Depicts Videos Analyses:

Depicts Videos Analyses:
After watching some videos from the depicts competition i have came up with two of my favourites in witch i will be talking about.

The first video i really liked was the "Le Chavel 2.1"

-Genre
To start i would say that the video Le Chavel 2.1 is a comedy. The reason i say this is because of the story behind it. On the video they tell a story of a man who wants to be free like a horse when in reality he is a cow. I think that they choose the perfect actor for this story simply because of its facial expressions really made it clear of how he was feeling, that he really wanted to be a horse, and the way he was galloping like a horse really made the video more powerful and made me think that in the end he would turn out to be a horse.

-Mise in scene
Looking at the mise-en-scene i can tell that the shots were recorded in a countryside location. Most of the shots were wide, long and medium shots. This was to capture the wide fields, trees, grass, hills, fences and rivers. In my opinion the reason this was done was to give away more of the countryside location and make it more realistic because the countryside is where we normally find horses running free like the actor was. 
-Camera
In this video there was not many camera movements used; after watching it i found one camera movement on the end which was a steady slow zoom to the main character as he walked away from us. Although there was not much camera movement there were more camera angles for example a high angle from the tree looking down on him running. However most of the shots were taken from a straight on angle with different shots distance. For me what actually made the shots really good was the use of different shot distance.
-Editing 
The editing on this video is quite simple and it follows the continuity sequence pretty well. First of all i would like to mention the fact that the video is all in black and white, this gives it a more classic feeling especially because it also fits well with his outfit witch was a black and white suit. The other method of editing was the pace of the video itself, some shots were put in slow motion to show the character dramatic actions. The first shot itself is a long tape simply because it goes on for a very long time. The 180 degree rule was followed until a point. For example he was always running from the left to the right however on the last few shots he changed direction from right to left. I think this change of direction makes it more comic because it implies that he is just running free with no destination.
-Sound
On the Le Chavel video we could find all the three elements of the soundtrack. We can find some music, some sound effect and most of all the dialogue. Well during the whole video there was a music track. The music track seemed to be done by a pianist especially made for this media. Another thing that went on throughout the whole video was sound effect. To make it look more old style they applied the burning of a fire sound into the whole of the media. Lastly the dialog which in this case was the narration, also went on during the whole video. The fact that they decide to make the narration in french made it more interesting simply because french sounds more posh.
-Narrative
The narrative on this media is very simple however it is very comic. Like i have mentioned before the story is about a man who wants to be a horse but really he is a cow. Because of the narration the story is basic and very simple to follow.Although the story is simple I think it is very interesting and it always keeps our attention; there is not a second where my mind floated away during this 90 seconds video.
-Identification
At the start of the film we see a man running down the field. To begin we do not know much about this actor, but then we are taken into slightly closer shot of him. Then we have voice overs telling us about him and how he feels. Straight away we know that he is the main protagonist for the moment. All throughout  the film we was not told who the actor is or where he comes from so identification in this short film is hard. However we know one small detail about him, all his life he wanted to be like a horse but he is like a cow. I think the way the film is constructed makes it very easy for the audience to connect with the main character.
-Suspense
As this is a short film for a competition there was not a lot of suspense into it. However I can guarantee that there was some suspense in it. As the main actor was running and the voice over was rising and getting slightly faster, there was slow suspense building because we as a audience was desperate to know if he really was a horse. This is because towards the end of the film he kept on repeating "If I was a horse", leaving the audience more hungry for the answer.


My second favourite depict video  was an animated video named "Return"

Evaluation Of Our Short Film

My group and i managed to finish and upload our video to youtube on time. Our video can be seen on youtube, and it is called "Deep Within". In here i will write about good things and bad things we have done in our video. Also i will include backup my points with criticism from the classroom coleagues.

Here is our final piece of work:

 

 

Posetive points:

Mise-en-scene:

The fact that we kept everything that is normal in the classroom within the class, even the students to make it look more like a lesson. The shots in the classroom made the video made the video more realistic.

