Major Project Production Unit: Music Selection Update

After looking at the original pieces I picked for the music in the edit, something was not quite working. Although the music seemed to fit to each individual scene, I felt it could be a lot more consistant all together. I also feel the music is to much and depletes the visuals slightly rather than compliments them. I decided to revisit the music and have a look deeper into what I could do. I thought about hiring a composer to score the film but I feel this would take a lot of time to do. I then had a look into music licensing to see if there were any that I could use rather than using royalty free. Although Royalty Free works, I want something a bit more higher quality that would really take the score to the next level. After researching different music sites like audio jungle and hook sounds, I came across a site called Artlist io.

Artlist io had loads of music that was really great quality and had pieces that were professional and sounded what I felt the project needed. I am specifically looking for a classical, cinematic vibe that coinsides with elegance and beauty and this website was perfect for that. The site was £150 for a years subscription so it meant paying more money into the project but I feel since the music is so important, its worth paying the money to really elevate the film.

I went through a lot of music and downloaded each track that I feel could work for the film. As I listened to them I was envisioning each scene to see if it would fit. When downloaded I would send them over to Drey and she would place them in the edit so I could have a look and see if it works how I would like it to. Some pieces were soft and slow which worked well at the begining of the film and then there were more dramatic pieces that work really well for when the film changes to a more darker scene. Although the tracks were different in terms of tone, the style was very much the same and I feel this is helping the film to be more consistant and flow better than it did with the original pieces.

Major Project Production Unit - Assisting The Edit 2

After our last edit review session with Simon it was really clear that the shoot days had to be to the same standard as the scenes we had already done. Since we have filmed new scenes, Andreya sorted them into folders, named all the clips and put them into bins on the edit. The next part was to then see how the footage looks amongst the previous shoot days. I am really happy with how the footage looks. It is clear and bold but also keeping in theme with the cinematic style. All of the footage appears to work well with what we have of the film so far. Since we had worked well getting the other 2 scenes to a fine cut we felt the next thing to do was to start doing the same thing with the new scenes we had shot. We first worked on the scenes we shot a Stonewall Park as this was the biggest bulk of what we have done. Again Andreya would edit the clips together finely and I would help to get the clips flowing right and make smaller adjustments to it. This worked really well and we kept editing until we were both happy with it. We looked at the scenes with Sophie in the living room, the dining room, hallways and in the bath.

In the living room scene, this was only one shot of her drinking a glass of wine. I got a variety of coverage for this but a lot of the close-ups looked a little bit grainy so we decided to go for the wide shot and stay on it. Although it was not quite what I had planned, When Drey edited it together it actually worked nicely rather than an overkill of different shots. I also asked her to put a shot in the middle of the scene as it needed something to break it up. We put the shot of a corridor cut away from Bradbourne house integrating the two locations together which worked really well. It also gave a really nice pace and flow to it going from one shot to a cutaway and then back to the original shot.

In the dining room scene, we again had plenty of coverage to work with but some of the shots you could see us in the mirror. This room was particularly hard with mirrors. I had even blocked out this scene knowing where the mirrors were but we still could not avoid them in every shot. Thankfully there was enough coverage to work with and drey was able to cut around it. When she finished I changed a couple of shots around and helped make the clips flow a little better from the close up of where she picks up the knife to the wide but this was a small fussy thing that I noticed. Overall this scene looked really nice and I am pleased with the way drey had edited it together.

The hallway scenes were again quite straight forward to edit. I gave Drey some music to lay alongside the clips in the edit which helped get the flow and pace right from the offset. The music changes to more slow and ominous which gives a great sense that things have turned darker. I explained to Drey that I wanted the cutting in this scene longer and more drawn out which she did really well to the music. After reviewing it I made minor adjustments to the clip lengths and changed a few shots from wide to close up and the whole thing stitched together really well.

We finally worked on the scene where Claudia is in the bath. There was not as much coverage of this scene but we had enough to work with. The shots were all really clear, in focus and had all the right movement so I am really pleased with this. I felt that when she was in the bath with her eyes closed she could be dreaming about her journey so far and where she has been. I asked Drey to put some flashback shots in of some of the previous scenes. This worked really well and adds to the scene helping it to flow a bit better than just the three shots that we had.

