Production Diary

Production Diary

What, When and Where?
Day 1

Monday 3rd November
On Monday 3rd November Mel and I met at Mel's house and we filmed everything that we had planned to film. We arranged to use 3 actors/actresses- Leah Mel's sister, Jamie my brother and their friend called Ben. The scenes we filmed were: the police scene, adultery scene, gun scene, the party scene and the murder scene.

My contribution
I contributed to this production by filming some of the shots. For example I filmed some of the shots from the party and I filmed the 360 degree shot around the drug deal leading to the police officer scene.
As director I made sure everybody knew what they were doing and discussed arrangements abotu the production with Mel beforehand.

What went well?
We successfully filmed everything that we had planned to film.
The majority of the shots are of good quality and therefore we will be able to use them in our production hopefully minimising the chance of having to refilm.
Additionally the choices of costume and props were really effective. I supplied the appropriate props and Mel and I made sure that the characters had the correct costumes in order to create verisimilitude.
We had to change some of the storylines as it was evident once filming that these shots were not suitable and were too difficult to carry out. Mel and I then discussed what was best to do and we decided to change the last scene to a murder scene and we additionally edited the police scene to make it look realistic. This went well as it we made these decisions quickly resulting in the filming being fluent and efficient.
The lighting was good, it was an overcast day and therefore created the right atmosphere for the mood we were trying to give off.

What didn't go so well?
The weather was colder than we had planned for and therefore in some shots the characters look a little bit cold. Also, when it came to filming the production some of the plans we had made did not quite match up to what we could achieve in reality and therefore we had to tweek the storyboard slightly.

Overall how successful was the shoot?
Overall the shoot was very successful; we filmed for 4 hours and achieved everything that we had set out to do. The actors and actresses worked well and the correct costumes and props were provided. The shoot ran smoothly, there were no disagreements and we stuck to the call sheet time schedule well.

What, When and Where?
Day 2

Thursday 6th November
On Thursday 6th November we watched the footage that we had recorded and produced the shot log.

My contribution
I took the scene from the party and analysed the footage.
I recorded what was shown in the footage, how suitable it was and whether it would be appropriate to include the selected footage.

What went well?
A lot of the footage we had recorded was suitable and of good quality. Once we start editing we will be able to see whether we will need to refilm anything or film anything additional to what we already have.


What didn't go so well?
Some of the shots were shaky and sometimes the actors/actresses did not do exactly what we had planned and therefore we had to film some shots twice.

How successful?
This was very successful as we logged every shot and discussed whether they are suitable to include in our production.

Shot Log From Filming

What, When and Where?
Day 3

Friday 7th November-
On Friday 7th November we continued to review our footage and started to piece together the footage that we had previously decided was suitable and of good quality.

My contribution
We each took turns to edit pieces of the production and made decisions on shot length, pace of the shot and colour. I edited the scene with Jamie, Ben and the drug deal.

What went well?
Once we had selected the footage we needed, editing it ran smoothly as our day of filming was successful and a lot of the shots we filmed were in chronological order. Additionally as we had produced a comprehensive shot log it was easier to import the footage onto Premiere as it was easy to distinguish which shot was appropriate. Additionally when it came to editing the production it was evident that what we had filmed was really relevant and created the right atmosphere. The footage looked good as a whole once we started to edit it and I felt confident that our production would meet the brief of a soap opera trailer. It started to look conventional and fluent.
Additionally we imported the soundtrack into the part of the production that we had put together. The soundtrack fitted really well with our production and we began to edit the footage to fit the music. This now looks really effective and has become conventional of the soap opera trailer.

What didn't go so well?
We found that one of our favourite shots (pan of the freeze frame) was too wobbly and was therefore disorientating for the audience once it was pieced with the other footage. We had to learn how to edit this in a way that would erase some of the shaky filming. We used the image stabilizer tool to manage this problem. This was successful to some extent, however it now jumps a little bit however hopefully we will be able to work hard on this to make it smooth and steady.

