The Journey For My FMP
On Monday 6th March I was given the brief for my FMP. I started of with a mind map and writing down what I had in mind. Firstly I was going to do a cooking program, I had inspiration from Jamie Oliver, but I decided not to go down this road because I don't think this would of made me shine, also lots of people have done cooking programs before so I wasn't sure how I could create something brand new and interesting.
Here's the mind map - https://drive.mindmup.com/map/0B7NnUTH7VwchLUFGa3VMZU1LeHM
Here's the mind map - https://drive.mindmup.com/map/0B7NnUTH7VwchLUFGa3VMZU1LeHM
So at long last, finally I came up with an idea to create a short film about the beauty of nature in spring. I had to think about different types of wildlife and surroundings, such as ducks, lambs, waterfalls and woods etc. I came up with the music choice first as this gave me the inspiration to do this video. The track I decided to use is a piece of music from BBC Atlantis called 'Journey To Aegina'. The music suits the theme of nature really well as its calming, powerful and atmospheric. But obviously for me to use this track I had to get permission. Lucky enough for me I know the composer, so I spoke to Stuart and he said its fine to use. So once I got this out of the way, now I can really focus on the FMP because I couldn't think of any other track to use which would have the same effect.
Week 1 Filming on Location and Progress
Yesterday (22nd March 2017) I started my first on location filming in the woods. I planned to get a nice panning shot of the trees, which I achieved. I took several different variations of this by using different angles and positions. The weather wasn't great as it started of raining, but then through the day it brightened. We were out filming till 9:30am-1:00pm, so a good few hours getting footage. Also I was experimenting with different focus techniques, like focusing to the foreground to background in one movement. I took inspiration form this scene from Sherlock. Where the focus is on Moriarty and then shifts to the foreground in one smooth movement which appears to be the gun Sherlock's holding.
I achieved this by having the woodland as my background and a part of a fern tree as the foreground, and managed to get it in one smooth movement, so I'm really happy about that.
I was hoping to capture some wildlife, we did see a bird of prey in the distance in the massive tree and a very fast squirrel which got away from us in the woods. We didn't manage to get any wildlife. But I was happy with the panning shots and shots of daffodils and snow drops. I will defiantly be returning to this location because there are lots of bluebells growing and in a few weeks there will be a blanket of blue everywhere. But for wildlife I'm going to try and film somewhere else as filming wildlife was very hard because they were not use to humans. So if I go somewhere were there more confidant, I will have more of a chance on capturing the wildlife. Or I could sit it out with a pack lunch and wait...
With the footage I've go so far I have to think about where they will be placed in the timing of the music (very important). It has to fit the music and the type of emotion, I've got a few panning shots, so I would think it would suit the start of the track due to it being slow paced and calming (more of a build up to the more exciting shots to come). If you want to see an in depth analysis of the music click on the link below -
http://lyndoncolemancreates.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/analysis-of-music-for-fmp.html
I'm planning on getting some good sun sets and sun rises, which I'm looking forward to film soon. This weekend I plan to film some ducks in the lake, and I'm hoping for good weather! Also I forgot to mention I captured a black bird in the garden tree this morning out of my bedroom window, which I'm happy about.
*Edited* (30th March)
Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any sun rises/sets and ducks because of travel. But I did get a very nice shot of leaves blowing in the wind and a lovely lens flare as I panned down. I managed to achieve this as I was facing the sun very closely (but not too closely, just a nice amount of distance). To be honest this is (so far) my favourite shot I have managed to shoot, due to it looking very magical and dramatic.
On Wednesday (29th March 2017) I continued my filming in Frome. I filmed on a small river with some low angle shots and experimenting with focusing in and out. I was planning to film in Rodden Nature Reserve in Frome but I found out it was closed in till August, so that was a big shame, as I was hoping to get some swans, herons and maybe a king fisher.
Week 3 Filming on Location and Progress
I am really pleased with this so far and cant wait to hear it in my video. I can really imagine Peter Capaldi saying this. This part of the text will be read right at the start where the music is very soft and calming. Shots I'm going to have will be darkness shots of the moon and trees. When it says "Hope. A new day..." This will be the first shot of a sun rise and the start of the first signs of day light. As I said before I really like this one sun rise I captured, that with the music change of the melody and Capaldi's dialogue, it sounds so good and you get a great feeling of 'hope'.
