Post production 2

I went to see Nimal cutting at home on Saturday.  He’s got a lovely set up and nice house with great AVID – although he’s had some technical trouble and has had to transfer the rushes to the hard disk.

We looked at the beginning of scene 14 where Zeus and the nymph are having hanky panky in the reeds.  I hadn’t shot enough of a reaction from Echo to Zeus and the action is a bit obscure, although I think this is partly because we weren’t thinking of the 3 screens.  With Hera on the left, I think Zeus’s gesture (shhh!) to Echo will be readable, but it’s not reading on a single screen, and NImal has put in a different close up of Echo looking around, which I think is even more distracting.  Nimal has cut it following on immediately from the song, and I’ve asked him to put a fade to black on, when Hera comes to earth, in order for the audience to be drawn to the ceiling screen, and then pick up what is happening on the surrounding screens.

The action happens so fast that it will be impossible for anyone to follow, and this fade to black follows John Adams’s finding with his installation, that the audience can be directed with such dissolves.

Post Production

We’ve now been working on post-production for about two and a half weeks.

First it took about a week and a half to transfer everything to AVID (mini dv, timecoded, so we can do an online).  We did this to an external hard drive and have now duped this hard drive so we have a copy of the material.

Then Nimal started cutting, and this itself was interesting, as we’ve had to work out how to cut a 5 screen piece on AVID.  We’d decided anyway to have a single screen version in order to raise money for completion, but this is itself not straight forward, as the film is not designed for 1 screen.  Working on the principle that we’d use picture in picture (i.e. a series of boxes) to represent the screens, then this allows us to build 5 timelines in the edit window, and cut them simultaneously.  I don’t know if this is the best solution, but it’s the one we came to first.  It has one advantage – the timelines are in parrallel, and several disadvantages.  Everything has to be kept in sync – no mean feat when there are 5 video tracks and 2 audio.  You can still only see one timeline at a time, unless you perform the optical (the picture in picture) and this is both timeconsuming and a bit premature when we’re just trying to do a rough cut.

I feel our edit has been a bit like the children’s story of Simple Simon.  Simple Simon does as he’s told, but he takes things extremely literally, and ends up keeping some butter cool, by hiding it under his hat.  It melts and runs down his face.  Usually, I’ve left Nimal to have a first go at the cut.  He’s made a really good job of it.  I’ve come in and had a look and made some suggestions.  When Nimal does the suggestions, the result is worse than his original version.  When looking at this, I think it has to do with understanding the nature of the 5 screens.  There are certain points that have been designed so that the action on the screens interacts, e.g. Zeus leaves Heaven and comes down to earth, or Hera blinds Tiresias across 2 screens.  Getting these timed in the AVID, has been difficult, partly due to not knowing the sophisticated usage of the AVID (in Lightworks I could have done this quite easily), as it requires back timing, and timing of events within shots.  However, it also requires us to make the action on two or three screens run to a particular timing, and, so far, we’ve made this too dominantly dependant on a master screen (where the important action is) and cut too tightly on the other screens to this.  Also, some problems with coverage have meant that the transition between scenes has not always been thought through sufficiently, so there’s not enough reaction on one screen or other. The action is therefore choppy and has lost its rhythm and coherence.

 We’ve only cut about a quarter so we’re still learning, and hopefully we won’t be so choppy with the rest of the stuff.

Pickups

It’s been a long time since I made an entry.  I think the hiaitus is due to the finishing of the filming, the sigh of relief, and then a short holiday period and back to teaching.  So now, I’m going to have to make an entry which relies rather heavily on my memory…

When we finished the film, we found ourselves almost in the same position as if we’d actually shot on celluloid.  The rushes – on digibeta, and on hi-def couldn’t all be viewed because the digibeta player/recorder was broken, as was the camera.  We hired a digibeta and transferred all the tapes to minidv and to VHS, and this took a few days, at the end of August.

On looking at the rushes, I loved the acting, cinematography, and locations, but became hyper aware of all my mistakes in timing and coverage.  Particular problems were about the lack of time to plan multiscreen ways of shooting Echo following Narcissus (sc 25) and the complete lack of Sc 14, the chase by Hera of Zeus and the nymph.  This was lucky in a way, as it meant we really had to do pick ups, and as I wanted to do them anyway, it meant we had a bit of an advantage. 

