Monday 27th January 2014
Today we received our Social action assignment, our task is to produce an anti-smoking video along with full pre-production paper work and an active production blog. I also produced some research that will assist In the production of my idea which is in development.
Thursday 30th January 2014
Today we pitched our anti-smoking video ideas, two of these ideas will go on to be made into a short film. Once everyone had pitched their idea Neil and Kelly decided that three films would be made instead of two. The three ideas to be chose were Ryans, Isaaks and Jordans. I paired up with Jordan as we had similar ideas so we could provide a more thought out way of looking at how to film it.
Monday 3rd February 2014
Today we had a short production meeting, we made the decision to have attempted some form of filming by Friday the 7th of February and that if not filming would commence Monday the 10th of February. We also chose our cast, this was based upon whether people smoked, their appearance and whther they fit the character profile. We decided on 2 actors, Sam Hitchcliff and Jacob Hanson.
Tuesday 4th February 2014
Today we produced a shot list for my short film which is set to be filmed on the 7th of February. As well as the shot list i also produced a make-up ideas page for my make-up artist(s)
Wednesday 5th February 2014
Today we performed a location recce and risk assessment as well as gaining permission to film at our chosen location, the Dubliners pub, after this we had a short informal meeting with the actors, discuccing our plans for filming.
Thursday 6th February 2014
Today was our planned filming day, we went to the dubliners and began filming, we had planned to film from half nine to twelve which turned out to be too long as all the necessary footage had been filmed by twenty past 11. After filming I captured the footage and began putting the footage together, after assesment of the footage I decided a reshoot was in order for 3 of the shots as there was some poor framing and acting that I feel could be improved.
Tuesday 11th February 2014
Today was our planned reshoot day, we arrived at our location, the dubliners, at half nine and began filming at twenty to ten, we filmed all the shots we needed and were done just after ten o clock. We returned to college and captured the footage.
Thursday 13th february 2014
Today the edit was finished. We replaced poor shots with the re-shoot shots and tidying up clips that were on screen for too long and replacing poor audio.
Monday 24 February 2014
Thursday 13 February 2014
Unit 31: Social Action & Community Media Production Task 1
First thoughts
In this post I will be looking at the purpose and impact of Social Action & Community Media Production. Now before any research my initial view of it is that the impact is small and virtually none-existent in driving the public view away from things like smoking. The purpose of the anti-smoking ads is a good one and it does convince some people to stop smoking. But as a whole they prove unsuccessful. I am willing to guess that maybe 1% of the population that see these ads actually pay attention to what is shown which makes them either stop smoking or never start.
"Figure out your cause. What are you passionate about that you want to bring attention to?
Create your pledge. Be specific and concrete. Are you pledging to do something or to abstain from something? He
Pledge to recycle.
Ask for the go ahead. Now that you have found your ideal spot, make sure you have permission to be there. The last thing you want is to take the time to create this only to have it torn down.
Write it out. What will the pledge say? Be specific in what they're pledging to do.
Print ‘em out. You probably won’t need a whole sheet of paper for just one pledge. Maybe you can cut one sheet into two (or even four!) smaller pledges. It will save paper! If you can, try and make them look nice with color or pictures (or even color paper). That way, they will look awesome when they are all hung up.
Tell them to get their pens out. Now’s the time to get the signatures. As you receive them, hang them up. The more pledges that go up, the more amazing it will look. People will see how many other people have pledged their involvement, and they will be inspired to sign one too! Plus, in some cases, this can serve as GOOD peer pressure. Like if it’s a no alcohol pledge, knowing how many people don’t drink is a great way to keep someone from starting.
Be realistic. Timing is important when it comes to anything, even pledges. For example, if it’s around prom or spring break, you can modify the no alcohol pledge to be a little less restrictive. Ask them to pledge to assign a designated driver, to not drink and drive. Though it would be great to get people who are underage to promise not to drink, the main concern is their safety, so if they are going to drink, then we just want to make sure that they will NOT get behind the wheel. People may be more willing to sign something like that if they know they are more likely to stick to their promise!"
This list came from a web site that gives step by step instructions for things such as stopping smoking, banning drugs, helping alcoholics and other issues that are seen in our media often. I found it interesting how much work actually went into raising awareness for smoking. I was unable to copy in the full list due to it's size so here is the link to the web page. (http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/wall-pledges)
To campaign
Campaigning is the blood of Anti-smoking. If people didn't campaign about it then public knowledge about the dangers of smoking would be low and that may in face lead to more people starting smoking. The whole reason for any of this, the websites, the promotional ads for stopping smoking, this blog would probably not exist if people did not campaign against smoking.
