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James Coyne

Task 1:

Me, Myself and I

The first project we were given was called “Me, Myself and I”. The brief instructed us that we needed to create a 30 second video that teaches the audience something about myself. We were also encouraged to show our creativity.

My response to this task stuck to the brief. My video was precisely 30 seconds long and the project took 3-4 hours to produce. This was because I wanted to include as much about me and my life as I could into a short amount of time. To do this I used video footage I had recorded from over the last year with the technique of “cutting to the beat” to a song that I chose because of its lyrics and tempo. The footage included days out, my summer holiday and my experience with the National Citizens Service. The lyrics included the phrase “You’ve got one life to live, don’t let it go” which I thought was appropriate for my video as the video was about my life, living my life and enjoying my life. The tempo was at the right speed that there was enough time to see the clip/shot but it also was able to get a lot into 30 seconds. And gladly I can say I am very pleased with the final result.

The Spoilers Re-Edit

Another task we were given was given in order to build our skills in audio recording and syncing audio with visuals in editing. We were given a muted two minute clip from an action/western film called ‘The Spoilers’. The clip we were given included two characters - one male and one female - talking at the start until they are interrupted by another male character. The two male characters then start to fight and then bring the fight out into the bar which leads to multiple characters fighting. After watching the muted clip for the first time we knew straight away that we needed dialogue, punching noises and far more. We were then given tascams as well as a brief summary on how to set them up and how to use them. The task proved to be very challenging as first time round we struggled to get enough dialogue to place over the muted clip when the characters are talking. Eventually - once we had done all the other audio - we went back to the dialogue. I decided that the best way of getting the right amount of dialogue was to time how long each character talks then write a script with lines that follow how long the characters speak for in the muted clip. We ended up having notes wrote along the line of: “Man1: 2 seconds, Woman: 3 seconds” etc. When it came to the other audio (non-dialogue) I added the diegetic audio first e.g. punches, glass smashing, things being thrown etc. Then I added the non-diegetic audio which included intense action themed music that start once the two male character start fighting. I also added atmos in the background to make sure there was no parts where there was dead air. We were also given the wilhelm scream and taught about the origin and story behind the stock sound effect. We were also told to try and place the sound effect into our audio which I feel we did successfully. In conclusion the task was challenging and it introduced us to just how important audio is.

Health and Safety

We did a task in order to test our skills in health and safety where one of our tutors set up an area in which there was lots of health and safety hazards and we were given a check sheet and instructed to find as many safety hazards that were on the sheet - and were not on the sheet - as possible.

Comparing How Two Films Use A Range Of Communication Methods To Convey Meaning

Baywatch

In the trailer for the 2017 comedy/action film ‘Baywatch’ communication methods such as key conventions are used in order to imply the genre. At the start of the trailer slow motion shots are used of one of the main actors - Dwayne Johnson - and some of the other characters too. The shots show the character running in slow motion as well as Dwayne Johnson diving into the sea with fire above the surface, this connotes the action genre very clearly as the slow motion is used in order to dramatise the shots and the fire is used to connote danger which is a key convention in action movies. The trailer then shows Dwayne Johnson climbing through a yacht that is on fire which directly connotes the action genre further. The trailer goes on to promote the comedy genre by having jokes/funny lines between the main characters as well as having a shot where two of the main characters cut from being on a jet ski to being on a slow pink moped which connotes the comedy genre as it shows them going from an epic action movie styled jet ski to being on a slow pink comedy movie styled moped.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

In the trailer for the 2017 sci-fi/action film ‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ communication methods such as key conventions are used in order to imply the genre. The trailer starts off with intense music, fast paced editing and a gang of people breaking into an atm with a laser weapon/tool. This straight away tells both of the genres to the audience. The intense music and fast paced editing are key conventions that tell us that the film is an action film. On the other hand the laser weapon/tool being used to break into the atm implies the sci-fi genre as they are using highly advanced alien like equipment in order to break into an atm. The trailer then goes to the main character Spider-Man as he stops the thieves with a mini - fast paced editing - fight scene which includes the character using super human strengths to fight and spider like abilities in order to sit on the ceiling. The main character using these super human/non human abilities clearly connote the sci-fi/fantasy genre of the film as these are not abilities that are in the real world. Later on in the trailer there is a shot of a corner shop exploding and setting alight with the main character then running to the shop which further connotes the action genre as explosions are a key convention of action films. Also later on in the trailer there is another shot of the main character using his spider like abilities to crawl along the ceiling of his bedroom. This further connotes the sci-fi genre as it is very clear that the main character has some sort of super powers or inhuman like powers.