 So, the pickups became Sc 14, including shooting some more cutaways of Hera, so we could have her on a different screen, chasing around on the dunes, and turning the nymph into a chicken.  This also proved traumatic as the chicken was still unavailable, wishful thinking that finding a chicken would be relatively easy, and it falling outside any particular person’s responsibility.  However, we’ve now decided to make the chicken animated, thus pushing the problem down the line, and hoping it will be solved more easily.

 We also reshot Amenias dying, giving him a decent close-up, and were also worried about this, as he’d had a brutal haircut between the first shoot and the pickups.  However, this was less severe than we first thought, and we were able to shoot the pickups easily.   It’s an interesting point that the things we thought were problems turned out not to be, but other things turned out to be problems.   Anyway, in his master shot he had moved very quickly and not given a reaction which could be caught, and we therefore shot a better reaction, and also two versions of him lying on the ground, (we needed an alternative, as the master shot had his head facing away from camera).

 We then picked up some cutaways, narcissi at the pond, and some backgrounds for Tiresias.  These, I assumed were just beginning shots, to be developed and expanded on later, when the film was cut. 

 The issue with pickups is really that we didn’t have the money/time to cut the film in advance of the pickups, so we can’t be completist about what we need to shoot.  I fully expect that we’ll need to come back after the edit, and make some final adjustments, but whether we have the money, cast and crew by then is doubtful.

There seems to be a fight between the need to be extremely organised for a film shoot which requires money and scheduling – although never enough money or time – and the need to find out and explore how the film is working.  This is independent of time and money and happens when it happens.  Here experience is the key and planning for the unforeseen.  On our budget we can’t really budget for pickups and keeping actors on contract, but we still need this facility.

   

Week 2

Not much of a diary this, keep not having time to make entries…

This week was in the studio, and I found it a bit more difficult on the whole. The schedule slipped a bit, so we found on several days that we didn’t start shooting until about 2.00. This was awkward for lots of reasons – people lost energy, and they were also in danger of losing commitment (because we weren’t starting early then they needn’t arrive early). However, luckily the team were so committed and engaged that this didn’t happen.

Fantastic solutions to the set, and a nice sense of depth, as long as the bluescreen works.

The major learning experience this week was, I think, about the two Tiresiases. I had always kept in mind the idea that they would replicate each others performances and gestures, so they could be morphed together. However, what emerged was both better and different, and I don’t know whether I recognised this in time. It was not really possible for them to give similar performances and it would have probably been more interesting for them to give very different performances, and compared them. However, they look really good in their porridge makeup, and I think we’ll be able to dissolve them together and have a more simple set up anyway.

Otherwise, the bluescreen determined the shots a bit – they were fairly traditional and conservative, establishers and reverses, but what was interesting was that the whole set up was simpler than I had in my mind, but probably more effective. Why make things more complicated than necessary (especially the splitting of Tiresias into his separate wholes).

I need always to see the actors in the shot, and also to play the scenes (especially when they are on different screens). I haven’t got the visual imagination to plot them in advance, but anyway, the experience of real bodies and actors is so different from the imagined one, that it is quite necessary.

End of week one. Day 2, 3, and 4.

Apologies for not blogging, but filming got in way.

Day 2.  We filmed Echo for the installation bit, Ryan dying, and Echo looking up to Hera and singing her song. The main bit of the shoot was the beginning of Sc35 where Echo echoes Narcissus before he comes across the pond. Filming was a bit tougher for me today, as lots of stuff depended on editing to make it work, and I couldn’t imagine it in my head.  Also weather wasn’t very good and this made me less positive.  Actors were extremely good again today, alive and yet controlled and enthusiastic, even though the geography wasn’t always what they expected.  Part of the problems with shooting were to do with sand.  Everytime someone walked on the sand, this would disturb it, so we had to keep a sand free zone.  This was particularly true of the multiple superimpositions of Hannah on the sand dunes – I’ve no idea how this will look. 

Sc 35 was somewhat tricky, with Humphry working out how it was going to be shot (especially for 3 screens).  We had to have a conflab with the continuity team: Coral W, Cirrus and Luke at lunchtime to try and work out what was happening and how it might work (I’m still a bit unclear).

We watched the rushes and this was a great relief as they were extremely good (at least if they were going to be in a single screen film – whether the multiscreen was correct, we’re going to have to hope!)

