Friday 12 December 2014
Fiction Adaptation: Final Decisions
There were a couple of things that I completely changed for my adaptation.
First of all the voice over, was going to be done by my mum, and then I was going to edit the voice and change it so the words were echoed. However after recording my mum speaking by herself, didn't seem to add enough creepiness to the film, so I decided that we would do the voice over again and both me and mum mum would read the poem at the same time.
The recording came out much better and with adding an echo on top of this audio created that eeriness that I wanted for my film.
Another thing I decided to do last minute was not have the poem start straight at the beginning. As I wanted to include how the main character got bitten, as well as the attack, I wanted to keep that with no voice over. I only added the voice over once the character was waking up from being knocked to the ground. I feel by doing his it creates a better story with a beginning, middle and end.
First of all the voice over, was going to be done by my mum, and then I was going to edit the voice and change it so the words were echoed. However after recording my mum speaking by herself, didn't seem to add enough creepiness to the film, so I decided that we would do the voice over again and both me and mum mum would read the poem at the same time.
The recording came out much better and with adding an echo on top of this audio created that eeriness that I wanted for my film.
Another thing I decided to do last minute was not have the poem start straight at the beginning. As I wanted to include how the main character got bitten, as well as the attack, I wanted to keep that with no voice over. I only added the voice over once the character was waking up from being knocked to the ground. I feel by doing his it creates a better story with a beginning, middle and end.
Thursday 11 December 2014
Fiction Adaptation: Editing 2
Colour correction
On shoot 1 and 2 the lighting was very similar as the same area on location was used, however when it came to filming on shoot 3, the lamp in the area we originally filmed in didn't come on, so we had to move to another corner where a lamp was. As we could't remember the distance of how far the actor was to the lamppost, we had to guess.
The lighting turned out a lot more brighter than I expected and doesn't match the other shots I got from the other days.
Some shots I was able to colour match, on others I had to manually change the saturation and exposure to get the lighting I wanted.
Veins
After looking through my footage of the bite mark, it didn't look as bloody as I wanted. I was able to create an outline in photoshop where it made the bite look more bloody. After creating the template, I tried editing it onto the footage, the same way I created the vein effect, however the template wouldn't stick in place with the footage, and after a couple of attempts I decided not to include it.
Sound Effects
I added a variety of sound effects to my film to enhance some particular shots. For example when the main character falls and hits the floor, I added a bang, to exaggerate the guy hitting his head. I got most of my sound effects from, soundbible.com and freeSFX.co.uk.
By tweaking some parts of my footage I feel that my film is more complete. Adding little things like sound effects and changing the correcting the colour can make a big difference on the finished film.
Now that I have finished editing my short film, I can now export it for my project deadline.
On shoot 1 and 2 the lighting was very similar as the same area on location was used, however when it came to filming on shoot 3, the lamp in the area we originally filmed in didn't come on, so we had to move to another corner where a lamp was. As we could't remember the distance of how far the actor was to the lamppost, we had to guess.
The lighting turned out a lot more brighter than I expected and doesn't match the other shots I got from the other days.
Some shots I was able to colour match, on others I had to manually change the saturation and exposure to get the lighting I wanted.
Veins
For the veins, I used After Effects and plug in Mocha AE to create the effect of the venom travelling through the veins.
Before
After
After looking through my footage of the bite mark, it didn't look as bloody as I wanted. I was able to create an outline in photoshop where it made the bite look more bloody. After creating the template, I tried editing it onto the footage, the same way I created the vein effect, however the template wouldn't stick in place with the footage, and after a couple of attempts I decided not to include it.
Sound Effects
I added a variety of sound effects to my film to enhance some particular shots. For example when the main character falls and hits the floor, I added a bang, to exaggerate the guy hitting his head. I got most of my sound effects from, soundbible.com and freeSFX.co.uk.
By tweaking some parts of my footage I feel that my film is more complete. Adding little things like sound effects and changing the correcting the colour can make a big difference on the finished film.
Now that I have finished editing my short film, I can now export it for my project deadline.
Fiction Adaptation: Music
After editing my film, I noticed that the the credits didn't have any sound on top and was quite boring. I decided to see if there was any royalty free music that I could use.
I found a website called 'Incompetech' where you can download royalty free music from.
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?feels%5B%5D=suspenseful
I came across two music pieces that stood out to me. They were 'Day of Chaos' and 'Evening Chaos' both composed by Kevin MacLeod.
I put both over my credits to see which one would work better.
Out of the two I chose Evening Chaos.
It reminded me of the opening credits of 'American Horror Story Freakshow'. It had the perfect creepiness for what I wanted to add to the end of my film.
I found a website called 'Incompetech' where you can download royalty free music from.
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?feels%5B%5D=suspenseful
I came across two music pieces that stood out to me. They were 'Day of Chaos' and 'Evening Chaos' both composed by Kevin MacLeod.
I put both over my credits to see which one would work better.
Out of the two I chose Evening Chaos.
It reminded me of the opening credits of 'American Horror Story Freakshow'. It had the perfect creepiness for what I wanted to add to the end of my film.
Fiction Adaptation: Shoot Day 3
For this shoot I only had me, my mum and Max. We arrived on time at 4:00pm and luckily it wasn't raining.
