Assignment 1 - DepicT!: Feedback 20 Dec

Cameron,

some good work completed here and it is clear that your pre-production work has been adhered to for the filming and editing process.  There were some changes made during the process but these were documented albeit in a basic form.
Whilst all of your pre-production paperwork is in place, there isn't enough detail in some aspects (primarily the storyboards) to achieve more than a pass grade here.

Your 'pre-production process' write shows an in-depth knowledge of the Media industry and the importance of pre-production planning in a moving image text. You have explained in some detail the requirements for a media production in some areas although in others there is less detail and the requirements are merely outlined.
Also, you have not added a bibliography and this is important for any piece of research work.

Carl

Depict Assignment: Final Task

Types of Production

Our product is a 90 second short film for the 'DepicT!' competition, this was distributed on YouTube. YouTube is a website in which moving image media products of all kinds are distributed, this is one of the more popular platforms as it is completely free and easy to access for the public.

There are a huge selection of forms of moving image media, some of the more common forms include:Full length feature films, Short films, TV shows, animation, advertisement, music videos, online videos and TV idents.

The most increasingly popular form of moving image media production are online videos. Online videos tend to be low budget productions that may last between 5 seconds to day long live streams. This type of content is usually found on platforms such as YouTube and Vine. For example, YouTube is an extremely popular website, on which such forms of media as music videos, gaming videos and daily video blogs.


Another example of a popular form of moving image media production are full length feature films, these tend to have high budget productions and usually last between 90 minutes and 3 hours. This form is usually distributed through cinemas and theaters, and then released on DVD, however, lower budget feature films may be distributed online. For example, the feature film 'Bronson' was a lower budget film in it's release in 2008 and was not released in Cinemas.

The final example of moving image media is advertisement. In terms of moving image advertisement, this is most usually distributed on television, however there is a lot of advertisement all over the internet. Advertisement usually lasts between 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and serves the purpose of showing a product to consumers of the media, for example, on YouTube, before each video is usually a 30 second clip advertising either a new feature film or TV show, some fast food restaurant, or even new material products such as phones etc.

Funding

For our production, there was no funding, as the only props we used were property to members of the production team prior to the production itself, also the type of production we did required no funding.

Moving image production, as like all forms of media, relies heavily on funding to determine its success, there are a number of ways in which media producers are funded, for example:

YouTubers such as PewDiePie and Markiplier started off by funding themselves by buying the required equipment for the production of their content with their own money, this was possible because of the low budget required to produce gaming videos, however, over time they became more popular and became partnered with YouTube, and also sponsored by other companies, from this, they are paid to produce the content by either advertising products in their video or allowing adverts to be shown before their video, and the more popular they become, the greater they are funded and therefore are able to fund their production. 

Another example of a form of funding are kick-starters, in which, a website is usually set up where the general public can donate money to the production of moving image product, for example, Zach Braff's film 'Wish I Was Here' was funded by 46,520 people and racked up a budget of $3,105,473.

TV shows tend to be the form of moving image media production with the highest budget to the length of the product and need for consistent quality, the most popular TV shows like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead are funded by the channels they're aired on. For example, HBO funds 'Game of Thrones' which paid $60 million for the first season, the channels then make a profit from the views the show gets.

Requirements

Once the production is funded, the budget is spread across a large variety of things essential to the production, these include:  Equipment, actors, crew, locations, sets, props, costumes, travel, accommodation, rights to use copyrighted audio or video and advertisement. 

Our production cost nothing as the equipment used was supplied by the college, the actors were either part of the production team or willing to do it for free, the crew was also part of the team doing it for their coursework, the location cost nothing as it was property of one of the actors and did not charge, the props and costumes used were property of the team prior to the production, transport was paid by the individuals travelling, no accommodation was used as all members of the team lived local and the production only lasted one day, there was no copyrighted products used in the production and the film was not advertised.

In the production of a feature film, it is said that a general rule of thumb is to spend around 50% of the budget on marketing and advertisement, this is because the success of a film's release is very dependent on whether want to see it before it is released into cinemas, this means that you need the public to see advertisement as much as possible. Most feature films show trailers before the release of the film, they also advertise using billboards and public transport such as buses.

Personnel

The production team of a moving image media production varies depending on the type, for example, most YouTube channels are completely run by one person, however larger scale productions have a huge selection of people doing different jobs. Most forms of moving image have writers, directors, producers, actors, editors, technicians, researchers, camera men and sound men.

Lower budget productions usually have smaller teams, for example our production was done completely by 4 people, and our production consisted of writing, directing, acting, editing and cinematography.

Full length feature films and TV shows have much larger teams including stunt coordinators and stunt doubles, some productions that involve dancing or fighting have trainers and choreographers, and minor errand jobs such as delivering scripts or equipment, filing, photocopying etc.

Time

We were given 6 weeks to produce our assignment: 2 weeks for pre-production paperwork, 2 weeks for filming and 2 weeks for editing, However we completed the filming part in one day so had more time for editing and pre-production paperwork and this essay. Because of this, we were easily able to complete it before the deadline.

In the industry of professional media production, deadlines are important to be met, otherwise the whole production collapses. If deadlines for movies aren't met, such problems could arise as: investors backing out, actors becoming otherwise occupied, crew members resigning etc. Also, the longer the duration of the production, the more you'll have to pay the production team.

Equipment and Facilities

In production of moving image media a lot of equipment is required, and this equipment is usually hired or bought from companies selling/loaning it all, for example, 'WaveFX' is the most local facility house, which has all the required equipment for rent, with all the required equipment at your disposal.

