So I'm a little over 50 minutes into the audio syncing and I'm thinking I'm going to pull an all nighter in order to finish it by Monday. Monday I'll spend the day touching it up and then we'll have a synced "proper audio" fine edit (excluding re-shoots) ready.
How wonderful.
Well I shall speak after I have recovered.
All the best,
Bertie
So it has now been a few days of audio syncing, and I'm on the last straw.
Trying to sync audio together involves (at least with the equipment used on Roanoke) matching timecodes and lips, lining it up with the camera audio, muting the original (bad) audio and making sure every word spoken matches up with a mouth movement.
In doing so you give yourself a very respectable dialogue track but in return a week of being a bit mad.
This week rivals the week of logging all the clips, a week sat in front of the computer needing to concentrate constantly on mouths and not getting out much. Do not get me wrong however, when you hear the difference after a number of weeks editing the film in the bad guide dialogue it does sound refreshing, it also seems odd on some scenes (such as the London Dock and some scenes on the Golden Hinde) to be able to hear the chatter rather than the sound of traffic!
I did however meet up with someone yesterday and it was odd to see all their dialogue was the same as their mouth movements! How interesting!
Ok well I've had a five minute break,
Back I go!
Bertie
So the audio edit has begun and there is the most delightful task ahead which involves finding all the dialogue spoken and sinking up the "real" audio with the video. I have set myself quite the impossible task (from a first look) of 15 minutes a day, so in theory I should have completed it (at least roughly) by Sunday.
I have found it very interesting that the brain will perceive any similar dialogue spoken to be similar to the mouth movements of the real line, I’m not sure I wrote that in the most coherent way possible, however in short it is possible to use the dialogue of various takes and layer it on the top of the video edit without it looking odd, which helps on some occasions.
I have also realised just how useful the clapper board really is. Although it is possible with us (due to having a bad camera sound as a guide) to operate when a clapper board is not in use, the sharp "clap" or frame that peaks in the audio wave in order to show the start of a new take can be extremely helpful when in reality one is operating "blind".
So yes, 0-15 mins yesterday, 15-30mins today (hopefully) and in similar sequence until the end of the film.
So in every production as one reaches the final part of the edit you realise that bits can be tweaked here and there to make the story better. In the case of the movie Roanoke: The Lost Colony we have finally concluded the fine edit and have left gaps for a few scenes which we feel will help the narrative, or on the odd occasion there was an issue with the set/equipment. This is not to say the script on its own did not make a fantastic read, its just its very hard to tell how areas will translate when they go onto the big screen.
The re-shoots will happen as the audio edit now begins (tomorrow) and will simply fit into the schedule and each scene will be edited the same day as it is shot in order to make sure the post-production stage is not slowed down.
One of the scenes that will be added is very ambitious and will involve going back to a pool, underwater filming equipment, scuba gear and alot of actors hoping they can hold there breath! Hopefully our safety will be a bit better than the quick description, but in general we are attempting a very ambitious underwater scene which should add a very nice element to the piece.
Although there are 5 days in total of re-shoots, most of the days are only one - a few hours long and will simply be a get in, get out situation. The locations are as follows:
The Golden Hinde
Fleet Pond
Bristol SS GB
Weald and Downland and West Wittering
Bradfield Sports Complex.
The new location being bradfield of course and all the other locations can be found out via our new website at www.RoanokeTheMovie.com
We will be shooting on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 12th and 15th of February with an aim to having the finished 60 minute version complete a fortnight after. Once that has be done and prepared for competitions we will touch up the 90 minute version and look towards the first screening and the release of the DVD.
We have had a wonderful response, and some fantastic comments about the DVD over the past weekend, and with initial figears we will be looking to send out a few more DVDs than originally thought, although there is still work o be done to get to that stage and no one is looking past the next step ahead.
The end is now still far away, but on the horizon, and although there are many more updates and bits of work to be done your amazing support you have offered us either by buying the DVD, becoming an honourary sponsor, giving a donation, or simply staying on the blog with us has kept everyones spirits high!
Bertie x
I have some big news and very exciting news about the re-shoots and film status, but I'd like if I may to save that for tomorrow so I can chat a little bit more about the website.
First i must start with a huge thank you to every one who has supported the project in the first few days of pre-order. Your wonderful generosity in either buying the DVD, Cap or becoming an honourary sponsor has not only helped shown every volunteer who worked on the film how valued their efforts have been but given the film the opportunity to begin to get the recognition it deserves. Thank you, thank you.
As many will know our exam is over so we are now free to work on Roanoke, non stop, and we have happily been taking advantage of that situation over the past few days. For those who visited the website on the launch will now realise there are loads of knew features! In fact we aim to keep updating these features as the days go on so in the end we should have an even bigger and informative website.
