Ancillary Text - Radio Advert For Documentary

Ancillary Text - Radio Advert For 18 And Driving

As part of my project, I have had to do two ancillary texts as well as the 5 minute extract from my documentary. One of these ancillary texts was to create a radio advert for my documentary. Below you can hear the radio advert that I have made, and I have put it in contexts of how it may appear if on a radio show:

Southend Radio 105.1 - Playing 18 And Driving Advert

The Making of The Radio Advert

The radio advert was relatively easy to make, especially when using a mac. I used GarageBand on a mac to produce the radio advert.

I started off with a clip of the car crash sound that you hear at the beginning of the clip. After adding in some screams, and other sound effects including crying at the end, I quickly had the background audio to which I was going to record over with my voice.

Surprisingly the most trick thing of the whole advert was getting my voice to sound right with the audio clip in the background. When i first started recording and overlaying my voice, the two clips just didn't go together. It just sounded so obvious that I was recording in a studio and with a high quality microphone.

However after playing around with setting and voice changers, I was able to make my voice fit in more, and sound as if i was also at the accident as it happens in the audio behind.

Once I created my advert, the rest was relatively simple, I exported it, and then went away and recorded some clips from my local radio station (Southend Radio). I then imported the clips into GarageBand, and slotted in my advert so make it sound as if my advert had been aired on the radio.

Research Cinema Scene

Progress Update: Cinema Scene

Progress Update : Cinema Scene

After spending the weekend filming everything for what I am calling the "Cinema Scene", I have finally finished editing that scene. I am pleased with they way it looks and after completing it I showed it to two members of my focus group to see what they had though of what i had produced. The feedback was really positive, and helpful. They both liked it, and Mike suggested that when i go out on location and shoot, I could cut some one the footage I get whilst out on location, in with this cinema scene. I think its a brilliant idea, and one I am defiantly going to experiment with!

The Filming and Editing Process

The Filming and Editing Process

The editing process for my Documentary is extremely long winded and it take and extremely long time to film and piece together a shot which may only be used for a maximum of 10 seconds. Below i am going to explain the process I have been using to film and edit my documentary.

The Filming

When creating my documentary I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted my footage to look as professional as possible. I started looking and researching other documentaries, and as well as watching and listening to what was being said, I also payed careful attention to the techniques being used in portraying what was being said.

I picked up on a number of things from this research, but one of the things that I took most from the research was the fact that AUDIO is just as important as VIDEO.

For filming, I am using a HD SLR Camera with a variety of Lenses. The advantages of this is that when you get the shot right, the output is crisp and professional looking. However the disadvantages are that is takes time to set up the shot due to the fact that the camera has no auto-focus and is a SLR camera. The fact that there is no auto-focus means that I have to manual focus ever shot. This poses a large problem however I have found a number of ways to overcome it, which i will talk about more in my directors cut.
You will see in my documentory that i have also taken note of the effectiveness of using the Rule Of Thirds. I have found that this rule really does make a difference on how professional your footage looks, and have been using it frequently in my documentary.

What makes the filming even more complicated is the fact that because I was

both my video and audio footage to be sharp and professional, I am not using the audio from the camera. Instead I am using a external lapel microphone which records onto an external hard drive. Using a lapel microphone brings a number of benefits to my documentary.

Firstly, Using a lapel microphone means that I am able to obtain high quality audio due to the fact that the audio is taken from a microphone which is only a few inches from the mouth.

The other great advantage of using a lapel mic over the internal microphone of the camera is that no matter where you are in relation to the camera, the audio is always the same quality and level. This has proved great in some of my shots as it means I am able to walk up or into the shot whilst talking and even be extremely far away from the camera, as I will still have perfectly clear audio.

On the other hand however, this perfect audio quality does come at a cost in the editing process.

The Editing
Because of the complex way I have chosen to record my video and audio, it means that a lot more time is needed in the editing process.
The first phases that I have to go through is uploading from the camera and hard drive all the audio and video footage. Once this has been completed, I then concentrate on editing and cleaning up the audio to make it even clearer. To do this, I import the audio into Garage Band(mac) and then tweak both the Equalizer and Speech Enhancer setting until the audio is crisp and free of any background noise.
(As show in image on the left)

Once the audio clip is all cleaned up, it is then exported into an MP3 format. This process is repeated to all the audio that is recorded.


Once all the audio has been exported, it is then time to add the audio to the video. Using IMovie I import all the video footage into an event. Then for each clip of video that has been recorded, I have to find the corresponding audio file (which was just exported) and overlay that audio file on top of the audio from the camera. By doing this and movie the audio about, I am able to perfectly sync the two audio tracks (1:Original Audio recorded from the camera mic, 2: The Lapel Mic) and then mute original audio from the camera. This is time consuming as it is often hard to get the two tracks in dead sync with eachother, but with time it is possiable.
Once I have added in and synced the audio, I then treat the video with some lighting effects so make it more effective, and then finally export the file.
This step is repeated until all the video files have been audio syned and exported.

