H - NEWS UNIT - PROJECT EVALUATION
1. Ideas. 30/09/19
After getting into our group which included me, Jack and Rebecca, we brainstormed about the various idea's that we could look at these ideas was:
- Environment
- Sleep
- Vegan foods
The Environment idea came from an article in the Sun newspaper about petrol running out within the next 16 years.
After looking at the 3 ideas it was decided that Environmental issue was the odd one out because the sleep and vegan idea tied into the brand that we wanted to create which was about health and healthy living, plus the environmental issues are all over the media at this present time so finding something 'New' to research would pose a challenge, we could have however looked at the fact that the article in the sun was steering towards clean energy and Electric cars would take over and what impact that that could have on society, traffic, power points, but that was far off the track in which intended to do.
Jack had done some research in veganism which led him to the direction of wanted to a historic piece of how veganism was perceived in the 1980s to how it is looked upon now as a lifestyle rather than a culture - as he was explaining his research I heard him say about the effect that it can have upon the body and one point he had was about sleep deprivation, this tied the sleep aspect into our piece and prompted me to research this further.
2. Who is doing what?
- Risk Assessment sheets.0
- Script for live piece.
2. Who is doing what?
- All
- Story.
- Research.
- Branding and Promo video.
- Producers.
- Reporter.
- Jack.
- Risk Assessment sheets.0
- Script for live piece.
- logo.
- Graphics.
- Dop.
- Fine Cut
- Carla
- Main story.
- Location contact.
- Contributor Contact.
- Script for sleep piece
- Call Sheets.
- Consent forms.
- Rough Edit.
- Driver.
- Costume/Wardrobe.
- Director.
- Reporter.
- Rebecca
- Sound.
- Shot list.
- Website.
- Set design.
- Assistant Director.
- Transcript of audio meeting.
We have distributed jobs that play on our strengths, I feel like we work well as a group and if any of us struggle in any way we are willing to help each other. We sat down and discussed what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.
"Although its size depends on the complexity of your screenplay, you are going to need a crew with the specialized skills to help you realise your project" (Jones, 2012:24)
3. Brand.
We had our 2 ideas now it was time to work out our brand, we took images from Pinterest to create a mood board, we saw that the colours used mostly for healthy logos are blues and greens.
We applied that to our piece so that it can be easily identified.
We are also going to have our target audience from 18 - 35 as we feel that within this age bracket that it is more likely for people to change the way they think about what they eat and become more aware of lifestyle choices then that of people over the age 35, as people become creatures of habit in which they are more likely accustomed to a lifestyle that we have had for years and change becomes more of a challenge.
We intend to keep a fresh looking brand and not so heavy on the news pieces so it is easy to follow and fun to watch, so for this we are going to keep it light and following and come up with some new research which can ultimately change a lifestyle of the younger generation, which will have a great impact on their future. We don't want to lose the audience of heavy based facts, so visual elements are key to this package.
We are also going to have our target audience from 18 - 35 as we feel that within this age bracket that it is more likely for people to change the way they think about what they eat and become more aware of lifestyle choices then that of people over the age 35, as people become creatures of habit in which they are more likely accustomed to a lifestyle that we have had for years and change becomes more of a challenge.
We intend to keep a fresh looking brand and not so heavy on the news pieces so it is easy to follow and fun to watch, so for this we are going to keep it light and following and come up with some new research which can ultimately change a lifestyle of the younger generation, which will have a great impact on their future. We don't want to lose the audience of heavy based facts, so visual elements are key to this package.
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| (Pintrest:19) |
(pintrest/19)
03/10/19.
4. Names for the news channel.
- MBS - Mind, body and soul - I looked into this further and see that this is already a copyright name for a company, however, I feel like this in bold letters and in the correct colours we can use it.
- Lifestyle Tv - This gives a clear indication of what the brand is and there can be logos that can be produced bu this with the right graphics, in the studio we could have bold letters like the NHS do with the letters LST.
- Body Aware News - BAN -This indicates of how to be wiser about the lifestyle choices that our audience can relate to and help them to be more conscious about things that they need to know because our news is to try to promote a better way of life through simple changes in a lifestyle. With a name like BAN, it can also attract an audience who think that our news has been "banned" this means its more likely to get viewers more interested.
