Week 11- Atul Sharma

This week we have started our evaluations. All group members will have to this section of the project individually. In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed:

-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

-How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

-What have you learned from your audience feedback?

-How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Week 10- Atul Sharma

This week we aimed to complete our personal journals.  Syed completed the director’s journal, Chris completed the camera journal and I completed the sound and editors journal. The journals show all the thought process while completing our production. We also highlight any issues that occurred throughout our project and how we resolved them.

Meeting Minutes- Atul Sharma

Meeting Minutes

Week 9- Atul Sharma

During this week I edited the footage. Video editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to create a new work. Editing is usually considered to be one part of the post production process — other post-production tasks include colour correction and sound mixing. I also created a table for the log rushes and edit decision list.  Once I had finished editing I showed the footage to my group members and target audience. They gave me constructive feedback which would make our production more professional and comical. After the appropriate changes were made it was time to add sound effects and the credits.  We researched into other comical short film sounds and were made of the codes and conventions which we could implement in our own production.  Finally we created a DVD copy by using iDVD and we also uploaded the short film to YouTube. In order to gain more feedback we uploaded the short film to Facebook and shared the link on Twitter. The vast amount of positive feedback we received meant we have successfully created a short film which was enjoyed by our target audience.

I also created a post questionnaire which will be handed out to our target audience. Due to targeting a younger target audience it was only appropriate to keep the questions simple and easy to complete. 

Week 8- Atul Sharma

We spent this week filming our short film. After going through the script with the cast and rehearsing the scenes we were confident to start filming. As we required using the main school corridors it was only appropriate to film after school. This meant we had extra time rehearsing, which allowed our cast to be familiar with their lines and roles. As this was the first time we were filming, we had to learn how to use the camera and other filming equipment. However Chris was quick to learn and we used our time most productively by getting the main footage done.

The second day of filming went much smoother. Everyone knew their roles and was the cast showed more confidence while acting as they were more familiar with each other and the crew members. We also had the opportunity to redo sections from the day before as the footage was not to the high standard we had set ourselves.  In total it took just over 4 hours to get all our footage and rehearse any scenes that the cast were confused about.  

Week 7- Atul Sharma

As our concept and script is written for our short film, the next step is to make a storyboard. A storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book.

The storyboard Syed created conveyed some of the following information:

-What characters are in the frame, and how are they moving?

-What are the characters saying to each other, if anything?

-How much time has passed between the last frame of the storyboard and the current one?

-Where the camera is in the scene? Close or far away? Is the camera moving?

Creating a storyboard will helped plan our short film from shot to shot. We can make changes to our storyboard before we start filming, instead of changing your mind later. We were also able to talk about our animation and show our storyboard to other people to get feedback on our ideas.

Chris created an equipment list of our production. The purpose of the equipment list is to be aware of all the resources we require throughout our project in order for our production to be successful.

Syed also completed the SWAT analysis. This is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in our project.

Strengths: characteristics of the project team that give it an advantage over others.

Weaknesses (or Limitations): are characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others.

Opportunities: external chances to improve performance in the environment.

Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for project.

Week 6- Atul Sharma

This week I analysed other short comedy films title and credit sequence. I used YouTube to analyse the credit sequences. By doing this research made me aware of the codes and conventions that we will need to follow in order to make our production as professional as possible. Also I was able to gain ideas on how to challenge specific codes and conventions.

Syed created a Health and Safety Risk Assessment table. This was to make the actors and production team aware of any risks that may occur while creating our short film production. We briefed our acting crew about the health and safety risks that they may encounter while filming.

I created score notes for short film production. I listed all the potential sounds we may use for our production. I shared the sounds with my group members and asked for feedback. We also asked our target audience for their feedback on the sound we had chosen.

We also created Location and Actors release forms which allow us to use the footage without any repercussions.  Also I would help us void with any problems of using the school premises outside school hours.

Chris created a budget for our short film production. This allowed our group to be aware of how much our group can afford to spend on each aspect of the production stage.

Week 5- Atul Sharma

This week Syed created the first draft of our script on an online programmed called Celtx. As a group we read the script and critically analysed it thinking of ways to improve and make it more interesting for our target audience.  We also got our actors to read through it and ask for their feedback. We also asked for feedback from our target audience and they suggested ways to make it funnier.  After we have improved and was happy with the script, Syed created a second draft of the script.

