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[jakefilmstudies1]

How to use: 

Flash for websites: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Nice-and-Simple-Flash-Website

Dreamweaver: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Web-Page-Using-Dreamweaver

HTML: http://www.wikihow.com/Design-a-Website-without-Using-HTML

Wordpress: http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/wordpress/

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Video tech

There were Couple of topics we missed when making this video, so here is some more information about them.

Importing footage into premiere pro

To import a single file: Locate and select the file, then click Open.

To import multiple files: Hold down the Control key to select multiple files, then click Open.

To import a folder of files: Locate and select the folder you want to import, then click Folder. A new bin is created in the Project window, containing the contents of the folder.

Information collected from :

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/import/

Premiere pro sequence settings

When asked to select project settings, They have a wide range of presents suitable for HD. You can go through the main categories like AVCHD (for mts video from camcorders) and HDV

The main principle behind choosing project and export settings is to limit the number of times you will need to change video formats during the whole video production process. Therefore, you should be aiming to get your project settings to closely match the format of your original video clips in terms of three main aspects:

Information collected from :

http://longzijun.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/premiere-pro-project-settings-for-hd-video/

Premiere pro export settings

When you have your edit completed and ready for delivery, there is only one step left – exporting for delivery. Exporting a finished video with Premiere Pro is an absolute essential skill that is required to finish any edit.

The best setting for web playback is the H.264 codec. 

We’ll select a preset that matches our sequence and our desired output. Our sequence is 1080p with a frame rate of 29.97. So, we’ll select the “HD 1080p 29.97″ preset.

Information collected from :

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/pro-tip-exporting-a-finished-video-from-premiere-pro/

PAL Vs NTSC

NTSC delivers a frame rate of 30 fps at an aspect ratio of 720x480, and is used in North America, Japan and South Korea. PAL is a different video standard that is incompatible with NTSC; it uses a fame rate of 25 fps and 720x576 aspect ratio, and is used in most of Europe, Australia and large parts of Africa and Asia. The differences between NTSC and PAL are the reason why some DVDs or VHS tapes from Europe may not play in the United States and vice versa. Most European DVD players can read NTSC and most PAL TVs can display NTSC video. But NTSC DVD players usually cannot read PAL.

Information collected from :

http://www.diffen.com/difference/NTSC_vs_PAL

Compressing

Compression tips for video. Work with video in the native format of your project until your final output Use raw footage or the least compressed footage that is available to you. Each time that you compress video using a lossy encoder, you reduce the quality of the video. Though one generation of quality loss is often acceptable, re-encoding and recompressing already compressed video can degrade the quality beyond what is acceptable. Also, video that has already been encoded and compressed may contain noise and artifacts that make the next encoding and compression step take more time or produce a larger file.

Information collected from :

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/mediaencoder/cs/using/WSb8e30982e628fbec-3b37a031131255be55e-8000.html

To gain more information click the links above

[jakefilmstudies1]

jakefilmstudies1:

Just to add, when exporting the Canon 600D you want to use the 1080p format not 1080i. It goes in 1080p and you want it to export in 1080p.  Also you don't want to set your preset at ACHD, you want to select the Digital SLR preset and then chose the DSLR 1080p25 preset. This is best for the 600D and it allows for proper widescreen and not anamorphic. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

Todd Sound Analysis

Me and Luke are using Garage Band to create the sound for our short film. We decide to use Garage Band instead of Soundtrack Pro as we thought Garage Band had more sounds to play with, had instruments so we could create our own music (therefore no copyright issues will occur) and because we felt it was a more simple piece of software to use as it has a less complex layout. 

In this screenshot I am showing you the design for mine and Luke's dialogue in the film. The two purple boxes show in the screenshot are the recordings of mine and Luke's voices, I have turned the sound off for all the other effects so it was easier to view. The timeline above all the audio recordings shows you where in your movie the sounds are being placed. We recorded our dialogue using a microphone connected into a mixer which then connects to the computer. 

