Media Event Lesley 8th April

Today was the actual Media event that we as a group have been planning for months as this is part of our assignment which was to organise an event. We all had to meet at 8.20 outside the main house where we then greeted the BTEC students who we were going to prepare the day for.

My role for the day was runner and grip as well as helping rig and DE-rig rooms such as the quick draw and the green screen room where I helped to DE-rig the lights and the tripods and help carry back equipment. My other role was making sure that the main room was empty for other users of the room as it was only booked out for the morning session where we met and greeted the BTEC students and the lecturers,a s well as the students ambassadors.

Overall i felt that the day was a complete success as everyone carried out their roles really well and the schedule of the day worked really well too, for example activities ended when they were planned for.

I felt that the students got really involved with the activities, in particularly the "big draw" as the students we asked to draw an object, such as a tree and we would take a picture every time they did something using stock motion to speed up the process. This involved the students having to line up and take it in turns to each draw a section of the picture and we would then capture their movements.

I felt that the green screen activity went particularly well too as by the second and third time it was carried out everyone got involved and any technical issues were sorted out without hesitation. Again I felt that the students were involved as the object of the activity was to have a person stand infront of the screen and to guess the picture that was showing behind them on the green screen. Whether it be an animal or a person.

Also the guest speakers were particularly interesting, particularly hearing about how they started off and got into the industry and what route they eventually decided to go down, for example cameraman, producer, director or presenter.

If we had to plan this event again I would make sure with the evaluation forms to clarify o the students that they were double sided as some were not filled out due to confusion with the questions.

Media Event [Commissioning and Employment] 1st April

Today in Lesley's lecture we went through a full run through of the media event for next Friday 8th April. This was a brilliant exercise as it allowed us to get a feel of how Long the activities will take on the day as well as identifying our key roles and responsibilities.

Whether it be in charge of catering, budget, meeting and greeting visitors or running events. We also ran through the activities as well, making sure that they run smoothly and that all the equipment we need is booked out and is working.

We also took mug shots of each of the team members to create a profile page for the visitors to read up on various peoples ambitions, likes and interests. We also filmed the intro to the film that we are going to show the BTEC students on the day which introduces each of the team members.

My role on the day is a runner and grip as well as my key role of helping to organise the event. My task for Wednesday next week is to create a finalised version of the evaluation form as well as a speech for which to accompany it as I am also going to explain what the evaluation is for and about.

Media Event [Commissioning and Employment] 18th March

Today in Lesley's lecture we focused on out next assignment which is to commence after the Media Event, which focuses on our Personal Development Plan. This allows us to decide and plan what we aim to do in third year and what we want to get out of it, and also our plans for our chosen career path for the future.

After we carried out forms on our development we swiftly carried on with our plans on the media event and its progression.

We split into our individual groups, e.g. technical, marketing and organisation., to decide what our plans our to organise the event. the leader of our group then allocated us with a schedule which contained the tasks which had to be done foe that week before the next lecture. We then decided who would be best suited to carry out each task.

My role was to arrange the Evaluation Form that the students have to fill out after the Media Event. This will contain their enjoyment of the day and what they got out of it. I was also allocated the task of carrying out risk assessment forms for the rooms as well as thinking of ice-breakers, which the students can use to get to know each other.

I also came up with a schedule for the rooms which consisted of which equipment we need for each room and what equipment we will need budget for, as well as fire exits and meeting points.

Media Event Lesley 5001 25th February

Today in Lesley's lecture we discussed how the Media Event is going to progress. We started off discussing the individual roles of members of the group and who would specialise in which area.

The areas that we included are technical, marketing and and ideas and organising. I found to be more suitable in the organising group as well as liaising with the technical group as my role would involve setting up and rigging equipment for the event when the BTEC students arrive for the activity.

Also as well as preparing questionnaires and a shedule for the day so that the group has something to look at and see what they are going to be doing for the day. Chloe [Leader], James ]Technical], Esther [Marketing] and Brad [Ideas and Organising] are the leaders of each of the group. We then split up in our individual groups and discussed the structure and the angle for the day.

