Drama Presentation Reflections

Today has brought grave disappointments in our drama presentation. As a result of the late stage at which we have had to shoot the project, brought on by a lack of motivation from most group members during pre-production to get shooting, and a series of late shows and lie-ins throughout by those crew, I went without any sleep last night in order to go back over the greenscreen effects as planned, and to tweak the cuts to improve the pacing of the film. I have been working remotely with the editor to do this, using dropbox to exchange files. This is due to a particularly tough funeral I attended yesterday, back in Leicestershire.

Once sound recordings had been edited individually, the sound mixing and placement through the video took place late. Though, having heard the full results, a fantastic job was done on the sound design and all of the recordings were clear and inventive, this last-minute rush has caused a disastrous issue. As they were initially working with the rough cut, the sounds were timed to fit with this. I later sent over my changed version in a FCP document via dropbox, although as neither the producer, sound designer or sound recordist informed me, they were unable to access it. As soon afterwards they could no longer use the edit suite as it became late at night, the plan was for them to make the changes from 9am this morning.

What in fact happened was that they had to finish the edits onto the rough cut, and though I arrived back as early as my off-peak train ticket would allow, they did not have time to readjust the mix to fit in with the latest (and much improved) cut. Another factor causing this problem was that they worked with an exported video of the rough cut, rather than sending the sequence from Final Cut Pro. The files were distributed across various computers, making an alternative impossible.

Thus, the efforts I endured throughout the night, and much of the work I have put in throughout two weeks of early mornings and very late nights to the point of exhaustion and copious amounts of stress, has been made irrelevant. In all honesty I feel despondent, and incredibly frustrated and let down. I feel cheated out of a better piece of work by a willingness by others to complete work at the very last minute, and annoyed by the many instances of late appearances, no-shows and distractible attitudes occurring during shooting of the film.

In reflection concerning the post-production process, in future perhaps a greater emphasis on data control and backup is needed, and I will certainly be maintaining my own copies of every file in order to prevent these problems occurring again.

The problems have stretched further than the technical aspects of the film; the late confirmation of our script has led to a late casting process, which coupled with a series of actors unable to help out at the short notice I had to provide, has impacted on my ability to hold any rehearsals or indeed to work with actors in advance of the shooting at all.
Story development has been stunted by a rush to organise shooting and obtain what was needed for the film, at the cost of having any time to consider the fine elements of the script and redraft them. The two redrafts we've had have been small changes focussing mainly on corrections of errors.

Colour Grading

The rough cut so far doesn't contain any colour grading, so I've made use of Magic Bullet Looks for Final Cut Pro to complete this step. The results are looking much stronger and more cinematic; I have placed a cool colour temperature onto most of the footage along with a contrast increase. For the white void scene I have hidden some of the bleed-through of green screen by grading it in a very stylistic and saturated manner, and in the closing scene I have applied a blown-out aesthetic in order to elevate it above normality in a small way. Below is a brief sample of the grade.

Last Minute Keying

At this extraordinarily late stage in production, I'm finally able to look back at keying the green screen material, in order to improve upon the version completed in Final Cut Pro. I've used AfterEffects and the Keylight plugin to create a white void around the characters, and so far the results have been cleaner with less bleeding of colours, and a lot less softly outlined.

However, a problem has arisen, after waiting 2 hours for rendering and exporting, in that each video file is only 5 seconds long. It's getting late to the point that I'll soon be departing to catch my train to Sheffield, and the sun is coming up outside! So it looks like I'll just have to try to tweak the keying already done in Final Cut after all.

That's a Wrap, At Last! (With Stills From Rob)

After a stressful 10 days or so with little sleep, it's a relief to have our final scene in the can. Thanks to Jacob's dedicated editing we're almost up to date with rough cuts, so it's hopefully uphill from here.

On a positive note, following the rather awful-looking cosmonaut suit we previously used, and the diminishing light in which we were forced to shoot, Jacob remembered that through his volunteer work at the Fire and Police museum, he had previously borrowed a very 50s B-movie spaceman-like suit, which was in fact for airport firefighters.

After seeing footage I immediately knew it was right for the project, and we scheduled a reshoot for today. Sure enough, it looks fantastic in comparison to our previous material!

Another stalled start occurred, though, when I was unable to wake anybody from their sleep at 11am (when we had been due to meet). Eventually we were ready to shoot, aside from one small issue: the producer had borrowed the SD card from the Marrantz recorder, something I'd forgotten about. He soon said he was on his way, from his flat 2-5 minutes' walk from our location. No less than 50 minutes later he finally arrived. 

In the afternoon we shot the first half of scene 1, rushing through to get done but maintaining quality and getting good coverage of each moment. Overall I'm pleased with today's shoot, despite a few issues with getting everybody on location. Shooting was also an uphill battle against distractions, and took a great deal of effort before each take to get everybody focussed and quiet.

Below are some location stills from the flat.

Drama Post-production - Sound Design

In conversation with Aaron, our sound designer extraordinaire, I have previously discussed the music used on the opening titles of Enter The Void. The song used is Freak by LFO - its chaotic, electronic sound is fairly unique, pumping out a fast rhythm that produces adrenaline in the listener and is perfectly complementary to the tone of the film.

