Monday, 13 December 2010
Synopsis
Our film is about a man called Sam that has an addiction to killing people. The film opens with us seeing all of the tools laid out in his bedroom with lots of candles. This shows us that he is a bit mad. Whilst this scene is going on we also see shots of an empty room with a phone ringing. This gives the audience suspicion as to what is going on. We then see Sam meet his friend Josh in a park. Josh knows about Sam’s obsession but thinks that it has gone too far and is going to go the police. This then inspires Sam to kill josh to keep his secret safe. The overall mood of the play is very dark and mysterious.
Video technology evaluation: The Project
Over the past six weeks we have been working on a thriller in a group of three. We had to make a three minute opening to a thriller movie.
In our project I think that the process that we used to both film and edit the thriller worked really well because we worked well as a team and listened to each other’s ideas. However the filming sequence in the park would have probably worked better if it were in a quieter location. During the edit when we first imported our work onto the computer we found that we felt like we didn’t have enough footage that we could use. This was because where we had shot the majority of the footage was in a room with not very good lighting so allot of the film taken was rather grainy. However we overcame this by changing the style that the film would be portrayed in than what we had originally thought. During the location shoot my main role was to direct the actors and crew as to where they should be and what they should be doing. I also helped to create the shots that are scene in the thriller. This was quite a hard job because I had to think about what would look good in the finished product and what the group were trying to achieve in the thriller. We used final cut pro to edit our thriller’s audio and visual aspects so that it was ready for us to use soundtrack pro to create fitting music for our project. We imported our video into soundtrack pro so that we could make the soundtrack fit to the visual drops in the film. We also learned how to de-interlace our project and then export it so that it was ready to be compressed into different formats.
I think that we used the technology to its full potential because we used a wide variety of shots and angles in the bedroom scenes. We also used the focus in some of the shots to create an interesting looking piece. During the bedroom scenes we had lots of candles in the room and I think that by getting right up close to them with the camera and boom microphone we were able to capture some very interesting sound and visuals. If we could have had some extra equipment I think that I would have like to have some lights for the indoor shot because in the finished product the lighting that we had makes the shots look kind of grainy. We tried to correct this in Final Cut by colour correcting the picture and I think this helped. Also I would have liked to have had a dolly for the park scene because we had no entrance to the scene and I think that this confused people and made the story unclear. If we were to do the project again then I think that I would also have changed the script in the park scene to exclude the ten year old section because this was confusing the audience. Also I think that I would have tried to make the story clearer because allot of the feedback that we received made it seem as if the story was unclear and not portrayed well enough.
I think that the music worked well with the thriller because it helped to add an atmosphere to the thriller. I specifically like the music in the last part of the thriller because it gives the whole ending sequence an eerie feel because the music is very distorted and strange. I think that our opening works well as a thriller because it builds suspense, creates an enigma and does not reveal the entire story at once. I think that our thriller is quite conventional because it obeys most of the conventions of a thriller. Such as: creating a tense atmosphere, using dark shadows and interesting camera angles to create a sense of foreboding and mystery. We received quite allot of feedback that said that “the story was hard to follow,” but we also got some feedback saying that “there was a good variety of shots and camera movement”. Based on the feedback that we received I would have made the story a bit less confusing, use better lighting in the bedroom scenes and also give the audience more evidence that the main character is the killer.
In our project I think that the process that we used to both film and edit the thriller worked really well because we worked well as a team and listened to each other’s ideas. However the filming sequence in the park would have probably worked better if it were in a quieter location. During the edit when we first imported our work onto the computer we found that we felt like we didn’t have enough footage that we could use. This was because where we had shot the majority of the footage was in a room with not very good lighting so allot of the film taken was rather grainy. However we overcame this by changing the style that the film would be portrayed in than what we had originally thought. During the location shoot my main role was to direct the actors and crew as to where they should be and what they should be doing. I also helped to create the shots that are scene in the thriller. This was quite a hard job because I had to think about what would look good in the finished product and what the group were trying to achieve in the thriller. We used final cut pro to edit our thriller’s audio and visual aspects so that it was ready for us to use soundtrack pro to create fitting music for our project. We imported our video into soundtrack pro so that we could make the soundtrack fit to the visual drops in the film. We also learned how to de-interlace our project and then export it so that it was ready to be compressed into different formats.
