Evaluation

“Scouservari”:

To begin with when deciding on ideas for our project “Scouservari” wasn’t either of the two we created treatments for. Our first two ideas were to create a documentary on Liverpool’s youngest ever councillor, Jake Morrison, but the main idea we were going for was a documentary on the Bluecoats art centre. After pitching the idea to the rest of our seminar group the main point that came up was that we should focus on one specific person rather than the whole of the Bluecoats centre. After contacting Michael Phoenix, the Bluecoats resident violin maker and repairman, we decided to create a documentary on how he makes the violins and stories that he had. From there we constructed the idea of “Scouservari”.

We each took on separate roles which were as followed:

·         Paul- Producer

·         Megan- Camera Operator

·         Louise- Sound Editor

·         Myles- Sound Recordist

·         James- Assistant Sound Recordist

·         Chris- Director

·         Joe- Video Editor

As the sound editor my main role was to mix and sink the audio recorded on the Zoom to the image that Joe was editing. I also edited some of the sound recordings to reduce the background noise such as a heater that was creating a high pitched noise.

When researching into how we wanted the documentary to look I think our main influences came from that of “The Archive” directed by Sean Dunne which told the story of a failing record company through stories and interviews with the owner and his wife. We liked the idea of the interview being more chilled out and in the environment that Michael was referring to throughout the interview. We also wanted to have less of a sit down interview more of an interview where he was working with the violins while talking which then used cut aways to close up of his hands/ certain objects so it became a voiceover. Similar to the way in which the interviewee answers the questions in “The Archive” we wanted longer answers that were more stories so we could build up a better profile of Michael for the audience.

Another influence we felt was that of Pinocchio by Walt Disney. The colours in the work shop scenes where Geppetto is building Pinocchio are very organic all browns and golds as he is working with wood of similar colour. We took this on board by trying to construct similar colour tones throughout our piece as we wanted to show the organic feel of the wood that Michael was creating his violins from.

My personal influence for my role as the sound editor was the documentary “Pockets” directed by James Lees. Throughout the piece you the audience see objects with a voice over before cutting to the person speaking about the objects. I used this same idea all the way through the piece such as showing close ups of Michael working while the voice over carries on. For our piece I incorporated cuts of Michael’s sit down interview into the piece where the voice over would link to him constructing a violin.

When reviewing the audio of the piece I think it has much strength. The voice over was very clearer after the removal of some of the background noise such as the heater and the fridge that was kept on during filming. I also think the way it changes between Michael in a sit down interview then different cuts of him doing work is strength as seeing how he constructs the violins while he is talking helps the audience to get a better view of his work.

Personally I think a weak side to the piece is that the at times the soundtrack of violins is too loud and should have been mixed together with the voice over better so Michael could be heard clearly throughout the whole film. Also at times there are slight audio spikes that are only noticeable once the piece was displayed on the large screen in the presentation that I need to re-adjust.

As a group our aim was to create a film that portrayed Michael Phoenix’s love for his violins and the importance of music in expressing yourself. We wanted to steer clear of any other type of messages such as politics even though when we recorded the interview he mentioned this topic quite a bit. We wanted more to show Michael and his personality. I think we did this successfully as the footage and audio were edited to the fit the story that we wanted to tell about how important music is in Michael’s opinion. However to get this story across we had to go back on a different day to re-shoot parts of the interview as we wanted to capture Michael’s personality more than we originally managed to do the first time we shot.

Overall I think we worked well as a group. We each took on our own separate roles well which made the team work flow well but we also helped out other members too. However we did have one problem with one member of the team. James was unable to find a group so Lee asked if he could join us and we accepted. He took on the role as a assistant sound recordist to help Myles and he recorded all the sound on the final day of the shoot. However when we returned to university we found that he hadn’t recorded any of the audio for the final day meaning we were missing large chunks of  audio that we needed for the interview. This meant we had to return to Liverpool again to recapture what we had lost.

“The View”

When we were first given the brief of “journey” what we wanted to achieve was that of a mental journey rather a physical one. It was Oliver who came up with the idea of a man with agoraphobia and his journey of trying to get out of his bedroom.

