YEAR 2 - Factual programme production (Interview Techniques)

Catfish - Questions after viewing.


Write a synopsis for the movie.
3 investigators travel to another county after communicating with a catfish who has faked several accounts.


Write a review of the movie.
The documentary 'catfished' has a mixed documentary styles using a range of both reflective and performative styles to tell the story about how he began being catfished. Some of the shots could have been better by being placed on a tripod or some sort of equipment that could stabilise the camera shake throughout the film, becauseof the camera shake there are a couple of shots that help explain the scene such as the camera bobbing when he is walking with the woman who catfished him.

Throughout the film I thought it was interesting but began to loose my interest as it progressed the story element of the film

What style of documentary do you think this was? Give reasons for your answer.
I think this documentary is a reflexive documentary type because throughout the end of the documentary there are times given to the audience to reflect on what has happened and how the interviewer felt to begin cat fishing the young lad and why she did it.


Looking at the opening quote of the movie, what significance does this have to the way that the movie concluded?
The opening lines are significant to the conclusion because after they confront the woman about her fake lives (fake facebook accounts) Yaniv begins poking about more truth out of her by '(quote)'

If it had involved the specific level of planning that you usually associate with the factual genre do you think it would have been as good? Or better?

I think it would still be good because even though the camera was hand held, and went along with the story some of the

6 Word Stories

Happiness:
Joyfulness, Peace, lively, souls, warm, countryside


Exercise:
Exercise and training gives stronger bones and muscles


Slip: Brain Training,
Write the copy for a cereal box so that someone would actually want to buy this exciting new flavour.


Matthew lunged himself out of bed and raced down the stairs to quench to hunger for captain crunch super caramel cereal but did he know that after his first bite Matthew himself would transform into Captain Crunch himself. A thunderous shockwave struck the hero from under his feet as the sound of something colossal marched down the stair after him as the dastardly ogre, Dadruth, headed his way. The door to the kitchen open as captain crunch readied his powers as when the unearthly chime sounded as Matthew leapt in to his dads arms ready for school.




EXT. MOTORWAY. MID EVENING

PETER is driving during a storm as his daughter TILLY is fiddling with the radio trying to find a channel that isn't stuttering.

TILLY

(fiddling with the radio tuner)

I'm sick of listening to your shit!

PETER

(takes a quick glimpse at TILLY and back to the road)

Who do you think your talking to!?

TILLY

(Sarcastically)

This weekend was supposed to be fun dad, but guess what you ruined it again.

Peter

Don't get cheeky with me and I though we were having a good time?

TIlly

(Making bunny ears)

Yeah if spending 2 hours putting down a tent is "having a good time".

Peter

250 word story

The air became clammy, the sense of impending doom filled Alex to the bone as the teacher, Mr Thompson, carried on boring the rest of the class. Voices began to drown out everything else as Alex began experiencing excruciating headaches as he eventually got up and walked out leaving all of his things behind, he hastily approached the lavatories as the voices became increasingly louder causing him to stumble against the walls. He finally reached the toilets as he began washing his face unaware that above him the lights that once showed peace began to loose power like souls leave the body, he finally looked up at the lights curiously unknowing that what was once his reflection detached from the movements of his own body. The dark demonic eyes gazed in Alex's direction as he reached back towards the tap and twisted back to wash his face one more time as his reflection returned as he peculiarly looked at the mirror as he tried to comfort himself by talking to his reflection

Secondary Research - James Bingham 1/10/18 (age of ultron)

a). Briefly summarise the plot of the film in 100 words.
Millionaire Tony Stark and physicist Bruce Banner design and create a peacekeeping program from files picked from hydras hard drives, attempt after attempt they continue to fail until Jarvis (Tony's AI butler) finds a strand of code leading to the creation of a malicious AI known as Ultron. After Ultron escapes the death bot seeks the extinction of human kind.

b). Which studio/production company made the film?
Both Marvel studios and Disney Interactive studios produced Avengers: age of Ultron on the 1st of May.

c). How did it perform at the box office?
Avengers: age of Ultron made $459,005,868 is domestic total gross.

d). Did it win any awards ceremonies/festivals? What are they?
Avengers: age of Ultron won the teen choice awards for the choice scene stealer.

e). Who directed the film?
Joss Whedon is the director of Avengers: age of Ultron

f). Find the names of three other films from the same director
Joss Whedon directed Toy Story (1995), Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Serenity (2005)

g). What is the next film that they are working on/due to make (look up IMDB.com)?
The next title Joss Whedon is due to make is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series in 2019

h). Principal members of the cast of your chosen film.
The principal cast members are Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlet Johanson and Jeremy Renner.

i). Outline five different ways in which it is possible audiences may have viewed the film.



