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film making

Plagarise your memory

6 December, 2008
Alex, film making, Links
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Last night I went to Clare Kitson’s presentation of films celebrating the launch of her book on the history of British animation since 1982. She was the commissioning editor for animation at Channel 4 from 1989 to 1999. Find out more about the book at the publisher’s website.

One of the films she showed was “Love is All” by Oliver Harrison, an animation inspired by the song as sung by Deanna Durbin in 1940. That reminded me of a TV advert he made based on his graduation film back in 1988.

In 2002 I wanted to get back into using Adobe After Effects as I hadn’t used it for a few months. I had recently heard a version of Noel Coward’s “I’ve Been to a Marvelous Party” by The Divine Comedy, and vaguely remembered a typographic TV ad from some time in the 80s. I decided to make a typographic animation based on the song inspired by the ad.

At that point I might have been able to find a copy on YouTube. There are few visual references to it today, and I might have found some to base my animation on. I decided not to copy the ad, but copy my 13 year old memory of the ad. The advantage being that my memory would combine with my other experiences and interests over the intervening years to create something a little more original.

Here’s what I came up with:

Today I found a video with some excerpts from the original short film mixed in with some other stuff (somewhat spolit by it). There are no more exceprts after 1:30 –

Oliver’s typographic compositions are a lot more advanced than mine, but you can see how his ideas informed mine.

So if ‘immature poets imitate; mature poets steal,’ steal from your imperfect memories of other artists works.

Visit Oliver’s website to see what else he’s been doing over the last 20 years. When I find some video of his work, I’ll post links to it on this blog.

Film acting BCU

1 December, 2008
editing, film making, Links
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To edit drama, we need to understand acting for film. Almost twenty years ago I saw a film acting masterclass presented by Michael Caine. One of the first things he said is:

[1:12] – “What we do, we actors in the movie, hang on to each other’s eyes. That’s the most important thing in film: eyes. If you are fair and have blond eyelashes like I have, you wear mascara, because if you have blond eyelashes, you might as well be in a radio play.”
[4:30] “If I look at you and I blink, it weakens me… If I don’t blink, it makes me strong”
[5:40] “Listening is what acting is all about in movies… ‘Think of extraordinary things to say, and decide not to say them’ – that’s the greatest piece of advice I could give to someone who wants to act in movies.”

If writers write to help actors act this way, and editors capture these aspects of actors’ performances, we’ll have great films.

While the BBC leaves this on the web, watch the rest of the show on YouTube. It is an hour long. Part 1:

Here are the links to the following parts: Part 2 · Part 3 · Part 4 · Part 5 · Part 6

On-set playback: an excuse for not paying attention

22 November, 2008
film making, Links
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Technology has helped movies evolve in many ways over the years, but sometimes it’s a good idea to eschew an advance to see what happens.

In a podcast from USC featuring the team behind ‘Son of Rambow’ the director describes a method for helping their two child leads. From 6:40 in:

“We got rid of any monitors or any way to watch playback… So that they [the kids] never saw themselves, and they never became self-conscious. It was great for us as well because we hate that whole thing of rewinding and going ‘ohh, maybe he was a bit slow in the background.’ As we just got rid of it everyone just had to watch. For a couple of days there was a bit of a mutiny, the crew didn’t like that: ‘How am I supposed to do my job… how can I light…’ We answered: ‘Just watch.’ … It made everyone focus… empowered and on the case”

Take a look at the technology around you and see if some of those aids are holding you back from giving your best.

Subscribe to the other podcasts in the USC series from their site or from iTunes.

Comparing the new YouTube HD with Vimeo SD

21 November, 2008
film making, Links
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A few months ago I posted a shortcut that let you see better quality encodes from YouTube (add &fmt=18 to the end of the URL). That was part of YouTube re-encoding all their videos to a better codec: H.264.

They’ve now been re-encoding videos that were uploaded to YouTube at higher resolution than standard definition. On videos that are available in higher quality, you’ll see a link below the video: ‘Watch in high quality”

Normal quality:

High quality:

To see the differences zoom the videos to fill the screen. You’ll see that YouTube may be using the better resolution than SD uploaded but its users, but it isn’t displaying HD on it’s site or in embedded videos yet.

This sort of content seems tough for the Flash encoder. It isn’t been optimised to deal with primarily dark video. Although Vimeo is better, there are problems:

Of course in the case of Vimeo, you can click their logo to see the video in higher resolution on the Vimeo site, but even the SD embedded version looks better here. If I was based in the US, I could also have the option of paying $60 a year to have the HD versions of my videos embedded on my blog.

PS: If you want all the videos you see on the YouTube site to default to the higher quality version and you have an account, click ‘Account’, ‘Playback Setup’ and ‘I have a fast connection. Always play higher-quality video when it’s available.’

