Evaluation of Project

This module got off to a really slow start for me. I started the year with an idea that didn't work (and became my Digital Compositing project) and then I went on to have a second idea that never got off the ground, working with the Film & Media Production students. I was quite disappointed when this idea didn't come through because I was looking forward to being able to work as part of a team where everyone specialised and I would be able to concentrate fully on the edit of a short film or drama piece. I thought it would be really good practice for when I go out into the working world, but there wasn't really the need for an outside editor to come in and work on the projects. I learned this at about 4 weeks into semester one and had abit of a panic, as I had lost almost one month of working time and I had no idea what I was going to do for a project. Then I remembered that a work colleague of mine had asked me to get involved in making a portfolio for her as she is a dancer looking to apply for scholarships. I thought this would be a great idea for a project as dance routines are always interesting and difficult to film and edit and this way, I was helping her out and she was helping me.

With this project idea in mind I went off and began researching themes, techniques and looks that might work for the video. I had an idea that I wanted the look to be quite dark and reminiscent of Black Swan and so I looked into videos and imagery of this type to support this idea.

When I had my ideas and inspirations together I began to practice editing some dance videos. I took a range of different video clips of dancers from Getty Images, chose a piece of music and edited them into something interesting. I really enjoyed this and I am really glad I took the time to do the tests because it gave me confidence that I would be able to create something good in the end. It also helped me familiarise myself with editing pacing and how it creates a certain mood in an edit. As well as these tests I also researched transitions used in edits. This is because I knew that I would be filming two routines and wanted an interesting way to move from one to the other. I tested a couple out just so I had an idea of how they would look if I decided to use them in the final video. The last testing I did was of the lighting set up I wanted to use. I decided I was going to use the green screen studio, but not the green screen itself. I decided this because I wanted to use a fairly empty studio as the setting of the dance and I knew that if I could light the studio properly, I could get the dark 'on stage' effect I was looking for. I did this with help from a couple of friends and was really pleased that I managed to light the room in the way I had imagined. I definitely think that practising lighting and camera set ups on location is the best thing you can do if you have the time and access to the location, because it allows you to find out beforehand whether the location will work or not, meaning that you have the time to find a new place if it turns out it is not suitable. Luckily I did not have to do this.

With all of my planning done I organised the shoot for just after Christmas. I decided to use two cameras on the shoot, which is something I always try and do if I can, because it takes half of the work out and means you can have a massive variety of shots to choose from in the edit. I have learned over the years to record as much footage as you possibly can when on a shoot, because it will not always be possible to arrange a second shoot if you don't have all the footage you need. Myself and my course mate Brad spent a good few hours before the shoot setting up the lighting and the cameras so that we were ready to shoot as soon as the dancers arrived. I was glad we gave ourselves plenty of time because there was a lot to set up in terms of the camera that was doing the slow motion shots. Because the fps in slow motion is so much higher, the shutter speed becomes less and therefore the shots become really quite dark. This was something we needed to account for in the setup, because we needed the slow motion footage to be of the same exposure and quality of the normal 25fps footage. By tweaking the lighting and the exposure we were able to balance the two cameras.

The shoot went well, although a mix up with one of the girls meant they arrived late and left early, meaning we had to arrange a second shoot for the second routine. This didn't really surprise me because one thing I have definitely learned over the years at university is that working with outside people is a massive pain. But there wasn't anything I could do so I just had to be happy with the footage I had got. I decided I would do the first edit and the effects on the footage I had shot and then arrange the second shoot for a few months later. This was mainly because I was hoping to film outside and wanted the weather to pick up.

When it came round to the second shoot, I ended up having to use the same location as the first shoot, but light it slightly differently so it wasn't as dark and 'moody'. This was because one of the dancers was not available until the evenings and so it would not be possible to film outside as it would be dark. At the time I was disappointed about this because I thought shooting in two different locations would work better in the video, but at this point I didn't have much time to find anything else. In the end using the same location in both routines has actually worked out well and hasn't taken away from the overall look of the video. If I was to do it again I would probably try and find a different location as I think it might have improved the video, but in the circumstances I just wasn't able to.

