LO3 - Task 4: Evidence of being able to carry out a specific production role for a chosen media production

My contribution to a music video production:

The role I played during the post production stage:

During the post-production stage of our music video of Monsters by I Set The Sea On Fire, I used my editing skills to help arrange and enhance the final clips we filmed. I used a range of editing techniques that I was aware of and well practised in to help develop the video.

Contribution to the music video:

While we were editing the footage to make the music video, I used text and keyframes to make the words fly in on screen. I rotated the text to make it fit on the screen better and ended up making each individual word fly in at separate times. I also created a split screen using 4 different clips, I changed the size of the clips by scaling them down, I then changed their position on screen to make them fly into their corners. I made it so that there would be a small gap between each clip, separating them out. I made them fly in by using key frames, but had to use them at different times. Finally I made the final clip that flew in expand on time to the kick drum in the song. This ended the split screen and made the video move on nicely to the band footage.

Here is part of our music video that I edited to show the split screen.

Treatment:

TREATMENT

I SET THE SEA ON FIRE – MONSTERS, KAYNA AND SAM, 18/03/16

THE BRIEF

Produce a music video or film trailer in the style of Warp

TARGET AUDIENCE

The target audience for our video will be 16-21 year old, urban, Caucasian males and females. 

SEGMENT SYNOPSIS AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE BRIEF

The genre of the music is indie and here is the narrative. 

The story will start with the main band member at his home, struggling with the issues that he is going through. He will get up and look back at himself in the mirror, splash water in his face to try and calm himself down. 

As the chorus of the song approaches, he leaves his home and starts walking. We will show various camera shots of him walking with effects like blurs and motions but also of him walking past locations on his own. While the camera is still blurred, he will bump into the female actress, they will apologise hastily at first but then they will get talking and start walking in the same direction. We will show different camera shots of them walking including the same shot as when the main actor was walking on his own but with the second character. 

For the second verse, the two of them will meet two more people (this will mean that the band is complete). We will be shooting different shots of them walking (the same shots as before but with all 4 actors) and having conversations with each other throughout this verse.

In the part of the song where “oh oh” is repeated, we will be showing the different actors faces, showing how happy they are together and jump cutting this to the beat of the music.

For the final part of the song, we will show the main actor go back into the house with a smile on his face, he will put his keys on the side or on a table, sit down on a sofa and close his eyes. The music will then fade out and the video will cut.

CONTINGENCIES

We have emailed an acting agency asking for actors as the band are not able to perform in the music video, due to their university work.

KEY MILESTONES

1.       Planning (narrative, song permission, storyboards, location scouting, risk assessment) 22^nd January

2.       Filming 12^th February

3.       Editing 26^th February

4.       Launch Date (Hand in) 18^th March

EQUIPMENT

The equipment we will be using is a camera (Canon 650D DSLR) and a tripod.

PROPS AND MODELS

The actors that the agency provide us with will be the people that we will be suing in the music video.

We will be needing normal, everyday items like keys and mobile phones. 

HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.

This means things to consider when you are out filming. For example:

1.       First aider

2.       Keeping equipment safe/ overheating of equipment – Make sure things are switched off, don’t put materials next to equipment.

3.       Safety of people whilst filming

4.       Weather conditions, appropriate footwear

To prevent the above issues, we will make sure that all health and safety options are taking into consideration.

Having a recce form for each location. A recce form is a document where you outline all the possible viewpoints or problems that a location may provide when filming.

To make sure we have a clear understanding of the location and its hazards, we will take pictures.

A risk assessment is a summary form outlining all the potential hazards that could happen while filming in that location. We would need one to help prevent any of these risks from happening.

Legal, ethical, scheduling and certification:

1)      The drugs and alcohol sections are the ones that we will be taking into consideration as these would be features that would be included in the video.

2)    It is important to follow these regulations so we are not breaking any laws by producing the video.