So, week 4 already. Its going really fast! I managed to get in contact with Impressionist Christopher Thomson and he said he would love to help out. So at the end of the Easter holidays he will get back to me with the audio.
As for the buzzard, yet again I wasn't expecting or concentrating on getting that. I was filming (trying) to capture a bee in a filed filled with dandy liens near Cardiff. Then I looked up and there was a large bird in the sky, I looked at it and then I realised it was a buzzard. I must admit I was a little nervous as it was circling me. But I managed to get a shot of it flying in the sky. This was very hard to get because it was always moving very fast. Trying to focus the camera was a difficult challenge because as I said it was moving very fast. I literally just followed it looking through the camera screen. I used a 75-300m zoom lens to capture this buzzard because I needed a close up to be able to see it clearly. Although it is a dark silhouette of the buzzard and it looks very dramatic.
I've edited all of the footage to the music and it looks really good! I am pleased on how it looks at the moment. However there are so many things I need to fix, like replacing a few shots, grain, lighting, cropping and maybe pacing. All I need to film now is the ending part, I need a few powerful shots as the music gets more exciting. Not quite sure what I going to film for this part, but things like waterfalls, waves crashing against the rocks and some cliffs with low angels to show how tall they really are.
I achieved this by having the woodland as my background and a part of a fern tree as the foreground, and managed to get it in one smooth movement, so I'm really happy about that.
I was hoping to capture some wildlife, we did see a bird of prey in the distance in the massive tree and a very fast squirrel which got away from us in the woods. We didn't manage to get any wildlife. But I was happy with the panning shots and shots of daffodils and snow drops. I will defiantly be returning to this location because there are lots of bluebells growing and in a few weeks there will be a blanket of blue everywhere. But for wildlife I'm going to try and film somewhere else as filming wildlife was very hard because they were not use to humans. So if I go somewhere were there more confidant, I will have more of a chance on capturing the wildlife. Or I could sit it out with a pack lunch and wait...
With the footage I've go so far I have to think about where they will be placed in the timing of the music (very important). It has to fit the music and the type of emotion, I've got a few panning shots, so I would think it would suit the start of the track due to it being slow paced and calming (more of a build up to the more exciting shots to come). If you want to see an in depth analysis of the music click on the link below -
http://lyndoncolemancreates.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/analysis-of-music-for-fmp.html
I'm planning on getting some good sun sets and sun rises, which I'm looking forward to film soon. This weekend I plan to film some ducks in the lake, and I'm hoping for good weather! Also I forgot to mention I captured a black bird in the garden tree this morning out of my bedroom window, which I'm happy about.
*Edited* (30th March)
Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any sun rises/sets and ducks because of travel. But I did get a very nice shot of leaves blowing in the wind and a lovely lens flare as I panned down. I managed to achieve this as I was facing the sun very closely (but not too closely, just a nice amount of distance). To be honest this is (so far) my favourite shot I have managed to shoot, due to it looking very magical and dramatic.
Week 2 Filming on Location and Progress
So I've had a really good idea to add some dialogue over the first 1 minute 19 seconds as the music is very quiet at this point and is steal building up. I don't know If I mentioned this before but, this isn't just a nature film of spring, its also a calming relaxation journey through March/April to release how lucky we are to have this much greenery and wildlife in Britain. I want some wise powerful sentences at the start. As for the type of voice I want, that's steal undecided, do I want a male, female, old, young etc. I was actually thinking about having someone well known speaking, like David Tennant and Peter Capaldi. But unfortunately for me I don't know David personally, but as I was thinking I know a few voice impressionists on YouTube, so maybe I could get in contact with them...
But as for now I just need to think about the words... So I've been experimenting in my sketchbook for possible ideas. I should have a good idea by the end of this week. I've come up with ideas by listening to the piece of music over and over again and I get some great ideas!
On Wednesday (29th March 2017) I continued my filming in Frome. I filmed on a small river with some low angle shots and experimenting with focusing in and out. I was planning to film in Rodden Nature Reserve in Frome but I found out it was closed in till August, so that was a big shame, as I was hoping to get some swans, herons and maybe a king fisher.