 

Camera work:

I most liked the camera work from the first few shots in the classroom. They were done really well and really smooth. especially as it panned from one side of the classroom to the other.

One of the the classroom colleague picked up on the scene that he like the most and it was the point of view of Vlad walking to the locker. He says that the camera movement during that scene was really good as it cleared took him into the eyes of the actor and made him feel like he was in the scene. 

 

Eddeting:

 I perticular most enjoyed the eye effects that we used. We done this effects by using a program callled after effects. We used the eye effect on the main character in this case vlad, and also we use this effect on the teacher when he was using the mask.
This is what they ended up looking like:

 

 

 

The class mostly liked the effects we used to make the whole classroom desapear all at once. To do this we used the dissolve effect on the premiere pro effects.
This is what it looked like before and a second after:

Dissolve effect was used between these two shots and gave an aperance of the whole classroom desapering at once leaving just vlad behind.


Sound:

For our sound we ded not use any music at all. We simply used the teachers dialogue for most of the shots in the classroom. We used the heart beat sound for most of the scene. I reallyu like this sound because i think it makde our video more tense. especially when the heart beat started to speed up.
One of my friends said he really liked the scream noise we used on the scene we revealed the mask.
 

Negatives points:

Mise-en-scene:

One of the negatives was the eyeline shot of the window.

There was some criticism from the classroom mates about this shot. It is a shot of the classroom window from the inside. However the people watching the video cannot tell this has there is not enought of the window showing. We have to ensure that nextime we catch more of the window frame in the shot so it is clear to the audience that it is a window.

 

Camera work:

There was no bad point of the camera worked mentioned however I found a scene where I really disliked the camera movement even knowing that I was the one recording that scene.

The shot on the right is a tracking shot of the actor walking along the corridor. This shot was suppose to be a clear smooth shot however i could not keep my hands stable so the shots came out slightly shaky. It could of been a better shot if we had a roller to do the tracking shots.

 

Eddeting:

Well to be honest there was a scene where we did not manage to give vlad a transparence appearance. This kind of ruined the video because he is suppose to be transparent throught the whole tracking scene. I really disliked this shot however it had to be used otherwise the video would have a big jump from one shot to the other.

One of the student in the class said he did not like the effect we used to make vlad dissolve throught the door. He says that this had a big jump and it was not clear.

 

 

Sound:
Some people did not like the heart beat sound we used for our depict video. One of the person in the class said this sound was too long and dragged for ever. He says we should of used varieties of sound when doing the tracking shots. 

The Pre-Production Process

Requirements for a Moving Image Production

There are many type of media forms that we know about, for example the television, the radio and the computers. Withing these forms we can find all sorts of moving images media product. Well what types of moving image media product are there? For what I know there are so many; for example:

• Animation
• Feature Film
• Short Film
• Television Programs ( these would be things like news & adverts)
• Music Videos

Distribution Method 

These are the ways media forms are shown to the audience so then it becomes successful and makes money. They can be released at a:

• Film festival
• DVDs & Blue Rays
• Torrent Websites
• Streaming websites for example Hulu & Netflix   

Finance and sources of funding

1. Crow funding
2. Private financing
3. Bank
4. Euro-savings
5. Millionaires (Megan Ellison)
6. Lottery organisations (creative England)

Requirements in any organisation production
Obviously in a media production we do require quite a lot of equipment in order to produce film. The things needed to do this are mostly obvious but important. Here is a list of things normally used in a movie creation:

• Cameras (this may sound stupid but its obvious a camera is needed for the recording)
• Props and Costumes (each actor will be different and have a different character so different costumes and props are need.
• Transport (these are obviously needed to take the actors where ever they need to go for the recording)
• Accommodation (the actors, directors and the rest of the crew will obvious need a place to stay if they are recording in a stranger place so accommodation needs to be provided)
• Food and drink (again if we are taken the crew away from home we must ensure that we have supplies to keep them going.)
• Location (If the filming is going to be in a strange place obviously you will need to hire that location for that period of time)
• Others ( there are many more things needed such as lights, studio, actors, editing programs and editors)

Of course these things are not always needed for every film making, most of them are only needed on a high budget film as in a low budget film you would only use a few of them.