The Schedule for the day is as follows:

9.15-Icebreakers

9.30-Group Division

9.50-1st Activity

10.15-Second Activity

11.00-3rd Activity

11.45-Walk Tour to Moreton

12.30-Toilet Break

12.45- Room 111 Guest Speaker/Also de-rigging/Lunch

1.45-Evaluation

1.50-Goodbyes and Montage-goody bag/Take the group to the bus stop.

Media Event Lesley 5001 Friday 4th February

Today in Lesley's lecture as a group we discussed what makes a good leader in a team as in a couple of months we are planning a media event for BTEC students at Bath College. The discussions of what makes a good leader varied from confident, responsible, passionate and a good listener.

Next we split up into our individual teams which we were in last week and we were set the task of deciding the perfect film crew for a documentary being commissioned by BBC2 called "Plight of the Polar Bears".

These were the choices:

• Richard Hastie as the camera man as he has won awards for Wild Life Photography.
• Ingrid Gunsten as she speaks a variety of languages such as English, French and Russian, she has a good track record in research and has written many books on the destruction of the planet.
• Brian Mccormack, Producer/Director, very experienced producer. He has worked with David Attenborough . He is reliable and knows how to keep up team spirit.
• Sven Magnesson, who owns and works dog sleighs and is a survival expert.

Media Event Lesley 28th January

Today we discussed our next assignment which was a task for us to organise a Media Event which will involve the whole group being involved in organising the event and each having an individual role, however the event will be held in stages as the audience will swap from activity to activity throughout the day.

The content for our media event, which included the audience [who it was aimed at], what time it is due to start and finish and where it was being held. The media event is aimed at first year BTEC students who are hopeing to persue the same course as we are doing and w therefore want to help steer them in the right direction and make sure it is as interesting as possible to make them involved and to help them decide if this course is for them.

We also had to make sure that the Media Event has two Ambassadors in the group to smeet and greet and show the group around to make sure no one is lost and that everyonr is enjoying the day.

The event will be help at 9.30 until 2.00 on Friday 8th April and it had to be help at the university. We had to make sure that it was interesting, hands on and would hold their attention. Our next step was to decide on the content on the media event.

The event may also involve a member of the group giving the audeince a presentation on the course, for example what we are doing on the course. This could be useful to show off what we have done by diplaying our show reel but also giving the audience a flavour of what they will be learnig on the course.

Our next job was to decide the content of the event. We then split into individual groups to discuss ideas for the main activities for the BTEC students at the media event.

These were some of the ideas we had:

• Stock Motion-Paper Draw
• Make your own advert
• News feature
• Make a film [concept]
• Acoustic 2 camera unit
• Interview filmed
• Red Nose Day [Independent Student in Need]
• Green Screen [Music Video]
• Radio Debate [West Speaker]
• Bath Life [Greg Talk]
• Photo Maraphon

Evaluation of my personal project 16th May

I was very pleased with the finished project and I felt that it was a big improve compared to previous projects that I have done throughout the year as I feel that I have improved technically, for example my camera handling has improved as I have taken the Panasonic camera out on a number of occasions to get more practice this has allowed me to get some interesting and different shots that I have used in my project. Also my use of the tripod has improved too as I can set up the Manfrotto tripod more efficiently and without hesitation as I can properly level it and position it correctly.

Also I feel that my editing has improved I can now find my way around Final Cut Pro more easier, for example I can now do sub clips more confidently than had done previously and add more to the layout and the presentation of my work by using title sequences.

I felt that I presented my project well by displaying it and packaging to make it more professional as I felt that the packaging explained more about what the project was about as pictures helped display this.

I felt that the flow of my project went smoothly, however it might not have been necessary to add title sequences as the interviewee does explains the question well enough for the audience to understand as title sequences could also effect the flow of the piece as it would waste time and audience participation.

I felt that the variety of shots was good as it made it more interesting for the audience as some of the shots, particularly when my dad is running are handheld as this creates a more realistic feel to it also I did a variety of shots, for example some were low angle shots, shots of him running from and towards camera and also point of view shots and the "nostril" shot of my dad. The film RocknRolla inspired me to do that shot.

