The way I came up with the ideas originally was the fact I knew I wanted to do something media related because the burning issue has to be somewhat personal and I for one use a lot of social media.
So I thought about social media and what messages can be said about it. I know that I have always been told one thing about having the internet and it is don’t believe everything you see on social media. I feel this has been a message for a long time now, but most people forget about it when they’re talking to friends or watching clips. I am also a victim to that, I always find myself watching things and analysing them to try figure out if they’re fake or not and sometimes it is hard to tell.
I never really watched any short movies normally or watch any specific director to them. I wasn’t really inspired by anyone I just wanted to create something I could think about on a personal level.
If I had to be inspired by anything I really enjoyed this movie I found and its because it portrayed such a strong meaning in my opinion and I can actually relate to it and that was the same thing I wished to achieve.
I planned the filming all out it was more about keeping up with it. I mainly focused on recording the celebrity parts since those were the main sections of the short movie. I tried to get this done as quickly as possible but it was more because the actor was also working with other peoples work projects that I had to split it up a bit and let others have him while I had to do other things.
I had a lot of secondary research due to I wanted to get news articles about well known celebrity and have one that people well know and one that is not so common but the celebrity is still very well known.
So I got an issue that was very publicized and well known and that was the Michael Jackson issue and then there was one that for me I never heard about and that was about Caitlyn Jenner
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-34408467
The research I collected was to mainly build towards the message and was almost examples of how it was used.
I also got research of other short movies so I can talk about what I like about them and what id like to use from them.
I also got some primary research by doing a survey for people in my age group who think the media has strong sources of information. But also some say that they believe the media twists the information or somewhat changes it. This goes with the meaning don’t believe everything you see on the media, and shows that people are also sceptical of some information on social media.
I documented a lot of the research in the context essay but I also talked about some in the reflective page and research page. I used the help for greenscreen to help me edit it and also text overlay.
I added onto the research page whenever I added something or did something new so I could keep track of what I had done and changed in my reflective journal.
With the scene of the movie premiere I could not have done that without researching how to use a greenscreen and edit it to make it fit smoothly. Also with the credits and ending I could not have finished it off like that without research.
The most communication I had to do was talk to the actor to sort out filming times. With this I also had to email my tutor to book out the TV Studio and had to ask the actor to bring in a suit and costumes for filming.
I got the TV studio booked out and got the longest piece of footage done very early which was good.
But also close to the end of the practical deadline I did not get all the celebrity filming done on time so I had to rush things a little which made the whole editing process a bit unpolished so that was bad.
Throughout my project I have learnt a lot about the DSLR camera. I had a camera for a few weeks so I know how to balance the IOS and focus on the subject.
I also learnt how to use a greenscreen which I talked about in my reflective journal and also my research journal. The greenscreen was used for lots of my editing process and project.
I also used RODECASTER wireless microphone for the news reporter sections and the movie premiere sections to get more clear sound recording and for cleaner editing.
During the News Report sections I had recorded my script on voice memos on my phone, I had also recently heard that the way Johnny Depp records some of his scenes is with a earpiece in his ear and someone reading the script too him. I struggled to get a solid recording of me on the script so I also ended up using that method and it worked out well. I had to take a few retakes due to slurring over words and sometimes going too fast for the recording but overall it worked well.
When I started editing I used Adobe photoshop which I haven’t used properly before and I used it for the movie premiere background.
[EVIDENCE IN THE REFLECTIVE JOURNAL]
This was also helped with the tripod when I filmed the premiere section, the bedroom sections. This made it more stable so it doesn’t have too much shakes in the edit and can be set up properly.
The only time I didn’t use the tripod was when I was recording outside so that I could give the effect of the press holding a camera or phone.
The example of greenscreen shown was also a test run. I tested the greenscreen in better lighting as the previous greenscreen recordings I did not put a light facing the greenscreen which I learnt was better for a more crisp edge in editing it away. So I took a test to have one light on my right and left and one behind me to light up the greenscreen so I could know what it looked like.
I also used a tutorial to get the main idea of having text animations. I used this so I could learn how do to the animations in the future but I did not end up doing it in my final project since I didn’t have much time to get the IPhone messages and have the time to edit it before evening having a main finished product. So I focused on finishing my project before editing anything that takes a while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efSlekAuE94
I was happy with my final product but there was clear room for improvement. I think I have to focus on how I use my time and focus on a plan. Since I planned the first celebrity recording perfectly but did not have any plan B for when I was needing a bit more. This slowed down my editing process and effected the final outcome as I did not have time to polish it over and make everything morph nicely together.
By morph I meant with some of the footage such as the movie premiere for example there are sections where its a hard cut from frame to frame. This was because there were pauses and breathes I did not want. I should’ve re-recorded it all as one scene or focused on the frames joining together in a smoother way. I planned to add B-roll footage since my classmate Oli was the actor in my short movie and he recorded in a dessert scene which I could’ve put over the movie premiere to fill in those broken breathers but unfortunately he was busy with his work and I didn’t receive the b-roll footage in time. I ran out of time due to rushing everything and I think next time I will know how to make it better.
My original idea had change from the beginning of the project to the end, in a better way. I originally planned to have the case about murder but if there was any evidence against him then realistically he would still be caught and charged. Assault is more something long term that if it isn’t clear enough evidence can sway in favour due to influence, so it made more sense.
