from these pieces and discuss how we could implement any specific techniques into our own film. ‘The Shining’ directed by Stanley Krubrick was brought up after multiple discussions with our production tutor and director, I thusly re-watched the film and took notes on the use of long takes combined with the use of sudden jump-cuts/impactful, harsh sound effects.

• Explore with the director any other different editing approaches we could take. This will enable me to help the director achieve his vision for the short-film. We will explore other films from classic Hollywood e.g. Psycho, to more niche texts such as South-Korean films.

• The camera equipment/SD cards etc. to be used during the two weeks of shooting, I will then discuss with the director and cinematographer about the importing/transferring process onto Final Cut Pro 7 (FCP7).

• I will arrange a separate meeting the cinematographer after a decision has been made on which cameras will be used for the shoot. After this meeting it was decided that multiple cameras would be used:

- Sony FS700
- Canon 305

The footage is to be shot at a standard 25FPS, or higher for the ‘dream sequences’.

The cinematographer and myself agreed that the footage would be handed over to me within 48 hours after the shoot, allowing me to transfer the footage onto my laptop and external HDD 1TB Lacie Thunderbolt/USB 3.0. We have agreed that it makes sense I work off the external HDD for the post-production process, as the Lacie Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 1TB is sufficient enough to handle the requirements of FCP7 and has the room available to store all the footage, rather than risking the amount of memory/space on the iMacs in the editing suite(s).

• The director, producer and cinematographer will be carrying out the auditions and rehearsals during pre-production. Luke (cinematographer) has agreed to upload the videos onto our private Facebook production group page for the crew to view as they please.

However, if I decide to undertake this myself I will log and transfer the audition footage, edit the clips into a short sequence and export the footage as a QuickTime/uploading it to Facebook.

The auditions/rehearsals will be shot on the Canon 60D so I will do the following:

- Insert SD card
- Transfer footage onto my MacBook Pro under the file name ‘Auditions/DATE’
- Open MPEG Streamclip 1.9.2 @2004-2008
- Batch list
- Add files
- Export to Quicktime
- Save destination – External HDD 1TB Thunderbolt/USB
- Compression – Apple ProRes 422

After the footage has been converted, I will edit the footage, export using QuickTime Conversion and upload the video to Facebook.

Pre-Production materials submission – 27/02/14

• I will then meeting with the Sound Designer to discuss the preferred method of transferring the rough cut from FCP7 to ProTools. After the ‘exporting for sound’ editing workshop last semester, I was told to do the following:

- Create a ProTool export folder
- Export – Audio to OMFC
- Handle length – 10 seconds, 24 bit
- Do not export any video when exporting to Pro Tools
- Export the video file separately with sound

This will be done late-March.

MAJOR PROJECT SHOOT
03/03/14 – 17/03/14

NOTE – Our production has had a weeks extension, therefore the correct dates for filming are 17/03/14 – 24/03/14

As the editor, I have decided to stay away from the first seven days of the shoot which will cover every scene apart from one. The final scene will be shot on the 24/03/14; I have yet to decide whether to attend. I raised the point with the group that I should stay clear from the shoot to allow me to have a fresh perspective on the film when the post-production process begins.

I have told the crew to make sure they use the clapperboard, which will greatly aid me when I log the footage. However after contacting them mid-way through the shoot the director has informed they have only used it “sometimes”, and instead performed it orally. I hope this will not delay the process of logging the footage.

After the filming has come to an end, the footage will be handed over to me from all the cameras used (Sony FS700, Canon 60D, Canon 305). I will transfer the footage from the SD cards within 48 hours onto my laptop/external HDD to begin the conversion process.

I have once again created an online schedule to help me organize/plan out the dates I will transfer, convert, log the footage and begin the rough edit. During the logging process, I will break down the footage into separate ‘bins’ to make the process of editing more efficient and less time-consuming. To create a new Bin I will click on FILE, NEW, BIN and then label it according to what it will contain.

I have been informed that the cutaways and any other shots that weren’t on the shot list have been filmed mainly on the Canon 60D, therefore I may create a separate BIN for this. All the footage from all the cameras will be labeled clearly following this format:

SCENE – SHOT – TAKE – EXT or INT, followed by what type of shot it is e.g. MS (MID-SHOT), followed by a short description of what’s happening in the shot. This will make it easier to identify/differentiate one shot from another clearly. Any footage that seems unusable will be put into a separate bin titled ‘NG’ (No Good). Any ‘NG’ footage will however not be overlooked.

Each shot will be given a colour, for example if one shot in one scene has 7 takes, I will be able to apply a colour to the best take, indicating that it is the best shot out of those 7. This will once again make the editing process overall more efficient.

All the footage will be backed up onto my two HDDs, along with the director’s HDD and the cinematographer’s if need be.

POST-PRODUCTION
17/03/14 – 03/04/14

NOTE – In our case this starts from 25/03/14.

