Emma - Contracts

Formal Contracts:
A Formal Contract is one that has been written out and needs to be signed by both parties. Formal Contracts are legally binding and often used when there is money involved so with employment, buying a house etc. These contracts also include loads of Legal Terminology that can confuse people and end up with some parties being misinformed.

Informal Contracts:
Informal Contracts is a type of contract that is usually viewed as a few words and a handshake. You do not need to sign anything for this type of contract however they do not usually hold up in court if there is some misunderstanding with money. These usually occur when both parties trust each other. A person enters Informal Contracts on a day to day basis, even when ordering a take away.

The contract with Sky was an Informal Contract because nothing had to be signed for us to start doing the work that was required of us. This means that while this type of contract can not usually be proven in court, both parties trust each other to meet the expectations of the other so a formal contract is not needed.

Emma - Production Log

1^st October 2015

On this first day of the task I made sure that I had a plan for everything that I wanted to do. I finished all of the pre-production in preparation for the next day that I would be out filming. The pre-production that I did to make sure that I was ready were: risk assessment, shotlist, storyboard and the like. This helps with filming the next day to make sure that I am organised and have a clear idea of what I need to make the video that I want.

2^nd October 2015

This is the day that I needed to go out to get the shots for my video. I set out early in the morning to make sure that I could beat the traffic and the rush hour in London but also so that I could film the sun rising during the bus ride to London. I had to change my video idea from the pre-production plan because my friend had to cancel which made me realise that I should always have two ideas in case plans don’t always work out. I headed back to college and then realised that the quality of the shots were poor so I changed cameras and promptly headed to South Bank so that I could replace the shots and have a good quality video. Shots filmed: Boats, Cars, Trains, Buses, Taxi, Bikes.

3^rd October 2015

Today I edited the shots all together into a video that shows what London Transport is all about. I used background music as non-diegetic sound to add more of an atmosphere to the video that I think fits the pacing of the video very well. The video turned out quite well in the end although there are definitely things that I could improve. I like the use of non-diegetic sound in place of diegetic sound because it helps to build a sense of narrative in the video and creates a more immersive experience instead of leaving in the sounds of London traffic which isn't that nice to listen to.

7^th October 2015

On the first day of the Fashion video I sat down and made sure that, once again, I did all of the pre-production like the shotlist, risk assessment etc to make sure that I was prepared for filming. My initial idea was to film a few of my friends and interview them on their favourite fashion trend at the moment and also where their favourite place to shop is. 

8^th October 2015

The idea with my friends fell through as they had to return home on the day that we were due to film so instead I went with my backup option which was Oxford Street because I thought that it would be easy to get a variety of shots like point of view and medium. I tried to subtly film in a few shops on the high street so that I could put the latest trends into my video instead of just filming outside of the shops and getting a lacklustre video.

9^th October 2015

I edited the fashion video and wrote the evaluation. I didn’t think that the video was entertaining enough with the shots alone so used the editing to make the video a little more engaging to watch including adding a filter to make it look more interesting. The colours of the video ended up being blue and pink and reminded me a little bit of Las Vegas so I chose the song Vegas Lights because of that so that it would all stick within one theme. This video was a little bit harder to edit than the transport one because I wasn't sure if I would end up having enough shots to make the time limit but I played with the speed/duration button and the video ended up reaching the time that the brief wanted and still looking just as good.

14th October 2015

I had to finish two sets of pre-production documents on this day because we had the next two days to get the filming done for the next two of our videos so I planned for the Entertainment video and the Architecture video. I wasn't sure what to do for the Entertainment video at first because I wasn't sure what types of places I would be able to film but in the end I came up with the idea of filming in a park because there are so many things that you can do. The Architecture video was a little easier to plan because I knew instantly that I would want to film around Westminster.

