I envisioned the trailer to comprise of only a few shots: having lots of cuts would remove the audience from the environment. With Jamie walking and the camera following we are placed right in the action as if we were heading to the set with him; lots of cuts would remove that effect.
On top of the concept I made here are a couple of examples of the transitions I want to implement into the trailer.
The clock transition at the start is very neat and the calibre I aim to make the edits in my trailer reach.
The second video just further examples the seamless transitions I am after:
I am aware of the difficulty of long takes but I'm confident it can be pulled off: I used long takes in my Directions Unit film with decent success. This will hopefully be more choreographed and the shots are more straightforward.
My only concern will be the co-ordination: the first shot consists of 4 paparazzi; 2 fans; a security man and Jamie. Including myself and a sound operator that's 9 people involved with one shot.
I know what I'm after and so as long as I can explain that there shouldn't be any big problems with the shoot.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Friday, 20 February 2015
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Version 2
My original trailer idea was lacking in character for Jamie and punch for the actual content: it needed to hook and maintain the viewers' interest.
So I went back to the script and focussed on selling the show. The USP of the show is that they look at the public's opinion and gets their say. I reworked the script changing the description of the show to lead into the USP and hit the point home.
The other major change is that the transitions are social media related: utilising Facebook, Youtube and advertisement to seamlessly shift to the next sequence.
I think the script is much better now with the changes and sells the show more efficiently.
So I went back to the script and focussed on selling the show. The USP of the show is that they look at the public's opinion and gets their say. I reworked the script changing the description of the show to lead into the USP and hit the point home.
The other major change is that the transitions are social media related: utilising Facebook, Youtube and advertisement to seamlessly shift to the next sequence.
I think the script is much better now with the changes and sells the show more efficiently.
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Concept
To help explain my ideas for the transitions in the trailer I created an example in my room.
To create this I took the video and saved an image of a specific frame. I combined the image with an image of a blank Facebook post to use as an example and imported this new image into Final Cut Pro. I then used the Ken Burns to start the picture of the mug at the same size as the video and 'zoomed' it out to the full size of the image.
The task took around 5 minutes to complete and is surprisingly effective. I feel confident that in the real production the edit and quality will be even better.
It's refreshing and uplifting to see how the transition will actually look. Instead of guessing and theorising what it might look like and how it might be achieved; I've gone and made an example to see if the idea is actually feasible.
To create this I took the video and saved an image of a specific frame. I combined the image with an image of a blank Facebook post to use as an example and imported this new image into Final Cut Pro. I then used the Ken Burns to start the picture of the mug at the same size as the video and 'zoomed' it out to the full size of the image.
The task took around 5 minutes to complete and is surprisingly effective. I feel confident that in the real production the edit and quality will be even better.
It's refreshing and uplifting to see how the transition will actually look. Instead of guessing and theorising what it might look like and how it might be achieved; I've gone and made an example to see if the idea is actually feasible.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Script
One of my roles is Behind The Scenes but my second role is Trailer DOP. Meaning I'm in charge of the camera for the filming of it.
I chose to write a script for the trailer as I envision it as it's being created. Making a shot list and storyboard will be easier too as I will already have an idea of how it's going to look.
I have stuck with the idea of making it point of view and keeping it behind the scenes like in the BBC Radio 1 advert. Originally this was going to be a teaser but Charlie suggested the idea of following the presenter/host as they 'lead' the camera to the set. I liked this idea as coming up with a teaser would be simpler than a trailer due to the trailer having to tell the viewer what the show is about rather than teasing what it is.
One notable problem with this is that it ends with the set: which isn't coming until 2 days before the recording which is far too late and impractical to film. An alternative idea is to end the trailer with the camera walking through a door to the set and a white light filling the screen to sounds of an audience clapping and cheering. This keeps a teasing element to the trailer but still provides information on the show.
My idea is to have the presenter talk about the show as they're leading the camera to the set. There'll be references to the stories that will be covered in the show.
I want it to look as though it's one continuous take but split by several edits disguised by a shot that can be edited easily. For example the camera whip pans and then use the blurring to transition into the next shot which begins with a whip pan to make the edit seamless.
To make the journey quicker each edit will 'teleport' the camera to a different place but closer to the set.
