Scheduling, planning and getting ready for a shoot... what we learnt and how you can do the same. Also a few sneaky looks at some scenes from the film itself...and the usual behind the scenes snippets.
I'm touring in Europe for the next 10 days, so this one is slightly longer than usual to make up for there not being another one at the end of the week.
There's still more press appearing all over the net about 'The Addicted'.. here's some of it..
The nice people at Atomos who make the Ninja Pro Res recorder that i use with my Sony FS100 have added a page about me to their website. I'm very grateful for the plug and i hope it shows how much faith i have in their products.
I used the Ninja on another shoot last week which would not have been possible to do any other way. I needed to shoot a band rehearsal in an hour and then edit together a 3minute teaser and get it back to the client the next day.
If i had shot in any other codec apart from Pro Pres, i'd have been transcoding when i should have been editing and i'd never have got it done in time. As it was, i took my footage directly to the edit and then exported without the need for much in the way of rendering.
News of our horror feature 'The Addicted' continues to spread around the World. We've had interest from all over the place including several distributors from the USA and Europe.
Progress update:Well, the good news is...the edit is done! We've finally got to the end of the longest and trickiest job, although i will go back and fine tune it once the audio is done. I've chopped the huge file into 5 reels which myself and Jonathan Atkinson will be working on simultaneously from now on. I'll be recording and mixing the foley, while Jon pieces together the dialogue audio and then composes and records the orchestral score.
In the meantime, we've got a teaser trailer to release... and the final version of the winning poster to show you.... which we'll get to very soon.
Famed horror website 'Bloody Disgusting' is running a news story on 'The Addicted'. As we thought might happen, we're being touted as a 'found footage' film which isn't the case... but hey, it's just cool to be in the news for our current project.
I thought i'd show you where the post production for 'The Addicted' is taking place. This is my studio in Hertfordshire. As you can see, i've got an iMac running Final Cut Pro, and external monitor for checking my colour on and a 2nd computer monitor for keeping my scopes running all the time i'm editing. The control surface is a Mackie Control which i mainly use for Logic, but also sometimes FCP. You can also see my Yamaha and Tannoy reference monitors for mixing the audio.
I keep the main lights off to avoid reflections on the screen while i'm working, i just keep the little lamps on which are behind the screen. My workflow has developed over the last few weeks and i now work in this way:
First, i find all the clips for a particular scene from the footage drive and move them into a folder.
Next, i audition each of the clips on the timeline and do the edit.
Before i commit to the edit, i use Magic Bullet Looks, Colorista 2 and Neat Noise Reduction to get each of the shots looking right in context. This 'grading' would usually be done after the edit, but with such severe lighting a lot of the time, i need to check it's going to grade right before i can decide which takes look best.
Finally i render the scene and watch it back starting from halfway through the previous scene.
I'm about an hour and fifteen minutes into the film now and it's getting very frenetic... lots of action, which slows down the edit a bit, but it's much more exciting than editing dialogue.
Soon, i'll be making a start on the foley recording while Jonathan works on the dialogue editing and mixing. Then, it'll be time to add the music (once Jonathan has written it) and then do the final audio mix and colour grade. We're still hoping to be ready for May 2012.
I might have started working on another script too... but that's (literally) another story.
Today I went to the BVE show at Earls Court. I didn't go last year, but I did go in 2010. Like last time, The Production Show had it's own section and was full of lots of interesting exhibitors to do with filming.
I didn't notice any new gear this time, but there was lots of Canon C300s mounted on various rigs and Sony had the new F65 on the CVP stand.
The H Preston Media stand was absolutely rammed with people picking up bargains, so much so that I could barely squeeze past. I saw Phil from HDWarrior there playing with a C300 too.
There was lot of interest in the Atomos Samurai... Quite a big queue on one stand to see the demonstration. After my positive results from the Ninja, I'd definitely look at the Samurai when I need HD-SDi input. The audio implementation looks fantastic too from the demo I watched.
I got to the show just in time to see Philip Bloom's talk on the CVP stand all about large chip cameras. It was pretty interesting and although I didn't learn anything new, it was good to get his views on the various pros and cons of the various cameras. Poor bloke sounded like he needed a week off though...
I picked up a very cool kit bag big enough to take my entire camera rig. It's huge, but pretty light and can also be used as a rucksack. That makes it sound small...but it's not...it would be a ridiculous rucksack, but it's nice to have the option. I also saw a really nice small jib on the H Preston Media stand... I don't need one right now, but will definitely get one before the next feature shoot.
