Week 12

This week we looked into Adobe After Effects and learnt about various things such as creating titles, as well as general enhancements such as colour correction.

8th December - Filming the Video

I spent most of today filming what I needed for my 1 minute film. Unfortunately due to the cold and windy weather conditions, we were all desperate to get what we needed filmed as quickly as possible. I felt because of this I maybe did not get as many shots filmed as I hoped for, however hopefully when I come to edit the video it should be alright.

Week 11

This week we continued with learning how to use Avid. We were given access to all the video files used for the Fisker Karma car advert, shot on 35mm film. Then following a script we edited the video together. Although we had a script, it was still up to us to find a shot that worked, as many clips were of the same scene but simply filmed from different angles. We also had to make sure the audio ran smoothly underneath, and this often involved editing the audio and video separately at points.

Week 10

This week we continued looking at the various functions of Avid, as well as recapping what we learnt last week. This week we were also each given our own individual logins for EditShare, rather than the universal login we all shared the previous week.

Week 9

This week we were introduced to Gary, who introduced us to Avid video editing software. Avid was a lot more complex than the average video editing software I was used to such as Adobe Premiere Pro. There is no ability to simply drag and drop audio from an external source into the software; there is no ability to drag and drop video onto the editing timeline and you have to select portions of video and extract or replace them, rather than simply cutting and deleting or moving around the timeline.

We were also introduced to EditShare. The external network where we could store all our source footage for editing to access all around the University network, and without worrying about file size.

Week 8

Week 8 was a reading week.

Week 7

This week, we looked the various types of lighting available for shots. In groups, we then set up a camera and some lights, and varied the lights around to see the various lighting styles we could achieve.

Week 6

Grant from Med107 took this lecture to discuss sound. We looked at the various microphones used on TV and in particular, talk/reality shows, where in groups, we discussed how many microphones we think would be needed for various TV shows.

Week 5

During this lecture, we watched the ending to the film Seven (Se7en). In the sequence, David Mills (Brad Pitt), discovers that the killer they have arrested named Doe, has murdered his wife and finds her head in a box Doe has delivered to him. Mills is unable to control himself and kills Doe. We then analysed the key shots of the sequence and how they help portray the scene and make it interesting, for example cutting between shots faster to help portray the frustration of Mills.

Week 4

This week, although we wouldn't necessarily be using them all the time, we were introduced to the DSLR cameras. Although I had experience of using these in high school, we spent this lecture going into them in a lot more depth of how they actually work, such as how the mirror prism flips up to switch between previewing an image and taking one, and how the image is then flipped to display the correct way round. We were also introduced to the various lenses available.

Week 3

This week, we read through the script for an existing short film. Working in groups, we then had to come up with an genre for this script, as well as a location and present our idea to the class.

Week 2

This week's lecture was all about getting familiar with some of the equipment we would be using for the next 3 years. In particular, we were introduced to the Sony EX1 camera which was different to the usual DSLRs I was familiar with. We learnt the basics such as inserting a battery and powering it up, and the various controls on the camera. Something interesting I learnt was that it is better to underexpose a shot and correct it in editing, than to overexpose a shot and try to fix it in editing.

Week 1

Today, we were introduced to our short films module. We were also able to watch a variety of short films done by previous students which was very useful as it allowed us to compile some good and bad ideas and see what we liked and disliked.

23rd September

This lecture was held by Andy Cartwright and Grant Lowery. During this lecture, we learnt about the various types of microphones used in broadcasting and when they would be used. Examples includeed a shotgun microphone (or boom microphone when covered), cardiod microphone and a tie clip microphones. We were also shown physical examples of these microphones.
After this Andy took us into one of the studios and talked to us from through the window from a microphone and asked us to feedback the quality of the sound. Although it sounded echoy and distant, this thought was diminished by the illusion that he was talking directly into the microphone, it was then revealed we were actually hearing audio from a different microphone which was hidden below the window. This explained the poor sound, when directly talking into this microphone, the sound was clear.