WBL..the final edit

I have finally finished the commission, the edit was tricky, due to the voice over not being long enough. After speaking with the client about this we decided we had 2 choices, either make the film shorter slightly, or add more V/O. The client decided he didn't want more V/O as he felt he had enough on there and thought more V/O would spoil it, so we agreed to a slightly shorter film.  This was i feel the wiser choice, as i felt the film was a little long for a fitness demo vid anyway. i have shown the finished piece to my client and he is happy with the end result. Upon reflection i feel there were some things i could have done better during this commission, one, make sure i do better recces, as i encountered several problems at the second location, ie, the location of the power source for my lighting, and also the confined space i was working in. Also although i was relatively organised with my time and shooting schedule, i feel i could have been more organised, because there were times when i found it difficult getting all of my contributors together in the same place at the same time.
I feel i have learnt more about the fitness industry and how it has progressed, and how marketing , branding and advertising have a big impact on this industry, now more than ever since the London olympics.  I have enjoyed working on this commission, but to be honest it has been a lot to take on by myself, on top of my major project. Managing myself and time has been a whole new challenge in itself. I have discovered I'am still torn between editing and camera operation as a career path because i thoroughly enjoy both so much, so in that respect it was nice to be able to do both for the commission.

Major project- research

Must see's for research purposes only, of course...

Major project-changes

So far i have managed to get together all of my materials required for a stop motion project, this includes..
Sculpey clay (very expensive)
Cardboard
Paints and brushes
Camera 1100 d cannon
Bendy metal (for skeletons of models)
Set space

As you see there is a fair bit required and this is just for a basic set up, if i was doing anything more complicated, ie a Nick Aardman style piece, i would need a lot more materials, and larger quantities of the materials i already have.
There has been a change to the stories i was planning on scripting due to technical issues as well as visual problems. So this afternoon i am raiding my daughter's book collection to look for short stories that will fill the criteria.
The website i am putting together to host this project, is being done through weebly.com as it is relatively easy to use and is a basic template for website building, i did however take a couple days out to learn some HTML5 code so that i could understand the basic principles behind building a website from scratch. I found this helpful, but unfortunately i don't have time to learn HTML5 or construct a site from scratch.
I am planning a trip to the cinema soon to watch ParaNorman as part of my research on stop motion, just to see how far it has come along since its birth, and what can be achieved now with the latest technologies.

WBL- editing

The edit is going well, however after getting the voice-over last night from Lance, i have discovered that there is a minor problem. Either we need   at 3 mins there are to big a gaps between V/O. Meaning the visuals look lonely, despite the backing track. The backing track has also been changed, as it wasn't really setting the right tone for the piece. I have changed it for Katy Perry's wide awake, the instrumental version. This flows much more nicely than Kelly Rowland's Motivation and sets a more upbeat tone to the visuals. I am far happier with this, and so is Lance.  For Lance to understand what i am trying to achieve i had to show him the motivational fitness video by @adamwontlose, as this is the style i am aiming for as it appeals to the younger generation, and also is very glossy and gripping, and at 3:30 mins long it has to be. I am having further discussions with Lance later today re the edit and duration of the piece.

WBL- Editing

I have started editing, and I think i have found my backing track already for the piece, its called Motivation by Kelly Rowland, i am only using the instrumental though, as i don't want the lyrics to interfere with my voice over. So far it is going well, and i aim to finish by the weekend, hopefully..

WBL- filming-editing-virgin crashes again...!

It has been a couple of days since i was last on here. Partly because my internet wasn't working because Virgin had a fault and also because I have been busy filming my commission, which has been very difficult with the weather we have been having. Planning ahead before going out on a shoot is absolutely essential, thankfully i had planned exactly what i wanted to shoot and where, which meant it was just a case of protecting my equipment with waterproofs. So after a quick trip to the campus store for a tripod and lighting kit i was all set. I managed to get all of the shots i wanted, plus a few extras that were decided upon on the day, these were extra exercises that lance wanted to include. Shooting in Mote park was harder than at Tunbridge Wells, as i had to think about other park users who were not only curious about what i was doing, but also making noise and getting into shot, chasing their dogs etc...At least at Tunbridge Wells i had only lighting issues to contend with.
All thats left is to pick up the audio which will be a voice over from Lance, which will be done this week, after we have agreed on a final script.

WBL Filming

Today was all go, due to a break in the weather, we took the risk of filming today at Mote park the first half of the video. I had been lucky enough to find two fitness fanatics over the weekend who were prepared to be in the video. I hadn't yet heard back from the council about filming permissions, however I decided to take my UCA ID, and would explain myself if i was questioned at all by anyone. Filming today would have been worse if i needed audio, as it was exceptionally windy, making filming difficult enough. Due to the risk of rain i took my umbrella and rain mac, the brolli was for the camera.
My actors were very enthusiastic considering the conditions they were going to be working in, and despite the wet grass, and wind they were doing burpies, press ups, squats, and sit ups. i got nearly everything i needed on the first or second take, i think this was mainly because the actors didn't want to be hanging around in the weather, so were making a big effort to get it right first time. I have more filming to do tomorrow around the Tunbridge Wells area with just Lance, I just hope tomorrow goes as well as today, as there wont be another opportunity to film just Lance for another week. After the filming I will be starting the edit, aiming to pick up the voice over next week, as we still haven't agreed on the script for that yet.