Followup 23 November, 2008 by Alex

As you can see from my comment below, YouTube is encoding 720p videos – an HD resolution. It just takes a few more hours for that version to be available.

Today’s shorts: More ambitious?

17 November, 2008
film making
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Went along to the Blank Slate ’08 short film showcase at Bafta tonight. It was the premiere of a film I edited: Crimson by Piers Hill.

The programme was made up of nine films funded by the UK Film Council through B3Media. Two were documentaries, the rest were dramas.

I was struck by the ambition of these films. Less than ten years ago, short films were set in one or two locations (uaually interiors) with possibly 10 or 15 setups.

When I got the rushes for Crimson I found that the crew had managed to record multiple takes from over 70 setups in only four days (and nights) of shooting!

I thought that this would make our film stand out, but many of the other films shown this evening were as ambitious. Multiple locations, day and night, in parks, from cars, police stations, schools… It may be that digital technology may be helping today’s film makers reach further.

It seems that these films are calling cards to show that the producers, directors and crews could be trusted with bigger budgets and bigger stories…

He would say that wouldn’t he: Media law UK

13 November, 2008
film making, Links
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At a networking evening for the London part of Stellar Network, I got into a conversation with Jason and Tim. We were talking about what more a film producer needs to know as compared to a theatre producer. Jason wanted to get an idea of the differences. When I butted in, Tim was explaining some of the complexities of contracts and negotiation. I attempted to help by referring to Mark Litwak’s book for indie producers – Risky Business: Financing and Distributing Independent Films. It is a very detailed book including most of the contracts you would need to be a film producer. Time said that although it was a good book, the law in in the UK is sufficiently different for it to be a problem for British film makers. I then guessed what line of work Tim is in.

However there are some useful resources for UK producers. He told be about Own-it, a site for people in creative industries that provides free advice on intellectual property. It is provided by The London Development Agency and a couple of arts universities. As well as helping you deal with ‘the Man’ (finding out who you need to pacify in order that you can make your film), it also helps with making sure your work isn’t ripped off by others.

If you aren’t from the UK, you still might find some of the general principles outlined on the site useful, so check it out at

http://www.own-it.org

Digital stills camera lessons for video

1 November, 2008
film making
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As well as surprises from Nikon and Canon when it comes to using Digital SLRs to capture moving footage, we can also get a preview of how important image resolution will be in future.

Now that multi-megapixel digital cameras now cost less than £100, the stills market is evolving. Soon, the number of pixels in the detector will matter less, it’ll be the quality of the technology getting the light to the chip which will matter more.

I suppose once we get to 8K for moving footage, there’ll be no point in increasing resolution. Engineers will be more interested in stereoscopic images and higher frame rates, or possibly variable frame rates within the same movie.

Will 8192 by 6224 be enough for you?

Two competitions

26 October, 2008
film making, Links
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There are always many filmmaking competitions around. Here are two that caught my eye in the last two days: Apple’s Insomnia Film Festival 24-hour film challenge for students in the USA and The Guardian’s YouTube competition for adults in the UK.

The Apple competition seems to be about two things: associating themselves with cool film and the young, and getting people to register with Apple. High-school and college students are encouraged to register film making teams with Apple. On 9am on November 15th, Apple will post a list of ten required elements for a 3 minute movie. Registered teams will have 24 hours to make and upload their film using at least three of the ten elements (such as a specific location, prop, costume or character name).

The more important part of the competition is the second stage, where teams need to encourage people to watch and rate their film online. You can only vote if you have an Apple ID – the kind of ID you need if you are an Apple developer, or want to talk on Apple support forums, or have an account at the iTunes Store. This condition is to stop fake voting, but will also benefit Apple in getting email and registration details from a whole lot more people.

Logo for the Guardian YouTube competition

The UK competition seems to be more specifically about the way videos on sharing sites might inspire people to create new videos in response to what they have seen.

They have posted an odd short story, and would like entrants to come up with some sort of response to it:

Mum had become deflated again. He couldn’t find the pump so he blew her up himself, red and giddy until she was full. “I need you,” she said. “The air leaves me quicker every day.”

“I know,” he said, but that night he dreamed of a sharp needle in his hand and pressing hard into mum until she burst. Her screaming woke him up. She’d found another puncture. He plastered the wound and slept until lunch.

He was invited to a party that night at Donna’s. Donna was a scatter cushion and nothing special. But her parents were a suite. He wanted to be with them. He looked at the trainers and the sports bags and the lap tops, all moving to the electro clash, and he wanted to be there; but he felt too sofa tonight.