The preview screen on the bottom of the screenshot previews your chosen movie track. This makes it easier when you are recording as you can sync the dialogue perfectly. Below is a close up of the preview screen:

The screenshot below is showing the music file (in orange) that we have imported into Garage Band. The preview screen is showing us that the music file is being used in the intro of the film. 

This is a close-up of the music file and where it is on the timeline:

This screenshot below is showing a few different things. Firstly, it shows the keyboard feature on Garage Band that allows yo to play a massive range of instruments on your Mac keyboard. As you can see a green box is highlighted on the bottom row, this green box is the sound (elevation sound effect) coming from the keyboard and this plays as the background noise in the scene shown in the movie preview screen. It's a very helpful feature as you won't have to connect a MIDI keyboard into a Mac and it is easy to use.  Secondly, below the orange music file on the top row there is a blue line coming from underneath the file. This blue line is the track volume and me and Luke have been adjusting this setting to get the right sound and volume for our dialogue. 

A close-up of the track volume:

This screenshot is the instrument selector on the right side of the Garage Band screen. In the screenshot you can see the 'Male Speech' effect has been selected. This is the effect me and Luke have been using on our voices when we record our dialogue. It's the best effect as it doesn't make our voices sound too crisp or mechanical and it has good projection.

Below this you can see the input source box. In this box you can select the input source, where the sounds output is and the recording level. We have used the microphone connected to the mixer as our main input source and the 'Monitor' output is on but we need to change that to 'Headphones' as it resets to default when ever a new track is created. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

Todd Production Update

Me and Luke are up the post-production stage now. As we were editing the film while we were shooting we just need to do our foley, ambient, SFX sounds and dialogue. It will be a lot of work to do but we are hoping to get it all done within a week and we are putting all our time into it. We came across some problems at the start to do with the audio setup as we didn't remember how to do it but now we are fine with setting it up. We also came across problems with finding the right foley and ambient sounds to suit the film. We didn't want it to sound fake and engineered but that's what it kinda sounds like, we can't really stay on that problem for too long though as it will waste time. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 6 Shoot

This is our final and last day of shooting. We needed to reshoot some scenes where student 1 gets killed and student 2 runs away. We reshot it as the original shots were too dark and didn't really portray what we wanted it to. We shot what we wanted and it turned out fine. The shoot was easier because this time we followed our shot list and didn't go off track. Overall it was a good shoot.

[jakefilmstudies1]

[jakefilmstudies1]

Video Installation Evaluation

Video Installation Evaluation

Starting the video installation project I was excited to create something that would be my own creation and no one else’s, as video installations are usually made independently.  I was already into video installation as I found a lot of videos and photos on tumblr of various installations around the world so from that my interest began. This was one of the projects I was really enthusiastic about and I just wanted to start trying out different techniques and making loads of test videos.  Before I started testing my ideas I had to find some inspiration. The first artist I researched was Peter Campus. I found his work very simple but also very technical as he used techniques no one used at that time. He used techniques such as keying green paint so it would create affect of another face coming through Peter Campus’ face. I didn’t use any techniques Campus used but I did get inspiration from his as he did different, weird installations and I thought that was cool. Another artist I researched was Paul McCarthy. McCarthy’s work was different and usually bombarded the viewer with graphic and violent images. Again I didn’t get anything from Paul McCarthy’s work but I did find him to be a very interesting artist. Finally I researched Douglas Gordon. Douglas Gordon uses performance, sculptural and video to express his views and from this I did the same with my installation. 

Before starting my actually installation I did a few tests and experiments to see what different effects would look like. The tests were based on the artist researches I did. I did quite a few tests to get to my final idea:

This is the first installation me and Luke did. It was a full face mix up of different students from our class.

This is the second installation test me and Luke tried out. It featured feedback from a TV, water droplets on a coloured gels and light effects it was very enjoyable to make. 

This was my first initial idea for the car door installation, it worked out pretty well. 

With this idea I wanted to put in a image or video for the different subjects of the brief and they would show up when the door slowly opens on it's own. For example, for the enchanted forest I would of added a image of a enchanted forest to replace the green screen.

