Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Main Exercise - Final Cut
Above is the final and edited cut for our small Media Studies project film.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Any use of music in this film complies with 'Fair Dealing' under the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act (UK), Sections 6(i) and 6(ii);
Fair dealing is a term used to describe some limited activities that are allowed without infringing copyright. Briefly these are as follows:
Section 6
i. Research and private study
Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or of a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purpose of research or private study is allowed under the following conditions:
· The copy is made for the purposes of research or private study.
· The copy is made for non-commercial purposes.
· The source of the material is acknowledged.
· The person making the copy does not make copies of the material available for a number of people.
ii Instruction or examination
Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or a sound recording, film or broadcast for the purpose of instruction or examination is allowed under the following conditions:
· The copying is done by the student or the person giving instruction.
· The copying is not done via a reprographic process.
· The source of the material is acknowledged.
· The instruction is for a non-commercial purpose.
Scan of Copyright Free Music CD Sleeve.
Fair dealing is a term used to describe some limited activities that are allowed without infringing copyright. Briefly these are as follows:
Section 6
i. Research and private study
Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or of a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purpose of research or private study is allowed under the following conditions:
· The copy is made for the purposes of research or private study.
· The copy is made for non-commercial purposes.
· The source of the material is acknowledged.
· The person making the copy does not make copies of the material available for a number of people.
ii Instruction or examination
Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or a sound recording, film or broadcast for the purpose of instruction or examination is allowed under the following conditions:
· The copying is done by the student or the person giving instruction.
· The copying is not done via a reprographic process.
· The source of the material is acknowledged.
· The instruction is for a non-commercial purpose.
Scan of Copyright Free Music CD Sleeve.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
AS Evaluative Commentary - Main Exercise
In pre-prepared research on the Codes and Conventions of Social Realism , my group planned our project requirements on the details that we found out.
* Mise-En-Scene - by setting our project location in a busy and derelict looking housing estate, a representation of lower or working middle class identity was created, as also backed-up by the shoddy looking clothing. This formed the aesthetics for the mise-en-scene, so the audience could define the type of environment through their own personal socio-culture experiences and understand the demographic we are constructing.
As no speech or diegetic sound is heard, the location had to be extremely focused on creating the characters representation. Also the use of teenagers as the main protagonists demonstrates a weak position in society and their heightened need for a respected social status, so using a very conflicted idea such as homosexuality would challenge this convention and set ideology and cause tension and conflict.
* Sound - as no diegetic sound was used, the non-diegetic need for a very specific and relevant piece of musical score was needed. We needed something that would reflect the mood of the protagonist subjectively, but it needed not to be corny or cheesy. We finally settled on a piece that was very emotional and matched the mood perfectly. The score we settled on defined the sbjective mood of the protagonist, whom was fragile and alone, so a gentle and solo piano piece worked perfectly. We also added non-diegetic sound clips of objects perceived to be diegetic in the situation it is placed it. For example, the use of a bus sound clip at the start signifies, through the understanding of it's iconography, the use of public transport, a lack of funds to afford a car and the representation of lower working class which helps to further define the films genre deeply within the social realism class. Another use was of a heart beat, and though it is a non-diegetic sound, because of the subjective camera angle during, the sound then becomes diegetic and creates more of an emotional response from the audience as they can hear and feel the fear and discomfort from this character. One element that was key with the music was the volume and positioning. Luckily our score quietened when it needed to and became silent, which in any film adds a heightened sense of danger or tension, but then because of it's low and bassy entrance back in, the sudden appearence of the 'stalker' on screen adds drama and excitement.
* Camera Work - to show a characters weakness or strength we really wanted to plan each camera frame instead of just relying on chance. The main character needed to be seen as weak and fragile, so camera frames were often placed above his eyeline to demonstrate domination over him, unlike the other character in which the camera needed to show a dominance FROM him, so it was placed below his eyeline.
Establishing shots were used right in the beginning to show the position of the character in a housing estate at a bus stop, a continuity need following the sound clip of the bus.
* Editing - to entice the audience further into the opening sequence, the editing cut speed grew faster and faster to build up adrenaline and tension. This went hand in hand with the score as well since it sped up slightly towards the end, this also resulted in shorter frames so the editing decisions were very precise. It also helps to enhance the mood by creating an atmosphere of fear as the main character is seen following and stalking someone else, so fear of being seen and the resulting action of being caught adds strain and unsettlement. For example, 2 different frames are cross-cut together to show the exact time between the 2 shots, because of the subjectiveity of one of them, so you can see from the main characters POV, as well as viewing him from a 3rd person perspective.
We sought to represent a particular younger generation, and the troubles they face with growing up and coming to terms with social and sexual issues. The main focus was upon the protagonist of the project, the guy whose perspective is seen more often than not, and the demonstration made was to portray is misunderstanding of his feeling towards someone of the same gender to his own. Based on the mise-en-scene surrounding the costume design and appearances, the social groups were that of modern day constructions made within the teenage generation.