Change of name 14/10/19
After another look at the name 'BAN', it was discussed between the group that it could actually mean 'BAN' TV in which it was sending out the wrong information for our viewer.
We explored themes that would fit our brand:
- Healthy lifestyle
- Mind
- Body
5. The Story.
- Veganism.
He went back to the drawing board and came up with a lighter piece to film a live news item which was to attempt to convert a meat-eater into trying a new eating lifestyle, this was to be done by a taste test, it was to be presenter-led and it fits well within the time-slots that we have.
- Sleep Disorders.
We gathered as much information that we could by speaking to a consultant at Medway Maritime hospital and online research.
The story is about how sleep disorders affect people now, later on in life and un-known signs that go amiss because people don't know about those signs. We explore the importance of spotting the signs early and we will output this by:
- Having a case study.
- Speaking to contributors.
- Gathering facts on line.
- Speaking from experience.
This will be reporter lead, with interviews, GV's and sequences of our contributors.
6. Scripts.
Jack went away and he worked on his script structure, as I wasn't apart of that I cannot comment on how he structured his script.
When I sat down and wrote my script I had a vision in mind yet I found it difficult to write down on paper as I am used to writing fiction pieces, however, I started with a harsh opening "Can sleep kill you?" this did change after our tutorial, because we needed to ease the audience in.
if we give away a story straight away this will not be newsworthy, we need to keep it interesting for the viewer to want to find out more, so a subtle change is needed.
28/10/19 - The Script was altered to fit a sequence although I feel that on the day of the shot we had more of a creative eye to run push the story forward this was down to great communication with the group and working together on a vision of what we wanted to see in the edit.
08/11/19
I feel like I need to develop my 'Factual' script skills as I, I understand that giving a script to someone (who isn't in my head) can be difficult to see the story, this is something I need to work on. Although Factual entertainment is something that I never thought I would enjoy, it actually has become a love of mine and with guidance, my script development will improve.
7. Equipment needed for the shoot.
As we will be filming in various locations and doing walkie talkies here is the list of equipment that we intend to use:
8. Contributors.
One thing is for sure I am not shy when it comes to contacting people and getting locations/cast/contributors.
Below is the list of contributors and how it worked out.
I was in search of a case study before I spoke with Geraldine and it was just a passing conversation about the project that led me to ask her if she would be involved.
How it worked out on the day?
We filmed on 31/10/19 and Geraldine was very prepared this was because I liaised with her via email stating what we expected from her on the day. She was also aware of what a sequence is as she had been apart of a BBC documentary a few years before, she took direction well and was patient with us filming in her home during a busy time of the school run and her parents coming to visit, we got more information then we could use but she was an overall excellent contributor.
How did it work on the day?
I sent Gabriella emails to contribute to our production, however, she was unable to go on camera but she was going to submit an audio transcript for us for our news piece. We received word on the 01/11/19 that she was didn't have time to get over what we needed in time for our edit, but it worked out well as after our tutorial we realised that is someone just gives us audio it could lose our viewers.
The original idea was to get an external presenter as we thought that we may have needed more audio in which we had sort out to have. Once we had come to terms with our budget, it was going to cost £45 to get our chosen person in for a half-day shoot, in which we only needed two hours in the green screen room.
When we discussed it we decided that Ethan would be perfect for the part as he has a great voice and a great look to present our piece and the fact that he had turned vegan a few months before it was an added bonus.
How it worked on the day?
On arrival we were informed that we had no access to the Ipad so we had no Autocue, however, Ethan was confident to learn his lines and have paper prompts which Jack had provided for us before we went into the shoot.
Ethan made filming comfortable with his witter banter and professionalism, so the choice we made for the presenter could not have been a better one.
I have known Paul since 2008, we worked on a music video together. He set up his own studio and become a producer 4 years ago.
After hearing what he has done I contacted him in regards to producing an original composition for our news item.
What happened on the day?
Paul came up to Maidstone studio's in which we sat down and went through some pre-recorded tracks that he had already made, he spoke of riff and hooks (which I had no clue about at the time) I spoke to him about stings and intro's (which I had a little idea what they where.
