Sound Editing

The overall process of editing the sound for this project was an extremely challenging one and an extremely rewarding one. I certainly enjoyed myself for the most part and feel that I learned a lot about Soundtrack Pro and how to edit sound in general. I learnt how to implement sound effects and make very subtle changes to the mix in order to make it flow and sound more natural.

The biggest challenge of the project was the argument scene. One section in particular taught me a lot about dialogue editing. Since during the visual edit me and Joeley decided to use a lot of cuts in this scene in order to make it look more fragmented and increase the pace and tension. This meant that I was editing phrases that go over 3 or 4 takes to different shots where the dialogue is not the same. The part where James says "and it's been going cold while you've been fuckin' about with your mates" was extremely difficult as I actually had to remove words from the dialogue to make it fit the images. He originally said "and it's probably going cold" for example. Removing "probably" brought the dialogue forward so it would match when we cut back to that same take. I cut out the right section in order to make it sound like he was saying "been" instead of "probably" when his words slurred together. This was painstaking, but worthwhile in my opinion.

Getting good atmos tracks was surprisingly difficult. Especially as the house itself doesn't have all that much background noise. I managed to anchor the sound using a ticking clock quite often (which I increased the volume of throughout the piece to represent him slowly getting worse), but for some scenes there isn't an appropriate atmosphere.

If I had had another day to edit the sound I probably could have gone back to it and just finely tuned a few more elements to perfect it more, but overall I'm pretty happy with what I did. Considering it's the first time I've edited sound for a project like that I think I did a good job.

Soundtrack (Music)

I was tasked with composing the music for our drama project as I enthusiastically requested that role.
Rhys requested something tragic with piano and strings and so that is the direction I went initially. I started with a basic piano melody on it's own and then brought in arpeggio's on the lower register and eventually some atmospheric strings. I really like the piece I created, but I knew once it was done that it was just too overblown. If it was put over any scenes in a conventional drama it would have bordered on parody.

So I essentially started again and made something a little more sparse. Starting with a held, high pitched string note and then bringing in some very frail piano. I also added a drum beat to the track that comes in when the track repeats, but I don't think the sound was quite right. I think the early part of this piece would have been appropriate for some scenes, but it wasn't quite right.

I experimented with a couple of other attempts and finally ended up with two piano chords that I thought were gorgeous. They're the chords at the beginning of the final piece. Once I had those in place I went from there and wrote everything else. Rhys had a heard a Deadmau5 track in my car that ended on quite ambient piano chords with a soft drum track and requested I do something like that. I added a subtle drum beat and some atmospheric sounds eventually bringing in a basic synth sound for a melody on top of the piano chords. I then went through and fine tuned it so that the synth wasn't too overpowering and the drum sounds were just right and it ended up being the piece we used which I am very happy with.

Pudding Bowl

Okay... So I have a SEVERE emotional reaction to the kind of situation that this film presents. Namely a young girl who is not conventionally pretty being hopeful and optimistic. I find it so, so tragic because of the society we live in and while this short had a wonderfully happy ending (beautifully shot) I can't help but be aware of that reality and it really does destroy me. I found it very difficult to watch even though it's not really the saddest thing I've ever seen. There's just something about that subject matter that gets to me more than most things.

The casting for this role was perfect and the girl does a fantastic job. Her joy at the end is infectious while her reaction to the awful haircut she suffers truly is depressing. Sound is generally used well. I was impressed by the cutting and pasting sound effects at the start.

To be honest I don't want to talk about this one too much. Mostly just wanted to talk about the effect that it had on me. I'm just glad I didn't see it in class.

I Do Air

This was a pretty unconventional piece due to its lack of dialogue and intricate use of sound. It impressed me in many ways such as its incredible ability to get the audience to empathize with a little girl who doesn't even speak. The sound design is truly excellent and makes me hopeful for what I might be able to achieve in the future. It's nice to be reminded that sound design does play such an important role and can even be one of the main elements of a film.

All the shots are tremendously well considered. Everything seems to be done to make the girl appear small and fragile in this world on divers and synchronized swimmers. The use of soft focus for the final underwater shots is pretty superb and really gets across that dreamy feel. We almost don't know if this is an actual event or not. It is beautiful to look at and, in terms of the narrative, pretty upbeat and optimistic.

