Location Release

This is our location release. we needed a location release because it gives us permission to film on the location of our choice, this is not the same as a recce, a recceis a survey of the location, a release is permission. seeing as we filmed in the staff room we needed a teachers siganture so we asked Sean if he would sign it.

Risk Assessment

this is our risk assessment, it is important to have a risk assessment because it allows you to say safe when on location filing. the main risks in our project seeing as it was a kitchen where slipping on wet floor and cutting ourselves on sharp objects such as knives. we filled out this form to make sure we prevented these things from occurring.

Budget Sheet

This is our budget sheet, it is important to have a budget sheet to because it keeps you from spending money on unnecessary things. in the media industry if you go over budget then it can impact negatively on your career. It can cost you money and give you a bad reputation. seeing our budget contained  things no more than two pounds then it was hard to go over budget. The receipts are attached to the back of the document.

Child Talent Release

This is our child talent release for me.
because i am under eighteen I qualified as a child. for a child talent release the talent has to get a parent or guardian to sign the release to show that they have got permission. The form asks where you live, age and phone number just in case something goes wrong.

Production schedule

This is or production schedule, the dates are a little out as we needed to re film scenes due to continuity problems as people where not wearing the same clothes as on previous days of filming. however I can definitely see the importance of having a production schedule as in the media industry if you do not meet deadlines it can cost you money and impact negatively on your career.

Prop List

This is our prop list, prop lists are important because it allocates certain props to certain people so someone is more or less responsible for their prop, and if everyone has a small amount of props to remember they are less likely to forget. In our group I was responsible for the knife and backup oranges, while Sam was responsible for the main orange. Sean and Ellie let us burrow the juicer and the smoothie.

Storyboards

These are our storyboards. It is important to make storyboards because it helps a lot when actually filming as we are able to see what shots we have done and are going to do. without these it would be very difficult to remember what shots we had don and where going to do. in our group we worked it out evenly, we would take it turns to do three shots each. with a storyboard you also need to draw what you are going to do and how so that you have some visual reference while filming.

Requirements for a Moving Image Production

 

Our moving image product was a ninety second short film. we made this to enter it into the Depict! competition on the Internet. We are distributing our short film through you tube, one of the leading video sites on the Internet.

There are many other types of moving image media products such as feature length films which are shown in the cinema, these films can run from ninety minutes to sometimes over three hours and they have many different genres such as action, adventure, sci fi, western,crime,etc. Another type of moving image product is television programmes which usually last around half an hour to an hour . there are also adverts which advertise a product and usually last from ten to thirty seconds. there are also music videos and also videos on the Internet which almost everyone in the world can see. the distribution methods for these different media products are usually television, DVDs and the more recent blu rays


Here is an example of advertising for the product snickers:

Finance and sources of funding

There are many different ways media products get their sources of funding. one is the use of production companies, these are companies that give film makers money to make films after they have pitched their idea to them while the production company will get m. Examples of production companies are Warner Brothers, studio canal and a Band Apart. There are also private investors, like production companies they give people money to make the film and get money in return however they are not companies, they are individual people who invest money into a film. An example of a private investor is Matthew Vaughn who produced the Guy Richie films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. another private investor is Megan Ellison who produced such films as True Grit and Lawless. another method for getting financing is through crowd funding, this is when a website is set up by the film maker and people from all over the Internet can put small amounts of money into the project. People can rely on family and friends to lend the money or get a bank loan. there are also companies set up such as the BFI (British Film Institute) and Creative England which offer support to film makers in many different ways such as supplying film makers with money, offering them advice and delivering professional development programmes to help emerging talent. another source of finance would be sponsors or product placement. this is where a company gives the filmmaker money to have their product sponsor the film and product placement is when products from different companies are put in the film to help advertise the product.

Requirements

In the film industry the money is spent on many different things that are need to make the film. The money usually goes towards props and costumes, location;sometimes you will have to pay someone to film on a certain location. another requirement that will cost money is the catering for the staff on set, there is also transport, accommodation, equipment; the equipment that film makers can be bought, they can already own in or they can rent it from sites such as www.filmcenter.co.uk and www.filmequipmentrentals.com. There are also some documents that need to be obtained when filming any type of moving image production such as talent releases; Talent releases are documents that give the actor or actress permission to be in the media production. There also have to be location recces and a location releases signed.

