Short Film's

A short Film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

• a poster for the film
• a radio trailer for the film
• a film magazine review page featuring the film

Here are some short films which I have liked some of them animated
This is a short film which is quite strange and i really like the storyline, I found it a bit creepy, but I love how they have created it. This is my favourite short film, I really like the story its something different and I havent seen anything like this before, I love the acting in it, the boy is very cute, miss parday's very lovely and kind and the x fiance is very tough and doesnt care about anybody else but himself and he wears very scruffy, rough, tough, dark clothes and miss parday's the complete opposite. Heres another short film which is a comedy, this ones very simple. Its a bit strange as the men do a lot of strange things such as killing eachothers pets. I do really like this one but were not going to do a short film like this and I personally think its to easy and to simple. This is another short film which I found and I really liked as its quite funny, its different which is always good! and I really like how the gods and the normal down to earth man are shot, theres always low angle shots of the gods to make them look bigger and more powerful and theres high angle shots of the man to make him look small and not powerful at all.

Article on how to make a Music Video

How to make a Music Video:

Choose Your Song

Having a music video can help promote your band, through video sites such as YouTube and MySpace. As well as by getting exposure on national television. If you're a film maker making a music video is a good way of getting exposure and experience and bands are often happy to give you a creative free reign. A video doesn't need to cost a fortune what's important is having a good idea and working within your budget. Production companies charge a fortune for even the simplest promo video, but you can easily do it yourself. First things first, however. You have to choose your song.
While it might make sense to make a video for your upcoming single there are a few other factors to consider:

• It can take a lot longer than you think to make a video, so by the time it's finished your single might have come out. It might be an idea to think about making the video for a subsequent single.
• Having said that, in these days of internet downloads, any track can be seen as a single, so there might be a track on the album that you have a great idea for a video for, even if that track wasn't originally planned as a single.
• Remember that it can take a long time to shoot and edit each second of video so while you might have a good idea for a video for that 10 min epic that closes the album it might be more practical to shoot a video for the 3 min pop song.

Get a Team and Equipment Together

However complicated (or simple) your shoot is, you'll need a team of people. As well as the actors/performers you'll need:

• Camera person – At least one, and maybe more.
• Lighting Person – If you're filming inside you'll need lighting, and someone to look after it.
• Director/dogsbody – You need someone in charge of the shoot, making sure everything is running smoothly, and who can go buy batteries when you need them.

It's a good idea supply some kind of refreshments for your crew – that will not only keep them happy but also stop them popping off to the shops to get their own supplies, just when you need them for the shoot.
Ideally you'll be able to recruit a team who have their own equipment. If you have to get equipment, then you'll want to get the best your budget allows. While prices are coming down, buying a camera, lights and other gear will still set you back a small fortune. You'll be able to get more equipment for your money by renting gear; many places have community arts programs where you can hire equipment cheaply. You can also check out the local colleges in your area to see if they can help. If you are looking to buy gear, then do your research. For example you're probably better of buying a higher spec Standard Definition camera, than a bottom of the range High Definition camera.

Plan Your Shoot

The more planning you can do before hand the quicker you'll be able to shoot. If you're renting gear, the quicker you can shoot the less it will cost you, and if you're relying on favors, people will be more willing to help again if you keep the hanging around to a minimum. To plan, you should:

• Draw story boards showing each scene and shot
• List the crew, performers and props you'll need for each shot
• Try and brief the camera and lighting people beforehand so they know what you want from the shot.

Filming

Take the time to get good shots.

On the day of the shoot be prepared and organised. Keep a record of shots you've made; it'll make editing much easier. Always allow plenty of time for shooting - the finished shot may only last 10 seconds, but could easily take several hours to set up and shoot. When you're happy with a shot, if you have time, shoot it again. You can never have too much footage, and the retake may capture something that you hadn't noticed first time round. You'll have your plan and storyboard to follow, but remember that some of the best moments in a video can be unplanned. Keep the camera rolling – these days tape is cheap.

Capture Live Footage

Live footage is a good addition to any video.

Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images

Filming the band playing live can provide you with great footage for a video. Filming the band at a gig will mean you'll be able to capture the bands live energy and their interaction with the audience. They are some difficulties, however:

• They'll only play the song you've making the video for once so you'll only have one chance of capturing the right footage
• The live version may differ considerable from the recorded version so syncing the footage with the track could be problematic
• The band's, and particularly the audience's, movements won't be choreographed, so you, or your camera person, won't know where to be to capture the right shots
• The lighting and effects may look great to the audience but may not look great to the camera
• Your filming may interrupt the bands performance.

Live filming may provide you with some great footage that can be used as part of a video, but if you want live footage to synch to a video, your best bet is to "stage" a live performance. Get the band to play along (or mime) to the track in front of an audience of mates or invited fans. You can then control the lighting, people's movements and get the track played as many times as you need (or at least until the band decamp to the bar!)