We pitched the idea to our seminar group and everyone seemed to like the idea and the themes behind it. However many said that we should probably not over do any of the panic attacks etc and keep it quite subtle.

We each took on separate roles which were as followed:

·         Louise- Producer

·         Rose- Camera Operator

·         Adam- Sound Editor

·         Hannah- Sound Recordist

·         Oliver- Director

·         Sarah- Video Editor

From this point we began to construct our script with the idea of subtlety. We decided there would be no dialogue throughout the piece as we felt it should rely more on emotions and facial expressions than any speech or voiceover. It was also decided that we’d keep running motifs going throughout the film that would point towards his agoraphobia and the reasons behind it. This came in the form of a red coat and a key. The coat represented the girl that he lost which we also see being worn by the girl who walks past his window and the key represents his wanting to go outside.

Our influences consisted mainly of “Bunny and the Bull” directed by Paul King and “The Perks of Being a Wall Flower” directed by Stephen Chbosky. I particularly wanted to follow in a similar style to “The Perks of Being a Wall Flower” which is also a story of someone suffering with a mental health problem but it is done in quite a subtle way with only one time the full extent of a panic attack being seen. I also felt the colouring of the film should be similar quite brown tones except for any shots with sunlight which are bright. The film “Bunny and the Bull” also helped us to tackle how we would show the actors isolation through our set design to really show how long he has been in the room without leaving.

Alongside this we found a short film called Memoires that became a main influence in the cinematography side of the piece. The film uses different focuses pulls and carefully constructed to close ups of objects to show how they contain memories for the character. We took on these similar features and used them throughout our film.

As the producer my role was to mainly organised the production and make sure all the necessary health and safety and form were done. To find an actor I placed an advert on StarNow that advertised for a male actor in the Yorkshire area between the ages of 30 and 50. We wanted an older actor to portray the part rather than a student actor as we thought it would bring some maturity to the role. The location was also important as we didn’t want the actor to travel to far as we were paying for his travel expenses.  To organise the shoot I began by creating a spreadsheet that showed days in which everyone was available from there we selected two shooting days which were the 9^th and 10^th of April. From there I constructed call sheets that I gave to each member of the crew, the actor and the owner of our location so everyone knew start of day, end of day and location.

On days we were shooting I took on the role of a runner. I helped out on set as much as I could by helping with moving equipment and collecting food for the other members of the crew. I also took on an extra role of a girl walking past the window.

When looking back at my producing role I feel the main strength was my organisation. I successfully organised the dates of the shoot, the shooting times and all the consent forms that needed to be done. This insured for a smooth running shoot where everyone turned up on time and were able to complete the shots we wanted each day. However I feel my weak side was my lack of involvement in the post production side of the project. The director wanted to work solely with the two editors without others being around distracting from the work meaning I didn’t help with any of the post production side of the piece as he decided on scheduling etc.

Our aims as a group for the film were to:

·         Successfully convey our idea of “journey”

·         Create a film that captured what it is like to have agoraphobia

·         To successfully use motifs to tell the story

I feel that we managed to complete all these aims. Our character goes on a journey of trying to leave his room which although is very small it does occur. We first see him put on a coat and try to go outside but unsuccessfully the final scene is that of him of putting on his shoes showing that he is now progressed to the next stage of trying to go outside. Although it is not a big journey he has progressed. The story I feel accurately portrays agoraphobia through the use of panic attacks and seclusion but to me what shows this the best is the use of the sound design. Adam added the sound of a high pitched noise whenever the actor was feeling anxious as if he had ringing in his ears which occurs when people have panic attacks. Adding this really helped to involve the audience in how George was feeling. The motifs throughout the piece were used quite well to help explain his agoraphobia but especially that of the key. The key represents his longing to unlock the door and go outside but he can’t so he plays with it between his fingers to highlight the longing.