Social action groups are inportant to campaigns. It is difficult for some campaigns to find one though that would work for/with them and be able to grab public attention. Using the examples I gave earlier would both be ineffective. Greenpeace are to known and would be difficult to get a hold of and hire for the campaign. Where as Pancrack aren't known enough. They are easier to hire but with them not being as big as others it would be more difficult for their work to reach an audience outside of their local area. There are surprisingly few social action groups in the UK that fall into the category of being known well enough to make an impact and being available for hire. This is one of the many reasons why some social action campaigns never make it very far and their voice on the subject is not heard.
Build relationships on the subject
People who have gone through quitting smoking or lost someone to smoking are more effected by this. Because they remember the pain of loss or the struggle of quitting they know how bad things can get with smoking and because of that will agree with what they see and would possibly join a campaign against smoking. They do this through their ads against smoking which show similar scenarios which happened to these people to establish a mutual understanding of the subject which then begins the relationship between campaign and supporters.
Providing information
The main purpose of an anti-smoking campaign is to provide information to the dangers of smoking and keep the public knowledgeable to this information. To do this they state facts on their websites which give brief summaries in the home page and then provide a link for further information. There are also numbers you can call where staff can answer any questions you have about stopping smoking, what to do if your child smokes and if you yourself are having urges to smoke but haven't yet. If you follow a certain campaign then you can subscribe to a newsletter so every week you are sent one which have different peoples experiences where they have given up smoking and give advise on how to quit the habit.
Information is highly important to target public opinion in things such as voting. Getting public to support laws about smoking is difficult. Most people have fixed opinions on smoking which they have been taught about their whole lives. If you live with a family member who smokes as a child it sends a message to you that smoking is okay and you should do it. This is why anti-smoking campaigns need to be effective and stay with you. If you can make a smoker see the damage they are actually doing to themselves through smokeing then it can have a hugh change in the campaign.
It is becoming a common thing in society today to see the effects of smoking. It is seen daily by those who buy cigarettes when they simply look at the packet. So with this it is getting harder to make a shocking impact to make people stop smoking. This makes the social action groups have to think up new ideas to get people to stop smoking and therefore will save their lives.
Videos
Here I will be posting videos I have found about anti-smoking and analysing them to inspire my ideas for the ad I will be making.
This is a unique take on an anti-smoking advert. It is a mockery of smoking, saying that it "Stinks." In this world when the people are smoking there is no smoking involved, instead they fart. I personally believe that this was made to make smoking more unappealing to smokers by making it into something that is not usually excepted in social environments. But however it makes smoking into a joke that younger viewers will see as funny and would not take seriously and as such would not make them think to stop smoking or start all together.
Going in the opposite direction to the other video, this is a more shocking and personal ad for stopping smoking from a woman who has been highly effected by it where it has destroyed her body and voice. With a little further research I can tell you that what has happened to her in one aspect of it all is she has had a tracheo-oesophageal puncture. "It is found in people who have had a total laryngectomy, which is a surgery where the larynx is removed. A voice prosthesis that keeps food out of the trachea but lets air into the esophagus is inserted into this puncture."At first glance it delivers a shock onto the audience and I believe the shock value is much more effective the previous video and is maybe the best way to deliver an ad in this area of health.
In this video children ask adults to light a cigarette for them and when they say no the children ask why they can't smoke when the adults can. This makes them think and when the child walks away they hand them a leaflet saying "You worry about me but not about yourself" the video then goes to show them throwing away their cigarette and keeping the leaflet. This is the type of shocking evidence needed to get people to stop smoking. It is a casual thing for an adult to smoke because they know the risks, but when a child smokes it is a completely different issue. It makes you think and if this video is real not staged then it has had an effect the adults who spoke with the children.
Final thoughts
After looking into social action and how it is seen by the public I can say that I take back. Social action campaigns do have an effect on the public. I have seen this through the 0.5% of the smoking population that has been recorded to stop smoking each year. This is evedent through the +30% that quit in the last 60 years. It has given me insight into making my own anti-smoking film and I am confident I caan make some kind of impact.
Sources
http://news.sky.com/story/1187952/anti-smoking-campaign-new-ad-targets-addicts
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719170315.htm
In this post I will be looking at the purpose and impact of Social Action & Community Media Production. Now before any research my initial view of it is that the impact is small and virtually none-existent in driving the public view away from things like smoking. The purpose of the anti-smoking ads is a good one and it does convince some people to stop smoking. But as a whole they prove unsuccessful. I am willing to guess that maybe 1% of the population that see these ads actually pay attention to what is shown which makes them either stop smoking or never start.
