Narrative Film Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZy7Xcs9HVA

A short 4 minute film.

'Instagram' Style

This hipster-ish edit is what is often used on Instagram to make them look more 'vintage'.

To do this, you would have to make the footage as flat as possible. To do this, you either set it to Cinestyle, but some DLSR models don't have it, so what you do is - set it to user def 1 or 2 (standard) and set the contrast and colour tone to zero.

After that you are set to shoot. It doesn't really matter what you film, just make sure that everything is properly lit. That means:

- There are shadow and highlight tines
- Don't have anything too blown (too bright) or too contrast dark
- Basically everything very levelled and even.

Typically it's best to shoot outside.

After you are finished with what you want to film, go ahead and upload your footage to FCP and drag and drop them into the timeline.

When you have done that, go to the tool bar at the top of the screen and click onto the effects tab > stylise > solarise

This will create a negative of the footage but that can be fixed. To do that, next go onto the filter tab in the viewing window and lower the 'amount', and it should create a start to the 'instagram' effect. To finish off the effect completely, go into the tool bar and go into effects again. From there, go into colour correction 3 way.

Rise the reds in the white colour disk. You can messed around with the blacks colour disk to gain the look you want. ONce you're happy with that. It's time to go onto the next phase.

Go onto Youtube and type in 'Film Burns' and download it through a youtube convertor to MP4. Drag and drop after it has downloaded into your timeline and into your footage. Right click the footage > Composition > Overlay. You should be able to adjust the position of the feature, and you should be done.

You could add black bars at the top and bottom of your footage. Just click effects in the tool bar > video filters > stylise > vignette.

And are done. Officially.

http://youtu.be/9BqW_sjryto

KeyFraming

http://youtu.be/vazzEZuwJPw

Like always, upload footage but in my case I used an image. After that its pretty simple. I shall do a step by step guide on how to do it after uploading.

1 - Select what you want to keyframe and make sure it shows up in both the viewing window and canvas window.

2 - Over on the canvas window, there is a button that looks like a little diamond. Click on that.

3 - Now on the viewing there is a tab named 'motion', click on to that. You will see more of those little diamonds but you don't need to click on to them. They just indicate that you can use them as well in the keyframing. One of them has a little wheel next to it.

I just used the Rotation and Scale.

4 - Once you clicked on the keyframe button, the wire framing would have changed green. You can move the footage about in the canvas window and it would be followed by a pink trail. That is just an indicator that it is being tracked now.

5 - Go on the timeline now and click forward on the footage a few seconds. Or whenever you want.

6 - Repeat step 4. If you wanted you can add some rotation but you don't have to if you don't want to.

And that concludes my step by step guide on how to keyframe 

Pleasantville Effect

http://youtu.be/SsZqPSTtu5k

So to do the Pleasantville effect, you would have to upload your footage to FCP and then you're ready to begin. To start off, you need to go into the effects that and select the video filters option. Another drop down menu should appear and then you should be able to see colour corrector 3 way. A window or tab will pop up and you will see three colour wheels. In the bottom left corner of that window there is a little black arrow, click it. New colour indicators will appear and then you can carry on by clicking onto the eye drop tool (looks like a pipet). This allows you to select a colour of your choosing. In my case I selected a red colour because it is a colour that stands out. Unfortunately there were traces of red in other areas so it doesn't look as clean as I would like it to be.

Anyway. So there will be a colour indicator in a form of a bar, after you have selected your colour it should show up in the middle of that bar. By sliding the little white tabs on the colour bar you can try to eliminate unwanted colours. There are two smaller colour bars that have 'sat' and 'luma' and a tick box on the left of it. Untick them and then bring the 'sat' slider all the way down, and then you click on to a button that looks like a quadrilateral that can be found to the right of the window. If you click onto the video tab you can see the effect the filter did to your footage. Don't forget to render.

5 Ways To Organise Clips In Your Browsers

Within this post, I will demonstrate how to:

1 - Colour code

2 - Rearranging columns

3 - Create bins (folders)

4 - Renaming the files

5 - Creating bins within a bin and then colour code them

Colour Coding:

First select a file you want to colour code and right click. A drop down menu should appear and then you click on 'Labels'

You can select whatever colour is relevant.

A shortcut to this is by pressing (Cmd) + (Alt) + (a number from 1 - 5) 

Example - (Cmd) + (Alt) + (5)

Rearranging Columns:

You simply click and hold onto a column and drag it to your desired area. In the screenshots I have moved the column 'Good' to the front.

