Evelina Week 13

Week 13

 

Week 13 was the most longest weeks ever, we had bad weather and characters not coming to the location on time and someday not showing up. But we all pulled together and made everyday happen and got some thing done. During the filming I helped with getting the character in the right place, getting the right angles, checking if the angle is correct to shoot for each shot and just making sure everything is safe to use (eg ramps) and that my group members and actors are safe in the area we where working in. To see what we did during the days we creating vlogs to show our filming processes behind the real camera and showing what really happened whiles filming.

Evelina Week 12

Week 12

The test shoot was done over the Christmas holiday as the day that all the group members and actors were free the weather was not so good, as it was to dark or it was raining and we could not do test shoots or film clips for our film opening as the ramps were wet and the actor could of injured him self very badly.The wet weather and dark sky's at 12 noon reduced our time to get the filming and test shoot done, but we did use up our weekends to film everything to be on progress.  The test shoot was done at the same time as the filming of the shoot as the character were practicing and trying to get the thing we wanted right.

Evelina Week 11

Week 11

My group and I decided that we should take some independent research to help us with filming and editing process. So we did some research about sound, mise-en-scene, marketing, target audience, BI trip and poster. We all split the work so then we all have some kind of independent research done. However, we all came up wit one idea for a poster and decided on one at the end of it. We all worked together to get all the work done by the Christmas holidays so then over the holidays w can start filming all or shots that are needed.

Evelina Week 10

Week 10- Role in the group

This week we gave each other roles to have during the filming processes, so then our group can b organised. My role in the group was the editor, where I had to take the clips filmed and put them together to make the story come alive. Before I take the role of a editor I did some research to find what my job is and what I have to know. At first I though this can't be that hard, but when it came to be sitting in front of premier pro for the first time; I was lost. I did not know how to edit and spend the first 40 min finding out that things do and  where everything is. After the magical 40 min of exploring I figure everything out and started to put the film opening together. 

When I finish my first rough cut, we showed it to the class to get feed back, and every one said that it looked like a music video so I decided to change the whole thing, my teacher did not like the idea but I did not know what else to do. When I changed it everyone that saw it said it was way better then the first one and that we should us this on. After finishing editing the last cut of the film opening I realised there were quite a few differences to the original shot list as it did not link to the clip. This taught me that spending longer planning on the storyboard and shot list will help to achieve better results in a quicker time, 

The editing experience was great and stressful at the same time, but I think I have achieved good results and that the film opening looks great for someone that did not know how to edit of the start of 2015.

Evelina week 9 planing

Week 9

This week we had to start our planning for our film opening, so we had to create a storyboard to see how everything is going to look but in a drawing version then normal video. The storyboard was drawn by Anbish and myself, and put together into a video by Anbish; this was teamwork as we both worked together. The script, was a little confusing as I came up with the story but I did not write the script as I was doing the storyboard, so Farzin and Henali shared the script writing to write the best script  for our film opening. And finally the Reece, this was done by all 4 members of the group as we went out to the different locations in our spear time and went out to take  pictures of locations that we wanted to use but confident due to different issues. For example; we wanted to use a skate-park in central, which was called 'south bank', unfortunately we couldn't us that skate park due to the roof on top of the skate-park, the roof was blocking of the sun light and it would be dangerous to take the lighting there as it really busy in the central and there are a lot of people skating and watching that might damage the lights and camera. The planing was done as a team and everyone worked really well together, we have all created a strong bond now. The filming looks like it going to be good due to our groups relationship. 

Evelina week 8

Week 8: analysis of film log

This week we have been starting our research for the film opening task, and analysing original film openings and other student film openings that are on our genre. This will help my group and me to see what type of story we would like to do. So far we have decided that we want to do our film opening on teen drama film, which is to do with school and drugs; as our research showed that there are not much films based on that. My group and I would like to create a film opening as good as some other student we have seen as they looked professional, and really smooth for a AS level work. This has inspired us in producing a good film opening, as we have many ideas from real film openings and the really good student film openings. As a group we have looked at many teen drama films,by analysing film openings, it has helped us as a group gain more knowledge on what we have to do, and with more ideas that can be added to our film opening.