There are parts in the documentary that don't work, for example the music it does work well in the piece as it helps the documentary have a flow and it breaks the interview questions nicely however the problem with the music is the audio levels which are not as smooth as I would like it to be.

There would be a point in the documentary when my dad is talking where the music would rise suddenly to introduce the next question.

Paintworks Friday 14th May

Today we met at Paint works where "Deal or No Deal" is filmed. The aim of the meeting was to watch all of the previous work we have done throughout the year which included all the group projects and all the individual projects to decide which pieces of work we would choose to show at the showcase at the Little Theatre in Bath.

This was particularly challenging as all the projects were really good and also we wanted to have a mixture of both group and individual projects. Another problem was that we wanted to include everyone and made sure that there was piece of work that someone contributed towards.

When we sorted out which pieces of work we would show and put onto a DVD and in which order, we then decided who would arrange the credits and the intro to the showcase. By doing this we split ourselves into groups our group's job was to arrange the intro, in the end we decided to use stock motion which means taking an object and moving it and each time taking a still picture and by the end you speed it using Quick time.

We did this by making the letters CMP [Creative Media Practice] out of the DVD cases of the project and then building it into a tower and then taking a picture of the tower every time we removed a DVD.

Personal Project 11th May

For my personal project I did the vast majority of my editing on the 7th May which consisted of title sequences as this was a problem in some cases as there were times in the interview were the interviewee would answer the question fully specifying what he was about to say e.g. When did he start getting into running? and if he had done any races before?

I chose music which I thought would create the right atmosphere of the piece and basically tightening shots that I though would make the piece flow better. As this is now done all that was left to do was to export the file and make a DVD menu using IDVD.

This was a long process as it can be time consuming I created a DVD menu that contained a title menu that included a picture as the background of the subject that I was focusing on and the actual file that I used to convert my project which was Quick time Conversion which allows to set the project to wide screen if you wish to.

I previously created a DVD cover for my project as I though this would help with the presentation and make it look more professional. After this was done all that was left to do was to burn the menu onto the disc I found this to go much more smoother than the editing process as the menu did not take long to burn and I was overall very pleased with the finished piece.

Food for Thought 11th May

Today we focused on the evaluation side of the team projects as the editing is now done. This consists of all the team members coming together to have a discussion about who did what and what did that person contribute to the planning, filming and the post production work of the project. This could consist of the filming and the camera work, the sound, the work we did beforehand, for example who came up with the team project and name. Also the post production work that includes the editing and putting together the distribution of the project if it is on DVD, like ours was, who came up with the design of the packaging?

To confirm that we contributed what we said we did, all of us had to go round the group stating what we did and if other team members agreed with our points. Then it was up to Mike to give the end result. We then had the opportunity to comment independently on other members of the group if we chose to, for example how we thought they contributed to the team and whether or not they were an effective team member.

I felt that our group worked really well as we were all reliable and each did the individual tasks that were set each week, whether that be booking equipment or writing out the minutes [which includes who was present or absent at the meeting, what the agenda was for that particular week and what tasks to carry out for the next week] for each meeting we held.

We were all punctual when turning up to shoot interviews or cutaways for our project. Also another reason why we worked well was planning as we filmed most of the interviews and cutaways before Easter which only left us then with the editing to do.

I also felt that we supported each other really well and helped each other out if we had any problems, for example checking to make sure that the interviewee is in the the frame when filming and that there is good headroom, and someone would make sure the sound is properly leveled and that it is not too low or too high.

Also we all kept in contact very well and made sure that we planned and reminded members of the group when we were shooting and remembered to tell them if any thing changed if anyone was unable to make a certain day.

Editing Food for Thought 4th May

Today was the deadline for our group projects and our documentary "Food for Thought" we had the whole day to make sure that there were any other mistakes and if there were we would have time to alter them. This was the hardest part of the process as we found that every time we exported the Final Cut Pro file into Quick time Conversion we would find spelling mistakes and problems with the picture as we wanted it in wide screen and it didn't except the right settings.

