Evaluation - Digital vs Analogue - Crushing the Waves
For my Comparative Film Practices module we had to create a 4-5 minute visual piece which was based around the idea for Digital vs Analogue, I focused my piece around the differences between each medium, outlining some of the key features and reasons for opting to use one or the other for your own personal productions. My main concept would be to attempt to capture the rugged coastline, focusing around the waves, rock-pools, the journey that surfers enter whilst out on a board, as well as using voice over to use metaphors to explain how the film/digital cameras function, whilst linking the VO to the content on screen.An idea that "overtime film has been washed out by digital, however camera operators still have the ability to opt to use either digital or film to create there vast array of concepts within cinema, why is this" posing a rhetorical question followed by a clear explanation of the functions for each medium" its up too the audience as to how they perceive this information.
Equipment Used - Nikon D3300 DSLR camera, interchangeable lenses i.e. a Sigma wide angled lens ranging 10-20mm as well as a Tamron zoom lens ranging 18-300mm. Go Pro Hero 3+ - Green Filter and Campark 4k.
Software Used - Premiere Pro - Used for the editing side and changing audio levels - Effects used - Colour correction, EQ filter for changing the audio levels, de-noiser to reduce the background noise, cross dissolve and dipt to black for transitions. Audition - Used for creating the voice over - Adjusting recording levels, normalising the files to make them higher in pitch but at the same time decreasing the background noise.
What worked well
Planning
I had a vast array of ideas which I was able to present to my lecturer during my tutorial discussion, I evidenced different types of camera angles through my film which worked well with the voice over, close ups to explain the process of film, wide angled shots to replicate what would be achievable with a digital image sensor. I had a clear understanding through a quick storyboard and shot list for the way that I was going to shoot my film as well as detailing the time frames and possible locations for the content. I already had an idea of the equipment that I would be using to record the voice over as well as for the filming, which meant that I was able to book it out efficiently and crack on.
Filming
I opted to use my own camera kit which I think worked well as I could use the camera whenever I wanted, with a vast array of camera lenses which I use for my everyday commercial nature documentaries which I made valuable use of for "Crushing the Waves", the whole documentary styled edit was filmed using the external location Wembury Beach, Plymouth. I made use of my Go Pro's for a few of the landscape shots, multiple visits too the location at different times of the day meant that I was able to capture a contrast in the change of lighting for the sea, as well as creating atmosphere through the mist, sunrise and the way that these colours enhanced the water, helped by using a neutral density filter which is built into my DSLR camera.
Editing
The voice over works well as a way to talk about the pro's and con's of using both mediums, the thing with film or digital is that they both take time, careful planning, for digital images we need time for editing and shooting. However, with film we will require time set aside for the processing of the film, to eventually be able to edit our footage, in some cases we may have to re-shoot our footage, digital is the way forward for myself as I can review exactly what I have shot on the shoot, then I can opt whether I require another take on set.
What didn't work well
Planning
Planning to record the voice overs on different days, some of the voice over wasn't used as half way through the shoot I sort of changed my original idea as there wasn't much wildlife so I made use of what I had on the day, various panning shots of the coastline, moody sky with a lot of surfing activity and a gorgeous sunrise along the rugged coastline. I had hoped to feature the marine life in the rock-pools around the coast, tracking shots were in mind, over exposing the camera to capture noise and pixels in order to enhance the grainy effect that you can achieve with using a film camera, voice over enhances the different type of image sensors for digital or film.
Filming
Whilst filming, I wanted to portray movement within the frame for my images to keep them interesting, using the zoom on the camera lens to play around with the fixed focal length for my framing but it wasn't a consistent zoom. A few of the shots were slanted but I was able to fix these in the edit using stabiliser as well as straightening the image. Usually when I edit commercial pieces I would use a mixture of stills as well as video content but I would crop the frames to fit and then use an effect known as ken burns, however within premiere pro I had to crop the frame and set in and out points for the image to move between which I thought looked too basic.
Editing
Again, taking note about the voice over being recorded on separate occasions, it sounded lower in pitch the second time, despite using a NT1A mic with a H5 on both recording days. However, using premiere pro I was able to use the EQ filter audio effect in addition to the de-noiser effect (applied to audio clips individually), using the EQ plug in I was able to reduce the treble, bass and volume level to make my voice sound consistent throughout the film.
What I would change
Planning
I would have liked to have used more than one location, I was thinking about using multiple beaches to be able to catch a vast array of coastline shots but in the end I went for the one location as I focused my piece more around the waves and the way that they can create really interesting concepts within a given frame. I think that if I had cut a few shots of Plymouth Barbican into the film, this would have ruined the lovely rural location, plus there weren't any boats at Wembury beach making my film inconsistent. It would have been nice to have achieved some time-lapse of the waves rolling in and the surfers movement as they approached the shoreline.
Filming
Thoroughly interested in filming the piece to focus around the idea of something being indexical, the idea behind the aura, giving across the travel, way that memories have been created, relate back to footprints/handprints, the way someone has made their mark, unfortunately I never filmed a shot of someones footprint which has been left in the sand which I think would have linked into my voice over well.
As a nature cameraman, I would have liked the ability or the chance of seeing the rock-pool creatures, however I would have needed to visit the location at low tide. The likely suspects that I could have captured would be the shore crab, beadlet anemone, shanny and the common limpet.
Having trouble syncing up the audio to make the levels consistent, for next time I think that I will make sure to have all of my voice over written up for the film in one go, that way I can ensure I get a consistent level of recording, meaning I would have more time to play around with colour correction to enhance the mood of the sky, colour of the waves and perhaps have a go with audition a lot more. In the end I decided to add a slight blue tint to the shots with water in, also I added a grey tint to the sky shots to make them pop out of the frame a lot more, especially for the mist over the dew-stone which is by far my favourite shot out of all my footage.
Overall
I was very pleased with the film that I created, I think visually it was a beautiful cinematic piece, a range of different camera angles and cameras meant that I was able to capture different angles of the rugged coastline as well as focusing around the water, changing the focus to get different perspectives on the movement of the surfers. The voice over complimented the visuals well and the added sound effects for the water made the piece a lot more calm and built atmosphere.
Final Film
Comparative Digital Practices - Crushing the Waves (PCAD) from Luke Curno on Vimeo.
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