Production Log

12/10/10

This week, having reviewed the assignment briefs and choosing our desired pathway we decided to view a range of film trailers in order to seek inspiration for the creation of our main media product. We took notes in order to ensure that we could refer back to this research for the creation of our initial ideas.

19/10/10

Today we begun, and completed, the initial ideas for all three media products. We did this firstly using a mind map format, and partially in a report form. These ideas were posted onto my blog, so that they can be referred to throughout the other stages, i.e. research, construction & evaluation of all three products.

26/10/10

In today’s first session, we created a questionnaire/survey in order to conduct primary research into our choice of genre, horror comedy. We aimed to yield both quantitative (statistical, numerical) and qualitative (detailed, literal) data in order to gain valid and representative results. We distributed these to 20 participants, and analysed the results over the course of today’s second lesson. These results can be used when we have to consider our target audience in other aspects of this project. Next week we look to continue with primary research but specifically for our trailer, by researching existing trailers and analysing the various micro-elements.

2/11/10

Today, we conducted extensive analysation upon various film trailers, including horrors, comedies, and horror comedies. This leaves us with only two aspects of the primary research to complete, which will be achieved over the coming weeks. Me & my partner viewed much more trailers than we actually extensively analysed, but agreed on which were most relevant and therefore which ones to consider in detail. Through observation of the various micro-elements, we have taken influence from both genres, most specifically in terms of editing effects.

9/11/10

Primary research was continued with today, and we decided to focus on film posters. Using a similar method to that used for trailer primary research, we analysed the various micro-elements of various film posters. We chose to evaluate a variation of genres, including a generic film poster, a horror poster, and a horror comedy poster. We have concluded that we wish to emphasise upon the comedy aspect for our film within the poster, not so much on the horror. This is because we feel it will better establish the narrative of our film to the audience.

16/11/10

The final piece of primary research was completed today for our third ancillary product – magazine front cover. We used the same method as our poster research, using the internet as our information source. After analysing the layout, we have gained a better insight as to what constitutes a conventional front cover. At this point we are uncertain as to whether we will conform, challenge, or develop these conventions.

23/11/10

Today we begun on our secondary research, in order to compare & contrast our primary research with the work of others. We also aimed to take influence from the various elements involved in order to improve upon various concepts for our own products. We focused specifically on the trailer today, and our source was the web 2.0 based document sharing website – Scribd. This website has proven reliable and effective, as well as easy to use. Therefore we will consider using the same site for other aspects of our secondary research, i.e. the ancillary texts. Over the next fortnight, we aim to complete all secondary research.

30/11/10

Today we continued with secondary research, and focused on the film poster. We did not need to seek out new resources to analyse the secondary research, because documents were already present on the college’s VLE (virtual learning environment). After comparing with our primary research, we have once again found considerable influences concerning the layout and technical aspects of our poster. Next week we aim to complete the secondary research, by someone else’s perspective on our final product – a film magazine front cover,  featuring the film.

07/12 /10

The final stage of secondary research was completed successfully today, and in conclusion all aspects of our research will be extremely influential & useful not only in the pre-production stages, but also the production and evaluation. Next we intend to complete the necessary pre-production documents, so that we can begin the filming process.

14/12/10

Today, we prepared a production schedule for the production of our trailer. We did this in a word processing format, in order to ensure time-management and strict planning so that we can maximise the efficiency of creating each various aspect of our finished product. We also, using our initial ideas, created a first draft for our script, in order to establish and develop the narrative of our piece. We wish to complete the final version of this in the commencing weeks.

4/1/11

Today, I successfully completed the script, and using this document was able to begin storyboarding. I aim to complete all storyboards by the end of next session, in order to have a referring aid for the process of filming. Having not completed location scouting, it may be the case that some shots which will be included in our storyboard may have to be altered in order to accommodate for the varying structure of the locations in which we wish to film.

11/1/11

Today, all storyboards were completed successfully. This will aid us greatly in the stages of production and editing for our film trailer, and we look to complete all pre-production documents in the forthcoming weeks, in order to allow plenty of time for filming, editing, and the production of our other media, i.e. the film magazine front cover and the film poster. Although the camera shots, frame timings, and editing transitions are fairly strict in the storyboards, we may have to change these various aspects in our piece. Despite perhaps being considered a disadvantage, I feel that, conversely, it is actually an advantage to the production of our trailer, because we can add various shots which may be better than originally planned, and also allows for flexibility to account for various circumstances when filming. The next stage of our project is to begin pre-production, i.e. all the documents necessary before the filming process can occur. I will be focusing mainly on the film trailer over the coming weeks, and will work on the ancillary texts at a later date.