That same night of the meeting in October, Paul came up with the introduction of music for our New package, then I sent him over the rough cut edit on the 08/11/19 and he sorted out the levels for use on the audio. The reason behind getting an external producer is:
1. We haven't had training intensely into sound.
2. Contacting people outside of our course is evidence that we can communicate with the external creative artist with confidence and assurance that we produce quality as well as quantity.
9. Locations.
"When you go on location, you have to bring just about everything you'll need with you. Don't expect the people at the location to provide anything more than electricity for your lights" (Hampe, 2007:29)
The simplest script determines what locations are needed, where did I get this quote from? that would be my head and 15 years of it being drummed into my head by various teachers/tutors/producers (so can't site this one).
We knew that we had to get certain locations for the following:
Cafe Nucleus-1 Location.
When Jack had briefed me about his idea (getting a meat-eater to try vegan foods) I did not hesitate to contact my favourite restaurant, 'Cafe Nucleus' In Chatham.
6. Scripts.
Jack went away and he worked on his script structure, as I wasn't apart of that I cannot comment on how he structured his script.
When I sat down and wrote my script I had a vision in mind yet I found it difficult to write down on paper as I am used to writing fiction pieces, however, I started with a harsh opening "Can sleep kill you?" this did change after our tutorial, because we needed to ease the audience in.
if we give away a story straight away this will not be newsworthy, we need to keep it interesting for the viewer to want to find out more, so a subtle change is needed.
28/10/19 - The Script was altered to fit a sequence although I feel that on the day of the shot we had more of a creative eye to run push the story forward this was down to great communication with the group and working together on a vision of what we wanted to see in the edit.
08/11/19
I feel like I need to develop my 'Factual' script skills as I, I understand that giving a script to someone (who isn't in my head) can be difficult to see the story, this is something I need to work on. Although Factual entertainment is something that I never thought I would enjoy, it actually has become a love of mine and with guidance, my script development will improve.
7. Equipment needed for the shoot.
As we will be filming in various locations and doing walkie talkies here is the list of equipment that we intend to use:
- Panasonic Camera.
- LED lights.
- Track and Dolly.
- Clip Mic.
- Rode Mic.
8. Contributors.
One thing is for sure I am not shy when it comes to contacting people and getting locations/cast/contributors.
Below is the list of contributors and how it worked out.
- Victor - Test subject for the taste test.
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| From Facebook profile |
Victor was contacted by Jack who has a close friendship with him and which victor has shared stories with about his background at home. he is a lover of meat and is going going to be our test subject for
the live piece.
How it worked out on the day?
Victor had read the brief before the shoot so he had the knowledge of what was actually going to happen on the day, he dressed in the appropriate wardrobe as from my research into what is appropriate dress code I understand that looking smart is an indication of professionalism.
Victor arrived on time and he was ready to shoot, he had an input of what he was going to say and when he was going to say it.
- Gezzete Gulpo - NHS consultant at the sleep clinic at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham.
Gazette was contacted by myself as I thought she would be able to shed light on information that we needed to move our story forward.
How it worked out on the day?
Our group visited Gezzete at Medway Hospital in October, initially we wanted to meet her before we went for an interview, this was so she could get to know us and become comfortable, so we could film on another day, however after our audio interview Gezzete confided in us that an 'on camera' interview would make her feel uncomfortable and after many days of emails and phone calls to her she did not return any of this above, it wasn't an epic fail as we had some great information in which lead us to ,more pressing subjects with our original story, such as 'Snoring' isn't normal nor is talking in our sleep, this was prompted us to contact more contributors and took our story with a different angle in which we had originally had set out to do.
- Geraldine lee - Sleep, case study.
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| From Facebook profile |
I have known Geraldine for 25 years, yet it was only recently that I found out she had a sleep disorder and this was after we had met Gezzete.
I was in search of a case study before I spoke with Geraldine and it was just a passing conversation about the project that led me to ask her if she would be involved.
How it worked out on the day?
We filmed on 31/10/19 and Geraldine was very prepared this was because I liaised with her via email stating what we expected from her on the day. She was also aware of what a sequence is as she had been apart of a BBC documentary a few years before, she took direction well and was patient with us filming in her home during a busy time of the school run and her parents coming to visit, we got more information then we could use but she was an overall excellent contributor.