In the image below 'Good' is 7th column. If you look below that image you will find the image where 'Good' is moved to be made into the 1st column.

Creating Bins:

Click onto a deserted area where your files are kept and right click. A drop down menu will appear and there should be ' New Bin'

A shortcut to this is by pressing (Cmd) + (B)

Renaming the Files:

Simply click onto the footage's name and click again after a second and you should be able to edit the name.

Creating Bins in a Bin:

Its the same as creating a bin but if you want to create another folder inside that bin, you open the bin you desire to have another bin in and then you create it as before. (Cmd + B)

How to do Time Remapping on FCP

First of you would have to film footage and then upload it to your desktop. Open FCP and your footage. After you have done that, drag the clips into the Timeline.

- On the tool bar there should be a tool called the 'Slip Tool'. Hover the mouse over it and click and hold. New selections will appear and you then can click onto the 'Speed Tool'

- Next go to the bottom left corner and select the 'Toggle clip keyframes', this should allow you to put down control points (little blue dots) on the timeline.

- After you have placed your control points, you should be able to drag the points either further or closer together.

- When you are happy with the adjustment, select the selection tool to avoid making anymore changes.

- Double click on the clip you just applied the effect on and it'll appear in the viewer window, there will be 3 tabs above the clip. Click the 'Motion' tab.

- In the column on the left, the 'Speed' graph should be visible. Click onto that and then the graph changes and there should be your control points that you laid out.

- click on one of those control points and by right clicking, you have the option of either clearing it off or smooth it out.

- Fiddle around until you're satisfied with the ending result and everything has a smooth appearance overall.

You can then view the ending results.

Cutting Edge: The Magic Of Movie Editing (2004) Essay on the historyand development of editing (1000 words)

Many people in the film industry, if not all, look at how the editing is done. When the world saw that Louise Le Prince could make images move in 1888 with his invention, there was an international interest in seeing the motion pictures. However when the first filmmakers started out they filmed whatever interested them until either they got bored or the film ran out. August Lumière went as far as to say that “cinema is an invention that had no future” because why would you pay for something that you can see in real life for free. Fortunately he was proven wrong by one of Thomas A. Edison’s employees, Edwin S. Porter. He figured out that by putting various shots together, you could create a story. By doing this he created “The Life of an American Fireman” which had an emotional and psychological impact on the audience because it connected two supposedly unrelated shots. One of which consisted of a horse drawn carriage and the next was of a burning building and a women in danger. These were easily connected within the audience’s heads and suddenly they would want the firemen to succeed and save the women from the burning building. With this film created in 1903, editing was invented. Thus begins its development from then to now.

Also known as the ‘Invisible Arts’, editing gave way to a new language that can transport us to any location possible, to the pores of someone’s skin. A film maker by the name of D.W Griffith produced a film called ‘An Unseen Enemy’ in 1912 and this demonstrated his understanding of how editing was important on the psychological effect it can have on people. He advanced the tools that Porter used and he invented new techniques that are still widely used to this day, such as the CU shot which is still popular. A shot used to engage the viewer on the character. Nosferatu (1922) is a film that is an early example of suspense created through editing. In the scene where the main character is trapped in a room, the scene cuts to a LS of Nosferatu and then back to the traveler, then again at the tall, bald vampire who is now standing at the door way of the room. Everyone is acutely aware of their own fears and editing just brings that fear out and makes us realize it. Fast forwarding to the 21^st century, you can compare the films of the yesteryears to this generations’ films and you will realize that the editing and scenes are a lot shorter and faster with a lot more variation happening with the shots. In the past, despite the effects of editing on the people, the people were oblivious to the role of an editor and were not considered creative partners in the film making process, because of this; they remained invisible like their works.