Make sure you cite all of your sources in a references section at the bottom of the BLOG

'Redcar collector' Documentary

Write below what you feel will be your structure for the film you are making (give as much detail as possible):

Beginning: An introduction to Ben and his collection of trinkets (Pokemon, Hot wheels, Snow Globes, Pop Figures and Stamps.

Middle: His collection of people he has met around the world and how interesting he found them.

End: Ben's thoughts on his collection? How long has he been collecting stuff? What is his most interesting collection

Style of documentary chosen: Expository

Name of interview subject: Ben Smith

Name of Interviewer: Anthony

Reason for selection of this contributor: Ben's Family


Structure of interview:

List the subject areas that you aim to base your question on in regards to your interview subject:
(You should aim for around 5 broad subject areas of which you should then breakdown into smaller sections)

1. Collectibles
• Pokemon
• Hotwheels
• Snow globes
• Pop Figures
• Stamps
2. People he has met
• German/Russian friend
• Friend who studies Criminology
• Guy from Australia
• People from Bulgaria
3. How long has he been collecting stuff?
4. Thoughts on his collection of people and trinkets
5.  

Location of interview: Ben's House

Reason why you have selected this location: Interview with Ben

Any cutaways that you feel would benefit your interview: Cutaways to his collectibles 

Lift Documentary

Lift is a documentary piece, by Marc Isaacs, about the life of the families living in the apartment block and the everyday conversations they have with the filmmaker.


The documentary by Marc Isaacs called "lift" is an intriguing piece about the people living in an apartment block and the lives they lead inside the block. I found some of the conversations interesting mainly with one men who allowed the filmmaker to know his past traumas such as his schizophrenia.
However i couldn't get into the documentary because of its constant cuts and not there weren't many actions that made it stick out.

Some of his shots showed meaning behind them such as the clip of the dog who walks towards and away from the lift and then cutting to the women who had a dream about a dog who drowned, which showed a symbolic connection between her and the dog. There were a small amount of people who showed up again a few times but nothing much happened between them and the only cutaways within the documentary are to the lifts mechanisms or to someone else getting on the lift.

What styles of Documentary do you think this was? Give reasons for your answer.
I think the lift is a observational documentary type because the filmmaker films collects footage of the spontaneous and inhibited flow of life the block and the lift (as the visual main focus of the documentary. However with the interactions towards the people living in the block and the visual choices he goes for it could also be a mix of different documentary types.

Think about he proximity and awkwardness of the filmmaker and location to the filmmaker do you think that this helps the narrative from naturally or do you think it forces a story.
I think the documentary has a forced story through the use of the filmmakers awkwardness because the questions the filmmaker asked was about their day, their dreams and their past which was a trigger for their response for the documentary. This would cause it to be a subjective type of documentary but the majority of shots/shot types would also class it as observational documentary

If it had involved the specific level of planning that you usually associate with the factual genre and used footage of the people outside of the lift do you think it would have been as good? or better?
I think the documentary would have been better because depending on how they shoot and edit the footage they could have included so much more when nothing was happening in the documentary

Task 1 - Analysing Short Films: Witness

The opening shots give a feeling urgency as the character is at a mid tracking-shot (maybe long tracking-shot), From there the camera uses a close up to show the emotions on the characters face.
The use of natural lighting helps make the footage more vibrant and a little bit over exposed, there is a use of transitions e.g. the photo becoming an actual scene and using the over expose to show a memory, or fantasy coming from the protagonists mind as well that the place she loves is a bit like heaven to her.

The non-diagetic sound in the film is use clearly to show the dark intentions of the masked man and the lighting/colour grading is getting darker as the narrative moves forward showing that the place that she calls heaven is actually a lot like hell, witnessing the vile and disturbing things that happen in the forest. The blur in the footage is just how fast the camera is moving but also shows how quickly she wants to get away from the antagonist.

The close up on the knife at 5:35 helps show what the character is planning to do before she does it quite clearly as it begins to build up the climax and the false defeat of the short-film which makes it a lot more intriguing to the audience.

Throughout the film there are a lot of codes and conventions which shows that the genre and classification of the film, to show this within the first couple of second they use low key lighting and darker lighting around the surroundings of the character. The film uses quick cuts which is another use of thriller conventions but use long shots between them, later in the film they use a flash back and non-diagetic music to help create more tension as the character finds out what is happening as she is attacked by the masked stranger.


As a comparison to both 'the thing in the apartment' and 'witness' they both use dark lighting for their scenes and use a lot of loud music to build tension throughout the film as a whole. Both antagonists show a risk factor to the environment the protagonist is in the film, the protagonist also have a reason or story behind them which helps show the audience why they're in the scenes and locations shown. The reveal of the antagonist in the climax of the short-film help build the risks the character is has to escape and (or) stop anyone else from being killed, the use of guns in these shots contribute to the classification of the genre.