I think that we used the technology to its full potential because we used a wide variety of shots and angles in the bedroom scenes. We also used the focus in some of the shots to create an interesting looking piece. During the bedroom scenes we had lots of candles in the room and I think that by getting right up close to them with the camera and boom microphone we were able to capture some very interesting sound and visuals. If we could have had some extra equipment I think that I would have like to have some lights for the indoor shot because in the finished product the lighting that we had makes the shots look kind of grainy. We tried to correct this in Final Cut by colour correcting the picture and I think this helped. Also I would have liked to have had a dolly for the park scene because we had no entrance to the scene and I think that this confused people and made the story unclear. If we were to do the project again then I think that I would also have changed the script in the park scene to exclude the ten year old section because this was confusing the audience. Also I think that I would have tried to make the story clearer because allot of the feedback that we received made it seem as if the story was unclear and not portrayed well enough.
I think that the music worked well with the thriller because it helped to add an atmosphere to the thriller. I specifically like the music in the last part of the thriller because it gives the whole ending sequence an eerie feel because the music is very distorted and strange. I think that our opening works well as a thriller because it builds suspense, creates an enigma and does not reveal the entire story at once. I think that our thriller is quite conventional because it obeys most of the conventions of a thriller. Such as: creating a tense atmosphere, using dark shadows and interesting camera angles to create a sense of foreboding and mystery. We received quite allot of feedback that said that “the story was hard to follow,” but we also got some feedback saying that “there was a good variety of shots and camera movement”. Based on the feedback that we received I would have made the story a bit less confusing, use better lighting in the bedroom scenes and also give the audience more evidence that the main character is the killer.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Digital Television Technology
Digital technology has enabled us to radically change the way that we watch and use TV and film. Because digital signals can be compressed easily we can now have lots more channels with better quality. Also because it can be compressed it means that the data can be stored in very small devices such as USB drives, I-pods and phones. This makes the storage of shows and films a lot easier because it takes up much less space. This allows us to have lots of film on our computers and on the internet (YouTube). Digital has also vastly improved editing. Because it has moved from tape to computers it has made editing much more instant. Also you can add special effects with digital far easier than with tape. Digital has made editing far easier because everything that would have taken a long time before can now be done instantly at the touch of a button.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
The Blue Banana Company: Equipment list
• Post 16 SONY camera (& 2 batteries + TAPE). (Mark)
• TRIPOD. (Mark)
• BOOM mic. (Mark)
• 2 Lamps. (Mikey)
• Candles x8. (Jude)
• Suits x2. (Sam & Josh)
• Assorted gardening tools. (Mikey)
• Girls clothes x4. (Jude)
• Police tape. (Mikey)
• Fake blood x1. (Charlie)
• Assorted food products. (all)
• TRIPOD. (Mark)
• BOOM mic. (Mark)
• 2 Lamps. (Mikey)
• Candles x8. (Jude)
• Suits x2. (Sam & Josh)
• Assorted gardening tools. (Mikey)
• Girls clothes x4. (Jude)
• Police tape. (Mikey)
• Fake blood x1. (Charlie)
• Assorted food products. (all)
Thriller conventions
Suspense, tension and excitement.
These are the typical features of a thriller. They are what makes a thriller a thriller. They help carry the films story and draw the audience into the story.
Atmosphere.
The atmosphere is the sense that something bad could happen at any point in the film. It is usually built with ominous shots and eerie music.
Fast passed music (minimalistic).
Minimalistic music is usually the style of music that thriller directors use. This is because it is typically very fast, strange sounding and punchy it is perfect for creating the right atmosphere that thrillers need.
Makes the audience use its imagination.
In a lot of thrillers the killer or the enigma is not show until the very end of the film or at all. This helps to scare the audience and build suspense because they are imagining something far scarier because they cannot see the real enigma.
Plain titles.
This technique is usually used because it does not give a lot away about the content of the film. The plain credits also help to build the atmosphere.
Dark lighting and shadows.
These are used for the obvious reason that when its dark and things are obscured by shadow it is instantly a scary atmosphere. These things help to suck the audience into the story and be scared by the events happening on screen.
No bright colours.
This is used because if there is an absence of colour then the story and setting seem bleak and hopeless. This helps to give atmosphere to the story because it seems like there was no hope from the beginning.
Creates questions, Draw in the audience.
Often from the very beginning of a thriller the first three minutes leave the audience with loads of questions. This is to draw the audience in and helps to hook them and make them keep watching the film.
