Synopsis

Alina, a young girl who appears to once of had a very enjoyable life, has been acting ominous for some time now. She does not feel as safe as she once did, haunted by the fear that her worst nightmare may come true. Her safety is under threat by a force to be reckoned with. In order to avoid those that threaten her, she keeps a low profile within her house. Her parents become worried due to her unusual behaviour feeling they must intervene before something horrific happens.

 

The Process

Short storyteller Margaret Cahill allowed us the opportunity to use a select few of her short stories in order to evolve them into a short film. I found each story to be very well written and an impressive form of storytelling. “I Sleep With The Lights On”, was one that instantly jumped at me. I loved how the story evolved and was, for the most part, ambiguous until the very end whereby you feel compelled to feel sympathetic for the main character. I was very excited to begin working on a short film based on that story and eager to find colleagues who shared that passion. I was fortunate enough to share my passion and vision with three others. Due to a busy period, we had a slow start. However, once we began to meet in a more organized fashion, ideas began to flow. For the most part we shared the same views on how we wished to deliver the message in our depiction of the story. Our team encouraged every single thought in order to create the perfect convergence. I continuously took notes in order to evolve concepts and build a flow of shots in my mind. We agreed to each write a very brief script in order to get into the right frame of mind. We then collaborated these script ideas and settled on one version. From there, we could begin to storyboard and soundscape. Gathering rough sketches and soundscapes regarding how this short film can present itself.

I was determined to be as thorough as possible with my story boards. They can be the most effective tool when trying to convey your thoughts to team members. I created approximately 160 sketches of potential cuts. The storyboard tool was imperative for myself because I often fail to articulate my ideas, especially the ideas that are bizarre. They help convey shot types. We reviewed types of cuts e.g. specific long shots, close ups, pan shots, dialogue shots etc. that we needed.

 

Lets Shoot This

Once we felt everything was solidify both in our minds and on paper, it was time for us to start moving towards capturing the short on film. We decided our film will focus entirely on the main character, who we named “Alina”. Other character were only to play a minor role in order to carry the story along. We were very fortunate to obtain the acting skills of Esther Woods, who group member Allen contacted. We arranged dates with our actor, booked the required equipment and finalized our location for shooting. We had planned for 3 days of shooting, one of which with our actor, the other two capturing minor characters and cut aways. Prior to our shooting, I ensured we were as prepared as possible. Everyone had their role to play whether it were lighting, sound list, continuity, scripting watching, camera man etc. I created several reviewed shot lists, prop lists and noted dialogue lists for ourselves. At this point of our process I had assumed the role of director. I made sure that we were constantly moving towards our goal and helped bridge the gap between our concept and shooting. Esther was fantastic to work with allowing us to get as many of the shots we sought. I worked closely with Allen on the day. who was camera man, and we discussed thoroughly how some shots had to be altered. We did not focus too much on capturing perfect sound quality as we anticipated numerous foley and ADR sessions. Instead we noted key points to remember audio wise to accompany our rough audio cuts from camera recordings. As expected, we over ran our estimated time by a couple hours but I set aside some time with Allen to capture our needed cut away shots the following day. We were satisfied with the shooting and were ready to move into post production.

 

“We’ll get it in post…”

Post production is where we expected most of our difficulties. We were excited to edit our shots but we knew time was a massive limitation, especially for myself and Allen who undertook a heavy work load in Java programming this semester. While myself and Allen needed to turn our attention to Java exam preparations, Sarah and James made use of the time to review all of our captured shots. They rated them, took notes, marked ADR and foley. This organization proved to be very beneficial for editing. Allen undertook the role of video editing. He work very hard to colour correct all of our shots to obtain that dark, gritty feeling that we sought. We invited Esther into the undergraduate studio in order to capture her ADR. Again, she was a pleasure to work with and very invested into helping making the film a success.

I undertook the responsibility of audio mixing. I collected the foley sound files my team mates had organized and also recorded the ones still required inside the studio (and at home under my blanket). I then began to piece everything together. Allen provided me with a very rough draft of a complete video version. From this I was able to piece all of the foley together. As I progressed, I worked slowly and carefully to ensure everything synced perfectly, pepping a few L and J cuts where fitting. I made frequent use of automating volume, panning, effects. Plug Ins were key to add reverbs, compression, noise gating, EQ issues. Our team unfortunately hit a rendering issue as we drew closer to our screening. I needed the finalized version of our video in order to cement the foley/ADR and finally create a score. Allen worked very hard to figure out our problem and Sarah re recorded any newly required Foley/ADR while I simultaneously composed a basic score for our film that entailed simple percussion using Ultra Beat and multi layered synth such as Another Level. The night before screening we were all very stressed to finalize our film. Myself, Allen and Sarah worked until 3am in the studio trying to locate our issue. Once we finally rose above our rendering obstacle (which Allen rectified), I could finally tighten up all our audio. I frequently made changes to the “end product” until we were entirely happy. The final touches primarily involved limiting our levels to ensure nothing was clipping or washing out anything else. The short film project was quiet enduring but as a team we learned some valuable lessons and have taken our skills sets to a higher level of professionalism.

 

Hardware

HDTV Camera, tripod, 3 Point LED lighting, Zoom H6 Recorder, Roland R-05.

 

Software

Sound: Logic Pro 9

Film: Adobe Premiere Pro CC2015. Final Cut X

With regards to the audio mixing, numerous techniques were pivotal in order to achieve our desired sound. Plugs Ins that were implemented include: Chan EQ, Limiter, AutoFilter, NoiseGate, EVOC FB, Space Designer Pitch Shift, GoldVerb, Silver EQ.

These were used to control levels, create “source location of sound manipulation”, create the deep “creepy” voice, alter reverb “room” effects etc.

 

Key Terms

ADR, Foley, Dialogue, Music, location sound, diegetic sounds, non diegetic sounds, ssynchresis L and J cuts, filtering, mixing, dynamic microphones, condenser microphones, valve microphones, narratives, storyboards, scripting, keying, compression, diesis, mimesis, catharsis, white balance etc.