ellieputt.

north west kent- creative media level 3. @miskinmedia

[ellieputt]

Corporate Video!

Throughout this essay I am going to be discussing what a Corporate/Promotional Video is, what the key elements of a Corporate Video are and the workflow of the Corporate Video. It is essential that before a person makes a Corporate Video for a company they research and get background information on how to make the video in order for it to be successful. You have to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to get across to the audience for the company.

A Corporate Video is a piece of footage that promotes a company or business. Within the footage it gives us information about the particular company and what the audience/client can expect from the company whilst working within the business. The purpose of the video is to reflect the company in a positive way to help them gain more clients and show off their company in a positive way. It is always effective to have just one of the members of the company within the video, making their interivew story-like to show the audience what type of people they will be working with.

The key elements to creating/making a Corporate Video are making sure you are scripted and planned before shooting anything in order to make it high quality. Having a script is important as it keeps you organised and helps you to avoid any unnessessary information that could potentially begin to bore the audience. It is also crucial to keep the video based on a specific target audience. As well as having the main interview from one of the company members, it is most effective to have other footage to show throughout the video relating to the company as it is makes the video more interesting and you get to see more of the company instead of just hearing about it. Changing camera angles during the interview will also help to make it more appealling as we are seeing it from different point of views. When it comes to interviewing a member of the company it is always smart to have the questions planned, and specifically in the order you want to ask them to make the video flow better. It is always effective to have the interview be as natural as possible, what I mean by this is not making the interview sound scripted or having the interviewee looking directly into the camera. Another element to keeping the audience engaged is by displaying the company's logo's or slogan within the video as this will help the video be more memorable therefore effective as people will remember it more.

When the key elements have been taken into account you can start to make a plan for your Corporate Video. In the process of planning it is suggested to look into the company and gather information about it, you can do so by visiting the business website and surf through what they are all about writing down key bits of information you want to include within your video. The second stage to planning is to arrange a meeting with a member/members of the company to listen/discuss their idea's and find out what outcome they would like from the video. Once this meeting has taken place you can begin to start planning your video based around the requirments the company want. When you have done so, you can then go back to the company and produce your idea. Once agreed you and your team can then start to create a production schedule, choosing shoot dates and times to make the process run smoothly, although equipment should be booked before-hand just incase there are any complications with kit.

On the first day of filming it is important to have a look around to see what you can film and look at the best areas to shoot, both the interview and cut-aways. Once you have filmed everything you need you can begin to edit but it's best to do a simple edit first to send back to the company just incase they have any problems with it or feel there is not enough information, etc within it. If they are happy with the rough cut of the edit you can then continue to edit it to a higher quality and in more depth adding colour correction, titles, etc. When the final edit is complete you can present it to the company, listening to the comments that they give. The video is then ready for the company to advertise.

It is always crucial to work on professional ground, therefore taking into account the importance of the stages when creating a Corporate Video. By doing this you are allowing yourself to create the best video possible for the client/company which may possibly lead you to being asked to create more Corporate Video's for the company in the future or they may even suggest you to other companies.

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Andrea's documentary 1000 Essay;Understanding the Documentary Post Production Process.

Before you can start to edit, you have to have a brief idea of the storyline you would need to create. To do this, it is important to speak to the Directors’, Producers’ and the rest of the crew before shooting as you need to know what kind of shot types and type of footage that they want shot to be used in the documentary. The story should be told through the interviews along with having cover shots and archive footage to make it more effective. In addition it is important to know the background information of the subject that you are making the documentary about so that you are more familiar with your idea and the outcome is more effective.

Even after the stage of speaking to the Directors’, Producers’ and Crew members and shooting your footage you still cannot edit. It is crucial that all of the footage  has been transcoded to the right format and been saved into your documents, specifically in a folder that is easily accessible to you so that you can find it easily when it comes to importing the folder into ‘Final Cut Pro’ when you are ready to edit. Audio also needs to be put into the correct format. This includes; music, sound effects and dialogue. The audio needs to be changed from .MP3 to .Wav in Adobe Audition CS6.

Now it is time to open a new project on ‘Final Cut Pro’ and save the project under the name that is most appropriate to you. Then you import the folder that contains all of the relevant footage and audio for your project. Once everything has been imported, it is essential to check that the frame size of all the footage is correct as if you start to edit before checking this you will have to start again from scratch therefore losing progress. After checking this, it is time to go through all of the footage renaming the clips, and the same applies to the audio. As well as renaming the sound, check that every piece of sound associates with a clip, if not they can be discarded as they will be unusable. Once you have done this you then have to re-name the sequence.

