Dear Diary - My New Project

I was asked on Monday the 22nd of February to help out a lady, who needed some support in shooting a promotional video of disability awareness at my college. My role was to get some vox plots, capture photos, and videos of students doing exercise. I had to additionally decorate a stand at the entrance of the college which included me pinning flyers and leaflets on a bulletin board.

I was told by my tutor that this would be an additional assignment that could be added to the result of my final major project, so I decided to take the challenge and partake in this project.

My experience with this project gave me the realisation of how the filming industry can be endless and tiring, for three days straight me and my partners, Wehlia and Inna had to go and shoot a lot of things, and we were also asked to edit the clips after seperately. We had no breaks and had to schedule when we wanted to have a lunch break, and at the end of the day we all remained completely exhausted. This experience has taught me a lot of things, it has taught me to have the determination and to get things done in a specific time brief. It gave me an insider of how my life could be when I transition to University and even leave. It just comes to show that not everything is easy!

I have already edited some of the disability awareness project before the STC show. I believe that the work will be completed around the same time the STC show will be completed. I have decided to edit the STC show on Monday the 29th of March.


Here is some screenshots of what ive done so far on the editing on the disabilty awareness project.

Contents on the STC Show

In the STC show, we have 8 segments. We have (in no particular order)

• Wehlia with the news.
• Sherene interviewing two stars, James Edmunds (A drummer) and Shaye Poulton (Actress).
• A performance by Rodrigo Ferreria our male singer.
• Another interview with Mohammed Rabi about death football which will be done by Sherene.
• A juicy gossip section produced by Jazire
• And an outside broadcast report by Me and Oltjana will be present to play the role as my witness. 

Dear Diary

Today has been a very productive day I've managed to record my role in the STC show as the outside broadcaster. The recording went well and I plan to share my clip on Monday the 29th, to the rest of students as we will soon be going into the process where we start to edit our work.

I also got really good clips of the park pond, just for a visual aspect so the viewers could see the environment in which the snake was found dead in. Along with that, I additionally got a vox plot done of one of my fellow classmates pretending that they had witnessed the snake in the pond. I did this because I wanted to add a realistic effect to my segment. It is very common to have a witness when these events happen and I believe that if I didn't have a witness the segment would be quite pointless and  not realistic.


Here is one of my clips below that I recorded, unfortunately I could not upload the video of me doing my outside broadcast report because blogger says my file must be 100MB or more, but you will see the recording once I fully edit the STC show.

As for the sound which is very loud i will most likely mute it or alter the sound levels so it does not sound to loud for viewers.

Media Homework

In the studio 

Camera Movements 

Tilt Shot - A tilt is a vertical camera movement, where the camera points up or down in a still area. For instance, if a camera is positioned in someone's hand, and you move it up and down this is when you are tilting the camera.  A tilt shot and pan shot have alike roles but it is not often used. People would use a tilt shot when they want to reveal a person or an environment.

(A tilt shot in picture)

Pan Shot - A pan shot is a horizontal camera movement and what people do to achieve a pan shot is by holding the camera, and making it transition left and right. People may use a pan shot to reveal things that the audience could not have seen. A pan shot is good for presenting objects in a close-up view. It is good for Revealing the complete look of an environment and showing an audience a relationship between a character and an environment.

Handheld - A handheld shot is a shot where the camera is placed in someone's hands rather than positioned on a tripod. People would use a handheld camera because it is more suitable for travelling. With a handheld camera, people would be able to travel, and shoot things outside rather than remaining in one area. Handheld cameras allow people to do their job easier. It gives them freedom in their work when recording.

How does the studio camera differ from the cameras we take out?

 Studio camera's are not designed to be taken out whereas the camera we normally have are designed to be taken out because they're more portable. The studio camera's are used as a base for editing from the control room they belong in the studio as its main function is to record the interior in there. The camera's we take out could be edited at any time and could be indoors or outdoors when shooting.

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Framing: Find out the difference between framing and composition


The difference between framing and composition is that framing is when people are looking 
where things come from in the camera. 

Composition is when someone is structuring 
and placing something. 

Zoom (in or out)

When is a good time to use these? 

It would be a good time to use zoom in the camera when you wanna capture and draw attention towards a subject, if you want to shoot something in a distance, and to make an object be more noticeable in a shot. 

