Digital News | Project Evaluation

When starting this unit, I was a little nervous after doing the documentary unit last year. However, I knew the group I was in was a good one and I was confident the unit would go well. As we got further into the project, I started to enjoy the group work and the development of our idea.

What worked?

My favourite part about this project was being the director for such an entertaining production, as it meant that I had input in all of the decisions that we made. As a group we worked really well and the reasons for this were:

• Communication
• We all felt like we could talk to each other about things that we didn't particularly like.
• We all listened to each others thoughts and opinions.
• We made sure everyone had a say in the decisions we made.
• This helped within our production as we knew we could give our ideas and feedback and we could work around them as a team. We never felt unheard as individuals which gave us the confidence to speak up when we felt the need to. 
• Idea Development
• Every team meeting, we managed to develop our idea even further.
• We always had new extra ideas to add onto what we already had.
• We were all very open about everyones ideas.
• This helped within our production because we were never shutting down someones idea at first glance. During the editing, when we were all together, someone would come up with an idea and we would trial it see what it looked like. This helped within the development of the edit as we were able to see what things worked and what didn't without a big disagreement. 
• Individual Roles
• After team meetings, we were able to go away and focus on our own roles.
• For me it was the writing of the script and also the thought of what each shot would roughly look like.
• We all trusted each other with our own roles, so it made it easier for us to focus on our own job.
• This helped within our production because it meant Nisserin and I could put a lot of attention and effort into the writing of the script which affected the outcome of it. It also meant we didn't have to worry about the others doing their job. This also meant we got more work done over a short period of time.
• Time Management
• We came up with a strong idea from the very beginning.
• We chose to film some of our video earlier than our shoot week.
• We used up most of our free time having team meetings which then helped develop our idea in a relaxed way.
• This helped within our production as we spent a lot of time planning our video in detail, which helped towards the script and the structure. After the shooting days, we had time to write the articles for the website, and also we had spare time to watch the rough cut as a group and change things we didn't like or add something we wanted to try. Pre-production we were able to give our full attention to the planning and development of our idea and the writing. Post-production we were able to give our full attention to other important tasks (blogs & articles) while also viewing the video a few times after all the changes.
• Organisation
• We planned out our shoot days very early on and booked the equipment once we knew when we were actually shooting.
• Whenever we had a meeting we had an agenda of what we needed to discuss.
• Due to the short turn around, we knew organisation with the shooting days was key, so we knew what and when we were filming everything on the day.
• This helped within our production as it definitely helped with the lack of stress we thankfully didn't go through, and also it meant we could be harsh with ourselves on wasting time.

Within this project I'm really happy with the outcome and I am happy with the work I had to do. I put a lot of attention and focus on writing the script and the outcome of that was really good. Also, as director I feel like I did a good job keeping everyone on track of what we've been doing, and also I made sure everyone knew what they were doing. I made sure I was organised within all the work and as a group we made sure all of the work was distributed equally.

What didn't work?

There weren't too many things that didn't work within our project, but there were a few challenges that we had to face, these were:

• Location
• When it came to the live package, we had to change our location from outside to inside, due to the weather. This was slightly challenging for us as we hadn't really discussed where we would film otherwise before hand. However, luckily there was a room available, and it was good for our live package.
• The room was fairly small which meant that we had to move a few things around in order to fit everything in to the screen, but we managed to do it and the outcome was good.
• Editing
• During this, there were a few things that we tried but they didn't really work.
• There was a reference to a viral video - 'Pen Pineapple Apple Pen' - and originally we wanted a shot where Josh held a Pineapple and a pen and danced along with the music. Once this was edited into the video, we decided as a group that we didn't think it worked and it didn't flow along with the video. 
• We then decided to use a shot of the original viral video, and it worked much better than our original idea.
• There was also a reference to a character that went viral quite a few years ago - 'Fred' - and originally it was just within the script. Throughout the editing process we decided to have an image of Fred pop up on screen.
• We tried this but we didn't really like it, instead we tried putting Fred's face on two other students in the background. We all preferred that and liked the outcome.
• Contributors
• There was one point where we almost had a problem with our contributors.
• Our co-presenter (live reporter) George Wing had to go back home the weekend before our shoot day, and he wasn't sure whether he would be back for the shoot day. We naturally started talking about things we could do to save our live package, like one of us be the presenter or we try and film on a different day.
• Luckily George decided to come back for the shoot day which was a big help to us.

