This assignment will look at developing skill for research techniques
This assignment will look at developing skill for research techniques
Practical Skills For Moving Images
By Sonia Wood Title
Film production
The processing of making a film calls for precession and accuracy as well as a good foresight. It requires good planning, structure and great team working skills from start to finish; this is where planning takes place and ideas are shaped and implemented. Finally, it requires,” outstanding marketing skill,” in order to generate the right publicity resulting in a good box office hit and to generate above average sale.
Film planning is time consuming and requires good leadership skills and insight, in order to generate a great result. There are a number of different processes which a film must go through before we see the end results. These include;
• Development
• Preproduction
• Production
• Post production
• Distribution
The Developmental stage: It is at this stage that the producer and the writer meet together to decide on how the film will develop. It looks at the story, the plot, the mood, the characters, the sound, the scene and the structure of the movie. It also looks at the plot, script, it genre, the theme, the casting and the location.
as well as Financing. It is at this stage that the Script coverage is done. This is done in the form of a Report this is usually guided by a rubric which helps to determine the scoring or the rating of the film.
The script coverage covers the:
• Identification: includes information such as the, Title, author, genre.
• Logic: this is usually a sentence which sums up the film.
• Comment and Summery: a paragraph which analyses the film.
• Grades: the film, as well as the dialogue, the storyline, the production and decides, whether it is “excellent, good, fair, poor and so on.
• Synopsis: or a summary of the plot.
• Budget: the budget of the script reader.
• Analysis.
• Type of production
Type of production
Pre-production: This is where the preparation for filming takes place. The directors meet and plan every stage of the production. The finance is discussed at length and the budget is created to enable the financing every aspect of the film. The equipment’s, as well as the cast and the crew, are hired, location is selected and sets are built. It is where the artist come together storyboard is drawn up.
The production team is dependent on the size of the budget, for example, will the film be a single camera film or a multi-camera film. This too can fall into another category, whereby a decision is made as to whether or not it is decided upon for a single camera film; if they will be having a relatively good size budget. If it is a single camera project with a small budget, then perhaps the cast and crew will be no larger than eight individuals.
This then would mean that individuals within the team may have to double up to ensure that all the required areas of the production are adequately provided for. In this case, we would only be looking for the skeleton staff, this would include:
• Producer- oversees the overall management of the film, however this is broken down in sizable areas and managed individually by different individuals to ensure the best results.
• The Director: He ensures that the storyline is validated, that the actors are creative and the Mise-en-scenes is correctly represented within the scene.
• The sound designer, creates the ambiance, the aural mood and mixes the dialogue
• The Camera0 person
• The Lighting crew
• Costume designer is in charge of the clothes, and other soft furnishings which are used on the set, such as curtains, drapes, cushions,
• Stage manager, ensures that the scene is set for the stage, that everything on the stage is correctly set out;
• The Actor/ actresses take on the mode, and displays the correct feel of the film.
• The Post production editor
• The Designer makeup and hair crew: this individual ensures that that the actors and actresses are suitably dressed and their makeup is intact.
• The Runner: provides, assistance, and help in every area of the film, manages the crowd and even go shopping, as well as to help with food, drinks, tea, water and coffee.
• Location manager ensures that the location is suitable for the scene, for example if the scene is a beach scene, he is to ensure that the scene is either shot at a location or that is suitable, on location with the use of special effects to create a representation of the idea, in post-production , via the green screen.
• Storyboard Artist ensures that the visual images is communicated and implemented through the film.
Financing
The financing of a film is usually the most crucial part and it can deter can sometimes be difficult, however with careful planning as well as it can be the deciding factor of the type of films as factor as to the type of film that is produced.
Financing includes the size of the budget and the type of film which will be produced. wheather it will be a documentary, a horror, or action adventure film.
Finance, determines the type of camera that will be used, as well as the type of actors, actresses which will be used. For example, it there is a good budget, the director will try to get an experienced actor who has built a name for himself and who is easily recognizable. Contrary to that he will have to make the best of the situation, and try to rehearse well and take as many shots as possible, with the hope that they will be able to select the best scenes possible during the selection stage.