I had my mum to help me out with holding lighting as Illy wasn't able to make it to the shoot. I don't think the shoot would have gone as well, if I didn't have at least someone to help out.
I planned to get shots of Max as a vampire as well as other shots of him transforming that I wanted to re-do.
I was able to get extra shots from the days before, as well as the shots I wanted to get done on that day.
For some reason the shoot was much longer than day 2, even though we had less to film.
Here is the shot list for day 3:
I had my mum to help me out with holding lighting as Illy wasn't able to make it to the shoot. I don't think the shoot would have gone as well, if I didn't have at least someone to help out.
I planned to get shots of Max as a vampire as well as other shots of him transforming that I wanted to re-do.
I was able to get extra shots from the days before, as well as the shots I wanted to get done on that day.
For some reason the shoot was much longer than day 2, even though we had less to film.
Here is the shot list for day 3:
Fiction Adaptation: Shoot Day 2
Day 2 of the shoot went really well.
During the day I was a bit worried that I had to cancel the shoot, due to it raining outside.
I spoke to Max, and he said that he would come along and see how it goes. I'm glad that he was still up for filming, however I was a bit worried as I would be filming the scenes where he is on the floor.
The weather was off and on, but luckily the rain wasn't pouring down.
Me, Illy and Max arrived at 4:00pm.
I planned to get most shots of Max transforming on the floor, as well as some POV shots. Also I would be doing the bite scenes, where we see the bite. I decided that I wouldn't create the bite myself and was able to get my mum to draw the bite.
We was able to get all the shots done that we didn't get done the day before, as well as shots that I had planned for that day.
The shoot was a lot shorter than expected. I think that because it was cold and wet, we all just wanted to get the shots done, however I was still able to get a couple of different shots for each scene.
Here is the shot list for day 2:
During the day I was a bit worried that I had to cancel the shoot, due to it raining outside.
I spoke to Max, and he said that he would come along and see how it goes. I'm glad that he was still up for filming, however I was a bit worried as I would be filming the scenes where he is on the floor.
The weather was off and on, but luckily the rain wasn't pouring down.
Me, Illy and Max arrived at 4:00pm.
I planned to get most shots of Max transforming on the floor, as well as some POV shots. Also I would be doing the bite scenes, where we see the bite. I decided that I wouldn't create the bite myself and was able to get my mum to draw the bite.
We was able to get all the shots done that we didn't get done the day before, as well as shots that I had planned for that day.
The shoot was a lot shorter than expected. I think that because it was cold and wet, we all just wanted to get the shots done, however I was still able to get a couple of different shots for each scene.
Here is the shot list for day 2:
Fiction Adaptation: Shoot Day 1
The first shoot didn't start off that well.
Me and Charlie arrived 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time, which was at 4:00pm. I got a phone call from a tutor saying that Max had arrived at the studios. I was passed onto him and said tat the location was in a different area.
I thought I had given him a piece of paper with the address when I had the test shoot with him. However it maybe it got lost, at least in the future I know to send out either an email or text to confirm location and never to give location information out on paper, as paper can easily get lost.
Helen contacted me, and confirmed that I had the risk assessment for my actor to sign, but also if I wanted Max to bring over a PAG light, so that I had some extra lighting.
Except for having a little bit of miscommunication with Max.
He and Illy arrived half an hour later.
Even though we started filming a little bit later than expected, I was still able to get quite a few good shots, however I felt that I spent too much time on each scene, so I did't get as much filmed as I wanted to.
I was a bit worried about the car park lights, because when I spoke to a bar lady who works at the community centre, she said that the lights can be temperamental and sometimes not switch on. Luckily the lights turned on at 4:15.
Equipment didn't take too long to sort out as I only had a tripod, camera (that had the correct settings, that I set up earlier that day) and the sound.
Looking back me and Charlie could have set up the equipment while waiting for the others to arrive.
I'm disappointed that I didn't film much that day, it may have been because I hadn't filmed for a long time and just needed to get back into that mode.
I forgot how stressful it can be on a shoot, and how organisation of shots is key when you have so many shots to do, luckily I had created a shot list earlier that day for what I wanted.
We finished on time, however if I had informed Max with the location by email, it may have saved time, as he would have arrived at the right location on time.
Here is my shot list for Shoot Day 1:
Me and Charlie arrived 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time, which was at 4:00pm. I got a phone call from a tutor saying that Max had arrived at the studios. I was passed onto him and said tat the location was in a different area.
I thought I had given him a piece of paper with the address when I had the test shoot with him. However it maybe it got lost, at least in the future I know to send out either an email or text to confirm location and never to give location information out on paper, as paper can easily get lost.
Helen contacted me, and confirmed that I had the risk assessment for my actor to sign, but also if I wanted Max to bring over a PAG light, so that I had some extra lighting.
Except for having a little bit of miscommunication with Max.
He and Illy arrived half an hour later.
Even though we started filming a little bit later than expected, I was still able to get quite a few good shots, however I felt that I spent too much time on each scene, so I did't get as much filmed as I wanted to.
I was a bit worried about the car park lights, because when I spoke to a bar lady who works at the community centre, she said that the lights can be temperamental and sometimes not switch on. Luckily the lights turned on at 4:15.
Equipment didn't take too long to sort out as I only had a tripod, camera (that had the correct settings, that I set up earlier that day) and the sound.
