Friday, 17 April 2015

Our New Opening Sequence




Here is the updated version of our opening sequence alone.

- CLSR

Friday, 27 March 2015

Evaluation Question 2


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

To show that we have managed to create a recognisable brand and show continuity throughout our project I have created a Thinglink.   
-Caryss


Evaluation of News Package - Question 3 Ria

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

- Ria



Monday, 23 March 2015

Friday, 20 March 2015

Banner



Once I created the banner for the interviews we added it to the news package. We thought the background of it would be transparent, but it wasn't. This was my first attempt of making the banner. I went on Youtube to find a video on how to make the background transparent, however we only watched half of the video so when we rendered the clips again there was still a black background. So after watching the rest of the video we realised there was something else we had to change, we had to change the channel to RGB+Alpha. This was the third attempt to make the banners, this time when we put them into the news package they had a transparent background. However I had to redo the banners a few other times as we had to change the names on them.
Caryss

Opening sequence

As we used pre-existing footage for our opening sequence so we had to change it. Instead we decided to show the contrast between city roads and country driving. This shows our audience that roads aren't always congested and there are different roads and styles of driving.
Caryss

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Filming vox pops - Sophia , Ria and Lauren

In todays lesson we went out in the public to film vox pops for our news package. we needed to re-film these as before they weren't filmed in  public place. the way we filmed today was by using the camera and tripod so that our footage would be stable and not shaky . The only problem we had was with the environmental noise, this included the wind and the busy road with cars that we found difficult to avoid. However we overcame this problem when we started editing our footage, we were able to change how loud the the background noise would be compare to the actual Vox Pop itself.

                                                                                                                                                                       

- Sophia , Ria and Lauren




















Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Filming - CLSR


In todays lesson we had to go out and re- shoot some footage, that we previously had. The aim was to make the footage more steady and appropriate to what we needed.





- CLSR 

Monday, 9 March 2015

Profile of target audience - Sophia

Our main target audience would be new drivers and younger drivers. The way in which our news package will help the new and young drivers will be that we will show statistics to give them a clear view of how much things will cost, also statistics on passing their test and the number of crashes that new drivers have with in the first year of passing their tests or even just getting help for buying insurance.

Below is a video of new drivers and the driving instructor has taken them off the road onto a special driving centre where they are told specifically to drive while texting. In the video we can see that almost all of the new drivers that were learning couldn't drive correctly or safely while texting. This shows the new drivers that it is unsafe to drive while texting.

This links to our target audience -  It links because it shows footage  of what our news is about, it represents how texting while driving is unsafe and matches some of the statistics that our news package will cover. it also show our target audience of new and young drivers that have just started to drive.




Here is a screenshot to our website it shows new drivers all about how we will help them, it also introduces us, it gives them a contacts email to ask for personal guidance. On the left of the website is a list of statistics some of which include; 

Facts about Teen Driving:
  • 33% of deaths among 13 to 19-year-olds in 2010 occurred in motor vehicle crashes.
  • 16-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.
  • Statistics show that 16 and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger.
  • Teen drivers with involved parents are twice as likely to wear seat belts.
  • Talking on a cell phone can double the likelihood of an accident as well as slow a young driver’s reaction time down to that of a 70-year-old.
  • 1 in 5 of 16-year-old drivers has an accident within their first year of driving.