I chose to write a script for the trailer as I envision it as it's being created. Making a shot list and storyboard will be easier too as I will already have an idea of how it's going to look.
I have stuck with the idea of making it point of view and keeping it behind the scenes like in the BBC Radio 1 advert. Originally this was going to be a teaser but Charlie suggested the idea of following the presenter/host as they 'lead' the camera to the set. I liked this idea as coming up with a teaser would be simpler than a trailer due to the trailer having to tell the viewer what the show is about rather than teasing what it is.
One notable problem with this is that it ends with the set: which isn't coming until 2 days before the recording which is far too late and impractical to film. An alternative idea is to end the trailer with the camera walking through a door to the set and a white light filling the screen to sounds of an audience clapping and cheering. This keeps a teasing element to the trailer but still provides information on the show.
My idea is to have the presenter talk about the show as they're leading the camera to the set. There'll be references to the stories that will be covered in the show.
I want it to look as though it's one continuous take but split by several edits disguised by a shot that can be edited easily. For example the camera whip pans and then use the blurring to transition into the next shot which begins with a whip pan to make the edit seamless.
To make the journey quicker each edit will 'teleport' the camera to a different place but closer to the set.
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind The Scenes
Alongside the BTS script I am writing up the shot list for it detailing every shot required; its size and where it belongs.
I've also labelled the columns to make it easier to read; including the shot number (which corresponds to the same shot number in the BTS script) and a tick box so when a shot is done it can be ticked off.
For the set-up interviews a medium close-up will be used and various other shots will be used for the actuality segments.
I've also labelled the columns to make it easier to read; including the shot number (which corresponds to the same shot number in the BTS script) and a tick box so when a shot is done it can be ticked off.
For the set-up interviews a medium close-up will be used and various other shots will be used for the actuality segments.
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind The Scenes Scripting
One task I proceeded with was to write the script with Charlie for the Behind The Scenes film of the show being created. It wasn't until late into the scripting that we found out that scripting this wasn't our role and was instead a role for the Promotions Producer and Show Producer. However since we were pretty far into the process we were allowed to continue.
I wrote the majority of the script but Charlie did have an equal say in what the content would be. My plan for the BTS was to tell a story from concept to production detailing the steps taken to get from a pitch to an actual 'as-live' production.
The maximum length is 10-12 minutes which I felt would be too short a time to fit everything in. Although at the same time 10 minutes can be a very long time depending on the variety of content you have.
My goal was to get interviews with all the major players in the production: Show Producer; Studio Directors; Production Manager; Promotions Producer and VT Producer. In either actuality or set-up interviews.
Instead of setting up an interview here and there at various stages of the production I was told to instead wait until the end (either just before or just after the actual recording) and film the interview as a 'whole': covering the past 9 weeks in a single interview. Partly to free up the interviewees and allow them to work but also to avoid the physical changes of them. For example, in week 2 an interviewee has a beard and then in week 8 they don't, or they're wearing different clothes or had a haircut. I believe this to not be such a big issue as it's behind the scenes and we're progressing through 9 weeks of their time. A haircut or different shirt won't ruin or affect the continuity at all due to the BTS covering a large expanse of time. Despite this I shall go ahead with the single interview at the end as it really doesn't make that much of a difference.
There are lots of actuality shots in the script including VT production; VT meetings and scripting; Promotions tasks like creating the poster; advert and social media pages and Producer department jobs such as preparation for the CATF meeting and auditions for the host and panellists.
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Professional Practice Unit: Research - Production Roles
Myself and Andy had a tutorial with Simon today to clarify what we were going to be doing for our commission. He wrote down some tasks we needed to do:
With this fresh in our heads we sat down and determined what our roles are:
Andy will take the role of Producer: setting up meetings with the client; creating a schedule detailing our filming dates etc and organising the project whilst I shall take the role of Director: writing the script, drawing the storyboard and working from the both of those to create the project.
We will share camera, sound and editing duties and work closely together on these to create a solid piece of work that will promote the client in a positive way.
With this fresh in our heads we sat down and determined what our roles are:
Andy will take the role of Producer: setting up meetings with the client; creating a schedule detailing our filming dates etc and organising the project whilst I shall take the role of Director: writing the script, drawing the storyboard and working from the both of those to create the project.
