In Retrospect Pt. 1

         Looking back at all of my editing, recording, brainstorming, and planning, I want to say the final product was pretty good. Here I wanted to talk about the project itself, and in part 2 I wanted to reflect on myself, so here we go.

        With everything almost done except for some nitpicking here and there, the final idea actually differed from my initial idea quite a bit. One of the major changes was the pacing. At first I thought of including a scene at school, one outside, and a few possible extra scenes here and there. Obviously, none of this came to fruition. In the end, I really enjoyed the opening because it not only brought together a lot of things I like, but also gave me an opportunity to learn.

        The credits of the opening scene were my favorite part of the production, as I was able to incorporate something I saw in other media in my own film. In some movies I've watched, I remember how creative some title sequences were. While some films were dull in their delivery, others did an amazing job. Final Destination 4 for example, showed the cast and crew alongside major plot points. While it certainly isn't the best, it is a lot more enjoyable then bland, white text on a black background. Another memorable opening scene was Memento (2000), where backwards, unintrusive video was played alongside the credits. The way these two movies brought about creative, memorable, and entertaining-ish titles (as far as credits go) became a very good source of inspiration for me.

        Links to the openings are here, but fair warning as both have gore/blood

Final Destination 4 Opening

Memento (2000) Opening

        While movies do an alright job at keeping audiences engaged, there is nothing less intrusive than some of my favorite video game openings. Seeing everyone who worked on what you are interacting with is on another level when compared to movies. While many openings still retain movie-esque portrayals of abstract art alongside credits, some do a fantastic job at getting you right into the action.

        Starting off with Tales from the Borderlands, we see tons of resemblance to movie openings. While the openings aren't interactive, the blending of text credits with what's being shown is creative. The usage of text that blends in/interacts with the environment inspired me tons, and gave me the idea to not do yet another boring title sequence. While my credits were not as expansive or detailed as these, I still managed to get the same idea across by having unobtrusive and creative openings.

Check out the opening here, fair blood and content warning though

        Last but not least, we have last year's The Last of Us 2, which is the epitome of reserved credits. Being able to see everyone who worked on the game while playing and interacting with it was an amazing experience. I wanted to do the same with my short film by not wasting time on credits and still including as much story as possible. By having the credits show up on every shot while at the same time including content I was able to make full use of all 2 minutes given to me.

Fair content warning on this one as well, but the link to it is here

        In the end, I think I accomplished my goal of not being hindered by credits and creating a good story. I drew inspiration from everything I find well-made, and the final product is reflective of it all.

Learning to move on

         With the final project deadline fast approaching, there are not many changes that can be made without wasting time. Because of this, any further editing I choose to do will have to be done in post, as re-recording takes time and requires a good environment, primarily a silent one with matching natural light.

        Considering I am at home, I can afford to re-shoot simpler scenes, but the more complicated ones will be harder to pull off. Choosing to re-shoot is very important, as it's an obvious commitment. It's always better to try and fix lighting in post. When you're lucky and know what you're doing, you can fix up a shot only by changing a few settings.

        Both shots are the exact same, but some effects such as lumetri color, Red Giant, color balance, and others all allow to change brightness, contrast, shadows, and other video settings. Color correcting is usually subtle, and is usually done to make every scene look similar in terms of lighting/coloring. Because it doesn't take much time, it is much easier to leave perfectionism for later as it usually works out. However, sometimes you aren't so lucky.

        Again, we see the same exact scene, before and after editing. While post-editing looks MUCH better, looking at it closely reveals an extensive amount of grain. Even when playing around with settings, it can be unlikely to find a perfect solution. In this case there are quite a few solutions. One thing you can do is replace a scene with B-Roll. This is much more common in larger productions, as scripts are sometimes written to counteract unpredicted events, such as actors leaving or unprecedented weather. Reshooting is also an alternative, as sometimes you just NEED a shot. This was the case with my scene, as it was relevant to the "plot". Keeping the original while re-shooting is important as you can see exactly what went wrong, and work to counteract it. 

        Small cameras with LCD's are usually subject to under-exposure, as they are not always accurate to what is captured, and tend to show brighter footage than is actually being recorded. Because of this, it's good to remember the approximate ISO levels when recording, as bumping it up a bit results in a nicer-looking shot.

