Finished Public Animation

Above is the finished Public Animation that was created using Adobe Flash. Here I used a range of techniques that required focus and concentration to get the frames correctly prepositioned. I chose to write my response to the brief in words shown in vibrant colours to appeal more to the younger audience, as it is aimed at students. 

My task was to design a animation concerning the fact that people are using the lift when other people may need to use it due to them being incapable of using the stairs. As I am a script writer in my spare time,  I made it the made subject of my animation.

Live Audio Sync

Our group had to task to Audio Sync our own interpretation of the iconic scene from 22 Jump Street, My Name Is Jeff. We had a set up inside the studio where we had 3 microphones where would say their lines into, plus another to record sound. We had 4 people doing the voice acting of the characters that had dialogue in the scene and they tried to do the voices as well as they could, and managed too in the end of it. Two others were in charge of the sound effects including myself, such as the footsteps and the car door opening and closing. For the door we slammed a draw door back to back a close enough sound without using an actual car. We had one other student using the sound mixer to make the dialogue and sound effects blend well together so you were able to hear it all perfectly in the final product.

For my 3 minute drama I chose to do a Drama that was based on the initial idea of having a secret agent who discovered some secret information that would then proceed to have him make an impossible choice. This was among 3 other ideas that were fairly similar compared to each other, such as having a comedy where two politicians would bicker during the election, telling humorous stories about each other (Image To The Right). When given feedback from other members of the Media Class, but everyone had a difference in opinions. 2 out of the 5 appropriate responses said they’d prefer the Drama idea because it would give me more opportunities to use a wider range of camera shots/angles, which I later found out to be true. They also suggested that if I chose this idea that it would give them as the audience to come up with there own ending instead of seeing it on screen. This was my original idea which I came up with days after we were given the brief, and I stuck with it until it was ready for production.

The first element of Pre-Production that I did first as it is something that I’ve been passionate about since the age of 13 so I got into it as soon as possible. My first draft of the script turned out to be longer to film than expected due to how long the dialogue was. The first time I edited this I cut out most of the voiceover because of how much time it took away from the action seen on screen. The second edit I had to cut out most of the monologue voiceover at the the end again due to time keeping, but also to keep up the pace of the scene being played out. I learnt from this experience that although when the script has been finalised, it can easily be shorten, because of the time limit you’ve been given.

Comparing the script and the storyboard is something that I need to consider in future productions. On set I referred directly to the script instead of the shots I had previously planned to capture. And although most of the shots in the storyboard were cut in the final edit or changed to make it more suitable to the chosen location. One thing I’ve learnt from this is that on set it’s always important to always have your shot list and storyboard to always refer back to in case of any sudden changes that you may want to make.

Luckily the audio was fine to complete because there is no background sounds or special effects that I included in the finished product. I did this because I wanted the full focus to be on the character and how he reacted to certain things, which is why I chose that particular music. The soundtracks chosen were born Copyright/Royalty free so it was free to us, and during researching for suitable tracks I came across many tracks that were either too dramatic or ended up with a dubstep ending which would not of been suitable for the theme of the film. This I think makes it build up tension towards the sudden ending. In some feedback I received, people said that to improve I could've used foley sounds such as the TV channel being changed at the first sequence to make it more realistic.

The visual side to the production was something me and the crew thought about a lot to give the setting and story line a bit more contrast than the original plan. We turned on the two lampshades that were situated at both ends of the room, and this made the room light up to  a certain extent. The weather wasn't great the day we filmed at my house, but this made the mood of the story come across with how the character is portrayed.  For close up scenes such as the shot of the eyes (Above) , James Marcelle suggested we used two IPhone torch lights to reflect the light off of his face to compliment his facial expression. We also used this for another scene set in the Media Studio which again complimented the shot.  Through this idea I now know that you don’t need loads of expensive equipment to make the sequence look presentable.

The camera shots I used were basic but made sense in the overall plot. I wanted to create the tension between the character and what he was doing, and adding the score on top of that made it more intense. I structured the shots so that when certain points in the soundtrack, it would show that during the sequence; for example as he looks up at the ceiling at one of the final shots of the film (Left), the music would easily create the dramatic effect I was going for.  I wanted to use a range of different camera shots that made the film original and not a concept of only a few basic camera angles. I tried to incorporate as many as I could without it looking out of context, so I looking thoroughly at my storyboard and tried to imagine how it would come together in the final edit. It’s something I’ve done with all my productions, I always visualize as many scenes as I can to see how it would play together during Post Production. What I learnt from this process is that when you come to producing your final edit, you need to consider what demographic you’re going to be aiming this at, not just for your own personal entertainment.

