georgebradleyfilmandtelevision.files.wordpress.com… · Web view06/05/2017 · (1993) had always captured my interest with great ease. Although Dazed and Confused was set 20 years

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Department of Media and Communication

EXTENDED PROJECT PORTFOLIO

Academic Year 2016/2017

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Student NameYear 2 – Write the title of your

pathway Unit 13/14 – Extended Project

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................................2

LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................5

LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................................5

DEFINITION OF TERMS...................................................................................................................5

Unit 13/14 - Project Proposal...............................................................................................................6

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Project Action Plan and Timetable.......................................................................................................9

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CHAPTER 1...........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction........................................................................................................................................11

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The Background of my Project........................................................................................................11

Who am I?...................................................................................................................................12

What did I learn on my course?..................................................................................................13

What is my project about?.............................................................................................................14

Why my project is important?............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

My Research Plan............................................................................................................................14

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CHAPTER 2...........................................................................................................................................16

Literature/Resources Review.............................................................................................................16

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Introduction....................................................................................................................................16

Practitioners Report........................................................................................................................17

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study.....................20

CHAPTER 3...........................................................................................................................................21

Research Design..................................................................................................................................21

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....................................................................21

Introduction....................................................................................................................................21

Research Questions........................................................................................................................22

Research Design Evolution..............................................................................................................23

CHAPTER 4...........................................................................................................................................25

Research Findings...............................................................................................................................25

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Data analysis...................................................................................................................................26

Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project?......................................................26

CHAPTER 5...........................................................................................................................................26

My Project...........................................................................................................................................26

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Introduction....................................................................................................................................26

Pre-Production................................................................................................................................26

Production.......................................................................................................................................27

Post-production..............................................................................................................................27

Presentation....................................................................................................................................27

CHAPTER 6...........................................................................................................................................27

MY EXTENDED PROJECT – FINAL PRODUCT........................................................................................27

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CHAPTER 7...........................................................................................................................................28

Project Evaluation...............................................................................................................................28

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APPENDICES........................................................................................................................................29

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment.................29

1. Be able to initiate and develop a creative media production project proposal.......................29

2. Be able to use research, analysis and evaluation to develop solutions for creative media production project.......................................................................................................................29

3. Be able to solve practical, theoretical and technical problems in a creative media production project.........................................................................................................................................29

4. Be able to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project..........................30

5. Be able to use practical methods and skills in a creative media production project................30

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6. Be able to use evaluative and reflective skills in the production of a creative media product.30

7. Be able to present a creative media production project..........................................................30

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................30

LIST OF FIGURES

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Figure 1- What is research...................................................................................................................22Figure 2- How to ask good questions...................................................................................................23Figure 3 - My exercise 1.......................................................................................................................23

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - Project Proposal......................................................................................................................7Table 2 - Project Action Plan and Timetable........................................................................................10Table 3- My research Plan...................................................................................................................14

DEFINITION OF TERMS

EP – Extended ProjectUAL – University of the Arts London

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Unit 13/14 - Project Proposal

Candidate Name

George Bradley

Candidate Number 20094043

Pathway Film + TV

Project Title Crowded HouseSection 1: Rationale (approx. 150 words)My main area of concern for this project is portraying a zeitgeist of teenage life in southern England. A lot of teenage characters in films can be either underdeveloped or misrepresented and I want to attempt to represent them properly in my film.

My project is about growing up, because of the characters divorcing parents or his new-found friends, David has never felt like he belonged anywhere.

My project is important, as it is relatable to events that occur in most teenager’s life. Whether that’s because of how common marriages end in divorce (42% of all marriages) or peer pressure to partake in drugs people of that age group will learn lessons from this film.Section 2: Project Concept (approx. 200 words)My film concerns a 17-year-old boy, David, facing the potential divorce of his parents and how he deals with it. Upset at the prospect of a broken home; David breaks out of his normal social boundaries and falls in with a group of rebellious youths. Off the rails and out of control he experiments with drugs and commits petty offences alongside this new group of misfits. Revelling in his new lifestyle, he experiments further with a new type of drug and has an extremely bad experience. Realising that this isn’t the path he

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wants to take; he goes home to sort through the problems with his parents.

My main influences for this film are Boyhood(2014), Dazed and Confused(1993), and in particular Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower(2012). As the character of Charlie (in Perks) deals with a lot of social anxiety issues and the film follows how he becomes more confident over time; this has helped me to develop and create my own character of David.

I will research existing short films so that I can better learn how to tell a story and develop characters in a short amount of time.