I was over the moon to be finished with filming and was able to turn my attention to the edit of the second routine. This edit was a little more difficult than the first one because I wanted the pace to be much quicker, to match the music and pace of the routine. I was really pleased with the sequence I managed to put together and it gave me more confidence in the work I was producing.

In terms of the effects in this video, I hadn't originally planned to have any effects in it, as I didn't want to repeat the mistakes of last year and try and include too much. But with the routines being less than a minute each and with the edits done fairly quickly, I was worried that there wasn't enough work there and so I began looking into effects that would work with the routines. I tried a few different ones out but in the end I decided to use the freeze frame effect in the slow routine and a split screen effect in the fast routine. These effects needed altering and improving after showing the video to my tutor, and the split screen effect was removed completely, but in the end I was much happier with the overall video once I had made the improvements.

I was really grateful for my tutors criticism because I knew that I could improve my work, I just needed a little bit of guidance to reignite the creative spark. In the past I have been a little bit ignorant to the improvements I could make in my pieces of work and once they are finished, I have not wanted the opinions of others because I didn't want to be told that my work wasn't good enough. But I have tried really hard not to do this this year because I knew that I needed to stretch myself and be challenged by myself and others to produce the best work I am capable of. I am really glad that I have done this, in both of my major modules, because the improved pieces are both infinity better than the original ones I showed to my tutor and for once I am actually proud to show people the work I have produced.

If I was to do this module again, hopefully I would develop my idea a little bit earlier on so that I had a clear focus from the start, but apart from that, and the location change, I am happy with how this module has gone and proud of the work I have handed in.

Dance Editing Portfolio - The Final Video

Changes to my Work

I received some really good feedback on this project from my tutor, and there were only a couple of things that needed improvement, mainly to do with the effects. It was decided that the split screens in the first routine didn't really work because they were so random, and the freeze frame effect didn't work with just a single frame. With this feedback I went back to the After Effects projects and started to work on the changes. I took the split screens out altogether and replaced them with a fast cut between the two dancers, which looked 100 times better. I also returned to the freeze frame work and added more frames to each sequence so that there was more of a flow to the effect, and this made it work much better. I also added another sequence of freeze frames during one of the spins after some feedback from my family, who said that the effect would work well with the spin sequence, which it did!

 As well as improving the effects I already had, there were a couple of things that my tutor suggested I added to the piece. One of them was another slow motion shot. He really liked the slow motion shots that I already had in the sequence so I decided I would go right back to the first edit and see if there were any other good slow motion shots that I could put in. There was one that is actually one of my favourites shots of the entire shoot (I don't know why I didn't put it in the first time round!) Anyway I added that to the sequence and rejigged some of the cuts to make it fit. I am really glad I did this because it adds more drama to the routine.

The second thing I looked into adding was a transition that comes from taking a shot where a dancer moves across the screen and masking the back of her out, then key framing this mask and moving it along to cut out the back of the dancer for the entire shot. This then makes it looks as though the dancer is dancing in front of the next shot and it is revealed as she moves along. I wasn't sure whether there were any instances in the edit where this type of shot would appear and whether I would be able to do the effect or not but I tried it out and it worked really well for one shot. I have only used it once but I hope that it is still effective.

Once I had completed all of these new and improved effects, I used the Magic Bullet grading package to see if there were any good grading looks that would work for the routines. I found two for the routines that were very different but work together, so I added these which gave the whole video a more professional look.

With all of the changes made I put the new footage back into the Premiere Pro file and stitched everything back together and did the final renders.

Audio

Today I worked on the audio for this project using Soundtrack Pro. I needed to fade out the end of the 'Blurred Lines' routine and then create a speeded up 'rewind' of the music as a transition between the two routines. This didn't take any time at all to complete, as I literally reversed the first track and speeded it up a little.

I know have to fit all of the audio pieces together in the edit and I should be almost done. although I am going to continue to look at this piece and see if there is anything I can either improve or add, as I still have a few weeks left before the deadline.