- Aaron Jangra - Pharmacist - Expert.
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| From Carla's Iphone |
It wasn't till after we had the new that Gazette was no longer going to be involved in the production that I had to think of way we could piece together in-out points of our story from the script, there was a point in the script that I talked about medication, which influenced my idea to contact a pharmacist.
Aaron has been prescribing my son's medication for 2 years and it was through passing that I asked him about his knowledge of sleep disorders, I asked him if he could be apart of our news item and he agreed.
How did it work on the day?
On the original day of filming which was 04/11/19 myself and jack arrived at the chemist to find that Aaron was in a hoodie! when I walked in he said "Oh no I forgot about today, I am on my way to Germany" we rescheduled for the 07/11/19 and I reminded him to wear a shirt (which he smiled about)
The 07/11/19 came and we made sure again that we made our presence known because this time I called in the morning to confirm. Aaron was more than ready dressed in his suit, he had also briefed us prior to filming as what he wanted to discuss, another great contributor.
- Gabriella Romano - sleep studio expert.
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| From Gabriella Romano sent via email |
I contacted Gabriella due to the fact that she had led a sleep clinic at the university for the creative arts in Rochester.
How did it work on the day?
I sent Gabriella emails to contribute to our production, however, she was unable to go on camera but she was going to submit an audio transcript for us for our news piece. We received word on the 01/11/19 that she was didn't have time to get over what we needed in time for our edit, but it worked out well as after our tutorial we realised that is someone just gives us audio it could lose our viewers.
- Ethan Urquhart - Presenter.
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| From Facebook Profile |
The original idea was to get an external presenter as we thought that we may have needed more audio in which we had sort out to have. Once we had come to terms with our budget, it was going to cost £45 to get our chosen person in for a half-day shoot, in which we only needed two hours in the green screen room.
When we discussed it we decided that Ethan would be perfect for the part as he has a great voice and a great look to present our piece and the fact that he had turned vegan a few months before it was an added bonus.
How it worked on the day?
On arrival we were informed that we had no access to the Ipad so we had no Autocue, however, Ethan was confident to learn his lines and have paper prompts which Jack had provided for us before we went into the shoot.
Ethan made filming comfortable with his witter banter and professionalism, so the choice we made for the presenter could not have been a better one.
- Paul Harris - Music Producer and Sound Editor.
I have known Paul since 2008, we worked on a music video together. He set up his own studio and become a producer 4 years ago.
After hearing what he has done I contacted him in regards to producing an original composition for our news item.
What happened on the day?
Paul came up to Maidstone studio's in which we sat down and went through some pre-recorded tracks that he had already made, he spoke of riff and hooks (which I had no clue about at the time) I spoke to him about stings and intro's (which I had a little idea what they where.
That same night of the meeting in October, Paul came up with the introduction of music for our New package, then I sent him over the rough cut edit on the 08/11/19 and he sorted out the levels for use on the audio. The reason behind getting an external producer is:
1. We haven't had training intensely into sound.
2. Contacting people outside of our course is evidence that we can communicate with the external creative artist with confidence and assurance that we produce quality as well as quantity.
9. Locations.
"When you go on location, you have to bring just about everything you'll need with you. Don't expect the people at the location to provide anything more than electricity for your lights" (Hampe, 2007:29)
The simplest script determines what locations are needed, where did I get this quote from? that would be my head and 15 years of it being drummed into my head by various teachers/tutors/producers (so can't site this one).
We knew that we had to get certain locations for the following:
- Vegan Taste test
- Expert premisses (visual as well as importance)
- Case Study.
- Presenter.
Cafe Nucleus-1 Location.
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| Rights belong to MBS News |
When Jack had briefed me about his idea (getting a meat-eater to try vegan foods) I did not hesitate to contact my favourite restaurant, 'Cafe Nucleus' In Chatham.
I knew from reading their menu that they had a variety of Vegan foods and it had a tropical feel about it, with palm trees and chill-out music (It is most peculiar that the owner is also called Aaron like our pharmacist) so I knew it would be the perfect location for us.
Even if it rained we had an outdoor shelter which still had the character to it, that we visualised.
