Bye bye 1st year...

"A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him"

-David Brinkley

A poignant quote that has certainly helped me along in my first year of study. Last Friday we went over to Paintworks to go through everyone's individual projects. We had to choose a selection of group and individual projects to be included in a 45 minute show-reel to be shown at the Little Theatre in Bath on Wednesday night. The selection process was pain-stakingly long as we had to deduct certain people's efforts. Memories of being picked last for the sports team were playing heavy in my mind and unfortunately I was the only person at the work shop who didn't have anything chosen to be included in the show-reel. That was really hard to digest. It felt as though my efforts over the year weren't good enough and made me question my abilities. However, I had to shake those negative thoughts. This is a cruel business to be getting in to and this kind of thing will happen from time to time. In retrospect it has made me want to work harder in my second year. I have come so far and have learnt so much since September. Given that I had never studied media before doing this course I feel that my skills have improved and I have started to get my head around thinking like a film-maker. I obviously still have lots of room for improvement, more attention to detail is needed and I need to raise my game in terms of time-management.

In reflection of my individual project there are a few pointers I need to bear in mind.

• Framing while interviewing (I did try to set up the framing so that Tess was slightly off centre as I didn't want it to look like she was being put on the spot. I will try to concentrate on better framing next time.)
• Mic needed to be closer when performing acoustic set (When doing the sound check I thought it was picking up the sound ok but later on in post-production it is evident that it is quite quiet.)
• And Tripod in shot!! (Whoops, really should have noticed that while filming, school boy error...)

I am looking forward to getting involved in filming projects over the summer as I now feel more confident in my abilities. I feel that the 2nd year of university is going to advance my abilities even further and I look forward to learning new skills. A big thank you to Mike Johnston for being a great tutor over our first year, I really appreciate it.

Lucifer's Dream Box Productions...The editing stages

I was really looking forward to editing this film. I had captured plenty of footage which may cause a bit of a problem with trying to fit everything in, but I had a good feeling about it. During editing this film I didn't really hit any major issues. I think my lessons have been learnt from working on Securus Viaticus! It was great being able to work on my own, any decisions that had to be made were only likely to be scrutinised by myself. I did have to cut quite a lot out which is a shame but time limits are there to stick to and that really is a major part in the editing process. I feel that I used Tess' music in appropriate parts of the film and I hope that I have managed to tell her story well. I am glad I managed to use one of her acoustic performances in Morrab Gardens, the song I chose to include was a cover of Bad Company-Don't Let Me Down. I am also happy with the way I managed to edit a certain part in good time with the music. When Tess is talking about her youngest son providing soundbites on some of her tracks I managed to time it so that the song playing in the background, 'Hackney Olympics' had her son saying..."Cool".

When people watch the film back I hope it gives them some inspiration to start getting creative, get musical. Maybe not going to the extreme of getting rid of your TV but at least switching off every now and then to do something productive. Tomorrow I have to create a DVD menu using iDVD and burn the film onto disc. I hope to create an extras menu containing the full acoustic performances Tess played down in Morrab Gardens. I also intend to use one of Tess' tracks for the menu, playing on a loop.

Here is my final edited piece. Enjoy!

Unlucky Productions...The editing stages

So while I was off filming for my individual project, the rest of the 'Unlucky' group were hard at work, editing our film using Final Cut. I tried to keep in touch with the group as much as possible over the editing process so I could now how it was all going.

When I got back from Cornwall, the first few scenes had been edited. There were a few tweaks that needed to be done to the scene with Adrian and his girlfriend Cheryl so I volunteered to do that. I was basically just trying to make the scene flow a bit better and had to cut out certain parts where tripods were visible. It was also very difficult editing the sound because the noise from the traffic was so loud. Sometimes when the shot changed you could notice a dip in the sound because of a passing motorbike, very frustrating! However, I did my best and it all seemed in order. We decided to use music from Bucklemunki, the subject of my individual project, with her permission. The music seemed to fit really well and helped to set each scene. Then the unthinkable happened...I thought I had saved it properly but when I reopened the project none of my amendments had been saved. A little stressful and certainly fitting in with our unluckiness. I would like to say that I learn from my mistakes but this actually happened twice. I can now honestly say though that I have certainly learned my lesson. Make sure you keep saving your work!!

