Reflection and Evaluation of The Reel Show

Here is the first full 10 minute episode of The Reel Show:

I can proudly say I am happy with the results of this show considering the time we had and it being everyone’s first time ever filming a live TV show. This blog post I will be reflecting and evaluating our work and what areas we could have improved on.

Firstly, looking at the brief I can say we did everything that was expected of us. 2 internet sourced VT’s, 2 self made VT’s, a guest interview and a live demonstration/performance. On our show we had the Gozilla trailer and Smosh video for our 2 internet sourced VT’s. We had the short film piracy documentary and public snog marry and avoid challenge for our 2 self made VT’s. Courtney Lavell, an aspiring actor as our guest interview and our film impression challenge with him for our demonstration. That was our first strong point. Another thing we did well was the subject we were filming. The presenters which was one of my roles were engaging and entertaining and I think that’s one of the most important things in any production. You can have the most amazing cinematography and equipment but if the subject you are filming lack enthusiasm and emotion, you will have a bad show. Considering it was mine and Ethan’s first time presenting I can honestly say we did pretty well. We started the module hoping for a role in the gallery but since no one else could present, we had no choice but to take the roles of presenters for the sake of the group.

Looking back, things we could have improved on was our set design. Yes we made a glowing logo sign that we hung up on set that looked fantastic and professional. But comparing our set design to the other groups, we could have introduced more colour such as wallpaper or drapes on the wall or even pillows on the sofa. If we were given the chance again that would be something we would have sorted before the holidays and not the week before the deadline. I think our biggest set back when we first started this module was that we did not get along as a group and there were arguments and people not showing up. It wasn’t till after the holidays we started working properly as a group. And because of neither of us took clear leadership at first we wasted a lot of the early valuable TV practice sessions in the TV studio.

But I’m still very proud of the end results and I’m glad I got to work with the group I was given as I have made some very good friends that I will be working with in future projects.

 

Professional Development on The Reel Show

For this module it wasn’t just about the quality of our TV show. Another big part in any production is the marketing behind it and specifically for us it was using social media and creating our own website for our show. In this blog post I will be reflecting on the professional development of our show and the successfulness of this.

To commence, on our brief for the show and website it was expected of us to engage our audience using social media. We saw ourselves in the last year on TV that even for film trailers being shown during advertisement breaks that there were ‘hashtags’ for films or TV shows to create hype on social media. I’ve come to find out that I am more likely to watch something if people I know are talking about it rather than just seeing a trailer for something. Creating a buzz or a trend amongst people sharing something on social network for free for you is not only effective in terms of advertising a product but doing it cost effectively. We incorporated social media into our show through asking our audience to follow our Twitter and like our Facebook and send in suggestions for items live on show to engage them.

Here is the link to our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thereelshow
Here is the link to our Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReelShow2

Furthermore, we also had to create our own website for our show. To do this effectively I looked at websites for actual shows that people watch to get a grasp of the conventions and style for a website of a magazine program. Benchmarking my website to professional websites was the key in making my website as professional as it could be. I looked at a range of websites for magazine programs and found common similarities such as as a latest news page, a page about the presenters and the show itself, a series guide and bonus content page with exclusive videos from behind the scenes. I incorporated all these conventions to make my website professional.

Here is a link to my website for The Reel Show: http://nawaz-work.wix.com/thereelshow

Impact of Different Media Platforms and Method of Delivery

In the 21st century we are bombarded with so many different media platforms such as social networks, gaming industry, music industry, films and television shows. With the rise of technology and smart phones and tablets and 4G internet, the way we consume media is rapidly changing. In this blog post I will discussing my understanding of the different media platforms and the method of delivery of these media texts and how it is impacting on media production practices.

To commence, I can’t remember the last time I watched a live TV show finale or premiere on my television. I’ve gotten into the habit of watching it online or on the go using services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant. Being with the EE mobile network and having access to 4G internet, I watch TV programs whenever I have time such as travelling on trains on my tablet or smartphone. So what does this mean? I doubt I’m the only person consuming their TV shows like this. It means we are consuming media texts differently than the producers intended. So does that mean audiences are consuming media texts the wrong way? Definitely not. As media producers we are the one who should be adapting our practices to audience consuming habits.

