kmccarthymajorone2020

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Reflective Statement

This project has been a monumental learning curve, one with many obstacles and handicaps, and many ups and downs. Covid has made things really difficult to approach and more significantly has made the issue of motivation a huge impasse at times. Producing work in this period has really posed the question of self worth and has made me wonder who I am making this for and why. Looking at the ‘finished’ result, I am pleased with the outcome and feel that the hours grafting have paid off. More importantly than the final result though, is the vast amount I have learnt throughout the process. Narrative is something I hadn’t worked with before and I didn’t realise just how many skills and techniques need to be pooled in order to make a piece successful. It is clear to me now the need for a team when producing a film including the multiple elements that work together to create the world of a story.

Working within the restraints of the pandemic has undoubtedly resulted in outcomes that would have never occurred otherwise and this is what really intrigues me about this piece. Looking back at the process now, it is quite remarkable to note the effect that the pandemic has had on the process of idea generation and development. At a point now where things are beginning to look more hopeful and the spring is in sight, I feel that I can look at the film in true retrospect, seeing the reality of the dark the themes, and can feel glad to be able to move on and to take what I have learnt forward into new projects.

This project has been largely experimental in nature, with the majority of shoots being shot without enough planning and the editing process being more one of elimination. I had originally envisioned a polished final piece that was going to be twenty minutes or more in length and it is clear now that I didn’t truly understand what it would take to make this happen. Approaching the project in this experimental way has allowed me to develop an understanding of the process and at the same time refine my own personal aesthetic. Treating the project in this way has allowed me to let go and try new things, without worrying too much about the result, leading me to make mistakes and in turn learn more about the process than I may have otherwise.

For me, working with others is what has really driven the film. Each time I filmed with someone new, added to the soundscape or developed the monologue, I felt a new lease of life was given to the project. It became much more enjoyable to work on, and allowed me to let go to and extent, due to the fact it was no longer purely my own creation. Pooling of skills is seeming to be the key to the production of a successful film, and by using the insight and perspective of others and their individual skills, more interesting outcomes can be achieved. I am excited by this and look forward to working with others more in the future.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Final Edit - poisonfish

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

A Lack of Contextual Reference

I am realising now that I have had a lack of contextual reference in this project. I looked at a range of work in the beginning but then allowed for a lack of this throughout the rest of the project. I suppose that with the project being largely an experimentation, I forgot to regard this factor of the process. With this aside I think I did take a lot of influence from the early contextual links I looked at, and feel that there is evidence of their influence throughout my piece. I think this lack of reference in the latter half of the project was potentially due to the way this project panned out, with the pandemic having great effect on the workflow and my desire to watch any films or study other artistic works. In future projects I will aim to make contextual referencing and studying a much more prominent part of the process, as I can see the impact of the works I looked at early on.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Shoot 9 - Monologue

This shoot was really straightforward but I still managed to make a mistake, although it is a fairly minor one. We were again shooting in the lockup that is full of equipment and in order to keep social distance from Angus I had to set up the camera in an awkward spot. I had the focus perfect in a test shot, but for some reason the actual takes have a slight blur, so either I moved the camera or Angus moved. It's not really a big deal and probably unnoticeable to most, but I should know better that when shooting with low apertures, you need to be extra careful of the focus, which I usually am. I am going to see what can be done to the footage in post to further stylise it.

I wanted to frame Angus in a way that made him appear in total darkness, as if he is speaking to the audience from the afterlife. To achieve this I used a handheld light shining down on him to cast the shadow of his hat over his eyes, creating a mysterious nature for his character and isolating him from the background. I asked him to be extra emotive with his mouth when talking and to exaggerate any movements that he made, to add dramatic effect to the footage. We ran through both monologues with the zoom mic capturing the sound as we went.

I’m not too sure how much of the footage I will be using in the final cut. I am considering using the shot for the intro, but after trimming the film down so much I am unsure where else the shot could work. At this point the film still needs more trimming so there may not be much opportunity to use the shot at all, but perhaps it could slot into some significant points. I am really pleased with the nature of the shot and feel that it reflects the nature of the character and the film to a better extent than the initial monologue shot from the studio shoot. I am also slightly let down by myself technically and feel that I need to make sure I am more careful in the future. Luckily this shot isn't too important to the film so its not a big deal, but I can take a lesson from this outcome. 

