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Weekly reflection/Evaluation:
Evaluation:
Blogtastic Fridays:
11/03: - Started research about location use and what props to have in each scene, this will help with the mis-en scene details. -The style of video will be collage/ documentary about how life was in a typical family in the 1970s. I am not sure on exact character profiles that will be present and how they act yet, but I am clear on the visual style as it will be filmed on super 8 film. - I have started a Padlet asking questions from unselected audiences. -I have started adding depth to the storyline (What kind of things will be going on in the film) This will help with my final project as I want people from that time period to describe things they liked doing or cultural differences. -I can apply audience theory to my project by overlooking my project and seeing wether there are any points that could be criticised for being incorrect (age appropriate) but if this doesn't happen then the audience will be passive. 18/03: -Extended research on storyline and set design, outline of script/blurb completed, film bought, started pitch presentation. -I have encountered issues with what content will be on my film, but have decided to have it centred around a birthday party instead of small snippets all at different locations, this will make my storyline make more sense and have a purpose. -I have researched more into my target audience, with it having a few groups, such as people who lived at the time and people who are teenagers now as they might like to see what life was like then, this will inform my pitch by having a better understanding of my audience. -Possible more research on characters that will be in my film and make it more simplistic with text on screen. -As I researched more about home movies, I felt that creating a storyboard would be inaccurate as home movies weren't planned in terms of each shot for the film. It would be more free-style with some elements in place that would happen on camera, but to preserve the factor of an unedited, family home movie, the less acting performed, the better it will look as it is not 'too acted out'. 25/03: -I have been researching home decor of the 1970s, with board games and activities with primary and secondary research, I have started research on 70s party food, what it would be like/how it would be styled and presented. -I have not adapted my project much since my pitch, but have became aware of what prop images I used on one slide was not from the same decade. Given this, I have to be more research on when items came about making sure they're not outdated/futuristic. -I have started some practical experiments like shooting a test roll of super 8 a few weeks ago, and have found out that I need to use the correct film for indoor use so it is well-lit enough. From this I have learnt to use a tripod in relevant scenes to reduce shaking but not in too many as it will revoke the nostalgic aesthetic. I will try to add some extra lighting but not a lot as it will take away the 'home movie' aspect. -Some problems I have encountered this week are that my films have not arrived which will delay me starting production, It should come within this week. But in my timeline I have put that I should start filming this week. -I will be a bit behind from this problem, but in the final outcome it will weigh out to be on time as I have allowed 2 weeks for post-production. My priorities for next week are to start filming and to start set dressing earlier than that. 29/03: Using marketing is a way of my film reaching more people and expand the target audience group. Some ideas I will carry over for my own production are; creating a thumbnail and making it a catching visual that people will want to click on my video when it is live on YouTube. Another idea I will do is create a poster that will enable the audience to know what the main idea of my film is and when it will be released, having a behind the scenes shot of someone holding a super 8 camera filming their family. Another way of marketing is creating a trailer or teaser, which I will try to create a teaser that will contain a short sequence, at this point, I've decided that the sequence won't actually be a part of the film but enticing the audience and letting others know what my film will be based on. I could also set a camera up in one scene to capture the behind-the-scenes which might make people understand the production side of things documenting what I had to do to make the mis-en scene real. 01/04: -I have further researched 70s party food and how a spread would be set out and what items would be in the scene. Also I have been researching wrapping paper and birthday cards which allowed me to see what has changed so I can replicate that in my film. I can improve my planning by timing out how long shots would be with camera movements and how far it will go in one shot. When I have finished production, I will create a poster, thumbnail and a short teaser which will help market my film to my desired audience. I also need to explain why I have done the research I have, this will help me get into the higher grading criteria and need to show I will input the same standard to all of my production. I will mention that I initially was planning a home movie set in the 80s with super 8, but doing some research I found that the 70s were really the prime for super 8 and the 80s were more of a VHS age. 08/04: -I have amended my idea by thinking about if I need to include a scene where I can film a number of old cars from the era, at Atwell and Wilson Museum, but as I have already finished most of the