R&P Schedule

To make sure our R&P section of our blogs runs smoothly and everything is done by a set time each production team had to come up with a reasonable R&P Schedule that noted down who was doing what and when it should be completed by. 

Volcanic Productions' R&P Schedule

R&P Schedule

Mine and My Production Team's Short Films Evaluations

My Production Team's Short Films Evaluations

The first day back and we were thrown straight into the frying pan. We each had to pitch our short film idea to the class and Mr Hood and have peer assessment on:

- How realistic the idea is. This consisted of how practical the film idea was and whether it could be fitted into our 5 minute limit. 

- How creative it was. This consisted of basically how interesting and unique the idea was. 

- How well delivered it was. This focuses on how well we pitched the film idea to the class. If we were boring then we could make a really good idea sound really bad, while if we pitched a really good film then the audience's attention would be captured and the chances of the film's being commissioned.

7 Deadly Sins

My Film's Feedback:

My idea was heavily dependent on the 7 Deadly Sins. In brief the idea was about a christian man who is slowly being corrupted by the devil via the seven deadly sins. It started off with Greed, which descended into Envy, then Lust which resulted in Gluttony, turned into Sloth and then Wrath. After this came Pride which turned into the devil himself.
 The feedback I recieved suggested that my film idea had both a creative and interesting narrative however Mr Hood was worried that it may have been too intense and long-winded for the A2 project and wouldn't fit within the 5minute time limit. I strongly agree with this feedback as I do think that the idea was too big a project. I also felt, watching the video back, that I could of pitched a lot better as I seem to do a lot of stumbling over words which causes whatever I am trying to talk about to be harder to understand.
Charlotte B asked whether I felt that my idea was too long for the time given and at the time I felt that I'd manage it because there was only going to be one person to do every sin and that I could combine two sins into one: so Lust and Jealousy could tie in together, which would save time. The answer I gave back during the pitch I feel never answered her question properly. Now looking back, I agree with Charlotte that the idea was far too ambitious for the A2 project.
She also asked how I was going to show how the protagonist was being affected and corrupted by the 7 deadly sins. In answer to this question I thought about applying small bits of colour to the protagonist's clothing to signify the corruption, so for wrath it would be an item of red or black clothing while for gluttony maybe an orange wrapper.

Mystery

 

Cameron's Film:

Cameron's idea involved a mysterious murder which was committed by a unsuspected person. You are led to believe it was the drunk who killed the stranger however it turns out that its actually the friend that killed the stranger after he thought he was following him.
The feedback Cameron recieve was both negative and postive. People liked his idea however they thought it lacked motive or moto. I think that the moto behind the film would be "don't judge a book by its cover." As in, don't just ashume something about somebody just because of how they present themselves. Get to know them first.
I believe the idea to be a good one, however a difficulty we would have encountered would be the lack of police cars being available for us to use or the lack of police tape or realistic costumes. It would be hard to do in a 5 minute time restriction.

 

The Silver Lining

 

Daniel's Film:

Daniel's film idea was about a boy who falls into a brief comotosed state after crashing his motorbike into a tree. Following this he then has an out-of-body experience in which he walks around and nobody can see him, however at certain times things from the outter world affects him - like a light being shined into his body's eye makes the whole world go white for him etc. 

On problem was that it would be dangerous for the actor to fall off a moving motorbike, or to fake a crash. The idea was interesting and creative and I believe the idea would be even better if we didn't have just 5 minutes for a film as we could develop on the story line.

Break

 

Charlotte's Film:

Charlotte wanted her film to be more of a comical story line. It was about a man being constantly pushed around all of his life by his wife, his parents and his boss until one day he just breaks and starts to act like a child and throws tantrums.

I thought the idea was a pretty good one, really humerous and interesting and would possibly fit within the 5 minute time limit, if we could condence it. It was a shame there was no powerpoint to go with the pitch, as the pitch was good but there was no visual prospect to show what the characters would be wearing or look like etc. 

Production Team Name & Logo

Volcanic Productions

So, we now have been put into our production teams for the A2 course. These groups are exactly the same as the groups we were in for the Litter Documentary, and so the next post is introducing all of the members of my production team, however this post is all about our production team's name & the logo we are thinking about. 

The name:

We chose to call our production team 'Volcanic' for many reasons. For one we wanted something better than last year where many of the production groups simply used their teams names (as I did for the AS level with the production name JARLINC) or simple things like forces - Gravity. We tried to make the name represent more of our values instead of just our names;

     We felt that Volcanic served this purpose. The connection is that a volcano can take years preparing to erupt by going through a particular orderly process: if something goes wrong within this process it is unable to make a big impact/erupt: e.g if there isn't enough magma in the magma chamber or if its Dormant or extinct for example.

