Thursday, 25 April 2013

Team Meeting Minutes

Group members: Robert Welland & Oscar Artini

Items discussed: Our animation storyboard ideas.

Meeting 1 Date:April 5th 2013

During our first team meeting we discussed our different opinions and feelings towards the storyboards that were generated for our animation, we decided that the first two generated were 'okay' in terms of their standards and how a good message could be developed from them, we then went onto discuss how technical it would be to generate them. Unfortunately for the first two storyboards that were developed we decided that it would be too time consuming and extremely hard to create.




The next section of the meeting we decided to discuss different soundtracks that could be placed into the project. We both agreed on using a track that emulates a sad style to it however, combining it with  a voice over at the end to give a brief description of what the charity (Crisis) do for the homeless 'by giving them a home etc'









Meeting 2 Date: April 20th 

This meeting was to assure our group that all was agreed on. This was because we had finished our drafting stage of generating ideas for the project, another reason for this meeting being held was because our group had decided that we were ready to film and needed to start as soon as possible.

This last meeting also made a slight two changes to the animation, this was in the part when the homeless person heard a voice from the sky saying to turn around and look at the wall. In the storyboard on the left you can see that there is now another lego character who shall put money into the homeless persons pot and asks him to turn around a look at the 'Crisis wall' This decision was made by both of the group members (Robert Welland and Oz Artini) We decided that the previous idea was too unrealistic and the new idea made the animation seem a lot more realistic and a situation that seemed like it would actually occur.

Production Schedule


Production Schedule 

Film title: Crisis Animation
Client: Crisis
Producers: Robert Welland & Oscar Artini
Date: 25th April 2013

Planning started: January 2nd 2013 Date completed: January 30th 2013

Proposal started: February 4th 2013 Date completed: February 18th 2013

Agreement from client: February 27th 2013 Date completed: March 1st 2013

Audience Research started: March 15th 2013 Date completed: March 18th 2013 

Audience research analyzed: March 20th 2013 Date completed: March 28th 2013

Drafting started: April 1st 2013 Date completed: 20th April 2013

Production started: 29th April 2013 Date completed: May 20th 2013

Rough cut supplied to client: May 29th 2013 Date completed: June 8th 2013

Final version to client: June 10th 2013 Date completed: June 25th 2013

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Shot List - Interview


Shot list for interview 

The total number of shots within this interview came to 6. The first 5 number of shots were to create the introduction of the interview, showing different shots of Tim playing his bass guitar and showing different musical items around the room such as an amplifier. These shots were made in order to set the scene and build up for the actual interview

Shot no.1

This shot was on the subject Tim playing his bass guitar to show his skill and possibly revealing what the interview shall be about, this shot lasts for around 4-6 seconds. The camera then zooms into his hands playing the guitar. The following shots are also to generate the same feel of setting the scene, or letting the audience in on what the subject will be about.













Shot no.2

Shot number 2 links in with the intro section of the interview, as aforementioned the shot above this was Tim playing his guitar and our group decided to link in another musical object into this intro. The shot only lasts for around 2 seconds this was the shot of the amplifier. Whilst this shot is taking place the audio is still playing as it was in the previous shot, it is one continuous audio piece along with another 3 shots relating to the intro from this shot (Shot no.2)


















Shot no.3

Next, our group decided to place another shot of a musical item that was found within the room the interview was conducted. This was the shot of the electric guitar in the corner of the room, this shot also lasts for around the same time as the previous amplifier shot, these shots are very flash like in the way they are presented.
















Shot no.4 

After number 3 it then goes back to the amplifier however this time the shot lasts for around 5 seconds, our group felt that we needed to show another shot of this piece of equipment as it is very important to many musicians in the current music scene like (Tim)















Shot no.5

This was our final intro shot to the interview, our group decided to showcase his own skill on the bass guitar to almost introduce himself to the audience by showing what his hobby or possibly what his life is based around. This shot lasts for around 8-10 seconds, we decided this was a sufficient amount of time as we wanted the audience to take in what they were being shown.
