Personnel

Films and television programmes of any size will need a crew of some sort. However the size of these crew vary quite a lot.
In a low budget short the crew would most likely be under ten people as the film is shorter and not on such a high budget, the positions most likely found in a low budget short are the actors, a director and the camera crew. seeing as these shorts don't have a lot of money put into them people usually double up as editors and cinematographers
In a television programme the crew is usually a lot larger as quite a lot of money is put into them. the positions you would usually find on a television programme are actors, a director, a camera crew, a lighting crew, a make up crew,editor(s) and extras.
In a Hollywood feature film the crew size increases as they have a lot of money poured into them. on a feature film crew list you would find actors, prop crew, camera crew, lighting crew, make up crew, a director the editor(s) , location scouts, producers and extras.
Other contributors to the production of a media text can be people on the financial side of it such as accountants and producers. Outside the set and financial area of films there is composers who make the music for the film, researches who research things from locations to props and there are also film distributors, these can be individuals or companies that are responsible for the marketing and release dates for a film.
In our very small group we shared the roles of directing and editing. I did most of the acting with Maya , the acting role cant be shared but we all had an input in directing and editing.

Time & Budget

Time is a very important concept in the media industry. If the media product is not released in time of its predicted release then the director has to pay a fine, and ,probably the worse of the two, get a bad reputation in the media industry which could mean no-one will want to work with you after one bad project, also if filmmakers go over the budget for the film it can cause a massive problem for the filmmaker as this will again give them a bad reputation. A good example of this is the director Micheal Camino, who after directing the hugely successful film the Deer Hunter, he directed a film called Heavens Gate in 1980. This film originally had a budget of 7.5 million but Camino went incredibly over with a final budget of 40 million and ran well over five hours, he eventually managed to trim it down to under 3 hours. The film was a commercial and critical disaster which more or less destroyed Caminos career and he didn't direct a film for another five years which shows what going over the budget and getting a bad reputation can do to a film maker. We used our budget to buy props as we had burrowed the filming equipment so there was no need to buy or rent any.

 

Equipment/facilities

In professional moving image productions the equipment can be bought,burrowed or rented. A website that i came across when looking for sources of media equipment was the site prokit which sells professional
moving image production equipment there where 3 categories; cameras, lighting and sound with many different sub categories under these three initial categories.I will be looking at the prices for the first sub category in cameras, lighting and sound.for cameras it was single chip handheld cameras, the prices of these varied from £900.00 to over £4000,00. In the sound department the prices for microphones varied from under £100.00 to over £800.00. In the lighting category the prices for Tungsten lighting kits went from under £600.00 to over £1400.00. Sites like this will most likely use a document called a rate card which customers will use to rate the service and products of the company. Lots of equipment was available to us however we didn't use a lot of it as we didn't need it. The equipment we used for our production where a camera a tripod two sd cards, which where our own, and the editing software. however lighting and green screen was available to us but we did not use these as the lighting we used was ambient and we did not need green screen for our production. Here is a link to the prokit website:
http://www.prokit.co.uk/

Locations

For our location we had to fill in two documents; A location recce and a location release. a location recce is a survey of the location:why is it good for our production. the location release is permission for the location. Our location was the staff room kitchen, we chose this location because it was the perfect location for our film.There where a few risks we faced in the location we chose such as slipping on wet floor and cutting ourselves on sharp objects we overcame this by filling out a risk assessments and making sure we stuck to them.

Materials

 Materials needed for moving image productions are props, costumes and soundtracks/sound effects. when getting props and costumes the budget needs to be taken into consideration, as I mentioned above in the paragraph titled;'Time and Budget'. If a filmmaker goes over the budget it can heavily damage their career. when getting soundtracks/sound effects the filmmaker may need to get permission for the song and may even have to pay the artist for using the song.

Legal Issues

when making a media production the legal issue that may need to be taken into consideration are copyright issues. If someone uses a product with a logo or name of some kind is on a prop in the production then the film maker may have to pay a fine if they have not got the proper permission. In our production copyright issues did not effect us as we didn't have any known names or logos in our short film.
there are 3 legal terms that fall into the category of legal issues:
-Clearance: Means the legal permission for almost everything you need to use in your media production such as copyright material, the talent in the production and use of the location to name a few.
-Public Liability Insurance: This is needed in case a member of the public gets put out of place because of the filming. e.g if someone is late for work because of filming on a road.
-Completion guarantee/insurance: This is a form of insurance that is used to make sure the film is made in time. if someone does not get the film made in time the consequences can be as much as not being paid for making the film.

Regulation

OFCOM is a company that monitors media on television and radio. It protects the public from content that may be seen as harmful or offensive. A new media platform that's causing a big problem for OFCOM is the Internet as they don't have control over what people see on there.
There is another company called the BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification, it is funded by the film industry and is responsible for the classification and the censorship of films. The BBFC use certificates to help the public know what is suitable for children and what is suitable for adults
U- Everything is suitable for children.

PG- All ages are permitted but some scenes may be unsuitable fro children.

12A- Considered unsuitable for very young children, however those under 12 can see it if accompanied by an adult. These films can contain mature themes, discrimination,soft drugs, infrequent strong language, moderate violence, nudity and sex references.