My Name is Lisa

This was recommended to me by Joeley as it relates to the subject matter and style of our drama. I found it a pretty painful watch as I knew what was coming from the beginning. Watching the girl tear into her mother even though we know it's not the mother's fault is very hard to watch, but very well done. This seems like a realistic reaction from the character that is set up from the opening shot. She is intelligent and maybe a little elitist and so without and understanding of her mother's condition she would be bound to lash out. It's tragic and the actor's pull it off excellently.

What I found most interesting about this was its use of music. All the music appears to be in a major key which is odd considering the tragic subject matter. I think this is pretty effective as it lures the audience into a false sense of security much like Lisa herself. There is even a sort of comedic music cue in a couple of scenes as if we're supposed to fund it funny, but as the film goes one we see that it really is not funny at all.

The film certainly got to me and had the intended effect on my emotions which is impressive. It's use of bright sunny days and primary colours is, like the music, misleading and well implemented. It's like the disease is just under the surface slowly bubbling up and the director has considered this in all aspects of the film from shot selection, to music and costuming. Not all the shots are fantastic, but in general it is well shot and edited and certainly packs an emotional punch.

Script

The script was sent to me while I was on holiday with my family in Barbados. I appreciated this as it meant I could be involved with the project even though I wasn't able to be there. I helped a little with editing the script and adding a couple of scenes. It was my idea to have the homework scene and the cup of tea scene, though the homework scene never made it into the final piece.

Overall I was quite happy with the script. I think it tackles its issues with care and does have a fairly emotional punch. I was worried that it would require fairly talented actors to pull off however.

FADE IN:

INT. DINING ROOM #1 – DAY

DAUGHTER is layed down on back. She has tears running down her face and is laying still as if not daring to move. Her FATHER is stood up away from where she is laying and has the expression of both shock and guilt on his face. He leaves the room walking out the front door and is followed around by the eyeline of his DAUGHTER still unmoved on the floor.

As the door shuts cut to...

INT. DINING ROOM - DAY

FATHER is sitting next to DAUGHTER, on the table are open homework books. DAUGHTER is writing and FATHER is pointing to a page in a book.

                     DAUGHTER (exasperated)

               I'll never finish this! Only a week for planning!

                     FATHER (kindly)

               Don't worry, we'll get it done together, flower.

FATHER smiles as he watches DAUGHTER writing.

INT. BEDROOM #2 - DAY

Tracking through the bedroom, we see the bedside table with the pictures of the family happy in different places, a flower is beside a picture of the Wife. The camera tracks round to reveal FATHER in his bedroom smoking, we see him take up the picture of the Wife and look at it lovingly with tears in his eyes before he puts it down and taking up his pills, rattles them and sighs before popping off the cap and taking them.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Fixed camera shot, FATHER paces up and down in room as he is unable to sleep.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

FATHER opens fridge and begins to pile up food.

CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

DAUGHTER walks into living room with school bag, getting ready for school. She see's FATHER slumped on sofa asleep, surrounded by wrappers. Sighing, DAUGHTER drops her school bag and begins to clean up the empty wrappers; she abandons the task and shakes FATHER awake, he wakes with a jump.

                     FATHER (groggily)

               Eh? Sorry, I didn't sleep.

                     DAUGHTER (annoyed)

               I can see that. I'm going to school.

DAUGHTER collects her school bag and leaves.

INT. DINING ROOM #3 - DAY

FATHER is sitting by the dining room table in front of two plates of pasta placed symmetrically on the table with an empty seat opposite him where someone should be sat. DAUGHTER walks into house through the front door wearing school bag.

DAUGHTER

Hi dad, I’m home.

FATHER

(Ecstatically) Hi flower, I made us dinner, look! Took me a long time. Come on, tuck in! How's your day been?

DAUGHTER

(Smiles unconvincing) Well... this is nice. Thanks dad. How are you feeling today? What have you done? Have you taken your pills?

DAUGHTER takes pills and reaches out to give them to him. He takes them kindly and puts them next to him.

FATHER

Yes, yeah. Don’t worry about me flower. I’m more bothered about you.

DAUGHTER

Thanks dad. (Smiles) It’s nice to see you like this.