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Monologue Development

I sent the monologue to Angus and he read it and did a re-write. His degree was in creative writing so he really has an interesting way with words. We came to the conclusion that, like the script, we are going to shoot a version of both monologues and that I will splice between the two, using the best bits. Again, really it would be more sensible for me to do a re-write and merge the two but I didn’t realise he had sent it over to me until just now and we are shooting shortly, so it is a bit late.

His version :

MONOLOGUE EDIT(City walking montage)Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this tale of woe, of man and fish. I clutch at a rope, frayed and slippery. I am heaving up the past, the girl that I love best. I have made myself an enemy of the world, delivered truths not meant to be spoken. I am the infernal nuisance.

I am clear as day, clear as the abyss.In the past I am hauling up, innocent souls swim free. I go down to the cesspool. What a  pool we have made. So thick with poison we don't know if it's three miles or inches deep. The pool is like ignorance. I impose myself on the world, on the smog, on the worms in the tainted earth. My rubber neck leads me twisting through life. It stretches and turns, stops my breath. It leads me down to the water.

(After S&A scene)

In my dreams I see the oozing of the underworld. It boils over and scolds my soul. Oozes over the precious things of ife. Comes dragged up by the super-trawlers. Climbs the beaches. Climbs the steel towers. The sign says, it is forbidden to fish these waters. Leave yourself at home. But nobody will see me. I am safe now. I go down to the cesspool. Bring back my bonny to me.(Casts line)

-

Both approaches are quite different, with mine at times being too repetitive, descriptive and simplistic and his at points being slightly too ambiguous and poetic. From working on this project so far I have realised that the monologue works best when it is centred around the middle point between ambiguity and simplicity, reaching into both areas as it develops.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Script Development

I sent the script over to Angus for him to have a look and he sent back this edited version. I really like his stripped back approach to the dialogue and he has attached his poetic style to it also. I think I am going to try and meet in the middle of mine and his, and will record both and use bits from either accordingly.

Angus, drunk. Walking backstreet. Sam walks above. Alternative POV tracking. The two converge.

A: It's you?

S: It's you. You are alone?

A looks round, then back to S, suddenly holding fishing rod.

A: Ah. I never know.

S: The place you come from. It sucks the warmth from the air. That place has attached itself to you. What do you want?

A: I -

S: Never mind. I know what you want.

S presses rod and gloves into A's arms. A listless.

S: You want me to tell you? There is enough poison already. Poison brain. Poison fish. You want me to tell you why you're here?

A's blank face, long silence.

S: (Repeating, urgent) You want me to -

A cuts in, close up on face, suddenly monotonous reciting as if from a sermon -

A: I have seen the infernal machine and its beckoning steeple, the black source of the lifeblood, I have seen the comfort of power and desire, the flash-bulb in the smog, the bare innards, the toxic run-off of love and the menace of a free meal.

Suddenly S is gone. A stands alone with his gear.

It would make sense to create a new one, taking from the combination of the two, but we are shooting shortly so I don’t feel I have enough time to do this. Although this may not be the most logical approach, I am treating this scene mainly as a learning experience, to try and better understand the dynamics of creating a scene like this.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Shoot 8 - The End/Reconciliation

The aim of this shoot was to get a shot of Angus spluttering out black liquid after eating the poison fish. I purchased Indian inks online after discussing the idea with my tutor, as she mentioned these were safe if ingested. 

We were shooting in a really tight spot and I was using a 70-200mm zoom lens, which I now realise was a bad idea. I was aiming to get a close-up of the mouth so was fully zoomed but because of this I missed the focus and framing of the shot slightly. 

It was a bit of a stressful situation as it took some time to get the camera set up, and once Angus had the ink in his mouth I was still faffing around and became a bit overwhelmed, so ended calling action a bit prematurely. Because of this I missed the main action of the shot, with the ink going down the opposite side of the face to the I was focussed on. 