This is my final idea, the car door installation. I decided the green screen door didn't work and I really wanted to use the car door for something.

All of these tests and ideas help me achieve my final installation concept. 

I used the car door with video screened on it in my installation and I feel like the car door was sculptural and my video was expressing my views or feelings. Using the car door as an integral part of my installation was what I wanted from the start. It took me a while to decide on what I wanted to do with it and I went though many tests and ideas to come to the final one.  I believe my installation came out really well. It was installed in the welcome room at the fashion show. I saw people going up to the installation and watching and talking about it which was good to see. I heard some people commenting on it and that was some positive feedback. Overall the video installation project was fun and interesting and I learnt a lot from it. In the future I might venture more into the video installation world and find different things to do as I do find it really creative. I was happy with my overall outcome and I think I kept to the brief as well.

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 5 Shoot

Day five of shooting we filmed a confrontation scene and a death scene were bodies were dragged. We had people helping us shoot on this day (Dan & Lucy) and that was a big help as me and Luke were both in the scene at the same time. We had the same lightning as our intro for this scene as we wanted to have the same atmosphere throughout the film. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 4 Shoot

We filmed a scene using Francis as the victim of the killer and it went quite well, the fake blood worked okay too. Using Francis as the victim we had to add this to the original script as we wanted it to make sense. We should of had a contingency plan but we didn't. We have learned to have one for next time so our shooting is easier.

A screenshot from the shoot:

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 3 Shoot

On our third day of shooting we were low on actors as me and Luke were making our film guerrilla style so we had to look for people to help us out. As we were filming a death scene on this day we needed to make some fake blood. We got some ingredients for fake blood after looking at a recipe on the internet and we used it but it didn't work as well as we hoped it would.  

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 2 Shoot

On our second day of shooting we happily moved away from our shot list as we became more confident with coming up with shots on set. It was difficult for us to shoot some shots on this day as we didn't have a big enough crew, it was me and Luke most of the time and we would drag in anyone we found good enough to be on camera, like Dan.

A screenshot from the days shoot:

[jakefilmstudies1]

Of Unsound Mind

Of Unsound Mind - Short Film Script

[jakefilmstudies1]

Day 1 Shoot

Me and Luke started the shoot on the title sequence. We booked out a Canon 600D with a tripod and steady cam. We got Joe, our main actor, to do the close ups with us and it all went well. We had some nice lighting and Joe gave us a few tips on what might make the film look better such as, the lighting and how we might edit the whole thing together. After filming the title sequence we filmed the first scene with the help of Dan on camera using the dolly. We thought a nice tracking shot to open the scene would look really nice and would introduce it very well. Me and Luke were acting as Student 1 and Student 2. We decided to use ourselves as no other actors were available and we knew what we wanted for the film. We have also acted a little bit in other productions we have made so we aren't that bad at acting. Doing so it fitted in with of guerilla method of making a film. Overall the first day of shooting went well and I think we are on our way to making a decent short film. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

Short Film Pre-Production

After locking down a script and sorting out our characters and actors me and Luke started the storyboard and shot list at the same time. We got quarter of the way through doing the storyboard when we decided it would be more beneficial for us to create a visual video storyboard. We went through the whole script quite quickly and filmed the shots quickly too as we didn't want to waste time on it we just wanted a brief outline of what the shots may look like. While me and Luke were doing the storyboard and shot list Ben was sorting out the cast and crew list making sure we had all the people and actors we needed to make the movie. 