Financing also determines the type of filming that will be conducted. For example, on a tight budget, the camera crew will have to take as many shots as possible during the daylight hours, so as to get as much light within the scenes. Whereas, if possible, the scenes could be shot with the required amout of lightening
Research
The term research means a diligent study or investigation of a particular topic, so as to gain the necessity fact which will provide a suitable conclusion.
Primary research
Primary research is a new study or search, carried out by an individual to establish a specific fact and to gain as specify result or findings. Examples of primary research includes:
• Questionnaire
• Vaux pox
• interviews
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a group of questions which are set out in a written format which combines a number of socio-demographic as well as psych- demographic and geo-demographic profiling questions. This are usually constructed using a computer and then handed out to general public, to generate a profile of the individuals, and to gain information and an insight into what their views are and determine their views into what goes on around them.
Information from questionnaires, as well as surveys can generally help gather information on how the society responds to certain issues.
In this instances, I will ask individuals to complete a small number of questionnaires so that I can gain an insight, into how individuals use their mobile phones, and why as well as to gain an insight into whether the general public tend to use the I phone 4 s more than or the Androids Samsung S2 and to find out why the reason behind their choice of use.
I will conduct the information in and around my collage area, of High Road Tottenham, London.
I will then collate this information so that I can analysed and then use the information to help decide on how the general population has responded.
I am aware that sometimes this information can somewhat biases, and may not necessarily reflect the correct views of the majority of the population, perhaps because of the limited amount of sample that has been given out or collected. Sometimes as well, it may be as a result of where the information may have be collected, for example, if the sample was no speeded or given out in a wider area, the result, generated my be too narrow to reflect the views of individual form a wider community base and may therefore be from individual form around the same area where people my be related, or because of cultural factors which may influence their view.
Questionnaires are considered to be a major source of providing both qualitative as well as quantitative information. An example of a qualitative question can come about by asking open ended questions, such what is your favourite game and why?
An example of a close question is, how old are your? This can be used to ask a precise question from which a specific answer is expected.
Interview
An interview, is a face to face meeting with and individual, where information can either be written down or recorded, and can be retrieved for use at a later date.
Vox pox
A vox pox, is mainly used by new reporters for television or radio shows. This process follows the format whereby individuals use a camera and microphone, or both. They can also use a tape recorder, stops people in the streets to get their feedback or views on a particular topic.
Secondary research
Secondary research comes from looking at the results of a search which has already been carried out by someone else; it can also be used as proof to see whether the results they came up with is similar to your idea. It can also be used as proof of prior existences of your ideas as well as to authenticate your idea.
Some sources of secondary includes. Internet searches, books, magazines, and newspapers.
My Research project
For my research project I conducted a questionnaire to help gather information which I plan to collate and evaluate to prove my hypothesis.
Below is a sample of my questionnaire.
Questionnaire
Results
Here is a display of my findings, they are sued to show a number of discoveries, for example in fig 1 the findings show a displayed sample of the profession of people who filled out my sample questionnaire.
Majority of the people interviewed were students.Error! Not a valid link.In figure 2 the information displayed indicates the age group that participated in the questionnaires.
Fig 2
The term research means a diligent study or investigation of a particular topic, so as to gain the necessity fact which will provide a suitable conclusion.
Primary research
Primary research is a new study or search, carried out by an individual to establish a specific fact and to gain as specify result or findings. Examples of primary research includes:
• Questionnaire
• Vaux pox
• interviews
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a group of questions which are set out in a written format which combines a number of socio-demographic as well as psych- demographic and geo-demographic profiling questions. This are usually constructed using a computer and then handed out to general public, to generate a profile of the individuals, and to gain information and an insight into what their views are and determine their views into what goes on around them.
Information from questionnaires, as well as surveys can generally help gather information on how the society responds to certain issues.
In this instances, I will ask individuals to complete a small number of questionnaires so that I can gain an insight, into how individuals use their mobile phones, and why as well as to gain an insight into whether the general public tend to use the I phone 4 s more than or the Androids Samsung S2 and to find out why the reason behind their choice of use.
I will conduct the information in and around my collage area, of High Road Tottenham, London.
