Unit 1-4 evaluation

(Pitch)
P1:
Over the past few weeks I have been working on my first four units of the course. I had to
choose a topic which the British Youth are somehow involved in, then create a couple of
different productions.
For me I chose the topic on climate change and the protests/protesters involved with raising
a voice against the issue, as in today’s society many of the British Youth are getting involved
with demonstrations and fighting against the increase in climate change/global warming. I
created two productions, with the first being a stop-motion animation and mine lasted
around 39 seconds long. It was an animation representing how the earth has changed over
the years due to the increase of global warming. The main materials in the video were
plasticine for the main earth model, and card for the background of the set. My next project
was a short film, which was also based around the topic of climate change, global warming
and how the younger British generation are involved. The final video lasts about 5 minutes
and 23 seconds, with actors playing different character for the main storyline of the
production. From producing, to editing, to trying out as a stop-motion animator, there were
many different skills I had learnt through creating both these productions.
The filming industry is a massive corporation at the moment, bringing in billions to the UKs
economy. However there are different traits a film producer needs in order to succeed in
the project they are working on, such as having good leadership, as they are the ones in
charge of the production they need to make sure everyone that the right people are in the
right scene on time. And to be quick and decisive when problems arise, to solve them as
soon as possible so the production schedule isn’t disrupted. They also have to have good
communication skills, when working with the crew and different actors that they probably
have never spoken to before. A film producer also need to be very creative and have many
new ideas for writing and visually telling their story. Another important skill they need, is a
knowledge of the technology and gear that they are going to use. For me personally, it
helped me work on my communication skills, by asking friends to be a part of the
production as actors, as well creating ideas for the storyline which was unique.
A video editor needs different skills for them to create the best edit with what they have to
work with. Firstly, an editor has to have great knowledge of the software they are using and
a technical expertise when things go wrong, so they can manage the problems. They also
need to be very creative and have a passion to make the final edit feel as if it has had a lot of
time and work put into it. An editor must have a keen eye for detail, to not allow any major
mistakes to slip into the final edit. A major skill is having a lot of patience and concentration,
as video editing can take many days and hours before finally complete. For me personally,
having this patience was a skill I was working on, as my editing took me many hours before I
completed, but also the exporting and rendering makes it a lot longer and frustrating, as I
kept having to go back and render different parts of the video before I could finally get it
exported without any complications. I also had to find the right music to fit the piece and
edit not just the video but the music and sound effects as well, so for me to get this
completed I needed a high level of motivation and education even though it was tough.
There are also many skills a stop-motion animator needs to be successful in their work.
Firstly having a lot of patience is key, as when things go wrong with the set or moving
certain objects it can become very frustrating to keep level headed as to not ruin the
animation, as stop-motion is using very small movements which need to be kept steady and
still at all time. Another trait for an animator is having attention to details, as they need
make sure everything in the shot is how it’s supposed to be, and make sure nothing is in the
wrong position, and the objects that need to be seen, can be seen. They must also have
great knowledge to be able to combine photography skills by using different angles, they
need to combine the narrative and the control the lighting, all practically without any digital
work. For me, it was very time consuming, and throughout the process of taking many
images, I had to work around problems with the lighting, angles of the camera and the
positioning of the central object. However I was able to get through this process and the
editing process, until it was finally complete.

P2:
The brief that was given, which was from BBC Three on ‘tackling subjects that matter
to them’ (for anyone from 16 to 34). The content was focused around different
“editorial pillars” including ‘make me laugh’, ‘make me think’ and another focusing
on a ‘factual programme’. We were focusing on the ‘make me think’ section, with
the guidelines being that all our productions had to be aimed at appealing to males
and females between the ages of 14 and 24 (today’s youth and younger generation).
We had to choose a topic, which varied anything from politics, sport, mental health,
fashion or any other topics we could think of. Once the topic was chosen, we were to
produce two productions in different formats. The video productions were a choice
from a factual programme, short film, stop motion, radio news, and a pitch (which
we all had to do whist making two productions). People doing TV and film and
people doing broadcast journalism had to do the production which applied to them.