My target audience for this project is teenagers, as I am going to be portraying and talking about social issues, peer pressure and self-discovery; which are all common and relatable issues for people of the 15-19 age group. The film will also be relevant to adults with children approaching or at that age group.

My role in the project is the Director, however as this is a student production I will obviously need to take on other roles too. I’ll assist in camera, sound, research, lighting and more; although I’ll have crew members on set to fill most roles.

The technical requirements of my project will be: Camera (Nikon D5200) x2, Mic, Boom pole, LED Light, Zoom, Tripod, gels. As this is a short film I won’t be attempting any effects and so I hopefully will not have any technical issues. I have taken influence for the camerawork from Boyhood and Children of Men(2006), as I want to incorporate some long take tracking shots into my production.

Section 3: Evaluation (approx. 150 words)In order to keep a detailed log of how my project develops I will be keeping a daily diary. This diary will allow me to keep track of any changes or developments that occur during the production and post-production phase of this project.

I will use feedback from my tutors to guide the direction of my project, and I will also provide regular focus groups to my classmates of footage to get their feedback.

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)Honthaner, E.L. (2001) The Complete Film Production Handbook. 3rd edn. Boston, MA: Focal Press.

KitfoxGames (2013) Art Style experiments 1. Available at: http://www.kitfoxgames.com/art-style-experiments-1/ (Accessed: 14 April 2016).

Boyhood. Texas, USA: Richard Linklater, 2014. DVD.

Louise O’Neill. (2015). How do you write for teenagers?. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/oct/23/how-do-you-write-for-teenagers. Last accessed 21/03/2017.

Fresh Air. (2014). Filmed Over 12 Years, 'Boyhood' Follows A Kid's Coming Of Age. Available: http://www.npr.org/2014/07/10/330291891/filmed-over-12-years-boyhood-follows-a-kids-coming-of-age. Last accessed 21/03/2017.

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Grove, E. (2004) Raindance producers’ lab: Lo-to-no budget filmmaking. Oxford: Elsevier Science

Ramin Setoodeh. (2016). Richard Linklater on the Long Road to Make ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’. Available: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/richard-linklater-everybody-wants-some-dazed-and-confused-1201731914/. Last accessed 22/03/2017.

Dazed And Confused. Texas, USA: Richard Linklater, 1993. DVD.

Lydia Sharp. (2013). Writing From an Authentic Teen Viewpoint. Available: https://writeitsideways.com/writing-from-an-authentic-teen-viewpoint/. Last accessed 22/03/2017.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High. California, USA: Amy Heckerling, 1982. DVD.

Table 1 - Project Proposal

Project Action Plan and Timetable

Project Action Plan and Timetable

Week Date WeekBeginning

Activity / What you are intending to do - including independent study

Resources / What you will need to do it - including access to workshops

1 13th March 17 Observational Study Camera, Subject (model)

2 20th March 17 Timeline – Skills learnt

Research Plan

Computer

3 18th April 17 Project Proposal

Research Plan

Project Action Plan

Complete Chapter 1

Computer

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4 24th April 17 Complete the rest of Chapter 2 Computer

5 2nd May 17 Finish Chapter 3 – Plan my research design

Computer

6 8th May 17 Chapter 4 – Complete all research for my project

Computer, Access to LRC books

7 15th May 17 Chapter 5 – Pre-production:ScriptTreatmentStoryboardsLocation RecceRisk AssessmentCostumesBudgetLegal Requirements

Computer, Audio recording device, Camera,

8 22nd May 17 Chapter 5 -Production:Filming home scenes

Camera (Nikon D5200) x2, Mic, Boom pole, LED Light, Zoom, Tripod, gels.

9 5th June 17 Chapter 5 –Production:Filming outside scenes

Camera (Nikon D5200) x2, Mic, Boom pole, LED Light, Zoom, Tripod, gels.

10 12th June 17 Chapter 5 – Post-production:Film EditingSound Design

Chapter 6 –Post final product into chapter 6

Computer, Avid media composer, Adobe Audition, Audacity

11 19th June Chapter 7 – Evaluation and reflection

Computer

Table 2 - Project Action Plan and Timetable

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This portfolio is my UAL extended final major project for Film and Television. My project is a short film about David, a 17-year-old boy, whose parents’ relationship is failing. Shown through experimental filmmaking I want to capture David’s emotional mind-set as he struggles to deal with the separation. The first chapter of my project portfolio starts with the background of my project; including what I have learnt over the course so far, my influences and my inspirations, and about myself (who I am and how that relates to my project). Following that I will talk about what my project is about and why it is relevant and important. After that my research plan is included.

