After reviewing the footage and sound taken from the last shoot day, I found that unfortunately something had gone wrong during the digitising of the footage and sound on the last day. Thus the footage survived but the sound did not.
I do have a few plans on how to tackle these problems. Luckily, the SWAT raid scene didn't contain too much dialogue so I might be able to use the sound taken from the camera's in-built microphone and clean it up to make it sound better quality as if recorded with a boom microphone.
Another idea would be to record ADR with the actors, particularly for the flower scene and match it up with the footage. This working would depend on how accurately the ADR footage would match the footage presented. I feel that this option could work and would be easy for me to do in order to fix the problem.
The other option would be to completely re-film the scenes which none of us would particularly want to do due to budgetary constraints. I'm sure I can hopefully fix the sound for these scenes without resorting to filming the scenes again.
Tuesday, 26 February 2019
Saturday, 23 February 2019
Shoot Day 5- Saturday 23/2/2019
Today was the final and longest shoot day, due to filming having enough time to film what we had originally planned to film tomorrow after having already shot what was planned today.
The scene planned for today involved a group of SWAT police breaking into the house where the production is set and apprehending our three main characters for accidentally revealing government secret via webcam whilst still in a hungover state. Aimee's brother and his two friends were brought in as the SWAT team. Their equipment consisted of paintball guns that looked very much like the real thing and multiple sets of combat armour which suited the Swat team look that we were looking for.
This scene was filmed from various different cameras, including go-pros attached to the SWAT members showing them approaching the house with the main character's inside. The main camera was used for inside the house, taken from multiple angles. I used the boom microphone as usual to record these through multiple takes. The first few takes produced a rather distorted sound due to the chaotic nature of the scene, therefore I had to turn the recording level down in order to capture clear sound. This scene was successful and ran relatively smoothly, with the only problem being Callum needlessly complaining despite the filming process going well.
It was after this that we realised that we had plenty of time to film the field scenes that we were planning to film tomorrow. The field scene involves the character, Ralph's, hallucination where he has turned into a sunflower and two other sunflowers are berating him. After reaching the field, I immediately set up before everyone else and recording a sound bed for the setting. This captured the light wind and the birds chirping which suited the scene perfectly. The actor portraying Ralph wore a sunflower costume while two fake sunflowers were put into the ground. A voice over will be recorded for their lines at a later date. The sound quality taken from the boom microphone was of good quality despite the outdoor setting. The only real problem was that it was starting to get late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to go down, so filming had to progress more quickly in order to catch up.
Overall, the filming of these scenes today were very successful considering the scale of the events with these scenes and I am happy with the quality of the sound that I was able to capture. That can be said of the filming progress overall with only the slight problems with disagreements between members of the production crew. Hopefully the use of the Tascam wont prove too much trouble during the editing process though I still have some doubts. As long as communication between all of the production crew members is good, the editing process should hopefully go relatively smooth.
The scene planned for today involved a group of SWAT police breaking into the house where the production is set and apprehending our three main characters for accidentally revealing government secret via webcam whilst still in a hungover state. Aimee's brother and his two friends were brought in as the SWAT team. Their equipment consisted of paintball guns that looked very much like the real thing and multiple sets of combat armour which suited the Swat team look that we were looking for.
This scene was filmed from various different cameras, including go-pros attached to the SWAT members showing them approaching the house with the main character's inside. The main camera was used for inside the house, taken from multiple angles. I used the boom microphone as usual to record these through multiple takes. The first few takes produced a rather distorted sound due to the chaotic nature of the scene, therefore I had to turn the recording level down in order to capture clear sound. This scene was successful and ran relatively smoothly, with the only problem being Callum needlessly complaining despite the filming process going well.
It was after this that we realised that we had plenty of time to film the field scenes that we were planning to film tomorrow. The field scene involves the character, Ralph's, hallucination where he has turned into a sunflower and two other sunflowers are berating him. After reaching the field, I immediately set up before everyone else and recording a sound bed for the setting. This captured the light wind and the birds chirping which suited the scene perfectly. The actor portraying Ralph wore a sunflower costume while two fake sunflowers were put into the ground. A voice over will be recorded for their lines at a later date. The sound quality taken from the boom microphone was of good quality despite the outdoor setting. The only real problem was that it was starting to get late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to go down, so filming had to progress more quickly in order to catch up.
