Question 4 |
HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?
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Introduction
In the film industry technology plays a key role in the aspect of production, post production and planning and research. When creating our trailer 'Room 032' we took full advantage of the use of technology to make sure that our Planning and research, production and post production were completed to the point of excellence. We started of with very little knowledge on how to use some of the softwares required for our industry style production and planning and research. As we learned along the way, we came across many stumbling blocks which didn't hold us down but made us stronger even though time was of the essence.
Planning & Research
Planning and research is very key as this stage helps layout and visualise our ideas and plans. we used this time to also research on coexisting successful posters, magazine covers and trailers to make sure ours will be as close to professional industry standard as possible. During this period we also learned how to use industry required software's such as Final cut Pro 7 and Adobe Photoshop which where features of the Macintosh.
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We had to create a website for our production company to assist in us logging and documenting all the work and stages that were required to be undertook to create a successful Trailer, poster and magazine.
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IMDB
Youtube
Visit our YouTube channel to view more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjJVA2V4PntzQllMPBGf4nA
photobooth
photoshop
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro (FCP) drastically helped in the creation of our animatic trailer. An animatic is a story board layered on an existing produced trailer and synced to the cuts of the existing trailer by having the same shot lengths and transitions. We created an animatic to the sinister trailer and because Darius was most experienced on Final Cut Pro due to his cinematography career, we left him to the job.
We also used final cut to create tests shots of the practice sessions we had while working on the cameras during the production stage.
below are a few of our videos.
We also used final cut to create tests shots of the practice sessions we had while working on the cameras during the production stage.
below are a few of our videos.
When editing the animatic we simply used final cut to cut and sync our animatic screen shots to the original edited sinister trailer. We first of all cut every cut to the originally edited sinister trailer so this made it easier for us to sync after when we place in our story board screenshots. After labelling our screenshots as good takes as you see in the picture above, we placed each screenshot image from the story board over the existing cut on the sinister trailer.
The process of Placing the screenshot of a shot from our story
board and placing it above the already cut 'Sinister' Trailer
board and placing it above the already cut 'Sinister' Trailer
Watch More of our edited videos on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjJVA2V4PntzQllMPBGf4nA
Microsoft power point
PowerPoint is a excellent software that we used to present our initial trailer concepts to our peers. Since we all had experience in using PowerPoint, as a group we did not struggle at all in creating various slides with transitions to present our concepts professionally. PowerPoint helped break down the information through the use of various slides so that our peers would easily understand the specific film concept we were presenting
Below are two of our presentations we created to present our concept to our peers.
Below are two of our presentations we created to present our concept to our peers.
CONCEPT 1
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CONCEPT 2
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Production
Production is the most crucial stage of film production as its in the name (production). This stage covers the creation parts of the the three main elements we have planned and researched for (Magazine cover, Film Poster and Film trailer). At this stage we has time to practice how to use the cameras and its equipment, research on locations, research on audiences and put our costume and makeup to practice. As much as this part of production was fun it was the most time taking stage of all.
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Before we started filming we had practice sessions on how to use the camera and camera accessories such as the tripod, track and doll and shoulder rig. This helped us familiarise ourselves with the camera and using its equipment's. we also used this stage to learn technical information about using the camera and this included
- ISO (this controls the amount of light that enters the camera)
- Shutter Speed (this controls how fast the shutter captures images)
- F. stop point (this controls how much depth of field the shot has)
Below are a few tests shots of how we familiarised ourselves with the camera and our final products after being taught how to use the camera and its equipment.
- ISO (this controls the amount of light that enters the camera)
- Shutter Speed (this controls how fast the shutter captures images)
- F. stop point (this controls how much depth of field the shot has)
Below are a few tests shots of how we familiarised ourselves with the camera and our final products after being taught how to use the camera and its equipment.
Camera Tech introduction video log |
Tracking Dolly Test Shots |
Shoulder Rig test shot |
Filming Stage
Camera
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Tripod
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Lens
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Here is a unedited and Raw Practice shot of when we were using the Track & Dolly to create a tracking Shot
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From the practice shot we were able to indoctrinate this skill of tracking in our trailer.