Any other news from the show? Nope... But it was interesting to see that there were far fewer REDs and DSLRs used for demo'ing rigs than when I was there in 2010. Progress....
In this episode i talk about starting the post production process...file management and also where the idea came from for the film in the first place. There's also some examples of colour grading and a look at some of the posters designed for the 'Empire' Forum competition to come up with our official poster.
I've been lucky enough to be working on some gigs in Japan for the last few days and i'm here until the end of the week. I couldn't bring the Sony FS100, but i did bring my Canon 550D, a tiny tripod and my intervelometer for some timelapses. I know timelapses have been done to death, but it's only for my own amusement and i like them. I've also been out on the street getting some handheld shots. I wandered around downtown Tokyo the other night shooting as many 'BladeRunner-esque' type shots as i could. Tokyo is so crazy to look at it.. it's a film-maker's dream. Lots of light, lots of people and more interesting streets and buildings that you'd find in a week of searching in most cities.
I'm working on the edit for a little short just showing what i've seen since i've been here. It was going to be all based around Tokyo, but today we went to Kyoto and saw some ancient temples which were pretty stunning, so i had to shoot them too. I'll probably have to wait until i get home before i get a chance to finish it, but i'll upload it here soon.
Record indicators added to the monitor page - 'Rec' icon plus horizontal red lines at the top and bottom of the monitor indicate that the unit is recording.
New file picker - the scene/shot/take picker has been replaced by a file browser. The unit will stay in playback mode even when a HDD/SSD is removed.
Issues Fixed:
Fixed incorrect drop frame timecode indication during playback for 1080p movies.
Fixed incorrect 60fps drop frame timecode indication.
I just installed my update and it works as described. The red lines at the top and bottom save you from having to flip the screen overlay on and off to check if you are in record... a really useful feature.
Personal wishlist for future updates?
Crop mark overlay for 2.35:1 shooting
Maybe a grid (rule of 3rds) and a centre crosshair overlay?
Another idea i think would be useful is an additional foam insert for the hardcase to allow you to just store lots of disks for the Ninja as i keep my Ninja on my rig, which has it's own case... and my dock lives in my DiT case... so the nice hard case doesn't get used. But... it would be perfect to keep the disks in if there were more dedicated inserts for them.
Apple today released the 10.0.3 update of Final Cut Pro X... and a world of film makers breathed a sigh of relief. Pretty much everything that has plagued the re-booted Video Editing Package since it's re-launch has been addressed.
I really liked FCPX when it first came out... i used it on a few projects, but when i started editing my latest feature on it, i ran into some serious problems. I couldn't use my favourite plug-ins, namely Magic Bullet Looks and Neat Noise Reduction. I couldn't monitor externally on a proper calibrated set-up...and i couldn't do multi-cam editing. The issue that tipped me over the edge and back to FCP7 was that i could't manually save my work or back it up successfully...and it crashed and lost everything... not good.
But, Apple heard the outcry from users across the globe and today they released an update that deals with nearly all the problems.
Key things to note about the update:
Fantastic MultiCam support. Up to 64 camera angles. Access and sync via timecode, keywords, in/out points or audio.
Any codec, any frame rate, any raster within multicam.
Support for layered PSD files.
Hardware & external monitor support via PCI-E and Thunderbolt devices.
A $10 conversion app from Intelligent Assistance that gives you FCP7 to FCPX called 7toX.
Media ReLink. Phew... now we can re-link media again. It means we can make back-ups!
Advanced Chroma-Keying features.
Keyframes behave as we're used to in 7... auto-adding of keyframes when you change parameters.
It's everything we asked for... I'm going to have to give it another go and see if it's what i'll be using on my next project.
Oh, one more thing... Red Giant have got Magic Bullet Looks working in FCPX! Not only that, but it's a free update to registered users...and at the moment it's 50% off if you want to buy it. Just use this code at checkout: LOOKSFCPX50
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This doc has been doing the rounds online and it's probably one of the best made films on the subject of music, film and art in the 21st Century. It's scary and inspiring at the same time. Have a look if you make a living from the arts or intend to...
As promised, here is the first instalment of our production diary videos. I'm going to try and upload a new one every week right up until the film is finished.
This one is an introduction to the project and doesn't have a specific theme... but some of the others will do.. like FX work, camera choices, lens choices, post production workflows etc.
The poster competition on Empire's website is still running for a while yet... and i had to post some more of the designs. I'm sure you'll agree there's some stunning design talent out there. Every couple of days i see a new one that i like best... it's going to be really tricky to choose only one.
