Fiction Adaptation - Critical Evaluation

Having come to the end of our first term being back at university, i can honestly say i've absorbed a variety of technical an theoretical attributes that have contributed massively to the final piece of this unit. 

   
Pre-production
What worked and i was later thankful to myself for, was my preparation on my shoot days in terms of planning out a storyboard and having a shot list. This kept structure throughout the day and sped up the process of actually filming. I felt organised throughout the entirety of pre-production, and once i got my concept i found it natural in what direction i was going with it. 
Initially the concept was a bit frail and didn't have much of an arc, but with persistence and finding that running theme, i was able to attach another layer to it which created within it a subtle narrative. 
I feel some things could of gone better in the preparations, possibly doing more research on the poem, so that i'd have a much more greater understanding as that is absolutely pivotal in an adaptation of anything, to know 100% what the source material is trying to convey and its origins. 
At the end of it though, looking back, i'm content with how i managed my time and prepped shoot days, i've taken a lot away from this experience.


Production
All the shoot days went relatively smooth, i was extremely happy with the footage i recorded and how efficient i was gathering it all. It was definitely due to the work put in beforehand with all of the preparation achieved which set the tone really for the rest of my production, in terms of being ready and set. 
However there is still always room for improve and i feel that if i was that little bit more prepared, i could of actually filmed on just one day instead of over two. I think this could of easily been accomplished if i would of prepped just that little bit more and if i gave the weather a bit more attention. I lacked general common sense of the first shoot day as i completely forgot the sun setting stupidly early and lost precious time because of that. Also, even though i was able to get some great looking shots, i still need to refine my skills with the Panasonic DVX 200s. They're great cameras but i still don't fell 100% comfortable with one of them, so maybe i need to take one out in my spare time and have a play around. 
Again, there're things that what i set out to achieve, had been, but on the whole i can see looking back now that there is still a lot more learning to be done in terms on theory and practical.


Post-production
The edit was the part i was dreading, i knew it was going to be the sound that would make or break the video and to find juxtaposing sound designs that worked was going to take me some time. What i also wanted to try and incorporate into it was some style of soviet montage editing, i was thinking intellectual, or possibly some rhythmic as well. I'm not sure if i captured it but the scene where i cut from the water drop to a drop of water splashing on the leaf with a huge 'bang', was my attempt at the rhythmic montage, i'm not too convinced i had achieved it. I was happy with the general flow, but i appreciate the feedback off Mike in that there was a kind of lack of cohesiveness, however i felt the awkwardness of a mishmash of shots quite useful for the narrative especially in the middle section of my film. 

I'm still not sure on the end sequence, the quotes from the poem, i'm not sure if it ruins the entirety of it as it doesn't really fit my aesthetic that i was going for, or just that its an exposition of the poem which i really wanted to steer clear of in the first place. 

The conflicting noises were also a risk but i felt my reasoning behind it justified the decision, i felt the ambulance sirens definitely had more of the desired effect i wanted than the gun shots. I was happy with the flow of the heartbeat throughout as i felt that carried the piece in a slow progression towards the end very harmoniously. 

Obviously there were a few issues with the edit and i didn't really give myself a lot of time as the trip to Manchester didn't allow me so. I feel looking back on the finished edit, with that extra time, maybe look more into the sound design of the piece, focus more on that. To also make think more about the composition's cohesiveness, fluidity and shot selection. 

Overall though i am pleased and pleasantly surprised with how the finished edit has turned out. I can say for the first time that i'm actually kind of satisfied with myself in terms of the work that has been produced. 

What have i learnt
There were some effects utilised that i've never actually used before e.g the mirror tool, manipulating that was very satisfying an especially with the result i got out of it. 
I've also became more aware of how important time management is, and how costly it can be, so going forward i know now that preparation is the key to success. 

Having a small kind of understanding of soviet montage editing from last year, i felt it was vital to look over those editing methods again as they have useful ways in evoking emotional responses. You can create tones an emotions with what you place next to a certain image and i did try to project that into my work, but i'm not fully convinced it worked. 


What skills could be developed
There are a ton of things that could be further developed, i want to be 100% comfortable with the cameras, i want to use the lighting equipment more to be able to use them to convey contrasting emotions an evoke responses. Also throughout the majority of my composition there wasn't a great deal of camera movement and i know how effective it can be, in terms what the emotional response it can create, unfortunately i just couldn't carry back all the equipment plus a dolly to Manchester. I think as well, i possibly need to begin to start putting money into my projects, to fork out for taxis so i can get all the equipment i need to actually carry out what i had initially planned to.

