Creating Score For Cliche

Using a scene from Cliche with minimal sound, I used Logic to begin creating my own score for the scene. Unfortunately, I had some technical difficulties whilst scripting the score so I couldn't do everything I wanted to. 

Before the technical difficulties, I created a new track called 'software instrument' meaning that I could use the computers keyboard to play my own sounds for the scene. Logic has a large library of sounds that fitted my scene well, being a horror scene. I found sounds that were like wind chimes and even a sound called 'fear noise'. After finding these sounds and experimenting with them, logic played up meaning I couldn't record them.

I managed to used some of the loops that were on logic to begin creating my score, I added an intense, deep, drum beat throughout to keep the tension throughout the scene, it sort f=of reminds me of a heart beat. I also added a fast, eery piano loop that acted like a build up to the moment when the characters found their dead friend. I faded the piano sounds in and out so that it sounded more fitting, to do this I used a shortcut which was pressing 'A', adding anchor points to the track and dragging down the section I wanted to fade.

Extracting Data

At the beginning of out politics project we asked people around the college some questions in the form of a questionnaire. 

Here is a link to the original questionnaire.

Everyone in the class asked as many people as they could and then we all typed our individual results into a group table to get a wide range of data to extract information from.

The majority of people access their political information online, shortly followed by a similar amount of people who don't access political information at all. These are results that I would've expected as the age demographic we asked which was people of ages between 16-25, use the internet for as much as they can rather than watching television or physically reading a news paper. The internet is the most convenient, immediate and free way to access information at any time. Also I'm not surprised that many people don't access political information at all as most teenagers probably find politics boring and feel as they wouldn't have an important influence when it comes down to making decisions for the country.

Looking at the amount of people we asked who don't access any political information at all, I am not surprised that over 40 people, which is the majority of the people we asked, don't support a political party at all. There are under 10 people who do support a political party and 1 person who can't decide whether they do or not, however this 'undecided' vote seems to me that the person doesn't support a political party because if they did they would have said yes. Again, I think that the majority of the young people don't support a party as they find it boring accessing political information, therefore they aren't well informed about a specific party to say that they definitely support one.

When looking specifically at the difference between the amount of males and females who support a party I expected there to be more of a contrast. The results are almost exactly the same in fact. I am not sure whether I expected more males or more females to support a political party but I would've expected one gender to be more interested in politics. Perhaps the results would've been different if we asked people from specific courses that we decided. For example I would expect the majority of Sport and Beauty students to not support a party but I would expect many more people on the Business or English course to support a party.

Extracting data from this table was more difficult than I expected it to be. Because the data was recorded by a whole class of people, everyone had their own method of inputing the data. Some difficulties occurred when a question with an answer that should've been a number from 1-5 'How much do you know about politics? (Rate 1-5)' was answered with "a good amount" because of badly recorded data like this, it meant that I couldn't create a able straight from the spreadsheet as it didn't recognise it as reliable data.

If we were to do a group collection of data again, extracting data at the end would be more successful if we decided at the beginning that everyone must input the data in the same way. This way, we would be able to make graphs directly front the spreadsheet which would saved time and make the information more reliable. 

Poster Review

Above is my finished, printed poster. It turned out just as it looked on the screen in high resolution. Overall I am happy with my design however I would alter some aspects of it. The text is the main issue for me, I feel that a Bauhaus font would've looked better as the font I used looks a little bit basic and boring, almost as though I just used the original font that was preset. 

Also the alignment of the text could be slightly better, for example the 'find' is aligned with the edge but the 'visit' isn't aligned with the bottom edge so could be aligned better.

Introduction To Flash

Flash can be used to make very simple or extremely detailed and complex animations and moving images. It uses different frames to create and image of something moving when we press play.

The typical FPS (frame per second) used in film is 24, we are not sure why this is, it's just the FPS that works best for the audience. However for the short and simple animation I created in Flash for my introduction, I decided to half this to 12 FPS so you can see the progress I made.

Firstly I set up my keyframe. The units of measurements used for this should always be pixels, so I made my key frame 600x400 pixels, however I can change this as I go along if I feel it needs altering. When creating the key frame I also decided to make the stage colour (background) blue, instead of using white, as the colour makes it look more exciting. 

In my first frame I used the oval tool to create my first image, which is the centre of a flower that I will begin to build up in the next frames. I filled the oval with yellow and then I copied it so that it would stay the same for each frame.

To create the next frame I clicked insert>timeline>key frame so that the centre of the flower would appear in the same place as the frame before. I used the pencil tool to draw a petal for my flower, I used the smooth pencil mode s that the petal would look smooth and neat. I then copied the petal so that it would be the same on the rest of the layers.

Each time I created a new layer I did it the same way as I did the first time by doing insert>timeline>key frame so that my frame looked that same as previous, and then I pasted the petal and added it to the flower until it was finally complete. It took me 7 frames to complete my flower.

Here is my complete, short and simple animation that I created on my first time using Flash.

Creating A Film Schedule

To make sure you do everything that needs to be done for your film process to run smoothly, you need to create a schedule that you can refer to regularly to see what you have completed and what you still need to do. Some of the key points I decided I needed to include in my pre-production schedule were:

Recce

Casting

Re-through

Transport

Shot list

Script locked

Storyboarding

Availability

Design

Crew

Risk Assessment

I looked at a range of different style schedules online so I could decide the best way to develop mine.

