Non continuity
I started off both films by adding a short notice to show approval of its screening. I used this as it is shown before films all over the world
For my non continuity film, I made the ending of my film the start to give the audience a sneak preview of what was to come. The ending shots that I used were, first of all, the scene where the robbers were caught as the investigator tells them to put their hands up and the scene where the robbers both beg to be let free. This is because it creates a cliffhanger for the viewer as to what will happen. It gives the best of both worlds, as at one point, the viewer doesn't understand whether the robber will be taken away, or if they will be let free.
My second edit of this film was to create a title opening, this was of the world spinning, as well as a dramatic background music sound, I used these to add realism to the film opening credits. In addition to the spinning world and dramatic music, I added the movie title above, to give the film an introduction.
The first edit of note in my film was the CCTV footage. I used a shot of 2 robbers walking onto the set where the bank was and unlinked the sound from the clip, as CCTV footage is always silent. In addition to the shot, I applied a CCTV overlay to give it realism and to inform the audience what they were watching.
For my next edit, the scene that follows on from my CCTV footage, I used secondary sounds for the investigator walking into his office. I used a footsteps sound for this clip, as I unlinked the original sound.
Trailer
For my trailer I used a dramatic sound throughout to add some tension. The use of my background sound was for the effect of the viewer not knowing what was going to happen next. I sourced this background music from youtube.
The next thing I added to my trailer was a short story introducing both sets of characters. The story introduces what will happen in the movie, but doesn't give it away, it doesn't give away whether they're faced up and dealt with, or if they get away.
The next thing I edited to my trailer was the introduction to the robbers, their names, and a short clip after to show what they do. I used this to give a brief intro to the main characters.
After this I used the clips of the robbers being caught, as well as the robbers attempting to fight back and avoid being taken away. I used this to leave the viewer on a cliffhanger as to whether they were let free or whether they did get taken away. It leaves the viewer with no clues as to what might happen.
I used a glass shattering sound effect to show a shift in focus, it transitioned from the light build up of the dramatic song to the fiery verse. It shifted from the sole focus of building up the characters in the trailer, to the action happening, the glass shattering was to represent a change in tone in the film trailer.
The first part of my shooting covered the CCTV footage needed for my film. For this footage, I had to shoot from a high angle, to resemble CCTV footage. In addition to this shot, I will use a CCTV overlay. For this scene, I experimented with shot types and angles to ensure I got the perfect shot.
The two above screenshots were from two slightly different angles and positions. I tried using higher and lower angles to ensure the shot ran smoothly. Seen as though it is CCTV footage, i opted for the higher angle footage to ensure it remained realistic and did in fact, resemble CCTV footage.
I applied a CCTV overlay to my footage to add realism. I gathered this overlay from google and as it was a raw cctv footage shot, i had to edit it on photoshop. To do this, I removed background colour from the overlay, and colour from all words on numbers on the outside. After this, i exported it from photoshop and used it on premiere pro. To make it perfect, I had to scale and size the overlay. Eventually, I exported the video and it will be used at the start of my film, as an over the shoulder shot.
The two above shots were taken from my first scene, where the lead investigator finds out there has been an attempted robbery. The scene includes the investigator walking past the camera and into the next room, where he will make the call to arrange an emergency meeting.
This shot is from the following scene in the film, where the investigator calls for the emergency meeting. This room is equipped with a computer, where he will show the CCTV footage of the robbers scoping out the bank when they arrive at the scene.
The 4 shots below are from the investigators exchanging words, i used a shot reverse shot technique to follow the conversation and to ensure it flows correctly. With the use of shot reverse shot
For the next scene, I made the investigators arrive at the scene and meet with the main investigator. In this scene I used a tracking shot and an over the shoulder shot. I used the over the shoulder shot in the film to get not only the reaction of the investigators on the screen, but to see the subject on the screen, the CCTV footage.
For my next scene, I had the assistant investigator calling the main investigator as he has found something that would interest his boss. For this shot, I used a long shot firstly to shoot the assistant calling his boss, to be able to get the full setting of the office in and finally to be able to see the computer they will be using in this scene. I used an over the shoulder shot in the second part of this scene, so the audience could gather an understanding of what the investigators were talking about during their conversation.
The next shot I used was the 2 robbers walking onto the shot heading toward the bank, followed by a long shot of an investigator tracking them down. I used the first shot to show the scene of the bank and its surroundings. The second shot was similar, the investigator walked onto the scene and this was used for the same effect as the first shot, to understand not only the setting but to gather information on the characters and how they operate. For example, when the investigator pulls the gun out on the robber, it gives a good insight on the character, you can see his full body language and his emotion, whereas if I were to use a shot from in front, or a shot from closer up, the full body language wouldn't have been revealed, making it some motionless.
ISO
For each shot I used I alternated the ISO to improve the lighting on the set and to be able to get a better shot. For the shot below I had to change the ISO considerably, as the lights in the room were dim and the characters were hard to make out, therefore the ISO had to be increased.
Another example of increasing the ISO is when we were outside filming the approach to the bank scene, the ISO needed decreasing as we were facing the sun, which was making the shot too bright, therefore you wouldn't have been able to make out the scene at all.