     This is exactly like our production team. We take a while to process our ideas and getting ready to film our final product. We pay attention to every detail and everything has a set process and order to go in. In the same way that should something go wrong in a volcanoes process, if something goes wrong within our schedule etc, we are impacted immensely and it could prevent a big impact. If one or more of our team members being to slack - like a volcano being dormant - it could prolong the films production. Should one of our team members not turn up or simply do nothing at all - like a volcano being extinct - it could then halt our films production or make extra work for others.

The final connection to our production teams name is the fact that the eruption of a volcano - the final product - is a huge impact and effects those around it and so we are saying that our films have big impacts on the audience that watches it and that the final result of our process is major.

Logo: 

We wanted the logo to involve a volcano's crater exploding to show off how our films give off a big impact, while at the same time the name "Volcanic" coming either out of the crater as if like smoke, or resting on the edge whilst the word "Productions" is written on the side of the crater. Here is a drawn example:

Volcanic Productions Team Introductions

The members of Volcanic Productions

This post is to introduce the four team members of Volcanic Productions

1. Deanna, 2. Cameron, 3. Daniel, 4. Charlotte

1) Deanna (Me)

Strengths: Directing, Post-production and Camerawork

 I feel that directing is my most proficient strength within media as I took on this role during the first year of my media course and have a lot more experience with it now. I am able to take control of the production team and make sure that production is running smoothly and that everything is running on schedule. I make sure that everybody is doing what they are meant to, to the best of their ability while I also come up with any new ideas for the narrative and ways of filming certain shots for the best effect. I direct the actors during filming whilst the others in the production team focus on doing the camerawork, sound-recording and lighting. This is why for this year I am once again taking the role of directing.

I have gained a lot of experience in the post-production aspect of media on Final Cut and Soundtrack-Pro, combining both my sound-editing and video editing skills together to create the final piece in my AS project. I prefer doing the sound-editing than the film editing as I feel I can be much more creative with the sound. However, this year we are using a different Final Cut - FCP X - which seems to be much easier to use, and also has gotten rid of the Soundtrack Pro software we used last year as we are able to do sound-editing within the new Final Cut.

Area of development: Sound-recording and focusing of the camera

I'm not very good with the focusing of the new Digital DSLR-600D Cameras, which could cause problems whilst filming. To improve on this myself and my production team are going to be meeting up during lunch times and after school to get in some practise sessions with the cameras to develop on the focusing issues. The sound recording I haven't really done much of and so have not really got any experience in the field been as last year I left it or Daniel to take control of, so for this A2 media course project I will be practising a lot more with the sound-recording kit.

2) Cameron

Strengths: Camerawork, Post-production and Sound-recording

Camerawork is Cameron's most proficient strength as he knows his way around the camera and is always eager to go out and film. The shots he gets are always well done and he is excellent at doing controlled shaky-cam, panning shots and crab shots as well as many more. Last year he was often found using the camera and has gained a lot of experience with it and the camera's equipment that goes with it, like the track and dolly.

Area of development: Focusing of the camera and directing

Cameron shows area of development in the directing aspect of the film making. He prefers to take a step back and do more hands on work like the filming rather than doing the directing of a production team. The focusing of the camera is also an area for improvement which is the same for everybody else in my group, including myself, however he seems to have a better grasp at the focusing then most of us.

3) Daniel

Strengths: Sound-recording, Sound Editing and Lighting

Throughout the AS course, Daniel was the team member who manned the sound-recording, making him an experienced part of the team in this area. For this reason we are appointing him sound-recorder again for the A2 course this year. He is the person in our production team who we go to for any sound issues and if we need anything recording due to his experience with the equipment needed.

He also helped me with the sound-editing last year which we hope he will do again as he seems to have a flare for this as him doing Music seems to allow him a better ear for the right sounding SFX and soundtracks.

Area of development: Focusing of the camera and time management

Daniel needs to practice the focusing of the camera along with the rest of us, as we all need to make sure the focusing is spot on before we head out shooting our films.
He also has room for little improvement in time management, as sometimes he can fall behind on some of his given duties - such as the blog posts.

4) Charlotte

Strengths: Directing, Post-production and Lighting

Charlotte shows strength within the directing of the production team, and she comes up many goods ideas for us to do. Both me and Charlotte are able to work together without need of arguing, which is a good thing as many who both direct end up with conflict and bad blood between them.

