Upskilling in Unit 12

16/2/21 - Researching Editing Tools

To make use of different editing skills, I had researched them individually to
learn how they work and how I could practise with them. For graphics, I had
learned on https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mechanical-engineering/2-000-how-
and-why-machines-work-spring-2002/tools/graphicstutorial1.pdf that they
consist of images files (GIFs and JPGs) that can be reduced in size and adjusted
in brightness. For animations, I found on https://www.bwd.co.za/blog/what-
does-an-animation-editor-do/#:~:text=The%20editor%20is%20more
%20involved,is%20first%20cut%20then%20shot.&text=The%20animation
%20is%20a%20lot,and%20refining%20or%20changing%20scenes that an
animation editor is more involved in animation than live-action editing because
animation can be changed more than once with different ideas and that it can
be more controlled than live- action. From
https://www.careerswales.com/prof/server_process.php?
change=SaveEClipToPDF&Module%5BcurrentContent%5D%5BdisplayLeaflet
%5D=387, I learned that animators would need skills in design and special
effects, so that I would need to learn on tutorials how to create an animation.
For audio files, I learned on https://audiotrimmer.com/ that MP3 and other
audio files can be edited on different platforms on PCs before downloading the
edited version for a project. For using Pre-Production and Post-Production, I
learned on https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-about-the-
postproduction-process-in-film#what-is-postproduction that Pre-Production is
the planning of location and casting, while as the final stage on filming, Post-
Production is the overall step of editing shots and sound together for a film.
This means that I would need to be responsible for the visuals, audio, colours
and graphics when creating the result of a film. I think that I will need to look
at tutorials to learn how they are properly used because my research so far has
shown me how they are used by production crews, so that I would need to
learn manually online how they work before trying them in my own
experiments.

26/2 - 11/3/21 - Practising Tools on Editing Platforms

As part of creating a soundscape for exploring the environments of my road, I
was able to export audio files to iMovie and use them for projects that I can
trim down and edit, which I have also done for Inshot, another editing
platform. This means that I could edit different audio files between different
platforms. On iMovie, I have also practised Graphics by adjusting filters, but I
couldn’t find ways of including animations on both platforms. Other platforms
that I have decided to use are Garageband, Audacity, Shotcut and Openshot.
However, I couldn’t download and use Audacity due to it not running on my
type of computer (Chromebook OS), and I couldn’t install Openshot without a
X86 64 CPU as well as my Chromebook. I did download a linux file to use
Shotcut, but it was an unarchive that organise UNIX formats to use for Linux
files, which I didn’t trust because it didn’t look like an audio or video editor.
That only left Garageband, which on a tutorial taught me that I could record
sounds and songs with different instruments, but I had tried using audio
recorder to practise recording and editing my voice for voiceovers. I had
continued using iMovie for playing with graphics and audio, but I would need
to research and discover how I could possibly use animating for my current
project.

19/3/21 - Researching Animation

I had looked at websites like https://www.bloopanimation.com/animation-for-
beginners/ and https://biteable.com/blog/how-to-make-animated-videos/ to
find out about the animation process, and I learned that animators use a range
of principles like staging, scripting, timing, frame rates, and texturing
depending on the type of animation, software and hardware, and that 2D
animators draw characters frame by frame, while 3D animators draw and use
computers to control them like puppets looking for every detail. From this, I
don’t think that I will use animation in editing because it is a long process of
having to plan why message I am telling my audience, which type of software I
would use to create it, what frames and storyboards will be and editing every
detail to make it interesting for my audience. This means that it would take
long for me to plan as well as edit an animation into a filmed performance, so
that it would be a higher level than what I can already do and a skill that I
might not use a lot for this FMP.

8/4/21 - Filming Test Shots

In Acting for Camera for this final project, I needed to create a film of the
monologue from my character in Road (The Professor), and I had learned
important techniques of filming that can tell more of the story to my audience
such as using Leading Lines that can draw my audience’s focus to my character.
To plan and prepare for putting my film together, I had chosen several shots
from my storyboards and experimented them around camera angles, location
and the 5 Rules of Composition (Rule of Thirds, Depth of Field, Framing,
Camera Angles and Leading Lines). I had also made use of costume and props
to rehearse and maintain character in these shots. This was useful for
practising how my camera angles told more of my character’s story and made
me learn that I would need to maintain my character’s voice and master his
Facial Expressions and Gestures.
For editing, I realised that it would be difficult for me to make camera
movements while being filmed by myself, so I had experimented with using
camera movements such as Push-Ins and Pans, and I had recorded my voice for
shots when I didn’t speak on camera as a way to recount one of his stories. I
had used iMovie to edit my shot and had made use of skills like changing the
filter of one of my shot to Black and White and including audio recordings of
my character’s dialogue. As part of test shots, I had also changed between
different levels of exposure (light through my camera) for each shot, which I
could change depending on the mood of the shot and had used the Rules of
Composition to tell more of my character’s story such as the Rule of Thirds to
position him in the areas of focus and camera angles like low angle to view my
character differently. I couldn’t change the Depth of Field in my shots because I
could only blur the whole shot, so that I would need to find another way how I
could possibly do this. I think that I will use InShot for putting my whole filmed
monologue together because by also experimenting with it, I could improve
my final shot by using ken burns to change from one close shot to pull away
from my character, and that it will allow me to change the filter for some of my
other shots and edit my monologue using a different editing platform.

