Mr D's comment

Good post, Georgia. Try to be even more reflective on the decision-making. Exactly how and why did youi arrive at particular decsiions? Also, what ideas doid you reject, and why?

Presenting and Planning

In todays lesson we refined our ideas for our Public Information Film on Running Away From Home.
In preparation for presenting to the client - Derek from Youthoria, we discussed as a group the details of the PIF for example the message we wanted to give out and how we would do that using different camera shots and angles. 

Derek gave us contructive critism on how we were going to end the film because we gave the impression of ending it on quite a sour note. We have now changed the ending to come to more of a resolution. Also, because we are not only including the running away from home aspect but the reason why she is running away; bullying. While listening to the other groups presentations we saw that another group were filming the topic of bullying so we thought to consult with them in order for our themes not to clash.

For the presentation I took on the role of one of the main presenters; telling the client our idea how we would film it e.t.c and he was overall impressed.

I usually find it difficult to explain to others the ideas floating around in my  head but I have learnt through out the two modules how to present clearly.
It was a good chance to practice my presentation skills this week because I haven't presented to a formal client many times. I think it would have been better if I had a list of bullet points to mention in order about our film because in front of me I had a rough mind-map and this made it harder to talk about each. 

Next week we will be filming most of our PIF so a lot of planning and organisation was needed.

We got to work and wrote out in neat our storyboard, costumes, location etc.
I thought as a group we worked quite well because there didn't seem to be a leader of the group we were all equals, we all contributed some how.




For next week we aim to stick out tight schedule of filming all around Cambridge.
I would like to try out the techniques of filming for a public information film that I have researched.

Editing The Chase and The Brief

In part one of todays lesson we edited our mini chase scenes on Adobe Premiere. 


We wanted our chase scene to look continuous, so we had to be very precise because we filmed different angles and shots. 
The continuity of an overall film is important because it maintains the visual illusion of not noticing where we have actually cut bits out or filmed many times. At first we found it difficult to make the shot where I walked outside to the moment when I was turning around looked continuous but it worked out because the upbeat music brought a stylistic edge to the film. 


Below is our edited film:

My role in the group was audio and sound. I found it difficult to find an appropriate audio file to go with the chase scene so I experimented a lot with different genres. I found a heart beat sound clip and decided to add that in because it built up tension of when Yeganeh was running away from me and I then faded the upbeat music of the actual fast pace scenes. I thought that the phone line at the end was effective because it was in time with the dramatic slap and it gave the film a sense of closure.  


I enjoyed the editing process because it was interesting to see how by just changing for example the music, changes the mood or atmosphere of the film. 


Next week, I would like to film so that I can get a chance to learn how to set white balance and explore more into composition.


In the second part of the lesson we were given the brief in the form of an A4 piece of writing, giving us a detailed outline of our 'It's up to you?' project. 
In my group we brainstormed three possibilities of topics which wish to film. We came up with Smoking and Drinking, Running away and Relationships. I came up with the idea of Running away because it's  an interesting topic if you go deep into it for example why the person runs away or what triggers the thought of packing a bag and leaving your life behind. 
As a group we discussed how we will portray the message, in the form of a story board.

Next week, as a group our aim is to finish the storyboard, polish our verbal presentation to the client.

Advertisement and The Chase!

For the first part of the lesson we watched several different public information films (old and new) and analysed them according to their target audience, purpose, methods, acting/voice over and the reflection of the time period affecting the advert.

We analysed quite deeply to pick up useful methods to use in our own films for example in the 'Think' - Camera Phone advert from 2006, we were shown a video taken on someone's phone of a group of friends having fun and then one suddenly gets ran over by a car. By using the method of capturing the film on a camera phone it makes it feel more realistic and personal to us because a lot of people in this period of time "hang around" taking videos, laughing with friends.

From this I learnt that the time period you make the advert corresponds with how people will react to it. For example we looked at 'Coughs and Sneezes' from 1945 and we noticed at pattern with all of the ads from this era which was that the voice was of an authoritative man using commanding tones and direct address.

In our short film of chase, we decided to have no speech but just music and to include as many different camera shots and angles as possible. The chase scene story line was that Yeganeh was about to purchasing drugs but before hand she wanted to call her dealer. We used an over the shoulder angle shot to show her texting. I thought this was effective because it made it more interesting and showed a different perspective.

I played the role of the person who was suspicious of her and began to run after. We did some hand held camera work, by making Yeganeh hold the camera whilst she was running from me to show point of view and to make it more realistic.

Next week, I think it would be a good plan if we swapped roles often in order for us to all get a feel of the jobs of offer.