90 Second Depict Entry: “The Stalker”

90 Second Depict Entry: “The Stalker”

What type of media product did you produce and what was it for? How did you distrbute it?

What we produced was a 90 second video/film, for depict. Depict is a small film website, where users upload a limited 90 second video, to the website in order to win a yearly competition. our video is produced for our assignment with the availability to upload t in to next years entry (2020).


What our moving image production is though, is a narrative (narrated by myself), short film about a male who has an attraction to a certain female. The title "the stalker" got its name due to how the male would follow his target around the building through out two days.

What other types of moving image media product are there? what diffrent distribution methods are there? be sure to differentiate between products and platforms.

What I found out from the website "https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-different-types-of-moving-picture-whether-called-video-or-film".


From the user "Todd Gardiner, (Photographer and Independent Producer)", is that as he says.

"In film there are only three useful forms of categorization: live/animated, length and narrative/doc.

• Live action
• Animated film
• Feature length (+45 minutes)
• Short film
• Narrative (e.g. a fictional story, an adaptation, biopic, historical saga; features actors, not subjects)
• Documentary (story is about the actual people you see on screen)

These are the categories used for dividing films up for judging or placement in film festivals. You've surely seen the Oscars and noticed these divisions.

[Note, length may seem arbitrary. It isn't. 45 minutes is TV show length once you remove commercials.]"

This shows that their are more names than what people describe as television and movies-don't actually mean a moving image, what I have found out in fact is that there are names for these, and a lot at that.

The distribution methods of these different moving image productions are done in modern times via streaming platforms, but some come out on to telecommunication devices. The most common distribution service for films though on the other hand is the cinema, but also for the likes of streaming services; e.g. Disney+ where they are in fact showing movies that they released, almost as soon as it hits box offices.

Finance and sources of funding

what sources of funding exist for film, television and other moving image productions? 

Advertisements:

These type of findings are where small or big corporate companies like Audi or Pepsi, pay the directors a large amount of money to show off a product in the movie, or any form of moving image. An example of the product placements can be seen in large movies such as Marvels "Avengers Endgame" where Audi payed for Marvel to use their new Audi E-Class. Another example is also the James Bond Franchise, the most common endorsement in these movies is the company Aston Martin with how they pay to have their cars in most the movies. 

Crowd Funding:

Crowd funding is commonly used by Indie developers to make moving images. The most common place to find crowd funding is "www.gofundme.org". This is where people put up petitions for ideas that they want to make a reality but need funding for it. Most common users are not always looking to get in to the industry of moving images, but there are some out there that are using these type of sites to make the money needed to produce their M.I.P.

Requirements for any production:

What we would be expected to pay for any moving image movie, is obviously going to start at the camera equipment. This can either be rented or brought, both coming at different costs and terms of use when in terms of rented out.

Another main aspect to a moving image text, is the use of audio. This is the key part to adding music or background audio. The first part to it is finding out how we are going to get the audio. if we go and produce it ourselves (which can be cheaper). or if we the group are going to find music online that si free or purchase to use.

(When using free to use music, we always have to give credit to those who made it under the fair use act.)

What did you have to obtain for your depict project?

What my group had to obtain for the video, was the equipment and areas of recording. We also had to sign permission cast forms to star and be in the video, even if it was just our voice.

The first select parts we had to get were release forms and hazard risks for the areas we was filming in, along with additional information for example, how  many plug sockets are there in the area we are shooting the film in, so that we knew where we can put lights and make a list if we needed extender leads.

Between the two parts, we also needed to get images from the area to know where we were going to have the scenes shot. The images taken helped determine the best placement for the camera, and the crew at the time of the recording.


The second part of the list of items that we needed to obtain, were in fact the camera equipment and sound recording software.

personnel: actors and crew.

The cast and crew which we used were who we was tasked with to create the short film. In another way of putting this, we are four strangers that have never worked together to put our minds and ideas in to creating the project.

The production crew consisted of two people, myself and another named Bradly. Our jobs ere to shoot the scenes that had out main actors in, but also to sort out audio, the way that we shot the scenes as well.

We were tasked to keep the shots in focus and make sure that that the filming went as planned keeping continuity in each frame.

The actors were three of us in the group, even though it was a group of 4, we had myself do the narrator, but the main two actors were, Erin and Declan. These two played out main characters in the short film.