The look goes with our brand for Mind-body and soul, it's green, tropical and calming, there is no other way to explain relaxation then a palm tree in the back ground.
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| Rights belong to MBS News |
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| Rights belong to MBS News |
Although we didn't utilise all the space on the day we knew exactly the location we were working in and how it made sense to the piece we wanted to work in.
Why it worked?
Even though it was raining and we had plans to film a walkie talkie piece, it worked because we had the shelter and could still feel like we were in a tropical place, we had the background set up with the trees when Jack did the interview and made sure the colours all matched for our brand.
- Sleep Story.
Location 2 - Geraldine's house - case study
As a group we decided that the best place was to film at Geraldine's house, this was because it was in her comfort zone, this is where she lives with her family and it can have a connection with everyone, this humanises the story.
Location 3 - Bed Shop - Gillingham.
The bed shop was a suggestion from Helen as within the script I talk about my experience with a sleep disorder, she only suggested it but we wanted to give it a try to see if it could work. In the end, we didn't use the footage but it was good for a test shoot.
Location 4 - My House.
(PICS)
As the bed shop did not work out we decided last minute to use my house (bedroom) as this would be another personal approach to the news piece, it would show me getting into my bed and doing a PTC and humanizing me as a reporting Journalist.
Location 5 - Merlin's chemist - Walderslade
We choice merlins pharmacy because it was where our expert works and we could get some actuality footage of Aaron (The owner and contributor).
Location 6 - Green Screen room.
We filmed the presenter part in the green screen room to ensure that we got good audio, great lighting and so we could put our branding colour within the background.
10. Filming.
'The point to all camera work is to let the audience see the scene in the way you would like to present it to them" (Hampe, 2007:243)
DAY ONE: 'Live' at Cafe Nucleus.
The weather was not on our side on the day of shot, however we had already had a plan 'B' as plan 'A' was to get a PTC Walkie talkie outside to the inside of the gazebo then to meet Victor who would be waiting inside with the plates of food to try.
On arrival, we looked around for the best backdrop and the place that we found was appropriate because of the lighting behind and the tropical look of the trees, you couldn't see that the weather was awful outside.
We arranged a plan B ahead of time and made sure that we had a back-up because as stated on the call sheet we had a 50% chance of rain.
We feel as a group that we could have got more coverage as when it came to the edit we realized that we had run over too long and didn't have any other options but to cut and closes edited it together.
I also know that as I was on Camera I should have been more aware of the time, I did not follow the script and that I should have done because I would have had more control, I didn't take creative responsibility for the day of the shoot when I should have done also.
DAY TWO: Geraldine' House - Erith - Kent.
We arrived on location at 2:30pm, we were told by our contributor that we were unable to film her till 4pm however we set up for the outside shot to start off with the walkie talkie sequence, we wanted to get the shoot early as it was still light and it was also Halloween, so we had less chance of having to retake shots and having to piece together hard continuity.
We wanted to get different sequences:
- Walkie talkie.
- PTC
The issues that we faced filming outside the house was that we attracted some unwanted attention from the neighbourhood kids and we had a lot of waiting around for the noise to subside ie: footballs bouncing off the floor and screaming children, however, we got some good moments of silents when we first set up.
After looking at the footage the only downside was the audio anyway, but hopefully, that can be fixed in post.
We started filming the sequence of Gelradine and the interview of her at 3:30, we recced the internal spaces and discussed light set up.
We did this so we could plan ahead as it was getting darker as we continued to film.
As we started to film Gelradine's house her mother arrived and it was discussed that we could get some extra footage of her talking to Geraldine about her sleep (See test shots for sequence) it was decided after that we didn't have enough time within the edit to get that sequence in but getting extra footage gave us more options if we needed to have a different angle to our news item.
All the people that we had filmed on the day was compliant and prepared, they took direction well and had patients with us as a crew.
DAY THREE: Bed Shop - Gillingham
We didn't recce the bed shop before we filmed and I feel that we needed to do so, as our creative vision was to have the beds made in fluffy quilts and pillows and lamps that we could use, yet when we arrived the beds had plastic sheeting on and space was very small.
The colour of the wall was a bright yellow, this made colour correcting very difficult and overpowered the shot.