Angus was a bit shook after the splutter because the ink went everywhere and with it being a strong concentration he was a little worried that he may have ingested some of it. I assured him it was all good and that the ink was okay to ingest but I didn’t feel like asking him to do it again, so I let him get on with his shower. 

I think the shot may work at the end of the film, but I am not sure. It is not totally obvious what is happening in the shot, but maybe with the rest of the film it will be clear to the viewer. Yet again I am realising the importance of planning and knowing the space that you will be working in. I did work out the set up prior to the shoot but I was only using the 50mm when doing so, so switching to the 70-200mm was a big change and this mixed with the stress of trying to set up the shot was enough for me to rush it and potentially mess up the single chance shot. It’s not a big deal and I don't even know how necessary the shot is to the film, but has been another lesson in PLANNING.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Final Editing

The timeline has become a complete mess of audio clips, but the soundtrack is sounding vast and has a lot of depth so I am pleased with it. I just need to work on my organisational skills and figure out a way of streamlining my workflow.

The use of sequences has been really useful, as you can add sound effects to them directly and then drag in the whole sequence, simplifying the main timeline and making it less of a headache. 

There is so much going on with the sound within this piece, perhaps too much at points, but I feel the this adds to the uneasy atmosphere of the narrative. As you can see in these screenshots, each sequence has its own range of sounds, so this combined with the main timeline means there is a vast amount going on at any given time. 

Building this soundscape has been a really interesting experience, and also a headache, but I feel that I have developed my skills in the area a great amount and am happy with the final result.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Fishy Hints

I wanted to create some subtle hints in the film that pointed to the significance of the fish and acted somewhat as Easter eggs, that may or may not be noticed while viewing. 

I always had the idea of changing what was on the billboard of the church into a fish, but when I tried to edit a large one onto the whole thing I realised this was going to be more effort than it was worth, so I went with a more subtle use, which I actually think may be better. I used the christian fish symbol, so to fit in with the religious aesthetic.

I am pleased with the subtlety and am looking forward to seeing if anyone notices the placement of the symbol. It is not essential to the story but I think it is an interesting touch that does add to the overall feel of the film. 

Another subtle touch I added was during the fishing scene, when Angus is sat waiting and taking a drink. The scene felt a little slow when I was watching it back so I thought I’d try and add a bit more depth through the use of some FX. 

I used a lens flare to illuminate the fish earring that Angus wears, and give a subtle glint as he moves in the frame. I used keyframes to track the fish and edit the intensity of the flare effect. The result is very subtle and even I miss it when watching the film back sometimes, but I am pleased with the outcome and subtlety and am hoping some viewers will notice it. Perhaps a paired sound effect could help it be more noticeable, so I may experiment with this.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Sound Syncing/Mixing

At this point in time I am trying to match sounds to clips and create cues for scene changes and transitions. I am realising that this is a powerful tool for developing the plot and also makes for smoother and more impactful transitions between shots. It is surprising what difference a correctly placed sound can make to the temporal flow of the film, making for a better viewing all round.

I am using a ton of exponential fades in order to stop any snapping sounds when audio clips start and stop, this works to an extent but I think I need to try and record audio in quieter environments in the future or use a different audio recording set up, as the zoom mic is really sensitive and picks up sound throughout a room. I have also been using keyframes to ebb in and out of certain clips, aiming to bring ones in as others fade out, to create a dynamic and shifting world of sound. It is a confusing process and with a forever shifting timeline things are always being knocked out of place, but it has been successful in creating a more vast sounding soundscape, with a large range of sounds. Studio Reverb, Analogue Delay, Pitch Shift and Bass Boost have been the key sound effects that feature on nearly all the sound clips in the timeline. Using these alongside the slowing of playback speeds has allowed for a broad manipulation of sounds, allowing for a lot of room for experimentation and tweaking with the aim of making the soundscape feel extensive and complex.

