EYES Pilot - The Final Cut

Ladies and Gentlemen, the final cut!

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 14

This was very nearly the final cut. However, I still need to increase the overall audio level and fix the door slam at the end of the Jazz Cafe sequence, as it goes on for too long at the moment.

The Complete Vlogs

These vlogs chronicle the year-long evolution and process of creating the EYES project. You can either view the vlogs as a playlist or as separate videos. 

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 13

As I was rushed today, I decided to make this the pre-final cut rendition, so that I could go away, make a note of anything that I was not happy with and implement some final changes tomorrow. I am so glad that I did as I have noticed a few minor things that I would like to address tomorrow before I export the final cut.

This rough cut now includes the sound design and, as such, plays very differently - it is superb! I am extremely happy with Daniel's work, he has perfectly managed to exemplify the feeling I wanted the sound design to embody.

EYES Pilot - The Finished Sound Design

I now have the finished sound design in my possession. Extra special thanks to my Sound Designer, Daniel Tapper, for all the hard work he put into this! 

I will put these to good use next week, the final cut of the Pilot is not far away!

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 12

Here is the new rough cut I completed on 20/08/2013.

In terms of the content, this is one is the same as the last one. What I have done here is brighten the image to compensate for the darkening that occurres when the YouTube servers process the videos, but it has worked. Now, I need to go back in and accordingly adjust the contrast - tedious, but it's worth it.

Also, I am just waiting on Daniel to send me the completed sound and the Pilot will be done.
The Blog/Portfolio is also in good shape as the remainder of its posts are ready to be published, I'm just waiting on the Pilot.

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 11

I forgot to this new rough cut when I exported on Friday.

You might notice something significantly different with this one.

 

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 10

Here I have done colour grading on all the shots, but I still need to have a fiddle because some of them are still not quite right and some still need brightening up slightly. You probably will not be able to tell the difference, but I promise you I have done the grading and the shots look a hell of a lot better than they did originally. Also, YouTube darkens the picture somewhat after they have processed the video on their servers, so that is something I am going to have to compensate for in future.

There is also a new addition, right around the 4:30 mark - it looks unreal! 

 

EYES Vlog Update 22 - Feedback for the Actors

Part 1

 

Part 2

EYES Vlog Update 21 - Preproduction (Recap)

Updated Blog/Portfolio Banner Graphic

The updated blog/portfolio banner graphic.

As I am in the process of bringing this project to its conclusion, I have updated to the banner to include slightly more information than was on the first one. I believe all the information I have included on this new banner graphic is enough to get any new visitors off and running in relation to what the EYES project entails. It still retains the slightly disjointed aesthetic of the previous banner, as this dis-jointed aesthetic is an integral component of the entire EYES web series concept. As I was not able to build a separate website to act as the project portfolio, the blog now fulfills that purpose and, as such, the banner graphic has also become a hybrid of the 'EYES Web Series' and 'EYES of a Storyteller' components and identities. Ultimately, I am pleased with this result.

I did also receive some feedback that the banner graphic was too tall and occupied too much of the screen; therefore, making it difficult to tell when a new page on the blog had loaded, because the graphic appears on the header of each page. While I did try to re-crop the image, it remains (mostly) the same dimensions because compositionally it just did not work any other way. In this case, I have reverted to and trust the photographer mindset I employed when I first photographed this self-portrait back in October 2012. However, to counter the problem of someone not being sure as to whether the page has changed, I have included "scroll down to find out more" in the bottom left hand corner, as an incentive and reminder to scroll down.

The previous blog/portfolio banner graphic.

EYES Pilot - Colour Grading

Before and after.

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 9

This rough cut is almost identical to the previous, aside from a few very minor tweaks. 

This is the edit Danial, our very talented sound designer, will use as a reference while doing the sound design. 

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 8

Here I have done a few more minor tweaks and fixes. The final shot has been smoothened as it was originally shaky due to the wind and the static shot of the Jazzmeister's eye will be replaced by a live action one which I will shoot some time this week.

Basically, I'm at the point where there is not much more I can or want to do with the edit.

Aside from colour grading and the odd technical fix (mostly where I fucked up the focus) there really is not much more I want to do and, quite frankly, I am at the point where I want to move on from this thing.

I will put the latest rough cut up in a bit and I will endeavour to come in tomorrow afternoon to do some more fixes. But aside from coming in next week to give everything a final going over and at some point finalising the sound design with Daniel we are almost done! 

I want to devote a whole day to the colour grade because it needs to be spot on and, hopefully, that day will be next Wednesday...

 

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 7

Another day of hard work means another rough cut.

This one has some significant changes in it. The most significant changes are a major re-thinking of the lower weir flash back scene/memory with Ella (Letitia Ringshaw/Tish) and the changing of Ella's name to Turner. This change of name is something that I have contemplated on for a while now. It comes from an artefact of sound I found in one of the shots of Boris (Mykel Elledge) playing with Rubik cube by the weir. 

 While fiddling with the cube, Mykel whispers something along the lines of 'turner', 'turn it', 'turning'. Regardless of what Mykel actually says, I always heard it as Turner and figured it would be a nice unintentional ghost/subtextual element to incorporate; as such, I have placed the 'Turner' bit of dialogue at three points in the pilot and this dates back to rough cut 1. It is only now that the cohesion of the whole thing is starting to come together that I have decided to directly connect this whisper of 'Tuner' to Tish's character and remain that character Turner.

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 6

Here I have done some more leveling of the sound, some more trimming and inserted a few new pieces of footage. The logic of the whole thing is starting to coalesce into a coherent whole - this has come a long way since the shooting script!

The climb up the mountain continues, but the end is in sight...

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 5

I have had a slight fiddle with a few of the shots, I have done some more trimming and I have been levelling out all of the sound.

There is still more to do...

EYES Vlog Update 20: Marks and Feedback

EYES Pilot - Rough Cut 4

Again, this new rough cut is very similar to the previous one as all the editing I did today was concerned with trimming shots. I spent about four hours trimming the first half and I have now reduced the overall run time by 20 seconds! However, this is not the sole reason foe why I am doing trimming, as I want to make the rhythm and pace of the whole thing flow much more cognitively.  

The editing is still far from over and I will most likely continue when I return to Bath on the 8th July. 

Editing Rough Cut 4

I devoted today to editing EYES and producing a new rough cut. I made this storyboard using a new app, I think we will be seeing more of these storyboards!