Friday, 10 June 2011

19

The screening was last night! I was amazed at the amount of people there. I've certainly never seen a lecture theatre with so many people in it before...I must say I was very impressed. Everybody seemed to have put so much effort into their films, and I have never felt more part of a group of young, talented people at uni before. It made me really happy and then really sad to remember that now I am leaving for a year and I won't get to graduate with these clever and talented individuals.

I was so so nervous to see our film on the "big" screen, but ultimately I was SO proud to see it amongst the others! Even though it was pretttttty cheesy, and people laughed a lot in bits I definitely didn't think were funny.... I really thought we held our own amongst the others. One thing I think our film really succeeded in its visual qualities. My personal favourite of the films was the one that Lincoln and Caitlin (amongst others that I can't remember....) The idea was original, the characters were contrasting and balanced, and lets be honest-it was fucking funny. I find this impressive as I am not funny at all, and being successfully funny seems really hard.

And now I'm going. I'm leaving. I'm gone. Europe for four months. I hope that I'm going to lose myself and find things too. I love that this course has introduced me to a new medium that I never would have discovered by myself. Photography was something I always loved, but film is giving me the capacity for more depth and be more creative- editing and shooting requires a more refined eye and are less easy to capture- you need to think more about what you want to achieve and how you're going to do it. I can't wait to get out in the world and start making little movies about the things I see. In this last post I will post a video that I made recently, just with some random clips on my camera of things I have seen over the past few months. Enjoy!
P.S Watch it in HD



Untitled from Sally Tabart on Vimeo.
Music- "I Know Places"-Lykke Li

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

18

Here are some key stills from the film, pretty much encompassing the whole film:



 I made everyone stick around for a little longer for this shot, but I quite like it.
 View from the amazing apartment we had access to
 sfddaAe2132r32Q#ESfsds errrrrrrgghhhhh uncomfortable
 Cute
 I was quite proud of myself for getting this shot

Another shot I forced people to stay around to get but my favourite in the whole movie
John came up with this tracking shot for the fight in front of the mirror, i think it looks pretty amazing
Pretty Zan

17


GROUP REVIEW
After showing our work to the class today, I must say I was a little disheartened. I was hoping to get a little more feedback (positive/negative). But from what we did get there was definitely a lot of useful information. Here are some things I noted during the rough-cut screening and the feedback we received:

-       -OVEREXPOSED d#$TREGdfgdsdcxvgdfdhh
-       -Tracking shot leading to sex scene, cut out awkward end bit
-       -City pan shot in apartment is too long
-       -Cut down blurry date shot
-       -Cut down the first kiss scene outside
-       -In terms of sound, consider layering music with actual sound
-       -A little bit of frame cropping in the last café scene, slight lack of continuity in framing.   

Looking forward to putting the final tweaks on the film. Overall I have been really happy about the way we have worked on this film. We are very on track time wise, there will be no late nights or 12 hour days…just a few little tweaks here and there and all will be finished!  

16


COLOUR MATCHING
As predicted, I did overexpose most of the outdoor scenes L L however there is a solution! Here are the steps for fixing the colour of the scenes:

1.   -  Select the clip in the timeline you would like to fix. Double click.
2.    - Go to Effects tab>video filters>colour correction>color corrector 3-way
3.     -Select the “Colour Corrector 3-way tab” in the viewer window
4.     -Alter blacks, mids and whites to your desired tones

-->If you want to apply the same filter to a number of different clips (essential for us), simply go to the “filters” tab, select the newly altered filter and copy, double click on the clip you want to apply it to and paste it in the “filters” tab. 

15


EDITING

Blahlbahblah Final Cut blaaaaaah why don’t I remember how to use it. In our first editing session I had at least 5 minor panic attacks related to concerns regarding the following issues
a)    What if I didn’t press record???
b)   What if the tape was broken???
c)    What if I ruined the footage???

It took us at least an hour and a half to try and figure out how to appropriately log and capture the videos and after this problem had been resolved, another 2 hours to log and capture all the footage :O :O :O So far it looks good but I’m pretty sure that I overexposed most of the initial café shots.... But thank god it all works. Celine is a lifesaver with the technology!

14


THE SHOOT

So the shoot happened. Oh my god. The most exhausting day! Here is a brief little schedule of the events that occurred.

6am: Wake up. Cry. Decide to drop out of uni. Press snooze. Go back to sleep.

6.10am: Wake up #2. Reconsider options. Change mind, I might need my degree. Get up.

7am So cold I can see my breath in the car. Arrive at shoot. Unload equipment.

7.20am Set up equipment. Consult with director about shots we need to capture. Attempt to look professional and not studenty (fail)

7.40am….actors supposed to arrive 10 minutes ago…..

7.50am Actors arrive! Director goes through…directions? Start shooting

8.50am Write a cute girly note pleading with ticket man not to tow my car/ticket me.  Success.
10.00am Finish café scenes!

10.30am Arrive at apartment. Issue: how to get equipment from an independent underground car park to the 46th floor of an apartment….

11am Crisis averted, effort exerted by all.

11.30am Realise I have left my keys. In my running unlocked car. In a public carpark.

11.50am Pass out. Recover. Locate keys. Oops.

12pm After setting up equipment have group consult regarding external lighting options…probably should have considered this earlier. Director and I scout the house for appropriate locations and interesting shots.

12.30pm Start shooting!

1pm John becomes way too comfortable as an extra on set. Will not let him in front of camera again.
1.30pm Go downstairs for lunccccccccch :) :) :) 

2pm Shoot a couple of scenes outside the apartment. Actors have their first kissing scene :O

3.30pm Back up to apartment, crew meeting to discuss what is left/what that strange burning smell is…

3.40pm Burnt through a filter. Issue

4.30pm Resume shooting. I have to film two of my best friends (our actors) straddling each other and making out. With a hand held camera. Up close. I am uncomfortable.

5pm I force people to stay around to get a few more shots. Not popular

5.40pm Finish clean up!!

6PM THAT’S A WRAP PEOPLE
-actual set shot: are we filming a porno now?