Specifically there is the 'jock' type, the muscled build and well-dressed construction, allowing the audience to understand another characters sexual desire and attractiveness towards him. This character will and is seen with another partner, allowing the audience to gain the understanding of the other characters jealousy.
Whereas he himself is typically seen as the 'geek' type, with drab looking clothing and clumsy screen presence. He is seen as alone in every camera frame, and when he gets close to contact with his object of desire, the framing demonstrates him hiding. This establishes the contrast between the 2 characters personas and their possible attitude specifically towards an individuals sexuality giving the audience the added feeling of uncertainty and caution aimed towards the protagonist.
Because of our decision who mention the 'UK Film Councils' involvement with our project, this allows our film if created on the mass scale to be distributed to more accessible screens around the UK.
On their website, the UK Film Council state their 3 aims dedicated to non-mainstream films such as ours, an improved access to over 240 digital screens across the UK, raising awareness by funding up to £4 million a year to film distributors and increasing information on a film by previewing it on their websites. Having this media institutions support on a small film like ours would help it to reach a wider audience and obtain higher profits than it would if it was a stand alone and personally funding project. I believe that the UK Film Council would fund a film such as ours as it is set in a traditional British town and demonstrates the life of everyday British people with common troubles. I believe another reason that this film could be relatable by a UK audience would be it's involvement with a recievers 'Personal Identity' (Blulmer and Latz). Because of the lack of definable and specific identity over the 2 main characters, anyone could place themselves within that situation of unrequited love affairs and the tension and pain felt when going through such a thing. Even though the denotation is of a homosexual affair, the characters aren't built up surrounding very masculine stereotypes, so both genders can relate to the context portrayed.
The target audience of our short film would be people within the same genre to the characters within such as teenagers and young adults, as well as an older audience with more understanding and a wider knowledge of the subject and the demographic that it is based in and around. The idea of a confusion in identity is a frequent conception in a young person life, so we sought to represent this in our narrative structure. With recent protests on gay marriage and a lot of media hype about the subject, a film being released during media coverage of it would also receive greater marketing value allowing for a larger audience population to be targeted. A film such as this would not be suitable in America or anywhere global as the location is very specifically British and the subject of homosexuality is accepted in our country, whereas it may cause distress or anger in other countries world wide. Loosely based on Valdimir Propp's theory of their being 'character types' available in a narrative, representations can be fitted into our project. For example, the main protagonist can be portrayed as the hero (or victim hero) who seeks to 'marry the princess' and ultimately come out on top and win the hearts of the audience. The other male character of whom is being following can be split into 2 roles; the princess or the villain. Because of the protagonists suggested romantic feelings towards him, the idea of him being the princess of which he intends to 'wed' comes across, like he is a goal of the hero's to obtain. The villain idea is also present as he causes the hero a lot of hurt in denying him the romantic reltaionship that he desires. The underlying diegesis of these characters give the audience their own percieved representation, even though there is no diegetic sound or performance in the way of creating an identity.
Our aims to attract our target audience was to leave the opening credits as basic as possible, without giving away too much of the plot line, but keeping viewers on edge to want to find out more. By having this enigma, an excitement would be built up from the opening sequence onto the next bit of film, so the audiences attention would be captured and held. Also by using an issue that is common in the targeted generations social spectrum, this allows the general perspective to be addressed and but also giving more comprehension towards the aspect of the issue that they might not be exposed to as commonly, for example being placed subjectively as the male with the homosexual feelings. This experience is will be unknown to most audience members and by representing it in a way of establishing sympathy and empathy, a wider response will be achieved.
I have learnt a great deal about the production line surrounding the creation of a film, even one as small as ours. But specifically the technology as been the largest learning experience. From learning to correcting frame a shot to match the eyeline and subject matter, to using the Premiere Pro software to edit together our final cut. The final editing in particular was a very long and tedious process because of the very close cutting decisions we had to make as a team, through our agreements and disagreements, as well as matching it to the music and meeting the required video length.
One of the main things I have learnt from the progression from the Preliminary Exercise to the Main was the vital need to organisation and preparation before undertaking ANY task, no matter how small or insignificant you may perceive it to be. For example, during the PE we didn't do a Recee before we starting filming as we just automatically thought that the room we had chosen to film in would be suitable. When it came to filming, we were all a bit put off by the size of the room but we had to work with it because of the lack of time we had to film anywhere else. This meant we could of produced a piece far more professional looking, but we didn't organise ourselves well enough. In comparison to our ME, we went out on a Recee and even took pictures of the locations we planned to shoot in to help our storyboards and keep the locations fresh in our minds as we began doing our final plans. I've also learnt a lot about the need for teamwork and group leadership, as something on a such a large scale as this project would not have been anywhere near as successful if it was done individually or one participant demanded all the work and decisions. So, whereas I was nervous working within a team for the PE, from working with them over 2 projects I have grown to respect and trust their opinions and value them over mine.