There was also problems with the iDVD which was the software we had to present our documentary on a DVD, we found that the choice of menus was a problem as you can customise the menus using your own pictures and certain menus had bars that would block out an important part of the picture that contained the logo of Anna's food. We found that these couldn't be deleted so therefore we had to find ways around it.

Again the other problem was burning the exported Quick time file onto the DVD as this took several attempts for us to get the picture the way that we wanted it as there were issues with the picture size and some exposures with the shots we took so we found that it would take several attempts to get it right.

Another problem we found was the pictures we used in our documentary as these kept being deleted. We had to keep rendering the files and and starting the procedure again by bringing them back in to final cut. It took us the majority of the day to get the file exported and the DVD organised but in the end we were happy with the final piece.

Editing Food For Thought 27th April

Today we continued editing our documentary "Food for Though"we are at the finishing stages now we just added the credits and the title sequences for some of the interviews as some of these had to be rewritten. The main focus we found when writing credits and titles is that the writing needs to be within the frame of the screen otherwise some of the text would have been cut off. We had to make sure that it was positioned correctly and made sure that we had the right font.

We hen added the credits at the end of the documentary, for example who the the director, producer and editor of the piece is and we finished by adding in fad ins and out of the piece to make sure that the piece flowed well and it ended in a professional way and it did not just end with a fade to black..

We also had to find a beginning to our documentary that would help introduce the audience into Anna's [the nutritionist], interest of food and what she has produced for different restaurants and friends that she has helped through healthy food over the years.

Editing Food for Thought 23rd April

Today we continued to edit our documentary "Food for Thought" we focused on piecing together the piece using sub clips and photos as cross cuttings to illustrate what the Nutritionist was saying, for example food that Anna has prepared before in her workshops.

Also to make the documentary flow easier and make it more interesting we added fade in fade out transitions which helps make the documentary flow easier and helps link into the next point that the interviewee is making. This was a useful exercises for me as I learned new skills and techniques that helped me to understand when and how transitions are necessary and when they are not.

Another way of making the documentary flow well is the use of title sequences that can also be used to make the documentary more interesting than just having an interview that is constant as titles explain and set up the next point that the documentary or the interviewee is covering. For example we had shots of Anna sharing her food with members of the public and a title sequence came on before explaining to the audience what is happening next "what did the public think..."

The difficulty with today's editing was deciding whether or not to use clips or photographs to break up the interviews as we found some clips worked well but had faults within them, for example some shots were not steady and therefore shook a lot as these therefore had to become photos.

Another technique we covered was when adding photos we could decide whether the shot of the photo would start by zooming in or out of the to give it a more stylish feel.

Reasearch and personal input for our Documentary Food For Thought

We were all given different areas to research and we all came with different example that helped shape and inspire our documentary. We mainly focused on celebrities and people who have helped change people's lives to make them healthier and therefore help change their diet and lifestyle. I researched "Jamie Olive's School Dinners" and "You are what you eat". I felt that these people have contributed to the change in people's diet and therefore help people out of medical problems such as obesity that is on the rise in the UK.



This documentary was good as it shows members of the public about the food that children are being served for example foods not having the right ingredients in foods like chicken nuggets and children are not having a balanced diet and are being consumed to unhealthy foods than having their five-a-day.

It uses close-up shots of children's lunch boxes and the food hat they are eating to shock the audience make them do something about it and change to gave a more balanced and healthy diet. Also when asking children what certain vegetables were none of the children had the right answer this shows the lack of knowledge and the relationship that children have with food.

The documentary shows the good side towards the end as more and more children are enjoying the concept of eating healthy foods and shows that healthy does not need to be boring as there are close-up shots of children eating healthy lunches. There is the argument that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food.



This Documentary You are What You Eat focuses on the concept of what people eat and how much unhealthy food they are consuming. The presenter confronts people into the amount of calories are in the product and therefore try to change their food habits, low angle shots are used to show importance and close-up shots of people's faces to show emotions expressions, for example obesity.

I felt that this documentary was good as it focuses on the lifestyle of the person than just the food consumption and body image as this allows the audience can connect with the person. The documentary highlights illness that are a result of unhealthy foods with red bold titles, such as obesity and heart disease.