I must admit it was very hard to get any wildlife what so ever. The weather (yet again) was really miserable and the lighting was not the best. But I'm very happy with the low angle river shot because its very sharp in focus and looks very pleasing. I placed the camera on a flat stone low to the ground, I had a foreground and a background to focus in-between. The foreground was seeing the detail of the water running through the stones and the background was seeing the greenery and the still river. When I imported it to the video and put it against the music I boosted the contrast and colour and it looks really good! I took inspiration from this scene from Doctor Who. Where we have a low angle of the water and focusing on the background.
I am writing this blog as of 30th March 2017, so I'm planning to film more footage on the weekend when I get home. I plan to capture some blossom as this is a good symbol of spring and represents new beginnings, and also its very stunning and beautiful to look at. Also I want some more river shots and trees.
At the start of this week I emailed PuzzleWood and Lackham Farm to see If I could have permission to film there. As I live in Wales I need to film PuzzleWood in the Easter Holidays as that's where I'm located out of term time. In term time I live in Frome. So a few days ago I got a reply from PuzzleWood, but unfortunately they said that It would be difficult to film as they have an Easter trail on and would prevent to many risks, they would prefer for me to come in mid term time. So the good news is they want me to film there, but the bad news is I cant make term time as I'm too far away. I want to film panning shots of the wood focusing on the trees and the mossy stones with the light rays shining down on them and glittering (that's if the suns out). If the sun isn't out I would settle for some nice woodland shots. I'm still thinking of ways to film there, I'm really determined as I really want to include this magical place in my film of nature, as it would be a real shame not to. So hopefully fingers crossed!
Images of PuzzleWood where they filmed Merlin and BBC Atlantis...
As for Lackham Farm I still haven't had a reply. I planning to get footage of baby lambs bouncing around a field and anything else that captures my eye. I can do this one in term time as its fairly close.
*Edited* (3rd April)
Over the weekend I managed to get a nice bit of filming done. I captured blossom, the moon, sun set, and also a swan, which I'm very happy about. I took close ups because I wanted to show detail. I used the 75-300m zoom lens. The weather was really sunny and I had good lighting and focus. I got lots of dramatic shots of lens flares as well as some panning shots.
I was going to film in a wood near where I live. But unfortunately I left the camera battery on charge at home, so filming didn't happen Saturday afternoon. But it was a clear night and the moon was really bright and atmospheric, so I set up the camera and managed to get a nice close up of it. On the Sunday I walked down to the river where I've had my eye on this blossom tree for a while. So I managed to capture some lovely close up shots of pink and white blossom with some nice lens flares and pans. Later that day I went to Newport Wetlands, which is a nature reserve owned by RSPB. I got some excellent shots of a swan in the pond and some scenery shots of that sort of environment. Also In the evening I lucky captured a really nice sun set hiding behind some trees. I really like this shot as It looks very dramatic.
Week 3 Filming on Location and Progress
So this week I've been very lucky with the weather, as previous weeks have been very miserable. So I went out Wednesday morning to a filed covered in rapeseed and managed to film some lovely low angel and close up shots. I've been meaning to film in this particular filed for a while as I see it every morning on the way to college on the bus.
So after I got a few different shots, there was a little secret wood behind the fields. I explored it and managed to get some nice wood shots while panning and getting a nice lens flare. Also around the corner, what appears to be blue flowers was in fact a spread of early blue bells. This was a great surprise! As I've been waiting for these to come out for a quite awhile. This part of the woods is very private and calming, as know one appears to go here. It also feels like your cut of from the rest of the world. Next I got out of the wood and was heading to this river, and was hoping to get some ducks or something. There was no luck as every time I got close to them they would swim away. So If I want ducks, go somewhere where there used to humans and bring a bag of bread to attract them. Walking back I saw, for a second a king fisher flying low across the river. It was to fast to capture without setting up and waiting for it to come back again.
So walking back through the river, suddenly an amazing butter fly flew by. This butter fly was white with a vibrant orange pattern over its wings. Now, I really wanted some sort of wildlife and wasn't going to leave without something. So I set up the tripod and got into position. By then there were two butterflies flying around me now. They were really fast and wouldn't land anywhere! Just as I was about to give up and leave, one landed on a bit of greenery. This was my chance to get closer, I crept up slowly and quietly towards it and pressed record. I didn't want to get to close otherwise it might fly away, I was being very careful. I got a reasonably good shot of it, and then the other butter fly came along and kicked it of the leave and they both flew off together. Well, looking back at the footage, I'm actually quite pleased with it as it looks interesting and 'in the moment'. Walking away I was happy to capture this. Not one butterfly but two! Lastly there was a little private filed with sheep in it. I was thinking If I set up here there going to move away, and they did! So I thought to myself I can get sheep/lamps else where another time.