It would be good to zoom out when doing a scene where you want to make an object look smaller in size, and also to get other things in the shot that may be more significant in the scene, this could help the audience figure out what happens next. 

Camera distance: 

Close up, Mid shot, two shot and establishing shot.

What are these and in what circumstances would we use them?

Closeup Shot.

A closeup shot is a shot that consists of framing someone's face, eyes, mouth, anything that is 
close up. Close up shots are used in different types of ways for different purposes, they are used to capture someone's emotions.

One of the reasons why close up shots is mostly common in soap operas such as Eastenders, Hollyoaks and etc. Is to show an emotion of a character and to over exaggerate it.
People use close ups to reveal what could occur later on in a scene, to add suspense and also mystery towards a scene. They're various reasons as to why people use close up shots in their work.

Mid shot 

A mid shot is a shot that is taken at a medium distance. Mid shots are mostly used to capture a group of people. Not only is a mid shot used to present a group of people they're also used to capture the environment that is within them. A mid shot gives just the right amount of room to capture actors/actress, the background, and it also gives room to present the actress/actors body language along with their facial expressions.

Mid shots are normally used in news shows and are also present when interviews are taken place. 

A Medium Shot presented in an interview scene.

As you can see by the picture you can see both of their facial expressions and their body language.

Two shot 

A two shot is a shot that frames and focuses on two main subjects, it could be two people or even two objects. 

A two shot is a shot that has been presented as something that has a very dramatic technique. Along with closeups, a two shot frame is also used in soap operas. A two shot makes us see the emotion of a character to, whilst adding intensity to a scene. A two shot frame is also presented in tv shows. In most news shows you have two people near each other, this shot helps the viewers know that these people are what you call are ''cohosts'' as they're both in the shot.

A two shot frame is also used to put the main focus on a person and not their surroundings. 

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot is a shot that is made to reveal to the audience where the activity is set. An establishing shot is a shot that is mostly taken in a hugely spacious shot or even sometimes in a  enormous spacious shot.

An establishing shot as you can see by the picture.

The audience instantly is aware that this movie is set somewhere busy, most likely in New York the big apple. 

Bibliography: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/tilt.html

http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/tutorials/pan.shtml

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-held_camera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_shot
http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2012/11/6-reasons-to-get-an-extreme-closeup-shot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_shot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_shot
http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/two-shot.html
http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/two-shot.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooming_(filmmaking)

Diary Entry

What Nikki Taught us today

Today Nikki taught us how to use a green screen on the editing software FCP (Final Cut Pro)

It was a process that seemed to be hard but accomplishable. We were asked to get a video of youtube of someone that was behind a green screen doing something.

We then had to get a picture that we wanted to have that could replace the green background.

The picture I used and clip I used will be presented below.

I decided to use this clip and image together as I thought together it would look quite in sync to his apparel and actions. In the video you see an athletic well-built man who looks like he has authority, he looks like a spy. This is one of the reasons why I thought this was a good image to replace the background of the green screen, to add this man to a secretive and discreet environment.

Editing Process 

The editing process i personally found was difficult, the task was something that takes practise but eventually with the help by one of my friends James, He taught me how to do it through steps. 

I don't fully know how to function final cut pro but hopefully after time I will have a full understanding of its functions and how to properly use it without a hassle.

The filters section where I had to go to moderate the colour and tolerance to my video to make my video appear on the background I have chosen. 

My final outcome, unfortunately I have no clips of it produced but I have pictures. As you can see from the picture the man still had some green around him. It just shows that those areas were detected as fuzzy or probably unfocused. 

This task has taught me to do more research and watch tutorials on how to form a green screen on FCP, so I gain a better understanding of it. In my spare time, i see myself experimenting with it and learning the basics. 

Different roles of people in the Production

In this unit, it has been stated that loads of students would have different types of roles and responsibilities in which they would have to successfully complete.

Today we have been asked to write on our blog and state the different types of roles that people can have in a production, and how they are approached and dealt with in the studio and control room.

 I am just writing how these jobs would be done in a real life job working in a professional TV studio.