18/1/11

In order to ensure that we knew where we wanted to film, we had to scout for suitable locations. We had already established that we wanted to film within the college, but today we seeked out and photographed more specific areas of what scenes need to be filmed. This is a flexible guide, and we may decide to film in locations which are not detailed under this section. In the second half of today’s time, we went back to these various locations in order to gain permission through the signing by appropriate persons of the location release forms. These templates for these were accessible on our college website, making this a relatively quick & efficient way of gaining permission. Next week we will continue with various pre-production documents.

25/1/11

Having completed the location scouting & release, the next step was to gain create site plans and conduct a risk assessment. We originally intended on hand-drawing the site plans, however we were able to attain these from the college. This meant that, once these were uploaded, we could begin the risk assessment for all locations. We managed to complete these by the end of the day, and therefore aim to move onto the budget next week.

1/2/11

Today, my partner completed an example of a production budget, which was made from a template which we downloaded once again online from the college’s VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) whereas I completed the treatment. Although the budget does not reflect our production specifically, it gave us an insight into what would be required for the filming process by a large media institution and thus increased our understanding of media production on a wide scale. The treatment essentially reinforced this, however it also required a synopsis which is advantageous to self-actualisation of the narrative for our trailer/film.

8/2/11

Today, and over the course of the week, we begun filming. Because of the availability of actors, the most suitable scene to film first was the scene set in the college cubicle. We also completed talent release forms, by gaining the permission to publicly show the footage gathered of the various actors. The filming process today went considerably well, and all footage gathered was logged & transferred successfully. Next week we will continue filming, and in the near future we plan to

15/2/11

We begun today by creating a hand-drawn draft of what we intend our poster layout to be. This was then photographed and uploaded, and will aid us greatly when developing the final product. We also filmed the scenes which are shot in the corridor & classrooms of the college, completing the necessary talent release forms too. The footage was logged & transferred successfully, however in one particular part of the filming process the boom mic was not functioning, and due to time constraints we had to continue filming without. This could pose a threat to continuity of the audio, and will have to be resolved by re-adjusting the various levels in Final Cut Pro. We aim to continue filming over the coming week, and also continue with the editing if time allows us.

22/2/11

Today we essentially used the same structure as last week, however filmed the library scene and drafted our magazine front cover layout. This was completed & uploaded successfully, and we are aiming to complete the edit decision list out of lesson time, because this will enable us to complete the final editing processes much more effectively.

1/3/11

We decided to divide sections of the work today, in order to ensure effective time-management strategies. With my experience in filming, I decided to film the establishing shot today, and because this took a relatively short amount of time, also gather the voice for the narration within our trailer. This went fairly well, and was logged & transferred successfully. My partner photographed & manipulated the images for our poster & magazine front cover today, thus allowing us to begin creation of both ancillary texts.

8/3/11

Now that all footage has been gathered, today consisted of purely editing. Mainly cutting, inserting clips and transitions were added today in order to compile all the footage that will be in the final trailer. We used various pre-production documents, i.e. storyboard & script in order to complete this, however we have changed a relatively large amount of shot types, scene times, and sound effects. This is because in reality, they seemed to ‘work’ better (by flowing in a better manner, and fitting more synchronously) than originally planned in the storyboards. This is an integral advantage to our trailer, because the creation of pace (a typical convention) will help to adhere to our manipulation of Todorov’s narrative theory, and keep the viewer focused on the content within the film. We aim to finish editing by the end of next session.

15/3/11

The editing was successfully completed today, however consisted mostly of ‘tweaking’ various aspects of the film rather than actually editing in baulk. Due to slight technical problems with the microphone during the filming process, we had to edit the sound levels of various scenes in our trailer in order to ensure audible continuity. This was relatively simple, and using the ‘pen’ tool in Final Cut Pro we were not only able to edit sound levels as a whole, but emphasise upon certain integral dialogue within specific scenes. For example, in the library scene the teacher’s voice was to quiet for the audience to fully understand, the sound levels were adjusted by around 6-8db so that the speech was clearer and more comprehensible. We also added various sound effects, both to emphasise upon the horror at the beginning of the trailer, and the comedy/parody throughout. Our source for these was www.freesfx.co.uk, because it is a royalty-free service providing good quality MP3 downloads. Finally, we rendered & converted the file so that we could upload it onto YouTube in the near future.

22/3/11

Today, having completed the trailer, we decided to focus on the completion of both the poster and magazine front cover. We have made numerous minor changes from that of the first drafts, which are detailed further in the development section. Both were successfully completed today, meaning that construction was finished, and now it is merely a matter of proceeding through the evaluative process. Therefore, we aim to have the evaluation completed by the end of next week.

29/3/11

Today, our final target was reached and we completed the evaluation over the course of this week. The remaining time will be used to check all work, and complete any outstanding documentation.

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