For my future productions I am going to be involved with planning each individual aspect out before I can jump ahead into the actual filming side of things. Throughout this process I did tend to rush things a little bit because I was slightly concerned on the timing and the constant changing of Pre-Production due to the 3 minute time limit we had to reach. In the future it given a certain time limit, I would definitely research more into how other professionals have structured their own work to get a better overview on what to expect when I produce another Film/TV series.

I got 4 responses for feedback that were written down on paper which I then copied onto this document below and all of them were really nice when it came to writing down their thoughts on the final productions. They all gave examples of aspects of things they enjoyed and what I could improve on in future productions. Below is their responses…

Maisie :

I really like the shots and camera movements throughout the film. The soundtrack also works very well with the film. The script + story is also very well written. Some improvements you could make could be to add some foley sounds at the beginning eg, TV turning on & letter box

I agree with adding the Foley sounds onto the first sequence; the plan was to cover that up with a drumbeat soundtrack, but I couldn’t find anything that was appropriate or copyright free.

Jess :

I thought Vicki’s film was really really really really good, I liked the dark lighting and the suspense, and tension caused throughout the film. I NEED A SEQUEL...NOW!

Dan :

Good sound synchronisation, Good acting, Good shot choreographic, Brilliant camera positioning, Excellent music synergy

Blaze :

Boom! Sounded great, loved the scenes; contrasted well with the audio & video. Really good, Congrats!

Overall I’ve enjoyed this film project because it’s allowed me to express my imagination while fitting it into the 3 minute time limit. I liked having the freedom to do whatever you wanted with the set brief, meaning you could take it into your hands and have the freedom to create something you never have before with other students who share the same passion as you. My group when filming were quite helpful when it came to filming, with suggesting little tricks to make it easier to film and helping set up the camera equipment. Although Production is a stressful job but it’s so much fun if you get into it as much as I do.  And also it helped me learn a few tricks that will come in useful for future productions that will make it a lot easier to produce, with putting together case studies to get a wider view of what you want to achieve. Hopefully this experience will benefit my future career, showing employers that I can improve for their purposes as well as my own.

Accessibility, Signal and Subtitles

SIGNAL 
Measurement of background noise
Also wanted noise that is necessary for the film you're creating

NOISE

Useful noises that are relevant to the piece of work you have made

INTERFERING NOISES

Unnecessary noises (Construction,Public Noises - If Wanted)

ODEON

Audio descriptive screening or headsets describing to the blind what 

is happening in the film

VUE

Also provides audio descriptions and subtitles

RADIO

For the Deaf : Speech Recognition changes speech into text

In the image above, we added subtitles to a previous piece of work so it was as easy for the deaf to access as we would usually as social media users. 

Animation Practice

We used Adobe Flash to create some basic animations using shapes and various colours.  The two animations above were practice that we have been doing in the past 2 lessons where we learned the tools and short cuts in the software. 

Walking Animation

This walking animation was made in Flash where you edit together still drawn images to make a cartoon man walk across the screen. It is a lot harder than if looks when you don't fully understand the concept of how to put it together. It was very frustrating to begin with because I didn't understand how to make him move but with some help from classmates, they helped me get the job done. 

Public Information Adverts

There are a wide range of different awareness adverts due to lack of road/public safety. Many of them make you feel sympathy towards the campaign and the people effected. Quite a few of the ones that are most popular on YouTube and other video sites, they are all from the 70's or older. Hardly any subtle ones have been made recently, only one's that are deeply depressing. 

Public Information Animation

Above is the draft storyboard and example script of how I picture the finished animation. I have created it to have a similar structure as a short film with how the script is placed neatly together. The script is basically a monologue of somebody talking directly to the audience. 

3 Minute Drama : Concept Art

This design for my concept art regarding my 3 minute drama The End Is Where It Begins. The meaning behind this design is that it connotates how the ending will effect the main character and the people who put him in that position.  As the last few scenes of the short film shows a timer situated on the wall I decided to use one smaller detail as promotion to the project.

I used the colours red and black because they contrast well together but also because it represents the danger of forthcoming events.  Also the wording chosen foreshadows what the audience may think will concer. Giving them the chance to figure the story out independently but also to come up their own ending.   

It was pointed out to me by a classmate that having it as 00:00 wouldn’t make much sense as the quote does say ‘Ending’ instead of ‘Ended’ which I why I changed it to 00:01 to make it more suitable for the wording used.

Mind Map / Synopsis

This is the mind map that I created to show my ideas for the multi page document. It includes all the elements that are relevant such as Names,Images and Target Audience.

A Selfie used to promote the 2015 general election to see how viral we can get it to be. Seeing as Selfies are popular with this generation of Students, the idea was to make it both entertaining and informing of what’s happening in the world of Politics. Here I will be showing a range of images that come across as a selfie or something equally equivalent. Maybe it could also be re-named to something that blends the word Selfie with another that annotates Politics without being too forward with your choices.