For my final shots, I used shot reverse shot. I used this technique to show a flow of conversation from the robbers and the investigators who have tracked them down. These shots are close ups as it can show full emotion of a character. This shot can be seen as a 'POV' shot, which typically films the head, or an extreme close up of the character speaking. This shot can typically be found in 'Peep Show'.
Film shooting/Planning
Day 1- On my first day of shooting I shot the scoping out scene of the bank. For our contingency plan, I checked out the location beforehand to check what was needed for the lighting. After finding out the lighting was fine, I proceeded to checking out the perfect angle for the robbers walking into the bank. I used a tripod and camera, as no sound was necessary due to it being CCTV footage. For costume I had to ensure the characters were wearing dark clothing to ensure it was a realistic heist plan. I took multiple shots of this scene to ensure I got the lighting perfect, as well as the angle, I had to make sure the characters could be seen perfectly without any mishaps. As well as the cctv scene, I shot the robbers approaching the bank as it is the same location. In this shot, I altered the ISO on the camera so the lighting was perfect.
Day 2- On my second day of shooting, I shot the scene where the robbers were planning out their raid on the bank. For this scene I lowered the ISO to give it a low key lighting, to make sure the characters profiles were low. For this shot I used a room with a low source of light. Again for this shot I had my characters wearing dark clothing as it relates to a stereotypical robber, as they wear all black, or very dark clothing, typically. I used a tripod and camera, as I tested the sound of the room and found a mic wasn't required. For the shooting I tested high and low angle to get the best possible shot.
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Day 3- On the 3rd day, I shot the investigators talking through their plan to take down the robbers. In this shot, I had to use 2 different costume types, the first of which being the investigator wearing a shirt and tie to show professionalism in his career, and the second being the main investigator wearing normal clothes due to his unawareness of what was going to happen, this being getting a call from his assistant investigator informing him that there had been a find. For my lighting, I tested the ISO to attempt to enhance the lighting, I tried using side lights however they weren't necessary. The lighting was fine as it was on set. I attempted to use a mic, however as it was in a refined close area, the sound wasn't affected, therefore a mic wasn't necessary. Therefore again I used a camera and tripod.
For my mock interview and business meeting I chose the career of sports journalist. In this interview, I stated the wage I would likely be earning, in addition to the qualifications that are needed, experience needed, the lowest point of entry for this particular sector, how long it will take to get to where I want to be and the skills and qualities needed for this particular position, these were the topics of interest in the interview. In the interview there were some things I could've brushed up on, for example the answer to the question 'describe a time you worked in a team and what was the outcome'. In spite of this, I believe the interview went well, I believe my research into the questions went well and as a benefit, the outcome was perfect answers to the questions. When asked about journalists who I have links to, I mentioned Gilly Hope, a BBC TV and radio presenter, she lists on her Facebook she is a freelance TV and radio presenter, an actress and journalism lecturer. In addition to this I mentioned Kenny Sanger, who is a radio presenter for Spark FM at Sunderland University, as well as this, he is a part time lecturer at Sunderland College.
In the past month I visited Teeside Uni, where I attended many talks about journalism and all career paths involving media. The first talk was presented by an employee of Sports Bible, who introduced us to his career path, where he started, how he started and how he got into it. This included getting his degree at Uni, and where it led him. As well as this, we were given a talk by a man who was also working in the world of sports journalism, working freelance. As well as the person who spoke to us from Sport Bible, he spoke to us about his journey, how he got into working freelance, how he finds work every week and his future plans, whether that be to continue freelance work, or if he plans on getting into industry work, of example, working in an office or for an organisation. From this talk in particular, I learned that Journalism is as exciting as I hoped to be and I gathered a large understanding of how to get there, including getting a degree and how to start off, for example, working freelance and aiming to gather contacts and get your name out. We talked with another journalist, who had worked on various TV projects, including working on oil rigs and being lost at sea. He mentioned that there were exiting attributes to his job, as well as the times being flexible, which was necessary due to his family life.
As well as the sports journalism course was shown to be for younger people rather than that of older, this is due to the amount of social media and online presence needed for the role.
To begin the visit though our personal details were recorded before the first talk began. These included an email address, names, dates of birth and a phone number.
This was done to help further our knowledge on the university and the courses they offer, ultimately deciding if a course at the university is something that we would consider as a future.
A brief tour of the university was shown and certain key members if staff were introduced, for example former journalists and media culture representatives.
Of these lecturers one was a possible victim of Raoul Moat, she told the story of how she was invited to the crime scene and all the insurances that had to be made, as well as the safety measures that had to be taken.
The picture above shows the main and only campus of the university. This is the campus that we visited and it is located in Middlesbrough.
I learned many things from this experience, such as: a good way to begin a career in sports journalism is to begin freelance, as well as this, the hours that a journalist works are very flexible and reliable, however this can quickly change if a large news story appears.
This visit helped me decide that journalism was the perfect choice for me, and gave me a greater understanding on the subject as a whole.
For my business card, I was inspired by a local taxi rank. The taxi rank's card used bright and bold colours for the effect of the reader, it doesn't overwhelm them by being too bright or having too much information. It shows the right amount of information, the necessities, this being the name and occupation of the person who holds the card, where he is based, and his phone number and email address. The colours yellow and white contrast with black, making it stand out. Furthermore, it gives the card a sheik and bold look.