What does this mean for media production if we are having to adapt our practices for the modern audience? I think the sole taking we have to take from this change in media consumption amongst audiences is that now we are producing texts that might be intended for TV but is also for other platforms such as smartphones and tablets. We need to get out of the stubborn thinking that a TV show is only for TV. When we create a TV production we should be producing it to be viewed on as many platform as we can.

Creative Process and Development of The Reel Show

For this module we had to create a 10 minute magazine television program as a group. In this blog post I will depicting the critical creative process of creating our show and delineating how we developed our ideas.

To commence, the first thing we had to decide on was a theme for our show. We were given a few to choose from to get our creative juices flowing such as weird and wonderful, spontaneous, risky business and etc. As a group we liked the idea of fantasy and being comedic so this is what we initially decided. This theme eventually evolved into our show being about films. We initially wanted to do review films and show trailers. This was quickly shown to be the wrong thing to do by our mentor and then we started developing into other territory such as trending youtube videos, making videos on film industry related topics such as piracy and going out engaging the public with film related issues or challenges. Before we knew it, 10 minutes wasn’t enough to fit in all the ideas and items we wanted to do.

Moreover, one particular item on the show that went through much development was our guest demonstration. Originally we were inspired by Jimmy Fallen’s Lip Sync Battle which he does with his guests.

We wanted to do something similar to fit into the demonstration requirement of our brief. We brain stormed many ideas such as a film trivia quiz. These ideas we came up with just required a lot of talking which seemed quite boring and mundane especially since this demonstration would come after our guest interview. We wanted something that was more engaging and less talking and since we were interviewing an aspiring actor we then came up with the idea to make him do film impressions that our audience will tweet him in to do. This engages audiences and fits into our theme nicely.

Sarah – Reflective Analysis

Module: 162MC: Developing a Narrative
URL to Short Film: https://vimeo.com/94510612

Analysing and Reflecting the Impact of My Research on My Film Edit of ‘Sarah’

What is editing? Dancyger stated that editing is ‘“…to find a narrative continuity for the visuals and the sound of the film, and to distil those visuals and sound shots that will create the dramatic emphasis so that the film will be effective’ (Dancyger 2010). In this essay I will be depicting research on the British New Wave film style and delineating how they impacted on my film edit of ‘Sarah’ and reflecting the successfulness of this.

To commence, British New Wave emerged in Britain during the 50s and 60s. An important factor to look at is the socio-economic and political situation of Britain at the time. People were still in the mind-set of post-war and rationing. Class divisions were starting to resurface again. The only appearance of working class people in Cinema was for comedy relief (Brooke 2001).A very important movement at the time was the free cinema movement. This gave access to filming technology to ordinary people so for the first time people other than Hollywood filmmakers had the ability to make films (Thompson & Bordwell 2003).In terms of technology I could compare the conditions I filmed in similar to the free cinema movement. My film was shot on a DSLR and in the 21^st century DSLR filming has been making a movement due to it’s high quality motion image capturing capability quality and its low entry costs; an entry level DSLR costing less than £300 (Reid 2010). Amateur filmmakers from lower class divisions such as myself are finding themselves having access to more and more filming technology just like new filmmakers did in the 50s to 60s Britain.

In addition, as well as the conditions British New Wave emerged in, it clearly had it’s own conventions in terms of narrative and editing. Looking at films such as Billy Liar (1962), Kind of Loving, A (1962) and This Sporting Life (1963), the leading character is usually a young angry male who’s political opinions would be seen as a radical or anarchic and would disregard the hegemonic norm at the time. In my film the lead character is contemplating self-euthanasia. Euthanasia is still a controversial topic in the 21^st century where there is a very strong side against it and there are many laws forbidding its use. This style choice leads me to edit my film so that my leading male character was in most shots or if he were in shots with anyone else, he would be the main focus.

Moreover, another convention of the British New Wave film style was the simple, uncluttering edit style. Shots were static and handheld and sometimes ran a whole scene with just the one shot. In the beginning of my film where the lead character washes his face in the sink; originally there were 3 different angles; an over the shoulder shot, close up of the mirror and a long shot from behind. In my edit I chose to use the one over the shoulder shot for that entire scene and keep it simple and uncluttered just like the examples of British New Wave films I watched. Another style choice made by British New Wave films was the use of 16mm black and white film (Palmer 2006). Although there was the option of colour, black and white was still used. So adhering to this decision British New Wave films made back in the 50s and 60s, I made my film black and white in postproduction by taking away the saturation. Studies have shown that the use of ‘black and white films heightens the impact and highlights the duality of good and evil’ (Sparknotes 2014).

