PG Tips - Pre production

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''The Drop'' - Filming Techniques

Different Filming techniques that we used in our film:
Mise-en-scene: Mise-en-scene is when you use props, or you dress up   in your film, to fit the type of character that you're playing. It's also when you choose a specific location to film. Many films use this technique because without props, the film wont have as much affect. For example you probably wont see an action film without a prop such as a gun, or a bad guy in a suit.We used this technique because one of the actors were dressed up in a suit, also there were guns and bags used as props. We also chose a certain location to film because we knew that this area would be a good scene to film a running scene. This area also has great lighting so the running scene would be much easier to scene. The reason that we chose to use props and dress up in the film was because it helped us to build effect. For example without guns, our film wouldn't have mad as much sense, nor would it have been more entertaining for the viewer. The dressing up also had the same effect.

Lighting: Lighting can be used to emphasis a scene, and make it more visible to see. It's important when filming to use the right lighting so the scene is easy to see for the audience. Lighting is normally changed in different scenes to fit with the area that they're filming in. When we filmed our short film, we had to try put the camera in different places as the sun kept making the scenes hard to see. Therefore we had to film from different spots and then find the one that looked the best. Most of the scenes that we finally decided to keep were filmed in the shade, as filming in the shade didn't make the scenes to bright, which meant that it was easy to see.

High or low camera angles: Higher camera angles are camera angles from high up, for example on the top of a building or large object. Low camera angles are camera angles that are taken from lower down, for example the camera will be on the floor and the person or object being filmed will look much higher than the camera is. We used high camera angles at the start when our camera man filmed from on the top of a stair case. We did this because it gives the viewer of the film a clearer view of whats going on. We also took some lower camera shots towards the end on the actors with the guns. We did this because it emphasis  importance  of the players, and helps to build tension as you don't know who is going to shoot who.

Different shot types: There are many different types of shots that you can take with a camera. Different shot types help build effect in a film, and can also help it emphasis the action that's going on. When doing our film ,we used many different shot types to help us build effect. For example, one effect that we used was a close up shot. This is where the camera is close up to either an object, or one of the actors. This helps the audience of the film feel tension, or help see in detail, what the camera is showing. Another shot type that was used in our short film was a long shot. We used a long shot at the start of our film so the audience or viewer of our short film could see everyone in the scene. This was helpful because it allowed you to see what all of the actors were doing, which made the scene much easier to understand. We also used a long shot in the chase scene we did to give full effect, and to see what the chaser and person being chased were doing at the same time. Thirdly in our short film, we mostly used medium shots. We did this so it built more tension, and so that the viewer/audience were able to focus on what the camera wanted them to focus on. For example, when the two actors in this film pointed the guns at each other, a medium shot allowed us to see both of the actors at once, but from a close up point. If we used a long shot in this scene, the viewer might of been distracted by something else in the scene, and may have not payed full attention to the two actors that have the guns pointed to each other.

Any camera movement: There are many different types of camera movements that can be used. Using different camera movements when filming can not only emphasis a point, but can also help the viewer feel like they're actually there, and help them understand what's going on in the film. When filming our short film, we used different camera movements to build up this time of effect. Some of the camera movements that we used includes a pan shot. We used a pan shot a lot during the film as that helped us to show what was going on in the film. This camera movement also helped us to follow what's happening in the film. For example, we used this shot type towards the ends of our film when the two actors had the guns pointed to each-other. This helped us create tension ,and allowed the viewer to see what's happening from different angles. We also used this camera movement in the chase scene. We used this in the chase scene because its easier to show what's happening, and makes the chase easier to follow. Another camera movement shot we used was tilt shot. We used this camera movement on the actors with guns because this helped us to show how important these actors are in the specific scene. It also helped us to show the actors minor details.

Fades of dissolves: Fades and dissolves are mainly used to move to different scenes in an effective way. When people fade, they usually show the beginning of the next scene behind the scene that they're fading so that the scenes link together more easily, and look much better. Dissolves are less common but are used to the the same thing, However instead of the scene just becoming less video, dissolves has an effect to change to the next scene. For example, the scene might fly of the screen. This is used a lot in Star Wars. When filming our short film, we didn't use fades or dissolves, because our film was fast pace so using this technique wouldn't have helped the scenes we did link together.