Then finally I import all the new video files into IMovie, and am finally able to edit the files together knowing that they have both perfect sound and video quality.

I'm sure after reading this, you can now see how for just a 10 second clip in the final documentary, it takes hours to film and edit...but I feel that it is worth it for the end result!

Progress: Cinema Research Scene

Cinema Research Scene:

So, it's taken most of the weekend, but i have finally finished filming the cinema research scene of my documentary. Research plays a key role in my documentary as I believe it is a thoroughly important aspect of a documentary. I want to put the point across that I have "Done my homework" on road safety and I believe this scene helps to show this.

Below is a screenshot of me exporting a clip from the scene. The editing process is extremely long because of the way I have chosen to shoot my documentary (This will be explain in a post later on this week about editing).

I have a lot of editing to-do now...wish me luck!!

Progress Update

Below is a quick video of me talking about my progress so far, and what I have in store for tomorrow.

Documentary - Research Thoughts (1:22 Preview Clip)

Below is the first piece of filming i have done for my documentary, and it will be edited and used in my documentary in a research section of the documentary:

Script For 18 And Driving

Below is a small part of the script for my documentary "18 And Driving". The script has already played a key role in my documentary, and later on in this post I will explain how new and advancing technology has enabled me to really use my script to its full potential.

As you will see from the script below, I used the script more as a running order rather than for what I would say word for word. Although i did have most of my lines in the script, I used it to set out the way I want things to go:

18AndDrivingDocumentaryScript

How technology enabled me to make full use of my script

On of the absolute god gifts I have access to thought the production of my documentary is the Apple Ipad. The Ipad has enabled me to really use my script to the full potential, and it real is clear my BBC programmes have equipped their presenters with one even when they are live on TV (BBC F1 - Jake Humphrey). The Ipad enabled me to have my script in-front of me just seconds before I went in-front of the camera...it was even used as an auto-cue in one of the shots. It also means that because it is connected to the internet, no matter where i am shooting, I always have the latest version of my script with me.

The Ipad has also opened up the opportunities that are there for me, for example...it will be extremely useful, during an interview to play a video to the person i am interviewing on the Ipad to have them comment about what they see. These sorts of things are invaluable!!

Planning: My Target Audience

My Target Audience

The audience that my documentary will be aimed at is young drivers ageing from between 17-25. The age group that i am looking to watch my documentary fall between this bracket of 17-25, however i am also aware that my documentary may be something that parents of young drivers wish to watch, either with or without their children. The documentary is not targeted particularly at a certain gender, and is meant for both males and females, but some parts of it will concentrate on male behaviour. I am aware that my documentary has a rather specific target audience, but aim to make it so that anyone who watches my documentary will feel that they have learnt a lesson about road safety.

New 25 word pitch

I know a while back i was asked to write a 25 word pitch for my original idea, which i did, but i thought it might be a good idea, now that i have changed my idea, to come up with a new pitch...so here it is:

"A documentary produced by a young driver, aimed at young drivers to teach them about the dangers when getting behind the wheel of a car."

Exactly 25 words...and exactly the aim of my documentary :)

Researching My Topic

Researching My Topic

Young Drivers

Research obviously plays a key role in my documentary and over the past few days I have been looking closely into the facts and figures of road safety and young drivers.

To do this I have visited a number of website, but the one which has aided me the most in my research is the DTF (Department For Transport) website. In which I have been able to download and use a number of helpful PDF's.

The DFT releases annually a document called "Reported Road Casualties". But within the document it reveals pretty much all the stats and figures about Britain's Roads, right down the the finer detail.

These PDF documents have been crucial in my research stage and I have taught me so much I didn't know about the road safety and the astonishing figures. It is now my job, to carry out the very hard task of portraying these figures in a way that people will realise the major problems occurring on our roads every day.

Research Into Documentaries

Research Into Documentaries

Below I have created a video presentation in which I explain my research into documentaries.

Within the presentation I look at a number of things including:

• History of Documentaries
• Codes and Conventions
• Examples I have looked at
• Institutions
• Exhibition and Distribution of documentaries

Please Play Video Below

Changing My Idea

I started both the filming and editing process for my original idea of a Film Trailer, but soon found myself wanting to move away from creating a film trailer. Although I enjoyed filming some of the scenes of my film trailer, i couldn't help but feel that the footage that was being produced was not up to the standard that i know i am able to achieve.
This then lead me to think about what else I could do for my project...

I have always been interested in Road Safety and the effects that dangerous driving has on our society and have always wanted to explore that facts behind the reason there are so many incidents on the roads of Great Britain.

I have therefore decided to create a short documentary in which I will be exploring Road Safety.

Being a young 18 year old male driver, I really do want to understand and portray the reasons why my age and sex bracket are the most likely to have an accident and why where are having to pay so much in insurance to drive in the first place.

I will be trying my absolute best to portray everything I find in this projects, but also my emotions and feelings towards what I find. I plan to undertake a number of stages including extensive research, interviews with people effected by RTC's (Road Traffic Collisions), Talks with the police etc.