Above is a cut from our trailer which displays us using the track & dolly to create a tracking shot. |
Assembling and using the track and dolly
Using Both the LED & kINO flo lights
Camera Technologies
This triangle sums up all the camera technologies that contribute to having the perfect shots and images. ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed all work together in a triange and I have learned that without knowing how to use these settings correctly you will have very grainy, unfocused and over exposed video footage. But if you take time to learn how to use these settings correctly you will have the perfect underexposed, focused and minimum grain footage to edit with.
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ISOThis setting controls how sensitive the light is to the camera generating either a very noise image or a very clean Image (Low Grain). Lighting contributes greatly to the final outcome of the ISO Setting. So in our filming we made sure we used powerful high quality lighting to make sure we set a low ISO so that we have the very least amount of Grain as shooting with low lighting on a high ISO Produces a very Noisy Image.
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F/ POINT
This setting controls how much depth of field your image has when being captured generating either a very shallow depth of field or clear depth of field. Depth of field contributes greatly to the complex advancement of the cinematographer behind the camera.so as we had an advanced and sophisticated cinematographer in our group we played a lot with the depth of field in some of our shots and even though we used a lens with a F/ Of 3.5 we were still able to capture very bokelicious (Shallow depth of filed) video footage.
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WHITE BALANCE
White balance helps a lot in the final and overall colour of your captured footage. The reason we adjust white balance is to get the colors in your images as accurate as possible. From this, as a group we learned that we need to make sure every time we film we asses all the white balance setting to get the best looking colour balance. the image above explains all the options the white balance setting provides.
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photo shoot sessions
Kino Flo
As we were in a Studio during our photo shoot for our magazine and poster the kino flow was the best form of lighting that we could have used. The Kino created a powerful light source which was very beneficial in contributing to the results we needed. The light made our images look very professional and well lit just like industry style photos.
As we were in a Studio during our photo shoot for our magazine and poster the kino flow was the best form of lighting that we could have used. The Kino created a powerful light source which was very beneficial in contributing to the results we needed. The light made our images look very professional and well lit just like industry style photos.
Bad Stills (Bad takes)
This Photo was taken with a light source from the right
This is an example of a badly lit photograph as one side is over exposed |
This is another photo taken during our photo shoot session
even though this image is well lit, it has a strong light source creating an uneven source of light in the background. |
This Photo is another photo we took during our photo shoot session. This photo once again was bad because it was badly lit and softly out of focus on the subjects face
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Finally with this photo as you can see this is a bad use directional lighting as the light coming from the right leaves the subjects face over exposed and creates a shadow in the background.
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Good Still & Perfect Take
This photograph is a great example of a good photo for a magazine or poster. This picture has great directional lighting and has the right exposure and focus. The subject is sharply in focus with her scar. This makes a great image as once selected not much image manipulation on lighting because the directional lighting is perfectly soft on the subjects skin. This is a great result from using the Canon 600D and the Kino Flo.
Post - Production
After this we then began to edit by placing our captured footage over the previously edited animatic to follow the same pacing as our Edited animatic. At this stage a lot of syncing and cutting had to be done to man of the shots.
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we used the: - Texture effect to give our footage the rough film look we wanted. - Circle blur & Circle blur - 2 to create the blured effect on Mrs. Tresex's face at the end of our trailer. - Colour correction to bring out the richness of our colours and give the trailer the old renaissance look it requires. - Bad TV effect - this helped contribute to the old renaissance time and gave an effect of a TV cutting up. |
Colour Correction
We used colour correction to make ordinary shots look more realistic and film like. In order to do so, we played with the contrast and saturation until we achieved the film look which we all wanted. This made the colour of the footage look more rich and Renaissance compared to how it was originally shot.
This is another tutorial from the same website MonkeySee.com. he explained and showed us how to colour correct our videos footages to the most professional standard.
Please click the images and read the caption below each image to understand how we colour corrected.
circle blur
Circle Blur is an effect in Final Cut Pro which is made up of a circled shape that is literally blurred creating an out of focus effect on the video. We used this effect because even though the subject became out of focus, you could still softly see the pain and aggravation expressed without fully seeing her. This also contributed to the fear factor of our trailer as she slowly turns her head with her face blurred.
This is a section from our final edited trailer where we used the circle blur effect and as you can see from the video the subjects face is blurred and because used colour correction to change the brightness down you cannot see the actual circle section which blurs.
