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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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(800-1000 words) Evaluation
- How the brief was met
The brief was met as a group in different roles we were each given a MacGuffin to create a 1-3-minute video. The video which my group created fell just under the 3-minute mark. It contained little to no dialogue and only used one location (TV Studio with some extra props to fit the scene and time it was set in). The only dialogue we used was in the editing of the video with a voice narration by Callum Hughes which we used a task cam, the voice actor put on an American accent to make it fit the time and enhance the film noir style.
- Technical standards
In my opinion we met the technical standards, the production values were high and everything looked clean, there didn't seem to be any errors in the video whilst re-watching it, apart from one or two audio edits which could have been refined better, but overall the editing was sharp and the filming went to plan besides one major fault with us using 2 video cameras rather than 1 to get different angles of the scene since we did the scene all in 1 take.
Both cameras were attached to pedestals (a tripod with wheels which was moveable) the footage we shot on one of the cameras seemed in focus but the movement can cause the footage to become out of focus. When the footage was reviewed and none of the footage from that camera was usable however because of time constraints and the group being on the final week of the project it made it hard for us to reshoot our footage with 2 days left to edit so we had to edit the footage the best we could from just one camera. The project still managed to turn out good because all of the footage on the Canon EOS 70D was useable and the footage on the Canon EOS 600D were mostly just additional side angles.
 - Story structure
Since our Mac Guffin was a postcard our group was really turned to the idea of creating a short crime film noire scene, with one of the codes and conventions being it was all black and white. This was an idea that we wanted to experiment with since none of us had done any kind of video produced in all black and white, this gave us the hard task of making the setting feel like it fit the 1900s but also let us not worry about the colour since it would later be edited in post production.
Narrative:
A detective is sat in his office working on a case. There is a killer on the loose who sends a postcard to his victims before he kills them. A postcard then arrives at his office. He is the next victim.
-       Detective is looking at board.
-       Colleague places down postcard on desk.
-       Detective turns and sees postcard.
-       Detective walks over to table.
-       Detective looks at postcard.
-       Detective sits down at desk.
-       Detective starts typing on typewriter.
-       Gun silhouette on black background goes up to detective’s head and fires.
-       Cuts to black.
 Props / Set:
Black Background, Suspect Board, Framed Pictures, Table, Typewriter, Old Telephone, Piles of Paper, Coat Stand, Filing Cabinets, Pistol.
Roles:
Jordan Jamieson - Director, Camera Operator 2
James Coyne - Editor, Camera Operator 1, Tascam
Scott Andrews - Boom Operator, Assistant Editor
Jonathon Beck - Actor (Detective)
Callum Hughes - Voice Actor (Detective)
 Shot Ideas:
Shot of blood hitting postcard of Detective
Dolly zoom
 -       Establishing dolly shot (Forward, Backwards, Left to Right, Right to Left) - actor looking at murder board + actor sat typing. I felt like this shot worked really well for us to introduce the scene to the viewer.
-       Close up panning shots of murder board (Following the string, each item on it, all sticky notes)
-       Shots of actor looking at murder board + sat typing (Close up/mid/wide shots from front, back, left and right)
-       Panning/close up/establishing shots of set
  - Organisation
Looking back on the project as a whole organisation would be one of the parts in the project I would focus on the most next time. As a group we still managed to get the filming and editing completed in time however it gave us the extra unnecessary stress of leaving everything until the last week, this was when the actor was available, so unless we found a different actor it couldn't have been helped. On the final week before the deadline we gave ourselves 1 day (the Tuesday) to setup the set in the TV studio which took around 4 hours (1-5pm). The following Wednesday we spent time going through the video, rehearsing, redoing shoots, and coming up with ideas of how the video was going to play out. We knew in our heads what the video should look like however the planning of the video wasn't clear since
- How the video was suitability for target audience
The video in my eyes was fairly suitable since there was no inappropriate content such as swearing or being too violent, a gun was the only weapon the video contained however it just cuts to black straight after the gunshot and the audience can't see what happens after that because the video ends.
The age of a recommended viewer would aim towards older people around 30-50 years old since Film Noirs were most popular in the 1900s and they would enjoy the complicated plots. However younger people may also enjoy the crime aspect of it since it is a modern film noire rather than a remaster of an older one.
- Responding to feedback throughout the edit & final screening
Positive feedback we received: People really enjoyed how we thought about each aspect of the video to make it fit the style we wanted the video to look like a film noire because we thought about props, lighting, and the New York voice accent it all came together really well.