Use Stock Footage

You can spice up your video by adding stock footage but you need to be aware that, like music, almost all video footage is subject to strict copyright law. Making use of footage without the copyright holders express permission is illegal. (That shot from <i>Top Gun</i> may look great in your video but you'll need permission from Paramount Pictures to use it).
However, there are source of footage that you can legally use. Royalty free footage is footage you can re-use in any setting, without asking permission or paying the copyright holder a fee each time you use it - but you may have to pay a fee to obtain it in the first place! Fear not: there is free royalty free footage – footage that's in the public domain. Some sites where you can download public domain footage for free from are:

• The British Film Institute
• Google's collection of National Archives
• For black holes and other treats from outer space try the European Space Agency.

There is more and more footage being made available under creative commons licences - original material that the the copyright owner has entered into the public domain with certain conditions attached (usually that the original author is credited). More details from Creative Commons.org.

 

Editing

Your footage might be great, but it'll only become a great video through editing. To do a good job you'll need patience, time and more patience. You'll need to decide the 'feel' and pace of the video. Will it be made up of long sweeping shots, or quick sharp edits? Do you want to follow the mood of the song and edit to the music or do you want the video to contrast with the track?
The judicious use of the right effect can really set your video apart. As well as your software standard effects, there are usually many plug-ins that you can download (some free, most for a fee) so feel free to experiment (most plug-ins have a trial version you can play with for free before you buy). See tip 3 in the last step for more about the proper use of effects.
A word of warning: if you're making a video as a band it's usually best to delegating the editing process to one person. After they've done a rough edit you can discuss how it should be finished, but if 4 people sit round all trying to edit a video together a long process will become torturous and, almost inevitable, will end in falling outs.

Get the Right Software and Hardware

These days cheap, or even free, software can do a professional job of editing. The basic video software for Macs is iMovie and for the PC, Adobe's Première Elements is a good place to start. The more complex software available may give you more freedom and choice, but for the beginner these package can be overwhelming and very pricey.
Any new computer should be capable of editing film footage, and even a ten year old PC should be able to handle basic video editing software. Video editing takes up a lot of hard drive space, so keep your hard drive clear and get rid of footage your not using (but be careful not to delete footage you ARE using!). Investing in a new hard drive to store you video footage on is probably a good idea.
The output format will depend on it's destination. Highly compressed formats are best for streaming over the internet (Quicktime is the most universal), DVDs are great for send out to press and media, and a DigiBeta tape is need for TV broadcasts (something you'll need to get made up at a professional production company).

Be Creative

How many videos have you seen on MTV that consist of the band playing in a club, with the lights flashing whilst the audience jump up and down? Exactly. Try and think of something different when you make your video. Filming a Hollywood blockbuster on a shoestring budget will generally look crap! One of the most interesting videos I've seen recently was of the band playing in the back of a transit van while it went through a car wash – the only cost was the car wash fee. From this simple idea they made a interesting and quirky video that was premiered on MTV Europe.

Tips for Making a Good Music Video

Beware of Using Excessive Zoom:
It may look cool while you're shooting it, but in the final edit zooming often looks clichéd, and unless done with a very steady hand can often look amateurish.
And Excessive Special Effects:
Even the most basic video editing software has a myriad of of special effects for you to use; color changing, rolling edits, split screens.....it's advisable to use them sparingly. A good video isn't a showcase for how many effects you've mastered. It's usually better to use a couple of effects throughout the video to create a certain feel rather than use as many effects as you can to make a video exciting (if you need to do this, then maybe it's time to rethink your idea. or add some more footage - see Steps 4, 5 and 6).
But Think about Adding Sound Effects:
A dramatic music video may be enhanced with some addition sound effects. If your video begins with someone walking down the street, you could add the sound of footsteps or ambient street noise over the intro. If you're making a video for someone else make sure they won't mind you adding sound effects to their perfectly crafted tune!
Don't Be Over Ambitious:
A simple idea well executed is often more effective than a complex idea done badly.
And Ignore All I've Said:
The most interesting videos are made when the rules of convention are bent, buckled and broken, so keep experimenting and above all else, make something interesting.

Many thanks to video director Arthur T. Flegenheimer (stage name) for his expertise!

This is an article that we found on a website about how to make a music video and we are still deciding now if were going to do a music video or a short film but if we do do a music video this will prove to be very helpful.

Music Videos

Music Videos:
Here are some of my favourite music videos that have caught my eye, not because of the music but because of the video and what happens in it, the camera angles, shots and movements.

I really like this music video because I love how beautifully it is shot, the way the camera moves is so gentle and soft I dont really know how to descibe it but it makes the video so calm and everything moves slowly.
I really like this music video because of the music as it was used on my mum and dads wedding video, I think that its a very powerful song. I also love the video because it quite strong and powerful, I really like the camera angles, shots and movements used especially of the shot under the steps and seeing all the gang of men run up the steps. I also really like the way Jennifer rush is moving upwards as her singing becomes more powerful and when its at the chorus and the camera moves up with her.

