Research Audit

Research audit

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A02 - Lighting Workshop

Artificial Light includes Top lighting, High and Low key lighting, under-lighting, silhouettes and gels. Good lighting is important to creating a successful audio visual piece because:

• It would make the overall video more effective.
• Lighting establishes mood
• So we can see the subject.

Natural Light includes Sunlight and Moonlight. The risk of relying upon natural lighting is:

• It is unreliable
• Doesn't give a very affective picture at the end of it.

High Key - High-key lighting is a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal well with high contrast ratios, but now is used to suggest an upbeat mood. It is often used in sitcoms and comedies.

Low Key - Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It is a necessary element in creating a chiaroscuro effect. Traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses a key light, a fill light, and a back light for illumination. Low-key lighting often uses only one key light, optionally controlled with a fill light or a simple reflector.

Under Lighting - The approach of lighting a subject from a point below the subjects in the scene.

Top Lighting - This is a light that is shown above the subject's head.

Silhouette - A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Silhouette images may be created in any artistic media, but the tradition of cutting portraits from black card has continued into the 21st century.

A colour gel, also known as lighting gel or simply gel, is a transparent colored material that is used in theatre, photography, videography and cinematography to colour light and for colour correction. Modern gels are thin sheets of polycarbonate or polyester, placed in front of a lighting fixture in the path of the beam.

Gels (Blue) - Blue gels make the scene and the subject look as if they are cold which makes it more effective.

Gels (Red) - Red gels make the scene and the subject look as if they are hot and warm which makes the scene appear more effective.

Primary Research Method - Questionnaire

AO2 - The Advantages and Disadvantages of Video Cameras

Flip Ultra HD

Basic Features: The Flip UltraHD camcorder combines Flip Video's signature shoot-and-share simplicity with the power of vivid, vibrant HD video. With 120 minutes of record time, you'll never miss another minute again. And because of UltraHD's pocket-sized portability, you'll truly be able to capture HD video anytime, anywhere.

The Good: The Flip Ultra HD is a great all round video camera. It performs fantastically on a bright sunny day, capturing details well and with its stellar 50 frames per second – panning was smooth and focused. The size of the Ultra HD has got to be its biggest selling point – it’s a tiny device that fits in most pockets. Connection to PC or Mac is also a breeze and the included software is fantastic.

The Bad: One of the biggest differentiators between the Flip and other pricier cameras is the lens. While the Ultra HD performs fantastically in bright daylight, ambient lighting causes a few issues, the video comes out a little noisy and colours are dim and yellowed. Also, as the zoom is digital only so images lose quality the further in you go.

The Bottom Line: I think that this is ideal for a student film maker because then they will be able to make decent quality videos for youtube and they will also be able to create high-definition movies. The Flip Ultra HD is very reliable and brilliant value for money even if you can't afford an expensive one. With high frame rates and good quality image stabilisation it’s definitely the best Flip to date.

Rating: Overall, I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 just because of the poor video quality.

Image:

Sony HDR-CX11SE

Basic Features: Sony's impressive new HDR-CX11 camcorder is further proof that the Mpeg-4/H.264-based high-definition camcorder format is now the most affordable route to HD home video. Superb video and still image quality, elegant looks and advanced features. Full HD recording on Memory Stick™, Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens, 5.1 surround sound, Face Detection and Smile Shutter.

The Good:  The dial on the front of the camera offers manual control over focus and exposure. This is a very useful facility, although the touch screen operation is just as quick and effective. Other notable features include Face Detection and Smile Shutter. This is useful when shooting in the CX11's stills mode in that the camera will detect when the subject is smiling and grab still images at precisely that point. It’s surprisingly well specified considering that this is Sony’s cheapest AVCHD camera. The 1/4in sensor diagonal is typical for the price but the 25x zoom range is impressive.

The Bad: The lack of a mic input and headphone input will encourage some potential buyers to look elsewhere.Those who like to experiment with advanced settings will be disappointed by the lack of progressive scan shooting.

The Bottom Line: Overall, I think that the Sony is the ideal video camera for student film makers because it would make the user feel as if they were creating a blockbuster. The battery liife is slighly better than the Flip by 3 minutes but that 2 minutes could come in very handy.

Rating: 4.1 out of 5 even though the price could exceed to 220 pounds.

Image:

Canon MD205E

Basic Features: The Canon MD205 is a miniDV camcorder with a Wide High Resolution 16:9 system,, Advanced zoom that offers up to 36x the magnification, DIGIC DV image processor for bright and crisp images, new LCD video light for poorly-lighted settings and a new multi-angle remote control for a wider control and flexibility in video production.

The Good: A big, fat 32x zoom doesn’t hurt either, although the on-board electronic stabilisation is no substitute for a real tripod. If people do start sniggering, you could point out the modern 2.7-inch LCD that reverses to illuminate close-ups, and demonstrate its funky digital effects.

The Bad: MiniDV tapes are pricier than memory cards these days, and heavier too – the MD205 weighs in at 380g.

The Bottom Line: A nicely built basic camcorder with excellent sound and good video. I would recommend this to somebody who is buying their first camcorder, and who wants it for home use. It is easy to use and has some more advanced features if you want to experiment. If you plan on doing a lot of recording you will want to buy a spare battery.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5 even though it has a low battery life.

Image:

Overall, I would choose the Canon because it is a reasonable price and you could do quite a lot of practical video making if you are a student. Another reason why I would recommend this video camera to a student film maker is because as it is a fairly small camera, it would still do all of the qualities that wanted to be done by a student film maker.

A02 - Advantages/Disadvantages of Final Cut Pro over iMovie

Final Cut Pro: Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors. The software allows users to log and transfer videos and still images onto a hard drive (internal or external), where it can be edited, processed, and output to a wide variety of formats.


iMovie: iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. 


Advantages

1. Final Cut Pro has a lot of editing features in comparison to iMovie. However, this could make it more difficult for the user to use as it may be a bit to complex. For example: Effects -> Video Filters -> Border -> Basic Border.

2. You could add more clips onto your timeline in comparison to iMovie. On iMovie you can only add 18 clips whereas you can have as many as you want on Final Cut Pro. The image below is of a clip being added to the timeline on Final Cut Pro.

3. Final Cut Pro has more precise sounding which means that you can have as many soundtracks as you want or need in comparison to iMovie. The image below shows how and where this can be done.

Disadvantages

1. Final Cut Pro takes a lot more time to fully compose a whole production in comparison to iMovie. iMovie is mainly used to edit footage and still images.

2. iMovie is easier to understand whereas Final Cut Pro is a more complex user to understand. The boxes in iMovie is where you add your clips and still images, "Drag your clips here" section is your timeline which is where your overall production will come together and the media section is where you can add audio via GarageBand and the default sounds already on the program.

3. Both Final Cut Pro and iMovie can  sometimes corrupts your file if it isn't saved properly which would then lead to all of your work becoming lost. To save your work, you should do this every 5 minutes, just to make sure that your work doesn't corrupt.

My Skills Audit

Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels Analysis

Strengths: The use of Different camera shots look more effective. For example; the extreme close ups of the poker chips being twiddled about.

Weaknesses: To much looking into the camera when it wasn't needed. For example; the bit where the actor spun the poker chip around on the table.

Opportunities: The combination of Exterior natural lighting and Interior artificial lighting worked well because it made the final piece better to watch as there was no interruptions.

Threats: The rough ground made it difficult for us to use the dolly for the tri-pod which kept making the picture jump about. This is shown when the introduction was shown where the two actors are playing poker against each other.

Evaluation of unit 2 advert