All Pre-Production work of ours can be found following these links:
* Initial Ideas
* Research ('A Way Of Life')
* 'A Way Of Life' Opening Sequence - Youtube
* Research ('Love + Hate')
* 'Love + Hate' Opening Sequence - Youtube
* Research (Typical Codes + Conventions)
* SWOT Analysis
* Storyboards
* Dual Column Script
* Risk Assessment
* Call Sheet
* Mise-En-Scene - by setting our project location in a busy and derelict looking housing estate, a representation of lower or working middle class identity was created, as also backed-up by the shoddy looking clothing. This formed the aesthetics for the mise-en-scene, so the audience could define the type of environment through their own personal socio-culture experiences and understand the demographic we are constructing.
As no speech or diegetic sound is heard, the location had to be extremely focused on creating the characters representation. Also the use of teenagers as the main protagonists demonstrates a weak position in society and their heightened need for a respected social status, so using a very conflicted idea such as homosexuality would challenge this convention and set ideology and cause tension and conflict.
* Sound - as no diegetic sound was used, the non-diegetic need for a very specific and relevant piece of musical score was needed. We needed something that would reflect the mood of the protagonist subjectively, but it needed not to be corny or cheesy. We finally settled on a piece that was very emotional and matched the mood perfectly. The score we settled on defined the sbjective mood of the protagonist, whom was fragile and alone, so a gentle and solo piano piece worked perfectly. We also added non-diegetic sound clips of objects perceived to be diegetic in the situation it is placed it. For example, the use of a bus sound clip at the start signifies, through the understanding of it's iconography, the use of public transport, a lack of funds to afford a car and the representation of lower working class which helps to further define the films genre deeply within the social realism class. Another use was of a heart beat, and though it is a non-diegetic sound, because of the subjective camera angle during, the sound then becomes diegetic and creates more of an emotional response from the audience as they can hear and feel the fear and discomfort from this character. One element that was key with the music was the volume and positioning. Luckily our score quietened when it needed to and became silent, which in any film adds a heightened sense of danger or tension, but then because of it's low and bassy entrance back in, the sudden appearence of the 'stalker' on screen adds drama and excitement.
* Camera Work - to show a characters weakness or strength we really wanted to plan each camera frame instead of just relying on chance. The main character needed to be seen as weak and fragile, so camera frames were often placed above his eyeline to demonstrate domination over him, unlike the other character in which the camera needed to show a dominance FROM him, so it was placed below his eyeline.
Establishing shots were used right in the beginning to show the position of the character in a housing estate at a bus stop, a continuity need following the sound clip of the bus.
* Editing - to entice the audience further into the opening sequence, the editing cut speed grew faster and faster to build up adrenaline and tension. This went hand in hand with the score as well since it sped up slightly towards the end, this also resulted in shorter frames so the editing decisions were very precise. It also helps to enhance the mood by creating an atmosphere of fear as the main character is seen following and stalking someone else, so fear of being seen and the resulting action of being caught adds strain and unsettlement. For example, 2 different frames are cross-cut together to show the exact time between the 2 shots, because of the subjectiveity of one of them, so you can see from the main characters POV, as well as viewing him from a 3rd person perspective.
We sought to represent a particular younger generation, and the troubles they face with growing up and coming to terms with social and sexual issues. The main focus was upon the protagonist of the project, the guy whose perspective is seen more often than not, and the demonstration made was to portray is misunderstanding of his feeling towards someone of the same gender to his own. Based on the mise-en-scene surrounding the costume design and appearances, the social groups were that of modern day constructions made within the teenage generation.
Specifically there is the 'jock' type, the muscled build and well-dressed construction, allowing the audience to understand another characters sexual desire and attractiveness towards him. This character will and is seen with another partner, allowing the audience to gain the understanding of the other characters jealousy.
Whereas he himself is typically seen as the 'geek' type, with drab looking clothing and clumsy screen presence. He is seen as alone in every camera frame, and when he gets close to contact with his object of desire, the framing demonstrates him hiding. This establishes the contrast between the 2 characters personas and their possible attitude specifically towards an individuals sexuality giving the audience the added feeling of uncertainty and caution aimed towards the protagonist.
Because of our decision who mention the 'UK Film Councils' involvement with our project, this allows our film if created on the mass scale to be distributed to more accessible screens around the UK.
On their website, the UK Film Council state their 3 aims dedicated to non-mainstream films such as ours, an improved access to over 240 digital screens across the UK, raising awareness by funding up to £4 million a year to film distributors and increasing information on a film by previewing it on their websites. Having this media institutions support on a small film like ours would help it to reach a wider audience and obtain higher profits than it would if it was a stand alone and personally funding project. I believe that the UK Film Council would fund a film such as ours as it is set in a traditional British town and demonstrates the life of everyday British people with common troubles. I believe another reason that this film could be relatable by a UK audience would be it's involvement with a recievers 'Personal Identity' (Blulmer and Latz). Because of the lack of definable and specific identity over the 2 main characters, anyone could place themselves within that situation of unrequited love affairs and the tension and pain felt when going through such a thing. Even though the denotation is of a homosexual affair, the characters aren't built up surrounding very masculine stereotypes, so both genders can relate to the context portrayed.