Research
Purpose
The purpose of an anti-smoking campaign is the bring about local, national or global change to people attitudes to smoking and attempt to get people to quit. They do this through advertisements persuading people to stop, teaching the dangers of smoking in school either by having teachers talk to the students about the dangers of smoking or going themselves to give big talks in assemblies. They also have websites dedicated to anti-smoking and it has even gone as far as to put what can happen to you on cigarette packs.
Different social action groups have different effects on communities, this is due to their proir knowledge, poplarity and purpose. Take Pancrack Tv and Greenpeace for example. Greenpeace aim to and achieve a global change. Pancrack are more local to Teesside and therefore bring about a local change. This is evident through their documentaries and how this is seen by others. For example, with this documentary is beneficial in stopping a hellbent local authority from selling off public common and seafront for a housing development.
People's attitudes have changed dramatically to smoking.
Fifty years ago, a key
report was published that marked the beginning of a change in our relationship
with smoking. Although there had been previous warnings linking smoking and lung cancer, it
was the 1962 study by the Royal College of Physicians, Smoking and Health, that
really broke through to the public and politicians. Attitudes in the intervening 50 years have changed enormously. But in 1962, very few people took the dangers posed by smoking cigarettes
seriously. That view is captured perfectly by some footage from the BBC archive, a
report on the Tonight programme into the RCP study. One man who says he smokes between 20 and 25 cigarettes a day is - by today's
standards - amazingly fatalistic. "Quite honestly, I think that the end of ones life is probably more in the
hands of almighty God you know, than in my own hands or the hands of the tobacco
manufacturers." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17264442)
Raising awareness
"Figure out your cause. What are you passionate about that you want to bring attention to?
Create your pledge. Be specific and concrete. Are you pledging to do something or to abstain from something? He
Pledge to recycle.
- Pledge to lower your carbon footprint.
- Pledge to lower your energy consumption.
- Pledge to lower your water consumption.
- Pledge not to pollute.
- Pledge not to drink.
- Pledge not to do drugs.
- Pledge to stay tobacco-free.
- Pledge not to discriminate.
- Pledge to vote.
- Pledge to care for your pet.
- Pledge to practice safe sex.
Ask for the go ahead. Now that you have found your ideal spot, make sure you have permission to be there. The last thing you want is to take the time to create this only to have it torn down.
Write it out. What will the pledge say? Be specific in what they're pledging to do.
Print ‘em out. You probably won’t need a whole sheet of paper for just one pledge. Maybe you can cut one sheet into two (or even four!) smaller pledges. It will save paper! If you can, try and make them look nice with color or pictures (or even color paper). That way, they will look awesome when they are all hung up.
Tell them to get their pens out. Now’s the time to get the signatures. As you receive them, hang them up. The more pledges that go up, the more amazing it will look. People will see how many other people have pledged their involvement, and they will be inspired to sign one too! Plus, in some cases, this can serve as GOOD peer pressure. Like if it’s a no alcohol pledge, knowing how many people don’t drink is a great way to keep someone from starting.
Be realistic. Timing is important when it comes to anything, even pledges. For example, if it’s around prom or spring break, you can modify the no alcohol pledge to be a little less restrictive. Ask them to pledge to assign a designated driver, to not drink and drive. Though it would be great to get people who are underage to promise not to drink, the main concern is their safety, so if they are going to drink, then we just want to make sure that they will NOT get behind the wheel. People may be more willing to sign something like that if they know they are more likely to stick to their promise!"
This list came from a web site that gives step by step instructions for things such as stopping smoking, banning drugs, helping alcoholics and other issues that are seen in our media often. I found it interesting how much work actually went into raising awareness for smoking. I was unable to copy in the full list due to it's size so here is the link to the web page. (http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/wall-pledges)
To campaign
Campaigning is the blood of Anti-smoking. If people didn't campaign about it then public knowledge about the dangers of smoking would be low and that may in face lead to more people starting smoking. The whole reason for any of this, the websites, the promotional ads for stopping smoking, this blog would probably not exist if people did not campaign against smoking.
Social action groups are inportant to campaigns. It is difficult for some campaigns to find one though that would work for/with them and be able to grab public attention. Using the examples I gave earlier would both be ineffective. Greenpeace are to known and would be difficult to get a hold of and hire for the campaign. Where as Pancrack aren't known enough. They are easier to hire but with them not being as big as others it would be more difficult for their work to reach an audience outside of their local area. There are surprisingly few social action groups in the UK that fall into the category of being known well enough to make an impact and being available for hire. This is one of the many reasons why some social action campaigns never make it very far and their voice on the subject is not heard.