Constructive criticism: A few ways in which it could have been improved was mostly the audio being too loud or slightly off sync and still playing in some clips. For example, you can still hear the type writer during a shot where he is looking over the notice board. Another thing we fixed throughout the edit was reducing the audio levels tweaking it slightly to make it less noticeable because someone said that it was rather loud when they watched the video early on throughout the edit.
         - Comparing my own film to other films (using screenshots) which contain similar elements.
D.O.A. is one example of a black and white film noir crime/thriller which was used to take inspiration from especially the layout of how props are aliened in the office. We arranged them the same way on our desk to our short movie 'The post card killer' look similar to this classic movie which was produced in 1949. One difference which the audience can easily spot between the short film we made and D.O.A. is the black bars which weren't used in 1949 but we decided to use them for a more cinematic effect rather than recreating a scene such as the one in the movie entirely. We even went as far as to go for the project to buy a detective outfit which you can see his coat hung up in the screenshot, comparing the two scenes in my opinion the lighting is very similar, different parts of the room are lighter and darker than others in both, I am also satisfied how the shadow in the back turned out, the silhouette isn't as sharp as it could have been but it still turned out good.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Interactive Video Evaluation – Task 4
What the task was and what the constraints of the brief were.
The task we were given was to create an awareness video of our chosen topic, e.g. – raising awareness for smoking, mental health or drink driving, etc. The video had to be interactive and made in the style where there were multiple options to make the viewer make decisions which lead to different endings. The interactive video had no more than 10 minutes in length (this includes all narrative strands). It must include at least two interactive narrative strands that the character(s) or plot can follow. It must highlight the issues surrounding the chosen subject in a relevant and effective way. For my video I decided to raise awareness for smoking because I feel like it’s something everyone is familiar with, people still smoke cigarettes in the modern era, smoking isn’t as bad as it was in the past, which suggests that we have managed to reduce the amount of people smoking and I would like to help that even more by creating this video to make people aware that smoking is bad for your health. Also I would like to maybe encourage already existing smokers to stop smoking.
A description of how the briefs requirements were met and what went well in the project. I feel that all of the briefs requirements were met since I included as many different endings as I possibly could (six endings).
What went well in the project - Time constraints didn't appear to be much of an issue whilst recording the video, all the recording that was planned got recorded in the given amount of time across 2 days of filming.
A description of what obstacles were in the way of making the interactive video and what I felt could have been better. Obstacles which were in the way of making the interactive video included:
Actors – For some scenes I had to be on camera and be in front of the camera acting so if the shot went out of focus it was beyond my control. Everybody I asked to act in my video apart from one person who I agreed to act in his if he did in mine. The video I had planned works best with 2 actors so I acted to try and improve the video. This was one of the major constraints of it being an individual project rather than working as a group which I had done previously in the past. As an individual you are not assigned to one specific role. Everything needs to be done on your own, camera, editing, managing equipment and in my case acting as well.
Buying my own props – After booking out equipment I was lead to the task of going to buy fake cigarettes which I needed for the video. Luckily someone mentioned a place I can get them. I went to magic box to see if they had some and they did so this obstacle didn’t become too much of an issue. The only problem I faced with this was it took time out of my day to film.
Filming in public areas & different locations – Most of the places I chose to film were private such as the park, at college and the actor’s house. But there was the odd occasion where someone was in the background or we had to wait for someone to walk past.
What could have went better - Next time I would make sure that my plan made more sense, in some scenes I got confused whilst directing the actor what to do, there are also a lot of skips in the video where the scene changes to a different locations. I feel like my use of transitions was good however the story didn't seem as clear because there was no text or anything to what was happening in the story if the actions weren't as obvious.
 A conclusion that summarises how effective the interactive techniques were
In conclusion the interactive technique worked especially for this type of video since it means if the audience takes part in a video of this sort they have to pay attention to the options thus making them more aware of the effects of smoking as a whole.
How successful the project was overall
overall the project turned out better than expected considering my plan for the video wasn't the best. All of the shots I did plan though turned out exactly how I envisioned them to look like.
The equipment and locations used
The equipment I booked out consisted of a cannon 600D video camera, tripod, external microphone, 2 batteries, pistol grip and a charger.
Most scenes were recorded on the college campus since I didn't require any location in particular since the main focus of the awareness was focusing on smoking not the location so i decided against going to a fancy location. Scenes were recorded inside classrooms/hallways and outside near the smoking area furthermore I recorded inside the actors house and outside in a local park close to his grandparents house. This location was used to create a more realistic effect of smoking at anywhere at any time or place.
How the task of creating a more immersive experience for the viewer was approached.  