These are the typical features of a thriller. They are what makes a thriller a thriller. They help carry the films story and draw the audience into the story.
Atmosphere.
The atmosphere is the sense that something bad could happen at any point in the film. It is usually built with ominous shots and eerie music.
Fast passed music (minimalistic).
Minimalistic music is usually the style of music that thriller directors use. This is because it is typically very fast, strange sounding and punchy it is perfect for creating the right atmosphere that thrillers need.
Makes the audience use its imagination.
In a lot of thrillers the killer or the enigma is not show until the very end of the film or at all. This helps to scare the audience and build suspense because they are imagining something far scarier because they cannot see the real enigma.
Plain titles.
This technique is usually used because it does not give a lot away about the content of the film. The plain credits also help to build the atmosphere.
Dark lighting and shadows.
These are used for the obvious reason that when its dark and things are obscured by shadow it is instantly a scary atmosphere. These things help to suck the audience into the story and be scared by the events happening on screen.
No bright colours.
This is used because if there is an absence of colour then the story and setting seem bleak and hopeless. This helps to give atmosphere to the story because it seems like there was no hope from the beginning.
Creates questions, Draw in the audience.
Often from the very beginning of a thriller the first three minutes leave the audience with loads of questions. This is to draw the audience in and helps to hook them and make them keep watching the film.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Camera Test
1. Two effects of increasing video gain are that the camera lets in more light but the quality of the picture will become grainy.
2. The shutter speed should usually be set at 50 frames per second.
3. You should increase the shutter speed when you want to slow something down in post production. A side effect of this is that the camera requires more light.
4. The white balance is to set the colour balance right.
5. Increasing the audio gain increases the volume but can cause distortion.
6. The presses of focusing are: focus in, zoom in, focus on hair, then use expanded focus.
7. The ND filter is used for shooting outside in overexposed conditions. The effect is that it makes the shot darker.
8. While shooting in a dark room the exposure would be better at F1.
2. The shutter speed should usually be set at 50 frames per second.
3. You should increase the shutter speed when you want to slow something down in post production. A side effect of this is that the camera requires more light.
4. The white balance is to set the colour balance right.
5. Increasing the audio gain increases the volume but can cause distortion.
6. The presses of focusing are: focus in, zoom in, focus on hair, then use expanded focus.
7. The ND filter is used for shooting outside in overexposed conditions. The effect is that it makes the shot darker.
8. While shooting in a dark room the exposure would be better at F1.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Digital Television Technology
Digital technology has enabled us to radically change the way that we watch and use TV and film. Because digital signals can be compressed easily we can now have lots more channels with better quality. Also because it can be compressed it means that the data can be stored in very small devices such as USB drives, I-pods and phones. This makes the storage of shows and films a lot easier because it takes up much less space. This allows us to have lots of film on our computers and on the internet (YouTube). Digital has also vastly improved editing. Because it has moved from tape to computers it has made editing much more instant. Also you can add special effects with digital far easier than with tape. Digital has made editing far easier because everything that would have taken a long time before can now be done instantly at the touch of a button.
TV Featrures
TV Pixels
TV pictures are all made up of tiny dots called pixels. However when we see the image on a TV screen our brain puts the small dots back together and we see a complete image. The more pixels the image has means that the resolution of the image will be better meaning that the quality of the picture is better.
TV motion
TV is not made up of moving images. It is made up of lots of still images that are played at 25 frames a second in the UK. At this speed images seem to run together smoothly and not jerky. Anything below this would produce jolty movement on screen.
TV screen
TV screens are made up of hundreds of lines that are called scan lines. There are 525 lines on a UK TV. Different countries have different standards of the number of lines per screen and numbers of frames per second. The lines do not go on the screen all at once but in lines.
TV pictures are all made up of tiny dots called pixels. However when we see the image on a TV screen our brain puts the small dots back together and we see a complete image. The more pixels the image has means that the resolution of the image will be better meaning that the quality of the picture is better.
TV motion
TV is not made up of moving images. It is made up of lots of still images that are played at 25 frames a second in the UK. At this speed images seem to run together smoothly and not jerky. Anything below this would produce jolty movement on screen.
TV screen
TV screens are made up of hundreds of lines that are called scan lines. There are 525 lines on a UK TV. Different countries have different standards of the number of lines per screen and numbers of frames per second. The lines do not go on the screen all at once but in lines.