Shot no.6

Shot number 6 is where the main body of the interview starts to take place and also finishes. This is one angle throughout the entire shot. The image below shows its simplicity however it doesn't have much in the shot to distract the viewer from the subject matter (Tim) Our group decided to use this one angle throughout because of this reason and we feel it was what information Tim was giving us was the most important element of the interview.


Production Log - Interview



Production Log

Interview no.1

Week 1

This was the first session of filming our interview which seemed rather rushed as Tim had a music lesson to attend to with a student. So there wasn't much time for our group to set up a professional looking miss-en-scene however the interview was still conducted and continued on. For this we decided to only use 2 shots with no introduction shots taken. These shots were of Tim and one shot of the interviewers hands with the question paper (Rob) in this session our questions were asked and awnswerd and the interview filming was finished.

Week 2

At the start of week 2 we then began to upload the clips to the program final cut on one of the mac computer in the media department at school. Our group then began to place the clips into order and begin the editing process.

Week 3

At this point we unfortunantly ran into a very large problem regarding the mise-en-scene. We sat through our interview with our media teacher (Mr Southworth) who gave a small rapid review on the interview, immediately there was a large issue with the mise-en-scene which we agreed on. We claimed that our interview would have a professional sense of musical mise en scene within it however in this was not evident and a decision was made to continue editing the interview in the next week, and re-arrange another time to re-conduct the interview, this time in a much more professional way.

Week 4 

This was the last session of editing for the poor interview however we still finish it by placing it in order. We thought that by finishing it and placing it on our blogs we could compare the difference between the old and the new and how much better it would look visually. At this point we then began to contact our interviewee once again to remarriage a time to conduct the interview again from our faults.

Re-filmed interview

Week 1

Filming

When filming the interview we decided to use a number of different shots to generate a good story-like intro to our interview (our shot list shows an in detail description of each shot) We decided to use these different angles for the introduction as we thought it could make a good introduction to our subject. The filming was conducted in one of the rehearsal rooms in the Music section of the school again. However this time when filming, our group made sure that the mise-en-scene was of a much more professional standard due to the first time the interview conducted, the mise-en-scene was very poor. This area of RavensWood school suited the subject very well. As well as generating a good introduction when filming the interview in this session, we also shot one angle for the main body of the interview where the questions were asked towards Tim. 

Week 2

Editing 

This session is the first of the editing process, our group have imported the filmed clips from the camera onto one of the media departments Mac computers. We have uploaded the clips into Final Cut (editing program) we have now also started to splice the clips into order (starting with the introduction to the interview giving it a title and placing all of the intro shots together in a professional order.

Week 3

This week of editing we started to add different effects to the interview such as shortening some of the clips within the introduction to the interview. A good example of this being shown is when there is a shot of an amplifier for a few seconds then shoots straight to another guitar within the music room shoots quickly back to the amplifier. At this point of editing we also added the audio of the clips to suit each part of the introduction, we had to make sure the audio fitted when Tim's fingers were playing the strings of the bass guitar otherwise we would've faced another problem of a continuity error.

Week 4 

This was the last week of editing for the re-filmed interview and not much of a variety of editing occurred within this week. However this was the most important piece of editing that had to be conducted for the interview. At the end of each question our group decided to show a cut to transition from question to question to show that the subject had changed or moved onto another question being directed at Tim. We thought this would make the interview look much more professional and clear to follow. 