Sound syncing and mixing is becoming a more complex and confusing process as the film develops. In the future I really need to think about how I can be more organised within my timeline, with the use of sequences to break up scenes and efficiently organised bins for files. So far I have done this with the fishing scene and it has made life much easier and editing less confusing, so I know that it works but need to get into the habit of formatting my workflow in this way. Perhaps I also need to work on initially creating a coherent timeline before I start adding sound. I feel that these processes alongside a more organised workflow should make things more simple and streamline in the future.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Shoot 7 - Fortuitous Encounter

In this shoot I wanted to explore the use of dialogue to see how this could develop the plot and to also try to deepen the dynamic of the film. I have never shot a scene like this before so it was difficult and needed more planning than I initially envisioned. The script was a good basis for the shoot and Angus even elaborated on it and trimmed it down go an extent. We decided to use scarves to cover both of their mouths, so that audio editing would be much more simple while also making the two characters look more mysterious and exaggerating the dreamlike nature of the scene. 

At this point in time I didn't think it was wise to try and shoot a scene with synced audio because after working with foley in the edits I have realised how hard it is to make this work. Shooting with covered mouths may perhaps look slightly amateur, but I don't think its too obvious to the viewer as to why I chose to do this, it seems to come off as more of an artistic choice. 

I realise now that I could have used over the shoulder and out of focus shots to do this, without Angus needing to cover his face too, but with this aside, the aim of this shoot was more about trying to understand the dynamics of writing and shooting a scene like this. I tried to focus on the two characters in a way that exaggerated their forms, through silhouettes and blurry focus with the 50mm f/1.2. The aim of this was to create an eerie and dreamlike feel to the imagery, one that would aid the strange nature of the scene and the dialogue, and would also allow for a lack of acting while still sticking to the direction of the scene.

Before this scene the film could perhaps be portraying a story in a tangible world, but this act really delves into the dreamlike state that the character is supposed to be lost in. Using effects on sound clips has really benefitted this, with studio reverb being key to the wide sound of the voices which makes them gel into the soundscape.

Continued reference to the power plant throughout the piece frames it as its own entity. In the scene the two discuss its nature briefly, with Sam’s character acting as a kind of subconscious guide through this strange dream sequence, he passes Angus’ character the rod and disappears where he is replaced with the red bucket, further leading the main character on his journey.

Sam and Angus worked really well together but this was probably most likely due to the nature of how we shot the scene. It was planned around the fact that the two haven't really acted in a scene like this before and the realisation of the difficulty of audio editing and sound syncing. The main aim of the shoot for me was to get a better idea of how scenes with dialogue work and to try to understand more thoroughly the process of planning one. I definitely feel more confident in how I am going to approach scenes with dialogue in the future and am looking forward to taking what I have learnt from the shoot and using it in my next project. Planning is definitely seeming to be what this project has lacked, but it has been largely an experiment and a learning curve that I feel I have already taken so much from.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Editing

At this point in time editing has become a process of elimination and it is becoming harder as the edit gets shorter. I have been quite brutal with bits and shots that I thought were a great part of the film have now gone. In doing so I have also come across shots from shoots that slipped under the radar when doing initial edits. By inserting them into or over clips already in the timeline I feel I have made the sequence slightly more dynamic and visually interesting. With the project at the size it is, the real struggle is sound syncing and making sure the audio runs smoothly, I will do another post to elaborate on this process.

Cross dissolves and dip to blacks have been fundamental in the editing process and overall look of the film and I feel that this could be due to the dark nature of the shots. The low key scenarios allow for interesting overlays that are fairly subtle, we are left with geometric shapes, lights and lens flares, that when moving against each other a sense of tension and help to build the idea of a vast metropolis. Dips to black have been so helpful as a means of continuity and I feel that they give a sense of time passing, or of a new act of the story, by also giving you brief views of shots, the give the idea that what we are viewing is fleeting, nearly being lost to the black void of the screen.

The more excess I trim off the film the more gripping it seems to become, with parts seeming to have more impact and power. By reducing the footage we are left with the fundamental images that define the story and these act symbolically in a way. Images of the fish, the chimney, the bottle, the characters silhouette all start to feel more like motifs when the unnecessary shots are stripped back. This stripped back way of story telling is working well in my opinion and although it has happened here from experimentation, I understand that it needs far more consideration when planning, which I aim to do in future works/shoots.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Monologue Final

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to this tale of fish and man, of a man and a fish, and the girl who was lost, who lingers on the water and in the air, and is carried by the tides of returning moons. Thrown a frayed rope, she clutched, grasped by her desires and was sunken beneath the depths, away from the howling winds and the acidic rains and the smog laden city. I have been reaching points of utmost clarity, hearing some truths which are not to be spoken, an infernal nuisance that has laid bare my hope for a new home. In my dreams I am met by a place that leads and follows us, fed by an abyss so dark and deep that it swallows anything that sees it, that it knows exists and has uttered thought upon it. With an ache to accept the fate I will turn a blind eye upon myself and be submerged to the depths.