The Background of my Project

Something that has always been of interest to me are zeitgeists. Growing up with a love of coming of age films, movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Dazed and Confused (1993) had always captured my interest with great ease. Although Dazed and Confused was set 20 years before it’s production it could be argued that it was an earning or homage to Texas in the 1970’s. It wasn’t until I became more educated about film; that I realised I’d come to appreciate watching the tiny snippet of the spirit and mood of a place at a certain period of time. For my extended project, I’d like to create a zeitgeist of my own in my area in 2017. I think that a unique tone can be captured with a film like this unlike any other movie. I also find myself at some level of frustration with how teenage characters can be represented in film. I find them often either underdeveloped or misrepresented

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more often that an adult character would be. Whether this be due to lack of research or not delegating enough screen time it is a common annoyance for me and I would like to try and develop and represent them properly.

I will be the director and producer of this project, however as this is a student production I will have to have a hand in most other roles too. I’ll have a dedicated camera operator and boom operator and will pick up extra roles when and if they are needed throughout the production. I will also be the editor for this project, as that will be very important to the finished look I want to achieve.

Creating an experimental film like this will require an array of existing skills and new ones I will need to learn. I will research further into experimental filmmaking techniques and after considering my previous experimentation work I can now build upon that with further exploration.

I want to create a film that fits into the genre of social realism. I have quite a specific target audience of 15-19 year olds for this film, as the message I am trying to portray is very specific in itself. The events of the film will be something that teenagers in that age group will be able to relate to easily, as themes like peer pressure and drug use occur frequently in life.

Who am I?

This is a personality test that I conducted which asks you questions and then predicts what kind of personality traits you have. I did find that the conclusions the test came to about me were very accurate in some places, however I found that a couple of my answers seemed to change a lot about my results. For instance, I answered a question about being truthful over caring about people’s feelings in an argument; in which I strongly agreed about the truth and that answer alone seems to have shaped the majority of my results.

Personality type: “The Debater” (ENTP-T)Individual traits: Extraverted – 58%, Intuitive – 71%, Thinking – 60%, Prospecting – 81%, Turbulent – 51%.Role: AnalystStrategy: Social EngagementLink to your profile: https://www.16personalities.com/profiles/5874bb9f9b7cf

When George did the personality test on me it got quite different results. Whereas I got "The Debater" George got "The Logician". After reading the results of "The Logician" I think it better suits me than "The Debater". This is interesting to me, as potentially George doesn't know as much about me and so got a different result, or he sees me for what I am where I wasn't being truly honest with myself.

Personality type: “The Logician” (INTP-T)Individual traits: Introverted – 54%, Intuitive – 59%, Thinking – 78%, Prospecting – 83%, Turbulent – 58%.Role: AnalystStrategy: Constant Improvement

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Link to your profile: https://www.16personalities.com/profiles/5874eb8eb87a9

In this task I had to create a mind map around myself, who we are and what our interests are.

I did quite enjoy this task. The mind map was meant to contain things that we both liked and disliked. It's quite difficult to talk about things that you don’t like, as I think it would be difficult to show via pictures that you hate heavy metal music. I did sneak in a picture of Adam Sandler who has made some of the worst movies ever created. I put Kanye West in a love heart in the middle because he's my favourite artist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4mQMOirOxg

In this task, we had to talk about who we were. It is similar in a way to the mind map that we did, as we are talking about ourselves, however we were meant to talk more about our personality and our physical appearance. I found this task really quite difficult surprisingly as it is quite difficult to talk about yourself without just saying what you're interested in. This is sort of what I ended up doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHbEMpFIaAU

I was sort of surprised about what Declan said to me, as sometimes I think I'm not the most confident person in class and could speak out more, but I have been working on it recently. I think Declan is right, as most of the films I've made in and out of college so far have been comedies, as I feel that's what I'm good at and what I've done the most. Therefore, for my Final Major Project I might try and lean away from the comedy and create something more serious to test my skills and abilities.

If I were to do these tasks again I'd spend a little more time planning what I was going to say before I filmed myself, as I think I could have done it better a lot better. I would also ask more questions about what the task was so that I had a better understanding of what we were meant to be doing.

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https://www.16personalities.com/profiles/5874eb8eb87a9

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From what Declan said about me in the previous task I think that I should try and do something more serious instead of the usual route of comedy that I seem to go down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08RYZvcHe0M

I pre-planned some open-ended questions about things I knew George was broadly interested in. Including questions:

What brands are you wearing today?

Why are you wearing those? What are your opinions on Kanye West? Do you like his music?

Do you like to skate?

Did anyone get you in to skating? When did you start? Can you do any tricks?

