PRODUCTION DIARY 1

This week I completed the research and planning element of the coursework and began filming. I travelled to the Lake District and filmed a time-lapse of Bowness lake. When editing, I will speed this footage up and the outcome will be the effect of the clouds moving more obviously, and boats on the lake moving quickly. I filmed for 6 minutes, so that I had enough footage. During the filming, a large tourist boat sailed across the whole of the scene - I may slow this part down, so it doesn't look silly and too fast. I will mute the clip, so that the audience can not hear any conversation, and when editing add the music. 

ANCILLARY TASK DECONSTRUCTION 1

This film review in a magazine shows an effective layout over a double page spread. The title of the film is at the top in the largest font, to make the reader aware which film the magazine is reviewing. Similarly, the colour of the font stands out against its paler background and the slightly purple coloured text underneath is used to give an insight - all colours are similar, however they stand out from each other due to the tones. Following the blue theme, the first sentence of the review is in a pale blue colour, to navigate where the review starts. It also uses a drop cap to reflect this. The text itself is black and this stands out well against the contrasting white page.

The review demonstrates two images and they both show a backstage insight. The larger one is of the main actor, Will Smith, mid-scene with the cameraman in front of him, and the second is a smaller image of a close up of the actor, again showing crew members. This makes the review stand out against others as it possibly shows the reader pictures that they haven't seen before which are other than stills from the film. The review also highlights a pull quote from the text and places it separately under the largest photo to reinforce it. It is black text on a pale blue background - continuing the blue theme but still allowing the audience to be able to read it.

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

A2 Institutional Research

IDEA PITCH

This is my idea pitch presentation which I presented to the class, uploaded by using Slideshare. I also created audience feedback sheets which were successful - feedback varied but was mostly positive. Many people said that they liked the 'original' idea of an experimental film and were excited to see it, although it was mentioned that the narrative elements involving the seasons had to be prominent and noticeable, which I will take into consideration.

ANCILLARY TASK DECONSTRUCTION 3

Daft Punk's 'Electroma' is a 2006 film by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. The plot revolves around the quest of two robots (the bands members) to become human. About their rather experimental film, they said "We were not nervous - making a full-length movie was like a dream. We never planned for it to happen, but after we directed the videos for our last album we decided to keep on working. We were in the shooting dynamic, so the movie came naturally. We didn't think too much. Whether it's making music or directing a video, whatever we do we do it quickly. When we have a good work dynamic we don't need to ask too many questions of each other."

The poster is black and white, with limited detail and variations. The font is simple and readable, the title of the film in large with small credits underneath. It is obvious that the title is more important than the credits due to the size difference. The black and white element merges the image into the poster - the white silhouettes of the image blend with the white background however not so much that you cannot decipher what they are. The black background creates contrast and reinforces the silhouette - making it more prominent. Overall I think this is a good poster which uses aspects of simplicity to its advantage - to create an effective poster which does not bore the audience, instead enticing them.

ANCILLARY TASK DECONSTRUCTION 2

'Mr. Nobody' doesn't fall under the experimental film genre, however the themes, colours and ideas in the film are quite creative and I think it does leave the audience with a sense of curiosity after watching - it's almost like a dream world. The poster itself has a range of different elements. It uses various stills from the film to show an insight and intrigue the audience as well as keeping the colours to a minimum. The tan, red and white colours all stand out against each other so the poster is clear to read and some of the colours are also cooperated in the stills. For example, the poppies in one of the images matches the red and the tan colour is repeated in the second last picture (the sign in the background). There is also a lot of white in the pictures and one could argue that the tan colour is repeated in the first image due to the skin colour of the actors. I like this photo-colour cooperation and may use it in my poster to link aspects of the film together, especially since my idea of the seasons is very colour orientated. In addition, the font is kept to a minimum displaying only 2 different styles. The main font is used for the title of the film and the actors, showing importance however the title is larger which makes it the most noticeable part of the poster - I will keep this in mind when choosing my title font and size for my poster. The other font used is for the slogan "Nothing is real. Everything is possible." which reflects the themes of the dizzy, curious film and entices the audience as it doesn't give much away. The certificates of the film are also shown, to display the target audience age. 

ANCILLARY TASK DECONSTRUCTION 1

This film poster is for the 2001 film A Space Odyssey and although it is not an experimental film, the poster layout and form is very similar to what I have in mind for my film. I like the idea of using a kaleidoscope in my experimental film to reinforce symmetry and colour, and would possibly use a still from the clip as the poster background, so it is as bright and eye catching as the one above, with limited yet informative text in a bold colour. This example has only the title of the film, the slogan ("the ultimate trip") and a small piece of text at the bottom about the production. I'm not sure of a title for my film yet although I think it may be called "The Aesthetics Of Life" and if this is the case, I may have it bold and filling up most of the poster, with only a little bit of extra text, like the one above. 