Malice Evaluation

Before filming my scene for my short-film I have put together a production folder which holds the risk assessments, shot lists, scripts, etc. (all can be found in the Google Drive and Production Folder)


All of these are crucial to film this short-film because without any of this I could not begin filming with Thomas, when we did begin shooting we used a range of mid shots and long shots to create the idea that there is distance between the main protagonist (Lucy Played by Charlotte Thomas) and her friends, which give the antagonist (Played by Kyra Robinson) a more impactful entrance into the scene, in my own opinion I think the shoot went well but the footage wasn't as good as I though leaving a huge room for improvement, during the time in the course I might improve the script, scenes and shots to use in the future and use the footage gained as a way to improve my directing and camera skills.


During the shoot there were a lot of errors and we were left to our own devices to create our own make-up which was a decent job, the characters within the scene didn't seem how I sought them to be in my mind which I didn't chance which was a mistake on my half. Some of the scenes I obtained during that day didn't seem to fit with the scene as I was looking to get a scene of the TV turning on by itself, with our horror there where a lot of things in shot we forgot to move which destroyed the mise en scene such as my back and pre-production folder, a Tesco bag which one of the actors brought with them, and a bag and coat which again was one of the actors belongings.


The scream at the end moves on to the next scene which I haven't filmed because I was only asked to direct and film a scene but there where a lot of scenes such as the live TV footage which didn't work because of reflections in the screen. If I do film the full length short-film I am going to change the antagonist from a demon/ghost to a paranormal legend (Black-eyed Children) that can be implemented into the short more easier and can be used more often. The idea of charlotte looking at the TV was the idea of using a live feed which didn't work out in the end. Both the crew and cast where in a rush which was another issue because the cast arrived late and getting the actors ready was a nightmare as it gave us less time to experiment with and both me and Tom needed to be in college at 11 which was pushed back because of these causes however I don't blame the cast because my house is hard to find and 4/5 members got lost in my street.

If I was to film this scene again with longer time to do it I would find a proper location such as a unused apartment or a furnished house that we could use to give more mise en scene throughout the scene, there are a lot of locations I could implement in my short such as a parking lot and restaurants. During the pre-production of malice I had some ideas for make-up and costume for the antagonist and props and costume for the protagonist 'Lucy', we did not have to spend any money towards the production because we did not manage to get in contact with the make-up artists till last second which caused Kyra to apply her own make up to make her eyes seem darker. On the morning of production there was a range of problems which caused us to lose more production time such as the actors getting lost, setting up and getting ready to film before 11, and going through the scene with the actors and getting their attention to begin filming.

Vampyren Production Log

Tuesday 21st March
Yesterday we began the pre-production treatment for the vampyren production as a began creating a storyboard based of a copy of Ben's script which I have completed today along with an audition form for the actors to fill out.

Wednesday 22nd March
Today we have completed our auditions for the pre-production stage of 'vampyren' which brings closer to filming the short-film, we auditioned a number of actors such as Charlotte, Lucy, Dylann and Dan who showed promise as a member of the chosen cast

Thursday 23rd March
Today we have collected our cast for the production stage and are a hair away from completing Pre-production, so far today I have printed out and completed the release forms for the actors brining us closer to filming our first day, next week.

Ben has completed a number of stuff that I could not start without such as the storyboard, risk assessments for both locations and location recces.

Monday 26th March
Today I have filled out an equipment list that covers all seven scenes in Ben script for the short-film we are filming on Wednesday 28th March

Production - Day 1: Wednesday 28th march
Today we have completed the filming for the majority of scenes but leaving out scene 1 & 3 to be filmed another day. Ben was the director of this project, Thomas was the Assistant director for Ben and I was behind the camera, the actors themselves gave one hell of a performance as they played their roles well and staying to the script for the production. Among the collected footage we managed to grab a couple of bloopers which might be used in the Blooper reel.

The only problems I had today was that Thomas was sort of pushy trying to press record on the camera to collect bloopers when we needed to conserve the battery leaving the reserve battery for emergencies but each negative has it's positives as the day ended well and everybody was happy with their performances.

Production - Day 2: Tuesday 3rd April
Today we are finishing the day with the filming of scene 1 & 3 which we have Lucy and Dylann as our cast and the same roles which applied to the crew, however I have caused issues to the shooting by forgetting to take my SD card out of my laptop when I was sending Ben the footage for the 1st day of production the week before which left me with the SD card shells causing Ben to have to buy his own. However the production took us an 2hrs to finish and are now waiting for the finished project to view and upload to my channel and to this Blog.