We had the two, fill out a permission form to be in the movie so that shooting could take place as they are not of adult age during filming, they gave us along with the parents permission to have them in the film. I on the other hand could film myself with just my own permission due to being a legal adult.

what is the makeup of a typical team for a moving image production?

For a low budget short, the makeup time can some times be very little from £50 to around £500. This means that the producer will have enough money to produce the film on the budget set if they spend a low amount of money on the make up. Some low budget shots actually spend around £100 on make up for each member.


The money used would go towards the costumes as well and how they maintain them. It would also go towards effects like rust and a few other effects in low budget shorts as seen on places like YouTube(tm). The shorts usually use special effects then having to use makeup. Though the videos that produced some use children makeup for Halloween costumes. 


A television programmes is different than a low budget short. Television programs spend quite a lot on make up due to the budget given, this is seen in genres like dramas, or sci-fi. quiet a lot of money is put in to these programmes, from £500 to around £2000 depending on the popularity and how many episodes are made. The usual budget is also done to produce a very realistic feel.


Television programs as well for example the bodyguard (a BBC production). The drama has the usual hair and make up which takes around 2 hours, but the effects of make up when a character is, (spoilers), shot or blown up are with in the frame of £500 to make it look realistic, as they would have blood gushing out of a wound, the makeup team would use a fake blood substance and pump which would cost quite a bit to make and also have to redo over and over again due to the shot not being correct. The money used would go towards the costumes as well and how they maintain them.


Hollywood feature films usually spend over £3000 on makeup for each actor, this is seen on so many movies and short films, with how actors are not just in a whole new costume for the movie followed along with brilliant more realistic make up for injuries and scars, some being CGI/green screen but the makeup goes in to that department as well due to it being an effect on the character, and most CGI images use makeup to put tracking dots on the face. Now due to CGI being expensive this is why you see it more in Hollywood that in television.

How we supplied roles in our group.

How we supplied roles in the group was really "a pick of the straw". We needed a victim and the most common we see who are being stalked are females, so fortunately the one female in our group agreed to be the victim.

The last part was really the casting, but as we had a vote for who will be directing the shots the votes went 2-1 with me not having a say to make it fair. In the end we picked Bradly to be behind the camera, this is due to his skills in the use of using a movie camera instead of Declan who is more use to simple photography (which he comes out with some very great shots).

The stalker was picked to be Declan only due to the last role left was the stalker, to which surprisingly he agreed and enjoyed playing the role, some of the scenes as seen towards the end were actually improvised (yes even the bit with the bottle and fall).

Though in the end we all contributed to the editing and left it to all of us instead of non of us. This mean that work was shared and we could brainstorm ideas for what we wanted in the final edit.

Time given to make the film.

Week 1 - 2

The time frame that our group was given was around a month, we had to start by writing down ideas for what we would like to see in a film, this took up around half an hour. Then an hour where we got in to the groups already made up for us with out our knowledge, in this time we had to agree on the things we wanted to get across in the short film.

Week 2

In this time frame we got a few of the shots done but not many, we still had to write up most of the scenes and decide fully is we wanted to have background audio or to have it narrated over. This whole took awhile but then we were done and moved on to recording.

Week 3

This is where working got underway fully. The group and I started to record, we got under way with most of it but, the one reason that this took so long is due to our lessons being spread out over this time frame having 3 lessons every week. The second problem we faced was a key member of out team not showing up, with some sensible reasons and some not so sensible ones (and acting like a child when confronted).

Week 4

This is the final week we had for this assignment, we had finished all of the recording and had even finished all of the editing. The only thing we all have left to do is really write up this essay, and scan in the documents that we need if that worked, fortunately a member of out group (the one who didn't show up for roughly 3-4 of the lessons) in our view fixed his problem by granting us access to the forms only he had, which means that we over looked all of the problems and moved on with the work.

What happens if  I do not meet the time frame in the media industry?

If you do not meet deadlines in the media industry, you simply do not get paid or you get paid less. This will also have a negative impact on your reviews and less likely to get employed by future media industry and for freelance jobs.

The other part to face in this is, if you do not hand in the deadline in the time frame you risk having to go over budget if you have said that "this scene" should have extra items, and then you run over the time frame you are also losing more money. This is due to you having to go over the contract with the cast and production crew on that production or freelance job.

Did i meet the deadlines in class?

In class the group i worked with did meet all of the deadlines, we handed in the work that we needed to hand in and scan by the time frame. 