Requirements on our short film
Since our film was a short low budget film we hardly necessitated any of those things above. All we used for our film making was:

• 
  
• A HD camera.
• Students as actors in which we did not had to hire
• Computers with editing programs, in this case Premiere Pro C6 was used.
• Classroom and Corridors of the college was used as our location.
• All our data/recordings was stored on a SD card and on the computer as backup in case anything was damaged.
• Tripod to hold the camera still for a better quality image.

Personnel
These are the production team meaning everyone that is involved in a film making that works in a media production.

1. A low budget short- Our film was a short low budget film and to be honest our personnel was really low as we was consisted of a group of three. This means that each individual in our group had a variety of role. For example, I did some of the recording and editing, others where actors and directors and also editors. Meaning that in a low budget film a person has more than one role and are not very experienced people. 
2. A television programmer- For a television programmer the crew is much bigger than a low budget film. Sometimes this is because it is shown live or it is a series of episodes which will be shown many times and to keep the audience they have to ensure it looks good. The actors normally are famous people with experience. They can be seen as professionals, and sometimes they have more than one role. There are also advisers and legal team in a television programmer. Also in some programmers they have crowds where applause and cheer are involved. For example the X-Factor. 
3. Hollywood feature film- In a Hollywood film making the personnel are much more experienced and seen as professionals. There are a lot more personnel in here and most of them only have one role each. There are extra people such as the advisers and the legal team to make the film available for the public. There would be drivers to drive them to different locations as the film is recorded in many different places for a high budget film.

Time
During my short film making we where giving a deadline for the film to be made however this deadline was broken by most group in the class. The reason for this is simply because we started to record our film a day before we went on holidays. After a week and a few days we came back and most of the groups found themselves recording some of the footage they had already recorded before the break simply because they did not have the same props and costumes. However we did not do too bad on time as our video was ready three days after the deadline.

What would happen if you don't meet the deadlines in the professional media industry?
In a professional media deadlines are strict because if they are not met the industry would start building up problems. If a film is not made on time the cost for this film will increase leading to a bit of a loss in the industry. Also the reputation of that industry might go down as the film was delayed and might not be re-leased.
Equipment/Facilities
This is simply the equipment we used to make our short film in which i already wrote about. In here im going to focus more on how and where did we obtain our equipment and how and where do industries obtain their equipment for a professional moving image production.

In our short film we had a budget allocation of £5 in which we did not use as we had all we needed in college. We gathered all our props and costumes such as the mask used in the film, from the college studio room. We also borrowed the camera and the tripods from the college. And the SD card we already had it from the start of the year.
Has in a movie making industry the equipment needed are a lot more and way more expensive. For a film to be made obviously the necessary equipment have to be used and these are normally bought or hired.
Most of the big companies will find all they need in a Facility house.
Locations
For our short film we decided to film in the college classroom and corridors meaning we did not have to fill in any form to have legal permission. Normally in any other public area a location recces and location releases would have to be involved in order to have a legal permission to record in that area.

Location recces- This is where you have to ensure you research and find all the information about the area you are intending to film in. The word recce is shorten for reconnaissance. By having a location recce it is more likely that your shots will be much more successful (1).

Location releases- These are forms that must be signed by the filmmaker and the owner of a specific property. By signing these forms the owners are giving legal permission for the filmmakers to shoot there.

Of course during this preparation for our short film we knew that we would have to face some issues and risk. For example one of our issue was while recording a student from the college be misbehaving and getting his face in front of the camera when we don't want him there. A risk was while recording especially the tracking scene, the camera man might not see that there is a spilled drink or something of that kind and slip on it leading to an injury. There were many more risks and issues we had to deal with. In order to prevent and decrease the changes of these we made a risk assessment during our plan. We was able to prevent all the problems and if any problem had occurred because of the risk assessment we knew how to deal with it.