The target audience of our short film would be people within the same genre to the characters within such as teenagers and young adults, as well as an older audience with more understanding and a wider knowledge of the subject and the demographic that it is based in and around. The idea of a confusion in identity is a frequent conception in a young person life, so we sought to represent this in our narrative structure. With recent protests on gay marriage and a lot of media hype about the subject, a film being released during media coverage of it would also receive greater marketing value allowing for a larger audience population to be targeted. A film such as this would not be suitable in America or anywhere global as the location is very specifically British and the subject of homosexuality is accepted in our country, whereas it may cause distress or anger in other countries world wide. Loosely based on Valdimir Propp's theory of their being 'character types' available in a narrative, representations can be fitted into our project. For example, the main protagonist can be portrayed as the hero (or victim hero) who seeks to 'marry the princess' and ultimately come out on top and win the hearts of the audience. The other male character of whom is being following can be split into 2 roles; the princess or the villain. Because of the protagonists suggested romantic feelings towards him, the idea of him being the princess of which he intends to 'wed' comes across, like he is a goal of the hero's to obtain. The villain idea is also present as he causes the hero a lot of hurt in denying him the romantic reltaionship that he desires. The underlying diegesis of these characters give the audience their own percieved representation, even though there is no diegetic sound or performance in the way of creating an identity.
Our aims to attract our target audience was to leave the opening credits as basic as possible, without giving away too much of the plot line, but keeping viewers on edge to want to find out more. By having this enigma, an excitement would be built up from the opening sequence onto the next bit of film, so the audiences attention would be captured and held. Also by using an issue that is common in the targeted generations social spectrum, this allows the general perspective to be addressed and but also giving more comprehension towards the aspect of the issue that they might not be exposed to as commonly, for example being placed subjectively as the male with the homosexual feelings. This experience is will be unknown to most audience members and by representing it in a way of establishing sympathy and empathy, a wider response will be achieved.
I have learnt a great deal about the production line surrounding the creation of a film, even one as small as ours. But specifically the technology as been the largest learning experience. From learning to correcting frame a shot to match the eyeline and subject matter, to using the Premiere Pro software to edit together our final cut. The final editing in particular was a very long and tedious process because of the very close cutting decisions we had to make as a team, through our agreements and disagreements, as well as matching it to the music and meeting the required video length.
One of the main things I have learnt from the progression from the Preliminary Exercise to the Main was the vital need to organisation and preparation before undertaking ANY task, no matter how small or insignificant you may perceive it to be. For example, during the PE we didn't do a Recee before we starting filming as we just automatically thought that the room we had chosen to film in would be suitable. When it came to filming, we were all a bit put off by the size of the room but we had to work with it because of the lack of time we had to film anywhere else. This meant we could of produced a piece far more professional looking, but we didn't organise ourselves well enough. In comparison to our ME, we went out on a Recee and even took pictures of the locations we planned to shoot in to help our storyboards and keep the locations fresh in our minds as we began doing our final plans. I've also learnt a lot about the need for teamwork and group leadership, as something on a such a large scale as this project would not have been anywhere near as successful if it was done individually or one participant demanded all the work and decisions. So, whereas I was nervous working within a team for the PE, from working with them over 2 projects I have grown to respect and trust their opinions and value them over mine.
All Pre-Production work of ours can be found following these links:
* Initial Ideas
* Research ('A Way Of Life')
* 'A Way Of Life' Opening Sequence - Youtube
* Research ('Love + Hate')
* 'Love + Hate' Opening Sequence - Youtube
* Research (Typical Codes + Conventions)
* SWOT Analysis
* Storyboards
* Dual Column Script
* Risk Assessment
* Call Sheet
Monday, 29 March 2010
Free Blog - Editing the film and production
Since filming our project on the 17th, every second spent in class has been put towards editing to create our final cut and manipulating our skills against the clips to produce a final cut that is professional looking and something we're all really impressed with. Right at the start, Alex taught both me and Beth some tips on how to use the Premiere Pro software as he has vast knowledge and experience on the software before, this meant that even though Beth was the main editor, if she was sick or absent, either one of us could take over her role so we didn't lose time. The first week was mostly joint editing, cropping the clips and choosing which take to use, something which was a great relief in comparison to our last project where we had very limited choice on the takes we used.
