Gleneagle Film

1. Film Submission Process Overview

A reminder for those who need it, here is the process you should be following each time you complete a project.

1. Review the project rubric through Teams to ensure you are meeting all criteria.
2. When you are done with your edit in Premiere, show it to a peer for final feedback.
3. Export it as an appropriately named MP4 file encoded as H.264 Youtube 1080p at 24/30fps.
4. Submit the project in Teams.

2. Complete Self-Assessment

Complete the self-assessment form in Teams. It will help you confirm that you’ve met all criteria. It should take 10-15 minutes to thoughtfully complete; you need to finish it all at once, so make sure not to start it in the last few minutes of class. It is a crucial opportunity for you to reflect on your work and to identify the successes and shortcomings of your project and how you can improve in the future.

3. Study Terminology

We have a terminology review coming up next month! Any time that you finish your work early and are looking for something to do, you can study this terminology set. There are lots of fun games to play, so mix it up!

4. Suspense Intro

It is state, a tone, and a genre in itself.

We are going to be making a short film in the genre of your choosing. In the process, we will refine our understanding of the various aspects of pre-production such as screenwriting, storyboarding, art design, and production planning.

“Good artists copy; great artists steal.”

We are going to steal from some of the best. Today we will begin our focused studies by viewing and analyzing clips from a handful of great films from a variety of genres. We will be emulating and employing some of the techniques in our own projects to help build suspense.

1. Process Overview

Here is my suggested post-production workflow. The sequence of certain tasks is interchangable, like whether you edit audio or color first.

1. Sound Editing Tips (Advanced)

Problem: The sound is only playing in one of my headphones!

Solution: We hear sounds in stereo (i.e. our left ear and right ear). If not configured correctly, the Saramonic records in mono (i.e. a single channel, left if captured in port 1, right if captured in port 2). We simply need to copy the sound from the Saramonic from one ear to another. If you go to Audio Effects > Special, you can “Fill Left with Right” or “Fill Right with Left” to make the audio track play in both ears, not just one.

Problem: The is a loud buzzing or annoying fan sound throughout.

Solution: You need to clean up the sound using Adobe Audition! Right click on the clip(s) and select “Edit in Adobe Audition.” Select a portion with just the undesired sound, and go to Effects > Noise Reductiong > Capture Noise Print (Shift + P). Then select the entire thing (Ctrl + A) and go to Effects > Noise Reduction > Noise Reduction (Process). Loop and playback the clip, then toggle and adjust the sliders. You want to get rid of the background noise without making the dialogue sound distant/robotic. Save and close when you are done and the edited version will automatically be imported into Premiere.

1. Filming

The second group should hopefully complete their filming on Tuesday.

2. Crummy Mistakes?

Lets figure out what we’ve learned first hand NOT to do when it comes to filmmaking! We will create a shared list looking at pre-production, production, and post-production.

3. Open Studio

We will continue to have open studio over the remainder of the week and at least a day (or maybe two if needed) next week to complete the Conflict through Dialogue project, so plan for about three or four hours of editing. If you need to finish or reshoot scenes, please do so as soon as possible and with the knowledge that it will take away from your post-production time.

If you finish this project early, you may use your time to catch up on any other overdue work. We will be screening the “Shoot the Shots” films next week!

1. Shooting Days

Make sure to grab all of your equipment quickly and review your settings!!! Groups that films today and tomorrow with the other groups as their actors and you will switch Friday. On Monday we will edit and on Tuesday we hopefully finish filming the second groups’ project.

Setting up the Audio

On the T3i and T5i cameras: Press “Menu” and go to the fourth option in. Scroll down to “Sound Recording” and press “Set.” Change the mode to “Manual,” the drop the recording level down to the first notch like in these photos. This will largely disable the equalization of audio and nearly eliminate the room ambiance.

Recording close to your actors in a quiet environment? Grab a shotgun (camera mounted) microphone. Make sure to check your connections and frequently review clips to make sure you haven’t lost the proper connection.

Otherwise, please grab a boom and sound kit. Review the procedures and be sure to constantly monitor audio levels. Make sure the microphone turned on and is as close to your actors mouths as possible.

Please try to avoid camera’s 3 and 4: they are the older T2i model and do not allow for manually removing the pre-amps.

1. Storyboard

Work together to visualize your story in advance. Work quickly with simple stick figures to show the sequence clearly. Please remember that you could always stray from the guide and shoot additional shots later on, but that these are just the shots that are absolutely necessary to tell the story.

2. Complete Shot List

Fill out a shot list, putting it in the logical shooting sequence. This will be your road map when shooting, so take care of it!

3. Prepare Actors

Pair up with another group who will be working as your actors. Explain the idea, walk read through the script, and show them the storyboard shot-by-shot so they have a good grasp of what will be happening when you shoot. Switch and look through the other script. Have time? Practice reading through the lines and say them aloud!