Today we were practising  SWEFF (Sound White balance Exposure Framing Focus) when shooting. Our shutter speed was 50, our aperture was 10 and iso at 800.


Sound: we used a microphone to pick up the sound of the water being poured into the cup, the sound of the person drinking the tea and the sound of the spoon stirring the tea. We also used a clapperboard to match the sound and the video together to make sure we got it precise.

White Balance: White balance is the process of removing unnatural colour casts to objects that appear white in person and renders them white in video.Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "colour temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. 

Exposure: Exposure in film photography is defined as the quantity of light that is allowed through the camera lens and onto the photo film controlled by the intensity of light (through the aperture) and length of time (determined by the shutter speed). For correct exposure in a film camera, whether 35mm, medium format, or large format, it is essential that you correctly set both the shutter speed and aperture.Film speed will also play a role in determining the correct exposure.

Framing: In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a film frame or video frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture. The term is derived from the fact that, from the beginning of modern filmmaking toward the end of the 20th century, and in many places still up to the present, the single images have been recorded on a strip ofphotographic film that quickly increased in length, historically; each image on such a strip looks rather like a framed picture when examined individually.

Focus: The sharpness of the image. A range of distances from the camera will be acceptably sharp. Possible to have deep focus, shallow focus. Focus in, focus out: a punctuation device whereby the image gradually comes into focus or goes out of focus.

Sound theory

Sound: Sound is the way in which sound is used to communicate meaning. The manipulation and layering of sound to create meaning. Sound can be a complicated feature of film studies, unless deconstructed and certain terms applied can pass you by and not seem important.

Diegetic sound: Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a source within the film's world is diegetic.

Non-diegetic sound: If it originates outside the film (as most background music) then it is non-diegetic sound. Non-diegetic sound is sound that the characters in the film can't hear but the audience can.

Voiceover: When a voice, often that of a character in the film, is heard while we see an image of a space and time in which that character is not present in. The voice over is often used to give a sense of a character's subjectivity or to narrate an ever told in a flashback. 

Sound bridge: Sound bridges can lead in or out of a scene. They can occur at the beginning of a scene when the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins.  Alternatively, they can occur at the end of a scene , when the sound from the next scene is heard before the images appear on screen. Sound bridges are one of the most common transitions in the continuity editing style, one that stresses the connection between both scenes since their mood (suggested by the music) is still the same. 

Pleonastic sound: Pleonastic sound is sound that is exaggerated, e.g. the sound of lightsabers slashing the air in Star Wars, or  a tap dripping more loudly than usual in a horror film. It is used to create fear, tension, excitement etc.

(example of pleonastic sound in Star Wars) 

Contrapuntal sound: Sound that doesn't easily match the images that they are accompanying, or even run against them. This can have a quite disorientating effect upon the audience and make them question what they are seeing.  

I have chosen the scene of Gwen Stacy's death from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to show how the aforementioned key terms are used in film.

In this scene we see Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) falling within the clock tower, and we can hear the music as well as the sound of the gears in the clock tower falling simultaneously. We also hear the sound of Spider-Man's web that he springs to save her. The music score helps to create a sense of tension in the scene as the audience is unaware if Gwen will be spared from her death and be saved but as we see her fall, and hear the snap of her neck, the audience knows that she did not survive the whiplash of the fall.  

Pre production:

Script: A script is a written work by screenwriters for a film, TV show or video game. These scripts can be completely original or taken from existing pieces of material. In these scripts or screenplays, the movement, expression and dialogue is included for the actors to follow. The format is structured in a way that one page usually equates to one minute of screen time. The major components are the action and dialogue. The action is written in present tense and the dialogue are the lines the characters speak. Slug lines occur at the start of every scene and is usually made up of three parts. Part one states wether the scene is set inside, outside or both. Part two states location of the scene. Part three separated from part two by a hyphen refers to the time of the scene. Each slug line begins a new scene. n a shooting script, the slug lines are numbered consecutively. These scene numbers act as mile-post script markers. This allows any part of the script to be referenced by a screen number.

