Practising editing videos

Working in a group we learnt few basic steps of creating a movie. We used some video samples and worked on editing it and putting different transitions into it, order to make it look interesting and visually attractive. I learnt how to cut off unwanted parts of the film; this can be done by first playing the video up until to the bit you want to cut off and then by clicking on snip. This was really convenient as instead of filming the whole scene again; we can just easily just cut off unwanted parts of the film, thus, saving us a lot of time.

As a group, using a video camera, we worked on taking a video of someone from different angles, using different shots and using different camera movements. This was interesting and important as this experience allowed to us to gain an insight of how to work with a camera as it allowed us experiment with different camera angles etc..

Research on the rule of thirds and headroom

Rule of thirds:

This technique is going to be really useful to us as it will come in handy when we take different shots. The rule of three is a composition technique. The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine dividing an image into nine equal parts, then dividing the image into two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. By placing an image at these points, you can make your image well balanced and less busy. It also helps a viewer naturally move through an image and also help you tighten the composition of your pictures.

Headroom:

The headroom refers to the distance between the top of the subject's head and the top of the frame. This is done to include the sense of space on both sides of the image. If the headroom is too little then this shot will make viewers feel uncomfortable, as the top of the screen is pressing down on his head. A good headroom is when there is adequate space above the person to make it look comfortable. The person’s eyes should be 1/3 down from the top. Too much of the headroom will show too much space above the person.

Working with animations - learning basic steps

As a group we have been working on how to create animations for our film title and production name. So, in order to create successful animations, we learnt how to use software called ‘flash’. This software is going to be very useful for us as it will help us create animations. From the help of an animation specialist, in groups we first worked on a few simple steps of creating basic animations.

With the help of the animation specialist we learnt how to create motion animations. First of all, before importing an animation it was important to insert a key frame (if you wanted your animation to last for 2 seconds, you have to place your key frame on the ruler marked 24) After inserting the key frame, we needed to use the selection tool; using the selection tool we then had to click on a shape tool to make and an oval. After doing this, it was important that we then click on modify to convert the shape to a symbol. After completing the first stage, it was important to keep in mind that every time we wanted to create the next step for an animation we had to click on ‘insert key frame’ – in order to create a moving picture. Lastly, it was also important to help the animation move smoothly, so in order to make this happen, using the selection tool we had to click on the previous key frame and then click on properties and click on tween motion.

We also learnt how to create shape animation. You first had to insert a key frame, using the selection tool, draw a shape – modify the shape into a symbol, insert another key frame and draw another shape using the same instructions and then go to properties – instead of clicking on motion, you had to click on shape. This allowed the shape to re-form into different shapes. We also looked at how to include special effects – you just follow the same instructions above, go to properties and you can click on different colour techniques such as alpha, or you can just hold down the shift button and re-scale shapes in proportion.

It was really important for our group to understand the key aspects of creating animations as we will need to use it to create our production name and an animation for our opening film title. This experience was exhilarating and I look forward to learning more about creating animations and further developing my skills.

Planning for the script

As a group we worked on how to produce our script perfectly by including all key elements of script writing. It is really important that our script is concise as we have to produce a 5 minute film. In our group, we talked about how actions speak better than words, and we decided that we should keep our dialogue short and let actions speak rather than the character talking about how they feel. We are going to show the characters emotions through actions and this is really effective as the audience will be anxious to find out how a particular character is feeling, so this will mean they will have to focus and look at the actions of the character-creating flair and moving the story forward. When we write a narrative description, we have to make sure that the writing is visual. Our film is going to be 5 minutes long, so, this means that our script will need to 5 pages. If the actions in a particular scene that we include in our film last for a minute, then we will need to produce a page of script for that scene.

All the key elements of script writing include, the slug line-otherwise known as the heading which helps by giving a short brief of the details of the setting of the scene. This is composed into three parts, including exterior and interior, location and time of day.

An example will be – INTERIOR, DON’S LIVING ROOM- DAY

Special scene heading is a heading used when the script alternates between different time periods. – January 1966 or Spring 194.

We found out that when a character is speaking, you have to put the characters name in capital letters etc. An example will be:

- Character speaking: Johnny

- Johnny (Silently)

- Dialogue: …..

