TGJ3M_Multimedia_Design_Editing_Preproduction

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=Preproduction (planning stage)=

PreProduction is planning. Before you start "SHOOTING" a video or animation, you must:
 * **Define your Concept**, **Identify your target audience**
 * **OBJECTIVE** - What is the MESSAGE? What is the objective of your piece?
 * Prove a Thesis ie - America's eating food that's bad for them (SUPERSIZE Me)
 * Recreate the experience
 * Document the event - making of...
 * **TARGET AUDIENCE** - who is your piece intended to influence? How will it reach them?
 * Students
 * Organizers
 * Parents
 * Sponsors
 * In house audience vs External Audience
 * **CLIENT** - Who is "commissioning" your work? Who wants to see it succeed?


 * **Write a Script** (Even the best movie idea can be a BAD film - look at [|Battlefield Earth]) The basic script themes are:
 * Love — hate, sex, desire, etc
 * Death - permanent changes, etc
 * Justice — morality, rules, etc
 * Family - fatherhood, motherhood, childhood
 * Fear — escape, jeopardy, terror, etc.

TIMECODE 1:22 PreProduction work that you do can serve several purposes media type="youtube" key="tuP3aBmSdU8" width="560" height="315" media type="youtube" key="ux_Em1lVsjI" width="560" height="315"
 * Describe the project and convince "Investors" that your production is worth committing to
 * Coordinate the efforts of those involved in the production

__There are 3 things that are critical to keep in mind while you bring your ideas to fruition:__

1) Storyboards 2) Shot types 3) Camera movements

1) Storyboards
__The storyboard is__ __The storyboard is intended for__
 * A “Visual Script” for your production, looking very much like a comic strip version of the story.
 * A production “Blueprint” for your crew to follow.
 * A detailed list of the assets you need to create: graphics, video, dialogue, sound effects, text etc.
 * The “studio” for approval before production is started
 * The production crew, to assemble the assets

Process

 * BRAINSTORM the original story idea or “Concept”
 * WRITE a script or outline for the story
 * STORYBOARD the script
 * REVISE

Purposes

 * To work out and discuss your ideas, and to fix bad stories before they get made
 * To visualize how your production will look, and get creative with shots and action
 * To describe how your production is sequenced, and act as a step by step guide to making and shooting your film
 * To plan where and what type of additional sound effects or dialogue will be included

Tips

 * Put your shots and scenes of your storyboard in an order that tells your story clearly.
 * Plan your story so that the visual images and the script can be clearly understood by reading your storyboard.
 * Plan your production in the most interesting and appealing way possible for the audience.
 * Plan not only what happens in each shot, but also how fast or how slow you want it to happen.
 * Eliminate unnecessary or repetitive shots and add missing shots. Cut long boring shots and break them down into shorter more interesting shots.
 * Ensure that there is a smooth, clear, logical flow from shot to shot and scene to scene.

A great rational for storyboarding

A great example of a storyboard:

Extra rationale for storyboarding:

Storyboard Blanks -

Finally - if you get tired of drawing things manually - try [|CELTX], a completely free storyboarding and production tool.

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Useful Links:
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[|Nightmare before Christmas side-by-side comparison]



2) SHOT TYPES
media type="youtube" key="laU2MI6X48I" width="560" height="315" Source - gratefully from MediaCollege.com

Shot types and angles
Taking pictures needs to have that same attention given to the angle and distance from your subject to clearly capture the detail and mood that you want your audience to experience.

The angle from which you take your picture or video will have an impact on how your audience sees and reacts to it. This is very important in setting the mood in a shot.
 * The Angle From Which you Want to View the Main Subject**

A **low camera angle** is created by placing the camera below the normal eye level. With the camera looking up at the subject, this angle gives the viewer a feeling of inferiority or even fear.

For a **high camera angle**, the camera is placed well above the normal eye level. Viewers are looking down on the subject and feel as if they are in control.

