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My North final edit. 

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Evaluation - My North

When creating my video for the “My North” project I knew what I had in mind to start with. For me, the north is made up of many different well known and some discrete landmarks such as the Angel of the north, Bamburgh castle and the bridges of Newcastle. Because of this I made plans to visit each location and film with both a Drone and camera which both gave different looks and however also came with their own problems.

After deciding what locations I was going to use, I planned out which days I would go and what equipment I would take. For example, during day one (which was a Tuesday) I planned to go down the key side to take some new footage of the Millennium Bridge and Sage which I used in the opening of the video. I used my Mavic pro to capture the bridge as seeing it from an aerial perspective like most landmarks looks more impressive and cinematic which was the feel and theme I was going for with my video. Showing these landmarks to the audience was done to show that these places are what I consider to make up “The North”. For music, I went with something that had a bit of every feel. During the first 20 or so seconds of the video, I matched the slow music to that of the shots making it slow and cinematic. 23 seconds in and the slow cinematic shots are replaced with faster paced, brighter and more lively time lapses as the music becomes also faster paced and up-beat.

I had little issues when filming however the weather was something I had to take into consideration. I made plans to visit Hadrian’s wall and film with an Inspire One Pro to show off the famous and iconic tree used in one of the Robbin hood films. Upon arriving however, I found the wind was way too high to safely fly. I brought my handheld camera as a backup on a Glidecam however due to the wind pushing the Glidecam off balance, I again had trouble creating a smooth and steady shot making the footage unusable. Due to this I quickly made plans to make the most out of the day and time I had to visit somewhere else which would fit in the video.  I didn’t have any problems in the edit however towards the end a couple of sound effects were levelled too high and sounded distorted which luckily seemed to go unnoticed to those who weren’t paying full attention to the details. When in the edit I decided to add sound effects to the video to play alongside some transitions and actions going on visually. This helped give the video what seemed like a higher production value and made the experience of watching not only more interesting but more immersive to the audience. As well as this the addition of the transitions between clips helped the video have more of an interesting flow and a smoother playout which looked more appealing to the audience. I made sure not to overuse the transitions as doing so makes them stick out which is the opposite of the effect I was trying to create.

Overall, I was happy with the final outcome of my video. It fitted with what I wanted to show and convey to the audience and too me, gave a professional look and feel.

My North Plan:

Day one (Tuesday) – Visit & Shoot the Keyside & Hadrian’s Wall

- 11:00 – Leave house.

- 11:20 – 11:40 Arrive and set up camera and drone.

- 12:00 – 13:00 – Shoot with drone from car.

- 13:00 – 13:15 – Pack up and head to Hadrian’s Wall.

- 13:50 – Arrive at Hadrian’s wall.

- 13:50- 15:00- Shoot.

- 15:00 -15:15 – Pack up and head home.

- 15:35 – Arrive home and start rough cut.

Day Two (Wednesday) – College to start rough edit and sort through footage.

- 13:00 – Arrive in college

- 13:10- 16:00 – Edit and sort through footage

- 16:00 – Leave college to continue work at home as well as prep for shooting the next day

Day Three (Thursday) – Visit Angel Of The North & Alnwick Gardens

- 12:00 – Leave house

- 12:10 – Arrive at Angel

- 12:20 – Set up drone

- 12:20- 12:45 – Shoot

- 12:45 – 13:00 – Pack up and leave for Alnwick Gardens

- 13:50 – Arrive at Alnwick Gardens

- 13:55 – Set up equipment

- 14:05 – 15:10 – Finish shoot and pack up equipment

- 16:00 – Arrive home, sort through old and new footage to finish the video.

- 22:00 – Export video.

Day Four (Friday) – College to fix any small problems, Hand video In and get feedback.

- 13:00 – Arrive in college

- 13:10- 16:00 – View video, receive feedback and make some small changes.

- 16:00 – Leave college having finished.

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Task 2 – Research and Design

Lewis Stubbs

Part One:

Collecting research can be done a number of different ways. Certain research tools such as Google, Physical books and actually talking to someone in the required field your looking into are just some of the few preferred methods that can be used to gain valuable research. Conducting research within media is extremely important. Doing such research can mean the production is marketed properly as well as overall well planned and thought out prior to release. Not every research method however is always completely accurate which is why its always beneficial to compare from different sources and use different skills and tools which may come from different locations available when collecting research.