This task was approached by taking the sensible route where options would lead to a safer and healthier lifestyle for the character which the viewer was controlling or choosing the option to smoke which would often lead to a funnier option or an option which effects the health of the character. Another outcome is where you get congratulated if you smoke the first time but don't smoke a second time so it tells the viewer that you can stop smoking given the choice. I wanted to have as many different possible outcomes I could have for the viewer so they didn't get bored but also exploring all of the different effects. One ending was quitting smoking, another was getting addicted and another was giving a demonstration of how expensive smoking is.
 People’s reactions to the video - A summary of the audience feedback received. How people reacted to the interactive elements and how effective the ant-smoking campaign was.
People said that they enjoyed the comedic elements of the video and they said it was very entertaining. Which I think is good in my opinion because if someone enjoys watching a funny video they are more likely to remember the video compared to an awareness video which bombards you with facts/figures/information. A lot of anti-smoking videos that I had researched online were more serious and for an older audience, some of these adverts were actually smart in the way they advertised their no smoking adverts. I wanted to do something unique by making a funny smoking video because even though my video maybe wasn’t as informative I think I still managed to give a clear message across to the viewer by exploring all of the different effects of smoking such as: cancer, smelling of smoke, having less money, etc. I think the interactive element went down well with people since the video wasn’t structured it lead to some surprising endings after the introduction and having three options to choose enhanced the video even more I feel like.
Some constructive criticism I had received was some of the shots being out of focus, continuity problems and slight holes in the plot. I expected this to happen because having so many different outcomes made it more difficult to know where the clips were going to be. My plan could have been more accurate to fix this problem due to the fact that there was several different locations and some of the scenes ended up being longer compared to other interactive videos, the video was still under the 10 minute length which is a positive. A lot of the shots didn’t have more than one attempt because my actor was limited to the amount of time he could film which made some of the shots turn out slightly rushed since I couldn’t get the perfect shot first time due to my lack of experience.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Task 4 Evaluation
An introduction explaining what the task that you were given to complete and what the constraints of the brief were (at least 200 words).
The task we were given consisted of working in small groups to create our own music video for an artist of our choosing (for a no copyrighted song). Before begin making it we are required to research examples from established artists that use a range of audio and visual techniques to make the most of an entertaining video that fits the category of music. The video should range from the use of dietetic and non dietetic sound, studio-based shoots to on-location filming as well as creative techniques.
The main factors to creating the video are: A clear style of music video (e.g. based, experimental, etc). The use of creative techniques (e.g. cutting to the beat & title design). A range of camera angles and movement (e.g. high angle, establishing shot, mid-shot, close-up, panning, tilting, zooming). The use of lighting to create a mood for the video (e.g. high and low-key lighting).
For part A of the task we needed to do research into our music video. A contests page would be needed to describe what the presentation will be about and what it will discuss. An overview of the artist and the song which has been chosen to study. A paragraph would be needed that describes how they video can provide inspiration for the creation of my own music video. We needed to discuss what locations are used in our chosen songs, how camera work is used, what visual effects are used to enhance the video, how colour and lighting is used to convey meaning in the video and how 'mise-en-scene' is used to convey meaning in the video.
Further along we needed to create an EPK of our chosen artist to advertise them and give information on them all in one page. A biography about the band / artist including who they are, where they are from, their style of music, album links etc. Photos of thee band and artwork from their albums. A storyboard that provides a visual representation of what will happen in your music video and what it is about. All relevant pre-production documents completed to a professional standard (e.g. kit request forms, kit list, risk assessment, call sheets, etc.
Task 3 was to provide a list of camera role: director, sound recordist, editor, lighting, etc. Research into diegetic and non-diegetic  sound and a description of how it was used, research into specific audio and visual effects and a description of how they were used in the video. A production documentation of some planning that went into the video such as timed scripts, shot lists, studio floor plans or risk assessments, the final video would needed to be ready to be exported, viewed and uploaded to the server after it was complete.
A description of how you met the brief's requirements and what you felt went well with your project & Feedback (at least 200 words).
My team met the brief by using a range of creative techniques (such as cutting to the beat) the editing matched the pace and style of the music video. We included an opening scene which included the title of the music video name and displayed the artists name onscreen. Furthermore we enhanced the video with text that matched the words on screen as the lyrics were being sang. The words 'don't you know?' were used to ask the audience a hidden meaning of some kind by asking them a rhetorical question, that they can't really reply to but it makes them think. Since the viewer doesn't really know what the storyline could be. The video was made in a way that the viewer could interpret it in any way they choose.
The video was obviously very clear in the way it was made that it was a break up of some kind between a couple. But we used a lot of different shots to show that there could have been more to it. For example the shot where they were both looking over into the river, could they be thinking about giving up on life, or we also tried to use a lot of fading affects to make it seem like one of them could be a dead ghost. Someone mentioned that it was a great use of further research taking inspiration off another You Tuber (further research gone into the video to show off the same visuals and editing as they used). The video was inspired off 'Jesse Wellens' who used the same editing techniques as we did. His video he made was about a break up between his and his girlfriend of moments from the past in their relationship.