An eye level angle is obtained by shooting at **eye level** with the subject. This allows the viewer to feel like they are part of the action as this would be the way they would normally view things.

Sometimes you want to create a dynamic view where there appears to be energy, drama or action. This can be achieved by turning the camera to a 45 degree angle creating a **dutch tilt**.

Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)
The EWS is often used as an "__**establishing shot**__" - the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place.
 * [[image:ews.jpg]] || In the //extreme wide shot//, the view is so far from the subject that s/he isn't even visible. The point of this shot is to show the subject's surroundings.

It is also useful in scenes where the action is very spread out. For example, in a war movie an extreme wide shot can show the scale of the action. The EWS is also known as an //extra long shot// or //extreme long shot// (acronym XLS) ||

Wide Shot (WS)

 * [[image:ws.jpg]] || In the //wide shot//, the subject takes up the full frame. In this case, the boy's feet are almost at the bottom of frame and his head is almost at the top. Obviously the subject doesn't take up the whole width and height of the frame, since this is as close as we can get without losing any part of him. The small amount of room above and below the subject can be thought of as safety room — you don't want to be cutting the top of the head off. It would also look uncomfortable if his feet and head were exactly at the top and bottom of frame.

As with many shot types, the wide shot means different things to different people. However the wide shot seems to suffer more from varying interpretations than other types. Many people take the WS to mean something much wider than our example, i.e. what we would call a very wide shot. ||

Mid Shot (MS)

 * [[image:ms.jpg]] || The //mid shot// shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh" if you were having a casual conversation. You wouldn't be paying any attention to their lower body, so that part of the picture is unnecessary.

The MS is appropriate when the subject is speaking without too much emotion or intense concentration. It also works well when the intent is to deliver information, which is why it is frequently used by television news presenters. You will often see a story begin with a MS of the reporter (providing information), followed by closer shots of interview subjects (providing reactions and emotion). As well as being a comfortable, emotionally neutral shot, the mid shot allows room for hand gestures and a bit of movement. || = =

Close Up (CU)

 * In the //closeup shot//, a certain feature or part of the subject takes up most of the frame. A close up of a person usually means a close up of their face (unless specified otherwise).

Close-ups are obviously useful for showing detail and can also be used as a cut-in.

A close-up of a person emphasizes their emotional state. Whereas a mid-shot or wide-shot is more appropriate for delivering facts and general information, a close-up exaggerates facial expressions which convey emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings.

A variation is the chocker shot which is typically framed on the subject's face from above the eyebrows to below the mouth. || ||

Extreme Close Up (ECU, XCU)

 * [[image:ecu.jpg]] || The ECU (also known as XCU) gets right in and shows extreme detail.

You would normally need a specific reason to get this close. It is too close to show general reactions or emotion except in very dramatic scenes.

A variation of this shot is the choker. ||

Point-of-View Shot (POV)

 * [[image:pov-racetrack_240x135.jpg]] || This shot shows a view from the subject's perspective. It is usually edited in such a way that it is obvious whose POV it is (see the example below).

Example Sequence->
|| Shot 1 WS (Wide Shot) || Shot 2 POV (Point of View) || Shot 3 OSS (Over-Shoulder) || Shot 4 POV (Point of View) ||  ||

== =Camera Movement=
 * Dolly || The camera is mounted on a cart which travels along tracks for a very smooth movement. Also known as a tracking shot or trucking shot. ||
 * Follow || The camera physically follows the subject at a more or less constant distance. ||
 * Pan || Horizontal movement, left and right. ||
 * Tilt || Vertical movement of the camera angle, i.e. pointing the camera up and down (as opposed to moving the whole camera up and down). ||
 * Track || Roughly synonymous with the dolly shot, but often defined more specifically as movement which stays a constant distance from the action, especially side-to-side movement. ||
 * Zoom || Technically this isn't a camera move, but a change in the lens focal length with gives the illusion of moving the camera closer or further away. ||

Next: Production