Week 6: Introduction to Editing: Unit 1

This is a link to a word document with a step by step of what I had to do on Avid and explanations of each part.

 

introduction-to-editing

 

I found that editing the actual footage is a simple task once you understand what you are doing and what every button does. There is also a lot you can experiment with and I have covered hardly anything yet.

Week 5: Introduction to Audio: Unit 1: Mike

In this blog I am going to explore Foley Operators, I have been given a task to create sounds using object that I have available to me so I am going to experiment with different objects to try to recreate sounds.

 

We looked at Foley Operators and the types of things that they do, we had to go out and try to recreate certain sounds using the environment that we are in.

The sounds we had to create were:

• Human voice
• Footsteps
• Running water
• Rain
• Spaceship
• Horseshoes

The main problem with this was the environment we are in is Canterbury College, therefore it is very loud for the whole duration of the day and is rarely quiet. This meant that me and my group found it hard to find a quiet place to record so that all background noise is eliminated. We did manage to find a quiet room, however another problem occurred which was that there was reverberation for at least 1 second. This meant that the sound from us talking bounced around the room for around 1 second before stopping which lowered the quality of recording.

You can find our recordings below.

mikes audio lesson Foley noises

 

I found it was surprisingly difficult to recreate sounds using objects found in the area and it was also difficult to find a quite place to record these different noises.

Week 5: Introduction to Audio: Unit 1

I am going to explain the different types of microphones, and then record different ambient sound showing understanding of using a microphone.

 

Polar Patterns

Cardioid – It is most sensitive from the front and least at the back.

Omnidirectional – picks up equal amounts of sound from all directions.

Hyper Cardioid – The same as Super Cardioid but picks up more sound from behind it.

Super Cardioid – Picks up sound from the front and picks up less sound from the back than the Hyper Cardioid does.

Figure of Eight (Bidirectional) – This picks up sound from the front and back of the mic but not the sides.

Shotgun pattern – This is used to pinpoint the sound as it picks up most of the sounds from the front of the microphone.

I recorded different ambient sounds twice using a different polar pattern each time to see if there was a significant difference, I did four recordings outside and four inside. There wasn’t a significant difference between them however they did change depending on the surroundings. You can see the recordings below.

primary ambient sounds

http://www.shure.co.uk/support_download/educational_content/microphones-basics/microphone_polar_patterns

I learned a lot about the different types, uses and features of all the different microphones and polar patterns.

Week 4: Introduction to cameras: Unit 1

For this I am going to look into the different setting on a Camera such as Shutter speed and Apeture and say how they work.

 

Shutter speed

The shutter speed changes how fast the shutter is. The longer it takes for the shutter to close the more light comes in causing moving objects to look blurry, however if the shutter closes quickly the moving object will be clearer as it less time to move while taking the picture.

     1/100

      1/500

     1/1000

Aperture

The aperture controls the amount of light the lens is taking in, it does this by changing the size of the lens.

    f/4.5  This first picture uses depth of field were the subject is out of focus compared to the background.

   f/12   This second images is where both the background and the subject are in equal focus.

    f/22  The final picture is where the subject is in focus and the background isn’t.

 

I learned about aperture and shutter speed in this lesson and produced pictures based off what I learned, I could use them again in my own product if I needed to.

week 4: Introduction to lighting: unit 1

In this piece of work I worked in a group to produce a short meeting scene using still images, I am going to explain this and also look into the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.

Using a storyboard we planned a meeting then carried it out using a series of shot types such as, over the shoulder (OTS), close-ups, long shots and wide shots.

180° rule

We used the 180° rule which is where you don’t cross the line where the characters are standing so that it seems that they are having a conversation. The picture to the above shows this in greater detail. You can switch which side you are on if you make it obvious with a pan or a different technique.

In our production above we did it against a wall so it was impossible to break the 180 degree rule so that it would always look consistent.

Shot reverse shot

Shot reverse shot is where you keep cutting between the two character with over the shoulder shots, this helps the audience understand that the two characters are having a conversation and who is talking at what time. This and the 180° rule work together to create a good dialog scene which is understandable and easy to follow for the audience. We used shot reverse shot in our production above which worked well.

 

I learned about a variety of techniques including Shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule and produced images based off them, I feel comfident that I could use them in my own projects in the future.

Week 2 – Introduction to framing – Unit 1 & 3

For this I am going to show an understanding of different types of shots by producing primary images of each one. I will identify which is which by writing on a clapper board and taking a picture of it.

 

This is an example of a Long shot (LS), this has the whole subject in frame also showing his surroundings.

This is a Medium Long shot (MLS), this is similar to the LS but shows the subject from the knee up.

This is a Medium shot (MS), it has the subject from the waist up.

This is a Close up (CU), this shows the subject from the shoulder up and begins to fill the frame.

This is an Extreme close up (ECU), this fills the frame with the subjects eyes this could be used to shows reactions or emotions.

This is Rule of Thirds (ROT), this is used to make the image more appealing to the eye.

This is Depth of Field (DOF), this is used to draw focus onto the subject by blurring out the background.

 

 

 

 

This is Looking into Space, it creates the feeling that the subject is speaking to someone out of shot or is making his way somewhere.

 

I learnt a lot doing this, I had an understanding of each shot before we did this exercise however after doing this it is a lot better and I feel I could comfortably use these shot in my own projects.