It also shocks the audience like with the Jaime Oliver documentary by using close-up shots and tracking shots of unhealthy foods. The use of interviews i the documentary with the interviewer and the interviewee that are used in the documentary are more personal as the camera chooses to keep the camera rolling this suggests that the interviewee is reflecting on her decision to constantly eat unhealthy food.

Another contribution to the project are the questions for the interviews that we carried out in Bristol with Anna and her friends that have attended her workshops

Here are the questions that I came up with for the interviews:

We are researching into healthy food and the impact healthy food has on people’s lives. We are conducting a documentary that shows the impact that healthy food has on people from a Nutritionist’s point of view.
1. How often do you have takeaways?
2. What is your approach to healthy food?
3. How often do you eat healthy foods?
4. Would you buy this cake if it was sold in Supermarkets?
5. What do you think of Anna’s food? How did you react?
6. Would you change your own diet to Anna’s food?
7. Is this the first time that you have had organic food?
8. If so would you have it again?

Editing Our Footage 31st March

After we collected all the footage we needed that included interviews, cutaways and camera shots the next stage of the production process was the delivery of the project as we had to log and capture the footage we had taken and then the real challenge, to filter through the interviews shots we thought would interesting and engaging and try to fit it into a 5-8 minute documentary. This process was difficult as there was a certain way to log and capture the piece it had to be on the right setting and the same setting as the camera.

Me and Mandy started off by watching the interview with Anna and try to pick out lines that could be used as either an introduction or an ending to the documentary. I felt that this was a long process as each sentence had to be taken into consideration as we had to filter through the best bits as the interview was over two hours long. switching the data from different computers was challenging as we had to find different ways of doing it for example transferring files using the drop box folder and make sure each project was saved.

This was a good learning experience as it gave us an insight into the length of time it takes to deliver a film or a documentary as you have time to consider, for example how many cutaways to have in the space of time you have got and where best to add the cutaways but also adding sub clips and where to bring them in..

Filming in Bath 25th March

After carrying out and collecting interviews from people who have been converted and have tried Anna's food for a long period of time. We wanted to show Anna experimenting her food on the public as this included chocolate cake and also savoury food that is healthy and is something that is healthy and allows you to have a healthy lifestyle.

We wanted to show Anna's thought and opinions on hoe she she is feeling allowing members of the public to come over and try her food, in some cases it was food that she was just experimenting with it to see if people liked it as she had never cooked it before and to also see the way people may interpret her food in the end result if they liked it and if so would they buy it if it was sold in shops. We made the decision to set up our equipment carried out the interviews and the food testing in the centre of bath as we knew it would be busy and so that we would get a wide range of different opinions and personalities. We interviewed around six people who all gave good, solid answers as we had to stop as a result of the weather conditions.

My role was coming up with the questions for the interviewer to ask which in this case was Annie. My other role was to be in control of the sound boom when carrying out interviews. Mandy was the director and the camera man who's job was to not only make sure the positioning of the camera was right when carrying out interviews and certain shots, such as mid shots or close-ups but also to film cutaways which we would need to add to our documentary later which could be part of the introduction.

I enjoyed being part of this process as I had a different role to be in control of the sound making sure that he noise level was properly set and that the sound did not peak too high or too low so it was a good learning experience. I also enjoyed seeing the range of different personalities and characters that came through whilst we were interviewing people and the vast majority of people that we interviewed liked Anna's food and would therefore buy it if it was sold in shops.

Filming in Bristol Thursday 18th March

For our group project Food For Thought we had to have a day where we could film Anna in her hometown of Bristol [who is the Nutritionist in our short documentary and has her own website and business] and her daily routine which involved making cakes or savories which she also deliveres to small businesses such as cafes or shops. This then was a good chance to interview her friends who have all been converted to Anna's food in some way purely because or personal or medical reasons which has had an effect on them.

We filmed the interviews using the Z1 camera and Monfrotto Tripod and a boom [which is used to capture sound] to allow good steady camera use as the Z1 is good quality and can also capture good sound and picture. We also filmed Anna cutting and packing cakes that she had made the previous day so that we could use these as cutaways later.