What goes around comes around

         If I haven't beaten it into your head yet, I'm working alone. That would be all well and good if I had tons of equipment. Alas, I do not. Because of that, I have two alternatives; buying, and borrowing. 

        Buying is obviously a good alternative as I only have to worry about upgrading it when the time comes. The problem is, I'd have to buy it. I managed to get some equipment, primarily a light kit, that will forever help me. Especially in my house, there is no downside to getting a light-kit, as I will be using it frequently. Although a few of my scenes need little to no extra lighting, the light kit is very much needed for some scenes in my kitchen, as there are no windows nearby.

        On the other hand, there is more equipment that would not only improve the quality of my production, but make everything much easier. As such, I have decided to borrow some equipment from my friend, and in turn, I helped him with his project.The experience was very enjoyable, as I not only got to learn more for myself, but I got some insight into advanced techniques as well as inspiration for my own film opening. 

        As for the equipment, I got a few stands, a mechanical slider, and a tripod head. Each has their own uses, but I'll primarily focus on the slider. One shot idea I had was to slowly wipe through a character and reveal myself behind it. Seeing how it's a "duplicate" shot I would have to do it twice, with myself in each position. Using a mechanical slider helps, as it can go through the movements over and over again perfectly, allowing me to stitch shots together in post. If that does not work, I can use a double for myself and just record two plates of the shot, one with me and one without.

        As you can see, both shots are essentially the same when it comes to timing thanks to the wonders of technology. Stitching them together just comes down to cutting or fading to it. Were it not for the slider, I would resort to alternative ideas, which would've been fine, just not as cool.

Editing

         It might be weird to think about editing at this point, but that's exactly what I'm doing at this point. Similarly to how CG is done before much of production, many effects are shot first so as to complete them. One "effect" I need to do is add credits, but I decided to make them much more engaging, and have them interact with the environment. As such, I need to keyframe and animate quite a bit of text. Because of this, I'm doing a rough edit to see what can and cannot be done.

        Keyframing, or animating is the changing of properties over time, whether done manually or automatically. Scrolling text is a good example, as it is constantly changing its Y-axis position. Since I am lining up text to actual movement, there is not much I can do outside of manual editing.

        While changing properties is easy, lining all of it up so that the text isn't too slow or too fast is fairly challenging. Constantly having to play back the video as I change everything frame by frame becomes tedious, but it is very much doable.

        Another effect I'm using is masking. Just like movement, everything has to be lined up properly to keep something from appearing when its not supposed to. At slow frame rates it is easier to catch something even for a single frame. After all, 1/24th of a second is much more than 1/60th, so it is on screen for longer.

        After making sure that my simpler effects are doable, I can move on to practical effects, which are on a completely different level.

What is recording actually like?

         Recording is pretty enjoyable, except when it isn't. Making sure a scene comes out the way you intend it is extremely tedious, as there is always something you can fix or do better. One issue I have to constantly deal with in my home is lighting. Some areas are fairly well-lit, and don't need much editing, while others NEED external lighting to look good. While editing can sort some of these problems out, it is better to make sure your raw footage comes out as best as possible.

        Working around the house means working with different lighting environments, primarily natural and artificial lights. 

        Natural lighting is anything that cannot really be altered, such as windows, reflections, and anything that interacts with the sun. It's considered natural because it is just that. While tricky to work with, it is not impossible. Golden hour is a prime example of how anything can look good with minimal effort. 

        To undergo the process of mimicking golden hour entirely digitally is hellish, and I would not wish it upon anyone. Natural lighting does not work with you. You should be working with it. This is why schedules are usually tight when filming with the sun. Because it never stops. 

        Artificial lighting is a bit easier to work with. Keep in mind I said a BIT. Depending on your set, you might have to deal with reflections or bright spots due to glossy material. But if you can't change your material you'll have to change your lights, and to find that sweet spot where it isn't over or under exposed is hard.

        While the picture looks balanced, keep in mind it was shot using my phone, so it was automatically leveled out. On the left you can see my light kit, and on the right is my camera. To end up on this exact setup I had to try out every other setup that did not look like this. First I chose a specific light level to work with, one that wouldn't create too harsh of white spots on the counter or too many shadows, but at the same time I needed to light it up significantly. 

