POST 12

In order to prepare for the productions of our chosen films, we were set to understand the importance and quality of lighting and shading helping us with increased knowledge of video productions through technical factors meaning we could use this information to help us on how to set lighting etc within the productions of our own film.

We did this by dividing the section into two main factors then completing a few practical tasks to see how these could affect the outcome of any situation. The two sub-factors were direction and quality:

· Quality involves the concentration of the lighting onto the object, for example, hard lighting and soft lighting.

Soft lighting and hard lighting are both two different examples of quality within the lighting department. Soft lighting

· Direction relates to where the light source has been positioned in order to create a wanted effect. Aiming lights at certain surfaces in order for it to bounce off comes under direction where it creates a different yet interesting effect onto the screen.

Lighting Techniques – Madonna, Vogue (Video)

Once understanding the two key elements of light, we watched a music video done by Madonna named Vogue as well as being given sheets containing print screens of a few shots from the video. This video including a wide variety of light sources causing many extreme effects, showing us how effective they can be as well as what they can achieve; soft lighting, where on certain images in the video, they tend to blur and show different textures which is shown on mainly each character’s faces, also the use of soft/bright lighting techniques were shown on the clothes where it was difficult to recognise her uniform.

Quality and Direction of Lighting

Once watching the whole video, analysing each technique used, understanding their effects and taking into consideration for the production of our future video, our class was put into two groups being given a task to see these effects first- hand. First of all, we had to assign each person an individual role to put together this task leading to a joint effort understanding of direction and quality of light. We were also given an assortment of equipment to distribute to each person according to their role however had to come up with our own experiments to see how the direction and quality of lighting could affect the effects of lighting.

Every light has a point in which it reaches its brightest as well as a point where it loses itself completely. Lighting can come from any direction; the top; bottom; right; left, it can also reflect off other surfaces to give a change of sharpness. Amongst these, the quality of each lighting is about the concentration of the lighting where they could in most situations fall into the two categories of ‘soft’ and‘hard’ light.

The main part of this task was to understand how the direction and quality of lighting could affect how realistic the lighting turns out as well as to find out how we could control the lighting to reach each of these effects.

The equipment we were given was:
• Mini DV camera
• Tripod
• Batteries
• Base plate
• Tape
• Laminated whiteboards and marker pens
• Lowel pro 250W lamp
• Stand
• Extension lead
• Barn doors
• Torch
• Black wrap and crock clips
• White materials and tin foil
• Safety gloves

We then had to assign each person with a role taken from the following list, and gave them the equipment needed as part of their job:

· Director – Coordinates the group to achieve the experiment.

· Camera – Set up and position the camera, and record evidence.

· Clapper – Writes “boards” to notify the audience what they are watching. Also helps Recorder.

· Recorder – Notes down the experiments variables and monitors decisions and revisions made.

· Gaffer – Positioning of light and equipment.

· Character in the scene (only for the quality experiment.)

Once finishing this task, I now realise that I have a lot more knowledge on the different types of lighting, how they are set up and how they can affect each aspect of your final piece. Therefore this task has been extremely useful as it prepares me as well as everyone else on this specific area of film productions and will most likely improve the quality of the final piece to be made. It will be important for us to consider what type of lighting to use in each shot as it could completely change the appearance giving a mixed/different image to what the producer intends to therefore adding the correct lighting will help give away the required message as well as add an effect helping the imagery of the production.

POST 10

Job roles have a huge significance within the production of any film therefore it is important to assign each role to a responsible candidate in order to reach the film’s full potential. Along with all departments, it is vital that all job roles revolve around each other to ensure the smooth running and best finish for the film.

Director

The most important department of all jobs needed within the production of any film is a director. In most cases, the director would be the creator of the film therefore responsible for how the film is finally to be sent out and what message the audience shall receive from it. To help the director, they usually have assistant directors who ensure each of the director’s tasks are completed. They do this by managing time thoroughly and producing a strong workforce in order to meet the director’s need.

The first assistant director is the director’s right hand man, taking the majority of their responsibility leaving the director to focus on the creativity of the films production. The first assistant also has a right hand man, in which they take on the responsibility of ensuring everything runs smoothly and as planned.

