Ghost Stages (Unit 7)

 Ghost Stages Project Unit 7

In this part of the unit, we have been tasked with collaborating within a small team:

JACKY CHAU 

 ZHISHUANG FAN 

YISONG HUANG 

ADAM PALOCZY 

GEORGE TUSON 

 RUIMENG GU

In our group had the chance to select a ghost scene from a list to work on, moreover, we could approach the making of this scene however we wanted and we been taken through some introductions and workshops to give us tools for designing, making and performing.

We were asked for a production pitch of our scene so our ‘pitch’ can include drawings, designs, samples, models, and proposals, furthermore like part of the pitch to be a proof of concept (a performance/animation/small film etc.) of the ghost.

We had the opportunity to find our project from 6 scenes.

I was very excited about this project. I was reading about practical ways to produce ghost effects, like peppers ghost and other staff. I always wanted to be involved in a ghost film.

Our group decided to make a short film which was very exciting!

Every scene was great, and I would be happy to work on any of them in normal circumstances, however, during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown this plan is very difficult. We can not meet, some members of the team are connected from different time zones etc. 

I appreciated the idea of a short movie, but in that case, I suggested to choose the scene wisely, and maybe take  "less is more" approach and choose a simple scene, what we can make very nicely. 

I was suggesting Banquo from Macbeth or Roackaby. In these scenes, there are no difficult movements or dialogues. My idea was because of the circumstances, choose a quiet simple scene, and produce it in the best quality. Although Geraldine said that we do not need necessarily do what is our profession, we can pick up different roles, I was truly interested in the special effects only.  

I shared my plan with the team on how I would deliver the ghost for our production:

-I would make a sculpture or puppet.I would film it. 

-I would buy a smoke machine, and I would make the smoke in front of a green screen.

-I could project the ghost video on the smoke or a transparent plastic screen with smoke and film it. Then we could insert this ghost footage into the rest of the footage.

I think it was a great idea, and I started to plan out how to do it.

Well, I put my offer on the table to our group and also I said if they have any supporting idea than let's talk about it and develop it together and I will make it.

The Mirror Maiden

 After our second meeting, the group decided on a different approach. They decided to do The Mirror Maiden which is one of the most difficult projects I believe. I accepted the decision and started to support the idea. 

I knew that the purpose of this unit to test how can I cooperate in a team, how to work with others, not to make my own project. I had constantly one thing in my mind during the meetings with my group:  How are we going to produce this during these extraordinary circumstances?

During this, we had more online talks and lectures. One of the most interesting was the Puppet Making Workshop with Aya Nakamura. Although I did not make any puppet for this project, in spite of that I have learned something very important. She said that if I am working on a project maybe I will feel that I have some great ideas, however, I need to make sure that the idea is serving the project. And do not force an idea of what will not fit in or serve the project. Well, this was exactly what was happening with me at that time.

 Jacky became the producer, director and the only actor for the film, we needed someone in charge. He decided to play the ghost as well. At that stage, I asked them, what they want me to do in this project? I thought I will make the ghost effect, but they wanted to play it with Jacky in front of the camera. They asked me if I could do some additional VFX. Well, I explained to them I am an SFX person, I don't know much about CGI, however, I said yes, and I will find the solution. Also, I offered them that I can be the editor of the film, as the main role and I will do my best to add some extra visuals like smoke and fog to the film.

So I was thinking as the editor from that point. I have editor experience from my previous BA course and projects. I did some research on how to insert fog, flying dust and smoke into the videos. I decided to use some After effects insert to import into Adobe Premiere Pro. They were working quite well, but only with stable videos. It means that the video what I will manipulate with these effects can not be shaken or moving at all.

Also, I started to practice on the green screen effect.

I found some ready green-screened ghost video, I used them to learn how to do this effect and practice.

I Imported the green-screened video into Premier, then I was looking for the ultra key at the effects control panel. Then I drag and dropped on my clip and I went to the effect controls which section allowed me to exchange the green background for any other background.