Back in a time when the innocent souls of fish swam free, in their shoals without air, in the warm shallows, shrouded in brine, feeding on fair pickings, what was theirs for the taking, we shook their home, turned it into a cesspool, a puddle of our greatest failings, one so deep and thick that if it touched you you’d be permanently branded, thrown out and buried amongst the earth with the maggots and worms. Are we tainted by a poison so potent and so poignant, one that could have and may forever exist in man, alone? Is it to be imposed upon all living things? As we reign freer, higher and more powerful, we are but doomed by the foolish ignorance of how we came to be, of the natural order controlling our fate. My rubber neck leads me through this world, it twists and It turns and occasionally stops me drawing breath, allowing me briefly to be cast into the free world of fish, to swim amongst the shoals, away from the ignorance and the greed, to be pulled to and throw by the moon.

I have seen in my dreams, the dark ooze spilling from the underworld, what they are doing in there, in that place, It makes me mad, it fills me with a contempt, an anger so deep that I can feel it forever boiling over and scolding my soul, a despicable hatred for the greed and willingness of man to turn to shit the most precious of things, for the oceanic warmongers, the super-trawlers and the plastic islands, the drilling and spilling of slick crude oil. Up up and up they go, the monoliths, the steel, concrete and glass vessels, towards the clouds, to rise through the thick smog, to the clean air that is left and free from the gravity of this machine. They are pumping the muck from its beating heart, through its veins, vailed by the thick earth, into the once cooling pool where it all began, the kingdom of fish and of all life. It is forbidden to fish in these waters but I have a feeling I will not be stopped, that I will be allowed to cast my line out and pinch one of the unlucky fish who have been made wretched by our desires.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Shoot 7 - Plan/Script

This shoot was a fairly late idea in the project, although I have wanted to try and use some dialogue from early on. Having the character interact with another within the plot gives me a chance to build on the world and give some new perspective to the main character and his journey. I haven't shot a scene like this before so it will be largely experiment in nature, but I will use what I have learnt so far in the project to aid the shooting and editing. 

My story is definitely a strange one, perhaps more of a dream sequence than anything else. With the narrative developing organically over a range of experimental shoots, the plot hasn't been so definitive, but in my opinion has acted as more of an outline of the story, which is aided by the monologue and sound. 

With this being said I feel that I want to use this shoot in order to really explore the dream style of the piece. I want Sam’s character to act as a kind of subconscious entity that is helping to lead the main character on his way, with the dialogue being vague and strange. I will use my camera set up and lenses to try and create a dreamlike visual, probably mainly using the 50mm f/1.2 for its very shallow depth of field. 

This scene will be when the character receives the fishing rod, gloves, scarf and bucket. I am not sure if all of these objects even need to be accounted for, perhaps the gloves and scarf are overkill, so I will focus mainly on the rod and bucket. 

Here is the brief outline of the shoot, I have said to Angus and Sam that they are free to improvise with the script in any way they feel.

- Angus (quite drunk by this point) walks down the backstreet while sam walks from above, alternating POV style camera angles, until following Angus until the two meet -

Angus: Hello..?

Sam: Yess……. its you. are you alone…? my friend?

Angus: Am I alone? Haha. You tell me, is there anyone else here?

Sam: Where boy?

- Angus looks around, looks back at sam who then has the fishing rod in his hand - 

Angus: I’m not quite sure

Sam: Hmmm, that place, it sucks the warmth straight out the air, like you wouldn’t believe it. It seems to have a way of binding itself to folk like you, ones who are searching, and for what? There is no need to tell me boy, I have heard it all before. She has been asking for you in her language of horns, 

- Sam passes the fishing rod and gloves into Anguses arms where he stands looking confused and trying to keep a grip of everything -

Sam: Hmmmm, strange things happen to those who are foreign to this place. It finds ways in, leads you, uttering to you just what you want to hear, all the while slipping poison into the mind, ceasing the need to face the desires you crave and came here for….. do you know why you’re here?