DAY 4: location 1: Merlins Chemist - Walderslade
On arrival to the chemist, Aaron (Our contributor) had spoken to us about exactly what he wanted to about what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it, we had already briefed him on the subject and he went away and researched it further.
Jack liaised with me about what sequences we needed to get and we took our time with getting them exactly right. Taking our time was the best thing we did on this shoot because we had so much footage to play around with, we didn't need the light and the location was very well lit, so we utilized the lighting.
We took on board about having a depth of filed when filming and had the camera as far back as possible and placed Aaron away from the background. It was also up to Aaron's discretion where we were allowed to film due to patient confidentiality, but we had a great set up for the interview with the medication in the background, having relevant background for a subject makes it easy to identify where we are without having to explain, this also helped with our opening sequence.
DAY 4: Location 2: My house (Bedroom)
Set up was easy because I had filmed within this space before and had worked with the lighting, we followed our script to the T and we got the sequences that we intended to get, we filmed mid shots, close-ups, and sequences.
"Your footage is only as good as your ability to keep all of the materials related to this documentary" (Hampe, 2007:318)
We were well prepared in regards to the shoot at my house and the lesson learned for future shoots.
11. Editing.
"Obviously, you can't show everything you've. In editing, you abstract visual evidence that will serve as an accurate analogue of the events that were filmed" (Hampe, 2007:101)
- Rough cut 1.
Looking through the footage we had a lot to work from but the main bits I wanted to get right is the sequences to allow the story to flow, we had good feedback from the first rough cut and the pointers were obvious to me once I began.
I hadn't put the 'live' footage in at this point but as a story, it flowed.
The sound still needs to be worked on as the levels are all over the place, the framing on some shots where not as we had learned in regards to focusing more on the contributor and not having a busy background, but when I attempted to pull in the footage, it lost resolution and sharpness, it was a creative choice to keep in the shots, but I will see if anything can be done just to pull the framing in a little better.
- Rough cut 2.
I put the green screen into this rough cut and the feedback that I had was we needed to start it with "Hello and welcome to MBS news" However after looking through the shots, we actually did not film him saying that till the second part, so what I am going to do it cut out that from the second shot and leave a gap for our Name to be inserted this way I don't have a jump cut that is evident.
I also inserted Jacks 'live' piece, this was the most difficult part of the edit as we ran over a minute long on the shoot, I carefully looked at every shot that we had and matched, movement facial expressions together so I could cut and paste together with a thin jump cut, I wanted it to flow.
I also used GV's at the beginning so I could enter the film at a different part on the timeline, which shaved off a lot, there are 2 problems with the live edit:
- The GV's at the start is too long.
- Vic is only trying meat and not vegan food and that isn't what the story is about.
Colour, sound and Graphics still need to be added too.
- Rough cut 3.
What was worked on for this 3rd rough cut:
- Green screen background.
Jack made the creative choice to keep our moving graphics the same as the introduction, it was really effective and it keeps the piece consistent and visually inviting.
- Name captions.
The name captions were inserted however they need work on as they only state the name and not our role within the production.
- Information points.
on the original rough cut I left a black space where we were going to put our points of 'What to look out for' However on our viewing, it was suggested to use a piece of footage of a cutaway which we had of a candle, i view the footage and jack had filmed the candle so that it started out of focus then came into focus, this looked like a good image to use as it is a relaxing mood image to fit our brand.
Although the rough cut is near a fine cut stage there are still tweaks that we need to improve, these are:
- Audio volumes - ASt point throughout the sound goes up and down and is still echoing, I am not an expert in sound but will work on trying to improve that before we submit.
- Out of sync - Ethan is a little out of sync in the last section of the green screen presenting the piece, so I will have to ripple the sound so it fits with the image.
- Gaps - there are gaps that still need to be filled with atmos, this is crucial and is recognisable, I will find audio that fits for these scenes.
- V/O'S - V/o's still need to be added to the sleep well information images, we booked the ADR room however we ran overtime to complete the Rough edit 3, so this will be a 'fine' cut day issue.
- Fine cut and Hand-in.
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| (Carla's iPhone, 2019:12th) |
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| (Carla's iPhone, 2019:12th) |
| Late night at the office |
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| (Carla's iPhone, 2019:12th) |
Notes from Fine Cut Viewing and how we resolved the issues or did we?