Wednesday.  Lovely weather, easier location at the pond in Bettws, lovely footage.  The pond really worked.  We managed to shoot quite out of sequence which was a tribute to how well prepared the actors were.  We didn’t have wetsuits for the pond, and Tim and Ben were heroic and went in the pond standing about it the wet for half a day, holding the boat and the mirror.  Again, I was massively impressed with Humphry’s ability, concentration and selflessness in shooting the scene and also in conveying the correct professional tone to the crew.  Ed arrived with ice-creams at about 3.00 and he is the bedrock of the team, without him we’d be nowhere.  Sam and Ben were great with improvising tears, and Giles made an excellent male nymph.

I’m particularly glad I didn’t take any notice of the advice from a few people that the pond scenes wouldn’t match.  The actual location will really contribute magic to the film, and the fact that it is only found towards the end and through a discovery from Narcissus will help the drama.

Thursday, a difficult day again.  Weather moved in, and Humphry had to meet the Screen Academy and didn’t arrive back until about 2.30, delaying lunch and shooting.  We shot without him in the morning, and did pick-ups on the rain and on the writing.  I was very pleased with the camera crew and art direction as we actually survived, and even with my inability to create shots, we managed to shoot usable footage.  Craig let his imagination go and got some really nice close ups of nature in the wet.  We then did the first half of the scene where Zeus seduces the nymphs, using the tree location and the castle location (both Merthyr Mawr).  The castle location was fantastic serendipity, as it has the correct ferns for Zeus and nymph to frolic in.  Brendan and Lynne were excellent fun.  They look great as Zeus and Hera, and they turned in their usual fine performances, a bit camp and could be very funny.  Towards the end of the day we were disturbed by car park noise (a rugby club arriving to train) and this made some difficulties.

As research, I don’t think I have much to say about these days, except that a) locations should always have more possibilities than one can use – then they work.  Seeing Humphry cheat the shots to get interesting backgrounds cohere from wide shot to close up was a bit of a revelation here, and b) preparation before, storyboard, shotlist, etc., are very useful, but the location and actual shooting is very offputting and it is extremely difficult to develop the vision of the film when the reality is so different, c) When shooting multi-screen you have to waste a lot of footage if you’re going to do it properly because whole swathes of the script have to be shot on every take, in order to get the timing right – something I haven’t tended to do, so watch this space in post-production.

OK, going to look at my script and storyboard for next week, and make sure I shoot enough of Hera and Zeus reacting.

1st day’s shoot

Yesterday was the first day’s shoot.   Other slightly difficult production things, fear of the weather, and also concern because Humphry (cinematographer) couldn’t come to the location until lunchtime on the shoot day, and we couldn’t delay the call time (it would have created chaos).

 I therefore had to make sure we were as occupied as possible yesterday morning whilst we waited for Humphry. I didn’t want to start shooting without him, as it turned out correctly, because when he did arrive, he was an absolute genius.  So we had a tour of the various locations in Merthyr Mawr including the castle ruins, which is a bit of serendipity, as it will be great for Zeus’s and the nymph’s “bit of rumpy pumpy”.  Then, a quite big small crew went up the mountain to film the sea, a general view of the dunes from the Gods’ point of view.  This was the equivalent of the first shot of the film, which everyone is told to make sufficiently difficult and challenging to get the crew into a solid group.   It wasn’t a difficult set of shots, but climbing the mountain (sand dune really) was a real bugger.  Everyone was extremely well intentioned and Tim even carried the jib half way up before we decided to leave it behind.  When the crew saw the view they all said that this would be the “money shot”, (derived from the term used  in porn films  where gratification occurs!). We came back exhausted but happy.

 We got back just in time for lunch (although I realised I should have redesigned one of the shots and made a tilt up from the dunes to the sea – c’est la vie), which was great.  Humphry arrived, the art department, and also Alan Cridford (sound consultant) and we went to film Amenius and Narcissus’s scenes, by some purple flowers on a hillside.

