Wednesday 6^th March

Today we filmed another VT, but this time it got more adventurous. I, the floor manager, a camera operator and one of the sound techs, went to Solent University to film the VT, In The Spotlight. Before this though, we had some trouble with deciding what we were going to do for this specific segment. Initially, we were just going to get two actors and people to voice-over a script about new how original streaming shows compare with shows on television, but, our lecturer informed us on Monday, that we would be going to Solent to interview a lecturer of film and television and get his opinion on what the internet has done to television. Therefore, we scrapped the original script that we had and came up with questions for him to answer.

Once we arrived at Solent, we were waiting around for a while until he came out to meet us and introduced himself as Tony Steyger. We then found a quiet part of the university downstairs, where no one would disturb us. We set up the camera and the equipment and our floor manager asked him all of the questions. He very much got into the conversation and gave brilliant, in depth answers to our questions. We had about 10 questions written down, but I ensured that we cut them down as he was covering all of the topics we wanted to ask about. I acted as the director during this VT, so the lecturer would often look back to me and ask if he was being sufficient enough with his answers and I kept assuring him he was giving us very good answers.

After finishing up and going back to college to watch the footage back, I am certain this is one of our most professional VT’s.

Monday 4^th March

Today is when we started getting more practical with our show as we begun the filming of the VT, The Reel List.  In which we countdown our favourite movies and TV shows. In each rating we explain we why the show is ranked at that spot and give some background on the products, such as the directors and actors in the show.

We started off by going to the studio with the other members for that specific VT. We set up the cameras and lighting and got our main presenter to stand in front of the green screen and list the movies. This was our original idea, to get a presenter listing the movies/shows and to insert clips while they were speaking, however, we experienced our first fault of this production during the making of this VT.

Although everything had seemed to have gone, we realised that after 3 hours of filming this, our microphone had stopped recording the audio due its storage being full. This was incredibly frustrating as it was something we thought was going well and smoothly, in addition to it taking a while to get all of the scenes of the VT to a high standard.

However, we have decided not to overly panic about this situation as a crew member of this VT has decided just to rerecord the audio, which will not take up too much time, and just edit it over clips and scenes of the movies and shows chosen, without having a presenter, which is unfortunate as this would have looked more unique and professional, however we have little time to get everything else done for the show, meaning that we have to use our time wisely. A positive from this however, is that I updated our Instagram, to show the audience what we were getting up to in the studio.

Friday 27^th February

Today, I managed to complete my risk assessment. I came up with over 10 risks/hazards that could be possibility on the show and explained ways in which these could be prevented and if they were to happen, what further action would be put in place. After completed this, I moved on to working on the location recon’s, in which I find the information on the places that we will be filming in, so far, the locations we have set in is the college’s studio and Fareham High Street, in which the Remake VS Original VT will be taking place. We are still yet to decide on more filming locations for the show but we know for certain that the studio is the main and most important location; we have to focus on making everything looking as good as possible. Furthermore, the floor manager, also created the call sheets that will be needed on the day of filming. As we starting coming up with ideas for what we want to do with the set on Wednesday, the set designers have begun planning further by creating mood-boards and scouting for different items. I have also helped with giving them ideas for what we want to use on the set in addition to possibly using a red and black colour scheme, as I believe this suits the Hollywood and movie theme that we are going for. Furthermore, the lighting crew have also begun experimenting with different types of lighting, colours and tones, etc. that we could use on the show day.

Furthermore, we met the performing arts students who would be playing the roles of our presenters on the show, Callie and Redmond. They came to meet the managerial team of the show (producer, director, production and floor manager), so that we could explain the context behind the show to them and what they should be expecting from us and what they should be delivering for us. We took them to the studio to show them around and explained where their main presenting areas should be. We set up a version of set with the lights, sound equipment, props, etc. just so that they could properly understand what the set is going to look like. Furthermore, we set up the cameras so that we could see how the lighting would appear in the footage and adjusted anything that looked incorrect. We also set the microphones up on the hosts to test the sound quality, we didn’t properly go through a rehearsal as unfortunately, we did not have the script to give to them today but we explained that we will hopefully have it to them as soon as it has been completed. We also answered any questions they had then as this is only time we will be seeing them until the live show date, 8^th March.

I updated our social media accounts today by doing live streams around the studio while we were setting the equipment up. In addition to this, I posted pictures of the pre-production that I was completing on our story to show the audience the process of the work being done.

Wednesday- 25th February.

Today, we began planning our live show. The show is going to be in the style of a magazine show such as The One Show or This Morning, in which we have two main hosts, presenters and guests including about 4 to 5 VT’s throughout.  We already came up with the segments and the themes the show is going to hold. Firstly, we decided the name of our live show Reel Talk. The main theme of this show is talking about the streaming and film industries and what people enjoy watching on Netflix. We are going to be including segments such as the Reel List countdown in which we discuss our top 5 films and TV shows. Additionally we have included our, In the Spotlight which discusses how the streaming platforms (and the internet overall) has impacted broadcasting and television. Then, a VT will be added called, ‘Remake VS Original’ in which the crew asks members of the public whether they prefer originals movies or the original version of them. Another VT is the Reel Oscars, in which we take categories from the Oscars but we decide which movie should win, therefore, we will present the award. We also intend to have guests on this show, talking about what is new to Netflix.

