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.

Scratch Video

A scratch video is a video that is made up of existing footage, edited and mixed together to get a point across, without actually filming any new footage. Scratch video is now also known as 'mash-up', whcih comes from the style of the videos literally being a mash up of footage.

A very well known source of scratch videos is The Duvet Brothers.
The Duvet Brothers are made up of two people, name Rik and Peter.

Rik&Peter have made many scratch videos together, ranging from their 'Colourbox' in 1984 to their 'Strickley Tirgalig'  in 1986. These two videos are very similar, but also very different at the same time. They are similar in the way that they are both scratch videos, and they use rather similar footage, and both follow the music video theme. However, Colourbox is a single screen, regular music/scratch video, whereas Strickley Trigalig is a multi screen video, which makes it totally different aesthetically.

Final Documentary Research

Before filming my final documentary, I needed to do some research.
The research I chose to do was mixed, but was mostly research into the subject that I was filming, so I had a full understanding of what I was actually filming.

 The subject I was filming my documentary on is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. So firstly, I looked into 'what is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?'



I found a page on an NHS website that I knew would be trustworthy and so I read the article, noted down all the facts, the statistics, and a few other key points that I thought  would be important to include.

 
I also then found a blog, written by someone who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, about living with Ehlers-Danlos Sydrome. I thought this would be a useful thing to read, so then I can find out what the main struggles are, and then concentrate on capturing, and discussing those issues during filming.

YouTube is full of all kinds of videos, so I decided to search for videos about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and found a few useful ones. I found a few that were scientific, explaining the physical side of the Syndrome, and I also found some of people just talking about it from a more personal point of view, telling and showing us what their life is like because of the Syndrome.

Finally, I created a survey including 5 different questions about EDS. I did this so that I could find out more about how many people actually know about EDS, whether they are affected by it, and to what extent people understand it. Another reason for doing this is so that I could get an understanding of which kind of people want to know more about it, so then I could figure out exactly what to film, and how to film it, so that it appeals to people in that group.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - My Story (short documentary)

·Schedule

   Week 1 

  Monday - developing ideas for documentary footage

  Tuesday - develop filming schedule, research into EDS (survey etc)

  Wednesday - prepare power pitch

  Week 2

  Monday -  present power pitch

  Tuesday - start filming

  Wednesday - continue filming

  Week 3
  Monday - record sound
  Tuesday - start editing footage
  Wednesday - finish editing, upload to blog

  Power Pitch
 

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    http://prezi.com/zjih5-_sso3f/ehlers-danlos-syndrome-documentary/ 

 

 

y

    Before filming my documentary, I had to make a power pitch to present my idea. I decided to use Prezi to make the slides for this pitch.
 

    There are six slides in my pitch, all containing six different things that I felt would be important and relevant to my documentary.

   

   Firstly, I included my initial idea; what I wanted to do, how it was going to work etc.
   I also included my target audience, my influences and some research into the subject I would be filming about.

    In order to help me successfully complete my filming without too many issues, I 'promlematised' and 'solutionated'. I thought of three problems that might arise while making my documentary, and put it into 3 words, one for each problem. I then thought of three solutions that I can turn to if these issues were to arise, and I also put those into three words.

    I then came up with a tagline, to basically say what my documentary is, in no more than five words. I chose "Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: My Story" this tagline is relevant to my work because I was filming two people, who suffer from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and trying to show the audience what it's like to live with it every day, from a personal point of view. To finish my pitch, I included a youtube video, explaining EDS and how it affects the body physically, and the person mentally/emotionally.