The shooting of the scene seemed really fantastic to me.  The combination of the experience of Humphry and Alan and young crew, and the performances of the actors meant that I may have actually not paid enough attention to details that could crop up in the edit.  Perhaps there is too much variation between takes, and maybe I could have been harder on the performances, but I was a bit worried of over directing and taking away the actors’ energy.  I realised once again that I’m not a cameraman’s director, but that this doesn’t seem to matter if you’ve got the right crew and done the preparation. Humphry found the shots and happily got stuck in to making sure they matched and also that the background was as interesting compositionally as possible.  There was quite a lot of movement in the frame, even on the close ups, as the actors freely rolled over and used the gestures from rehearsal without constraining them too much for the camera, and this looked edgy and interesting.  There was some cheating on the close ups, but again, Humphry was happy finding the correct angle, and I didn’t have to worry. As a collaboration, it is a joy when people come together and match each others skills.  Not for the first time, I saw that film making actually works when one negates ego completely, and allows for people’s contributions, and is the opposite of imposing one’s will, and I found myself incredibly grateful to the crew and cast for doing this.

We did a jib and this seemed really luxurious to me.  I’m a bit concerned about the cutting here, as this is about multi-screens and a bit unknown.  Amenius has to leave screen 3 and enter screen 2, and I’m not sure whether we’ll still see Narcissus on screen 3.  I think I may not have got the absolute coverage right, and this is down to inexperience.  However, it’s not critical, and we’ll just work with it.

The costumes did seem a little rough, and I might take along an iron today, in case they get creased.  This, I realise again, is through a lack of communication and time.  We really needed a bit more time for the art department, and I should have been a bit more proactive.  However, on screen whilst the actors were moving, everything seemed fine, and the costume designer obviously has a sense of how the fabric flows and getting a kind of Greek effect.

We then went on to shoot Amenius’s death, which he did very well (even keeping his eyes open on the sand – a painful thing to do).  One mistake I made was not ordering tomato ketchup (blood) as I thought it would be tasteless.  I should have given myself the option.  Also the point of view of the knife coming into the body didn’t work very well (maybe the angle was too wide for the knife to come in close enough to camera), so we may have to shoot this again.

Today, I’m hoping for a bit of rain for Echo’s scene with Hera, and also that we catch up on the schedule and have time for all the cutaways of the Mawr which will really bring everything to life. 

Enough for now

Coral

Rehearsals – a phenomenology note!

On Thursday and Friday we had rehearsals at the Uni.  On Thursday, we had Jaffa (Narcissus), Hannah (Echo) and Ryan (Amenius) and on Friday, everyone, except Ryan who had to work and Lynne (Hera), who is caught up in bad weather on Caldy Island.

 Thursday’s rehearsals started with lots of coffee and hanging around, and a bit of going through the blocking for Hannah when she interacts with the Gods.  Then when Jaffa arrived, we started properly.  Getting to know each other, the normal process of introducing ourselves and saying something about ourselves.  I moved this into talking about “our first kiss”, which I’d read only this week in the Guardian as a process that a director had used when dealing with intimacy in a script.  We then went through all the scenes with the  various young lovers.  This process really did work – it broke the ice, and enabled the actors and myself to know a bit about each other and see each others vulnerabilities and strengths.  It also made the snogging easier! We rehearsed the scenes, which are mostly fairly straightforward drama scenes, and I asked for various different readings and motivations, which everyone did extremely willingly and well.  I was so happy at the end of the day, because we had performances which are already convincing, we were getting more detailed, and I could also see how the shots would fit in with this.  Being in the performance studio did not get in the way of imagining the scenes and starting to make them real, and I felt the process of directing becoming much more artistic and responsive.  My instinct kicked in and I was able to react on the spot to what actors were doing, and, almost like sculpting or drawing (or playing the piano), use what was happening in order to find out what I wanted and get it.

Friday was slightly more technical because the whole cast wasn’t there. Jaffa and Bethan (female Tiresias) heroically stood in for Hera, and I stood in for Amenius and a nymph (you see, type casting, I’m so nymph like and light on my feet – not!).  As you’ll see from Coral W’s pictures we had Brendan up a ladder playing Zeus, and all the screens represented by chairs at right angles around the space.   This rather produced the effect of “Echo and Narcissus as pantomime”, which wasn’t in itself bad, but means that when we’re on location, our job will also be to some extent to re-imagine and forget some aspects of the rehearsal as well as remember them.

