Filming Schedule

 This blogpost contains our group's filming schedule

Scene	Day/Time	Location	People	Props / Equipment	Other
Scene 1: Bedroom Scene	Monday, 23 December 2024	Tisha’s House	Cassie, Eileen	Laptop Makeup Lights
Scene 2:  Party Scene	Monday, 23 December 2024	Tisha’s House	Cassie, Eileen, Tara, Charlyn, Kotoha, Kimora Raihan Vara (Tisha Brother)	Party cups Drinks Powder
Scene 3:  Car Scene	Wednesday, 22 January 2025	Grand Lucky GrandLucky Udayana	Cassie	Car
Scene 4:  Dragging Scene	Wednesday, 22 January 2025	Grand Lucky GrandLucky Udayana	Cassie  Driver	Phone Bag

Classwork: Editing Practice

 This blog post contains the work me and Kim did in my lesson on how to successfully edit. My teacher filmed the footage but me and Kim edited it together. My teacher also provided the template for the blog post. 

Why is continuity editing important?

Continuity editing includes making sure that items like props or costumes stay consistent from scene to scene. But the more important work lies in editing shots together in a way that leaves viewers thoroughly grounded in both time and space.

Different types of continuity edit 

• Straight cut (cut)

• Eyeline match 

• Shot /reverse shot

• Cutaway / Insert 

*Match cut

Footage

Here is the footage that my teacher shot which utilises a variety of camera angles and movements. The scene is very simple, it involves a student standing up and leaving the classroom. A single shot here might be quite boring for the audience, by editing and combining the shots together we can make the scene feel more dynamic. 

My editing process

Explain how you edited the clips together. Include screenshots of the editing software. 

Here is my first attempt with some errors. Here is how I fixed the errors…

Here is my final scene. Editing multiple clips together made the scene better because…

Self reflection:

Shooting Practice: Thriller Scene Recreation

 This blog post contains a mini project that helped us learn how to shoot a cinematic scene. We did this as a group.

My teacher told us to find a scene from a movie in our genre. Our task was to recreate this scene we have chosen from the movie Missing 2023. 

Here is our Final Video! From 00:25 - 01:22

Here is our storyboard

After conducting this mini project, we have discovered that there were problems and solutions with the technical elements that we had to go through, and what we have to be more aware of for the future, from our previous experience.

Camera

Problems:

The problems we had with camera were just with inaccurate camera angled shots we took as we recreated the photos from the actual movie scenes. We didn't have any problems on needing specific advanced quality cameras as pictures from the movie were also being snapped on a handphone, and the scenes we chose were filmed through a computer/laptop scene, to which we just had to screen record everything. However the problems we mentioned that we encountered with the camera angles were when replicating the screen recordings where Tisha (who we chose as our actor) had to appear on frame with the exact same camera angle as the actor on the movie had. As well as, where we had to replicate the photos from the actual scene including a "Live Photo" where Kim (another member of our group which we chose to be one of the actors/muse as well) had to recreate as it is also an important staple of the scene.

Solutions:

Solutions we had for this problem was to take our time and remain consistent in double checking to be as precise and similar to the actual scenes as possible. By doing this, our recreation turned out to be pretty similar and accurate from the actual scenes, including the recreated pictures we took.

Next time:

We will learn from our experience and improve by using more professional equipment to recreate specific pictures from the scenes. As well as practicing more on how to conduct certain camera angles properly to get the most accurate result as possible as we attempted to do a recreation/replication.

Sound

Problems:

There weren't much problems for the sound as the scenes we chose to recreate did not require any diegetic sounds, but instead, needed non-diegetic sound which was the tensive music from the actual scenes. Additionally it is also difficult for us to find any similar audio that give off a similar vibe toward our scenes, making it risky and can potentially be incompatible with our scenes.

Solutions:

We decided to download the actual soundtrack from the YouTube video we used to determine our scenes, to make it as similar to the actual scenes and to avoid any copyright from choosing any different soundtrack.

Next time:

We will research more on the soundtracks of scenes we choose to recreate to make our project easier to conduct with more accessible soundtracks to input into our scenes. As well as being more prepared for future scenes needing diegetic sounds by not filming in a noisy classroom like we did for this project, since we did not need any diegetic sounds then.

Edit:

Problems: 

Problems during the editing process included getting the accurate speed and duration of each scene to be exactly the same with the movie itself, as there were some scenes that we recorded were too fast and some were too slow. Another problem was that in one of the scenes in the original scene, there was a scene of a zoom in cut motion that was used to emphasize the photo in the scene where it was difficult to have a smooth zoom transition. 

Solution: 

The solution for the editing problem was to cut some parts of the scene and change the speed of the scene in order to make it the same duration. Cutting some parts of the scene did not have any major effect on the project outcome, rather it made it smoother. For the zoom part of the problem, we cut parts of the clips and resize the part where it is needed to be zoom

Next Time: 

For next time, we will need to understand the scene more to know how the story goes and memorize how long each scene lasts and is being done, in order to get the exact similar outcome with the original scene. Another way is to have the original scene side by side during recording and/or the sound so that during recording it would be easier to just follow through the actual original scene. We will also need to learn more about the features in the editing software in order to have a similar smooth zoom and improve our skills to get the outcome that we are expecting. 

Mise-En-Scene:

Problems:

For Mise-en-scene the problem was that we couldn’t find the right props that would match and have a similar feeling with the original scene that we were trying to recreate. Anothing this is for our actor to make the accurate reaction / acting that is similar to the original scene. As some reaction was complicated for our actor to do.  