Below is the following schedule for the editing of the rough cut:

• 25/03/14 – 26/03/14 – Transfer and convert footage

• 27/03/14 – 28/03/14 – Log footage

• 28/03/14 – 31/03/14 – Sync-sound and 1^st Assembly

• 31/03/14 – 03/04/14 – Edit and finalise rough cut

• 03/04/14 – Rough Cut Screening

Based on our schedule, we do not have a satisfactory amount of time we require to achieve a presentable rough-cut, however I will make use of the time available and edit together something we can present at the rough cut screening.

After the footage has been backed up, I will begin the process of converting the Sony FS700 and Canon 305 footage. After recording footage using a Canon 305, the files are created in the following format (shown below). 

Therefore I will follow the same conversion process I undertook last semester -

• Open XDCAM FOOTAGE CONVERTER -> File -> add source -> add files ->

Hold shift and select all the clips -> select all the clips in the window so they’re highlighted blue -> import.

• Open FCP7 and click File -> import -> SONY XDCAM -> import (XDCAM FOOTAGE CONVERTER).

After converting the Canon 305 footage, I will then impost the Sony FS700 footage directly into FCP7 by doing the following -

• File - Log and Transfer.

Finally, I will convert any footage that was shot on the Canon 60D by following these steps:

• Open MPEG Streamclip

• Batch list

• Add files

• Export to Quicktime

• Save destination – External HDD

• Compression: Apple XDCAM HD422 1080i50 (50Mb/s)

When opening FCP7 I will ensure the time code is set to 10:00:00:00 and the format is ‘PAL’, at 25FPS.

After the conversion and logging process has been completed, I will sync up all the dialogue to each specific shot(s) by following these steps:

• Select the correct sound take under the correct ‘BIN’ that goes along with the video take.

• Use the mouse to scroll along to the sound of when the clapperboard was marked and create an 'in-point' using the letter 'I' on the keyboard.

• Select the corresponding video clip and mark an 'in-point'.

• Highlight the two clips (sound and video), right click and select 'Merge clips', and lastly selecting the 'in points'.

After doing this process, a separate (merged) clip will be created so I will drag the clip onto the timeline. This will leave me with the video and 3 sound clips, two being the original sound clips captured from the camera, and the third being the external sound clip I will have attached to the clip. Therefore I shall delete the camera sound, which will leave me with a workable, professional quality merged clip.

The director and myself will then sit down together and begin to assemble a rough-cut. We will follow the shot-list the director and cinematographer have created, this will be used as the spine of the cut, and any other ideas thought up through this process will be applied. After a considerable amount of work has been done, I will arrange scheduled meetings with the group to view the work undertaken up to that point; this will be a good way of acquiring new, fresh ideas from people who haven’t seen the edited piece. I will show the film to the group via FCP7 so I don’t have to go through the exporting process.

The rough cut will feature sync-sound, but it has yet been decided to whether the sound designer’s work will be applied to the rough-cut or not. If Joel has done enough work for the piece to make a ‘considerable’ difference then I will export the rough cut in a ‘ProTools’ format for Joel to work on the piece.

 After the rough cut has been finalized for the screening (03/04/14), I will export the cut and upload it onto Vimeo by doing the following:

• Export using QuickTime Conversion

• File

• Using QuickTime Conversion

• Save file to Desktop

• Video settings ‘BEST’ – Frame-rate ‘25FPS’ – Dimensions 1920 × 1080HD 16:9

• Sound: ON / 48Khz

• Upload the file onto Vimeo

FINALISE ROUGH CUT

03/04/14 – 11/04/14

Shortly after the screening, the director, producer and myself will sit down together and discuss the feedback on our film Home Away From Here. I will spend the following week making any necessary adjustments to achieve a finalised rough cut.

I will collaborate with the sound designer throughout the week, making notes on what has changed and what scenes/shots have been added. This will in turn allow him to make changes more efficiently. After the rough cut has been finalised, I will arrange a tutorial with my tutor to discuss the film and share opinions on the piece. I will aim to have an updated copy of the sound design Joel has been working on in the final rough cut for the tutorial. 

SOUND DESIGN/POST-PRODUCTION (CONTINUED)

11/04/14 – 14/05/14

Below is the schedule for producing a fine cut for the screening.

• 12/04/14 – 07/05/14 – Finalise Picture Cut

• 12/04/14 – 14/05/14 – Sound Design

• 15/05/14 - Fine Cut Screening

During the final month of post-production I will be producing a final picture cut for the film. The sound designer will work alongside me, noting down any changes that have taken place. The director will sit in on many occasions to offer his vision and input towards the piece.

