Developing media and video products

When you start to create your own media product you will need to understand the basics of media pre-production and production.

Before making a product you need to plan your filming and also be aware of any health and safety issues you may encounter. Please list below paperwork that you will need to complete at the pre-production (planning stage) before you make your media product/video

Once your paperwork has been completed you will move into the “Production” stage of developing your media product. Please list below film equipment that you will need to complete the production stage of your media product.

Location Survey Example

Address of Location: Wilberforce Sixth Form CollegeStudy CentreSaltshouse RoadHU8 9HD

Numbers of employees expected to be present at location:

Health and Safety requirements:

Is there a main power supply at the location?

Possible problems with the location, i.e sound, lighting, e.t.c.

Before filming your production you will need to draw storyboards of the shots you intend to film for your media product/video. Before creating your storyboard you will need to understand the media terminology for camera framing and shot types.

Why might you decide to shoot a shot in a long shot?

Why might you decide to shoot a shot in a medium shot?

Why might you decide to shoot a shot in a medium shot?

Why might you decide to shoot a shot in a close up or an extreme close up?

Now that you have developed an understanding of shot types you will design a short sequence using the storyboard templates below. You may decide to use photographs to create your sequence.

FILM TITLE:PROJECT: DATE:

SCENE: SCENE: SCENE:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

ADDITIONAL NOTES: ADDITIONAL NOTES: ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Continue your storyboard sequence.

FILM TITLE:PROJECT:DATE:

SCENE: SCENE: SCENE:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

LOCATION

TYPE OF SHOT:

ADDITIONAL NOTES: ADDITIONAL NOTES: ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Post-Production

Post-production is the process where you actually put the shot together to make the film. This is the final stage of creating your media product. This is often referred to as the “editing stage”. Editing takes on many forms and styles and below are a few examples for you to consider.

In – Camera EditingIn camera editing is a technique often utilised by video journalists. It is the process of editing within the camera, bypassing the use of an edit suite. The reason video journalist’s use in camera editing is because the information / news broadcast needs to be delivered as quickly as possible to meet deadlines (i.e.:- breaking news).

Can you think of any disadvantages of in-camera editing?

Multiple points of viewMultiple points of view are the editing techniques whereby an event is filmed from multiple perspectives and then mixed together on an editing vision mixer live. For example rock concerts and football matches are often edited using this editing technique.

What would the viewer gain from footage edited together using multiple points of view?

Principles of storytelling

Continuity EditingThis is the most common form of editing type. Continuity editing takes the film from one shot to another moving the film forward in time progressing the films narrative in an expected realistic way.

What effect does the use of continuity editing have when you watched the scene from American Beauty?

Montage EditingMontage editing is the second type of editing that you will need to be able to recognise. A montage edited sequence will contain many different images, quickly edited together. The images do not provide a sense of the narrative moving forward, but the sequence creates impact and the viewer is forced to consider the connections between the images shown.

What effect does the use of montage editing have when you watched the James bond trailer?

A movie editor needs to take all raw footage and splice them together to create a meaningful storyline. They utilise a variety of editing techniques to create drama in relation to genre. These include…

Seamless Editing is when the viewer is unaware of the actual cuts within a film. This is often associated with continuity editing.

Why do you think seamless editing is used to develop a story of a scene?

Jump cutting is associated with montage editing. A jump cut is when the filmmaker cuts the footage together in such a way as to condense time or to highlight dramatic meaning of the shots.

How is jump cutting used to develop a drama scene with association to a specific genre? (Horror)

Cross-cutting is a technique that can be achieved by cutting back and forth between shots of unrelated places. In these cases, the viewer will understand clearly that the places are supposed to be separate. This is often used in action films, James Bond fights the villain as the bomb ticks down in a different location/room

Can you think of a film that relies heavily on cross-cutting and why do feel it is used effectively?

A point of view shot places the audience in the minds eye of the character. It is often used in the horror genre when the filmmaker does not wish to reveal the killers true identity at an early stage.

What is effective about a point of view shot? Name a film you have seen this shotUsed in?

Cutaways are used to direct the audience to important visual clues. In film, a cutaway is the interruption of a continuously-filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually followed by a cutback to the first shot, but not always. For example James Bond is spying and taking a photo of an important document, the director would show a cutaway of the camera flashing in his hand.

Transitions are the process how one scene leads to the next. There are many different techniques used within the sub-heading of transitions. Some are obvious, others are very subtle. Transition types include…

A cut is an invisible transition from one shot to the next. This is the most common form of transition in film editing.

A dissolve is often used to get from one location to another as one scene melts into the next.

A fade is often used to show a passage of time. Often a scene will fade to black or white before fading into the next scene.

A wipe is an obvious transition and is used as a creative device to add flair to a production. It is often used in title sequences and within sci-fi genres. There are many different shapes of wipe ranging from the simple horizontal / vertical to the slightly more complex clock wipe.

Why do you think it is important that editors use transitions to progress the drama?

What type of editing techniques would you think would work best with fiction texts?

What type of editing techniques would you think would work best with non-fiction texts?

What type of editing techniques would you think would work best with advertising texts?

Editing Preparation Techniques

You will need to understand certain aspects of preparation techniques before actually editing your film. Complete the questions below to inform us of your competency in doing so.

Media is recorded into various formats such as VHS and DV CAM. Which formats are digital and which formats are analogue? List as many formats as

possible under each category.Digital AnalogueDVD

Blu RayAvc HDMini DV

DAT SSD

TapeVHSCineReelBeta

35mm Film

In 2010 digital TV will take over from analogue TV.Name 2 digital TV Systems…

1 2Freeview HD Sky

What is the difference between an online and offline edit suite?Offline editing is having stock piles of tapes and write the time code for each shot. (Editing decision list)

Online editing is using film editing software such as “Sony Vegas”, real time editing.

What is the aspect ratio of high definition and standard definition?High definition Standard definition

16:91080p

4:3480p

Your picture on camera playback breaks up – What could be the cause of this fault?

Dirty headsCorrupt hardware

Why do you think it is important to label your tapes?

Know what’s on them

Why do you think it is important that you clarify your brief with the client before the editing stage?

A clear understanding of what you want him to do

What is a shot reverse shot?

Shot reverse shot (or short counter shot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is showing looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

The 180 degree rule of cinematography is an important aspect of shooting drama, whatever the genre. The 180 degree describes the concept of maintaining continuity - The 180° rule is a basic film editing guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angleHere is a visual representation of the 180 degree rule…

This schematic shows the axis between two

characters and the 180° arc on which cameras may

be positioned (green). When cutting from the

green arc to the red arc, the characters switch places on the screen.