Film Production Log

(Click to enlarge)

Amended Schedule

Due to prior engagements etc the schedule was changed. This is the one that was actually followed. (Click to enlarge)

Potential Poker’s Advocate soundtracks – chosen by Jack

In class we have listened to each of song and gave comments. At this point it is still unclear which one to use as we have not placed all the wanted clips onto the timeline yet.

Theme from Sin City
Cat People
After dark
Nothing else matters
Planet Caravan
If 6 was 9
Voodoo child
Sympathy for the Devil
Sun King
Blew
Love buzz
Dive
Hairspray Queen
Big Long Now
The Little things
Fraternity Suite
The scheme
Revenge
Fox's decision
Blind
Wraith Marsh
Warrior's Dance

Making of Production Logos

I searched the Internet for a free flash animation software, and found Swish Max3. Using the trial period I created 2 Production logos for Poker's Advocate. Sound effects will be added on once imported (or soundbridge with main music).

(As it was a trial period, not many screen shots were taken)

Bullseye Productions

Draft 1

Name: "Bullseye Productions" was inspired from the feelings of wanting the film opening to be spot-on/perfect, and that it matched the image found beforehand. It didn't matter what the production studio was called or for what purpose as in reality, production logos did not necessarily have to match the film.

Image: (Taken from Google)

The idea of a dartboard came to mind as I was thinking of "Stereotypical Men's Games" as the film was about Poker and gambling. The image has a bold colour scheme of Black, White, Green and Red. This would give a wide selection of shades for font colour. There were also loads of animation ideas to put onto the dartboard to suit it. Such as the "twirl in from left" or "bullet" animation. As the image is round, it looks more professional and neat.

Font: "BIONDI"

This reminded me of the font used outside a Salon in cowboy movies and somehow it seemed to fit the dartboard image. Coloured and sized on WordArt from Microsoft Word, it was made a image on Paint then put into Swish Max3. The first and last letters were put in capitals so that it frames the logo and stays symmetrical.

Animation: Choosing text animation templates for this logo didn't take long - not many chosen fit well and I had to be cautious it wouldn't look tacky or over-done. The template "Swirl in" was chosen. I played around with the degrees of it and made the letters swirl in from the right side, as if sticking onto the dartboard. Once the text was animated, it left a print on the BIONDI font - giving the effect of paint dripping. This was not intended but as it did not look too different I decided to leave it.

The problem with this first draft logo is that it only takes up 5 seconds. The speed was decreased later on to allow a sufficient amount of time for sound effects.

The image below is a screen shot of the first draft logo being published. If I could do this project again I would take screen shots at each edit I make, and before the trial period ends.

Draft 2

Not much was changed on this version in terms of animation, size, text. The speed of the animation was decreased.

Final Logo

After getting feedback, I found out that more animation could be put on to the logo to make it more interesting. I did some quick research on other Production Logos and found there was usually more than one animation/movement.

The dartboard was given the same animation template as the text but slowed down. I made sure it got to the background quicker than the text and had a longer pause. This is so that the audience has something to focus on before the text arrives. It was also lengthened so that the audience could really take in the production logo and give time for the fade effects that would be added on whilst editing the opening.

Spark Studios

Draft 1

Name: The name "Spark" came from the font of Bullseye Productions. The BIONDI font reminded me of cowboys, which lead to guns, which lead to gun powder and sparks. Matched with "Studios" it flowed and had a snappy ring to it.

Image: (Taken from google)

The above is an GIF animation of a single firework. The theme to start a Production studio logo was "Celebration" and as it happened to be close to Chinese New Year, the idea of fireworks came to mind. It also suited one of the production studio name ideas that was noted down. The problem with this animation is that it repeats itself and only lasts 1.5 seconds roughly. It had to be slowed down or cut off near the end to leave a black background. The GIF Image was copy and pasted several time and made into different sizes. Placed across the screen, each one was timed so that it would start at different intervals, but finish, fade out and pause long enough for the font to appear with a plain black background.

Font:

BIONDI, WordArt, and Paint was also used here. However I decided it looked too pixelated and unprofessional. Once animated tit looked even more pixelated and tacky.

Instead, I used the text box and templates on the software Swish Max3. It was clearer and templates/layers could be put over it as well as multiple animations. The text is CASTELLAR. I chose this as it was simple yet had its subtle flicks off each letter giving it style. The word "studios" was smaller and placed underneath "Spark" as it was of less importance and gave the logo a boxed shape - different to Bullseye Productions where the text was on one straight line.

Animation: Not much animation was done here. There was a simple fade in and out on the still shot of the GIF image and text. The text appeared first, allowing a 2 second gap before the still image faded in. A pause was made at the end of the animation to allow the audience time to take in the logo and read it.

Draft 2

One of the comments from the feedback was that the orange text on the orange still shot of the firework made it harder to read, and more emphasis should be put on the work "Spark". Therefore, I added in another template over the text, making white fade over the orange text. It becomes more defined and noticeable.

Final Logo

Another comment was to add more animations so there was "more to see". Therefore the template layers of the orange and white "Spark Studios" text was switched over. This made the white text appear before the orange. The orange text was animated with the template movement "Explode from centre". The fade in of the still shot firework was delayed but the fade was sped up.

After importing onto the iMovie project of Poker's Advocate, this production logo may need to be cut shorter to delete the first GIF 'explosions', if necessary.

B Productions

This logo's original idea and animation was made by Jemma. However due to technical difficulties, the main images and text was sent to me to put onto Swish Max3.

I found that this software wrecked the original logo. It seemed the main image was photoshopped before - by whoever the image actually belonged to - therefore leaving pixel-ish marks. The animation left marks as well; at the start of the logo, a faint outline of the letter B can be seen. Due to time limitations this could not be changed.

Notes

For some reason my computer only allowed the logos on Swish Max3 to be saved as GIF files. (There were other options, such as AVI files) So, once imported on the Mac computers at school, they had to be converted seperately into MPEG4 files - other wise they would not play on iMovie.

Rough Schedule

(Click to enlarge)

Lighting Crash Course

As I was not present for the lighting master class that Jam and Jack went to, I was given a brief lesson on lighting before shooting.


Note: Boom mic – head of mic should follow the speaker. Point the tip towards the actor speaking and slowly move to the other to receive better quality sound.

Health and Safety

• Do not change lights with bare hands – oil on hands will burst into flames as Redheads are made of halogen light bulbs.
• After using Redheads, wait for Bandoliers (the “barn doors”) to cool down before closing.
  Make sure no one is looking at the direction of the light when turning on Redheads.
• Do not plug lots of Redheads into one socket – may blow the fuse.

Lighting

1. Back light – Gives a nice glow, and can define subject/objects in shot with a white line. Adds depth to shots.
2. Key light - Generally faces main subject, lined diagonally to the subject, which at that angle defines the shapes of the subject and adds more depth.
3. Fill light – Illuminates the rest of the set, and can act as a side light.
4. Working with shadows – Don’t overexpose areas with lighting. Create shadows in the right areas (or how you perceive them/want them to be) using an LED “twinkle” light.
5. Change angle (or close) the “Barn doors” Bandoliers of the Redheads. This decreases the intensity of the light and gives shape.