UnfinishedProblemSolving
- 2. INTRODUCTION Throughout my problem, I will be looking into areas of my project that I feel will challenge me during the production of my product. I will be going through theoretical (such as gathering enough crew or cast members) and practical problems (such as health and safety), listing things that could go wrong during production that I need to plan ahead for such as potentially damaging equipment, weather predictions and the health and safety of all crew and cast members on the set. As I go through this planning, I will also be talking about the effects COVID-19 has had on my product, and the changes I have had to set in place in order to be able to make my product this year. COVID had a big effect on my product last year and I feel I will be able to use this to my advantage with my current product, as I now know how I should be planning to make my product whilst also following COVID laws and regulations. Once I have looked through and thought-out potential problems and challenges I'll have to face, I will be focusing on how I will approach and tackle these problems, looking at multiple different options and solutions for these problems and how I plan to make sure my production is a safe and comfortable environment for people to work in. I will be taking everything into account, I.e. the costs of keeping people safe and the procedures / rules I will have to put in place to enforce this.
- 3. MIND MAP OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS THEORETICAL PROBLEMS:
- 4. THEORETICAL PROBLEMS ANALYSIS During my Theoretical problems planning, I made sure to try and list as many potential problems as possible whilst thinking of past experiences on the productions of older products. Looking back at the problems I faced when making the older products, I knew there was a high potential that I could possibly run into similar problems when creating this product. I looked back at my filming experience with those older projects, as well as experience with crew members helping me film and other things such as how long it took me to film those projects. I made sure to list all the problems and challenges I faced in the past to remind myself that I may run into similar problems during my current production and to keep me wary and alert about these problems. I listed potential problems such as weather conditions, dealing with the public when filming, limited cast and crew members and health and safety during late night filming to prepare for these problems and to talk about how I plan on tackling them when I discuss my solutions for the problems. I also made sure to list problems that I knew I could prepare for. For example, if a cast or crew member couldn't attend a shooting day, I plan to have at least one backup member in case this problem does occur.
- 5. MIND MAP OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS PRACTICAL & TECHNICAL PROBLEMS:
- 6. PRACTICAL & TECHNICAL PROBLEMS ANALYSIS For my Technical problem analysis, I made sure to mainly focus on the problems that could occur with equipment. I already have a vague idea of who will be helping me film my product, so I know that the chances of equipment being broken or damaged are low but still very possible, especially since a lot of my product will be filmed in low light conditions, which adds a lot of risk to both the equipment and cast and crew members. I also looked at how the usage of equipment would impact the health and safety of my cast and crew. The fact that we will be dealing with large and heavy equipment means I will have to make sure the work environment is as safe as possible by making sure I don’t leave potential hazards lying around during filming. I also talked about the impact food and drink could have when had around the equipment and made sure to list the potential problems that could bring as I know there will likely be food and drink on set when filming. I know I will be working with people that might not fully understand how to use certain equipment, which is why I listed some vague solutions as to how I could approach this and to make sure that the video doesn’t come out in poor or unexpected bad quality after filming.
- 7. IMPACTS ON MY PRODUCT & PRODUCTION DUE TO COVID-19 Due to COVID-19, Ive had to make sure my product was planned in a way that I could make it, and at the same time make sure I was following COVID rules and regulations. Unfortunately, because of COVID I have had to limit my cast and crew, as well as other things such as filming locations and social distancing with actors. Because of these changes, I know my product will be a challenge to make, especially with only a small amount of people helping me work on it. During the planning and idea generation for my project, I made sure to limit myself with my film idea. I wanted to make sure I didn’t plan to make something that would be too difficult to film under COVID regulations that would require a lot of people to help film, which is why I have decided on such a short and simple concept that I know I will be able to make under the COVID regulations. Despite having to limit my concept, I am still happy with the idea and know I will be able to enjoy filming it, without having overcomplicated the idea to the point where it would be too difficult to make. Ive made sure to confine my product so that it only requires a minimum of 3 people to film, as well as confined filming locations to only 2 locations that will be of great convenience for me when filming, knowing I won't need to travel long distance in order to make my product. Overall, despite COVID having a big impact on my product, I am still happy with my concept and looking forward to production.