180 degree rule: When filming a scene, for example two people talking in a restaurant. It's important to use the 180 degree rule. This means that you only film a scene within 180 degrees. For example, if two people are talking in a restaurant, you have to make sure you film from one side of them talking. If you don't do this , the actors will look like they've changed places and this could be confusing for the viewers. This can also help a scene look more neat. When filming, we used the 180 degree rule all the way through. Especially when the two actors at the end came face to face with the guns.

Establishing shots: Establishing shot is the first shot of the new scene. It's important that this shot shows either where the location of something is, or one of the actors. Before creating our film, we planned out where the beginning shot of each scene would take place. This helped our film to flow more smoothly, and also helped it to make more sense.

Match cuts on action: Match cuts on action is where you see two parts of a scene, which are the same from more than one view. For example, filming someone walking in the same place from different angles. We used match cuts in our first scene when one actor was walking to drop of the ''package'' to another actor. We thought this would help the audience see and understand what's happening if they couldn't see from the long shot that the film starts with.

Eye-line match cuts: An example of Eye-line match cuts is where someone is being filmed looking at something, however we can't see the object until the next cut. When we did our short film, we didn't use it technique, as it didn't fit in with what we were filming.

Pre-Production

The pre- production process

The type of media product that i produced for the assignment was a short film/document, based around the topics of refugees, which is why the film is called  ''Refugee''. The film shows the viewer the opinions of the ''refugee crisis'' that is currently undergoing in the UK, from the viewpoint of different ages. For example, the people we had interviewed had completely different opinions. The reason that we created this film, is because we (The group i worked with) wanted to enter the Depict competition, that is currently undergoing, in order to have a chance of winning the £1200 cash prize, that would be announced when the competition ends in June 2016. Once created, the film was distributed onto you tube for Depict to see, and for anyone that was interested in Refugee's to watch. This also enhanced the chances for our film to go viral. ''Refugee'' would also be uploaded to the Depict website for all of the contestants to view, but this would only be if we were going too, or were close to winning, which we're hope we are.

There are also many other types of moving image media products. A moving image is more or less a video, and here are some examples: TV shows/ TV series, Web series and Adverts. All of these count as moving images and all of them are known to many different people. There are also many different ways that these media products can be distributed, so that they can be viewed by millions of different people. Some ways that the short films can be distributed are as followed:

Blu-ray, movies, DVD, TV, Cinema, YouTube, Social Media and CD's.. All of these ways of distribution are known by most people, which is why these are the main choices for producers to distribute their films.  The biggest way of distribution in my opinion would be the cinema. If a film that you create is shown in the cinema, there's a bigger chance that your film will be more viewed, and become more popular. This will also let you know that the film you've created as a big success, as only successful movies are shown in the cinema.

When creating a film, there are many different sources of finance that you can use, to help you budget and have the money to buy the resources that you need for your film. An example is sponsors. Sponsoring is one of the most popular ways that film companies get the money they need to create the film they want. However, it can be hard to get a sponsor, as they'll only give you the money if they feel like you can make them money at the same time, by promoting there product, or company. Another example of funding for a film, are bank loans. If you decide to get the money for your film by loaning money from the bank, it can go two ways. Either your film comes successful and you can happily pay the bank back for the money that you've borrowed, or your film won't be successful and you'll have to pay the bank money you don't have, after all the money you take out will probably be doubled because of interest. Although the disadvantage of this is big, many film directors loan money from banks, and can happily pay it back as there film becomes successful. A third example of funding is if you self fund the film yourselves. This is probably the most ethical way to fund your film, especially if you're not certain that your film will be 100% successful, or if you're new to directing a film. This is because you're less likely to be sponsored, or get money from any other source, because you're new to the business of film making, or professional film making.. A final example of funding is crowd funding. Crowd funding is where other people help out the funding  your film by giving you money themselves. The people that give you the money would normally be random people who just want to help out, kind of like a charity. A website that helps with this is ''Kick starter''. On kick starter you put up a video about the film you want to create, set a target for the amount of money you want to try reach, and if you reach the target you get the money, If you don't reach the target, you don't get the money, and this is the disadvantage of the website. An example of a film that got there funding from kick starter is blackout. This film was recently posted on kick starter and has a $30,000 aim to get within 27 days. The film is already at $26,000 because people are interested in the idea of the film, and want to donate so they can help out. An example of a film that didn't meet it's funding target is ''Montreal street art''. This film had a $600,000 aim, but only managed to get 1% of that target. This means that the director of the film wouldn't get the money to help with the film, as he didn't reach all of the money that was needed. Sometimes it's possible for the studios where you're recording your film, to help you with the money you need to make your film, although they may not be able to give you all of the money you need to make the film. However this will still help you be able to purchase some equipment and some actors.