Finally, the last scene we edited was the garden scene that we had shot back at Bradbourne House. This was quite a difficult scene to work with as it was very complex in my head to how I wanted it shown. Although it was one section of the film, it had a lot of different moments in it that all added to the scene as a whole. There is the archways scene, the spinning scene, the bridge and the rose drop. Although I wanted them all shown separately in the sequence at first, I then imagined them all to be intertwined with each other cutting back and forth quite quickly towards the end. This was quite difficult to explain and it took a few attempts to get the pace going how I wanted it to. Also, some of the footage looked quite overexposed but I feel the colour grade will help this towards the end. The music for this piece was also really difficult to find as I want it to have a beautiful sounding score but also dreamlike and sombre at the same time. I will continue looking until I find the right piece.

Overall I have really enjoyed directing the editing process so far. We have got a great system where Drey will edit clips together and I can help refine and change a few things to a place of how I feel the story should be told.

Major Project Production Unit - Shoot Day: Bradbourne House Exterior And Fire Scene

Previously I had scheduled to shoot the exterior scenes on a second day at Stonewall Park however the owner of the property had changed her mind when we got there and explained that she would now only be letting us shoot for one day. This raised a new problem as I needed somewhere to film the garden scenes. I did some research into locations that I could use and emailed some people about the potential of us filming on their land. Several did not reply but I did manage to get a response off of The Bearsted Woodland Trust. They requested a phone call and I spoke on the phone to the chairman about what I was planning to do and what I needed to film. He gave us permission to film there as long as we were respectful of other people and were not in anyone's way. Once the phone call had ended, I suddenly realised there was an avenue I hadn't tried. I felt that although the park would work, it wouldn't look as authentic as an estate or property grounds. I decided to email Bradbourne House where we had filmed previously and asked them if it would be ok to pop down and film a few scenes in their grounds for a few hours. I got a phone call from someone who was part of there team who explained that since we were very professional last time we were there that they were willing to let us use their grounds for free for the afternoon. I quickly updated everyone as I feel this will match a few previous exterior shots we got and I felt it would be a lot more authentic for the film's setting. Everyone was on board and I made sure everyone knew what they were doing and at what time I needed them as well as letting The Bearsted Woodland Trust know that I appreciated their offer but I, unfortunately, was no longer in need of the location.

On the day of the shoot, I picked up Claudia and we made our way to the barn so that we could do hair and makeup. I also had a chance to sit down with her so I could go over the blocking and explain what I wanted from her. This really helped as we both felt comfortable knowing exactly what we were doing. Once this was done we then made our way to Bradbourne house and began setting up the equipment. We first off headed over to the fruit garden. I had originally imagined this scene to be with bright flourishing flowers around her but because of the time were filming it was not the season for this. Having been on a location recce beforehand I knew there were dramatic looking archways in this area so I decided that visually this would really stand out with Sophie walking through them contrasting with the fresh rose that she would be holding. We set up here and started shooting the first shot. I wanted this to be a long shot from several angles with the glide like motion that the gimble has been giving us on previous shoots. I first shot from the front all the way along the arches and redid this from the back and sides in many shot types such as mid shots, long shots and close-ups so that there would be lots of coverage to cut within the edit. I worked with Claudia on her performance in the way she was walking through the archways with pace and elegance as well as her expression being more brighter. I wanted to convey the dream-like nature of the seen but also a sense that she has been longing for this life. I also wanted her to look like she has discovered paradise and she is living it. I feel like I really achieved this despite the lack of flowers and the grey skies.

The next shot was the rose drop. In this shot I wanted it to really symbolise that the beauty has fallen and signified that something delicate and wonderful that she is holding onto is all an illusion and will disappear from her. It also represents her thought changes as she becomes very aware that the beauty she is trying to create for herself is not actually hers as she lets go. I felt the best way to do this shot would be from a low angle pointing upwards. Doing this would make her look big and powerful of where she feels she stands but then we see the rose fall from her hands heading towards the ground. I then got a shot low to the ground so that we can see the rose hitting the floor. I feel both these shots look really great and have worked how I want them to.