Another inspiration came from Tim Miller, we used the two of the same actor in different shots overlying each other so it looked like there were two of the same character being displayed at the same time. But the shot was no ordinary shot, it was moving which would have been difficult to take the shot due because it would be impossible to keep the same angle with a free hand camera. The shot was taken on a tripod, but an editing pack was used to make the camera shake slightly up and down from side to side, which the editor from Dead Pool has also used.
People said the editing was good. Someone in the audience mentioned they enjoyed the close up shots of the river and the characters eyes.
'Positives -> the words don’t you know (title, and words used in the song) goes with the idea of different meanings that the characters don’t know what to do or what it is happening and reflects the mysterious characters.'
'Feedback -> The point of the video? (Is it narrative based etc...?) It’s a narrative based video which focuses on a breakup story. I think the story is open for the viewer so they can interpret it in their own way. This makes the viewer use their imagination throughout the music video. Overall did a very good job.'
WWW-> Extremely good editing skills, lots of clear shots were featured throughout the video, had a clear plot (story).
A description of what obstacles were in the way of making the music video and what you felt could I could have done better & Feedback (at least 200 words).
The main worry I initially had when I first saw the finished video was the amount of repetition it had to it. Having few shots can lead to creating a boring music video later on if they are used more than once. Next time we should use more different locations and shots to make the video more entertaining to watch. The reason for this was being able to only have one day of recording because we left the recording until last minute before the deadline. But another problem was the song we chose, that electronic song in particular was very repetitive and we had to match the repetitiveness of it, so it was very hard to avoid.
A lack of planning was put into the video before recording the video. The majority of ideas came from my myself and James on the day of recording. Nobody in the group was clear on what the video would actually consists of because we spent too much time deciding the song we were going to use and coming up with an idea for it as well as deciding the location, early on we didn't take advantage of the time we had. towards the end after deciding our final idea we spent a lot of time looking for actors which is another part of the project which we should have took action earlier.  
At first I had the idea of creating a music video of a band because I knew someone we could contact that was interested, however the group decided it was too simple and there was an electronic artist from America who created music. We felt like we could help him get more recognition since he was a very underrated artist. Using this artist 'Neovaii' meant that we could be more creative with our ideas because electronic music  isn't widely known for having music video styles. If you look on YouTube most of them focus on the music rather than visuals, they will just show a picture of their logo whilst the song is playing, which is something Neovaii also does.
After deciding the artist we had a song which lead us to the idea of using smoke machines and gas cans filled with water but we soon found out that this was too complicated to get permission to use this kind of equipment and it may lead us getting into trouble. We then had to get rid of our current idea and come up with a different song from the same artist since we were running out of time, we hadn't shot/edited anything at this point. The following week we went on a recce to Hollywell Dene. The area looked aesthetically pleasing visually but the area was slippery and it didn't leave much room for camera equipment. It wasn't a complete waste of time because we practiced some shots on the bridges across the rivers and came up with some other ideas. The group knew if we could find an area similar to hollywell Dene we would be ready to film. We knew that one of our main ideas was to focus on the editing, the idea of both characters fading away in the same locations and reappearing, so not being able to film in this location was not a huge deal for us because we knew we could save it.
After the next few days we went on another recce to Jesmond Dene which wasn't too far away from the college campus and it was similar to the location we needed, the location was safe and it was a public area so it's easily accessible and can be recorded and filmed without many troubles, however one part we did struggle with was tourists passing by, they were walking their dogs, taking photos,  running, etc.
Finding actors was the next task in our project, we originally wanted actors from the acting department. We tried to get their attention by sticking up around 8 notices on notice boards around the college. In the letter we said we were looking for a male actor and actress however we only managed to get one actress to contact us so James in our group asked his friend if he could do it and he eventually said yes after asking several other of his friends who all said they couldn't/didn't want to or came up with excuses, which was another problem we faced during this objective.
We booked out camera equipment to use for Wednesday morning. Towards the end of the final week on the Wednesday we got the metro from Newcastle central station to Jesmond Dene with the actors. We managed to pull together and come up with a lot of ideas quickly without taking too much time, as well as using some of the ideas we thought of before. Around 20minutes was wasted during the filming of our video because it started to rain, but luckily for us it wasn't too heavy and it quickly cleared up.
 So lack of time management played a key role in why we couldn't plan most of our shots and have time to film shots. All of the recording we done for the music video was filmed in the space of 4-5 hours. Close to our deadline date on the Friday James edited the video quickly within two days and after a few drafts of feedback the final production was ready to be uploaded and screened.