Finally, now you can begin to edit. Now you are familiar with the footage and audio clips you should then put a clip onto the time line and find the audio that matches. When you do so, it is then time to sync the footage and audio together. To do so you must listen out for a sound of the first word when the interviewee talks. By doing this on the sound of the original clip and the separate audio you should then find an input and output point where you should then cut both the footage and audio to match it together. Then you should carry on to do this until all of the footage and audio are synced together. You can then begin to start to edit your sequence by building a story. The story you are telling through your documentary must have a structure. The structure should go in the following stages- inciting incident, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Therefore you should edit in this structure, intercutting and using cutaways to make each section of the story more effective. Whenever a cutaway is used it is important to remember that each cutaway should not be on screen for more than 5 seconds as the audience/viewer may begin to get bored. This also applies with the interviews. It is important to consider pace when using cutaways or jump shots so that they are cut to the beat of the music you are using. Try to use music that is suited well with the story you are telling.

The edit that you do is simply a rough cut as you need to present it to the Directors’ and Producers’ to see if they are satisfied with what you have produced for them. Once the edit has been discussed between your-self, the Directors’ and Producers’ take their feedback, (whether this means taking notes) and put the feedback into your edit to make your piece more satisfying and appealing to them as they are the people whom you are creating this documentary for. It is also a good idea to show it to another audience to hear their views and opinions.

When the changes have been made to the documentary and you are happy, you can again then show the same audience to see if they see an area of improvement. Then it is time to go back and show the Directors’ and Producers’ for the second time. If they are then satisfied with what you have produced you can then add effects, such as Colour Correction. Colour Correction can be found in Magic Bullet and is a very effective software. With this you can alter different scenes, for example; if you want something in slow motion you are able to apply this with this software. You can also change brightness, etc. The colour you use as an effect depends on the mood of the storyline. For example if the mood is happy you would use warm and bright colours. Where as if the mood is sad then you would use harsh colours. It is always crucial to make sure that you are 100% happy with your edit before adding colour correction as if you want to go back and re-edit it may not fit with the rest of the sequence.

When the Colour Correction has been completed, save it, and for the last time show the same audience to see if they think that the piece is good enough. Then for the last time show the Directors’ and Producers’ and when they are happy export the sequence and encode to the CODEC H.264. When it is in this format it will be more accessible and you will be able to view the documentary on different websites.

[ellieputt]

Production Log.

Today myself, Stephanie and Katie completed our edit for our mini documentary. We put our finishing touches to it and we hope to have it up on tumblr and youtube by next week.

I also began to start a new project that has been given to us by Andrea that focuses on the 'London Dance Academy, which is to edit interviews from people that work there and use cutways to create a promo video. Today I managed to sync all of the sound to all of the interviews and cut them. I also renamed all of the sound, interviews and cut aways and add the soundtrack to my timeline. In Andrea's next lesson I hope to start editing the promo video all together. 

[emmajaynenye]

[ellieputt]

Wonderstuck Perfume Advert.

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Whitney Houston- The Last Few Hours; Autopsy- Essay

The Whitney Houston autopsy is an emotional and shocking documentary based on the events leading up to her death and the main cause. Her autopsy is told by Professional Richard Shepherd who is a forensic pathologist. He takes us through her life events, both good and bad stages to try and find what led to her death. The documentary begins with the real news headlines that were shown on television when Whitney Houston was pronounced dead. We also hear the 911 call that was made to her from her hotel room which is voiced over footage of the hotel itself. The modes of this documentary are reflexive, expository and performance mode. The task of this autopsy is to find out what really happened to Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston was one of the most famous female artists of all time with 11 number one hit singles and her greatest hits album sold 64,000 copies and in the day following her death 818,000 copies. She also starred in the very famous film, ‘The Bodyguard’ starring Kevin Costner. Whitney had one daughter Bobbi, who was only 18 when her mother died. Not only was her daughter devastated, but the whole world to learn that the singer was dead. It left shock and grief for many. All the theories that were brought to mind about Whitney’s death were all drug related as we all knew that she had a drug problem and took quite a lot even though she denied this on talk shows. The climax of this documentary is when we find out the actual truth about her death and the real factual story is revealed by Richard Shepherd. He tells us that her cause of death was drowning. She passed out in a bath that was 93.5 degrees, her brain didn’t tell her that the water was this hot as she was dossed with cocaine and many other drugs. It was the point that the tissue in her legs sent shock to her body and caused her to collapse and drown. We see her death reconstructed so we have more of an understanding of what actually happened, and how it happened. The after effects of her death caused many celebrities to be shocked and devastated with the news of her death. Mariah Carey said ‘Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms Whitney Houston. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth.’ Janet Jackson, a very dear friend of Whitney Houston’s also said “I was home, here. I just so happened to be watching TV and I saw this newsflash and I still can’t believe it when I hear them paying tribute to her on the radio, it’s still such a shock to me. I don’t want to believe it.”Whitney Houston once said in an interview ‘I am not self-destructive. I am not a person who wants to die.’ Even after saying this, she knew what she was doing to her body by taking drugs, she knew it could eventually killed her but she still chose to take many of them. In-fact, she was self destructive because she killed herself. I think that the main issue within making this documentary is really trying to nail what actually happened in the hotel room. Only using some facts, a solution had to be made. 

