Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Unit evaluation

Unit 19 – Task 4: Evaluation

            In the course I chose, this is the most enjoyable and helpful subject of all. This is of course simply because it is what I want to continue on in the years to come. Graphic manipulation and photo editing was one of my main hobbies, but I worked everything by hand and of course, the classic ‘MS paint’.

            With the help of this unit, and personal experimentation, I have learned to use Photoshop, Premiere, and am still working my way to learning the full capability of Illustrator. Although I find it easy to learn something by using it, these are of course complex programs which need a lot of practice. This is then one of my weaknesses as I am quite lazy and sometimes lack motivation to learn anything new. But of course, since it was compulsory that I learn this software, I did and am enjoying myself while using them.

            The only thing I would change would be that we cover more material and get into more of the details of the programs. This was done only for illustrator, where we practiced with the pen tool, a tool which I use very often in Photoshop.

            In the future, I shall be using all these three newly learnt programs to create characters, edit them, create illustrations and posters for companies, make designs, etc… Also, Premiere is of course helpful for creating something with friends, as I am currently doing with a group of friends in class. With the help of Photoshop, premiere and our newly acquired skills, we are filming, producing and editing a spoof of the Discovery Channel’s ‘Ultimate Survival’.

Posters and Banner rejects for mediacast blog

These were the rest of the posters and banners that I created but were not selected.







Posters and banners for mediacast Blog

These were the chosen posters from my work:



While these are the selected banners for the mediacast blog:




Monday, May 9, 2011

Banner 3

This is the third created banner.
It shall be replacing the old one very soon because it represents more what I meant with the blog title.


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Task 2 - Idea Development & Pitch - part 3

Pre-Production:

Synopsis
The story behind the non-fiction book promo of ‘The Soul Support Book’ starts out by a pair of feet walking, wearing black and white tights and red shoes. Sparkles are shining around the shoes and a title fades in saying ‘Magic Feet’. After that brief introduction the audience is presented with three different cases.
Case 1: Two parents who cannot control their crying newborn baby. There will be close ups of their faces to show emotion. Then going back to the concept of the ‘magic feet’, the feet make a ‘jogging’ movement and then the baby starts snoring and sleeps.
Case 2: A man who is going crazy at work. He cannot get use to the hectic job. Papers are flying everywhere and he is going crazy. Then once again the feet make a movement and all the papers are sorted and the man is happy and relieved.
Case 3: A couple is watching TV together but the man sleeps and starts snoring. The woman is very upset because her boyfriend isn’t acknowledging her. Then once again the ‘magic feet’ make the same movement and a shot of the couple looking at each other and smiling with a lot of hearts around them.
After those three cases are shown, a shot from the ‘magic feet’ is shown tilting upwards revealing a girl who is representing the ‘magic feet’, and who is reading the ‘Soul Support Book’. The book is shown on the side and a picture of the publisher logo. This finally reveals that the ‘magic feet’ are fictional and the book is the actual product that helps. Ambient background music will be played throughout and the sound effects of the baby snoring and crying etc… will be played at the appropriate time

Production Roles



Resource List
Props
  • Tights- black and white
  • Red shoes
  • Doll
  • Blanket
  • Laptop
  • Desk
  • Papers
  • Sofa
  • Television
  • The Soul Support Book
  • Chair
  • Soft Toy
Talent
  • Magic feet- Jorje Bosios
  • Mother for the first scene- Nadine Falzon
  • Father for the first scene- Luke Soler
  • Person for the second scene (job-changer)- Stephen Cutajar
  • Woman for the third scene- Christine Toledo
  • Man for the third scene- Claudio Cilia
  • Girl for the last scene- Jorje Bosios
Location
After searching for different places where it would be suitable to film the production, we came up with the idea of using the TV Studio of the school (MCAST Art and Design).

Equipment
  • JVC camera
  • Tripod
  • Pocket recording
  • Battery
  • Red heads
  • Sd Card
Script
Magic feet advert
Magic Feet Advert
 
Risk Assesment


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Proposal for Mediacast Blog - Site map requirements - unit 19 - task 2(b)

Site map requirements

What will the color scheme of your blog be?
The color scheme should be green, yellow, white, and black.
This is because the MCAST logo includes these four colors, and Mediacast is an internal production house.
Also, these colors match, and on certain shades and intensities can combine to a great combination.

How will the profile page be designed?
It will contain pages/hyperlinks at the top. These will include the following:
o   Home
§  News
§  Cast people images
§  Link to facebook profile
o   Mediacast History
§  Interviews
§  Information
§  Etc…
o   Forum
o   About us
Also it will have a flash based banner.
It will be a looped flash animation.
In the forum, people from anywhere can leave their feedback by logging in using their blog account and leaving their comment on the current subjects.