12(Home media)- Nobody under 12 can buy a 12 rated film. the guidelines are the same as 12A.

15- Only over 15 year olds are allowed to see and buy these films. these films can contain adult themes, hard drug use,very strong language, nudity, strong violence and strong sex references.

18-Only those over 18 are allowed to view or buy an 18 rated film. these films usually have no limitations on the strong language and can contain strong violence hard drug use, strong sex references, explicit sex scenes and strong violence.

These are the OFCOM regulation sections:
Section One: Protecting the under eighteens.
Secton Two: Harm and Offence.
Section Three:  Crime.
Section Four: Religion.
Section Five: Due impartially and Due Accuracy and Undue Prominence of view and opinion.
Section Six: Elections and Referendums.
Section Seven: Fairness.
Section Eight: Privacy.
Section Nine: Commercial References in Television programmes.
Section Ten: Commercial Communications in Radio programmes.
Here is a link to the OFCOM site where you can read the sections in more detail:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/

 

Trade Associations and Unions

The trade union is important because they fight to make sure that there is no exploitation in the media industry.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, cinematography and theatre union also known as BECTU the united kingdom's media and entertainment union. they specialise in education and training for people who are interested in any of the above. Here is a link to the BECTU website:
http://www.bectu.org.uk/home
The producers alliance for cinema and television also known as PACT serves the film, independent television new media and animation sectors and is the united kingdom's contact point for international co production or co financial distributors or partners. Any members are given training and advice.
One of the trade associations that interests me is the film distributors association. The FDA is the trade body for theatrical film distributors in the united kingdom the companies that release films for the United Kingdom cinema audiences.





Sources:
snickers advert: www.youtube.com
Matthew Vaughn photo: www.imdb.com
Camera photo:smh-media.blogspot.com
Martin Scorsese photo:hdguru3d.com
    Heavens Gate photo:en.wikipedia.org
    BBFC photo:www.bbfc.co.uk

 

 

Evaluation of Final Product

Blood Orange



 

 

 

 

Mise en scene: Our short film; Blood Orange was set in a kitchen because that is where the story is set. Our main props consisted of oranges, all of which where from Morrisons, as the film heavily revolved around oranges we needed to buy many. our other main prop was the knife which we burrowed from the staff room. We didn't have any particular costumes apart from casual clothing.

Camera work: Our camera was kept in very close range to the talent, I think this makes it better because it makes the audience feel involved with the characters. we also used a panning shot of the kitchen at the beginning to also act as an establishing shot. There is also some camera movement which follows the character as he gets the juicer from the cupboard as we wanted that scene to flow instead of having many different shots.

Editing: Our editing was done quite well as the voice acting matches the correct scene almost perfectly. However I think that the post credits scene could of appeared a bit quicker and there are a few continuity problems Such as the oranges appearing in different positions and the hand being over the orange after it has been cut.

Sound: I think the sound was good in Blood Orange. I think the voice over was very good as it was clear and sounded like it actually belonged in the scene. also i think the music fits good because its a bit unsettling but jazzy at the same time which adds an element of humour.

General feedback: People liked blood orange because of some of its interesting camera angles and music. However some people did point out some of the continuity problems and the problem with the credits.









 

Location Recce

Our location for the short film;Blood Orange is the staff room kitchen area of east Norfolk sixth form college. The reason we chose this location is because it was more or less the perfect location for our short film as the whole thing will be set in a kitchen.








We tested out one of the areas of the kitchen for one of our scenes in the film, it fits perfectly with the scene we did.

On camera the location looks like an average kitchen, which is just the location we where looking for.

This is our location recce document that we had to fill in , it contains most information relevant to the location such as time it takes to get there and the power supply on location.

 

Depict! Analysis

'Enough'

 

mise en scene:

The mise en scene of 'enough' goes very well with the gritty atmosphere of the story. The main props used are a knife and a police baton. The police baton is quite important to the protagonists back story as it shows he is (or was) some kind of law man. The surroundings fit very well with the story as well, it is some sort of council estate which goes well with the gritty story.

 

Camera:
 The camera angle in this is very shaky. this adds to the feeling of realism in the short film. at the start the camera is at a high angle, this is to show that the protagonist weak at the start, we then see why he is feeling weak and it becomes apparent why the camera is at this angle. there are also some establidhing shots to show where he is and a tracking shot to show his journey through the estate.

Sound:
 There is no musical score in the short film which once again links back to the realism of it. All of the sound in the short film is ambient sound (wild track). There is some dialogue in the film, but there isnt a whole lot of dialogue which once again I think adds to the atmosphere.
 