I created a survey on what my ‘target audience’ would want to see in my short film
about climate change. My first question was “What would you prefer to see in a
short film, about climate change?” with a couple of responses from unknown people
(all in the 14-24 age range). There were different choices for the question; however
the majority of responders picked ‘A film about how it’s changed over the years’
which got the highest parentage score of 42%.
The second question continued from question 1 with three more choices, with the
majority picking ‘A film about the future of the planet’ which got the highest
percentage score of 57%.
 The third question was ‘What would you prefer the film to be’ with the choices
being Positive, Neutral or Negative. With the majority of the target audience
responders picking Negative, which got a score of 42%.
The fourth question was ‘How would you represent climate change in a film’, and
allowed the target audience to write their own responses to the question. Some of
these responses included “I would show the positive and negative sides, how it is
being fought, and what will happen if we don’t change” another person said “to
show it as an extremely important thing” another said “As a bad thing”. So overall
were helpful for me to read, for ideas to include into my short film.
The fifth question was ‘Would you like to see footage of real past events’ with the
choices being Yes or No. With Yes being the most popular answer with a score of
71%.
The final question was ‘Do you agree with reducing your carbon footprint/emissions’
and again allowed the audience to write their own responses. With many of the
responses being “Yes” and “Yes I do greatly”, so it gave an option to possibly include
what it is, in my short film.

P3:
From the given brief, I was doing the TV and Film side, so my two productions
included the stop-motion animation and the short film. For the stop-motion
animation, before I created the final video, I had to research all about what it
actually was, who the early pioneers of stop motion were and how frame-rate is
important in the creation of an animation. I then had to look at two stop-motion
animations and write about how music, sounds/voiceovers and lighting had been
included in each clip; I also had to write about which materials had been used, how
effective the plot is was, and what I can take from each production to help me in my
own. The main thing I took from them, was to keep the animation simple to not let it
get confusing or complicated, so the audience to follow along easily. I then with a
partner created our first attempt at a stop motion. I just used blue tack as the
material and paper for a background, to get a short 10 second video.

First stop motion animation - YouTube

I then had to look into three different stop-motion

videos which each used different materials, to then create a couple of my own short
stop motions with different materials. I chose to use post it notes and lego, to make
these two 15 second clips:

(55) Post it note stop-motion animation - YouTube

 (55) Short Lego stop-motion animation - YouTube

Once I had made these videos, I then moved on to

writing up my script for my final stop-motion video, which can be read here:
the 6th mass extinction (scribd.com)

I also had to draw a storyboard out, which is showing the plan for how I want my stop
motion visually to look like once completed.

Other information I had to include for my stop motion was a location recce, and
information such as the set/location, the materials I was to use, the lighting set up, the FPS
(Frames Per Second) I was going to shoot, any songs/sound effects I was to include and the
main message in the video.
Locations recce - location recce mass extinct (scribd.com)
Other info - word 6th mass extinction (scribd.com)
It took me a couple of days to take enough pictures, over 500 in total, to finish about 35
seconds worth of footage for my stop-motion animation. Once the images were processed I
then created a video, then added sound effects and music (which included a ticking sound
and swoosh sound effect, making the animation more dramatic. I also had to add a
voiceover talking about what’s happened to the earth, with climate change and global
warming affecting it over a period of a couple of hundred years.

I used different coloured plasticine, including blues, green and

white to represent the earth, then brown to represent the
areas of pollution around the world. The background was all
black card, with small yellow stars out of card, to represent
the video taking place in space.
Parts that didn’t work, was the beginning of the video, where the angle of the animation
didn’t work properly, as the model kept moving around and didn’t keep in the same position
throughout. However, halfway into the video I change the angle of the animation, making it
a lot smoother, and how I originally pictured it to look in my storyboard.

