Day 1

We found out which groups were given the all clear to make their trailers, we were also put in a group with people that i'd have to work with in making this trailer. As soon as we were put in a group, we were told to develop our idea a little further, so the other group members could understand the idea a little bit better. During this process, we made a mind map. On that mind map for example we wrote the theme of our traler down (thriller) and with that we had to come up with words that remnd us of a thriller movie, (suspense, violence, damning statements etc), so this way, we made sure we did not miss much out when shooting our trailer, so we made it as thriller themed possible.

Day 2
We assigned crew members to a role they would be in charge of during the production. I gave Kim the role of Camera Operator, we decided that Amir would be in charge of sound during the shoot, and also Hassan to be the production manager. We decided this would be the best thing to do, because there will people who hadnt done what they wanted to do in a project, so I thought it was best to keep it fair. I also told everyone that they would swap roles during production to keep things fair so no one felt they were only restricted to one role. The team and I had a group meeting. In that group meeting, we decided who is going to do what in terms of the pre production side. For example, I assigned one team member to complete the risk assessment and also a location recce. Another team member, a storyboard etc. That way, we knew who was doing what and we can keep track of what needs to be done and by whom and by when.

Day 3

On this day, we were finalizing our group folder for hand in just before shooting week. I had finished my scene by scene breakdown document, which was part of the folder. We made sure the folder contained every single pre production document the brief had written on it. From everything to a shot list to a script. It was important that we went through each document carefully because we didn't want to delay shooting, although my group was considerably ahead of everybody else's, we could not afford to get complacement because we did not want to lose momuntem going into the shooting week. We were also introduced to a call sheet, we were told that the directors who were in charge of the scene they were directing had to fill one out. Thankfully, our group had completed our folder and handed it in.

Day 4

Production time had arrived and me and the group were all set. Our first few scenes were shot in the downstairs studio as planned, we didn't require many props. We only needed 2 handguns and a couple of fake cigs. Whilst we were setting up all the lighting and correct placing of everything, we had a quick look at our shot list and also a quck look at the script so we knew what we were going to do. We took about 2-3 hours shooting in the studio, longer than what we orignally wanted, but because we did several take sof each scene but in a different way, so that way, we had multiple shots to choose from so we didn't feel restricted, and also we were thinking about editing process, if we only did one take of everything, we wouldn't have much shots to choose from so that way all of our edits wouldn't be the same.

Day 5

Our other location were, sackville gardens, a hallway, richmond street and under the canal bridge and the rooftop. We decided to shoot sackville garden's scene first, because it was the longest one to shoot. That took us about 40 mins to shoot because much like the day before, we wanted to shoot with multiple angles so for the editing process, we had more of a variety. The other location, such as the hallway, a staircase, richmond street were used to make the montage scenes, such as running up the stairs, fights scenes etc. By the end of this day, we had decided that we had enough footage in the can and we had shot everything we wanted to shoot. On that basis, we decided to call it a wrap.


Day 1 (Editing Process)

After shooting all the footage, we went into Post - Production. As usual, we were edting on final cut pro. After converting all the footage, I made an editing plan. Which basically consisted of the process I will go through during the actual edit. It was like a guideline for the whole process. So I started to edit, first I had decided to watch all the clips over, decide which one's were good, which one's were bad. That way I could get rid of all the unwanted clips so it would male my life easier when editing. Also, we were told to look up a producer called 'Two Steps From Hell', who have made countless movie trailer soundtracks for big budget movies, so we had to listen to some of their albums and decide which song we want.

Day 2

On this day, we were officially starting editing. I decided what order I wanted my edit to be like. I had a vision, which I intended to follow. So I got a few clips together and I made a rough edit. Without any soundtrack or any audio corrections and decided to edit it raw. I did a few experiments with the clips and I got a real good montage. I decided to edit my trailer around my montage. As I continued to edit my trailer, my vision became clearer.

Day 3 - This is where I decided to put my soundtrack in                                                                           mnnnmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnbnnmmnbmnn

Self – Evaluation

I was assigned to a team with Thomas Forrest and Rain Shadrach. I couldn’t explain to you the joy I had felt when I was teamed up with them. The project we were working on was a live viral brief working with a national charity called Mind, a mental illness charity. We were told to make an advert to raise awareness for mental illness.

I strongly believe we had achieved the goal set, I believe we worked extremely on this task. Although there were a few problems during production, I believe my team and I had the mental strength to work as a team and also to pull through this.

