Evaluation

After finishing my project I found out that the things that went well was completing my paperwork on time. I found out that this really helped in getting me organised onto the next stage of what I was doing, e.g. the filming. This also helped when I was looking for ideas. Also I thought that the filming itself went well because I was more focused then I had been in previous attempts on other projects that I was filming. I enjoyed filming this subject matter because it was light-hearted and more fun. The other thing that went well was the editing. I found that as soon as I had uploaded the footage I knew how I wanted the final product to look. This was easer to accomplish because I am now familiar with using the Mac computers and the editing software, so it minimised my time because I knew what I was doing. I thought that the effects that I did use were appropriate.

The things that didn’t work too well was the filming itself; although the filming itself was good, I did not get the time to film everything I needed to get, because I did not manage my time as well as I could have. Also I missed a few lessons in the Mac room, which meant that I could not begin to upload the footage that I needed to edit, and this also wasted more time. The editing on the visual side was good however, I did not realise how shaky the camera was because of the effect I wanted to use (blurred) and it was a little bit nauseating to watch for too long! But the main problem I had was with the audio of the video. I did get all of the original audio off of the footage, but I really struggled wit timing to get the audio that I had planned onto the video.

The equipment that I used worked well. I did not need a tripod because I as doing all of the shooting holding the camera. This did hurt my arms after a while though. Fortunately the camera I was sing was not heavy and it was quite compact and small which was ideal for the shots I was trying to accomplish.

The locations were a little bit more tricky, a lot of pubs were slightly uncomfortable with filming but in the end I went to the swan in Crawley, it had the correct atmosphere (slightly old looking) and it was an advantage that knew that landlord, they also helped with props, by bringing empty glasses and crisp packets onto the table I as filming at. Without this I don’t think it would have looked as realistic.

The people that were going to be extras in my film unfortunately were not able to help me they did have their own deadlines to meet, however I had two other students who went with me to be in my video, and the other people at the pub were quite comfortable with me filming them, I think that this also made it more realistic because there was a mix of ages and it was closer to a real life situation.

I really think that if I had managed my time better I would have had a more professional finished product, but I am now more confident in that I do when I film and edit.

diary

Lesson 1

In today's lesson I started on the pre-production work.

I began drawing up the first draft of my storyboard and then doing the storyboard in a neater copy, so it was easier to understand. I was also thinking about what was possible to shoot and what would be more difficult.

lesson 2

I was absent for the second pre-production lesson so I will now have to go into my filming time to complete my pre-production work.

lesson 3

At the beginning of the lesson, I was still not prepared to start filming so I started on my paperwork, I managed to get my storyboard done so that I had an idea of the different shots that I was supposed to be doing.

lesson 4

After completing most of my paperwork for my pre-production I thought that I would complete the rest of my paperwork in this lesson because I am utilising my time and trying to catch up. I also am going to decide which pub to film in today.

In today's lesson also I wrote out my script.

lesson 5

In today's lesson I booked out the camera that I was going to use. I also decided that I would film the last part of my video first because it is easier to do and I don't have the rest of the crew in to help me film.

Lesson 6

today's lesson I filmed most of my scenes and I think that it went quite well. I do think that I will not need to do a lot of post production work on the video.

Lesson 7

In today's lesson I found out that left my tape with the footage on it at home. This has now set me back and I am eating into my editing time. This means that I will not be able to do as much editing as I would have hoped to do and the footage is not as long as I would have liked. However I think that I can still make a good video out of it, but it will not be as long and as polished as I would have hoped.

Lesson 8

In this lesson I finally had the chance to upload all of my footage onto Imovie HD and as I was looking through my footage I realised that I did not have all of the shots I needed, however as I was editing it, I found out that I didn't actually need the additional shots. As I began to edit I found that some of the angles were good and others could not be used, but I managed to get my video down to 2mins 17 secs, and I also added some effects and transitions. I still need to do some more editing on it, mainly on the audio front.

