Although I have fundamentally chosen to display this response within a transcript format, I have also created a audio response which highlight how I used a variety of media technologies in the construction, research and planning, ancillary and evaluation stages :
Long tracking shot of TOM MATHEWS walking down the corridor into the studio
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directly to the camera)
Hello and welcome to ‘Film Uncut’, i’m Tom Fellow here to gain
all the inside knowledge you want to know from the people behind the camera about
the films that will be hitting the screens near you
INT. STUDIO SET. DAY. LARGE POSTER OF ‘MOMENTS BEHIND TWO CHAIRS.
Close up shot
of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directly to the camera)
With short films now becoming a trend for film as a product, and
now holding respectively its own categories at ‘The Oscars’, we had a great
discussion last week about why so many amateur film makers are attracted to
this form of film when we were joined by John Kahrs the director of the best
animated short ‘Paperman’ and Shawn
Christensen the director of the best live action short ‘Curfew’, discussing
whether sites such as virgin media shorts and BBC film network, alongside
YouTube are a great value or an added completion to this already competitive
market in media. This week we are going to explore an more amateur reflection
of short films, when we go behind the scenes with film director and media
A-level student Alice Leng, who has for her advance production work had to
create a 5 minute short film. Our topic today is centred around the
technologies that are required within the development of a five minute short
film, and to gain a perspective from as an amateur film maker how important
they are in the creation of a non-professional film.
Long shot of both TOM FELLOW (interviewer ) and ALICE LENG (director) sat
diagonally opposite each other
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
Now Alice, I love your short film, the
simplicity of it which still delivers an thought provoking and intriguing plot
is one to be admired, and as I’m sure many of our watchers will agree that the
visual imagery is beautiful and real show case of the city in which we all
live, and I know I for one am taking the extra moment to step out of my own
busy life and look at the world and others around us! Now for today’s main
exploration behind the scenes I would really like to know how as a media
A-level student did you use media technologies in the construction, research
and planning and evaluation stages?
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
Every stage in the production of film is of great importance
whether the film is professional or simply for an A-level production, and in
turn all aspects of my film development from the researching, to the planning,
to the actual construction to the post-production relied upon media
technologies and therefore overall it has played a vital part in the
construction of my short film ‘Moments’.
Long shot of
TOM FELLOW (interviewer) and ALICE LENG (director)
I found that with the creation of ‘Moments’ I have been able to
grow on my knowledge of the technological software programmes of which I first encountered
within my foundation production of the opening to ‘Genetics’ (2012), and
although I wanted ‘Moments’ to be appear realistic in order to allow for the
audience to identify with the situation and protagonist character, technology
was still of great important. This being because technology in itself was not
something I just encountered during post-production editing but was an element
that enabled me to research into the conventions as well as tracking my
progress and development along the way on blogger, plan and in turn produce the
film and throughout the whole production of my ancillary tasks (the poster and
review), I was highly reliant on all technological software’s from Photoshop to
publisher to in-design.
Close up shot
of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
I can already tell that whether amateur or professional film
maker technology plays a vital part in the development, construction and
evaluation of both a feature length and short film. Now Alice within your piece
could you explain to our viewers what specific technological equipment you used
in the physical construction of your short film ‘Moments’?
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
The main primary resource I used throughout the whole
construction process of my short film was a cannon HD camera which I used to
film all my visual footage on. I found that this piece of equipment was a high
enough quality for my need and as I had used the equipment for my previous work
(‘genetics’) as well as throughout this production when creating my own blog
videos, I felt confident with working the camera. The main issue that can arise
however through a standard cannon HD camera is the lack of sound clarity due to
the lower quality microphone on the camera which I discovered from my previous
work, whereby I used the camera to record through a closed lens cap the voice
over of the mother as well as the digenetic on screen dialogue of the
conversation between the two male characters. However as my piece is a silent
film and therefore is highly reliant on sound, I decided that by developing on
the issues that had arisen from my previous work with the sound quality, that I
would record the music separately, within a recording studio this in turn allowed
my sound to be of a much higher quality and I personally think that it creates
a more professional finish. This demonstrates how making these small changes to
the technological equipment such as using a recording studio rather than just relying on the
camera can make a big difference to the overall finish of the film.
For the majority of my filming I used a tri-pod stand for the
camera, this in turn made a difference in stabilizing the movement of each
individual shot, and overall created a better quality to the framing of each shot.