Looking back me and Charlie could have set up the equipment while waiting for the others to arrive.
I'm disappointed that I didn't film much that day, it may have been because I hadn't filmed for a long time and just needed to get back into that mode.
I forgot how stressful it can be on a shoot, and how organisation of shots is key when you have so many shots to do, luckily I had created a shot list earlier that day for what I wanted.
We finished on time, however if I had informed Max with the location by email, it may have saved time, as he would have arrived at the right location on time.
Here is my shot list for Shoot Day 1:
Fiction Adaptation: Editing
I started to do a rough cut of my shots, to see if there was any I had to re-do/add in, after each day of shooting. I started to get a bit worried as I only had 1:30 of clips after filming on day 2. I decided to think if there were any shots, that I needed to re-do/final shots I needed.
As most of my shots were done hand held at the last minute, most of them were a bit shaky. I was able to stabilise most of these shots on FCP, by going onto the video settings and clicking on stabilisation.
As most of my shots were done hand held at the last minute, most of them were a bit shaky. I was able to stabilise most of these shots on FCP, by going onto the video settings and clicking on stabilisation.
There's a scene where the poem mentions different colours, for this particular part I wanted to make it look like you could see the colours yourself from the character perspective. I was able to change the POV shots to the colours I wanted, however the colours had made the footage look grainy.
I looked on the effects to see if there was one that could help with the graininess of the footage and I cam across 'Gaussian' which is one of the blur effects that are on FCP. After adding this effect, the footage didn't have the grain anymore.
Before
After
For most of my shots I cropped them, as they weren't framed that well. Sometimes when cropping footage, it goes grainy, because it has had to zoom in to crop. Luckily with most of my clips, I only cropped a little bit off, so my footage wasn't effected from grain.
There's a clip where my main character is falling and hits the floor. I noticed that because the clip was short, it went too quickly to see that the main character had actually fallen. I decided to slow the clip down to see if it made a difference. By slowing the clip down made a huge difference, it also makes this scene look more dramatic.
Fiction Adaptation: Filming in the Dark
Before filming, I wanted to do some final research on tips on filming in the dark.
one main worry for when it comes to my shoot is the lighting, and whether or not it would be bright enough, otherwise I will have a lot of grain to the footage.
I came across a youtube video, that gave a couple of tips when using DSLR's when filming in the dark with little light.
As I haven't properly used my camera for filming before, this video had some great tips, especially about what settings to use, i.e. what ISO and shutter speed to have, etc. I feel a bit more confident with filming in the evening now that I have a couple of guidelines to follow.
one main worry for when it comes to my shoot is the lighting, and whether or not it would be bright enough, otherwise I will have a lot of grain to the footage.
I came across a youtube video, that gave a couple of tips when using DSLR's when filming in the dark with little light.
As I haven't properly used my camera for filming before, this video had some great tips, especially about what settings to use, i.e. what ISO and shutter speed to have, etc. I feel a bit more confident with filming in the evening now that I have a couple of guidelines to follow.
Fiction Adaptation: Tutorial with Simon
As it was coming closer to the deadline for this project, I started to freak out as I had so many projects to do within a short amount of time.
I decided to have a tutorial with Simon to see if I could have some advice on how to cope with all my projects.
Location
After finding out that I wasn't able to film at The Maidstone Studios, I was gutted and was finding it hard to find a location that had a street lamp, and that wasn't near any houses, as I would be filming in the evening and also my character would be screaming.
Simon mentioned about one of my other projects I did and a particular location in one of them. I took a trip to look around the area which I had filmed a previous project and came across a community centre, that has a car park with a couple of street lamps.
I went inside and asked for permission and the secretary of the chairman gave me permission to film in their car park. I was so glad when they said I could film there, as there was space, the lights I wanted, it wasn't near any houses, but mainly I didn't have to worry anymore about where I was going to film.
Schedule
One thing I was struggling with was what to do and when, Simon suggested that I made a schedule for myself, so that I had specific days where I focused on one project and then other days where I focused on another. This advice did help and I couldn't believe I didn't think of this myself.
Here is my schedule, up until the end of term:
Camera
After speaking to Simon, I knew that I wanted to use my camera for my actual shoot, however the lens that came with the camera, wouldn't work for what I wanted to film. I decided that I would speak to Andre, as he knows a lot of cameras, especially DSLR's. I spoke to him about what shots I wanted and the camera that I would be using and within seconds he recommended me the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8. I already had plans to hire a lens as I could'f afford to go out and buy one. Andre also recommended a site where to hire the lens from.
Here is the website I used to hire my lens from:
http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk
It was a great website, you didn't need to pay a deposit when hiring a lens, they also delivered it to your home and would pick it up when your hire had finished. Also the price for hiring wasn't that bad either. I would definitely recommend this site, if you are wanting to hire a lens.
I decided to have a tutorial with Simon to see if I could have some advice on how to cope with all my projects.
Location
After finding out that I wasn't able to film at The Maidstone Studios, I was gutted and was finding it hard to find a location that had a street lamp, and that wasn't near any houses, as I would be filming in the evening and also my character would be screaming.
Simon mentioned about one of my other projects I did and a particular location in one of them. I took a trip to look around the area which I had filmed a previous project and came across a community centre, that has a car park with a couple of street lamps.