They share a smile and carry on eating.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

DAUGHTER brings FATHER a cup of tea, FATHER is sat on sofa beside side table with vacant expression on face, staring into middle distance. DAUGHTER tries to offer FATHER the cup of tea but he doesn't respond or acknowledge her presence so she puts the tea on the side table.

                    

DAUGHTER (reluctant to bring it up)

It's been a year…(pause) Shall we go visit mum tomorrow?

FATHER continues to blank DAUGHTER. DAUGHTER leaves, trying to hide her expression.

CUT TO:

INT.  KITCHEN - DAY

Opens with wide shot of kitchen, DAUGHTER is sat on kitchen surface with head in hands, sobbing is very audible and exaggerated.

I/E. CAR #4 - NIGHT

FATHER is sitting in car staring dreamlessly forward out of the windscreen. Stays there all evening.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

DAUGHTER is sat reading, FATHER comes in with a bunch of flowers.

               FATHER (happily)

          I bought some flowers to take for mum.

         

               DAUGHTER (confused)

          I thought you didn't wanna go?

               FATHER

          Of course I want to go, flower! Are you coming?

INT. LIVING ROOM/DINING ROOM #5 - DAY

Daughter returns home from school. Her father is sat at the Dining Room table looking down at the food not eating with a cigarette in his mouth.

DAUGHTER

Dad, I’m home.

The father looks up angrily and stands up so fast as to allow his chair to fly back and the table to move slightly. He marches toward her

FATHER

(Raising voice) Where have you been? Dinner has been sitting here for 5 minutes now and it's probably cold, whilst you've been…what? Fucking around outside?!

DAUGHTER

(Trying to cut in) No dad, I was walking home from school…

FATHER (interrupting)

Don’t give me that excuse! You’ve been avoiding coming back because of me haven’t you? You’ve been trying to keep away from me because you think this condition makes me a freak, don’t you?

DAUGHTER

No Dad, it's not like that! I swear, I’m sorry...(Grabs Pills) Look, you need to take your pills.

Father reacts aggressively hitting the pills out of his daughters hand onto the floor. He pushes forward at her.

FATHER

If you hadn’t of been so eager to avoid me this wouldn’t have happened you’re just selfish, all you care about is yourself. You never bothered with anyone else. You'll drive everyone away from you. Just... (pause) Look at what you did to your mother.

Father pushes his daughter to the ground. She lands in the same position as described at the start. There is a moment of unfilled silence as tears stream from her eyes and her father looks at her with a shocked and guilty face. He then walks from the room and leaves the house through the front door. She lays still putting her hands to her face and cries. A car is heard starting and driving off in background.

EXT. BRIDGE #6 - DAY

Father drives up and stops the car. He gets out and walks to the bridge stepping toward the edge. He lights a cigarette and takes out his wallet looking at a picture of his daughter and wife together. A tear rolls down his cheek before he bursts into tears. Shortly after his phone rings, he answers.

DAUGHTER

(Sobbing) Please come home dad. I'm sorry. I just...

FATHER (interrupting)

I’m so sorry flower. (pause) I’m so sorry for everything that's happened…(trails off and hangs up)

Father holds the phone for a moment before putting it away. Still crying, he puts the picture into his back pocket and flicks his fag over the side of the bridge. He then steps up to the side of the bridge looking down and slowly looks up until he is looking directly into the camera.

END

The Sweatbox

Just watched a documentary about the making of The Emperor's New Groove which is an enjoyable, if overlooked, Disney film from the early 2000s that I remember really enjoying at the time. Of course, I had no idea about all the issues surrounding the making of this film.

It was a really interesting watch. Feature length and directed by Sting's wife (he was supposed to do songs for the soundtrack, but only ended up doing the final song that plays over the credits) it is perhaps a little longer than it needs to be and features a too much of Sting being grumpy. I still found it extremely enjoyable and very interesting. I could definitely relate to the process of deconstruction and reconstruction that goes on throughout making a film and it's kind of crazy how many times these people had to go through that. It amazes me that they ended up with anything at all.

What's also interesting about this documentary is that it has never been approved by Disney and so the fact that I've seen it is actually quite special. It was uploaded to YouTube and quickly taken down, but I was able to catch it before it disappeared. Perhaps they thought it painted them in a bad light (plus some of the employees swear throughout the film, something that I think actually humanizes them), but I actually saw it as an extremely positive thing for Disney. You could really see the passion and dedication of all these people trying to come together and make a film. Through showing us the difficulties and intricacies of the process they went through it really shows Disney as a place full of artistic and professional people.