After selecting our takes, and placing them in the correct order, the next job was to start to cut and crop them so they fitted continuity and made sense. This was very difficult at first because of some clips being very difficult to work with, resulting in us having to crop one particular take in 3 and edit each singularly so it looked like one complete edit and not a shambles like it originally did. In the last week, we finally left the project in Beth trusted hands to edit it fully and finally for us, so me and Alex could get on with making sure we had all our pre and post production work up on Google Docs and write another blog for our evaluation. I hope by the end of the term we will have an edit we're all happy to submit, leaving us with only the evaluation to write, and a lot of stress off our shoulders.
* Organisation of all our pre- and post-production work on Google Docs.
After selecting our takes, and placing them in the correct order, the next job was to start to cut and crop them so they fitted continuity and made sense. This was very difficult at first because of some clips being very difficult to work with, resulting in us having to crop one particular take in 3 and edit each singularly so it looked like one complete edit and not a shambles like it originally did. In the last week, we finally left the project in Beth trusted hands to edit it fully and finally for us, so me and Alex could get on with making sure we had all our pre and post production work up on Google Docs and write another blog for our evaluation. I hope by the end of the term we will have an edit we're all happy to submit, leaving us with only the evaluation to write, and a lot of stress off our shoulders.
* Organisation of all our pre- and post-production work on Google Docs.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Recee Stills - Planning visual aids
This is another view of the grassy areafrom before, where you can see the water and this is how we plan on linking the 2 separate locations.
This is another team member, Beth, and our idea of a nice location to do some more recordings because the area is heavily urbanised, allowing us to create meaning and setting, but it also leads into a green and grassy land with the sea in the background, so it can link onto the ending sequence with the benches where the sea can also be seen.
This is the bench the other 2 characters will be sat on. The narrative between them is separate to the one surrounding the main protagonist, but you can see him in the background staring at them in the shadows, linking the characters and how they are involved in the narrative.
This is another shot of the protagonists bench, as we wanted another point of view of him on the bench, staring past the frame towards the bench, causing intra-diegetic gaze.
This shot was how we planned on choosing the bences for the ending sequence of the project, we needed somewhere in which all of the characters could be seen in the shot, but the protagonist was still hidden and secretive. The other bench in the background would be used by the other 2 characters.
This shot will begin to create the meaning of the main protagonist being the 'stalker' type, because of the hiding performance and the appearence of the 2nd character walking away from shot, with his back facing the camera.
This next shot will be an over the shoulder, and will subjectively show the introduction to the next character. This then begins the narrative.
This frame is our next planned shot, the subject is Alex in our team on he represents the positioning of the actor we will use in production. It's just a simple idea of how the shots will progress in the very start of the title sequence.
This is our planned establishing shot.
Free Blog - Filming and beginning post-production
Last Wednesday (22nd March), our group were able to locate our 3 actors, a camera and a tripod and went out in hopes of recording our media coursework. In comparison to the Preliminary Exercise, we were a hundred times more organised which hopefully will aid our post production later in the week. We made sure we double filmed every frame and every shot and ticked frames of the storyboard as we individually took them.
* Organisation on our group hard-drive, so work was easier to find and we knew where we could find work we needed a lot quicker. This was vital.
Another problem we sorted out was the space we left either side of the 'performance' for editing, so during our recording we started the recording and THEN began the performance, so we didn't limit the shots we had. The whole day was very successful, and everyone got on really well so the process wasn't forced and stressful, but more relaxed and friendly. On return to class, we looked back at the recordings we had made and we all seemed very happy with our results.
But then we were told we weren't allowed to use copyright free music anymore, which was a huge blow to our production team, as we intended on using only music in our title sequence and silence all our recordings. This also means that we MAY have to re-record everything, because we have spoke over the top of all our recordings, to direct the actors, knowing that we'd silence them, so putting these in the final edit, would sound and look completely ridiculous. Our only options are to buy royalty free music, wait for our teacher to get in contact with our intended music company and re-ask permission or to write our own music. This has really hindered our expectations and hopes on the project, but we are carrying on regardless and beginning our editing and post-production, so if by chance the problem is resolved, we haven't wasted anytime doing nothing.
* Organisation on our group hard-drive, so work was easier to find and we knew where we could find work we needed a lot quicker. This was vital.
Another problem we sorted out was the space we left either side of the 'performance' for editing, so during our recording we started the recording and THEN began the performance, so we didn't limit the shots we had. The whole day was very successful, and everyone got on really well so the process wasn't forced and stressful, but more relaxed and friendly. On return to class, we looked back at the recordings we had made and we all seemed very happy with our results.