- 8. EXPERIENCE WITH PREVIOUS PRODUCTS Looking back at working on older products has helped me plan out my problem solving for my project this year. As I have already had 2 years of previous experience at college, I know and expect what kind of problems I will be running into during production, which also happened to be the problems that I have focused on in my problem-solving planning. I want to make sure that I am fully prepared for creating my product and aware of the potential problems I could run into. Now that I have planned and am aware of potential problems, I will be able to plan ahead and focus on solutions for these problems to ensure my production will be a less stressful process and that if anything does go wrong, I will have back up plans to help me. During older productions, one of the most common problems I ran into was time. A lot of things either took too much time or I had planned to make something I couldn't complete in the time given, which is one reason why Ive gone for a simpler film idea this year. I also need to make sure that I plan my time appropriately and follow a strict schedule to insure I'm not rushing anything at the end of production, as I want my product to be the highest quality it can be. I will be making sure to focus on planning a time management schedule during my problem solving.
- 10. THEORETICAL SOLUTIONS – MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR PROBLEMS Problem: Public interference when filming in public areas, outdoor parks, roads, streets etc. Solution: When it comes to production, public interference is one of my biggest concerns for filming. Luckily, most of my film takes place during the night, so I will be filming at late hours (specifically 1-3 am) where we are unlikely to get any interference from the public and are able to avoid distractions when filming. Problem: Problems with weather changes or unexpected weather. Solution: To avoid weather ruining shooting days, I will make sure to plan specific scenes (outdoor scenes) on a series of different days spread across my production instead of filming all outdoor scenes in one night, just in case the weather were to change we would have another time to reschedule. Problem: Filming in the dark, low light and potential health and safety hazards. Solution: Filming at night will be difficult due to low light, however I plan to bring my photography lights for shooting a scene in case it is too dark or if there isn't enough light to film. I will also be planning that the area in which we film is safe and there are no possible safety hazards that could put cast & crew at risk. Problem: Transportation, getting cast and crew members to and from set. Solution: Luckily, all the people I currently have working on my product live very close by and are easily accessible for most parts of the day. However, if I do hire extra people to help work on my product that done live close, I will be able to come and pick them up on shooting days as well as bring them back. Problem: Unprovided food & services for cast and crew members. Solution: During filming, I plan on bringing food as well as drinks as I know there is a potential we will be filming for long periods of time. Luckily, the filming locations I have chosen are also close to home, so bathroom and other breaks won't be a problem during my production.
- 11. PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS – MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR PROBLEMS Problem: Problem with equipment / not working as planned during filming. Solution: Before going out to film, I will be making sure that every piece of equipment I will be using is tested and made sure that it is set to the right settings depending on what conditions were filming under to make sure I don’t slow down production time. Problem: Usage of food and water around equipment could cause damage or accidents. Solution: I want to make sure my work environment is a safe environment for everyone to work in. In order to prevent food and water accidents I will be designating time for food breaks and I will also be making sure that food and drinks are consumed away from all the equipment to avoid this problem. Problem: Losing files or finding corrupt files after production (during editing). Solution: I am very wary that corrupt files or the loss of files is very possible and would like to ensure this doesn’t happen. To do this I will be keeping all of my important files in a safe location on my personal USB, as well as making sure to make separate duplicates of files in case something goes wrong with one. Problem: Crew unable or uneducated on how to use specific equipment. Solution: Before filming, I will be giving a quick and simple rundown to my crew on how to use certain equipment in case they have questions or do not know, but from my current knowledge, the people I have helping have had experience in the past so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem during filming. Problem: Health and safety with equipment. Solution: To ensure my workplace is a safe environment for everyone, I will be running through some safety rules and regulations with my cast and crew to ensure they know how to use / treat the equipment to avoid any injuries or breaking any equipment.
- 12. PROBLEM SOLVING ANALYSIS / SUMMARY After planning out my problems and producing solutions, I am a lot more confident with my production. One thing most of my previous projects lacked was problem solving, so I fully believe this planning will work in my favour when it's time to film my product. For my solutions, I decided to look at problems that I thought were the most prominent and important. I was able to do this due to my work and experience on previous products. With 2 years of experience, I know which problems are likely to come up the most often and which problems will be the most challenging to work around. I didn’t want to try and plan solutions for every little problem that may or may not occur, but I wanted to make sure I had some good solutions and preparation down for big and more serious problems that might occur, more specifically problems that would impact my final product. I knew because of experience that I would run into similar problems which is also one reason why Ive tried to not plan my project too unrealistically and overly complicated this year, especially due to COVID. With most of my problems solving now planned out, I am now far more confident with the production process and am looking forward to it, as I know it will be a less stressful process to know about potential problems and have solutions to be ready for them.
