My opinion on the module

As a hole i have thoroughly enjoyed this module. Its shown me new techniques and tought me a lot about visual story telling, Mise en Scene, different kinds of camera work and also editing. The editing side of this course I found quite hard to begin with as the program we were using is Avid. I have never seen this program before and had know idea on how to use it and quite frankly still don’t. All I can say about Avid is YOU SUCK! and FINAL CUT ALL THE WAY. I think I share the same opinion on avid as most of my group except for Iwan who was taught on avid in college. The tutors were quite helpful as at some of the workshops we attended we had a script but not a very good one and the tutors really helped us make one that worked and gave us good ideas we could work with. I quite liked doing the de-briefing on a Friday I thought it was good being like the tutor and really analyzing peoples work right in front of them although I did feel quite pressurized doing it but was a good experience. One thing I would change about the module is that I would have longer to shoot the films. Yes you can film something ok in 2 hours but you always had to be really pressured into getting done in the 2 hours and we tended to miss some shots out cos we were rushing which when it came to the edit it caused problems and of course for the de-brief on Friday. Another thing if i was in charge would be to get rid of Avid but that’s my own opinion. I would defiantly recommend this course to a friend and recommend them to do this module. I’ve had a good second semester a lot better than the first one.

cheers

Scott Rollinson

This is the end.

Hiya my time on the media production workshop has been AWESOME! That module was exactly what I wanted to come to Uni for, to make films n edit them together n progress as the term carries on. I defiantly enjoy the practical side to this course more than the essay writing and taking notes in lectures.

Day one: I can remember turning up with Iwan and Sam on the first day not knowing what to expect. Then Ali stood up n said he wanted to direct that week n he chose us three to be in his group then Nicci came over n asked to be in the group n Ilvo was late but he joined at the end of the workshop n that was the start of “THE GREAT GROUP H”.

The Chase: Well……… this film sucked! I was one of the actors and quite frankly I hated it. Running around, falling over wasn’t cool. shots were too long. didn’t take enough shots. Shots didn’t fit. The shooting for this film was terrible n then the edit oh dear, there is one scene with me in it and I’m stood still at the start of the shot n then some dodgy effect as i jump over some bushes where it reverses n then carries on. I thought the twist we were going for was ok but i was still unsure as to how we were going to properly show it. In my opinion 1/10 maybe even 0/10.

The Promotion: This one I decided to act again which wasn’t as bad except the part where it was FREEZING outside. but I think we did a bit of a better job got more shots, shots from different angles and it also had dialogue. We had a bit of a laugh while filming this one as me and Sam kept getting the words wrong and adding stupid dialogue when the camera wasn’t turned on. I must say the edit was much better than the week before *cough cough* I DID THE EDIT *cough cough*. I still don’t think it was that good of film tho but I defiantly saw an increase in the level we were working at. 5/10

The Return Of The Ex: This film was our first one using “our secret weapon” LUKE the drama student that lives with Iwan including Seren who also does drama and lives with Iwan. There acting was awesome, shame we cant say the same about Nicci’s (sorry Nicci). It wasn’t bad acting from Nicci it just wasn’t as believable as Luke and Seren which made Nicci’s acting look a little bit worse but then again she isn’t an actor an they are. I think we had some good shits but I think we needed a more variety of shots like a few close ups of the tap running n close up on faces. Most of our shots on this one are midshots which are ok but we did need more variation. I did sound on this one and I think I did a pretty good job because we had to pick up the tap running noises and also we had a scream in there too which I think I got the levels right for it. Yet again I did think we improved.  7/10

One Night Stand: On this shoot I was the cinematographer and Ilvo directed. I wanted to get more close ups and a wider range of shots. The opening shot was handheld which was quite interesting as I have never done a handheld shot before but I think I pulled it off ok. I wasn’t too sure on the story line for this one we took some shots which explained to story better but they weren’t put in during the edit for some reason. All in all was an ok film didn’t really understand it. 6/10

Gamble: This film was quite cool to shoot I didn’t really have a job to do so I did a bit of behind the scenes which hasn’t turned out well on my phone as you cant hear a thing and the quality is terrible. We used Luke again for this one and I think he did an awesome job. Again I feel with this one we needed more variation of shots. We were ok with it at the start of the film while he’s playing the fruit machine where there is cut aways of him hitting the start button and the wheels rolling in but then I think we got a bit lazy. Dialogue isn’t too good either in my opinion its just a bit to on the nose when he finds out he has spent all the money. The opening shot where we follow someone in to a room then we start to follow another person until we finally get to the main character I thought that was really good and also the shot where we zoom into the last pound he has n then zoom out and hes in a different place but we still have a shot of the pound in his hand. I thought that was a really good transition of changing places. 7/10

Help me!: This film is one of my favorites that we have made. Wiked use of music and effects when hes feeling depressed. Drunk scenes using hand held worked well with the music on the top. I quite liked the fact we were all in it too except for Ilvo seeing as he was doing the camera work. I think this one would of got a better review off the tutors than the one we chose to get assessed but as a group decision its not our number one favorite. There is defiantly an improvement with this film. More variety of shots just a better film all together really. 8/10

A Night To Remember: This film was loved buy our class mates it got a right laugh but the tutors did not agree. I was a little worried at first as this was gonna be our first comedy and in the past in college I always found it hard to make a comedy so I was a bit worried and the fact when I first read the script it didn’t sound like a comedy at all. But it turned out pretty funny. I was on sound and music which I really enjoyed doing. We had lots of different shots. This was the group’s favorite film but I don’t think it will do so well with the tutors. 9/10

Just to end I’m gonna miss this module as I’ve made some new friends, picked up some new skills and to be honest just had a laugh doing it. Like I said before this is what i came to Uni for.

P.s. Woop woop I finally wrote a long blog.

P.s.s. I still cant upload photos or videos, It doesn’t work for me.

Scott Rollinson

Final screening and Mini Oscars.

Well today was quite enjoyable got to watch the other groups work which was interesting as i haven’t seen much of there work before and it was cool to see other peoples ideas n what level there at. Ours didn’t really have a good review from the tutors but the crowd liked it but i suppose the crowd aren’t assessing us but hey we all like it. We got runner up for the editing award (go us) which i thought was quite cool well done Ally and Iwan! I would like to think I helped because I was there but hey I didn’t I just sat there with my laptop n searched through my music. So pretty good day to be fair.

Scott Rollinson

Week 7. Lets get murdered.

Hi guys I thought Id try n write a bigger post this week seeing as I have only practically wrote one liners.
This weeks filming was good. I had to miss the first half of the filming as I had a meeting with Dr Jamie Medhurst but when that was finished I arrived at the set n got to work on making some dark noises on my laptop on logic pro 9. I really enjoyed doing this because its joined my two favorite hobbies (Film making and Music Producing). The film looks like its going to turn out quite funny which is what was originally meant but when I first read the script I thought it was going to turn out quite scary.

Scott Rollinson

Edit went well today.

That is all.

Scott Rollinson

Hey guys.

Yesturdays Filming went pretty well i think. we got a few interviews done n stuff.

so yeah wiked 🙂

Scott Rollinson