Thursday 22 December 2011

Production Meeting - Lever Street

In todays lesson we all whent to the studio we would be filming at in the manchester college on lever street. We started off by taking pictures of the studio floor, the stage, lights, and any hazards which need to be stated so we can use later as part of our Pre-Production for the floor plan and risk assessment.

After a short break we had a short production meeting with the tutor of the bands we would be filming. in the meeting we disscussed any changes we need to make to the stage for example there were two large speakers at the front of the stage which would need to be moved as they would come in the shot when we would be doing a tracking shot with the dolly camera. We then discussed how many acts we would be filming on the day and we decided that we would be filming 4 acts on the first day, giving us an hour too film one act. We decided that we will interview the acts after they finish performing asking them questions regarding their thoughts about their performance and the filming which we will use inbetween the different acts.

And finally we all went down into the gallery room too get an insight of were we would be setting up the tri-caster act.

Monday 5 December 2011

Evaluation Of Music Performance 1 (Peters work)

Camera:
Overall I think the filming went well and we did get some good shots. Here are some of the problems that we faced, when ever the director would cut too camera 2 the dolly would begin too move too get a tracking shot but almost every time was very unsmooth, and looked very unsteady and shaky. For example
at one point the camera is on a close up of the guitar and begins too zoom out but the zoom is not smooth and also the camera is on look so when the camera man tried to do a tracking shot it looked shaky and jumpy. The main problem I think was this because a lot of times you see the camera zooming out too fast or too slowly and sometimes both at once. For the future i think we need too do some practice shots too get use to the zoom on the cameras an also too take the cameras off lock. I think we all at one time left the camera on lock and just took a back seat. In the future we need too keep our concentration throughout and stand next too the cameras.

Director:
The problems we faced were due too lack of concentration and the problems we faced with the talk backs meant the camera men couldn't always hear what the director was asking of them. Also some times the dirctor gave very lil time to get the shot he wanted before he when live which meant you was live and still moving all over the place trying to get the shot.

For the future we need too make sure that all talkbacks are working too make sure there is no communication problems between the cameramen/women and the director. Also the director needs too be more clearer about what shots he wants and give the cameramen/women plenty of time too change the shot before their shot is live.

Vision Mixer:
Overall I think the vision mixer did a good a job and cut from shot to shot very well. He was never on one shot for too long. I think the vision mixer did a great job and put some good shots together.  


Tuesday 29 November 2011

29/11/11 (Peters Work)

In todays lesson we took turns too go in groups of 5/6 into the vision mixing room were Collin would be showing us how too transfer the footage we record from the tricaster too the UStream website using lacier. I found it useful and will now know how too steam the footage when I am given the role to stream. Overall I picked up on the technique quickly. The only problem I faced was that at one point I forgot to stream on the tricaster which meant the footage wasn't showing on UStream as there was no connection/stream coming through.  

Wednesday 23 November 2011

23/11/11 (Peters Work)

In todays lesson we had solo performances and in the afternoon a group performance. I dint have a job role in the morning so I just helped anyone that needed assistants.

In the afternoon I was given the role of camera man. I believe I did this role well and followed the different instructions given to me by the director very well and got the shots that the director asked from me. I would like to do more vision mixing working and believe I now know how to use the cameras and set it all up correctly.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

14/11/11 - 1st Day Of Filming (Dave Gee's Work)

In todays lesson we was asked too finish any written work we had outstanding so that we could start filming. All the written work was done all that was needed was a script. A lot of time was wasted writing the script as not everyone was paying attention or being helpful. In the end Rebecca came up with a few questions that she could ask whilst me and Andy got together the equipment we need such as the camera, battery, tripod, and a mic.

Another problem that we faced was that we was told we could film the librarian at 1:15 but ended up missing her because the group came back late and one member still hadn't returned from break. We have now been asked too come back later.    

In the afternoon we was able too go down and film the librarian, i think this part of the session went well and smoothly and we worked fast and got the filming done before the end of the lesson. In next weeks lesson we will start editing and putting the footage together using Final Cut Pro.