We would like to consider this music when deciding on music for our own film; through the use of synths and MIDI controllers, coupled with the effects library of Soundtrack Pro, perhaps we can emulate the style demonstrated in the LFO track.

On the other hand it may well be, due to the emerging slow pace of our film, that a more ethereal and ambient score is required from start to finish. Experimentation will be key.

The music is inspiring for me, in that it conjures up a very distinct emotional response, that seems to enhance the introductory experience of Gaspar Noe's film, while as a standalone track it make an immediate impression through its intensity.

In the Studio (More Production Stills by Rob)

Following a very long and difficult booking process, it has been very rewarding to get into the Workstation studio. We've been able to shoot greenscreen material throughout the day, which has turned out well. An added bonus has been the discovery of a fairly sturdy dolly, with curved track! I conceived some shots on the spot to fit in with the scene, and we gave it a go.

The day started off with a severe stall, and having arranged to meet at 11am, it was 2pm before I was joined by the other remaining crew member (the producer - the other two were unable to make this part of the shoot) and we could start shooting.

In the evening, we shot our hospital corridor. Our chosen location was Firth Hall, in the biomedical sciences corridor (resembling rather well a medical environment). Being a weekend there was nobody around, and we were able to shoot in peace. After Rob fetched a lab coat to make a cameo as a doctor in a walk-on part, we got to work shooting as many takes as we could of 2 connecting dolly shots, culminating in an ambiguous ending for the film. Our actor Missy did very well to pull off a distressed performance with a single glance, and in such a short time period. This part went successfully, and there remains half a scene to shoot on Monday, along with a pickup in the abandoned building to fix our cosmonaut shots.

A Brief Studio Shoot (With Stills by Rob)

Today, I went through a difficult process of booking the studio with Dom's help, and eventually secured the space for 2 hours. Tomorrow we're in there again, but we have a good head start now having shot a portion of the scene already!

The section we shot looks good, and the acting comes across well. The green screen looks nice and clear too so should be no problem in post.

Abandoned Building (Stills by Rob)

Today we shot the abandoned building scene, making use of a very nice and aesthetically-pleasing location somewhere near the Kelham Island Museum. Jordan operated camera for the most part, allowing me to concentrate on staging the scene and working with Will on his dialogue. Given the short notice he had in preparing for the scene, and the fact he is not normally an actor, it took some time to develop the flow and timing of the scripted dialogue, and to work on it in order to give a more natural sound.

Previously we had scouted the location, during which time I chose the best rooms to show, and the best path to travel for Will. In advance of shooting, we applied relevant writing to the walls in places that hadn't already been graffiti'd.

Our cosmonaut outfit, unfortunately, looked awful. Entirely unconvincing, we will probably need to come up with a solution, either reshooting or simply cutting the character out in favour of a disembodied voice. Along with all of the delays we've had getting the crew into action, this is concerning news.

Transcendence Script 3rd Draft

Part way into the shoot, late as things are coming together, here's Rob's second set of slight script revisions, in the script's 3rd draft.

Transcendence v3

Projector Effects

In order to create a colourful sequence of geometric shapes and shifting patterns, we decided to use a video data projector, connected to a laptop running Windows XP, in order to project visualisations which could then be filmed from a white surface using the Canon 7D. The source of our visualisations? WinAmp coupled with a plugin called MilkDrop. Due to the entirely random nature of the patterns, we will not run into copyright issues with this method, and the aesthetic the software provides, while not quite on the level of Enter The Void, remains a beautiful and effective alternative. Below is a sample of the projector footage.

Finally, Our First Shoot!

Having tried for days to sort out casting, meeting as a group time and time again morning until night in the hopes of getting something done, we have finally settled on casting a friend who is not an actor, but has played a couple of roles in a crew member's previous projects and has something of a knack for it, at least.

Now that we've got somebody to play our protagonist, we set up in Aaron's flat to shoot the second half of scene 1, after the protagonist has taken acid. Setup took a long time, but once it was done I was pleased with the results. We hung all kinds of fabric from the ceiling, and filled the room with smoke from a smoke machine. To top it off, we projected digital visualisations from a digital video projector onto various surfaces, to give the impression they were shifting and changing.

We used green paper as greenscreen on the window, to facilitate our transition in POV through the window into a sequence of psychedelic patterns. We also put small pieces of green paper on the actor's glasses, with the intention of keying more psychedelic patterns onto them in certain shots.

Transcendence Script 2nd Draft

A second draft of the script again by Rob, very similar to the original but with some minor adjustments such as cuts and transitions described in more detail.

Transcendence v2

Rough Shooting Schedule for Transcendence

After we discussed a way of arranging shoots during the weekend, Rob has put our plans onto paper for ease of reference. As not everything is yet arranged (we are still casting!) this is subject to change, but hopefully things will run smoothly at this late stage.

Filming Schedule Trans

Storyboards, Part 1

Following the receipt of a shot list, I have begun work on a set of storyboards. Here's scene 1, albeit badly drawn, showing everything we'll need to cover the scene.

Transcendence Shot List

Following our meeting to discuss the project, Rob has drawn up a shot list detailing ideas for each scene. I'm pleased with the ideas presented and happy to utilise them in the project. Now begins the storyboarding process, in which I will illustrate each moment described here, filling in the gaps with extra shots I feel are needed and troubleshooting as I progress based upon the locations and the potential for interesting staging of the cast.