We all participated in group discussions.  We made sure that everyone did their work and put in an equal amount of effort, which was fantastic. We always respected each other and we thought that we were as important and decisive as each other in this.

Yes, I believe I helped in the task. I was the director of this project, so I had a vision. A vision about how my advert should be. Fortunately, my team saw the exact same vision as I did, which made things a lot easier for me; it was just a matter of getting the work done.

We completed the advert within a day of shooting. I put this down to the sheer mental strength of my team members and the fight they showed to get this advert done, our organisation skills were second to none and also we were extremely professional in this shoot.

We completed the advert in the deadline set. I was confident in getting the work done in time, and I was extremely happy with the team’s performance during the production. We all worked towards a deadline, which was pressure, but I told the team there is always going to be pressure in everything we do, so we worked off that.

I always felt like I encouraged my team to add their own input into the advert, whether it was in pre production, production or post, I always encouraged them to do their own thing. And they did, they felt confident enough to do their own thing, which was brilliant. They used their soundtrack of choice, and the different shots in different order.

I felt as if our team had an understanding between us, we communicated with each other very well, and we always knew what we wanted from each other. We also knew what each other were upto in terms of what the group members were responsible for.

No, we didn’t feel the need to share any ideas. Although, we all put separate ideas forward, we did consider them but we felt it was best to keep the advert as it was because the advert was chosen because of the vision I had, if we were to change the idea then it cheats the whole purpose of choosing an advert because of its original idea.

We listened to each other, because we were a team. We trusted each other, and as I said, without trust, you haven’t got anything, especially in teamwork.

I personally believe I led my team like a leader would do; I respected my team and worked with them well. I believe I directed the production well, and the finished product was exactly how I intended.

I could improve my organisation skills a lot more, as I mentioned above, the problems that arose during our production was because of my disorganisation skills, which I admit too. For example, our adverts included cards, without the cards the advert would have been pointless, and it would have defeated the purpose of it.

I placed myself in the coordinator department. Simply because I consider myself a leader. Out of 4 projects that we have done this year, I have directed all 4. Also, I have directed 3 other projects outside college. I think I have all the qualities as a coordinator.


For my advert, I have recieved positive reviews. From teachers, fellow classmates and also our client itself. They told me what they liked about the advert and what they felt was the main selling point of the advert.

I have developed my skills as a leader, not only to take control of a production, but also to get my fellow team members on board with me. It was an amazing experience, from planning the advert to actually going to the charty itself to shooting the project. Overall, it was a great oppurtunity to get my ideas and my vision across to our clients and also to the rest of the class.

In my next project, I will continue as I am. I will continue to give it my all, as it is in my nature too. I will continue to take charge of all my productions whenever I am assigned to the director role and I will respect my team members as I have always done. If I am not a director in a project, I shall work hard like it is my own project and I will try my best to do what is asked of me.

ian

   File Formats & Codecs

PAL

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the colour encoding conversion standard that is used in much of Europe for television, video and DVD playback.  PAL uses a screen resolution of 720 x 576 pixels and has a refresh rate of 25 frames per second. Due to the way in which PAL signal conversions occur, it usually has better colour quality and reliability than NTSC, while the actual colour range is somewhat less.

Reference- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL

HDMI

HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface. HDMI is a type of digital connection that's capable of transmitting high-definition video and high-resolution audio over a single cable. To do the same thing with analog cables, you'd need to join three component-video cables plus six analog audio cables. HDMI is typically used to connect a high-definition device such as an HD DVR to an HDTV.

Reference- http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11276_7-6845988-2.html

Widescreen Formats

Digital Editing

Formats

.mov - The .mov format was created for Apple computers. The .mov file was created specifically for Apple's QuickTime software. .mov is high quality and is also a video format that is used in a lot of digital cameras. The most common player is QuickTime.

.Avi – AVI is a common container file format used for watching standard definition video on the PC and is the container used by DivX video versions 3 through 6. AVI files can hold different types of video and audio streams inside, and with the help of DivX® video compression technology, they can display incredible video quality while upholding a small file size. .divx files are also based on the AVI container, but can contain extra features like XSUB subtitles and chapters. Both AVI and DIVX videos will play on all DivX Certified devices—from tablets to TVs.