I only had 2 or 3 relatively broad questions to ask George, but I then expanded on his answers and got some more in depth information about the subject at hand.

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What did I learn on my course?

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What is my project about?

Teenagers in Great Britain take more drugs than in any other European country. According to statistics almost 40% of British teenagers age 15-16 have tried illegal substances with the number rising when reaching the age of 18. The film I have created for my extended project is an experimental film about David’s struggle with the divorce of his parents, and his subsequent fall into peer pressure and drug use. With the effects of the unknown drug taking effect on David he struggles to come to terms with the impending break up of is family. As time passes and pressure builds David faces a mental crisis as he loses control of his body and mind.

Why my project is important?

On a personal level this film is important to me, as I only ever observe drug use from a far it will be an interesting and struggle of a task to try and replicate the effects in my film. I will do a lot of research into similar sequences in existing films to give me inspiration, and also into the effects of certain drugs. I feel that teenage characters are often either misrepresented or underdeveloped in film. Whether that be due to poor research or general negligence I think the characters in the majority of cases can be difficult to relate to and I want to try and represent them realistically and accurately. I also want to inform others of my age group the dangers of drug abuse by portraying the real potential effects and dangers of Class A drugs.

My Research Plan

Table 3- My Research Plan

FMP - RESEARCH PLAN Interest/Topic/ThemeI am interested in Storytelling and Narrative; particularly how teenage characters are represented and portrayed in film and TV.

Why is it important? - Importance I feel that teenage characters are often either misrepresented or underdeveloped in film. Whether that be due to poor research or general negligence I think the characters in the majority of cases can be difficult to relate to and I want to try and represent them realistically and accurately.

My progress and achievements throughout the course (write about knowledge, skills and how this influenced your choices during the course) Throughout this course I have learnt a number of skills and an extensive amount of knowledge about filmmaking and the film industry. I have always had a keen interest in “Coming of Age” films, and so as my knowledge has increased in narrative and scriptwriting over the past 2 years; I have realised that some practitioners can create teenage characters effectively, whereas most characters

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will often feel underdeveloped and misrepresented. I have exponentially increased my camera, sound and lighting skills since the beginning of this course, and throughout, as my confidence has grown, I have found myself taking the position of Director more and more, as I like to be in charge of the set I am on so I can create the product as I see fit.

Throughout this course I have learnt a number of skills and an extensive amount of knowledge about filmmaking and the film industry. I have exponentially increased my camera, sound and lighting skills since the beginning of this course. I am now able to effectively direct a crew and actors confidently

Literature (Proposed Sources – Harvard Format) Louise O’Neill. (2015). How do you write for teenagers?. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/oct/23/how-do-you-write-for-teenagers. Last accessed 21/03/2017.

Boyhood. Texas, USA: Richard Linklater, 2014. DVD.

Fresh Air. (2014). Filmed Over 12 Years, 'Boyhood' Follows A Kid's Coming Of Age. Available: http://www.npr.org/2014/07/10/330291891/filmed-over-12-years-boyhood-follows-a-kids-coming-of-age. Last accessed 21/03/2017.

Ramin Setoodeh. (2016). Richard Linklater on the Long Road to Make ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’. Available: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/richard-linklater-everybody-wants-some-dazed-and-confused-1201731914/. Last accessed 22/03/2017.

Dazed And Confused. Texas, USA: Richard Linklater, 1993. DVD.

Lydia Sharp. (2013). Writing From an Authentic Teen Viewpoint. Available: https://writeitsideways.com/writing-from-an-authentic-teen-viewpoint/. Last accessed 22/03/2017.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High. California, USA: Amy Heckerling, 1982. DVD.

My research questions (What I am trying to find out?) How do I represent teenage characters accurately What films have represented teenage characters accurately Which Directors and Writers have consistently developed teenage characters extensively

and how can I learn from them Which Directors and Writers have not developed teenage characters well and what can I

learn about how not to build the characters

Research Design (methods) I will be holding focus groups to find out people’s views on the representation in media of teenage characters and what can be done to represent them more accurately. I also want to do secondary research into films with well-developed teenage characters to see how that practitioner made that character. It’s important to not solely focus on existing films, and so I want to look at how teenage characters are developed in novels too.

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Focus Groups Interviews Surveys Observation Books Journals Advertising Film + TV Internet Magazines Photography

How will this research help me with my product?It’s important for me to look at existing media products to gain an understanding of how what I’m interested in looking at has been produced in the past. So that I can then see how to do it myself and how it can be done well. I will research how to develop characters, and apply all the info sourced in to my script writing.