Monday 14 November 2011

Research & Structure Idea 17/10/11 (Dave Gee's Work)

In todays lesson we looked at finalizing which idea we will be looking at. As a group we decided to go with my idea which was to look at the history of the college. Once we had chosen our idea we discussed how we will be structuring our news piece. We decided that the news piece will start with a presenter introducing our news piece (History of college), and giving an overall view of what you can expect too see on the show. After the intro we will cut to our VT which will run for 30/40 sec which will be made up of clips and images showing the stages that built up to the college being built. over the footage and pictures we will have a voice-over explaining what you can see. And finally the show will end with a studio interview with the head of the college talking about how the college has progressed over the years he has been here.

Why we chose the idea we have chosen?
We chose this particular idea because it is an interesting topic to look at and there is plenty for us to talk about. There are problems that we could face for example we may find it difficult to find footage that tells the history but it is possible. If we do struggle to find VTs then we will over come the problem by making our own VTs. The research will give us a rough idea of the things we need to look at act.

Research
We are in the process of finding research and finding footage, and pictures that we can use in our VTs. For example Andy started looking for news articles and books from the library, Erin has started searching for information on the internet and I have start looking for pictures and footage that we can use.

We also interviewed one of the librarians who has been working in the colleges library for 22 years. She was able to tell us a few things for example that the college was given £9 million to invest in refurbishing the college as she quoted 'It was falling apart'. She also told us that the library that we now have once was a hall and what is now the canteen use to be the library. the college also had a gym which is no longer there and has been converted into a children's playing centre. We have also asked her for some books which she is having sent from another campus which will help us go in more depth on the history of the campus. We have been able to get quite a bit of useful information, all that we need now is to get the archive footage act.  

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41427

Wednesday 9 November 2011

09/10/11 - Reco's Assignment

In todays lesson we received our first assignment from Reco. We discussed and when threw the assignment as a whole class so that we all know what we need to do for the assignment. The assignment is clear and I know what i need to do. I was the only one in from my group which meant i couldn't start the assignment because we need to discuss and decide what job roles we will be researching to make sure were not all working on the same thing.  

Monday 31 October 2011

30/10/11 - Burning Cats (Peters Work)

In todays lesson we was split into groups of 4 to come up with an idea for a news piece. For this task i worked with Mikael, Rebecca, Abid. We Started off by mind mapping some ideas on what could be our news piece. We decided to go with Abid's idea which was him saving 5 cats from a burning tree by urinating on it, and ends with Abid killing the cats when the branch breaks and he falls landing on the cats. After we decided to go with Abid's idea, We decide what role we will play. Rebecca was our presenter, Abid was the person who would be interviewed, Mikael was the camera man and I was the director. After the job roles were given out  Abid quickly wrote a few questions that Rebecca could ask him and we then went out filming.

We filmed the interview outside near the doors. We filmed the interview as a mid shot with Rebecca and Abid in the shot. We then shot the interview as over the shoulder shot concentrating on Abid's lines and then finally did the same concentrating on Rebecca's line. The final bit of filming we did was filming GV's of Abid walking towards the college entrance towards Rebecca and then finally recording Abid upset in the class after looking at pictures of cats on the computer.

We faced a few problems when we was filming for example we had people walking into the shot, and also Rebecca the presenter kept rubbing the mic against her jacket when she was pointing it at Abid.
We could overcome the problem by having someone let people know that there is filming in progress or put signs up. And we could overcome the issue with the sound by keeping the mic away from all clothing's.          




Monday 24 October 2011

Types Of Shots We Will Have Act (Dave Gee's Work)

Tracking Shot Of - College building from outside
                             - College building from inside (Library/Canteen Act)
                             - College Students

Mid Shot
Close Up - Presenter & Guests
Long Shot

Voice Over - We will only use Voice Over when we use archive footage and pictures to explain what you are seeing act.

Archive footage - We hope to get our archive footage from you tube.
Pictures - We hope to get pictures from google and also get shots of old articles and news papers which are written about the college from the librarian who is having them sent to our college from another campus.