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The Cove- Essay

The cove is a very dramatic and heartfelt documentary about the torture and killing of dolphins in Taiji. The mode for this documentary is participatory mode as it welcomes direct engagement between film maker and the subject. The film maker becomes part of the events being recorded. This documentary personally had an effect on me as I am an animal lover, as it would with other people who like animals. The horrific scenes that were shown left me in shock and I feel that something has to be done about it. Rick O’Barry’s quest to stop the killing of these dolphins resulted in him taking his mission to desperate measures. He had to hire a whole team to help him catch the people of Taiji on camera, which was extremely hard as they had security all the time. Rick O’Barry and his team could be arrested therefore resulting in his task being shut down. The way in which the documentary was made was very clever in the way it had effect on its audience. The documentary makers used distressing scenes of the killing of the dolphins along with interviews of people who were against the slaughter. The rising action of Mandy-Rae Cruickshank and Kirk Krack’s interview really spoke out to the audience as Mandy is talking about what she had witnessed down at the killing lagoon, we see her cry as she is telling the story as well as hearing the sad background music that adds effect which draws us in more and makes us emphasise with her. This is one of the parts that really touched me, as you see the cover shot of the dolphin that’s dying while she is talking. This makes it more emotional. Rick O’Barry also talks about his past experience with dolphins and his series show Flipper. As we then know that he has a past with dolphins we understand his desperation to stop the killing of these dolphins. The climax in ‘The Cove’ causes a lot of tension within the documentary as we see the dolphin massacre, where the people of Taiji slaughter the dolphins. The shot of the scene opens with a pool of blood which is actually the result of the killings. After this we actually see the people killing the dolphins and we are left distraught with these events. This is when the audience are really touched and see the event in action, the truth is caught on the camera’s that have been secretly plotted. We see the process of the production which makes the audience more engaged with the documentary itself. The footage and story is so real that it makes us more interested because of the factual shots that we see. I think the key thing that makes the documentary so interesting is that there is direct engagement between the film maker and the subject issue. The film maker Rick O’Barry has a history with dolphins and we see his passion for them throughout the documentary and the way he talks about them and the emotion in his voice and face. The scene where the man throws water over the fire is the representation of the end of the climax (end of the scene with the killings). The end resolution is shown at the end of the documentary when the credits come up and we see some of the people that have been shown throughout the documentary and it tells us what eventually happens to them, therefore tying up all the characters storylines. I think that some of the issues that could have arose during the making of this documentary would be trying to actually get the footage of the killings on camera, which is displayed during the documentary. We see the struggle Rick O’Barry and his team have to go though. The other struggles would be trying to disguise their-self so that they wouldn’t be pulled over by police in their cars. We see during some of the scenes that Rick O’Barry has a mask that covers some of his face, particularly his mouth. 

[ellieputt]

Torvill and Dean; The Perfect Day- Essay

The documentary on Torvill and Dean talks to ­us about the background of their skating career that took place 31 years ago. We see their journey blossom from when they were both amateur skaters to the most famous, gold medallist, Olympic champions in the world. I think that the modes of this documentary are reflexive mode and partially observational mode. The main aim of this documentary is to get the history and story of the two ice dancers across to the audience so we know the story of their career from how it begun. The documentary opens with footage of both Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean performing ice skating routines from the prime of their career. They discuss the age they both started skating and have pictures of their-self over the top of them talking from when they were much younger. We see different skating events that they attended, and actual footage is shown this helps us to really learn about their history, especially for those who wasn’t born or weren’t quite aware of who Torvill and Dean were until they starred on the show ‘Dancing on Ice’. The rising action of this documentary is the immense training that both Torvill and Dean had to do in order to become the best ice dancers in the world. They tell us that their training consisted of them being up at 6:30 every morning to train. Christopher Dean talks about his honour of carrying the union flag at the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984 which is the year that they won their gold medal. An effective technique that the documentary writer used was the unanswered question of Torvill and Deans personal relationship that was a big craze back when they first started skating together. The climax of this documentary is the dance that won Torvill and Dean their Olympic gold medal back in 1984. The build up to the climax is built up very well which makes the climax even more effective. Within the climax we see the pair perform their Olympic winning ice dance, the bolero. The way that this particular part of the documentary is brought across to the audience is very dramatic, the music from the actual bolero dance is effective within itself along with the style of the dance. The falling action is after the bolero, this is when the dance is over and they are awarded their Olympic gold medal. Both interviews are shown, the interview back in 1984 when they have just won the gold medal and the interview within the documentary itself. The resolution is within their interviews when they discuss how they felt that their routine went and what it felt like to win their Olympic gold medal. I think that an issue that would have arisen is trying to collect the archive footage back from all those years ago and trying to collect the facts. The techniques used emotionally have an effect on the audience because as we all know the last series of ‘Dancing on Ice’ ends this year which means it is the end of an era for Torvill and Dean as they have decided they will no longer be skating together. As an audience we know this throughout the documentary which makes us connect within it even more.