I went inside and asked for permission and the secretary of the chairman gave me permission to film in their car park. I was so glad when they said I could film there, as there was space, the lights I wanted, it wasn't near any houses, but mainly I didn't have to worry anymore about where I was going to film.
Schedule
One thing I was struggling with was what to do and when, Simon suggested that I made a schedule for myself, so that I had specific days where I focused on one project and then other days where I focused on another. This advice did help and I couldn't believe I didn't think of this myself.
Here is my schedule, up until the end of term:
Camera
After speaking to Simon, I knew that I wanted to use my camera for my actual shoot, however the lens that came with the camera, wouldn't work for what I wanted to film. I decided that I would speak to Andre, as he knows a lot of cameras, especially DSLR's. I spoke to him about what shots I wanted and the camera that I would be using and within seconds he recommended me the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8. I already had plans to hire a lens as I could'f afford to go out and buy one. Andre also recommended a site where to hire the lens from.
Here is the website I used to hire my lens from:
http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk
It was a great website, you didn't need to pay a deposit when hiring a lens, they also delivered it to your home and would pick it up when your hire had finished. Also the price for hiring wasn't that bad either. I would definitely recommend this site, if you are wanting to hire a lens.
Workshop: Maidstone News Piece
Rough Cut:
Feedback: shaky shots
slow the shots down, don't have them as choppy, so that the audience can have time to look at clips.
Feedback: shaky shots
slow the shots down, don't have them as choppy, so that the audience can have time to look at clips.
Fiction Adaptation: Vein Graphics
As I didn't have a graphics designer on board anymore, I wanted to look into ways that I could digital add veins in myself.
I was able to come across a couple of videos to help with creating the vein effect. I originally wanted to create graphics so that it you see what is happening inside the blood stream, etc. however after realising how complicated this was I decided to make it look like the venom is travelling up through the veins on top of the skin.
These two videos are very useful, for what I want to create. I prefer the first video as it explains step by step on what to do. Hopefully it will be as easy to create the veins as it is to watch the video. However i'm glad I was able to find an alternative on how to create the vein look, without paying someone else to do it.
Wednesday 10 December 2014
Fiction Adaptation: Vampire and Bite Research
I wanted to research some more on what type of vampire look I would want for my fiction adaptation.
I found a bite mark online, here is the image:
I wanted to look at a couple of other vampire films for inspiration, as I am still unsure on how my character will look as a vampire.
In this film, the vampires eyes are the same colour from when they were humans. I did notice that the nails are longer and that they are paler; also that this film is based in the late 1700's. My character will definitely not have long nails and as i'm basing my film in the modern world, no costume will be needed.
I really like both of these films and I was able to get some inspiration on some of the looks used in each film. I particularly liked how 'The Lost Boys' vampires had yellow eyes, and may have yellow eyes for when my main character transforms into a vampire.
I found a bite mark online, here is the image:
I like how it looks, however the marks seems too rounded, like this person has been stabbed with nails.
I found a video on youtube on how to create a vampire bite using FX makeup.
I liked this video, as it the bite seemed easy to do and also looked a bit more realistic, than the image above.
I wanted to look at a couple of other vampire films for inspiration, as I am still unsure on how my character will look as a vampire.
The Lost Boys (1987)
This film, is more of a modernised version of vampires, with costume and how the vampires actually looked. I liked how the eyes are yellow, instead of red or black like most vampire movies and how his forehead was enhanced to make his eye area look more like a creature than a person.
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
I really like both of these films and I was able to get some inspiration on some of the looks used in each film. I particularly liked how 'The Lost Boys' vampires had yellow eyes, and may have yellow eyes for when my main character transforms into a vampire.
Fiction Adaptation: Beginning
I went through my first draft of my fiction adaptation script with Helen, one thing she was confused about was how the main guy got bit in the first place, and maybe to show how this happened.
I decided to look at different films, where they get 'bitten' and turn into a vampire.
Here is a transformation scene where the main guy gets turned into a vampire:
In this clip, Brad Pitt's character Louis, has a choice whether to be turned or not, however the biting scene, is still quick and realistic. In my film however, I want to make it look like the main character doesn't get bit, so this video didn't help much with ideas.
At the beginning of the film, there is a scene where a guy is coming out of the bar and getting attacked. Even though he isn't the main character in this film, he is a supporting character.
Here is a a clip form the film:
I decided to look at different films, where they get 'bitten' and turn into a vampire.
Interview with the Vampire
Here is a transformation scene where the main guy gets turned into a vampire:
In this clip, Brad Pitt's character Louis, has a choice whether to be turned or not, however the biting scene, is still quick and realistic. In my film however, I want to make it look like the main character doesn't get bit, so this video didn't help much with ideas.
Twilight: Eclipse
At the beginning of the film, there is a scene where a guy is coming out of the bar and getting attacked. Even though he isn't the main character in this film, he is a supporting character.
Here is a a clip form the film:
This video was a much better example of how I want to create my bite scene at the beginning of my film. The main guy gets attacked from all directions, but you don't see the vampire who is attacking him as the person is blurred/sped up. When the guy does get bitten, he is in agonising pain, this is also how I would like my main character to act, however not so dramatic.
Overall by looking at these videos, I have a much better idea on how I want to create my bite scene.