However unlike my foundation production piece, whereby I felt restricted by the
Tripod and to start with was very reluctant to move away from it within my
filming, I learnt that from some of the shots such as the home videos within
‘Genetics’ the most effective ones were those hand-held shots. Therefore
although I tried to use the tri-pod for as many shots as necessary there was
some that it was not possible to apply this form of equipment such as the
opening shot whereby the camera was positioned directly on the floor in order
to capture a low shot of the feet getting out of bed. Although in the end I did
not need to apply this effect as overall I felt I managed to convey steady
shots consistently throughout my piece, I would of been able to use a ‘stabiliser’
effect in premier pro in order to correct shots whereby the camera is unstable,
this in turn teaching me that within post-production technological software’s
are able to correct issues that can arise within the physical production
process, and as a director it is vital to have gained an understanding of such
simple but very useful effects.
Close up shot
of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
I’m sure our watchers will be grateful to hear that the
equipment does not need necessarily to be over complicated in order to produce
a high quality piece, but at the heart of a successful piece is a little bit of
creative vision and confidence behind the camera and off course in the
technology you are using. Now we all know that technology is vital in the
editing stages of post-production of a film, and as you started to touch on the
effects that can be created within such programmes could you explain to me as
well as our viewers which editing technologies you personally used within the
post-production of ‘Moments’?
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
Similar to my previous production work, I was highly reliant on
editing technologies within post-production, and used the software programme ‘Adobe Premiere Pro CS4’ to edit the physical footage
that I captured. A previous project that I had conducted ‘Life in the Lanes’, a
short film capturing the hidden secrets of Norwich lanes, was edited on ‘Windows
Movie Maker’ however although this piece of software was effective for this
project, I felt that especially with regard to manipulating sound through key
frames this form of the software was too simple for my short film. I felt
confident with editing on Premier Pro, as it is a software that I have used
both throughout my foundation and advanced portfolio work, and therefore I was
able to develop on my basic skill and broaden my knowledge of the software
through experimenting with manipulation but also learning that a professional
effect can be created through a simple transition positioned at the exact
moment in the sequence rather than needing to create a dramatically edited
piece. I was able to manipulate the colour of some of my frames, as when
gaining feedback from my initial footage a suggestion was made that some of the
shots may benefit from a slight colour correction. The programme also acted as
a hub for all my external footage, music, title sequences and original indent
from my production company ‘Seaside productions’, and in turn it allowed me to
draw all the separate elements together through cuts and transitions to create
a smooth sequence. From my reviewing previous
work of editing for ‘Genetics’, I feel that my lack of knowledge in
post-production showed through the “overload” of cross-dissolve transitions, I
feel that I have learnt from this that an professional effect can be create
through the saying “less is more” and learnt that transitions can be extremely
effective within a piece was used at the appropriate moment, for example
applying a cross-dissolve over a simple dip to black transition at the points
where the scene cuts from one location to the next creates a more smoother overall
finish to the film. As I mentioned before a strength to using a more advanced
piece of media technology such as ‘Premier Pro’ over a more basic one such as
‘Windows Movie Maker’, meant that I was able not only to overlay the audio on
top of my footage but was also able to add key frames, which in turn allowed me
to manipulate a small segment of my music rather than having to change it all,
for example I was able to add a key frame to increase the volume of the music
for the opening scene, and then decrease it once the ambience of the scene
changed. However the only issue that arose within the editing process was when
it came to exporting my footage, as I was using my YouTube account to stream my
piece, I had learnt from my previous work that the image quality is higher when
exported under a YouTube format, however when I did this the footage became
jumpy and therefore I had to export it as a quick time file which did have an
effect on the image quality. This in turn demonstrated a limitation to the
technological programme as the image quality is greatly affected when a
sequence is converted into a quick time format.
Although I used ‘Adobe Premiere Pro CS4’ to construct my film
sequence and was a vital programme in the editing of my footage captured, when
it came to constructing the title sequence I drew on the previous knowledge I
had gained and used the programme ‘Adobe After Effects CS4’. This programme
allowed me both to create text over a plain black background for the end titles
and also create text over a transparent background which in turn allowed me to
overlay my main title ‘Moments’ on top of the opening shot within Premier Pro.
The programme also allowed me to create a number of layers; therefore I could
create a simple animation sequence for my main title by having each individual
letter as a different frame and fading them one after another, as well as
creating a fade in-fade out sequence for my end titles.