Submitting for Feedback

Today I uploaded the two routines so far to Vimeo and sent the links to my tutor for his feedback. I am really hoping that he is happy with what I have done and there aren't too many things that need to be changed because I am really happy with the pieces so far and would be disappointed if he didn't like them. I have just over a month left before the deadline for this project so hopefully I'm on the right track. Fingers crossed!

Fast Routine Photos

Editing Fast Routine

Today I cut together the second routine for this piece. I knew that I wanted lots of fast cuts in order to match the pace of the edit to the music and the actions of the dancers. I started by going through each shot, naming it and deciding which ones I was going to start with. I chose the best long shot of the routine as a base and then started cutting my favourite close ups in. Once I had all of the close ups in, including two split screens that I put together in After Effects, I then used frames from the mid shots to cut into the base sequence so that one shot wasn't on screen for too long.

I found this edit easier than I thought I would, mainly because I used the music track as a guide. Each of the clips had the music in the background so I was easily able to identify exactly when one clip started by what word was being sung at the time.

I am really pleased with the edit and hope that when I show it to people they will like it just as much as I do. The next stage for this routine is the visual effects. I have not quite decided what effects I am going to use because I am not sure that the freeze frame effect I used in the slow routine, or the light streaks effect I looked into will fit with this routine. I have plenty of time to figure it out so I may do some more research and look for an effect that looks really good and will fit with this routine.

I have also worked a little more on the slow routine today. I added an extra freeze frame near the beginning of the piece and I am now happy with this routine as well, although I would like to show my tutor the video to see what his opinion and advice is.

I have not yet decided how I am going to transition from one routine to the next, so this is something else I need to look into.

Second Shoot

Today I finally shot the second dance routine for this project. I used the same location as the first shoot, but lit it a little differently so hopefully it should look a little brighter. The shoot didn't take too long and went really well. The only issue I had was with the camera. I used two Canon xf305's and even though the settings were identical, one looked more blue and cooler than the other. I couldn't work out why so I had to leave it and I will alter this in After Effects to match up the footage before I start the cut.

I am really really happy to finally be done with filming and now I can relax (a little) and edit. I have a few ideas for what I want to do in terms of the visual effects for this piece and I am looking forward to trying them out. I am confident I can pull everything together now and have something really good by the deadline in 6 weeks.

Freeze Frame effect

Last semester I saw an effect used by my friend in one of her test videos and have been wanting to try it ever since then. It is the freeze frame or 'Stromotion' effect, and effect where you build up layers of frozen frames that are masked to create the look below. I thought this would work really well in a dance situation, as the movement are really interesting. I tried out the effect and really liked it for this routine.

In terms of other effects I may have mentioned for this piece, I am still looking into the light streaks effect, but I think that I will use that effect for the second routine, the fast paced routine. The first, slow routine already has slow motion and freeze frames, and I think with it being only a minute and a half long, any more effects will be too much and will take away from the initial edit and the dance routine itself. I will consider using the freeze frame effect in the second routine if it fits, as the second routine won't have any slow motion in, so it would be nice to have two effects in each routine.

Example of Stromotion

I used this video tutorial to familiarise myself with the effect, and then I took the sections that were relevant and applied them to my own work.

Shoot organised

I have the shoot organised and officially confirmed for Tuesday! I am so glad to be finally getting it done and am looking forward to editing the second routine. I have asked a course mate who has agreed to help me on the day so that I can use two cameras during the shoot. I always prefer to use two cameras if possible because it means you can shoot two different perspectives/angles/distances at the same time, cutting down massively on the shoot time. I have the equipment and the studio booked, so now I just have to wait for the day.

Update…It's been a while!

At the moment I am still trying to organise the second shoot. I stopped working on the project for a while because I knew I was going to have to wait to shoot again, so I decided I would concentrate on my other two modules and get those projects pretty much finished, and then I can focus and work on this project solidly for the next 6 weeks. I originally wanted to shoot the second routine outside, but I have not been able to organise a time with my dancers to shoot when it would be light, as they are only available in the evenings. Therefore I have decided to shoot in the green screen studio again. I would have preferred to have used the outdoor location but it just hasn't worked out and I can't afford to wait any longer to film. Hopefully the shoot will be next tuesday, and by then I should have all the work for my other modules completed. Then I will be able to shoot, edit and then concentrate on the effects until the deadline in May.