Aspect Ratio
Aspect ratio is the shape of the TV screen. Old TV’s were all in 4:3 which is almost a square. Now most modern TV’s are all in 16:9. The 16:9 aspects give the viewer a panoramic view which immerses the viewer into the action that is happening on screen. This makes for better viewing.
Pan and scan
However when you have a TV show that is in 4:3 and it has to fit onto a 16:9 screen then if you don’t convert it then the picture will be very stretched. To prevent this from happening you have to pillarbox the screen so that two black bars appear on either side of the screen.
UK broadcast systems
Terrestrial broadcasting
Terrestrial broadcasting is the broadcasting of images and media through radio waves. This is done by erecting large radio antenna that then broadcast the radio waves to smaller antenna that are attached to a person’s house. The BBC broadcast on terrestrial. This method of TV broadcasting has been used for a long time. With analogue broadcasting there are only a certain amount of TV channels that can be broadcast because of the bandwidth. The bandwidth is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum. There are quite a few drawbacks with analogue broadcasting. For one if the weather is bad then you can lose the signal on your TV. Also radio antenna cannot broadcast very far so you need lots of them to cover a wide area. And lastly if your house is situated behind a hill and the antenna is on the other side then you will not receive much signal because the radio waves cannot travel through solid objects. However now with the invention of digital terrestrial we can now use a multiplex to combine lots of TV signals into one bandwidth. This means that we can now get more channels on a terrestrial broadcast. Digital signals are better than analogue because they can give better quality of picture and sound. They can now also introduce interactive aspects into digital TV.
Satellite broadcasting
Satellite broadcasting is when the TV station transmits the TV signal to a satellite that is situated in orbit around the earth. SKY is the biggest UK provider of satellite TV. This satellite then transmits the signal back down to earth and to the houses that have the receiving dish. This method of broadcasting is a lot better that terrestrial broadcasting because of a number of things. One is that you can broadcast much more channels. This means that now there are a lot more channels that can cater to the wide diversity of the British audience. But know because of digital terrestrial we can get more channels without having to pay for satellite. Also there is no problem with the lay of the land because the satellite is above the land. Also the quality of the signal is a lot better because you don’t lose the signal of the TV if the weather is bad. This is why lots of people are prepared to pay for their TV to come from satellite because they know that they will have very little problems with loss of signal. But now that we have digital TV there are more channels available on terrestrial which means that people who don’t want to pay for satellite can still get more channels than they used to be able to get. For example with freeview you only pay about £30 pounds for the box and then once you have bought it you don’t have to pay anything else and you get about 80 channels.
Cable TV broadcasting
Cable broadcasting is when you receive your TV signals trough cables that are run under your street. . They can give the same channels and quality as satellite but there are more problems with getting cable than there are with getting satellite. Virgin media is the leading cable TV provider in the UK. It supplies a number of different cable packages that can even include phone packages. This means that virgin own 95% of the UK market. This is called a monopoly. The main problem is that if you do not have a cable running under your street then there is no way that you can receive cable. Also to put a new cable in you have to do major work to the road to get the cable in. And then if it breaks then you have repeat the whole process again. However the upshot of this is that the programmes come straight from the TV station to your TV. And an advantage for the broadcaster is that once you get a cable in then that street can only get cable from you. But then a disadvantage for the viewer is that if they don’t want to be with the cable company on their street then they don’t really have many other options apart from satellite or freeview. This means that you are more likely to get more customers. However one big disadvantage with all of these mediums of broadcasting is that now they have more channels there will be much more competition for the audience. And also with more channels means that they will also have to lower their advertising slot prices because if theirs are too high then the advertiser will just go somewhere else.
Internet protocol Television (IPTV)
Internet TV is brought to us over broadband and they bring us sites like 4OD and BBC iplayer that play TV shows that have been on TV on the internet. Broadband is a high frequency signal on the telephone lines. This is very good for us as a consumer because we can watch programmes that they have missed online and on some of the sites like 4OD they have old TV shows that were on channel 4 at one point but aren’t any more. Most video’s that you watch on the internet use buffering where you can temporarily download and watch. Then you can also stream TV shows which mean that you download it onto your computer and watch it whenever you want. However for the TV stations it means that they now have to find a way to make money from this without charging for usage. BBC iplayer have set their catch up site so that the programmes run out after about 2 weeks after they were first aired but the other internet sites have had to put adverts on their internet sites. I think that if we can just watch the TV on the internet then it will discourage lots of people from watching TV. I think this because the people now being able to watch TV whenever they want they will not watch the shows on TV. This means that along with all the other factors that I have mentioned the broadcast methods are changing.