The fine cut will mainly consist of cutting shots to a suitable length, taking on-board any feedback given from peers and/or tutors. Any pick-ups or reshoots will be transferred, converted and logged (following the same method explained earlier) into FCP7. Any significant changes to the piece will be notified to the sound designer. Throughout the cutting process, I will regularly export the latest version of our film and transfer it onto my hard-drive for the sound designer. To save time, I will export low-medium resolution copies (this has been agreed upon after a scheduled meeting with the sound designer). Joel will then transfer the Quicktime copy onto his own hard-drive and continue his work on the sound. I will export the latest cut following the same steps discussed above.

Alongside cutting the film, I will look into the best colour-grading software available for my needs. My schedule and time available will determine which software I use for our production. I plan to watch tutorials on using Magic Bullet, DaVinci Resolve (Lite) and Final Cut Pro 7 (3-way Colour Corrector). The colour grading stage may potentially begin before the fine-cut screening, depending on the time available and whether Jordan (the director) and myself have ironed out the overall cut of the film.

After the picture cut has been dealt with, I will implement the titles and credits into the piece. The producer will inform me the correct way in which the credits should appear on-screen, and the director will sit down with me to discuss the design of the title ‘sequence’ and credits. To create the title and credits I will do the following within FCP7:

• Click on the ‘Text’ icon and scroll down to Text – Text

• Drag the ‘video’, ‘SAMPLE TEXT’ onto my timeline

• Double click the clip – ‘CONTROLS’ tab – type the names of cast and crew

I will then repeat this process for the credits, creating multiple ‘TEXT’ layouts in my timeline so the cast and crew pop up in a timely fashion. Using the MOTION tab will allow me to rotate, scale and re-position my text to the desired location.

On occasions, I will export and OMF copy of the film for the sound designer if he requests one. To do this, I will do the following:

• File – Export – Audio to OMF

• Check the handle length is at ’10 seconds, 24 bit’

Furthermore I will export a separate video file with sound (explained earlier).

• 15/05/14 – Fine Cut Screening

I will export the fine cut of Home Away From Here using the same method as before by exporting it as a ‘QuickTime Conversion’. Joel will export his sound design work directly into FCP7 via his external hard-drive. He will then spend a brief few moments syncing the sound up to the picture. This process will be done in the morning as to allow sufficient time if any problems were to occur. The export will then be uploaded to Vimeo and titled appropriately. All the quality settings (both video and sound) will be set to ‘BEST’.

The director and myself will take the feedback we received during the screening on-board and alter it accordingly. We may schedule meetings after the fine cut screening to discuss the feedback that was given, however at this stage in the production I believe no drastic changes will be made; any further trimmings of clips will be noted down for the sound designer.

We will review the sound with the film and reflect on the sound designer’s work, giving him feedback and ideas. It was agreed that some of the scenes (for example the basement scene) were to be ADR’d rather than the sound being fully captured on-set. These recording sessions will take place alongside the picture editing of the film.

• 17/05/14 – Final Picture Lock

I will aim to have a final picture lock by this date, which will allow me to continue colouring the rest of the film.

COLOUR GRADING

17/05/14 – 30/05/14

The final days will be spent colour-grading the film. I plan on firstly colouring the dream sequence scenes, followed by the exterior scenes and finally the interior scenes. This is because the interior scenes will most likely be the toughest to correct, and my chosen workflow consists of getting the simpler scenes out of the way so I can focus on the bigger issues at hand. As mentioned earlier, I have yet to decide which software to use, however I believe I may use my brief knowledge of FCP7’s ‘3-Way Colour Correcting’ to grade our film. This will eliminate the learning curve needed for other pieces of software such as Magic Bullet and DaVinci Resolve (Lite). I plan on implementing a brown ‘tint’ to the interior and some exterior scenes to help fulfil the director’s ‘bleak’ vision for the piece.

After colour grading the film I will sit down with the director and he will look through the piece and point out anything he wishes changing. Afterwards, the sound designer, director and myself will view the film over entirely and make any (minor) adjustments. The FINAL picture-lock will then be saved to my external hard-drive and the desktop. It will be labelled as ‘HAFH FINAL PICTURE 30/05/14’.

PICTURE LOCK DEADLINE – DCP

30/05/14

Connor Elliott requires a final picture lock to exported on this date to create the DCPs for the screening the week after at the Showroom Cinema. Therefore I will export the final picture cut in the following way:

• File – Export – Quicktime Conversion – Options – Video Settings – Compressions Type – Pro Res HQ

I will then hand over my external hard-drive for Connor to take a copy of the final picture cut. The sound designer will continue to make any final adjustments to the piece as the deadline for sound may be extended by a few days. He will then export the sound separately and give Connor the export. The video file and sound file will then be synced and a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) will be created, which enable our film to be shown in the correct format at the Showroom Cinema.

Copies of the film will be handed out to the cast and crew upon request. However the film will be uploaded onto Vimeo once the picture cut/sound cut have been synced.

FINAL SUBMISSION – 06/06/14