Post-Production

Production

For production we had three sessions booked to go out to different locations and film all the footage we would need to start editing. One of these sessions would be carried out in the television studio at college, another at the wind farm and the third at Connor's house. 

The first filming session we carried out was at Connor's house where we were aiming to get all of the footage we required for the first section of the short film, we needed two performers for this which we managed to gain easily and both of these were present on the day and did well to help us complete the task. We all worked as a team to carry out the role of the camera, helping Connor in his role as director of photography.

In our second session we carried out filming in the television studio at college, this was because we needed to use the green screen and the autocue for the performer to read the script clearly and ensure the performance looked as realistic and professional as possible. I think this recording session went really well as we had one performer who suited the role of news reporter really well and we ensured that he dressed appropriately and had a clear voice. Whilst going through the script we took our time to ensure we got atleast two shots of each line so that we had covered all of the script in the best possible way possible, by covering each line of the script more than once it ensured that when it came to editing we would have enough good footage that could be used. We managed to complete the recording pretty quickly and were pleased with the results, as we were all available we all helped with the camera work and ensured the script was prepared ready to use.

Finally our last filming session we were at the wind farm getting our footage that we would use in editing with our shots of the emergency broadcast from the green screen room. We were all prepared for the filming at the wind farm ensuring that we took all equipment and pre-production paperwork with us

Pitch

We had to create a pitch for our idea and produce a short 4 minute production of our pitch that would be recorded and professionally edited. In the pitch we had to include information about our team, the brief we were given and our final idea, as well as including facts about climate change from our research.

We successfully worked as a team to conduct a script for the pitch which we would use in the green screen room to record our pitch. Shown below is a copy of our script that we used.

After recording our pitch we then went online to find any images that we may need and suitable music/sound effects that we wanted to use as well as our recording. However we decided in the editing stage not to use pictures but to use the video footage of the wind farm that was already available, we added a blur effect to this so that it didn't look too much, or make the audience feel dizzy and not focus on the performer speaking. I think by using this as a background was a good idea as it allows the audience to focus on the person speaking and take in what they're saying instead of focusing on pictures or text that could have appeared behind them instead. 

We worked well as a team to get our pitch edited and exported to the deadline to the best quality we could achieve, I think we were all happy with the final product but if we had more time it could have been better. 

During editing we didn't really use many effects or edits to the production as we felt it wasn't necessary and wanted to save our edit ideas and effects for the final short film, however we did use the blur effect on the background and we added titles to introduce the different sections to the audience. I really liked the outcome of the use of the titles as it allowed the audience to relate to the section of the pitch and ensured they understood what we were talking about. We then used suitable music that was gained from the internet, it was used in a global warming documentary previously and fitted the mood and style of the pitch well.

Overall I think our pitch went well, from producing to editing it and I feel that we worked well as a team to create a professional pitch that was clear and informative to the audience about our team and the brief. 

Pre-Production

Once we had our final idea it was time to start looking at the pre-production work that needed to be done prior to starting production. 

First we conducted a production schedule where we listed every stage of the production process, this included all pre-production tasks and whom would be completing each of these as well as by what deadline, we split the dates up slightly too so that tasks would be completed before the next stage in production so that we knew everything would be 100% ready on the deadline day, instead of leaving things till the last minute to be completed.

As we are in a group of three we split the workload evenly ensuring the correct team members had the correct tasks to complete for example as I am the producer, it was correct to give me the task of completing the script as I would be developing our idea into the final product. 

We worked well as a team to even out the different tasks and ensured each one of us had the same amount of tasks to complete, as the producer I had one more task to complete which was the production schedule but being the first piece of paperwork we completed in class, we did this as a team anyway. My tasks were to write the script, complete the call sheet and risk assessment. These tasks fitted my role as producer well as I am in charge of ensuring everyone is doing what they should be doing on the shooting days, therefore if anyone found themselves lost or needed to find food/drink/toilet facilities they could come to me for help. Also as I filled in the risk assessment its my job as the producer to ensure risks are firstly minimized as much as possible and ensure everyone is aware of any possible risks to them. Sophie was given the tasks to write the presskit release and the performer release sheets, by completing the presskit release as the director it allowed her to ensure the article was informative and based around the topic only. Finally Connor was in charge of completing the storyboard, shooting schedule, location recces and book the equipment for the days we required, as the director of photography it was his job to book any equipment we would need and ensure the equipment is collected and taken back at the correct times booked. As Connor will be the main man behind the camera at all times when shooting it was necessary for him to complete both the storyboard and the shooting schedule as he would be the one filming therefore he will need to be able to follow the storyboard and the shooting schedule on the days. 

We have now completed all of the pre-production paperwork and are ready to continue with the production process where we will first present our pitch using the green screen and then we will go onto the production of our short film. 

Initial & Final ideas

We have been put into groups of three where we are going to create a short film for the brief from 'The Switch' about climate change and global warming. 

Once we got into our groups we started straight away thinking about ideas for our short film, we had lots of different thoughts but only some turned out to be realistic and achievable. We had a few ideas of a way to inform the audience about climate change in a new way instead of following past ideas which were news reports. It was quite difficult to think of something new and find a different way to present the information whilst keeping it informative and interesting, we didn't want our idea to appear boring and lack humour. One idea we had involved a person from the future appearing in the short film explaining to the audience what has happened to him and how his life has changed due to climate change, but we scrapped this idea as we felt it would be quite difficult to produce and portray the futuristic person, and we didn't want it to look fake or be hard to understand. We also had ideas that would involve the use of a video chat on a computer where there would be a presenter speaking through the video chat about the issue. However we didn't really like this idea.

In the end after lots of discussion we eventually decided on our final production idea, in the end we ended up sticking to the news report style of short film but ours will be presented as an emergency broadcast style. Therefore the short film will begin with two people watching TV in a living room where the camera will zoom in to just the TV screen, then the TV will cut out and the emergency broadcast will begin. I think this way the audience won't know what is coming up and won't have any idea what the short film is about until the emergency broadcast kicks in. The short film will include all of the facts and information about climate change and will include shots of the Westmill Wind Farm. 

We will conduct primary and secondary research to find out the audiences views on climate change, what they already know and what they do to help combat the issue already. We will then use the information we gather from our research in both our pitch and our short film. We will be sending out questionnaires, carrying out interviews and focus groups as well as looking in books, magazines and on the internet for all the information we can get. 

As a group we hope that our short film will be factual and interesting to the target audience of 16+ and will give the public a better insight into the issue and allow them to change the way they live their lives to help combat the issue!