Transcendence Shot List

Transcendence Script

Here at last is the first draft of the script for Transcendence. Written by Rob West, following his revised version of my original treatment. It's been great to be able to bounce ideas off each other, and I think Rob's done a fantastic job of taking our story and transposing it into a viable script. There's a lot of material to cover and some ambitious elements, but I'm confident we can handle it as a team.Transcendence v1

Final Treatment for the Drama Project - Transcendence

Here's the new treatment put together by Rob, on which he will soon be basing a first draft script. We met recently to discuss the best elements of both original treatments, and this is the result. We have decided to stick with the theme of a spiritual journey sparked off by a psychoactive journey, in a similar structure to Enter The Void. We now have a title, too: Transcendence.


Transcendence Treatment 2

Alternative Treatment by Rob

When we eventually managed to organise a production meeting after the Easter break, Rob showed me his own version of a treatment for the film. We left it to the group to decide which elements of each treatment they felt would work effectively. Based upon this, Rob will design a third treatment taking the best elements of both.

Cycles Treatment

Drama Project - Pitching Session

Having pitched our film in a tutorial session, based upon my initial treatment, I thought I'd post some thoughts. I felt that the storyline came off well, and that the themes were easy to explain. Thanks to some character development carried out beforehand I was able to vividly describe the relationships between characters, particularly the protagonist and his sister. One important piece of feedback was an uncertainty about the strength of our idea to include a cosmonaut character in the film. We didn't feel, however, that there needed to be too much of an explanation in the film about this element; after all, why does any character appear in any film? In order to make the appearance less jarring, we plan to include some props and set dressings in the protagonist's bedroom in the first scene, in order to establish the idea of a cosmonaut as part of his mind. Then when he hallucinates, it can be seen as a representation of his unconscious mind.

First Production Meeting - Drama

Today we finally had our first production meeting for the drama project, as I was able to contact the rest of the group. I brought along my treatment, as did Rob, and as a group we finally managed to figure out which we were going to focus on. I'm somewhat concerned as to the popular plan to shoot next weekend, which sits at the end of the shooting period as described on the brief. Having spent a great deal of time planning over Easter, trying (and failing) to contact two members of the group by both email and text, and eventually constructing a treatment with no knowledge that it would be accepted by the group, it's disappointing that we're only just beginning to think about shooting. There's talk of revising the plot in time for the script, so there's not a lot I can do in terms of casting and other planning at this stage. I'd like as much time as possible to get things in place (especially cast members), but I'm going to have to wait. 

Looks like rehearsals are probably out of the question. 

My Treatment for the Drama Project

To start us off with something tangible on paper to work with, I went ahead and compiled the group's original ideas into a treatment, adding an element of personal drama to the plot and constructing the protagonist.

Drama Project Treatment

An early concern - Drama Project

A concern at this stage is that I've heard from only the sound editor, out of all group members. I have sent the link to the Pinterest board to the others, and text them to let them know, but to no avail. I hope at this point that no alternative ideas are emerging from the producer, who has expressed an interest in writing. We have only three weeks of pre-production, and given the ambitious nature of our production it's important we make the most of it.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, is something I have been interested in for quite some time. The book comes from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, a particularly extravagant form that incorporates much of the imagery leftover from the country's ancient Bon religion.

After watching Enter The Void my interest was renewed in getting around to reading it, and I set about trying to obtain a copy identical to the lovely publication in Gaspar Noe's film. Following some research I came across the book, published only in 1972, by Peter Pauper Press. It took a long time of scouring the internet, but I eventually found a website advertising no more than 3 copies: one in the UK, one in the USA and one in Australia. Due to the varying conditions, I went for the best, a copy from Australia that was described as having little damage. In fact, upon receiving the book I identified not a single mark or dent whatsoever.

I read the book cover to cover in a matter of hours, understanding the imagery of deities from a metaphorical point of view, and marvelling at the way in which it continuously stressed that the visions seen after death were a product of the mind, and not to be feared.

These ideas fit in perfectly with our own project, and really show a similarity to descriptions of hallucinogenic experiences. As inspiration for the project I couldn't have asked for anything better. In writing our treatment, I would like to focus upon the spiritual elements that may arise during a psychedelic experience, and turn the journey from a psychoactive one, towards a spiritual one.

Solipsist - Drama Inspiration

Not all that long ago, I watched a short film called Solipsist by Andrew Huang. The film was advertised on the NoFilmSchool blog, which rated it very well. The film is a highly artistic, non-narrative piece - not normally my cup of tea, but I'm nevertheless glad I watched it!

Much of the film takes place in front of infinite black space, shot on a green screen. The high number of effects is impressive, but all the more so when hearing that 99% of them were practical, and very little CGI was actually used. A series of moments take place in which people are connected by various means, a theme explored throughout the short. This includes chains of fabric connecting two back-to-back dancers as they sway as a single unit and eventually consuming them, a man's face collapsing into a pit of multi-coloured sand and falling into another person, explosions of sand grains in vibrant colour and a series of fabric sea creatures gradually connecting together.

