Evaluation q.4

HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION,
RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION
STAGES?
Fardad Khayami
http://fardadkhayamia2media.weebly.com
Evaluation Q.4.
‘On The Ropes’ A2 Media Short Film
This presentation contains HYPERLINKS. Please click to be directed

A2 Media Coursework
Hardware- Laptop
■ To complete all coursework this year I am using an apple laptop.
■ I have chosen this piece of hardware as it portable, which means that I can take it
to media class and work at home. Due to technological convergence, the laptop
was very versatile, as I could conduct research, planning construction and
evaluation all on one device.
■ This has allowed me to produce more work this year, from blog posts to editing the
short film. This has meant that I have not been limited to editing during school
hours, and therefore can spend more time editing my film.
■ This has increased the quality of my film as more time can be spent to improving
it.

A2 Media Coursework
Weebly and YouTube
Weebly
■ To document my work through my second year of A-level I used a BLOG.
■ I used a blog as it is a very interactive way to present my work.
■ The blogging software allowed me to present my work through various mediums, by
using embedded codes from sites, such as, YouTube, Vimeo and LinkedIn.
■ I also used Weebly for my AS COURSEWORK.
YouTube
■ Using YouTube I was able to share moving images, from DAILIES (rushes) to AUDIENCE
FEEDBACK and DIRECTOR VIDEO’S, such as EVALUATION Q.1.
■ I choice YouTube as I could publish video directly from Adobe Media Encouder. This
meant that I could work faster, as my video’s would automatically be uploaded once
exported.
■ I also choice YouTube as it is completely free to upload an unlimited amount of content,
unlike Vimeo. (However, Vimeo was used for distribution. See slide XXX)
■ You can visit my YOUTUBE and VIMEO channel by clicking.

■ I used GOOGLE and YOUTUBE as one of the main sources of research during all
phases of production, especially pre-production.
■ I used these sites to research directors (SMALL SCALE RESEARCH), past pupils
blogs, the action movie genre, ANALYZE SHORT FILMS and ACTION SCENES, SCOUT
LOCATIONS, lighting techniques, watch tutorials on Premiere Pro/After Effects and
research typefaces for TITLES within my sequence.
■ This knowledge allowed me to get inspired and have a better understanding of
filmmaking technique, which improved the quality of my short film ‘ON THE
ROPES’.
Research- Pre Production
Google and YouTube

■ I used a combination of PowerPoint and Linked to present my research the BLOG.
■ This included textual analysis of ’SAFE’ (short film) and ‘BOURNE IDENTITY’ (Paris
apartment fight scene), SMALL SCALE RESEARCH of Christopher Nolan. I am also
currently using PowerPoint and LinkedIn to create this presentation.
■ Using PowerPoint I can efficiently present information on my blog that looks
professional and aesthetically pleasing.
■ It allowed peers and myself to easily view my research and use it to improve the
quality of my products.
■ LinkedIn allows me to upload my presentations and embed them into the blog.
This is a lot more efficient than taking screenshots of each slide. It also readrs to
click on embedded links within the presentation. This makes the presentation a lot
more interactive.
Research- Pre Production
PowerPoint and LinkedIn

■ Bubble.us is a mind mapping software.
■ I used bubble.us to initially BRAINSTORM IDEAS for my short film.
■ I wasn’t sure what the plot and story would be, and therefore brainstorming was
very useful
■ I was able to layout my ideas and share them with peers to decide what was idea
would make the most compelling short film.
■ I had never used this software before and therefore was very slow when first mind
mapping.
■ Although an athletically pleasing way to display ideas, I believe that mind mapping
on paper is a lot faster and efficient.
■ I will probably not use Bubble.Us for future coursework.
Planning- Pre Production
Bubble.Us