We came across many editing styles such as Montage which means, when there are short clips of the film which indicate a series of short related scenes. Continuous editing is when you use a sequence of scenes that have a clear connection; are linked to one another. An intercut is when scenes take place in more than one location-this is often used with telephone calls, one person may be talking from London; whilst the other person may be talking from New York. A split screen is also used to show the intercut between two scenes.

Audience/Research Survey targeting our audience

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B82T9SW

Evaluation on a short film based on Drama

I have done a review on a piece drama I watched. This is very relevant as, this will help me plan for our film that we are going to produce. By looking at this piece of drama, it will allow me to find out what conventions are used in drama films and if the film challenges any conventions of drama. I used the BBC Film Network to search for a film of my particular choice, in this case I am going to search for a film based on drama because our group has decide to make a film based on comic-drama.

The short film is called ‘Mud Boy’ written and directed by Nic Penrake and produced by Anit Bashar. The film is based on a working-class family. The film is about a traumatised young girl who makes a disturbing and chilling discovery at the bottom of her garden. I have chosen this film because the title of the film seems very interesting and makes me feel anxious to find out what this piece of drama is about. The film contains very strong language and disturbing scene that may me inappropriate for younger viewers, I believe it may be certificated as 12A.

The film opens with a master shot which reveals the entire dramatised scene. We are immediately shown a mysterious object (a shovel) in the middle of the garden and in the background there are diegetic sounds of two people talking. At first the conversation sounds unclear as there is a lot of chatter and eventually their conversation gets clearer. The conversation seems to be between a man and a woman as they are accusing each other for something. This creates an impact on the audience as it helps reel the audience in the film so that they can find out what’s happening in order to get a clear picture of what the conversation is about. It’s interesting how the camera focuses on the shovel whilst we hear a glimpse of the characters conversation, this immediately creates a connection. This is really affective as it creates suspense and tension on the audience as they will feel eager to find out what’s happening.

The close-up shot presents the first character of a young girl. The close-up shot reveals her facial expressions that show she is frightened. This makes the audience feel sympathy for her. From a low-angle, from the young girl’s perspective (making her look inferior compared to her parents); we are then introduced to two other characters. The over-the-shoulder shot shows both characters. Both look like a working-class couple family. The man uses a lot of foul words on his speech as he talks to the women. He is dressed in a vest and some trousers and his hair is messed up, this allows the audience to make assumptions of him being drunk, being mentally un-stable with anger issues. This is significant as the director uses various elements to construct a bad representation of this character. This makes the audience feel anxious to find out why. The other character, the women, is constantly accusing the man of seeing her son last and from this statement we find out that her son is missing. This builds a lot of tension and anxiety on the audience.

The film begins with conflict from the start and in the middle it reaches a climax. This is when Mina runs off to the back of the garden to avoid the yelling and cursing of her parents. She plays by herself imitating the argument between her mum and her mum’s boyfriend. As Mina plays with her toys she accidentally unearths her brother’s grave. Failing to accept that he is dead, Mina make-believes her brother Jamie is alive and starts to do all she can to clean him up and bring him inside again. When the police arrive, they find the dead Jamie, but to Mina Jamie is now roaming free in the garden.

Drama films mostly depend on the in-depth development of realistic characters who are dealing with emotion situations etc. This film uses conventions of drama by including conflict between to characters, it’s based on crime, there’s a climax point and everything is dramatic.

The ending is really tragic because the secrets unravel a chilling truth, we find out that the women’s boyfriend had buried her son in the back-garden and he then gets convicted. There’s a twist at the end as the audience probably thought that Jamie lives and he is found but we find out that the little girl make-believes that her brother is alive. When the police arrive, they find the dead Jamie, but to Mina, Jamie is now roaming free in the garden.

In general, this film happened to be really tragic, emotional and dramatic. The director cleverly structured this film well, as the film kept me as an audience completely engaged with the urge to find out what will happen next. The hook at the beginning was really effective as it had an impact on me as an audience; I was reeled into the film having constant suspense on what was happening. I learnt a lot by watching this piece of drama, as it helped me understand what type of conventions drama films use and how they use it so that it has an impact on the audience. I importantly learnt how to reel our audience in our film to keep them engaged and interested in finding out what will happen next; with the constant anxiety and suspense.