Edale - Editing Screen Shots

We had lots of takes to choose from as we did each shot about 4 times each as safety, towards the end we didn’t have as many to pick from as we didn’t have as much time to do things again and again as the rain was heavier and it was starting to get dark and we didn’t want it to get too dark because it would make the shots look different and also the cameras don’t work well in dark conditions without lighting and we were obviously relying on natural lighting.





We wanted it all to be in black & white because it's meant to be dark & mysterious. We tried it with both colour and black & white to see which one looked best and for the purpose of this short film the latter just gave it that edge we were looking for. To add this effect we selected the whole timeline and added the desaturation effect to it.

 
   


For some of the shots we had to adjust the brightness as some looked dark and others looked too bright due to the lighting in the different places we filmed because some of it was very enclosed with trees and other places were out in open fields with lots of lights. Also as the day went on it also got more overcast & darker towards late afternoon.






This shot was particularly dark compared to the rest of the film, in a way it was intentional as the mans face was to be concealed at all times and the darkness of this shot from within the building achieved that, we decided to brighten it a touch though so you could see a bit more what was going on.

 




This scene was one of the longest to edit as we wanted to show a passage of time with the walking down the path but we couldnt get the timings right of where we were cutting & we then had a problem with the transition, a straight cut didn't go with the pace, then we tried the above fade in fade out dissolve (above) which we were unsure about & in the end we just clicked on Add Video Transition & found this effect (below) which was perfect.








The ending we did a bit of deliberating over as well because at first we had a fade to black & then were advised about trying dip to white, which we were trying above. In the end we decided the black looked better & managed to do it so it faded out slowly, holding the end picture for aslong as possible which is what we wanted as before with the rough cut we felt it just didn't hold the audiences gaze for long enough.

 

Edale - Photos

Below are some pictures I took while we were going around Edale and filming. One of the most beneficial reasons I did this as it helped when finding and choosing good locations and seeing what the shots might look like as by seeing it on the camera gave me an idea as to what it’d look like when filming, especially with things like lighting and framing. I also did it to evidence our work and as we went along I took a few shots of setting up the tripod and camera so we can see where they are positioned etc. We didn’t have to go far from the village itself to find lots of interesting and applicable areas for us to shoot.

First of all we came across a storage box for grit and I thought it would be a good place for the murderer to find his gloves, as he would be going around collecting his things from different places, and I thought this would be an interesting place and somewhere out of view where he could have stowed them. Right near the grit box was a small bridge going over a stream which we used, I liked this as when the man walks across it, it gives a real sense that he’s up to something because the path that leads off it then bends away into darkness. In this spot there was also an old looking wooden sign which we used just as a cutaway so it wasn’t all just shots of this man.

The first shots were all quite enclosed so we then found this path going in-between two fields which was very open and you can feel how someone could be quite alone and isolated there and therefore isolated which is what we wanted.

The outbuilding we just came across while looking for the next suitable location which at first was going to be a wooded area, but I thought it could look interesting and mysterious in as part of our film because the body was going to be found in trees but then the story was changed a bit so we decided we could have it that the body was locked away in this building. We then did long shots, close-ups and a view shot from inside the outbuilding so you could get a feel of how dark and empty it was inside.

On this shoot it was important to me to try and use as many different locations as possible without it looking like it was all over the place so they had to fit and link in with each other. I also wanted if possible to not have to go too far for each shot or scene as it would take up too much time travelling about which could be spent better on getting lots of different shot varieties. I think we did this successfully as in the first half all the scenes were shot within a minutes walking distance from each other but they all look different so it’s not too repetitive. The second half was shot a bit further away but again they were all taken in the same area around a small outbuilding we found.