The slow pace made for a confusing watch, but as things progressed a meaning eventually emerged, and the strangely disparate elements seemed a little more relevant to each other. Solipsis is an impressive piece of work, the scope of which we can only hope to emulate in some way in our own project.

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place - Drama Inspiration

While constructing the Pinterest mood boards to get the group's ideas flowing, I came across a music video creator named Neil Krug. A couple of his pieces were inspiring, including a video for In a Beautiful Place by Boards of Canada.

Krug uses a strange mix of what looks like tarnished film stock, combined with a kaleidoscope, in order to produce a unique and surreal aesthetic. While the actual scene behind the effects is clear in places, Krug gradually degrades the clarity of the image, the kaleidoscopic effect distorting the subjects and transforming them into abstract compositions.

This layering of effects is extremely effective, especially as the appearance of tarnished film becomes more detailed and appears as its own highly-detailed kaleidoscopic, almost mandala-like patterns.

Enter the Void

Once we had made a decision about the overall theme of our drama project, it was recommended by a member of my group that I watch Gaspar Noe's Enter The Void. From the moment the title sequence arrived on screen, I knew I was in for something spectacular. A series of graphics with the film's credits flickered across the screen in bright, strobing colours, the shifts in text becoming ever-more impressive. Once the film finally began, it was immediately clear that the cinematography was carefully considered, and executed in a way that perfectly suited the narrative unfolding on screen. Involving much stabilised handheld camera-work, the dialogue at the beginning was interesting to watch, set as it was in vibrant downtown Tokyo. As the film progressed, it began to turn to POV shots involving the protagonist, which soon became impressive during a sequence in which he smoked DMT, a powerful hallucinogenic drug. After a shift in the lighting of his apartment, a glance to the ceiling showed an impressive CGI sequence of geometric and organic shapes and colours, shifting and filling the screen. The scene was stretched over a long period, and I suspect we were taken through the entire six-minute duration of a DMT trip.

Early on during the film, the protagonist is shot by police in a toilet cubicle. The remainder of the film demonstrates the meticulous attention to cinematography and to staging that Gaspar Noe is known for. Sweeping overhead shots dominate, a mixture of crane shots, helicopter shots and CGI allowing us in a strange POV to transition vast distances across Tokyo from a bird's-eye view, through walls and over rooftops to follow the close relatives and acquaintances of the protagonist's life. Seamless transitions take us through places as bizarre as through a kitchen plughole, into sequences of bright shifting colours and back into other locations. In many places we are transported into the character's past, witnessing his memories through a mixture of POV and over-the-shoulder shots.

The entire film is structured to fit in with two main elements: the experience of a DMT trip (Noe did his 'research' in Mexico before making the film), and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The book deals with what happens to an individual after death and before rebirth, aiming to guide them through the process; the similarity between phenomena described in the book and the hallucinogenic experience has been pointed out many times, most famously by Timothy Leary in his book, The Psychedelic Experience.

Though the cinematography of Enter The Void is staggering, and the CGI used tastefully and extremely effectively, my criticisms of the film begin with its length against its content. Great portions of the film take place in which nothing happens to advance the plot, focussing perhaps too much on the formal techniques used in order to allow the viewer to savour them. This creates a situation in which we await the next event in boredom much of the time. Another negative aspect is Gaspar Noe's inclusion of copious amounts of sex in the film, bordering of misogyny. Many of these sexual encounters displayed by the film are unnecessary, I felt, for the plot, and seem to be included above all to maintain the interest of the less patient viewer through a cheap trick.

Despite these flaws, however, the film is a great inspiration for our project and for my filmmaking overall, and I rate it as one of the most spectacular films I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Inspiration from Jeremy Geddes - Drama Project

While creating the mood boards for the drama project on Pinterest, I was reminded of paintings by Jeremy Geddes, which I had quite recently spotted in a copy of the magazine Juxtapoz. In particular, his works in which he places a cosmonaut in unusual backdrops drew my attention. The surrealism of his work is immediately apparent, despite the photo-realistic style he employs. The juxtaposition of the cosmonaut against urban environments, or floating in a white void surrounded by doves, for example, creates a unique image with a strange effect on the observer. The paintings entice you to think deeply about their purpose and the meanings behind Geddes' choice of subject and backdrop, while the very fact that the elements are so disparate takes them away from normality and lends them a sense of value as simply an image that cannot be compared to reality. His placement of the cosmonaut always implies movement and action, an element which provides the images with a sense of narrative, causing the observer to construct their own imagined story in response. Reason, however, is not much use when dealing with Geddes' work, and I find it best to simply take it for what it is.

I would very much like to reference Geddes' work in the drama project if possible, as I feel its uneasy and surreal tone will fit well with the type of film we are trying to create.

I Do Air - Drama Inspiration

I Do Air is a well-thought out short film, BAFTA nominated, that I first watched back in September's Showroom Shorts hosted by the SYFN.

As a character piece, the film was interesting, keeping the viewer interested and guessing about the choice to be made by the protagonist (should she take the plunge and swim?). In turn, however, I did feel that it carried a simplistic plot, one that seemed as though I had come across it many times before. Although this was perhaps complimentary to the child's perspective the film represented, but I felt that it could have been more complex.