Because of this fact the version of the film I saw was actually incomplete and was the version shown to Disney executives (I assume) to be approved or not. It actually has a title card at the end that mentions "Vox pops" because they haven't been added yet. This is, of course, interesting to me as a film maker as you don't often get to see incomplete versions of professionally made films.

Evaluation

Overall I learnt a lot on this project. Mostly I feel like I've learnt just how much work goes into making something that you might consider to be fairly simple like a short documentary. Elements such as how to edit the sound and cut between the images I had perhaps not considered as much before taking on this project.

I really enjoyed working with most of my group. We all got on very well and executed our respective parts to, what I feel, is a high standard. Joeley was a fantastic producer and anchor to the group. I don't think we would have worked nearly as well or as effectively without her to organise us. Lewis' camera work was (aside from the gain issue) very competent and he got some very nice shots and a good variety for me to work with. Rhys' sound recording was very well done and I think he put a lot of time into writing out the transcripts and helping me edit. Natalie was wonderful as an assistant producer and editor. She helped by being present through the majority of the edit. She also (along with Joeley) did a lot of the more boring work such as taking down the edit log and I think we're all thankful to her for that.

This was the first project I've been involved in that actually felt like a real production. Everyone had an assigned role and this really helped us know what we needed to do and gave us all a sense of purpose. I think, in particular, the importance of the role of the producer in making this feel like a real production cannot be overstated. I've certainly learnt to appreciate that aspect of film making.

The Edit

Being the editor this was, of course, the part of the project I was most involved in. I feel I pulled my weight an did plenty of work in this area and very much appreciated the help I got from other members of the group all the way through the edit. While I did much of the fine tuning on the visuals (and a lot of the sound along with Rhys) I very much felt the edit was a collaborative process. Natalie was a great assistant editor, sitting in constantly and helping me see things I might have otherwise missed while Joeley assumed the role of director and pushed to see different ways of doing the edit which helped refine and improve throughout. Rhys was also extremely helpful and turned up often, as did Lewis even though his role was essentially completed in Liverpool.

The edit itself was a very involved process and we all spent a long time refining and perfecting it. The initial rough cut was done mostly without sound as we didn't have access to the sound files until a bit later, but it was useful to help us get to know the rushes and go over which parts we wanted to use. Unfortunately during capturing one of my worst fears was realized: I noticed that during filming the gain had been left on (and fairly high) giving all the shots an extremely noisy, grainy look which in some ways ruins the film.

An example of one of the unfortunately grainy shots

Ignoring this however I think we ended up with a very tight and well paced edit that is well considered and does justice to the people we interviewed.

The final look of the edit

We originally wanted to do our documentary on the busking legislation that was being brought in by Liverpool City Council. However it was difficult to fit this into the five minute limit while still being able to properly introduce the buskers and have them talk about their careers. What we eventually went with after much discussion was a film that simply looked at what it was like to be a busker in Liverpool. We took small clips from all the interviews and used them to paint a picture of a career that people perhaps don't really think about too much. We show how you might get started as a busker and the implication that it can often be an accident. We show where it might lead and how public reaction are reasons why people might choose to do this. We also show some of the negative aspects in how it can be hard to find a spot sometimes, though we look at this in quite a light hearted way as that is the way it came across in interviews.

We use a lot of cut-aways to shots that show little character moments from the buskers. My personal favourite is the way Chris (the guitar soloist) is introduced with a short clip of him examining a sandwich in a bag. It's not explained (what had actually happened is some charitable Christians had approached him and given it to him), but it's a nice little clip that introduces his character and shows something that you might not normally see of a busker. We also cut-away to each of the busker's money boxes which I think is an effective technique (similar to the one used in pockets) as it shows their livelihood in a simple and effective way.

