Thursday, 26 October 2017

Final Evaluation: News Project

I have finally been able to see the fine cut/ final cut and personally I think that the final project that is being handed in is mostly successful. The final edit is very cohesive as well as looking professional. The edits between the transitions are all mostly smooth (with perhaps a few minor issues with cutting between different locations) and the same can be said with the music.

I feel that both Cailan and I make good studio presenters and we both appear comfortable in our roles. However, I do feel that the generated background behind us does not particularly fit in too well when transitioning to and from both the package and the live segments.

All of the footage looks very professional and mostly blend well with each other with some very good B-Roll that we can cut to to break up the long shots where one specific person is speaking.

I also was finally given the chance to help with the sound editing. I managed to take control of the edit for a short period of time to edit in the music without interference. We then all watched the segments and agreed on my edits with some minor tweaks from Alex. If I had not done this, half of the soundtrack that I have made may not have been included, making this part of my contribution rather redundant. As it is, a lot of the music is very quiet and not very noticeable but this was overall a group choice. Also my Voice-Over is apparently missing for unclear reasons.

Here is the link to the final video uploaded on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWls47PhxPc&feature=youtu.be

The group themselves were mostly pleasant to work with in person, however there were instances where I would not get on so well with them and certain problems started to arise as some of my contributions appear not to be noted by them. However, I managed to work well with them most of the time despite some times where I'd had some trouble coping with some unfair comments I have received from them over social media.

Here is a full list of most of the contributions that I have made towards this project as they are missing in the final submission:

Pre-Production:
-Initial research
-Electric car research
-Branding research (websites and adverts)
-Filming location finding
-Finding contacts
-Finding a wide range of car dealerships that we can contact as well as getting their numbers.
-Finding some quiet back roads for filming Alex in his car
-Contacting the Kent Film Office for several locations
-Getting in touch with various contacts
-Getting in touch which various car dealerships
-Route planning
-Music research
-Script Editing
-Creating every Risk Assessment

Production:
-Secondary camera operator
-Location scouting
-Fig-Rig operator
-Sound operator on certain shoot days.
-Keeping contact with other crew members when in separate locations.
-Initial solo performance as News Anchor
-Re-filming and performing with another News Anchor

Post-Production
-Creation of the entire soundtrack
-Helping to re-film B-Roll
-Giving constructive Feedback to the various editing stages
-Recording of Voice Over
-Sound editing (eventually, when I was given the chance)

It should be noted that, out of the eight primary days of shooting and re-filming, I managed to make it to six of them, only missing two. This is better than some of the others in the group as they have missed more days. I had a clear role on all of these days, whether it be getting some secondary footage of the presenter from different angles, monitoring the sound levels, getting some B-Roll of the subjects being presented and helping to set up and pack away the equipment each day. On the two days where I could not make it, I started work on other aspects of the project such as the soundtrack.

My dedication to the course and this project, although questioned by my peers, has been high. I’ve had to cancel many appointments and family gatherings that had been pre-planned earlier this year to make sure I am available to make it to the shoots whenever I can. I have come in early (perhaps too early) everyday that I have been here for this project to make sure I am there when I am needed.

Overall Positives:
-I had a clear role on every shoot day.
-I was able to fill in the days I had missed with other work to help support the project.
-I presented my own ideas and concepts (even if a lot of them didn't end up being used).
-The footage we captured was all of high quality.
-I am overall quite proud of the soundtrack which I made for this project.
-The final cut looks professional.
-Alex made for a good piece-to-camera and live presenter.
-Cailan and I made for good Anchormen.

Overall Negatives/ Improvements:
-Choosing to film in 4K led to a much longer production and edit time as the footage takes much longer to render due to its quality.
-Sometimes communications could be a bit strained as not everybody was on social media at the same times. Sometimes this led to me not knowing exactly what it was I was supposed to be doing at times.
-I noticed a few times where my group failed to acknowledge some of my contributions, leaving me a little worried how they would react to me in their blogs.
-Towards the end, tensions started to rise and attitudes such as bad language started to appear with some conversations becoming needlessly aggressive and stressful to go through.
-I needed to be able to get in and edit the sound sooner, seeing as I was only given a strict five minute gap by the group before submission.

Overall I feel that the final project is, indeed a success. It has just been a difficult ride getting here. I look forward to the next project as I have chosen Fiction Adaptation. This will be good for me as I can prove myself through my own creativity and work on and develop the project by myself without having to worry about being in a large group.

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