The Banner
The banner will be, as mentioned a looped flash animation.
The ‘Mediacast’ wording will explode and the letters fly all over the banner.
It will probably be very wide and not so high

The Background
The background will probably be plain, with a constant pattern throughout.
Maybe some space for images or pages will be allocated with different patterns or colors.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Task 2 - Idea Development & Pitch - part 2

Ideas:

Idea Generation
The final idea was created during some brainstorming I did on my own. Other ideas were created and scrapped while discussing with friends and family. Constructive criticism was given on some other ideas, until I finally decided to keep this from the lot.

Recording of Ideas
The most basic ideas I just remembered, but when concrete examples started coming up I kept a note of each on a piece of paper, scrapping each idea (paper) in comparison one on one, until a verdict was reached. (Like a knockout tournament between ideas)

Initial Plans and Proposals
One of the competing ideas included:
A group of men were all laughing except for one. With a pan of the camera over their pockets, the viewer notices the same book in their pocket (except for the one not laughing). After a few seconds a man comes along and notices the troubled man. He hands him the Joke book and he quickly joins in the laughter saying jokes etc…
Another idea (which was scratched early) included:
Set in an examination room with two men. The examiner is asking the student to tell him jokes. The student messes up punch lines and mixes jokes, until he is given this joke book. After a glance he starts laughing and cracking jokes, the examiner laughs so hard he falls off his chair.

Identification of Message
The message is identified through the last part of the advert. Where the book is so funny, that the anchor would sacrifice his job to read the jokes it contains. This obviously means; ‘It has good content, buy it, read it.’

Content
The content of the advert is mainly humoristic. It consists of a catchy jingle to open the advert to a serious start, like a news bulletin. The advert then switches to comedy when transitioning to the background monitor to find ourselves in the testing phase of the book its self. Switching back to the news anchor we find that the seriousness has faded into comedy when the anchor is laughing at the jokes he is reading. The advert closes again with the same opening jingle.

Style
The style is basically humor. It is conveyed through a funny news channel title, a rough and agile pace, and the laughing its self in the advert.

Relevance to Audience
The advert I selected will directly impact the target audience, simply because anybody who generally is interested in a news flash could be interested in this book.

Task 2 - Idea Development & Pitch - part 1


Background Research:

Brief
In short, what will be done is a news-like production showing the book spinning slowly on a background screen. The ‘flash news’ will turn into an advert as soon as the image on the screen is translated to full screen, having different sections testing different aspects of the book, for example; durability, and content. Finally, the feature ends, and the screen is pulled back to the news room, where the anchor is reading and laughing at the jokes in this book.

Client
- Random House Inc.
- Bringing you the best in Fiction, non-fiction, & children's books
- Random House, Inc. is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher and is the U.S. division of Random House, the world's largest trade-book publisher, and is owned by 'Bertelsmann AG', one of the world's foremost media companies. The company comprises many publishing groups and their imprints, which publish fiction and nonfiction, both original and reprints, by some of the foremost and most popular writers of our time.
- Publishers under Random House Inc. include:
  Crown trade group
  Knopf Doubleday publishing group
  random house publishing group
  RH Audio Publishing group
  Random House children's books
  RH information group
  RH international
  RH large print

Budget
No money is technically available or was allocated for this advert, but I will personally of course buy the book, and any props needed in order to complete this task.

Deadline

March
April
May
June
Ideas




Generation




Recording




Initial proposal plans




Pre-Production




Script




Storyboards




Production schedule




Location plans




Risk assessment




Production




Shooting





Technical Resources
School equipment will be used throughout. Also, we will be probably filming on school premises. Props and costumes will of course be needed, and these are all personal belongings to be used in the production.

Technical Constraints
Filming time and equipment is essential, but bookings are quickly taken, and equipment cannot be held for longer than a few days. Also because of this bookings and equipment dilemma, household lighting would probably end up being used, which means that the camera settings will be set to a high ISO level giving back more noise, and a grainy image.

Target Audience
My target audience is basically all the adults, and younger males who would actually like the jokes. I would assume from 15 to 19 years of age would be all boys, and from 20 and older, a mixture of men and women. The book is obviously aimed at men (jokes every MAN should know), but the humor could appeal to many people.

Legal and Ethical Issues
Most importantly, no swear words must be seen or heard from this advert. Also it will keep the news cast look, but it must show somehow that it is NOT a real news flash. This will be done by the news channel title: bananews.

Regulation
There must be no product placements in this advert, and it should be exactly 60 seconds (one minute) long.