Chris and his sandwich

An example of one of the money boxes

Sound was quite an issue during the edit. Rhys' sound recordings were actually fairly good quality. The levels were good and in most of the interviews there was not too much background noise (I did have to noise reduce Chris' interview, but it still is far too noisy really). However the team decided to record the sound and images separately and did not think to use a clapper board (or an alternative) and so syncing the sound was very difficult in some places. For example syncing the saxophonist playing with the sound was nigh on impossible as it's very hard to tell what the fingers are actually doing on a saxophone. It was a fairly laborious process, but I did manage to sync just about everything properly. Another issue was the song we wanted to use as the intro. There is a moment where Jonny goes into his solo where the notes he plays are incredibly distorted and it was ruining the feel of the intro. I imported the sound into Soundtrack Pro and carefully cut out the distorted part, making sure to leave music that still flowed and made sense by it's 4/4 time signature and chord structure. Difficult, but definitely worthwhile. Rhys (and Natalie) went through and did much of the fine tuning to the sound in the final edit using crossfades between interviews and keyframes to dip the sounds of music when people were talking etc.

Examples of using keyframes to dip the sound for certain parts of the film

There was a fair amount of touching up that needed to be done on the original shots. Some of them had the boom mic creeping into shot which needed to be cropped out (which unfortunately accentuates the grainy look) while, because it was filmed in natural light, the lighting was inconsistent and some brightness and colour correction needed to be applied in other shots. This mostly involved bringing out the yellow in some shots to make it match up to the brighter shots in which the sun was out.

Overall I am very proud of the edit and the way the film comes across. The graininess is a shame, but it was out of my control and I feel that I did my part to a fairly high standard and ended up with a well made documentary.

Transcripts and Structuring

Rhys graciously went through all the recorded sound and wrote out transcripts of the interviews. This project taught me how incredibly useful these are during the editing process. Firstly for developing a structure for the film in that we could scan through the interviews as text and find snippets that we wanted to include. Secondly it was useful for knowing what point in each clip to look for to find the right dialogue.

As you can see in our rough structure for the film we relied on these transcripts heavily:

Logs

Camera log:

Sound log:

Edit log:

Rough Shot List

Treatment

BUSKING DOCUMENTARY 

Brief Overview
To allow the audience to contemplate the social construct of how street performers are viewed using the legislation proposed on charging buskers as an issue that will affect all buskers. We are trying to capture a more human side to the busking community by recognising them as individuals. We will do this by focusing on a specific individual called Jonny Walker, a Liverpool busker who has had a certain amount of commercial success. We will further shoot an interview with a councillor called Steve Munby who will discuss the legislation and his opinions on what effect this will have on the busking community. 


Narrative development
Opening Scene: FADE IN- Publics view on buskers without disclosing subject matter of buskers immediately then introducing subject matter with 
cutaways to buskers performing and back to the public disclosing the word busker in an answer. 


Buskers view on their own community. 


Cutaways of Buskers within the Liverpool high street 


Narrator says statistics about how many buskers there are in the UK and how much income is made in a year by the busking community over the top of the buskers on the high street. 


CUT TO: high street time lapse shot with Jonny Walker walking into centre frame setting up and starting to busk. Cut to Jonny discussing 'What is in the Street Performing community?' and 'Why do people chose to busk?' 


CUT TO: Jonny Walker being interviewed about himself as a busker. Asking why he became a busker, what his favourite location is and how the legislation will affect him as a busker. 


CUT TO: Cutaways of Beatles museum- Narrator talks about how famous celebrities have busked and the opportunities that have raised for bands such as the Beatles. 


CUT TO: Steve Munby's interview about the council's legislation plans. Ending with how he thinks it will affect buskers CUT TO: Jonny Walker's interview, how he thinks it will affect him personally.

CUT TO: Jonny Walker on the street performing a song of his own toward the end of his interview. (Juxtapose)

END 


Style
The documentary will be a hybrid approach of educational/informative and investigative as we are looking at the busking community in detail but taking a journalistic approach by interviewing the local council for views and information on the legislation that poses a threat on the busking community.

We will give a sense of vibrant activity by using brightly lit shots and time lapse shots within the piece to further exaggerate the similar activity the buskers give in this area. We will also use this when focusing on Jonny Walker as he is the main individual in this piece so this technique will help to create a more interesting visual. Furthermore we will use Jonny Walkers own music to centre the documentary more around him than other issues that are raised. 

Audience
We will have a broad demographic range in this piece however it will mostly be based on middle class people of any age who have an interest in their community or political interests. As a journalistic approach we aim to please the widest range of people we can within this genre. 