15th October 2015

For the Entertainment video I decided to film in Battersea Park so I headed there to film in the afternoon hoping to catch a few people walking their dogs however it poured down with rain so I had to wait until the rain calmed down a little before I could go out and film but this only made sure that I could get a nice few shots the flowers that had been rained on. Personally, my favourite time to go to parks is in the Autumn because of all of the different colours so this worked out perfectly because I was able to film something that I love which I think shows in the quality of this video.

16th October 2015

I filmed the rest of the Entertainment video in the park on this day with my sister. We went into the park because I thought it would be funny to get some shots of her on various pieces of the playground equipment. 

20th October 2015

I set out early in the morning to go and film for my Architecture video. I got the bus to Westminster and filmed from there to South Bank. I chose these places because there are a lot of buildings of contrasting designs so I could show every side of London Architecture. From there I went straight to college to start editing the videos.

21st October 2015

I made sure that I finished all of the editing for the videos on this day. I chose to use non-diegetic sound to add an atmosphere to both of the videos. I chose a slower song for the Entertainment called Into The Wild by Lewis Watson because the shots are quite relaxing and worked better at a chilled pace. I chose the song Ever Fallen in Love by The Buzzcocks for the Architecture video which ended up working really well with the types of shots that I had. The day I filmed the Architecture video was really gloomy and grey so I added a filter to make the shots look brighter. 

12th November 2015

This is the day that I started to edit together the mash up of all four videos that I filmed. I decided to use one song instead of the various songs that I had used in the videos because I felt that none of those songs would really go together into one video without it feeling disorganised and messy so instead I chose one song and paced the video to suit that. I also wanted to make the colours look more in unison with each other so I added a colour corrector so the shots didn't' look completely different.

13th November 2015

I thought I had finished my edit on the previous day but on a second look I realised that there was so much more that I could do to make the video look better and flow easier with the music whilst sticking to the same pace that I had originally wanted. I ended up adding more shots to the video and played with the colouring again because I wanted it to look hazy and faded rather than bright and in your face.

Emma - Final Evaluation

When I first heard about this task I thought that it would be a simple one to pull off but in the end there were a lot of components that needed to be completed in order for the task to be done well. If one video was slacking in content or quality then it meant that the mash up video in the end would not be the best that it could be. For the first video I didn't spend as much time planning as I maybe should have or could have which meant that I was disorganised when the day of filming came meaning that I was not sure which shots I already had or the shots that I needed to re-film making me run around in a panic that I wouldn't get it finished on time. As the project went on and as I kept making the same mistake of not taking time to plan carefully I started to make the right changes and ensure that I was always organised when it came to the day of filming. I think that my videos definitely got better as they went on and I learned from my mistake of under-planning.

In terms of filming, I think most of the things went alright. I carried a trip-pod with me when I filmed for the transport video and it ended up making me grouchy so that I didn't even want to film in the end and I didn't care what the shots looked like so for the next few videos I didn't use a tri-pod at all but instead used the things around me to get a steadier shot. In retrospect, if I could film this first video again I would ask for a smaller tri-pod or even a monopod so that I would get steadier shots all over but I don't think that any of the shots came out too shaky or that couldn't be fixed in editing. Another obstacle I came across while filming was that a lot of the time London is grey and raining which can cause all sorts of difficulties when it comes to filming so I learned to prepare ahead of time for anything that can happen in terms of the weather. 

My editing skills improved a lot from the first video to the last as I learned a lot of new tips and tricks in how to make the video look a lot cooler and feel like it had a narrative instead of just a series of shots that I threw together in Premiere. If I were to do this project again, I would probably try to do something a lot different than the videos that I produced this time for example adding voice overs or cool transitions and effects but I definitely think that these videos are still just as good. 

Overall, the videos and the mash up video are of good quality and entertain and intrigue the audience so they all fulfil the brief to a standard that I am more than happy with. There are things that I would improve, starting with time management and trying to be more creative, but the quality of work that I have produced is the most that I was able to provide at that moment.

Feedback Sheet:

Emma - Mash Up Video