'Negatives -> The video was too repetitive with the lyrics using the same animations each time, the same angles and locations were also used too much throughout the video as well, a lot of the same shots were used. The video would have been more enjoyable having a variation of scenes, some parts looked like parts to fill time.'
'Improvement -> Shots were repeated and so was the lyrics (repetitive)'
'Next time -> Plan more shots before going to film'
 A conclusion that summarises how the project went overall, including the equipment you used and what the new skills were that you gained during the process (e.g. camera techniques, VFX, editing etc, at least 300 words).
In conclusion I think the project could have went better in some areas. We had more problems than we should have due to time constraints, deciding a location and relying on actors. Something I would have preferred to do would be to take more control of the project earlier on so we didn't waste so much time, it would have been interesting to be involved in the edit/recording more as well however we at a loss of time towards the end of the project before the deadline and the group trusted James to get the editing done in time. Other factors we might have faced as well would be that the camera we used to record was James' as well as his SD card so it would have taken more effort to transfer the files. So we just avoided doing that, but I feel as if I done my best in contributing to roles in tasks which could have been filled, and done what I was asked to do, without creating unnecessary arguments or anything, etc. A lot of the shots that I came up with the ideas for and directed actually were some of the main ones which ended up getting used in the video, for example the one where they are both standing on a rock watching the river. I came up with the idea of having 2 of the same people in the same frame, which was inspired off another YouTube music video 'KSI Adam's apple' which I thought was a really effective editing technique.
My favourite part about working in the group was having the independence and confidence for ourselves as a small group to work out what we were going to do and put the idea into action, something I hadn't done before was working with another actress with previous acting experience. We had to record with actors we had just met all in one day under pressure on the 'fly' since we were reaching close to our deadline, it was defiantly an interesting experience.
The camera equipment we used consisted of: Canon EOS 70d Body (£519) This was the main camera we used for the whole production , Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6  zoom Lense (£269) The lense was useful for providing a lot of close up shots on the eyes of the actors, Livec 650 Tripod, Monopod, this was particular useful for a lot of shots which involved movement with the camera, if we recorded movement with a freehand camera it would be very shaky and probably make the visuals look worse. Neewer DSLR cage - we used this for one of our freehand shots along the river which required a still camera shot but we didn't use a tripod since we were recording close to water.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Task 4 Evaluation
For my one minute ‘My North' video I wanted to make a cinematic montage with music to show some of the famous landmarks close to where I lived and what they meant to me. In the past my northern area where I live 'Stanley' close to places such as Beamish Museum were known to have a history of mining and we were brought up working in hard labour mining coal. After thinking over this I had the idea to include an old fashioned 'North' and compare it to the current one I live in today. For the first 30 seconds of the video I planned to go to Beamish Museum where I would get some shots of the old houses and vehicles to display how genuine it was for people back then.
During this project whilst keeping on the topic of 'material matters' I wanted to get as many different types of objects/scenery/shots whilst among the individual landmarks to express the north as many different things as I could rather than focusing in on one subject.
I included the Angel of the north in my 60 second video not only because it is one of the most memorable landmarks of the north east but because it has a history behind it. The Angel was built onto of a large coal mine after mining began to die out as it became less common. '"why an angel? The only response i can give is that no-one has ever seen one and we need to keep imagining them. The Angel has three functions - firstly a historic one to remind us that below this site coal miners worked in the dark for two hundred years, secondly to grasp hold of the future expressing our transition from the industrial to the information age, and lastly to be a focus for our hopes and fears" -Antony Gormley, Sculptor.
I then wanted to make the transition of the olden day north to the modern day north. After filming places such as beamish museum and tan field railway I knew I needed to get the most popular/central place of the north 'Newcastle upon Tyne'. I chose this place to display how the current north seems to me because it is one of my favourite places to be in the north. I have some good memories with my friends in Newcastle and I go to Newcastle college. This is also one of the areas I feel is the most busiest and has some of the best landmarks and it gives the message to my viewers who watch the video just how far we have building big structures such  as the Tyne bridges which seem to have an important role to play in today's modern world because they will be viewed by tourists from different countries and continents.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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RISK ASSESSMENT
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Train to Busan Movie Review
Train to Busan is a Korean zombie thriller about a man 'Seok-woo' who is a divorced workaholic. He lives with his mother and daughter who he barely spends time with 'Su-an'. He is so distant from her he buys her a present that he already bought for her for children's day. He tries to make it up to her by giving her what she really wants for her birthday, which is a trip to see her Mum. This creates a simple but good setting for a zombie movie. As we watch the dad go through the journey of trying to mend bridges with his daughter as they face the hordes of zombies trying to stop them to reach their goal of getting 'Su-an' to where she wants to be.
