Annoying orange effect

Green Screen 16.3

Pioneers of editing

Critical writing task

In her article for the Independent Cherry Norton writes about how “abnormally thin” presenters and actresses are causing eating disorders in young women.

The article’s biggest problem is that it has a conflicting message it starts off by quoting doctors about how unnatural body shapes are being portrayed by the media, then referencing a British Medical Association report which states that doctors are treating a large number of people with various eating disorders. However in the very next paragraph she talks about a report, which talks about how the ‘the gap between the perceived ideal body shape and reality is widening’. This completely throws the previous argument out as now you have two separate sources claiming completely different things, which means nothing in the end. The back and forth of apposing arguments goes on through the entire article. Now if you are going to write a piece titled ‘Media blamed for rise in eating disorders’ you should paint only one side of the picture and not include counter arguments within the writing itself as it just becomes convoluted and doesn’t carry either message across.

Cherry goes on to point out statistics that females on television have considerably less body fat than what is considered a healthy woman. The problem is that the source of information is dated as according to the article the research was conducted in the 90’s, which is a very vague period of ten years to when the article was writing in May of 2000. She also says the research was only on an estimate, this means that the paragraph has little relevance and carries no weight on the reader.

She has a very good quote from a Professor Nathason who states that actresses and female presenters tend to be thin, whereas males can be of all shapes and sizes. This puts a great pressure on these women to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible. That statement may be true for the most part but it doesn’t show any translation to the general public, because if women who are on the spotlight may want to be as thin as possible to get more work means nothing to the mass of women out there who have no interest in ever being in the media. Again with the conflicted messages, later in the article Cherry has quotes directly from BBC and ITV spokes people that they give equal opportunity to women no matter their size and give clear examples of the more successful ones. Now this is only from two channels but they are some of the more viewed ones and again this dismisses the argument made earlier.

One of the best arguments on this topic that she writes about is fortunately about how cultures which don’t focus on thinness eating disorders are a lot more rare, the paragraph goes onto to say as westernisation has increased so have these disorders. Even though there are many different aspects to a culture the best way one is portrayed now days is through the media. Although there is no scientific evidence for this coloration it is something that cannot be ignored. However even if there would be sufficient evidence for media causing eating disorders it would be a hard change to implement because of our cultural obsession with thinness. This is shown in the conclusion of the article where Cherry talks to Rebecca Martin the chief editor of Jump, a magazine for teenage girls. Rebecca that they try and portray women of all shapes and sizes in their magazine but it is hard not to put a ‘beautiful skinny girl on the cover’ case it is proven to sell more copies. So as much as someone may want to change our cultural views on beauty they cant because they still need to make a profit in a competing market.

The article as a whole makes some good point about the media and our obsession about thinness even if lacking sufficient evidence.  However it sabotages itself by having counter arguments which not only undermine and points made it also confuses the reader as to what message it wants to get across and neither argument in the article has enough weight and content to it to persuade anyone as to if media is or isn’t causing eating disorders.

Storyline

1.) Student 1 is sitting at a table and gets a phone call, so he gets up and leaves 2.) Student 2 notices that student 1 left his wallet. 3.) Student 2 walks over and picks it up and takes it. 4.) Student 1 returns and is looking for his wallet. 5.) While student 1 is looking around student 2 walks past in the background.

Shot list

Medium – Student 1 sitting at a table, gets phone call, gets up and leaves. Forgets his wallet. Medium – Student 2 sitting at other table notices something off-screen. Medium – Student 2 walks up to table with wallet. Close – Hand reaches for wallet. Medium – Student 2 examines wallet in hand and puts in his pocket then walks off. Wide/tracking – Student 1 is walking back to where he left the wallet. Medium – Student 1 looking around for wallet. Close – Of student 1 looking around. Wide – Student 1 is still looking around; student 2 walks past in the background.

Short For Olivia

I tried out for X-factor

Introduction to editing 16.1.1 (b)

How can editing build tension and pace? - But making quick shots between whats going on in the scene and the reaction of the main character, the quick cuts help build tension because you never focus on anything too long so you're not sure of whats happening and its also quite disorientating, this build pace as well by getting the story to move quicker because it its condensed into lots of short shots instead of a few long ones. 

Crosscutting - its cutting between two or more shots to show you everything thats going on and keep the story going at a good pace.

Reaction shots - are when the shot comes back to characters who are only spectating the main action of a scene, to show their reactions and expression to whats going on. This helps set the mood for a scene. 

Seamless editing - when a scene is constructed in a certain way so that we don't notice the work of the editor because of the way and sequence that the shots are showed. 