The recording was done all in the time we needed, which allowed us to edit before the due it date, even though one of the members in our group didn't show up most of the time, we made due with it and got extra work in while we waited for them to come back. The time we finished the whole editing it was the due in day and we managed to get the short film uploaded by the end of the lesson on time.

I believe that we did, but this essay was the last part of the assignment, and as this part is an addition to what i have written, it means i did not hand in on the correct time.

Equipment and facilities:

How did we gain the equipment in the professional medial industry?

The way most professionals gain their equipment is from either renting, buying, or reusing old equipment.

To start with we look at the renting side of the equipment, with this side the professional that is renting this equipment has to sign a legal contract that they are to:

1. Be responsible if the equipment is damaged
2. Hand in the equipment in working order on the due date
3. Pay a fine if not handed in on the due date
4. If needed for an extended period of time then the renter has to pay another renting fee

These main contributes to renting equipment in the media industry can be reasons for why, most producers that are professional go towards sometimes the latter two, but also go for this option as it can be cheaper, in the range of over £100+ pounds, but over all this option is also better for indie developers due to the low cost of the equipment.

Buying and reusing fall under the same category. The reason I say this is, how else are you going to reuse what you don't have unless you buy it first? That is rhetorical... Anyway buying your own equipment is a very expensive all deal. Although in the long run this can be cheaper until the equipment is put out of date by newer ones, but this equipment alone can cost over £5000 for second hand.

As shown on the website bellow most of this equipment is not cheap for recording with.

website to by professional equipment:

https://www.proaim.be/

https://www.digibroadcast.com/

https://www.proaim.be/products/proaim-supreme-professional-camera-dolly-system?variant=22637155745873&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0NfvBRCVARIsAO4930mgJpp3WGGoFs3s8V91ZYKMiDKeBiupGtqApzhRVQd9EOtEclr7acwaAtwIEALw_wcB

https://www.digibroadcast.com/video-c61/cinematic-camcorders-c159/sony-pmw-f55-compact-cinealta-camera-p7027/s6985?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=sony-pmw-f55-compact-cinealta-camera-pmw-f55&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0NfvBRCVARIsAO4930nMaF2FEdP2l5s5UcG-lUR_sUEuF31OoN5q5pWVobPUriBqDjRmCygaAjvcEALw_wcB

The equipment that we used for our depict short film.

The equipment that we used in the group is as listed:

•  T.bone EM 9900 Professional Shotgun Microphone
• Millenium Mini Boom Mic Pole
• XLR Cable
• Tascam USB A to Mini-B cable
• Tascam Linear PCM Recorder DR-60DMKll
• Behringer HPM1000 headphones
• Canon EOS 700D
• Mandrotto 290 Light Fluid Head Tripod

how did we obtain the equipment? 

My group managed to get the equipment thankfully due to it being supplied by the college, we was able to scan out the equipment as long as we returned it and did not take it off of the college site.

The other ways we got equipment is by buying it our self, or borrowing parents equipment to help record off site with out having to sign a form to take the colleges equipment off of the site.

Locations:

Location recces and location releases difference:

A location recces is what is used to see if the place that the crew find to record is is suitable or not. In other words a Recce is a scene scouting term where the crew see if the area has the right space and enough plug sockets so that lighting and other pieces of equipment is need for this area, so that they do not have to spend extra money on buying generators to use if the area chosen does not have the required power sockets etc. 

The location release though is a different matter to the recces. The reason that the release is different is that, with this document it is almost a legal contract if signed by both parties, usually used when filming on private land, or in a shop. The release allows the cast and crew to use the area as long as they clear up after everything and do not break any of the contract that they make,

How we picked out the specific places in the Depict video.

(Hive)
How me and my group picked the "Hive" was simple, we picked one of the best places in the college which is partly empty but still crowded to make it seem like a normal day in college, when people are in lessons.

The hive is also a place we agreed on due to the capability to have wide long shots due to it's sheer size and space to move around.

(Hallway)

The hallway as we called it was outside of our main computer room in the college open to people to catch up on essays and sometimes holds exams, it also meant the once the recording was done, we had the easiest root to hand the items back.

The other reason that we chose the hall way, was due to the perfect setup as it had vending machines and a seating area close, this was planned when we went out before scouting the areas, as we could set up a shot of Erin getting a drink while we have Declan watching her from the corner, as seen.