MAIN ARTICLE FOR DOCUMENTARY http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/11/19/liverpool-city-council-planning-to-charge-buskers-100252-29801770/ 
JONNY WALKER 
www.jonnywalker.co.uk/ http://www.myspace.com/jonnywalkermusic 


BUSKING INFO: 
http://musicblog.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/02/i-was-walking-through-town.html http://www.myspace.com/campaignforrealbusking/blog/485053106 


LOCATION INFO FOR BUSKING: http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/nerve7/licence_to_busk.html 

Questions

Questions drawn up by Rhys and Joeley for shooting:


(for the public)
How do you feel about street performers?
How do you think street performers contribute to your area?
There is new legislation that could put some restrictions in place for street performers, how do you think having restrictions in place will affect your community?

(buskers)
What made you become a busker?
As a street performer, do you feel like there's a sense of community?
How do you feel the new legislation will change your livelihood?
What are the public's reactions to your performing?

(Jonny Walker)
What made you become a busker?
Do you have a sense of community with other buskers or is it more competitive?
What are your favourite locations to busk in?
Do you get hecklers and if so, how do you deal with them?
How has the busking scene helped to promote your music?
How will the council's legislation affect you in the long term?
How do you think it will change the Liverpool busking scene?

Beginnings

While there for the initial meeting and genesis of our idea I was unfortunately very ill on the day of the actual trip and so was unable to go. This was extremely unfortunate as I would have really liked to get a true sense of the atmosphere and characters that I would be editing into a short film. In the end I just had to really watch and get to know the rushes in order to develop a sense of what I was editing.

Our early meetings went quite well. We decided our roles and I chose to be the editor as I had done sound on the last project (though I did a lot of the edit also and wanted to dive into more of this). When searching for ideas together I managed to find a story about buskers in Liverpool possibly having to get a license in order to play on the streets and everyone seemed to like this angle. I felt it had a lot of potential as I thought the buskers themselves (already used to attention) would most likely be happy to talk to us and it was also a good subject to discuss with general passers by. Also the potential for recording the buskers playing and using this in our soundtrack was extremely enticing.

I also unfortunately missed the meeting in which the initial treatments were devised. Joeley and Rhys ended up being the main people responsible for this.

I was very happy with how the rest of the group enthusiastically worked on the idea and what we all ended up with was something that I felt could be very effective.

I also felt that the pitch went quite well (or as well as it could have considering none of us had ever pitched anything before) and felt that we had one of the stronger ideas.

I'd like to take some time to mention how great Joeley was in her role as producer. She managed to get in touch with Jonny Walker very early on. He proved to be an enormous asset to our documentary and was the main reason that we could approach the idea with such confidence. Joeley has kept notes and been an extremely organised anchor throughout production and (through unfortunate necessity) ended up essentially taking over the Director's role also for the majority of the filming and editing.

Eric's Secrets

Eric's Secrets (2008)
4 minutes
Lucia Ashmore

"What keeps you going until you are 91? Dr Eric Frankel reflects on the last 53 years in his house with his wife, and reveals his secrets of marriage and cooking."

This is another very short documentary that I found to be quite effective. Again, it has a very simple structure, cutting from what Eric is saying to old photographs and images of his house to punctuate what is being said.

This is perhaps the most conventional of the documentaries I watched and, in a way, it suffers because of this. It really doesn't do anything particularly interesting and it's strength comes from Eric himself and the choices made about what parts of his interview to include.

I certainly have a soft spot for older people reminiscing about their lives and this was an effective little documentary in that regard.

Pockets

Pockets (2008)
3 minutes
James Lees

"What's in your pockets? Filmmaker James Lees asks Londoners to share what they're carrying in their pockets and what it means to them. Every object tells a story, revealing more than expected about its owner. From tiny treasures to the downright bizarre, the contents of Pockets provides a quick and charming social insight."

Honestly this is one of the most effective short films that I've ever watched. Such a simple idea, but executed perfectly. James Lees must have asked hundreds of people in order to get such a fantastic range of responses.

The use of focus pulls and the juxtaposition of people and images all come together to create a very focussed and poignant documentary. My personal favourite moment is the boy talking about the spider key ring his mother made and how the key he has it attached to doesn't actually open anything. It's a wonderful bit of humanity.