Overall, the filming of these scenes today were very successful considering the scale of the events with these scenes and I am happy with the quality of the sound that I was able to capture. That can be said of the filming progress overall with only the slight problems with disagreements between members of the production crew. Hopefully the use of the Tascam wont prove too much trouble during the editing process though I still have some doubts. As long as communication between all of the production crew members is good, the editing process should hopefully go relatively smooth.
Friday, 22 February 2019
Shoot Day 4- Friday 22/2/2019
Today we filmed some of the more interesting scenes involving the character's individual hallucinations after taking drugs. The first that was filmed was a hallucination from the character, Danny, who believes that he has become a chef and has his own cooking show. The scene involves him talking to the camera directly and showing the 'viewers' how to boil and egg. After doing this, a mysterious dark figure appears behind him and the scene cuts before Danny is taken away.
Filming went relatively smoothly for this scene. The only real problems sound-wise was the noticeable buzz coming from the fridge in the kitchen area. This area also caused more of an echo, however, I was stuck either behind or beside Jason as the Kitchen area was quite small and I would be seen if I stood anywhere else (again making the argument of use a Tascam redundant) so I couldn't get much closer to nullify the echo as much as I'd have liked. I feel I will need to fix the sound for this scene during post production.
Some more smaller scenes that take place in the dining room of the house were filmed before we moved upstairs to which serves as a supposed separate setting as the character, Sam's, bedroom.
Some more smaller scenes that take place in the dining room of the house were filmed before we moved upstairs to which serves as a supposed separate setting as the character, Sam's, bedroom.
This scene involves Sam's own hallucination where he wakes up from bed, opens the curtains and goes to exit the room, only to be met by the same mysterious dark figure that had captured Danny. While the scene was simple enough to film and capture the sound for without no real problems except for some crew members talking downstairs, I started to think about the sound that I would incorporate during post production. I imagined a jovial soundtrack, such as those found in certain comedies or even in some type of anime.
Here is an example of the type of music I would have imagined to go with this scene:
Also the various sounds within the scene could also have a strange reverb or echo in oder to enforce the fact that everything present in the scene is all just in the character's mind.
Thursday, 21 February 2019
Shoot Day 3- Thursday 21/2/2019
This shoot day has proved to be the most stressful so far. The first shoot location was inside a pub with the owner's permission having been acquired by the Producer, Callum. The sound for this area that was picked up by the microphone was of a good quality, with only the slight sound of traffic going past.
However, after we set up the first shot, two workmen started drilling on the road, delaying us for approximately ten minutes as I did not feel comfortable recording the dialogue with that noise in the background. The rest of the shoot for the pub scene went relatively smoothly and I was able to get a few different sound beds set within the pub in order to create a convincing sound bed for the setting. Some extra establishing shots of drinks being served and darts being thrown were also captured, giving me some ideas for sound effects such as the clinking of glass bottles and the thud of a dart as it hits a dartboard.
Filming resumed inside the house location. However, a found a problem started to occur as there were many more people present during the filming of these scenes, some of whom were not even relevant to what we were doing and had no business being there. This caused quite a lot of disruption which meant delays and the filming processes took much longer than it probably should have.
This started to show as some of us, myself included, started to feel fatigued during the later half of the day's filming. While we were able to successfully get the shots that we wanted for the scenes we were filming, the distractions and lack of focus meant that we ended up doing numerous retakes which in turn caused more stress for the actors and crew. I personally would have asked the people who weren't art of the crew or cast to leave but felt that wasn't down to me.
I noted that our Producer, Callum, wasn't helping our progress as he seemed content in sitting in the other room and talking randomly through some of our takes and later speaking as if he was having some large input into the filming process. This was something I noticed on the previous shoot days but it became more noticeable here. Towards the end of the day's filming, he even disappeared for a driving lesson without any of us knowing, though I found it ultimately meant we could just get on with the filming process.
Overall, I still felt the day was successful, especially as we managed to film the longest and perhaps the most complicated scene in the entire production involving multiple hallucinations, the largest number of cast on screen and one of the cast members dressed as a penguin.