When you're creating your own production, whether it's a TV series, a film or a documentary, there are many different requirements and equipment pieces that you need to successfully make your film. Cameras is the most important piece of equipment that you need, as without it, it's impossible to make a production, as you'd have nothing to help you record the production. Cameras can be quite expensive depending on what camera you want, which is decided by choosing how good of quality that you want. For example, a low quality camera like a Nikon D3300 is £200, where a higher quality camera like a Nikon DS4 costs around £4,000. Aside from cameras, there are many different pieces of equipment that you need to. This includes stage set, directors, make-up, editing software, cast, props and the copyright documents too stop your production from being stolen by anyone else, who may want to use it as there own. All of these can add up, and it's what makes the production as expensive as it is. However, you don't always have to by the equipment for your film, as there's ways to rent it out. A website that lets you do this is hireacamera.com and dcodeuk. If you decide to use these websites, you're likely to be charged by the hour so it's best that you plan out what you're going to film before you hire them, so you won't have to spend as long, or spend as much money. Although this method of obtaining equipment can be expensive, it's much cheaper than buying a camera for £1000s.Creating a film for depict didn't require us to use as much equipment, or to spend any of our own money. The equipment that we used was rented from the ''AV'' room inside our college. However if we broke any of the equipment (Which we didn't) we'd have to pay a lot of money to replace it. The equipment that we used to create our short film was Cameras, recorders (that record the audio) and an SD card that stored our movie on. Overall it was easy to obtain the equipment that we needed, and create our film.

The talent (actors) that work in media are an important part when creating a production as they're the people that actually create it. Each type of moving image created, whether it's a television programme, or a hollywood film requires actors, however different amounts of actors are needed for different productions. A low budget film would require the least amount of crew, as the film would generally be shorter than a hollywood film or television programme, and there wouldn't be as much money to spend on it. A short budget film would normally require a few actors, a couple low quality cameras, and someone to edit all of the footage and help put it together. This editor may also help direct the film, and will know if anything else is needed to be recorded.  A television programme is another example of a moving image that uses crew, and would require a lot more crew than a low budget film would. The crew that a television programme would require would be a director, a lot of actors and background extras, editors, photographers, lighting crew, filming crew and make-up artists. This shows that a television programme would require a lot of crew, and the longer the programme series goes on the for, the more crew that is needed. A Hollywood film would probably use the same crew members as a TV series would, however they'd require more of each crew member, for example more editors and a lot of more actors. When we created our short film, we had 2 editors, 1 camera guy and 4 actors that gave there opinions on the topic of Refugees. In our group of three, we decided who would do each role, by how much experience we all had in a role. Carwyn did the question asking and some of the editing, Connor did some question asking, some editing and some filming, and I did some editing. We decided it was best to let them film and ask the questions, as they both had more experience with using a camera than me, and had more confidence that i did. This means that the questions they ask would be more clearer with them asking, as they wouldn't stutter like i'd have done. We decided to agree as a group with who would be doing each role, because if one person decided, there might be some arguments and that's not what we wanted. If we'd have argued a lot, people might not have done there jobs properly as they'd just have been in a sulk, and may not have wanted to try there best. This would have then affected all of the grades that our group got.

