Rough cut & color grading

I make a rough cut based on existing footage. It is just a rough cut, I do not put some effects and transitions on this video. I use 'Color Finale' to color grading and correction. I also get some good LUT help to get the good quality color. I use different editing methods. Such as jump cut, change speed of footage, change size of footage. The first part of video is introduction and promotion atmosphere. The second part of video is interview and Mark introduce history. But I think I have not connect these two parts more natural, it is looks like a little bit stiff.

Spotlight

Spotlight won the Academy award in 2016, the best motion of picture of the year. It is really a fantastic film. The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation. 

I really like the plot of the film, it makes me like a detective, I want to know the truth and want to analyze some detail. It is really catch my eyes I need to follow it step by step. I am afraid I will miss some important clue. About rhythm of film, I think it is controlled very well, not too fast not slow, just in time. The narrative style is very special, I can empathy some character's feel. For example, I could be worry about my children live in the Boston, he/she will be some risks. No matter the film or the news report is also a destructive blow to the Catholicism. Because American is God's nation, president placed his hand on his personal bible during his inauguration ceremony. Thus, this is a breaking news in American. The number of pastor of sexual abuse have a big changes, from 13 to 90. Another good point is Mark Ruffalo act as reporter investigate the information of scandal, he is very hard working. He try to find truth and save those children. He like a brave solider fight in 'smokeless war'. Spotlight reporter challenge the authority system under the enormous pressure. 
Moreover, The Boston Globe is a independent institution, no one can control its speaking rights that makes me remember last term some research questions. I think this is a typical case, Manufacturing Consent wrote by Noam Chomsky is talking about a majority media controlled by government or elites. The Boston Globe is a minority media which is not controlled. Public need this kind of media to let them know the truth. 

BAFTA short film

We watch BAFTA short film on last Friday in Broadway cinema. It is a very special experience, I first time watched some of short films in the cinema. Everyone has its own short film, when we finished watch. I really like Mining Poems or Odes. Although, it is a Scottish documentary and the voice-over has strong Scottish accent. The film still attract me, because it has excellent photography and color grading. The documentary use different skills to express 'a common welder became a poet.'  I like the slow-motion picture, sparks fly on the air that looks like fireflies fly at night. 

Other short films also impress me. Such as 'Over', the film is very interesting. We do not know the film will talk about firstly. However, we notice the time has changed, we know it was a flashback film. Finally, a man from the airplane drop to the ground. It is a very creative way to express the true story. 

In the morning， we went to Broadway to finish our edit work. Unfortunately, we have not finish it, we have to finish rest of work in this Wednesday. Because we need to start a new work in this Friday.

 

Reference:

BAFTA. (2016). Mining Poems or Odes. Available: http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/british-short-film-british-short-animation. Last accessed 07 Mar 201

Shot list in BeiJing

Equipment: DSLR 6D, DSLR 5D MARKII, 24-70mm, tripod, GoPro Hero 4 with stabilizer.

Close up

1.     Mandrill’s mug (Design by owner)

2.     Mandrill’s staff with designed T-shirt.

3.     Helmets display on the wall. (Pan shot)

4.     Picture on the wall.

5.     Motorcycle brand on the oil box

6.     Pipe of motorcycle

7.     Instrument of motorcycle(仪表)

8.     Wheel of motorcycle (GoPro)

9.     Riders’ tattoo.

10. Rider’s helmet on the table.

11. Rider take on the gloves and helmet (zoom in or dolly shot)

12. Riders start the engine of motorcycle（hand or leg and back）

13. Riders’ boots

14. Rider’s take on/take off the motorcycle

15. Riders talk to each other.

16. Riders drink beer and eat food. (Facial express, smile or enjoy).

17. Mandrill café, the name on the window or door.

18. Low angle different car plate.

19. Hand holds the tool.

20. Write down some ideas about product design.

Middle shot

1.     Riders sit at the bar counter.

2.     Café racer ride on the road.

3.     Track the oil box of motorcycle.

4.     The procedure of focus on the detail of motorcycle.

5.     Performer play instrument.

6.     Staff severs people with mandrill work clothes.

7.     People walk in/out Mandrill café.

8.     Volkswagen Beetle is parked at Mandrill café.

9.     Billboard of Mandrill (tilt shot). (Night and day)

Long shot

1.     Rider walk to the motorcycle (low angle).

2.     Riders cross the street.

3.     Shooting motorcycles are parked outside from window.

4.     The procedure of focus on the background to foreground

5.     People talk to each other beside motorcycle.

6.     People squat on the ground and talk about motorcycle.

7.     Volkswagen Beetle is parked at Mandrill café. (Dolly shot)

8.     People walk in/out Mandrill café (Low angle).

9.     Mandrill’s bar counter

10. Mandrill’s open garage.

11. Open kitchen in Mandrill café.

12. People talk to MR. Ma.

Wide shot

1.     Overview Mandrill café shop. (Pan shot)

2.     Parking in front of the Mandrill café.

3.     The interior of Ace café.（Pan shot）

4.     Billboard of Mandrill.

Camera movement

Dolly shot

Tilt shot

Pan shot

Zoom in/out shot

Color grading and GoPro color grading LUT.

We study color grading on Wednesday. 'SpeedGrade' is a very useful software for color grading and color correction. A good color of film can promote film storytelling.  Color grading need to adjust saturation, contrast and exposure in the first. Basically, color grading has two parts, the first part is primary correction, the second part is secondary correction. The primary correction is a basic correction for entire picture on layer. LUT( look up table) is a good way to change RGB line and modified color. Then the imagine of color adjust contrast and balance. Making a mask need to build a new layer. It is a easy way to set area. Follow that step, mask should be manual track the area. Finally, it is a secondary correction, a new secondary layer should be set up and manual adjust hue and skin tones. After that, deleting LUT and do primary correction and add LUT. It is a good way to change color correction. I try to use color finale to adjust my footage. I will post it lately.

We use 'Color Finale' is Final Cut' a plug-in for color grading. I find a footage that has a very bad color temperature then I use it to color correction. As you can see I think its better than before. But I am not very satisfied, because the white balance really hard to get it. So I use 1 hour to make the footage more natural. The video is a comparison effect. 

In addition, GoPro color grading has many ways to make it better, someone use GoPro studio but it is not very professional software. Some people teach you how to color grading GoPro footage. For example, saturation+30%, exposure highlight+5%，vibrancy 1.05, hue 355°，sharpness 2.5. The method is a kind of formwork but not suitable for all the footage. I found a video that looks like very professional. The video use Premiere pro to color correction and grading. It is use a lot of shape mask in the footage, coz the footage include many objects to be individual adjustment. 

Editing the footage and short statement

We went to Broadway to edit footage about 'post to China'. Everyone edited footage of other people. I am responsible for Zoey's part. For the tempo of video more coherence, I cut the video from outdoor of tea room to indoor of tea room. Then I tried to combine the introduction part and explanation part. I use 'dip to white' transition effect to explanation of Zoey in the Broadway studio. Next week, we will add English subtitle and background music for the video. Roger also give us some advice about editing sometimes. In the afternoon, Roger revise my statement of my research project. We need to present the statement on next Friday. Roger hope us to express confidence and natural.
My research project is a documentary about café racer culture. My documentary has two parts. The first part will be shot in the Ace Café, London. The second part will be shot in the Mandrill Café and the Ace café in Beijing. I hope to explore the sub culture and language of the café racer in Britain and China.

 We will watch some BAFTA short film on next Friday afternoon. BAFTA is British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This award also call ' British Oscar'.