- Fill in space after Ethan says 'Hello and welcome to MBS news'
At first, we planned to move the title sequence to after Ethan had opening the news, but the next cuts with him speaking would have had a jump cut - what we did to fix this was to put a cut-away in of footage we had found - this covered up our jump cut and made it flawlessly flow into the opening presentation. The best thing about all our B-roll is that we had enough cutaways to use as we made sure on the day of filming we could get everything we could think out.
- Add points to the side of my end sequence when I am doing a PTC in bed.
This made perfect sense after viewing the rough cuts a few times, there is space next to me and it seemed like it needed to be filled with information, jack put in the points as I said them, it added more informative graphics.
- Say Aarons last name (expert).
Unfortunately on the day, I did not say his last name in any of the footage, this was a mistake on my behalf as when talking about an expert or any contributors lasts names should always be said - we ran out of time to get any more audio and if we could get audio the sound would have been different to the audio already placed within the fine cut, all audio would have needed to be taken again, I have learned that getting names full within a factual piece, it makes it more professional and not sounded like he is a 'mate' from down the pub.
- See Geraldine quicker (case study)
I altered the first rough cut so the interview of her came before the cut-aways of her children, however, Helen stated that she needed to see her quicker. when we got back into edit, we had problems locating all the footage as we had saved some on my hard drive and some on Jacks, I also did edit at home and the program upgrade (Premier pro 2020) did not support the one in the studio as we just had the base room up-grade to 2019, we felt like we were so far on with the process and the edit that we sacrificed keeping it as it was, we did not want to jeopardise our fine cut to try and locate the interview. I know from future reference to make sure the footage is kept in two safe places and specific folders, as this could cost us a mark.
- Make a transition before coming back to my sequence at the end.
The same issue occurred (as above) to locate the interview footage of Geraldine to add a transition, it looks a little fast but it isn't the worst cutaway, But I do understand why it is needed, this is because we are moving from one location straight into the other one can look confusing to the audience as to how I got somewhere so fast.
- 'Live' - We needed to establish why Jack was at Cafe nucleus and who Victor was.
We had all the information in which we needed but due to the time of the 'live' peice we had to sacrifice elements to get straight to the point, in hind site we should have got the information in quicker. The live item was the best learning output for myself, I should have researched a programme and really helped structure it with Jack.
- 'Live' - We needed to establish why Jack was at Cafe nucleus and who Victor was.
We had all the information in which we needed but due to the time of the 'live' peice we had to sacrifice elements to get straight to the point, in hind site we should have got the information in quicker. The live item was the best learning output for myself, I should have researched a programme and really helped structure it with Jack.
12. Sting (music for the introduction).
We got an external music producer in to provide us with a brand new piece of music, we wanted to have something that has never been heard before so that we can show that we think outside of the box, this is one thing that makes this an original piece of work, getting there wasn't easy though because we had to listen to selective sones that he had produced just to extract certain sound that we liked, we did all this at Maidstone studio's. Although we went through some hours of work, he still went away and created an original piece based on the information that we have given him about our brand.
Here is how our research happened:
Paul has been amazing throughout the process and came up with a great piece of original music, this is a new thing for us all to go outside the course and use the expertise of someone who really knows there stuff.
13. The promo video.
https://youtu.be/X3wm0O2TGEo
After Rebbecca had designed the website we sent some videos over of ourselves what we had filmed on location, but it didn't sum up who we where, I could see pour brand as a relaxing and easy to watch news package so I gave Rebbcca our brief as to what I visioned and above was the finished product.
Myself and Jack watched and listen to it and it was a charming and sophisticated promo video.
Having looked at it now though we may have wanted to stick to the water theme instead of the night theme for our first promotional video, it does say what our channel is about.
LEARNING PROCESS.
- Story.
As the story goes, in my opinion, I think we had 2 strong storeys, we developed ideas from a seed that was planted about the environment and it led us on a journey for our final idea's.
It would have been amazing to get access to Medway hospital and get shots of patients and actuality of the consultants but I feel I did go to my utmost to try and make that happen, however they were reluctant to get back in contact with us after we had our first initial interview. The information that we did gain was a huge starting point into our research which actually made the sleep story, without such knowledge we would have been at a standstill, as the consultant provided us with the tools that prompted us to investigate for a case study.