Build relationships on the subject
People who have gone through quitting smoking or lost someone to smoking are more effected by this. Because they remember the pain of loss or the struggle of quitting they know how bad things can get with smoking and because of that will agree with what they see and would possibly join a campaign against smoking. They do this through their ads against smoking which show similar scenarios which happened to these people to establish a mutual understanding of the subject which then begins the relationship between campaign and supporters.
Providing information
The main purpose of an anti-smoking campaign is to provide information to the dangers of smoking and keep the public knowledgeable to this information. To do this they state facts on their websites which give brief summaries in the home page and then provide a link for further information. There are also numbers you can call where staff can answer any questions you have about stopping smoking, what to do if your child smokes and if you yourself are having urges to smoke but haven't yet. If you follow a certain campaign then you can subscribe to a newsletter so every week you are sent one which have different peoples experiences where they have given up smoking and give advise on how to quit the habit.
Information is highly important to target public opinion in things such as voting. Getting public to support laws about smoking is difficult. Most people have fixed opinions on smoking which they have been taught about their whole lives. If you live with a family member who smokes as a child it sends a message to you that smoking is okay and you should do it. This is why anti-smoking campaigns need to be effective and stay with you. If you can make a smoker see the damage they are actually doing to themselves through smokeing then it can have a hugh change in the campaign.
Impact
In the last 60 years there has been a noticeable different in smokers. In the 1950's it was recorded that over 50% of the population smoked, today as of June 2012 it has been recorded that just over 20% of the population in the UK smoke. This is an excellent example as to how effective the Anti-smoking campaigns are. In a poll 13% of people today say they have never smoked, 38% say they have stopped and 49% say they currently do smoke.It is becoming a common thing in society today to see the effects of smoking. It is seen daily by those who buy cigarettes when they simply look at the packet. So with this it is getting harder to make a shocking impact to make people stop smoking. This makes the social action groups have to think up new ideas to get people to stop smoking and therefore will save their lives.
Videos
Here I will be posting videos I have found about anti-smoking and analysing them to inspire my ideas for the ad I will be making.
Final thoughts
After looking into social action and how it is seen by the public I can say that I take back. Social action campaigns do have an effect on the public. I have seen this through the 0.5% of the smoking population that has been recorded to stop smoking each year. This is evedent through the +30% that quit in the last 60 years. It has given me insight into making my own anti-smoking film and I am confident I caan make some kind of impact.
Sources
http://news.sky.com/story/1187952/anti-smoking-campaign-new-ad-targets-addicts
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719170315.htm
Thursday 6 February 2014
Unit 38: Soundtrack Production for moving image
Soundtrack is highly important to any moving image. It makes a huge difference to a scene when it is shown without one. This is due to the fact that soundtracks help to set the scene for a film, television programme, even a play and will change your whole viewing experience. There are different types of sounds seen in these productions. There are Diegetic, External diegetic, Internal diegetic and Non-diegetic sounds.
Take the film Jaws for example. We all know the soundtrack for this film, we all know the "Budum, budum," it makes and adds the tension to the scene with the shark, you could watch the first few scenes in the film where it does not show the shark but know it is near just because of this soundtrack, and you keep watching, letting your tension build until the scene arrives where you finally see that blood thirsty shark and it delivers an impact on you that wouldn't be nearly as effective without the soundtrack. Just imagine watching the film where the only sounds are that which are caught on camera, this being dialogue, waves and some background noise. Imagine just seeing the underwater shots where there is barely anything to hear. It would build little to no tension and would be pretty boring to watch.
Sounds used in Jaws are the waves and open sea sounds of the ocean. The underwater sounds of the shark swimming. Screams of its victims (Especially in the beach scene). And a lot more. This all sets the scene of the film perfectly. The open sea sounds work as a big tension builder, this is due to the fact that when you are so far out to sea where all you can hear is ocean sounds then there will be no one around to hear you scream. There is a big use of Foley sounds in this film with the shark scenes. The sound footage caught was of little to no use in the film as when editing the sound jumped. This lead to a Foley sound team to record ocean sounds. Bring in people to scream in terror to a microphone for the beach scene and record underwater sounds.
The sounds used provide a large atmosphere of fear and suspense to the viewers. The classic soundtrack of the film that almost everyone knows is the "Budum Budum" sound which was a huge tension builder as the tempo increased with it as the shark got closer and closer. This left the viewers of the edge of their seats while watching. When you think about it like this the actual shark had very little to do with creating a terrifying atmosphere with the film, as these scenes with this classic soundtrack had not even shown the shark at first and it terrifies audiences.
