Estimated budget

Introduction

This blogpost will highlight the factors that we need to consider for our budget on our one minute single camera production. All of these costs are estimated according to research through primary and secondary research. This is not the finalized amount and it will be used to help budget my finances

Budget

Personnel:

• producer (£50)
• director (£50)
• researcher (£45)
• script writer (£45)
• equipment operator (camera, lights, sound) (£20)
• editor (£50)
• per actor/actresses (£35)
• set/location designer (£20)

TOTAL: £315

Suppliers/equipment:

(Some of the equipment prices have been estimated from Amazon.co.uk)

• camera (£300)
• tri-pod (£20)
• microphone/audio recorder (£25)
• boompole (£35)
• dolly/tracker (£70)
• lighting (£15)
• editing software/hardware (Photoshop, computer basics (monitor, keyboard, hard drive, mouse) camera accesories, headphones/speakers) (£500)

TOTAL: £965

Facilities:

• Home (£20)
• Work environment (schools) Free
• Library (£5)

TOTAL: £25

Locations:

• A park (£0)
• 2 houses (£0)
• 2 Bedrooms (£0)
• A living room (£0)
• A restaurant/cafe/bar (£0)

 TOTAL: £0

 Props:

* Use personal items, not rented or bought for the purpose of the production

• Make-up (£25)
• Costumes (£250)
• *Background fillers (e.g. chairs, tables, paperwork, etc) (£0)
• *computers/laptops (£0)
• *Mobiles (£0)

TOTAL: £275


Logistical support:

• Compact Van rental - 1 week (£250)
• 15 seater minibus rental - 1 week (£ 550)

TOTAL: £800

FINAL TOTAL: £2180

FINAL BUDGET: £2200

Diary log - 22/11/2012

In today's lesson, we created a storyboard and carried our an analysis on our mise en scene elements for our one minute single camera production.

The storyboard was sketched on paper and posted onto our blogs. The mise en scene elements we discussed were;

• props
• setting/location
• style/narrative structure
• costume/make-up
• characters.

Mise en scene elements

Introduction

In this blogpost, were going to discuss and write down our notes on the mise en scene elements which are going to be included in our one minute single camera production

mise en scene elements

Props:

• computer and accessories/laptop - to show the social networking websites (Facebook) so the audience can witness the conversations, pictures and profiles of the characters.
• ordinary props e.g. cups, files, folders, tables, chairs, etc - to set an ordinary realist setting of a typical teenage boy/girl's room and desk.
• hairbrush, make-up, hair dryer - to emphasize a point on how appearances can be deceiving and to help back up the moral of our story
• phones - to show faceless communication between the characters

The advantages of the props that are going to be used on our one minute camera production is that they help to set a natural and realistic mood/surrounding to the scenes, so the audience find the situation more relatable.

The disadvantages of our props are that it would be expensive to purchase some of these items (computer, laptop, phones) but we came up with a solution to use our personal items to resolve the problem.

Setting/locations: (Final locations have not been confirmed)

• 2 different houses - to set the scene/surroundings in a ordinary situation. We need two houses to show the differences in lifestyles of the boy and girl.
• 2 different bedrooms - to show the personal space of the characters. They are meeting for the first time, in secret. The bedroom shows the privacy of the situation.
• park - The park will be used to show when the boy is imagining how the girl will be. A park is used to show the open space/possibilities of thoughts as the girl's image is photo-shopped and edited to "perfection" (imagination on how the girl would be)
• restaurant/cafe/bar - The restaurant/cafe/bar will be used to set the "date area" between the boy and girl. A restaurant/cafe/bar because it is a typical meeting point for couples/friends/etc.
• living room - the living room will be used to show when the girl is imagining the boy. A living room is used to show the constrictions she has as the boy's picture is not edited/real.

The advantage of our settings/locations is that it has meanings behind the purpose and they are based in regular, reachable and cheap locations.

The disadvantages on some of our settings/locations is that some of the areas are public places (restaurant/cafe/bar), so we may struggle to get permission or interrupt other people.

Style/narrative structures:

• Romantic comedy (spoof/parody) - based on comedic romantic themes (because of attraction between the boy and girl, but comedy as it is not how they expect)
• linear, multi strand, realist narrative - it is a linear narrative because it will be in sequential/chronological order, it is multi-strand because it is the story is based on more than one characters and it is a realist structure because it will be based on real life situations.

The advantages on the style of our SC product is that the situation will be based in real life situations/contexts, so the audience will feel more engaged with the story.

The disadvantages on the styles of our SC production is that the story may be predictable and the audience may find it repetitive as a similar story has been done before, but we will add techniques such as split screen and effects to make it original.


Costumes/make-up:

• trendy clothes for the boy (such as chinos, aztec tops, knitwear, vans, blazer) - to make the boy look attractive, fashionable and in trend.
• geeky clothes for the girl (mismatched clothing items, neon/unfashionable colours), poor make-up techniques, special make-up for warts/spots/bad skin - to make her look unattractive and unfashionable

The advantages on the the make-up and costumes of the characters are that it portrays their personalities physically and again to relate to our moral of the story, which is "expect the unexpected".