At the end, as always, Aimee and I started to sort out all of the footage, with her digitising the footage and then passing it all onto me so I can label the video and sound for matching purposes during the edit.
However, after we set up the first shot, two workmen started drilling on the road, delaying us for approximately ten minutes as I did not feel comfortable recording the dialogue with that noise in the background. The rest of the shoot for the pub scene went relatively smoothly and I was able to get a few different sound beds set within the pub in order to create a convincing sound bed for the setting. Some extra establishing shots of drinks being served and darts being thrown were also captured, giving me some ideas for sound effects such as the clinking of glass bottles and the thud of a dart as it hits a dartboard.
Filming resumed inside the house location. However, a found a problem started to occur as there were many more people present during the filming of these scenes, some of whom were not even relevant to what we were doing and had no business being there. This caused quite a lot of disruption which meant delays and the filming processes took much longer than it probably should have.
This started to show as some of us, myself included, started to feel fatigued during the later half of the day's filming. While we were able to successfully get the shots that we wanted for the scenes we were filming, the distractions and lack of focus meant that we ended up doing numerous retakes which in turn caused more stress for the actors and crew. I personally would have asked the people who weren't art of the crew or cast to leave but felt that wasn't down to me.
I noted that our Producer, Callum, wasn't helping our progress as he seemed content in sitting in the other room and talking randomly through some of our takes and later speaking as if he was having some large input into the filming process. This was something I noticed on the previous shoot days but it became more noticeable here. Towards the end of the day's filming, he even disappeared for a driving lesson without any of us knowing, though I found it ultimately meant we could just get on with the filming process.
Overall, I still felt the day was successful, especially as we managed to film the longest and perhaps the most complicated scene in the entire production involving multiple hallucinations, the largest number of cast on screen and one of the cast members dressed as a penguin.
At the end, as always, Aimee and I started to sort out all of the footage, with her digitising the footage and then passing it all onto me so I can label the video and sound for matching purposes during the edit.
Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Shoot Day 2- Wednesday 20/2/2019
Todays filming was mainly similar to that of the previous shoot day. All of the actors were still very professional, with most of the scenes taking place in the dining room area. This meant that the shoot was simple to accomplish overall and we had finished earlier than expected again.
The day before, however, we decided to get some cutaway shots. This gave me the chance to get some sound beds for the following locations:
- The Garden- birds/ dogs barking
- The Bedroom- faint sound of cars going by
- Exterior of the House- louder traffic
- Exterior of the Pub- traffic from another area.
These were all successful and easy to record. This was one instance where the use of a Tascam did actually prove useful as I could go elsewhere and record without the need for the presence of a cameraman. I feel like the use of a Tascam should have just been used for this particular use only, rather than for the whole shoot.
We also reviewed how the footage taken from a laptop's webcam would look for the purposes of certain scenes.
Overall, I am happy with what was achieved these past two days.
We also reviewed how the footage taken from a laptop's webcam would look for the purposes of certain scenes.
Overall, I am happy with what was achieved these past two days.
Monday, 18 February 2019
Shoot Day 1- Monday 18/2/2019
Today was the first day of our proper shoot. We all arrive relatively early and introductions were made between the actors and crew. The scenes shot today were primarily set within the house locations, specifically a bedroom and the downstairs dining area.
I immediately noticed the set dressing in the dining room area. We had been asked to hand in spare cereal boxes for the set, though I had no idea how these were to be implemented. As it turns out, the cereal boxes were cut up and stuck to the walls like decorations. This wasn't quite as creative as I would have imagined, simply sticking the faces on the wall, but the rest seemed to be happy with it.
Despite my efforts, I was encouraged to still use the Tascam by Callum and Jason. It almost felt selfish on the cameraman's part, telling me that they didn't want to put up with the wires if I connected the microphone to the camera, despite it really being no problem at all. After some argument, I finally gave in and used the Tascam despite knowing the problems it will ultimately cause. Luckily I had done some research on how to use the Tascam the night before, though I still wasn't exactly proficient with it.