In regards to the veganism piece, Jack had a strong story at the start in which could have been the pre-recorded piece but getting contributors came as more a challenge, I feel like with the sleep story we had more access to professionals and it case studies where more likely to fit within that subject.
- Locations.
All locations apart from the bed place were well thought out, the bed place didn't work as we did not Recce it before we filmed and it wasn't what we visioned creatively, in future I think I need to do more research into Locations that I haven't seen, but my thought process behind that is that I knew that big places like DFS would mean waiting for permissions, so going to independent shops seemed likely and of course I was correct in thinking that but also disappointed that I didn't take more time in researching.
- Contributors and Cast.
"A well-planned story means a well-planned cast" (Buckingham, 2019:11)
If there is one thing I have learned through-out the process on the course thus far, is always make sure that the cast/contributors are pre-pared and always expect the unexpected. We have been very lucky that all our cast/contributors co-operated with us, took direction and was patient with us, if however they weren't informed about what was going to happen on the day, our whole process would have been a different story and diaster could have struck.
- Distributing Jobs/Group work.
We have a dynamic group, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, unlike any other group work that I have done, I feel like this dynamic worked.
Rebecca was a dark horse at the start as we didn't realise that she was so good at designing websites! (we found that out later).
I have learned from this project that asking people what they want to do and giving everyone a chance to speak and excel makes better group work, we didn't just distribute and go off in our little rooms with our jobs that we needed to do, we worked together, we were always in contact throughout the unit and no matter what the question was (even down to blog work) we helped each other.
The jobs were split evenly that played from our strengths, yet always knowing that if we needed support one or all of us would step up.
We got to a point in filming where I feel like our creative minds were in sync with each other, even down to the editing process, as Jack was originally going to rough edit but I had jumped the gun and put together a little rough cut, Jacks job was to then do the fine cut and put in graphics, but I wanted to be beside him so he felt like he could ask opinions on his work and he did a great job.
- Sound.
There is so much more I need to learn about sound! Although it wasn't my job on the day, as an editor I wanted to know how to fix it in post-production, the time was not on my side, I did, however, ask for help and myself and jack did the best that we could - There are still a lot of echoes and volume issues - It is critical that I always check the output on the camera whilst we are on a shoot.
- Lighting.
Lighting is still another skill that I need to develop as when in the edit I saw some beautiful lighting, then followed by some lighting that was so dark it lost resolution when attempting to edit.
in post-Production there is only so much you can do in a short space of time in regard of colour correcting and sometimes you can go too far and mess up a good story with the distraction of bad colours (same goes with sound) - moving forward Lighting is a skill that I need to devel]ope and learn for the next unit, it is not that I want to be a lighting engineer but it is helpful is I have to do a self-shoot.
- Editing.
" There is no escaping the responsibility for the edited film or video" (Hampe, 2007:324)
I never realised that I had the joy to edit and how fast my eye can spot a good sequence, I haven't always had this knowledge and it is something that I will take forward.
It is amazing that when I edit I am asked "How did you do that?" and I reply "I don't know" That I Realise I must have a gift! (either that or I was drunk).
The challenged faced from the edit have been the sound and colour correcting (as said above) and the 'live piece, this is because we filmed the 'live' in one shot, when really (as I was DOP) I should have made some different choices on the day to recorded sections of the cafe.
- Overall.
There are some aspects of the unit that I have not discussed in the blog, however, it is evident that I am learning and developing my skills as a factual researcher and editor, this is down to my skill of being a good communicator and having great organisational skills.
There is no challenge that I cannot face and whether I am confident or not I always work within the best of my ability.
Our final hand in.
Our website.
https:rebecca-barrett1.wixsite.com/mbsnews
Bibliography:
Jones, T. (2012) Getting started in short film making. (2nd Edition) London: Quarto
Our website.
https:rebecca-barrett1.wixsite.com/mbsnews
Bibliography:
Jones, T. (2012) Getting started in short film making. (2nd Edition) London: Quarto
Hampe, B. (2007) Making documentary films and videos. (Second Edition). New York: Holt Paperback.
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