Dracula Foley Recording

In groups of four or five, we were each given a random envelope with a scene from a film in it. The film that my group was given was Tod Browning's 1931 adaptation of Dracula. My group was made up of me, Dylan, Simon, Shannon and Ala,, which we felt was a good group to choose as it has both females and males with very different voices, so that we had a wide range or sounds that we were able to make.

First of all, we watched through the scene we were given a few times, in order to get a good feel of what kinds of sounds we would need to recreate.

Foley Research

Jack Donovan Foley was the developer of many sound effect techniques used in filmmaking. He invented the art of Foley. Instead of using pre-recorded sounds that were normally used, Foley's process involved synchronising sounds to individual productions to give them a more realistic feel. 

He worked on the pictures such as Melody of Love, Show Boat (1929), Dat Ol' Ribber, Spartacus, and Operation Petticoat. Foley received many awards, including the Golden Reel Award.

Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.

Foley artists recreate the realistic ambient sounds that the film portrays. The props and sets of a film do not react the same way acoustically as their real life counterparts. Foley sounds are used to enhance the auditory experience of the movie. Foley can also be used to cover up unwanted sounds captured on the set of a movie during filming, such as overflying airplanes, passing traffic or the voices of crew members.

The term "Foley" is also used to describe a place, such as a Foley-Stage or Foley-Studio, where the Foley process takes place.

Cry 'Havoc' And Let Slip The Dogs Of War - Music Video

Cry 'Havoc' And Let Slip The Dogs Of War Music Video (my edit)

On Monday 28th April 2014, we filmed a series of shots to be edited into a music video.

The style that we wanted to film in required filming in a circle around the subjects of the shot, and to get this effect in a simple, yet very effective way, we used a camera dolly. A camera dolly is basically a tripod on wheels, with a seat, which is set up on a track so that it can be pushed in the same way every time. 

As there was a very large group of us making this music video, we had to plan and organise it all very carefully and precisely. We decided as a group who would be doing each production job, camera operator, dolly operator, wind machine operator and lighting operator. After deciding who would fill each role, we arranged everyone else into groups of either three or four people, and made sure everyone had an action to do for the shoot. The idea behind the video would be to shoot everyone doing an action or movement of some kind, at 50fps, and then in editing, slow it down by 50% to 25fps, so that the final video would be slow motion. In order to make this effective, we made sure everyone had an action or movement that looked good in slow motion.

We also had to plan our time very carefully as we only had a certain amount of time with the space we were using to film in. We counted the amount of groups we had to shoot, decided on the speed at which we would film, and then figured out how much time each group would need, if we gave them one rehearsal and two takes each. We then gave each group a set time to be back on location to film, and we had a production team member with his eye on his watch at all times and to keep telling us how long we had left for each shot.
For the first hour we were in the space, everyone that would be on camera went out of the room to go and get themselves ready, buy any last minute props or costumes they needed, and practice anything they felt they needed to. During this hour, the production team practiced their roles, and practiced using the equipment. As the dolly operator, I had to practice pushing the camera operator, Liam, around the track, and I also had to work with some of the other production team members to lay down a speed at which to walk while filming. We set up a metronome on the computer and played it through the speakers so that I could hear it over the director's voice when filming. We had several practice runs of shooting all the way around the track, and changed the speed of the metronome several times until we got it right.

After the hour was up, we had the first group come into the centre of the dolly track and tell us what they were going to do, and we explained the timing to them. We told them when they would need to start doing their action, in what order, and how long it would need to last for. We then did a rehearsal, where we didn't actually record any footage, but we did the routine and had the subjects mime their actions. After checking that everyone knew what they were doing, and making sure that we had all the lighting, wind and camera in the right places and at the correct angles, we shot the first take.

We repeated the same process with every group that came in to be shot, giving some of them a second take if the first one didn't go exactly to plan for any reason.

At one point during the day, we had an issue with the dolly. Myself and Liam were practicing our route for a shot again, as we had finished filming the groups in the centre and were about the film the larger group outside of the dolly track. While we were moving around the track trying to find a good speed to shoot at, two legs of the tripod came off the tracks and the tripod, camera, and Liam almost fell to the ground but luckily, due to quick reactions, there was no disaster, just a slip up. Along with the rest of the production team, we worked to solve the problem and make the dolly 100% safe again, and ready to use for the rest of the shoot. We found that a strap holding down one of the legs of the tripod had come unfastened at some point during the day, but nobody had noticed it. We refastened to strap, and made sure it was as tight as we could make it so that it wouldn't come undone again, and we tested it slowly without Liam sat on it, then tested it again with him on it. We found that we had fixed the problem, but we did a few more test runs just to make sure we all felt safe and ready to start shooting again. We also made sure that, for the rest of the day, we kept checking the equipment to make sure all safety precautions were in working order. 