CHAPTER 2

Literature/Resources Review

Introduction For this chapter I will be portraying the knowledge I already have about my Extended Project and will include a review of a range of different resources that I have looked at to come to a conclusion on the final idea for my project. To begin with I will include my Practioners report; a report looking at the two cinematographers Freddie Young and Emmanuel Lubezki. This chapter will conclude with a review of and conclusion of the resources used in this chapter.

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Practitioners Report

We were given a brief to create a report on one practitioner from modern day cinema, and one from classical cinema. For this task I will be looking at the cinematographers Emmanuel Lubezki and Freddie Young. I came to the decision of looking at these two practitioners due to their work on Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Children of Men (2006).

Emmanuel Lubezki

Early Life

Emmanuel Lubezki grew up in Mexico City; however, his parents originated from Russia and fled to Shanghai after the Communist revolution in 1917. Studying and living in Mexico he says the first "magic moment happened when I was looking through the viewfinder on a Super 8 camera and shooting the film" (Lubezki, 2007). He began studying History at the University of Mexico, however after visiting the still photography department at the university he abandoned history and began producing short films at the Mexican School of Cinema. From the outset, he knew he wanted to become a cinematographer and even worked with Alfonso Cuarón whilst still at University. Him and a group of other aspiring cinematographer’s worked in, and around, Mexico City producing films and trying to fund future films through sales of VHS tapes. After some of his work was selected for the Toronto Film Festival he started to gain notoriety from agents and producers in Los Angeles. From there he began working in Hollywood and on bigger and bigger films.

(IEC, 2016)

Work

Emmanuel Lubezki is famous for his handheld wide-angle filmmaking style. This 3 time Oscar winner collaborated on films such as Birdman(2014), Children of Men(2006) and The Revenant(2015). Lubezki experimented with long takes in Children of Men; following in the wake of Steven Spielberg, who pioneered the "Spielberg oner", he shot multiple impressive one takes through the movie including the famous car scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfBSncUspBk

This 4 minute take took months to plan and build the rigging. Here are some photos of the car to show how they managed to achieve it.

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(Nathalie, 2017) (Mike Seymour, 2007)

Lubezki and Alfonso Cuaron originally thought about using green screen over actually shooting the sequence in a real environment, however Lubezki fought for a non green screen route, as his preferred style is to shoot using natural lighting and he felt that there wouldn't be realistic and natural reflections through the windows if shot using green screen.

Lubezki's experimentation with long takes in Children of Men transferred over in 2014 to one of the most impressive cinematographic feats in the history film. The film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)(2014) seemingly runs for 1 hour and 59 minutes without a single cut throughout. Of course there are hidden cuts and the film itself separates itself into 3 acts via a transitional shot looking at the sky. Lubezki himself said the longest shot in the film is only roughly 15 minutes; most clocking in around the 10 minute mark. Still this is an extremely impressive achievement; when you consider every time the camera moved lighting also had to be altered to avoid unwanted shadows and to keep continuity.

Freddie Young

Early Life

Freddie Young began his work in the film industry in the midst of World War 1 in 1917. He began working as a tea boy. In 1929 he signed a contract with MGM British Studios doing any job from driving the studio car to an editor. Over the next 20 years he spent his time building up an impressive catalogue of films that he worked on. During World War 2 he served as "captain and chief cameraman in the Army Kinematograph Service at Wembley Studio" (IEC, 2016) and filmed major events such as the Normandy landings. In 1959 he freed himself from his MGM contract after 30 years and went on to produce critically acclaimed films such as Doctor Zhivago(1965) and Lawrence of Arabia(1962).

(IEC, 2016)

WorkFreddie Young was one of the most influential and long working filmmakers of the 20th century. Working from 1917 all the way until 1984 his career spanned 67 years before his death in 1998. He was known for shooting his films using 70mm lenses for wide cinematic shots. The use of 70mm or 35mm is usually based on the cinematographer’s preference. Young was a Cinematographer who

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thought 70mm was a better medium to shoot on for his style of work. The wider shots and better quality when projecting were clinching points for Young to use this format at the time.

Young won 3 Oscars in Cinematography for his work on Lawrence of Arabia(1962), Doctor Zhivago(1965) and Ryan's Daughter(1970); all of which he collaborated with David Lean on.

These 3 screen grabs are shots from Lawrence of Arabia.

Freddie Young's deep and intense color palette used in this film is particularly evident here. The strong orange and reds bounding over the dark and bleak desert gives off a certain intensity to this shot.

The use of a wide-angle lens for this shot accentuates the vast expansiveness of the desert, furthermore the leading lines of the shot point to a character in the distance of great significance, therefore representing an imminent scene of importance.

