A2 Media Coursework Blog

Due to the poor microphone quality on my computer, I deviated from adding diagetic sounds and instead put in the scripting for the opening of my drama. I have made the opening to seem as if the show has been going on for quite some time, therefore I will be able to construct a more trailer like opening which will grab the audiences attention quickly. My target audience is women aged between 11-20
therefore, I chose to enter the mature teen drama segment, targeting the ages of 16-20 year old women.

ORACLE ANIMATIC-

Rough Cut Complete

NB- YOUTUBE HAS CUT OUT SHOT 1!





FEEDBACK:

Having shown this to my teacher I obtained feedback describing that my TV Drama opening was too trailer-esque. This was due to the lack of continuity throughout my opening. There was the predominance of the male character, however, near the ending before the official titles, the audience was oblivious to the other 3 characters that were shown therefore I am considering to re-do the shooting and the animatic. I want to make my opening similar to that of "The Worst Witch" and "Young Dracula". This is because it is the sort of genre i wish to embody in my TV drama opening. Furthermore, it was said that the music was too theatrical and this added to the trailer like appearance of my opening.

In order to tackle these concepts, i will make my opening shorter and include a more jingle-y type of soundtrack that simutaneously engages the audience too. This should make the opening more effective for my audience. However, i am considering whether i should do it via live action or animated. Live action would make the opeining more realtive, whereas, animation will detract from that aspect and give it a more comical appearence.

26th October 2009

Today was a challenge. I shot all the shots of the main character and the key locations at the beginnning. Regarding shot no.5 on the storyboard, instead of having the character coming out of the ground, he proposed an easier method which was him falling out of a tree. This provided the same effect and saved a lot more time. This turned out to be more effective.

For shots no.2+3 i have decided to utilise a handheld camera in order to distort the viewer and help follow along with the tempo of the soundtrack.

For the running scene (shot9), i found the method of handheld tracking to be highly challenging. This was obviously due to the clarity of the motion. This took a while to establish, yet i am still not satisfied with it as the clarity is ok but i was hoping that the tracking would have gone smoother.

25th October 2009

Today I endeavoured to film during the dark hours so that my artificial lighting was viable to the actress. The artificial lighting source was a flood lamp in my actresses garden. This proved to be very useful as there was a blockage thus causing a shadow on the lower half of my actresses face, which meant that the light was focused on her eyes. This gave a highly striking impression on camera which will help to establish the character of this person as being mysterious. Although, I am slighlty concerned that the audience may not be able to see enough of her. I will look into this problem and see how i can resolve it on the coming ILP days.

This is the before and after of Shot 14 or the "innocence" shot:

Before




After:



THE PROCESS!!

Friday 23rd October 2009

Today could not have gone any better. The weather was ideal for my filming today as it was sunny and partially windy. I filmed shot 14 on my storyboard. The actress I had chosen was brilliant in conveying the emotion of innocence which is what I required as she will be the protagonist. I feel that I am progressing more and more confident with how to use the motion camera.

I plan on converting this shot into a black a white tone colour, this will help keep the convention of the colour palette black white and red. Also, I feel it would be the right colour scheme to adapt to the final shot of the opening sequence in order to give it a striking effect.

Friday 16th October 2009

Today I did some shooting of the insignificant shots such as the morgue book (shot8) and the lip licking (shot 10). I had to do the shooting at night, roughly around 10pm, when there was no daylight so that I could effectively use artificial lighting in order to create a moody atmosphere to the set.

The preparation for the set was extremely difficult as I wanted all the props to be in a certain position and also the lighting was the hardest element because it helped to establish the focal point within the framing of the shot. Therefore, I built a DIY reflector out of a child's drum and some tin foil in order to help soften the light around the props, which gave the lighting a more smoother appearance.

The lip licking scene was particularly hard as the make-up was essential and the actress I had chosen had spots around her mouth, therefore, in the post production I will see if I will be able to blur the shot slightly to give the make up a more smoother appearance. However, I will not
blur it too much as i still want the audience to see the action going on in the shot.

Shooting by myself is quite hard in comparison to my AS coursework as I had nobody to rely on. This was due to me not having enough time with the camera at that point. Due to lesson cross-overs and travel issues, I was unable to make it to all the shootings which deprived me of learning how to use the camera effectively. However, having done these insignificant shots, I feel that I am much more comfortable filming independently as it is more easier to envision the shots by myself, thus allowing me to create an effective children's TV drama opening.