There are many different materials that you may need to do a production. Some materials that you need can include Paper (For jotting down different pieces of information that can help you with film ideas) Software (For editing and designing the film) Sounds effects and the Set design (Which will help give the film more effect and to be more entertaining for the viewers of it. As well as types of materials, there are also many different financial considerations that you need to take. For example, copyright and paying for different permissions for your film is a consideration. The copyright is important because you don't want people copying your ideas for there own film, as they'll be taking credit for something you've produced  Most, if not all films are copyrighted to prevent this. Permissions is another important thing, and this can include paying the owner of some land so that you can film on it, or the owner of a building so you can film in it. Most films that have shop or public building scenes would have needed to pay or ask for permissions to film there. Branding is another thing that you may need to use money for. Popular films often have merchandise such as shirts, hats and household based items  that have photos, or are designed to look like something in the film. They often sell very well so it's a good idea try branding when creating a film. More obvious things such as filming equiptment will also need to be brought. If you don't want to fully purchase a camera you can rent one out which will be much cheaper, but still quite expensive. Lastly money will need to be spent on props for the film, and the wages for the actors of the film. This means that it's a good idea to not overflow your film of actors unless you have the money to pay them all. Sometimes actors will work for free for university credit.

Legal Issues
Legal issues also need to be taken into consideration when designing and creating a film. Copyright is the main one. If you happen to use something for example music or you copy another film so it's almost identical, the owner of that music or film that you're copying from would have the right to sue you. This won't just make you lose money, but it will look bad on your company that you're trying to copy someone elses idea for your own film. To avoid this issue, it's best to check what music you're using or filming, and if anything is copyrighted you should get permission to use it. Sometimes you may have to pay for the permissions but at least you gain from it. Copyright affected my groups Depict production because we wanted to use pre-recorded youtube videos and music. However, we were able to get permission for this so there was no real harm, although it took us a while to get reply from the owners of the pre-recorded clips.

Clearance: Clearance is when you have permission to use something in the way you want to use it. For example, if you have permission to use a certain piece of music at the end of your film, you have clearance to use the music. Another example is if you have clearance to film in a certain area.

Public Liability Insurance: This is the insurance that covers film makers. This is incase they get injured or sued

Completion guarantee/insurance: This insurance is a contact that says the direction of the film will finish the film by the date they say they'll finish. This is to make sure that they're not using actors more than they're supposed too, and the actors are getting payed correctly for the time that they're working.

OFCOM is a communications regulator that is based in the UK. They're function is too regulate the TV and Radio sector, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and air waves over wireless devices.
Apart from OFCOM, the BBC is also regulated by the OFC (Office of fair trading). This is different from OFCOM because the OFC only regulates competitions, and OFCOM regulates everything apart from competitions.
BBFC which stands for British Board of Film Classification is another company that regulates films and videos. They're responsible for choosing the age ratings of films for example ''U'' and ''PG''. They also do ages rating for online material.

Trade Unions:
A trade union is an organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades or profession formed to protect and further their rights and interests. There are also many reasons for why trade unions are important. For example They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts Another reason for why they're important is that They also play an important role in organizing courses for their members on a wide range of matters. 

PACT stands for Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television.Pact helps to shape the best possible regulatory and legislative environment for the independent production sector to grow domestically and internationally – the association has a strong record of success in campaigning for producers’ rights. 

BECTU stands for Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre union. They're a trade union so they'll do what i listed above. However BECTU is one of the most popular trade unions as it has over 25,000 members.

A trade association is an organisation funded and founded by different businesses that operate in a specific industry.