This is how it looked in the beginning This is how it looked near the
of the video end of the video

Another part that worked in my stop motion, were the years increasing at the bottom of the
screen. It took a while to get the numbers to increase at the right speed and right year.

The main message that this video was exploring, was how we as humans need to act now to
battle the increase in climate change, with the video showing what could happen if we don’t
act enough in time. Which I ended the video, with the message “We must act now, to stop
global warming before it’s too late” appearing on the screen.

My short film is also to do with climate change, and how the ‘British Youth’ are involved
with this issue. For this I sent out a survey about what other students would want to see in a
short film about climate change (the responses for this can be read in P2) once I received
answers to this, I was able to put the response data into an infographic which also included
prior research about the topic, this was made to just show all the information in sections on
one page.
I then had to research and analyse two different videos on the same topic of climate change,
to get an idea of how I could present my short film. The first short film was called ‘Rubbish’
(55) RUBBISH - Short Film [4K] - YouTube the storyline is simply the main character doesn’t put a tin
can into a bin, and tries to kick it away, however it keeps returning to him until he finally puts the
rubbish into the bin. What made this video stand out was how the whole video had been colour
graded, and the different angles that had been used to show the movement of the can and the
character, throughout the video. These different angles are what I would like to try and add into my
own short film. The second video I analysed was called ‘2040?’ which is again based on the topic of
climate change 2040 ? - Act On Climate Change - Short Film - YouTube. The main plot of the short
film is portraying an idea of how life could be in the future, with a shortage of water. There are two
characters, presumably partners, who each have a bottle of water and can only drink a certain
amount at each time of the day. What made this video stand out was how it only included three
simple locations around a house, and a different white balance is used in each scene, representing
the time of day. In my own short film, I would see if I could include different white balance settings.

Once this once done, I started on the production of my short film ‘How are you helping’. By firstly
creating a script lasting about five minutes, which included dialogue from characters.

I then drew up a storyboard which included camera angles, which there was about eight
total sheets in the end.

For this short film, I had to also create a locations recce of the area I was to film my scenes,
a crew list of the actors names and roles, their confirmation emails to make sure they can be
a part of it. I then had to create a props and equipment list of the camera gear and what the
characters would need in their scene. Another list was for sound and music, which I was to
add into the edit. However, not everything I put down was used in the final video. The final
bit of information I had to create was a production schedule, of when I was to film each
scene, and the plan of action for my order of research, pre-production, filming and finally
when I was to edit it.
The final short film, was is called ‘How Are You Helping’ is just over five minutes long ( (55)
How are YOU helping? - Short film - YouTube) and consists of a minutes worth of an
introduction on the effects of climate change, and included stock footage showing these
effects and a voiceover from a previous speech on the issue of global warming/climate
change.
The final four minutes included the actors, with one representing a climate activist and who
is doing their part to tackle the problem, whereas the other represents a character who
doesn’t care about the issue, and hasn’t changed their ways to help in the battle against
climate change.
I showed both characters stories which overlapped throughout the video, and to show who
the climate activist was, I used a warmer white balance as he is the one who cares about the
issue. And for the other character, the one who chucks his litter everywhere is shown with a
bluer colour tone, to show they are the “enemy” who is against/doesn’t care about the
environment:

Parts of the video that didn’t work, was when there was dialogue there was overlapping
music, which didn’t work only because I didn’t get the sound levels mixed properly, so
unfortunately its quite hard to hear what the character is saying.
Some of the shots that did work was transitioning between clips, where I pushed the
camera behind a tree to cut the screen to black, and then made it come out a different tree,
creating the transition effect.