That was it for filming, so I edited the different shots together with the music and had to figure out where they were to go on the track. I always edit on the go as it helps me understand and that "I just cant wait to edit" sort of feeling.
So looking back at all the footage I have, I've got a good chunk done. But still need a lot more! Lucky I've got another 3 weeks in till the deadline. So I've got a lot of locations planned for the Easter holiday, such as beaches, mountains, ponds and woods. Also flowers and bee's and anything that comes to mind unexpectedly which happens a lot.
As for the dialogue, I'm still thinking what to put in the middle part. Just a few more sentences! I will need to think of something within the next week as I want to get in contact with this impressionist on YouTube, and he's called Christopher Thomson. He does lots of different impressions of famous people, but I've decided I want a Peter Capaldi voice, as I think It would work very well in my video, as he can speak quite quiet in a deep dramatic powerful voice.
This is what I've come up with so far -
Quietude. The tranquil moon lights the inky shroud of night.
Darkness. The absence of the light. Shadows echo, consuming space.
Silence in the air. Everything peaceful, not a whisper, not a sound.
The moonlight fades. A forsaken moment. A pause of breath. And when all seems lost...
Hope. A new day begins, the gateway opens...
I am really pleased with this so far and cant wait to hear it in my video. I can really imagine Peter Capaldi saying this. This part of the text will be read right at the start where the music is very soft and calming. Shots I'm going to have will be darkness shots of the moon and trees. When it says "Hope. A new day..." This will be the first shot of a sun rise and the start of the first signs of day light. As I said before I really like this one sun rise I captured, that with the music change of the melody and Capaldi's dialogue, it sounds so good and you get a great feeling of 'hope'.
Week 4/5 (Easter Holidays)
So, week 4 already. Its going really fast! I managed to get in contact with Impressionist Christopher Thomson and he said he would love to help out. So at the end of the Easter holidays he will get back to me with the audio.
Here's the finished dialogue for Christopher in three sections -
"Quietude. The tranquil moon lights the inky shroud of night.
Darkness. The absence of the light. Shadows echo, consuming space.
Silence in the air. Everything peaceful, not a whisper, not a sound.
The moonlight fades. A forsaken moment. A pause of breath. And when all seems lost...
Hope. A new day begins, the gateway opens..."
"Beauty. Everything bursting with life. It's the day you've never seen before. Todays the day your'll fly..."
"This is the journey you've been waiting for... the journey your'll never, forget. And it will be... amazing."
It's the Easter holidays now, so I'm back at home. So far I've got a lot of high quality footage which I'm very happy about. Sunday I went to a place called White Stone and got a lovely close up shot of a small waterfall and a distance shot of a view of the area. Monday I went to the Wye Valley walk and got some lovely blue bells, some dramatic woods and a great blossom shot, with all the fancy lens flares. Tuesday I went to a view point in Chepstow and got a nice shot of the Wye Valley river, also the weather for these few days has been really good, as the sun was shinning bright and had really good lighting.
The second week of the summer holidays I was really lucky with the shots I got. I managed to film a seal and a buzzard, which I am very happy about as they don't come easy. I've got footage of a rabbit, a lamb, a Canadian goose, a chicken and some garden birds. The weather was very good, the sun was shinning bright and there where wildlife everywhere as everything has shot up very quickly and bursting with life. I wasn't expecting to film the seal as I was concentrating on getting some spring flowers by the river. Suddenly I spotted it swimming down the river quite slowly, but kept going in and out of the water. So it was a bit of a mad rush getting this shot, as I ran down closer to the river and quickly set up the tripod and camera, also to set the correct exposure and focus. Lucky I new how to get a seals attention, by clapping very loud. It all happened very quickly and was over within 30 seconds. Thankfully I got the shot I wanted, the seal swam into shot and looks at the camera and drives back under again. For this I used a 75-300m zoom lens because I needed to zoom in quite far as I wanted a nice close up.