This was probably the most challenging group work I’ve had to work with. Oliver and I both have strong personalities and clashed throughout the process usually due to an artistic disagreement. However I feel he could have treated his crew a little better as many times I had to talk to him about the way in which he ordered people around and clicked his fingers at them. He was in charge as director but I felt he could have been nicer towards his crew. Except for that the group worked together well and produced a great piece.

Location Stills

Throughout the shoot I took pictures of the location to keep a record for continuity mainly. This was due to the fact that when we were laying down tracks or making spaces for the camera we would have to move certain items of mise-en-scene that needed to be placed back in the correct place afterwards.

Sign to let visitors know we're filming

Tidy bedroom scene

Tidy bedroom scene

Messy bedroom scene

Messy bedroom scene

Messy bedroom scene

Rose filming a shot in the wardrobe

Filming the crucial door handle scene

The Finalised Script

Call Sheets for the Shoot

For each day of set up and shooting I produced Call Sheets for the crew so they knew where and when we were meeting, time shoot began and when it wrapped as well as transport arrangements.

It also contained useful information like the nearest hospital and phone number and address for our location in case of a problem.

Forms and Contacts

In my production folder as producer I have begun to create forms and contact sheets. I have compiled a sheet together of all the crews phone numbers, emails and addresses in a contact sheet so it is easy to keep in contact with everyone. However I will not be putting it up here due to all the personal details.

I have also created consent forms for the artists eg main actor and extras and also the location. The form means we can use all the footage that we collect within the boundaries of the forms meaning all footage belongs to us and Sheffield Hallam not the artist themselves.

Equipment List and Prop List

As part of my role as producer I have to work alongside the director to create an equipment list and prop list. Once it has been finalised it is my job to book out the equipment and find the props that we need.

Equipment List

Camera:

• Canon 70D SLR Camera
• Canon 50mm 1.4 lens
• Canon 35mm lens
• Samyang Fisheye 8mm Lens#7
• Macro lens

Lighting:

• Kino Flo Diva Lite 400
• Diffuser (provided with Kino Flo Diva Lite 400)

Audio:

• Zoom H4N
• Audio Technica AT8015
• Aquarian Audio H2A Hydrophone
• Boom Pole

Miscellaneous:

• Standard Film/Video Tripod
• Portable track and dolly
• Clapper Board

After discussions with the director this was the final equipment list that we decided on. Due to restrictions on the camera only the camera operator is allowed to book it out but I'm in charge of booking the rest out. We selected this camera as we felt it would be the best for getting the look that we wanted. 

Prop List

Main Character:

• Shirt
• Red tie
• Black tie
• Pyjamas
• Coat
• Beret
• Smart shoes

Room:

• Photo of soldier with girl
• Photo of soldier in uniform
• General photos
• Plates
• Books
• Posters 
• Postcards
• Ukulele
• Keys
• Ribbon
• Empty food packets
• Food tins
• Bin
• TV Cabinet
• Calendar 
• Mugs
• Diary
• Pen
• Clothes rack
• Mirror
• Letters/envelopes

Extras:

• Red coat
• Dog

Once we decided on the list we asked the actor if there was any of the items above that he could provide. He was able to provide most of the clothing except the red tie and beret. I am contacting the drama department to see if they have a soldier's beret we can borrow as well as buying a red tie for the piece.

The rest of the props we are going to provide ourselves through either buying the props or providing what we already have.

Casting Call

We wanted an older actor to play the part of the soldier because we wanted it to seem more realistic that the character had been through a war and trauma. I sent out a casting call on Star Now to find an actor that would be perfect for the part. We had a few answers but we selected the actor that had been in other student films as we felt his experience would be helpful as this was our first drama piece.

Creating the Casting Call

Creating the Casting Call

The actor we selected

Meeting with Lee

Once we pitched our ideas to Lee we had a meeting to discuss the production of the short film.

The main problem that we have is trying to find a suitable location. Currently we are going to use Oliver, the director's, house for the bedroom however we don't think that it is overly suitable due to the layout and colour of the room. Lee suggested a room that we could use in a nursing home which would be a lot better as it has an en-suite bathroom meaning he would not have had to leave his bedroom at all.

