The post-production of ‘Yianni’ is entertaining and challenging, but most importantly the material we now have shows what we managed to capture of the portrait on Yianni.Fin. The rough cut presented yesterday was interesting and fun, as it engaged one group work to another with feedbacks and constructive criticism. Thinking about the claustrophobic issues we had earlier when filming has improved and we got more out of the filmmaker Yianni as we went filming and spending more time with him.
A joke of ‘more is more’ from yesterday actually worked in the rough-cut presentation and ‘the self’ and unconscious behavior of the character. However, the most noticeable about our character while working with and on him in the post-production, is his way of unfolding. We were moving there when he was talking, from generalization to the surface of a deep, controversial or paradoxical ‘thing’. But as soon it started to drop into a tiny deep conversation, our character cut the topic there. After a couple of consults with the teaching staff, we have realized that that was not a problem – it was simply the natural way of being of the character. The best thing about the material gathered is that we have the interviews and the information and the structure sorted out, so the editing for the final cut is inserting and refining cuts, together with inserting the credits. Yianni has material from his own production we are hoping to use and I think this will be the insight of the filmmaker we are aiming to portrait.
In terms of editing skills, we found it weird how the time-code were playing around with us. Then after reflecting on why this had happened to two out of our seven tapes, this was because we are not used to do this type of filming. In short films, the set up and the rule of ‘action’ being called out allowed the cameraperson to roll those extra 5-10 extra seconds before capturing. In documentary, capturing the essence of the moment is so important that the record buttons get flicked on and off without thinking about ‘action’ being called out. By batch capturing the tape a couple of extra seconds before or after a shot, this still saves the footage. Other things in editing are the funniness of clichés. Yes it can be awkward but still, if it fits in – it fits in only where it is appropriate, and it contributes to make something funny.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Editing and the director's idea
The director’s idea and editing presented in the lecture, talked about how the documentary will en up on the screen. This semester has explored more into filmmaking aspects that we were introduced last semester, and this has been recognized during the work of the group project. Will the director’s idea come up on the screen? “Forbidden” was shot in post-production and early cut out. The sound effects used were okey but had it been shot in production maybe the sound decision could have been a bit more abstract and related more to the topic. For sound design, editing and burning, Garbage mats and dvd pro are suggested to be used. We used toast last semester and might do it again.
Green fields was interesting to see but only if it looks naturally. The use of supers is standard sbs and it is important to not just put them straight on but knowing which colors and font sizes to use. The fine cut is to make every cut absolutely perfect and ‘not okay’ but with perfect ending on both sound and footage cuts.
Lastly, the lecture talked about media management. The more experience the better and good file management is better than poor. Every work place has a totally different stye of file management and ethos. But what the work places and also education institutions have in common about file management, is labeling, coloring, fonts (caps and lower case) style guides and manuals. One must never replace a folder but create a new folder - check space and trash mark them instead.
Green fields was interesting to see but only if it looks naturally. The use of supers is standard sbs and it is important to not just put them straight on but knowing which colors and font sizes to use. The fine cut is to make every cut absolutely perfect and ‘not okay’ but with perfect ending on both sound and footage cuts.
Lastly, the lecture talked about media management. The more experience the better and good file management is better than poor. Every work place has a totally different stye of file management and ethos. But what the work places and also education institutions have in common about file management, is labeling, coloring, fonts (caps and lower case) style guides and manuals. One must never replace a folder but create a new folder - check space and trash mark them instead.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Last lectures
The lecture talked about plenty film making and production aspects. These were many and are: ethics, objectivity, organization, markers and markers in sequence, in clips, keyboard shortcuts, AUDIO, depth and breath, maintaining good levels, keeping nat sots, mix on the fly, frequencies, 3 band, boosting and elimination and strengthening the voice, attributes, pasting, coloring and image, effects, shot matching, doing it in small bursts, split screen, titling, matte for color and tracking.
Spending time and implementing constructive criticism into the editing process will fulfill these aspects and result into a good outcome. Dedication of time and doing one of these at the time will strengthen our ‘Yianni.Fin’ and already I can see why these things are so important. If the sound is not good over half the docu wont be good. If the colors are not good than neither will the film be. The eyes and ears are the tools that make the audience believe a film and a docu and if sound and footage are not convincing enough than neither is the audience satisfied. Luckily we have done our job and now we need to construct it and show it.
Spending time and implementing constructive criticism into the editing process will fulfill these aspects and result into a good outcome. Dedication of time and doing one of these at the time will strengthen our ‘Yianni.Fin’ and already I can see why these things are so important. If the sound is not good over half the docu wont be good. If the colors are not good than neither will the film be. The eyes and ears are the tools that make the audience believe a film and a docu and if sound and footage are not convincing enough than neither is the audience satisfied. Luckily we have done our job and now we need to construct it and show it.