Throughout the video, each character is shown accordingly to their traits, with the more
‘sustainable’ character eating veggie/vegan food, picks up litter on the floor, and gives short
a speech to the other ‘unsustainable’ character about climate change. Whereas the
‘unsustainable’ character keeps dropping litter, drinks out of a plastic bottle with a straw
which cannot be recycled. He also doesn’t pay much attention or even care about what the
‘sustainable’ character tells him about climate change.
At the very end of my short film, after more stock footage is shown of the impacts on the
world from climate change, a message comes up on the screen with quotes saying
“scientists predict that this planet has under 11 years left before the effects of climate
change become irreversible – United Nations” and another saying “the younger generation
are going to live through the effects of climate change in the future…don’t let that happen”
before finally the video finishes with a rhetorical question (the title of the short film) ‘How
Are You Helping?’. This is to get the viewers thinking to themselves, about what they have
just watched, and how they could try to change their life style in any way to contribute to
the fight against climate change.

P4:
I sent out another survey to get feedback from other students on how they thought both my
productions turned out, and whether it connected with the target audience.
The first question I asked was ‘Did both videos make sense when watching’ to see if the
main topic was clear in my productions. The answers were either Yes, No, The stop motion
made more sense or The short film made more sense. With the highest score being 80% for
the answer of Yes.
The second question was ‘Did you understand the message portrayed in each video’ with
the answers being either Yes or No, fortunately Yes had a score of 100% showing that I was
able to make the main message clear enough for viewers to understand in both my
productions. This shows that it met with the target audience.
The third question was ‘Could you follow the narrative/storyline of the short film easily? Or
was it confusing’ with the multiple choice answers being Yes I could understand it, No I
didn’t understand it or I understood parts of it. For the first answer of Yes, it had a score of
80%, showing some people either didn’t understand it or only understood parts of it.
The fourth question was ‘What do you think didn’t work in the short film?’ with the answers
being written by the responders. Some of the responses were “your actors could have
portrayed the short film better” another said “I think the ending music was a bit loud, I
couldn’t hear what was being said” with one response saying “it was all good”. But the
criticism is good, as I can try not the make those mistakes next time a produce a short film.
The fifth question was ‘What would you improve about the short film?’ with the responses
writing their own answers again. The majority of people said “nothing” however there was
one response saying “the camera settings remaining the same” which is one the negatives of
my short film, but from now on I can remember to sort out my camera setting before I shoot
a scene.
The sixth question was ‘Did you understand the message that the stop motion was
portraying?’ with the only answers being either Yes or No. Fortunately, everyone picked Yes
had a score of 100% for this question.
The seventh question was ‘What do you think didn’t work in the stop motion?’ where I got
different written responses. One of these said “I think it worked well” with another saying
“nothing”, but the most important response said “I think at the end the way the earth was
spinning was good, but at the start it rolled around”. So with my stop motions in the future,
I can work on keeping my object in place.
The eighth question was ‘What would you improve about the stop motion?’ was peoples
own responses again. Most people said that there wasn’t anything they would improve, but
one response said “use the same spinning technique”. And is exactly what I would do.
The ninth question was ‘What production did you enjoy watching more?’ with three
different answers for the students to pick, which included “How are you helping?” “The 6th
mass extinction” or “I equally enjoyed both”. With the majority of people saying they equally
enjoyed both, which had a score of 80%.
And the final question was ‘Were either of the productions informative?’ with the answer
choice being either Yes or No, with yes being everyone’s vote 100%. As this shows that the
main message in my videos was clear enough for the viewers to understand and take away
from each clip.

P5:
As this was my first brief I had received, I have learnt a lot of things through this and
from creating my two productions, the stop motion and the short film videos.
With my short film production, I need to work on staying on track with my original
ideas I put in my proposal, as the end video turned out a little different from what I
had planned at the start. With the filming for the short film, I need to make sure all
the camera setting are completely set up before I shoot a scene. Also setting up the
correct lighting is what I need to work on, for both videos. So in the future I will
always be looking back at the footage making sure the scene is how I intended it to
be.
Going forward, I will look into a broader range of topics which are interesting and
unique, to look into which are still connected with the main brief.
However, from this brief I learnt that I am capable to completely producing, editing
and writing up a new story for my own films, and getting them finished within a
given deadline.