What did I learn? 

Within this unit, I have learnt:

• Communication is key in a group.
• If you don't express your own opinions then your not going to be happy with the outcome of the video. In order to get an equal say in what is decided and what goes into the video, you need to speak up and be honest. 
• Without communication, your opinions aren't going to be heard and also your more likely to struggle within the group which will then affect the outcome of your work.
• Luckily, in our group, the communication was very important and we made sure to discuss certain topics while giving our opinions across - even if it meant that someones idea wouldn't be used.
• This then shows in our final outcome, and we're all really happy with how everything has worked out.
• The work should be equally contributed within the group.
• If you only have one person doing all of the work, then your not contributing your ideas and opinion. Also it's not fair on that one person being weighed down with all of the work.
• If you distribute the work to everyone in the group, you get more work done in a short period of time. You also only have to focus on a few things which decreases the amount of stress that could come with doing a lot of work.
• This is what we did, and it helped make our group stronger while also giving us time to work on blogs. We were able to focus on one task and that kept us all happy.

Overall, I've really enjoyed working on this unit with my group members. Not only have we done the work and developed it well, we've also had fun during the process. We work really well together and I'm really happy with the outcome of our unit.

Rough Cut & Fine Cut | Development

Rough Cut

Josh had edited a rough cut, which he then showed us as a group. He had told him our opinions on it, which were positive, also we mentioned a few things that might not have worked and extra additions that might look good.

After the group feedback, we showed Helen our main video and our promo video.

Main Video

• She really liked the sound and the editing of the video.
• The music on some parts of the video were slightly louder than the sound of the presenter, so we need to look into that.
• The interview slows down the pace of the video so we need to try and find a way to make it more upbeat - it needs to fit with the rest of the video.
• Maybe add extra silly graphics.
• Make it more conversational - not question after the other.
• The video is very fast paced, meaning it was hard to take everything in which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, the feedback we got from Helen was very positive and we were all happy with what she had suggested. 

Promo Video

• She really liked the silliness of the video.
• She thought it matched our brand perfectly and also she enjoyed watching it.

Overall, the feedback we got from Helen was very positive and we were really happy that she enjoyed it.

Fine Cut

After the rough cut viewing, we all met up in a group and worked on some of the colour correcting. We also added a few extra funny references in the interview to make it more upbeat and entertaining.

Once that was done, we showed Helen the final outcome for both videos. Overall, Helen really liked the video and thought it flowed really well. She mentioned that while watching it she didn't even think about the improvements to be made because it all flowed together and she was genuinely watching the video. This made us all very happy, and we didn't need to do anything extra to the videos.

References to Viral Videos | Development

Within our video we referenced several viral videos and images that we found quite funny. Here is a list of the references we have made within the video:

• Charlie Bit My Finger - this is a sound bite of "ouch Charlie" and it occurs when Josh lists off the different viral videos. 
• David Went To The Dentist - this is also a sound bite of "Is this real life?" and it occurs at the same point in the video. 
• Pen Pineapple Apple Pen - we have referenced this quite a lot throughout the video. We have a pineapple on the table in our interview as well the pineapple in our studio set. We also mention it in the list of viral videos, the interview with Katie Joslin and the recap. 
• Damn Daniel - this is a reference to a viral video from the beginning of this year and it's mentioned in the list of videos. 
• X Factor Intro - to introduce Katie Joslin we decided to use our own X Factor style intro with the voice over. To make it more interesting and funny we decided to make it sound like the voice over person was drunk (he gradually slurs his words). We found it funny and we hope the audience will too. 
• Shia LeBeouf - the video where he says "do it" has been added to the edit step of our step by step guide. Since he says it against a green screen Josh has made him sit in the lower left corner of the screen. 
• Bottle Flip Challenge - not only is the viral bottle flip challenge our challenge in the live package, it is also mentioned after it when Josh takes a sip of the drink. Since this is quite recent we decided to use it as people will know about it. 
• Fred - during the recap Josh says "she can't even flip a bottle for Fred's sake" and this is a reference to a character that went viral years ago. To make it even funnier we replaced some of the audience members faces with Fred's. 
• Bye Felicia - to end the episode Josh says this which is a reference to an Internet meme from the film "Flick Friday". 

