'The Hunted' Final video complete

Finally, long times have passed. All the work in advanced and all the filming is complete. We tried our best to create the best possible project. Many thanks to our project editor Paula Perez for creating a fantastic overall Video and one that we can be proud off.
Now we only have to finish off the final report that goes with the project.

L2 GROUP 1 HUNTED FINAL from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

Tom A, 12th Dec

'The Hunted' Class Feedback

2 days ago on monday the 10th we did a class feedback session in which we received feedback from both our fellow pear students and a senior member of staff, our teacher Steve Thorne, the feedback we received was varied. We received mainly positive from our teacher and it was a mixed bag from our fellow students.

Our Feedback sheet

Tom A, 12th Dec

Filming Locations

Locations Diagram by Louis Davis

For our ending sequence it was key to find two different filming locations to add diversity and magnitude to the final project.
We chose the two final filming locations to be in the forrest and inside of the conference room in block D to create the perfect scenes that we desired. Along with the two final locations we also had two trial and error locations which were the classroom and the office type setup we considered to film in these locations but in the final decision we found that they would not be suitable to create the right feel and atmosphere.

My Role - Director

Traditional Directors chair + Clapper Board

My leading role in the overall production is being a Director. 
My role consists of the overall direction of the whole project for example assisting in the filming sessions. 
A practical demonstration of my role within the task would be having the main part of writing the script which was used in the filming of the final movie and was used for the overall production as a whole.
Another demonstration would be making the final credits for our project.

Tom A, 6th Dec

'Hunted'

The theme for our ending sequence was based on the BBC hit Hunted! Above is the trailer for said series.
Hunted is based around sinisterness and creating good atmosphere which I believe we are creating in our group. Along with using many different editing techniques and tribulations we were able to create the perfect movie and sequences.

Tom A, 3rd Dec
Looking back at the beginning of the project.

'Hunted' [Session 01] - Initial Ideas

Initial idea's poster

This was session one, the main session was based around gathering the groups ideas together and putting them onto an A-3 ideas sheet. The main idea of the idea poster was to collage our ideas on an easy to view poster, this was used to grab ideas and mood settings for different shots.

Overall I feel that we used the poster much to aid in overall creation of different shots.

Tom A, 3rd Dec

Filming 'Hunted' - Filming Day 1

Collage of filming - Day one

Filming on day one was key for us because it gave us a chance to test our abilities to work well as a group. It was also key because it gave us a chance for trial and error, for example we didn't use little to any of the footage filmed on that day as it would not be suited in the film. We would rather of re-taken the whole scene. So we did that.
We arrived aware of time and quickly went to find an english classroom to film in. We set up the scene with the desk setup and the chair behind it. Like a traditional doctors office setup. And worked out which shots needed to be done. We then did the shots by trial and error method to find the best way of taking the different shots. At the end of the day we came back with completed shots we we then closer studied and chose not to use them, rather re film the sequence another day.

Tom A, 3rd Dec

project update: 27th November

On the 27th we mainly took up and online practical role demonstrating blogging abilities. As the director I ensured that we all filled out our report for various days and completed the blogs accordingly. I also assisted our editor Paula Perez with crucial editing of the overall project.
The 17th was practically a good day to get work done.

Tom A, 27th Nov

Hunted - Aranjid's identity

We had a second to main character in the film who was named Aranjid, Aranjid was a psychologist. His main role in the film was to deliver the medical test results to Alfie.



For this character we wanted to create a medical identity that officially gives him the title of a psychologist, so I downloaded and created in photoshop a card to put into a Long Road College lanyard, which members of staff wear around their neck.

'Hunted' Mood Board

Hunted Mood Board ©Aperture Media 2012

We were set the task of creating a short film based off of the title Hunted.
As part of the task we were told to create an mood board, which pro producers create, to compile our ideas into one A4 sheet. This was ultimately to display our vague ideas through images on an A4 document. This would ultimately help greatly in the final filming and producing the project.
For my mood board I really wanted to create a heavy sense of fear and bias towards the darkness to make the viewer aware of the spookiness of the piece.
The mood board was created on photoshop using the standard A4 size and arrangement, the pictures were found and taken directly off of google images to represent the mood and atmosphere.

Tom A, 21st Nov

Action Sequence - Bomb Sequence task

INSERT VIMEO CLIP HERE!!!!
This was the third and final part of the final video and was the third project clip that I added to the Master sequence to make up the final project.