 At this point, I realised how important will be to plan every scene. I remember the lectures Paul about storyboarding and making animatic from last year. I knew that this is what we need to do this time again. So on our next meeting, I explained to the guys the way how I can do additional visual effects, and I was asking for storyboards. Jacky and me we had to talk through every scene and made a proper plan before shooting to make sure I can manipulate and edit the footage later.

During this Unit, we constantly had lectures and workshops. I really enjoyed the talk of Dick Stracker, he represented one of his previous work, Peppers Ghost effect what he created at the V and A for a fashion show. It was truly amazing!  But what is the Peppers Ghost?

Pepper's ghost is an illusion technique used in the theatre, amusement parks, museums, television, and concerts. It is named after the English scientist John Henry Pepper who began popularizing the effect with a demonstration in 1862. Examples of the illusion are the Girl-to-Gorilla trick found in old carnival sideshows and the appearance of "Ghosts" at the Haunted Mansion and the "Blue Fairy" in Pinocchio's Daring Journey, both at the Disneyland park in California. Teleprompters are a modern implementation of Pepper's ghost. The technique was used by Digital Domain for the appearance of Tupac Shakur onstage with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at the 2012 Coachella Music and Arts Festival and Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.

The original Pepper's Ghost optical illusion involves placing a large piece of glass at an angle between a brightly lit “stage” room into which viewers look straight ahead and a hidden room. The glass reflects the hidden room, kept dark, that holds a “ghostly” scene. Following Dicks talk, we had a workshop, where they showed an easy way of experimenting with this technique. Although we did not use this technique in our project, I wanted to try it out.

It was quite easy to demonstrate it, all I needed some transparent plastic and a smartphone.

Jacky and me we needed to work very closely. As soon he shot some scenes in Hong Kong, he sent me over and based on the storyboards I started to edit it in London. Although The Mirror Maiden is not a very creepy story I wanted to edit it a bit as a horror film approach. The suspense and tension that is built during a dramatic and horrifying scene keeps the audience on their toes and coming back for more. And this is exactly what I wanted, catch the attention! Horror films work because of the editors’ efforts and decisions. The horror genre is one place where the editor needs to meticulously work their craft in order to get a desired outcome from the audience. Even better still, a video editor can translate the lessons learned from cutting a horror piece into building dynamic tension into almost any video. In turn, the movie editor hooks their audience, grabbing ahold of their attention. I hope I can do it as well.

My Goal: To edit an interesting short, what will catch the attention

Editing a ghost film like this requires an understanding of film language. This includes knowledge of how the shot size and camera movements affect the scenes in a movie, how lighting, sound, props and sets affect the mood and feel of scenes, how actors’ performances establish and progress emotions in the film, among many other audio-visual elements that allow the story to unfold in the way you intend. 

For me the most essential thing if I watch a film, theatre show, a concert, a house party is the mood. The vibe of the movie is much more important than the actor or the story. A movie with great vibes can be interesting, entertaining even the acting, the set or the effects are not so great. I belive it can save the production.

Sound

Sounds are the secret ingredient to making any video scary. Decades of horror films and psychological thrillers have conditioned us to feel chills at the sound of eerie ghost noises, television static, creepy laughter, ominous footsteps, and blood-curdling screams. While the events unfolding before viewers' eyes on-screen can certainly be scary in their own right, these sound effects provide an immersive viewing experience and are crucial to levelling up the suspense. I used this tool n this short film,  I found a great sound effect for the jump scare scene.

A raw cut

When Jacky sent me the first footages, I started to work with them straight.

The sound effects shape the environment of a video just as much as the visuals, they give life to lifeless things on the screen and reveal what the viewer never sees. Just like music, sound effects should be used to build a rhythmic pace and used to surprise the audience (the jump scare scene). It’s quite natural for an audience to have anxiety and fear build around something they know is there but just cannot see. The sound effect is a great tool to build this unseen tension.

Peppers Ghost Experiment 2

The last week, during my tutorial with Geraldine, I mentioned to her that I have tried out the Peppers Ghost trick, but I was not really happy with the result. I explained to her my concerns, and she advised me to contact our technicians, James and Lee, to figure out a solution. Later on, she sent me they contact, so than I could not have any excuse to e-mail them and think again about the Peppers Ghost.