Also, most of the time in British New Wave films, a steady rhythm and pace is maintained. This is so that the actor’s performance and dialogue are heightened most because this style of film is more about the social realism and themes. This finding resulted in me cutting my film with a slow steady pace. Although it was filmed with many different angles such as close ups of facial expressions, I chose to primarily use just one or two shots for whole scenes. This made it so that the audience’s attention was primarily given to the actor’s performance and dialogue.

Reflecting on the successfulness of this research on my film piece, I can say I’ve adhered to the stylistic editing of British New Wave aesthetically in terms of black and white colour, the rhythm and pace and controlling the temporal space. But British New Wave wasn’t about aesthetics from what I have gathered. Capturing the social realism aspect was hindered since the script contained didactic dialogue from an unseen voice that could be interpreted as mysticism. Referring to Raymond Williams four rules of social realism (Caughie 2000), the first rule already being ‘firstly that the texts are secular released from mysticism and religion’. British New Wave films dealt particularly with themes such as unplanned pregnancies, drinking and adultery. Euthanasia was not an issue during post war Britain amongst working class civilians. If I were given the chance to write another contemporary script in the style of British New Wave, a social realistic issue I’d like to write about would be the tough economic times working class people face in this decade.

British New Wave was a brilliant style of film that didn’t adhere to the typical Hollywood conventions at the time and I applaud it for its courage. However British New Wave films may not have a place in 21^st century Britain due to the radical changes of the socio-economic and political condition of Britain today compared to the 50s and 60s. That isn’t to say films concerning social realism and working class people cannot be made. Just that our social understanding is very different to Britain during the 50s when British New Wave originally emerged. This is shown through my film aesthetically adhering to the rules and stylistic conventions of a British New Wave film but not the social realism of 50s working class Britain due to it’s contemporary setting.

Bibliography

Brooke, S (2001) Gender and Working Class Identity in Britain During the 1950s. Journal of Social History. Oxford University Press.

Caughie, John (2000) Television Drama: Realism, Modernism, and British Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dancyger, K (2010) The Technique of Film & Video Editing, History, Theory & Practice. Focal Press, Oxford.

Kristin Thompson & David Bordwell (2003) Film History: An Introduction. McGraw, Hill.

Reid, Andrew (2010) The DSLR Video Revolution. [online] available from http://www.digitalrev.com/article/the-dslr-video-revolution/NTgyNA_A_A [07 May 2014]

R. Barton Palmer (2006) Traditions in World Cinema. Edinburgh University Press.

Sparknotes (2014) Schindler’s List, The Impact of Black and White Film [online] available from http://www.sparknotes.com/film/schindlerslist/section2.rhtml [07 May 2014]

People to People – The Moment

Here is the final cut of our documentary:

People to People – Edit Process – Reflection

After all of our planning and then filming, it was time for us to bring all of our work together. Cutting the footage together isn’t as simple as just following the structure of the script. Especially for a documentary, a sense of rhythm is needed for the interview footage and audio. We had to let our subject breathe when telling us is his story or the whole thing would become too overwhelming.

A crucial part that I performed was picking out the best bits of the interview to tell Marin’s story in its respected entirety. Considering we had 25 minutes of interview footage, picking out the best 2 minutes of footage was not easy. This is where the storyteller in me stood out the most. It wasn’t enough just to pick out the best lines, but I considered the context of what Marin was saying and the performance of those lines.  Matching visuals to the interview audio to convey complex themes and ideas was also a crucial part for us to successfully evoke empathy from the audience. After all this assignment wasn’t about tacit facts about one person but a deep personal sharing of ideology and experiences and truly connecting people to people.

People to People – Shoot Process – Reflection

Having spent many hours on pre-production and planning, shooting the documentary was relatively easy. Composing every shot and angle had been meticulously constructed through the shooting script and storyboard drawings. Already knowing how to use DSLR’s helped the filming process go through smoother. However, it was the first time for us using proper 3 point lighting to film with. We spent an hour just trying to find the best placement for the lights to create the perfect shot.