Conclusion
Overall at the start of this unit i was apprehensive and unsure what to make of all the sonnets, i felt isolated and had a serious lack of creativity flowing in the cognitions. Though as the weeks progressed and research began it became apparent pretty quickly that i had a concept that would allow me to be creative and still have a subtle structure to it. I'm pleasantly surprised with how it has ended and i'll have a lot to take away from this unit in terms of all the production aspects. 

Fiction Adaptation - Critical choices & why

I just wanted to create a post which would shed light on some of the decision making and my cognition's on a variety of aspects that i feel may not get a mention otherwise. 

Sound design -
At the half way mark of my film i decide to incorporate sounds that i would associate with life and death, the passing of life especially, reasoning for this is simple, the poem speaks innately about life and the mourning of people dying and that we're not to linger on it. with the sound and visuals, I wanted it to be shocking and conflicting, to play on that fear as it adds a greater depth of layers an sophistication. 

Visual display - 
In essence to me the poem is about life, the remnants of the dead with the living and the dead transforming into something fresh and reborn. That is why reincarnation is themed visually throughout with the ice melting sequence. I tried to convey how life is cyclical with it but i'm not too sure if the audience will grasp it as it is quite obscure. I feel for what my concept was, i have displayed what i set out to achieve, but maybe some people won't be able to see link the creative metaphor with the poem as they're not open minded to the abstractness of the piece? 

Inspiration - 
A film that i had seen fairly recently, Mother, by Darren Aronofsky, left a profound feeling deep inside of me. The films biblical themes, and its usage of symbolism throughout the narrative was extremely engaging and breathtaking. 

The film popped up in my mind when i knew the theme of my poem, and the interpretation of it, as Mother is about mother nature, which just keeps giving, even know man kind keeps repeatedly destroying it, eventually killing it, it gives new life, and the cycle begins again. I intended to try and start and end with the same shot, how the film does, as it conveys the message so beautifully how cyclical the world is, unfortunately though i couldn't justify starting off with the ice cube melting as i felt it would make the structure of the narrative less powerful. 


Editing -
I was in two minds in regards to having the burning furnace sound coinciding with the flames visually, or to have it running with the ice. But in the end i decided to go with the burning sound under the flames to add emphasis on the heat, an to keep the authenticity.  

The final shot of the red robin leaving was intentional, as this is the last time we see the bird i felt it was significant due to the poems direction towards the end of it, it goes from these beautiful visuals, to an authoritative tone, so i cut in the heartbeat soundtrack which contrasts nicely with the imagery.

The end sequence with the mirror effect was chosen to signify life and death, life being represented by the shot facing upwards, and death, by the shot turned by 180 degrees. I wanted to play with the theme throughout, and that essence of remaining, just not being able to see. 

Fiction Adaptation - Film/Rough Cut Feedback

FEEDBACK FROM MIKE -

- Fits the brief, is experimental. Ice works well, the jump cuts are effective. 

- Think more about the sound design. 

- Think more about bringing it back to the poem? Possibly add titles at the end. 

- LINK BACK TO THE POEM

- Currently it is ' an inspired piece by the poem, not a true adaptation. ' However I can change that by adding titles. 

- Make it more cohesive, give it a natural flow by using the imagery and sound creatively.

Overall the feedback was positive, with the main focus being on the sound design and its development. I now need to think more about what will fit the piece and add to the cohesiveness of the visuals and the accompanying sound. 

I did have some concerns about the ice shot, as i felt the jump cuts didn't quite fit naturally, however mike liked the juxtaposition of the fire and ice. One issue regarding the opening fire scene was its duration, so i'll think about possibly shortening it, as looking back it does drag quite a bit. 

Now its just about giving it the final few tweaks, at the end especially. 

Fiction Adaptation - First rough cut

Here is my rough cut, now what needs more concentration and time is the sound design on the sequence, especially towards the end of the film.

Feedback was took on and implemented immediately, its just a case of figuring out how it can be achieved effectively. 

