The final edit - update

Just a quick update...It is down to the final edit. From the 7 different version Emma and I came up with over a week ago I have chosen three, edited it into the existing edits and burnt to DVD.
Tomorrow David, Lara, and perhaps JC will come and give feedback. I need to decide which of the three works the best.
More when I return from San Sebastian, Spain at the end of the week.

The pickups - photos

So the shoot is done. It went very well.
My friend Morten was in London for a visit and kindly snapped a few photos of us putting it together.
I brought the footage down to the lab and it will be ready Tuesday.











JC and Boyd setting up.











Meanwhile Nichola was prepping Emma upstairs.











Emma and I discuss what we were going to do. We had a lot of material from the Saturday rehearsal.











And so we were ready to line up the shots. Here I prove to JC that I do know which part of the camera to look through.











We had the rough edit on DVD so we could match shots. And also playback the dialogue for Emma to work against.











A few more rehearsals...











JC gets his reading.











And we're ready to shoot.

Thank you Emma, JC, Boyd, Nichola and Morten for your hard work. It was a lot of fun.

Pickups

I am preparing for the pickups to be shot this Sunday, and one of my issues is the term, 'pickups'. In regards to the way I have always thought about shooting this, and Tidal Barrier words like 'pickups' and 'inserts' do not do justice to the thought and significance of these shots. (I have seen the word coda to describe Ozu's 'inserts', better).
But on...
The scenario:

She is in the living room, on the sofa, reading the paper, enjoying the weekend. He is off camera, speaking to a male friend. We do not seem him until later.
At first the conversation is somber. He is getting the friend's help in moving some things. It changes quickly. After the move? They will go out for drinks, and take up where they left off, before the relationship began it is implied. Then they begin to recount past exploits, which is of course only of interest to them.
All through this she remains in the living room, until she finally stands, goes into the kitchen and retrieves the vacuum cleaner.
So what she is doing this whole time? It is 1.5minutes. This is such as simple situation, and that is why I found so many different things I could do with it.
One idea:
She is neutral. Could be somber but from here can't be sure.
She is at the edge of the frame, extended out (her legs), looking down at the floor (which is out frame).
We hear him off camera. Low and somber.
Then his conversation changes, picks up.
She remains where she is, then leans over and picks up something. Dirt?! Is this what was taking her attention all this time? Yes, and now. At least this is what has been distracting her.
She leans back, takes furtive glance in his direction. Is this annoyance?
He carries on, boasting, and she looks annoyed.
A change of pace. She changes her position, takes up a magazine. Begins to read. For a time succeeds.
Then it is too much. He is too distracting.
The spell is broken. He crashes into some pots. She is startled, looks his way, then quickly away again. A moment she looks in front of her.
Then turns away from him.
Is she laughing? Yes, to herself, or at him.
Enough of this.
She gets up and goes off.

And I have several other different versions and and elements to explore. And only 5 minutes of film. Some hard choices...

Update

Just a quick update. The pickups are scheduled to be shot Sunday Sept. 16th. I will rehearse with Emma in the morning and JC will join us in the afternoon.
Development and transfer will happen the following Monday, and the final edit should be complete mid-week.

Post-production update III

Production and post-production for Reconciliation moves along slowly.
The shooting of the pickups are planned for the second week of September. I am presently looking at camera rentals. And hoping to meet up with the actor, Emma, this coming week.
I have to say that I am very excited about this one shot. Looking at my hacked version of the edit I feel that it will really add another dimension to the Reconciliation.

Post-production update II

Just a quick update on post-production.
Work has been moving slowly. Roland, the sound designer has been busy so I have not been able to meet up with him.
And there was the question of the pickup. I was having trouble picturing it, so I hacked together a version of it by repeating a shot from 5b (she on the sofa). Crude, but effective. It would seem to work, and better than what I currently have.
So I have decided to try for it, depending upon equipment and Emma's availability.
And then there is the online edit. My needs are simple. Drop in the sound, match the shots up, and then give it an overall feel. Put it back to Digibeta. I really would like to have someone do it. I really believe in what a colourist can bring to it, but I don't know anyone. Some investigation...

Feedback

I have been very fortunate to receive very good feedback from friends and colleagues last week. I don't mean complimentary (there were a few of those), but quality.
I suppose that in itself is a compliment. If you really have something, people can discuss and debate it. At one point Nic and Robert began to truly argue.
I did complete the two new rough edits and showed them on the previous Saturday to Nic and Robert. The 4th edit was an accumulation of the feedback from Edits 1 and 2 (I never did show Edit 3) and but for one question is the most successful.
More on that question later... but some highlights.
Once everyone bought into the construct of the film they were all for pushing it as far as possible. So...
No dialogue. I cut a two-line sequence in Scene 3, even when it supported some basic exposition. No one felt it was necessary.
This left dialogue in Scene 7. This made sense as the moment where he has decided to stay with her at least for that day.
Yes there is Scene 5 where he is on the phone to a friend, but this is not dialogue as we only hear his part of the conversation. What's more, his dialogue does not drive the story forward. It is important more for other reasons. The tone of the conversation, which is upbeat. Also that he is forming or reforming a relationship with someone else. And up to this point the only connection to the world outside their relationship.
The gesture. I used a physical gesture at three points.
Scene 6, as he has finished packing his suitcase, he moves from sitting on the bed, frozen, and leans forward, and turns to peer out the door. But too far, so that he supports himself on his hands. It is very strange, which is what Phil and I were looking for. It is an aberration, those moments when someone does something they don't understand.
We cut from this to the blackout and then a corresponding gesture of her in the kitchen, twisted, and turned towards the window. It is awkward. She could easily find a more comfortable position but she does not. Finally, after a time she turns to the sink and the dishes she was cleaning.
At the end of this scene, once he has indicated to her that he is going to stay, and goes out, she turns back to the sink, leans forward, and exhales. This is the only moment that caused any debate. Rooven felt it was over dramatic, and I agree it could be read that way. I shot an alternative sequence, where she simply registers he is staying. David agreed too that the gesture was dramatic, but felt it was mitigated by the oddness of the gesture. After all, she doesn't break down crying. It was Robert who helped decide it. He pointed that the alternative was clear, not dramatic, but also not very interesting because it was clear. The gesture on the other hand was ambiguous. Some saw it as dramatic, others as odd. It was an open text. It was more suited to the film.
The blackouts. First, the one second blackouts (thank you Mr. Haneke) were successful. Most found them odd the first and second times, but then accepted them and looked forward to them. In the 5th edit I played with the length of them. The majority were 1 second, but I extended the first to 4 seconds. I felt that since it was such a short film I needed the audience to understand and accept the blackouts quickly. And I also extended the blackouts around Scene 7, the kitchen scene, as this was the critical scene. What was odd was that no one noticed any differences in the amount of time, even though it changed the rhythm of the edit.
And finally, there is the question of the pickup, that is shooting a different angle in Scene 6, as suggested by JC. More on that later.