3)     No guidelines will be relevant to our production.

4)    We cannot show any of this before 9pm at night. The video could be shown on places like YouTube, VEVO and Sheffield Live.

5)    We will get the band to sign a consent form that will allow use their music for the video.

6)      We will get a release and consent form for each member of the band to sign.

DISTRIBUTION 

The kind of places we will be distributing our music video to are YouTube (specifically channels like the VEVO of the band) and Sheffield Live to show on one of their radio TV shows. 

The video will be accessed on the YouTube VEVO of the band so that while the listeners are listening to the song, they can watch a video that relates to the song at the same time.

The video will be shown on a place like Sheffield Live as the band is from Sheffield and could promote their music to a more specific audience.

The treatment helped organise and check what we would be filming, so we could edit the footage afterwards with no risks or issues that it wouldn't be correct.

Gantt Chart:

The gantt chart helped by specifically saying how long we would have to edit our music video.

Production Schedule:

This is one of the production schedules I made. These helped in organising and scheduling what we would be doing and when we would be doing not just the editing parts but every single part of our music video production. 

Storyboards:

These are some of the storyboards that we worked off when editing the footage. They helped by showing us what we had planned to do with the footage. It was all written out for us rather than having to think of ideas on the spot. However, not all the storyboards had editing techniques on. This did hamper us slightly as we had to spend more time thinking of what techniques to use, but it didn't really matter in the end as we came up with new ideas as we were going along.

Edit decision list:

This is part of the edit decision list which we made following our production. This helped in analysing what we had done and how much we still had to improve upon in terms of editing.

Footage Log:

The footage log helped us analyse our footage to make sure we knew which clips we wanted to use in our final video. Giving the specific details of each shot really helped us in deciding what pieces of footage we wanted to use in the post-production stage.


Development of my skills:

I feel like during our production my skills have developed as this gave me the experience of working to a deadline in a professional environment with professional equipment. Also the fact that we were producing a music video for a big band added more pressure onto us but made us strive to only keep on improving our end product. Being able to allow my creativity to flow through the means of editing has allowed me to grow in confidence in what I am now able to do and has given me the confidence that I can work on big projects to a set deadline. I went above and beyond my role in editing by using editing techniques that I hadn't used or learnt before such as the split screen technique and the text appearing from the phone in the actors hand, but worked out with time and came up with them during the process of reviewing the footage we had taken.

As Steven Spielburg said... "I love editing. It's one of my favourite parts about filmmaking". 

I feel like editing is something I was meant to do. It allows me to show my creative side, while providing products that people can enjoy watching. I love editing. It is my favourite part about filmmaking.


References:

1. Brainy Quotes (2016) Editing quotes [Online] Available:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/editing.html

Accessed 2/6/16

LO2 - Task 3: Understand the skills to carry out the role of an editor

The key role of being an editor is taking the original footage from a video recording and developing it into a much more professional piece, suitable for business use or broadcasting. To complete the tasks involved in this role, to start with the editor would have to import the original clips into an editing software. Then, clip by clip, the footage has to be edited. In Adobe Premiere Pro, tools such as the razor tool could be used to crop the clips, the speed and duration tool could be used to speed up or slow down the clips, the ultra key tool could be used to remove a background such as a green screen from the video and keyframes could be used to track, zoom in or zoom out in a clip. Once the edit has been completed, the footage would have to be exported as one file. This can be done by rendering, then exporting the clips. For best results in Premiere Pro, saving the video as a H.264 makes it an mp4 file. The video will be saved as the same size and quality as the original sequence settings created unless changed.

Written communication:
The experience that I have had in terms of editing and written communication is asking what a client would like to be added in terms of effects and specific clips in their video that I have edited. This example is from one of the videos that I edited for the 'Sheff Shooters'. I asked them what kind of music they would like fitting to the clips, what kind of effects they would like adding to the clips such as slow motion action replays, colour changes, overlays, keyframes and how long they'd like the video to be. I used this written communication in the form of writing a message to send to them on Twitter. I managed to receive full answers back from the team so that I was aware of what I was aiming to create. This helped me in editing the final product.