The advantages of the rehearsal and run through as it stands are the following:

  • We had time to complete the whole script and had a sense of beginning, middle and end.
  • We could show this to the whole crew (actually not all the crew as they weren’t available, but at least some), who would have then the imaginary object made real to some extent.
  • We now have a timing of 28 minutes.
  • We have some idea of eyelines.  If characters are looking across screens, their eyeline will be to the screen and not to the other characters.  However, knowing that they are looking approximately at 2/3rd up the screen, where the golden section is (where people’s eyes are generally filmed) meant this was extremely helpful
  • Very helpful suggestions from cast and crew.  Ideas about, a) the installation, having water, smellaround and a pre-lighting state to make the space of the installation moody and set the one, b) lots of good script suggestions and solving of problems, c) the realisation that the ending where Echo breaks the spell herself has to be really clear, as it was identified as a problem at the run through, and we do probably need to show Narcissus reflected in Echo’s tears.
  • A slightly more concrete sense of shots and screens, and the motivations for moving from one to the other (particularly in the chase scene).
  • It was great to build up a sense of community and knowledge amongst crew and cast.  Costume and make-up came along half way through, and although I rushed them through their process, it was good to have them there.
  • It was lovely hearing Hannah sing the songs to playback, she’s got a lovely voice.  

Possible drawbacks

  • The panto like nature of the run, with an inevitable lack of sensitivity to the camera, might give a false tone, or sense of security.
  • Have I staged it too much “in reality” and not enough for the camera.  This is, after all, some kind of film really, and I wonder if by trying to set up the reality, the “pro-filmic event” too holistically, that this somehow might get in the way of the storyboarded shot list.  I did find myself completely forgetting the shot list quite frequently during the day.

Anyway, tomorrow we start.  How exciting!  At the moment it’s sunny, so let’s hope.

Yesterday I did some production running for Ed, getting lots of shopping, and this was quite relaxing because it took my mind off things.  Ed is being heroic working through the weekend on schedules and stuff.  We’re going to have to face the trauma of the weather and the short shooting time performatively.   We definitely don’t have enough money or time, but this is super low budget filmmaking.  Perhaps our problems don’t happen in the “professional” film world, but they must have other difficulties. We’ll just have to surmount the hurdles.

Signing off

Coral

Coral Worth’s blog

Hi everybody

If you want to see Coral W’s postings, you’ll have to click on the followers buttons (the faces) on the tumblr blog.  I didn’t realise this, and it makes the blog a bit complicated, but worth it.  However, here’s a link:-   Permalink

Actually, you may have to log on to my actual blogging window (see the email that Jack sent on how to do this) so that you can post as well, as otherwise you won’t see the followers posts.

Coral W, thanks very much for your postings.  I really liked what you wrote.

Note:  March 2013.  Here is a transcription of Coral Worth’s notes:-

the other coral – 6/7/07

First Acting and Technical Run Through – Performance Space IFSW

Most of the day spent with cast and crew getting to know each other and doing a detailed read through of the script.

The process was inclusive and collaborative and suggestions from cast and crew were encouraged and incorporated where appropriate.

By the end of the afternoon the actors performed what had been rehearsed and this was watched by most of the production staff and crew.

This was particularly good in light of the fact we were short a Hera, a Tiresias and several nymphs.

I took photos and video’ed the rehearsal.

the other coral – 5/5/07

Part of my role is to pick up directing skills from Coral H, be generally useful and also to document the film-making process.
I’m a recently graduated MA Film Student at IFSW.

I’ve been to 3 meetings so far which I’ll summarise here.

12/6/07 – Editing and Storyboard (1) Meeting. – Coral’s House.
Present Coral H, Coral W, Ed, Cirrrus and Nimal.

Discussions re: ensuring the coverage is cuttable and ensures continuity esp. sound. Remote video monitor requested and someone from editing team looking at rushes daily too.

Digibeta system not available at IFSW may need to look at alternatives, possibly go to Barcud Derwen or use Digi Sp.

Importance of continuity with different eye-lines etc. Coral W. to bring copies of continuity sheets used at ITV Wales.

Discussion re: practicality of having a 2nd camera unit.

Post-production now booked in for first few weeks September 07.

Storyboard – just first third of storyboard available for discussion at time. Difficulty of duality of Tiresias and ensuring eye-lines. Need to remember footage will show all 5 screens not individual ones. Can do cutaways on hands and eyes or remotes. Also question of reversals.
NB When Tiresias goes blind all other screens to go black. Need to see Tiresias going blind and reaction. Issues of gods at eye-level not above.