There must have been a sale on at the spanner shop because there were lots of them being thrown in the works. It turned out that we hadn't set up the scratch disks properly so another scene got deleted.

Another few lessons learned? Make sure scratch disks are set up properly BEFORE you start editing. Also, name the clips as it makes it easier to locate and navigate.

Time was also a factor. We had a deadline to meet and I think that added pressure on us, making us a tad forgetful and sloppy at times. When we were eventually happy with our edit we realise we weren't quite finished as we were 4 minutes over our time limit! 4 minutes may not seem a large amount to cut out but considering that's 4 minutes out of a 12 minute film, that's a hell of a lot to take out.

This added to our worries as we were chopping massive chunks from scenes, hoping that the film as a whole made sense. This really did effect the entire film as some elements of the music were now slightly out of sync with how we wanted them beforehand.

We then had to create a DVD menu using iDVD. We attached music to this and a picture of Edem giving his evil Raggy eyes as the background. We also added some bloopers to the extras.

Overall I feel disappointed. I think we were too ambitious at first and we were trying to make a film that was out of our grasp. For this film to be successful we would have needed a more snappy script and easier ways to change from scene to scene to make it flow easier. We were let down at the last minute by a few actors which panicked us a lot and had some issues with locations. However, I feel that the end cast were excellent and an absolute pleasure to work with. I feel that this whole project has given us all a major learning curve. We need to be more organised and try to cover any situations that may go wrong before they go wrong.

Here is our final edited piece.

And here are the much more entertaining bloopers!!

Lucifer's Dream Box Productions...The filming stages Day 2

An early start for day 2 of filming the Bucklemunki. Unfortunately the weather was somewhat overcast for filming in the beautiful Morrab Gardens but we decided to give it a go anyway. We set up on their band stand, audio levels all set, batteries charged, SD cards clear... Just about to press record... Turns out, the council decided to repaint the band stand on that day, so we had to move. Not a problem though as we found a great spot to film an acoustic performance and the sun finally broke through! It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day. The backdrop of the sub-tropical plants looked awesome and the mic also picked up the birds singing away while Tess did the same. I'm really pleased with the acoustic performances, I think they'll look and sound great. I know that Tess was very nervous about performing an acoustic set in a public space but she did a great job and has since said that her confidence levels have been boosted.

Once this was all done we decided it was time for lunch, a Cornish pasty was certainly in order! Then we found another quiet spot in Morrab to do a 2nd interview. Basically using most of the questions I asked her at her house the day before but giving her the chance to elaborate on certain things she may have felt she forgot to mention. Then as the Cornish weather always seems to change at the drop of a beat, the wind picked up and the rain started spitting so we decided to head to Tess' to film her doing typical Mum stuff, preparing dinner.

Having already filmed a cookery show as part of the uni course I had a basic idea of what shots work well. Trying to keep Tess relaxed in front of the camera I got her to talk me through what she was doing, as though she were on a cookery show! This was enjoyable to film but a little bit difficult with lighting as there were to big sources of natural light coming through from opposite sides of the kitchen.

It was then time to serve up dinner and have the kids sat round the table to enjoy their chili con carne! I felt a little bit like I was intruding being stood there with a camera while they were eating dinner but the children were all great, well behaved and I'm grateful for them letting me film them!

So day 2 has come to an end and has been as successful as day 1. I'm really pleased with how things are going and I have the majority of my footage done. I'm going to meet up with Tess tomorrow in case there is anything we may have forgotten.