''Refugee'' - Filming Process

Refugee Filming Process

On the first day of creating our film ''Refugee'', we didn't decide to do any filming. This is because on the day, the weather was really bad and we were still in the middle of choosing what our film is actually going to be about. We knew we wanted to a short film on refugee's, but we weren't sure how. In the lesson we finally came up with ideas on how we were going to produce our film and we jotted them down. We decided to start by making the intro of our film with all of the pre-news clips that we were going to use. This way we could have more time to think about who we were going to interview, and could get some of our film done at the same time. While we were doing this, the other groups were still thinking about there ideas for the films that they created so this meant that we were ahead of all of them. This was an advantage for us because it meant that we had more time to make changes at the end.
On the second day on designing our film, we again didn't do any filming. The reason for this is because the weather was bad like the first day we worked on our film, and not all of our team members were in college. Because of this, we decided that we'd continue to work on the edit/ intro of our film, so then we had something to do and wouldn't get behind because of our day of not interviewing anyways. This was a dis-advantage for us because we'd had finished most of the intro on the first day so there wasn't much to do on the second day, this didn't put us behind but it would have been more time efficient if we didn't do filming on the day. We also thought that no-one would want to answer any of the questions that we'd want to ask because it was early in the morning and because the weather was cold, people might have gotten annoyed at us for trying to stop them while they were in the middle of getting somewhere, or were trying to shop.
On the third day of creating our film, we decided that we'd finally get some interviews done, as there was nothing that we could do to improve our intro, so spending another day on this would have been a waste of time and wouldn't have been very time efficient. We also decided that instead of going to film people we didn't know in public. that we'd film people we'd know. The reason for this is because a swell as us thinking that no-one would stop to talk to us, that if we filmed people that we knew then they'd be more comfortable answering the questions and we'd end up getting better responses. Luckily we managed to get all the clips we needed for our film on this day, but we did't have anymore time to edit when we got back to class because it was the end of the lesson, so we decided to upload the clips to the computer and wait for the next lesson.
On the fourth day of filming, we spent the lesson editing clips that we were going to use, and slowly started to input them into our film, we also changed our into because the one that we were planning on using before didn't fit very well with the clips that we were using. We also decided on this day that instead of asking the questions in the film, we'd put them up on a black scree, and have the people we interviewed answer them after. This is because it helped the film go together better, and our voices when we asked the questions didn't sound as serious as they should have.
We continued to edit different clips that we recorded and filmed, and began to sync them with each-other. This took a lot of time and we spent many lessons doing this, as time consuming as it was, it was worth it, as we were starting to finish pretty quickly.
When editing, our group decided that we would take turns on different days, on who would edit. This worked out well because it helped us all learn how to use the program, and constantly gave us something to do.
Finally we finished the editing of the clips, and had imported them all into our film, after 1 more lesson on the editing, we finished our film and exported it.

Pre Production.

These are the permission documents for the people we interviewed for these short films. We have these to show that we were allowed to film who we did, and we had there permission to do so

Short film idea

Refugee crisis:

For our short film we've decided that we're going to do a version of a social experiment, based on the refugee crisis that is currently happening. We thought that a social experiment would be a good thing to do, since it's a unique idea and it would be extremely entertaining to watch. The reason that we decided to do it on the refugee crisis, is because it's a very popular topic in the media, and most people are aware of it and have an opinion on it. I think the whole thing will go as planned and we'll get some strong opinions on the topic.

We've decided that we're going to interview many people at different age groups, so we can get a rough idea of what people in a certain age group think about the crisis. Instead of filming people in public, we're going to interview people that we know, or are in our families. We've decided to do this over filming random people but we feel that we would get better opinions from people we know. If we were asking random people, we might end up with simple yes or not answers, which wouldn't make our experiment very effective.

In our short film, we've also decided to add upsetting refugee photos. This is to make our film have more of a sympathetic feel to it, and it may make people more aware of why refugee's should, or should not be allowed to come here.

After the photos we've decided that we're going to add the medias view of the refugee crisis. The media has a strong view of what's happening on these types of topics, so comparing what the media think next to what people really think will show people that the media presents things in a way that makes people hate or like something. The media has control and we're going to use this to our advantage in the short film.

When interviewing people, we're doing it from our homes or other areas that aren't just in the college. If people see that we're only filming in one room ,or only in the college, viewers may think that the opinions which we're getting from people are staged. We don't want people to think this which is why we've decided to do interviews in other areas. Having real, non-staged opinions can also make the short film more entertaining, as people may be interested on what others think about the crisis. We've decided that we're going to end short film with some facts so that the people that are watching our video get a sense of how badly the refugees that are coming over, need our help.