Throughout Katie's interview we made small jokes by having images appear on the screen. These images relate to the word she or Josh have said. Here is a list of what we have on the screen:

• "Saw" - emoji of the two eyes. 
• "T" - a tea cup. 
• "K" - the letter k appears. 
• "C" - the letter c appears. 
• "Hobby" - the hobbit. 

We chose to make all of these references because they match the topic of our episode, but also we know people will understand them and that helps add a humorous element to our video. I think they work really will within the script and the visuals and I'm sure the audience will understand why we have used them. 

Editing | Development

At the beginning of our project, Josh had asked to be the editor and we were all happy with that choice. Throughout the development of the brand, Josh had not only created the website, but he had created a few graphics to go in the video itself (bumpers, title sequence, outro).

• Once he had created these he showed them to the group and we all really liked what he had come up with - they matched our brand perfectly. 
• He also then produced a few extra graphics that would appear in the live package and elsewhere in the video. These graphics really bought our video to life and made it look professionally done in an informal way. 

For the green screen scripted parts of our video, we wanted a set in the background to make it look like our very own studio. We didn't want to shy away from showing behind the scenes equipment and scenes in our video, so we wanted a few cameras and lighting rigs to be seen within the set.

Josh created a set for the background and showed the group to get our opinions.

• The colour scheme of our brand was very clear within the whole set.
• It looks like a studio (almost like a chat show) which is the vibe we were going for.
• You can see some behind the scenes equipment like the cameras and the lights which makes the scene look more personal to the brand. 
• We all really liked what he had come up with and thought it would work really well throughout our video. 

Once all of the filming had been completed, Josh went away and edited the video. We then met up as a group and he showed us what he had done. As always, we really liked what he had done, but there were a few things that we mentioned like:

• The colour of the clips, 
• A few extra things that we should add (for example; extra hashtag ideas)
• Alternative shots for certain clips, we all agreed, didn't really work. 

~~~

Overall, Josh did a really good job on editing the video and we all really liked what he had come up with. The music he chose worked really well, all of the cuts made were smooth and everything seemed to flow really well.

Celebrity Yak & Viral Yak | Research

My two categories, that I will be writing articles for, on the website are 'Celebrity Yak' and 'Viral Yak'.

Celebrity Yak

When I first started researching this category, I found it quite hard and difficult to find something to turn into an article. Celebrity news is always outdated very quickly, which meant that I had to wait last minute to find my topic and write about it.

At the time of research, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had announced that were getting a divorce. Naturally I though this would be a good topic to write about, seeing as it affected everyone in different ways, but timing wise it would've been long forgotten about by the time the article was released. However, I did finally find a topic that it was odd and I thought I could make it into something funny and entertaining - Justin Bieber's used pub milk glass being sold on eBay.

During the writing of this article, I found it quite hard to not copy other articles pieces of information. Due to our brand being quite conversational and laid-back I could easily add in conversation starters, but I didn't want too much factual information in it. The balance between factual info and conversation had to fit our brand, so I made sure not to ramble on too much about what actually happened.
I found finding the information challenging as, with any piece of news, many people had already covered it. But due to the brand style, it was fun turning it into something different and suited to our target audience.

Viral Yak

The challenge of finding recent news for the previous category was just as challenging for this one. Viral videos are always appearing on the internet, pretty much everyday, so I had to make sure I didn't write about an outdated video.

During the time of developing our brand and script, a viral video was making its way onto everyones screens - Pen Pineapple Apple Pen. We had referenced it quite a few times in our video, but I felt like it should be talked about further in a blog post due to the success it gained.
Luckily, when writing the article the video was still being seen by everyone and it was still very popular. This article, I felt, was a lot easier to write about as I had seen the video multiple times myself and also I had played some of the gaming apps that I mentioned.

I hadn't looked into other articles about this video as I knew quite a lot about it in the first place. The video matched our brand perfectly, which meant it was fun to write about and I found it fairly easy. The one thing that I found challenging was keeping a balance of opinions, and trying not to be too biased. I thought this would be a good conversation topic so I made sure to involve the audience within my article.

