Moving Image Entry 8 - Kevin Ross:

Date:11/03/2014
Module: Moving Image El342
Kent University

Team 07:

vp216 - Viknesh Prabhakar
kr278 - Kevin Ross
cb595 - Connor Brown
Tws6 - Thomas Stowell


Discussion with Tom:

Today I had met with Tom to talk over a few ideas since my other group members weren't present In the morning.The idea of using the nine inch nails song I suggested seemed appealing to him too due to its sad feel. Furthermore we discussed further possibilities to do with out film.

We have started leaning towards a dark/sad film and have been considering making it be a shock advert to prevent drugs or something of the similar case. To do so we had discussed editing our shot to a more monotone look This dark atmosphere could be introduced into our film gradually.

We have decided to start our film the week after reading week due to other pending assignments, however we shall spend that week dedicated to filming. To do so we shall set times with the rest of our group and actors.

Todays Class:

For todays class we were set an assignment to our previous one. However this short clip consisted in having two actors and have them talk to each other with dialogue. The purpose of this assignment was to make a seem less transgression between each actor as they speak to form a discussion of some sort.

We ha decided to Record on a bench next to the pond we will actually use for our film.
Our scene consisted of the two meeting on the bench and having a random conversation about their activities the day before.

As the sounds person my job was to make sure that the dialogue was consistent throughout the clips and that the sound quality was loud and editable enough for our cuts. I had the opportunity to use the sound boom for the first time. I used it effectively and the sound quality produced is far better than the microphone. I found that its better to use the boom for group conversation opposed to individual.
In relation to the cameraman I had to make sure the boom was not present in the shot.

As a group we discussed what kind of shots to take, we did extreme over shoulder shots, close ups, mid and far shots as well as panning of the camera. Due to the large array of camera shots we were able to edit our film into a more eye appealing video than our last whilst also being able to maintain a constant discussion between each of our characters. We used the 180 degree angle technique too. Which consists of making the focus point the actors and the camera man can only film up to 180 angle. This makes the scene to be believable whilst also making it appear as the characters face each other even when only one actor is present on screen at once.

After all recordings were taken we went off to edit.
Tom loaded the files onto his computer and at the same time I started designing a title and credit screen. I used a shimmer effect which I learnt from my research and gave both title and credits a black contrasting background to make them stand out.
In our final edit we did not have enough time to assemble these into our film however our film appeared more fluid than our previous since it was more consistent and we had a larger variety of shots to choose from.

Here is our edited Clip:

The Clip has to be sent here in a later edit since Tom has the file stored on his computer.

Criticism:

- There was more face to face discussion required to make it seem more of a discussion between characters.
- Some cuts did not lead on to a clip with a dialogue that matched the previous.

What I've learnt from today :

From today I've established new techniques for recording our film such as the 180 degree rule. I have learnt how to manipulate the boom appropriately for the correct sounds. We have learnt how to work more efficiently as a group to collect more recordings of a higher quality in a shorter period of time.

Personally I now focus more on my task than anything else so that the correct audio will be available for when we edit. All in all, today was a good benefit for when we do our own films since it has taught me lessons on how to record audio appropriately and edit it accordingly.