…

I’m not sure how i can improve upon the quality of the film in my previous post, so it shall remain in its hungover state.
I have noticed in the thick of the action that some pixelation occurs that is very subtle on all the screens I have viewed it (that is to say that I haven’t noticed it on all but one of the screens) except when played on tha large monitors in Peckham road, where their presence is noticable as the small patches of bare pixel are bright green. On black and white footage, this is not a good look. Still convinced that this is the version I think works best, i shall have to tweak and research until its clean.
But moving on, I am going to further explore with a couple more versions, possibly introducing some new footage and maybe also further obscuring the existing shots while emphasizing the audio further.
time is running out. I have 11 days now before my fight. Little exists in my mind other than pugilism right now. I cant learn any more in 11 days, I cant get any fitter in 11 days. All I have left to do is to keep loose, not get injured and watch the count-down. All this training, all this research, all this stress and anxiety (along with bruising, losses of confidence, dare i say depression), for what will be a maximum of 6 minutes of actual boxing.
2 years of study, stress, poverty anxiety, depression, inner brutality……..all for 9 minutes of film. and a masters degree. hopefully

A version…

i have just uploaded the recent version of the film to youtube but it looks shite!
In case you want a look….

Audio

I have just completed version 2 of my final piece. For my first version, I tried out several ideas f clip placement and layering of audio. I began like this fully expecting to go through several versions before reaching something that for me properly represented my research. I was pleasantly suprised to find that after version1 I was able to quite clearly see what it was I had to do to create something fairly close to the intended piece. On studying version 2 I am aware that there is some fine tuning to be done on the audio (hiss reduction and levels etc), and a tweak here and there with the visuals but I feel confident that this piece works and speaks in the right language. I will post this version on the blog shortly…..I will continue to experiment with further versions to back up my feelings to date, and you never know…I have also had a couple of trial screenings, as I desperately want this film to be shown on a large screen (considering that this building houses several large screens),just to see it shown “proper”. First I tried in the MADA studio and it looked good, although the audio was a little harsh, probably down to the quality of the sound system in that room. Then I tried it in a large seminar room. The visuals were superb but the audio was absolute shite. I queried this with some staff and was told that the speakers are probably “shot”. But I did start to panic that the problem was with the film itself. I will try to tweak the audio anyway, but I have just tried it in the main lecture hall and everything was spot on.My fear is that sods law will apply, and that come the show, I will be forced to show it with a dodgy sound system. I do not want this, but can I do anything about it? 

Nice bit of editing…

I thought this was an amazing piece of film. Being an absolute motor racing obsessive, it for me, is a delight, but possibly more pertinently, the editing of the audio is superb. Probably never been done before. The visuals were shot with LeLouch at the wheel of his V12 Mercedes around the streets of Paris, very early in the morning. The audio is from a V8 Ferrari. The editing of the gear changes etc are spot on, very clever! Watch for yourself…….  ”C’etait un rendezvous” Claude Lelouch 

prepare to land

I find I’m prone to over-deliberation right now, which is to say that I could ruminate endlessly over the possibilities for expansion with my final piece, when I am realising that all the ingredients are probably in front of me. There will always be room for variation and experimentation, but if I am to hold true to the original plan, then I must roll up my sleeves and knit things together. The only angle on my work that I have not seen is one which looks at the whole piece, or at least a version of it. So that is where I am at now.

With my forthcoming fight, I now have 4 weeks to complete the training, when I will finally step into the ring and be judged as a fighter and nothing else. I have learned, and become skilled in the movements, defences, attacks and management of the ring, to allow me to survive the bout. Experimenting with something new dosen’t factor in. I must piece together what I know and remain calm. That is how I shall legitimise my place in the competition. That is how I shall complete my piece.

trial and error

My experiments with some of the filters have proved fruitless, although, having played with them has revealed to me that the unfiltered footage actually does stand up. I am yet to experiment with the blur filters, so we shall see…
I am formulating a story board of sorts and beginning to form a timeline for the footage, but also one that exists within the screen. having shown some clips to Andy, I am feeling a little more trusting of my initial impressions of the imagery.

Silver Screen

I managed to see some of my edited footage on a big screen in one of the seminar rooms. This was a revelation. I had run a few edits on a dvd player and tv screen and was a little worried as it all looked pretty crap. On the big screen I was fairly moved by the imagery. The sound levels were all wrong as I have been focussing on the visuals and am saving the audio till last (in theory), but the level of immersion within the piece that occurs on a big screen as opposed to a tv or monitor is intense, and thats what I want!I am still debating the pros and cons of the varying slo-mo effects that run throughout the piece, particularly the ultra-sowed footage that staggers more than I’d like, but am starting to see this as an effect in itself on the bigger screen. Even the poor quality of the enlarged shots seem to work. I must have a conversation about thiswith Andy for some objectivity. If I can use this “deterioration” in the slo-mo and blow-up, then the piece is more or less a process of editing only (albeit a lot of it), as the footage is all shot and imported. For the audio, I am thinking that this will be a process of using the “finished” footage as a story board and running through it linearly(?). My thoughts are that it will mostly contain manipulations of the original footage audio with some introduction of clips of breathing and possibly animal and industrial noise.I also need to talk to Tim Harrison about a couple of dvds that I have burned with rough edits showing imagery that differs from that which I am trying to export.