Research Pre-meeting – 2/7/07 IFSW – Coral and Coral
Coral H: Echo and narcissus about fetishism/voyeurism. A marxist dialectic. Research question –
How to best record the film making process in order to uncover new knowledge?
or
What is new knowledge in the process of film making not the product?
What methodologies can be used to show this?

Art Direction and Cinematography. 2/7/07 IFSW
Present Coral H and W., Ed. Humphrey, Ben.
Set some diary dates.
Tues 3rd Interiors and Green Screen test shoots. Also camera set-ups. Once footage shot taken then taken to post production to see results.
Discussion around how much green screen needed and how to set it on a frame. Approx 4 metres needed.
Wed 4th – Location recce – Merthyr Mawr.
Need to make final decision about pond. Alternative pond location at Bettws. need to liaise wit Don re: this.
Costumes: Difficult to get exact measurements for garments. Unlikely to be machine washable.
Fri 6th – Rehearsals 3pm Performance studio. IFSW.
Call sheets should be ready then.
Dymphna will do camera 2nd week.
Issue about baby jib and how it can be used on location.

2/7/07 Scheduling – – Ed’s House.
Present Coral H and W Ed. Scheduling completed.

4/7/07 – Location recce – Bettws pond and Merthyr Mawr
Present – Coral H and W, Luke, Humphrey.
Sites chosen for pond at Bettws. All other outside scenes at Merthyr.
Saw some very promising locations. Permission to be obtained from Bettws to film.
This is probably a good thing as logistics for getting quad bikes and drivers and creating a pond in Merthyr Mawr daunting.

the other coral – 5/7/07

hi everyone…

just introducing myself…i’m the other coral on the shoot. I’m the trainee director and I’ll be shadowing Coral H. and picking up some directing skills

 I have added her photos to the galleries of location shots here and here.

 

Research discussion, trauma of a film

Posted by Coral H

We’ve now got one week to the shooting of the film, and I realised that certain issues now affect the film so that they could be seen as “traumatic” events or issues.  They are things beyond the control of the filmmakers which cannot/are not integrated, and which can result in the “death” of the film.  However, the task of the filmmakers is to “Work through” the trauma and come up with solutions.  The two particular ones in this case are a) weather, b) the pond.

 a) Weather.The weather has suddenly and unexpectedly decided to be bad.  After years of global warming and expecting beautiful summers, we might be faced with bad shooting weather.  Interestingly enough, it has taken me about 5 days to acknowledge this as a problem and another day to work it through with the team.  The amount of time it takes to acknowledge a problem is something that I don’t think has been ever posed in research on film-making, and it might be useful to build in a few days “thinking time” into any schedule in order to deal with events out of the ordinary.  The solutions at the moment may be a) to insure the film against rainy weather – we have to find out how expensive this is, b) to put some more of my money into a possible reshoot or pick up sequence in week 3 and enquire about crew and cast, and c) to close our eyes and hope.

b) The Pond.  The pond seems to be the ongoing issue in this production. It’s an intractable piece of what Lacan called “the real”, materiality which evades our consciousness.

What’s emerging (perhaps re-emerging) is that we need the pond to have wide shots and POV shots (with Narcissus in background at pond), and also to have a surround/area, which is wooded or sheltered so that Echo can spy but not be seen.  Whether we have a mixture of compositing, dressable reeds, and something like this, or have to resituate the pond is something that will happen in the next couple of days, but solve it we will…

 However, it raises the research issue of what happens to make locations concrete, and also how decisions get made or even discussions get lost in transit.

It’s also interesting that if we see these issues as being “trauma” related, then the research consequences are that the addressing of them is a matter of group psychology rather than individual, and also that the group will continue to circle around issues, managing to get nearer and nearer the hub of what is the “impossible real” of film-making, but will never overcome filming impossibility, and this may be seen in the end results, and their difference from our intentions.

Anyway enough waffle.

Please feel free to comment.

Songs and Storyboards

Finally after much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair, we can proudly present the rest of the storyboard and the rough version of the songs – sung by Rob in falsetto.  Please flip around inside the pdf files to turn the storyboards up the right way.

Coral Houtman © 2012-2024