Throughout the production of vampyren we mainly used the scripts to find the right angle for the scene and actions showed on screen.

throughout the production of vampyren we went through the pre-production paperwork which was listed on the pre-production checklist, we all did different amounts of paperwork which was crucial to the production such as storyboards and audition forms and feedback sheets to assess the actors who auditioned for certain roles however they weren't used as we used footage to assess the actors/ actresses instead. During the beginning of our production me, Thomas, Taylor, Charlotte got a lift of Dylann whilst Lucy got the train to Redcar as both Ben and Dan lived in Redcar and lived close to where the production took place, we all arrived safely to the location whilst we sat and waited for Lucy and Dan to turn up whilst Charlotte and Dylann went over the script.

When everybody turned up we began to film as Ben managed the crew quite well telling them how he could imagine the scene and how the actors should react to it (for example: scene 6). other than an issue from me the resource management was well put together as ben had all of the necessary props such as a homemade cross, binoculars, and the bag with other props inside. The locations where also put together brilliantly as the use of his grandma's house and his friends house helped to build the scene and show the class and personality of the characters shown in the film.

The Schedule set up was professional as it gave us the time frame we where filming and breaks if there were any and the time to be back on set and prepared to continue filming. The shoot was very professional as everything was set up ready for the actors arrival and anything we weren't using was moved to a safe place whilst everything else that was used was placed in the location that made sense and looked relevant to scene and the actions taking place.

Coming into the second day I forgot to take the micro sd card out of my laptop to put into the shell which caused problems with the shoot, however before shooting, me, ben and Thomas went to Tesco's to buy another SD card to use in the shooting other than that problem we didn't have any other problems throughout the shooting which went smoothly.

There weren't many areas the production needed to improve other than more research for props, and a mind map which could be use to show the make up artist what it was Ben was wanting for makeup.

Director Study - Jon Favreau (The Future of Film & TV)

Name: Jon 'Kolia' Favreau
Age: 51
Debut: Swingers
Debut Role: Co-producer


Jon Favreau is an American director who has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium.He earned another role in the 1993 movie ' Rudy' and met fellow castmate Vince Vaughn where their personal friendship would play an instrumental role in furthering both their professional careers within just a few years. In 1997, Jon appeared favourably on several popular sitcoms and also appeared on the 'Tracy Takes On...' comedy series. Jon went on to re-team favourably with his friend, Vince Vaughn, who enjoyed a meteoric rise into the comedy star ranks, in such lightweight features such as the 2006 'The Break-Up', 'Four Christmases'  (2008), and 'Couples Restraint' (2009).

He has commonly been now known for his work within the ironman films (2008- 2013) and has also been known as Tony Starks Head "forehead" of security and best friend theought.


Jon went on to re-team favourably with his friend, Vince Vaughn (who enjoyed rise into the comedy star ranks) in such light-weight features as the break-up (2006)

Camera Operator - Job Application

I am looking to apply for the role of camera operator.


When filming I can help operator the camera completely options, menus, etc. which can seriously come in handy for the for those who are looking for live visual effects. For the short-film I can help create meaning from angles and height of the camera to show dominant positions of the characters and object they are looking to film. I am very patient and clam when coming scenes that require a long filming time required for the character or object on set. I can work peacefully with the crew and cast on set and can pay good attention to their position on the set before shooting the scenes.


I am able to collaborate with the crew on set and can be very helpful if someone need a second opinion of certain scenes for their short films which may require a more in  depth visual effects for the crew.

Short-film task 05/03/2018 (3 Act structure)

ACT 1


A small car passed hastily along an empty road as Amelia, Chloe and James reached the edge of town, Amelia played a sweet soothing melody on her guitar as James focused on the road whilst listening out for the rude irritating sat nav to give directions and turns. The trio arrived at their new dwelling as a tall man stood waiting for their arrival. the three left the car all taking individual routes, James leaving the left hand side of the car, Amelia leaving the from the back and Chloe leaving from the right where the man was stood. "Hi, my name is Murv, it's a pleasure to meet you", Murv stuck his hand out slowly greeting the trio before he showed them around the facility, the time passed as the tour came to a stop as Murv asked for questions about the apartment as they shook their heads as Murv handed the James the keys and congratulated them as he left.












I can envisage act 1 from a mixed number of shots using both aerial shots and a use of cut conversation shots between the three characters, the aerial shot will show the distance between the characters and their destination, also it will show how isolated they are from society in both a physical sense and an emotional sense. When the characters arrive at the house I'm going to use a long shot so that the audience can get a glimpse of the house which shows their social standing, this shot will cut to a mid shot of Murv and James aligned with the left and right rule of thirds giving the characters looking room and not short sighting them creating a bad composition.


Later on in the film (act 2) I am going to use high angled shots to show the dominance of the demon in the house, the lighting should be dark (dark blue) so the audience can still see the actors but it still gives of the correct lighting for the scene. I could possibly use natural lighting to get this effect or the small camera light to maybe reflect the moon. With this scene i am also going to use canted angles to show that there is something mysterious going on and that not everything is as it seems.