~~~

Overall, I found finding the stories quite challenging as I wasn't sure whether they would go out of date really quickly, but writing the articles was fun as I was able to experiment with different styles and different ways to interact with the audience.

After Effects ~ Text | Workshop

In this workshop we experimented with moving texts through After Effects and also we experimented with Cinema 4D.

To start off we created a text layer on After Effects and experimented with the colours of it. This included adding a gradient to it and also adding a border along the text.

We then duplicated the layer a few times and made it move in and out of frame in a flying motion. We added a few effects in order to make the transition smooth and it turned out really well. This was useful to learn as I am now able to create moving texts which can help me with other units.

We then started to experiment with the Cinema 4D software. The same sort of technique and tools were applied when using this software, however it helped make our text look more advanced.

Firstly, we started off with our text and from there we experimented with the thickness, the font type, the size and also the different type of styles that were available. Then we found that there are four different screens within this program, and each screens are very helpful. The main screen in the top left shows your product in 3D, the other screens shows your product in 2D form.

 

As we developed our text, we were then able to add lights. This gave our text a more professional look and also it made it look like it was actually shot in a studio with real lights. When adding the lights, the four different screens were very useful, as they all enabled the lights to move in different directions. This meant that we knew where the lights were, how far away from the text they were and also how wide they were.

Fergus then told us how to give it a certain effect, and we placed the metal effect on our text. This obviously gave our text a metallic look, but also it worked really nicely against the lights. Once we did that we had to adjust the lights and make sure they were lighting up the text nicely, evenly and most importantly, the way we wanted to be lit up.

To start the text moving, we added a camera onto the workspace. With the 4 different screens we were able to see what the camera saw, as well as seeing the position of the camera itself. We then learnt how to set a key frame at the beginning and end in order to make it move.

This workshop was really useful as it will help me with other units in the future. I'm not the editor for this current project, but in the next unit I will probably be using a lot of text, so it was great to find out how to animate it.

Filming ~ Day 2 | Production

Within our second shoot day, we planned to film the studio bit, the live package and the promo video.
We started this shoot by setting up for the studio part of our show.

Studio
The chairs had been stacked and moved out of the way before our shooting day so we had more time to set up the equipment.
To fill the time, Nisserin and Ida set up the green screen while myself and Josh set up the lights. We had booked out the two LED lighting kits so we had the two wides on the green screen and the two spots on the presenter. Once the green screen was up, Nisserin set up the Sony camera and Ida sorted out the sound from the clip mic which was on Josh.

We had previously typed in the script on the autocue, but we did decide to shoot the script in different parts. This is so it would be easier for Josh to read the script and also it will help a lot when it comes to editing. Before actually shooting, we did a few run-throughs so we could adjust the speed of the text to fit the pace of the script.
We experimented with the lighting of the shot, because, at first, Josh looked a bit dark. We also went through the settings on the camera, which helped when getting the perfect lighting. We eventually had to angle the lights and make them taller so the glare from Josh's glasses wasn't too harsh and also to light his face.

For sound we used the clip mic, and we connected it to the camera for editing purposes. For Ida, this was a good thing as she could easily monitor the sound through the headphones. When filming, we took the script one part at a time and made sure to shoot each part more than once. We did this as some takes weren't the best and also it would give Josh a variety of different shots to choose from when editing.

Overall, the shoot went really well and after looking back on some of the footage, the green screen looks well lit which will be good for editing.

Live
Originally, we had planned to film in the car park as the script said that they were outside the Student Yak studios. However, on the day of filming it was raining which meant we had to film inside in Production Room 1.

We thought it would be a good idea to do a run-through of the live, after stacking the chairs and making some room for the Sony camera. It was beneficial for George as he had a chance to remember what we had rehearsed previously and also we were able to adjust the camera position and any props that aren't in the right place. This rehearsal was filmed just in case our actual live piece went wrong.
The static and the hand held cameras were set up:

• Static camera ~ wide shot of the challenge (can see the whole scene from presenter to the audience)
• Hand held camera ~ close up of George and the competition (moves within the challenge)

The audience members came in and I told everyone what was going to happen, and also I reminded George to keep an eye on Josh for the timings of the challenge and me for the timings of the live as a whole.

The live turned out really well, although we did end 8 seconds earlier, but that can be adjusted during the editing process. Overall, we were really happy with the outcome of the live piece.