Fiction Adaptation: Storyboard and Meeting with Helen
I drew up a storyboard so that Helen had a better understanding of what I wanted to do with my fiction adaptation film.
Here is my storyboard:
For location I got and reply back from Laura, who helped me contact the Maidstone Studios for permission to film in their car park, unfortunately I wasn't granted the permission.
I will have to look into other locations for my film.
As well as loosing my graphics designer, I also had to let go of my makeup artist I had. It all became too expensive and I couldn't afford to have her for the shoot.
I'm going to try to do the makeup myself, however if I don't do that well I can always get help from my family, who are much better artists than me anyway.
Fiction Adaptation: Actors
I now have the actors I need for my fiction adaptation piece.
Max will be playing 'Felix', the main character in my film.
Charlie will be playing the 'Hooded Stranger/Creator' in my film.
Maximillian Hooper
Charlie Ansell
Charlie will be playing the 'Hooded Stranger/Creator' in my film.
Fiction Adaptation: Test Shoot
I wanted to have a test shoot with my actor so that I could practice how to create the bite mark, get him to try the contact lenses and just generally go through the script with him, so that he was more prepared on what to do, when it came to the actual shoot.
As I didn't have a makeup artist anymore, I decided to go out and buy some FX items, so that I was able to create the bite marks, etc. myself.
I brought gel blood, vampire teeth, lip pencils, a colour wheel, moulding wax, scaring liquid, food colouring and some tools to help with putting the makeup on.
The test shoot was also a good way to test other pieces of makeup that I was hoping to use for the real shoot. I wanted to make sure that Max tried on the contact lenses beforehand, so that I knew whether they irritated him or not. Max has never tried contact lenses before, however when he put them in, they were fine. Luckily I will be able to use these contacts for the shoot.
Here is an image, of Max wearing one of the contacts:
Overall the test shoot went great, I was able to test the makeup out and was also able to shoot a couple of test scenes with my camera. Luckily Charlie was in so I was able to film them doing the attack scene together. After doing this test shoot, I feel much more prepared for the actual shoot.
As I didn't have a makeup artist anymore, I decided to go out and buy some FX items, so that I was able to create the bite marks, etc. myself.
I brought gel blood, vampire teeth, lip pencils, a colour wheel, moulding wax, scaring liquid, food colouring and some tools to help with putting the makeup on.
For a scene in my film I have the 'Hooded stranger' aka Charlie lick blood off his lips. As I was unsure whether gel blood was edible, I went online and looked on youtube to see how to make edible fake blood.
I am across a video, where you can mix, golden syrup, flour and food colouring, to make edible blood. I had all these ingredients, except I used self-raising flour instead of normal flour. I didn't follow the measurements from the video, however I was quite pleased with how the blood came out.
I wanted to practice the bite mark, before I had my test shoot with Max. My nan volunteered and I drew the bite mark. Here is how it ended:
Now that I had some practice I was ready for the test shoot with Max.
Test shoot with Max
I first of all wanted to draw the bite mark and see how it turned out on Max. I first outlined the teeth, went around the outline with red pencil and blended it out so that it didn't look as neat. I went around the outline of the teeth marks with white pencil, so that I knew where I was going to put the scaring liquid. Scaring liquid was a great investment because when the liquid dries it creates indentations in the skin, and the more layers you use, the more deeper the dents look. I used about seven layers in the third image. I did try to add some wax to the edges of the bite, however it was really messy to deal with, so I decided that I wouldn't use the wax for the shoot, as it would take too long to do.
The test shoot was also a good way to test other pieces of makeup that I was hoping to use for the real shoot. I wanted to make sure that Max tried on the contact lenses beforehand, so that I knew whether they irritated him or not. Max has never tried contact lenses before, however when he put them in, they were fine. Luckily I will be able to use these contacts for the shoot.
Here is an image, of Max wearing one of the contacts:
Sunday 7 December 2014
Digital News - Kent Life News Final Video
Here is our finished news piece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRn1CWFJg94
Digital News Research - Online Websites
For our digital news project we have the choice of creating our own website or create a youtube channel, to put our news stories on.
Me, Tim, Illy and Sei-Kai are quite interested in creating our own website for this project, so we decided to research into different news websites to get some ideas.
I decided to look at the BBC and Kent Online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
http://www.kentonline.co.uk
Kent online has a white background, with a yellow logo, that has a horse on it. The white horse is significant due to it being the symbol of Kent. Unlike the BBC, Kent Online has three columns, on the left column there are major stories, in the middle there are feature stories and on the right there are adverts as well as most read and most commented stories. Underneath the three columns, there are pictures that link onto other news stories. As you go down there is a section called KMTV which is the Kent Messenger television stories. Further down there are sections on sport, business, whats on, etc. so that you can go onto a particular section.
By looking at these news websites, it has given us some ideas on how we will design our website. We will be definitely including our logo at the top of the page, and will have the background combined with our nature colour schemes, such as green and brown. Story wise we will have our main story on the front page, and will then have thumbnails underneath to the events, mentioned in our news piece. Tim will be creating the website for our news channel.
Me, Tim, Illy and Sei-Kai are quite interested in creating our own website for this project, so we decided to research into different news websites to get some ideas.