As for the buzzard, yet again I wasn't expecting or concentrating on getting that. I was filming (trying) to capture a bee in a filed filled with dandy liens near Cardiff. Then I looked up and there was a large bird in the sky, I looked at it and then I realised it was a buzzard. I must admit I was a little nervous as it was circling me. But I managed to get a shot of it flying in the sky. This was very hard to get because it was always moving very fast. Trying to focus the camera was a difficult challenge because as I said it was moving very fast. I literally just followed it looking through the camera screen. I used a 75-300m zoom lens to capture this buzzard because I needed a close up to be able to see it clearly. Although it is a dark silhouette of the buzzard and it looks very dramatic.
Unfortunately I couldn't film at PuzzleWood because they wanted me to film in a term time. I'm disappointed that I couldn't go there, but I came up with an alternative. There's a place called the Secret Forest which is next to PuzzleWood, they also filmed Atlantis and Merlin there too. It still has the mossy stones and the wonderful magical feel it brings. So after I filmed in the wood there is a little farm cafe at the top and they had animals roaming free. Chickens, ducks, lamps and rabbits. After I filmed the chicken it sort of went a bit nuts, still don't know why, maybe because I was too close to its young? I got some nice shots of some baby rabbits and they were really cute. There was a white, brown and black one. I filmed the brown one because it was the most confidant out of the three. There was a goat there too, but I didn't film it because it was tied up against a wooden pole. It just didn't look natural enough for me. Yet again I used the 75-300m zoom lens to get these shots as I wouldn't have to go to close to them.
I got a waterfall shot in a place called Pen y Fan. I wasn't planning to capture this waterfall as I was walking up the mountain, but it was on the left walking up and I couldn't say no to that. Obviously I had to be careful about water spray and slippery surfaces, but to be honest it wasn't to bad and I got the shot in no time. As for the mountain I got some good footage of it, and got lots of different variations, like experimenting with panning, focus and position. Of course I used the zoom lens as I wanted to get a close at possible to show the detail of the mountain.
I've edited all of the footage to the music and it looks really good! I am pleased on how it looks at the moment. However there are so many things I need to fix, like replacing a few shots, grain, lighting, cropping and maybe pacing. All I need to film now is the ending part, I need a few powerful shots as the music gets more exciting. Not quite sure what I going to film for this part, but things like waterfalls, waves crashing against the rocks and some cliffs with low angels to show how tall they really are.
As for my audio I will contact Christopher to see how the voice recording is coming along. I will do this tonight (25th April 2017). Hopefully I will get it some time at the end of this week or the start of the next.
Week 6 Filming on Location and Progress
I've almost finished all the filming and is slowly coming to an end. I filmed Wednesday morning in Vallis, were I got a squirrel, a cliff shot and more bluebells. When I got back home I edited them into the video and found out I only need one more shot. That shot is the final shot which is the sunset. I still don't know when I'm going to get this, maybe the weekend?
But anyway, filming on location yesterday was good and I got some nice footage. The weather was partly cloudy, but when the sun came out the lighting was really good. I filmed the squirrel on a 75-300m lens to capture it while standing quite far away, its not the best shot in the world but it will do. The cliff I captured is a nice pan shot, I got a nice smooth pan. The tripod I've been using is a bit dodgy as its a bit loose when articulating the motions to do panning shots. Luckily I got a low angel looking up, so when I release the handle it does all the work for me, automatic pan! As for the blue bells I experimented with panning shots from different angels and also a still. While filming this shot the sun was going in and out fast, so I got a few shots with different lighting, obviously I chose the one with the sun shinning because its good natural light. From looking at the footage back I chose the still shot because it suited the part of the music nicely. Also there was a horse in a filed at the start, but unfortunately it didn't do anything but eat his lunch. He wouldn't look up, walk around, he wouldn't move for nothing! I still got a shot of him just in case I needed it, probably not though - not exciting enough. Oh, and I managed to capture a bee on a flower as last! I've been wanting to get this since day 1. Previously they were just to fast for me, by the time I zoomed in and got the lighting and focus correct the bee would be hopping to flower to flower and would of gone in no time. But this time I was lucky to capture 2 seconds of it. I know its not much but its better than nothing at all. I also vloged about the day. What I've decided to do it edit all the vlogs and put them all in one video instead of individual 20 second ones, which would of taken over my entire YouTube channel, best not.