production aspect, I will have to weigh out to see if it will make a big difference by having an aspect of the motor industry, it was an idea I had at the research stage of my project. They might have a positive look for the whole film as having some shots of classic cars, as some people might reminisce more with cars in addition to props in scene 1/2. -My planning has been quite thorough, which has been mostly about set dressing and how I can make a scene look like the 70s. Comparing to previous projects, I have invested more time into the planning and research stage to make sure everything is correct with the age it was used. Saying this, I have also included a small budget allowing to buy film and some additional props that may make the outcome have a better effect in terms of relevancy. From previous projects, I did think out my idea thoroughly but my current project research has been more useful and effective because I can understand what would happen in a home movie and social activities from primary research. -I have produced a test shoot which I shot on super 8 film on which I tested out lighting in different scenarios and what camera movements are effective to look appealing on film. The results were pleasing as they were how I expected as I included plenty of natural light into most of the shots, but when the sun started setting, I wanted to try seeing how it could handle low light on the daylight film and it was very dark (inside a room with minimal lights and low daylight) which made me research what other film I need to get for filming indoors, which I got a higher ISO film. -I have been demonstrating ongoing research by creating resources like Padlet, where I set up on a webpage and asked people what kind of activities they would have done in the 70s and what they would do in todays age, with what families would do on a birthday party. I have had some responses back with someone saying a picnic. This is helped me with my research by having other people's input where they lived through the decade and know about these things that can make my project more effective. It has had a positive impact on the current outcome as I have matched things from people's memories and added it into things like props, activities and scenery. -According to my schedule, I am roughly on time with how far along the production stage is, on my timetable it says that the week starting the 04/04 is where I should be sending my film off to the developing lab, and yesterday (07/04) I did manage to send the film off and should be there by the 12th to get in for the weekly deadline. A few things did not go to plan between filming, however, an actor playing the 'main character' tested positive for Covid, which delayed things for a few days, but eventually got back on track. When I have time while waiting for the developing, I could revisit the idea of going to the car museum for a few shots of cars. This will have a positive effect as there is more of a mis-en scene and can fit into the film much better. -My next challenge to overcome is to start planning for the marketing of the film, such as creating a poster and thumbnail for visuals before/when my production is released. I will also create a short teaser that will showcase what my film will be about, to do all this I need to correctly plan what exactly will be going on with planning such as drawing up a storyboard with individual shots and a description of what is going on in the shot. 29/04: -Looking through my footage that I got back from developing over the holidays, the technical quality of the shots are suitable as I tried to leave out things that I couldn't move such as a modern tv which I left out of frame, also with modern appliances like a dishwasher was behind a kitchen trolley and not seen in frame. For camera techniques I used the super 8 camera and DSLR to record all the shots, and I used some zoom from the camera. Lighting was a big benefactor for my production because I had to make sure enough lighting was hitting the film for it to be exposed correctly. The location I chose was very suitable as the house was built pre 70s (grandparents house) and the main kitchen furniture was pine/wood so it matched a 70s house more than my own house. Mis-en-scene was heavily used in my production to make the set as accurate as possible to a 1970s house. Things like costumes were used that were age appropriate and relevant to the decade, things like props were important to my production as above. -My edit at the moment is starting to fit together, where I re arranged some clips as I was unsure if I was going to have enough film so I filmed more representable clips first and then order them in post. I don't think I need to reshoot any shots as everything mostly turned out better than I thought and anything I would have to reshoot I would have to film digitally. -I have mostly finished my research because I am almost finished with production (a poster and teaser need to be planned and created), I may need to do some final research for what to include in my teaser which is generally about what any genre could include. The amount of research I have done is equal to the production value with mis-en-scene. -Throughout my production, I did encounter some problems which I overcame by the time I would be filming, an example is where I realised that I would have to make a trace copy digitally just in case that any scenes did not work out, another problem I encountered was where I left a irrelevant prop on the set, but in post I corrected it by adding a artificial film burn which I bought an asset pack online and then mixed it into the project to make sure it fits visually and doesn't look out of place. I tried to use an overlay free version on YouTube but it didn't manage to sync with any plugins or effects already installed on Premiere Pro. -I have made reasoned decision making that has positively impacted my production, such as where I decided to leave some props out of view as even though it was around in the 70s, most people weren't lucky enough to have them. -I have not had a test screening for my target audiences yet. I plan to show a few people from different age groups, what they think of it and how it could seem more nostalgic. 