Terrestrial broadcasting is the broadcasting of images and media through radio waves. This is done by erecting large radio antenna that then broadcast the radio waves to smaller antenna that are attached to a person’s house. The BBC broadcast on terrestrial. This method of TV broadcasting has been used for a long time. With analogue broadcasting there are only a certain amount of TV channels that can be broadcast because of the bandwidth. The bandwidth is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum. There are quite a few drawbacks with analogue broadcasting. For one if the weather is bad then you can lose the signal on your TV. Also radio antenna cannot broadcast very far so you need lots of them to cover a wide area. And lastly if your house is situated behind a hill and the antenna is on the other side then you will not receive much signal because the radio waves cannot travel through solid objects. However now with the invention of digital terrestrial we can now use a multiplex to combine lots of TV signals into one bandwidth. This means that we can now get more channels on a terrestrial broadcast. Digital signals are better than analogue because they can give better quality of picture and sound. They can now also introduce interactive aspects into digital TV.
Satellite broadcasting
Satellite broadcasting is when the TV station transmits the TV signal to a satellite that is situated in orbit around the earth. SKY is the biggest UK provider of satellite TV. This satellite then transmits the signal back down to earth and to the houses that have the receiving dish. This method of broadcasting is a lot better that terrestrial broadcasting because of a number of things. One is that you can broadcast much more channels. This means that now there are a lot more channels that can cater to the wide diversity of the British audience. But know because of digital terrestrial we can get more channels without having to pay for satellite. Also there is no problem with the lay of the land because the satellite is above the land. Also the quality of the signal is a lot better because you don’t lose the signal of the TV if the weather is bad. This is why lots of people are prepared to pay for their TV to come from satellite because they know that they will have very little problems with loss of signal. But now that we have digital TV there are more channels available on terrestrial which means that people who don’t want to pay for satellite can still get more channels than they used to be able to get. For example with freeview you only pay about £30 pounds for the box and then once you have bought it you don’t have to pay anything else and you get about 80 channels.
Cable TV broadcasting
Cable broadcasting is when you receive your TV signals trough cables that are run under your street. . They can give the same channels and quality as satellite but there are more problems with getting cable than there are with getting satellite. Virgin media is the leading cable TV provider in the UK. It supplies a number of different cable packages that can even include phone packages. This means that virgin own 95% of the UK market. This is called a monopoly. The main problem is that if you do not have a cable running under your street then there is no way that you can receive cable. Also to put a new cable in you have to do major work to the road to get the cable in. And then if it breaks then you have repeat the whole process again. However the upshot of this is that the programmes come straight from the TV station to your TV. And an advantage for the broadcaster is that once you get a cable in then that street can only get cable from you. But then a disadvantage for the viewer is that if they don’t want to be with the cable company on their street then they don’t really have many other options apart from satellite or freeview. This means that you are more likely to get more customers. However one big disadvantage with all of these mediums of broadcasting is that now they have more channels there will be much more competition for the audience. And also with more channels means that they will also have to lower their advertising slot prices because if theirs are too high then the advertiser will just go somewhere else.
Internet protocol Television (IPTV)
Internet TV is brought to us over broadband and they bring us sites like 4OD and BBC iplayer that play TV shows that have been on TV on the internet. Broadband is a high frequency signal on the telephone lines. This is very good for us as a consumer because we can watch programmes that they have missed online and on some of the sites like 4OD they have old TV shows that were on channel 4 at one point but aren’t any more. Most video’s that you watch on the internet use buffering where you can temporarily download and watch. Then you can also stream TV shows which mean that you download it onto your computer and watch it whenever you want. However for the TV stations it means that they now have to find a way to make money from this without charging for usage. BBC iplayer have set their catch up site so that the programmes run out after about 2 weeks after they were first aired but the other internet sites have had to put adverts on their internet sites. I think that if we can just watch the TV on the internet then it will discourage lots of people from watching TV. I think this because the people now being able to watch TV whenever they want they will not watch the shows on TV. This means that along with all the other factors that I have mentioned the broadcast methods are changing.
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