Jump cut - is an editing technique where something is clearly added or removed in a scene but the shot doesn't change, this makes the edit itself abundantly clear. 

Flash back - its a cut to a different time, to show a critical point in a characters life and explain how they behave or how they got to where they are now.

How can editing be used poetically? - Editing can be used poetically by having different shots connect with meaning or reference which isn't clear straight away so the audience has to think, it can also be by having a shot with a metaphor to enhance the meaning of a shot before or after it. 

Introduction to editing 16.1.1 (a)

Editing - the process of selecting and preparing audio, visual and written aspects of a film, it involves modifying those aspects by combing them, or putting it into sequence. 

Elliptical editing - when it cuts between two scenes usually to show the passage of time, but it still makes sense to the viewer because its obvious enough for us to fill in the gap.

Long shots - are used to give an idea of locations and how many characters are in that scene. If there is only one its used to indicated solitude.

Non-diagetic sound - is the sound (usually music) that plays during a scene and the audience can hear it but the person on screen can't.

How do we know she is bending down to pick up the ring? - We know this because in a close up of her she looks down at something we can't see and then bends down as if to pick something up, then the shot cuts a close up of a ring in the grass and a hand going to pick it up. Now it didn't show what she was looking at or her bend down all the way way but because of the combination of those two shots we can fill in the gaps and determine that she saw the ring an picked it up.


Hustle:

Overhead establishing shot - is used to show us the location of the place where all the action of the scene will take place and where the characters are relative to each other.

Shot-Reverse-Shot - it is used to indicated people talking to each other without having them in the same shot, this is achieved cutting back and forth between them whenever they are talking, this leads us to presume that they are talking to each other.

Eye-line matching - is very important to the shot-reverse-shot because the characters are looking off screen while talking to where the other character would be in that scene, this indicates that they are making eye contact and thus the conversation is between them. The establishing shot is also vital to this because you know where each character is so you know who they are looking at depending of which way their eyes are looking even if they are the only ones on screen.

Why do we cut to the other members of the group? - This is used to show the other characters reaction to the one talking or to each other.

Wipe - is a transition to show a change of location and time.

Effect of using quick cuts - are used to set up a fast rhythm to keep the story moving and the audience on their toes and paying attention.

Video Profile Self Evaluation

For this project we had make a video about a hobby or interest of ours. I chose to do mine about the ways in which I consume media. But before I could even start pre-production I had to watch and compare other video profiles. This way actually quite helpful it gave me a clearer idea of what to do and influenced some aspects of when I went to film mine.

The first thing to do before I could film was to write a script, then compose a shot list for it. This task was quite challenging in particular because I had never thought of where or what I would film before I actually started. After the script and shot list were done I could finally start filming. This I found to be quite tricky because I did it by myself and quickly realized how hard I found it to talk straight into the camera without anyone there.

My strength in this project I’d have to say were my editing skills because I made quite a few mistakes while filming, usually in the middle or the end of a segment. But I managed to make it as seamless as possible.

My weaknesses however were firstly my time management so the project took a bit longer than it should have. I also made it harder on myself while filming by going straight from a mistake back into the script so that was quite difficult to edit around. I think I made my segments a bit too short, which also made it hard to add in extra footage to go along with what I was saying.

A big problem I encountered that couldn’t be fixed was that the aspect ratio was very narrow.  This is because I used my own recording device and it couldn’t be changed anywhere in the settings on it or the computer. So in future I will make sure not to use.

The improvements I could make for the next project is practicing talking into the camera so that I talk clearer and maybe make fewer mistakes. I will make to sure leave some time and/or make a clear distinction from when I make a mistake to when I start again so it’s easier to edit.

This project made me think about what I was actually going to shoot and what a scene will look like long before the filming process even started. This is a good skill to have because it means I will be more organised on other projects, and so the filming could be done quicker. It’s also good because you have an idea of how the finished product will look like before production is even started.