This action sequence gave us as a group a great chance to prove our selves on final cut and demonstrating previously learnt skills and experiment with new skills and clip editing.

We practically demonstrated the 3 ways to edit which includes cutting with the blade tool, dragging clips smaller with the select tool. The third is to set in and out points and drag the selected part of the clip you want into the project.

We were given the opportunity to drop or raise the sound levels in certain parts of the sequence also if needed to create a more action pace to the scene or to create more of a tense action part.

We were set to film and edit this opening sequence using the camera's we had previously used, prior to this task we had already used the camera's in a practical fashion and we had gained the knowledge required to upload to final cut to edit the clips using the three ways of editing. For this task we were required to create a blog post and write a report to demonstrate through text what we did on a practical scale.

Overall it took me about an hour to complete the full sequence.

I wanted to create a very fast paced and speedy action sequence which included one main primary shot, the 180 degree over the shoulder shot. For this task we focused mainly on parallel shot, to make action transitions more realistic. For the parallel shot you need to transitions the shots from each take, for example one shot may have a character running off one side of the screen, it is then essential for the character to be seen running in from the other side of the screen to create a realistic transition that viewers can recognize.

Tom A, 4th Nov

The Final Video - Bomb sequence task

2P1 Tom A - 'BOMB!' SHORT FILM 2012 from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

The final video was a great compilation of all the previously learnt skills and they arose a lot throughout the editing process.

Overall we all in the group worked very hard towards the final project and it turned out very much to how we wanted it to in the final stages, some stylising touches were needed at the end but not very many as I remembered to implement many editing techniques throughout the piece including parallel editing, the 3 ways to edit, and remembering to picture myself in the scene to get the pace of editing correct. I also edited the 180 degree shot along with ensuring match on action was achieved.

Final details added at the end consisted off mainly the titles which were all custom made in Photoshop  including outro and intro. Also any transitions were added at the end to ensure a smooth viewing throughout. To add final finesse to the project I ensured to check for any black screens throughout that were present, and eradicated them quickly. The soundtrack was also added where appropriate to build suspense and attitude in the piece.

As an amateur editor creating small movies and video for YouTube I really did want to complete the short film to a great standard that is fit for any professional viewing.

Tom A, 4th Nov

The Meeting - Bomb Sequence task

The Meeting - Final Cut Sequence screenshot

2P1 Tom A - The Meeting - The Bomb Sequence from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

This was the second part of the final video and was the second clip that added to the Master sequence to make up the final project.

This second sequence gave us as a group a great chance to prove our selves on photoshop and final cut with previously learnt skills and experiment with new skills and clip editing.

We practically demonstrated the 3 ways to edit which includes cutting with the blade tool, dragging clips smaller with the select tool. The third is to set in and out points and drag the selected part of the clip you want into the project.

We were expected to complete this partition of the project to a very high end standard editing any part of the clips we deemed needed changing. We were given the opportunity to drop or raise the sound levels in certain parts of the sequence also if needed.

We were set to film and edit this opening sequence using the camera's we had previously used, prior to this task we had already used the camera's in a practical fashion and we had gained the knowledge required to upload to final cut to edit the clips using the three ways of editing. For this task we were required to create a blog post and write a report to demonstrate through text what we did on a practical scale.

Overall it took me about an hour to complete the full sequence.

I wanted to create a very on edge and dramatic sequence which included one main primary shot, the 180 degree over the shoulder shot. For this task we focused mainly on the 180 degree rule to create a realistic speaking scene between the 2 characters. For the 180 degree rule you need to film each over the shoulder shots but it is essential to keep the camera the same side of the 180 degree line.

Tom A, 24th Oct

Phone Call - Bomb Sequence task

Phone call Sequence - Final Cut Screenshot

2P1 PHONECALL EXERCISE - Tom A from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

This was the first part of the final video and was the first clip added to the Master sequence to make up the final project.