LIGHTING

Lighting is an important aspect in the production of any performance or programme. It creates the right atmosphere for audience’s to cooperate with and respond however requires good knowledge of technical and creative skills whether artificial or natural light is used, all elements have to be considered in order to have an expected outcome.

Each different area of the lighting department are all conjoined with other areas of the films production for example the sound or camera crew in order to create a better effect for each scene of the film.

There are four different areas within the lighting department, the ‘gaffers,’ lighting technicians, ‘best boy’ and the ‘moving light operator.’

• The best boy is set to bring together all the lighting technicians dealing with the theory side of the department.







• Lighting technicians work under the gaffer in which they are responsible for the movement as well as the set up of various pieces of lighting equipment. They carry other simple roles such as focusing the lights or laying electric cables.







• The gaffer is head of the electrical department with responsibility for the finishing of the lighting plan, with the design of the lighting occasionally becoming a task.







• The moving light operator manages the intelligent lighting otherwise known as automated lights which are chose by the photography director.

Sound

A film is usually known to be a visual production giving out an image and message to the audience, however this is guided and helped by the use of dialogue. Using this information, a production sound crew is brought into the making of a film in order to achieve what’s needed for the final piece. Within this department, production sound mixers, sound assistants and boom operators are included.

A production sound mixer is responsible for recording of all sound and sound effects on set in order to include later on in the finished production or sometimes as a reference for the sound designer, foley artists or the sound effects editors. Their jobs include choosing and operating suitable microphones for each specific scenario, a fitting choice of recording media as well as mixing of audio signals.

• A boom operator has a task of assisting the production sound mixer. Their main responsibility as part of their job is the microphone placement, having to pick the best place possible to receive high quality sound yet not interfere with the camera’s work. As well as that, attaching wireless microphones to actors or any others that require voice recording comes as part of their role.





• Sound assistants are the third members of this individual department. They are set to provide general backup and support to the boom operator and production sound mixer. They also carry the responsibility of ensuring the sound department runs as smoothly as possible checking all stock, microphones and batteries.

Camera

The camera work within any film production is clearly the most significant due to the various effects it could have on the audience such as giving them a more detailed insight to a character or location. This is due to the various things they put together in order to create the required effect such as camera movement and the order of light/shade. A lot of skill and preparation is taken into this department in order to create each shot to its best ability, for example the cameras movement and its operation.

There are three different areas within the camera department to help ensure the use of the camera goes as smooth as possible.

• One is known as the first assistant cameraman otherwise known as the focus puller. Their task is to preserve the sharpness of every image on whatever the focus is on.





• A grip is also included into this department in which they have two main functions. The first of their jobs is to provide close camera support to the camera department, meaning they have to build, operate and maintain all equipment to do with the camera, for example tripods, cranes and dollies as well as in unusual positions such as the top of a ladder. Their second job is to work directly with the electrical department in order to assist the lighting set-ups needed for each shot, this being advised by the director of photography.






• Directors of Photography are another area within the camera department in which they have a major creative role. They work strongly with the Director and Production Designer to give their film its visual mark for the audience to realise.







• The last key role in this department is the camera operator otherwise simple known as a camera man. They are known to set up, position and operate the video camera in order to record the production of the film/video suitably.

Art and Production Designer

Within the film industry, the term production designer is used to name the person who is responsible for the general appearance of the film or even adverts they are producing. They have one of the most creative roles in the creation of their production, by selecting the settings and style in order to tell the story visually as well as the specific aesthetic needs of the project they have to work closely with the director and producer. The production designer also has links to the costume designer, key make-up and hair stylists, special effects director and locations manager however only the key staff within these departments in order to establish an integrated visual appearance and feel to the film.

The art department consists of a group of people who operate with the production designer to execute the attraction elements of each vision to the best of their ability.

· The art director has numerous experts from other departments such as the construction department reporting to them. This is so they can arrange everything to co-ordinate with each other giving the film its most important distinctive visual characteristics.

· Often using someone with experience in interior design, a set decorator is bought in to help find suitable, decorative items for the set such as furniture and wallpaper. They help to bring the reality of the story and add the required look set by the genre of the film.

· Art directors and film directors typically hire storyboard artists where they specialize in storyboards for any film’s production. They are able to visualize any story in a short time and sketch the ideas on paper at any moment.