- closeup of hook, Angus begins explaining himself with his head moving down to focus on the objects until he looks up to realise Sam is gone and there is a red bucket in the street ahead -

Angus: I’ve seen the infernal machine and its beckoning steeple, our house of worship, the source of the smog and our lifeblood. I can feel it in my soul, a longing for the comfort of its power, desire for what is being pumped from its innards, a thing more menacing than the toxic run-off.

My aim is to leave audio recording until post, doing this with the monologue and other sound effects has allowed me to create dreamlike audio by using reverb and other manipulations. I will be shooting the footage in a style that doesn't focus on mouth movements, and will even be dressing sam up in a way that his mouth is covered by a scarf. I also want to cover his eyes to an extent, with the hope of making his character seem quite menacing.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

More Sounds/Fishy Trumpets

I have continued recording foley sounds for the film and have been working into the soundscape. I asked Sam if he had any trumpet recordings from his band and he came through with some really strange trumpet sounds that should be perfect for the film, below is a small clip of those sounds against some cityscape cross dissolves, so you get an idea of the nature of the sounds and how they will develop the film.

So far it’s been a really interesting learning experience and I am beginning to understand the process of mixing and syncing to a much better extent, I will feel much more confident in the future when approaching and planning these tasks in the future. 

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Feedback & Reflection

After a tutorial with my tutor it became clear that I needed to trim the video down to an extent. I began doing so but found it hard as I am a bit of a footage hoarder and there are so many shots I like from the shoots. I began a new edit by dropping the sequence into a new timeline and began to chop it up and cut bits out, I felt that it helped the story and that it was flowing better, although there were some slow points that dragged a bit. My initial aim was to use sound in these spaces in order to convey emotion and drive the story, but this is proving hard to make happen as I have a limited amount of useable trumpet recordings from Ruby’s shoot in the studio. 

I rendered an edit and sent it to the Angus and Sam who have been helping me with the film and was told that it needed even more trimming, as there were bits of footage that were aesthetically pleasing but didn't do anything for the story and if anything made the piece drag. With this I decided to create another new sequence and start trimming even more brutally. 

I now realise that I should only keep shots in the film that build the story and its world, and rather than having lots of establishing shots for the sake of it, I just need to choose one or two and place them in the sequence accordingly. By using more selective bits of footage that have more story telling potential I think the film should be more compelling, visually and narratively. Using mainly strong bits of footage and sound combinations should hopefully result in a polished end result, that keeps the viewers interest throughout.

I am very glad I spoke to Sam and Angus because some outside perspective has been really helpful to the development of the film. Usually we would be doing this weekly at uni but because of the pandemic there really has been very little opportunity for this. I am understanding now that me sitting on my own in my room watching the footage over and over and over again, has the potential to warp my view and understanding of it, especially seeing as I am so familiar with the films context. In the future I will be making peer feedback a significant part of the development process with the hope of receiving constructive feedback that helps me learn and also progresses my work.

[kmccarthymajorone2020]

Soundscape & Foley Example

and thiThis is a small clip with an example of how I intend to approach the foley within the film. I am focussing on drinking and bottle sounds to highlight the alcoholism of the main character, framing it as a significant part of the story. There are many other sounds to work into the film and it feels like the more you work into it the more there is that needs doing. Because of this I will focus on specific sounds that I feel help develop the character and story, and will use the soundscape as a backdrop to rely on for parts where I don’t manage to create sound effects for. 

Adding sounds can reinforce a sense of realism and this is something I need to look out for. Making the effects too realistic makes the film seem as if it is trying to portray real life and this hinders the films aesthetic and its dreamlike qualities. It is a fine balance between adding real sounds, leaving specific ones out and making them all gel together with the soundscape. It’s a big job that I imagine will take much more time and consideration, but has already been an interesting and developmental experience.