26/4 - 3/5/21 - Filming and Editing with Kyle Chattaway

When I had to create my filmed monologue from Road, I would have to film in
a location that was like Road, a street of terraced houses. I was confident in
filming in a small, terraced street named Victor Street, but I noticed that one
side of the road was lower than the other and learned that filmmakers look at
multiple and similar locations that they could film in, so I decided that I would
use another road and I had found one closer to the college and easier to film
regarding levels and cars. I was able to direct my partner Kyle of my
monologue by using my storyboards and shot ideas, and I had managed to
work and perform with the different camera angles after looking at different
takes for each shot.
After filming, I learned that we couldn’t transfer our shots from Kyle’s camera
to my phone (which had my editing platform iMovie) due to technical issues
with Wi-Fi at Exeter College, so that we had to send our takes separately and I
would have to send them to myself to transfer them to my iPhone. I was able
to learn that I could convert Kyle’s MTS files into MP4 video files using
Cloudconvert https://cloudconvert.com/ and I created a Cloudconvert account
for converting all my takes. Doing this had made me frustrated because I
needed to get through a total of 38 takes and I wanted to edit my shots as
soon as possible, and there were incidents when some uploads would be
cancelled due to network failures and my laptop shutting down, so that I had
to constantly check that they were working and kept getting distracted from
my own rehearsals for assessment. To reduce this, I had focused on converting
them at home and early in the morning when the Wi-Fi isn’t used so much and
converting them one at a time was effectively useful getting around 10 takes
converted a day with a limited number of conversion minutes.
When I had converted all takes, I had discovered that I didn’t have to email
them to myself because the first chosen take was more than 25MB and had to
be transferred as a Google Drive Link. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WR1Fhby1G9o, I learned that I could download my shots to my iPhone
through Google Drive, so I downloaded the app onto my phone before
choosing my best takes for each shot on my computer and moving them one at
a time to Google Drive on there and giving them time to sync with my iPhone.
This had allowed me to copy them to my Photos to select on iMovie. For
editing on iMovie, I had trimmed out the beginning and endings of each shot
and noticed that I couldn’t keep the Professor’s dialogue going for transitions
to my video and images of Wood Street, so I had detached the audio of two of
my shots and shortened the end of the clips to let my audio play over the
images. I also noticed my audio recordings sounding louder than my shots in
Portland Street, so I lowered the volume to make sure that my character’s
dialogue was spoken at the same level for when my film would be assessed.
Although, I wasn’t editing for a radio play, I was able to learn how to convert
and use video files (MP4) instead of audio files (MP3), how to change filters
and use kent burns for editing images and using Pre-Production to plan my
location and camerawork. This means that I can continue to use these skills
when I put together another film.

3 – 5/5/21 - Changing Levels of Projection with Circles of Attention

for Duologue
From the performance assessment of my own monologue for my character, I
had noticed that I may have been projecting too much for my promenade
audience, so I decided that I would lower my projection to work with both my
partner and Circles of Attention. I had done this by keeping my voice low while
at the same time high in tone and using my character’s thoughts and emotions
to guide his responses to Valerie. This had made me feel strange speaking in
this way, but it would work well with medium Circles of Attention around voice
and energy. From feedback, I had learned that I had done well at keeping it low
to work with my character’s tone, but I learned that there were some words
that changed me from my Northern accent, so that I would need to keep it
consistent when using medium Circles of Attention.
As well as this, I had considered using Complicating Actions as a way of
maintaining my remaining project target, which meant that my character
would have to do actions that lead up to the scene of the duologue. I had
decided that the Professor would have already knocked on some doors
opposite Valerie’s side of the road and that he is crossing the road towards her
house. In rehearsals, I had managed to keep my character connected to my
partner by listening to her responses, how they had changed his Inner Motive
Forces and keeping my Northern accent consistent, and I was directed by
others to be more desperate at the beginning of the duologue and to keep my
character’s volume the same for all his lines. I had discovered that there were
some moments when the Professor’s voice decreased more in volume due to
my character’s voice being high, so I went through my character’s lines and
practised keeping my projection on the same level throughout. For my
assessment however, I had to wear a face mask for interacting with my
partner, which had made me think that I would need to project louder because
the Professor’s voice would be muffled for my audience. I had responded to
this by rehearsing with different levels of projection with my partner, which
worked well because my partner was still able to respond to my character.
From my recorded performance, I had noticed that my character’s voice was
spoken clearly through my mask to our audience, but that his Northern accent
was inconsistent in some places, so that my projection was louder than I had
intended and that my audience could hear several changes in my character’s
voice. This means that I would need to keep practising with Circles of Attention
around voice when trying to rehearse it for another character.