I decided to look at the BBC and Kent Online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
The BBC have their own colour scheme, which is red. On the left hand side they have main/current stories on the front page and as you go down the page, other stories can be found. Under the main news stories, there are thumbnails of video's from other stories that are not as current. As you go further down the page there are sections where you can find particular news pieces, such as politics, health, education, etc. On the right hand side, there are links to feature stories as well as what stories have been the most watched, shared, etc.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk
Kent online has a white background, with a yellow logo, that has a horse on it. The white horse is significant due to it being the symbol of Kent. Unlike the BBC, Kent Online has three columns, on the left column there are major stories, in the middle there are feature stories and on the right there are adverts as well as most read and most commented stories. Underneath the three columns, there are pictures that link onto other news stories. As you go down there is a section called KMTV which is the Kent Messenger television stories. Further down there are sections on sport, business, whats on, etc. so that you can go onto a particular section.
By looking at these news websites, it has given us some ideas on how we will design our website. We will be definitely including our logo at the top of the page, and will have the background combined with our nature colour schemes, such as green and brown. Story wise we will have our main story on the front page, and will then have thumbnails underneath to the events, mentioned in our news piece. Tim will be creating the website for our news channel.
Digital News: Presenter and Reporters
After having auditions we decided on who we would have as our reporters and presenter for our news piece.
Ben will be our presenter for our news piece.
Dave will be our reporter for our live new piece.
We originally casted Esther Shephard as our reporter for our museum package, however after delays with replays, we decided to let her go. Illy volunteered to be the reporter, so we decided to use Illy as our reporter for the package.
Ben Keenan
Ben will be our presenter for our news piece.
Dave Chawner
We originally casted Esther Shephard as our reporter for our museum package, however after delays with replays, we decided to let her go. Illy volunteered to be the reporter, so we decided to use Illy as our reporter for the package.
Ilianna Douvli
Saturday 6 December 2014
Digital News: Knitting for Charity Shoot
As a group we originally wanted to meet earlier on this shoot to go through our shots with Dave our reporter, however due to his train being delayed we was unable to do this so we had to go straight to location. While the others were sorting the equipment out, I spoke with the knitting group on what we was going to do. We were lucky enough to be joined with Sei-Kai's friend Kei who has worked on many films and was happy to lend a hand.
Group Roles:
Sei-Kai - Director/lighting
Kei - Assistant director
Me - Producer
Illy - Sound
Tim - Camera
Dave Chawner - News reporter
I wrote up a schedule on how long to spend on setting up, doing a test shoot, then actually filming, however the setting up of equipment took too long and we ended up going over our limit. Lighting wasn't a problem as we had natural lighting from the windows, the main lights from the library and a portable light on the left side of Dave. It was mainly the sound and camera set up that took the longest.
By the time we wanted to start filming, we did a test run and found that the interview with Carole and Angela, took the full 2 minutes we had for our Live news piece.
We originally wanted to interview the ladies standing up and then once finished go over and sit down with the ladies from the knitting group and ask them some questions. As a group we had to quickly but thoroughly think of what to do. As we were all panicking, Kei was able to help us decide on what to do, she said that because our main focus was on Angela and Carole, that to have them sitting and just have the full 2 minutes on them. It made sense, just to speak to Angela and Carole, so we re-set our equipment quickly to the new positions before re-filming.
We got about four different takes and all turned out very good.
As a group we definitely learnt how short 2 minutes really is, and because of this we ended up cutting half of the script we originally had for our live.
As we originally had movement in our original idea we didn't bring a tripod, so when we changed our idea last minute to s steady shot, we knew tat it would come out a bit shaky.
What I noticed when I looked back over the footage was that the clip mic wasn't hidden well, also the brown tape of the rode mic. We originally put brown tape on the rode mic, as the mic was picking up the sound of the lead vibration, even though we did tho, it didn't make a difference as the sound could still pick up the vibrations.
Overall even though it was a bad shoot, we got a great interview out of it. The reporter we had was very up beat, he was good on camera and whilst we was setting up the equipment, he was speaking and getting to know the ladies.
Group Roles:
Sei-Kai - Director/lighting
Kei - Assistant director
Me - Producer
Illy - Sound
Tim - Camera
Dave Chawner - News reporter
I wrote up a schedule on how long to spend on setting up, doing a test shoot, then actually filming, however the setting up of equipment took too long and we ended up going over our limit. Lighting wasn't a problem as we had natural lighting from the windows, the main lights from the library and a portable light on the left side of Dave. It was mainly the sound and camera set up that took the longest.
By the time we wanted to start filming, we did a test run and found that the interview with Carole and Angela, took the full 2 minutes we had for our Live news piece.
We originally wanted to interview the ladies standing up and then once finished go over and sit down with the ladies from the knitting group and ask them some questions. As a group we had to quickly but thoroughly think of what to do. As we were all panicking, Kei was able to help us decide on what to do, she said that because our main focus was on Angela and Carole, that to have them sitting and just have the full 2 minutes on them. It made sense, just to speak to Angela and Carole, so we re-set our equipment quickly to the new positions before re-filming.
We got about four different takes and all turned out very good.
As a group we definitely learnt how short 2 minutes really is, and because of this we ended up cutting half of the script we originally had for our live.
As we originally had movement in our original idea we didn't bring a tripod, so when we changed our idea last minute to s steady shot, we knew tat it would come out a bit shaky.