But then we were told we weren't allowed to use copyright free music anymore, which was a huge blow to our production team, as we intended on using only music in our title sequence and silence all our recordings. This also means that we MAY have to re-record everything, because we have spoke over the top of all our recordings, to direct the actors, knowing that we'd silence them, so putting these in the final edit, would sound and look completely ridiculous. Our only options are to buy royalty free music, wait for our teacher to get in contact with our intended music company and re-ask permission or to write our own music. This has really hindered our expectations and hopes on the project, but we are carrying on regardless and beginning our editing and post-production, so if by chance the problem is resolved, we haven't wasted anytime doing nothing.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Free Blog - Week of filming
Our group this week is planning on finishing and tighening all of our pre-production work including our storyboards and our final script so when we get onto filming during the week we are fully prepared and we go out on the field knowing exactly what we aim to come back with. Today has been spent putting work up onto Google Docs to link into evaluative blogs later in the course and finalising any work that has gaps. Tomorrow a meeting will be held with the group to talk over everything we have planned, making sure that everyone is clear on their duties and what we have to achieve in filming, and creating a strict and timetabled production schedule separate from our beginning one, to detail our day of filming and to plan out our alloted time spareingly. I plan on doing the filming on Wednesday after college between 12.30pm and 6pm, as this gives us at least 5 hours time to film before it gets dark.
One problem we're facing though is booking actors and actresses to be in our production. We have 2 definiate people who have agreed, but we need one more, who is proving very difficult to find. Especially because this character has to be slightly more 'intimate' with another character than they would like, also we're being very specific about the appearance of her, because we want to give the right impression and meaning to the audience about her connection to another of the characters. Hopefully by Wednesday we will have found someone suitable.
This then means that we have starting as of Thursday this week, and all of the rest of the term, to create a final edit for our title sequence, and write the evaluation. I want to make sure our group has enough time on the evaluation as a poor attempt could lose us marks I know we all deserve. I'm trying to get other team members to blog a lot this week, because we're at a critical stage in our production that will need to be analysed in our evaluation quite thoroughly.
One problem we're facing though is booking actors and actresses to be in our production. We have 2 definiate people who have agreed, but we need one more, who is proving very difficult to find. Especially because this character has to be slightly more 'intimate' with another character than they would like, also we're being very specific about the appearance of her, because we want to give the right impression and meaning to the audience about her connection to another of the characters. Hopefully by Wednesday we will have found someone suitable.
This then means that we have starting as of Thursday this week, and all of the rest of the term, to create a final edit for our title sequence, and write the evaluation. I want to make sure our group has enough time on the evaluation as a poor attempt could lose us marks I know we all deserve. I'm trying to get other team members to blog a lot this week, because we're at a critical stage in our production that will need to be analysed in our evaluation quite thoroughly.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Reflective Blog Entry On The Main Exercise
For starters, on first appearance, the main exercise is much more intense, serious and professional than what was expected from the preliminary exercise. During the preliminary exercise, our group was allowed room for mistakes for improving our knowledge and understanding, whereas in the main exercise, mistakes are final and will cost us greatly, so there is a lot more responsibility. As well as this, more editing and technical issues nee to be employed as this is our chance to show off our best abilities. Instead of making a sub-par recording, and editing them together basically and with structure, now we need to record something that looks polished and professional before we even being to edit it. Also, judging from mistakes in our last exercise, our group needs to be slightly stricter on ourselves. We may need to meet up far more outside of class to plan things just so we don’t cram and rush things in class time. Also we need to be far more organised when it comes to our recording, which is the most important aspect anyway, without a good recording, then our whole project will not be successful, so concentration in particular is needed here.
Mostly our group’s organisational skills will be put to the test as they were not up to standard on the last exercise and if they are similar on this project, we will lose marks. Though it wasn’t a fault in the last project, the stress of this main exercise may cause strain in relationships in the group. As I am the producer of this title sequence, I need to be over-looking and powerful to gain the work I know we’re capable, but I don’t want to come across as a slave driver or pushy. Falling out with team members could result in a really poor final outcome, as communication is key.
We will base a lot of our plans on work from the research that we do. So the most important thing to consider is picking very specific social realism films to study and anaylse. So we have decide to begin our project looking at the 2 films 'A Way Of Life' and 'Love + Hate' and how they're opening sequences aim to conform the main codes and conductions of the genre it's within. Begin are the opening sequences as posted from Youtube.
'A Way Of Life' - Amma Asante (2004)
'Love + Hate' - Dominic Savage (2005)
To improve my own performance, and hopefully influence that of my team members I aim to:
• Check and double check all planning and pre-production work to make sure that all team embers are clear on the chosen ideas before we move on, confusion later on will take up time and effort in trying to explain
• Listen and understand other members opinions and ideas, I can be very dominating and tend to argue more my choices, but if the project is going to be successful, a mix of all ideas and input will be vital
• In recording and production, be clear on all shots and camera angles we need BEFORE going out to start the filming. Going on unprepared will be the worse case scenario as we will have no idea where we want to go, and what we aim to achieve there. This can be solved with recee’s and picture taking to capture ideas we have on first visit of the area.
• Choosing actors and extras wisely. Asking friends and company to be in it may not give the right ‘look’ that we’re trying to achieve. This is also the same for props and dress codes. We’re trying to get a cross a lower working class look, as a well dressed person would look out of place and confuse the narrative.