        Once that was set up, I had to find an angle that would keep shadows to a minimum. I tried left, right, up, down, north, west, south, east, northeast, south-north, and everything in between. Thankfully I had a tripod and once I found the right angle it stayed there. Lighting up the other scenes were not as hard, thanks to windows or just more direct lighting.

Sound design

         Sound design can sometimes go unnoticed in productions; but other media, primarily video games, revel in creating the appropriate atmosphere using as many senses as possible. Horror is a genre closely entwined to audio, or the absence of it. Creating a harrowing environment just from audio, or releasing tension with a stinger can be considered a simple idea, but unless it is done properly it will come off as weird.

        One technique I was interested in using was audio mixing. While the word means nothing more than putting different audio tracks together, to me it means putting tracks together so as to complement a scene or idea. This comes into play during my dream scene, as one idea I had was to mix "real" and dream sounds. Similarly to how noise affects our dreams, I planned on having some sounds bleed into the dream in a distorted way. Not only does this distortion set up the right atmosphere of familiar yet distressing, but it also foreshadows it all being a dream. But how does one go about this? By taking small steps at a time.

        Going around and recording foley with a mic is essential, as getting any unintended audio can be hard to fix, if its fixable at all. Two mics are exceptional at handling this problem, shotgun mics and lavalier mics. Without getting too technical, shotgun mics gather audio in a specific area in front of themselves, while lavs are much smaller, gathering audio close to itself if the levels are set up properly. 

Both lavaliers (lavs) and shotgun mics have similar pickup patterns, focusing on the area directly in front of them, which keeps unnecessary audio from being noticed.

        Another piece of equipment that helps but isn't necessary is an audio box. While nothing is stopping me from directly recording and getting rid of the visual aspect of the file, directly importing audio files from a separate unit makes everything much more manageable. 

        The box itself allows for much audio managing, from input to output. It also allows me to access XLR audio cables (the big circle with three smaller ones), which would be impossible to use with my camera. Were it not for the audio box, I would be very limited equipment-wise. If needed, I can even connect it directly to the camera. This is beneficial as if it works properly I already have both the audio and video linked, without me needing to do anything. But if I do want to edit audio manually, the audio box saves a copy of the file, meaning I can safely edit it, knowing I'll always have a backup.

        I am not too proficient with extensive music theory, but I do understand the basic concept and application of many terms, both from music theory classes I took as well as Scruffy's YouTube channel. Be sure to check him out, as he does an amazing job describing the audio techniques I plan on using and many more.

Color and composition

         Now that I am fully ready to move on to live-action recording, I can start thinking of how the rest of my scenes will look. There are many theories about color, movement, and composition; and they all play major parts in any composition. I will be talking about a few, but focus primarily on the ones I plan to incorporate.

        The rule of thirds is a majorly used composition technique. The idea of it is simple, and many people recognize it even without being film excerpts. All it really does is split up your screen into a 3x3 grid so as to help you align your subjects or horizons, like so. 

This picture was taken from Christian Hoiberg's article on the rule of thirds, which can be found here.

        While not the most complex, this composition technique is often seen in films because of how easy it is for audiences to follow and for filmmakers to set up. 

Ratatouille by Pixar

The Joker by DC Films

BBC's take on Sherlock

    

        Incorporating this technique to my film opening will also be rather easy, considering how most things will be recorded on a tripod. Once the shot is set up, it is up to me to align everything to the correct third, and if I do end up making a mistake, cropping the video will allow for a quick fix.

        Going back to the film scenes; even with their wildly different genres, settings, and colors, we still know exactly what to focus on. However, composition isn't everything. While each scene does utilize the rule of thirds, costume design, color theory, blurring, and other techniques help the subject stand out in the scene. This all takes me to my next point: costume design.

        In each of the above scenes, one thing that helps the character stand out is color. From the Joker's vibrant suit to Sherlock's darker jacket, every character has clothing that at least kind of sets them apart from the background. I decided to incorporate something similar in my film, where the clothing does not directly line up with the background.

        Seeing as how most of my house has white walls, almost any clothing would work to set myself apart. So I took to my closet and chose the least white pajama I had. The sharp contrast between a red/black pajama and pure white walls immediately gives the audience a subject to follow. Most of my scenes will have white walls, with the exception of the kitchen, which will not directly have me as a subject.