I will then collate this information so that I can analysed and then use the information to help decide on how the general population has responded.
I am aware that sometimes this information can somewhat biases, and may not necessarily reflect the correct views of the majority of the population, perhaps because of the limited amount of sample that has been given out or collected. Sometimes as well, it may be as a result of where the information may have be collected, for example, if the sample was no speeded or given out in a wider area, the result, generated my be too narrow to reflect the views of individual form a wider community base and may therefore be from individual form around the same area where people my be related, or because of cultural factors which may influence their view.
Questionnaires are considered to be a major source of providing both qualitative as well as quantitative information. An example of a qualitative question can come about by asking open ended questions, such what is your favourite game and why?
An example of a close question is, how old are your? This can be used to ask a precise question from which a specific answer is expected.
Interview
An interview, is a face to face meeting with and individual, where information can either be written down or recorded, and can be retrieved for use at a later date.
Vox pox
A vox pox, is mainly used by new reporters for television or radio shows. This process follows the format whereby individuals use a camera and microphone, or both. They can also use a tape recorder, stops people in the streets to get their feedback or views on a particular topic.
Secondary research
Secondary research comes from looking at the results of a search which has already been carried out by someone else; it can also be used as proof to see whether the results they came up with is similar to your idea. It can also be used as proof of prior existences of your ideas as well as to authenticate your idea.
Some sources of secondary includes. Internet searches, books, magazines, and newspapers.
My Research project
For my research project I conducted a questionnaire to help gather information which I plan to collate and evaluate to prove my hypothesis.
Below is a sample of my questionnaire.
Questionnaire
Results
Here is a display of my findings, they are sued to show a number of discoveries, for example in fig 1 the findings show a displayed sample of the profession of people who filled out my sample questionnaire.
Majority of the people interviewed were students.Error! Not a valid link.In figure 2 the information displayed indicates the age group that participated in the questionnaires.
Fig 2
The traditional characteristics that most documentaries have in common are; they are non fiction based, they have a subject matter that the documentaries is focused on, they carry a different approach to film and sometimes have multiple viewpoints, they utilise different techniques when compared to fiction, their production methods and techniques can seem to be raw when compared to a traditional narrative film, they usually also have an overlying message that comes at the end of the film.
History of documentary
The first documentary
In 1919 and after the Russian Communist Revolution one of the first things that was established by Vladimir Lenin was the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), it was headed by Lenin’s wife Nadezhda Krupskaya.
After WW1 and the Revolutionary war, the Soviet’s wanted to portray their Communist propaganda using films.
There were three different types of nonfiction film prominent in the 1920s: newsreel-indoctrinational series, compilations of archival footage tracing recent history, and epic scale celebrations of contemporary Soviet achievement.
One of the pioneers of Soviet filmmaking was a man who called himself Dziga Vertov, which meant ‘spinning top’, his actual name was Denis Arkadievitch Kaufman.
In 1918 he and others created the weekly newsreel Kino Nedalia ( Film Weekly), which was the first newsreel in Soviet Russia.
In 1922 Vertov began to produce the ‘Kino Pravda’ series of short films. Kino Pravda literally meant ‘film truth’. It merged traditional newsreel and propaganda with avant-garde art form.
During the 1930s and 1940s documentary films were used as propaganda tools by the governments of Nazi Germany, Great Britain and the USA.
Leni Riefenstahl was the filmmaker chosen by Adolf Hitler to head the Nazi documentary propaganda film Triumph of the Will. The film was very influential for the Nazis as it conveyed the Nazis as powerful and a force to be reckoned with.
She also was responsible for filming the 1936 Olympics, in it she created techniques which revolutionised filmmaking. She came up with the technique for slow motion in film when filming the high jumpers and she created a camera dolly on a track that was motorised and used it to film the 100m running.
The 1935 documentary Housing Problems by Arthur Elton and Edgar Anstey, was one of the first documentaries based on the day to day lives of real people living in the east end of London.
It focused on the living conditions of the poor people that lived in 1 room flats in the east end slums of London, it had them talk to a camera about their ordeal and the idea of having ordinary poor talk about their lives was innovative for the time.