This live show is going to be a class project and each member of the class has been given a role. I personally am the production manager, which means I have to control the logistics and ensure that everything runs smoothly, additionally I work alongside the floor manager, whose role will be more significant on the day of filming, but for now, he will be helping me with the work I have to do. Therefore today, I personally started off the risk assessments of the show, ensuring that everything will be running safe and smoothly. The whole class has also begun further planning of the show, for example, the camera operators have begun working on a shot list and a floor plan together. I intend on carrying on with this work as soon as possible.

Additionally, the floor manager, set designers, director, producer and I, went to the studio today to begin initiating ideas for what we wanted to do with the set. We began planning around the studio and finally decided on a spot in which we want the main area of the set to be. We chose a corner of the studio in which there is the main blackout curtain that would act as the backdrop, which is more convenient than having the studio window as the background as the natural lighting would interfere with studio lighting. There is also a shelf in the background, in which we have decided to use to add some props onto, such as movie related items like old video cameras, clappers, VHS tapes, etc. By starting off with this, we are beginning to get a real feel for the set.

We also set up social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram to promote our show, we plan to be updating this at least once a day, every day, until the show is released.

 

WHAT IS MARKETING?

• The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

FORMS OF PROMOTING MEDIA PRODUCTS

• Billboards
• TV advertisements
• Posters
• Social media campaigns
• Websites
• Media appearances
• Trailers
• Sponsorship’s
• Partnership Campaign
• Competitions
• Interviews

WHY ARE PRODUCTS MARKETED DIFFERENTLY?

• Different products are intended for different audiences and are therefore marketed accordingly.
• The types of promotional campaign media products employ are dependent on many different factors including, location, access to technology, audience profiling, budget and reputation, for example, Marvel.

GUERRILLA MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION: Guerrilla marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression and pops up where and when the people least expect it. Guerrilla marketers are able to make a lasting impression without spending a lot of their marketing budget.

WHEN THINGS GO VIRAL: KONY 2012– Viral marketing whereby consumers are encouraged to share information about a company’s goods or services via the Internet.

Kony 2012 was a supposed charitable campaign that went viral on many social media platforms. The cause supposed to tackle to capture of young children to join Joseph Kony’s unruly army in Africa. It was a controversial campaign in that it was deemed to be fake.

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA SO EFFICIENT IN MARKETING?

Social media is so efficient in marketing because it is the main way that the younger people of society gets in touch with the news and trending topics. Additionally, social media is free and easily accessible which means that certain topics with trend faster as other people do the sharing for you. The content is limitless and interactive.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE MOVIE INDUSTRY

From self-funded independent projects to the big-name Hollywood blockbusters, the movie industry has embraced social media. Historically, this makes sense as classical Hollywood advertised their star system through fan magazines. Therefore, Modern Hollywood has Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones. From creating viral alternate reality campaigns to using social networks to build awareness, the movie industry is busy leveraging social media to connect with fans to promote products.

“SOCIAL MEDIA IS LUCRATIVE FOR MOVIE MARKETERS FOR THE SAME REASONS IT APPEALS TO MANY: THE ABILITY TO MEASURE AND INTERACT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE ON A TWO-WAY STREET OF COMMUNICATION, AND THE LUCRATIVE ALLURE OF GOING VIRAL. IF YOU CAN CONVINCE FANS AND MOVIE-GOERS TO TALK ABOUT YOUR MOVIE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUR AUDIENCE EXPANDS”

• Multi camera setups are most commonly used in talk shows, movies and TV shows. It is important to remember that with these setups, the 180-degree rule is key as if it is not being followed, the audience will get confused. Furthermore, by using a multi camera setup producers can do a shot-reverse-shot which is more suited for conversation scenes, in this scenario, interviews. The type of setup increases coverage of angles and footage, giving more possibilities on the final outcome when editing.

Multi Camera Format

Game Shows

• During the filming of game shows, there can be up to 10 camera’s being used to capture multiple different shots. For example, a camera on a crane that is used to achieve a high angle shot of the whole stage and audience. By using the cameras this way, it gives the opportunity to capture all of the angles and perspectives that the director can use in the final cut.

Sporting Events

• During sporting events, a multi-camera setup is also used, in fact this type of event has many more cameras being used than game or magazine shows. However, this is due to the nature of the event. A lot of work goes into these sporting events when broadcasting them live. There are a lot of different camera switches in order to show the audience certain parts of the game that cannot be seen from other angles, everything is specific to a particular part of the game. For example, aerial cameras and drones are controlled to fly over the event. In my recent years, cameras have become very important in refereeing. There are often camera in certain areas which helps the referee to see parts of the game, in order for them to make a fair judge of the events. Seeing as this is such a crucial job, the cameras have to be in 4K to capture all of the detail.