(Don't stand at my grave and weep)

What worked - 
The initial concept was to have a theme of reincarnation throughout it, which is displayed through the ice melting sub-narrative. I wasn't too sure if it working but after being viewed by Mike he felt it had achieved what it had set out to. 
A fair amount of content conveying the main chunk of the poem, i.e the beautiful locations, landscapes and nature itself was captured quite successfully so i was pleased about that. 


What didn't work - 
I still don't really think the narrative that i was going for really ever progressed distinctively enough, in hindsight maybe i could of been less obscure and brought in a character to really play on the loss/passing of a human. As well as this i think i included too much imagery, for what my narrative was, possibly it worked, but 


What can be improved - 
All the sound needs to be refined and looked at with more detail an scrutiny. I want to have more contrasting sounds and visuals, keeping the juxtaposition theme running throughout as i'm playing with two extremely powerful topics, life and death. 


What needs to be the focus - 
Sound and minor continuity editing issues. See how i can improve the sound and fill the spaces appropriately.

Fiction Adaptation - Shooting

Prepping of shoots -
Knowing that i had from the 28th - 4th (Nov - Dec) to gather all of my footage was kind of daunting as after those dates i knew that whatever footage i did have, would have to do me for the edit. I looked into the weather during the week in Manchester and there was only one day with fairly decent weather so i planned with my partner a rushed time schedule of what time we'd get out there and begin filming. we knew roughly our primary location, it was situated in a large field, called turn moss meadows, and from there we would then venture down to the river Mersey to acquire some more shots. We had no actual idea of how the weather would really turn out so we wrapped up for all terrains. There was also quite a physical challenge taken on by myself before all of this was to begin, that was carrying the camera bag, tripod, and my large rucksack back with me from Maidstone to Manchester. Having to get the underground with that amount of stuff should be illegal, but i can safely say i did it, an also safely say i'll never be doing that again. 


Manchester
Shoot day 1 - 
This day actually fell quite short of what i thought i'd be able to achieve simply down to time management. I had spent the morning preparing and wanted to leave for 12pm, however my partner wasn't ready due to miscommunication and we ended up leaving to shoot at around 2pm. This left us with little time as we had to actually walk to our location from the house which was a time consuming 35 minute walk, by this time you could already see the colours in the sky changing and the sun sinking away into the abyss. My heart was sinking as the weather report gave me one clear day and it was running away from me so we set up shot in a nearby location with similar natural surroundings to speed the process up. So we got to the location and now we needed to set off the smoke bombs which were no way near as straight forward as they should of been. The smoke bombs needed fire to ignite them and a lot of it. I was sat with one for 10 minutes atleast with a lighter underneath it, in the mean time the weathers temperature is dropping and so is the suns angle. 

(Turn Moss, Stretford, Manchester)

I wanted to get a variety of the smoke bombs being set off so that when i came back to the edit i had a vast amount of differing smoke footage to manipulate. I knew that the more i had, realistically the better off i'll be as it'd give me a greater option to choose from. I was only actually able to get 2 shots on this day and i did begin to worry and anxiety began to build as the weather reports weren't looking hopeful.

Manchester
Shoot day 2 - 
I was extremely lucky as on Friday 1st December, for weather was a blessing! I got on the phone an organised a quick expedition to the same location to gather more footage with my partner. We headed out much earlier, around 12, so had plenty of time in comparison to the other shoot day. I did have a few issues regarding dog walkers, joggers etc, making sure it was secure to set off the smoke bomb, as i didn't want to attract any unwanted attention that could create set backs on the shoot, so i was vigilante and aware of my surroundings at all times. I felt i'd gathered enough smoke bomb footage at around 2pm so we made tracks on the upper level running along side the River Mersey. This is when things just clicked in my head and i knew i need footage of the river running down stream. Also coincidentally when i had my camera out the sky transformed within about 20 minutes of us shooting the river, into a gorgeous orange/crimson delight, an i just had to grab as much footage as i could. 