• One very specific thing we need to do is record empty frames before and after performance takes place in each frame. It gives us more room to edit, and cut out the excess, and stops us from cutting off words and actions we might want in the final cut. This is what happened in our preliminary exercise. It made our work snappy and strange.
Mostly our group’s organisational skills will be put to the test as they were not up to standard on the last exercise and if they are similar on this project, we will lose marks. Though it wasn’t a fault in the last project, the stress of this main exercise may cause strain in relationships in the group. As I am the producer of this title sequence, I need to be over-looking and powerful to gain the work I know we’re capable, but I don’t want to come across as a slave driver or pushy. Falling out with team members could result in a really poor final outcome, as communication is key.
We will base a lot of our plans on work from the research that we do. So the most important thing to consider is picking very specific social realism films to study and anaylse. So we have decide to begin our project looking at the 2 films 'A Way Of Life' and 'Love + Hate' and how they're opening sequences aim to conform the main codes and conductions of the genre it's within. Begin are the opening sequences as posted from Youtube.
'A Way Of Life' - Amma Asante (2004)
'Love + Hate' - Dominic Savage (2005)
To improve my own performance, and hopefully influence that of my team members I aim to:
• Check and double check all planning and pre-production work to make sure that all team embers are clear on the chosen ideas before we move on, confusion later on will take up time and effort in trying to explain
• Listen and understand other members opinions and ideas, I can be very dominating and tend to argue more my choices, but if the project is going to be successful, a mix of all ideas and input will be vital
• In recording and production, be clear on all shots and camera angles we need BEFORE going out to start the filming. Going on unprepared will be the worse case scenario as we will have no idea where we want to go, and what we aim to achieve there. This can be solved with recee’s and picture taking to capture ideas we have on first visit of the area.
• Choosing actors and extras wisely. Asking friends and company to be in it may not give the right ‘look’ that we’re trying to achieve. This is also the same for props and dress codes. We’re trying to get a cross a lower working class look, as a well dressed person would look out of place and confuse the narrative.
• One very specific thing we need to do is record empty frames before and after performance takes place in each frame. It gives us more room to edit, and cut out the excess, and stops us from cutting off words and actions we might want in the final cut. This is what happened in our preliminary exercise. It made our work snappy and strange.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Filming and Editing the Preliminary Exercise
My group did the filming for the Preliminary Exercise this morning and though I was very nervous and sceptical about our abilities before the recording, everything went really well according to our schedule and in particular, our organsiation was spot on. We started by setting up the room, and then debriefing the actors we used in the production. Next, we placed our first camera and spent some time working with the angles, framing and lighting to make sure that everything we intended to be in the shot was there and was correctly seen. Beth spent a really promising amount of time before pressing the 'record' button by moving and perfecting the camera angle, looking out for the rule of thirds and actor blocking. This meant when we were ready to record our first clip for editing, I as the director was really confident what we would see in the end would be really clear, perfectly in focus and zoomed in fittingly. We continued with this pattern before each recording, by the whole team agreeing on the happiness of the camera frame, double checking the actors knew precisely what we wanted them to do, and then took our positions to over watch the recording. Because of this process, we managed to finish up the recording very early, we managed to get the last clip on around the 50 minute mark, which was impressive as we'd left ourself 4 hours to get everything we needed.
After the recording, on the same day, we began editing the clips together and realised a couple faults we made whilst recording. Most importantly, we didn't leave ourself enough room for edit on either side of the clip. For example, in one clip, the dialogue starts instantly, and the clip is cut right at the end of the dialogue, this leaves no room for us to edit and no room for any sort of drama mood to be developed from the audience. This was mainly due to the lack of direct from me I feel. We planned to next time press 'record' and then announce action, and then cut at the end, so we have room to edit it out, but enough space on either side of the dialogue for dead air. Another difficultly was that of our location, but of the surrounding locations to it. In one shot a car horn is heard in the background, and specifically in the 'door handle' shots, background conversation and movement can be heard, because it was filmed during lesson time.
But the biggest problem we faced was during the editing. We realised we had missed a couple of shots, that weren't actually NEEDED in the final cut, but they still added more understanding and mostly they padded out the production. What we have does fulfill the brief, and is more than we need, but because of some difficulties we did not pick up with the paper work, it could of cost us more marks if we weren't so lucky. Next time we'll dedinately spend a lot more time laying out a specific order and checklist of shots and the amount of take for each we need, to be on the safe side.
I think our emplyment of actors worked really smoothly as well, because they both knew each other before hand, so were a lot more confident in their acting. This meant it was quicker and easier for us to shoot them as they picked up the script and what we required them to do quicker, as well as having a couple of laughs and generally allowing them and us to relax, something I felt was necessary as being nervous and unconfident may of come across in the clips.
Overall, for our first time filming and organising a shoot toegther, we worked together really well. We only had a few hiccups, but they were noticable on our over view and can easily be evaluated and sorted for the main exercise.
Our final cut for the Preliminary Exercise.