- Sophia 


Monday, 2 March 2015

Research best and worst interview skills - Sophia

 Today I looked online, through videos and from my own knowledge to construct a list that would help to find out about the best and worst interview skills. below is a list of which I thought would be the most appropriate for our task and also the ones that would actually help us to interview people.
  •  Prepare your questions
    Think ahead about the type of questions you want to ask your interviewee. What kind of information are you looking for from this particular person and what are the type of questions that will best get them to give you the information you’re looking for? No need to go crazy. 5-10 questions is usually enough.
  • Avoid “yes” or “no” answers
    Your questions should be asked in such a way that you won’t get “yes” or “no” answers. You need your documentary interviewees to give you substantive answers that you can use in your video edits. Instead of “Are you happy with the outcome of the court case?” Ask, “What is your response to the outcome of today’s court case?”
  • Prepare, but be spontaneousEven though you have prepared questions in advance, allow yourself to veer off from questions if the interviewee says something interesting or unexpected that you’d like to explore further. Sometimes the unplanned “spontaneous” questions & answers create the best moments.
  • Get the interviewee comfortableWhen the video camera rolls, ask easy questions to warm them up. Ask them what they had for  anything to get them talking and comfortable. This is a key interviewing tip!
  • Don’t give out specific questions in advanceI cannot stress this point strongly enough. It’s perfectly acceptable to give someone a general idea of what the interview will be about, but do not give them your list of questions. If you do, they will try to memorize their answers in advance and you will lose spontaneity and freshness. Your interview will end up feeling stale, unauthentic and rehearsed.
  • Have them repeat your questionThis is a great idea, especially if you plan to have no narration for your documentary. Get the person to repeat back your question in their answer. This will help you with the video editing and storytelling later during the editing process. For example, you ask, “How are you feeling?” The interviewee says, “How am I feeling? I’m feeling excited!”
  • Dont speak - Stay quiet when the other person is talking. You don’t want to hear yourself in the background. (Watch out for the “hmmmm”, “Oh right..”) Just ask the question and then keep quiet. It’s good to nod, and make gentle facial expressions, just no sound. Unless of course, YOU are part of the story and the camera has both of you in the shot.
  • Ask for final commentHere's a great video interviewing tip: at the end of the interview, always ask the person if they have any final thoughts. Ask them if there was anything you missed. This can sometimes bring out some great information you hadn’t thought to ask about.
  • Don’t stop filming when the interview is “over”                                                                Especially when you have someone who is nervous and never got quite comfortable with the interview. When you’re done with your official questions, say “OK, that’s the end of the interview.” Make sure the camera continues to roll at this point because often the conversation will continue. Psychologically, the person no longer feels the “pressure” of the interview and will loosen up. This is the time I have often gotten the best quotes of the interview!
 Here is a video off youtube to show an example of filming interviews ~

 
Prepare - Prior to the interview make sure you understand the key elements . Develop a simple outline that covers the job duties. Possibly work with the incumbent or people familiar with the various responsibilities to understand what the job is about. Standardise and prepare the questions you will ask each applicant.

People Skills - With well-developed people skills, you can communicate effectively on an interpersonal level; manage conflict positively; work productively with others to find solutions and reach agreement; and work with integrity and ethics to motivate and inspire others.

Process. The best interview follows a structured process. This doesn’t mean the entire process is inflexible without spontaneity.  

Use Appropriate Language - It's a given that you should use professional language during the interview. Be aware of any inappropriate slang words or references to age, race, religion, politics or sexual orientation -- these topics could send you out the door very quickly. 

- Sophia 


Wednesday, 25 February 2015

25/02/15 News Package Feedback - Ria and Sophia


Today we received feedback for our initial rough draft of our news package. Here is some of things we will be changing to improve the quality of our piece. 




1) Put statistics together - Right now we have edited the statistics randomly so they appear throughout rather than in a formulated structure.



2) Have the regular theme being accidents - Right now our news package is based on a general theme of young drivers. We need to be more specific and make our footage more relevant to one theme that we chose to be accidents by young drivers.



3) Stabilise the Vox Pop - Right now our footage is very shaky so we thought to use iMovie to stabilise the footage making appear to be more professional.




4) One question with cutaways to several answers - We have had various Vox Pops with different types of questions. However, to receive more marks we plan to ask several people the same range of questions and edit the footage so the answers come out one after the other. 



5) Film moving traffic before the news presenter starts talking about busy roads - Before the news presenter starts speaking we have filmed a road of parked cars. It does not make sense to what she is saying therefore, we will films some cutaways to moving traffic. 


6) Film Vox Pops in more crowded places - We have filmed every Vox Pop in quite secluded areas. To expand the variety of Vox Pops and make it look like we have stopped strangers in public we will film some more in crowded places.