My aims is to fit in as much information in the time I have, but to avoid the documentary from being "just another boring documentary".

Click play below for a brief overview of why I have decided to change my idea:

Opening Sequence Audio

Below is the audio of a telephone conversation which will be used in the first few seconds of my film trailer. The audio is of a call to "999" (the emergency services) and straight away sets the scene of the trailer.

Click below to listen to the 25 second clip of the audio

Major Props on Set

Props on Set

Cars:

Through-out the filming of the trailer we will be using two types of cars. The first is a marked BMW essex police vehicle, and the second is an unmarked Ford Fiesta Zetec S.

The Fiesta will also be used as a camera car during the high paced car scene.

Clothing:

On set we will be using two actors in full police uniform as well as other actors/actresses in plain clothes.

Extra's:

Filming will take place at the nightclub on a busy Friday night. Everyone who enter the club will know that they are being filmed for the trailer, and although most of the scenes you see will be real, some scenes inside the club will be stages for entertainment purposes.

Location Shots

Outside Location Shots

1)

This is a shot of the outside of the nightclub that I am using for the majority of the footage.

Shots of both the inside and the outside of the nightclub will be used in the trailer.

Because my film trailer is based around a nightclub, the trailer will be shot at night time. However i decided to shoot my location shots in the daylight, so that the locations can be clearly seen.

2)

This is a location shot of the road that will be used during the police seen. One or two police cars will speed past the screen from left to right with full blue lights and sirens. This will help to create a tension and a fast pace scene.

My Animatic

This is the Animatic I created of the first 6 shots of my trailer. The aim of my trailer is to establish the scene and then to build up as much suspense as possible.

Questionnaire

**Please note blogger sometimes jumps to this post when on this page, if it has done this to you....please scroll up to see my other posts**

Below is an online questionnaire that I have created. Please fill out the following questionnaire and click submit when you have completed it.

My Focus Group

My Focus Group

This is a short presentation about my focus group. The presentation introduces the three individuals i have in my focus group and what I expect to get out of my focus group.

The Pitch

Pitch

I was asked to write a pitch for my trailer idea in just 25 words. Here is what I came up with:

A phone call sparks fears that a bomb is hidden in Essex’s number one nightclub on New Years Eve. Will it be found in time?

Film Trailer Ideas

I have come up with two film trailer ideas that i have considered as using for my final piece.
Click on the link below to view my two ideas:




Click here to hear my commentary on the two ideas i have come up with so far:

AUDIO FILE TO BE ADDED

Marketing Campaigns

What is a marketing campaign and why is it needed?

Filmmaking is an extremely expensive business. In order for feature films to be successful they need to have large takings and interest. Films often have little showing time in the cinema, therefore they need to get as many people interested in the film before it is actually released. The marketing campaign plays a vital role in informing potential audiences about a

film with the soul purpose of encouraging people to see the film a the cinema once it is released.

Distributors want their films to be as successful as possible and therefore use strong marketing campaigns in order to raise interest about their film.

What are the major elements of a film marketing campaign?

The major elements of a film marketing campaign are:

Trailers:

Trailers play a vital role in the marketing campaign for a feature film. They give the viewer a 2 minute 30 second sneak preview of the film and a designed to entice the audience and to get them to want to watch the full film when it is released at the cinema.

Trailers can now be viewer anywhere in the world anytime, thanks to the use of the internet and modern day smart phones.

Posters:

During a films marking campaign a number of posters can be created and distributed to create interest in the film., These include: Teasers poster, Character posters, and more recently motion posters.

Teaser posters or advanced posters are a promotional poster which includes a basic image and design without revieling too much information such as the plot, theme or characters. Its purpose is to incite awareness and generate hype for the film. A tag line is very often included in the poster alone with a release date.

Websites:

Websites play a huge role in the marketing campaign on feature films. Websites are becoming more and more feature packed and animated and film marketing teams have taken advantage of this. Websites now have links to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Film website also can include promotional games, trailers, character interviews etc...anything to help promote the film.
I will be producing a website to help promote the film that i will be making. I will be looking at what feature i can include in the website to make it as feature packed as possible.

Film Trailer Presentation

SLIDESHARE FILE

Looking At Trailers

I think an extremely important aspect that will lead up to the development of my final product, is the research that I will undertake in film trailers.
I will be looking at a number of different film trailers from various genres and analysing their language, institution, audience, representation.

The first trailer i will be analyzing is of a movie called "Salt" :

Lets Get Going

Awesome...A new school year is here and I am finally given the chance to be let loose upon Essex with a camera :)
Im really looking forward to producing a full featured film trailer, but am fully aware of the work and research that needs to go into the project before i even pick up the camcorder.
On this blog, you will find all my research, ideas, links, photo's, focus groups, interviews....etc through the year leading up to my final production.
I know I have a lot of work ahead of me....So...Better get to it then....