Shooting: Day Two

Today I shot some more of my short film. I'm even happier with the results as I was yesterday. I think I'm going to stick with the idea of having an alert/text message appear on a phone, and that shall kickstart the film. I like it because it allows me to contain the film within one location and does not over complicate it. 

I was thinking of varying ways I could shoot things, so as you can see above and below of the broom I shot from the perspective of the broom and towards the camera too. I thought this would make my film a bit more interesting and gives me more scope to play in editing.

I said yesterday I was going to shoot various scenarios for the ending of my film, but I realised today whilst filming that the differing scenarios required completely different shots throughout, and I would essentially be shooting 2 films at once. For example, instead of having a shot of someone tidying shoes I'd have to shoot someone tripping over them. I'd have to do this for every single action shot - the successful way, and the failing way. So, considering time and my preferred direction for my film, I have only shot the "successful" scenario of my film. This keeps the story very simple and should hopefully strengthen it in turn. 

Whilst shooting my film I've been careful to consider framing and depth of field, and I would say that's apparent when you look back over my shots. When I concluded my research I pointed out how one of the strongest ways to convey a message or story immediately was through the framing of the shot, as good composition establishes an immediate heirachy and importance within a shot - it draws your eye to the important part straight away. I hope this strengthens my film.

Whilst shooting, I started to think about sounds. I'm thinking I may try to establish some comedy through my use of sound, and I could do this through comedic sound effects (e.g. cartoon-style "pops" "whoosh" "bangs" etc). I was browsing on Vimeo and found this video;

Obny sound design for Brian Chang 'Garden crash' video from OBNY / Music & Sound design on Vimeo.

I really like this video because of the sounds that are used. Even though it's a stop motion animation video, the use of the sound is over emphasised, is actually the "wrong" sound for the clip (but works) and is funny. I think it's clever how they've used the sound to emphasise a story more so than the actual image. I probably won't use sound this extreme or dramatic, but I like the idea of using emphasised, cartoonish style sounds, as i said before, to highlight an action.

Something like these;

I've been doing some thinking...

I've been thinking about my project, and am starting to consider that I may have tried to fit too much of a "story" into my film. I'm worried that I may have to skip over things or a message won't be as strong as I'd hoped in my final edit, as I am going to have to try and convey a few things within such a short amount of time; enough time to read a "note" that explains why the room needs to be tidied, a look at the time, going upstairs, seeing the messy room, trying to tidy it, and failing. My original plan incorporates a minimum of 2 locations and a longer cut to allow the viewer to have understanding.

Thinking about it, this may be too much. I will still film all of my planned shots, but in editing I think I may have to start stripping back the storyline a bit. One way of doing this is just having a "tidying room" montage, but I'm unsure whether this can really be considered as a "story". I could just use the story of rushing to tidy the room and establishing why (e.g. someone is coming over, maybe receiving a text message or seeing a note?). Seeing a text message would eliminate the need for another location and would only require a maximum of 3/4 shots, and allow me more room to play with the variety of shots for the actual tidying. Hmm.

Shooting: Day One

Today I started to shoot some of my shots I had planned. I am really, really happy with how a lot of them have come out, as I made it my goal to try and get some good quality, well composed angles and to consider things like depth of field. Below are some screen shots from the shots that I got.

I shot in 720p at 30fps.

Now I'm working to put together a rough cut, and am planning the rest of the shots I am going to shoot. I'm happy with the look of the shots, but I want to focus more on the content of them, and to shoot some more angles. What I'm finding now that I'm looking through them is I have a lot of close-ups of actions, but there's not enough links between each shot. I want to create a sense of the person running around within room, and I don't think I've shot enough footage to portray that yet. 

Either way, I'm really happy with the footage I got today. My favourite shots would have to be the ones of the shoes lined up, the side profile of the hoover, the canvas on the wall wonky and the wide shot of the entire, very messy room.

Sound Effects: Usage Licenses

I'm likely to source some sound effects for my film. This means I'll be searching on various websites for suitable sound effects for me to use. In order for me to use them, I need to ensure they're royalty free and have the appropriate usage licenses attached to them. There are a variety of websites that I can use, and I found a few briefly the other day when doing some research.

- freesound.org
- soungle.com
- freesfx.co.uk
- soundbible.com

In order for me to understand where I can/cannot use any sounds I find, I decided to do some research into and define some terms that I am coming across a lot.

Royalty Free
The ability to use copyrighted material (e.g. a sound, an image) without having to pay every time it is used. So, if a t-shirt was sold with an image on it that wasn't royalty free, every time it is sold a certain portion of the money would go to the copyright owner of that image. Royalty free = no royalties. So, if something is royalty free and is use on something that then makes a lot of money, the original creator does not receive any of that money. [1]

Royalties
The money paid to the copyright owner each time their property is used. E.g a musician is usually paid each time their song is played on the radio. [2]

Patent
If an idea/design/product is 'patented' it is protected and gives the original creator/patent holder to ability to take legal actions against anyone who tries to copy that idea - e.g. sells a product very similar that uses the patented idea/works the same way. - it depends on what is defined in the patent license. [3]

This is on the Intellectual Property Office[3] website:

Your invention must:
Be new
have an inventive step that is not obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the subject
be capable of being made or used in some kind of industry
not be

a scientific or mathematical discover, theory or method
a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work
a way of performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business
the presentation of information, or some computer programs
an animal or plant variety
a method of medical treatment or diagnosis
against public policy or morality.

Secondary Liability
Liability that falls as the responsibility of a third party - not the original creator or provider of the original product. So, in the sense of a Sound Effect website, if I downloaded anything the liability falls on my shoulder to ensure I use it appropriately and follow the usage license. [4]

Grant of License
In the case of freesfx.com, the grant of license states that they remain the "owner or licensor" of every sound effects, and anyone who downloads them are the "licensees". They do not own the sounds, and the act of the downloading them is not the equivalent of them being "sold". [5]

Restrictions on Use
When you agree to use property, there are certain restrictions on its use that you are agreeing to follow and acknowledge in your use of it. E.g with a sound effects website, by downloading their sounds (note: for free) you are agreeing that you will not then try to sell them on and make money off of them yourself. [6]

Indemnification
If there is a breach of the license or misuse of the product (e.g. something that is not for commercial use, is used in that way) the Licensee (e.g. me) will cover any damages that occur on the part of the Licensor (e.g. who provided the sound originally). This could also involve the Licensee defending the Licensor and providing evidence that the Licensor is not in the wrong and the Licensee was solely responsible for the misuse. [5] [7]

[1]: http://copyrightaction.com/faq/what-is-a-royalty-free-license
[2]: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/royalty.asp
[3]: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-about/p-whatis.htm
[4]: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/secondary_liability
[5]: http://www.freesfx.co.uk/info/eula/
[6]: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restriction
[7]: http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/indemnification