- 14. EXPERIMENT 1 'STAINED HANDS' - COLOUR, SOUND & VIDEO Video – Stained Hands Colour Palette Before Colour First Experiment Date Created – 01/02/21 Duration: 0.43 Focus – Colour, Sound & Video
- 15. EXPERIMENT 1 'STAINED HANDS' - COLOUR, SOUND & VIDEO For my first experiment, I wanted to focus on creating something very atmospheric, both visually and in sound design. I chose to do this as I would like to portray my final product in a similar tone, and really rely on beautiful looking visuals as well as good captivating sound design. For this experiment, I decided to try out a 'club bathroom' theme with the fluorescent neon lighting as well as the sound of muffled music playing in the background. I felt this was a good opportunity to learn more about mixing sounds. During the video there are a mixture of sounds to be heard along with the background music. I wanted to give these sounds such as the tap water & door closing effects a very realistic feel, and I wanted to make sure they blended perfectly with the background music. I felt I had a lot of creative control with the colours for this experiment. As my setting was supposed to replicate a club bathroom, I felt like any colour would be appropriate to use. I played around with the colour wheel a lot, trying to see which colours would work best for the setting and theme. Originally, I had given the video a red tinted look but upon rendering I felt that it just didn’t look right, as well as the fact that the video lost a lot of quality, so I went back and landed on a deep purple look which I am now happy with, as I feel that it really helps in setting the tone of the video and doesn’t feel too jarring or unrealistic.
- 16. EXPERIMENT 1 – ATMOSPHERE & EMOTION Throughout my research I looked and talked about how emotion is conveyed through lighting, colour and tone, which was one thing I wanted to experiment with in this video. Lighting: When deciding what kind of lighting I wanted for this experiment I decided on a single source that would provide the light for the whole scene. I wanted the video to have this dark yet bright vibrant tone to it. The light we used managed to subtly fill most of the room, giving it a soft tone and overall, quite a neon glow which I was very happy with. I used the heavy darks mixed with the subtle lights to highlight suspense as well as illuding to the fact that something bad was going on in the video. The darkness surrounding the face of the subject with very little illuminated only added to this feeling of negativity and suspense. The overhead lighting covering the subject's eyes have gave a dehumanising effect and gave the video an overall more sinister look which was what I was going for. Colour: I went through a few different colour designs for this video but ultimately landed on a deep purple look. I think the purple gave the scene a rather warming tone which juxtaposes how the subject is acting as well as how the scene is lit. Given that the scene was supposed to replicate a club bathroom, I felt that purple was an appropriate colour to use as these settings usually have different and more abstract colour tones. This partnered with the background music makes the video feel a lot more natural and doesn’t make audience members question why the lighting is purple, as they are able to relate to these locations and understand why the lighting is an unusual / more abstract colour.
- 17. EXPERIMENT II – LIGHTING SET-UP Outdoor Light Experiment - Outdoor setting, dim natural light and one light source Camera Settings ISO – 1600 to 2000 Aperture – F3.5 Focus Mode – Continuous Auto Focus Shutter Speed – 1/200 Camera Quality – 4K Resolution Photography Light Experiment - Multiple strong light sources, movable / modifiable light Camera Settings ISO – 600 to 800 Aperture – F3.5 Focus Mode – Continuous Auto Focus Shutter Speed – 1/200 Camera Quality – 4K Resolution
- 18. EXPERIMENT II – LIGHTING SET-UP For my lighting experiment, I wanted to test natural outdoor night lighting partnered with one source of synthetic light as I knew that most of the outdoor locations I wanted to film in would have only one or two light sources. The outcome of the experiment was what I expected, a grainy and overall, quite unpleasant and unpolished image due to the lack of light. The reason I chose to try out this experiment was to see how well the image quality would hold up with only one main light source, but now after finishing the experiment I know that in order to get a crisp and clear looking image I will have to resort to using multiple light sources which is where the second part of my experiment comes into play. For the second half of my experiment, I set up two photography lights in a pitch-black room and tested their quality to see how well they would hold up and improve low light scenes. Overall, the lights work incredibly well and are strong enough to fill up a lot of unwanted darkness in scenes. When filming my product, I plan on using these lights during outdoor night scenes as I know they will help me create a much nicer and more clearer looking image rather than having a dim grainy image. The lights will have to be hooked up to an extension cord when filming however which will make scenes a little more difficult and time consuming to film but will overall have a far better outcome on the visual quality of my product. One of my goals for this project was to make sure my product was as professionally looking as possible and I believe these lights will help me achieve this when filming and give me a lot more creative control.