FMP Storyboard

27/04/16

From what I found out from my questionnaire is that most of my respondents are male, three out of four of them like animals and they would like to see "happy animals," "the great work the people at Bath Cats & Dogs do" and "interesting shot of the dogs and cats." Because of this, I have put almost all of that into this storyboard.

These are question I will ask at the charity:

1. What is Bath Cats & Dogs Home?
2. How much is the annual cost of feed for the animals?
3. How many paid staff do you have and do you rely heavily on volunteers?
4. What would you say is the percentage of the dogs that would be put into fights before being rescued? 
5. What would you say is the percentage of the cats that would be neglected by their owners?
6. What would you say is the percentage of the other animals that would be abused?

10/05/16

I made a lot changes to my storyboard, such as the animals, one of the members of staff and possibly it's style. I started to identify the key things in interviews, including cutaways (when one scene cuts to the next one or "a cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else." from Wiki)

There will be an establishing shot, shots of the interviewer including 'noddies', a type of camera shot used in recorded news or current affairs interviews. The noddies consist of nods and other similar "listening gestures" made by the interviewer from Wiki. The panel of the woman walking the dog was dropped due to the fact that it may be irrelevant to the video and the fact that there are no dogs being walked at Hope Nature Centre.

There are five main people from the centre that I may interview, such as, the animal park supervisor, animal park assistant, tearoom supervisor, manager and fundraiser/marketing person.

Redone questionnaire

I have also done a release form for the people that I will be interviewing. For legal purposes.

FMP WIP Poster

05/05/16

I decided to make it plain and simple, nothing complicated. But I also gave the background texture using 'Blending Options', because I think that having it with no texture doesn't give a feeling of something. I also like how I use different simple shapes to make animals, as an example of existing infographic posters.

The one last thing I need to do is find out the proper statistics of the animals in Britain.

With change of animal rescues, so did the poster.

I change the background from white to a pale tan-like colour, because white reflected the previous charity. I replaced logo of Bath Cats & Dogs with the logo of Hope Nature Centre. I used font called Superclarendon Black to resemble the font on the logo. The infographic animals were replaced with the three kinds of animals that are at the centre. I added statistics, not of the animals that were troubled, but of young people with learning disabilities.

Skills I need to do FMP

03/05/16

The skills I need to do my FMP include:

• Communication skills: Eye contact, straightforward clear communication, open questions to know more and serious but friendly expressions. I do feel confident in using these skills.
• Camera skills: Checking equipment, framing, lighting (stabilising shutter speed), audio (I want to improve my skill by handling the boom kit) and angle (I shouldn't make the camera be pointed straight at the interviewee.)
• Interview Skills: Location (it should be relevant to the subject), goals (I want to hear the opinions about statistics), questions (as openly possible and plan them out), flow (the order of the flow of the questions) and medium (whether it is audio/video or written, to not use interjections like "Uh-huh" in audio interviews to keep the tape clean.) I have a wingman to help me with the interview video. I have to learn avoid obsessing over every single detail and quality. I may need to revisit some questions that may have not been answered. Work up the interviewee. Endure awkward silences and be prepared to tell about their process.

This was researched from this article.

Testing audio recorder

In my previous events with A Knight for a Call, there were some issues, such as the wind. It caused a disturbance in recording the dialogue. Due to that we decided to do a test before the actual filming day. We were testing out the mounted microphone on the camera, because using separate audio boom kit and then trying to sync it up to the recorded video will be complicated. Our first take was that the camera didn't had a memory card and I didn't turn on the mic, so we did it again but we had a few outtakes, due to me getting tongue-tied and started laughing a lot, before we perfected the final mock interview.

My animal charity disaster/salvation

03/05/16

I have been looking into Bath Cats & Dogs Home, but after receiving a message from the organisation saying they didn't had the resources, I was a little gutted. Then I researched other animal rescue centres which are the most closest to me possible, such as, RSPCA, Somerset & Dorset Animal Rescue, Blue Cross, Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary.