Materials
Either than the crew and cast other materials are used to make a moving image film. For example the microphone and a few editing programs is used to make a sound track or a sound effect. for a good quality sound microphones are normally positioned differently according to its environment; outside, inside or in the studio. Most of the times the audio, sound track and the dialogue for a moving image is recorded a different time from the actual video than it is added later on.

Contributors 
Contributors are a big part of media and film production. The reason being is simply because they are the ones who contributes money for the media production to be done. They ensure everything is done well by the end of the production by assisting the film makers with some cash.

Legal Issues
Either than the location recce and location releases there are other legal considerations that we need to take during a media production. For example Copyright.

Copyright- This gives owners legal protection and rights to control ways people can use their materials. The rights are given to a person as soon as the material is recorded in any way and it would prevent any copying, adapting or distributing.
This type of issue did not affect our media production because we did not intended to use any soundtrack that had already been recorded. We used a default soundtrack from the media and we also made our own soundtracks by using a program called Garage band.

Issues:
Clearance- This is when you must ensure that you are given legal permission to use a copyright material or you can do various research to ensure the media you are using for your video has no owner ship.

Public liability insurance- Accidents happen all the time, and in a creation of a moving image film your company is responsible for any accident to the public and worst injury, they can easily take charge against you for compensations. A public liability insurance is there to help you protect your business against any complains from accidents made.

Completion guarantee/insurance- This is another legal contract that has to be signed by the producer to guarantee that the film will be complete and delivered at the date they have agreed to. This is done to prevent any loss of money in case the film is not completed or its completed with delay in which there would be money loss.

Regulation
Regulatory bodies are organisations set up by the government. These have the responsibility to monitor, guide and control many industries sectors with interest of protecting consumers.

OF-COM simply stands for office of communication. This is the UK's communications regulator. It runs under the communication act 2003, and what it does is ensure citizens are protected from scams and sharp practices and get the best from communication services while using things like mobile phones and internet.

Not everything is regulated by the OF-COM, for example the BBC is regulated by the BBC Trust. BBC is shorten for British Broadcasting Corporation. The fact the BBC is regulated by the BBC Trust makes it an independent corporation.

BBFC- This simply stands for British Board of Film Classification. The BBFC are responsible for what people watch. The BBFC are the ones who give out age ratings on films to ensure minors are not watching what they shouldn't. However there is an independent body which has also being giving out age ratings since 1984.

Trade Unions and trade associations.
A trade Union is an organisation of workers who have got together to achieve similar objectives such as "protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working condition". This means that they will have to ensure working condition is good and workers are doing a good job by maintaining or improving good employment conditions. To do this wage, rules, complaint procedures, workplace safety and policies and many more would have to be taken in consideration.

BECTU- (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Theater Union).This is the UK entertainment union that covers a few important things like:

• Broadcasting
• Film
• Theater and art 
• Independent Production

This union has around 25,000 members and these are all voluntary. However they aim to increase their members as the union is financed from the subscription from its members. They also have other aims such as helping in the improvement of payment at places like pensions.

PACT 

This is very similar to BECTU, however they are an UK trade association. 

What do they do? They are "representing and promoting the commercial interests of independent feature film, television, digital, children's and animation media companies". When it comes to legal and businesses affairs PACT are there to offer some support.

Trade association- These are organisations that creates "means for businesses involved in a given industry to interact to the mutual benefit of all concern". They are also known as an "industry trade group, business association or sector association". The are responsible for participating in public relations activities. For example:

• Advertising
• Education
• Political Donations
• Lobbying
• Publishing

However the trade association focus a lot on collaboration between companies or standardization.