This first sequence offered us as a group a great chance to practically demonstrate our previously learnt photoshop skills and experiment with new skills. We practically demonstrated the 3 ways to edit which includes cutting with the blade tool, dragging clips smaller with the select tool. The third is to set in and out points and drag the selected part of the clip you want into the project.
We were expected to complete this partition of the project to a high standard editing any part of the clips we deemed needed changing. We were given the opportunity to drop or raise the sound levels in certain parts of the sequence also if needed.
We were set to film and edit this opening sequence using the camera's we had previously used, prior to this task we had already used the camera's in a practical fashion and we had gained the knowledge required to upload to final cut to edit the clips using the three ways of editing. For this task we were required to create a blog post and write a report to demonstrate through text what we did on a practical scale.
Overall it took me about an hour to import, edit and export the final product.
I wanted to create a very dramatic and spooky video which includes lots of different style camera shots.
It turned out how I wanted it too.

Tom A, 22nd Oct

Horror Stills Task

2P1 HORROR STILLS - Tom A from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

Horror Stills Final Cut Screen Shot

In this task we were expected to create a short film based on individual still shots taken from a small hand camera in our groups.

In the task we had to practically achieve a worthwhile outcome by using previous skills learnt in lesson through photoshop. and final cut including fades transitions and skills in photoshop like blending two images together and using overall pro skills.

Overall it took us as a group around 30 minutes to take all of the still images outside, and another 30 minutes to edit the whole project together including photoshop image edits. Which means that in total to complete everything I took just over an hour.

Overall I wanted to create a spooky horror that created suspense in a slightly tame way that would appeal to most audiences. In terms of designing and pre planning I knew that I wanted to edit my face in photoshop to create a monster type face that would fit well in the final movie, this was included into the final outcome so overall it was a success to include it.

Tom A, 2nd Oct

The Logo into an IDENT

2P1 Tom A - IDENT from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

Final Cut Express Screen Capture - IDENT

In this task we were set to add motion to our overall logo along with fades and transitions to create and finalise our final IDENT's to go at the beginning of future video projects.

To do this we had to export each individual layer as a seperate .PNG file which is a form of media that can be imported into final cut Express and be animated and moved around to create a moving IDENT.
We then imported these PNG files into final cut by putting them all in there own folder and then importing the folder to import all the files at once to be edited together.
I then layered the images together to create the original logo, from then on it was more about playing around with diufferent skills learnt like fading and adding transitions, along with learning new skills like basic animation and movement of objects, with a little bit of help from steve, our teacher, at first I then got the hang of it and finished the IDENT to a standard that I feel to be acceptable.

Approximately it took me around 45 minutes in total to complete the whole indent including PNG export and import times and final movie project rendering times.

Tom A, 01st October

4 Pieces to Success

4 Pieces to Success Diagram

As the diagram suggests it takes to pieces to success. 
I posted this blog to let you know about the 4 things I will address when blogging about a completed task.

1. I'll give an overview of the task and what was expected of us.
2. What we were set in the task and what we actually had to do in terms of report taking and practical work.
3. The approximate time it took us as a group or me individually to complete a task.
4. I explain what I or we were planning to do in terms of design and final product and how the final product turned out in relation to planning and pre assessments.

Doing this will allow anyone who is looking at my blog posts and work to easily understanding and work out what I was doing that day and during that certain exercise.

Thanks, Tom A, 30th Sept

Target Audience - Diagram task

My target Audience Diagram

The following is the diagram of what us personally as a target audience enjoy and take an interest in.
Target audience is the people that your product or service is geared towards.

Target audiences are used effectively when marketing a certain product or service. By aiming certain marketing ploys or advertising towards a certain age, gender and or common interests within a mass group of people.

This task was about putting your interests onto a page through form of the logos or symbols representing that certain thing.

We were instructed to open a new Photoshop document and copy in the stick man representing what gender we were, and then adding around the diagram all the logos and symbols relating to the things. We were also told to label the different logos into different categories so that it could be viewed more easily, and also to add arrows leading to those categories.

This task in total took about 30 minutes to complete, this was due to finding the images adding them in. And overall formatting the final outcome.

For my diagram I aimed to add a wide variety of different things from gaming to different websites, to my interest in technology also some TV and music were added. Even though I feel my interest revolve around tech I tried to ensure that any persons viewing the diagram got and overall look at my interests and wouldn't be limited to a certain area.

Tom A, 29th Sept

New York Final Cut Editing & Training Exercise

2P1 Tom A - NEW YORK FINAL CUT EDITING TRAINING from Long Road Applied Media Diploma on Vimeo.