The disadvantages on the costumes and make-up is that we must research specialist make-up shops/products to help achieve the required effect for the female character.


Characters: (actors/actresses not selected yet). Our one minute production will only consist of two characters. The male and the female. Both characters will be in the ages of around 16-20 years old. The male will good looking with a good fashionable sense. The male will be more attractive, whereas the female will be unattractive, with bad dress sense.

The advantages on our choice of characters is that it will relate to the target audience and it is appropriate for the context/situation.

The disadvantages on our choice of characters is that it is a broad description, so it will be hard to get specific ideal characters.

Storyboard

Introduction

This blog post will show a image on our story board for our narrative. It includes sketches on our thoughts for scenes and a description on what is happening below.

Objective and equilibrium

Introduction

In this blogpost, I am going to discuss and highlight our objective for our one minute single camera production. This is being done to help us plan our tasks properly to help us finish in time for out deadlines. This blogpost will also include our equilibrium information for our production.

Objective

Our objective for our one minute single camera production is to create a romantic-comedy video on the effects of social network dating. Our deadline for our production are;

• pre-production tasks is to be completed by the start of the school spring term (January).

• We will then carry out our production tasks (filming and editing) up until the start of February.

• That leaves us around two weeks to carry out out post production tasks like evaluation and receiving feedback) up until the start of half term February holidays.

Equilibrium

Diary log - 15/11/2012

In today's lesson we created a clear structure on all of the pre production tasks, that we need to complete to create our one minute single camera production. The tasks are highlighted in a previous blog post and will be updated weekly on what we have completed and what is still outstanding.

We also came up with a production team name and logo, which was "Equilibrium Prod." based on Torodov's narrative theory on equilibrium. The logo was then created on Adobe Photoshop.

We also completed some pre-production tasks today such as;

• identifying our audience
• determining our moral or message of our story
• creating a mood board on our single camera production ideas
• came up with a basic idea/structure on the story of our product
• and create a treatment/proposal, which was created on Prezi, and presented to the client.

Looking at some task 2 elements

Introduction

In the lesson today, we are looking at some of the elements we need to complete in part of our task 2. The factors we are going to look at are;

• identifying the audience
• determine what your trying to tell (moral)
• come up with a proposal/treatment (overall idea)
• moodboard

basic structure/idea on the narrative of our product

Beginning: Couple meeting through Facebook and arrange to meet up. They think that they are both what they want/expect.

Middle: (Split screen shot) The boy imagines how the girls is (the screen shows how the girl really is and how he imagines)

End: The couple meets up and the boy sees how the girl is in real life and runs away.

Identifying the audience

Our audience for our minute production are both male and female users from the ages of 16-30 who are regular users of Facebook or other social networking websites.

Determine what your trying to tell (moral)

The moral of our story is going to be "don't expect what you see" and "be prepared for the unexpected".

Come up with a proposal/treatment (prezi)

Treatment/proposal for 1 min prod. on Prezi

Moodboard

Production team name and logo

The name for our production team is called Equilibrium Productions, based on Torodov's media theory based on state of equilibrium in narrative

Pre-production task list

Introduction

This blog post will contain all of the guidelines we must follow to create a efficient one minute single camera production. This task list will be consistently edited, by highlighting the tasks completed in green. The tasks that are in motion will be highlighted purple.

Tasks to complete

• Production team name and logo
• Identify audience
• Determine what your trying to tell (Moral)
• The story needs to be imaginative and creative
• Clear objective
• Come up with a proposal/treatment (overall idea)
• Come up with a storyboard
• Script (only for the five minute production)
• Distinct beginning, middle and end (clear equilibrium)
• Think about genre/mood
•   - Overall genre
•   - Feeling it conveys
•   - How will the acting be used to convey this?
•   - Mood board
• Mise en scene (props, setting, style, costumes)
• Narrative structure (linear/non-linear/etc)
• Shot list (time and shot) - camera angles
• Location list (get permission)
• Shooting schedule (date, when, where)
• Equipment list (sound and lighting required)
• Risk assessment
• Budget (imagine it is a real film/estimate)
• Timeline (start today till competed product)
• KEEP A DIARY LOG - EVERY SINGLE LESSON!

Proposal

Diary log - 8/11/2012

In today's lesson (8/11/2012), I learnt about the technical element included within the production of single camera productions. I learnt elements such as the influence of sound within a media product and camera techniques such as angles, movements, shots and equipment.

With this information, I created a two Prezis based on camera shots and angles and another on movements and equipment. The Prezis provided explanations and examples on the different elements within these two technical camera elements. These Prezis were then posted on my Blogger.

For the information that I found on the effects of sound in media products, I posted on my Blogger on all of the information I found and provided relevant examples.