Promo

Since the green screen was up and the lights were in the correct spots, we decided to shoot the promo video at the same time. We wanted to film in front of the green screen so we can have a kitchen type background to match our idea. 

Nisserin bought in an apron and oven mitts, while I brought in a baking tray so we could stick the printed social media logos on it. We had also previously typed out the promo script on the autocue app, meaning we had more time to focus on the filming of it.

It didn't take us long to film but we did take several shots of everything just in case. 

Overall, we were all really happy with the way shooting went for all three sections of the video.

Risk Assessment ~ Shoot 2

Here is the risk assessment for our second day of filming - the live package and the green screen:

Promo | Development

For our promo video, we wanted it to be in the style of a 1960s advert. This will be through the music, our set & props and the way we structure our script. We thought this idea would be funny and it would also show the style of our brand.

We had a few ideas of what we wanted it to look like, and discussed as a group what should be said. This is what we came up with:

We wanted it to be really cheesy and almost like a washing up liquid advert. We had the idea that Josh would look like a housewife while also looking like a workingman. He will wear an apron and oven mitts, and he'll also be holding a baking tray with social media logos on it. We'll also be showing a few clips of our production through an old vintage tv screen. 

We'll be filming this in front of the green screen after our studio shoot. It will be in front of the green screen so the background can be of an old looking kitchen. This will add to the humour of our brand.

Filming ~ Day 1 | Production

Within our first shoot day we planned to film our interview with Katie and our step by step guide.
We started by setting up our set for the interview.

Setting Up
The day before the shoot we decided to take the two sofas and two tables from the baseroom into Lecture Room 2 to arrange our set, while also stacking the chairs that were already in the room. This gave us more time to set up the lights and camera before the interview.
Our cameras consisted of:

• Static camera ~ close-up of Katie ~ operated by me
• Camera on tracking dolly ~ wide shot of both Josh and Katie ~ operated by Nisserin

Within our set, we wanted to show off our brand so we made sure to get our branded cue cards in the shot as well as the mugs with our logo on them. We then wanted to show some references to viral videos:

• On the clapper board (in the background of the shot) we wrote the numbers '9', '10' and '21' as the scene number and number of takes - this is in reference to a viral vine. 
• We also had a pineapple in the shot - this is in reference to the viral video 'Pen Pineapple Apple Pen'. 

When setting up the lighting, two of us sat in as stand ins - this is so we could have an accurate representation of how the shot will be lit. We deliberated a lot over the lighting and what look we wanted. The shot, we had decided, needed to be warm and have an almost comfortable feeling - we experimented with the tungsten light filters and agreed that they were perfect for the shot. To add to the comfort of the shot we added a lamp, found from the library, and angled it towards where Katie would be sitting. We felt this made the set casual and it would give a good comfortable vibe during the interview.

Step-by-Step Guide

Once the set was all done, we had some spare time so we decided to film some of our step by step guide. The last step, we had planned to be shot with the set so it made sense to film that first. We had two cameras:

• Static camera ~ midshot of Josh ~ operated by me
• Camera on tracking dolly ~ wide shot of Josh ~ operated by Nisserin

We wanted Josh to start by looking at the static camera, and then, after the cut, he would look at the camera on the dolly. This was we get a variety of shots and also we feel it will be a smooth transition from one shot to the other. Josh wore a clip mic for this which was
recorded from the zoom, operated by Ida. 

Interview

When we started the interview with Katie, we made sure not to keep her too long as we wanted the shoot to be comfortable and not tiring and long. With the lights set up, we only needed to re-focus the cameras and put them in the right position. The clip mic was placed onto Katie and the mics on the cameras were turned on so we could get some ambient sound. Then once all of this was checked, we started the interview.

There were a few cuts during the interview where feedback was given to Josh and Katie and to check if everyone was happy with either the cameras or the sound. Josh asked a few more questions than the ones we planned, just in case we didn't have enough. Once everything was asked, we ended the interview and said goodbye to Katie.

We decided that Josh would import the footage from the camera onto his laptop and we would then watch the interview back.

• This gave us a good idea of what the final outcome would be, but also I was able to write the questions that Josh asked down, so we could film him asking them.

Ida put the clip mic on Josh and Nisserin arranged the static camera so you could only see Josh. To make it easier for him in terms of eye level, I stood in as Katie and told Josh the questions he had to ask.