New York Final cut Express screen capture

In this task we were told to create a short movie that consisted of pre imported clips of New York, NY in america. We were told to use lots of techniques previously learnt from lesson and in our own time, ultimately it was our own time to experiment with the software.
This editing time gave us a great chance to try and carry out previous practices learnt, for example the three ways to edit.

1. The first way is to use 'in' and 'out' points, which is too drag the play head to the beginning of the clip selection you want to use and press I. And drag it to the end of the selection of clip you want to use and press O. The drag the clip from the viewer onto the time line.
2. The second way is too use the selection tool to trim and extend clips. Simply click, hold and drag the clip you want down to the desired length. This method is great for quick editing in my opinion.
3. The third way is too use the razor blade tool to cut and slice clips so that they fit much better into the project you are working on, simply choose the blade from the tools menu and move the blade to the specific place on the clip you would like to cut and click to cut the clip down to size. This method is creating for cutting clips quickly in my opinion.

I used used many of these practises in the final overall creation and production of my New York short film evidence of that is in the video clip throughout. Also featuring fade ins and special effects plus transitions.

Time taken to complete this task was between half an hour and an hour. This was due to adding various different effect as well as overall editing. Overall I found this task very enjoyable and it has set a good pathway to the rest of the year using final cut, as I am much more confident with the software.

Tom A, 29th Sept

The Are You Normal test

Are you normal? Results screen capture

We were given this test to do online which was composed of strange questions with no real certain answers just pictures that you can select that relate to answers. I found this test rather bazar.

I found that the final description I received at the end of the test was very inaccurate although I feel that the name was in generic theme with the TV show this quiz was based around. Which gave more of a biased strange outcome. I felt that the quiz was tailored very much so to the individual who would be taking the quiz. An example of a question is "Mother" and then you would be given about 4 pictures maybe random including a cat and a pair of scissors. What ever options you choose you will be given bazar results that at most times do not relate to you or make you feel weird.

Tom A, 26th Sept

Media company logo exercise

Official Aperture Media logo  ©2012

With this task we really did have our first taste at the purely creative side of photoshop which gave many of us including me lots of confidence with the new software we were greeted with only a couple of weeks ago.

We were given the instructions to create a logo using creative ambition and initiative. The task was a great example of our skills just learnt in photo shop for example the use of shapes, imported fonts and imported brushes to make our own custom logos which we will animate into indents in coming days.

This task took around 20 minutes to fully complete because of the research that was needed and the fonts that needed to be downloaded.

I aimed to create a modern and stylish logo for my company. Nice and clean with just the aperture and the text.

Tom A, 23rd Sept

Fonts, Shapes and brushes exercises

Shapes

Brushes

Fonts

The following is a collage of shapes all collectively put together from within the default libary of photoshop CS5.
In this task we told to experiment with different shapes on photoshop along with various colours  and shadings. This task was a practical demonstration of our new found skills in photoshop one of which is rasterising objects to add colour to individual parts of a shape. 
The exercise took 10 minutes to complete.
I tried to use a variety of different shapes and colours throughout.

The following picture is of the brushes exercise in which we were set to download brushes from http://www.brushking.eu to make a collage of interestingness. This task fundamentally will help in the future when needing to download and possibly importing different forms of tools into photoshop.
This task took around 15 minutes to complete.
I aimed to download a wide range of brushes to create a colourful collage of different shapes, which were different sizes.


The following is a shrunken A4 document in landscape mode with examples of 5 different fonts from http://www.dafont.com.
In this task we were told to download different styles of fonts and type our media company name in the different fonts across the page.
This task took about 10 minutes to fully complete. I wanted to try lots of different styles of fonts whilst retaining the same house colour which was black, throughout.

Tom A, 23rd Sept

Club Flyer Exercise

This is the second task that was assigned to us.
We had to download one picture from flickr and one from google images and add different text using different styles and techniques learnt recently in lesson.
It took about 30 minutes to complete.
We used different image manipulation techniques for example inverse selection and cropping around images, we also used different text styles throughout.
Although I tried to retain an overall house style throughout of a jungle theme.

Tom A

Earth and Eye exercise

This was the first task we were assigned.
We were given two images and had to manipulate them  using features on photoshop. 
It took us overall about 10 minutes to complete the overall exercise.
The task gave us a chance to practice new skills and techniques recently learnt on photoshop and this task also gave us a chance to play around on photoshop and use some of the features on photoshop