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Again the use of a wide-angle lens shows just how dwarfed the characters are by the vastness of the desert. The silhouettes of the characters in this shot show a lack of identity.

This task gave me a lot of insight into the detailed styles of cinematography both directors of photography have. The natural lighting style of Emmanuel Lubezki, but still using a lot of diffusers and reflectors I found particularly inspiring and would like to implement that kind of lighting technique into my final major project.

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study

What are similar media products and how is my work related to them? (position yourself in relation to similar media products)

How have similar media products influenced my project? How have they shaped my project? (Thought and action)?

What did I learn from similar media products? (compare similar media products, how it influenced my perspective and ideas for the project – talk about both script and techniques)

Identify requirements for your media project

Some of the main influences for my project are The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2013), Trainspotting (1996), Taking Woodstock (2009), Dazed and Confused (1993), Boyhood (2014) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been

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CHAPTER 3

Research Design

IntroductionThis chapter contains the research design for my extended project. Beginning with a list of my research questions, and then followed by a detailed description of the research design and methods of research I will be using for this extended project.

Research QuestionsHow has experimental filmmaking been used to create sequences like this before?

What effects do drugs have on the body (visibly and mentally)

Does a specific type of music simulate an out of body experience/ drug high?

How can I use filmmaking techniques and equipment to portray the characters state of mind?

How can I get the same character in shot twice using visual effects?

How do I represent teenage characters accurately?

What films have represented teenage characters accurately?

Which Directors and Writers have consistently developed teenage characters extensively and how can I learn from them

Which Directors and Writers have not developed teenage characters well and what can I learn about how not to build the characters

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Research Design Evolution

In this chapter, you will expand on what you wrote in your project proposal. Write about what you researched and how you collected your data (research activities). Remember, in this chapter, you will only write what you have researched and what research activities you used. In the next chapter, you will write about your findings, analysis and conclusions. You can write following chapters about findings and analysis using same themes (see below) for the sub-titles.

You can use following research themes as separate sub-titles:

• Subject you are going to research (this will be primary research you conducted; the secondary research about subject will be in literature review)

o This is anything done by you, and it could be such:o Online questionnaire – you could ask your Facebook friends to comment on your

project idea and give you some additional ideas how you can make it better.o Get the feedback from your lecturers and comment on it. o You can contact companies, council, artist depending on what is your project about to

get their opinion on your project idea. o You can use your phone or tablet to research, take photos of possible locations and

places that you can use in your project.

For my primary research I want to do a multitude of different methods and techniques. I will hold a focus group to gage the general response to the plan and idea for my production and get feedback on what I could alter to improve upon my original ideas.

• Target audience

Ask yourself questions: Who? What? Where?

o Who is your target audience? Who are you aiming your product at?o What type of audience is it? Investigate the target demographic and record the type of

media or entertainment they consume. o Where can you find this out? You can use, ‘YouGov Profiles’ site to find out about your

target audience demographic. (secondary)o You can set up interviews or record a ‘Vox Pops’ (primary) to find information about

your audience.

• Skills and techniques

o Come up with the plan of what skills and techniques you will need to research to produce an effective, original and to near professional standard project.

o For example, you can watch tutorials or read about how to achieve specific skills and techniques that you will need for your project (secondary)

o Experiment with range of skills yourself (primary)

• Production research

o Explain what and how:

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o People needed for the production/availability (how: emails, Facebook, Skype conversation, etc.)

o Research production roles that you will need to carry out and how to do it successfully (how: the internet, media books, etc.)

o Production schedule (how: create your own) o Budget (How: secondary internet, primary ask yourself) o Recce research/location needed (how: take images, contact individuals for permission,

etc.) o Health and safety research ( How: take images, check locations yourself, ask for

permission) o Visual ideas (storyboard optional) (How: take images, create sketches, get inspired by

other people ideas, etc.) o Props (how: make a list, ask to borrow, make it, buy it, use what you have)o Production (techniques, hardware, workflow) ( how: research what you need / how:

try it yourself) o Post -production (Edit, colour correction, VFX, etc. ( how: read, watch how other

people/professionals do it, try it yourself)

List all research activities; what activities you conducted to answer your questions and collect the data? Write about the data you collected; your choice of data presentation and how you structured your data analysis.

The research activities should be identified e.g:-

Observations (observational drawings; using photography, video and audio to collect data)

Documents analysis (written, but also video and audio documents) Workshops Interviews Focus groups Surveys (visual, audio, etc.) Experiments Tests and measurements

CHAPTER 4

Research Findings

We were tasked with going into Canterbury town and the surrounding area and take recordings of our observations. As I have been looking into cinematography for my discipline I decided to look into lighting, however I wanted to go more in-depth than that and so chose to look at shadows and reflections.