.mpg (Moving Picture Experts Group) - MPEG also refers to a type of multimedia file, which is the file extension ".mpg" or ".mpeg." These files are compressed movies that can contain audio and video. Even though they are compressed, MPEG files keep most of the original quality of the uncompressed movie. This is why many videos on the Web, such as movie trailers and music videos, are available in the MPEG format.

.mp4 - MP4 is a digital multimedia format most commonly used to store video and audio, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. Like most modern container formats, it allows streaming over the Internet. The only official filename extension for MPEG-4 files is .mp4, but many have other extensions, most commonly .m4a and .m4p. M4A (audio only) is often compressed using AAC encoding (lossy), but can also be in Apple Lossless format.

Codecs

Apple Pro Res - This codec conserves visual quality at the same high level as Apple ProRes 4444, but for 4:2:2 image sources. Offers visually lossless protection of the highest-quality professional HD video. This codec supports full-width, 4:2:2 video sources at 10-bit pixel depths, while staying visually lossless many generations of decoding and re-encoding. The target data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) is approximately 220 Mbps at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 fps.

h.264 - H.264 is a video codec standard which can attain high quality video in moderately low bitrates. Also known as AVC (Advanced Video Coding, MPEG-4 Part 10), H.264 is actually defined in an identical pair of standards maintained by different administrations. H.264 is usually a lossy compression, but it is likely to create lossless encodings with H.264.

Photo-Jpeg - The Photo JPEG codec gears image density. It is usually used for storage of still images. It can also be used for editing and storage of high-quality video files. Picture quality is usually good enough for use in desktop publishing applications. This codec is great for compressing high-resolution, photographic images. It works very well for slide show movies that have a very low frame rate. The Photo-JPEG codec requires significant amounts of CPU power and is not well suited to CD-ROM or higher data rates, except when assisted by hardware capture card. Large image and/or high frame rate movies usually don't play smoothly.

Source of info for Formats -

http://www.fileinfo.com/filetypes/video

Terrestrials - Terrestrial broadcasting is a technique used in transmission of TV signals based on a technology that allows several channels to be transmitted concurrently over a single frequency, in a digitally encoded form. It is form of television broadcasting that does not need satellite transmission or cables, and it uses radio waves through conveying and getting antennas.

Apple Pro Res - This codec preserves visual quality at the same high level as Apple ProRes 4444, but for 4:2:2 image sources. Offers visually lossless preservation of the highest-quality professional HD video. This codec supports full-width, 4:2:2 video sources at 10-bit pixel depths, while remaining visually lossless through many generations of decoding and re-encoding. The target data rate of Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) is approximately 220 Mbps at 1920 x 1080 and 29.97 fps.

h.264 - H.264 is a video codec standard which can achieve high quality video in relatively low bitrates. Also known as AVC (Advanced Video Coding, MPEG-4 Part 10), H.264 is actually defined in an identical pair of standards maintained by different organizations. H.264 is typically a lossy compression, but it is possible to create lossless encodings with H.264.

Photo-Jpeg - The Photo JPEG codec implements image compression. It is generally used for storage of still images. It can also be used for editing and storage of high-quality video files. Picture quality is generally good enough for use in desktop publishing applications. This codec is great for compressing high-resolution, photographic images. It works very well for "slide-show" movies that have a very low frame rate. The Photo-JPEG codec requires significant amounts of CPU power and is not well suited to CD-ROM or higher data rates, except when assisted by a hardware capture card.Large image and/or high frame rate movies usually don't play smoothly.

Sources of info for Formats and Codecs:

Hardware requirements for Final Cut Pro

Your computer must have a minimum of 4GB of RAM.

Broadcasting

"Cable" means you receive your TV signal via an underground cable.
"Terrestrial" means you receive your TV signal via an aerial.
"Satellite" means you receive your TV signal via a satellite dish. 

Weather is a major factor when dealing with satellite TV. A lot of rain, snow or even wind can cause a satellite signal to go in and out. Even trees and tall buildings can cause a satellite signal to go out. The technician who installs the satellite should check if any objects are in the way before beginning installation.

Cable TV is mainly limited to non-rural areas because of the buried wires. It’s very expensive to have cable buried under the ground in places where very few people can tap into. Most non-rural residents are limited to satellite TV. Cost and contracts for channels is quite expensive also.

Satellite TV is usually cheaper when comparing cost per channel but prices change time to time and has great accessibility to a vast number of channels and you are also benefited with picture quality.

Cable TV has a lot more variety to channels and is very reliable thanks to the direct feed into homes and television.