7) Get footage of driving instructor and learner car - As you can see our Vox Pops have all been filmed with young drivers, however, it would be relevant to film someone with experience and would break up our news package as well. We want the learner car as the cars we have filmed are not fully relevant to our niche news topic that is advice for young drivers. So, Ria will film her instructor and car during one of her lessons. 

- Sophia and Ria 














Friday, 13 February 2015

Graphs

After creating the graph on photoshop I then went on After Effects to create the image. I made this image with a white background, however when I rendered it the background had changed colour. As the graph was made with black linings this evidently lead to them blending into the background. As a result of this I then tried rendering it with the original background colour, however this didn't turn out like I hoped.
So then I decided to change the lines within the graph to a different colour so they would stand out on the black background, and this is how it turned out.....


I prefer this to the original as it makes the graph as a whole stand out.

Caryss

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Graphics - Sophia






Today I used photoshop to create a bar chart that I will later put into after effects to edit to put into our news package that will have a voice over to explain it .

The way in which I made the Barchart was in Photoshop this was so that I could make each section in different layer so that when I put it into after effects I will be able to edit the parts I need and to make them rotate and transform individually without having the whole image moving


- Sophia

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Graph

This is the final result of animating the graph from photoshop.
Caryss

Graphics

In our news package to show statistics we are presenting them in graph form. I have started out by creating the graph in photoshop with different layers, this is because we will animate it in After Effects.
Caryss

Monday, 9 February 2015

Continuing with the website - Sophia


In todays lesson I carried on with the website , by adding in new features such as pictures and videos, I also changed parts of the text. The problem I encountered was that the website would not  allow me to add a navigation and change the colour of the text, also the computer kept freezing when ever I tried to make an adjustment to my work. The way I overcame the problem of not being allowed to change the text was by watching a youtube tutorial which showed me how to do it ( this video is seen below). The way I overcame the freezing of the computer was by shutting down the computer and re-starting it, although this took a long time , it was mainly the only way to overcome the problem.


Here is the video that helped me.

- Sophia

Friday, 6 February 2015

Today's Lesson 06/02/15

In today's lesson, we continued making the website. The problem's we encountered was that our previous progress had been deleted from the last lesson meaning that we had to restart.

However, we managed return to the level of work we had done and managed to add on top of that as well by including more gifs and improving the website structure by adding more information and trying to add videos to input.

- Ria & Sophia

Thursday, 5 February 2015

New Website and Gif Making - Ria

I originally started making the website using the standard templates, without any expansion or direction as to how to make our website slightly more original and exciting.


However, with further experimentation I found out how to input different forms of a gallery and how to structure it around our website homepage.

I then looked into interesting images to input into the gallery and was informed of a a website called gifmaker.me. You are able to input a number of images and create a gif, simple to download and is excellent for showing advertisements on the website.


We are also able to input more images as to not overcrowd the page. As our news product is advice for young drivers we are able to advertise many things like insurance or driving lessons. Making our website believable and useful.

- Ria

Using photoshop - Lauren

Today i was using photoshop and I learnt how to use the inverse tool.



This allows me to make the background of an image transparent so that i can edit it on after effects.  This helps me as it makes the graphics more professtional as there is no background and it is all one colour, this is good as our news package needs to look as professtional as possible.  

I was challenging to get used to at first however the more i did the action the easier it got and it became more fluent so i could carry out the task more efficiently. 

Lauren

Wednesday, 4 February 2015

Editing - Sophia & Lauren





In today's lesson we continued editing our news package, the problem we encountered was moving footage from different computers , the way we overcame this problem was that we changed the way in which we were transferring footage , we found out that it wasn't recognising the footage on out memory stick so we transferrs it using a different setting so that it would find our footage on the computer with out having to plugg in the memory stick every lesson.