Live Music Events

• It is quite common to see multiple cameras at a live music event or festival. These are often either fed straight back to the LCD monitors for the audience to see the act or for when they are recorded and edited in the future.
• In regards to live music, it can be noticed that the cameras are constantly moving. The reason for this is so that the camera movement can match with the flow and energy of the music. Some of the shots are cut shot and this is normal, this could be for magnitude reasons, such as someone walking in front of the shot or smoke machines .

Roles and Responsibilities 

• The floor director (FD)
• The technical director (TD)
• Camera operators
• Runners
• Vision control engineer
• Colour engineer
• Sound engineer
• Lighting engine

 

During the pre-production process of this project, we created an idea generation mind map, trying to come up with a basic plot line for the new short film we were creating. My group and I struggled for a while to come up with an idea initially as this time, for this project, we were not given a story-line to follow, we had to come up with everything without guidance.

However, after an hour or so of planning and putting ideas together, we came up with a solid story-line and started on the other pre-production. In this story, we wanted to experiment with a new type of story line that none of us had followed before, as this almost follows a psychological thriller based genre by basing our film around conspiracy theories.

When we started filming this project, we managed to get all of the scenes filmed in one day, it took us 3-4 hours to finish. During this, we did not experience any problems or interruptions like we did in the last project, in which we encountered issues with lighting and some of the shots being too grainy due to the ISO being raised to highest setting in areas in which it was slightly darker. However, after this, we discovered it was because we did not know how to use the aperture correctly hence the grainy look of our videos.

Therefore, during this project, we then had the knowledge on how to adjust the aperture to match the ISO; this made our scenes look a lot more professional and clear. In addition to this, we also ensured to use a Rhode microphone instead of the Zoom microphone we had before, which picked up too much wind audio. The Rhode mic was effective and easy to use as it just plugged in the camera and synced the all of the sound with the footage for us; when it came to editing, we did not have to listen to every single audio clip to find the right one, which sped up the editing process.

However, some problems that did occur was that in regards to the shot-list, we stuck to all of the shots, but we had some additional ones as we found that this would add more of a variety of shots to the short film, additionally it gave the group more footage to edit.

After asking my peers what they thought of this of this project, they too agreed that it was a lot better than the last due to it seeming more professionally done. They stated that the edit seemed very clean cut and the storyline was quite interesting as we left it on more of a cliffhanger. They thought that the “mysterious” aspect of this film appeared to be more intriguing and that our editing skills helped bring the film together. However they did also state the film could’ve been longer and could’ve included more content. So with all of that in mind, I will definitely consider these points in future projects.

In regards to the final edit, I can definitely say that I prefer the project a lot more to the previous one as our work looks a lot more professional and interesting. Additionally, the colour grading suits the theme of this short film, compared to the last project, in which the grading and correction looked tacky and unprofessional. Also, the flow of this film is swift, the cuts are not obviously seen.

Friday 8^th February

Today, I finished editing. I put the sequence together and all of the footage. However, before finishing, I had some midway feedback from my lecturer, who gave me some advice on what to change in the short film to make it more interesting for the audience.

I did end up changing these things, which has made my work look a lot more professional. I also added in the ADR sound to the necessary parts of the sequence which really made everything come together.

Thursday 7^th February

Today I just picked up from where I left off yesterday. However, I edited less today due to fact that we had other coursework that we had to complete, but I managed to edit in the last hour of the college day.

During editing, I managed to get all of the footage in the sequence, as editing one video by one was taking too long. Once I had the sequence together, I started adding more glitches. While doing this, I downloaded some glitch sound effects from YouTube, to add over the glitches so that it would start piecing together.

I got to certain point that I was happy with before we ran out of time, however, currently I am content with the amount of editing that I have done.

Wednesday 6^th February.

Today, we began filming our short film. We started filming in the first lesson of the day by filming the library scene in our classroom in which is the student reading the two different articles on mobile phones listening to you and another article on living in a simulation.

We managed to get all the shots that were listed in the shot-list and possibly some additional ones. The reason I wanted to get a variety of shots was mainly because I believe that this adds more to the short film, instead of sticking to the typical shots.

Shots such as the close up of her hands typing on the keyboard and her eyes reading the article, create more of impact as it is more secretive, a medium shot of her sitting by the computer would not draw the audience as much as this. I believe that this makes the audience more intrigued.

Therefore, throughout filming, I ensured on getting multiple different shots throughout the filming day. This also gave us more footage to edit, which would make the 3-minute mark.

We chose to use my script to follow when filming and we filmed in order of the script, except for filming some establishing shots at the end. It took us about 3-4 hours to get all of the scenes done.

Once finished with filming, we started editing in last period of the college day.  I started off my edit by dragging in clips and adding glitches to them between cuts, to create the conspiracy effect. We did come up with this effect during pre-production as we thought this would make our short film look more interesting and have more relation to the theme, it would complete the short film, or else without it, the short film would not necessarily make sense the way we want it to.  Additionally, I recorded some ADR voice over for certain parts of the sequence, which will be edited and added into the sequence.