How successful?
Overall the initial editing stages have been very successful, we got the first two scenes edited together and it looks concise and conventional of the product we are making. The majority of footage we got on Monday appears to be successful and the trailer is now starting to take the form that we originally had planned for.

What, When and Where?
Day 4

Tuesday 11th November-
Today we continued to edit the production. We managed to import most of the footage and have made it fit to the music. We discussed the different speeds needed for each shot and how we may further edit the production.

My contribution
I started editing the party scene and the bedroom scene using the shot log to assist me. I chose the best shots to use for this scene and as a group we are now happy with how we have edited this. I additionally worked on cropping each piece of footage down to size in order for it to fit the production. This was successful as the content within the shot is still clear to the audience however it suits the soundtrack playing in the background.

What went well?
We took it in turns to edit the footage today and therefore have all contributed. When two of us weren't editing, we were assisting and offering advice to the editor.

What didn't go so well?
At first it was hard to decide on the speed of each shot for example the party scene. We needed the shots to be long enough so that it was obvious to the audience what was happening however we needed the shots to be fast in order for the footage to match the soundtrack.
In the end this did pay off and we all decided on the best speed for the footage. It is now clear to the audience and additionally fits the soundtrack creating suspence and excitment.
 

How successful?
Overall we were successful as we have nearly imported all of the necessary footage into our production. We are now able to see how well the footage works together and as a group we are quite sure that there will be no need to refilm. We are happy with each scene and feel as though the storylines and narrative included is relative and conventional of a soap opera trailer.

 

What, When and Where?
Day 5

Thursday 13th November
On Thursday 13th November Mel and I updated our production diaries, reviewed the footage that we had previously edited together and edited the colour of the pieced footage.

My contribution
I had already started to update my production diary from Tuesday however I had not completely finished it and therefore Mel and I took the first part of the lesson to update our diaries individually.
Once I had completed the most recent diary entry Mel and I worked together on colouring and reviewing the footage.

What went well?
We experimented with the colour dial and came to the conclusion that we needed to make the footage slightly more blue in order to create a 'cold' effect. We applied this technique to the first 6 pieces of footage in the sequence. Once we had done this we made sure the colouring was consistent and looked appropriate and conventional of our product.
We chose the most suitable colouring and we now feel content that our production will look professional and will meet the brief supplied.

What didn't go so well?
Abbie was not present at this session and therefore we could not ask her opinion on colouring the footage. This wasn't a major problem however it would have been easier for the whole group to discuss this as we will now have to show Abbie what we have done at the beginning of next lesson.

How successful?
Even though it was just Mel and I editing the production today, I do feel as though this session was successful as we now know which colouring technique we need to apply throughout the video.
Additionally being able to update our production diary was very helpful as it helps us to remember what we have done previously and has helped us keep up to date on our blog.

What, When and Where?
Day 6

Friday 14th November
On Friday 14th November we watched the footage that we had recorded and produced the shot log.

My contribution
Today after receiving feedback from our planning and research tasks we decided we would further develop our planning tasks in order to boost our grades.
The feedback suggested that we make a production schedule including pre-production, production and post-production.
I produced this document and included the tasks, dates and person responsible for each task.

What went well?
This went well as I got it done in the time I had to complete it and I additionally feel as though I completed it with a lot of detail and very accurately.

What didn't go so well?
At some points it was difficult to remember who had completed which task however discussing with the group was very helpful and provided me with the information I needed to know.

How successful?
This was successful as it is now complete and can now aid us in editing properly as we now have a plan and have fully allocated roles to each person involved within the production team.

What, When and Where?
Day 7

Friday 14th November
On Monday 17th November we recorded and added the voice over at the end of the production saying 'you never know what goes on behind closed doors, Memory Lane, brand new soap, coming soon to E4'.