We also discussed the camera we wanted to use. We wanted to use the Canon 70D but it is only available for students who had taken a tutorial meaning our camera operator, Rose, is taking an extra tutorial so that she has permission to use it.

As a producer it is my role to order the equipment however because I am unable to order the Canon 70D Rose will be in charge of ordering the camera equipment while I will do the rest.

Pitch and Presentation

We created a PowerPoint presentation to back up our pitch for our drama project. It included a synopsis, inspirations and also explained how we were going to portray each element of the piece:

Drama Meeting One

In our first meeting our main decisions were to decide on the main roles for the piece. We also decided on the synopsis, the type of character we wanted and the location that we wanted to shoot in.

The roles were decided as followed:

• Oliver Guy - Director
• Louise Bailey (me) - Producer
• Hannah Grencis - Sound Recordist
• Sarah Cooper - Editor
• Rose Ryk - Camera Operator
• Adam Young - Sound Editor

The roles took a while to decide as we weren't able to do the same roles that we did for the documentary. Due to this some people ended up with roles that they weren't particularly happy with.

After roles were chosen we started working on the plot synopsis:

The View (working title) is a short film that follows a character that struggles with what most of us would see as a simple action; going outside. Suffering from agoraphobia the character takes us through his struggles and torment of this illness and how it can effect a person.

When considering the character we thought it would be best to try to use an older actor as we think this would portray a different mature type of film concerning a serious issue compared to that of using a younger actor.

Deciding on location mainly revolved the idea of the way we wanted the room to look. The film is to be shot in a single room to reflect upon the character's own fears and mindset but alongside this also giving the viewer a feel for what it would be like to be trapped in such a small enclosed space.

Presentation

During the presentation we stuck to a structure about what we were going to talk about. I'm going to stick to this structure to explain how I contributed to the project and what lessons I learnt.

• Role- I took on the role of sound editor where it was my job to make the audio clearer and more defined so it could be mainly used as a voice over. This meant I had to noise reduce certain clips and use EQ to make the pieces clear. I also recorded the violin player for the soundtrack.
• What we wanted to achieve- As a group our aim was to create a film that portrayed Michael Phoenix's love for his violins and the importance of music in expressing yourself. We wanted to steer clear of any other type of messages even though when recording he talked a lot about politics we decided this was not the way in which we wanted to show Michael and his lovely personality.
• Was this a success?- I think we achieved this successfully as we edited the sound and images to fit with the story we wanted to tell about how important music is in the world in Michael's opinion. However we had to go back on a different day and re-shoot the interview as we wanted to capture this more than we originally did the first time we shot.
• Strengths-I think the audio had many strengths. The voice over turned out very clear after the removal of some background noise such as a heater and fridge that was kept on during filming. I also think the way it changes between Michael in a sit down interview then different cuts of him doing work is another strength as seeing what he does while he talks helps the audience to get a better view of his work.
• Weaknesses-Personally I think at times some of the violin soundtrack is too loud and I should have mixed the two together so you can hear Michael clearly throughout the whole film. Also at times there are audio spikes that weren't noticeable when editing but were once we played it on the large screen in the presentation.
• Influences- For the sound design my main influence was the documentary "Pockets" by James Lees. Throughout the piece you would see objects with a voice over before cutting to the person speaking about the object. I used this same idea all the way through the piece such as showing close ups of Michael working while the voice over carries on. Joe and I then incorporated cuts of Michael's sit down interview into the piece where the voice over would link to him carrying on the same audio the same as in "Pockets".

Recording the violinist

Difficulties that I found throughout the piece

As a group we all encountered some difficulties but mostly in the unattendance of one of our members throughout the filming and group meetings. James didn't attend any many of the meetings or contribute to much of the filming process. He also didn't record audio when he was supposed to then lied to our producer about what happened to the audio. This is made clear in a Facebook  post on our group Facebook page that we were using to communicate:

Posted at 5am on the last day of shooting

When asked about the audio from the final day it was later revealed he had forgotten to press record. This could have been due to the late night he had on the 2nd day which effected the 3rd.