Solution:

The solution for the problem was to just use the props that we have, making it look as similar as it is shown on the screen. Like for example the ‘drinks’, we didn’t have the same type of glass but we made the holding of the glass to be similar to the photo we are recreating. For the acting part, we tried to make a reaction to sort of be similar but still having the same feeling with the original scene. 

Next Time: 

Next time, we will need to learn to be more prepared and find the right props in order to match the scene more perfectly to be seen by the audience. Another thing was to pick the right actor that can act well in a certain situation.

Behind the Scenes IMAGES

- Our group recreating the pictures from the actual scenes

Self Reflection: This project turned out to be really fun, as our first lesson of the new semester. Though it was quite tough as Cassie wasn't present during this day. Therefore the rest of us had to finish the project ourselves. Me and Tisha did most of the work, I was in charge of majority parts of the blog, while Tisha also helped and edited the actual video by the help of Kim as well. This project will be helpful and beneficial for the future as we would be more exposed to the usage of technical elements more often, and helps us practice our project making skills, including all the filming with the technical elements, filling up our blogs, editing and discussing too!

Storyboard

 This blog contains the storyboard for our current film opening project.

In class, when we were first brought back to storyboarding from our last project, our teacher had given us a helpful video on how to construct a better storyboard for our current project.

This was our very first sample, prototype, and raw storyboard where we basically constructed our ideas of the final concept we've decided on this film opening project.

We then upgraded into this, another rough draft just as a vision of what it would be like in "storyboard" form

Here are our final storyboards for component one, completely drawn by Cassie, with the help of Me, Tisha, and Kim's ideas aswell.

Self Reflection:

The storyboards we have constructed wouldn't just make me and the rest of the team have a clear vision of the scenes we have to create and how to stick up to our blueprint, but the whole process also helped us gain more creativity as we kept on adding ideas to our concept. This benefits us as we get to learn more from each other, getting to know the genre well and gives us steps on how to construct the scenes well.

Classwork

 This blogposts contains information i have learnt in class

Media consolidation - Media Consolidation refers to the concentration of ownership of our media sources (news, film, TV, radio, video games etc)

into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations.

Advantages of media consolidation:

• Able to provide content for niche audiences

• Improved quality due to better funding

• It is cheaper for the audience

• Converging technologies (eg. we can now get our TV, phone and internet from the same company, making things

• simple)

• Diversification - less risk for the media company. (if something fails, it is not too much of an issue)

• Can reach a larger audience.

Disadvantages of media consolidation: 

• smaller/independent media outlets can’t compete with the production quality

• Illusion of choice

• Lack of competitiveness and alternate view points. Every TV channel is expressing the same viewpoint.

• The focus is making money, not good content

• Less local news

Curran & Seaton Theory

• The mass media is owned and operated by fewer and fewer companies. (media consolidation into conglomerates.

• (conglomerates - conglomerates are large parent companies with smaller independent entities that may operate

• across multiple industries.)

• Mass media is driven by political agendas and economic influences.

• The rise in new media is associated with the decline of quality content. 

• Web users have a larger voice and can challenge conglomerates.

Vertical integration - it is when one company owns more than one stage of the media chain. (production, distribution, exhibition)

Benefits of owning all stages of production:

For the company (eg. Disney):

• Creative control over story, script, design, editing, rating, marketing

• Able to use more characters that appeal to a wider audience. 

• Increase revenue (don’t share profits)

• Access to user data (tailor content, suggestions)

For the audience:

• More content, intertextuality (intertextuality - the relationship between media products where one text references another text by reusing some of its ideas and meanings)

Horizontal integration - when one company owns more than one stage within the same level.

• It also allows companies to diversify their content, profit etc. it also allows for cross - promotion, and different media platforms bring access to different audiences.

• Audiences can benefit because it gives them more exposure to their favourite media properties/characters, and can increase engagement. (children who are exposed to character when they are young will more likely consume the same property when they are older)

Synergy - mutually beneficial cross promotional strategies used by companies. 

How synergy benefits both parties:

For examples James Bond 

Benefits for James Bond:

• High pays from companies

• More locations, tax free

• Luxury brands to bolster Bond’s image

• More awareness (each company will have its own Bond marketing campaign)

• A chance to reach new markets/audience

Benefits for companies:

• Get to be associated with Bond

• Good advertisement for locations

• They can include the character in their marketing campaigns

• Bond fans may purchase products they see on screen

Hypodermic Needle theory (not really a working theory anymore) 

It assumes the audience as a sponge, absorbing ideologies from the media passively, without any questions  

Two Step Flow theory

Expand the passive audience theory to suggest that people have their interpretations formed by opinion leaders (opinion leader - an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. / trusted members of the community -> celebrities, influences)

Uses & Gratification (Blumer & Katz)

The audience is actively using the media to satisfy some of our bas social needs;

• Diversion - a form of escapism from the stresses and strains of life. Maybe all media falls into this group

• Personal identity - the media supplies us with role models and ways of understanding our place in society

• Social relationships - people make connections with performers they see on the screen, they also form relationships with people in society when discussing the media product

• Surveillance - audiences use the media to gather information

Past Paper Practice

‘In the world of media ownership, bigger is always better.’ To what extent is this true in the media area you have studied? [25 marks]

How to answer:

• Topic sentence that answers the question

• Outline the company, what it owns

• Give an explanation of vertical integration

• Introduce the media and how it was produced, distributed and exhibited

• How does this benefit the company?

• How does this benefit the audience?

• Are there any disadvantages?

• How do the ideas of Curran and Seaton fit this case study? (what is the company’s ideology? What economic influences played a role? Has this integration resulted ina decline in quality?)

Self reflection:

This blogpost act as a notepad for me, classwork notes help me recall terms i may have forgotten ever since we learnt it in class which provides information for me when i am trying to study on this term's theories