My contribution
My contribution to this task was finding the appropriate person for this task who had a clear, steady, appealing voice that could advertise our production. I additionally created the short script for the individual to use whilst recording.
Once the correct person had been selected, I was in charge of ensuring their voice was recorded and saved safely onto the Media drive.

The above screenshot was taken from a video I found on YouTube additionally from E4 that included a really good clear voice over (1:19-1:25). I felt as though this voiceover was easy to understand, summarised the  necessary information well, was conventional of the broadcaster and created suspense for the audience. As a member of their target audience, the voice over helped persuade me to want to watch this and therefore I feel as though it was very effective and knew that this was something I wanted to include in my own production.
After watching this I decided that I wanted to include a voice over similar to this in order for it to be conventional of the broadcaster and to appeal to a youthful target audience. This is the primary reason as to why I produced my voice over in the way I did.

What went well?
I selected the right person to complete the voiceover, feedback from members of my target audience have said the voice used is professional and the voice over as a whole is conventional. This process was quick and easy to complete as the individual was cooperative and the recording worked well, with only a few takes needed.

What didn't go so well?
A few takes of the voiceover were needed to ensure that the tone of voice, level of voice and flow of the voiceover was perfect for our production.

How successful?
I feel this was very successful as the voiceover is conventional of a soap opera trailer. An audience member additionally said that they believed the voice sounded like a 'television voice' which was positive as they could relate the voice to the television. The voice over fits the production very well and supports the visual content included.

What, When and Where?
Day 8

Thursday 20th November
On Thursday 20th November we produced titles to feature over the top of the video and to create themes and to foreshadow storylines to the audience for when the soap begins.

My contribution
I set up the project on After Effects and created all of the titles, including adding the effects, exporting them and adding them to the Premiere document. Together, Mel and I agreed on what the titles should say as we had brainstormed ideas and we also agreed on the effect that would be applied to each title.

In order for all of our media products to gel together e.g. The production, and both ancillary tasks, we decided to include the phrase ‘you never know what goes on behind closed doors’, this was a way of engaging with the audience ensuring that they associated this phrase with our soap. We decided to create these titles using After Effects as previous experience with this software in my AS production ensured that my production looked professional and appealing to my target audience.  We decided that the titles would build more suspense and tension of the audience if we were to split the phrase up into three different sections. We decided on ‘you never know’, ‘what goes on’ and ‘behind closed doors’. We felt this was a good way to split the phrase as it would be in even chunks and doesn’t give the remainder of the sentence away thus creating suspense.

The above screenshot shows me creating the text for the title using the text box tool from the top of the programme, this process additionally applied to the subsequent titles we produced.

 

 

Once I had created the text that was going to feature in each title we then had to choose the effect most appropriate for our production in order for it to be conventional and additionally for it to appeal to a youthful audience. In order to do this I went to  ‘animation’ then ‘browse presets’, I then chose ‘text’. After experimenting with the effects we chose to use the ‘fade up’ effect as this gradually introduced our text on the screen without it just appearing and additionally created tension for the audience as they were unaware of when the next text would appear and additionally what it was going to say. I made sure I applied this effect to all the titles for the phrase ‘you never know what goes on behind closed doors’. I feel as though this was very effective and has helped increase the appeal for our youthful target audience.

What went well?
Once we had experimented, the titles looked effective and appealing to the target audience. They helped make our product look more like a trailer than an opening sequence which was positive. I was additionally able to fit the titles to the content in the production which made it look very continuous and conventional.

What didn't go so well?
It was time consuming trying to find an appropriate font and an effect especially when some of them didn't work properly. However we did manage to find an appropriate font and effect that was suitable for our production after experimenting for a period of time.

How successful?
On the whole, I feel as though the inclusion of these titles were very successful as it makes our trailer look more conventional and additionally fits the E4 broadcaster ethos. I think these titles appeal to a large proportion of our target audience and this will encourage them to watch our production.