Film Analyses: Psycho

In this classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock, in 1960, the iconic shower scene with the character ‘Marion Crane’ begins very casually and calmly where the shots last about 4 seconds each allowing the camera to follow her movements on screen with no particular rush. With this the audience isn’t disoriented and can watch her comfortably. As she showers you realize that the camera never shows more than just her head and shoulders (MCU) and this is probably just a courteous act for the actress but it also familiarizes the audience. This familiarity is then taken away from the viewers as the shot changes from a MCU to a MWS where Marion is in the bottom right hand corner and she is not longer the centre of attention that has been taken by an approaching faceless figure. The camera zooms into this looming presence changing the shot to a CU and steals the attention from Marion completely. Suddenly the camera cuts to a frightened Miss Crane and then it cuts again. In this series of shots, there are about 3 cuts in a second, a large difference to the 4 second shots at the beginning. Unprepared for this quick succession of unfamiliar shots and angles, the audience is thrown off course with this rapid change. To add to the scene, the 180° rule is broken but is hard to notice as most focused on Marion getting stabbed. During this scene before the attack begins and to when the faceless figure walks away, there are roughly 32 screen cuts squashed into 25 seconds. Throughout those 25 seconds, you might notice that some of the shots are out of focus, a technique used to hide the non-existent wounds. Combining this with the flurry of seemingly random shots being thrown at you, the attack can almost appear real to the distracted mind’s eyes.

Another scene that will have you sitting at the edge of your seat is in ‘Pulp Fiction’ released in 1994. Although it has the same effect on the viewer, it is achieved in a completely different way. The suspense that was built by using shots that last longer and with a few very important ECU zooms used. The scene starts off with Mia Wallace passed out on the floor after an overdose. Lance comes running through the door in a panic with equipment to administer adrenaline in a panic and going towards Mia. Vincent is waiting beside her and listening to instructions on how to give an adrenaline shot straight to the heart. He thinks Lance is going to do it but then Lance is saying that Vincent has to do it because he brought her to Lance’s house and she’s O.D and passed out on the floor, making Mia Vincent’s responsibility. With this line of logic he agrees to administer the adrenaline. This entire scene was shot at a low angle WS, you can view it as an establishing shot for the viewers. You can almost imagine that you are also on the floor and watching the whole scene unfold you before you.  However when props are getting more involved, the camera uses CUs on them, such props are the felt tip pen being drawn over Mia’s heart, Lance putting the chemical into the syringe and then cuts to a CU of Lance’s face as he checks the syringe for air bubbles. As Vincent is preparing himself to stab Mia in the heart, the shots go back to ECU zooms on the faces of all participates involved. No diagetic sound and non-diagetic sound was found within this timeframe. This is what causes the real suspense in my opinion because as there is no sound you can feel yourself holding your breath waiting for the needle to go through and seeing what comes after.

After analyzing what editors go through to make the audience to feel even a fraction of what is happening on the scene is immense. It goes to show that editing is an art form and craft that sacrifices the time and energy of an individual as it takes months, even years to edit a film. However as the times have been moving forward, editing has become easier for them since digital editing was invented, not to mention its is cheaper. Despite this technological advance they still need the skills and techniques, as well as keeping up with the new ones coming through every once in a while, in order to do a decent job. Being an editor is not for everyone but it certainly has its benefits as well as its downfalls.

Setting up Scratch Disks

If you have used a DSLR to get footage, you can import your files through either the SD card or a USB cable. The footage should be saved on the desktop. You then drag it to a  pre-made folder with your name on it in the HD2.

In my case, the pre-made folder is called Sammy's Project. I then made a new folder and named it 'Project' in the image below.

Open you folder and the files you've imported from the SD card, you then drag and drop the footage. Since I don't have any footage I will just drag and drop the folder 'Clone Effect' into the desired folder which would be 'Project' at this point in time.

Okay! Now that is set up, you can go ahead and open up FCP.

Now that is open, you need to set up the scratch disks for your new project. To do that:

- Click onto







It's on the toolbar.

- Click onto System Preference

After you do, this window below should show up. It should automatically be on the Scratch Disk tab. If not then its the first tab.

- Click onto 'Set' on the row with all the ticks.

And then this window should show up (below)

Go on to HD2 and then select your project folder and click choose.

Do the same to all of these and you're all set up.

Clone

You'll have to think of an idea that could be used and involves at least two characters. After you've done that, you can start to film the scene. Since it is a cloning effect, you'll have to act two characters. When filming, you'll have to make sure that the lighting doesn't change. I didn't move the camera to make this simpler. Another thing to remember is that when there is a conversation between the characters, make sure there is eye line matching otherwise it's going to look off. Since when you are editing it with the motion effect, you'll have to make sure you don't cross a certain area. In my case, I used the line of the doors. Shadows can't cross either.

After your footage is shot, upload to FCP and edit away!