In our production, the camera used was lent to us for free by the college.

Location

Our film was all shot in one location, which means only one location release and one location recce needed to be filled out.We picked the dining room because it was the perfect resemblance of what we had in our heads, the small table next to door allowed all of the shots to take place without too much movement of the camera. We faced no issues in securing this location as it belonged to a member of the production team and didn't require too much hassle. 

A location release is a form which gives permission for the production team to use a private location e.g. house in the film. A location recce refers to a pre-filming visit to a location to work out its suitability for shooting, including access to necessary facilities and assessment of any potential lighting or sound issues.

Materials

In film production, all of the things seen or heard on camera aren't there unintentionally, props, costumes, video, music, graphics etc. are all part of the production. For example some props and costumes are rented for their use in the production, however, most high end productions have that stuff made specifically for it, for example, the web show 'Oscar's Hotel' had Jim Henson's Creature Shop as part of the production team, creating all the costumes and props. Graphics are big brand logos like McDonald's or Rolex, these brands pay for their logo to be shown in a moving image production, this is considered a form of advertisement. For example, McDonald's had a very obvious product placement in Kingsman: The Secret Service. 

Legal issues

In media production, there are multiple obstacles that the production team must avoid, the most important of which is copyright. When a product is copyrighted, it means that it cannot be used in someone else's product without permission of the creator of the product they intend to use. If a product is used in someone else's product without permission, the user can be sued, made to pay a large quantity of money, or sent to court.

During our production, we were limited to what music we could use and what props we could have in shot, as most music you hear is copyrighted, we had to find a website which specialized in royalty free music, we used incompetech.com to find royalty free music.

Regulation

Regulation is the control of mass media by bodies such as governments, OFCOM, BBC Trust and BBFC. Regulation introduces rules and procedures in terms of public interest or encouraging competition and an effective media market. Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK, they regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services etc.

Some aspects of the BBC are regulated by outside bodies. On competition policy the BBC is regulated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the European Commission, and Ofcom. Ofcom also regulates some other aspects of the BBC, for example the BBC is covered by Ofcom's Fairness Code.

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is a non-governmental organisation that is responsible for the classification and censorship of all films in the UK. 

Trade unions and associations

A trade union is an organisation with members who are usually workers or employees. It looks after their interests at work by doing things like negotiating agreements with employers on pay and conditions.

PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) is the UK's trade association that supports solo content producers.

Bibliography

Bibliography

http://www.slideshare.net/LVHS/shara-ident-presentation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronson_(film)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1869987317/wish-i-was-here-1

http://www.bidnessetc.com/business/hbo-game-of-throne-business-entertainment-the-numbers-game-behind-one-of-the-most-successful-tv-series-of-all-time/

http://filmmakeriq.com/2008/07/an-overview-of-the-film-budget/comment-page-1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_crew

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

http://www.pact.co.uk/

Consequences of Drugs

Storyboard

Initial ideas

The intention of this production was to convey a serious message in a humorous way. The reason we chose the set is because it adequately represents the 'average joe's' living space, we also thought the placement of the table next to the door allowed for most of the film to be shot from the same spot. This production was inspired by 'How to Tell When a Relationship is Over' by Tony Roche as we used the same shot angle for most of the film and it all takes place at a table, overall, the general structure was inspired by  'How to Tell When a Relationship is Over' by Tony Roche.

Props and costumes

Location paper work

Shot list

Risk assessment

Minor talent releases

Adult talent release

Production schedule

DepicT! Analysis

THE DATE
I enjoyed this video because its very humorous in the surprise turning point of the story, the CGI is also impressive for a short film with what i assume is a relatively small budget.The cinematography is also well done and good quality.I imagine this video can be enjoyed by all people but specifically I assume its aimed at adolescent age groups.



If The Cuckoo Don't Crow
 I enjoyed this video because the the anecdote is entertaining and the high quality animation represents the story in a humorous manor.I imagine this was aimed at anyone between the ages of 15+.



A TV Movie
I liked this short film because it is an entertaining story with well done stop-motion animation and good cinematography, it is also interesting because it shows how society this generation spend most of their time watching the television when there's a world outside that we're missing out on. I feel as though this is aimed at anyone that spends a lot of time watching television.

Photo / Connotation Exercise

BTEC Media Induction Task

Induction task evaluation

Mise-en-scene

Lighting

The lighting through out the film was all natural as we were outside in the day time so the sun provided enough light. This, however, could mean that there is a continuity error, as the shadows, if in shot, would be in a different place due to the space of time between filming.

Camera

1^st shot-low angle, close up

2^nd shot-straight angle, medium shot

3^rd shot-low angle, medium shot

4^th shot-low angle, medium shot (reverse shot to 2^nd shot)

5^th shot-extreme close up (point of view shot)

6^th shot-low angle, medium shot

7^th shot-high angle, extreme close up

8^th shot-straight angle, close up

9^th shot- point of view shot, close up

10^th shot- straight angle, panning shot, medium shot (zooms out)
Quick fade

11^th shot- straight angle, extreme close up
Quick fade

12^th shot- high angle, medium/long shot

13^th shot- straight angle, extreme close up 
Fade to title screen (the end)

Continuity:
The 180 degree rule was not broken at any point through film.
POV shots, Establishing shots, Eye-line shots and shot-reverse shots were used in the film.
There are some continuity errors during he film involving clothes and props because the filming lasted a few days.

This task has allowed me to learn the basics of filming and editing and has prepared me for the rest of the work to come.