The action in the movie never slows down once it starts, which in a lot of other zombie movies there are pauses between the periods where there is a character at risk. For example in another zombie movie such as Shaun of the dead there is a lot of dialogue between the characters however in this movie there isn't much dialogue even though the characters are speaking Korean it doesn't make much of a difference on the movie as a whole because this movie focuses on the sound of zombies banging on the door or the dramatic music when a character is about to get eaten by a zombie.
Visuals are also another important factor that this movie focuses on, since the movie doesn't include much dialogue it allows the actors to focus on their emotions rather than. The ending between the dad and the daughter when her dad gets bitten seems a lot more realistic because of how well it was acted and they didn't need many words to make that  scene at the end.
most of the movie is set in the same location (a train) which is unusual for these kinds of movies since characters are always constantly moving from one location to the other, whereas once the 'infection' hits they are already on course to the next stop and they are stuck with the zombies in the train for the rest of the journey. The setting for the movie works, it creates a sense of fear of claustrophobia for the characters and may also for the audience.
one theme that occurs throughout the whole movie is this idea of there being two kinds of people those who only look out for themselves and those that help others. At the beginning of the movie 'Seok-woo' the dad who is a fund manager who was separated from his wife and daughter because he only cared about himself "At a time like this, you only look out for yourself," Seok-woo tells Su-an when she gives up her seat for another, showing us that the daughter is not like her Dad. He never spent any time with his daughter or showed any affection to her. The daughter is the opposite and she cares for others, throughout the movie Seok-woo learns from his daughter to be more like her and at the end of the movie it seems as if he is a changed man because he helps fight against the zombies, learning to put his differences aside and saves his daughter from harm.
In conclusion I would say that the movie is one of the best of its kind in this kind of genre in my opinion. What I like the most about the movie is the connection between a daughter and a father shows us how humans would really react in the scenario of a zombie apocalypse, if the world came to an end it shows us that the right action would be taken to save the ones close to you, whilst also showing those who are selfless such as the captain of the train who would have done anything to save himself, e.g. when he pushed another into a group of zombies so he could make an escape.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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The spoilers audio task
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Production Log
on Friday the 6th of October I booked equipment: a video camera (canon 600D), a tripod, 2 batteries and a charger to charge them.
Saturday the 7th of October at around 6pm I drove to the angel of the north to try and get some shots of it however I was unable to figure out all of the different settings on the camera and unsure how to shoot accordingly since I was unfamiliar with the video camera since it was my first time using it. After that I phoned a family member about my project and asked him if he could teach giving me an overview how to use the camera properly by meeting with him in person. After that I felt it was too late to shoot anything else and i would shoot everything else i needed the following day.
Sunday the 8th of October - my main goals were to wake up early and shoot footage at the following locations to show the history of ‘my north’. the first location was Tan Field Railway Station as it was easy to get to via car and i lived 10 minutes away from it. After walking around the railway I started experimenting with the video camera by zooming in and out with the lens whilst recording the old trains further away and close up. I also managed to get a shot of a moving train after waiting around 10 minutes for it to arrive. Whilst waiting for it there was a helicopter ride which I also got a clip of from the outside.
After spending at least over an hour recording footage for my video at the first location the battery i was using ran out of charge therefore i had to go home and wait for it to charge. I then had to wait for it for half an hour and get into my next location before it closed. I found out that the second battery was uncharged. When i went to my next location i swapped the batteries and put the one which had been charged into my camera and I drove to the next location (Beamish Museum) I managed to get into the tourist attraction just before it closed (around 5pm) The first part of the exhibition was going down the mines to see what work was like in the olden days. The tour guide let me film his outfit and a pickaxe, coal, etc. All of this was shown in the final video.
Shortly after I waited at a bus stop (in Beamish museum) to get a ride into the main town area where I was able to record footage of the old vehicles outside on the road and I recorded footage of the houses inside, the battery then ran out of charge I had to go home to collect the other battery which had been charged whilst recording at Beamish Museum.
The next footage I had to go and record was back at the angel of the north, this time I brought the tripod to try and get a still shot where the camera records on The Angel of the Norths head. However I was unable to get the stand to connect to the camera, yet again because it was my first time using the equipment. So I just used footage which I had recorded previously in the car instead which I actually managed to get a good shot of the angel. 
My final location as the nights began to get darker was at Newcastle at around 7pm. Since it was hard to get parking in the town I recorded most of my footage inside the car whilst going past the bridges and onto them. This technique was actually effective since I had issues with keeping the camera still, so i recorded the landmarks of Newcastle as it was tested against the windscreen. After 20 minutes it began to get even darker, I managed to find a car parking space so I got out of the car and recorded across the river/bridges as i walked besides them and onto them.