Tuesday, 23 April 2013

BBC Interview Research


What is your favourite interview and why?
'The Themes of Maya Angelou', is an interview I have repeatedly watched and loved since I had first seen it. It is so easy to get drawn into this interview because of its very, personal, intimate and professional style and output. Jeremy Isaacs does a superb job of interviewing asking questions that shown he has researched the subject and knows her history. His formal style of interviewing has been used to his advantage and asks some risky and vulnerable questions which an informal style of interviewer might of struggled with, this made for a great interview keeping the audience fixated on their entertainment screens. Maya Angelou is an amazing woman who has fully lived every moment of her life, she makes for a truly astonishing interviewee. She is a role model to anyone and watching her is very satisfying and calming for the audience, she reminds me of a wise but blissfully happy grandma figure.
The quote, ’I know a diamond is the result of extreme pressure, less time and less pressure and it could be crystal, coal, fossilized leaves, or just dirt; but time and pressure will create a diamond’, Since I have heard this quote I have adopted it and applied it to myself, as I feel the meaning of this is worthwhile to remember, this defiantly assists me to push that extra step in life, always resulting in a fulfilling and positive outcome. 

What is the best question and why?
Jeremy Isaacs: “At President Clinton’s inauguration, you wrote and performed a poem, on the pulse of morning, you was the first poet to do so since Robert Frost spoke at Kennedy’s; what does that poem that you spoke then say to us?

It is the best question because it is very in-depth, and it shows that the interviewer knows her history well, which gives a very polished and professional  and also that the audience can understand more about Maya Angelou and make a judgment of her power status, and popularity.

What is the worst question and why?
Terry Wogan: “Come Back to say your sorry ehh?”
Freddie Star’s Repsonse: “Yeahh…After all this time it’s been two years”.

To be honest it’s an alright introductory question but there wasn’t much point in it, but is really a humorous question.

What is the funniest response? What question prompted it?
David Frost: “What’s the result of the big fight?

Muhammad Ali responded with a long and very entertaining answer where he rhymed his words to get the audience and TV viewers to get pumped up for the fight against George Foreman.



What is the most emotional response? What question prompted it?
John Freeman: “Have you during this period, which have must have been very great strain for you, have you felt frightened or even lonely in your position of leadership?

Dr. Martin Luther King: “Yes at times I think honesty impales me to admit that I have in those times that I’ve actually confronted fear, err I don’t think anyone in a situation like this cant go through this without confronting moments of real fear…”

Who’s your favorite interviewer and why?
Jeremy Isaacs interviewing Maya Anglelou is great, and it is because of Isaacs’s formal Interviewing technique, but also partly because Maya is a very good speaker. He gets straight down to the point without being interrogative or aggressive, and structures the interview so that the audience can viewing will be interested in the interview. He picks on things only slightly to get a reaction out of the audience, for example: at the start of the interview he lists all her ‘jobs’ shes done in the past and he cheekily mentions that she’s been a prostitute, which he will know get a reaction out of the audience.

Presentation Feedback

James feedback is 'alright' could of been a lot more in-depth, but looking at what we already have here; it gives a good indication on how we projected our idea onto the potential investors and just to see if the idea was effective and investable.
  • He has understood the core of our idea which is the music industry but it would have been nice to of seen him mention the band 'Van Susans', in this section which are who we are interviewing but he seems to have understood what we are wanting to get out of our interview.
  • This answer about it being a personal touch is nice but unfortunately isn't particularly necessary unless he's talking about the way we are filming within the same school part of the band grown up in and one member (Tim) currently works at part-time.
  • Im glad he noticed this question for my best because I felt it was good because it will give other music lovers a lot of satisfaction possibly opening another musician to them.
  • I cant particularly think why this would be a bad question but maybe I could word it differently like, how long have you guys been playing for? instead.












Olivia & Savannah have given some well thought-out and detailed feedback, which will be very useful for me.

  • Very detailed perfectly understood our purpose, and aim of our interview.
  • This is interesting they have found this what makes my interview unique because I never thought this would but thinking about it again possibly this could give it a unique touch that I could take advantage of.
  • These best and worst questions are all good to know because then I can be notified if I should add certain topical questions or take any bad questions out, hopefully then the interview will be more satisfying for its audience.
  • Great piece of feedback here with them saying what we have got but what we possibly could need, and this is very important to me because they are very relevant and I have thought about using some archive footage.