Bad TV Effect
The BadTV Effect is an effect that makes it look like a TV is going bad but within our footage. This helped specifically in the scene where Mrs. Tresex Haunts the student in the toilet by appearing behind her while she has her head down infront of the mirror. We used the bad TV effect to quickly switch and effectively show Mrs. Tresex Appear then disappear before she lifts her head up.
Texture Effect
The Texture Effect in final cut pro helped in contributing and giving our trailer an old film look overall. This effect added a light grey colour with a few lines over our footage to produce an overall effect of how TV's looked in the 1900's. This contributed majorly to the main renaissance theme of our trailer and below is a visual example.
The Texture and Bad TV Effect both tie in well as the combination of this effect totally gives the Olden style TV Look we wanted in our trailer. Below is a reel of the Bad TV effect used in our trailer and majority of the time this was used it was accompanied with the Bad TV Effect.
Sound
When it came to sound we still used final cut and we edited according to the animatic. we had a folder with many types of sounds such as drones, thuds, voices, horror SFX and further more. we listen to every sound individually to find the best sound possible and we then began to pick and choose the best ones. Editing sound was a key stage in the editing process as this helped push the narrative of our trailer and helped the editor sync specific cuts and effects at certain points. without the animatic sound and editing would have been really difficult and the process of doing this would have been very long. Because of copy right issues we did not download any sounds online or of existing material. neither did we record any sound that was placed in our trailer as we already had all the sound we needed in the sound folder. Overall our sound was finally completed on final cut but we did not bounce/export it to place it on sound cloud. we layered the sound under the trailer on our timeline as you see below.
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Here is the Final Edited Sound we used for our official trailer. Click the download link and this will redirect you to another page where it will play. |
Export
After we finished editing the trailer we exported it using wuick time conversion. this allows to you alter the quality, file size and gives you a quick time video file back. this was very helpful as we were able to quickly export our trailer at really high quality and from this we could burn the trailer unto a CD Or upload it straight to youtube for distribution and releasing of the trailer.
These two images show the exporting process we took to finally export our trailer in Full HD
Poster & magazine
poster
We used adobe photoshop to create our poster and export it. we all had experience using photoshop so this was the easiest part of production but all we needed to contribute was our creativity. we started by drawing drafts of posters and we converted them into digital drafts. from this we moved on to create the final poster you see above.
STEP 1: setting up and importing
Step 2: Image Manipulation
Step 3: Font/Text
Conventions
we followed the conventions of how a real poster looks by adding credits using the still tong font. we also added our website adress and logo to help our use of technology to help market the poster. |
we continued to follow the conventions of a poster by placing our main image in the middle of the poster. this is also our way of branding as we used the face of the protagonist on our poster which will help contribute in advertisment and marketing of our trailer.
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magazine
We used adobe photoshop once again to create our magazine also. eventhough we didnt fully follow the conventions of our initial plan we still abided by the conventions a professional magazine contains. we also used a more realistic image if Mrs. Tresex so that we could branch away from the movie side and give our magazine a unique more realistic look. finally we then downloaded foot print brushes to add to our magazine selling line.
This is a screenshot of us working on our magazine using photoshop.
Magazine Stages
Overall above is the stages we took to create our magazine but after we did this we ended up with the magazine above. this magazine contains the same fonts effects and logos we used to create the magazine overall.
Conclusion
Overall technology plays a major role in the production of our trailer and through this we were able to achieve outstanding planing and research, production and post production using these various programs and equipments. The Mac is th main building block to everything you see in the creation of our trailer as it helped bridge us to accessing the internet, provuded us with useful industry used softwares and marketing and producing using quick time. overall we all lovedd using final cu8t pro as majority of us were new to this software and because we had an expert in our group there was a feel of exciting competition when we fully learned how to edit on final cut.
This whole project relies on technology and this is a key aspect of movie production.
This whole project relies on technology and this is a key aspect of movie production.
From the Stage of just writing down and drafting ideas on a possible trailer...
To the use of technology to create, edit and log our process & the use of Camera Technology...
Has birthed our 3 final products of a Trailer, Magazine and poster all through the use of The importance key factor; Technology.