Area of development: Focusing of the camera 
Again, it's simply the focusing of the camera. She seems a lot more capable with the focusing, as is Cameron, but we still all need practice to make it perfect.

Litter Documentary Evaluation

The Litter Documentary

Following on from my last post on DSLR training, this was the training task that we were set to complete as practise for our main product. Myself and my group (Cameron Hargreaves, Daniel Springthorpe and Charlotte Smith) and the class (2 other groups) were set the task of creating a documentary about litter. My group chose to focus on Great Wyrley High School and went out on different shooting sessions to film it: in a week.

The documentary needed certain elements within it:

- Interview

- B-Roll

- Talking Heads

- Establishing Shot

- Soundtrack

- Voice Over

 The original documentary

Feedback/Evaluation:

Our Litter Documentary and the peer assessment.

The main problem we discovered while filming was that myself and my group had trouble with focusing the Cameras. Many of the shots we thought were fine actually were slightly out of focus, normally highlighting objects in the picture not needed. One main error that was pointed out by our peers was the interview with Mrs Kearsey. We hadn't noticed whilst filming, but it was the penguin behind her that was in focus, while she was slightly blurred out. 

Another piece of feedback given was that the music didn't actually go with the documentary - it was too morbid. We had thought of this whilst we were searching for the soundtrack, but we decided to test it out just in case; trial and error. However there were some in the room that enjoyed the soundtrack, causing a clash of opinion.

The creativity of our documentary was one of it's shining aspects. Our peers thought we had many good ideas within it but the focusing and the length of the documentary in itself let it down. Some of the photos taken they really liked, however there was a downside to the fact that one person thought they were not necessary to the documentary as she hadn't seen them in other documentaries.

Overall we see our documentary as a success because there were a few positives about it and it was a complete failure, however I do feel there is plenty of room for development and improvement for us to be ready to film our final product.

Shooting Sessions:

Our shooting sessions went well. We split up the filming between the four of us - one day was for myself and Cameron to go out taking photos and filming pieces of litter whilst the next it was Daniel and Charlotte that went out to film Mrs Kearsey and other pieces of litter and bins.

We booked an appointment with Mrs Kearsey on the Monday to interview her. We took a while to set up and make sure everything was ready, but we felt that once we started the interview went went apart from the small error of focusing.

The following post is about the FCP X training we did to create this document.

FCP X Training

To edit our litter documentary, we needed to use the Final Cut Pro software. This has changed since when we did our AS media project as it has been updated which meant we had to under go training on how to use the new FCP X. This post is going to show you the process of how we edited together our documentary and showing you the ins and outs of FCP X.

The main FCP X window

The complete main window of FCP X

Final Cut Pro X is way better than the last Final Cut Pro we used last year in my opinion as it allows us to edit all of audio and the video in the same software, instead of like last year where we had to use two pieces of software: Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut, to do the editing separate and then j#combining them after. This new aspect allows us less hassle as we don't need to keep exporting and importing our film between software, it can be kept together which allows it to be quicker and easier to do. Another great element of this new version is that is saves your work instantly, so you don't need to panic so much if you forget to save. Each media production group gets their own library too, which is much better for organising your work.

The imported files window

The imported audio and video file window that we are working with.

The window above is set in the top left of the main window in the previous image. This is where all of the audio files and the footage we film go once we import it into FCP X. This section is much better than the previous Final Cut as it now allows you to see a small image of the clips instead of just theirs names, and also able to 'in' and 'out' the clips before you put them into your timeline at the bottom of the window. You are also able to create folders and tag each clip or audio piece to go into the ideal folder, which keeps your work neater and much easier to find; saving plenty of time. 

The timeline

This part is called the timeline, and is where post of the editing of our films is done.

The timeline is probably the most important section of Final Cut Pro X. It shows you both the footage and the soundtrack (green) beneath it, and this where the imported files from the top left corner (previous image) is dragged into place, moved around and clipped to literally create your film. The soundtrack beneath is gone about exactly the same, sound volume and effects can be changed here as well as all of the tool required are ready for use. You can put numerous amounts of audio onto the timeline, some overlapping build up your films soundtrack and same goes the video footage, however this is sightly more limited as you probably won't need three or so layers of film.

The viewing window

This window shows your the on-screen video of the product being created

This was were we were able to view what exactly we were doing and where we were able to play our film through to see if there was any mistakes that needed altering. The particular image in this picture was a photo we took to use as B-roll over the top of Mrs Kearsey speaking (shown in the first image at the top of the post). This particular window simply has a rewind, fast-forward and play/pause button - no other tools are much needed due to the majority of editing being done within the timeline window at the bottom of the Final Cut Pro X Screen.