Scene from Housing Problems (1935)
In 1978-1979 the American scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan produced a piece of television series called Cosmos: A Personal Voyage on the P.B.S. network, the series was about the various theories about the universe and how it began.
It became popular because it used words that was intelligible that non-scientific people could understand, and it used earth as the starting point so that average people could relate.
The series was made famous for the use of special effects, it used models to create the environments that Carl Sagan walked through, its use of animation and models for the environments was groundbreaking for the time.
The 1988 documentary film The Thin Blue Line further developed the genre by incorporating filmic elements.
It was the first to use recreations of events as told by the people being interviewed, each recreation varied from person to person and created a unique experience for the time.
It also used newsreel footage such as newspaper clippings, pictures of the policeman’s uniform and pictures of the forensic evidence.
Nick Bloomfield was a British documentary filmmaker famous for filming The Leader, His Driver and the Driver’s Wife about the last days of the South African apartheid and a group of Neo-Nazis lead by Eugène Terre’Blanche.
The film had a unique style to it which Nick brought by constantly being in the shot while wearing sound equipment and interviewing people. He used the sound equipment as a way to appear non official, sort of as a disguise, to the Nazis he was interviewing and this way they would relax and let their guard down and talk more openly with him.
One of the most controversial documentary films in the early 2000s was Micheal Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, it was about the gun culture in America and the violent mass shooting that occurred in Columbine High School.
He tries to explain why the mass shooting occurred and the violent crime rate and how it relates to guns.
In the film he interviews Charlton Heston and begins by giving him easy questions and later on asks him more direct questions that question his morality at which point Charlton Heston leaves the interview. This interview changed the way that famous people talk to interviewers as now they will have questions submitted before the interview so that there is no surprises.
In the documentary he and a Columbine High School survivor are also successful in stopping the sale of automatic weapon ammo in Kmart stores by directly filming a Kmart event at which point Kmart caves in to their demands.
In 2001 the BBC created and produced a piece of documentary that was described as “the first ever comprehensive documentary series on the world’s oceans”, The Blue Planet narrated by David Attenborough, the series explored the oceans and took over 5 years to make with a production team of 200 and allowed us to view ocean animal behavior like never before.
Analysis of Documentary Style
In this section I will discuss the different Documentary styles that are common in film.
According to the the American theorist Bill Nichols, there are 6 different styles or modes of Documentary. He introduced this idea to distinguish the different characteristics and traits of Documentaries.
Poetic Documentary
This style of documentary was first developed in the 1920’s, It has a topic which is personal to the people involved in the documentary.
This kind of documentary emphasizes an aspect of a person’s life and demonstrate that with the use of music, different camera shots and the changing angles and with the editing. The way this style of documentary is displayed is very artistic.
Expository Documentary
This style of documentary uses strong voice-over commentary and titles to convey the point of view. They are usually non-fiction films and there are social issues being addressed in an argumentative frame.
A great example of this style of documentary is An Inconvenient Truth(2006).
Observational Documentary
There is nothing that is staged or rehearsed in this type of documentary, usually the camera crew have to run around, which results in shaky looking footage. It is also referred to as fly on the wall documentary.
This can be seen in most wildlife documentaries, think David Attenborough Narrating Blue Planet.
Participatory Documentary
What this style of documentaries try to do is step away from the narration and being an outside observer to becoming an active participant of the film, and this in turn helps influence and alter the events of the film.
One of the most famous examples of this style of documentary is Morgan Spurlocks Super Size Me (2004).
Reflexive Documentary
This style of documentaries show the viewer how the documentary is constructed, in terms of editing and portrayal of the truth, with the film maker being a part of the documentary and providing narrative.
The documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux is famous for making this style of documentary, a recent one he made was My Scientology Movie(2015).
Performative Documentary
Performative documentaries raise the question about what knowledge is, It sets out to demonstrate how the specificity of personal experience provide entry into an understanding of the more general processes at work in society. This is done by stressing the emotional complexity of experience from the perspective of the filmmaker.
A famous example of this is the Michael Moore documentary Bowling for Columbine (2002).
Sonia R Woods 