■ This year I decided to use Adobe Story to write the SCREENPLAY for my short film.
■ I had never used Adobe Story and therefore it took time to learn the software.
■ Once I understood all the tools and features, Adobe Story was very efficient.
■ It was very easy to layout the script. The software was able to automatically layout
my the dialog, scene numbers, scene headings and transitions. This made writing
the script a lot faster. It also made my scripts look very professional
■ However, Adobe Story was an online software, which meant I couldn’t access it
offline. This meant that I could only work on my script when connected to the
internet.
Adobe Story

■ Scribd is an online document sharing website. I used Scribd to share my SCRIPTS
onto the blog.
■ Scribd provided an embedded code which I could put onto the blog and show my
scripts to viewers of my blog.
■ This meant that I could easily share my scipt with teachers and peers. This allowed
me to gain feedback on the latest drafts of my scrips.
■ The more feedback I was able to recive the better the script became.
■ Sharing my script easily through scribd allowed more feedback and therefore
improved the quality of my screenplay.
Scribd

■ During pre-production I got a lot of TEST FOOTAGE.
■ As I had complex action scenes within my sequence, it was very important that I
got test footage to learn how to shoot a fight scene.
■ Due to technological convergence, my phone had a camera, and therefore I was
able to use it to get the test footage.
■ I also used an app off the apple app store called Pro Movie. This allowed me to
have full control of the camera, as I was able to manipulate the aperture, focus,
ISO etc.
■ This was very useful as using the defult camera app you cannot have this control
■ Although the IPhone camera cannot shoot in very high definition, this was not he
final product and therefore would also be used for practise. Therefore this did not
matter.
IPhone and Pro Movie

■ Before every shoot I created a PROGRAMME for the day. I did this using Microsoft
Word.
■ The programme consisted of a synopsis of the film, scenes from the screenplay
that where being shot and the shot list.
■ Before every shoot I went through the programmes with the actors. This was so
that they would understand the film and the scene their character was in. This
meant that I could get a better performance as they had a better understanding of
the character.
■ Although it took time to go through the programmes, overall, it benefited the
screenplay as I get better performances and therefore more verisimilitude, which
makes my short film more enjoyable for audiences.
■ I use Microsoft Word very often and therefore know all the tools. This was very
useful as I could create my programmes quickly.
Microsoft Word

■ I used Microsoft excel to create a SHOT LIST based of the scrip.
■ The shot list went into the shoot PROGRAMME.
■ During principle photography, I constantly referred back to my shot list.
■ I carefully visualised and thought out each shot, and then transferred this information
to the excel spreadsheet.
■ This meant that I was well prepared and didn’t have to come up with shots on the spot.
■ Therefore, photography was a lot more efficient, which allowed me to move quickly and
finish shoots sooner than expected, which then allowed me to get extra B-ROLL
FOOTAGE.
■ I referred back to my shot list during post. I labeled every shot in reference to the shot
list. This allowed me to be very organized during editing, and ensured I had every shot I
planned on getting. It also meant that I could easily find a shot, instead of going
through all the dailies, I could type in the shot number and easily find the shot. This
made cutting the sequence more efficient.
Microsoft Excel

■ Within my shoot PROGRAMME, along with the shot list I included a layout of the
set.
■ Using Photoshop, I had my camera set ups for all the different angles I wanted.
■ As I was acting in most scenes, I could give the set layout to my camera operator
so he understands the angles that I wanted.
■ This helped the scenes mimic what I envisioned them to look like, and therefore
providing better composition during photography.
■ I also used Photoshop to analyze movie posters and magazine
reviews for my Ancillary tasks.
Photoshop

■ For the short film, used Amazon to order some PROPS that where needed for the
film.
■ For example, Ben’s characters costume and the fake knife in Action Scene #2
(scene 4D).
■ Amazon was a quick and easy way to buy the props. I could save a lot of time as it
was easy to go online and find the products I needed.
■ The all props order from Amazon arrived in time for the shoot and therefore I am
pleased that I used them.
Amazon

■ I used social Media, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat to
message actors about upcoming shoots.
■ This was an effective way of communication as they could reply quickly so we co-
ordinate when and where to meet up.
■ All actors turned up on time ready for each shoot and therefore social media was
an effective form of communication.
Social Media