What logical issues and risks did we face in these locations?

One of the logical issues that we faced in both of these areas have to be, the lack of plug sockets in these areas. The reason for this being a problem is in case we used lights to add a better lighting source, it would have had no place to be powered with out using extension leads.

The risks that we found in these area, to us was non we had no risks at all. Though some people would class the vending machines as a hazard, though to us the vending machines did not fall on any of us and are secure in place so we had no hazards in any place.

Materials (what else we needed in the group)

We did not need any materials used from the prop department. Instead all items that characters have are from the vending machines, and were not planned to fully be in the script apart from the drink that Declan is seen holding in his hand when he goes out to prepare.

legal issues:

Looking at it now, I have to say that the only legal issues we probably have has got to be the pepsi bottle that we got, even though it was not in the script, we might face problems as it was not a product placement and if the Pepsi company do not wish to be affiliated we may have to remove it in the future.

Regulation:

what is OFCOM? what are its function?

What I have found on the OFCOM website is that as stated by OFCOM it's self:

"OFCOM is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day.

We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.

We also oversee the universal postal service, which means Royal Mail must deliver and collect letters six days a week, and parcels five days a week, at an affordable and uniform price throughout the UK.

We look after the airwaves used by wireless devices like cordless phones, walkie talkies and even some car keys and doorbells.

We also help to make sure people don’t get scammed and are protected from bad practices. This is particularly important for vulnerable or older people."

This is copied off of the website with the link address, I only do this so that what is said is proof that what I have now posted is what the company say and not my point of view.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/what-is-ofcom

Who regulates the BBC? and why is this different to OFCOM?

Starting with the question, who regulates the BBC? This question is quickly answered on the BBC website, the regulators behind the BBC is in fact OFCOM. This is easily seen as OFCOM as pointed out above " is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day.

We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio."

What is the BBFC and its functions?

On the website: https://bbfc.co.uk/about-us

The BBFC state three key different platforms of communication. 

(what is placed here is what is stated on the website and not changed in to my own point of view or my own words to keep this from being problematic.) 

"On Video

Come the 1980s, Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA), stipulating that subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State.

At this point our name was changed to the British Board of Film Classification, and the President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were tasked with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’."

"Online

Since 2008, the BBFC has been helping the home entertainment industry encourage the use of our age ratings for video on demand (VoD) services in the UK. There’s no obligation for VoD services or distributors making content available online to obtain and display ratings. But many choose to use them and we support them in doing this to help ensure that families have the best possible advice when choosing what to watch."

"In the Cinema

The BBFC has been classifying films and giving them age ratings since it was established by the film industry in 1912 to bring consistency to film classification when local authorities had started imposing their own, widely varying standards. Back then, we were called ‘the British Board of Film Censors’.

Statutory powers over film remain with local councils which can overrule the BBFC’s decisions."

This gives us a look at how the BBFC has worked over the years.

Trade unions and trade associations:

What is a trade union and why are they important?

From what i have found out on the institute for employment rights is that, "Trade unions play an essential role in democratic societies. They provide services to members, including legal services. In doing so they recover millions of pounds annually on behalf of workers who have been the victims of unlawful discrimination, injury at work, unpaid wages below the national minimum wage rate, unfair dismissal and redundancy."

This meaning, any discrimination at work even on a film set, or an injury on set or at work, will be assessed by the trade union/union you are with and will find a settlement that is right for you and the impact of the injury while the contractor or company have to pay the fee.

https://www.ier.org.uk/blog/why-trade-union-rights-are-important-factor-general-election 

 What are PACT and BECTU and what do they do?

PACT or "Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television" is a UK trade association. The trade association is for every single form of motion/moving image production for television and film.

BECTU known as the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications, and Theater Union. 

From what i can find about BECTU is that they are the union for creative ambition that work in non-performance roles in broadcasting such as: film and cinema, digital media, independent production, leisure, IT and telecoms, and theater in the arts.

What is a trade association and why do they exist? 

From what I can gather from the internet (search engine google). Is that a trade association is a non profit organisation, like a charity, made of a collection of companies or individuals with common ideas and or who work in the same industry.

from what I can tell from a recommended website known as "ScreenSkills" though is that, a Trade Association is one where, young volunteers can gain new opportunities to help them in the future to find future jobs, in the UK film, TV, VFX, and animation + games. "https://www.screenskills.com/"