In a lot of ways this documentary is particularly inspirational to me in how such a simple idea with simple shots and a fairly simple edit can be so effective and emotionally resonant. Especially as it is only 3 minutes long. We employed some of the ideas from this documentary in making our own such as our focus on the buskers' money boxes.

Documentary Project - King of Laughter

King of Laughter (2008)
3 minutes
Nick Hillel

"Ethiopian's King of Laughter visits England to see it laughter is really shrinking in the western world and whether his brand of laughter therapy can cheer up the UK's unhappiest town."

I've found that I quite enjoy short form documentaries like these that focus on a relatively simple subject and tend to use interesting techniques and clever editing to be poignant and interesting.

I found this one to be pretty effective in what it set out to do. It's light hearted and the way the camera is used reflects this (such as the camera that has been fixed to Belachew Girma). There are also moments of emotion such as when Belachew talks about his fairly tragic life and how he learnt to laugh as a way to cope with it.

The film's use of close ups and often showing images that don't fit the dialogue can be quite effective though in some ways the background sound in the film can be a little distracting.

Process

Here you can see some of our earlier ideas on what the film would be

Here you can see a prop list as well as some early ideas that never came to fruition. We were not as prepared as we should have been and ended up with half the props we actually wanted.

Here are some screen caps from the edit. It shows how detailed some of the early parts of the film were. We used a lot of layers, cropping and repositioning images. There was also a lot of brightness correction and even after my best efforts it is still possible to see the breaks between shots. It was a shame that the light was so prone to changing on the day we were able to shoot.

Involuntary Explained

From very early on we had the idea for our film to be somehow about the psychology of a person. This would be set to ambient electronic music. These elements of our plan stayed with us throughout making the film. Initially we thought that we would make a film that explored the concept of mirrors and cameras, voyeurism and paranoia etc. Our film still does that to an extent, but throughout the filming and editing process we began to have different ideas.

In the end we wanted our film to explore the ideas of the Freudian concepts of the id, the ego and the superego  with the loose narrative idea of the id overcoming the superego and controlling the protagonist.

We begin by introducing different parts of the psyche one by one. The opening shot shows the protagonist sat down in the mirror on the left. This fairly menacing image is meant to represent the repressed id. He is small and hard to make out, the animalistic urges locked away and hidden. The mirror itself is a metaphor for the subconscious and the id is sat there waiting.

In this image we see all five figures on screen at once. The one in the middle represents the ego. He stands tall and is authoritative. He is essentially the protagonist over which the id and the superego are fighting. The camera represents the superego and the figure using the camera represents the superego's ability to moralize. Without a cameraman the superego can only watch, unable to exert any other influence. This idea of the superego going from operated camera to unoperated camera is used throughout. The other two figures can represent a number of things such as narcissism (sat at the mirror) and paranoia (staring into the lens). These figures are sort of mid points between the extremes of the id, the ego and the superego.

These shots are intercut with other scenes that show the camera and the protagonist in the mirror. These foreshadow the event at the end of the film where the protagonist smashes the mirror. Eventually the five figures disappear one by one as if being lost and we are left with just the figure in the mirror which leads us to our next section.

The next section of the film is in colour. This shows a shift from the simple black and white of the more balanced mind to the effects and our protagonist of these parts of the psyche. This section of the film shows the id starting to take over.

Here we have the three main parts of the psyche once again. The id is still sat while the ego is still the tallest and most authoritative. However the superego has taken the place of the id within the mirror. This is symbolic of the id beginning to escape from the subconscious.

In this scene the protagonist (or the "ego") finds a hole in the ground with cereal and milk surrounding it. There is also a camera watching over it. He takes out a spoon and, after pouring the milk, eats cereal from the hole.

We wanted a scene that would show something normal, but twisted and out of place to show the protagonist's mind breaking down. This represents him starting to in to the more animalistic urges of the id. The organized nature of this scene shows that he has not fully lost control, however the ominous building, repeated tones in the music suggest otherwise.

In the next scene the ego finds a pair of headphones hanging from a tree and listens to them. He hears odd sounds. These sounds are actually the sounds of the mirror shattering, reversed and distorted. This scene mostly represents the ego wandering by itself trying to figure things out as the id and the superego are not present. However the sounds through the headphones show that the inside of the protagonist's mind is not a safe place. The branches displayed in the mirror foreshadow the end of the film and suggest a fractured subconscious.