I think that the schedule above would be successful if there was less information inclued. It would be clearer and easier to follow if the schedule covered less people or if the timings weren't so specifc, by this, I mean that every 15 minutes of every persons day has been covered. If the schedules was made in half hourly or hourly sections, there wouldn't be as many sections therefore making it less crowded.

A good point about this schedule though is the use of colour. For example, if you want to see where 'reading' occurs you automatically know that you will find it in a dark green section. So I learnt that if there is going to be a lot of different activities in a schedule then colour coding each activity is easier for the person reading it, especially if the person reasing the schedule isn't the person who created it.

Above, is my own pre-production schedule. On the left you can see the 'to do' list, including everything I want to get done in the next three weeks I have to complete the pre-production stage of my film. Each week, I have two moving image lessons, so you can see I have separated the schedule into week 1-3 and then I've broken it down further so that each week shows the two lessons that I have. I have dedicated each lesson to one of the things on my 'to do' list. So that I know which activity I'll be doing that lesson, I've filled the block in red, to show that it's still to do. When I have completed a task I will change the block to green, then I will be able to clearly see that the red blocks are the tasks that I still need to complete. 

I plan to stick to this schedule as much as I can, however if I have any free time I will try and complete the tasks if it makes sense to do so at that specific time. If my schedule is unsuccesfull, then I will update it and also evaluate the changed I make.

Getting Teenagers To Vote- Political Campaign

Encouraging teenagers to vote can be difficult as politics always seems to be a boring subject that isn't really spoken about in day to day teenage life. However, if 18 year olds have the right to vote then why shouldnt they? It's time to encourage young people to make use of the vote that they've been allowed.

What are young people interested in?
No matter what style of genre, all young people enjoy listening to and engaging in music as it's something that you don't have to focus hard on, it's available whenever you want it and it  can make you feel happy and more settled in situations. 

How can music be used to get young people to vote?
There are a few different ways that music could be used to get young people interested in voting. Students from any course could work along side the music students to write a song that will appeal to everyone, that can be played in class and around college to enforce the message of the vote.
Another idea of using music could be to build up a college choir that could sing the voting song. If the debut of the song is well advertised around the college by the media students and arranged to happen at a time when a lot of students will be free to come and watch then groups of students may decide together that, if they are of age, they will remember or decide to vote.

How can the act of voting in the election be made interesting?
Political party broadcasts can be pretty boring and very unappealing to a younger audience, so if students from around the college from courses like media and performing arts could work together to produce a sort of 'parody' of political broadcasts, that still deliever the correct information, then it may add some comical value. Also, if students see their friends getting involved it makes the idea of voting more appealing to them as teeangers often follow the crowd.
The thought of having to leave the house and make a special journey to a specific venue to place a vote may put a lot of young people off of voting as it may be out of their way, they could feel intimidated by some of the older voters or they just can't fit it into their schedule. If there was a place in college where just college students could go to place their vote, a place where everyone feels as though they're of the same value and worth and that's easy to get to, college students may be more likely to vote in that instance.
Voting online would also be a good idea as all students in college have access to a computer and the internet and feel comfortable and at ease when they're using a computer. If college students knew that they could place their vote and it would only take a few seconds, most students wouldn't hesitate.

Which media formats would work?
Posters are always a good way of presenting information to teenagers as they can be big and bold. They are easier to look at than leaflets as all of the information is easy to read and to the point, rather than having to pick up a booklet and read a lot of detailed information. If there was a poster on the wall with key information, most students would read it without even realising.
As all college students use computers everyday at college, it would make sense to have some online content. Around the time of the general election in may, the Moodle home page could have a big, bold notice reminding students to vote. Also on this home page there would be clear links to pages where the students can find out more information.
Remaining along the lines of internet content, as well as the Moodle information, all students at the college could recieve a reminder email along with voting and party information that they are free to read at any time.

What would the style, content and information be like?
The posters and online information would have to be colourful and eye catching as dull and drab colours aren't very uplifting for teenagers and it enforces the idea that making a vote is boring, therefore colour must be used. It would be good to use images of popular famous faces or students around college as they will be familar to the young people at college therefore interesting and engaging them more. The information must be brief but clear and important. All that will be needed is information about when and where the voting will take place and just a few sentences on what each party aims to do, incase some students are completely unaware.

How would I go about researching this to find out..
What people at college currently think of politics/voting?
This is something I have already done in college, I produced a questionaire and asked students around college questions about their knowledge on politics, here are the results.
How to get young people interested in politics/voting?
As I know what courses Bath College has on offer, I can make an educated guess on what young people in the college are interested in. For example, if a voting campaign was musical then it should interest music students. If the campaign was promoted with lots of art work then the art students would pay attention to it or if lots of figures, facts and statistics were given then the business students may want to get invloved. As a teenager, I know what teenagers are interested in meaning I know the things that would grab their attention.
What media I could create to promote voting?
If there was a survey on the Moodle homepage asking students what they look at regularly e.g. internet, blogs, social media, magazines, tv, books, I would know where to put the information about my campaign. Which ever media format gets the kost attention from teenagers would be the best place to promote my campaign.

Inside Llewyn Davis Podcast

This is my podcast where I talk about the soundtrack of the film 'Inside Llewyn Davis' enjoy!