Just as Bath Cats & Dogs were unable to accommodate me, Hope Nature Centre may give me the window of opportunity. It was explained at the last minute that they don't allow people to film the animals due to their backgrounds, considering other videos from Bath Cats & Dogs which features their animals. I am wondering why I'm not allowed to film, because their are already videos of the animals online.

I e-mailed Hope Nature Centre, I found out, it is a registered charity that gives placement for young adults with learning difficulties.

Primary research

28/04/16

What I learnt from my questionnaire is that not a lot of people took a shine to it. But despite that, I learnt that people would like to see the great work people at rescues do and good shots of happy and healthy animals.

Secondary research

28/04/16

What I learned from some secondary research is that in order for me to shoot a good short video, I have to handle my equipment with care, especially my camcorder. I also learned I need a spare battery, clean memory card space, a tripod and lighting which I may be going for natural. For my audio, I'm going to need a microphone plugged into the camera, but of course Im going to talk to my tutor about it.

For interviews, I learnt that you cannot shoot right up against a wall, which leads me right up to 'Selective Focus'. Selective focus shows what is the most important thing by focusing on the interviewee, while the background is blurry. Rule of thirds is generally visually pleasing, for the subject should be positioned at the point where the lines intersect with each other.

Review of 4 TIPS TO COMPOSE THE SHOT by Steven Shattuck

The author of the article is the Vice President of marketing at Bloomerang. Like the Rick Broida article, it's main purpose is to teach amateur filmmakers how to shoot, but mainly interviews.

It is presented as being equally friendly and a mixture of formal/informal. An example of this being a mixture of said is when it mentions "Poor Joe, we can't see his face at all." As it relates to the point of filming in front of a window.

It gives the first tip: Avoid Shooting into A Window. It mostly tells that to avoid backlighting from the sun, from making the interviewee look like a shadow.

Avoid shooting up Against the Wall. This tip shows that making the subject pop out from background is essential so that the focus is correct.

Make sure the room is well lit. This tip is helpful when your interviews are indoors, especially when avoiding unnecessary shadows such as, the 'racoon' effect. Fluorescent light helps with giving a cooler (cold) atmosphere to your video, whereas incandescent light gives a warm effect.

The final tip teaches you on the Rule of Thirds. Which I am already familiar with the concept and it also influenced my filming of my charity video.

So in comparison to the other article, Steven Shattuck did his best not to be rude, when Rick Broida himself failed at.

Sources:

Video link

Interview link

Review of 8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro by Rick Broida

The purpose of this article is teach amateur filmmakers how to shoot their movies like professionals.

I found some parts of the opening a little rude when it mentions 'You suck at making home videos.' But it was possibly provoking to read on. Rick Broida's approach in the article was quite snappy and witty. A few things he could do without saying is using the word 'videography,' just say 'filming,' because it would make a lot more sense and try to keep unnecessary detail/going off on a tangent.

It does however mention some helpful points: RTM, which is short for read the manual. An equipment checklist, such as, spare battery, duct tape and a lens cleaning cloth. Use a tripod, to avoid making your film shaky. Raising the light, in case there are any potential pitfalls including the sunlight being too bright or too dim or rain could stop people filming outside. Audio I have fortunately already planned for this. Set up shots by using rule of thirds and not use camcorder effects. I learnt that digital zoom is not the best way to go, so go for optical zoom to avoid graininess. Generally just plan in advance to achieve a great homemade film.

Bath Cats & Dogs Home mind map

18/04/16

I did this because I really didn't had a choice. Some of the things brought up about this subject were a bit less than comfortable. Such as, ISIS or 9/11 were subject that are frowned upon. Why not feel more comfortable on filing on animal charities?

This other group discussed the concept of 'time.' They mostly just talk about the units of time, such as minutes, hours or days and the fictional shows and movies that revolve around time travel. Then there is a quote from a member of the group.

'Public opinion' has different ways of seeing someone's opinion, including, the press, news, Vox Pop and Gogglebox. There was also finding out other people's opinion, such as, research.

The group did do a Retro future mind map, but none of them bothered to upload a photograph of it onto the Facebook page.

I would possibly make a new logo, because I feel like they need a change.

This is my first draft of an infographic poster for an animal charity/rescue. I am also making a film to relate to my poster. A promotional documentary.