Week 1: Monday 11th November 2019 (Introduction to Low-Budget Filmmaking)

This week we started off with an introduction to Cross Media Production 1 and an introduction to low budget filmmaking. Cross Media Production 1 sounded like it was a lot more enjoyable than Cross Media Production 2. whilst Cross Media Production 2 included most of the theories behind how media works and the types of work that mainly depend on writing, Cross Media Production 1 is much more of a practical based module, which I prefer a lot more. as well as filmmaking we would be covering Radio, TV and Photography. I was really excited about this because working as a TV presenter already, I was interested to see how the studio’s in University differed from those at work.

After we were given a general breakdown of the module, we were introduced to low-budget filmmaking. it started off with a small activity where we were asked to figure out the difference between photography, animation and film. essentially photography is still images which depict a story, sometimes accompanied by audio. animation is still images that are digitally changed to involve moment and film is moving images recorded into a sequence. the film industry has been through many changes, malydue to technology but also because of societies exceptions of certain things.

Next we spent some time looking at composition and shot types. having a background in film studies really helped me here as it made it easier for me to identify shot types. this involved an activity where we captured 4 images in specific compositions, such as leading lines, rule of thirds, headroom and frame within a frame. This was a really insightful activity as I was able to understand how to use simple composition to improve a photo by a lot. In addition we also discussed the basics of mise-en-scene analysis, which is about reflecting on character, cinematography, colour, story, setting and sound.

We took this one step further the next day when we filmed a short silent film after being given a topic. We used basic editing software (iMovie) to edit 10 different angles together to create this short film. This was definitely fun, as filming on an iPad was a lot more different than filming on an actual camera. However I had to leave earlier this day, as I was doing so journalism work for my TV channel.

Week 2: Monday 18th November 2019 (Production Techniques)

the sessions this week were all about creating some sort of production piece from start to finish. we started off the session with our pre-session activities which was to highlight roles in the credits of a film that we had never even heard of. it was quite interesting to see just how many thousands of roles there are in production a film, and how they all intergrate together to create that film.

This all led into our main task, which was to create a short film. It had to include a conversation between two characters, and the rest of the plot was up to us. it jyst had to ensure that there was coniumity in the film, which meant that despite the various angles, the film needs to seem linear and logical. The cuts made should add to the experience instead of breaking the illusion of the film. Our film was a scene between a cop and a drug lord who would offer up names and locations of drug dealers in exchange for protection. we had to start off with ideas, a storyboard, a script, a prop list, but most importantly a location. Lucklily for us we were able to find a studio that was left open so which had the perfect lighting that we required for this scene. Once our idea was approved we had to actually film it. As the personw ith the most experience in camera wrok in the group, I took over cinematography. After a few hiccups with scripting issues, we were abe to get all the shots we required.

Our next session was actually all about editing videos in Adobe Premiere Pro, software that I am very comfortable using. For me this session was more of a recap into the miscellaneous things that we sometimes forget about editing in Adobe Premiere Pro; for example, creating folders separately for the different types of media added into the raw footage. I took charge on the editing as well, and we were able to successfully make the film without too much trouble. It was definitely a lot easier for me to edit it because I was also the one who filmed it so I knew which shots were best suited and how we could put it together successfully.

Week 3: Monday 25th November 2019 (Radio Production)

This week was all about radio. We spend the first session of the day actually learning the theory behind radio. In short, radio is defined as communication that occurs through radio waves. These radio waves have a frequency that humans can hear, so we are able to communication through radio waves. Radios channels often play music, talk about current issues and have sepurate programs just like in TV. However, it all depends on the charisma and individuality of each presenter which really grips the audience in the right way. Timing of shows and content changes; depending on the target audience and when they are most likely to listen to that show. However, you can’t control the reaction of the audience as they might not either like what your saying or your music, or it could just be that they are not your intended target audience.

Keeping all these things in mind we had to plan a 30 minute radio show that we would be recording the next day. We planned a show for then young adult audience that would take place around 8pm as a show that they could listen to whilst they are getting ready for a night out. Most of the topics discussed were student related and the songs we added were all known songs from different genres of music to attract a wider audience.

It was definitely fun recording this the next day. I took on the role of co preseter and also managed the sound levels to ensure that the sound was not distorted on the other side. After a trial run through that took us a while, we recorded a full run through of the whole thing without too much trouble. We went the extra mile and added a quick news segment as well as our conversational segment as well. The news segment was my job and I picked out news topics that were really bleak so that my co presenter could lighten up the mood, adding to the comedy of it. Our conversational segement was about student struggles, which made it more relatable for our audience.

Following this session we had to actually edit it our radio show in Adobe Audition. At first, I thought it was going to be fairly complicated and confusing, but instead it was actually really simplistic which definitely helped me in the long run as I was able to edit the full radio show and make it seem professional. To be honest, I really enjoyed the radio work a lot more than I thought and I would definitely consider doing it for my practical piece in the future.

Week 4: Monday 2nd December 2019 (TV Studio Introduction and Ghost watch)

This week was our introduction to TV. What better way to learn about how Tv studios work then by actually doing some hands on work in the studios. we were explained the different roles that we could do, which I was already used to dealing with. I decided to take the role of presenter this time just to make everyone’s life easier when they were vision mixing. The challenge however came with the scripts and the autocue, as I normally tend to do my presenting without a script, so having one felt slightly unnatural and strange. However, I worked passed it and presented the show that was given to us.

In the afternoon, we had to start planning our VT’s which would be external segments added into our show when we created it the following week. I decided to present the VT and let someone lese do the main presenting. We wanted them to be about light hearted topics and nothing too serious. So we decided to make one about the German Christmas markets and then one about the upcoming UK elections.

The next session was about the way TV can massively influence the public. We watched ghost watch, a show that was aired on Halloween which greatly traumatized many people and was very controversial. It was about ghosts in a family home that brought about the destruction of the whole TV studio. With well-known respectable TV presenters in the show and a well edited show with lot of VT’s the show became every believable. There was even a working phone line which made added to the reality of the situation. It was definitely really fun and enjoyable to watch and it made me think about how simple techniques can be used to influence people in a negative or positive way. We ended the day with a debate about what we thought about the production value and the narrative of the show.

Week 5: Monday 9th Decemeber 2019 (TV Studio Production)

Today, we actually shot our TV show. I decided to take the role of a camera operator in the studio. This allowed me to ensure that the middle shot was set up correctly. I did my best to ensure that sgthe shot was in focus and that the preseters weren’t over exposed. After that, it was a matter of waiting until our director was satisfied with the takes. Eventually we had done around 20 takes, each containing well done segments. It was not ideal but I trusted that the editing team would be able to handle it.

Once the show had been created in the studio, we had to make the VT’s. First, my group made our VT about the German Christmas Markets that I presented. We made it really quickly in few takes, thanks to our planning that we had done beforehand. However, when we returned to the rest of our team so that they could go and film their VT, it was clear that they were struggling with the editing and they weren’t sure how to do it. So I decided to take charge and used our last full run-throughs of our show to edit our show together. The VT they filmed was also shaky so I added a warp stabilizer onto it to make it more stable. Once the VT’s were done I was able to finish editing it all together and made cuts where necessary and even added some background music to make it even more interesting. This was really fun as I was able to help my team and solidify my skills at the same time.