FILMING IS COMPLETE! (From My Grandparents Coming Home to Final Completion and Ready For Filming!)

FILMING IS COMPLETE!

Yesterday I finally finished filming and all is well. :)

However, filming did not go as smoothly as planned.

Firstly, making the bassline and keyboard riff to go along with this piece took much longer than expected. Luckily this was done the day after my last post (Thurs 21st) and so that whole day was taken up making those pieces and exporting them ready for filming the next day.

Sadly though, the filmed Keyboard bit didn't work. I had made recordings of the machine working so that I could figure out how long the piece was going to be (e.g. how long the marbles took to turn on the CD player and Xylophone etc.) and so how long the bass lines/keyboard bits had to be as well.

Once I'd done this I set about recording the keyboard bit to fit in with this time frame and my drumming tempo so it all ended at the same time, but the piece I'd recorded didn't fit properly.

So the day of filming properly (Fri 22nd) I got up extra early and re-recorded this keyboard piece in a different location too as I filmed it against the white background at the end of the room and unfortunately got half of the robot part of my machine in next to me.

These minor setbacks were incredibly irritating but after re-shooting on a totally white wall in my Grandparents bedroom and fixing the music I got the keyboard part fixed and ready to go with the rest of my machine so ultimately it worked out for the better. :)

Making the recordings of the machine for timing issues was a massive help as the tempo could be adapted easily since I was playing it, not a machine and so everything fitted together well and filming could finally begin. :)

On the other hand, when it came to actually filming we had more issues again!

Firstly we had less time due to re-shooting the keyboard scene, and secondly I realised that since I was going to be behind the drum kit playing, I couldn't operate the camera as well!

So as you can see in the small video I've uploaded and the photo, my Gran and myself constructed a makeshift dolly out of her vacuum and I taught her how to operate the camera.

Originally I did say I was going to use straight shots but wondered if it would look better on the day if we could figure out a smooth camera effect. Here is a photo of the makeshift dolly:

Although she did a good job, the camera itself was too shaky due to the dodgy wheels and floor, which you can see in the video although this is on concrete in the garden.
However, even on carpet the camera jerked and joggled around so in the end we came to the conclusion of using straight shots again. It would have been lovely to have straight smooth shots following the machine as it worked, but sometimes you’ve just got to do what you can with what you’ve got so I stuck to my original plan of straight shots.
I remembered how earlier I had said I would film from different angles as if it were a dangerous experiment so I think it will be fun and more visually exciting this way actually as static cameras mean you can see what's going on, no realistic camera shake or distracting movement, for example my film might have ended up like the camera work in “Cloverfield” where many complained of feeling sea sick due to trying to focus whist the camera jostled around wildly!

I really wanted to avoid excessive camera movement since my subject was so small (seeing the marbles fly past is quite tricky!) Plus when it actually came to filming, the amount of time it took to re-set up each piece was longer than expected, let alone trying to do this in one solid take so static camera was a fantastic choice!

Once we’d decided what type of camera movement to use, we began by making a list (which I’ve uploaded) of what shots we needed and the order of importance. The most important shots were the ones where I was present, as after that I could do the close-ups of the machine working on my own, allowing my Gran to have a rest as she’d done so much for me already.
So starting with the beginning and working as chronologically as possible, we shot all the scenes of me playing the drums/with me in the background as the machine worked and then once these were done the end scene after the marbles have hit the cymbal and I set off the printer scanning.
I’ve also uploaded a photo of the aftermath of the final scene with my Gran’s help, where we spent ages cleaning up bits of party popper confetti!
Even though this wasn’t the last scene all together, it was a wonderful way to end working with my Gran as it’s a celebration of the film chronologically ending, and also of our time working together so she could at last relax after I’ve taken over her front room for weeks!
I still feel that this piece could have been completed a lot quicker if I stuck to original plans as I have a habit of working on something and still continue to think up new ideas and adaptations to a piece, when in reality the original works fine and we’re running out of time!
I found this out when working with Simon Wills on MEDI 262, The Experimental Animation Project, and as much as I try to change this habit, I love to experiment and keep developing ideas. It’s going to be very hard to stop going the extra mile as in some ways it’s very handy and beneficial as a lot of errors are found by re-thinking every angle, but at the same time I think I need to stop being a perfectionist at times and relax and trust what has already been designed. I’ll keep working the way I do, but I think I shall be more realistic in future when it comes to making pieces to a timeline. It’s all about balance and this is one area where I will work on balancing these aspects of my work method.
Moving on, once the shots with me in were done, we had a small break for lunch and then I cracked on to film the close ups from as many angles as I could so that even if one didn’t work, I had plenty of “Plan B” backup shots which could. This is because after the filming was done we were going to start dismantling the machine and so the more I filmed, the safer and more prepared I was should I need another angle in post-production, but be unable to re-film due to the machine not existing anymore!
The close-ups went well and I got all I need but again it took much longer than anticipated so once all the footage was collected and completed, I backed it all up and slept properly for the first time in ages!
The next time when it was day again I was able to record the background noise through the camera and also record the bassline and keyboard and all the other instruments playing on their own in the environment. I was going to do this on the night of filming but it was so late when I finished that I couldn’t have recorded the drums etc. for example without waking people up so the next morning I’ve recorded all the pieces in the environment just in case in editing the videos don’t quite match up musically, and so I can then add in bits of the music as the machine’s will be mostly off screen and so the edit will remain unseen/unheard.

That’s it for today but before I sign off for today, I’d just like to point out that the piece does actually work overall and so this truly is a kinetic sculpture and not just a fake created through editing alone.
I know that most sculptures like this do use cuts to make it seem seamless but even then the machine does work, it’s just due to time and money etc. that it is easier to cut and paste it all together from takes than wait and re-setup every time and hope it works perfectly throughout.
I was very worried about “cheating” and editing it all together like this but in my opinion now, I am not cheating as the machine does work all together as a full piece, but I have simply filmed it in the easiest way and still retained the fun and working merit of this piece.
So I hope that’s cleared up everything, although it was mainly just for my conscience as I was worried about the piece losing interest should people think I faked it due to the many different cuts, it is a real and fully working kinetic sculpture, I’ve just filmed it in the easiest way due to time and money etc. :)

So that's it for this post but check back soon for my post on how the editing went and what is left to do. :)

Take care,
Joe.