Job roles within our production:

Due to our production groups being significantly smaller than what they are usually, only four people, we had to conjoin many roles to and distribute them to those we thought would have best capability to complete each role.

· 1^st person: Director; this person was the one whose story was chosen to become the final product to make. They took the responsibility of ensuring the whole production stage went as planned and every last detail was to their satisfaction as they would clearly have the best insight to how the film was set to turn out. Also over seeing all the other departments within this production, they could ensure each visual image works according to the storyline and helps send out the message they planned.

· 2^nd person: Lighting and Sound; this person took on originally two departments as they would be closely linked and correspond with each other, therefore due to the lack of people, conjoining these two departments make sense and helps with the production stage.

· 3^rd person: Camera; the person taking on this role took on everything to do with the shooting and pre-planning of the filming. This includes preparations, communicating with the director to ensure they fully understand what is needed, then the actual filming where they would try and recover the best images possible.

· 4^th person: Production Design; this person will have to sort out all production designs needed for the filming, including pre-planning helping and leading to the final piece ready for the filming.

Once assigning each role, we understood they would all correspond with each other therefore a lot of communication between us would be needed in order to ensure nothing conflicts and all production is done to its highest standard.

POST 9:

write comments from becky class mates and mrs shipp on v1

After interacting with other class mates, Becky Knapp, and my teacher, Mrs. Shipp, about my script, I went away with their ideas and opinions in mind in order to improve my script for a second and final version.

The changes I made were as follows;

I added more speech within the beginning of the text in order to emphasise on the child’s neglect which is the message trying to be sent across to the audience. Within this speech, I included a different language in which the family spoke in order to add a realistic and unique effect. This would help the audience possibly understand the cultural background of the family due to Asian representations/stereotypes.

I also included a whole new scene within the story line, the bedroom incident (page 2 of version 2.) This was in order to set another powerful image to the audience improving their views on the message trying to be achieved as well as to help the story achieve its time limit given of six minutes.

The rest of the story was kept the same as they were the main, significant events in which would help the audience realise the true story. Also the time limit given was too short to include all events therefore adding only the significant parts were necessary.

POST 8

Developing the script for my idea was a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. This was because I wanted the best outcome possible therefore what to include or not include became a hard decision as I had to think from the audience’s perspective and see what would affect them most due to it being my main aim. I did this by using notes I made during my lessons as well as notes I made myself which could possibly help influence my final script.

(Include image of me writing all events)

This image shows all events I thought of including to my final piece. However, I realised there were too many to insert into our six minute short film, therefore cut the majority of them leaving only main events and events which will leave an impression on the audience.

I also made a character profile for each member of the family in order to refresh my memory and help with how they would act and/or respond to the film’s events. Back grounds, interests, hobbies were all included as well as other information I thought could be useful when relating to my film.

Once finishing each character profile, I felt pretty much ready to produce my script as it helped me get a clear and refreshed memory of how everything was.

Now all that needed planning was the location and surroundings of the main character, this included the council estate, friends nearby, the poor surroundings reflecting on how each character was brought up and possibly why each turned out to deal with everything they had to. To help with this part of the planning, we were given an eight-way thinking table to help us acknowledge more of the background for the main character. They consisted of eight words: feelings, words, people, nature, sights, number, sounds and actions; in which I had to write as many questions under them as possible then answer them in order to help realise the true significance of every issue raised as well as raising awareness to what most needs to be put in order to fulfil the tasks of this short film. An example being, under the topic “feelings,” I wrote the question, “How do the other characters respond to when the main character suffers abuse from his parents?” This was a big issue within the storyline as it showed that there was not much help for the main character and made me realise that this should also be included within the story as it brings a strong true meaning to the audience, an aim I wished to carry throughout.

I carried on with some research by investigating into social workers who had failed with dealings with victims of child abuse. This was to help get a wider knowledge of what occurs when they take on such claims however as this was a personal issue, the majority of the intelligence came from my own experience and knowledge. One story which however did stand out was the country-shocking news of 'Baby P,’ this story was extremely useful and helped support me through the planning stage of the film as it revealed a lot of the failings by social services, such as their failings to learn he was abused, something I could use to help relate to and encourage including it into my story. The link below gives a detailed explanation of the Baby Peter case where you can see its relation and inspiration to my short film.

http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1037091/Baby-Peter-review-reveals-failings-every-agency/