Evelina week 7

Week 7: sound log

Sound is one of the most important things in films as they help the audience gain a better understanding of what is going on in the scene, as something we might think that the scene sound one way, but when you hear the right sound that has been put in, it a whole new thing and provided a different feeling to what we were expecting.  I've learnt there are 4 types of sounds in media that are used to create films; they are sound editing, diegetic, non-diegetic sounds, and music,  which both are used in one film. The sound editing is when  sound are usually built up in layers, with each layer representing a different type of sound; each sound is recorded individually in order to achieve the best quality. All the racks must then be combined and layered to produce the final sound mix, this process takes place during post production and is the referred to as sound editing. Diegetic sound refers to the sound whose source is visible on the screen or  source that is implied to be present by the action of the film:

• voices of characters
• sounds made by objects in the story
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space

Non-diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Non diegetic sound. Non-diegetic sound, refers to sounds not explained in terms of any perceived source within the story world; like characters thoughts, and background music (which the characters can hear but the audience can). Non diegetic sounds are things like;

• narrator's commentary

• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
• mood music

Which are voice over, sound mofit, and stings; these give a bigger range of understanding  to the audience and gives a certain mood that the director wanted the audience to feel while watching it. Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space. A play with diegetic and non diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy), depending on the genre of the film. Learning about the different use of sound to set the mood and dicribe something, really helps me now as I know where my group and I have to use them in our film opening.

Evelina week 6

Week 6: camera  log

Camera week, at the start I though camera is just press the record button and that is it. However, this week I found out that there are different camera shots and angles types,composition and focus, and camera movements. These are all the things that we have to do with a camera to create an effective shot/ scene to add to the film; all of these need to be done at the same time as they create the film. I think to me the hardest thing will be the compositions;e.g. framing, rule of thirds, depth of field-deep and shallow focus. The rule of thirds are background, mid ground, and foreground, they are the areas that the characters have to be, the background have to be; so the audience do not get confused about the film, as there will be things moving around and will not look like it continuous. Also, the focus and filming at the same time will be tricky as we have not done this before, and I have read that high quality film industry's only us focus as they have cameras that are operated my computers, which make it easier for them to create the deep and pull focus.

Evelina week 5

Week 5: editing log

Editing is made up of many different things that help to create a film smoothly and effectively for the audience to enjoy. They are cutting, shot/reverse shot, eye-line match, graphic match action match, jump cuts, parallel editing, dissolve, fade in/ fade out, slow motion, and long and short takes. In class we learnt all this editing terms and understood what they mean and how to use them; we had a chance to practice using different editing techniques on Imovie, so then when we come to edit our film opening everyone in the group knows how to edit effectively and properly.  I found out that editing will take long to do when we are editing our film opening, to improve so then we can edit the film opening properly my group and I will do some editing at home; which should improve our skills on editing.

Evelina week 4

Week 4: mise-en-scene log

This week we learn about mise-en-scene, which means the things like actors, lighting, decorations, props, and costumes are arranged in the way that a director want the audience to see in the farming of the film. Also The frame and camera work are also considered part of the mise-en-scène of a movie. All elements of mise-en-scene have to be put in the right place as everything in the film is analysed and gives a understandable/ purpose for the element. Placing on the stage really means placing on the screen, and the director is in charge of deciding what goes where, when, and how; this is because the director is the person who know how the film need to look as he/she has come up with the idea. How ever the director does not walk around saying to change the some of the elements of mise-en-scene,even if many professionals are involved in the creation of the set, the director is the one who oversees the entire mise-en-scene with all it different elements; but during the stages of pre-production, the director or his AD looks over  to determine the look and feeling intended in the film, with the set designers, prop masters, location managers, costume designers, and scenic artists to determine the look and feel intended.