I think the bright and colourful background will reinforce the creativity and experimental genre as well as intriguing the audience and also the colours all compliment each other - so it looks effective and vivid without looking childish. The font is quite simple, so you can read it despite the rather hectic background, which I will have to keep in mind if I use the idea of a kaleidoscope background. 

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

I created a survey using surveymonkey to gather opinions and ideas from my target audience. This is the results:

First of all, I asked the participants if they watched documentary films, to identify how relevant the research is.

Secondly, I asked the gender of the people, to find out if there was any biased answers and if the future questions were impacted by gender.
The survey shows that most of the participants were male:

To reflect interest, I asked the audience if they would actually be interested in a 3-5 minute survey.

The results varied - I asked the audience to state why they chose 'depends', and the primary reason was just if the film is good or not, showing how I need to create it to the best of my ability. However, most people said yes, showing how the survey was aimed at my target audience, so the results are effective. 

I asked the target audience 4 similar questions - what iconography do they associate with summer, as well as spring, autumn, and winter. I did this as if I know what they associate with these seasons, I can use it to my advantage to interest them into watching my film by cooperating them in the narrative. 

In addition, I also asked the target audience what they would like to see a time lapse of, as I want it to interest them and also it will play a big role in my film.  The last question I asked was whether or not the audience had watched an experimental before, and the results showed that more people have which means a lot of people know the genre conventions of my film as very experimental and also it suits the target audience. 

Media Production

Moving Image planning document

What emotional impact do you want your filming do have upon the reader? How?

I want the audience to be filled with wonder and imagination afterwards. I want them to feel contemplation and curiosity. Hopefully I will achieve this by my use of colour and content.

What personnel do you need? Who are you going to film?

In the studio, I will film 1 person with projected lyrics from the song onto them. I will possibly have them lip syncing however I don’t want it to become a music video so this is unlikely.  In regards to crew, I will have a producer, director, sound operator (sort out the music), light technician, editor, storyboard artist, assistant director, and hair and makeup artist.

What props will you need?

I will need my camera and tripod mostly. I will also use flash lights, soft boxes and reflectors in the studio as well as a backdrop. I want to use a kaleidoscope for colour as well as equipment to make an animation – e.g pens, pencils, paints, etc.

How are you going to emphasise colour?

Colour is an essential part of my film so I will be using it to connote the seasonal narrative. For example, summer will be portrayed with yellow and green, autumn red and orange, winter blue and white, and spring more pastel colours (to represent purity).

What lighting will you need? Any other equipment?

In the studio, I will be using flash lights for harsh light and soft boxes for soft light, low key and high key lighting and also a reflector for an even tone. I will also of course need my camera and tripod. If I project lyrics onto a person or background, I will need a plain backdrop and projector.

Where will you shoot? Will you need a backdrop?

I will shoot in various locations – beaches, parks, lakes, etc. I will only need a backdrop if I create the projection scene and possibly when I create the animation.

Make-up? Costume?
This will only be necessary when creating the projection scene as the person may be wearing specific makeup and also they will need a plain outfit all of one colour (black/white) so that it doesn’t distract from what is being projected.

DECONSTRUCTION 3

I like that Jamievstheuniverse on Youtube filmed this from a moving vehicle - but the shakiness does not reduce the quality. I would like to also film establishing shots/mid shots from a car, to highlight movement and location like how this film captures the sunset. Unlike his film, I won't have a voiceover, instead, a song. I have hopefully chosen a song that will reinforce the creativeness of the film - I wanted a gentle song but a song that is effective enough to not get repetitive/boring. I like that it is high quality without the use of a tripod, although I will have to be careful as to not have my film overly shaky.

The films I have deconstructed don't have a specific narrative or storyline - many don't have characters at all. This is why I specifically chose the films. My project won't have any characters and the narratives will be minimum. This may be difficult to make a film interesting but hopefully the content will make up for it.

DECONSTRUCTION 2

 

I like the use of symmetry in this video and how it acts as a mirror for the birds. I think this is

a creative idea and may co-operate symmetry in my film.

 

I think it is effective the way the birds move almost to the music, the creator (Mitchell Davis) has timed it efficiently. I like how the camera doesn't move, so there is no camera shake and it is framed and composed well, however my own film would have a variety of situations rather than just 1. Although I do like this idea and could film a bird feeder myself and create a time lapse from it.

 

 

 

I like that he doesn't end his film with credits, he finishes with his original logo. I would like to create a logo to end my film with, like a signature, maybe the audience would remember this as opposed to names etc.

 

 His experimental videos are only a few seconds long, usually around 30 seconds. Mine would be different to this and instead be 3-5 minutes. Similarly, he usually focuses on one subject whereas I will focus on a variety. I like his use of techniques - the quick zoom in/zoom out motions and how he focuses and blurs out of close ups