Well, the main feedback came from Lee, he said that I should try to hide the glass and try to make a darker environment. So I was trying again....and thinking again. Then I thought....what if I could make the glass as the part of the set? Hold on a second....what if I would use my windows in the living room as the glass....and maybe I could make the house as the set.

Well, please see the result below.

I set up my projector at the right angle and turned my flat into a Haunted House with the Peppers Ghost trick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NrfND5KGtk

Creating the Ghost Effect for the movie

In this part I put 4 copies of the same ghost footage on each other, but not exactly to cover each other. Then I was playing with the transparency and I created some strobe light effect. In between the videos, I inserted some digital smoke.

The final piece

After a lot of variations and trial, I delivered the final cut of our short movie.

                                                     

Conclusion

When I applied for this project, I was full of excitement, I was really interested to produce a ghost with practical special effects. However, during the developing progress, the project turned into a direction what was not really match my ideas. However, I understood that I am just one member of the team, moreover I am not the leader, but I was still a very active crew who adapted very quickly to every change. It was not the first time in my life and probably not the last. 

Communication and cooperation were good from everybody. I feel that everyone wanted to add something to this project. I was working more close to Jacky and Ruinmeg than the others because they work was more affecting the editing and postproduction. We did not have any argument with each other and I did not feel stress to work with this team which is a big thing.

What would I do differently?

Well, Although I feel I did my best to support this project, there are things what I could do better in the future regarding this project. Obviously, if we would work on The Mirror Maiden in normal circumstances, when we can work together at the uni and we have access to the studios, I strongly believe that we would produce a more quality endpiece. However, there is still something that I could do better in the current situation. Which is the look of the short film. Yes, it was not shot with professional equipment, however, there is some digital way how to do colour correction and how to apply some plugins like FilmPro into Adobe Premiere Pro, what can help to achieve the cinematic look of the film, just like it was shot with professional cameras or 35mm film.

It is simply my mistake that I did not have this idea earlier, and add this to my experimenting list. Probably if I would do it, then we would have a movie, which would look much better and even for the first look you would feel straight that this is a higher standard piece than just some student video. Now, before submission day, I still feel that we should choose a bit more simple story than we would make less compromise. For example, the story of The Mirror Maiden takes place some hundred years ago in a traditional environment instead of a modern city in 2021. I know, some story can be timeless and possible to adapt in modern age like Shakespeare, but I think The Mirror Maiden is a story what should stay with the original setting. 

     During this unit I have learnt a very important lesson: no matter what are my expectations, I have to see always what will serve the project and support the team and if I have different or new directions than I need to follow them. Instead of producing the ghost with practical special effect, I sorted out with basic VFX moreover as an editor, I created the suspense of mystery for the 1-minute short film. 

BUT

THIS

IS

NOT

THE

END

!

Well, on Wednesday at 12.35 pm I finished the last sentence of my blog, and I prepared the submission document. I have felt relieved. But all of the sudden Jacky messaged in the group that he finished the extra shooting and now he is editing that footage. I was a bit surprised. I messaged him if he needs any help from me because I am the editor. No answer. Until 6.30 pm when I was in the middle of cleaning the flat and making dinner because I promised my Mrs. that I will do so. Jacky messaged the group. "Adam, can you edit this?" And he sent me his video. Well, I said yes, I will sort it out somehow. So I was editing that night again then I woke up next day 5 am to continue it for the deadline. It was really lastminute.com.

The entire short movie what I have got from Jacky (his cut) did not really make any sense to me. I did not really get the story and I don't really get it now either, it's so different from the original material. But, I did my very best and I tried to turn it out as good as I could. I feel at least the movie has a kind of vibe, a mood. And I am happy with it. The sound is not the best and the quality of the pictures are quite low in some scenes. However, I do feel that it has some good vibe in it.

This is the Jackys Cut

The Final Cut

And this is my final cut (what includes my previous demo)