We will share camera, sound and editing duties and work closely together on these to create a solid piece of work that will promote the client in a positive way.
Professional Practice Unit: Research - Possible Shots and Ideas
With a commission project set I went onto the client's website to better understand what it is the company does.
"In combining the three elements of Property Consulting, Architectural Design and Residential Agency in three associated businesses, Harrisons have endeavoured to provide their clients with the full spectrum of property and development expertise. Each separate firm within the Harrisons’ Group is able to provide professional and effective advice in their own sphere of expertise, and combine where required to provide a comprehensive property and development service.”
“Harrisons Chartered Surveyors are an independent firm of property Consultants, Agents and Valuers, providing a range of range of property services to a wide spectrum of companies, banking and institutional organisations, public sector development agencies, local authorities, housing associations, leisure operators and educational establishments.
Harrisons have an extensive and specialist knowledge of Kent, and provide the following portfolio of services and departments:
"In combining the three elements of Property Consulting, Architectural Design and Residential Agency in three associated businesses, Harrisons have endeavoured to provide their clients with the full spectrum of property and development expertise. Each separate firm within the Harrisons’ Group is able to provide professional and effective advice in their own sphere of expertise, and combine where required to provide a comprehensive property and development service.”
Harrisons have an extensive and specialist knowledge of Kent, and provide the following portfolio of services and departments:
- Agency and development department - commercial sales and lettings, commercial and residential development, investment, planning and regeneration.
- Professional and management department - asset management, expert wines and arbitration, landlord and tenant, rating tax and compulsory purchase, valuation and survey, rent review, lease renewal.”
- Professional and management department - asset management, expert wines and arbitration, landlord and tenant, rating tax and compulsory purchase, valuation and survey, rent review, lease renewal.”
Key points of their services:
- Sales and lettings.
- Development, planning and regeneration.
- Valuation and Survey.
These seem to be the key points that stick out for me so these aspects should be included in the video.
For a VT workshop for the Studio Production Unit I brought in my GoPro for a specific shot. Me and Andy got talking about using the GoPro for our commission project. An idea we came up with was to have an employee of the company wear the GoPro on their head with a head-strap (that I also own) and draw a design or plan for one of their clients.
I'd like to get some use out of the GoPro but the only downside is that the lens is very wide and that in turn results in a 'fisheye' look when filming:
Although it does look good in its own right I'm not sure if it will aesthetically look good for a company's promotional video. Especially if that company doesn't work in a field that a GoPro could show off their services.
Professional Practice Unit: Research - Thoughts and Decisions
When briefed on the Professional Practice Unit I was already content with choosing the backup option which was a case study on a professional in the field I am interested in. With my interest being in directing I considered writing about a film director however in a conversation with Simon he informed me that it would have to be about a professional in the TV industry.
I was reluctant to do the work experience or commission options as I didn't feel confident enough to do so. Simon explained that I would miss a good opportunity to get that experience and build that confidence if I didn't go for one of those options.
With that said I took a look at the commission jobs that were available. Curious, I asked Tim what choice he was going for and he too was looking at commission. I asked if he would like to work with me on something and he obliged. So we had a talk and looked at the commission options and opted for the CONK heritage commission job. However we didn't get this commission and Tim a day later told me he had an opportunity lined up that he would like to do instead if I didn't mind. I was fine with it and so as far as I know he has that job.
Around a week later I found out that Andy had applied for the 400 company work experience and we agreed that if he didn't get the job we would work on a commission together as our backups. Andy didn't get the job so we set out looking for potential commissions online. I also checked the casting site Star Now as there are often production crew jobs available for various small budget films and documentaries. Andy contacted his uncle who is the director of a chartering company called Harrisons. He asked if they would like a promotional video made which could go on their website and detail what the company does. He was more than willing for us to do this and with that we had a commission project.
I feel this will be an interesting challenge as promoting a company that specifies in development, letting and selling property and other services will be difficult to make unique and creative. I think it'll be fun to try and approach it from a different angle and make some good shots. I haven't yet worked with Andy on a project either so that will also be interesting and good fun.