The filming of the bedroom scene went very smoothly. I was quite surprised at how professional the actors were, though I felt like some of the line delivery was quite flat in some places. The Director, Will, seemed happy, however, so I didn't question it. Thankfully, the sound quality was good, however I feel I might have been holding the camera a little too far away for some shots due to having to keep out of Jason's way. This meant that I was behind Jason a lot of the time due to the cramped space, making the argument for my having to use the Tascam invalid, which annoyed me even more. I thought the sound was good enough, however, and the only retakes we needed were for when a police siren could be heard from the passing traffic (which happened a worrying amount of times).
The dining room scenes produced more of an echo which I had already identified as a problem. However, I was able to nullify the echo by holding the boom microphone closer to the actors when they speak. The only other sound, which I was not able to do much about, was the creaking floor and chairs. To try and tackle this, I asked the actors to only make sudden movements when required. This worked to an extent, however I didn't want the actors to appear immobile.
Although these scenes took several hours, there were little to no retakes apart from when fixing some technical issues. We actually finished much earlier than expected, showing that we were efficient enough in our filming process. I did thankfully get the hang of the Tascam equipment and was able to use it more comfortably by the end of the day.
Once I'd got home, I immediately started labelling the camera footage and the sound which were given to me by Aimee, who had been digitising the footage throughout the day. This was done so that I could match up the camera shots to the sound files for editing purposes. However, the cameraman had chosen not to still record from the camera's internal microphone, meaning I could not hear the sound from the video files to match the sound files up with. This made the process much more difficult as I had to look at each individual video file and watch the actor's every single move, as well as mouth movements, in order to tell which sound file matched up to whichever video file. To avoid this in the future, I will ask the cameraman to record from the camera's internal microphone as well as my own recording to make this process much easier.
Here are screenshots taken of some of the video and sound files fully labelled:
I immediately noticed the set dressing in the dining room area. We had been asked to hand in spare cereal boxes for the set, though I had no idea how these were to be implemented. As it turns out, the cereal boxes were cut up and stuck to the walls like decorations. This wasn't quite as creative as I would have imagined, simply sticking the faces on the wall, but the rest seemed to be happy with it.
Despite my efforts, I was encouraged to still use the Tascam by Callum and Jason. It almost felt selfish on the cameraman's part, telling me that they didn't want to put up with the wires if I connected the microphone to the camera, despite it really being no problem at all. After some argument, I finally gave in and used the Tascam despite knowing the problems it will ultimately cause. Luckily I had done some research on how to use the Tascam the night before, though I still wasn't exactly proficient with it.
The filming of the bedroom scene went very smoothly. I was quite surprised at how professional the actors were, though I felt like some of the line delivery was quite flat in some places. The Director, Will, seemed happy, however, so I didn't question it. Thankfully, the sound quality was good, however I feel I might have been holding the camera a little too far away for some shots due to having to keep out of Jason's way. This meant that I was behind Jason a lot of the time due to the cramped space, making the argument for my having to use the Tascam invalid, which annoyed me even more. I thought the sound was good enough, however, and the only retakes we needed were for when a police siren could be heard from the passing traffic (which happened a worrying amount of times).
The dining room scenes produced more of an echo which I had already identified as a problem. However, I was able to nullify the echo by holding the boom microphone closer to the actors when they speak. The only other sound, which I was not able to do much about, was the creaking floor and chairs. To try and tackle this, I asked the actors to only make sudden movements when required. This worked to an extent, however I didn't want the actors to appear immobile.
Although these scenes took several hours, there were little to no retakes apart from when fixing some technical issues. We actually finished much earlier than expected, showing that we were efficient enough in our filming process. I did thankfully get the hang of the Tascam equipment and was able to use it more comfortably by the end of the day.
Once I'd got home, I immediately started labelling the camera footage and the sound which were given to me by Aimee, who had been digitising the footage throughout the day. This was done so that I could match up the camera shots to the sound files for editing purposes. However, the cameraman had chosen not to still record from the camera's internal microphone, meaning I could not hear the sound from the video files to match the sound files up with. This made the process much more difficult as I had to look at each individual video file and watch the actor's every single move, as well as mouth movements, in order to tell which sound file matched up to whichever video file. To avoid this in the future, I will ask the cameraman to record from the camera's internal microphone as well as my own recording to make this process much easier.
Here are screenshots taken of some of the video and sound files fully labelled:
This process will take place after every production day.