■ To shoot my short film I used a Cannon EOS 7D Mark II.
■ This was my friends camera that he let me borrow and keep all though photography.
■ During planning, I decided to shoot at 60 Frames Per Second. This was so I could
capture every single movement of the actors during the fight scene. This would make
the action sequences feel more intense, compared to shooting in 24fps, the industry
standard.
■ As I was shooting in 60fps, I tried to use a 1/125 shutter speed. However, I had to
adjust this based on the effects of surrounding lights on my shots. If shutter speed is
too high or low, black waves would appear in my shot, which does not look professional.
■ To get a cinematic look, I wanted to keep aperture at a minimum. This would create
shallow focus, putting emphasis on everything on focus, and blurring everything else.
This was especially important in the dialog scene (scene 4C). However, In the fight
scenes, I increased aperture. As actors move closer and further away from the camera,
I needed a greater depth of field to make sure the actors remain in focus during action
sequences.
■ During photography, I also tried to keep ISO under 800 . However, at times this was not
possible. The locations I was shooting where not film sets, and therefore proper lighting
was not apparent. When too dark, I was forced to increase ISO past 800.
Construction- Production
Cannon EOS 7D

■ I used a 18mm to 135mm Cannon lens.
■ I choise to use this lens as it is very versatile, especially during filming the action
sequences.
■ At times, I wanted a close up shot, however, the actors are throwing punches that
may hit the camera. Therefore, the cameraman could stand a safe distance back
and zoom. This would then create a close up shot, that wouldn’t require the
cameraman to stand too close to the action.
■ The lens also allowed for automatic focus. As I was working on a low budget and
couldn’t always handle the camera (as I was acting), the camera operators where
not always experienced, and therefore where not able to manually focus my shots.
Therefore the automatic focus was very useful as they just had to hold the shutter
for the image to focus on the subject.
■ However, the manual focus would sometimes adjust mid-shot, as the camea thinks
the subject has changed positon. This meant that some takes where unusable,
which constrained me during post.
Cannon Lens

■ Before principle photography began, I bought a 128GB SD card.
■ I needed a card with big size as I have decided to shoot at 1080p at 60 Frames Per
Second.
■ Therefore, my footage would be a very big size, for example, at 1080p 60fps, a
minute video is estimated to be 25MG.
■ I also brought 2 back up SD’s to every shoot as part of contingency planning. These
where my friends SD cards.
■ During photography there where no problems with the SD card.
SD Card

■ I used a tripod to shoot scene 2 and 4C.
■ As I was acting myself, and had no one to operate the camera during this scene, I
used a tripod to shoot. I would position the camera, adjust the focus and then
record myself in the bathroom. The tripod was also very important in constructing
the MIRROR REFLECTION VFX. It was critical the camera did not move and
therefore a tripod was very useful.
■ I also used a tripod for scene 4C (dialog scene). During this scene I wanted no
movement from the camera in order to capture the intensity. Therefore a tripod
was very handy.
Tripod

Lighting
■ As the locations for my shoot are not film sets, I needed to bring my own external
lighting in order to light up the room.
■ Good lighting is vital and it gives me a lot of creative freedom when colour grading
in post.
■ I used 2 types of lighting during photography; A soft light stand (pictured above)
and halo lights. When it was not possible to use the soft light stand, I used the
portable halo lights.
■ However, the halo lights did very little to light up my sets and did not have an
attachment to stick to the camera. Therefore it required a member of crew to hold
the light. After my first shoot I decided not to use halo lights anymore.
■ The soft light stand also needed to be plugged into a power socket. This meant
that it could not be moved around easily and therefore, could not be used for any
of the action sequences. Luckily, the gym for scene 1 was very well lit and
therefore this was not too much of an issue.

