Production Log 23 January 2009

Today we went in the pouring rain to do the filming of the bank shot. We went to the half moon theatre for the opening shot were we did a slow zoom out from Muhibur's face to reveal the rest of the building. Muhibur was the one wearing the balaclava and Imran and Rezaul were the camera men. We encountered many problems whilst recording as it was on a main road cars and people kept going past ruining the shot, so we had to do the same shot numerous times.

Imran Rezaul Muhibur

Evaluation Of Preliminary Exercise - Akram

The purpose of the preliminary exercise was to demonstrate that we can work well as a group and identify each others strengths and weaknesses. Using effective camera shots i.e. match on action, shot reverse shot etc. was also part of the purpose in the preliminary exercise which also consisted of following the story board. After the exercise was filmed we had to carry out the editing, the purpose of editing demonstrated our understanding and knowledge of amending the video to make the final version high quality, it tested us on how to insert transitions and how to split-cut certain parts of the movie to make it more creative.

We used props, dialogue and effects to make our film more creative, the use of glasses for the interviewer to give him a more mature look, the letter for the migrant and a picture of Tower Bridge was used as props to give the film a ultramodern look. The exploit of using fade effects and cuts gave a continuity look to the film which made it look more inventive for the audience. Finally we used a mixture of Bengali and English dialogues to make the film sound interesting which was imaginative and made the final version look very creative.

We used iMovie to edit and complete the preliminary exercise, i wasn't too familiar with the 'iMovie' software as i didn't edit any films before but during the editing period I learnt split and cut edit plus I found that I can use different types of transitions to fix a scene in the exercise, all this helped me boost my confidence in editing films and i am now more positive about editing films.

My significant contribution was acting as the main character as well as helping out planning the preliminary exercise and editing the finished version. I also recommended different ideas for the film whilst the camera man was filming.

The targets I would set my group would be to spend more time looking at venues and also leave plenty of time for the actual filming so if we film everything and theirs certain bits that are not sufficientwe can go back and film it again to make the final version faultless.

Production log 16th January 2009

Its two weeks running and we still havent started filming, thats because the rest of the group didnt bother to turn up and rather sleep in ! We have found a suitable location to do the bank shot, it is a theatre called 'Half Moon' which looks like a old bank from the outside and the best thing is that it is next to the college. we are also fully prepared regarding the props that we need to use as imran has bought in balaclava. This is dated on 16/01/2009.

I dont want to mention any names(Imran , Rezaul)

By Anonymous
Thanks

preliminary exercise

Preliminary Exercise: The purpose of the preliminary exercise was to show our understanding and knowledge of using the camera effectively whilst filming, we demonstrated this by conducting various camera shots (shot reverse shot, match on action etc) and creating a video based on our storyline. Also during the preliminary exercise we demonstrated our skills on editing our video footage, to create a perfect video. For example whilst editing added transitions and film titles etc. We also learned of our strengths and weaknesses during the preliminary task, helping us better ourselves both as individuals and as a team helping us learn from our mistakes.

We had used a number of props during the preliminary task. On of which was a letter containing a large heading that was visible to the audience. The reason why we used this as a prop is because the heading helped piece the storyline together, giving the audience a better understanding of what is happening. Another prop we used was a pair of glasses. This was used by the character playing the interviewer because it helps the character become more realistic. The dialogue content within the film helped bring out the humour within the film. This is because as the interviewer used his posh and polite English language the other character done the opposite, mixing both his foreign and English language together to create humour.
To edit our video we were aided by the editing software known as ‘i-movie’. This software was a great help to us as it is easy to learn how to use it as our group were not familiar with how the software works, however we all have managed to learn how the software works and are now able to use the software with ease. I have learnt how to use various editing skills such as cutting and pasting, adding transitions, adding titles and inserting sound clips etc. we also used a camcorder to film our video, were we all have familiarised ourselves on how to set up the tripod and us the camera to zoom in and out.

I contributed to the task as I played the character of the security guard, I also helped with the editing and assisted with the filming.

Future targets for the main task, I would say is to expand on our different types of shots and spend more time on looking for our props and locations to make the film into the best standards.


Rezaul

Evaluation of Peliminary Exercise

The purpose of the preliminary exercise was for us to demonstrate our use of the camera, and whether these shots were done accurate and precise. It was important for us to perfect our match on action and our shot reverse shot. It would also demonstrate our editing skills making sure there were transition were needed and to improve the continuity of the video. The preliminary exercise also tested our teamwork skills as we had to assign different group members to perform certain tasks e.g. actor, cameraman etc.

We used various props in our preliminary exercise such as the ‘letter’, this was vital as it introduced and made clear to the audience what the story / plot of the video was going to be about. We also used a pair of glasses worn by one of the actors; this helped to portray the seriousness of the character to the audience and helped to set a serious atmosphere to the video. Both the actors used dialogue, one of them used bilingual language to help show what type of genre we were doing as the dialogue between the characters made the video funny.

We used two main types of technology to aid us in our video a laptop and a camcorder. The laptop was used for the editing part of the preliminary exercise. I have never used video editing software, so this was all new to me. We used a software called ‘Imovie’ were I have learnt basic editing skills such as cutting and pasting some parts and adding transitions. I had also used the camcorder were I had used the tripod to help the camera steady, and have learnt how to zoom in and out smoothly

My contribution to the construction of the film was that I was the cameraman, were I had to make sure I followed the storyboard accurately and made sure I done the match on action, shot reverse shot and followed the 180 degree rule.

The targets I would set for my group for the main task would be that we do more detailed planning such as finding adequate location for filming by doing shots over and over again to improve the video.

IMRAN UDDIN

Evaluation of preliminary task

The main purpose of the preliminary exercise was to test each individual for skills such as contributing towards the camera work and editing of the preliminary exercise. It prepared us for the main task so we could find out our weakness and strength so that we could work better as a group. It tested the group to see if they could stick to the storey board and to see if the learned from their mistakes. We used a range of camera shots such as shot-reverse-shot to match-on-action for the exercise.

The props we used for to make the preliminary exercise look more real and more like an interview was that the examiner wore glasses and the actor who acted the person being interviewed to speak very dodgy English and use some vocabulary from his own language hence making the interview sound more real.

To edit the video we used I-movie video editing software. This software consisted of various features to help finalise our video. No one in our group had used the software before so it was a learning experience for everyone to get used to this software before we started the main task. By using I-movie I learned how to cut videos and place them in the correct order to look more like it was recorded together and also I added special effects and added transitions such as fade-in for our video. During the Preliminary I improved on my camera skills and I could record clips while moving the camera and holding it steady and smooth.

The most significant contribution to the construction of the film I provided was my acting (which I need to improve on) and my editing skills.

The target I would set my group is to spend more time working more as a group for the main task.

******Muhibur******

STORYBOARD FOR FILM OPENING

Group 4 Preliminary Exercise