Close up shot
of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
It is so interesting to hear the work that goes on in
post-production, as I’m not sure about our viewers but I know that I for one
take for granted the work that goes into creating a simously simple film piece,
even just bringing the footage together is a much more time consumedly process
than many account for. It’s also good to hear than sometime less is more, as I’m
sure we all can fall victim to trying to over complicate everything ending is a
less effective result. Now we have focused specifically on the media technologies
that you have used in the construction of ‘Moments’, but could you explain what
different technologies you used when carrying out the research and in turn
planning of ‘Moments’
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
With regard to the research stage I wouldn’t of been anywhere
without the Internet, which has provided an almost limitless source of data.
Therefore it has played a great importance in the development of my short film
by allowing me to find out about the conventions of a short film, evaluate the
work of previous film makers and research into the elements behind my own idea
of a silent film. I had never previously worked in the form of short film or
even viewed many short films, and therefore the internet enabled me before
starting the main project to gain some background knowledge. By using Google I
was able to research into how a short film differs compared to a feature length
film, for example the most obvious difference is the length of the film as
Gareth Evans stated "short films are long films that end earlier", in
order to be classified as a short film it must be less than 40 minutes long and
Gareth Evans also indicates that a short film needs to imply more than is possible
to be screened in their limited time. I was also able to specifically research into
the criteria of a good short film, for example a successful short film is one
that rather than following a cliché idea develops its own twist and original
aspect to a certain subject matter.
The internet also allowed me to access websites such as BBC Film
Networks, YouTube and Virgin Media Shorts which allowed me to discover which
shorts by other film makers had been most popular, and from these develop an
understanding as to what kind of plot, narrative and overall style worked. For
example I discovered that as a sub-genre to short film, comedy was well
received this was demonstrated by the positive feedback gained from short films
such as the ‘Black Hole’ and ‘My beast friend’. Although I was not attracted to
creating a comedy, it did help me understand that some of the most well
received films were those with the most simplest of plot ideas.
I was also able to search the web in order to develop my own a
basic knowledge behind the fundamental forms of my film idea. For example I
again used Google, and specifically Wikipedia in order to gain an understanding
of silent film as a form, I then was able to use YouTube in order to access
clips of exemplars silent films for example ‘’, from this research I discovered
that within a silent film the visual images are of great importance that the
story must be told through action rather than words, therefore many of
expressions are almost theatrical and the pace of the film itself is much
slower than a conventional film. I also discovered that the music is the
replacement for the dialogue and therefore within a silent film, it is crucial
that the music works in sync with the visuals. I also used Google as a source
in order to research behind the stages involved within the planning of my
construction, for example I wanted to not only construct my storyboard but also
develop an understanding behind the process, storyboarding which was developed
by Walt Disney in the 1930s is seen as a large blueprint for the film as it
provides the visual layout of the film and with regard to animation or silent
films it is sometimes used in place of an actual script. I also researched the
elements behind writing a script and constructed my own ‘Media Glossary’
whereby I explored in detail different shots, angles, camera movements,
narrative and sound.
Long shot of both TOM FELLOW (interviewer ) and ALICE LENG (director) sat
diagonally opposite each other
Another main
technology that I used was Google Blogger, this form of media technology
allowed me to document the chronological developmental stages to my production
piece, from the initial brief, to the weeks of research and planning, to the
physical construction, to the hours of editing and then onto the final evaluation.
The use of blogger therefore meant I could log my work in an efficient,
interactive and systematic way. In order to personally make my blog more user
friendly and in turn effective, I utilized the interactivity of it by streaming
videos directly from YouTube, documenting my written work such as my storyboard
by taking an image with my phone and uploading onto my page and creating
shortcut links to the websites which I had sourced my information, this in turn
allowed for my blog to be more eye catching, interesting and easier to navigate.
By having my own blog linked directly to my schools blog I was able to be
followed by other media students, which allowed for me to gain feedback
throughout my development from my peers, which has been a great asset.
Close up shot of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
So we have
explored the media technology that was of great use to you within the variety
of stages of the development of your product, and a little extra question from
me before we explore the media technologies you used within the final
evaluation stage of your project. I know that for your advanced production you
also explored the importance of marketing within the film industry and in turn
had to create both a film poster and a film review in order to market your own
short film ‘Moments’, but were there any specific media technologies that
helped your to construct these two pieces?