[jakefilmstudies1]

The Role of the Writer

A certain piece of content will not appeal to all audiences. This is why broadcasters need to understand their target market and who they are making their product for. Products can be constructed to appeal to a audience through the content used in them. If beautiful women are used in an advert it is made to appeal to the male audience, mostly between the ages of 16-25 as men of that age are influenced by the lifestyle these adverts show. Lynx adverts are the best example for this as there's always a male character getting chased by beautiful women.  The construction of content is how the dialouge and actions are written to affect or appeal to the correct audience. Broadcasters can demand construction of content by commissioning a brief that asks for a certain type of TV show, for example, a broadcaster would commission a show that would be shown on BBC One at 7.30pm and has to be for all the family and have a great story and lots of action. By doing this the broadcaster has decision over what is shown and how it will look and appeal to the audience at a certain time. The codes and conventions can be created by the broadcaster telling the writer the symbolic or technical conventions that need to be used in a certain show or movie. For example, a Sci-fi show would be based in space with space ships and loads of future technology with a lot of visual effects, therefore the broadcaster needs to get this across to the writer so he or she knows what they are writing for. 

The BBC commissioning process is a long process to get through if you want to have a show on the BBC. The process goes;

Genre heads - A person who is head of a certain genre at a broadcaster i.e Emma Willis is head of Documentaries at the BBC  Channel heads - Controls a certain channel i.e Charlotte Moore is controller of BBC One

Commissioning editors - Decides whether a script is good enough or not

Reader - Reads the script or idea and decides whether it is good enough to progress to script editing

Script editors - Once a script has be accepted by the commissioning editors the script editors edit the script to suit the needs of the broadcaster.

Throughout all of these stages the writer would be making slight changes to their script, if needed, and would be taking notes and tips from the commissioning editor and script editor up until the script is made into its actual project. Throughout the project the writer would still be making changes to his or her script as ideas will change and something may influence a change of mind. 

Scriptwriters have ways of fitting in with the commissioning process.

The purpose of a script is so the actors/actresses know what they are saying and how they are doing it, although they won't have the script in hand on a shoot they can ask someone for lines if they forget them. The Director and crew need the script as they need to follow along with the acting to provide the effects and shots that are needed. The Director needs the script the most on a shoot as he is controlling what everyone is doing and everything goes by what he says. "Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts" Larry L King. I believe this quote is very true because throughout the whole production of a film the script never stays to one exact final product, it is always changing even up to post-production and the editing stages. 

Usually scriptwriters aren't paid like a leading actor is. Scriptwriters usually get paid around £180 a minute. Scriptwriters who write for big movies get paid a lot of money if their script is perfect. For example, Night Shyamalan made $2.5 million dollars for The Sixth Sense but that was a massive film and still is. If you have a solid script and you know it could make a lot of money and a great film you can receive an incredible amount of money. Screenwriters get their scripts out to film producers through Literary agents. Literary agents represent writers and their written works to publishers and film producers. There a few well known Writing agents such as, Erin Hosier, John Brockman, and Carole Blake. 

Writers must properly copyright their work as their content and ideas can get stolen by another writer. On the writers manuscript the copyright must be clearly shown. It must appear on the front cover of the script and on the foot of every page in the script. For censorship writers are restricted when using violence or sex. It is bad to show real sexism and racial debates in a film but others debate that it is good to show these issues in a positive way. Finally, a libel issue is the worst thing for a writer, it could end their career. A screenwriter must write the truth about its personal experiences and what it can prove. The libel issue can affect a non-fiction and fiction writer as producing a professional script can be seen as libellous. In other words, if the script is about a real person it must be made with care and or the person they writing about can be harmed. To copyright your material it is advisable to mark your work with the '©' symbol and the name of the copyright owner and the date and year when the work was created. In the UK there is no official registration system for copyright, there are no forms to fill in nor are the any fees to pay. There are ways to get a clear date stamped on your material such as sending a copy of your material to yourself in the post so it is labelled with the correct date. In the US you there is copyright registration that is online and cheap to do. If you're writing for a channel and they find your script provocative they will change the basics of your script as it may upset the audience and public. Time does effect the nature of a script because if a show with loads of shooting and swearing in it is shown before 7pm usually younger children are watching and families are watching and they don't really want to see that so therefore a broadcaster would rather show a action/shooting TV show or film at a later time, usually past 8.30pm.  Budget for a scriptwriter is very important as they need to know their constraints. If a scriptwriter, for example, writes about a man travelling around the world in his movie the filming of it is going to get very expensive as it would have to be filmed around the world. Knowing the budget will help the scriptwriter understand what he has to write about and what he needs to not put in the script. 