Lucifer's Dream Box Productions...The filming stages Day 1

So here is my chance to show off my individual 'talents'. Having just filmed 'Securus Viaticus' it was my intention to take this on with great organisation and planning so that I didn't hit any unnecessary obstacles. I met up with the subject of my documentary, Tessa Weaver aka Bucklemunki on the evening of Monday the 26th April to go through what I had planned and also to see if there was anything that she would like to include that I hadn't thought of. Here is a list of the main objectives I wanted to film:

• Interview at home
• Acoustic set in Morrab Gardens
• 2nd Interview in Morrab Gardens
• Mixing on the decks
• Fruity Loops and Computer instructional brief
• Dinner prep
• Family dinner

The following day i set up the equipment to start off with an interview. I intended to record the audio separate onto an R-09 Edirol and using a Rode videomic. However, the SD card that was in the Edirol seemed to fill up very quickly and the battery seemed to run out very quickly too. So I decided to just record the interview onto the camera and use the Edirol when Tess played the acoustic set to get the best quality sound. During the interview I tried to make Tess feel comfortable, reassuring her that this is my first time filming on my own so I was just as nervous as she was! I felt that I didn't want to be visible in the film and I would rather have it as Tess telling her story rather than me telling it for her. Here is a list of some of the questions I asked:

• If I were from another planet and had no idea of what 'genre' is, how would you describe your music?
• Explain to me your musical background: who you grew up listening to, what bands or artistes you find inspiring?
• What made you decide to start making your own music?
• What do you think of the Cornish music scene?
• At what point did you decide to get rid of your TV? How did your children react? What impact do you feel it's had on their lives?
• Is it difficult juggling motherhood and your passion for music?
• Do you hope your children will follow in your musical footsteps?
• Explain to me a typical day in the life of Tessa Weaver
• Is there any particular message you're trying to get across in your music?
• Do you have a message for anyone who is thinking about starting to make their own music?
• Where did 'Bucklemunki' come from?
• What's next for Bucklemunki/Tessa Weaver?

I feel that Tess answered the questions really well, she was able to elaborate and not just give one-worded answers which was really helpful. As the interview went on I think she felt more comfortable in front of the camera, maintaining eye contact with me rather than the camera. I feel that the lighting worked really well as there was some natural light coming in from the window adjacent to where Tess was sat.

Once we had wrapped up the interview I decided to film her doing what she does best, having a good mix on her decks. This was really interesting to film and I think I took some great shots, especially close ups of her hands at work. I used one camera on the tripod to film a static viewpoint and used another camera, free-hand to get some other shots. I did encounter a couple of problems with too much natural light coming through the blinds but I think i can scrap those shots in editing.

I then decided to film Tess working on her computer and music editing software. Tess uses Fruityloops, now known as FL Studio to create her music and than exports it into Cubase to layer any vocals on top. While doing this I also filmed a few shots around her house to get a feel of her home.

I was really pleased with how day 1 panned out. There were no major issues that I couldn't tackle and it was a fairly successful day. Tomorrow's filming is set to start in Morrab Gardens so we're praying for sunshine! An early start is in order so plenty of coffee and inspiration from Dave Grohl is needed....

Unlucky Productions...The filming stages

An apt name for such an unlucky group I think. Plagued with technical difficulties and cast dropping like flies, we still managed to soldier on and complete our group project 'Securus Viaticus' or 'Easy Money' in latin. Why in Latin? Because we feel there is not enough latin being used in today's society, and it sounds pretty cool. End of.

So with Harry & Tom directing and on the cameras, Carlina as producer and myself on sound we set out to make our film starting where better than with scene 1. Thanks to the lovely Miss Rachel Sowden for sorting out permission for us to film in her house (and also making a mean cup of coffee). With our two main characters, Johnny and Adrian ready to begin we hit our first hurdle. The sound. We couldn't quite work out why it was sounding so distorted. A minor setback though as we soon realised the problem was due to manual mic settings on the Sony Z1. Problem solved, so we began to shoot. When we completely finished the scene it felt like there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel, that we could accomplish the objective and we had a manageable film on our hands. Wrong. How misleading of scene 1.