Storyboard: A storyboard is a graphic organiser in the form of illustrations for the production of pre-visualising a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive motion sequence.The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at Walt Disney Productions during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation studios. In creating a motion picture with any degree of fidelity to a script, a storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. And in the case of interactive media, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or interactive media project can be efficiently described either in picture, or in additional text.

Shot list: A shot list is a list of shots for a film, TV show, animation etc. There are 15 shot types that are taken into account. When on set, a shot list is used to determine which shots have been used and what ones need to be used for future scenes.

Schedule:A shooting schedule is a project plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule. Both schedules represent a timeline stating where and when production resources are used. It is used to keep a attack of what s gong on while on set. 

Media studies Level 3 TV and Film: Avengers Age of Ultron

The audience for Avengers Age of Ultron would be children aged eight years old to adults in their mid to late twenties. Avid comic book fans would also be the demographic this film would attract. The audience for this film would live in urban areas as opposed to people from rural backgrounds. However, rural audiences could relate to Jeremy Renner's character Hawkeye as he lives in a rural setting in the film. The gender this film would attract would be mostly male but with strong female leads such as Scarlett Johansson's character Black Widow and Elizabeth Olsen's character Scarlet Witch, they would attract a female audience.

The theme in Avengers Age of Ultron is that of puppetry. We see the titular villain Ultron, an artificial intelligence robot created by Tony Stark (Robert Downey jr) reference the art of puppetry and the animated film pinnochio throughout the film. Ultron claims to have broken free and that ''there are no strings on me'' as he is not going to be controlled by Tony Stark or the Avengers. The genre of the film is science fiction and comedy.  We see Tony Stark and Ultron as two prime characters in the film with similar personalities and traits. The language used in Avengers Age of Ultron is mainly scientific jargon, however with the comedy aspect and witty one liners, it helps to lift the heavy science aspect and keep the audience entertained. The locations  in the film are both rural and urban areas. We see the avengers seek refuge at Hawkeye's home in an unnamed location, deep in the American countryside. We also see the battles between the Avengers and Ultron take place in urban areas, i.e. the fictional African village called Wakanda.

Camera techniques

1: Camera and focus/shot sizes: Establishing shot and master shot:An establishing shot introduces a new location, i.e a church or a hospital, from a vantage point that allows the audience to see all the main characters in one single shot.  Full shot: A full shot shows the character form head to toe without showing much of his/her surroundings. It carries less emotional and is therefore not the best for intense scenes. Medium shots: Medium shots are shot from the waist up or waist down. They are the most common type of shot used in movies. A medium shot also includes the two shot and the over the shoulder shot. Over the shoulder shot: In film, the over the shoulder shot is a shot of something or someone taken from the perspective from someone over another person. The back of the shoulder and head of the person is used to frame the image of whomever or whatever the subject is looking at. Two shot: The two shot is used to show two characters in the same shot and it gives them greater importance in the scene.

1: We used mostly medium and close up shots when filming. We also focused the camera to make sure the subject was in focus and the background was out of focus. I believe we used the camera correctly and efficiently but could still do with some more practice.

2: I worked well in my group and I was the subject in front of the camera being filmed. I was also working behind the camera to focus it and to get different shots.

3:Yes we named our shots correctly when we were editing them on final cut pro.  We used medium shots, mediu long shots, the subject (I) moving into space shot, close up, big close up and extreme close up shots.

4: Yes the music does work with my edit. The shots are quite dark which gives a sinister tone to the edit and the music helps to portray this also with its sombre yet soothing melodies.It helps make the edit look like a thriller or horror movie because of the dark tones in terms of lighting and the music.

5: The lighting, or lack there of, was very effective as it sets a sombre and chilling mood. It helps to set an air of susense around the edit, leaving you to your own conclusions as to what is going on in the edit, keeping you intersted and intrigued.

6: I could improve my editing by practicing with more footage and making it flow more easily. I used a typewriting effect for the title screen  this edit. I believe I used good use of cutting and made it flow as best as possible through said use of cutting.