What I noticed when I looked back over the footage was that the clip mic wasn't hidden well, also the brown tape of the rode mic. We originally put brown tape on the rode mic, as the mic was picking up the sound of the lead vibration, even though we did tho, it didn't make a difference as the sound could still pick up the vibrations.
Overall even though it was a bad shoot, we got a great interview out of it. The reporter we had was very up beat, he was good on camera and whilst we was setting up the equipment, he was speaking and getting to know the ladies.
I'm glad that we have our live completed, even if it was a roller coaster ride to get it.
Digital News: Music
There were some parts where we needed music to go over, such as the intro, outro, etc.
While editing and looking for sound effects, I came across a piece of music that we could use for our news piece.
It sounded very news like, and fitted in with what we was looking for.
Illy was able to find some music as well, however the one she showed seemed too happy and up beat for a news piece, especially for our intro, so we decided not to use it.
Here is the music Illy found:
Overall i'm glad we was able to find music for the intro/outro, I think the piece we chose definitely works with the tone of our channel.
Digital News: Voice Over
Illy being our reporter for our museum package, had to record a voice over for most of the story.
We originally was going to have VO for the middle of the story so you would see Illy at the beginning and at the end of the story, however due to Illy not knowing if she was going to make the shoot for her outro, we decided to do VO for the ending as well.
I spoke to Ferg and decided that we would record our VO's with a program called 'Pro Tools'.
Ferg showed me how to use the program, so then when Illy was ready we could start recording.
The program was a little complicated at first, however after using it a couple of times I was able to get the hang of it.
I'm glad we used this program, the sound came out great and there was no white noise in the background, that you normally would get if recording using a camera, etc.
Extras
We had a statement form Mike Whiting that needed to be read out, Illy was going to do it, but after thinking about it we thought it would be nice if a guy read it out instead.
We asked Charlie if he would do it and he said yes. The only difference is we recorded Charlie on the fostex instead of the program, as we didn't have a lot of time on the day to set the program up and the fostex is much quicker to set up.
We now have all our VO's that we needed for our news piece.
We originally was going to have VO for the middle of the story so you would see Illy at the beginning and at the end of the story, however due to Illy not knowing if she was going to make the shoot for her outro, we decided to do VO for the ending as well.
I spoke to Ferg and decided that we would record our VO's with a program called 'Pro Tools'.
Ferg showed me how to use the program, so then when Illy was ready we could start recording.
The program was a little complicated at first, however after using it a couple of times I was able to get the hang of it.
I'm glad we used this program, the sound came out great and there was no white noise in the background, that you normally would get if recording using a camera, etc.
Extras
We had a statement form Mike Whiting that needed to be read out, Illy was going to do it, but after thinking about it we thought it would be nice if a guy read it out instead.
We asked Charlie if he would do it and he said yes. The only difference is we recorded Charlie on the fostex instead of the program, as we didn't have a lot of time on the day to set the program up and the fostex is much quicker to set up.
We now have all our VO's that we needed for our news piece.
Digital News: Editing
When we had finished filming, our next task was to edit. Due to being near to the deadline for this and other projects me, Illy and Sei-Kai decided to split the role of editing, while Tim worked on our website for our news channel. It was much easier to split the roles as we then had enough time to focus on our Fiction Adaptation unit.
Me and Illy was able to have a kick start with editing, while Sei-Kai went away to film for her fiction adaptation. We came in at weekends and stayed late most nights at the studios. When Sei-Kai got back she took over the editing while me and Illy were able to focus on our fiction adaptation filming.
We have now edited most of our news piece, all we need to is create an intro/outro.
While editing we had a couple of problems.
1. Sound
When it came to recording sound, we mainly used a program call 'Pro Tools' to record our VO's onto.
With one part of our news piece we had to record Charlie reading Mike Whiting's statement, as we needed a male to do this, the sound system we decided to use was the fostex as it was quick and easier to use than 'Pro Tools'.
Once we had finished the recording, we downloaded it onto the computer we noticed that the sound had come out very low. Sei-Kai came up with the idea of copying Charlie's VO and layering it on top of it a couple of times, as we layered it more and more, the sound started to get louder. We ended up layering his sound about seven times to get the sound loud enough. The only problem with doing this is that you can hear white noise in the background, however this isn't a big issue.
2. Framing
On a couple of our shots, we noticed that we had filmed a bit larger than what was needed to be in frame. We was able to go onto Final Cut Pro and use the 'Crop' tool to take some of the space away. The only problem with cropping is that if you crop a lot off the footage it can become quite grainy because it has to zoom in, however as we only cropped a little bit off the edge the quality of the footage wasn't effected.
Even though we had some problems editing, I'm glad we was able to find a solution and sort it out. I'm very pleased that we have nearly finished editing our news piece, however I wish we had started on it earlier, so then this project wouldn't have crashed with our fiction adaptation unit.
Hopefully by tomorrow, we should have a finished news video.
Me and Illy was able to have a kick start with editing, while Sei-Kai went away to film for her fiction adaptation. We came in at weekends and stayed late most nights at the studios. When Sei-Kai got back she took over the editing while me and Illy were able to focus on our fiction adaptation filming.
We have now edited most of our news piece, all we need to is create an intro/outro.