After the recording, on the same day, we began editing the clips together and realised a couple faults we made whilst recording. Most importantly, we didn't leave ourself enough room for edit on either side of the clip. For example, in one clip, the dialogue starts instantly, and the clip is cut right at the end of the dialogue, this leaves no room for us to edit and no room for any sort of drama mood to be developed from the audience. This was mainly due to the lack of direct from me I feel. We planned to next time press 'record' and then announce action, and then cut at the end, so we have room to edit it out, but enough space on either side of the dialogue for dead air. Another difficultly was that of our location, but of the surrounding locations to it. In one shot a car horn is heard in the background, and specifically in the 'door handle' shots, background conversation and movement can be heard, because it was filmed during lesson time.
But the biggest problem we faced was during the editing. We realised we had missed a couple of shots, that weren't actually NEEDED in the final cut, but they still added more understanding and mostly they padded out the production. What we have does fulfill the brief, and is more than we need, but because of some difficulties we did not pick up with the paper work, it could of cost us more marks if we weren't so lucky. Next time we'll dedinately spend a lot more time laying out a specific order and checklist of shots and the amount of take for each we need, to be on the safe side.
I think our emplyment of actors worked really smoothly as well, because they both knew each other before hand, so were a lot more confident in their acting. This meant it was quicker and easier for us to shoot them as they picked up the script and what we required them to do quicker, as well as having a couple of laughs and generally allowing them and us to relax, something I felt was necessary as being nervous and unconfident may of come across in the clips.
Overall, for our first time filming and organising a shoot toegther, we worked together really well. We only had a few hiccups, but they were noticable on our over view and can easily be evaluated and sorted for the main exercise.
Our final cut for the Preliminary Exercise.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
First skills audit for the G321 Foundation Production
When this Preliminary Exercise was first introduced, I was really excited about it. The idea of filming a production of our own, and having the independance to decide every aspect of it was a major feature to me, as I love being left to be creative. I was a little bit uneasy about the thought of being put into pre-set groups, as I know I can be very demanding, and I have a very 'perfectionist' nature about my personality. But when I was put in a production team with Beth and Alex, I was elated. As well as the fact both of the members were very intelligent, as well as friendly, both of them had experience in some sort of creative media - Beth's being photography and Alex's on video production and editing. This added with my knowledge on film, all combined to create an outlook on our project that was very uplifting. We came up with a SWOT analysis to pin-point areas where we would excel, and where we could potential fail.
From the start, we had troubles coming up with an initial idea that; made sense, matched the conventions of our chosen genre and add an element of continuity highlighted within the script. After a lot of deliberation, our production team finally settled upon the final idea and a basic script for the preliminary exercise. We went through a number of ideas, some we did further develop enough to begin a script, but constant flaws and problems were found until we established our final and definitive dual colum script and accompanied this with a storyboard.
After choosing the final idea, we went on to start planning locations to shoot in. The first room we had in mind, had a really ugly and undiguisable fire door, which we think would of made our piece look more unprofessional and hardly believeable. Next we looked at the radio suite in the media department at the college, which we all really liked. It had a perfect balance of lighting and acoustics, as well as enough room for all the production crew and actors to be active in the room, and not be too cramped.After settling on this room as our definate choice, we did a
risk assessment to make sure every potential danger was covered and taken into account.
Having not filmed yet, it would be too soon for me to say that I feel we'll do brilliantly well on the Preliminary Exercise, but the detail and effort we have as a team all put into the initial planning, research and preparation makes me feel really confident that our outcome could be really good. Having over heard a couple of problems other teams have come across, we have listened and learnt from others mistakes, and really hope on avoiding them when it come to the recording next Tuesday.
From the start, we had troubles coming up with an initial idea that; made sense, matched the conventions of our chosen genre and add an element of continuity highlighted within the script. After a lot of deliberation, our production team finally settled upon the final idea and a basic script for the preliminary exercise. We went through a number of ideas, some we did further develop enough to begin a script, but constant flaws and problems were found until we established our final and definitive dual colum script and accompanied this with a storyboard.
After choosing the final idea, we went on to start planning locations to shoot in. The first room we had in mind, had a really ugly and undiguisable fire door, which we think would of made our piece look more unprofessional and hardly believeable. Next we looked at the radio suite in the media department at the college, which we all really liked. It had a perfect balance of lighting and acoustics, as well as enough room for all the production crew and actors to be active in the room, and not be too cramped.After settling on this room as our definate choice, we did a
risk assessment to make sure every potential danger was covered and taken into account.
Having not filmed yet, it would be too soon for me to say that I feel we'll do brilliantly well on the Preliminary Exercise, but the detail and effort we have as a team all put into the initial planning, research and preparation makes me feel really confident that our outcome could be really good. Having over heard a couple of problems other teams have come across, we have listened and learnt from others mistakes, and really hope on avoiding them when it come to the recording next Tuesday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)