Questions For Van Susans (With Evaluation)


Van Susan’s Possible Questions

When did the band start?

This is such a vital question purely because it sets the foundation of Van Susan's history to the audience, also the mention of the word 'Band', will tell the audience that hes involved with music, Me and my work partner feel this question is frequently used with most music interviews through our research, so it is a safe question to go with nevertheless there is a reason why its so commonly used, setting the foundation. As this is a very simple question I'd expect a simple answer, something like, 'In the year...', and to follow up this question we could say how was each member appointed to the band.

What do you play in the band? And what do you find so interesting about what you play?

This question is another basic generic one but it is so vital because they are the point of interest for the audience so the audience needs to know what they do and why they are so special they get to be on camera getting interviewed. I want the interview to have a structure/order by structuring it in with a beginning, middle and end, this will make the interview flow and just be much more satisfying for the audience as apposed to just having random questions. with the  'What he finds interesting' question, it is a much more open question and could gain a good insight as to why he likes the particular instrument hopefully showing his passion for the instrument and music in general.

What were the bands influences, also who or what are your influences to play your style of music?

These questions are another piece of quality information that viewers especially music fans will be interested in to see if they can relate with the interviewee. Because of the two staged style of this question the answer to this should be very in-depth as it asks him personally what his influences are. The structure of this  question is great as it gives a basic generic question to begin with and then follows up with the much more detailed and personal question, through research these questions are very effective at getting long interesting answers, and that's what we hope Van Susan s will give us.

Can you possibly talk about what (made you split away from the band)?

Here you can see the structure of all these questions have changed as in how I have eased the more personal questions in slowly, thus this being a very personal question hopefully it will gain me a very detailed and interesting answer. When I ask this question I'm going to make sure the interviewee is ready for it because of its personal nature, and I want him to give a good answer for this as it gives the audience an insight into the reality of the music industry, and the life of a musician. Hopefully Tim the interviewee will give a emotional response and we could maybe zoom the camera to amplify the drama of it all.

Are you going to join another band?

This is another personal question which is smoothly followed from the previous as they both share a relationship, so it will link very nicely. Hopefully I will be able to improvise something in the interview which is a little more detailed because this question as it stands now could be answered with one word which will be the worst case scenario.    

Do you play any other instruments other than a bass guitar?

I'm thinking about possibly moving this question higher up on this list maybe under the second question as it relates with music much more compared to these which are more about his personal life. This question should be a pleasurable one for any musician because they can either show-off there musical talents even more or they could start talking about there instrument which is always interesting because every instrument has a story. Nevertheless this is a question that could have a one word answer again so I might have to possibly add something to it to get him to explain himself more. 

What are you currently doing now?

This is a very simple question and should get a long and detailed answer, I might possibly move it close to the last question about if he gets any income from the band as I feel these two questions could fit together nicely, and also this question is great for the audience to specifically see what this particular artist does within his musical 'space', which should entertain the audience as it gives them an answer that they would like to know as we all live together in the present.

What was it like to headline at Indigo2?

This question I feel could defiantly go higher up on this list to give the interview more structure, I have said I should move it higher because its talking about the band Van Susan's and this and the next two questions relate to the band instead of his personal life. He should hopefully have some good storys about this question and the next two because it is very interesting as not many people have experienced what he has, and this will keep the audience engaged. 

What was it like touring the UK?

(This question also relates to the question above)

Have you ever played with the Van Susan's outside the UK?

(This question relates to the one above) 

What equipment are you using at the moment?

This is a great question to ask because I'm sure some of the audience will have a keen interest and knowledge of music and knowing what and why someone chooses a certain instrument is important to know because that is what makes the music at the end of the day, also this question is very specific so it will be guaranteed to have a detailed answer after it, which is perfect and what I'm looking for out of all my questions.

Did you ever get a good pay for being in the Van Susan's?