Video Profile

Video Profile Script And Shot List

Script	Shot
Hi, I’m Paulius and I am going to walk you through how I consume media. Well firstly I watch way too many films. But I wouldn’t say I a favourite in particular, my enjoyment usually stems from the mood and time of when I watch it.	Talking to camera.
However the one movie I can watch time and again and still love has to be The Blues Brothers. I enjoy looking at and analysing the cinematography of films in particular, I like looking at a shot seeing why it’s good or bad and maybe thinking how it could work from a different angle.	Pretending to watch a film/eating popcorn.
The genres I mainly go for are Sci-fi, comedy and drama, though lately I have been swaying more towards independent titles, because apart from a few movies this year Hollywood has become dumb and boring and not much seems to be worth the price of a cinema ticket to go see.	Talking to camera.
The majority of my time on the internet is spent either browsing on forums or on news aggregator sites like Reddit. I also like to read web comics whenever I get bored.	Browsing internet on laptop, viewed from the shot.
TV I rarely watch but I do watch quite a bit of TV shows.  I prefer to watch them online because it’s more convenient, I don’t have to remember the show times or make sure I’m available.  Also I mostly watch American shows like Breaking bad and the Walking Dead and they now are uploaded on site like Netflix a day after airing in America, weeks before they come on television here. I have also been going back and watching critically acclaimed shows like Firefly and The wire.	Talking to camera.
But more than anything I watch ‘let’s plays’ on YouTube which are basically gameplay videos with voice over from the people playing. I also frequently watch internet series like Red VS Blue and live action shorts by guys like Rooster Teeth or Corridor Digital.	Talking to camera.
It’s not all entertainment online for me though because I frequent news sites like BBC to keep up with what’s happening in the world. Speaking of news I’m not really a fan of the personal kind so I tend to stay away as much as I can from social media, I’m just not really big on bragging about my day or thoughts; and preferred it when the internet still had anonymity. Now I of course I have a Facebook but that’s just because communication has become impossible without it.	Talking to camera.
Gaming is a big part of my life; I game mainly on the weekends but still squeeze a bit in during the week. I follow the whole industry closely through game news sites like The Escapist so I’m always up to date with what game are coming out and what review scores they got.  I own two consoles, an Xbox and a 3DS; The Xbox is my main platform and the Ds I play more casually. I don’t really play on my computer because it’s a laptop that can barely run even simple games.	Show Ds and some gameplay footage.
I love Podcasts and listen to about nine each week. Now that’s quite a lot considering they’re nearly all over and hour long but it’s usually if I’m playing my DS or going to bed because they help me sleep. I tend to go for the comedy and gaming ones.	Talking to camera.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing – is a marketing technique that uses existing social networking services and other technologies to produce increases in brand awareness or to try and increase sales.

Viral marketing techniques have many different forms, from a video to an entire interactive website dedicated to promoting a product. But no matter how an advert is presented it’s always distributed the same way and that’s by word of mouth, hence the name “viral” because it spread from person to person quickly.

Since the advert itself is purely distributed on social media sites it doesn’t cost the company as much as the same advert being on television, because even if the production value is the same they don’t have to pay for air time. Also via the Internet it can reach more people, especially now days when most people don’t watch TV live and a viral campaign can last anywhere between a few days and a week and if it’s successful enough you could see it everywhere for that time period.

It can help raise reputation for a brand if the advert is well received and people praise it. Increase in reputation means it can ultimately increase sales when a person goes to buy a product, let’s say deodorant they will most likely pick the brand that they have heard more favourable opinions of rather than the others; not that the other brands are worse it’s just that one in particular was on everyone’s mind thanks to a recent viral advert.

Now viral marketing does come with some serious disadvantages, for starters its very high risk; you may put days and a fair bit of money into making an advert to have no one notice it and have it not take off at all. The other big risk that comes with it is that you have no control once you put it out there so it may not get to the audience it was intended for or people may get a different message than originally indented like people thinking Nivia was telling black people to get civilized with one of their campaigns, which is most likely the last thing they indented. Exposing your promotion directly to social media is very dangerous too as Skittles learned when they linked their website with twitter to show kids that they were ‘hip’ and up to date but other people got wind of this and decided to it would be funny to post how the sweets can give you cancer. So instead of promoting the brand and showing that they were a consumer friendly company they had their customer base terrified of ever buying from them ever again.

But it always seems to be the more interactive and out there viral ad campaigns that sometimes people just don’t get or sabotage, so if you just make a fun advert with the right messaging that could be used for TV and put it on the Internet instead you should be fine. So even with the risks involved its still an effective way to promote your product you just have to be more careful than usual so it doesn’t harm the product or company name.

User Generated Video Analysis

This time for the project I had to watch and compare two videos on the Internet made by regular people who just make them for fun or as a hobby and aren’t really promoting anything.

The first video I watched was titled How Animals Eat Their Food. In this video two guys were pretending to eat a meal at a table, one of those guys then went on to pretend to be different animals and imitate how they eat and their behavior whilst the other sat there and tried to keep a straight face.

The target audience for this video is males and females aged 15 – 25 because they are they demographic to be looking for videos like this. Its also made for the attention span of the new generation because its relativity short with little setup and straight to punch line.

The second video I reviewed was called Your Grammar Sucks Number 43. This is part of a series this guy names Jack does where he reads out comments from various websites on the Internet. He makes it more interesting by sometimes reading in a funny voice or trying to reenact some.