Structure of the news piece

1) Short intro credit introducing the show name, presenter, guests.
2) Shot of presenter welcoming the viewers to the show and giving a short introduction of what you can expect to see on todays show.
3) Introducing the topic (History of The Manchester College Fielden Campus)
4) Cutting to the VT which will be made up of archive footage, pictures, and interviews with students/staff.
5) VT will have finished and the camera will then cut back to the presenter introducing the guest which will hopefully be the head of the college who will go into more detail and tell us what he knows about the colleges history. Our plan b is that if we can not interview the head of college we will then get the director or producer who made the VT to explain why they chose the history of the college as their topic,   and what problems they faced when researching and when filming. And finally what they do anything differently next time and why?
6) The news piece will finish with the presenter thanking the guest and thanking the viewers for watching.
7) Ending credits, who was the camera man, who was the director, and who was the producer and naming any other cast crew or actors.      
    

Monday 10 October 2011

Dave gee's Assignment 10/10/11

Research On News Package Show
A news package show is a term used to explain the overall look of what you see on the screen, the overall look and feel of the footage. It looks at the type of shots you have used an if you have shot it right. It also looks at the lighting to make sure the footage isn't too dark neither too bright. And finally look at the sound levels to make sure they are perfect and the sound is loud and clear.

Production Roles
Producer
A news producers plays a very important role as he plays many different roles for example:

  • The producer is in charge of looking at the script and making any changes that he feels need to be made.
  • Organize were everyone needs to be on the studio floor (Floor Plan)
  • Keeps in contact with the reporters, director, and the filming crew to make sure everything is going as planned.
Overall the producer is in charge of making sure the script is correctly formated and clear for the reporters to read, and is in charge of making sure everyone knows were they need to be and what they should be doing to make sure the filming goes smoothly.

Reporter
A reporter is a type of journalist who presents the story. The reporter is in charge of going on location and talking about the news piece. It is the reporters responsibility to do his/her research on the story too make sure they know what they are talking about and have enough too talk about while they are live on air.     

Researcher
A Researcher is in charge of researching on the story to get the facts and figures needed to tell the story and to make sure what is being said is true and can be proved if asked for references act. it is important for the researcher to make sure the information they are using is reliable to avoid getting into any legal issues.

Videographer/ Editor
An Editor is in charge of editing the footage that is recorded. The footage is imported and edited using Final Cut Pro, which allows you to trim the footage so you only have the footage you need, you can also  put txt in to the footage and use effects to make the different clips look smooth when put together.

Use Of Sound/ Audio
Sound and audio are very important as they help tell the story and explain what you are seeing. It also helps keep the viewer interested, if the sound is of poor quality the viewer will soon loose interest. It is important to make sure the sound quality is perfect not too loud not too low, and most importantly it is clear and understandable.

Lighting
Lighting is as important as Sound/ Audio, if the lighting is not perfect the image quality will not be good and if the viewer cant see anything he/she will then loose interest. It is important that you check the white balance on your camera and the lighting to make sure the picture is clear.


Filming Techniques
Filming Techniques overall means what kind of shots you could use. The different type of shots you could use are:

  • Extreme close up (concentrating on the eyes)
  • Close Up (close up of the face)
  • Mid Shot (shot from head till waist)
  • Long Shot (head till toe)
  • Extreme Long Shot (shows the whole person and the environment they are in)
  • Birds Eye View Shot (shot from above looking down)
  • Over The Shoulder Shot (shot from over the shoulder looking at the person in shot)
The different shots are used too give different effects and make a person look in a particular way for example extreme close up of the eye shows the emotion or expression in their eyes. A birds eye view is normally used when the reporters are not allowed close enough for example Riots, building on fire act.

Health & Safety & Risk Assessment
Before you can start filming it is important that you do a risk assessment check to make sure it is safe to film on the location that you are on. There are many risks that you could face and that you should keep an eye out for when out filming for example ditches/nettles/ or bumps in the floor. Also if your out filming in the woods keep an eye out for wild animals that could attack you.

Copyright
It is important to get copyright permission before using someone else's work to avoid them suing you because you didn't have their permission to use their work. At the same time it is important to copyright any of your own work so that no one steals your work and takes credit for it.