The sentimental feeling at the end of the film was both heartwarming and somewhat tacky; though the ambiguity as to whether or not the child imagined the events was effective, it seemed to be a very convenient ending that excused the filmmakers from something more meaningful.

Preproduction Update #2 - Mood Boards

Our initial concept in relation to the brief and the notion of a journey is the effects of a psychedelic experience that takes the form of a spiritual journey. In order to get the ball rolling with further ideas, I created a board on Pinterest. Here's some screenshots of the boards so far, many elements of which I will revisit in further detail on this blog.

Preproduction Update #1 - Drama roles

For the drama project, our group is still being constructed. So far, though, the roles are as follows:

Producer - Rob West
Director - Myself
Sound Designer/Recordist 1 - Aaron Mears
Sound Designer/Recordist 2 - Jordan Barningham

We still require two more crew members: a DP and an Editor.

New Bird Finished Film

Here's the finished piece, uploaded to YouTube by Robin. With the community of skateboarders being the main audience for the piece, the web seems like the best place for it to be viewed. I'm pleased with the overall piece despite the problems we've encountered in producing it, and although there is room for improvement it is definitely a successful documentary.

Mixing the Audio - New Bird

As well as editing picture on New Bird, I have also been left in charge of mixing the sound. Mainly, this has involved the differing levels of the interviews, as the mic moves closer and further away. Matching the levels between Mackey and Craig's interviews has also been important for a smooth transition that avoids being jarring to the viewer.

Another area in which mixing has been key is the music. Getting the levels for this just right has been the most important aspect of sound mixing on the project, and tasks such as fading the music in and out in the right places and at the right speed have kept me on my toes. I am particularly pleased with the way in which I have set the levels (with feedback from Robin and Dan helping to get it just right) on the ending sequence. The uplifting music drops in volume smoothly as VOX Pops fade in, and again rise very appropriately as the interviews audio finishes.

End Credits for New Bird

Due to the presence in our documentary of materials we do not own, we needed to include a credits sequence. After the structure of the film came together, we decided that this was best placed before the very last piece of interview, during the uplifting sequence that closes the film. It seemed after watching the film through, that the rhythm of this placement was just 'right'.

The credits scroll by very fast, but this was necessary in order to adhere to the 5 minute length of the brief without compromising the narrative elsewhere.

Text Effects - New Bird

In order to communicate visually the news coverage of the New Bird skate park, we wanted to avoid showing screenshots of news articles for two reasons: firstly, copyright issues may have set us back; secondly, showing several images in turn may have seemed laboured and stretched out.

Instead, we decided to use text effects to give a brief overview of the headlines referring to the park. Originally, this involved me creating a sequence fading from one headline to another, but it was decided that this could run smoother if the text appeared on the same page simultaneously, and so Dan set about this task during a quick break in the cutting. Below, you can see the results.

Colour Grading - New Bird

Previously, I predicted that we would not have enough time in post-production, even with the 2 weeks spent working on it, to grade the project in Color 1.5 or Magic Bullet Looks. This has held true, and the colour grading has been completed using FCP's 3-way colour corrector.

For the most part, the corrections were are simple case of increasing the contrast for a more dynamic aesthetic. I initially considered some vignetting effects, but due to time constraints decided they were not necessary. Other corrections included brightening up several shots, mostly the interview with Mackey and an insert of the money pot for New Bird in the Lost Art skate shop.

In some cases, such as Craig Williams' interview, I added blue/cyan to the shadows in order to create a more cinematic and visually appealing look, and in a few shots this was countered by the addition of warm tones in the highlights.

Although the grading has been brief, I am pleased with the outcome and feel that we successfully captured images on the shoot that looked good without much tinkering.

New Bird - Notes on the Archive Images

In regards to the previously mentioned archive images, I am happy to say that during the Liverpool shoot we gained permission to use them. They will be instrumental in telling our story, and so we have been very lucky in achieving this.

I have already included a number of images in the edit, and added motion keyframes in order to make them appear a little less static.

Unfortunately, I have received no reply from anyone regarding YouTube videos. Because of this, we will have to rely exclusively on the footage we were able to capture ourselves over the two days of the shoot. Hopefully this will be suitable enough for a well-cut skateboard video sequence or two.

Music for New Bird

During the New Bird post-production process, we have had some uncertainty about what music to use in order to fit the emotional requirements of the film. From the start, we have intended to use some punk-style music at some point in order to add energy and excitement to the piece and to play on the association between punk music and skateboarding.
In order to contrast this we wanted to create some emotional music to introduce the film, and an uplifting composition to finish the narrative. As she is responsible for sound, this has been Poppy's job, and she started working with a MIDI keyboard earlier in the week.
Having received the result of this, I am somewhat disappointed. The one original track is more befitting of a horror film, while there are no other tracks except for unfitting royalty-free tracks found online. This is not all that surprising as having not seen Poppy at all while I have edited, she hasn't seen the documentary coming together and so was unable to produce suitable tracks.

Instead, Jordan has contacted a local band, who have agreed to allow us to use one of their tracks. The band is Nai Harvest, and the track is entitled Tim Helped Me Get Over It. Fortunately, the track fits the documentary very well, and contains sections with varying moods, allowing us to use it as the only song featuring in the film.