Narative structure:
 The narrative structure is done in the classic way. At the start the viewers think that the normaility is the protagonist sitting at home, but in fact this is the protagonists reaction after the enigma takes place. we see a flashback of what the enigma was. The pathway to resolution then begins with the protagonist getting ready to confront the antagonist. the pathway to resolution then continues with the protagonist walking to the location of the antagonist . when the protagonis gets to the location the audience thinks that then the protagonist has the task of getting the weapon off of the antagonist, but it throws one more enigma into the the story, the protagonist and the antagonist are related, which was used to shock the audience. It then finishes with the protagonist being stabbed and lying on the floor (presumably dead) while the antagonist is trying to save him. This is the closure at the end of the short film (the ending of the story is a funeral ending).

Identification:

It was quite easy to identify with the protagonist. straight away we see an extreme close up of him. then we see part of the enigma followed by a close up. this is to show the audience that this man is definitely the main protagonist. later on tn the short film there is a point of view shot, I thought it was good that they saved the POV shot for an appropriate time in the film rather than at an insignificant time.

 

Suspense Techniques: At the start of the film the editing is rather slow. but as the film begins to pick up in plot the speed of ithe editing increases very quickly.This is to intensify the scene. which it does very well. it makes the whole thing actually seem like it is happening a lot faster than it really is and doesn't let the viewer take in properly what is actually going on until the last few seconds of the film which makes it even more shocking. There is an extreme close up at the start, but this doesn't give off the effect of suspense to me, I think it shows that he is reflecting on something.

 

 

 

 

Treasure

The second film I am anlysing is the short film called 'Treasure'.

 

Mise en scene: This film is shot in a very documantary type style, we get to see his his lifestyle; his house his pet, his possessions. This helps the audience see what characteristics the protagonist has. There is also a montage of clips. Each containing a prop of some kind which shows he is quite obsessed with his treasure hunting.

Camera: The film is shot very documentary style as it is a documentary, all of the camera movements are handheld camera movements.The first shot of the film is an establishing shot, used to show the type of lifestyle the protagonist has. We then get an interview style shot of him sitting in his house there is a close up after this shot thn it has a close up to show that he s the main protagonist of the documentary. we then get some extreme long shots to show the countryside.

Editing: The editing is quite fast at some points, for example there is a monatage of clips where the editing is fast. but the editing can also be slow as there is no need to edit it fast in this type of documentary.

 

 Identification: It is very easy to identify with the main character of the documentary because he is the only character in the short film and it is him who has the only dialogue in the film and he is almost constantly narrating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Depict idea: The Hustler





 

 

This is the story of a tramp walking across a park who hustles people out of their posetions, at the end it turns out he is a very rich man.

 

close up of tramp looking at something, no eyeline match.

 

Then cut to a high angled shot/ establishing shot of the tramp walking to some people on the park.

 

Then cut to a tracking, medium shot of the tramp walking across the park, he has a bit of a limp.

he walks up to the people.

 

Cut to medium shot of the people walking up to the tramp, one of them has a double decker in his hand.

 

POV shot from the tramps perspective of him looking at the double decker

 reaction shot of tramp licking his lips, he says 'i'll play you for that'.

 

The kids look at eachother and laugh.

 

Then cuts to tracking mid shot from the front of the of the tramp walking away eating the double decker.

 

Then cuts to mid shot of the reatcion of the people who he just hustled and you hear the say' I didnt think he would be a professional!'.

 

It then cuts back to the tramp walking out of the park with fade.

 

Then fades back to the tramp walking into a car park long shot from a low angle.

 

then cuts to a shot of a man talking on the phone saying 'yeah i just got the new car its great!'

 

Then cuts to mid shot of  the tramp meeting the man and saying ' I bet you I have more money in my pocket than you do'

'What is the prize?' the man says

'For you, the contents of my wallet, for me, your car'

The man laughs and says ' well ok then you fool'

 

It then cuts to the tramp inside the car( The camera willl be position outside the car looking in through the windshield), he takes the ragged clothes off to show he has a suit on underneath, then puts some expensive sunglasses on, laughs and drives away.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



15/10/13: Today we decided on the idea for our Depict. We chose the idea of 'Blood Orange'.

21/10/13: Today we finished the the paperwork and script for our short film, next lesson we will begin to film.

23/10/13: Today we started filming our production .

4/11/13: Today we continued our filming, however the main actress was not wearing the same clothing as she was on our previous day of filming which means we had to re-shoot the scenes we had already done. Tomorrow we will continue filming and record our voice actor.

5/11/13: Today we finished filming and recorded our voicover, tomorrow we wil begin editing.

6/11/13: Today we uploaded our footage to the computer and began our editing.

11/11/13: Today we finished our editing, we had to add music and titles. we found our desired music and put it into the film. I think it was a productive day of editing.