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Here is the selection of the photos I took today:

This photo was taken at a vintage fair at the University for the Creative Arts. I saw the reflection of sunlight off of the metallic coat hangers and thought it was a really interesting shot.

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This photo was taken outside of the Marlowe Theatre of the "Bulkhead" sculpture. The photo was taken in the early evening when the sun was low in the sky. Because of the intense lighting the shadow of the face is cast against the fence with focus put on the light coming through the eye.

Also taken at the "Bulkhead" sculpture this shot is from inside the face. I found that the sculpture was originally constructed in 2003 and so has rusted and worn away alight over the past 14 years, therefore the lighting through the rust holes give a great effect.

I like the difference in the shadows in these two shots. Both were shot in the same location with the same lighting and it's interesting to see how the shadow has diffused over a greater distance due to the size of the object and the distance away from the ground. You can also see how the edges of the shadow on the left are far more defined that the right due to the close proximity to the ground.

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This is my favourite photo of the day; firstly because of the great reflection I managed to get and also the contrast between the relatively dull colour palette of the shot compared to the subjects bright-coloured clothing. The subject and the reflection are perfectly mirrored to the centre of the shot.

This task was a really interesting one for me. I found myself seeing and observing little things around Canterbury that I usually wouldn't. Especially some small objects or places that reflect light in an interesting and new way. I've learnt that there is more to light than I originally thought I knew and that I can use light and how it reflects to create a different style of effect in my final film for my Extended Project.

Experimental Lightning

For this experimentation task I wanted to look into how the emotion in a scene can be altered via what type of gels used when lighting a shot. I decided that I’d shoot the same shot multiple times and use different gels over the ARRI lights and see if there was a difference in the emotion portrayed just via changing what colour of lighting was present.

Red

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Dark Blue

Light Pink

Amber

Light Blue

I think this experiment went very well. The goal of this task was to try and show how emotion could be changed in a shot just via the colour of the lighting and I think I achieved that. The emotions trying to be portrayed in this experiment are as follows:

Red - In this shot I was trying to create a feeling of anger and rage. The shadows cast from his hands in this photo cover his facial features adding an air of mystery.

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(Garland, 2015)

I found inspiration to use the red lighting from the film Ex Machina (2015). Without the strong use of red lighting in this shot the anger and rage emotions wouldn't have had as deep of an impact.

Dark Blue - This photo has a feeling of damp and coldness. I has originally intended for a lighter blue colour, and for the photo to have a different kind of meaning, however I still like how the colour came out. I think I put too many layers of blue gel over the Arri light. I'll now know in future to double check the gels I’m using to make sure the colour is correct.

(Nolan, 2008)

I found this still from The Dark Knight(2008) very interesting and inspirational. The blue tint to the entire city is giving the effect of a cold and unhappy place. Which is precisely the crime riddled city that Gotham is; therefore the lighting really adds to the shot.

Light Pink - I wanted this shot to have a romantic feel to it. I think I've achieved this relatively well, however I think the pink could have been a little deeper and darker, as it is a little too light to garner the effect I wanted to produce.

Amber - This is my favourite shot from this experimentation. It reminds me of a strong early morning sunrise and I think the colouring works really well. I was actually surprised at how realistic the lighting looks for the shot and didn't expect it to come out as well as it did. I found a large sheet of amber gel and folded it multiple times to get the darkness right.

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(Mendes, 2012)

The silhouette created by the amber lighting in this shot gives off an ambiguity to who the character is. The glowing amber light gives an effect of the growing danger about to occur in the following scenes. The amber light signifies more of a warning over a red light that signifies ongoing danger or fear.

Light Blue - For this shot I used a very light blue gel to try and have a slight blue tint in the photo. When looking at the photo in full screen it is there, however I think it may have been a little too bright as it does look like quite a natural light instead of blue.

Here is a set photo of me working on the Arri lights to attach the correct gels for each experimentation shot. I made sure to use gloves when handling the light, as the barn doors can get especially hot and could burn my skin without protection.

In this chapter, you will summarise the collected data and the statistical treatment, and/or mechanics, of analysis. You should start this paragraph by briefly restating the topic/theme of your project (take it from Chapter 1).

Explain the object of each question, research activity, point out results, and present those results in a chosen form of summarised data. Select method of presenting data carefully.