The final section of the film shows the id fully taking over the ego and eventually destroying the superego. The small mirror is to show the reduced importance of the superego. The protagonist smashing the image of the camera in the mirror represents the id's influence fully controlling his actions and the blackout suggests that there is no turning back. Almost as if switching a light off in his mind.

Enter the Void - Gaspar Noé

Enter the Void is a feature length experimental film that I saw in the cinema about a year ago. It had a profound effect on me due to showing me something utterly new and original, but it is not a film I would like to see again fully due to being a fairly painful watch. However I do feel it has been an influence on our film or at least an influence on me and how I wrote the soundtrack.

The film follows a young man who is a heavy drug user and is killed in a police raid in an underground club. The majority of the film takes place in first person and is, as the director puts it, "the story of someone who is stoned when he gets shot and who has an intonation of his own dream."

The film uses very interesting techniques that make the camera feel as if it is floating above much of the action. It is extremely dream-like and the visuals are often psychedelic (helped by the film's use of CG). These techniques were not much of an influence on me in coming up with the ideas for our film though the idea of travelling through someone's mind very much is.

However the most influential thing about this film was it's soundtrack. A mix of electronic pop and experimental music which is also highly electronic. I wanted to create a similarly menacing electronic soundscape for our film. One that relies on repetitive noises and ambient sound rather than beats or traditional incidental music. Harsh sounds are often used and mixed with the more ambient ones in Enter the Void and I attempted similar things in my soundtrack.

Maya Deren - Meshes of the Afternoon

This short experimental film from 1943 by experimental director Maya Deren and her husband had a fairly large influence on our own film from it's themes and use of symbolic imagery to it's style and form.

"This film is concerned with the interior experiences of an individual. It does not record an event which could be witnessed by other persons. Rather, it reproduces the way in which the subconscious of an individual will develop, interpret and elaborate an apparently simple and casual incident into a critical emotional experience." - Maya Deren


Our film ended up being a similar study of an individual and their subconscious experience. Through similar techniques (having multiple of the same actor in a single shot, the use of symbolic imagery such as mirrors) we attempted to display many facets of the human psyche. Deren presents a series of dream sequences that interlock in which the protagonist is often watching herself repeat actions. We use this same technique in our film to show the different parts of the psyche interacting with each other (or not interacting as the case may be).


Deren's film is interesting to me in a number of ways. I very much enjoyed it's implementation of shadows early on and the use of the camera as sympathetic to the protagonist. There are parts of the film where the camera seems to move with the protagonist and feel the world as she feels it which, in turn, makes the spectator feel it also. Deren uses jump-cuts occasionally to transport people or objects from one part of a shot to another without proper continuity. We also used this technique within our film making our protagonist appear or disappear etc. This technique is a good way to indicate that time does not work the same way within the world of the film and also to juxtapose images and settings next to each other. Deren also uses the technique of cropping to have multiple versions of herself in the same scene.


There are many symbolic images in the film such as the knife, the flower and the telephone. These are used to foreshadow the events later in the film and as metaphors for subjects such as sex and loneliness. In our film we used mirrors as symbolic of the inner workings of the Freudian id and the camera as the superego. These also have other meanings, such as paranoia and narcissism.


Structurally there are some similarities between our films also. Deren layers her dreams on top of each other, destroying any sense of actual time (and, in fact, space through her technique. Something we did not really attempt). These build to the climax of the shocking image of the protagonist having seemingly slashed her own throat. Similarly our images often layer on top of each other and build to the climax of the mirror being smashed.


The soundtrack from Meshes of the Afternoon, while not very appealing to me, did influence how we used sound in our film. Much of the sound in the music is edited to the images and this is something we did very carefully and precisely. There are also sounds in the music of Deren's film that are representative of noises happening on screen. I attempted similar things in my soundtrack. I also attempted to have sections of the music that have no time signatures and, in fact, often different time signatures overlap each other. These combine to create a feeling that time is not working in a way that is familiar to us. Teiji Ito's soundtrack has a similar effect.


I think it's plain to see that Deren's work had a strong influence on our own.