El Peers: Group communication and collaboration
This week was the self and peer assessment. Being a strong group of three females, we decided from week 1 what we aimed for in TV2 and what we wanted to get out of the documentary production. I think, since we had a grade and effort foundation from the start, this has contributed to us working equally, on the amount of workload for the documentary. Communication barriers occur for both technical and social issues and these are aspects of real life we can learn off. The most important point of our group work has been trust. We don’t have to check up on each other before passing the hard driver onto each other for individual work because we know that the person before has done the job. And if not there would be an explanation of why.
I think Diane and I have got to know each other better in a short time and have ‘that unspoken language’ both inside and outside the editing suites. With La-Ra it has been the same mindset, probably because I have known her since last semester. The reflection of this semester’s group work was seen on Thursday’s honest assessments and grade settings. We have worked differently in both the first part of the semester and the second part of it due to prioritizing of courses and work and it has all come together that we work fairly and equally in terms of effort and time.
I think Diane and I have got to know each other better in a short time and have ‘that unspoken language’ both inside and outside the editing suites. With La-Ra it has been the same mindset, probably because I have known her since last semester. The reflection of this semester’s group work was seen on Thursday’s honest assessments and grade settings. We have worked differently in both the first part of the semester and the second part of it due to prioritizing of courses and work and it has all come together that we work fairly and equally in terms of effort and time.
Post-production and project material
Through the editing process, our filming and material selection has improved. And most important and interesting feature of our project, is the material we now have to play around with when construction Yianni. The rough sketch of constructing Yianni looks like this:
-Establishing Yianni: the part of the beginning of and dreams of being a filmmaker, the best friend Nick and the constant presence of the talking brother Michael.
-Yianni the filmmaker and the self: the philosophical part of filmmaking process, issues and the language of film analysis and critique on film making for products. This part also includes what a filmmaker thinks of another filmmaker.
-A filmmaker and the real life: this part finalizes the documentary and will show the paradoxes, controversial and ethical issues within the filmmakers real life, and he actually feels about it and why.
This construction happened after we got feedback on the material and observing the clips and Yianni in real life. The selection is not randomly or historically made, but this is what we have captured in the weeks of filming ‘Yianni.Fin’. There are some technical issues that we are able to fix and I thought it was our fault that mic gain or lens issues happened and we felt like failures, so strongly wanting to our best. This meant more than TV1 and serendipity. The experience from real life of production during my work placement suddenly reminded me of why we are students some are second and some third years. The mentor was right – ‘see that is why you guys go and do Higher Education. You guys do things and errors that you learn from. Why mistakes occur is because you guys know what went wrong and they will never happen again’. He was right.
-Establishing Yianni: the part of the beginning of and dreams of being a filmmaker, the best friend Nick and the constant presence of the talking brother Michael.
-Yianni the filmmaker and the self: the philosophical part of filmmaking process, issues and the language of film analysis and critique on film making for products. This part also includes what a filmmaker thinks of another filmmaker.
-A filmmaker and the real life: this part finalizes the documentary and will show the paradoxes, controversial and ethical issues within the filmmakers real life, and he actually feels about it and why.
This construction happened after we got feedback on the material and observing the clips and Yianni in real life. The selection is not randomly or historically made, but this is what we have captured in the weeks of filming ‘Yianni.Fin’. There are some technical issues that we are able to fix and I thought it was our fault that mic gain or lens issues happened and we felt like failures, so strongly wanting to our best. This meant more than TV1 and serendipity. The experience from real life of production during my work placement suddenly reminded me of why we are students some are second and some third years. The mentor was right – ‘see that is why you guys go and do Higher Education. You guys do things and errors that you learn from. Why mistakes occur is because you guys know what went wrong and they will never happen again’. He was right.
Reflecting on post-production
When editing, this is where every producer and filmmaker gets the big eye opener. Technical issues happen, and that has more to do with our set of skills rather than the camera equipment. Why does the capturing freeze, why is the sound level low and what on earth is with the exposure and camera lens? The character talked at its best but there is something there on the screen that is not meant to be there.
This semester I have learned how to tackle software issues. Not having the guide near me has contributed to me finding creative solutions for time code, reel and logging issues. The guide is good to have as a back up but I think a 1-5 step of opening and preparing the capturing with knowing how to do it in two ways helps and also saves time. It might look a bit clumsy when two scenes have been captured in as one, but it helps out the quality of the segment, as it is not being cut up and disturbed. When giving the time code enough seconds to run, this prevents it from causing serious breaks in the shoots and repetitions, as it is not being found. When rough cutting Yinnai, this appeared in a few shots so on Friday’s filming we did not forget it, making it easier to capture the reel than it was with good old tape 3. The rest of the tapes went fine until the last one.
