Filming and editing

The past week has been relatively difficult as we are not allowed to be alone in the studios, I’ve had to plan with the other students what days we are all going to come in and it often hasn’t worked out as planned. I have been trying to get as much filming done as possible over the Easter break as we just simply do not have the time left to waste two weeks. The first few days of this week was dedicated to getting the inductions in using the necessary equipment in the college and working out exactly what they have available there. I have also been doing research in the library about filmmaking in order to find a way to overcome some of the problems I experienced with my first week of filming. The first was that I often had an issue with sound, particularly when the filming was in a very busy place like the studios, as the studios are such an open space sound really travels making it particularly difficult to capture one person speaking. After realising that I would need to source some sort of mic in order to capture a more direct sound I asked Markus the technician to see what kind of mics they have available, he said that they have mics

that you can mount on top of a DSLR camera and it will pick up a much more direct sound, which will definitely make it easier when filming in the busy studios. I also inquired as to what kind of lighting set ups were available, as although the natural light of the studios is good, often it’s not particularly flattering so it will be good to try and balance this out a bit, the college has a set of lights that you can take out which is something that I will consider depending on where I will be filming the different students. After having an induction with the college DSLR cameras so that I would be able to take a few out at a time, I picked up quite a lot about adjusting certain settings on the camera to work with what I am recording, specifically for the light like manually adjusting the white balance and changing the ISO speeds. I also realised how well it worked out that I got so into film photography last year, as a lot of what I learnt in that module and working with manual cameras is also relevant when filming. 

I filmed two students Polly and Alison in their studio space this week as well. I wanted to film them in their space because it is such a busy and exciting part of the studio, Alison is a painter and Polly a sculptor; there are mounds of books, materials, paints and canvases everywhere and it is also where they spend a vast quantity of their time so there was no question really as to where I would be filming their discussion. The filming was also very much a conversation, I thought it would be interesting to film the two together, bouncing off of one another, not only because it made them more comfortable with being in front of a camera but also there was more of an opportunity for them both to question why they are answering in a certain way and how that compares to one another. The footage from this was the most dynamic footage I have taken so far, the conversation pushed the limits of the question and that is what I really wanted. I did struggle with the cameras for this as it was only me and it was a larger area that I was filming over. I had one focused on Alison, another on Polly and her space and the third capturing a view of their section of the studio, allowing for a better look at their surroundings and the context in which they are speaking. It was particularly difficult to check that all the cameras were working okay, as the DSLR’s stop filming after about 12 minutes so you have to press record again. In order to avoid this issue, where it was possible, I would stop in between each question. This helped not only with making sure that they didn't cut out but I think it will also be better for the editing if I wanted to separate the film into the different questions I will be able to find the discussion points much easier. I also realised the importance of checking all the batteries and the memory cards of each camera and matching up all the settings, as there were a few mishaps throughout all of which I now know that I need to avoid. I had trouble with the sound in this situation as the noise was really travelling however the footage isn’t too bad although I know that a mic would have improved the situation. The light as well was also very strong as the sun kept coming through, however you notice this when you watch them through and see the brightness of the footage constantly changing which is due to the space that we were in and I really like this about the film. It is realistic to what we often get when working in the studios, its always difficult to see computer screens or sit around a table when the sun is bright because in that white space it is dazzling, I like this element of real that the footage had, untouched by computers, natural. Filming Polly and Alison was very successful and I am particularly pleased with the footage that I got from the conversation. Although it took a while I did transcribe the entire thing as I have really come to see the notes from the meeting important, not only for me when editing but also for those being questioned. It is a situation that you are not often in and I believe that some of the students have been surprised by what they have actually said. 

I wanted to try and capture some of the students working in their spaces. I didn't like the idea of all of the film being from a camera on a tripod. That feels to formal for me and would not have the overall look that I would want, I needed the jumpiness of a camera moving. I decided that when filming the students working for a few extra bits throughout the film I would use the DSLR but hold it myself, this will not only give the desired effect but also allow for me to get right up close to what they are doing. This footage will be really easy to gather around the studio when everyone is in, the shots do not have to be very long, just long enough to get a sense of how everyone works. For example this week I filmed Polly playing with some different materials in her studio space, I focused closely on her hands doing the making. I think the use of hands will contrast to the straight shots of everyones faces. I also recorded Jess and Hailey working with material and projection, and them discussing the different effects of the protection on various surfaces. It’s those smaller things that as students we do regularly that I want to try and capture in this way. 

On Thursday I caught up with Ruth and showed her all the footage that I had gathered over the previous week. She liked what I had managed to get and calmed my worries about the quality of the footage, reminding me that we are fine art students not film students. For me it really is much more about what is said and how that is all edited together than having extremely high quality footage, if I worry about this too much i will get so lost in trying to achieve that that I will forget  what I really wanted to get out of this short film. Ruth agreed that the use of mics will be important, particularly when the studio starts getting really busy as we are nearing the final show. I mentioned to Ruth about how important I am starting to think the transcriptions of the film are, I planned to do a series of short essays on various texts that have influenced me throughout this term and I thought it would be a good idea to include the full transcripts within these, if everyone was willing, as I plan to have this put on display in some form for the final show. It will be good for the audience to know that there was a lot more behind the short video that they see. We also discussed how the film would be shown in the final show. I was originally thinking about projection but I feel in the light space you will lose the quality of the image, I would really like the film to be in the main part of the studio, within the space and the work as the references for the film will then be surrounding it. I considered splitting the film up and showing it in different locations throughout the space for the final show and considered the old box screens, and the way in which these can be stacked and placed easily in corners. This is definitely something I will have to think about a bit closer to the time and discuss with our Tutor Jane, I have a lot of ideas for this but I think that these will develop further as the film starts to take shape. 

Although I never intended to, I ended up spending a good few hours in the computer room editing some of the footage. I originally just wanted to play around with some of the stuff I had and try and work out how to use the software a bit more, however I ended up going through the footage I took of Sarah’s interview and using the transcript I picked out certain aspects that I think were important and cut these down to the small sections. I am not sure whether this will work for the final editing, however I can see no harm in going through and pinpointing the different parts that I would like to use from each one. Mostly it was good to practice a bit with the software and see fully how good the footage was and what it looked like when cut down and having different aspects of it highlighted. I think I learnt a lot more in those few hours than I had previously. I realised how difficult it was to sync together the different angles and discovered the significance of having the clap sound at the start of each take to help with this process, this is something I will definitely be doing when I next film. I experimented with turning the footage of Sarah black and white as I was really not sure about the bright green of the TV studio, however I think I will be able to work with this a bit closer to time, on it’s own I felt the footage was better in black and white as the bright colour was not so distracting from the words. I have always felt that colour is distracting but I think that with some of the students work it will be important, however the essay film format allows me to play with dipping in and out of the use of colour, so it could really be very interesting. 

My aims for next week are to continue on with some of the reading and research relating to the film, as I have become very focused on getting as much footage as possible in the time frame that this has been slightly left behind. However, I am not worried about this as this is what we are supposed to be doing at this point! I plan to record one more student this week, hopefully Connie in the plaster and clay workshop, I am worried that if I do not get another student done in this second week of easter I will be cutting it fine. I hope to take on board all of the things I have learnt this week about filming and the equipment which I am sure will lead to an improvement in the footage that I am gathering.