We also started to look at the pre-production elements that need to be included and completed over the next few weeks (deadline is Christmas/start of January). The kinds of elements we need to produce and the questions we need to ask ourselves about our production consistently are;

• storyboard
• script (may not be necessarily needed for 1 minute production)
• characters (motivation, mood, character profile)
• plot (beginning, middle and end)
• content (overview on our story)
• stage directions (angles, shots, effects)
• setting (locations, risk assessments)

• what is the underline message?
• what is the moral of your story?
• starting point
• who are our actors/actresses?
• is the setting relevant to the plot/characters?
• what is happening in the characters heart/head/body, and how will you show it to the audience?
• climax? how will it get there? (use Torodov's theory of equilibrium)
• use of dialouge/music/sound/lighting?
• mise-en-scene elements)

We (my production team) briefly started to look at our 1 minute single camera production. We created a mind-map (which proof was also posted onto our bloggers) on some initial ideas that we may want to do for our production.

Influence and meaning of sound in a media product

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to explain the influence of sound in media products and what generic meanings it portrays when used in the appropriate situations.

Where and how sound is being used in media products? (plus examples)

Sound is used continuously throughout media products to help explain the what is happening in the situation using auditory senses. some examples in where sound is used and how it is being portrayed are;

- Sound is based on the emotions being shown within the context. It enhances the audience's emotional experience as it provides focus on the emotions that is being shown by the characters. For example, in a sad and upsetting mood, the sound around the character(s) expressing that emotion will be quite dull, slow and depressing to help the audience realize it.

- Sound is used in contexts where there are unseen implications or to realise the unspoken thoughts of a character. This is called "underlining psychological refinements" which means that it provides information to the audience on matters which are not shown visually, but picked up mentally. For example sound jingles in adverts. Customers don't have to see the company product/service/logo, but by listening to the jingle, they may realize what it is if they are familiar to it.

- Sound also builds a sense on continuity. This means that when scenes are changing over or scenes are "bridging" (moving in and out), the music helps the audience to become familiar with the context in the next scenes/story.

- Finally sound underpins the theatrical build-up of a scene and rounds it of with a sense of finality. This means that when the media product is reaching a state of equilibrium or a action/dramatic scene, the music and sounds in the background tenses and becomes stronger to help the audience feel the tension. Also sound helps set a sense of finality, meaning that it rounds off the story by providing a auditory incentive of finishing to the audience,so they know the story is complete.


What meanings does the use of sound portray?

Sound can portray meaning to a element in a media product, for example to a character, setting, emotion, context, etc. so a few examples of how sound shows meaning to the audience to inform them on what they are seeing are;

- Character representation/identification; sound helps represent the persona of a character. e.g. a villain has evil and dramatic music, and a hero has strong and uplifting sounds.

- Setting the location; sound helps to set the location by using diegetic sounds to help set the scene. e.g. a farm, but a audience may not realise it is a farm, until they hear cows mooing or sheep baaing.

- Setting the period/time; sound helps to set the time era by providing music or ambient sounds which relate back to a period. E.g. in the time of the 60's, music such as swing and jive were very popular, and this can be used to set the era.

- Paralleling the action; Sound can "parallel the action" which means that sound can follow different contexts to help create more emotion or tension to help enhance the message to the audience.

- Creating a more convincing atmosphere of space and time; sound such as diegetic and ambient sounds can be used to help create a more realist view on the surroundings to help the audience feel involved using auditory sounds.

- Serving as a kind of neutral background filler; sound can just help fill in as a element to help ease awkward moments or moments where no speech is needed to help give the audience auditory relief.

Key sound terminology

Soundtrack - A soundtrack is recorded music or sounds to fit the scenes of a product.

Theme music/tune - Theme music is the signature tune made to represent the media product or character.

Sound effects - Sound effects are created and input/edited sounds to help enhance the noise of a action or voice.

Ambient sound - Ambient sounds are the surrounding sounds that help set the setting or environment.

Dialogue - Dialogue is the speech or script within a production.

Voice-over - Voice-over is when a voice is narrating the production and there is no visible body to match the sound.

Direct address - Direct address is when the characters talk 'directly' at the audience/camera.

Diegetic sound - Diegetic sound is natural sounds which fit the scene and are not artificially edited.

Non-diegetic sound - Non-diegetic sounds are sounds which have been edited and put into a scene, which does not fit there naturally (e.g. a sound track, or a dog mooing instead of barking).

Sound bridges - Sound bridges are when sound moves over scenes smoothly without interruptions and it helps the scenes change over easily through continuity.

Parallel sound  - Parallel sound is music or sound tracks that match the mood of the scene. It helps set the correct emotion and tension to the appropriate scenes

Contrapuntal sound - The opposite to parallel sounds. The music does not fit in with the scene and does not complement the message trying to be portrayed.


Bibliography

http://www.slideshare.net/reigatemedia/sound-lesson (08/11/2012)

Prezi's on Camera shots, angles, equipment and movements

Introduction

These two prezis consist of explanations and examples on camera shots and angles, and the other contains information on camera equipment and movements.

Camera shots and angles:

Camera shots and angles on Prezi

Camera movements and equipment:

Camera movements on Prezi