Then I will be moving onto something that is still targeted towards Social Media and that slightly different form of address. I will be discussing how easily something can become viral within a number of hours due to how much it has to been viewed/listened too. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are well known for their visual/verbal advertisement, and as to how many people check of these sites of a regular basis can decide a value on how often people would view these 

videos/images that involve the topic of Politics.  

Election Connection Textual Analysis

Double Spread Magazine Article

In the top right hand side of the spread page it states that this is "RED ALERT" which suggests that this page is an important piece of publishing that the target audience would more than likely enjoy. 

The main image that is positioned on the left hand side is blown up to take up just under half a page which would easily grab their attention with the bright vibrant colour and the cartoon drawings. 

The Masthead is shown in a simple font that is plain but also quite scientific due to the theme of this page/magazine topic. The By-line is shown above the masthead which is shown in red which is then continued is the rest of the page.

There are a few images situated at the opposite of the double page spread which link directly to what the article is discussing. The smaller image of Matt Smith above the the thin strip of black with black writing in the centre of the second page is again using a on-going pattern of having circles as a recurring theme. The strip of yellow shown at the right hand side of the page is seen to be eye-catching with the vibrant colour, with red and black text on top of that. I think that these colours were used to create contrast that can compliment the theme and look of the magazine.

The layout of this double page spread is displayed in columns to make it easier to read but also to give it a more educated feel. It evenly separates each article in a neat way by commenting on what that section would introduced in red above each one. This is spread over the two pages as well as continued further into the magazine. This could only appeal to students and above because children wouldn't be into reading all this information if they intended too. 

Resolution

This is an example of the difference between resolutions. A larger image can be distorted if the PPI is lower than the 2 inch image size. However if the image is smaller the PPI will remain the same.

I then found this image from Google where we had to work out how the original dimensions came down to millimetres & centimetres. 

500x375
500/72 = 6.94
375/72 = 5.20
6.94(7) x 5.20(5) = 36.088

Divided by 300
500/300 = 1.6
375/300 = 1.25

Millimetres into Centimetres 
1.6 x 2.54 = 4.064mmx10 = 40cm
1.25 x 2.54 = 3.175mmx10 = 31.75cm

40 cm
31.75 cm

Election Connection (Design&Layout)

DESIGN AND LAYOUT

The UK uses a range of different art styles to promote and advertise products that people may or may not be at all interested in. But they always seem to always try that little bit harder to get the publics attention. 

This poster shown below is an official poster made by the conservative party to go against the accusations of them cutting down the NHS. The way it has been laid out suggests that he wants the audience to focus on the quote is situated on the right hand side of the page, but still shown in the centre. 

The image of David is chosen to make him seem relaxed about the decision, but this again suggests that he could want you to feel sorry for him as it does take up nearly half the page. 

The colour scheme is continued throughout the page due to it being the colours that the Conservatives use throughout their campaign. This is a way of making the chosen audience remember who they are and what they stand for.

The image shown to the left is of a Swiss Style poster/advertisement which uses fairly bright colours to grab the attention of the readers. I believe that this is effective as it's more noticeable than a black and white version.

I like the way it's been made to incorporate the image and the text into one to use the vibrant colours in a more affective way. It would be a good example of a art style to use in a Political Campaign as it's memorable and more attractive to the eye.  

Election Connection Research (Politics)

SECONDARY

 POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE UK - ALISTAIR CLARK

• The definition of a political party is to occupy positions in the government , and also to take  an interest in society
• They contrast arguments to make it clearer for them to understand their initial aims and functions.
• Their Function include Educating Citizens (Electorate), Recruiting  Leadership (Organisation), Organisation Improvement (Government)

CONSERVATIVES

• Most successful party for over a century
• Human Ability to reform society

MEDIA COMMUNICATION

• Expanding to the internet
• Higher Class Newspapers (The Times. The Sunday Times) print more educated political information than other newspapers
• More people watch BBC channels for the news that regularly includes political information
• Newspapers range on what party they discuss most

VOTING BEHAVIOUR

• Both genders voted mainly for Labour and Conservative in 2010 (Mainly 25-44)
• Can range depending on their social background, age and background

THE GUARDIAN (WHAT STUDENTS WANT)

• More tips and inspiration on a healthy budget for food and domestic appliances 
• Cheaper accommodation/housing
• More Student Loans
• Fairer admissions for Universities 

PROBLEMS THAT THEY WANT SOLVING 

Reference : kettering.org

• The constant change in unemployment
• Housing Benefits/Education Fees
• Government Involvement in their personal careers
• Not enough encouragement to vote/Not enough effort from Politicians