help

1. STAGE 5
PRODUCTION
REFLECTIONS
Daniel Thompson

2.  This proforma is to record how you worked on your production
 You should complete this each week during production
 Consider all relevant areas that you covered that week
 Think about what worked/what didn’t work/how you can improve
and actions for the following sessions/weeks

3.  This week in production, we began by filling in the initial plans
PowerPoint. This gave us the first ideas of what product we wanted to
make and what ideas we could use. The first part of the initial plans was
the first thoughts slide. In this slide, we were tasked with simply talking
about out strengths and weaknesses of our skills in the film rotation. We
had to detail our past experiences and what we’re good at producing in
film. Next up was the mood board and mind map section. The main point
of these slides was to help us log our ideas and potential plots, thoughts
and visions for our project for development later on. The mood board
allowed me to gather images of similar products to what I am hoping to
create in in the future and let me create a specific vibe by combining the
features gathered. To help me develop my thoughts and amplify the
information and guidance I got from the mood board, I had to analyse it
and talk about specific themes that commonly stand out between all of
the images gathered. The last part of the initial plans was to think about
potential targets for research. I had to think about what genre of film and
what I was planning to add to my film and then think of potential features
involved with these things I would need to gather research about. This
pointed me in a general direction for my research and gave me a head
start on the next PowerPoint.

4.  The next week of production has been based on research. The first
day of the week I created my own survey on Survey Monkey asking
questions about a range of things from the audience’s favourite
genre of film to them preferring symbolism or straight forward plots
instead. I then sent them to the class and my tutors to be answered.
Once my answers had been gathered, I took screenshots of them
and added them to my research PowerPoint to be analysed. I had to
make an observation of my answers, conclude what the answers
would tell me about my audience and also talk about how I would
tailor my product to fit my target audience and to keep the survey
answerers happy. This analysis will help me to change key details
about my film to appeal to my audience and also point me in a better
direction for my final project. The next slide was more based upon
secondary research. I had to look at existing films and products that
are similar or close in production, design and with camera angles
and effects used.

5.  In this week of production I began working on the proposal work. I had to record the
information such as the name of the product, the target audience, concept and the
evaluative measures I would take after the work is finished. In the target audience
section I had to include information about the age group, gender, the social status and
psychographic of the audience that my product would appeal to. I also had to describe
what features and techniques I would include and use during production to make the
audience happy. The next section was the rationale section. In this section, I had to
talk about what strengths and weaknesses I believe I have in this particular media and
what skills and techniques I have acquired throughout my time in college that can help
me create the product I am planning. This would give me an idea on what parts of my
product I would need to allow more time for in the production of my product. The
section after this was the project concept. This section required me to describe to the
viewer what the story plot is for my product and what I am going to make. I also need
to talk about the research I need to conduct and how it is going to help me in creation
of my product. The production techniques section of the PowerPoint was there for me
to detail the specialist equipment and skills that I would require to create the product
that I am. This could include anything from green screens to post production and
sound skills. I also need to state whether I will need any specialist demos or research
to help me with the product. The last section of the proposal is the evaluation. This part
was here for me to describe how I am going to be evaluating my product both while in
production and once production is over. I needed to talk about my pre production
PowerPoint in which I describe step by step what I had to do to create the product.

6. This week in production, I began working on my pre-production PowerPoint. The first
task was to download and fill in my story development document which helped me to
structure and describe the events, plot and characters involved in the product. The
next section was to create a structural breakdown of the product. This would detail the
plot, props needed, sounds that would most likely be heard, and how long the
beginning, middle and end of my product would end up being if all went to plan. This
helped me gather my thoughts on what sound effects and filming techniques I could
potentially try out at different parts of the film. The next section of the PowerPoint
required me to create a visual plan of my product: a storyboard. This would help me
structure out and sequence each shot I had planned in a more blunt yet effective
fashion. It helped me to put my story together and in order to create a good quality
piece of work. I would also need to create a shot list which would detail every single
shot I had planned for my film. It would detail the length of time each shot would take,
the type of shot and any production notes that would help me to film my scenes to the
same plan as originally planned. The last section of the PowerPoint was collecting
essential information to my filming. Details such as my casted characters, location
information and permissions were needed to be gathered. This would allow me to find
out the information I needed to conduct my filming session. Along with this information,
I needed to create a risk assessment, noting all of the possible safety risks while in the
production stage to my filming and what I could do to prevent them from happening.
This included for me, my cast and also the equipment. A contingency plan would also
need to be created which let me detail the potential problems that I could possibly face
during filming and editing such as equipment malfunction or cast being unable to show
up.

7.  In this week I began to create my product. I first had to book out the needed
equipment through the college website and await their arrival. Once this had been
complete I set out with my classmate after the college day and began to record. I
managed to finish recording in one night and was ready to mix all of the video
files together. To do this I used Adobe Audition which is a video editing software in
which you are able to mix, edit and create videos, clips and films with relative
ease. I also needed to record some sound effects to be placed over the video at
some points due to the video not always being clear. Some sounds and all of the
music however were not easy for me to record and therefore I had to find them
online and download them to be used in my product. Once I had mixed and
added all of the sounds together, I had to export the product as an mp4 file and
upload the video to YouTube to be linked to the blog I am filling in.
 With production out of the way, I moved onto the evaluation in which I had to
evaluate my production and talk about many different aspects of it such as the
aesthetic qualities, and the technical qualities. I also had to talk about my
weaknesses and strengths in the research and planning PowerPoints, and how I
managed my time throughout the rotation, what I could have done with more time
and what I would do better.