Things like using cameras and lighting, computer editing programs and adding sound, etc. Again, this can be completed at NAME, so your mark depends on how competently and in depth you used technology. Complete a blog post detailing what technology you used and how. You can include screenshots of the editing program you used to illustrate your competence. Consider & comment on your use of the following:
To create my movie I used only a standard point and shoot camera. As most of my film is done in stop motion, this was the most beneficial for my requirements but it was also satisfactory for my clips of film which i also used the point and shoot camera for becuase I wanted it all to appear of similar quality and so this was the most obvious choice for seamless transitions. My camera was a great asset to use for this purpose as it has a flash burst mode which took lots of pictures per second for me so that I did not have too spend too long being slow at taking lots of photos. It also meant that if I had to reshoot from different angles to get a different view and different lighting or if something went wrong the first time then it wasn't a big issue. I had no problems using my camera. There were no technical malfunctions or loss of material or anything like that. I just had to take photos when there was suitable lighting and so with a little bit of experimenting, that was pretty easy to sort out.
I used pre-existing songs so that was easy to import and add to my movie. I also used my ipod for voice recordings but they did not end up getting used.
To edit my movie I used adobe cs4 premiere pro which posed many problems for me as often my footage would not import and the computer did not have the memory capacity to cope with the movie and so that made things increasingly difficult and also frustrating. Also, any work I managed to get done often did not save. To move past this I had to edit most of my movie at home. This meant that I used windows media movie maker which was a lot more simplistic. As it was my own computer I was much more familiar with it and it was also able to cope with a lot more footage.
I edited some of my photos to remove me or other people from them so that the subject could be better focused on and established as the centre of attention. I used photo shop version 8 for this. I also touched up the photos and enhanced colours, removed red eye, etc. just normal things like that, also with photoshop. I used the sound of the fire works and they were already recorded with my video footage but i needed to make them the right volume and so I had to adjust that which was pretty simple to on the programme, I just had to remove it from the video footage and then put it in separately. As most of my movie is stop motion, most of my editing was just selecting which photos to include and then fitting them to the movie and the song. This meant that because I did a couple of test shots for each section of my film and so I could then see which was the best angles and lighting to use, the process was fairly simple as I just use the best ones. The only editing of sound I had to do apart from the fire works was to select the section of the song that I wanted to use at the end. This meant i just had to insert at which point in the song I wanted it to come in and what time I wanted it to fade out and then input at what point in the movie I wanted this to happen. This was fairly simple once I figured out what to do as I just had to listen to the song to see what portion of the song I wanted.
I did not use overly sophisticated means to make my movie but as the idea behind the movie was this journey from this person's experience, therefore being seen through their eyes, the authenticity of being shot with an average camera was appropriate and sat well with the movie. There is no dialogue to detract from the visual. The beginning and the end are tied in together with a simple title which would lead on nicely to the rest of the movie and wraps up the beginning effectively. The only break from the soundtrack (which tells a story that is appropriate for what is happening in the film), is at the end of the opening and the end of my film. This is when the fire works go off and it is symbolic as the attention then turns solely to the fire works and the rest is strangely quiet, there is nothing else going on to detract focus and it's symbolising the movie going off with a bang but also that the journey went off with a bang. But fireworks are often used in celebration and are therefore associated with accomplishments and positive things and so if effective to be used in that place.
Sunday 25 September 2011
Production Evaluation
Some positive aspects of the project were that the filming was over and done with in only two weeks. This was because I had to film on location and so I had to get it done within the time restrictions which prevented any lazyness and procrastination. This meant that I had a lot of time to spend on creating the movie which I could just spend on putting it all together and editing the footage. Another positive was fitting my movie to the music I chose. I liked that my footage seemed to go quite nicely with the song, in regards to tempo and length. I was really pleased with the way this turned out, on the whole. I also liked that the song I found best for my movie as it complimented the feel of my movie in both its lyrics and its music. So this was nice that the song could actually relate to the ideas of the movie - the relaxed holiday feel that I felt it conveyed, journeys, adventures and being around the ocean. I thought this was very cool and an added bonus.
I could have managed my editing better as I got quite complacent and the time got away on me slightly. I also forgot about the sheet of directions and steps I needed to follow while I was too busy creating the movie and so at the end I had to go back and go through the book and make sure that I had completed and documented each step which was a pain and created extra pressure as I was not as far finished as I thought I was. This would have actually been quite easy to achieve if I had not just lost the sheet and forgotten about it. I would have just needed to go through the step by step process and make sure that I was not leaving anything out.
This was quite hard though as lots of steps that needed to be documented were about things that were involved in the making of the movie and seeing as mine was kind of a documentary sort of thing with no actors or other people helping me with camera work or editing or anything and my movie also didn't include any props or anything so I did not have anything really to write about and so I got quite confused about what I needed to do. As my film was not a standard one made mainly of video footage and fitting the mold of a standard film opening, some aspects of the process did not make that much sense in relation to my film and so I just had to do my best to provide the desired information and manipulate the paperwork to fit my movie.
I also could have done a better story board and perhaps bettered my artistic handiwork but I did not feel that this was a hugely important area of the project and I had already done it once. This was also done towards the end of the period spent making my movie so I was not concerned with spending too much time on it. All this would have meant was that it would be easier for the marker to follow just by glancing at the pictures.