BlackMagic Design have announced version 2 of their popular HyperDeck Shuttle SSD recorder. It's pretty much the same as version 1, but it adds the option to record not only to uncompressed files, but also to Avid's DNxHD compressed codec. Much like Pro Res, DNxHD boasts much smaller files sizes than uncompressed, but with almost no noticeable difference to the eye.... and considering the cost of SSD drives, that makes the HyperDeck Shuttle a much more attractive proposition. The Shuttle is still a bargain at just $345.
BlackMagic Design have also addressed the problem of mounting the Shuttle on your camera rig. No more will you have to gaffer or cable tie it to your rails... the mounting plate makes life far easier. For $99, it's probably worth it just to know your Shuttle (and more importantly, your footage) is safely mounted.
GoPro have just announced the new Wi-Fi Backpack & Wi-Fi Remote Combo Kit for their GoPro Hero2 mini camera. It basically gives the Hero2 Wi-Fi which means it can then be remotely controlled via various smart devices such is iPhones or iPads. Also, it allows you to stream video over Wi-Fi so that you can capture both on the SD card in the camera and on your laptop/smart device or the web at the same time all by using a free GoPro App. For aerial based work, this could be invaluable... it also gives the Hero2 a serious advantage in the 'crash cam' stakes. If the footage is not in the device... you don't have to worry about damage. (apart from the hit on your bank balance) It's waterproof too.
I should point out that the original GoPro Hero HD does not support streaming over Wi-Fi... only the remote control options will work... for the full streaming experience you will need the Hero2. The remote can control up to 50 GoPro cameras at the same time.
The Combo kit is due out in March.
'The Addicted' News
Today was another full day of editing. It was also another day spent wrangling with FX. There was a scene where an 'entity' has to appear... be menacing for a bit..then disappear. (not too tricky) Then there was a scene where someone has to be completely enveloped in light...almost like an explosion, but more paranormal. We shot the scene using some very bright lighting effects on set...which gave me a very good start, but i needed more. It fell to some slight 'mis-use' of some Magic Bullet looks tools to get the effect i wanted. All i need to add now is the final element which i've been working on in After Effects this evening. Hopefully all the elements will fit together tomorrow and i can move on to the next scene.
When i'm just cutting regular scenes...people talking/walking/moving about etc... i can get lots done in a pretty short space of time. Even with multiple camera angles, i should be able to get 5 minutes of screen time cut in a day. It may not sound like much, but it's quite quick. But, as soon as there's FX shots...things slow down. It took all day today to do a scene which was no more than 10 seconds long.
Here's a sneak peak at some screen grabs taken from the teaser trailer we've just finished... hopefully we'll release it soon...
Right... it's late and i need to watch some mindless TV for a while to unwind.
I've had this ipad2 for months now and I'm still finding what it's good for....sometimes I use it a lot, but sometimes I forget I've got it and it sits in my rucksack for a week.
Keeping this blog up to date is tricky sometimes....finding a spare half an hour here or there to get a new post up can be hard. I've tried using my phone, and it's possible but not ideal, it's just too small.
The iPad seems perfect and it's a lot less intrusive to use an iPad in Starbucks/Costa/The pub (delete as appropriate) than the MacBook Pro which usually annoys people and with its upright screen....can be a bit public.
Anyway.... So far, this post has been pretty easy to put together using Blogsy. There's some good formatting tools, access to my Picasa albums, my YouTube account, and full use of all the iPad's tools like the photo album and camera.
In other news... I'm now 1 hour into The Addicted edit. Today I was working on 2 of the scenes set 25 years ago. They both came together pretty quickly apart from an FX shot that I had to do in Photoshop...that took an hour for a shot that lasts just under a second. Tomorrow I'm working on another scene with a big FX shot in it...although I'm tempted to keep it simple. Less is often more when you're trying to create tension.
Hopefully, assuming I catch up on the mountain of paperwork I've got on this week (as well as the edit) I'll be posting the first of a series of regular video blogs on the post production of The Addicted. The first one will bring everyone up to date on where we are and then there will be regular updates leading right up to the end of the post process.
Just wanted to let you all know that those nice people over at Empire magazine are running a competition through their online forums for someone to design the official poster for 'The Addicted'.
We saw some of their previous poster competition entries and were blown away by the quality of the work submitted.
All the details are explained over on the Empire site, but basically, we're looking for an image to use for the poster, the DVD cover and all the promo material. We're making this whole thing on a very small budget, so help like this is vital..and hopefully we'll help a top designer expand their portfolio into a new area.