25 degrees all over Melbourne on this beautiful Saturday morning as I strolled to RMIT to rough cut my sequence. The deck was not happy to se me and shut off, and I looked at the massive Mac screen perfectly made by Mr. Jobs himself and the error message. Then back to the deck…Well, it looked quite dead and it had eaten my project’s last tape. What was wrong with the deck? Professor Richard for the first time sounded a bit quieter on the other end of the phone than before. It wasn’t my technical skills and neither the Professor’s knowledge. This was a serious technical deck issue for HVD production. Solution made – a new challenge for the tech guys and mystery to be solved Monday morning.
This semester I have learned how to tackle software issues. Not having the guide near me has contributed to me finding creative solutions for time code, reel and logging issues. The guide is good to have as a back up but I think a 1-5 step of opening and preparing the capturing with knowing how to do it in two ways helps and also saves time. It might look a bit clumsy when two scenes have been captured in as one, but it helps out the quality of the segment, as it is not being cut up and disturbed. When giving the time code enough seconds to run, this prevents it from causing serious breaks in the shoots and repetitions, as it is not being found. When rough cutting Yinnai, this appeared in a few shots so on Friday’s filming we did not forget it, making it easier to capture the reel than it was with good old tape 3. The rest of the tapes went fine until the last one.
25 degrees all over Melbourne on this beautiful Saturday morning as I strolled to RMIT to rough cut my sequence. The deck was not happy to se me and shut off, and I looked at the massive Mac screen perfectly made by Mr. Jobs himself and the error message. Then back to the deck…Well, it looked quite dead and it had eaten my project’s last tape. What was wrong with the deck? Professor Richard for the first time sounded a bit quieter on the other end of the phone than before. It wasn’t my technical skills and neither the Professor’s knowledge. This was a serious technical deck issue for HVD production. Solution made – a new challenge for the tech guys and mystery to be solved Monday morning.
Trust and camera behavior
Feedback given in week 10’s tute was that we had to step away from being claustrophobic, in our documentary of Yianni.
This weekend we discovered what that was. While filming Yianni in the bike store, this opened up the relationship between him and Nick, that we were hoping to capture. The goal of filming this day was to fill out those claustrophobic spaces and get Yianni to talk more of the essence of him as a filmmaker. Spending Saturday morning with Yianni while helping him out with the film shoot was fun, and gave the insight to see how he operated in the filmmaking field. As the hours went, he got used and comfortable having us three together around him and we got to capture more controversial and paradoxical interview material.
Lessons I can learn from the experience of filming Yianni are many. Following ethics was hard but I think it needs to be done and when interviewing one must put a person on the spot, and sometimes cross the border. Talking persuasively and conversational helps but asking questions afterwards also help. For example, as Yianni and I was driving back to the city I asked him what he thought about being put on the spot – off the record for our documentary and from a journalist’s perspective. The curiosity of why I had asked that, made Yianni talk freely of the issues around ethics but as a character of a documentary he thought it was necessary in order to get the production material.
Like Meenakshi, I found it learning full to learn in detail of how to build a trust relationship with the interview object. The more the object knows the filmmaker, the more trust he or she has towards the filmmaker. This importance is seen in how people tend to change behavior in front of the camera. I believe, that it is all about the experience from both sides. Yianni is young and sometimes it is hard to articulate and talk about film making from a beginner level. But when that is said that is how Spielberg must have been as young too. What we are producing might be a portrait of one of Australia’s best filmmakers as young one day, but that remains to be seen.
This weekend we discovered what that was. While filming Yianni in the bike store, this opened up the relationship between him and Nick, that we were hoping to capture. The goal of filming this day was to fill out those claustrophobic spaces and get Yianni to talk more of the essence of him as a filmmaker. Spending Saturday morning with Yianni while helping him out with the film shoot was fun, and gave the insight to see how he operated in the filmmaking field. As the hours went, he got used and comfortable having us three together around him and we got to capture more controversial and paradoxical interview material.
Lessons I can learn from the experience of filming Yianni are many. Following ethics was hard but I think it needs to be done and when interviewing one must put a person on the spot, and sometimes cross the border. Talking persuasively and conversational helps but asking questions afterwards also help. For example, as Yianni and I was driving back to the city I asked him what he thought about being put on the spot – off the record for our documentary and from a journalist’s perspective. The curiosity of why I had asked that, made Yianni talk freely of the issues around ethics but as a character of a documentary he thought it was necessary in order to get the production material.
Like Meenakshi, I found it learning full to learn in detail of how to build a trust relationship with the interview object. The more the object knows the filmmaker, the more trust he or she has towards the filmmaker. This importance is seen in how people tend to change behavior in front of the camera. I believe, that it is all about the experience from both sides. Yianni is young and sometimes it is hard to articulate and talk about film making from a beginner level. But when that is said that is how Spielberg must have been as young too. What we are producing might be a portrait of one of Australia’s best filmmakers as young one day, but that remains to be seen.
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