Effects Research

I have recently decided that I want to add some kind of effect to the dance routines. I want to do this because this is my final Masters piece and I want it to be extra special, and although it is mainly an editing piece, I would like to include some visual effects, especially since by degree is visual effects. The video below shows some possible ideas for effects. I would like to do something with particles, maybe smoke whisps coming from the dancer's hands and feet, or light streaks, something of that nature.

'Clown' routine: First edit

Sound Problems

Because of the problems we had on the shoot, I didn't get the chance to record the foley sound I wanted for the routine. I want to be able to include the sounds of their feet on the floor etc, as I think this will add a more realistic side to the video. I do have good quality audio of the dancers moving around, but it also includes the music that was playing as the girls were dancing, which I don't want to use as I wanted to use the original music track, mainly because it is better quality, but also because the final routine if about 25 seconds longer than the original dance routine, because of the slow motion shots stretching the time.

I have emailed my old sound tutor and I am hoping there is a way of extracting the footsteps sounds from the audio I already have, otherwise I might not be able to use it at all, which would be a shame.

Editing: Day 1

Today I began editing the footage. I didn't really know where to start, so I just began watching each clip and picking out nice shots and shots that wouldn't work until I had a collection. I then used my favourite long shot as the base footage and began cutting the best close ups and slow motion shots in.

I did this until gradually I had incorporated all my favourite footage into the sequence and before I knew it I had a completed routine that I think works really well. I will show this version to lots of people and get feedback on anything that can be improved, as I have plenty of time and don't want to settle on the first edit I cut together.

I have also decided that, even though it isn't my best area, I want to include some visual effects into the piece, just to get as much out of the time I have as possible. I won't be doing anything too complicated or fancy, as I think the way I have shot the video is really visually pleasing on its own. I am thinking maybe some kind of light streaks coming from their hands and feet to extended and exaggerate their movements might work, but I will be looking into this over the next few days.

Dance Photos

The Footage

Today I went through the footage that I have shot, named all the clips and cut the beginnings and ends off of each clip so they are now ready to begin the edit, something I am planning on starting next week.

Below are some screen shots of the footage in Premiere Pro.

The Shoot

The shooting day was definately a day of two halves. We started quite early and had plenty of time to set up and play around with the lighting, cameras and settings before the shoot. This was really helpful because it meant that we had solved every problem before the shoot began, which would save a lot of time when the dancers arrived.

The biggest challenge was getting the 50fps shots and the 200fps shot to match, because the slow motion footage is automatically much much darker than regular footage. We played around with the lighting and the settings on the camera until we got the two fps settings to match pretty perfectly, which I was really happy with, because I wanted the slow motion footage to add to the overall piece, not take away from it and look out of place.

Once we were all ready to go it was just a case of waiting for the dancers, which is where the problems began. My friends dancing partner was being really difficult and we soon realised we were going to be waiting an extra 2 and a half hours for them to arrive. I was really annoyed and so was my friend, but I didn't really have a choice as I did not want to reschedule the shoot and set myself back.

When they finally arrived we quickly got into the filming and I was really happy with their performance and the look of the whole thing on camera. It took an hour and a half to shoot the first routine and I was feeling really optimistic. We had all the footage I needed and had done it in a good amount of time. Then the dance partner struck again, telling us she needed to leave, even though we were of the understanding that they could both stay for aslong as we needed. I was again frustrated but there wasn't anything I could do and we agreed to arrange a second shoot for the other routine.

I have since decided that I want to find a new location for the second routine, as I don't think the first location is suitable for the music of the faster routine. I will therefore spend this week scouting a location and will then arrange the shoot, which will hopefully run a lot more smoothly.

The Shoot: Slow Motion test & Set photos

Set photos

Slow Motion test video