Verbal communication:
If I was on a joint project with another editor, it would be very important to have good verbal communication skills. Having these skills would make both of us happier with the final outcome of the project. It would also give us more ideas on how we could enhance the footage to make it more desirable and make it fit better in time to the music or effects. When I was in the boy scouts, I was made a patrol leader, I must have shown the group leaders that I was a good communicator and would give positive messages to others since they put me in that position.

Practical production:
During the editing stage of production, it is important to acquire all your resources and sort all your clips first, so they are easy to access when it comes to altering and enhancing them. When I am getting ready to start editing I always make a back up folder of the footage from the SD card to my desktop, so that there is no risk of any footage being lost. The footage is then also a lot easier to access and import into the editing software, as I am able to import whole folders at a time. As I also have great knowledge of the software Adobe Premiere Pro CC, I am able to quickly find what I am looking to do with a clip to edit it, bringing the time it takes to finish the project down. While I am editing the clips for the 'Sheff Shooters', I use a variety of techniques to enhance the footage. I use film overlays to make the footage look sharper and to change the colours occasionally, I use transitions such as glitch transitions that I have downloaded online and I use after effects to distort parts of the clip or to use a transition that's not applicable in Premiere.

Here is a video that I have edited for the 'Sheff Shooters'.

Creativity:
When I look through the clips that I am about to edit, I can have ideas straight away of what I would like to do to it to enhance it and make it more visually pleasing. This is a great advantage as it shows that I have a natural brain for deciding what I want to do to videos.

Gaps in my skills and areas for improvement:
Having been editing properly and to the best of my ability for over 6 months, I have gained lots of experience over this time and learnt lots of new things. I have developed my technique and leant to manage my time more effectively. I could still manage my time more effectively by specifying how long I should spend on a project, rather then spending too much time on certain parts. Sometimes I try too hard and put too many effects in only a short space of time, I try to improve this by spreading them out more across the video. As I edit more and more videos, I will learn how to use the effects and when it's appropriate to. I could try and edit videos in a more professional surrounding, as at the moment I am only mainly editing them in my bedroom, which isn't what it would be like in industry.

Action plan:
So I can gain more experience in my chosen field of editing and have more opportunities to perhaps get myself a career at the end of it, I plan to...

1. Gain more experience by attending events such as Jigsaw24's 'Post with the Pros', where you are able to talk to industry experts and receive a hands on experience in using the latest editing technology.

2. Study a BA (Honours) in Digital Media Production at Sheffield Hallam University. The course would last 3-4 years, depending on whether I did a year of work experience, and would help me to enhance my skills even further in not just editing, but in media production as a whole.

3. Once I have studied this course at university, I am looking to gain a job in the industry, in the TV or film sector, as an editor of TV shows or films.

LO1 - Task 2: Job roles within a media production team

I will be researching and evaluating two specific job roles in the media production world. These specific jobs are an editor and a sound technician.

Editor:

The key job role of an editor is assembling the recorded raw footage from production into a finished product that is suitable for broadcasting.
The equipment used to complete these tasks are editing software. There is a range of different editing softwares ranging from basic like Windows Live Movie Maker to more professional such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS6/CC, Sony Vegas and Final Cut Pro.
To carry out this job role you are required to have proficient skills in using the software so you are able to perform a function with no issue or time lost trying to find the right tool to cut the clip or add a keyframe for example. You must also have a mind for editing, so you can look at a clip and see how it can be enhanced to be more pleasing for the viewers to watch and so it can make the overall quality of the production better.