Post-production Workflow for New Bird (So Far)

My post-production workflow for New Bird is as follows:

Import/Capture

7D:    H.264 > Compressor > ProRes 4:2:2 (HQ) > FCP Import
PD170:    DVCAM > FCP Log and Capture
GoPro:    MPEG4 > FCP Import

7D 50fps:  H.264 > Compressor > ProRes 4:2:2 (HQ) > Cinema Tools > Conform to 25fps > FCP Import

Audio: (Poppy) Soundtrack Pro Import > Process > Export > (Me) FCP Import

Edit

1. Organise Bins
2. Construct Sync Assembly
3. Cut Intro in separate Sequence
4. Build up First Assembly
5. Trim down for Rough Cut
6. Sync Audio
7. Final Cut

Colour Grade


FCP's 3-way Colour Corrector

[NB: due to time constraints, Apple Color 1.5 will be impractical. Magic Bullet Looks will be difficult to gain access to frequently enough]

Export


1. DATA - Uncompressed Quicktime, HD 16:9, 48kHz 16 bit
2. PLAYABLE - DV PAL Quicktime, PAL 16:9, 48kHz 16 bit

New Bird - full equipment list

Here's the full equipment list for New Bird. Even includes the skateboard we took along, so very comprehensive!

Interview Transcripts - New Bird

In order to smooth over the sync assembly along with the rest of the editing process, Robin took the time to transcribe each and every interview we obtained, listening to the audio files as a reference. This has proven very effective in speeding up post-production, which has been crucial among other difficulties in having to move from edit station to edit station, transferring over 100GB of data each time.


Interview 1 Jahim (begins at 00.01.54)
I heard about it from my mate Rafe, he brought me down here its not too bad, its a bit bumpy and stuff but its go some stuff I can grind on when I get better. I think instead of demolishing it they should upgrade it as oppose to getting rid of it completely, cus if its the only one in the city centre it doesn't make sense cuss I think the closest one is like Toxsteff or something so its bait, I aint getting a bus know what I mean?

I think that if it was a barklys I would expect it if they're not building anything to get rid of it completely but im surprised its a coop cuss they're meant to be a good bank and to get rid of something that, I donna for people to use and theres not a lot of things to like go to that are free in liverpool theres always a cost for something especially cuss im always skint as a student it would bench to have something to go to for a hobby.

Interview 2 (begins at 00.23) Rafe

I heard about new bird when I played a gig over at the contemporary urban centre its a sort of music venue over the road from here saw it thought it looked like quite a nice park so I told my mate Jahim about it he skates I don't really skate so

Its an all right skate park its a bit messy it looks like it could have a tidy up but its pretty good people are skating around its bringing people together.

It all be pretty bad if it closed down but if its owned by the coop and they don't want anybody hurting themselves on it then fair enough but coop are meant to be a company for the community and this is a community project.

Interview 3 (00.20) Robert VincentI probably noticed the park going up 18months two years ago.

I think its good that kids are spending their time putting something like this together rather than nothing and I think its a good thing that kids are coming here and skating but generally keeping themselves out of mischief really I kind of see that as what it is.

Interview 4 (00.00) Pat GreyThey are supposed to be community orientated and that, I think its a really good idea, what would bother me is do people come from different parts of the town down here from different parts of liverpool?

Over on our side they are trying to get skate parks set up in some of the parks and the local residents don't want them know. My sons 16 and he wants somewhere to hang out the local residents think its going to attract hoods and yobbos and things like that but actually they are just social places I think they are a really good idea. Especially if they have have taken the time to set this up themselves. The insurance isnt there some way to get the funding for the insurance

I think thats a really good idea, squatters rights and all that at least they're turning it over and doing something useable and I think the face they have done all the graffiti artwork and everything its not going to be ruined and everything is it. If people get involved and put there own stamp on it it tends to keep in good condition I mean really this is in good condition you see some places that are all rubbish on them I would rather see soothing like this.

Interview 5 (00.25) Sam JonesIt just got built by skateboarders, over like the course of two years everyone keep chipping in so they had money for concrete it just got built.

Its been spare change from peoples pockets but I know a lot of people have put a lot of money into it, people have had jobs and have put most of the money they have into the park

They turned up at the last minute and then built maybe one or two ramps and then took all the glory

Theres loads of different places theres no specific places areas really the whole city has loads of different places.

Its not a proper ban its a billow so they can do what they want and make it up on the spot it depends how they're feeling

Interview 6 two skaters (00.46) Tom Teller ans LuisWe just built what we wanted to skate.

You feel a lot more proud of it if you have done it yourself,
after the council got involved they went they give us money to build it but then went to Tokworth and stuff and told them to skate it so its full of kids now so they have ruined it

It was just a waste of space wasn't it its had something done to it now
Thats sort of the nature of skating anyway, your using bits of land and places for enjoyment really

At the same time its an excuse, even though we built it they use it as an excuse to kick us off other places, its got a bit of stigma to it

The fact that they stepped in, they should have done more and got someone more professional to do it,
They could find more bits of land and do more projects just finding the land and then saying look here do something here and no one will hassle you and buy the land or insure it like they did.

Not community project but everyone is starting to build they're own ones like in sheffield, It all started at Burnside in america

Interview 7 First skater (01.04) Craig WilliamsMe and about four other people started building it we just kind of cleaned up the land an started building ramps really.