After a long day of recording the time was approximately 8pm. I used an old lead from an old cannon camera to connect the canon 700d to my Windows PC to upload the footage onto my computer and drag it into my editing software after it had finished uploading. Whilst my footage was uploading I booted up my editing software and looked for a song to download on YouTube. I knew I was going to use a special line of font for the ‘My North’ title at the end of my video so i went on to a website called ‘dafont’ to find that as I came across a one called ‘Northern Lights’. 
I then imported the footage into my editing software ‘Sony Vegas pro 11′ and started to get rid of any unwanted clips that didn’t turn out so great and choosing clips that looked good with some variety between the different places I recorded at, I knew I wasn’t going to get all the editing done that day so I saved it for the next day.
On Monday and Tuesday I spent a few hours each day cutting down an hours worth of footage into one minute. On Wednesday I had finally finished my video and it was ready to be uploaded to Vimeo.
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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scott-andrews-blog · 6 years
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Task 2
1.1 Critically compare a range of research tools, methods and skills (500-800 words)
Researching is the one of the main ways we get important information, it's used to inspire us and inform. There is a range of many different methods and tools we will all have used at some point in our lives  whether it's researching on the internet, observing someone or simply reading a book to gain access to the information we need.  
Using the library/reading, (secondary research) search through books for information, ask librarian,  secondary, wide range of information available, more factual, takes time looking through pages, may not be able to find specific info, the information in a book is more likely to be accurate compared to the internet or word of mouth since a book is required to be proof read in order to be published. A book will probably contain more facts and have more structure and depth on one topic since further research has been done to create the book rather than a piece of information of the internet or an interview which will be based on opinions rather than facts.
Using the Internet (secondary research) is definitely the most popular method of research, it allows us to access a vast range of information through almost any form of electronic device as long as the researcher has access to an internet connection. Some sources are not always reliable and can produce too much information and a lack of depth, some which is not relevant. Specific information can be found faster compared to a library where you're not spending 10 minutes trying to find a page number, as long as a researcher knows which key words to type into a search bar information can be tracked down easily.
Searching archives (secondary research) is looking at saved documents from the past, a historical overview from the beginning can all be found in the same place. Information can be outdated if the achieve has been there for a long time.
An Interview (primary research) is asking someone questions in person, we get to see the personality of a person getting first hand information mostly containing opinion rather than fact, the information you get can depend on the person being interviewed.  what you get back from it may not be what you're looking for instead you're given something which can't be relied on and time can be wasted during the research process. Interviewing different people can give the interviewee something they wouldn't think of in a circumstance where they didn't interview anyone at all therefore being useful.
An Observational (primary research) method involves watching human behavior, Advantages of this method are information can be taken in without requiring much effort. One disadvantage of an observing somebody is we get no control over the information which we're trying to get since there is little to no interaction depending on the situation.
Questionnaires (primary research) are one of the best methods of research for gathering lots of information very quickly, it can be used to obtain data and statistics to show a certain amount of someone's opinion. However since short questions will be used to gain information quickly  the information which will be obtained will not be detailed if a question which is asked has no depth to it. Questions will need to be thought of carefully or else it could lead to a miscommunication on what the question is being asked. Another part of questionnaires to consider is, closed questions (yes/no) are also a common occurrence in questionnaires which doesn't allow there to be much of an option to expand their answer when they are giving their opinion.
A Focus group (Primary research) involves advertising and market research by interviewing people to get their opinion or ideas on a product, advertisement, service, etc. Focus groups can measure the reaction of a new product or impact the companies strategies for the future. Focus groups let a business engage with their customers getting critical information which the business may not have thought of before. Working face to face with their customers helps get to know their target audience better and develop a more 'real' insight to their customers opinions rather than a questionnaire which can be given out to the public and not be given back an accurate result to go off since less time and effort is put into a survey since people are usually more likely to give a lazy response because they won't feel as involved with the business. although one downside to focus groups is everything the business gets back would be unmediated opinions with nobody structuring/editing the opinion. This can be used to get information which hasn't been released to the public therefore
Recce (Primary research) is going out on a location to  scout out the area risk assessment and pictures, primary, helps you to plan how you are going to do the actual production makes you aware of potential problems however it can be time consuming sorting out all of the paper work to achieve the final result, can be used to research a media production, maybe not one of the most common methods of research but it can be good for a specific purpose. A disadvantage is that you may have to the location more than once since the weather conditions or structure of the location could change due to it being someone else's land which is being hired.