There's so many great designs on there already and we've not even begun to think about any decisions... but here's a taster of just 3 i saw on there today..
Fantastic work... can't wait to see more.
The winner will be announced on the Empire Forum... and then maybe here after that... but not for a while yet... so get designing.
Last time i talked about the shoot of a music promo i was working on... this time it's the edit.
Once i got the two SATA drives from the Atomos Ninja backed-up on to another FireWire800 drive, i could begin trawling through all the footage. I like to watch everything i shot and then label and move the shots i want into another folder, ready to import into Final Cut Pro. I label them so that i know what is what when i am assembling the edit. It's no good calling them take 1, take 2 etc... i need to know what it is, so i call them things like 'Vocal Mime to Cam 1' or 'Audience Reactions 3' etc. It keeps things simple.
Once i've chosen all the footage, i then import the audio file of the song into Final Cut Pro. In this case, it needed some mastering work first. There was very little 'bottom end' or bass, and it also need converting into an AIFF file to make FCP run quicker. I made the adjustments in PEAK and then exported it.
Once that was done, i dropped it onto the timeline and started dragging in the clips. I knew already what the plan was, so i started at the beginning, looking for the opening shots and then the speed dating clips. As usual there was far too much footage, so it was a case what not to use... a nice position to be in. When you shot a promo in one day with no crew only a tripod and a shoulder rig, there's no slick dolly moves or long tracking shots, so you shoot accordingly and that means keep the edit snappy too. Linger on any one shot too long and people will lose interest. A huge mistake you see in lots of amateur band videos is a wide shot of the band performing that just lingers on screen too long. If the camera's not moving, the edit has to.
The shot of the singer looking right down the lens seemed the best way to start and as there's no lip syncing during the speed dating section, it seemed preferable to using some of the gig section too near the beginning.
Then it was a case of trying to tell the story without hammering it home. The audience aren't stupid and nothing is worse than trying too hard to make a point... people can and will watch it more than once, so give them some credit and let them work it out a bit.
Luckily, i'd shot all the gig sections right the way through, so i could line up the beeps at the beginning of the takes and they would all sync up with no drifting issues. Then all i had to do was switch between takes while dropping in some of the story based takes at regular intervals to keep the flow.
I was really happy with the stuff we shot at the table of the singer singing to Matilda (or Nat as she's really known...) The lighting looks great and it joins to the two main sections of the video together perfectly.
Once i'd got all the clips in the right places and i'd watched it through a few times i began on the colour work. This involved using Magic Bullet Looks to grade it. I shot it all quite bright so i needed to make it darker and more moody. I used a preset i'd created for 'The Addicted' which only needed tweaking on the exposure to get each clip to match. On a few shots i added some anamorphic lens flares just to give it a bit of punch and then i added a widescreen matte which i eventually cropped off altogether at 2.35:1 for that cinematic look.
Un-graded footage shot with Frank Glencairns G-Log profile
The graded footage using one of my presets from Magic Bullet Looks
Al i had to do then was add the titles. Dan had already sent me the OffBeat Music animation and i already had the Recoil Films one, so i just needed to create the credits. I did this in FCPX as there's some nice looking presets which are really easy to tweak. Then i exported them and imported them into FCP7. A quick render (the quad-core i7 iMac really renders fast) and then export. Lastly, i dropped it into Compressor 4 to generate the 1080p web version which i uploaded to Vimeo.
Dan (the 1st AD), shot this little making-of video on the day of the shoot... it shows the fun (and the mayhem) involved in the shooting process. Notice how much everyone is enjoying themselves while i'm permanently staring down the viewfinder... such is life when you've got just one day to shoot. Mustn't complain though, we did fit in time for a pint and a McDonalds. ;-)
Here's the finished promo...
What would i have done differently given more time or money?
Well, a dolly and track would have been great, and a circle of track around the table scene would really push it onto another level, but there's always a wish list and you've got to work with what you've got. I'm really happy with it. I don't think you'd make much difference without spending 10 times what it cost and even then would any punters actually notice? Probably not...
I'm looking forward to working with the band again when they're in the top 10. ;-)
Just a quick post about a new EVF coming from TVLogic. TVLogic make some really good quality HD Broadcast monitors so i would expect this to be right up there with the Zacuto EVF, if not better.
It's got some great specs such as HD-SDI Loop-Thru, which will please a lot of people and also HDMI in and out... not to mention a resolution of 960x640, amazing for a 3.5" display.....all very professional.
The flip up loupe looks good too.
Feb 2nd is when they are going to tell us more apparently...