The Five Shot Rule

This rule consists of five shots. Obviously. Typically the shots would be, in order, CU of the hands, CU of the face, a WS, an Over the Shoulder shot and the a creative shot. It could be a shot as an unusual angle or a moving shot. The five shot rule is used in a sequential shooting because they come one after another, shooting in a sequence makes the viewing more enjoyable and it runs more smoothly.

My example of a five shot rule

In a group we shot this short clip using the 5 shot rule and I believe it helped with making it the process run quicker as the rule could be easily understood. Even though there are a few continuity flaws, I'm quite happy with how it came out and how I edited it. It doesn't entirely follow the typical order of the rule but it still has the shots within the clip.

Intro To Editing

So my tutor told the class today to watch a video clip called 'The Gloaming' and then answer questions on what editing is.

So what is editing? It's often called the 'invisible art' because if its done well, the viewer doesn't notice the techniques. However, if its done badly, you would notice it. Its a collection of shots that creates a story for the viewer to watch. Shots are selected from raw footage and then arrange in such a way that the story runs smoothly.

There are different types of editing and 'elliptical' is one of them. Its a technique used to shorten the actual event's duration in the piece so it doesn't waste time. An example of this was shown in 'The Gloaming' and the girl within the film shows that she has fallen asleep at night and then it cuts to her waking up in the morning. Further evidence that she has fallen asleep over the night is that the campfire has smoke rising out of the campfire from the night before.

During her wakening, there was a long-shot used to remind the viewers of the location that it was shot in. It also gives a sense of the atmosphere. When watched you can see that she is alone and disoriented. Soon after she gets up, she discovers a yellow shirt within the waters. During this shot (Mid-shot then tilt down) there is both diagetic and non-diagetic sounds. The diagetic sounds are of the woods and its surroundings e.g., the bird calls, and dripping water. The non-diagetic sounds is the ominous music that has been layered in during editing. Non-diagetic sound is sound that only the viewers can hear and not the character. The music adds tension and sets the mood.

After continuing watching, you can see that she has discovered a ring. How do we know? Well the character looks down and towards the right of the frame (CU) she bends down. The scene then cuts to a ring that is laying in the grass (CU). Since this shot follows the previous shot of her looking down and bending over, we can fill in the blanks and make the connection that she is looking at the ring.

The Hustle

In this section we are going to discuss the editing techniques that is used in the British Television Drama Series 'The Hustle' which is about a bunch of con artists.  At the beginning of this clip there is a overhead establishing shot. This is used to achieve where the action is taking place and the characters position. The camera begins to cut back and forth between to characters that are in conversation with each other. Although we don't see them in the same shot, we know that they are talking because of the position that the shots have been ordered. How do we know this? We know this by the directors' choice in techniques used, which I am going to explain below.

Shot Reverse Shot:

These are shots that cut between the two characters and makes the audience assume that they are talking to each other.

Eye-line Matching:

Further evidence to support the assumption that they are in conversation is the director uses another technique called eye-line matching. This is a technique that shows positioning of the eyes. One person is standing up and is looking down off-screen while talking and another is sitting down and looking up off-screen as well. Because of this we assume they are talking and looking at each other.

As we carry on watching the extract, you can see the main character talk to the rest of the group. Even though he is the one talking mostly throughout the scene, the editor has chosen to cut to the other members of the group. They do this to show their faces and their reaction to what is being said. After this the scene is switched with a 'wipe' transition and the action is placed to a different location and time. The location is of a building that is offset by how the camera is positioned. This transition fits in with the 'trendy and hip' style of The Hustle. As we are still on the subject of cuts and transitions, I should mention that the use of quick cuts are used because they set a pace. In the case of The Hustle, its fits in with the theme that the group has to work fast and efficiently. This puts the viewer at the edge of their sits and keeps them interested on what is happening on screen, as well as moving the story along. 

First post

This was one of my first photos that I've taken in black and white. Generally I don't like taking B&W photos but I thought I should give it a try. Given that it was one of my firsts, I don't think it came out too badly (despite my eyesight).

Ever since I got my camera I've been taking a bunch of photos and I find myself almost inseparable from it. I never regretted the decision to purchase my Canon EOS 550D. Someone recommended it to me, I knew it was coming from a reliable source because it's someone who does photography in Bristol University. He's nice.

I was told to write something, insert an image and video, and hyperlink a website. So... I'm going to attached a video and hyperlink www.newmediateacher4.blogspot.com