Cutaways are shots that are used to break-up interviews or help to elaborate on what people are saying in a visual way. My role for the day was the camera man and asking questions to ask the interviewees. Mandy's role was the director and the interviewer.

Being the camera man was a difficult job as I found myself sometimes focusing on the person was saying than on the camera itself, for example making sure it was set up properly that we had the right position when carrying out an interview and that we had the right head height, because having too much or too little can effect the outcome of the shot.

We also interviewed the cafes manager on what his thoughts are on Anna's food whether or not it has been popular with customers and if he has been converted to Anna's food himself. Then later on Mandy carried out a one-to-one interview with Anna on how she was converted herself and her personal experiences what she gets out of cooking and how she converts people to a more healthier lifestyle, and also what it feels like to change people's lives.

Proposal for Personal Project

For my personal project I would like to make a short documentary about the preparation and trainingthat is needed to runa marathon. My dad who is th emain focus of the doxcumentary will discuss his day-to-day training to prepare him for the race.

The project will have a begingin, middle and an end. The beginging will introduce my dad, for example what run he will be participating in, how long he expects to train and how it fitsrunnninginto his daily routine.

The middle part of the documentary will focus on training. The end of the dicumentary will focus on the race and I will film the start and the finish. I will present the narrative using interviews using a panasonic and a manfrotto video tripod and experience the training myself with my dad and take part in the documentary as the presenter and a participant.

The issue that I will be exploreing is the increase in popularity of Road Running as this is becomming more and more popular. It gives people the opportunity to improve their level of fitness and to complete with other runners and their own personal expectations e.g. beating thier own time.

Schedual For our Documentary food for Thought

This is the shedual for our documentary Food For Thought over the next coming weeks as it allows us to progess and get most of the filming done for easter so we will have only the editing to do.

Here is the shedual:

• 18th March filming at Anna's house who is the Nutrtionist

• 24th March batch and capture the filming we did on the 18th March. 11.00-11.30 Gatehouse to edit.

• 25th March demo Bath Town Center with Anna who will show us food she has produced and we will film it.

• Tuesday 30th March and Wednesday 31st March 11.00 Gatehouse to edit

• Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd April 11.00 gatehouse to edit.

Food For Thought

For our assignment we are planning to carryout a short documentary that focus on the concept of healthy eating and will aim to show the audience that healthy food does not need to be boring but can be interesting and delicious.

We are aiming to use real statistics that will be shown on the screen to give the audience a more visual feel by using graphs, charts to include the number of people who eat unhealthy food in the U.K and how many peole at their "5 a day" and also camera shots of people eating unhealthy food.

We will aim the documentary around a Nutritionist called Anna who focuses on healthy foods and in the past has made a number of healthy recipes that include healthy cakes and meals as the main section of our documentary will be used to show Anna making a healthy cake , possibly outside infront of members of the public to give it a sort of "fly on the wall feel" to it. This is also good because it gives Anna more publicity and interest to her profession.

Also we will interview Anna before hand to give the audience a chance to See her personality so we will tell her, what we are going to do what we would like er to carry out for our documentary and talk and photograph the various food that she has produced before.

Also after the cake has been made we get members of the public to try it and then use "Vox Pops" to ask members of the public to tell us what their thought and opinions are of the cake and whether or not they would buy it if it was sold in a supermarket.

We will use a Panasonic camera to film the process of Anna making the cake as this will be my role I wanted to use a Panasonic camera as it is small and easier to use to change to the type of angle you want. Also we may use a fig rig and a mono pod.

What got us inspired to do this documentary is the work of Jaime Oliver's campaign on improving school dinners which helped to create healthy school dinners and trying to get students to try and go for healthy food instead of unhealthy food.

Another television show that inspired us is "You are What you Eat" which focuses on a nutritionist helping a certain individual who struggles to eat healthy food and is someone who only eats unhealthy food. By changing their lives the nutritionist Gillian McKieth shocks them by going into their fridges and cuboards and showing them how much unhealthy food they have and are consuming.