Final Advert Evaluation

Final Advert Evaluation

Virtus Potem Advert

My advert starts with a close up shot of the product on a table with a sign below, saying what the product is (Virtus Potem). Then there is a long shot of a person behind the table, talking to a member of the public. The member of the public tries to lift a really heavy box but can't, they then drink some of this product and try to lift the really heavy box again, this time, they lift it with ease, proving that this drink can increase strength with one sip. After this, the camera is on a group of people who are just milling around, minding their own business. We hear someone shout "come and get your Virtus Potem" which in repsonse, a person in the crowd stops, looks towards where the voice came from, says "did someone say, Virtus Potem?!" and then runs excitably towards the camera, with the crowd following him and trying to fight each other to get to the table where the drink is before everyone else. The camera follows the crowd as they run and push past one another, until they get to the table, where they continue to fight and try to get the drink first, while the person behind the table is trying to tell them "there's enough to go around". We then have big yellow text on a turquoise background, saying "Virtus Potem" and blue writing underneath with the slogan "putting the extra, into extraordinary" with the "extra" in big red writing so that it stands out as an important word. Finally, we finish with a shot of the man behind the table, drinking the product, then turning to smile at the camera. We also have the website in white text at the bottom of the screen along with "terms and conditions apply".

This advert was made with the idea that this product is fairly new, so there are still people giving out free samples so that everyone can taste it and see how good it is, and then tell others about it so that more people will buy it. This advert was also to show how much people like the product already, hence the person who recognises the name, says it out loud, then everyone runs and fights for it, because they know how amazing it is, and want it for themselves.

During production, we had several issues. One of the main problems for us, was the sound during recording. Because of where we were recording, we had a lot of background noise, which meant that we couldn't hear the actor's voices properly. In order to fix this, we tried to use a boom mic to direct the sound better so that could hear the actors over the background noise. However, we had another problem with the boom mic not working properly, so we had to resort to waiting until the background noise died down enough to get decent shots filmed. Also during filming, we had an issue with the cast remembering all of their parts. We fixed this issue by letting them improvise a bit. The actors ended up saying and doing what they felt was right, while also covering what we needed them to at the same time.

Overall, despite the issues we had to overcome, I think that all of the planning, filming and editing of this advert went well and the outcome was a success. The few people that have watched this production have all agreed that it was well done and that they liked it very much.

 Shot list

 Storyboard one

 storyboard 2

Advertising Critique #2

The Crew Advert

This advertisement is for a new viral series called 'The Crew', which is basically a studio based show, where 4 male YouTubers sit in a studio full of female fans, and talk about topics that typically, girls would talk about.
This advert was viral, because the show is viral, it makes sense for the advertisement to be where the viewers will see it.

This advert starts with a few shots of fans lined up outdoors screaming and making lots of fuss.
We then see a person sat at a computer, and doing what looks like editing the show. After that, the logo for the show appears on screen, on a pink background, before the words '4 guys' appears. We then see the four boys, Marcus, Alfie, Jim and Caspar, and their names come on screen next to them, so we all know who is who. Then, one by one, the words 'explore', 'all things' and 'girl' appear on screen, again with a pink background and black text. Next, we get a few shots of the cast and crew backstage talking to producers and asking questions. After this, we see a few shots of the cast sat together and messing around, having a laugh backstage.After this, there are a few more quick shots, this time of the cast taking pictures with the fans. Then, there are a few seconds of backstage again, sorting out the set etc. and Jim answering a few questions about the show. We get a full view of the main part of the studio - the part where the cast and audience will be sitting.Then they show a couple of clips from the episodes, and a member of the production team talking about Jim messing up during filming but carrying on anyway. Then , we are shown a few short shots of the audience, and the cast again, before seeing Alfie backstage talking about Marcus in the shot that we have just seen. Next, we have a shot of Jim and Alfie playing what they call 'The Finger Game' The last part of the advertisement is lots of short clips from episodes of the show, before ending with the whole audience, with the cast in the middle, shouting "it's a wrap!"
We also then see the logo in black with a pink background, followed by the premiere date, and links to each member of the cast's YouTube channel, saying "click to subscribe".