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In a quantitative study, the results usually begin with a description of the sample (e.g., sample size, description of participants who were excluded and why, handling of missing data). Next, descriptive statistics (e.g., frequencies/percentages for categorical variables, means, standard deviations, and ranges for continuously measured variables) are presented.

In a qualitative study, the results often include many quotes from participants who were interviewed. Here you should also present your non-textual elements such as photos, videos, audio files, maps, tables, charts, mind maps, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, etc.

Data analysis

What strategies did you use to analyse your data? What did you find out?

Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project?

What did you learn from your research and how it informed your project?

Originate a range of ideas – list all ideas you had and explain how you chose the final idea Analyse each idea for viability - use focus groups and lecturer to support Fill out the project proposal form

CHAPTER 5

My Project

Introduction In this chapter you should present the level of self-direction, personal initiative and commitment necessary to progress ideas and find solutions, and the practical, theoretical and technical comprehension, appreciation, knowledge and proficiency necessary to achieve identified goals. The ability to plan and organise work within a given timeframe and the efficient production of outcomes both individually and collaboratively.

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Pre-Production

Produce Pre-Production Portfolio which will formally define your project (location survey; risk assessment; treatment; script; budget; schedule etc.).

Pitch your proposal to the production board (video recording of your production board presentation)

Analyse your target audience. Investigate the target demographic and record the type of media or entertainment they consume

Production Project management techniques, (notes of team meetings; production and post-

production schedules; call sheets, etc.) Team and individual performance monitoring (weekly check against schedule) Development – Demonstrate development (photos from the shoot, screenshots from

computers). Keep daily production and post-production diary and reflect on your production process.

Post-production Describe post post-production of your project. Assess your production and post-production process. Describe, and critically analyses any

production problems and the solution you experienced.

Presentation

In this chapter, you should demonstrate the degree of competence and proficiency shown in the organisation and presentation of yourself and your work to an audience. Your EXTENDED PROJECT has to be presented appropriately (effectively; imaginatively) presented with suitable (relevant; purposeful) media conventions to suit the target audience.

Write about what influenced your decision to present your work in a certain way.

CHAPTER 6

MY EXTENDED PROJECT – FINAL PRODUCT

Here present your final EXTENDED PROJECT media production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80hFqjzvdzo&t=150s

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CHAPTER 7

Project Evaluation

Critically evaluating your final media project against the agreed requirements and parameters. Answer following questions:

Introduce the project in your words List five strengths and five weaknesses in your final design Was there a theme for the design ideas? Can you describe it? Can you reference any

influences here? - art movements, designers, media companies/campaigns, etc. What experiments and exploration did you do (what happens if). How did it affect your

development? Find a similar type of design publication - place it next to your own - what

comparisons/difference can you identify?

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What were the key areas of development in this project? - use your daily reflections to help you with this

Review your proposal - what changed, what developments did you make, did you manage to complete everything you set out to achieve?

What did the client think of your concept? How did that make you feel? What could you do to adapt the work produced to improve and develop it? Is the final work appropriate for the needs of the project? Does it sufficiently answer your

brief? Reflect on your pitch to the board; how did you feel about it before? Did it go better or

worse than you expected? What was the feedback from the client/lecturer? What do you think you could improve next time?

Did it go better or worse than you expected? What was the feedback from your lecturer? What do you think you could improve next time?

APPENDICES

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment

1. Be able to initiate and develop a creative media production project proposal.

1.1. Use critical and contextual perspectives to initiate a creative media production project proposal.

1.2. Use analysis and evaluation to clarify and develop ideas for a creative media production project proposal.

2. Be able to use research, analysis and evaluation to develop solutions for creative media production project.

2.1. Use research to support the development of a creative media production project.

2.2. Use analytical and evaluative skills to develop creative solutions to realise a media production project.

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3. Be able to solve practical, theoretical and technical problems in a creative media production project.

3.1. Solve practical and technical problems within a creative media production project. 3.2. Solve theoretical problems within a creative media production project.

4. Be able to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project.

4.1. Demonstrate the ability to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project within an agreed timeframe.

5. Be able to use practical methods and skills in a creative media production project.

5.1. Demonstrate the exploration, adaptation and application of practical methods and skills in the realisation of a creative media production project.

6. Be able to use evaluative and reflective skills in the production of a creative media product.

6.1. Maintain evaluative and reflective records of the development and production of a creative media project.

6.2. Use evaluative and reflective skills to make decisions for a creative media production project.

7. Be able to present a creative media production project. 7.1. Explore strategies to present a creative media production project.

7.2. Present a creative media production project to a specified audience.

REFERENCES

Make sure you use Harvard referencing. The bibliography should be continuously updated as the project progresses.

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