It was all our own money whatever we had a fiver or a tenner each to throw in to buy cement there was a lot of sand here from an art exhibition previously so we didn't have to buy that

The first session on the first ramp when we finished that was definitely the best everyone was here all the old guys all the kids

We used to skate here anyway and it was getting more and more neglected and over the far side there was about 3-5 tonnes of rubbish people had fly tipped, and we though why not clean it up and use it cuss we have no other places to skate.

The main problem was when the bank repossessed the land cuss we knew the guys that owned the land and cuss they have lots of businesses round here, it changed hands and the coop had it and they put fences up around it, they were basically scared of insurance of someone suing them if they hurt themselves, once we got that sorted it was pretty cool.

We were all surprised cuss no one know that it had changed hands that the land that no one wanted us to be here we all just turned up to skate and there was a 15foot gee wall here … We climbed over it. A couple of us spoke to the radio and that and then they got back in touch with us, and basically the Biennial in the end sorted it out with the bank and payed the insurance with the bank for the year we didn't ask them to

I think they kind of, when we started this we didn't want them to know about us being here so we didn't contact them, it got bait too obvious in the end and when it got closed off they started talking to us, we were worried we were going to get in trouble for using land that wasn't ours and cleaning it up and using it. but they were pretty happy with us doing it in the end and decided to help us and asked us what we need so we got some concrete from them.

Its starting to pop up everywhere loads of different countries loads of different cities theres loads of DIY parks popping up everywhere its really cool its dead good toes

You just have to be nice to people about things and explain why your doing it not just seem like your stealing their land cuss if get it all the wrong way with the land owner your never going to have fun with it

Next time we have some money together we will fix the floor and get silly things like bins, it would be nice to have it clean and safe to skate

Just more concrete and more hours with workmen to keep it clean and fix cracks the guys were really cool dead nice guys totally up for haloing us.

Its been Amazing all the local businesses have been dead cool we had nowhere to get water so the local bar let us go in and ruin there bathroom to go in covered in shit and get water. It was really good. People are really nice and ome in and stop and eat lunch here.

We had a few other places we had spotted that we had spotted we were going to do the same thing to. we would have down it again somewhere but it would have been heartbreaking to start from scratch

Its nicer when you have made it to skate it cuss you know its going to be sketchy and its going to hurt and its not perfect and you gotta be careful there, indoor parks are cool but its not outside in the street is it.

Everyone I know think its amazing but I can guess theres a lot of people who don't get it and don't know why we do it but they never will so we don't worry about it

Its free, its ours we don't have to worry about anything

We would have learned to pour concrete before we started it we made a lot of mistakes

It started with six of us or four of us built the first thing and then 6 and 8 and 10 and we ended up with a tin in the skate shop and anyone that went in on a summers day when building was going on get down there and help. We had 10year old kids with trowels helping and it was like just make that bit then its yours, the whole thing was built by everyone. The main group was like 10 of us

Street skating is different even if there was a street spot set up in here it wouldn't be 5 different spots in 5 different places, when we were kids that was amazing float round the city all day, but these places are cool, well its all we have now

We down we had no permission 3 of us came in in high vis jackets so we looked like council workers and started cleaning up the space in the daytime and came back at night and put done the first wooden transition and filled it with dirt and cam back 2nights later and with a generator and concreted it theres all kinds of shit in there dead seagulls and that. It was fuckin dreadful but we resurfaced it a few months later and fixed it

Interview 8 David Macky

The skate scene in Leverpool is really good due to the lack of facilities for so long its one of the main centres of street skating in the country so for that reason there are no parks or indoor facilities other than rampworks so he kids tend to be on the streets, its a strong street skating scene more so than anywhere else in the country other than london so yeah its good

It did originally have an impact 10 years ago, wardens would be trigger happy with their notepads and giving fines out i don't think anyone got fined it was a stop three times and as kids do they gave fake names and seemed to get away with it but all the main places we skated and met that ceased to exist for fear of getting fined. It was more of a move along from these places and they could quote this billow but they had nowhere to move us on to so the excuse was there is nowhere for us to skate or go they would say its not our problem you cant do it in the city. Or they would send us up to st annes police station in front of the station where there was a little quarter pipe that looked like skaters had built it but it was and old bt building where they used to roll the big copper wires. It was quite bait out of the city but that got closed down. We weren't allowed to skate there because of terrorism so they tore that down. We were left without a skate spot again

Apart from being a skater an using the spot we were able to bring attention to what we were doing have a collection pot and focus our efforts in outside interests via magazines and brand sponsors who put videos on at the CUC cinema across from the skate spot so we could use the skate spot as a spot where people could skate and watch the film collect money for the spot and use that money for concrete and physically build more stuff. The more interest that came fro outside the city to skate it it came from acorns really to become a full fledged skate park.

Its been a spot park for ages but it was just a wasteland I think maybe 3 years ago the first quarter park was built by frost and adam an icky maybe five of them and they just decided to build a quarter pipe there because of the lack of concrete parks in the area felt that they wanted to skate something like that and got to work and built it. It stayed like that for a long time and maybe couple of years ago we went right we need focus our attention on this and get some money somehow and put our money in and build a proper park.