Rode Microphone
■ To record dialog and sounds from the action sequences I used a Rode Mic.
■ The Rode Mic attached and connected to the camera, which meant I did not have
to sink sound and audio in post. This saved a lot of time compared to if I had to
record audio externally.
■ However, this did meant that wherever the camera was is where the mic would be.
Therefore for long and medium shots, where the camera is far away from the actor
speaking, the sound recorded was not too a high quality.
■ During action sequenes #1 and #2, there was a lot of background noise. This
meant that the audio recorded could not be used for the final product and I would
have to produce foley sound.

■ During photography I used an IPad to ensure that I was getting all the shots I
planned. (Photo above is a behind the scene shot from shoot 1 with the IPad in my
hand.)
■ I downloaded excel and was able to get the shot list onto my IPad.
■ When filming, I was able to tick off the shots directly onto the spreadsheet as we
where filming.
■ This ensured that I knew we where not missing anything.
■ Using the IPad was quick and easy, compared to using a laptop to go through the
shots as I did during the photography of my AS coursework.
■ However, it was too time consuming to use the IPad when I had to act in the scene.
Therefore it was only effective for scene 3 and shoot 1
IPad

Construction- Post Production
Audio Interface
■ After production, I had to record FOLEY sound for the fight scenes.
■ To help record the Foley sound I used an Audio Interface.
■ This piece of hardware is connected to the mic and computer. It helps and expands
the sonic capabilities of the computer by turning analog audio into digital audio.
■ This is a very advance product and therefore I was unable to use it myself.
Therefore a music technician had to be present to help me operate interface.
■ This meant that I could also record my Foley sound when a music technician was
present, which limited the amount of Foley I was able to record.

Logic Pro X
■ To mix the FOLEY sound I used Logic Pro x.
■ This allowed the music technetium to export all the Foley sound recorded, and then
send it to me to be put into my short film.
■ Like the Audio Interface, I was unfamiliar with this software and therefore the
technician had to be present when I wanted to use it. This limited the amount of
Foley sound that I could export.

Construction- Post Prouduction
Image Capture
■ Once Principle photography was complete, I had to import all the footage from my
camera to my LAPTOP.
■ To do this, I connected the camera to the laptop using a USB data cable and then
image capture to import the footage.
■ Image capture was very useful as I could automatically import the into its
corresponding folder. For example, after shoot 2, I was able to import all the
footage directly into the ‘Shoot 2 (scene 4C)’ folder.
■ This meant that I was very organized and therefore could easily locate my footage.
This saved a lot of time.
■ Image capture also transferred all the metadata from the footage. This helped
when using PREMIRE PRO as I could easily find the exact frame rate, aspect ratio
and dimension of my footage.

Finder
■ For every shoot, on finder I created a corresponding folder.
■ For example, after completing shoot 5, all the footage went into the shoot 5 folder.
■ This meant that I was very organized and could easily locate my footage.
■ It also made importing the footage very easy on Premier Pro, as bins where
automatically created.
■ This saved a lot of time when editing, which meant that I could spend more time
actually cutting the film than searching for footage.

Premier Pro
Editing- Organizing Footage
■ After importing all the footage in to premier pro, I LABELED and logged all my
footage.
■ I labeled every shot with the corresponding Shot No, Take No. and Camera Angle
■ After labeling the footage, I created select reals for each shot.
■ You can see a video of me going through my organization process on Premiere pro
here.
■ This was the very first thing I did as soon as I imported the footage. I did this even
before I began to cut the sequence.
■ It allowed me to reflect on my footage and make sure I had every shot that was
planned on the shot list.
I did an in depth video discussing my organization of my project. You can watch it
HERE.