This is a very engaging question for the audience because people often aspired to be a musician but it was just a dream so to hear from someone trying hard to work his way up the industry doing lots of gigs in a range of venues if he gets a good pay or any at all! This is a great question to link in with a follow up question I could effortlessly improvise for example, 'So is that what the music industry is like?', or 'Did your label pay out a lot on your last EP?'

Editorial Decisions List


Editorial decision list 

When editing this interview with Tim Dullaway, our group thought that we may have had to cut out some answers or some questions that were said throughout the interview, however when watching the interview we then decided that actually every question and answer given was asked and received well. However we did spot a few very minor faults in the interview that had to be edited out and this was some of the hesitancies and the noise level of the laughter that our subject (Tim) made during the interview, these few screenshots below show some of the decisions that had to be made.

This first image shows the change that our group made with the audio in each clip. Some of the laughter had to be edited down in noise level in order to make the interview non- irritable to the viewers watching, so the laughter was made to sound much softer than piercing to the viewers ears. 



These two images show the editing decision that was made in order to split each question that was asked. The reason for this decision being made was because we wanted to generate a much smoother effect with the interview and it cut away much of the background noise such as laughter etc after each question. Whereas if we didn't make this decision it would have made the look much more informal and too casual. We wanted to make the interview seem as professional as we could. Our group feel that we have achieved this goal by making these decisions.






Final Interview


Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Shooting Script for Animation









 



Interview Evaluation Final

What went well?
This was our second attempt at this interview, thankfully Tim our interviewee agreed to do another interview, we wanted to do the interview again because in our previous the mise-en-scene was poor with plug sockets with wires hanging off the wall in the background which doesn't make for a particularly satisfying interview aesthetically. So this time around, we located a rather interesting antique 'thronesque' gentleman's chair for our subject (T.Dullaway) to be seated in, with the neck of his fender P bass laying next to him. Me and my work partner feel the look of this interview is rather basic but its simplicity works well because it shows the audience what the interviews all about; a gifted musician and his bass.



Interviewing Tim was a pleasure as me and him already know each other we used to practise in a band together, he is a very shy person so me having this insider approach he felt very comfortable around me thus giving me some great answers. I stuck to a similar style of interviewing as I did in my previous interview, I had some main questions I wanted to ask him but from then I just improvised leading a question on from his answers. Throughout the interview me (interviewer) and Tim didn't stall or hesitate asking and answering questions, I feel that this shows that it has been a great success in how the questions were presented to Tim, and that he felt comfortable to answer each one with confidence and depth.



The camera work for this interview was a joint effort as I couldn't man it when I was concentrating on interviewing so for the main interview where the camera is mostly sitting on the tripod my work mate manned the camera but the rest of the little shots were done by me as I knew these would add a lot to it in the edit. We both feel that the filming throughout the interview was a success. For some of Tim's responses the my work mate would zoom into Tim's face to possibly capture any emotion shown. This was shown when the question about how he felt leaving the Van Susans, we was hoping he'd of shown some more emotion because of this some could say sad thing but he isn't to bothered by it as he tells you about how he's involved in lots of different musical enterprises.




Even better if?


Between me and my work mate we feel that with this interview there was only one major fault that should have been noted way before the interview had even begun to be shot.
 It has been caught to my attention that our idea to shoot the interview in front of a window, the makes the camera struggle to focus which isn't good nevertheless I still feel Tim is in the shot fine with the light behind him nicely highlighting the outline of his head. But what this problem meant was the camera was mainly trying to focus on the light outside and not on the Interviewee Tim, this could have been fixed simply by running a couple of tester shots of the interview, so I could make a better decision to plan out a perfect location for the interviewee to be seated in.


I feel the interview was a success but I could of maybe structured the questions better in the order of how I say them, this is because aestetically it doesn't look fantastic with all the cuts in the edit, this could just be a personal prefrence but I would of rather said them in a structured order so that then the interview had more flow.