2.1 Critically compare a range of primary and secondary research sources (300-500 words)
Primary Research & Secondary Research
Primary sources include firsthand evidence of someone going out of their way to actively seek individuals or small groups to participate in interviews, questionnaire, etc. I conducted a primary research report about a conspiracy theory of princess Diana being killed my findings showed that most people had the same idea that the Queen was behind her death. After I conducted secondary research and I was able to find a lot more conspiracies and find out about certain people such as Richard Tomlinson - a former MI6 secret agent who claimed that Diana's crash was similar to a supposed assassination plot against Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, however this was denied by former head Sir Richard Dearlor. When I went out on my task to interview people the information i got was very brief which is one reason why secondary is the much better option.
Secondary research is what is known as looking at other peoples findings online or in libraries. It's interpreting and analysing findings of primary research. For example secondary research could take the form of two separate primary research articles/books which have already been written
In my opinion I would say both types of research are good for certain roles, I would say primary research would needed to be used on a topic which hasn't already been done and there is more of an option for discussion. Secondary research is definitely the method with the most access to information however it doesn't mean it's the most reliable since it's someone else's research and it's not likely that the information is from an unknown source. Primary research and secondary research are both useful separately however they are most useful when used together.
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scott-andrews-blog · 7 years
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Task 1
1.1 Apply an understanding of a range of processes to support media activities (500-800 words)
I was given the task to add sound to an already existing video file (The Spoilers) which had the audio removed so we could add our own individual audio to it. I feel that this task was given to me at the beginning of the course so I could understand how important the sound in a clip is rather than working on combining sound and visuals together and the sound seeming less important later on. Each team was split into a group of 3 and we were each given a 'TASCAM' to record sounds to fill the sound effects on the video. In order to use the TASCAM we were required to know how to set it up with a video format of WAV, 16 bit and a sample rate of 48hz.
A range of technical skills which were required: I had to work in a group with others therefore I had to be flexible depending on what other people wanted to do. Nobody wanted to take a leadership role in the project. I tried my best to pitch ideas to the rest of the group and what we could do to record the next sound therefore I had to be a creative thinker and think outside of the box. Another problem we faced in this task was nobody wanted to speak into the TASCAM when we were required to speak with our own dialogue over the scene. We had to adapt to the situation by recording audio off the internet which worked surprisingly well. As a team we had to be decisive in the decisions we were making, or else too much time would be wasted resulting in the task being uncompleted. We had to be resourceful with what props we had to use,  one idea we had was snap some branches for one of our sounds to match an object being thrown across the room.
My expectations were to have someone else record myself performing sound effects next to the task cam whilst another member of the team would operate the sound and record my motions. In my opinion I would say I succeeded in this role Fairley well considering the limited resources we had available especially since some sound effects seemed harder than others e.g. glass being smashed. If I was given more props I feel like the final version would have been up to a much better level of quality since some of the sounds didn't go to plan and didn't display the exact actions shown in the video clip.
During the editing of the video I had to showcase a range of technical skills which included importing the clips and cutting them to a suitable length to match the actions onscreen. Another skill we needed was patience as it was a lengthy process making sure every exact detail fitted in the right place.
 2.1 Apply media processes and skills safely and appropriately
Each member of a production crew that uses cameras has individual health and safety responsibilities. the skills of the crew must include an understanding of risk assessment and its aims I  am required to understand to understand all of the different health and safety aspects when working in a production crew with risks such as: confined spaces, working at heights, scaffold/rostra, smoking on set, noise, high sound levels, hazards substances, tripping over wires from the camera cables, etc.
2.1 Comparing a range of communication methods used to convey media production
I researched different communication methods at the BALTIC, I watched an experimental style of video 'Song for Armageddon' which is very different from a mainstream movie for example a stereotypical horror genre movie such as 'IT' which the audience expects fast camera angles and jump scares to  heighten the audiences sensors. Sound is used to build tension and create a dark atmosphere. As an audience we are given a story to follow revolving around the characters in the movie rather than figuring out what is happening (in this experimental movie for example that is the case) The film makers are trying to communicate to the audience with sound and camera angles rather than some kind of story and script requiring it to make sense. The clip had no structured story to it and it used a range of different techniques which the viewer may be unfamiliar with. A few production techniques include that the footage has been shot outdoors in a natural environment, whilst staying in one location. The video used a lot of repetition and the lighting and sound changed throughout depending on the video effects and angles which were used. I think that the purpose of this experimental video was to record a short movie in one day to see what footage they could get and play it to an unknown audience who will be surprised by how bizarre it is from a movie with a genre in mind who will be marketing their movie to specific types of people.
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scott-andrews-blog · 7 years
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