 Once we had made sure that we were safe and able to carry on shooting, we organised everyone into pairs, and positioned them all around the outside of the track, each pair one behind the other. We gave each pair a number, between one and nineteen, so that we could make it easier to cue them when they were on camera. When filming, we started at number one, and went all the way around the track filming each person do an action when they were on camera. After each person had been shot, they switched with their partner, so that on the second time around the track, we could shoot their partner. Again, we rehearsed it before actually filming, to make sure everyone knew what to do and when to do it, and so we could make the the lighting, wind and camera were in the right places and at the correct angles. After a few rehearsals, we did a few takes, and finally got the end result we hoped for.

Also, during filming, we started further around the track than we needed to, so that each clip had a few seconds before and after the actual shot. This is so that, during editing we all had a bit of space to put transitions between shots.

Finally, after we had all of the footage we needed for the music video, we gathered everyone together into the centre of the track, all facing in the same direction, and we arranged it so that some people were sat, some kneeling and some standing, so we had a clear view of everyone. We then got people to blow bubbles, let off party poppers etc. so we could shoot it as an extra shot if anyone wanted it during editing.

Richard Hunter - review

After watching four of Richard Hunter's documentaries, I have noticed that they have a few things in common. The main thing I noticed they had in common was the filming style. Hunter uses a similar filming technique in all of them, which consists of using lots of very different shots; some of the main subject/person talking, them some of them doing whatever the documentary is about, and then also a few of inanimate objects to do with the subject.

Richard Hunter calls these productions 'micro-docs', due to the short duration that they run for. This approach has some positive aspects and some negative. The positive is that they don't go on for too long and get boring, the audience can stay interested for the whole time. The negative side of them is that the audience may want to know more, as two minutes isn't a very long time to get in all of the information that someone may want or need to know.

These 'micro-docs' are very good at making the audience interested in the every day lives of the individuals being filmed, by making the smallest of things seem amazing. Hunter shows all of the emotions that the individual feels, which then in turn, makes the audience feel similar and want to know more about why it makes them feel that way or why is doesn't make them feel a different way.

What Is Documentary?

There is no absolute definition of documentary, they come in lots of different forms, for
example:

"A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record."

"The creative treatment of actuality"

"The use of film medium to interpret creatively and in social terms, the life of people as it exists in reality"



From a personal point of view, I think documentary is a TV or film genre which is used to show certain parts of reality. Documentaries often seem to show all of something, but I believe that they only show the parts that they want to show, in order to make the audience think a certain way and believe certain things.

There are also many types of documentary. Firstly there is campaigning, which is when a film-maker captures footage of things that might get an audience interested in a particular topic/campaign. For example, using a documentary style to show that a charity needs more help and more money. A documentary showing young children starving to death, and their parents struggling to get food for the family every day, would be a campaigning style.

There is also a type of documentary called mockumentary. This is when a serious documentary style filming is done, but with a less serious subject. For example; the film Borat. The style of filming and editing used for Borat, makes the audience feel as if it is a serious documentary, being made to show and inform you of the life of the character, when it's actually just a parody, and is a comedy rather than a real documentary.

How Do Adverts Get Their Message Across?

Adverts are used to show the public about a product or campaign, and this can be for more than one reason. Sometimes, an advertisement is made to show a new product/campaign, but sometimes, it is made to simply boost the sales.

There are many strategies and techniques used to make an advertisement effective. The main goals for an advert are; to inform people about something, to make them remember that product, campaign or company, or to make them buy something. In order to achieve any of these goals, the advert needs to include certain things. The most important things are; something to interest the audience, something to help them remember, and a slogan/theme song. Adverts also sometimes use something already well known to get the audience interested. Playing a popular song in the background can get the audience paying attention, and help them to enjoy watching it. Also, in moving and still image adverts, using well known celebrities can get people interested, and keep them interested.

Advertising, as well as any other form of media, has certain morals, ethics, regulations and censorship that they have to follow. These can include things such as, not using bad language and only using facts, not using false statements which are portrayed as facts. Some things are very difficult to advertise while sticking to the regulations, for example, cigarettes. The advertising company has to convince the audience that cigarettes are good and that they should buy them, but at the same time, the company is not allowed to tell the audience that the cigarettes are good for them and will not harm them, because they will.

CNN vs BBC

The BBC and CNN are both very different companies, apart from the fact that one is British and one is American, they also have many other differences.

Firstly, BBC is a public service broadcaster, and is operated under a Royal Charter. The BBC is funded principally by an annual Television License Fee, which is charged to any household, company or or organisation which uses any type of equipment to to receive live television broadcasts.
The CNN is owned and run by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner.

As Charlie Brooker points out in his 'Charlie Brooker On British And American TV News' video on YouTube, British & American news is reported very differently.
British news channels such as ITV & BBC, normally use male presenters in two ways, either with a very stern, serious personality, or with a very laid back, casual personality. Brooker also tells us that he has noticed, female presenters are usually young and beautiful, especially if they are part of a duo. He also points out that the male/female duos usually represent a dysfunctional couple, or a young intern with a man that is grooming her.
However, American news channels such as Fox & CNN, use males presenters that have a strong opinion and seem slightly 'crazy' as they can sometimes shout a lot and shove their viewpoints into everyone's faces.