The set design means the décor of the the set, or how it’s dressed, comprising mainly of the furniture, props, and the set itself. Instead of just placing objects randomly, the director must be savvy to fathom how the elements may bear significance in a deeper level, while  emphasizing themes, creating meanings, and provoking thoughts at the same time. One of the film elements that is really powerful  to evoke emotions, is lighting; must be manipulated by the director to accommodate his/her desires for the movie. The two broad types of lighting approaches are: low-key lighting and high-key lighting.  High key-lighting is usually used in romance and musical films; low key-lighting provides even lighting pattern and avoiding dark areas in the frame. Everything looks bright with little to no shadow at all. Low-key lighting has little dramatic effect itself; this is usually seen in horror and thriller films to give it more character and also to build up the audiences tension. For the audience to understand the characters better, costume is really important as it is to dress an actor accordingly to the type of character they are; e.g. nurse wear scrubs, lawyers wear suits, British student wear uniform, american student wear whatever (depending on the character). And lastly, another most important thing in the mise-en-scene is the location, as for every film and genre there need to be the right location that will match up with the plot and the narrative. e.g. if there was a teen drama film and the location of the film was mostly set in a office and a church; then you and the audience will be confused as that location/ setting does not match up with the plot.

Evelina week 3

Week 3: theories  log

Week 3 was really important as we were learning the basic media theories; which we need to include in our portfolio and know for our exams. There are a few important people that have theories that have be used in films. The audience readings theory by Stuart Hall in 1980,  states that media texts are carefully chosen to create a ‘preferred reading’. according the Stuart Hall there are 3 different ways that the audience can understand a film; the 3 ways are: the preferred reading, negotiated reading, and oppositional reading. Other  theory are Representation theories which have 7 different concepts: class/status, gender, regional identity, age, physical ability/ disability, ethnicity, and sexuality. In the representation theory there are 3 theorists that have identified things that films focus on and which the audience do not realize, while watching the film/s.  The theorists have found stereotyping, male gaze, and ideal self/partner; this theories help the audience understand and build a image about the character and what they want in life. For example: ideal partner will be in a romance film that has a perfect man/husband that woman will start to think as the ‘perfect man’ because that is the image they have in their head.

Genre is what the media producers and the audience use to identify the type of film it will be and/or is. In 2001, Glen Creeber et al identified 12 TV Drama Genres; like soap operas to teen series to drama-documentaries.The narrative which is the structure of the story. The narrative structure has a equilibrium, disequilibrium, and resolution ; they do not have to be in order as in some films- which was found by Tzvetan Todorov’s in the 1960s. Also in 1969, Claude Levi-Strauss looked at Walter Lippmann stereotypes theory to see if there is anything else about it, Levi-Strauss found there are binary opposites. Binary opposites are like for example: on-off, black-white, up-down.

Evelina's Week 1 Preliminary task

Week 1: preliminary task log

For our first 2 week of the preliminary task, we had to film a simple film to find out what we are capable of and the things that we as a group need improving for our real task. I found the filming and editing part harder then the people in my group as they had done media before, and I was new to this. However, my team members Jabed and Farzin help me find out how to use a camera and how to edit. To start the filming we had to create a synopsis, script and a storyboard, as this will help us with filming and give us directions that we need to follow while filming. However, we had to change the idea as we though of a very long and more complex film then we had to do. Filming with Jabed and Farzin was fun as our synopsis was on a bully which was played by me; Jabed was the guy that I was bullying, which was fun for me as I played a part and i got to act like a mad person.

Evelina week 2

Week 2: remake log

To get to know more shots, we had to create a remake of a film opening so then we can have bigger range of shot in our final film opening. For my groups remake, we wanted to do Juno, however, when it come to filming there were too many distractions; like for example: people walking by, cars driving, and cars been parked on the roads that were perfects for the film opening for Juno. So we decided to change it, and the the film opening of To kill a mockingbird; which was also a struggle as we needed to get the props for the film opening. The props were a box with with little things like jewellery and colours. The filming part took a lot of time as the box was moving and when we did the writing part the items in the box came out of place so we had to re film from the start. Editing was done by Jabed, as me and Farzin did not know how to edit much. However, I'm creating my own short films to get the hang of editing. Although the remake took long time to make and we had to change our idea like the preliminary task, we still had fun creating it.