Google or the internet is a very valuable research tool and can often be used incorrectly. Temptation usually gets the better of those trying to research a topic, using google instead of often 99% reliable sources such as physical books is often the preferred method as many find it simply quicker, easier and overall less hassle. That’s not to say everything on google is untrue or incorrect however, how can you be sure that the information you are being provided with is true and reliable? Certain websites such as Wikipedia allows users to edit information when it comes to topics thus making it unreliable. Simply looking on google may not always be the best method of research. Using books or other written research material may be the slower however more accurate option for those looking into important and authentic material and or research. Written material can often be looked down upon due to the amount of hassle and hard work that goes into looking through a wide range of physical books to get to where you want to be. Some may also argue having to travel to a library may just might not be an option. By using written material instead of online sourced information means the researcher can be sure the text has been passed or checked unlike information from google in which most cases have little to no background checks. People themselves however may have the most valuable information which simply hasn’t been written or explained anywhere else. Information exchanged this way is usually special and personal to them thus, making it more reliable (Assuming such person has past experience and proof of his or her work) This can mean looking for research often get a better understanding and a greater explanation of the topic they are interested in.

In order to effectively conduct research different skills should be used. One of the most important in my opinion and experience would be learning to recognise when information is probably inaccurate. This includes knowing which websites or books should be used and those of which shouldn’t to conduct research. This can often be determined by the sites or books reputation, its popularity and possibly how it even looks. Research is forever changing which means keeping up to date with the latest books and websites is also crucial. Failing to do so could leave you with outdated and incorrect information in certain fields.

Making research quicker and easier is something that everyone wants to be able to do however the best way to achieve may to be to simply build up knowledge and finding where to look. This may be through speaking to people which often can be the best source. Different people in different fields can often point the person of interest in the right direction and sometimes even add or interest them into something they had no idea about.

All mentioned above is critical in the media industry as gathering research to market a certain project can be the difference between a production hitting it big or losing money and profit. When gathering market research its may be worth thinking and taking into consideration the fact that every media production is different, thus making the research forever changing which enforces the fact that when conducting research, it may be beneficial to use many different sources. The same goes for production research. It’s important to make sure a company or person creating a media production makes sure to research different content ideas, lay down cost and fundamental plans as well as possibly seeing if the production is viable for release.

Part two:

For my research, I was tasked with finding out people’s opinions and conspires ideas on guy Fawkes and what they think really happened. When finding out primary research I first went to talk to staff and students around the college campus. The first woman we spoke to (we will call her Lucy) said her opinion of the matter was that she had little idea what actually happened however still quoted “I think he was probably quite psychotic and he had decided he had had enough “Although this is primary research (after finding out what some other staff members said as well as doing some secondary research) Proved that not every time is primary research the most accurate, However, Since this was Lucy’s opinion means it can’t really be “incorrect as such “Unlike some secondary research which quoted “36 barrels of gunpowder is a lot of powder. In those days the government tightly controlled all the gunpowder in Britain, so how did Guy Fawkes get a hold of that much? Did they have a contact inside parliament? This piece of text which came from a secondary source was found to be similar to what another one of the primary resources said which was “Because he was caught it was pinned out to be treason” “To find his way underneath parliament to start with makes me think someone else must have been involved “The primary and secondary research both seemed to deem the same result which shows what the most popular and well-known theory.

We also went further into the research and asked a history teacher who had a strong understanding of the events. She quoted “I think Percy had contacts in the government which is how I think he was able to get the barrels into parliament. He was also able to rent a place to stay in nearby which would have been extremely hard for a man during that day in age to do “After hearing this and conducting some secondary research I found a source which said a very similar thing. This sounded very convincing to me and this is personally now what I believed happed. “Thomas Percy, one of the conspirators, had contacts within the government, which is how he was able to rent a house really close to the Houses of Parliament. It’s also how he was able to purchase a lease to the cellars under the House of Lords, allowing the barrels of gunpowder to be transported there”

Having both primary and secondary information to go off meant I was able to see some of the most popular opinions as well as get some straight up facts as to why and how people think Percy was able to buy, transport and have access to the houses of parliament when plotting his attack.