I created location, cast, and costume and prop notes on a Microsoft Word document and then uploaded it on Scribd, which allowed me to embed the document on Blogger. The location notes I created clearly showed the various locations we are going to use throughout our short film and why we chose these specific locations. The cast notes clearly showed the actors and actress we are going to use and the reason we chose this specific cast. The costume notes showed the reasoning behind the costumes the cast are wearing. Finally I created prop notes which stated all the props we were going to use in our production and the significance of them.

Syed created a shooting script which is used during the production process of our short film to help communicate the filming process to all crew members and actors involved. The following factors make up a shooting script for the production portion of a short film project.  Syed also created a letter for the head teacher stating what our group are aiming to do and asking for permission to use specific locations out of school hours.

Week 3- Atul Sharma

This week Chris created a Treatment for our film production. Generally speaking, a film's treatment is similar to that of an overview or synopsis of the film idea. It usually includes all the important conceptual elements, structured in 3-5 acts, each with a beginning, middle and end. When you submit your script, your treatment will often be the first document to be glanced over.

I researched into different socio economic groups and was able to understand the difference between each group and how we would target a specific group.  The groups that our target audience could fall into are:

A- Higher managerial, administrative, professional e.g. Chief executive, senior civil servant, surgeon

B- Intermediate managerial, administrative, professional e.g. bank manager, teacher

C1-Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial e.g. shop floor supervisor, bank clerk, sales person

C2-Skilled manual workers e.g. electrician, carpenter

D-Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers e.g. assembly line worker, refuse collector, messenger

E -Casual labourers, pensioners, unemployed e.g. pensoiners without private pensions and anyone living on basic benefits

Syed researched into the British Board of Film Classification. The BBFC is an independent, self-financing and not-for-profit media content regulator. They operate transparent, consistent and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification and labelling systems in the UK.

They aim to protect:

·        -The public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks.

·         Empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices.

·         Recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law.

·         Respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research.

·        Provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit.

·        Work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems.

·        Provide an effective service to enforcement agencies.

This vital research would allow our group to make the appropriate decision on what category our film production will fit from: U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18 and R18.

Syed also created a Synopsis for our film production; this is summary of our film within 25 words.  It will allow viewers to be able have foundation understanding of the film.

Week 2- Atul Sharma

After researching into a wide range of genres we decided that we would choose Comedy for our short film production. Chris then carried out further research into the comedy genre. This research made us aware that there were sub genres within Comedy. As a group we established that Cringe Comedy would be the appropriate genre for our production.

Before beginning our production we all researched in to other short films. We analysed the codes and conventions of short comedy films on YouTube. This was beneficial to us as we were able to understand codes and conventions of comedy short films and would aim to implement this to our own production.  

As Chris was the cameraman he carried out research into different shot types that we could use appropriately in our own production. He also researched into match on action and 180 degree rule.

During this week Syed also created a Facebook group which I and Chris joined as members. The purpose of creating a Facebook group was for all group members to be able to contact and share ideas which each other. Also we will be able to ask other Facebook users for feedback on our production. Chris also created a Twitter account which will aid with promoting and gain feedback of our production.

This week we also decided our production company name to be Light Sphere Productions, this is due to being a unique name and relating to a ‘light- hearted’ production which all comedy tend to be. Chris created a company logo on Photoshop; the logo that was created was of a high standard as it was clear and easy to remember. 

Week 1- Atul Sharma

Our group decided to choose the following assignment brief:

A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minute, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the three following options:

- A poster for the film;

- A radio trailer for the film;

- A film magazine review page featuring the film.

As a group we decided that choosing the option of creating a short film is the appropriate chose. This is due to our group finding this the most interesting as we had many initial ideas. During this week we decided what role each member of the group will be given. We considered our past experience and each member’s strengths and weaknesses before coming to a decision. As a group we decided Syed to be the director, Atul (me) to be the editor and be responsible for sound and Chris to be the cameraman. Working in a group for this production will enhance our communication and teamwork skills.

I created a Production Schedule which would give our group a clear indication of the tasks that need to be completed in order to complete our production to the highest standard. I considered all group members preferences and we discussed who would be the best person to take on specific tasks.  The production schedule will also will have dates of when each task will need to be completed, this will help us to stay on track and use time more productively.

We created a group blog where we all our work will be presented.  We decided to use a blog as all group members will be able to access it from school and home. We also created personal blogs which will be linked to our group blog. Our personal blogs will contain our ancillary tasks and our analysis of short films.  We will be using Blogger to create our blogs.

I created a brainstorm for our short film production on bubbl.us. The brainstorm contains initial ideas of our group and clearly shows the factors we took into consideration before creating our production.