The shooting process enlightened me about the skills of being a media producer. We live in a time where everyone is a producer. It is easier than ever before for anyone to point their camera and press record and then upload it online. But as learning and skilled media producers we have to separate ourselves from this mediocrity through our technique and understanding. What separates us from every other mediocre work is the thought and construction of planning we put into our work. We cannot simply point a camera and record. We have to plan every angle, lighting, props, costume, the themes and ideas and connotations expressed by the audio and visuals. The social and historical context of our work and the impact it has today and possibly the future.

Critical Reflection of 161MC

Critically Reflecting My Process and Development on 161MC: Creating Impact on Media Production

This module has been designed to teach us how us as media producers can make an impact today. The world of media has radically changed in the last decade. Technology has risen to new heights. Understanding the fabric of society and how culture works has become very different than what it used to be. In this essay I will be depicting the processes involved in my studying of this module and delineating how it has developed me.

To commence, the first task we were given was to create our own “brand”. As media producers today, I’ve felt we are always at a job interview. We are constantly doing professional work; media surrounds us at all times. Even our social life has become part of media. Using social networks means we are always under surveillance for critiquing by someone like a family member all the way to a company or prospective employer. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The line between our professional and our personal life is becoming blurred (Hartley 2004) and we should take advantage of this change. I created a Twitter account to share personal and professional tweets. For example I tweeted my task 6 interactive documentary and tagged the company Mozilla responsible for making the web 2.0 tool that I produced the documentary on. They replied and even re-tweeted my work. Over the course of this module I’ve found that I’ve developed vastly professionally. I’ve been doing extensive reading on post modernism and the rise of the digital age in my spare time and I have even shared my findings with other peers.

Furthermore, this shift in the way we communicate our lives has taken an impact on our social understanding and how our culture works. Task 2 was about remixing footage from our classwork’s work to create completely new pieces of media. This exercise was just a small example of the media we see today. Every story we have read, film we have seen or video game we have played has been stolen. We have lived in a culture that eats itself and steals from the past to create a new version of it since the beginning of time (Colson 2007). The animated works of Disney were very much stolen too. The story of The Lion King is a version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is a version of Scandinavian folk tale (Moviefone 2013). Stealing from the past is not uncommon and isn’t something that should be looked down on. The problem our culture face today that previous generations have not had to face is the practice of owning these ideas and stories as intellectual property. In this day and age “Intellectual property is the oil of the 21^st century” (Steal This Film 2 2007). In another film it states “To build societies you must limit the control of the past” (RiP: A Remix Manifesto 2008). Owning everything and prohibiting society to steal and retell stories is killing the future of our culture. The very idea of stories and ideas becoming intellectual property is unnatural since we as a society have been stealing stories and ideas for so long up until now.

In addition, I noticed that the majority of the tasks could be done with just a computer with an Internet connection and all the tasks could be done just on my own. Technology has risen to completely new heights and this has massively impacted the world we live in and how we create media. This rise in technology has opened ventures for individuals that we never had before. “50 years ago, people didn’t make things. People would go to photography exhibitions. They would go to record fairs. They would watch movies. Now everyone is a photographer. Everyone is a musician. Anyone can make a film.” (PressPausePlay 2011). This film particularly stressed about how media producers are not able to make an impact with their work because anything we produce is lost in a sea of mediocrity. After watching this film I learnt how important it is trying to make an impact with my work more than ever before. With this rise in technology I need to be able to make an impact in completely new ways that is different to what everyone else is doing.

Moreover, I’m much more aware of how the rise in technology effects me as an aspiring media producer. There are negative effects such as file sharing and lack of people paying for anything I produce but there are also new and exciting things that could be done with technology now. File sharing has become a big part of the media industry. Countless attempts and measures are taking place to prohibit the act of file sharing. (BBC 2007) Sites like Pirate Bay effect smaller media producers such as myself more. Hollywood blockbusters will always be making money, as you can never reproduce the cinema experience at home or on your computer. However it would be easy to file share short films or independent feature films that someone like me would realistically be producing. That leaves me with the dilemma on how do I profit off my work? The first thing would be to embrace this notion of file sharing. The technology exists for me to share my work on the Internet instantly for free. We didn’t have this advantage just a few years ago due to slow Internet dial up speeds. So it’s up to me on using this technology to somehow profit from it. I don’t have the answers now but I’m thinking in the right direction.