05/05: -Proposal complete, it clearly captures my idea and what I am doing -I am on track to complete my project, as my film arrived around 10 days early, so it has given me more time to edit. Throughout next week I will continue editing, and update my Weekly site with the planning and practical skills page, I also will start creating my poster and teaser. The following week I will start my evaluation and complete any missing things that could bump my final grade up. -If an assessor had looked at my website at the moment, I would fail as haven't completed the final product but avoiding that I may get a pass/merit in terms of the research, problem solving, planning and production. 13/05: -I have been researching how good the sound quality is from 1970s microphones (which was more muffled and plastic-sounding) and replicating that to my Foley sounds so it doesn't sound as crisp and clear. -I have tested a draft to a group from the target audience and they argued that the sounds might stand out too much or in too much detail, using this feedback, I removed some of the minor sounds like the pouring of the kettle and slicing of the bread, as technology from this time wouldn't of been able to capture the audio with the camera motor going off in the background. I mixed all of the Foley down in terms of volume as it was too much combined with other sounds. Nicky has made a point about how some people might only remember the format as a silent medium not often inclusive with synced sound. -I have been referring back to my context to make sure I'm making relevant decisions for my project, for example when I choosing wether or not to record Foley, I was thinking if a typical middle class family would have a sound camera, but most did (Smith, 2004) as it was new exciting technology. -I have been exploring some alternative ideas such as creating a second poster as I had two ideas I thought that would look good. Also how I removed some Foley sounds. -I am continuing to stretch my knowledge by asking some people what they remember about the format; did they usually see black and white films or colour, if it was silent and if they had their own camera. I have been using photoshop to create production posters and I have been researching what fonts were used in the 70s and were common. 20/05: Audience Testing: -Some feedback I have received is to cut down my teaser as it was longer than it needed to be and to add a few shots showing the character rummaging through an old shoe box full of home movie reels. I planned how the shot would look and then I decided it would add to the story of the teaser if it shown the entire process of setting up a projector and playing a film. I also added a shot of the character threading a film through and turning the lamp on. To make it more snappy, I had to either speed up some shots or cut them down to the vital parts. This made my teaser more visually appealing as it was changing angles every few seconds. I think this will positively impact my teaser as it isn't as visually boring as before and it has a range of shot/shot angles. Reflect on the practical skills criteria (Merit grade): 'Can you evidence consistent and appropriate processes, skills and knowledge': -I believe I have reached this criteria as I have been debating over certain foley sounds and if they need to be kept in, for example, the technology of the 70s (microphone) possibly wouldn't of captured sounds like the slicing of the bread or the water pouring into the tea cup, so I spoke to Nicky and she agreed and I removed the small sounds. Another example that I have reached this criteria is where if the camera moves any where (regardless of how big the movements are) I moved any other visual layers with it as well, so where a grandparent is seen smoking, I moved the smoke simulation with it, using the timestamp key frames. 'Have you applied your knowledge to develop creative solutions?': -For the ending credits, I researched what fonts would have been used in the 1970s, which I found a type writer font was used, so I found the font and applied it to the text of the credits so it flows with the rest of the film and how it would of looked back then. I also added ink splashes to around the text to show that it was maybe flicked from the ink pad onto the paper. Reflect on the presentation criteria: 'How can you present to your audience? What will entice them to watch? On which platforms? Justify your choices....': -Some audience members might enjoy the home movie factor of my film as it might seem nostalgic to them of their childhood, or with the props I used they might reminisce about if they used to have that in their house, such as Pong or chicken paste sandwiches (won't be noticeable visually) or sounds of the whistling kettle. My film will be on a couple video platforms such as YouTube or maybe Vimeo, this will reach a range of audiences because they (YouTube) cater for a range audience members so if anyone wants to see an old-style home movie it would be pretty easy to find. I have started my evaluation over the last few days. |