While editing we had a couple of problems.
1. Sound
When it came to recording sound, we mainly used a program call 'Pro Tools' to record our VO's onto.
With one part of our news piece we had to record Charlie reading Mike Whiting's statement, as we needed a male to do this, the sound system we decided to use was the fostex as it was quick and easier to use than 'Pro Tools'.
Once we had finished the recording, we downloaded it onto the computer we noticed that the sound had come out very low. Sei-Kai came up with the idea of copying Charlie's VO and layering it on top of it a couple of times, as we layered it more and more, the sound started to get louder. We ended up layering his sound about seven times to get the sound loud enough. The only problem with doing this is that you can hear white noise in the background, however this isn't a big issue.
2. Framing
On a couple of our shots, we noticed that we had filmed a bit larger than what was needed to be in frame. We was able to go onto Final Cut Pro and use the 'Crop' tool to take some of the space away. The only problem with cropping is that if you crop a lot off the footage it can become quite grainy because it has to zoom in, however as we only cropped a little bit off the edge the quality of the footage wasn't effected.
Even though we had some problems editing, I'm glad we was able to find a solution and sort it out. I'm very pleased that we have nearly finished editing our news piece, however I wish we had started on it earlier, so then this project wouldn't have crashed with our fiction adaptation unit.
Hopefully by tomorrow, we should have a finished news video.
Digital News: Social Networks
For this News Project, Illy created social networks for our 'Kent Life News' channel, on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
We decided as a group earlier on in the project to create a website for our news channel. Tim created a website for our channel.
Instagram
http://instagram.com/kentlnews
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQj6ovEgN2bGaSCXlAPJFxA
Twitter
https://twitter.com/KentLifeNews
We decided as a group earlier on in the project to create a website for our news channel. Tim created a website for our channel.
http://timothywillcox999.wix.com/kentlifetv#!blog/c1y6e
Digital News: Milton Regis Opening Event
Me and Sei-Kai went along to the museum's opening event this weekend.
What we planned to do, was get a couple of cutaways that we didn't get before, as well as ask the public on 'What attracted them to the museum.'
We arrived at the studio's early so that we could take some equipment out for our shoot in Milton Regis. Unfortunately there were no Canon's available, luckily I had brought my camera along with me, otherwise we wouldn't have had anything to film with. The only problem was that my camera only had 50% battery left, so we had to make sure we shot what we needed and then left.
Even though we couldn't take a camera out, for sound we was able to take out the fostex.
We arrived on location at 10:30am, just after the building had opened.
Loads of people arrived in the museum, however we only got about five people, who didn't mind being on camera and answering our question. Though we only got a few interviews done, we have more than enough to use, as we only needed about 20 seconds for our Vox Pops.
We then got some cutaways of the high street and of the building.
Overall it was a successful day, we was only there for an hour and we was able to get al the shots we needed.
What we planned to do, was get a couple of cutaways that we didn't get before, as well as ask the public on 'What attracted them to the museum.'
We arrived at the studio's early so that we could take some equipment out for our shoot in Milton Regis. Unfortunately there were no Canon's available, luckily I had brought my camera along with me, otherwise we wouldn't have had anything to film with. The only problem was that my camera only had 50% battery left, so we had to make sure we shot what we needed and then left.
Even though we couldn't take a camera out, for sound we was able to take out the fostex.
We arrived on location at 10:30am, just after the building had opened.
Loads of people arrived in the museum, however we only got about five people, who didn't mind being on camera and answering our question. Though we only got a few interviews done, we have more than enough to use, as we only needed about 20 seconds for our Vox Pops.
We then got some cutaways of the high street and of the building.
Overall it was a successful day, we was only there for an hour and we was able to get al the shots we needed.
Digital News: Mike Whiting Statement
When it came to filming our interview with Mike Whiting, Head of Swale Borough Council, we all decided to meet at the nearest train station so that we could have a meeting beforehand to go through what shots we wanted to get, etc.
When we got to the cafe, I received a phone call from Janet who is Mike's PA to say that he had to leave due to an emergency and wouldn't be able to be interviewed. We was all so gutted that we couldn't do his interview. We was a bit worried on what we would do, as Mike is a busy man, and we didn't know when he would be free next for an interview.
We decided as a group that we would ask for a statement off him. Luckily Mike agreed, and was able to send over a statement later that day. Here is the statement:
When we got to the cafe, I received a phone call from Janet who is Mike's PA to say that he had to leave due to an emergency and wouldn't be able to be interviewed. We was all so gutted that we couldn't do his interview. We was a bit worried on what we would do, as Mike is a busy man, and we didn't know when he would be free next for an interview.
We decided as a group that we would ask for a statement off him. Luckily Mike agreed, and was able to send over a statement later that day. Here is the statement:
“Saving gems like the Court Hall is vitally important. The
historic High Street on which it sits as many examples of medieval
architecture, and each building tells a story. If we can use history to bring
visitors and prosperity to Swale, particularly the more deprived areas such as
Milton Regis, then we should do so whole-heartedly.
I certainly wish the Museum Group every good luck in its
endeavours to open up the building to a wide audience, and we will, as a
council, do all we can to assist them.”
Even though we weren't able to interview Mike, i'm glad that we was able to include Mike's opinion on the museum.
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