Floor Manager -  A floor manager is a member of a crew in  television. The floor manager secures many responsibilities such as giving information to the director who would  commonly be in the control room, they would also have to give information to the crew in the studio. Everyone would   communicate through headsets except for the people in the control room they would have a talk-back system where when spoken the floor manager could hear them, sometimes they even have a microphone connected to their station. You could say that the floor manager is a role that requires a lot of work and communication. Other jobs they have include from theses

• Make sure that all the equipment is functioning before the production and after production.
• Solving technical problems during the production phase.
• Recognizing the order the production goes through and add props when needed.
• If an audience is present give them seating and direct them through the show and signal them.

And many more.

Camera Person - Their job ranges from doing many different things such as making sure that they're producing good shots, positioning the camera in perfect angles and frames. The camera person is needed to also communicate and speak clearly on sets.

Lighting Technician - Their role is to be in charge of any lighting equipment, their job also consists moving lights and placing them in places where it could produce good light. Sometimes their job even includes laying wires, focusing the lights and also placing colour effects or image patterns.

Television Director - A television director role differs whether the production is live or not. A director is in charge of ''calling'' the broadcast, looking after the placement of professional video cameras, Lighting equipment, and many more.

Producer - Producers are responsible for taking charge of a project and are a part of every stage of the television programme. They are in charge of

• Assembling funding 
• Researching, reading and evaluating ideas and finished script ideas  
• Constructing and developing a network of contacts 

and many more.

Production Assistant (PA) - Their job requirement consists of them being responsible for varied aspects in a production. They provide support and help to production.

 They do jobs such as

• Making sure there is no disturbance once production has begun on a set
• If their role was in a film they would have to say ''roll on'' and cut when needed in a film shooting.
• Budgeting
• Settling interviews and meetings
• Aiding copyrights

And last but not least they would have to make themselves flexible, they are the ones who have to be present first in the set and would have to leave last in a set.


Bibliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_floor_manager
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles_and_stories/job_roles/291_camera_operator_studio_and_ob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_operator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting_technician
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_director
http://www.samplejobdescriptions.org/production-assistant-job-description.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_assistant
https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/279425-television-production-assistant-job-description

Dear Diary

Yesterday was a very difficult day we managed to get the singer to perform on set around 2 o'clock, The singer Rodrigo was just going through rehearsal due to the fact that we had some difficulties with  audio in the control room, we could hear Rodrigo singing through the speakers but we could not hear him through the computer when we was recording live. So generally, there were some major problems with sound yesterday. The graphic equaliser was not responding to his voice and three technicians came into the room in order to solve the problem, but eventually we got it fixed.

These types of things are predicted to happen so we had to make sure we had enough time to adjust certain problems in our schedule.

Questions to ask an Actress

I have been told that today we will have an additional guest apart of the show. I have  been asked to write questions that I would say to her.

Questions I would ask my Actress:

What got you into acting?

Have you been in any productions?

Do you have any inspirations?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

What do you plan to do once ending your course?

Do you think the acting industry is hard?

I am hoping to gain information on how the actress started finding an interest in acting along with finding their opinion on what they believe and think of the acting industry. 

Dear Diary

Yesterday was a very productive day we managed to film three different segments which included the news, gossip section, introduction and today we are trying to film more segments.

Today we have already completed another subject of the show which was the weather and now we are trying to find out what time the musicians will be presented on the show to perform.



My job yesterday was to set up lights in the right area just to make sure that the green screen had the perfect lighting for any image to be blended in when it came to editing. My job was to also make sure that the sound was heard clearly and that the microphones that was attached to the person was located in a place where we can hear their voices perfectly without blockage due to the material of their clothes.
                                                                                     

I had to use the talkback system to communicate to the people inside the studio room to ensure that the production was succeeding well and to know when everyone was ready to be recorded. The talk-back system gave me signals to let me know when our editor should press record to get our shot recorded.

My Job today was to make sure that you could hear the weather man when he was speaking, I wore a headset and talked to people in the studio and gave them signals when our weatherman was ready to start shooting.

All that is left for me to do today is just memorise my script and record my scene where I will be outside reporting news on what had happened near St George's Park. Due to the camera's being all taken I have decided that instead I will be just going over my lines and on Monday I will be recorded to broadcast my news.

Schedule for my Magazine Show