Step-by-Step Guide cont.
We then moved on to filming the rest of the step by step guide.

• We only used one camera which was operated by Nisserin.
• To make our guide look interesting and to give a variety of locations, we chose to film in multiple different spots in the baseroom.
• As our style is quite informal, we decided to have shots of the crew in the video, so there is one shot of myself and Ida along with Josh.

Once all of that was shot, we checked the shot list and made sure we had everything filmed. We then imported the footage and packed away.

Live Rehearsal | Development

Once we had decided who we wanted our live presenter to be, we had a chat with him and told him our rough idea. We then changed our idea and had to explain to him what our new idea is, while also giving him the script to look through and learn for the shoot day.

We agreed as a group that we should do a rehearsal with George, before the actual shoot day, so he had a rough idea of what we want it to look like. Also he'll know where the cameras will be and where all of the crew will be stood.

To start off the rehearsal, as director, I talked to George and gave him a run through of what we wanted him to do. We made sure to tell him what camera to look at, and also to keep an eye on Josh for the timings of the challenge while also keeping an eye on me for the timings of the whole production.

Nisserin had the idea to film the rehearsal, so we had an even better idea of how it will look. Here are a few snapshots of that video:

 
After doing this rehearsal, we have a good idea of how the shoot will go and I'm confident that everything will run smoothly.

Final Shot List | Production Notes

Before our shooting days, we decided to get together as a group and discuss the different type of shots that we definitely wanted to have for each section of our script.

• For the interview, we agreed that we wanted both Josh and Katie to be in the scene, so we needed to get a wide shot. At the same time, we decided it would be good to have a close up shot of Katie answering the questions - both of these shots will be shot at the same time. We would then shoot Josh asking the questions once we were done with Katie.
• There were a few points in the script, where we wanted the shot to close-up on Josh to add to the humour and informal style. We will film these after shooting the mid shot of Josh which will be the main studio shot.
• For live, we agreed that having a still camera and a hand held camera would add to the action and would give a variety of shots, rather than sticking to one.
• We talked about the step-by-step guide, and finalised how we wanted it to look while also deciding what will be seen on the screen.

After discussing this as a group, Nisserin put everything into a shot list:

Green Screen | Workshop

The green screen workshop was really helpful as we learnt how to use the green screen and how to set it up with the lights and the camera. We were also able to use the new autocue, which meant that we could use it for our green screen filming day. 

This workshop helped a lot with knowing where to place our lights to balance out the green screen. For our shoot day, we've booked out LED lights so it was useful to see how we should use them in order for the green screen to be lit correctly and nicely. 

One of the main impacts this workshop had on our group was learning how to set up the autocue. We agreed that it would be really useful to have during our studio shoot, and it would be easier for Josh to recite the script. Through the setting up of the autocue, we learnt a lot about how we should have a certain tripod due to the weight of it, and how we need to make sure the cover of the autocue doesn't make it's way into shot.

When lighting Josh for our studio shoot, we need to be careful with the lights as he wears glasses, and we don't want the reflection to be overpowering. To control this we need to adjust the height of the lights and decrease or increase the power of them. We also learnt that you only get two LED lights (a wide and a spot) in a kit, so we have made the decision to book out another set of lights. This is so we  can use the wides for lighting the green screen and the spots for lighting Josh.

This green workshop helped as lot:

• We know how to set up the autocue properly.
• We are able to light the green screen and make sure it is balanced nicely.
• We have an idea of how to set the green screen up which will help a lot when setting up on shoot day. 

Call Sheets ~ Shoot 1 &2 | Production

This is our call sheet and shooting schedule for both of our filming days:

Risk Assessment ~ Shoot 1 | Production

Here is the risk assessment for our first filming day - the interview with Katie Joslin:

Shot List | Production Notes

Here is our first shot list for the whole production. As a group, we had already talked about the different type of shots we wanted to use for each section. Just to make sure we had everything, myself and Nisserin looked through the script and the shot list to double check.

Website | Development

After getting our photos finished and edited, Josh added them to the website along with our individual descriptions.

The individual pictures of ourselves, transition between the normal photo and the silly photo with the props. We thought this would add to the style of our brand and also the audience can tell that we're a fun brand.