Similarly, the rise of the Internet is another tool at our disposal that we didn’t have or wasn’t as efficient years ago. We are now more connected and sharing than ever before. We have access to an almost infinite amount of forums of knowledge now. The successful story of a girl who has her phone stolen and campaigns on the Internet to seek justice (Clay 2008) is an example of how much has changed for everyday people because of technology and the Internet. This ordinary girl with no wealth or publicised institution behind her was successful in her campaign just from supporters all over the world sharing her campaign. All with just the help of the Internet and a computer this was done in the matter of few clicks. We have been given a power that we have never had before. The ability to share information with the whole world and connect with them instantly. And media producers today such as myself have access to this power.

Finally, I’ve developed most as a storyteller. This module enlightened me about the possibility to tell stories on multiple platforms that are all available to us right now. It taught me that the same stories can be told again and still be just as interesting. Referring to my task 4 where I had to digitally retell the story of Macbeth using just web 2.0. That is when I fully realised the possibilities and mediums around me. The challenge of retelling a classic story in a completely new different platform that is unique to our time was exhilarating. After that we had the task of creating a Vine to tell the best story in the world. “2 people have the terrible misfortune to meet and then end up having the best time of their lives” another storytelling platform unique to our time. The final task was to create an interactive documentary using a web tool designed by Mozilla Popcorn. This tool allowed us to include links to articles or videos on the Internet. We had to remix an existing documentary and make it interactive. This task taught me about not only are we producing media differently, but also audiences are reading media differently. They play a much more active role now than they did before (Castells 2012). As media producers we need to cater our work to this new type of audience.

To encapsulate, this module has taught me many things. I developed as a professional media producer. I am quickly blurring the line between my personal life and my professional life. The cultural and social impact of technology on the way we consume and produce media such as file sharing. The rise in technology providing us with resources that media producers in the past have never had access to before. And finally I’ve gained a greater understanding of what it means to be a storyteller in this day and age. Creating an impact in the media industry has never been as hard as it is right now. This is the best and most exciting time for media producers. We are being forced to adapt to the changes around us. We are being forced to be innovative in the world of media. Yes it is scary and inevitable, but it is still exciting and holds many wonders for the future.

Bibliography

Moviefone (2013) 16 Movies You Didn’t know Were Based on Shakespeare [online] available http://news.moviefone.com/2013/06/05/movies-you-didnt-know-were-based-on-shakespeare/ [26 Feb 2014]

Steal This Film 2 (2007) Film. Directed by Jamie King. United Kingdom and Germany: League of Noble Peers.

RiP: A Remix Manifesto (2008) Directed by Brett Gaylor, Canada: EyeSteelFilm.

PressPausePlay (2011) Directed by David Dworsky and Victor Kohler, USA: House of Radon.

Castells, Arnau (2012) The Interactive Documentary: Definition Proposal and Basic Features of the New Emerging Genre [online] transcript available from https://www.academia.edu/1491044/The_Interactive_Documentary._Definition_Proposal_and_Basic_Features_of_the_New_Emerging_Genre [26 Feb 2014]

Shirky, Clay (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, 1st Edition, New York: Penguin Press.

BBC (2007) Anti file-sharing laws considered [online] available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7059881.stm [26 Feb 2014]

Colson, Richard (2007) The Fundamentals of Digital Art, Switzerland: AVA Publishing.

Hartley, John (2004) Creative Industries Edited by John Hartley, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

People to People – Research Process – Reflection

After reading the treatment to the documentary about Marin. I made a list of questions that came naturally to my head. These were questions I wanted to know to get a better understanding of Marin’s story. Despite how random an interview may seem, I learnt that the rules of story telling still apply. The art of conducting an interview coincide with the art of telling a story. I was quite adamant about meeting Marin and getting to know him and ask these questions well before we actually planned to shoot the interview.

Getting to know Marin over a few drinks was a wise decision I made. The fact we had to film Marin’s personal story was no easy feat. To get the right performance out of him during the interview film shoot, we needed Marin to feel close and safe with us so he could open up comfortable in front of camera. It is good practice to have a good relationship between the filmmaker and the subject.

Conducting primary research about Marin through a face-to-face meeting taught me key skills about being a filmmaker. In particular was the relationship between the producer and the subject. It showed me how vital it is that I, the producer got to know Marin and creating a bond that would help us achieve an honest and vivid performance on camera and the final film.