The next scene to film was scene 3 and the meeting of Oily Pete. A big thank you to Mr Simon Partington for playing the part so well. This scene went surprisingly well too, there were no major setbacks and we finished the scene in good time.

The next scene to film was in The Royal Oak pub, in Bath. A big thank you to them for letting us film there at such short notice! This was the scene between Adrian and his long-suffering girlfriend Cheryl. Filming of this scene went relatively well, we did notice that there was a lot of traffic noise coming through on the mic and also we had some colour and light issues on Cheryl's face because there was a lot of natural light coming in through the window.

It was the next scene, where Adrian and Johnny meet Raggy, that proved the most difficult to film. A few moments where sloppiness proved to overcome professionalism, where you could see mine and Tom's reflection in the windows, tripods being left in shot etc. However, the majority of the time, we did notice these things on set so it was easily fixed. This scene provided us with a good set of bloopers, I don't know if we were all worn out by this time but we all seemed to get the giggles when Tom made his cameo appearance! It was good fun filming this scene, a huge thank you to Mr Edem King for playing the part of Raggy so well and also thanks to Barney Bowles-Bray for playing Raggy's right-hand man. Laughter and bloopers aside, we had some major issues with the location we used which meant that we weren't able to finish the scene how we wanted to, and it was clear that this may affect the final edit of the film. This proved stressful for cast and crew and felt as though we had exhausted our abilities, it was unfortunate for this to happen and felt as though we had to finish when it clearly wasn't finished. So we had to call it a day and think up ways to complete the scene. Another big thank you to the Royal Oak for serving great cyder at stressful times like these!

We decided that the footage we shot for Raggy's scene would probably be enough so decided to get straight on with filming our chase scene. The sun was bidding farewell from the skies which meant that time was against us. Some of the shots are a little bit dark and we probably should have adjusted the iris a little bit more. However, we decided that in the editing stages we could probably use it to our advantage and use the gradual darkening of day to night to emphasise the tension in the film and make it appear more raw. A big thank you to Raggy's merry men, Rob Hoal, Joe Wedgbury, Teagan Lucas and Fran Norris for getting their running gear on and getting their blood pumping! I know how tiring it was because I made a cameo myself as a running hoodlem..Thanks again guys! Last and definitely not least, thank you Matt and Chris for playing our two protagonists. Not once did you let us down, we really appreciate it.

So what have we learnt??

Organisation is key. Cast will often drop out, and in our case, at the very last minute so it is worth having a few people to understudy. locations are also a major factor of setting the theme of a film and any permissions that need to be granted, ought to be in good time and cleared with everyone associated with that location. Also, keep an eye out for minor details that can have a major effect on the final outcome. Tripods in shot, booms in shot, even producers in shot are things that make professional films amateur. The filming process of 'Securus Viaticus' has certainly been a learning curve. Let's hope the editing stages are slightly easier.

Lucifer's Dream Box

The legendary Bill Hicks referred to the television as 'Lucifer's Dream Box'. Families just don't seem to spend enough time with each other anymore and instead congregate around this device, muttering no words to each other except perhaps the occasional 'pass the remote' or 'change the channel'.

For my individual project I want to try and make people aware of this. I am going to be filming a music featurette on Tessa Weaver aka 'Bucklemunki'. Tessa has been an MC, DJ & producer for a number of years while juggling motherhood and her passion for music. While many people hold a stereotypical view of single mothers being daytime TV addicts, Tessa a Mum of 4, threw out her TV a few years ago. Instead opting to bring music into her children's lives, getting recording equipment and having her kids help out and get involved in her music claiming it has brought them closer. I have known Tess for a few years now and I feel that she will be a highly inspirational subject to, not just single mums, but also anyone of any age who is interested in music. We want to inspire people to stop congregating around the television set watching mind-numbing programmes, get your creative juices flowing!