After this, we then moved onto the spinning scenes. For these shots I wanted her standing in a large open space to signify the vast land that she owns and how she revels in it. I felt since the audience has seen Bradbourne House as the exterior before, It would be great to get a shot of the house in the background to reinforce her whereabouts and that this is the same house that the story is set in. I decided to shoot in a large space on the side of the house by the lake as this ticked all the boxes for what I was trying to achieve. The first shot we did was of Claudia in the distance spinning and myself and Andreya starting from afar and slowly gliding towards her. I wanted to get this shot as it marries with the other shots I have been getting but also draws the viewer in slowly towards her. It also shows the fast space around her but also keeping a fluid motion. Once I got this shot I got several other mid-shots and close-ups as I want this to be a little more dramatic on the cutting for the edit. All the shots are also in slow motion to give the sense of beauty a fluidity but also making the scene dramatic which is what I want.

The final shots that I got were then on the bridge crossing over the lake in the grounds. I felt this bridge would be great to film on as it shows her crossing the waters that are constantly running underneath. Although calm, they are still present and very much there. This symbolizes her current situation. I also felt it was a really nice shot with the house again in the background and shows her exploring the grounds that she feels like she has. Once this shot was done I called a wrap on the day and decided to pack the equipment up. Claudia was very cold and was not feeling too well today so she held out really well and I ensured in between takes that a warm dressing gown was there so she did not keep getting too cold.

Later on that evening I decided we should shoot the fire scene in my garden. I had originally planned for Claudia to be in these scenes but as she was not feeling well I felt we could manage doing them without her. I had to make sure I emphasised the bags burning from the scene before then it would have the purpose that I intended it to have. Being fire, this meant I had to make sure we were being very safe in something potentially dangerous. We both wore fire proof gloves, stood well back when filming and also had a hose near by incase the fire got too much. We lit the fire in a fire pit with sand in the bottom and made sure it was all self contained with no overhanging trees. Once the fire was going, Drey would start recording and I would drop a bag on with the gloves and then stand back. For all the close up shots, Andreya used the zoom on the camera to prevent getting too close. I wanted a variety of shots here so I made sure we did the same thing four times with four different bags and as mentioned asked Andreya to use the zoom to get close ups. I was worried about the footage looking grainy as we were shooting in the dark but we used the roto light and the LED light to make sure we could get the footage looking as good as possible. Overall the shots came out really well and I am pleased with how these came out. 

Im very happy with how today went. I feel the shots came out really well and everyone worked hard to achieve the shots that I wanted to get. Although I would have loved the weather to be sunny and flowers to be flourishing, I still made good desicions to make things work like shoting under interesting archways, shooting with the house in the background and making the fire scenes focus all about the bags burning.

Major Project Production Unit - Shoot Day: Stonewall Park

Stonewall Park was a very exciting shoot day for me. Knowing how much this property was worth to shoot at, I felt very lucky to get the chance to film here for our project. I made sure I really knew what I was doing in terms of the schedule, scenes, shots and performances as originally we had two days to do all the scenes but the property owner cut it down to one day. This created a really tight schedule and I knew that I had to make sure we was running on time.

We got to the barn at 6am to start hair and make up and then traveled to the location at 7 to make sure we made most of our time. When we got there we immediately put the equipment where the first scene was and started setting up. This was going to be really tough to shoot as the dining room had mirrors on every wall so we had to make sure we weren't going to be in any. We tried several different angles and kept going adjusting our movements slightly to allow for the mirrors which took time but eventually we got there and did the shots well. I wanted these shots to be cinematic like previously. Since this part is coming in after the scene where she dreams of killing Lorna, which is going to be shot differently to the rest of the film, I felt going back to the cinematic, slow moving shots would help the film flow rather than completely changing. 

Once we did this scene we moved onto the drawing room where Sophie is drinking a glass of wine. I wanted Claudia sitting on the sofa at first but when we looked at it, I felt the chairs next to the window looked a lot more classier and shooting into the light coming through the window gave a really nice effect. We lit her from our side too to make sure she wasn't a complete silhouette. These shots came out really nice as static to break the other moving shots. Her costume and hair have changed to give the effect that these shots are at a different time and I was aware that this scene is a lot earlier on and would have to blend as if its in the same house we shot at before. Being meshed in between the other scenes should give the illusion that its all at the same location. We put yellow coloured cordial in the wine glass to try and give the water a white wine look however it didn't show as well as I would have liked on screen. 