Maidstone
Shoot day 3 -
This to me was probably the most significant day in terms of the content i gathered. It was a make or break situation as I'd realised after coming back from Manchester that i didn't have the main arc of my subtle narrative, an i needed to shoot something that would represent the themes of reincarnation quickly. Flowers and fruit decaying needed a fair bit of time to achieve a decent aesthetic and feel, so i just went with the ice. Earlier in the day though i knew i needed shots of the night sky, and imagery that would convey new life/beauty in the everyday moments. I was struggling at first for the night shot, as the Panasonic DVX 200s don't deal great in dark spots, however the moon was that bright an orange, an with the zoom that the cameras have, i managed to get quite a nice shot. Then in the morning it began to rain, giving me a beautiful shot of rain drops gradually falling down through the crack of my loft window. It was a very opportunistic moment which i knew had relevance and would be able to be incorporated very easily into the narrative. Knowing it was raining, i had a chance now to grab the 'money' shot, a shot that i had drawn into my storyboard atleast three times, and had been so far, unsuccessful in trying to attain it, this was the leaf shot with water droppings on. Fortunately it was easily accessible and right outside the front door of my house, it took me a while to focus, and as i was fully zoomed in, a breathe of air would judder the camera, so i had to be incredibly still, however it was still relatively shaky. 

(Nearing the night)

It was nearing the night and i only had a few more hours to get the ice sequence shot, so i set up in the basement of my house. Gavin helped me with the tripod as i wanted it lowering to about just above the floor level. I had one light fixed in an upwards position, giving a solid drop to the ice melting. The shot was set and now it was literally just waiting it out and capturing the footage. 

(Ice shot set-up)

Analysis of all shoot days and footage gathered - 

I believe that i prepped a fair amount, but maybe didn't manage my time well enough to carry out the level of preparation that was done. The shoot days in Manchester didn't go as smoothly as the one in Maidstone and i think that came down to fully knowing the ins and outs of my narrative and that became so much clearer when i got back to Maidstone. I knew fully what was needed to be captured on the camera when i arrived in Maidstone and i think that was a result of knowing i didn't gather enough in Manchester which did put the pressure on a little. I think next time i'll have to think more about the structure of my shoot days, prioritise scenes that need a particular setting and lighting, e.g like being outside in an open space. 

I am happy with the majority of footage i acquired, it did make me realise how great these new Panasonic's are also. As well as that, it's definitely got me thinking more about the camera and its vast abilities, which is engaging me to think more about the actual footage i shoot and how it will be perceived and interpreted by the audience. Some things obviously didn't go great, out of 8 smoke bomb shots, i only used two, that was just down to being rushed each time they went off as you were always in a tense limbo, not knowing when they would set alight, but when it did you would never be ready. 

So i think i could definitely improve my patience behind a camera, and i need to take out one of the cameras in my free time and really delve into the vast attributes it holds an absorb as much as i can about it if i do want to get into camerawork. 

Also, not to allow everything to be left last minute, this is in regards to the ice melting sequence, I knew i had a rough idea but i didn't believe it could be achieved so i kept batting it off until i knew it was the only option. If i maybe applied myself to that initial idea in the first place then maybe i would of gave myself more time to enhance that sequence? 

Overall, my shoot days were more of a success then a failure, i wasn't able to capture one of the initial ideas, but i replaced it with a similar visual concept and now in the edit i should have lots of footage to play with. 

  

Fiction Adaptation - Pre-production

I tried to prep and plan as much as I could as from previous shoots I've realised how vital it is to actually know what you're going to do beforehand, as when you turn up to your location, not having a clue or an idea on the structure of the shoot day, you begin the crumble and ultimately lose yourself time shooting, and if its shooting in the day, outside, in autumn, vital sunlight. 

As my concept for the interpretation is based primarily around reincarnation/nature, I wanted to be outside primarily, shooting beautiful close ups, long shots and try my hardest to get some wildlife creatures involved as I feel it could definitely be a really handy cut to emphasize the reincarnation element I was going for. Also it'd be extremely relevant to my poem. 

Plan - 
I knew I had atleast one day with perfect weather, (being in Manchester, I had to take this open window as you don't tend to get many great days) so I planned around that and drawn a storyboard to give me some structure to base myself of. 

(Extremely basic storyboard)

I had a form of a shot list also ready for my first shoot day and a lot of notes to hand but also still allowing for new ideas to come to mind, as the narrative was quite an ambiguous one, i could manipulate and gather footage without any restrictions due to not having a real structured narrative which ultimately gave me peace of mind when i was going to be out on shoot. 

(Another woefully bad storyboard)

I knew i was going to face some challenges along the way, the main one being weather, and also not having any crew members to help me set up shot and just generally assist me on the day. So i had to orchestrate with my girlfriend who was fortunately in Manchester at the same time, with her when she could help me film.