Premier Pro
Editing- Cutting
■ After organizing all the footage I began to cut the sequence.
■ I used my select reals to find the best take and then assembled them together in a
sequence.
■ The main tools that I used are the:
■ Selection Tool
The Selection tool is the tool I use the most. It allows me to select clips on the time line in
order to manipulate them. The selection tool is most useful for moving extending or
trimming clips on the timeline. It is the tool I use to adjust the timings of all the cuts.
It is the fastest way to select a clip and therefore I use it very often. I use it by pressing the
short cut ‘v’
■ Razor Tool
The razor tool is the fastest way to cut a clip. As it is not always very precise, I use the razor
tool mainly when transferring clips from my select reals to the actual sequence. I costumed
the keyboard shortcut to give me the razor tool when selecting ‘b’. This is because ’b’ is
very close to ‘v’ (short cut for selection tool) on the timeline. When using the razor tool. I
often switch to the selection tool to move the clip I just cut. This therefore increases the
speed of my editing.

Premier Pro
Editing- Cutting
■ Track Selection Tool
I usually the track selection forwards tool when adding a new shot in my sequence.
The track selection tool selects all the media ahead in the timeline. This means that I
can easily and quickly make space for new shots when deciding to add them. I use the
track select tool by using the keyboard shortcut ‘a’.
■ Ripple Edit Tool
The Ripple Edit tool allows me to quickly move the rest of the timeline with reference
to my latest cut. If I shorten the length of a clip, using the ripple edit tool, I can bring
forwards all the following clips to remove the blank space. I use the ripple edit tool
very often, however, I must be careful it shifts all audio and footage by the same
amount or elements within the sequence may become out of sync.

Premier Pro
Effects
■ I used premier pro for the basic effects in my short film.
■ The first way I used it by using adjustment layers and the crop tool to crate my aspect ratio
(left). I took 12% off the top and bottom of the frame.
■ This created a cinematic look and also allowed me to have more control in post of what is in
and out of the frame by using the motion tool.
■ The motion tool allowed me to change the Y axis of the footage. As you can see below, I
applied the aspect ratio and then moved frame up on the Y axis so that Reza has less
headroom (gap between top of head and edge of frame) This made the character look and
feel trapped

Premier Pro
Effects
■ I also used Premier Pro for my mirror reflection VFX.
■ This is when Reza sees Yadislav in the reflection of the mirror.
■ This was a very important VFX as it demonstrated to the audience that Reza is
hallucinating Yadislav.
■ I used the Marker tool, crop tool and feather tool for this effect. Premier Pro’s layer
based editing system also made this VFX easy to achieve.
■ The effect looks good I didn’t need to create a linked composition on After Effects.

Premier Pro
Effects
■ I also used Premier Pro for to create the gun shot effect.
■ The calibre of pistol I was using would not create a gun flare, however, it would bright up
the room.
■ Therefore, using key frames and the exposure tool, I was able to make the room brighten
up whenever Ben pulls the trigger. This, as well as the sound of the pistol, made the
gunshot feel realistic.

Premier Pro
Effects- Whip Pan Transitions
■ Premier Pro comes with many transition built into the software. I use crossfades many times
during the sequence.
■ However, I also used a Whip-Pan transition during my film, which I made manually using
premier pro.
■ This was a very ambitious transition to pull off, however I wanted it in my film and used it in
Action Scene #1.
■ It was a great way to juxtapose Reza’s and Yadislav corner. It is also the first time you see the
character of Ben.
■ I made on the construction of my whip pan and you can see it here.

Premier Pro
Color Grading
■ Using the Lumerti Colour's plug-in, I colour graded and corrected on Premier Pro.
■ I used the Basic Correction panel to colour correct all the shots in my sequence. This
made all the shots look balanced and consistent. This was very important as some
scenes where shot over different days. For example, in scene 4, a shot filmed on day 2 of
shooting would be cut next to a shot form day 6 of shooting. Using basic correction tool,
this is not noticeable to audiences which created verisimilitude.
■ Using the Creative panel, I was able to colour grade all the scenes. This helped convey
the emotion of the scenes to the audiences. For example, I increased the temperature of
the shots in scene 1 to create a hostile feel for the Characters of Ben and Reza.
However, in scene 2, I increased the warmth to make audience feel sympathetic towards
Reza.
■ I have demonstrated the difference that the Lumerti Colours plug in had on shots on the
next few slides.