Last night I wanted to make sure that all the edited footage was top notch to my liking (well trying to anyway), if that meant fixing lighting, maybe replacing a few shots with better ones, contrast, fixing grain and pacing. So at the moment Its all good, the only thing I need now is the sunset and the dialogue. Talking about the dialogue, still nothing yet. I emailed Christopher 2 days ago (Tuesday) to see were the audio is, and he said "I'll have it with you tomorrow", which he didn't. I know he's a busy man, but I'm still being patient. However I really need it now to be honest, fingers crossed as I cant wait to hear it and deadlines of course.
For the end of the video I need to put in credits. So I've decided I'm going to get a few sunset shots and In one of them I will have text over it saying - filmed/edited by Lyndon Coleman. A special thanks to Stuart Hancock (Composer), and Christopher Thomson (Actor/Voice Impressionist). The text will be white over a dark sunset, as It will stand out nicely. This will be the final part of the video and will tie in good with the closure of the music as it fades out.
So hopefully I can get a sunset this weekend. Then It will be a rap for the filming! Cant believe how fast Its gone, after this I need to continue with the research and the experimentation as its just as important as the final film. I still need to boost up these sections, but this is usually how I role. I would finish the film and go back and tie up everything else.
*Edited* (02/05/17)
So over the weekend I finally got the dialogue from Christopher, and it was worth the wait. He sounds really good and has a great likeness to Peter Capaldi. He was very sorry about the delay as he lost hearing in his ear last week and couldn't do anything. Hope he gets better soon!
I edited the audio into my film and making sure the audio levels are correct and flows nicely. I also put a reverb on the voice and it sounds a lot more atmospheric. I adjusted the audio levels in volume control, so when the dialogue plays the music reduces volume, so its not too crowded and hard to hear. I spaced the dialogue out across the start of the video because it would have been too fast, I wanted some breaks so you can enjoy the music as well.
I might add some text at the start of the video, so what Christopher said will appear on screen with nice slow fade traditions. I could type it up in a italic font because it would look like it's literally being read out like a speech.
So like I said before I just need one more shot (the sunset). I went out Saturday evening and chased the sun all the way to Monmouthshire, where there was a really nice opening of the hills and mountains, but unfortunately it was to dark and cloudy. I still got footage but it was too grainy. I was then planning to return to this spot the next day, but It was hammering down with rain. This is a shame because It was a stunning view. So it means that I need to get a sunset this week somehow. I also tested the film so far on the big TV, and it looked really good. Seeing it on the big screen like that was really powerful, also the footage quality looked very clear and the pacing flowed very nicely.
Week 7 Filming on Location and Progress
I've almost finished all the filming and is slowly coming to an end. I filmed Wednesday morning in Vallis, were I got a squirrel, a cliff shot and more bluebells. When I got back home I edited them into the video and found out I only need one more shot. That shot is the final shot which is the sunset. I still don't know when I'm going to get this, maybe the weekend?
But anyway, filming on location yesterday was good and I got some nice footage. The weather was partly cloudy, but when the sun came out the lighting was really good. I filmed the squirrel on a 75-300m lens to capture it while standing quite far away, its not the best shot in the world but it will do. The cliff I captured is a nice pan shot, I got a nice smooth pan. The tripod I've been using is a bit dodgy as its a bit loose when articulating the motions to do panning shots. Luckily I got a low angel looking up, so when I release the handle it does all the work for me, automatic pan! As for the blue bells I experimented with panning shots from different angels and also a still. While filming this shot the sun was going in and out fast, so I got a few shots with different lighting, obviously I chose the one with the sun shinning because its good natural light. From looking at the footage back I chose the still shot because it suited the part of the music nicely. Also there was a horse in a filed at the start, but unfortunately it didn't do anything but eat his lunch. He wouldn't look up, walk around, he wouldn't move for nothing! I still got a shot of him just in case I needed it, probably not though - not exciting enough. Oh, and I managed to capture a bee on a flower as last! I've been wanting to get this since day 1. Previously they were just to fast for me, by the time I zoomed in and got the lighting and focus correct the bee would be hopping to flower to flower and would of gone in no time. But this time I was lucky to capture 2 seconds of it. I know its not much but its better than nothing at all. I also vloged about the day. What I've decided to do it edit all the vlogs and put them all in one video instead of individual 20 second ones, which would of taken over my entire YouTube channel, best not.