DSLR Training

Training with the Digital DSLR-600D Camera

This year for our A2 media course instead of using the Sony HD cameras like last year, we are using new Digital DSLR-600D Camera. 
These cameras are more advanced than the previous cameras and require a lot more training to use them effectively. Much of this training we did in our own time as research and watching videos, whilst we also had practise training by doing a small documentary on litter.  They are much smaller than the Sony HD ones that we used, which were very large and bulky; which made them incredibly hard to manoeuvre about and to get the shot you want. That is where these DSLR cameras are a major improvement to last year. Furthermore, these DSLR cameras allow you to set your own exposure to suit your location, whilst performing a focus pull is much easier now as the focusing is more effective on these cameras. 

The difficulties with the DSLR Cameras for me is to get the correct amount of exposure and to get the focus exactly right - as this is a major part of course that we get marked on in our film. For this we will be going out for focus training sessions to make sure we master this. 

This was one of the videos we had to watch to have a brief understanding of how to use the Canon 600D cameras. 

Exposure

When using the Digital DSLR-600D Canon cameras you need to pay close attention to the exposure. This differs from the Sony HD Cameras of last year because we didn't need to manually alter these settings as it wasn't a digital camera; it did it automatically. The exposure is often depicted as a triangle in a diagram, with three settings that each work together to ager the exposure. As you can see from the diagram below, if the shutter speed is fast (meaning that the duration of the shutter being open is a short amount of time) it allows less light to filter into the lens while if the Aperture is narrow it allows less light also into the lens - causing the exposure to be dark. However on the other hand if the Aperture is wide it allows more light into the lens and if the ISO is high, more light is able to get in and so causes the exposure to be too bright. You need to get the right amount of each setting to make the exposure be correct. 

Exposure diagram

Here are some examples of different types of exposure:

This image is under exposed, meaning not enough light is coming into the lens.  

This image is over exposed, meaning too much light is being let into the lens which causes the objects in the image/film to seem overpowering and much too bright.

This is the correct level of exposure, where just the right among of light is entering the lens.

Aperture

The aperture - or depth of field - is basically how much light gets into the lens. If you want the aperture to allow more light into the lens you need to make the depth of field wide, which means you must lower the F-stops, whilst if you wish to make less light filter through into the lens you must make the depth of field narrow which means the F-stops must be increased. The recommended aperture depends on where you are filming. During filming my documentary I used any where between 10-13 depending on how bright the location was. Indoors you would lower this as there is normally less sunlight to affect the exposure.

This shows the depth of field of the shutter as you widen and narrow the aperture by lowering the F-stops and increasing the F-Stops. For example, the f/1.4 shows the lowest F-stop with the widest depth of field, allowing more light into the lens. f/16 shows the highest F-stop with the narrowest depth of field, allowing less light into the lens.

Shutter Speed

The shutter speed is the duration that the shutter is open for. This means that for more light to be filtered through it is important that you increase the shutter speed so that the shutter is open for longer, allowing the light to get into the camera for more amount of time. To make the the exposure darker, you need to make the duration of the shutter speed shorter, meaning that shutter is open for less amount of time. The recommended shutter speed is 50. It also depends on what you are filming and the effect you want to get.

This image shows how you use the aperture and the shutter speed together to film a certain object. In the first picture you  can see how narrow the aperture is and how short the shutter is open for so film something of small movement - in this case a few drops of water. Whereas on the other side you see that the aperture is widened (so the F-stops are reduced) and the shutter speed is lengthened so that the shutter speed is open longer so that the light can filter in and film faster paced items, for example the stream of water into the bucket. 

This chart shows the different shutter speeds used to film certain objects and to get a certain effect should you want any.

ISO

The ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to the light. For more light needed in the lens to get the right exposure you need to raise the ISO, especially if you are outside and there is bright sunlight. If you need less light you must lower the ISO, normally this happens if there isn't much light around in the location.

This image shows you how in lower lights in the location - so at night time - you use the lowest ISO, which is 100 so get the best exposure, whilst if you increase the 1SO you could get rather a grainy film.

This diagram shows you what each ISO level does - so if you set the ISO to 100, you get less amount of light in the lens,  while if you set the ISO to 1600 (the highest ISO) you get the most light into the lens.

The next post is evaluating our training task: the Litter Documentary.