I could have spent more time trying to work with the flasher movie maker programmes. Again, I'm not sure whether this would have made my movie a whole lot better but it probably would have made it more complex. I did become impatient and frustrated with the programmes and felt that my time would be better spent actually getting some work done that I could rely on and that I would actually know how to work the ins and outs of. Using a flasher programme though may have made my movie look somewhat more professional.
If I had to do it all over again I think that I would realise there are some positive aspects to doing the film with a lot of photos as I did - that it is easier to fit it to the length that you want it to be but any other editing is a lot harder and more time consuming as you have to edit each individual photo and there were several hundred of these used in my movie as well as video. This would mean that if I were to use the same concept and gather footage in the same way that I would start my editing process a lot earlier on and maybe edit more photos than I did to extra enhance the photos just for the effect but maybe it would better enhance my grade. I would definately work through my project by the book and make sure each process was ticked off and completed as I went and so that I did not have to go back and do all the boring and time consuming jobs such as story board (which was more challenging as there was a lot more to do on that as I used photos and so there were more scenes than there would be if I was to film the whole thing) and the production log and schedule etc, at the end. To do better, is the same as anything though really and is something that can always be improved and that is time management. If I had closely followed the book then at the end I would have finished a lot earlier and then so I would have had time to look over my movie and no doubt come up with other things I could have added and then do so just to add more depth to my movie, maybe make it a little clearer and easier to follow that it was only the opening of a movie and make it clear about what the audience would be to expect if the whole movie was to be made. Even though, to me, this is perfectly clear, I was concerned that to others who were not familiar with my movie would find it a little harder to follow. I could have edited more of my photos. I'm not necessarily sure whether that would have been a positive thing or not but it would have added complexity to the movie and would mean that the marker would have more to consider when looking at my work.
I could have managed my editing better as I got quite complacent and the time got away on me slightly. I also forgot about the sheet of directions and steps I needed to follow while I was too busy creating the movie and so at the end I had to go back and go through the book and make sure that I had completed and documented each step which was a pain and created extra pressure as I was not as far finished as I thought I was. This would have actually been quite easy to achieve if I had not just lost the sheet and forgotten about it. I would have just needed to go through the step by step process and make sure that I was not leaving anything out.
This was quite hard though as lots of steps that needed to be documented were about things that were involved in the making of the movie and seeing as mine was kind of a documentary sort of thing with no actors or other people helping me with camera work or editing or anything and my movie also didn't include any props or anything so I did not have anything really to write about and so I got quite confused about what I needed to do. As my film was not a standard one made mainly of video footage and fitting the mold of a standard film opening, some aspects of the process did not make that much sense in relation to my film and so I just had to do my best to provide the desired information and manipulate the paperwork to fit my movie.
I also could have done a better story board and perhaps bettered my artistic handiwork but I did not feel that this was a hugely important area of the project and I had already done it once. This was also done towards the end of the period spent making my movie so I was not concerned with spending too much time on it. All this would have meant was that it would be easier for the marker to follow just by glancing at the pictures.
I could have spent more time trying to work with the flasher movie maker programmes. Again, I'm not sure whether this would have made my movie a whole lot better but it probably would have made it more complex. I did become impatient and frustrated with the programmes and felt that my time would be better spent actually getting some work done that I could rely on and that I would actually know how to work the ins and outs of. Using a flasher programme though may have made my movie look somewhat more professional.
If I had to do it all over again I think that I would realise there are some positive aspects to doing the film with a lot of photos as I did - that it is easier to fit it to the length that you want it to be but any other editing is a lot harder and more time consuming as you have to edit each individual photo and there were several hundred of these used in my movie as well as video. This would mean that if I were to use the same concept and gather footage in the same way that I would start my editing process a lot earlier on and maybe edit more photos than I did to extra enhance the photos just for the effect but maybe it would better enhance my grade. I would definately work through my project by the book and make sure each process was ticked off and completed as I went and so that I did not have to go back and do all the boring and time consuming jobs such as story board (which was more challenging as there was a lot more to do on that as I used photos and so there were more scenes than there would be if I was to film the whole thing) and the production log and schedule etc, at the end. To do better, is the same as anything though really and is something that can always be improved and that is time management. If I had closely followed the book then at the end I would have finished a lot earlier and then so I would have had time to look over my movie and no doubt come up with other things I could have added and then do so just to add more depth to my movie, maybe make it a little clearer and easier to follow that it was only the opening of a movie and make it clear about what the audience would be to expect if the whole movie was to be made. Even though, to me, this is perfectly clear, I was concerned that to others who were not familiar with my movie would find it a little harder to follow. I could have edited more of my photos. I'm not necessarily sure whether that would have been a positive thing or not but it would have added complexity to the movie and would mean that the marker would have more to consider when looking at my work.
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Exam Reflection
I think the exams went okay... I find it hard to remember the exams once they are over. I studied the two papers pretty evenly, probably with more focus on the genre paper as we were told that it would be easier to get the better grades as we had completed the whole topic, plus we had already done one practice essay on this and so there was already something to work from. I think I spent more time on the genre essay as well. Maybe getting towards two hours. I spent the whole time just writing down any random thought I could think of and I did read over at the end to see if there was anything I should add or change. I found it hard to remember quotes from the experts and worksheets which is something I'd try to do better in the end of year exams.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)