[ellieputt]

Production Log.

Today myself, Katie, Emma, Benn, Chris and Stephanie went back to the dance studio with our equipment which included; a camera, tripod and, sound equipment and lighting equipment. We then set up all our equipment ready to record our interview with Lindsey (The Dance Teacher). When we had finished interviewing Lindsey we then went on to set our equipment up for another interview with two of the dance students. I think that our interviews went really well, including the way the equipment was set up and I think that our shots for both interviews were very effective, including the lighting. I think that when edited all together we will have a very good and effective piece.

[ellieputt]

Production Log.

Yesterday, myself, Katie, Emma and Benn arrived to college early to record the dance show run-through as we are basing our mini documentary on the dance show, therefore missing Andrea's session. We used two cameras to record a range of the dances that took place. When we had finished recording we trans-coded our footage onto the computer ready to use when we edit our mini once we had done our interviews. 

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risk assessment- advert.

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risk assessment- advert.

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Documentary- Post Production!

Interviews;

-1 teacher.

-2 students.

Questions;

-why did you choose the course? STUDENT.

-why did you choose to teach dance rather than become a professional dancer? TEACHER.

-are you enjoying the course? STUDENT.

-is there a lot of preparation? STUDENT&TEACHER.

-what do you think about the production? STUDENT&TEACHER.

-how did you think the production went? STUDENT&TEACHER.

-what would you like to do after completing the course? STUDENT.

Inciting Incident;

-to put on a show.

Exposition;

-dancer (male).

-dancer (female).

-teacher.

Rising Action;

-rehearsing/training.

Climax;

-show.

Falling Action;

-cast bows.

-leaving stage.

-all back stage.

Resolution;

-what went well.

-what they want to do in the future.

[ellieputt]

Understanding Video Technology- Unit 17!

three point lighting; -key light; represents sun or main light. -back light; gives a glow, adds definition. -fill light; represents other sources, hides shadows. rules when setting up an interview; -depth to your shot. -shot should be a choker, mid shot or medium close up. -tripod on same level as your interviewee (unless your trying to say something/give a message). -positioning; make sure no over the shoulder shots with shoulder in (dirty shot), need a clean shot. -make sure you have looking space and your interviewee is on the other side. -shots that are to do with the interviewee silhouette shot; -just use back light, no key or fill.

[ellieputt]

Tim's Session!

archive footage; shot by someone else. voxpop; voice of the people. subjectivity; bias views (person who makes it) objectivity; balanced view. time laps; when you record for a long period of time but speed the footage up.

[ellieputt]

Documentary- Tim's Session!

Factual; -life. -john's not mad. -benefit street. -plastic people. Non-Factual; -top gear. -the office. -made in chelsea. Sensationalism- purpose to attract views. Participatory Mode; -welcomes direct engagement between film maker and subject. the film maker becomes part of the events being recorded. -intrusive. -key examples; the films of michael moore; here the film maker directly engages with the material being addressed, he becomes a character in the documentary or essential part of the subject. -nick broomfield's work, such as kurt and courtney (1998). -living with michael jackson (2004). Expository Mode; -voice of god. -argumentative logic (basic). -telling a story. Poetic Mode; -little or no dialogue. -goes into deeper topics. -told through shot types rather than a narrative. -grasps inner truth. -emphasis on the subject matter. Observational Mode; -catches the truth, never staged. -film maker is hidden behind the camera. -potentially no interviews. -fly on the wall. -catches moment of reality. Reflexive Mode; -viewer is made aware of the process of production. -engages actively with realism and representation. Performance Mode; -someone undertaking a task or challenge. -subject, bias view. -keeps the documentary entertaining.

[ellieputt]

Tim's Session!

Nikon D5100 Camera! focus; -18 mill= wide angle -55 mill= close up i menu; settings menu. white balance; -sets colour temperature of the environment. indoor light; yellow. outdoor light; blue. fluorescent light; white or green. iso; amount of light in your image. -if iso is high (above 400) it will lead to noise and distortion. -exposure compensation; makes the image lighter or darker. -under exposure; if image is too dark (dark colours are too black). -overexposure; if image is too light (loose detail).

[ohiamkatie-blog]

Interview tester: Working with lights

[ellieputt]

interview tester- setting up lights with katie, emma, benn and chris.