I will be constructing an interview with Tess and will also be hoping to film her everyday life, with her children, working on music projects, jamming with friends to try to get a grasp on WHO Tessa Weaver is. I also hope to finish off on a live gig, giving the documentary something to work towards. With Tessa's permission I will be using some of her music to show off her artistic talents. I hope to film them in the style of something that may be seen late night on 4music. Mixing interviews with performances and narration from the interviewer, here is an example from 4music Favorites on indie artist Jamie T. Bit of a shame the sound is out of sync with the picture but I think this is a good example of the kind of style of documentary I want to make.



I'm very excited to be doing a project like this, I like the thought of doing a documentary but being able to incorporate music into it too. I have known Tess for a few years and think she will be a great subject to document. Because we both know each other I feel we will both be at ease with interviewing.

Here are a few videos Tessa 'Bucklemunki' has uploaded onto Youtube of her music. Enjoy!

Going solo...

Tues 16th March

Today we started to plan our individual film projects. We watched a couple of short films made by current students at Bath Spa Uni and also a short film which really stood out to me by Stefan Nadelman called 'Terminal Bar'. Nadelman was lucky in the sense that his father was a photographer and had a wide archive of pictures he took whilst working in a bar in downtown New York. The film runs through the bar's history. The many different faces, the changes in trends, but also showed the similarities between all of the regulars who attend the bar. This really stuck out to me because I have worked in a bar and seen the people who go there everyday and it dawned on me that anything can be made in to a good story.

I kind of have an idea of what I would like to do my individual project on and am currently in the proposal stages.

City of...Gosh that sounds a bit different

For this task we were given part of the opening sequence to the absolutely brilliant film, 'City of God'. With the original audio removed we had to use Soundtrack pro to create diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. I decided to use the sounds that were available on Soundtrack Pro. This was a really enjoyable task, having watched the film not long before I wanted to try and avoid recreating what I had already seen in the film which was quite difficult. It was great learning how to create an atmosphere using many different sound effects and making them work with the images provided. If I were to do a task like this again I would like to try and get a bit more creative, instead of just using sounds that match what the images show I would instead try to create a juxtaposition to make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable.

Unfortunately due to those pesky copyright infringement laws I'm not allowed to post the finished project on here. However, I can assure you, it's very good. Honest.

What's cooking down under??

Mandy, Ed, Rachel and I have been asked to create a 3minute instructional cookery video. This had to be aimed at students, healthy and most importantly (especially to someone on my budget) CHEAP! We decided to film in my kitchen because it had a good layout to film in. Also, because I live in halls of residence we could relate it to a lot of students. We decided to cook a vegetable curry using the 'Feed your family for a fiver' from Sainsbury's which proved to be very cheap and yes, very tasty! We elected Rachel to be our presenter and, for comedic effect and also putting our presenter at ease in front of the camera, she opted for an Australian accent. It was quite difficult trying to keep a straight face while filming but was really enjoyable to be a part of. We decided to use two cameras, one wide angle to get good shots of the chef at work and one for the close-ups. Unfortunately one of the cameras was set to 16:9 and the other 4:3 which will be noticeable in the final edit. We must always remember to check! It was rather difficult managing our time. Usually there is a schedule to keep to but a few minor hiccups are allowable. However, when filming cooking you have to be very aware of your time scale because you don't want food being under or over-cooked.



Here is the final edited piece...


While watching through our cookery demonstrations with the class a number of errors were pointed out. We had quite a major issue with lighting and colour balance which is apparent when watching the edited piece. This is something we have to bare in mind for next time as something so simple can affect the outcome of the overall project. Also the voice over was a little out of sync at some points which can throw the audience off slightly. We also missed out an ingredient which we actually did not realise until watching it through with the class! This is something that really should have been checked.

There are a few errors we made which we all have learnt from. However, of all the cookery demonstrations ours was seen to be the most enjoyable to watch by a number of our classmates. I feel that we had fun filming and it really came through in the final piece.