Here are some of the new site updates:
and some page additions:
Hopefully this will offer lots more information regarding the project. If you have some idea of information you would like to see then we would love to hear your ideas.
All the best
Bertie x
p.s (i have on my list to update the photo album, the our story page, DVD page and multimedia page by the end of the day)
We were going to wait until the weekend, but we were too excited!
Here it is, a biggy:
+ more
We have a number of updates to come over the coming weeks so keep checking back. Although the blog will stay the #1 spot for the latest news and updates, don't miss out on pre-ordering the DVD at a highly reduced price (save 70%)!
Visit Now:
(there is another big production update to come, but I'll save that for another day, oh and thank you to everyone for the lovely exam well wishes :-D it was lovely)
Sadly this is not the day of release, the award ceremony we may one day be at, or even the end of the project, but today is the day of the exam. For the number of crew members who are in attendance at the same University as I, this has been the exam that has always left a guilty conscious since the New Year when we decided to edit instead of revise, made one feel a little uneasy after spending a good number of days planning possible re-shoots, or simply when working on the very major step that will be unveiled over the weekend.
However after today that is all over, and ignoring the quite possible over emotional prologue to this blog we will be free to finish the visual edit, move onto the audio edit and begin the marketing and the various other jobs needed to be done before we can finally pronounce the production complete. This also means we can begin to have regular blog updates again, News on the final steps, and as briefly mentioned above the new section that is opening on the weekend.
But for now I should go just check exactly what ethical media is all about and then be free by tomorrow.
I've had a few e-mails wondering what exactly the grading process is all about. Grading the movie is colouring the image so that in no longer looks raw and how the camera takes it, but instead can fit the feel, mood and style of the piece. Although the Crew has a very important part in creating the look of the piece, grading the video afterwards adds to the overall...welll...feel, mood, and style :-D
Instead of going on and on about what and how the colour can be changed I have made a few examples from clips of the Roanoke rushes. I can't guarantee these shots will appear in the film, nor can i say the colour is correct (only spent a short amount of time grading them), however it gives off a good idea!
Here we are on a long boat, it should be dark and dingy, not bright and orange like the original footage makes it seem:
Out in the forests, just a slight change here but it makes all the difference:
It depends on the mood, with the expression of the face here I have taken out the bright glow, it now looks a lot more sinister:
The golden glow of Roanoke seeps through:
Hi All Roanoke The Lost Colony Blog followers,
Just a quick note as we are moving through the edit to remember to change your credit. You can either use the link over here ------------------------> or click on this one that will always be near, in order to be credited correctly. It would be a great shame if we end up spelling your name wrong after the wonderful work you have offered us! I apologise if your name is currently spelt wrong as I edit the credits based on the release forms and my ability to read them :-D. If you have worked or been involved in the production in any way then please do let us know if you are not on the list as we must include you in our production!
In order to add/amend a credit, scroll to the bottom of the page and fill in the form!
Thanks!
Bertie
p.s - the edit will be this slow on updates until the 16th as alot of the crew have a UNI exam to fend off and therefore our concentration is rather split between the two!
A new year and a fine cut. Quite a bit ahead of schedule Daniel and I finished the first fine cut today (minus around 15 minor changes we have now deiced upon) and the final 10 minutes. Although this might not sound exactly like a fine cut, it means alot of the image is how it should be and it can be locked off for audio and cgi sooner or later.
At the beginning of February we may have a small change as we are currently discussing something reasonable major in regards to having all the footage filmed for the production. Although we have officially finished the shooting week we have always said there will be a few re-shoot days, the extent of these were not known until the edit and currently, although they will only total a small % of the final film, the locations means we might well be going back to a few of the locations.
Dan and I, along with the script writer Shane (from a virtual position) as he is now back in the USA are discussing a few changes which i believe will spruce up the production from the excellent narrative it has already and close a few remaining questions in regards to the narrative and open a number of further story lines and twists that are really quite exciting. I'm sorry for being slightly here and there with this statement but until we have fully confirmed the new additions to the story I don't want to speak out of turn. What could be quite interesting is that without intention we may end up with a alternate ending.
On Friday we are meeting with someone we hope will be able to complete our CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and although it isn't a major factor within the production, as in we don't have many flying cars or that many laser guns ;-), we do have a number of areas that we couldn't fill in regards to scenery and therefore some computer imagery might be able to do the trick for us.
I wrote a full schedule yesterday for the production. Initial video editing (excluding video feed editing from the re-shoots) should be completed by January 21st 2007. The audio dubbing will then begin and be completed by January 28th, then the music will hopefully be on schedule for completion by February 4th.
After this we will be looking to re-shoot a number of areas (dependant on actors availability) by February 9ht, in order to edit the final bits, and colour grade and render by Feb 18th.
There are a few stages after this, but as we speak, that should do for now.
Speak on Friday,
Bertie