Magazine Advertisements For Digipak Research

A magazine advertisement for the Digipak(CD/DVD package):

Heres a magazine advert for the stereophonics and this is the thing that I am hoping to produce when I get a band/group or solo artist. I really like this advert because I think the image they have taken of the sterophonics walking towards us and the rock and sand behind them, I think it really makes them look quite hard, serious and a very professional. I also like how the advert is mostly black and white so they've only used a certain amount of colours, which gives it a professional look. Another good thing about it is that I like  how all of the writing is on a plain background, rather being on top of the image and getting confused about what it say's, the title really stands out because of this, and also because of the gold logo behind. I hope that mine would look a lot like this because this is my favourite one and looks very professional. The serif writing doesnt stand out as much as sans serif but the bold black serif writing really stands out in the middle of the advert!

Here's another magazine advert, advertising the release of laga gaga's new album. I dont think this looks as good as the stereophonics advert as its got alot more infromation on it, that i think that it doesnt really need. The image is good, but I think I would be able to do the same if i had the correct lighting and Lady Gaga. I seems like theyhave chosen certain colours for this adevrt but its harder to see it then on the stereophonics advert. The colours are mostly black, blue and a bit of gold and white. But I think this advert looks more like an Advert and the stereophonics Advert looks more like an album cover, so if i do my design of mine either way it will be fine.

Here is another advert I dont like this one as much as its quite plain and not a lot to it, but I like how they have used certain colours such as the black and red, which really sticks out also white which really stands out because of the black behind. They have used sans serif writing so its bold and catches your eye.

Digipak Research

Research for the release of a new album, to include a music promo video, together with a cover for its release as part of a digipak(CD/DVD package) and a magazine advertisement for the digipak(CD/DVD package.

Digipak:

Here are some examples of digipak's, I am hoping to create something like this.
A digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging and is a registered trademark of AGI-shorewood, an Atlas Holdings LLC Company. A CD digipak is a modern sylish alternative to a standard plastic CD case. Digitpak's are printed card packaging that can hold one of more CD's. They are especially popular in the music insutry for CD albums. They give a product an expensive professional look about them, especially when well deisnged artwork is combined with specialist print finishing options.
Digipak's were only originally seen as limited editionsor specialist CD products however improvements in the CD production and CD packaging printing techniques meant that this sleek CD packaging solution is nbow available at much lower quantitites and much lower prices.
They are made out of card stock and the most common CD digipak's is the four panel digipak which opens like a book. However the six panel CD digipak's are also very popular, providing a larger canvas for the CD artwork and text information about the CD.
Digipaks are also very enviormental as they use less plastic also an advantage of the digipak over the jewel case is that it doesnt break as easily, so you wont have to buy another case because you've sat on the other one or having to live with a cracked jewel case with your favourite CD or DVD in!

Final Preliminary Task Video

This is mine, jesse and Katies preliminary task video. Its not very long but by watching it you can see you movements match exactly and we tried different angles and shots when making it.

Techincal Skills video

This is our Video which shows the technical skills used in filming such as the camera shots, movements and angles

The Suspect Script:

So we needed a script for our suspect, we writ it up on word and here it is and we gave this to the detective and the suspect so they both new what they had to say.

Storyboard Information

Planning is very key to a high quality production. A script is always created for a film but a script is not always enough. For a video project storyboards are used to sell your idea. All you need to make a storyboard a few sheets of paper, a pencil a ruler or a computer where you can print out a layout for your story to go on, then you just begin making sure you include some of the basic dialogue and the camera angles, shots and movements. By using a storyboard it will help you plan your animation shot by shot and you can change your storyboard or make a new one if you change your mind about what you have came up with.

The Basic language in storyboarding:

• Extreme Close up
• Close up
• Medium shot
• establishing shot
• Low Angle
• High Angle
• Pan
• Tracking
• Crane
• Tilt
• Zoom
• Fade
• Dissolve

Heres a storyboard which i found on the internet and it shows what I've been explaining by saying what camera shot, angle and movement it is and saying what happens in the scene but others sometimes say some of the dialogue. 

Heres another storyboard which I found on the internet and i thought this was a good example of one. This one also shows the sound which is going to be in that shot and also the camera shot, angle and movement and also the action

Here are just a few more storyboards which i found on the internet of storyboards which have been made into films:

Filming locations

We needed a location where it looked like a detectives room for interrogating people and we found the perfect location which was the languages office:

Our Storyboard- Draft 1

This was our first storyboard which we came up with which katie drew and wrote what camera shots, angles and movements accompany that part of the film. We also wrote what they would say in speech bubbles. We later created another storyboard which we added more to it and made the images better and the precise camera shots, angles and movements needed for each part.