This advert was made and broadcasted so that people would know about this web series, because it's new and otherwise, nobody would know about it, so nobody would watch it.
This advertisement worked, as the first episode got 303, 908 views in the first two weeks of it being uploaded to YouTube, while the second episode got 295, 021 views in the first week since it was uploaded onto YouTube.

I think this advert was a great success, and I also think it was great to watch. I liked to see something familiar, - the 4 members of the cast - as this kept me interested for the whole 1min 52secs of the advert, and made me want to watch the show when it is uplaoded online.
The Crew Advert

Advertising Critique #1

Cadbury's - Gorilla

Cadbury's statement:  "Drumming gorillas, Phil Collins and Glass And A Half Full Productions? Well it just seemed like the right thing to do. There's no clever science behind it - it's just an effort to make you smile, in exactly the same way Cadbury Dairy Milk does. And that's what we aim to continue to do; simply make you smile. So if a drumming gorilla's not enough, wait until you see what else we have up our sleeves. Sign up if you're curious..."

This advert starts off with a purple background and the 'Glass And A Half Full Production' text and logo in the centre. The camera then pans right to a close up a Gorillas eyes and nose and moves around a little as the gorilla slowly blinks. We then see a medium shot of the gorilla moving his head up and down as if he is taking very deep breaths, with his eyes closed. Then, we see an extreme close up the gorilla's nose, which quickly pans out to be a close up of the eyes and nose again. The camera carries on panning out until we can see the gorilla's whole face and the tops of his shoulders as he carries on breathing heavily. We then get another close up shot of just the gorilla's face and he grunts in the direction of the camera. The whole time, we can hear music by Phil Collins (In The Air Tonight) playing in the background. The camera then pans out slowly as we see the gorilla shut his eyes and tilt his head from one side to the other as if to 'limber up' for something. As the camera carries on panning, we see that the gorilla is sat behind a drum kit, and appears to be in some sort of studio. The gorilla then takes one huge breath, and as the drums start in the Phil Collins music, the gorilla starts to enthusiastically play the drums too. This is a mid-long shot as the gorilla starts to play, before cutting quickly to a mid shot of his head and shoulders and we can still him lifting the drumsticks and slamming them down as he plays. In this shot, we can also see that the gorilla has an ear piece in his left ear, and we can also see that he is happy as he starts to smile, showing some of his sharp teeth. It then goes back to a long shot where we can see the whole gorilla and the whole drum kit, as he carries on playing, using his whole body to get into rhythm. The camera then pans out so that we slowly see more and more of the studio. (speakers, microphones etc.) and as a microphone appears, the screen fades to purple and an animated image of a Dairy Milk bar appears on screen and again in white text, 'A Glass And A Half Full Of Joy' appears on screen under the chocolate bar.

This advert was planned, filmed and broadcasted shortly after Cadbury's had an issue with their chocolate being found to have salmonella bacteria in it. Cadbury's then had to find a way to come back and get a good reputation again. Although a gorilla playing the drums doesn't have anything to do with chocolate, it is something that will be remembered. The use of purple also reminds everyone that it is a Cadbury's production, and whether they like the advert or hate it, people will more than likely remember that it is Cadbury's, then, when looking for chocolate, they will probably choose it, as people are usually drawn to familiar things that they know.

Proof of this working is that the advert went viral pretty quickly. People were sharing it on facebook, twitter and other social networking sites, saying many things about it. Even the people that hated it and shared it in order to say how bad they think it is, they were encouraging other people to watch it, which is what the company wanted, more people to watch the advert and remember them for it.

Watching this advert, I feel that it is a great production that did very well. The figures rose impressively after this advert was broadcasted on tv and online, proving that this approach to the campaign worked how they wanted it to. Watching this advert makes me feel happy, seeing something which you don't see every day, or probably ever, -a gorilla playing Phil Collins on the drums- makes me smile and sometimes even laugh a little. This feeling is then linked to this advert, which is then linked to the company, so it will then make me associate Cadbury's with happiness and joy, encouraging me to buy it.