I was reluctant to do the work experience or commission options as I didn't feel confident enough to do so. Simon explained that I would miss a good opportunity to get that experience and build that confidence if I didn't go for one of those options.
With that said I took a look at the commission jobs that were available. Curious, I asked Tim what choice he was going for and he too was looking at commission. I asked if he would like to work with me on something and he obliged. So we had a talk and looked at the commission options and opted for the CONK heritage commission job. However we didn't get this commission and Tim a day later told me he had an opportunity lined up that he would like to do instead if I didn't mind. I was fine with it and so as far as I know he has that job.
Around a week later I found out that Andy had applied for the 400 company work experience and we agreed that if he didn't get the job we would work on a commission together as our backups. Andy didn't get the job so we set out looking for potential commissions online. I also checked the casting site Star Now as there are often production crew jobs available for various small budget films and documentaries. Andy contacted his uncle who is the director of a chartering company called Harrisons. He asked if they would like a promotional video made which could go on their website and detail what the company does. He was more than willing for us to do this and with that we had a commission project.
I feel this will be an interesting challenge as promoting a company that specifies in development, letting and selling property and other services will be difficult to make unique and creative. I think it'll be fun to try and approach it from a different angle and make some good shots. I haven't yet worked with Andy on a project either so that will also be interesting and good fun.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Logo 2
Helen asked if we could make a second logo but with a female's silhouette.
To do this I found an image online of a profile of a woman's silhouette and replaced the male silhouette in a duplicated version of the document. Then it was just polishing the edges up and resizing the image to make the finished product.
To do this I found an image online of a profile of a woman's silhouette and replaced the male silhouette in a duplicated version of the document. Then it was just polishing the edges up and resizing the image to make the finished product.
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Pixellating The Logo
Going into this task I knew it would be a lot harder to achieve as the test I did was a much lower quality document than this. To maintain the quality of the logo there needs to be more pixels in the canvas. Where the test had 72 pixels per centimetre this document had 1500 pixels per centimetre: meaning that my method of colouring in individual pixels would be pretty tricky and time-consuming to do this time round.
So I came up with the idea of making a 3x3cm square; colouring it in the same colour as the font and then copy and pasting it lots of times and then dragging the squares around. After doing this for a couple letters I felt it didn't look right so I tried a different method.
I discovered that you can change the shape of your paintbrush to a square so I used this and stared to paint random squares in a similar fashion to the method I did on the test document. Again, however, this just didn't look right to me. I felt they were too small and looked like random dots rather than the words actually coming apart.
Looking for another method; I searched online for pixellation effects and found this video:
I couldn't get the instructor's technique to work so I selected the paint brush tool and altered the settings so it would create little squares when I moved it around and this was the effect:
So I came up with the idea of making a 3x3cm square; colouring it in the same colour as the font and then copy and pasting it lots of times and then dragging the squares around. After doing this for a couple letters I felt it didn't look right so I tried a different method.
I discovered that you can change the shape of your paintbrush to a square so I used this and stared to paint random squares in a similar fashion to the method I did on the test document. Again, however, this just didn't look right to me. I felt they were too small and looked like random dots rather than the words actually coming apart.
Looking for another method; I searched online for pixellation effects and found this video:
I couldn't get the instructor's technique to work so I selected the paint brush tool and altered the settings so it would create little squares when I moved it around and this was the effect:
I love this effect, in trying out something I ended up creating the exact look I was after. The other technique of placing individual squares and/or painting squares was very time-consuming and just didn't look right but this was perfect. It only took a couple of minutes and I think it's very effective.
Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - The Logo
Myself and Vic started work on the logo for the show. The promo team decided on the colour scheme purple text with a teal background and the font was also worked out.
Charlie had been testing an idea with a silhouette of a head shouting and then the text would be coming out of their mouth. With this in mind we grabbed an image online and placed it into the canvas on Photoshop.
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| With the teal background. |
We next created a speech bubble where the text would be inside and added the text.
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| Not with final font. |
Vic added the drop shadow and accidentally tilted the image trying to adjust it and it turned out to look pretty effective so we chose to keep the tilt.
We finished with deciding on the font 'Gil Sans':
Overall I really like the logo: I feel it fits the brand and style of the show very well; all that's left now is to add the pixellation effect and it'll be complete.
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