In this sample from the film we can see that the scene starts out nice and calm, the music is a happy melody to lure the audience into a false sense of security. But that quickly changes after they get into the water. Soon after everyone is pretty far away from the shallow water the happy melody stops and the iconic soundtrack seen above this video starts. Now just note that a scene where the movie monster attacks and kills during the day had not been seen previous to this much, if at all, so that added with the tension building soundtrack created a truly terrifying scene for the time. Finally in the last few seconds there is a high pitched sound as it zooms on the mans face showing his sudden alert to the situation. These sounds although are not noticed much at first watch provide a larger range of emotion for the viewers in this scene. They start all calm thinking that they know the shark will not attack during the day, but then the music stops which gets them thinking whats happening, then there is the single "Budum" which then get them on the edge of their seats thinking "Oh no" very surprised at the sudden change of the scene. Also note again that they had not seen a movie death in day time before this film.
Catfish
A very successful documentary where a small group of guy start off making it about a talented little girl only to discover that she doesn't exist and it is a fake persona put on by a lonely couple in another part of the country. Watching the documentary you do not notice the soundtrack much until the end. And the soundtrack changes your whole opinion of the couple who lied about who they were. When they are talking about why they did it the soundtrack adds to it by making you feel sorry for them and understand why they did it to a certain extent.
This is very cleverly done as it not only sums up what the production is about but it also plays with your emotions. If you haven't seen the documentary then by watching this you have a sympathy for this man and hope things work out for him. If you watch the whole thing then by the time you get to this scene you have a pretty good opinion of these people, but the soundtrack of the piece works with that but changes it. You will most likely have sympathy for these people. Not for this scene alone but also for others that came before this at the end of the documentary.
To summarise, in visual media the soundtrack is highly important in creating a mood. It works the viewers emotions and can make or break the finished production in terms of viewer-ship and discussion of the project. Without soundtrack there is a whole new mood and it isn't nearly as effective on the audience as it is with the soundtrack.
Sources
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101022132839AAxll4z
Accessed on 30/10/2013
http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm
Accessed on 30/10/2013
http://english2.mnsu.edu/sewelm/glossary/glossary_sound_internal.htm
Accessed on 04/11/2013
- The Diegetic sound is anything that is part of the story that you can see is being made on screen. So for example a tiger thumping its paws on the ground would be diegetic. Also people speaking would be diegetic, and even someone playing an instrument would be diegetic. In short it is anything that is part of the story.
- External Diegetic sound is a sound that comes from a physical source within the story that we assume the other characters can hear. For example there could be a generator humming that has little to do with the scene but the characters can hear it.
- Internal Diegetic sound is a sound that comes from the mind of the character that only that one character can hear. Take the original Carrie film for example, towards the end of the film the main character "Carrie" has pig blood dumped on her as a prank. And in her rage she can only hear the dripping of said blood on the floor and hears none of the others laughter, or screams as they are killed.
- Non-Diegetic sound Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action. For example narrator's commentary, sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect and mood sound.
Jaws
Sounds used in Jaws are the waves and open sea sounds of the ocean. The underwater sounds of the shark swimming. Screams of its victims (Especially in the beach scene). And a lot more. This all sets the scene of the film perfectly. The open sea sounds work as a big tension builder, this is due to the fact that when you are so far out to sea where all you can hear is ocean sounds then there will be no one around to hear you scream. There is a big use of Foley sounds in this film with the shark scenes. The sound footage caught was of little to no use in the film as when editing the sound jumped. This lead to a Foley sound team to record ocean sounds. Bring in people to scream in terror to a microphone for the beach scene and record underwater sounds.
Catfish
A very successful documentary where a small group of guy start off making it about a talented little girl only to discover that she doesn't exist and it is a fake persona put on by a lonely couple in another part of the country. Watching the documentary you do not notice the soundtrack much until the end. And the soundtrack changes your whole opinion of the couple who lied about who they were. When they are talking about why they did it the soundtrack adds to it by making you feel sorry for them and understand why they did it to a certain extent.
To summarise, in visual media the soundtrack is highly important in creating a mood. It works the viewers emotions and can make or break the finished production in terms of viewer-ship and discussion of the project. Without soundtrack there is a whole new mood and it isn't nearly as effective on the audience as it is with the soundtrack.
Sources
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101022132839AAxll4z
Accessed on 30/10/2013
http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm
Accessed on 30/10/2013
http://english2.mnsu.edu/sewelm/glossary/glossary_sound_internal.htm
Accessed on 04/11/2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)