In conclusion, the role of the writer is one of the most important jobs in the production of a film. The script writer is the engine to the whole of the film team and they drive them to what they need to succeed at the end. A scriptwriter doesn't just write a script and then starts another one, they are there throughout the whole production of a film making and changing decisions with the Director along the way. A good scriptwriter doesn't stop writing until the film is finally complete, they work throughout the pre-production, production, and post-production. 

Bibliography: - http://www.screenwriting.info/ - http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/how-much-do-screenwriters-make-on-average.128728343/ - http://www.industrialscripts.co.uk/uk-screenwriters-pay/ - http://www.creativeskillset.org/film/jobs/script/article_4057_1.asp

[jakefilmstudies1]

Somerset Business Awards Review

We have come to the end of creating our films for the companies selected for the SBA's and its gone by very quick. I've learnt a lot from going to the shoots and meeting the clients. I've learnt how to act professional when meeting a client and how to talk to them in a mature and professional way. I have also learnt even more when shooting the actual films. I learnt how to properly set up and use the H-1 hand recorder and how to use the Canon 600D to achieve the best shots. The whole experience of dealing with a professional client and going through all of the task to set up a shoot such as calling the company up, arranging the date to shoot,  compiling all the research and putting that into a folder with it all being on a professional standard level.  When we got a statement from a company our team of 3 or 4 would research and write a brief history and put together a SBA guide to accompany all the other pre-production documents such as; shot lists, equipment list and questions. Getting a lot of research was a must for me as I wanted to achieve the professional standard on this assignment. I would look at a companies website and find all the valuable information I could, when I had done this I would produce all the information I found into a short summary explaining what the company do what award they are nominated for, and I would add other bits of information such as call sheets: to call a company if we are going to be late and directions; so the bus driver knew where he was talking us, this would keep the team together so everyone knew what they were doing and we would all be organised when going out onto a shoot. The pre-production is the most important part of the whole task as it would set the foundation for the rest of the production.   When we decided we had everything needed for the pre-production we would get Alan or Mino to look over all our documents and make sure that we knew what we were doing at the actual shoot. When all the pre-production was signed off 3 out of the 4 in a team would head to a company and interview a director or promoter of a company and film around the work environment. I worked on a variety of shoots with my group of 4 and without them. Some of the shoots I was on were late notice but I was happy to help as I wanted the experience.   The first company we were given was Pips Pubs. As it was our first shoot it didn't go as well as I thought it would as too many of us came to the shoot and they were in the way and not needed. For this shoot we didn't go along with the shot list so we improvised when we where there, although the final film came out very well on the day of the shoot it was awkward and stressful as we didn't know what shots we were getting and we were running around trying to find nice things to film, this made us look very unprofessional. Apart from that it was a good shoot and the interview wasn't awkward nor was our interviewee nervous. I learnt a lot from this first shoot and it helped me and my team out in our next shoots. The post-production for Pips Pubs was done by me and it took way too long. I think it was partly because I didn't know how to use the software we were using to edit (Adobe Premiere Pro) and partly because it was the first film and I wasn't sure what we were looking for. I had to fix some of the sound because one clip was louder than another so I added a audio effect called 'dynamics' and this levels out the audio in the clip. Another clip I had to fix was a shot of a door opening to the restaurant. The clip was too dark so I used the '3 way colour corrector' to brighten it up and add some contrast. I also used the colour corrector on the interview shots as the 600D settings were slightly off and the white balance wasn't correct. 

The second statement we received was from Evosite. Evosite are web designers so we were a bit worried that their office would be dull and this would create a problem but it would force us to be more creative with our film. The shoot for Evosite went very well, Dan got some really nice shots using the steady cam that made the film have a good flow. James Shakespeare, the Managing Director wasn't nervous so the interview was easy and we got that out the way quickly. I don't think there was anything wrong with this shoot, all the pre-production was correct and overall it was a good day. 