Colour Grading
Scene 1 Raw Footage

Colour Grading
Scene 1 Colour Correction Applied

Colour Grading
Scene 1 Colour Grading Applied

Colour Grading
Scene 2 Raw Footage

Colour Grading
Scene 2 Colour Correction Applied

Colour Grading
Scene 2 Colour Grading Applied

After Effects
■ To help with the VFX in my short film I used after effects.
■ I tried to use Premier Pro for as many VFX as possible, however, sometimes After Effects
was the easier option as it specializes on VFX creation.
■ I chose After effects because I am familiar with the layer based editing systems. Other
VFX software like Autodesk’s Flame or The Foundry's Nuke utilize a node based
compositing layout, which I am not familiar with.
■ After Effects was also the cheaper option. As this is an independent short film, I had a
very small budget, and After Effects came with Premier Pro on my Adobe Subscription.
■ I used after effects to create the effect of Naomi getting shot, you can see me creating
this VFX HERE.
■ I also used After Effects for the begging ident. You can view the y process of creating the
ident HERE.

LX-7 Piano
■ To create the soundtrack for my film I used an LX-7 Roland Digital Piano.
■ My piano allows me to record music internally and convert it into a MIDI file.
■ I would then copy the file onto a USB drive and transfer it to my laptop where I could
then edit the music.
■ This was very useful as I had this piano at my house and therefore could easily record
the music.

Garage Band
■ I used Garage band to create the score for the film.
■ Once the music was recorded, I would transfer the MIDI files to garage band.
■ I would then edit the music, fixing any mistakes I made when playing and assemble it in
time with the other pieces of music.
■ I would then import the latest cut of the film from premier pro and sync the music with
the film.
■ Finally, I export the whole score as a mp3 and import it into premier to the
corresponding cut of the film.

Evaluation- Distribution
Adobe Media Encoder
■ In order to receive feedback and evaluation from peers, I had to distribute my film.
■ Firstly, I Adobe Media Encoder to export and encode my film.
■ Adobe Media Encoder comes with my adobe subscription and therefore it was available to
me.
■ I decided to encode my film using the software as it gave me more control over the exporting
process.
■ This meant that I could ensure the correct encoding occurred for my desired exhibition,
YouTube.
■ I could mainly focused on the format: H.264, frame rate: 59.94, bitrate target: 10mbps and
the variable bit rate: 2 pass. This ensured that my film would look the way I desired once
encoded.
■ Media Encoder also allowed me to paus the encoding when I desired. As I am exporting a 6
minute short film at 60fps, the file is a very big (Over 1.5GB), it will take a long time to export.
Therefore I can pause exporting when I need to close my laptop and resume at a later time.
■ This meant that exporting was never disrupted and therefore I could export my premier pro

Evaluation- Exhibition
YouTube
■ I decided to distribute and exhibit my short film on YouTube.
■ As this is an amateur short film, I do not believe I will be able to receive revenue
from distributing it, and therefore I will not try to sell it.
■ In this case, the main objective for the distribution of this film is too get maximum
exposure to audiences in order to show off my filmmaking skill.
■ The more audiences that view the film the more successful of a product I believe it
to be.
■ As YouTube is a free and very popular video sharing site, I will exhibit my film on
their servers as I could potentially reach many audiences.
■ Audiences could also leave comments of support and criticism of my film. This
could help me develop my filmmaking skills and produce better products in the
future.

Evaluation- Exhibition
Vimeo
■ I will also exhibit my film on Vimeo.
■ YouTube appeals to a very mass audiences who enjoy watching videos online.
■ However, Vimeo targets a more niche audiences who are interested in film.
■ Therefore, distributing and exhibiting my work on Vimeo could mean that people
interested in film may come across my video.
■ This could be fans of filmmaking, or, someone working within the film industry.
■ This could therefore lead to networking opportunities within the film industry if
someone likes my filmmaking style.

Evaluation q.4

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Evaluation q.4

Editor's Notes