EDINBURGH: I finally caught it!

I finally managed to catch my film on the BBC Big Screen, which was pretty awesome! Here's a few shots!

EDINBURGH: Update

Well, a good few months have passed and I have to say I'm really pleased with how my Graded Unit film has been received. Not only did I get a good grade but Edinburgh has been shown at various college events as well as on the BBC Big Screen, on Lothian Road, in Edinburgh. The film has also had around fifteen new musical scores written for it by Students at Stevenson College. I was amazed by the quality of all of these and surprised by how much they added to the film. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few to my Youtube page in the coming months.

In the mean time it's back to college, Graded Unit 2 isn't far away!

EDINBURGH: Award Winning!!

I'm very pleased to announce that "Edinburgh" won the "Best Film - Audience Award" at the Filmhouse Show this week. It's great that my first film has received such a positive response and I owe a huge big thank you to all those that voted for me. 


It was also very nice to see a photo I took earlier in the year used in the program for the evening:

EDINBURGH: Online now!

Be sure and watch in HD (click the 720p option in the bottom right of the player). I hope you like it!

GRADED UNIT: Developing Stage Complete & Update

I'm pleased to say the Developing Stage of my Graded Unit is now complete. Edinburgh has been submitted to my College along with all the relevant paper work. Today I received  a licence to use the quote I had originally hoped to use at the start of the film, which I'm very pleased about. Hopefully that means I can upload Edinburgh to my YouTube page real soon. 

I'm now on to the Evaluation Stage where I've to produce a essay evaluating my performance in making Edinburgh. I'm also hoping to enter the film into a few competitions..

More news soon!

GRADED UNIT: Online soon!

The Graded Unit Development Stage is due for submission at the end of this week and so far (touch wood) things are on track. "Edinburgh" itself is complete. I was hoping to use a quote at the beginning of the film but obtaining permission for it is proving difficult and potentially costly so I may have to replace it in the final version. The DVD is complete and now in it's 3rd version, I'm testing it on different DVD players to ensure compatibility. I've had good feedback from my client and I'm now looking forward to uploading Edinburgh to various websites, which will happening within the next week!

Now... better finish that paperwork

GRADED UNIT: Production Stage Update

There’s now just under two weeks to go until hand in of the Production Stage of my Graded Unit. For me that means I have to have a completed edit of “Edinburgh”, presented on DVD as an FLV file for upload to Stevenson TV, along with a DVD video disk version, with menus and extra features. 

I’ve now completed a rough edit of “Edinburgh” and hope to have this approved by the client this coming Tuesday. I’m testing an early version of the DVD too, complete with extra features. I’m playing it on different TV’s and DVD players to see if any issues arise. So far I  have noted a need to darken the background on one of the menus to increase the clarity of the text. I am also still waiting on permission to use a quote at the start of the film. If I don’t get this soon I think I’ll write a quote with similar meaning myself. In the meantime, I’ve plenty of paperwork to be getting on with. Ooh before I go, here’s a screen shot from the current opening scenes.

GRADED UNIT: Filming complete (Almost)

So, I thought it was about time I added another short update on how things are going. Filming of the footage is now complete apart from one scene.. Possibly two if I get the time. It has been a time consuming process gathering the shots, transferring them to the computer (see picture) and rendering them into video footage. Overall i'm pleased with the results and looking forward to editing them into the final film.

I've enjoyed visiting some pretty places whilst capturing the footage and luckily the weather has been on my side. Without giving too much away about the locations I've used, here's a few "behind the scenes" shots!

I plan to begin the edit next week. I have received a licence for the music I wish to use but am not having quite so much success gaining permission to use a short quote at the beginning of the film, so I'll need to wait and see how that turns out. The first draft of the edit should be complete around the 23rd April so expect further news around then!

GRADED UNIT: Planning Stage Complete & Teaser

Yesterday was submission day for the planning stage of my Graded unit. My work has been handed in and I now have a good idea of the filming schedule, the locations I'll be using and the storyboard. It's now a case of waiting for a few location permits and making sure I can work the equipment well on filming days (the last time I attempted a test shoot I lost ALL my footage due to a formatting error).

In the mean time, here's a teaser of what's to come.. Be sure and watch in HD for the best quality.

GRADED UNIT: Planning stage review.

With two and a half weeks to go until submission of the planning stage of my Graded Unit, things are busy, but going well. Following ongoing location reccies I have been in contact with various organisations, including Film Focus and Edinburgh Council, gaining permission to film at certain locations around the city. I hope to commence this is in April once my planning work has been approved by my course leaders. I have also been in touch with a representative of Stevenson.tv with a view to showing the final film on their website. 

On the technical front I have obtained an intervalometer to allow me take photographs at timed intervals and I’m beginning to practice with this and a D-SLR camera to find the best ways to use it. I have also been looking at how to maintain the utmost image quality from camera to final output and am investigating new ways to merge the images into a movie file. This involves the use of different software including Toon Boom & Adobe Premiere Pro. Here’s a short montage of my work so far:

GRADED UNIT: Proposal

Along with other course work and projects, I am currently working on my Graded Unit. We were initially introduced to this section of the course in January 2010 and were required to hand in Draft Proposals of ideas on the 16th of February 2010. I handed in three proposals. After discussing these with my tutors and colleagues a decision was made to go with the proposal of a short time lapse film called “Edinburgh”. 

I will research the techniques and methods of creating time lapse movies and then shoot, animate, edit and author the project to DVD. 

I hope to contact the relevant authorities and gather time lapse scenes from various locations around Edinburgh, both inside and outside the city. I hope that the end product will be 3 to 5 minutes in length and roughly follow a 24hr period of real time. I intend the music to be provided by moby gratis (link) or students from Stevenson’s Music Department. As well as being authored to DVD I hope that the final film will also be uploaded to the Stevenson TV website (link).

I have already begun experimenting with equipment and begun to gather test time lapse footage. I hope to upload an example of this soon.