Lesson 9

In today's lesson I carried on editing my footage, which is looking more like an actual video. I got rid of the original audio of the video and tried to find something suitable for the soundtrack on garage band, however to no avail. I have now realised that I may not be able to get the voice over that I wanted because my deadline is in a few days and I have not finished editing the visual yet. If I cannot complete the voice over then I shall change the idea into a music video. I think that the content is fitting for the right type of song, and although it is not my primary choice of audio, it is better then having a silent video.

SWOT analasys

Strengths: What do you do well? What unique resources can you draw on? What do others see as your strengths?	Weaknesses: What could you improve? Where do you have fewer resources than others? What are others likely to see as weaknesses?
I think that the strengths that I do well are organizing and planning, also writing. The unique resources I can draw on are the colleges equipment and my ability to work long hours. Others say that I do work very quickly.	I could improve on the scattyness of my ideas and work. I have fever recourses then others because I do not have access to any communications e.g. TV, internet, radio at my home. Others say my weaknesses are that I am easily distracted.
Opportunities: What good opportunities are open to you? What trends could you take advantage of? How can you turn your strengths into opportunities?	Threats: What trends could harm you? What is your competition doing? What threats do your weaknesses expose you to?
The opportunities that are open to me are that I could keep the video that I make and upload it onto viral sites. I would take advantage of the trends in the comedy and the upsurge in short films at the moment. I could turn my strengths into opportunities by maximizing the hours that a I work on projects and time management	The trends that would harm me are the amount of short films on the market mine would have to really stand out. My competition is doing some styles of comedy that I would use. The threats that my weaknesses expose to me are that because I am easily distracted I find it difficult to pick up where I left off so I may loose the thread. Also It could be seen as a threat if I could not have access to see my competition.

Research

A list of the videos I looked at;

• peep show
• Dead ringers
• Shameless
• The Inbetweeners
• the wrong door
• 2 pints of lager & a packet of crisps

Common Features

The common features of these videos is the subject, the humor and that they are all sitcoms, however with Dead Ringers and The Wrong Door there isn't as much as an emphasis on the plot, so you could watch only a few episodes of it and still understand the gist of what’s going on.

With Shameless, The Inbetweeners, Peep Show and 2 Pints of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps, they are sit-com's and you follow the characters throughout the episodes, each of these programs have had a minimum of 3 series.

Genre Overview

The genre overview of these is;

Comedy - there is a big emphasis on the different types of comedy, but all of these have this similar trait. Also they are all British produced. The genre of the different programs is also surrounding human life and all of the mishaps that go with it, this is then turned into something humorous, e.g. dark comedy.

Elements that I might borrow for my research examples

The elements that I might and probably will use/borrow for my research is;

2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps - I will use the location (in a pub) for my idea and where to film in.

Shameless - I would like to use the excessive amount of alcohol consumed, but only loosely in my video, to demonstrate the meaning to my video.

Dead ringers - Although dead ringers is a sketch show, the humor alone is more witty and intelligent, therefore I would like to use a similar style of comedy, however I want to steer clear of making fun out of public figures.

The inbetweeners - The Inbetweeners is about college students who are not legally able to drink and I don’t want to use that because that is not the point, but I would like to use the different scenarios idea, for example I would use the mishaps that they encounter and the scruples that they face as part of my video

Peep show - With peep show there is only a few ideas that I would use from it and that would be the way it is shot. So the audience is looking directly though the characters eye. I think that this would work very well for my video and I also like that way that you don’t actually see the character. I would like to use this idea in my video.

styles of filming research

Being John Malkovich


Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American comic fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictionalized version of himself. The film depicts Craig Schwartz (Cusack), a puppeteer who finds a small portal that leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich (Malkovich).

The plot brings to the forefront several issues in modern philosophy of mind, such as the nature of self and consciousness, the mind-body dichotomy, and sensory perception.

Since its release, the film has become a cult classic.

research

after looking into different types of genres styles and subjects, i have come up with an idea that i will be making into a 3 min film.

genre
the genre of the film will be comedy mixed with the darker underlining message that i want to convey.

style
the style of the film is going to be very similar to the voiceover on e4 and a point of view/fly on the wall type of filming.

subject
the subject is about on young adult with friends drinking at a pub getting more and more drunk, the camera only looks through the eyes of the unnamed character, and the voiceover is of the characters consience telling them what they should be doing.