I also needed to act out the news reporter and super fan. With these scenes I needed to take more time for recording as I had to pre-record the group chat conversation in class and then go home and record myself mimicking typing, It could have ended worse but that could also do with more time management and polishing over.
I originally wouldn’t of had any footage so it was lucky that I could record any at all since it had to be in a home environment.
I needed to have an ending also which originally would be the celebrity posting on social media about how he made a mistake. I think with the final edit it came out with more of an effect. The silent noise and then the music I found morphing into the credits gave a sense of seriousness and I think with the last scene it would of looked fake and gave wrong impressions to the audience. So I actually think it turned out better than planned and the fade to white on both sides of the text really joined into the serious effect.
With the original assignment brief I think that it means it by being a burning issue showing that the younger generations believe things easier due to the influence their favourite actor holds. It also has a repeating message used throughout the years of don’t believe everything you see on the internet. It is an awareness of how easy it is to hear things on the internet and believe them.
My audience are younger generations and teenagers.
I first figured this out due to it being about social media you could go outside and look at every teenager and all of them will be on social media. I used my class as example and surveyed them to test their times on their phones. 12.5% = 1
I wouldn’t give my target audience a gender but I would say that teenagers and younger age groups are more susceptible to believing more on the internet.
In the shots of the super-fan watching the news the mis-en-scene was Lego and gaming console this shows a level of immaturity and would portray a childish side and a teenager side. Lego is represented as a child toy and gaming consoles are known for a lot of teenagers to go home and play video games.
Also the fast typing could also show that the representative is using to typing on a phone and handling the phone showing their comfortability with it.
The over the shoulder shot gives a kind of in their shoes views and the view of looking down at the phone and seeing the hands almost like its the viewer typing it.
Near the last few days of the project I only had some of the news reporter footage and I went into the TV Studio on my day off and did extra work to get the footage edited and done which helped massively. I had spare time to record myself typing in my room and the shots of my tv and over the shoulder before Thursdays lesson at 11 so I got them shots in time and that gave me all of Thursday 26th May and Friday 27nd May to edit to which I got done. I documented this in my reflective journal.
I also had an issue with the greenscreen recording as I filmed at home but the lighting blended my skin with the white background. I came in on a Wednesday which was my day off so I could record in the TV studio without anyone needing it. This shows in my reflective journal, as-well as this page which has my greenscreen testing pictures and explanations.
I recorded my learning throughout the research and reflective page.
As I already spoke about, I used my new knowledge of greenscreen editing in this project and it was used throughout most of my footage. Used for the new reporter scenes and celebrity movie premiere. I also used new photoshop skills to edit images and font to make the movie premiere background itself. This was so it would fit with the character profile as he is an actor. I also tried to imitate the bedroom side view from the short movie called Empty which I spoke about in my research. I used it in lighting for a more inclusive feel.
I would say my weaknesses would be dis-organised since I booked and planned out the TV studio and got the filming of that done but I also needed to organise home filming and get better lighting. I don’t have much availability in lighting at home but doing filming during day would be ideal. Or booking out a few days of recording in the studio to get it all done and then have much more time for the edits and animations.
I think in the future if I use a green background it would work much much better and I could always borrow one. This would help for the future.
I also know how to light up a green screen in the studio better and can use that in the future.
It was my first time using the wireless microphones and it worked well as the audio came out clear enough. In the future I think I would go with more suitable costumes so that the microphone doesn’t have any scratchy audio but overall they worked well.
Recording the movie premiere scene went well I would just use the same method of scripting as I did in the news reporter scene. This is because the celebrity sections were much longer and also a lot more to read out. So I would be able to play the audio from where he’s sat, and after each question and response, I would ask him to freeze and then I would play the next voice memo behind the camera after I asked the question so he could answer it right away.
This final project is a major help to increase my skills for the future, as I’ve said before I have learnt more about the DSLR camera. Lighting on the green-screen, and also editing the green-screen itself. I had never used a green-screen before this project and I would personally say that in the professional industry green-screens are used almost all the time, so this helps me improve to higher education and helps me be able to do so much more with green-screen editing.
I have also taken into account that doing independent planning is a lot harder than it seems. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to know how important planning everything is instead of just doing everything as it comes to me. In the future I will be sure to know what I’m doing before I do it so I don’t “half-ass” it, and I would also like to work with microphones more so that the audio is clear and also practice recording outside to practice smoothing audio sounds and to include more open area footage for more effectiveness.
I would also like to work with lighting to understand how to get the perfect lighting and effects I needed for each and every mood. Gradients and colours are also important to use more in the future to express emotions.
I will also remember that B-roll footage, even though I may not need it, if I get the chance I should try to get some just to fill in gaps of some scenes that have audio issues or footage cuts.
I hope in University I will be able to learn these things and more things that I haven’t considered. This is because I want to learn as many skills as possible so I will be suitable for many positions. I would just like to learn how to do the general of recording on set or recording as a team. This will help me adapt to working better with a team and also help me get better at what I am working on.
It will also help me get better at planning and organising myself. I think this final major project I had a lot of preparations in my head but I need to learn to note it down and write about it so I can keep track and I would like to get used to these scenarios in University.
Eva's Blog 