A recce is short for a 'reconoitre'. This is a principle of going to the location and surverying it before filming. When going on a reece there are several things that must be assessed when viewing and searching through a location.
Recce Checklist
Are there any toilet facilities that are easily accessible?
Do you have to have a permit to film here?
Is there suitable parking around the filming location?
Are there any noticeable sound implications such as busy road, aeroplanes, birds etc.
Is the surrounding area 'filming friendly'?
Would electrical outlets be easily accessible when it comes to connecting lights or cameras?
Are there any health risks around the location?
For the location, would there be any time restrictions for filming?
Is the location easily accessible?
Probably the most important part of a recce would be taking lots and lots of pictures. Pictures show the producer and directors the main features of the location and gives them direct knowledge of the appearance of the location. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of pictures are taken when a recce goes to locations. It gives an in depth photographic and visual view of the location to help the director and producer decide on where they willl shoot a scene. If they plan to film a really long sequence then making the right decision on the right location is vital.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Media Job Roles
Producer - A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the key concepts of the film & marketing and distribution processes, and the budget holder.
Director - A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the team, responsible for everything you see and hear.Director of photography - A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera the title is generally equivalent to director of photography, supervises the camera men.
Film Editor - Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. The editor basically takes all the raw footage and makes the necessary changes to the shots to make it into a full length film.
Production manager - The Production Manager supervises the physical aspects of the production (not the creative aspects) including personnel, technology, budget, and scheduling.
First Assistant Director - The First Assistant Director assists the Production Manager and Director. The ultimate aim of any 1st assisstant director is to ensure the film comes in on schedule while maintaining a working environment in which the Director, actors and crew can be focused on their work.
Sound operator – Operate and maintain technical equipment to amplify and enhance, record, mix or reproduce sound for the film.
Lighting director – The lighting director picks the best places for the lgihts to be set up when filming. They choose the position that would be best for each shot and makes sure everywhere is lit up but still seems to be natural light.
Writer – The writer has to be imaginative, fluent on how he portrays his ideas, and also has to be entertaining in the way they write.
Research: Editor (Production Role)
EditorIf I could choose a role to be in for the next production then it would have to be an editor. I'd want to be an editor because I like the idea of being able to bring the film together and to make the end product as prefect as could be. I also like the idea of scrolling through all of the shots to make the perfect sequence, for example, a chase scene.
Definition - a film editor is the person in a film crew who pulls together all of the filmed shots and assembles them together to make the full production. Usually, the director helps to provide support to the editor so his/her mental vision can be portrayed on film.
When an editor is editing the film he/she usually has a few other assisstants helping them when in the process. They discuss, with the director, what shot should be edited into the sequence to capture the best possible perspective. However, the editor's job isn't just putting a film together, blending in the scenes or editing the dialogues. They must work creatively with many layers of images, dialogue, music and even how to capture the actors' performances to incorporate their emotions into the film. They can do this by piecing together many or little shots cut together to make their emotions show through.
Editors usually go through step-by-step, shot-by-shot, which is a painfully slow process but concentration must be kept throughout the whole post-production sequence. If not, then
Definition - a film editor is the person in a film crew who pulls together all of the filmed shots and assembles them together to make the full production. Usually, the director helps to provide support to the editor so his/her mental vision can be portrayed on film.
When an editor is editing the film he/she usually has a few other assisstants helping them when in the process. They discuss, with the director, what shot should be edited into the sequence to capture the best possible perspective. However, the editor's job isn't just putting a film together, blending in the scenes or editing the dialogues. They must work creatively with many layers of images, dialogue, music and even how to capture the actors' performances to incorporate their emotions into the film. They can do this by piecing together many or little shots cut together to make their emotions show through.
Editors usually go through step-by-step, shot-by-shot, which is a painfully slow process but concentration must be kept throughout the whole post-production sequence. If not, then
substantial mistakes could be made and if found, could set back the editing process many hours if not days.
Main tasks of an editor could be;
- preparing all un-cut, raw footage for editing.
- cutting the raw footage at the right times.
- forming the scenes together so they run smoothly together and are all in time making it seem as though the scene was filmed all at once.
- inserting sounds, graphics and effects.
- creating a rough cut of the film to show how the film might look like and how further adjustments could be made.
- re-ordering and tweaking the content to ensure the logical sequencing and smooth running of the film/video.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
"The Chase" - Year 12
How well we worked as a team
Initially, only one of our members of the team had done Media Studies at GCSE level. The other three, including myself, had not done anything media based before and were inticed to do the subject due to influences and inspirations. This was the first time we'd done anything to do with media and were thrown in straight away to film a chase scene.
Even though we had these drawbacks, I feel as though our team worked very well for our first times. We moved through the scene fast and precisely and only generally we achieved the shot first time. Other shots did take two to three attempts but the time was made up when the fast paced shots were filmed.
When going through the scenes we all discussed how the shot should be filmed. An example of this would be when Jamie, an actor, is chasing Luke, the second actor, through a corridor. We had a choice of about three different shots ranging from a low angle shot to even a mid to high angle shot. We quickly discussed what effect each would have and decided that a low angle shot would be best to show the effect of the chase being exrtemely fast paced.
Although there were some arguments in what shots should be used, each of us expressed our views but then the director, which was myself, had the final decision in what shot should be used.
Directing Role
As it was my first time doing anything media based, I decided to watch a couple of chase scenes from well known movies. An example would be the chase scene from James Bond - Casino Royale. I looked at the camera shots used for a chase scene and what shots we could use in ours.
When filming, the aspects of my role included;
To conclude, I feel the production ran very smoothly and we managed to film all of the different aspects that we wanted to capture.
Here is the final production:
Initially, only one of our members of the team had done Media Studies at GCSE level. The other three, including myself, had not done anything media based before and were inticed to do the subject due to influences and inspirations. This was the first time we'd done anything to do with media and were thrown in straight away to film a chase scene.
Even though we had these drawbacks, I feel as though our team worked very well for our first times. We moved through the scene fast and precisely and only generally we achieved the shot first time. Other shots did take two to three attempts but the time was made up when the fast paced shots were filmed.
When going through the scenes we all discussed how the shot should be filmed. An example of this would be when Jamie, an actor, is chasing Luke, the second actor, through a corridor. We had a choice of about three different shots ranging from a low angle shot to even a mid to high angle shot. We quickly discussed what effect each would have and decided that a low angle shot would be best to show the effect of the chase being exrtemely fast paced.
Although there were some arguments in what shots should be used, each of us expressed our views but then the director, which was myself, had the final decision in what shot should be used.
Directing Role
As it was my first time doing anything media based, I decided to watch a couple of chase scenes from well known movies. An example would be the chase scene from James Bond - Casino Royale. I looked at the camera shots used for a chase scene and what shots we could use in ours.
When filming, the aspects of my role included;
- organising camera set-up
- directing actors into positions
- picking camera shots
- starting and cutting the filming
To conclude, I feel the production ran very smoothly and we managed to film all of the different aspects that we wanted to capture.
Here is the final production:
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