This was going to be used for POV shot



I liked this path as it looked dark & off the beaten track



Cutaway shot to add to sense of place, also I liked this sign as it looks quite old and worn adding to the feel of being somewhere far away from civilisation

quite creepy & eerie ooking bridge & outbuilding

good for storing things you don't want to be found (not in winter though)

This was going to be POV shot as the man looked over the side of the bridge but hard to fit it in when editing

This was perfect for what my partner Dan was looking for, for a shot he had in mind

I really liked this shot from inside another outbuilding we found as it gave us a chance to turn it around so you could see this character from head on but still conceal his face in the darkness



This would have been another POV shot, I thought it could have been effctive in emphasising the remoteness of the location & how solitary this character is



The props we used - bag, bloodied T-shirt, hammer, gloves

Setting up camera

Shot we both really liked as it looks quite creepy and abandoned which is just right for our mysterious character

Edale - Short Film Analysis

ASPECT - By Emily Richardson (2004)

http://flamin.filmlondon.org.uk/showcase/assets/showcase_items/aspect

I like the idea behind this short film as what they have done is filmed the same forest for a period of a year and used techniques like time lapse to condense it into a few minutes. There are varying shots of the forest from wide shots of the trees to shots filmed closer and within the trees so you can get even more of an insight into how they change throughout the year. There’s also a big focus on light as you see it changing through the year and also the sunlight coming in through the trees. As much as I like things to do with wildlife this did lose my interest a bit as nothing eventful really happens and to me the shots aren’t interesting enough to capture my imagination due to the fact they are all rather similar. This film is good at demonstrating ‘portrait of place’ though which is what we will have to do ourselves but I’m not sure if there is much I can take from this.

Edale - Weather update

Weather/preparation

I have been checking the weather up until the night before the shoot and it looks as though rain will be very likely and could be ongoing for large parts of the day so we will definitely be taking a camera cover and I will also take plastic carrier bags and a sturdy umbrella in case the rain is heavy and also if it’s quite windy.

Edale - about the location

 Here are a couple of images of the location for our 'Portrait of Place' project.
Apart from a few buildings in the small village of Edale most of the landscape is made up of quite large areas of open greenery with a few trees scattered about and lots of hills. This means our idea will have to fit in very much with place as theres no point in coming up with ideas that would encorporate buildings or built up places etc. There's not got to be many places to shelter or get food so we're going to have to make sure we have everything we need on us, including food/drink, ideal clothing/shoes especially if the weather is bad
we will need waterproofs for ourselves and the equipment as we cannot get the camera wet.

Edale - Equipment & Props List

PRODUCTION NAME Portrait of Place

PRODUCER Dan Walsh & Hannah Bushnell

DIRECTOR Hannah Bushnell & Dan Walsh

DATES PICK UP 9:00am 27/10/11

DATES RETURN 9:00am 28/10/11

QTY	DESCRIPTION	NOTES
1	PD170 camera	Will include battery and waterproof jacket for camera, will also need a tape
1	Tripod

Props List

Costume – Black Jacket/Trousers/Shoes

Hammer

Bag

Plain White T-shirt

Tomato/Brown sauce (blood)

Gloves

Edale - Shot List

The characters face will not be shown in any of these shots to keep his identity hidden and create some mystery around him. Different or more shots will probably be added on the day when we know what we have to work with location-wise, these are just some of the main shots we want to cover.

SHOT NUMBER	SCENE	ACT	LOCATION	TYPE AND DESCRIPTION OF SHOT
1	1	1	Edale Village	MS – mans feet walking down path, camera positioned low down
2	2	1	Edale Village	MS-CU – man bending down to retrieve gloves concealed in a bush
3	2	2	Edale Village	Extreme CU – putting on gloves
4	3	1	Edale – countryside	LS – man walking past camera and then down path through field
5	3	2	Edale – countryside	CU over the shoulder – picking up hammer and starting to frantically clean it
6	3	3	Edale – countryside	CU over the shoulder – washing hammer frantically in pond
7	3	4	Edale – countryside	CU – washing hammer from different angle
8	4	1	Edale – countryside	MS-CU – putting hammer in bag while walking (hand held)
9	4	2	Edale – countryside	POV shot – man stops to look around
10	4	3	Edale – countryside	MS-LS – starts walking off while head still looking around
11	5	1	Edale – Trees	Head on LS of man walking towards camera
12	5	2	Edale - Trees	Cutaway of blood stained T-shirt next to tree
13	5	3	Edale - Trees	Quick MS of legs (lying down) through the trees
14	5	4	Edale - Trees	MS – man running towards body
15	5	5	Edale - Trees	MS-CU man standing over body& looks up
16	5	6	Edale - Trees	POV shot looking up at trees/sky
17	6	1	Edale - Graveyard	MS over the shoulder looking a gravestone
18	6	2	Edale - Graveyard	WS camera pans away from man & looking into the distance