The next company we were shooting was NVB Architects. We were shooting 3 Solutions and NVB in the same day, NVB was Dan and Luke's shoot and I was helping out and 3 Solutions was my and Ollie's shoot and they were helping us out. The NVB shoot was probably our worst shoot as we had to arrange another shoot with them as the sound in the interview was being silenced out by background noise. The sound was my fault, I didn't really think about where I was standing (to the side of the interviewee) so I didn't capture all of his words, I was capturing more background noise. It was unprofessional coming back for another shoot and the Managing Director at NVB wasn't too happy about it.              The research for 3 Solutions was mostly done by myself as I knew what to do and how to do it from doing other bits of pre-production for other groups and that helped out the team as we could just get the pre-production done and go out and shoot and the film would be finished quicker without us breaching the deadline date. When we got close to the location of the company we couldn't find where they actually where but this didn't interfere with the time of our meeting. We met the three guys who we then interviewed and that went well, we then got our cutaways which Andy at the company was really helpful with. The shot list for this project wasn't very good or detailed as I didn't know what it was like at the companies office. I was really happy with the shots we got, overall it was a good day of filming.

Our fourth company was Western Air ducts. The start of this shoot was a bit unprofessional as we forgot to print out the questions and we had to ask one of the team at the company if we could print them off. We got some good cutaways at the company. The interview was god apart from the sound which had the computer server in the background making a noise. We couldn't get away from the noise as the server was in the factory and we didn't want to film any where else because the factory had the best look for the interview. The final film for Western Air ducts was good but it could of been better. Some of the shots were shaky and they needed the 'warp stabiliser' effect to straighten the shot out and make it less wobbly. The audio was partially fixed by Dan in post-production but it wasn't perfect. As I was on the audio for this shoot and I messed up the audio again like I did in NVB I definitely learnt a lesson to pay attention to the sound and make sure it is absolutely perfect before we leave from the shoot. Straight after this shoot, Me, Ollie and Dan had to fill in for another team at a company called Rebecca Bevins HR Consultants as they were very unreliable and had no idea with what they were doing. I was happy to fill in for them, I had a lot of experience on other shoots and when I was doing the audio at Rebecca Bevins, Alan taught me how to properly use the H-1 recorder and the sound was fine on that day. 

The next shoot I did was late notice and I was told on the day of the shoot. It was at a company called Hilton Herbs and I was helping Ross as he didn't have a team. I was on audio again and unfortunately I messed it up again. The interview was in a room with a big computer server and you could hear a constant noise in the background of the interview. I did say to Chris, who was on camera and leading the shoot if we should move to a different location but he said it was fine. I should of told them to change them to interview in another location but I didn't. It was pretty embarrassing for me as this was the third time I messed up the audio and it was even worse as it was for Ross' film and not my own. I want to work on my audio skills so I can get them to a near professional standard, although I don't think I will be working on audio in the future unless I am confident enough to. I happily helped Ross out on another shoot as he either had no team or a unreliable one. Me, Ross and Zac headed to a company called the Wooly Shepard. Mino also came on the shoot just to look over us as we weren't the most confident team. For the shoot I was filming and I was happy I had a role change. Unfortunately for this we had to use a SD60 as Ross didn't book out the Canon 600D's and they were all booked out, I think that was a lesson to be learnt for all of us to book out equipment a day or more before a shoot. Using the SD60 felt weird and unprofessional but I think we got some good shots on the day and the interview went well. The team at Wooly Shepard were very friendly and overall it was a another good experience. 

Finally, throughout the whole project there was times were I messed up or I got something wrong but apart from those mistakes I gained confidence and experience which can be used towards working in the professional industry in the future. Working with the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, with college and with all the companies in Somerset was a massive experience that I enjoyed a lot. I learnt so many skills used in the industry in about a month and I will be taking these with me towards the future. I also learnt to take my time when doing certain roles such as audio. I worked so much in all stages of pre-production, production and post production and I'm glad I got so involved with this project.