Sunday, 17 February 2019
Saturday 16/2/2019 Test Shoot:
For this test shoot, we decided to block out a few more scenes. However, a decision was made by Jsson and Callum that I should not record the sound through use of the boom plugged directly into the camera. This would supposedly get in the cameraman's way though I personally didn't see it.
Instead I was asked by Callum to quickly learn how a Tascam works, something which I have had no prior knowledge of or experience with. The Tascam recorder allows the sound operator to record the sound separately from the camera with any type of microphone that is available and compatible. The sound would then have to be manually matched up with the footage during the edit.
I was very unsure of this decision, partly due to my lack of familiarity with the equipment as I felt that anything could go wrong because of this. I at least knew that the sound works perfectly when the microphone was hooked up to the camera from prior experience. Also, this recording process could prove difficult and make the editing process much more complicated and stressful, something that we would be avoiding if the sound was just recorded via microphone plugged into the camera.
I did try to assert these problems but these fell on deaf ears, despite trying to remind them that my role as sound operator and editor means that I should have the final say as to how I should record this sound. As sound is what I will be marked on, I want to make sure that I can record the sound in a way which I know works well and will make the editing process a lot less hassle.
Despite these arguments, the Tascam that we had taken out wasn't working properly and none of us had any knowledge as to how to fix it. This meant that we had to acquire some outside help from someone in another group who did have experience with the Tascam. However, they didn't arrive until the end of the day so my role for the blocking of the scenes became redundant as I was unable to use the equipment.
We left the test shoot slightly unsure of the shoot, yet still optimistic despite this. I was asked to research how to proficiently the new Tascam equipment in just one night. It might come to a point that I just use the microphone connected to the camera at the last minute because that is what I believe to be the way forward to achieve the sound that I would be happy with.
Instead I was asked by Callum to quickly learn how a Tascam works, something which I have had no prior knowledge of or experience with. The Tascam recorder allows the sound operator to record the sound separately from the camera with any type of microphone that is available and compatible. The sound would then have to be manually matched up with the footage during the edit.
I was very unsure of this decision, partly due to my lack of familiarity with the equipment as I felt that anything could go wrong because of this. I at least knew that the sound works perfectly when the microphone was hooked up to the camera from prior experience. Also, this recording process could prove difficult and make the editing process much more complicated and stressful, something that we would be avoiding if the sound was just recorded via microphone plugged into the camera.
I did try to assert these problems but these fell on deaf ears, despite trying to remind them that my role as sound operator and editor means that I should have the final say as to how I should record this sound. As sound is what I will be marked on, I want to make sure that I can record the sound in a way which I know works well and will make the editing process a lot less hassle.
Despite these arguments, the Tascam that we had taken out wasn't working properly and none of us had any knowledge as to how to fix it. This meant that we had to acquire some outside help from someone in another group who did have experience with the Tascam. However, they didn't arrive until the end of the day so my role for the blocking of the scenes became redundant as I was unable to use the equipment.
We left the test shoot slightly unsure of the shoot, yet still optimistic despite this. I was asked to research how to proficiently the new Tascam equipment in just one night. It might come to a point that I just use the microphone connected to the camera at the last minute because that is what I believe to be the way forward to achieve the sound that I would be happy with.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Cereal Offenders Shoot Schedule:
Here is a picture of the Shoot Schedule for our filming production:
Wednesday, 6 February 2019
Tuesday 5/2/2019 Test Shoot
Today marked our first test shoot for this project, filming 'Cereal Offenders'.
We met on location in the house which would be used for the majority of location filming and sorted out the equipment which I had picked up and signed off on earlier in the day. The purposes of this test shoot was to check the filming conditions, how the locations would effect certain aspects such as teh actors, crew and equipment and to have a more confident idea as to how the scenes will be blocked in preparation for official filming with the actors. This specifically gave me the chance to test the sound equipment and see how the sound is effected by the locations, enabling a better understanding and better planning on what sound equipment should be used in during the final shoot.