Depict Choice

Depict Choice

Beginning:
Well our depict is going to start on a classroom where a lesson is going on. We will start with a shot of one side of the classroom and slowly use the camera movement we call Pan to the other side of the classroom. At the end of this Panning we will focus on the main character which will be a single student. What happens is that the student is simply in class looking very bored and tired. He does not want to be in the class so he starts to look out of the window paying no attention what so ever to the teacher. While the teacher is talking the student slowly falls asleep.
Middle:
The middle of the story is while the student is asleep a mirror ghost version of him gets up of the sit while the lesson is still going on, leaving his actual sleeping body behind. His ghost version will travel around the college going trying to get to his locker where in which he is expecting to find his football. During his journey he sees a mysterious person at the end of the corridor with a slightly strange face. When he finally gets to his locker and opens his locker he comes face to face with a horrible face inside his locker.
Ending:
Finally the ending jumps back to the classroom where the student is waking up in shock because of the horrible face he had seen. Then he hears the teacher asking him really sarcastically if he was at sleep and looking to the teacher and in shock realizing that the teacher has the face he had seen in the locker he responses "no". After rubbing his eyes and looking back to the teacher he sees her this time looking normal.

Our depict shot list:

1. INT. Classroom. Long shot panning.

2. INT. Classroom. Medium shot of student.

3. Close up eye line match.

4. Medium shot of teacher.

5. Medium shot of student looking towards the clock.

6. Close up shot of clock.

7. Medium shot of student as student falls asleep.

8.  Long shot panning of student getting out of his chair and walking towards the exit of the classroom.

9. Point of view tracking.

10. Medium shot of student at his locker pulling out his locker key.

11. Close up of student unlocking the locker.

12. Medium shot of opening locker.

13. Point of view shot of inside the locker.

14. Close up of student.

15. A trombone shot of the locker.

16. A medium shot of another student trying to wake up the student who is dreaming. Student wakes up in shock.
17. point of view shot from student who was asleep tilting up to face the teacher who shows power with the mask.
18. Close up of the student shaking his head.
19. Medium shot of the teacher looking looking normal.

Depict Production Diary

16th October 2013
We got into our groups of three and shared our ideas for the Depict competition and then we decided on which one to do.

17th October 2013
Today in our group we worked out our 20 shots for the depict we have decided to do and started to work on our story books.
18th October 2013
This lesson again we got into our groups and finished our story books. After that we went out of the class room with the camera taking photos of the best locations we can film so at the end we choose the most appropriated one.
5th November 2013
Today I gathered with my group and started to film our short clips for our depict. So far its been going very well and we are happy with the clips we have made so far.
6th November 2013
Today we carried on with recording of our small clips for the 90 seconds depict competition. By the end of the lesson we actually managed to record all the videos we needed for the end project even knowing a member of the group was missing and there was only two of us.
7th November 2013
Since we have already gathered all the short clips we needed Vlad and I got ourselves to a Mac PC and started to put our clips together and started to edit it using the Premiere Pro C6 to make one big final project.
12th November 2013
Today was another day of hard working eddeting with vlad. We started to add some especial effects to make our video look so much better.

Depict planning

Depict planning

My first original idea was not the chosen idea for our group work, however I will tell you a little about it. Well for my depict I wanted to tell a little story about what happens to me most of the time but this time its different because its my own world and I get to use some of my imagination.

It would start on an early morning where a student is on his comfortably making his way to the bus stop however while on his way there he meets an old friend who then decides to talk to him. Half way through the chat the boy sees his bus slowly going pass him; in panic he chases the bus.I have pictured this chase to be very comic with a little laugh into it. Soon enough  the boy gives up on the chase and very depressed makes his way back to the bus stop. While sitting there he looks at his old style watch and then wishes that he could turn back time just like he can with his watch. At the same time he says this he turns back time on his watch using the winder and everything turns black and white and the bus slowly comes back and he happily manages to catch it and when the bus door clothes he everything gets its color back and goes back to normal.
To be honest I quite liked my idea and so did the others however we decided not to do this depict first because it we all agreed on another depict as it sounded more exciting and actually more unique as we don not think anyone else has though of a similar idea. Secondly after a chat with the teacher about our depicts we found out that another class had came up with a similar idea to mine and as the were first and they were going to take that idea forwards it was best not to do this depict.