Comparison

The two trailers share one genre in particular. This is action. Both of the trailer both include key conventions of an action genre. The ‘Baywatch’ trailer includes a shot where one of the main characters dives into the sea with explosions above him. The ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ trailer includes a shot where the main character is running towards a corner shop that is exploding. Here we can see both of the trailers include the action movie key convention of explosions. This is one similarity between the trailers. Another genre that is incorporated into the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming” trailer is the genre of comedy. This is a key aspect of the ‘Spider-Man’/Marvel franchise as they try there best to keep a serious tone in most of their films however they also try to incorporate comedy styled lines in order to make the audience laugh and enjoy the film more. It is very clear due to the key conventions that ‘Baywatch is mainly a comedy which create a link between the movie and ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ as they both include the comedy genre. However the sci-fi genre is not implied within the ‘Baywatch’ trailer unlike how in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ it is the main genre. Within the ‘Baywatch’ trailer there is no key conventions or anything that would be used to imply a sci-fi genre in anyway.

Task 2:

As a class we all went to visit the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in which we were given a guided tour around the building and we looked at all of the current artwork on display. There was a lot of artwork on display at the time as the BALTIC was holding a competition between contemporary artists in which they were given an exhibit to exhibit their art which is then judged by the public. Who ever out of all of the artists gets the most votes wins and they get to create something that will permanently go on display in a public place. This visit was a form of primary research as we physically went out to go look at the artwork with our own eyes. This could have been secondary research if we had looked on the BALTIC+ website instead of visiting the exhibitions themselves as the website is made so that you can only see pictures of the artwork from certain angles and it has all been filtered.

As a group of 4 we went out to record vox pops. We asked people 12 questions about their experience at Newcastle College. We recorded the vox pops with a Canon 600D and a microphone. We wrote down 12 questions that could open up a long/detailed answer in order to get as much primary research as possible. We all took turns on who would ask the questions, who would direct the interviewee and who would film this way we were all able to get a chance at everything.

We also went out as a group of 3 and were given the name of a conspiracy theory. We did both primary and secondary research during this task. We did primary research in the form of going out into the campus and asking both students and staff about the conspiracy theory we were given which was about Paul McCartney. We found that a lot of younger people had not heard of the conspiracy theory but some older people had heard of it. We then did secondary research in the form of looking up the conspiracy theory online and adding to the information we had already gathered.

Primary research is research or information that is direct from the source making it unfiltered and more reliable. Some examples of primary research that we have done is going to the BALTIC, vox pops and asking people about the conspiracy theories. Secondary research is information that is from the internet or literature. Secondary information from the internet is not reliable as it can be posted by anyone or edited by anyone. Secondary research in the form of literature and books is very reliable but limited. It is reliable as it has to be checked multiple times before it is published. It is limited as you are limited to only that book or only that library etc. It is also very time consuming to look through books for the information that you are looking for which is why a lot of people prefer using the internet as it is very fast to find the information you want however it is not always reliable as other sources.

Task 4

For my ‘My North’ video I wanted to make my response to the brief different to other peoples so instead of just going out into my local area and filming local sights as a slow cinematic montage instead I decided to present my video as a journey with faster cuts and upbeat music. My video starts of with myself waking up and getting sorted to leave the house and then doing so. I did this in order to give a bit more depth into my video and to give it more of a narrative. I then filmed a lot of footage of not just my local area put places that I would often be e.g. the coast, Cullercoats and Tynemouth etc. I also filmed some shots that showed myself walking along the coast in order to further more present my video as a journey. I also included signs in order to indicate where I was and what ‘My North’ is to me. I included a sign that says ‘Cullercoats’ in order to inform the viewer that the next set of footage is shot all within Cullercoats which is where I live. Within the shots in Cullercoats there is also another sign saying ‘Cullercoats Bay’ which also helps tell the audience the location that I am currently in. I also kept with this theme by recording the sign that is when you enter Tynemouth which was another location that I filmed at. I also included a sign that indicated the name of a location within the Tynemouth segment of my video which was the sign saying ‘Tynemouth Castle and Priory’. I then finished my video with me walking back into my house to end the journey narrative and video.

Production File:

3rd October:

Filming part of intro

Filming on coast

Filming in Cullercoats

4th October:

Filming in Cullercoats

Recce in Tynemouth

5th October:

Filiming part of intro

Filming in Cullercoats