-Sophia & Lauren 

Friday, 30 January 2015

Graphics - Clock 2

Today I made the final graphic for one of our statistics. I done this by making the clock on photoshop using different layers for each part. Then I imported the image in After Effects to animate the image. As I made it with separate layers I could move one part without it affecting the rest of the image.
Caryss

Continue the making of the website - Sophia

Today I continued to make our website for our news company. I started to input the different information that we wanted to be on our website , the way in which I did this was by finding the information needed and changing the settings in our website maker (wix) . The problem I encountered was that I found some parts of making the website difficult for example changing some of the settings , it wouldn't allow me to do what I wanted. The way I over came this was by watching a tutorial of how to use the website .
- Sophia

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Research into production companies - Sophia





PPC is a leading International Creative Production agency that combines a dedicated, award-winning creative team with unparalleled production facilities.
They offer a complete, full agency, cross-platform service that ranges from initial conception, through to production, post-production, and delivery.

These are some of the films that they have produced -  




Here is some of he awards they have won  and also in the second picture the awards they have been nominated for - 
PPC is one of the largest production companies in the UK it has won many awards for example golden trailer awards 2013 for Skyfall , it has also won many golden trailer award for 2013 and 2014 also for Skyfall. PPC has had many nominations over the years some of these nominations include Golden trailer award for Trollhunter , Raid , Skyfall Domestic, Millions and Bride and prejudice. These are to name just a few of nominations and awards to PPC.

This research task has been useful to me as I can now see the in's and out's of production companies and how they work. I have also learnt about how there are larger companies that may focus of bigger films and there are also smaller productions companies to focus on different genre of films for example there is a website that shows all the production companies, film directors, and writers that are based in the UK - this is shown in the picture below.

- Sophia 


The making of our website - Sophia



Today we went onto a website called Wix this was so that we could create a website for our news package . We found that this was the best website to help create our own actual site. The problem we encountered was that it wouldn't accept the email that we wanted to use so we overcame this problem by using a different email , even though this is a inconvenience , this was the only way to overcome the problem.



- Sophia 

Monday, 26 January 2015

Opening Sequence Feedback



We showed our latest update of our opening sequence to our teacher. She said it had improved very much however, she was concerned about the road footage that we had chosen for our background. She recognised that it was not footage filmed by us and said this would hinder our marks. 

To improve on this, over the weekend, Caryss went out with the go pro and filmed driving on a range of different types of roads. Hopefully, this will improve our marks due to the variety of own filmed shots. 

CLSR

Filming


This weekend we went out filming in the countryside using the GoPro. The reason we went to the countryside, was so we could getting different settings and locations. This also shows the different roads to drive on as not all roads are like the city. To improve our opening sequence we are planning on using some of this footage.
CLSR

Friday, 23 January 2015

Clock



Today we started on creating some of the graphics for our news package.
To create this I made a clock in photoshop creating different layers for the different parts of the clock face. This is so then I put the picture in after effects I could move the separate parts individually. Once in After Effects I rotated the hands of the clock from nine o'clock to 6 o'clock, I did this because it reflects one of our statistics fro our news package.
Caryss


Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Making the graphics

In todays lesson we started to make the graphics for our opening sequence, we our planning to add this to our footage once we have edited it. the way i have done this is by using after effects to make the graphics and also using photoshop. The reason for using the software is that it is the most appropriate for making what we need .

- Sophia

Stick Man Walking - 08/01/15



In the lesson we experimented with Adobe After Effects to make a stick man walk. First I created the man in Photoshop, learning how to create separate layers to successfully move different limbs.

I then used After Effects to try and move the different layers. I was not successful in making the man walk. However, it was a useful task that allowed us to experiment with different skills that will help when producing our statistical graphics for our final news package.

- Ria

Thursday, 8 January 2015

After effects - stick man





Today we used photoshop and after effects to create the a stickman and make him walk. To create the stickman we used photoshop, so I could animate it after I made each section of his body a different layer. After importing it into after effects, I had to move each part of the stickman to try and make him walk. By doing this it has allowed me to practise in a simple way the different uses that are available in after effects, before we start editing our main project.
Caryss

Adobe After Effects Making a Stick Man - Sophia



In todays lesson we learnt how to edit in after effects. First I made a stick man in photoshop and I had to make a head and the other body parts in different layers. I then put it into after effects and started to add transitions whilst keeping the different layers. The reason we did this in the lesson was so that we had a better understanding of using after effects. Having understood of how to create a simple piece in after effects I can now use this to make a bigger piece to use in my coursework.


- Sophia