Last night I wanted to make sure that all the edited footage was top notch to my liking (well trying to anyway), if that meant fixing lighting, maybe replacing a few shots with better ones, contrast, fixing grain and pacing. So at the moment Its all good, the only thing I need now is the sunset and the dialogue. Talking about the dialogue, still nothing yet. I emailed Christopher 2 days ago (Tuesday) to see were the audio is, and he said "I'll have it with you tomorrow", which he didn't. I know he's a busy man, but I'm still being patient. However I really need it now to be honest, fingers crossed as I cant wait to hear it and deadlines of course.
For the end of the video I need to put in credits. So I've decided I'm going to get a few sunset shots and In one of them I will have text over it saying - filmed/edited by Lyndon Coleman. A special thanks to Stuart Hancock (Composer), and Christopher Thomson (Actor/Voice Impressionist). The text will be white over a dark sunset, as It will stand out nicely. This will be the final part of the video and will tie in good with the closure of the music as it fades out.
So hopefully I can get a sunset this weekend. Then It will be a rap for the filming! Cant believe how fast Its gone, after this I need to continue with the research and the experimentation as its just as important as the final film. I still need to boost up these sections, but this is usually how I role. I would finish the film and go back and tie up everything else.
*Edited* (02/05/17)
So over the weekend I finally got the dialogue from Christopher, and it was worth the wait. He sounds really good and has a great likeness to Peter Capaldi. He was very sorry about the delay as he lost hearing in his ear last week and couldn't do anything. Hope he gets better soon!
I edited the audio into my film and making sure the audio levels are correct and flows nicely. I also put a reverb on the voice and it sounds a lot more atmospheric. I adjusted the audio levels in volume control, so when the dialogue plays the music reduces volume, so its not too crowded and hard to hear. I spaced the dialogue out across the start of the video because it would have been too fast, I wanted some breaks so you can enjoy the music as well.
I might add some text at the start of the video, so what Christopher said will appear on screen with nice slow fade traditions. I could type it up in a italic font because it would look like it's literally being read out like a speech.
So like I said before I just need one more shot (the sunset). I went out Saturday evening and chased the sun all the way to Monmouthshire, where there was a really nice opening of the hills and mountains, but unfortunately it was to dark and cloudy. I still got footage but it was too grainy. I was then planning to return to this spot the next day, but It was hammering down with rain. This is a shame because It was a stunning view. So it means that I need to get a sunset this week somehow. I also tested the film so far on the big TV, and it looked really good. Seeing it on the big screen like that was really powerful, also the footage quality looked very clear and the pacing flowed very nicely.
Week 7 Filming on Location and Progress
This week I want to rap up filming, I just need this sunset to end the film. But every recent day has been cloudy or either raining. I really need to get this as soon as possible! I know where to go for the sunset as well its a place in Frome by Sainsbury's and it looks over the hills and apparently it has some amazing sunsets. So I'm constantly checking the weather, and I will try everyday to film.
So I showed Tom my film (so far) and he said to polish it nicely would be to render it in the best quality as possible, also because I noticed it's a bit jerky in some places too, which would be the frame rate. I'm looking on the internet to find out how to render it smoothly. But other than that and the sunset, It looks very nice!
Found this video on YouTube to help me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ee2_NxmZWs
Also this week I've made three versions of the film. The first one is the original and the pacing flows nicely. The second one has text on top of the video when Christopher reads the text. In a italic font and fade transitions. The third one has slightly extended scenes of the seal, buzzard, the lamb and the sparrows etc. Personally I don't think the extended scenes work because I've edited the footage in with the harmony of the music and the pacing works well. If I change something it (might) interrupt the whole film. So what I'm going to do is show the three films to lots of people and see which one they like the most.
So I showed Tom my film (so far) and he said to polish it nicely would be to render it in the best quality as possible, also because I noticed it's a bit jerky in some places too, which would be the frame rate. I'm looking on the internet to find out how to render it smoothly. But other than that and the sunset, It looks very nice!
Found this video on YouTube to help me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ee2_NxmZWs
Also this week I've made three versions of the film. The first one is the original and the pacing flows nicely. The second one has text on top of the video when Christopher reads the text. In a italic font and fade transitions. The third one has slightly extended scenes of the seal, buzzard, the lamb and the sparrows etc. Personally I don't think the extended scenes work because I've edited the footage in with the harmony of the music and the pacing works well. If I change something it (might) interrupt the whole film. So what I'm going to do is show the three films to lots of people and see which one they like the most.
Final Film
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