It looks like the council have come in collected the props and left but hopefully thats not the case and they will come back in spring and say the floor needs doing how mug money do you need and put a fence up thats not as intimidating inside your quite boxed in. Before people could come down with their kids and watch the skaters now it feels like your enclosed and if your younger its quite intimidating. Hopefully they will put up a smaller fence or a chin fence so boards wont fly out but you can watch and basically make it more user friendly.

I think when people see it happening they want to join in. Skaters have a DIY mentality you want to build something to skate and that evident when we have been down building. We had kids down there when we were building we had a small amount of time where the council gave us people to help and every day there were 10-12 people there helping purely because they want to skate it when it was finished. It created a buzz and a vibe and not just in this city lost of others have thought we can do that. I think councils all over the country are thinking we can do that theres a big brand on tv advertising about reclaiming wasteland for skateparks, that spirals from NEw Bird, although it was like six of us in the start it involved lots of people and people that weren't skaters. so yeah it really snowballed.

I don't think anyone really knows the whole story the lats we heard was that the land was to be used for 5 years with a rolling insurance thing where people cant sue the council. Hopefully we will have it for a few more years, if nothing else comes from it but the council saying ok we will build something somewhere near if they're not skateparks then something else where people can congregate and sit.

I think they should listen to young people, if wardens are coming back every day and complaining they should be saying well this is a good thing if pope are skating a lot we need to provide for them. I think they did listen in the end at first they though what do we need that for and when they actually spoke to the guys and saw it was being used they saw it was good and its opened their mind so they don't just build football pitches and invest in smaller sports that they can put money in. Even just as little as the 10000 they used to finish new brd.

Anyone vie met down there we have had nothing but positive responses, i think at first they were confused, people were skating and building and this thing appeared from this waste ground, it was during the biennial when there were a lot of art exhibitions around and they loved it it was purely community driven people were building it and skating it and everyone came together i in the publics opinion has been fantastic.

Parashoot Risk Assessment

Below is the Parashoot Risk Assessment, completed AFTER the shoot by Jonny, but redone by Dan more fully. Unfortunately the images are a bit pixelated here.

Sound log for New Bird

Below is the sound log received from Poppy. Having listened through each recording after she has processed them, it seems they are quite successful. There is still some background noise present, but I'm told they've been processed as much as possible to try and remove this problem.

Other than the interviews, I'm struck by the small number of sounds actually recorded. There aren't any proper foley sounds of skateboarding as planned, and some of the atmosphere tracks contain operating noise from the Marantz (presumably the internal mics have been used instead of doubling up external mics).

Hopefully there will be enough material here to cover the edit smoothly. Another noticeable presence is two lots of footstep foley, the purpose of which I am not sure of. It is doubtful that these will be used.

Picture Boards, Walter Murch Style

A while back I read through Walter Murch's In the Blink of an Eye. I found the book highly inspirational and informative, and have begin to utilise some of the techniques shared by Murch in the New Bird editing process. Primarily, I have done this through the creation of picture boards; having captured and imported all of the raw footage on each format, I took screenshots of every moment in every shot worth considering in the first assembly. From these, I created a large stack of A4 picture boards - while time-consuming, this will be rewarding in the edit. I am very pleased with the way they have turned out, and have already put them to good use in constructing an introductory sequence for New Bird (see below). Editing notes have been in the form of markings on the picture boards themselves, which has saved precious time reading through noted and trying to associate them with any part of over 100GB of footage. This alternative method has involved circling the best takes, noting letter codes (N for main narrative, G for graffiti inserts etc.) and marking up which takes feature certain people.

A particular sentiment Walter Murch shares is that editing is akin to the blinking of an eye, one that resonates with me and I will try to remember when cutting my own work. The methods of Murch are detailed further in Behind the Scene, a book by a different author chronicling the editing of Cold Mountain, by Murch, on Final Cut Pro. I am currently half way through this long book, and have already learnt a lot about Walter Murch and his way of working. The more I read, the more I find Murch's methodology falls in line with my own preferences and tastes.

Seems I've found a new filmmaking role model!

More Documentary Inspiration - Dogtown and Z-boys

In order to get an idea of how other filmmakers had approached the subject of skateboarding, I watched Stacey Peralta's Dogtown and Z-boys. Of note in the documentary was the prevalence of music; there didn't seem to be one moment throughout without a popular song being played. Although music may be useful in conveying different moods in New Bird, I doubt that we will benefit from imitating this approach. Another striking element was the high number of archive images and graphics used, something which I think may be shared in our documentary, due to the relatively small amount of explanatory visual material we already have.

The energy of Dogtown is an aspect of the film I would like to emulate, especially in our skateboarding action sequences. There is a unique culture surrounding the sport that applies here as well as in the US, and along with the rough aesthetic of mixed shooting formats, a fast-paced cutting approach may serve us well.

I was impressed by the way in which Dogtown used a variety of interviews in order to add credibility to the information provided, and draw the viewer in by reinforcing each statement with complimentary ones.
I would like to implement this strategy as much as possible in New Bird; although our interview material is more limited, hopefully cutting between complimentary statements given by different people should help to convince the viewer of the genuine and credible nature of what they are being told.