From this scene we then went upstairs and did all the walking down the corridor scenes. I wanted this to be intense and slow. Claudia changed into a shiny Mac coat and put her hair down, again showing a different time. We then shot in different areas of the house including the downstairs by the pillars, up 2 stairways, down 3 corridors and on 2 landings. This was great as it really showed the largeness of the house and how many different areas there are which is what I wanted. It also will allow me to show the actress on her journey with a bit of length rather than repeating clips. This scene is long and drawn out so it was important for me to get as many different shots as possible here. Her expressions still show quite a blank look but as she gets closer to the bedroom it becomes more aggressive. This is what I wanted in order to show the increasing danger and appearance of whats actually going to take place. I made sure to include some shots with the Iron that Sophie will eventually kill the other character with to build tension and create questions of whats going to happen. I got a good range of movement and coverage to help make this work well in the edit. 

From this scene we moved into the bedroom where Lorna is sitting at her table dresser in the bedroom. Sophie approaches and strikes her with the iron. I wanted this scene to be tense so slow movement was what I wanted right up to where she strikes the iron. Obviously, Claudia does not actually hit Karen at any point but she gives the motion as if she is hitting her over the head. Unfortunately these shots came out quite grainy and the decor was not what I had in mind of the bedroom. I aim to reshoot these scenes.

We finally moved onto the bath scenes. Since Claudia was in the bath and in her underwear I wanted to make sure we were professional and she was as comfortable as possible. I made the call to restrict the amount of people needed in the room and just worked with Andreya to ensure she could deliver on performance but not feel intimidated by other crew members watching. This worked well and I ensured we got great shots here. I added some bubble bath and had advised Claudia to not wear anything with straps to ensure it looked as natural as possible. I also decorated the bath room with roses in vases to give the room a more luxurious and striking look rather than it being plain. I decided to do a shot where we run level with the side of the bath along the bottom of the flowers and then we reach Sophies face. This worked really well. I also got a more wider shot to give us something to cut to as well as getting Claudia to look straight in the barrel of the lens. This I feel will work well as I want the audience to feel like she's looking right at them breaking the fourth wall and making them a little on edge for the first time.

After this scene I got cut aways of the corridors and some of the rooms to help with the edit if we need it and reviewed all the footage to ensure the bulk of it looked great and was up to the standard I wanted it to be at. After reshooting a couple of scenes because of grain I am finally happy with how most of it looks and I look forward to see it coming together when I help Drey in the edit process. 

Major Project Production Unit - Stonewall Park Call Sheets And Schedules

As soon as I booked in the shoot day for Stonewall Park I felt it was important to do call sheets for this day. The schedule is very tight and the location is not local so I felt it was vital every member of crew and cast had these to look over and get familiar with what we were shooting on the day.

I wanted it to keep in the same format as all the other call sheets that I had done and they worked really well so I carried on using the same style just changed all of the information to what was needed for that day. Once they were complete I sent them out to everyone who is involved in the shoot day so that they had them. You can see a copy of the call sheet below:

Major Project Production Unit - Edit Review With Simon

Today we had an edit review with Simon. Since we havent filmed all are scenes yet, it was still really important for him to see it and give feedback to us as he would get a sense of where we were going with it and the type of shots I have been getting making sure they work. We showed Simon the few scenes we were working on and explained that we are working straight onto a fine cut rather than a rough cut as we still had a lot of the film to shoot and we knew time would be really against us if we kept making rough cuts until the film was finished and then had to make it into something finer. This worked well for us as I could see the whole film in my head really clearly so I was able to communicate to Andreya where each piece went.

After watching the edit, Simon was able to give us feedback about what he had seen. He explained that the shots were looking really great. He loved the movement of shots that I went for and said it felt cinematic and professional. He could also see that the voice over was very clear and worked really well overlayed on the shots, they work really well together. This was great to hear as it gives me even more momentum to keep going at the level we have worked at and my main focus is to make sure that on all other shoot days we are keeping it to the standard that we have set.

Major Project Production Unit - Research And Assisting The Edit 1

When it comes to the editing, it is Andreyas role to make sure the edit of the final film is done to the best it can possibly be but I was a little unsure what my role would be in this part of production. I questioned whether I left her to it and it was her part to do or whether I was heavily involved in this. I decided to research this to gain knowledge so I could carry on directing to the best of my ability throughout the entire production.