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Task One – Essential skills

Part one/Two:

Wilhelm scream audio task

During the first week, we were tasked with recording audio to go alongside a silent film which we had been given to work with in adobe premiere pro cc. Through the use of a checklist me and my teammates went out onto the college campus and recorded different audio effects that we could use to go alongside the film which currently had no audio. Atmos and other sound effects were needed to make the sound alongside the film work and sound interesting to the audience.

During the task, we had to make sure at no point did the audio go completely silent. This meant having constant atmos to continue the whole way throughout the film. When recording with the Tascam’s we used the following settings to match the video file in premier pro.

-16 Bit.

-48K.

-Mono Format.

During this task, I was able to develop my audio recording skills and learn some of the technical terms such as knowing that 48K was needed to match the bit rate of the video file. After recording the audio and getting into the editing process me and my teammates sat down and began to import, cut, and match the audio into the sequence that matched the video file. We then got into premier pro and created the sequence in which we marked the places where we thought certain parts of audio was needed for example the typical sound of a punch or a Wilhelm scream. After this the process was simple. Adding small audio clips into the timeline to go along side and match with the video. Each member of the team took part by giving opinions and also editing the audio.

Me Myself and I

Another task that I took part in was the me myself and I video project. To edit and create my video I used adobe premiere pro cc.  I used some footage from my DJI inspire one pro and slowly put together my video with a constant sound track underneath and some text which I edited on after effects. To meet the brief, I made sure my video was exactly 30 seconds long and told the audience at least one thing about myself. My video (I hope) got across the basics about me. My age, where I grew up and one of my hobbies.

Risk assessment 

I also created a risk assessment and went through the varies different risks and or hazards that could be found within a workplace and what the best way to deal or locate them are prior to filming. Having health and safety within a workplace is crucial. Having certain rules and checks in place means nobody is liable to take action if hurt which is also less of a risk in the first place after the procedures are carried out. For example, a obvious health and safety risk would be having liquids around electricals which should always be prohibited in the work place.

Part 3

The two movie trailers: Spectre and Crucifixion we see how Both films use different techniques to change how it makes the audience feel for example colour tone, sound design and the use of certain shots or clips.

Starting with Spectre we see a typical action film right from the beginning of the trailer. During the first 20 seconds of the trailer we instantly see what the film may be based around. like in the crucifixion where the trailer opens with a possessed woman. In the crucifixion, the audience get the idea that the film is a dark horror by the colour tone. In the opening, the film is graded to look pale and dull. This helps get across to the audience that this is not a light hatred film and has a darker meaning. We also see this in spectre. The opening shot is graded to make the burning and damaged building stand out conveying to the audience or giving the audience the idea that this could be the basis for the film. This technique follows through the rest of both the trailers. Using different colour tones can change how people feel when watching the film and also give different ideas to what they think it may be about. For example, we would easily be able to tell the difference between a comedy and a horror just by the way each shot is graded.

Another part as to how a film trailer communicates with the audience is through the soundtrack or sound design. Throughout both movie trailers again, especially in the start of each we are able to hear a slow build up. Both have a similar tone however in “the crucifixion the lower tone creates and shows to the audience that again it’s a dark themed film. Audio is very important when it comes to film trailers and the final product in the end. Both the trailers sound effectively fit the film genre and help gain interest in the audience from the start and throughout. Without the use of a soundtrack or any sort of sound design the trailers would simply not be able to show the genre effectively and would not express the emotion to the viewers.

The types of shots used in both trailer also affect how the audience views each film. For example, the opening shot in the horror “the crucifixion shows a grave yard which is something the audience would automatically associate with death and or the horror theme. The fact the shot is from the air means we are also able to view the dark and cloudy sky which has the sun shining through. As this is a film based around religion the viewers are able to make links between the type of shot to the genre without knowing it. This also happens in spectre. Throughout the movie trailer we see the main character James Bond in more or less every shot. This helps the audience to know that he is the topic of the film and get a small taster of the different situations he finds himself in again helping to show the genre. Camera movement is very important. In the crucifixion, we often see the camera slowly moving in and out of subjects which helps to create suspense and keep the viewer on edge.  

Overall both trailers use different techniques such as, dynamic lighting, colour grading, certain shot types and a well thought out audio track to connect to the audience and help show the emotion intended by the director.