A problem that I personally found was that as Joe didn't live in Sheffield but lived in Doncaster he did most of his editing at home. Due to this I found it hard to contribute to the sound editing as we weren't working together any of the time so I feel like I didn't help as much with sound as I should have done. But I was unable to because he insisted on editing at home rather than at university.

Finalised edited piece

Joe, the editor, finalised the piece on the Tuesday meaning on the Wednesday we all watched the piece together as a group. Joe asked for critiques so that he could change any problems that we had before the presentation tomorrow (Thursday 6th). 

The main problems that we found were:

1. Style of the titles- we found that the titles didn't compliment the piece as they were to bold and other the top for the film
2. Some shots too dark- for some reason the piece was darker on the university's macs compared to that of Joe's laptop so we changed the brightness. This was because when presenting the piece will be the correct brightness to be viewed on a university computer
3. Audio spikes- these were noticeable throughout the documentary where suddenly the audio would become louder meaning I had to lower certain selections of audio then the sound would run more smoothly

We planned out the presentation and decided to meet at 10am tomorrow an hour before the presentation to make sure it was perfect before the presentation.

Violin Recording

When watching the piece it was decided that we needed a soundtrack to compliment the film. Paul introduced us to his friend who is a violinist which we felt would be best way to show the emotion and love for the violin and music that we wanted to show in the piece. 

On the 4th of March Paul, Chris and I met at an art gallery that was lending us a private room so that we could get clear pieces that we could use. Anna, the violinist, selected four pieces for us that weren't under copyright so that we wouldn't have to go through a strict process of getting music permissions. These pieces also created different moods such as a fast fiddle piece and a slower more waltz style of piece.

I recorded the pieces using a boom mic and a zoom so that I keep control of the sound levels even though the sound kept peaking and lowering depending on the notes being played. By recording on a boom mic as well I was able to get the full sound of the violin as it reverberated around the room.

Production Folder

As a group we created a production folder of all the ideas that we all contributed along with elements that separate people had to create. For example Paul, the producer, created calls sheets for each day of shooting so that everyone knew where they should be and the rota for the day:

For my sound editing I mainly used two items from the production folder that were created by other members of the team so that I could sound that we had all agreed on and also had an easy way of knowing what each bit of audio was.

The first item was that of a storyboard drawn by the camera operator, Megan, that showed exactly what we were looking for picture so I could incorporate sound to fit that:

While on shoot Myles had also kept a log off all the sound pieces. In his log he wrote what the file was called but also what the audio contained so if I needed a specific sound like scraping of wood I would be able to easily find it:

Editing

To begin with for the sound editing we wanted to try to get rid of some of the background noise that was distracting from the piece. This was mainly due to a heater that was left on during filming.

Myles and I tried two different methods to try to reduce this noise. The first was the use of the EQ level that on Pro Tools where we tried to get rid of the frequency of the heater meaning it wouldn't be heard. 

 However I found that the noise frequency of the heater was very similar to Michael's voice meaning once we began to reduce this noise his voice began to sound like he was in a tin can. Due to this we tried a different method of using Noise Reduction on Soundtrack Pro. 

By selecting a specific part of the audio that contained both Michael's voice and just the heater on it's own I tried to reduce the noise however again I reached the same problem that the frequencies were very similar so I was unable to reduce the noise while still keeping his voice clear and normal.

It was decided that we were unable to use this clip because of the heater. Thankfully it was noticed on set that this noise was effecting some of the pieces so was turned off from then on and didn't effect any others.

Meeting on Wednesday 26th

We re-grouped for a meeting on Wednesday 26th to discuss five main points:

1. Louise and Joe- editing
2. Production Folder
3. Meeting with Lee
4. Music
5. Friday

The main points that I focused on was that of 1,2 and 3 as they were linked directly to me.

Joe and I decided to meet after the meeting with Lee on Thursday so that we could plan out an edit schedule for the whole of this week to make sure we are ready for the presentation on the 6th of March.

As a group we gave all important documentation to Paul (the producer) for the production folder to show Lee as well as discussing points we want to raise with him.