I first of all came across a website called media match, a US online magazine, which gave a brief outline on what a directors purpose is from begining to end. The article explains that in pre production a director makes crusial desicions in chosing cast, crew and locations to make sure the film will work mechanically and asthetically. I feel I have acheived this to a good level for the film making sure everything came together. It then goes on to talk about post production which was the section I was most interested to read. The article explains that in post production, a director works very closely with the editor right through until a final edit is reached. This has highlighted to me that its very important that I sit with Andreya throughout the editing process to ensure the vision is being achieved and it is edited the way I intend it to look.

I decided to have a look at another website as I wanted some more detail into the role. I came across one called film reference which explained a lot more about my responsibillities in post production. The article says "Once actual filming has finished, the director must preside over the completion of the work during post production. Before 1940, for example, a hollywood director often had literally no imput in the cutting of a film. By contrast, the contemporary digital manipulation of images has increased to such a degree that the directors close involvement in post production stages is often a necessity. The editor and director will work through the films pace, trim moments of unwanted excess and ensure that the montage generally serves to reinforce the works intent". This says a lot to me about what I need to do as I director in the editing process. I realise I am very much involved to ensure that creatively the project is going the way I want it to look in many areas.

It also explains about how I director works with music. It explains that a director is usually very heavily involved with choosing a films score. They often are responsible for how sequences are intended to make an audience feel and music is a large part of this. The article says "In working with a composer, he might intimate how the score reinforces the affective intent of key sequences or even structures the order in the montage". This is something that I feel will be really important as I feel music is such a big aspect in making our film work. I have already looked through some royalty free tracks that I feel would be a great addition to the film so this will help when it comes to editing. Now I know all of this I will ensure to apply it to the post production stages. 

Since we have finshed filming some of the scenes, myself and Andreya have decided to start the editing process with what we have got so far so that when it came to shooting more scenes, we can build upon what we already have ensuring we have the maximum amount of time to produce a really good edit. Andreya started by putting all the footage into folders and naming the clips so that it was easier to see what was what when in premiere. Once this was done I was able to sit down with her as we went through pulling clips onto the timeline together and roughly put them into place to see how they would fit. I explained to Andreya that I wanted it to open with the establishing shots of the house and some rumbling sound effects followed by a few shots of Sophie from behind not reavealing the front of her. Drey would do a rough cut of the scene and then I would view it and swap some things around to try and get the pace and flow of things how I felt was more what I had imagined. 

Once we had roughly done the opening scene we then moved onto the picadilly scene. This scene was a joy to do. I wanted this to be striking and bold but also dream like. We had great coverage of shots giving us a lot to choose from. I explained that when I was on shoot, I purposely did a shot that was intended to open the scene. It starts close to her dress and then the camera moves backwards as she moves forwards revealing the outfit and the location she is surrounded by. Andreya put the clip in as well as other clips and worked off of my script to know where the voice over was meant to be placed for this scene. After she constructed a rough placement of where the clips went, I reviewed it changing a couple of shots and shortening clips to make sure it was coming across how I wanted it to. I have found some pieces of music through previous research also so Drey put these onto the timeline and we worked together to cut it as fine as we could. I am really happy with the shots. The fluidity and movement as well as trying to look cinematic really works well and I am so pleased that it is coming across how I had it in my head. Working with Andreya closely on this edit worked really well as I could see the film coming together and gave supportive advise throughout. She was great at placing everything and cutting things together but I was also there to ensure my vision was coming across and the scenes flowed well. 

Major Project Production Unit - Music Selection

As this project is very visual, I knew from doing previous research that music was going to be a really important part of this piece. I understand that the music will really drive the narrative forward and really compliment the tone and style of the film. For me, the music had to marry the film perfectly so I put a lot of hours into finding the right pieces. I looked at royalty free tracks on youtube and found a few that I felt would fit well. You can view a few here:

Piece One:

Piece Two:

Piece Three:

Piece Four: 

Piece one I feel would fit well on the Piccadilly scene. It creates a real atmosphere creating intrigue and mystery. I also feel it throws a moody tone over the whole scene making it really stand out and grab the viewers attention. Piece two is a lot more dramatic, this I feel would be great for a tension scene maybe towards the end as the music builds a lot. Piece three is a more ominous and slower track. It has tones of mystery again but its less aggressive than the other two. I feel this could really compliment the other two tracks but still give the style that I want for the film. Finally, there is piece four which is a slow building track. This one is another tense track but it has a great slow build and is less dramatic allowing me to really add slow tension to a scene. I can see this overlayed on the scene where she kills Lorna the first time around.