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
Similar to my film, for both of my ancillary tasks I had to
explore and apply a wide range of media technologies from the internet to Adobe
Photoshop to Microsoft publisher to In-Design and to simply Microsoft word, all
playing a vital role in the final creation of my poster and review. Firstly
similar to with any product, research was essential to the creation of my
ancillary tasks, and therefore the internet again was a great source. It helped
me source the conventions behind each element, for example for film posters I
was able to source from Google Images a number of example and concluded that
one of the conventions was to have a main, eye catching visual image positioned
in the centre of the poster to attract and draw the audience in. However with
my research into my existing film reviews, this taught me that technology is
not always necessary to research, in order to gain an understanding about the
conventions behind the review I decided that the best way was to physically buy
the film magazines and learnt that for example the images for a film review is
conventionally taken directly from the film and that all the reviews had some
form of star rating.
In terms of the construction of my film poster, I used a variety
of media technologies, one being Adobe Photoshop CS4 and the other being a site
that has been recommended by a peer Pixlr.com, although a less comprehensive
programme I found that when combined with Photoshop I was able to distort and
manipulate the original image via the web programme, for example I faded the
main image and using the focal tool made the shoes and label the only element
in focus. Similar to how I used premier pro as a base for my editing, I then used
Photoshop as a base programme for my poster, whereby I could import the image
that I had edited on Pixlr and add layers on top of this original image, which
was a skill that we had worked on within software workshops carried out at the
start of our production.
I also decided to construct my film review on a less
conventional media programme. I started to construct my review on ‘Adobe In-Design’
however I was limited by the software of which I had access to from my own home
computer and therefore decided that I would construct my review in publisher
which would enable me to complete it at home. Drawing on my research I had
carried out into the conventions of the review, I sourced by image directly as
a print screen, this I then imported into Photoshop whereby I cropped the edges
and faded the image a little, in order to create continuity between my poster
and review image. I actually constructed my text boxes however on Word and then
cut them into Publisher, whereby I was then able to use the margins and column
tool in order to establish my layout for my review, overall although the
programmes I used were less comprehensive, I still feel that I have been able to
through media technology create a professional finish. The limitation to
Publisher did however come when it came to exporting my review in order to
upload onto my blog as an image, I had to firstly save it as a PDF this is turn
allowed me to open in within Photoshop when I was at school and from there I
was able to save it in an JPG format.
Close up shot
of TOM FELLOW (interviewer)
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
Wow, well after establishing the effects that can be created
through a variety of media technologies and learning that less expensive
options can still create an overall successful effect, I’ve just got one last
little question to ask, when constructing an overall evaluation of your work
what specific media technologies did you employ for this stage?
Close up shot of ALICE LENG (director)
ALICE LENG (O.S.)
(directed towards Tom)
Well my evaluation, I feel rather fittingly has allowed me to
draw upon all the previous media technologies I have used through the variety
of stages. I have used blogger not only to stream my responses to the
evaluation questions, but also to look back through my who project as well as
my foundation portfolio in order to develop an in-depth analysis of my work,
such as looking at the work I constructed into the target audience at AS in
order to answer the question on audience feedback at A2. I have used the
internet to source additional data, such as that on the definition of a form
and convention as well as accessing images and clips in order to make my responses
more interactive and visual. I used the cannon HD camera and tri-pod to record
my responses to some of the questions, and edited my footage on ‘Adobe Premier
Pro CS4’ but created the question sequence on ‘Adobe After Effect CS4. I also
used photo websites such as picmonkey.com in order to create photo collages as evidential
proof to support my answer.
All in all therefore without the variety of media technologies,
I would of not been able to create my short film ‘Moments’, as throughout each
stage I was reliant on some form of technology, for the logging of my progress
on my on-going blog, to the researching on the basic conventions, to the
creation of the products, to the editing of the footage and even to the evaluating
of my work. However the most important thing is to feel confident with the
software you are using, to feel comfortable with experimenting and playing
around with different effects and overall developing on your skill within this
area.
Long shot of both TOM FELLOW (interviewer ) and ALICE LENG (director) sat
diagonally opposite each other
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards Alice)
Well thank you Alice for taking the time out to have a chat to
us about how you have used media technologies within your work as an A-level
student and providing us with an insight into the importance of these
technologies at every stage of development. I look forward to hearing about
your future projects in the future.
TOM FELLOW (O.S)
(directed towards audience)
Tune in next time to ‘Film Uncut’ where we will be exploring a
different topic and another inspiring director, until then I leave you with the
short film ‘Moments’
Scene cuts to ‘Moments’
film
PHOTO COLLAGE OF MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES
