Tom Pearson's Multimedia

In last week’s seminars we showed our film's to the others to get some feedback. It was a good opportunity to see what people had to say about my work. From the general consensus people like the way my film looked, the aesthetic quality of it all. However its biggest drawback was that there was no real turning point or "Beat" in the film that people could understand. They said that it was clear that my main character had some issues and it was also clear that he overcomes these issues by the end. But there is no big turning point in the film to show how he has gotten from A to B.

I think they are completely correct. Unfortunately I don't have the shots required to make this better, I really wish I did. This makes think about the pre-production stage where I was first writing the script. It is here where I should be getting my story solid with no flaws! It is obvious, once again, that haven't spent enough time in the pre-production phase. It had showed in the final product and people pick up upon this. They say that a good script can save a film if it is poorly edited, but not even the most excellent of edits can save a film made with a poor script. In my mind this is very true.

For that last 4 days I have been working as a runner on set of a short film called coffee. This is the first real bit of work experience I have had so far, and it was a great help to solidify my theory knowledge of AV production. I’m actually quite upset that it's over. Although the long days of filming (9am - midnight hehe) were tiring, I really started to get the feel of the filming process and had made some good friends by the end. I can't wait for the finished product now. Unfortunately, I was talking to the director and they had almost no budget left for post-production and were having to plan some bake sales in the summer to raise the money hehe. Good times. Anywho, here are some pictures that Ollie took from while we were on set.

After having a review with Jools early this term I have kind of made an approach on what I want to do once I leave Uni. Currently I have high interests in becoming an editor. Obviously as an editor you must know your software well in order to proficiently carry out editing tasks. Currently I'm using Adobe Premier pro CS3 and I have recently got Final Cut Pro for my Mac. The question is which software is being used in the industry? Knowing this will prepare me for what is to come. I'm fairly sure AVID is top dog at the moment with Final Cut following behind. I have no idea where Premier sits in all this so I decided to do some research. Here are so forums which I’ve been reading up on the subject:


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=64621

http://digital-filmmaking.blogspot.com/2007/06/best-film-editing-software.html

http://www.brettanderson.co.uk/forum/read.php?3,28536

It seems, from what I can assume, that AVID is still the most widely used package for industry editing. Alongside that are FCP and Adobe suites including Premier.

Now that I know this, it’s time for me to get learning some FCP (since I have it) however AVID is going to be a bit harder to have a play on.

Currently I feel very competent on CS3 Software such as Premier / After Effect and soon to know better, Encore (for DVD authoring). By preparing myself like this for industry it gives me better prospects towards my future career.

OK, Ive been doing the editing for my 6 minute film. After spending a bit of time with my footage it now seems a little clear that I probably wont have enough usable content for 6 Min's. Oh dear, not good. I'm going to get slated for this if it comes up a minute short... ergggg. OK so plan of action and things to take into account:

. Title Credits must take up about 30 seconds of this piece (in my mind at least)
. Credits possibly another 15 seconds pushing it.
. ......

So basically I'm going to have to work around some problems but it will be ok in the end (I hope).

I'm just very disappointed in how things have turned out. If I could, I would scrap the whole thing and start fresh with the things that I know now. Too bad I now don't have time to do this. However there is a ray of light. I was talking to Jools in review week about the content of my work and saying that the actors and the script were not up to the standard that they are expecting. However my Production and Post-Production skills are much much better and I will be able to prove this in the final outcome. Im just annoyed that im going to be slated for something that I already know about. That once again, I did not put enough time and resources into Pre-Production.

Well, third term has started and I am wearing a little thin. Things have been getting a bit much at home and at uni. But at least the show will go on.

I have decided to write on my blog about some of the things that will be happening soon, and the things I must complete. Here's a quick list:

. Work experience - Assistant to the Director of Photography on a short film being shot in Nottingham over 4 days. The short film is called Coffee and its quite surreal piece. I am excited about this and yet at the same time worried that I might mess up since it will be my first proper AV work experience. Well, good luck to me I guess.

. Editing my own film - I am having issues with this due to lots of reasons. I am not overtly going to spill my problems, as many of them are personal and not technical. I’m not too happy with some things of this project i.e. the actual scrip and acting, but It was a first attempt and I have learnt a great deal. I need to read up a little more on the best way to edit etc.

. EPK - Electronic Press Kit. I need to learn a bit more about this an assemble one for my short film.


There are a few other things but those are the main ones that I must tackle very soon. Blogging It up here helps formulate it in my brain and since it's public to the world, it gives me more incentive to do it quicker.

So, on the 25th of March, Jason Bickers, Ollie Tristram and I did some filming for BCS Broadcasting. We filmed clients of BCS Public Relations at the IPTV World Forum event in London Olympia. Things went very well as a group and the outcome was good. Here are the different videos that Brian Dolby (Managing Director of BCS PR) comissioned.

The main piece for clients:



Specific to SeaChange client:



A small clip for BCS themselves:



And finaly an interview with Sam Baird of Whitehill Media:

Ok so ive pretty much done my pilot edit. What I mean by this is that I've got everything where I want it and how i want it to look before I start tweaking it. However I think some more oppinions would help. I know that most people have already done thier edit a while ago. The only reason for me finishing it now was that I had been so pro-paperwork after last term. Ive been compiling my production file for the past few days and its looking really good. So yeah, watch it, and comment, would be helpful. Its basically the first 50 seconds of the first scene so don't expect huge story line plots and twists. Enjoy.

note: I shot and edited in HDV. Vimeo is currently converting it but here is a DV version, hence why it's slightly squished (sorry i'll change it soon)


In Excess Pilot (Offline Edit) from Tom Pearson on Vimeo.