Group returns from Liverpool

Once the group returned from Liverpool and I was well enough we met and discussed how the project had gone. Although all the footage that we had was exactly what we wanted in terms of style and visual quality we found a large chunk of audio missing. This was due to a member of our group, James, either not recording the audio or deleting the audio accidentally (is is unsure which). Due to this it was decided that a skeleton crew would return to Liverpool to re-record what was missing. While there they are going to re do the sit down interview as we felt we needed to ask more questions to gain a better image of Michael Phoenix as a whole.

Decision on Roles and Illness

When first deciding the roles they were decided as followed:

• Paul- Producer
• Megan- Camera Operator
• Louise- Sound Recordist
• Myles- Sound Editor
• Joe- Video Editor
• Chris- Direcor
• James- Extra Sound Recordist

However due to illness I was unable to attend the residential filming meaning we decided on a role change where Myles became the recordist and I became the editor. This meant I could still play a part in the creation of the project.

Pitch Feedback

After pitching these ideas to the group they both received an equal amount of votes meaning it was left for us to decide which one we would go for. However Debbie pointed out that focusing on a specific artist rather than just interviewing different ones around the establishment. We took this on board and decided that we would do a documentary on one of the artists situated at Bluecoats.

Megan suggested an artist called Michael Phoenix who makes violins in the old fashioned way that Stratovarius used to do including by candlelight at night. We decided to re write the pitch and contact Michael to see if we could work with him.

See below for pitch:

Treatment for ‘Scouservari’

‘Scouservari’ is a five minute long documentary film about Michael Phoenix, master violinmaker and restorer based at The Bluecoat in Liverpool. Michael first started working on musical instruments when he was eleven years old and has become a master in his field, recently working on a historic instrument made by Antonio Stradivari, the ‘Englemen’, crafted in 1709 and worth £10 million. What sets Michael apart from fellow violinmakers is that he keeps absolutely true to the style and techniques of the great Cremonese master, Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737). This means that he uses no electric power tools to craft his musical instruments, only hand tools and 400-year-old techniques to work the wood. When night falls, Michael continues working by candlelight to further heighten the authenticity and quality of his instruments.

We will capture Michael’s passion for music and the art of making musical instruments, as well as showing his great sense of humour and love for life in general. The film will begin by showing the audience a glimpse of Michael’s background, exploring what led him to pursue this unusual and highly skilled career. These will be in the form of interviews, which will take place in his workshop. As his techniques are so interesting and unique, these will be a major focal point of the documentary. They will be shown through beautiful close ups as Michael crafts by candlelight as well as natural light, showing the dedication to his work and making the highest quality instruments possible. The film will also include stories from Michael’s career and life in general, giving the audience an insight into his personality and character. We also plan to explore Michael’s emotional connections to the instruments he works on, and his passion for music and how he thinks it is a vital part of the human psyche to appreciate it.

Michael has incredible care and attention to detail when working on his instruments, and this will be reflected in the visual style of the film. We intend to use numerous close ups of the instruments that Michael has made and worked on, as well as close ups of his hand-made tools that he uses to craft them. This will show the audience the level of care Michael has over his instruments, making sure that the wood on every one is perfectly finished. The soundtrack to the film will consist of classical guitar music played by Michael himself as well as violin music recorded off-set. This will compliment the footage and help set the tone that we want to create.

‘Scouservari’ has been influenced by the documentary, ‘The Archive’ (Sean Dunne, 2008). We have taken inspiration from the way the subject’s love for his record collection is portrayed and intend to capture that same dedication in our subject. We have also been influenced by documentaries about luthiers, particularly ‘The Violin Maker’ (Dustin Cohen, 2013), which uses beautiful close ups of the violin making process. We intend to broaden our audience’s knowledge of the art of violin making and heighten their appreciation of music itself. Michael’s character will make this film stand out to others on the subject by highlighting his unique persona, adding a touch of Liverpool humour. We intend the film to be accessible to all audiences; however, the subject matter will predominantly appeal to those with an interest in music and the arts.