I’ve come up with a response, now all I need to do is make it and post it to the YouTube channel set up for the competition…

Directing their view

25 October, 2008
editing, film making
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Today I presented at what used to be called the AppleExpo here in London. I spent a few minutes telling people about my plugins (links in my Final Cut Pro page) as part of MacVideo Live.

Jonathan Harrison gave a presentation on interview lighting that reminded me of a principle useful in editing and post production as well as lighting, camera and shot setup:

Three things attract the viewers attention in a given shot:
1. The thing that is moving
2. The brightest thing
3. The sharpest thing

Of course the DoP suggests that getting this right in front of the camera is best, but videographers, compositors and editors don’t always have the luxury of perfectly captured footage. At least we have the software technology to control what is seen to be moving, how bright parts of the frame are and what objects are in focus and which are out of focus (Once we know where the audience is looking, there is no need to worry about continuity where the audience isn’t looking).

Use these tools to direct the view of the audience without them knowing. We need to use the tools of visual storytelling to help the people we are telling our tales to forget they are being told a story.

Do you need to complete your UK short?

24 October, 2008
film making, london
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After weeks of fund-raising producers do well to get all the money together to make their short films. There are so many little expenses that mount up. No day arrives without an invoice from some unexpected place. Suddenly the shoot starts, and everyone works for 24 hours a day until all the footage is in the can. In the following weeks producers work with directors and editors to get a rough cut…

Then a new set of problems arise. The film cannot be submitted to festivals unless it is finished. What about those effects that can’t be done on the editor’s home rig? Does anyone have a £8,000 grading-quality broadcast monitor and the grading suite with the 50% grey walls and expensive kit to do the grading in. How about doing a proper audio mix? What about doing a film out to 35mm?

If you’ve run out of funds, maybe the UK Film Council Short Film Completion Fund may be able to help. They take submissions from film makers who have got to the rough cut stage. Many producers have problems raising the next thousands of pounds to get the film to a releasable stage. The Completion fund has been set up to get them over that hurdle.

Twice a year the call goes out to producers who need that extra help. Each round up to seven shorts are supported. The current deadline is January 5th 2009. To find out more, go to The UK Film Council (the web page shows the wrong date for the deadline for applications).

The fund is administered MayaVision International, a TV documentary production company. It must be a tough call on which films to support. They need to assess the potential of the film based on the rough cut and the people who want to finish it. Is the film any good, and will the money available improve its prospects? I would say that based on the London Premiere of the six most recently completed films I went to last night, the current crop of films succeeded in both counts.

Ralph – 13 mins (dir. Alex Winckler, prd. Olivier Kaempfer) is the tale of a boy taking a chance on love in France. It started slowly and finished a little too quickly, but showed a sunny aspect missing in many recent shorts I’ve seen. Although the story was small, I ended up caring a lot for the characters.

Hatemail – 12 mins (dir. Frazer Churchill, prd. Mark Murrell) shows how childhood trauma can people do the strangest things. This story was brave enough not to paint its protagonist in too strong a positive or negative light. The tale is told in an exciting way, but we are left to make our own conclusions.

Unborn – 13 mins (dir. Justin Trefgarne, prd. Francine Heywood, Laura Giles, Ernest Riera, Sarah Parfitt) is a horror mystery: a couple can’t conceive, so who is that crying in the attic? This film is still mysterious to me, I’m not sure what the resolution was. However the tension was built up very effectively. It is said that one of the most frightening shots in film happens when the camera creeps up on a closed door. This film proves that adage.

Domestics – 7 mins (dir. Rob Curry, prd. Colin McKeown) is a time jumping impressionistic illustration of how far a domestic argument can go. There’s a lot of style supporting an interesting idea, and the intrigue doesn’t overpower the excitement.

The Hero’s Journey – 6 mins (dir. Jack Herbert, prd. Barrington Paul Robinson) We go on a journey of discovery as a little boy records his Star Wars fantasy. A deceptively ‘low-tech’ film that fits a lot into six minutes in real time.

Dead Dog – 6 mins (dir. Edward Jeffreys, prd. Loren Slater, Kerry Kolbe) An impressionistic tale of a young man seeking justice. The most avant garde of the six, yet it has clear compelling story.

The film that stays in my thoughts the strongest is Hatemail because it tells a story that doesn’t make a clear moral judgement on the anti-hero. The audience is left to make up their own mind.

The reason why the UK Film Council supports short films isn’t only to produce entertaining films that stand on their own. They want to support films that demonstrate a specific way of telling a story, an original story, professional production ability and post-production quality. This makes these films calling cards for directors, writers, producers and post-production facilities. Which will support more British Film industry activity in the future. I would say that the films I saw last night succeed at least three out of four of those criteria.

Watch for these names, you saw them here first!

I think it’s a good use of my tax funds and lottery ticket proceeds.