Blog #9

Blog Assignment #9:

Post about your experience sound recording – what did you learn? (150 words)

Recording sound was a lot of fun. We wanted to do something different, so we went to the bowling alley. I had class the day we were recording, so Ethan (our sound recorder) and Melanie (our producer) met there early to sign the location permission form and start recording. The friendly staff took them in the back where they picked up some awesome mechanical sounds. When I got there we went to the billiards area and recorded sounds of a pool table. They had a ping pong table there too, so we recorded ping pong sounds too. I had the equipment one night and had fun picking up a few extra sounds at my house like a wind chime, the sizzle of food and the crack of a beer can. I tried to get my roommate's dog to bark, but she wouldn't bark at me or the doorbell... so I did get a doorbell noise. We still didn't have enough voice sounds, so the next day Ethan and I picked up more sounds on campus, including a hilarious conversation he had with a friend he ran into.

I learned to think about sound differently. These last two weeks I've really focused on sound in a new way. I never paid such close attention to details like that. I'm excited to start playing around with these noises in edit.

Blog #8

Blog Assignment #8: Post about the editing experience on the Master Shot Project (150 words)

The editing for our project went well for me. It was a little confusing because for some reason, we got the idea that we were required to have two versions of our final cut. To save ourselves time, we split up into twos to work on two different final cuts from the rough cut we had put together last week. I worked with Chic (while communicating with our other group members online) and was happy with the opportunity to play around with editing sound. As the D.P. and main editor for the documentary project, I was more focused on creating a narrative from the footage we had collected and how the images looked on screen. This time, I was able to put more work into editing the sound. I’m also proud of myself for solving two visual issues in our project: 1) we had a longer take in our rough cut of Bran and Park walking down a sidewalk pushing a stroller. Nothing was wrong with the take, but we wanted to add a cutaway of the stroller wheel. Our cutaway shot was taken on a different day and needed some color correction. I also had to mirror the image because the wheel shot was from the other side and I didn’t want to jump the axis of action: easy fix. 2) Our rough cut contained a jump cut. As our characters change their wardrobe in scene, our different shots didn’t line up for when Park stands up; he’s bending over in one shot, and standing up in the next. To correct this, I added another cutaway of the two from a different angle. It took some searching through different shots in the scene until I found one that worked well. Success: I eliminated the jump cut. 

I enjoyed working with this group and think we’ve pulled together a nice project.

Blog #7

Post about the experience of making previsualization materials - how were they helpful? What was the most difficult of the pre-planning (150 words)

The previsualization was a great way to ensure that all of the members in our group were on the same page and know what to expect when we get out there to film. The shooting script and storyboard seem most helpful so far. They've given us all a good sense of how our film is going to look. The overhead seemed like the most complicated part of previsualization because our shot list is composed of 40 shots, another complicated part of the previsualization process. I think as we start filming, the shot list and overhead is going to be very important to make sure we get all of the shots needed. I worked on the budget which seems to be changing as we add more props and equipment to the list. So far we've gathered everything we need except for the ski masks. So far, my group members have been wonderful. Everyone seems to be on top of everything and I'm confident that our group will get everything we need done. We're meeting after class tomorrow to discuss any extra items we might need and hopefully determine a shooting time. We'll also have to figure out costumes.

Blog #6

 Post ideas for your role in the Master Shot Sequence (150 words)

I've been assigned sound editor for the second project. I'm really excited because I haven't been able to use the h4n much. I'm also excited about doing a better job editing the audio this round. Last time, I was so busy with editing the visual sequences I didn't have much time to play around with sound.  

For previsualization, I've been asked to create the budget. The examples of budgets I've seen take into account so many different types of expenses. As students creating this film ourselves, we don't need to worry about paying people like the director, editor, cinematographer or sound mixer. We will act in it ourselves and do not need to pay actors. We will borrow equipment from the school and will no have to worry about that cost either. I think the majority of our expenses is going to be on costumes, props and transportation to shooting locations. Gas will depend on how many vehicles we will use, how far we're going and how many days we end up shooting. I'm not sure what Chic (our director) is thinking for costumes, but hopefully we can save by shopping from somewhere like Goodwill. Sounds like for props we're going to need weapons of some sort. We're trying to use realistic guns, but are concerned with complications filming a scene involving guns out in public. If not, we'll need some other kind of weapon, like bats. Other costume costs: ski masks. Those shouldn't cost much.
A stroller has been added to the list. We'll have to do some searching on Craigslist, yard sales, and Goodwill.