Our first location was a field not far from the house. In this scene one of the characters is dressed as a flowers in the middle of a field and is hallucinating that two sunflowers are speaking to him after taking drugs. The first thing we noticed is that, on this day, the ground was uneven and very muddy, so appropriate footwear will be required. It was also very cold so we will advise that thermal clothing should be worn by all cast and crew, especially the actor who will be wearing the flower costume. I decided that, due to the large open space, that use of the boom might not be as practical as I will have to stand far out of frame for some of the wider shots. For the purposes of this test shoot I decided to monitor the sound from the in-built microphone in the camera. This did a good enough job on some of the tighter shots but voices were slightly muffled. I will probably end up using the boom microphone, possibly with the use of a Tascam (a piece of sound equipment that allows me to record sound separately from the camera) so that I am not restrained by being connected to the camera. I did manage to obtain some effective background noise such as the birds and a soft wind which will help when creating the sound beds.
After this, we went back to the house where a scene would take place with three people in a dining room, sat around a laptop at a table. I used the boom microphone for this test scene. The first thing I noticed was very slight echo in the room whenever someone spoke. However, I found that if I half the boom closer to the person who will be speaking, it nullified the echo substantially. I also found that the wooden chairs, table and floor creaked which were all picked up by the microphone. I did ask whether there were alternative table and chairs available but this was not the case. If we are to be stuck with these tables and chairs, I feel I might have to ask the actors not to move around in their chairs too much once they have sat down.
Some background noises could also be heard. The house next door has several dogs which started barking in unison about every ten minutes which might cause a problem for the sound within the scene. We are planning to establish the fact that there are dogs next door through visual and sound in scenes beforehand to hopefully combat this problem.
Overall, however, I do think that this test shoot was a success. I am happy with the sound and have a better idea of the equipment that I will be using on the actual shoot. There are just a few things that we have to try and overcome in future test shoots. In between these, I will also start to try and familiarise myself with the Tascam to give myself more opportunities for sound recording, though I would not wish to use the Tascam to record the main bulk of the sound during the production due to problems it could cause during the editing.
We met on location in the house which would be used for the majority of location filming and sorted out the equipment which I had picked up and signed off on earlier in the day. The purposes of this test shoot was to check the filming conditions, how the locations would effect certain aspects such as teh actors, crew and equipment and to have a more confident idea as to how the scenes will be blocked in preparation for official filming with the actors. This specifically gave me the chance to test the sound equipment and see how the sound is effected by the locations, enabling a better understanding and better planning on what sound equipment should be used in during the final shoot.
Our first location was a field not far from the house. In this scene one of the characters is dressed as a flowers in the middle of a field and is hallucinating that two sunflowers are speaking to him after taking drugs. The first thing we noticed is that, on this day, the ground was uneven and very muddy, so appropriate footwear will be required. It was also very cold so we will advise that thermal clothing should be worn by all cast and crew, especially the actor who will be wearing the flower costume. I decided that, due to the large open space, that use of the boom might not be as practical as I will have to stand far out of frame for some of the wider shots. For the purposes of this test shoot I decided to monitor the sound from the in-built microphone in the camera. This did a good enough job on some of the tighter shots but voices were slightly muffled. I will probably end up using the boom microphone, possibly with the use of a Tascam (a piece of sound equipment that allows me to record sound separately from the camera) so that I am not restrained by being connected to the camera. I did manage to obtain some effective background noise such as the birds and a soft wind which will help when creating the sound beds.
After this, we went back to the house where a scene would take place with three people in a dining room, sat around a laptop at a table. I used the boom microphone for this test scene. The first thing I noticed was very slight echo in the room whenever someone spoke. However, I found that if I half the boom closer to the person who will be speaking, it nullified the echo substantially. I also found that the wooden chairs, table and floor creaked which were all picked up by the microphone. I did ask whether there were alternative table and chairs available but this was not the case. If we are to be stuck with these tables and chairs, I feel I might have to ask the actors not to move around in their chairs too much once they have sat down.
Some background noises could also be heard. The house next door has several dogs which started barking in unison about every ten minutes which might cause a problem for the sound within the scene. We are planning to establish the fact that there are dogs next door through visual and sound in scenes beforehand to hopefully combat this problem.
Overall, however, I do think that this test shoot was a success. I am happy with the sound and have a better idea of the equipment that I will be using on the actual shoot. There are just a few things that we have to try and overcome in future test shoots. In between these, I will also start to try and familiarise myself with the Tascam to give myself more opportunities for sound recording, though I would not wish to use the Tascam to record the main bulk of the sound during the production due to problems it could cause during the editing.
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