The target audience for this video is about the same apart from maybe going a bit older of 16 – 25 because it has un-censored swearing. It still aimed at both at men and women because it can be enjoyed regardless of gender.

Both these videos are primarily made for YouTube because the creators of both videos have designated channels where they upload similar videos.

They also both a similar purpose and that’s to purely entertain their audience by making them laugh. Though they do achieve this in different ways, the first video is more of a scripted ‘short’ whereas the second one the guy read out comments made and sent in by other people and then maybe improvises a bit.

They are shot pretty much the with one stationary camera which never moves but it’s the editing that’s different, in the first video the guy acts like an animals for a bit and usually wrecks the table then it hard cuts and the ‘stage’ is reset for him to do it again. The second video however has a lot more quick edits but the guys pretty much stays in the middle of the frame and also sometime incorporates effects. 

Marketing Video Analysis

For this part of the project I had to watch two professionally made marketing viral videos and compare all the different aspects of them.

The first video I chose to review was the ultra-reality TV adverts from LG. In this video they installed the new LG TV into an office and made the view to look like window. They then staged a few job interviews and at some point throughout it they played a video where a comet collide with the city and of course filmed to reactions of the unknowing interviewees. This was all just to show off how sharp and crisp the new display looks, they did however add to experience by making the room shake and cutting the power, but this was more just the reactions.

I’d say the target audience is both men and women aged around 25 to 40 because they have to be able to afford and be in need of a TV. I also think it’s aimed more at the tech geek who has to have the latest TV with best resolution.

The second video I watched was Terry Crews old spice muscle music; now in this video a variety of instrument are hooked up to various muscles on Terry via the monitor pads and he plays them y tensing those muscles.

I think the target audience is aiming at younger age range of 18 to 30 and males only because older men tend to go for more pleasant perfumes like colognes and younger ones go things like lynx. This advert is aiming more sporty people because aside of obviously being a deodorant it also shows Terry Crews making use of his rather impressive muscles.

Even though both videos are viral adverts make by large corporate companies they have different goals in mind. The LG advert is promoting a new product whereas the old spice ad is only raising brand awareness to hopefully raise sales.

The differences don’t stop at the goal either; they are also fundamentally shot differently. The LG ‘prank’ films the set up and the reactions and then compresses the whole advert to around a minute long so as you can imagine it cuts from shot to shot quickly and it’s a multi-camera production so there’s lots of different viewpoint.  Whereas even though the old spice video is also about a minute long its shot only using one camera with no editing so the shot never moves for entirety of the video.

Both are primarily YouTube videos but the LG one is also in an animated GIF format, and this is where I encountered it first but it was edited and shortened so I just thought it was a cool prank and no an advert.

For this part of the project I had to watch two professionally made marketing viral videos and compare all the different aspects of them.

The first video I chose to review was the ultra-reality TV adverts from LG. In this video they installed the new LG TV into an office and made the view to look like window. They then staged a few job interviews and at some point throughout it they played a video where a comet collide with the city and of course filmed to reactions of the unknowing interviewees. This was all just to show off how sharp and crisp the new display looks, they did however add to experience by making the room shake and cutting the power, but this was more just the reactions.

I’d say the target audience is both men and women aged around 25 to 40 because they have to be able to afford and be in need of a TV. I also think it’s aimed more at the tech geek who has to have the latest TV with best resolution.

The second video I watched was Terry Crews old spice muscle music; now in this video a variety of instrument are hooked up to various muscles on Terry via the monitor pads and he plays them y tensing those muscles.

I think the target audience is aiming at younger age range of 18 to 30 and males only because older men tend to go for more pleasant perfumes like colognes and younger ones go things like lynx. This advert is aiming more sporty people because aside of obviously being a deodorant it also shows Terry Crews making use of his rather impressive muscles.

Even though both videos are viral adverts make by large corporate companies they have different goals in mind. The LG advert is promoting a new product whereas the old spice ad is only raising brand awareness to hopefully raise sales.

The differences don’t stop at the goal either; they are also fundamentally shot differently. The LG ‘prank’ films the set up and the reactions and then compresses the whole advert to around a minute long so as you can imagine it cuts from shot to shot quickly and it’s a multi-camera production so there’s lots of different viewpoint.  Whereas even though the old spice video is also about a minute long its shot only using one camera with no editing so the shot never moves for entirety of the video.

Both are primarily YouTube videos but the LG one is also in an animated GIF format, and this is where I encountered it first but it was edited and shortened so I just thought it was a cool prank and no an advert.