I feel like I would be suited for this job role as I already have lots of experience in using a professional piece of editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Editing is also something that I am interested in, I am always making new projects and experimenting with new ways in which I can enhance videos. Some of the projects I have completed include a season highlights video for the U'16 Sheffield Sharks Development Team, a series of free kick football video compilations for the 'Sheff Shooters' YouTube channel and videos for my own YouTube channel. Editing is something that I would like to take further and make into my future career, I would like to do this by gaining as much experience I can either on my own, at a company doing work experience or volunteering for shows/community events.


Sound Technician:

The key job roles of a sound technician is to assemble, operate and maintain the technical equipment used to record, amplify, enhance, mix and reproduce sound.
Sound technicians identify the sound requirements for a specific media piece or broadcast. The different situations sound technicians are required in are film, broadcasting (TV), theatre, advertising and audio recordings, such as radio shows.
The responsibilities of sound technicians is spread across the production and post-production stage. The main role during the production stage is to make sure that the recording of all sound is proficient and effective on set. The main role in the post-production stage is the mixing, editing and enhancing of the sound. The skills required to fulfil this role are to be very specific and have excellent attention to detail, have the ability to works part of a team, have a good sense of timing and be good at solving problems.

I feel like I would be suited for this job role as I am a very specific person and like to make sure that everything is correct and perfect. I'm sure I could pick up the technology very quickly as I have had experience in working with audio before in software such as Audacity. I could work in either the production or post-production stage as I would be proficient in managing the levels of sound on a microphone on a live show or I would be suited to working with and editing the sound that is pre-recorded for a piece of media, TV show or film.


Role Comparison:

Both of these roles are important in the production of a TV show or film. If nobody is there to fulfil these roles, then the quality of the final piece would be significantly lowered. The sound technician has to do things a lot quicker and to a much shorter deadline, as they would be working on live shows. However, there is a much bigger technical side to the editor's role, as there is lots to learn beforehand in order to use the software properly and to perform the required edits and cuts to the clips. Both of these roles requires the editing of some sort of media in the post-production stage, but the sound technician works with audio clips and the editor works with video clips.



References:

1. Prospects (2016) Job profiles: Film/video editior [Online] Available:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/television-floor-manager

Accessed: 2/6/16


2. Prospects (2016) Job profiles: Sound technician [Online] Available:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/sound-technician-broadcasting-film-video

Accessed: 6/6/16

LO1 - Task 1: Jobs roles within film production

Producer: The producer will oversee the making of the film from start to finish. Some examples of jobs that the producer would have to complete during this process include raising funds, hiring key staff and making sure that the film is brought in on budget.

Director: The director works through the whole film process, arranging the script/commissioning it to be written, selecting the cast, managing the technical aspects of production like sound, lighting, camera and special effects, working with the editors during post-production and motivating the whole team throughout the film making.

Stunt Manager: The stunt manager (coordinator) will arrange the casting and performance of any stunts required for a film.

Grip: Grips set up, maintain and dismantle backings/backgrounds. They may also order in and rent equipment required for the set.

Editor: The job as an editor requires them to receive all the footage and assemble it into folders on a computer, synchronising the uncut rushes and the sound together, digitally cutting the files to decide what is usable, create a rough cut of all the footage and to reorder and tweak the final footage to make it flow and make sure it makes sense.



References:

1. Prospects (2016) Job profiles: Television/film/video producer [Online] Available:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/television-film-video-producer

Accessed: 2/6/16


2. Creative Skillset (2016) Creative job roles: Director [Online] Available:
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/758_director

Accessed: 2/6/16


3. Wikipedia (2016) Stunt coordinator [Online] Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunt_coordinator

Accessed: 2/6/16


4. Study.com (2016) Grip: Job description, duties and requirements [Online] Available:
http://study.com/articles/Grip_Job_Description_Duties_and_Requirements.html

Accessed: 2/6/16


5. Prospects (2016) Job profiles: Film/video editior [Online] Available:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/film-video-editor

Accessed: 2/6/16