Sony Vegas Pro 18

I wanted to use sony vegas pro for the editing of my project as I have had past experience with the programme which would make it easier for me to use. As well as this it had alot more features to offer other than programs such as imovie and windows movie maker and some adobe programs.  I feel sony vegas will allow me to have a very high quality film that is tidy and follows all conventions. Some examples of where sony vegas pro is good is transitions, cuts, overlays, sound manipulation, video resizing and moving, effects such as zooms and filters.

Monty Pythons Full Film Anaylsis

The film monty pythons is comedy film based around religion, but its made to seem real and thats what adds the comedic value to the film. The film was realised in 1969. This film become popular in british culture due to its comedic value. Due to its success it realised more films following it and almost made a series in the monty pythons films. It mainly uses comedy to portray issues they feel are wrong with everyday life. This a comedy/mockumentary type short film.

Conclusions

Ping Pong Mockumentary

The Ping pong Mockumentary follows generic conventions of a mockumentary by making it look real but also showing that it is fake at the same time, this adds a comedic value to the short film.

The mockumentary starts with classic non-diegetic sound playing in the background with the man "Joe" talking about his career in ping pong. This music creates a sense of immaturity of the clip. While the music is playing the man "Joe" is telling us about his life and characteristics about him this allows the audience to become familiar with "Joes" story line this will later be used in the short film to go against him, by this I mean there would be a clip later on in the movie showing him doing this activity wrong that would add comedic value to the clip acting as a binary opposite.
When the clip cuts back to the interview it uses a sound bridge to link the two clips together by having him start the interview speech before it has visually come up. This makes the film seem smoother and can help to speed up the pace of the short film. Non-diegetic music has also been used on the short film for example this happens when there is an action being done by the character "Joe" the music used is very harsh and intimidating and as the character doesn't look like that kind of person it adds comedy to the clip.


The Mise-en-scene of the clip has had the proxemics of the characters perfectly placed out throughout the clip, one example would be when the main character is talking in front of the camera they have used the Rule of thirds to keep him to the right and not directly in the center of the video, this makes the video less unnatural for an audience for watch which is what makes it seem like a real documentary. Eye-Line matches have also been used in the clip to help show the level of frustration on peoples faces once they have played ping pong against "Joe". This can help create a sense of dominance between the two people by seeing facial expressions.

The short film ping pong uses lots of handheld camera footage, this is conventional for a short budget film as it is a lot more expensive to use stands and more professional equipment.  Even though it has been filmed through a hand held camera it still adds a lot of effect to the video. A medium shot is used while talking to the character called "Joe" it is also a bit tilted towards his face and the camera is at a lower angle, showing that he is important and seen as better.

Short Film Title Ideas

The films title needs to be in the lines of a hero, who is in a town stopping crimes although the hero is more of a vigilante.

Names I have come up with so Far for my Short Film:

• Town Idiot
• Town Saviour
• The Main Man
• The Issue
• Graffiti Problems
• Town Hero
• The Vigilante
• The Semi-Hero

Hood Documentary Analysis

The hood documentary again uses generic conventions of mixing comedy in with a documentary as they use an idiotic man playing the role of a young youth in london who is mixed in with gangs and classed as a gangster.


 Voice overs are a main feature of mockumentarys as they help to reduce polysemy about the featured person, one has been used at the start of the hood documentary to tell the audience who he is and what he is and creates a greater sense of omniscience. A voice over is a very desired part of a short film as it allows for quicker pace.  This allows the short film to be much more concise with the use of short clips with the voice over which allows the viewer to become familiar with the characters and storyline. Right at the start of the short film a introduction to the character "roll safe" if used to show what he is like in public and what type of person he is. Though the use of editing and mise-en-scene you can see he is in a rural area with clothes that match the typical gangsters of London. The acting of the short film is very well planned and makes "roll safe" look very idiotic, I feel this is what the main point of this mockumentary is to present gangsters as stupid and trying to set an example.  High Key lighting is used repetitively throughout the short film to heighten the status of the character "roll safe". Also through the use of hegemonic views the character selected was of black ethnicity  as by the public it is seen as normal in rural areas where this was filmed.

This short film also uses a handheld camera this is most likely because it is on a small budget and the effect of using a handheld camera is good for documentary's as it makes it seem more real and in moments where there is tension or a problem it shows shaking of the camera man also and gives the viewer a feel to what is going on. The rule of thirds has also been used in this short film as they mainly keep the character "roll safe" to the side and not in the direct center of the camera but occasionally they go against this rule and put him in the middle when he is talking directly to the camera. I feel they did this to make you feel uncomfortable when he is talking to the camera and realize how he is thinking through his body language and facial expressions. This is then also shown through a zoom to a close up on him when he is answering a question that he is struggling with, this again reduces polysemy and shows the audience that he is quite unintelligent. Mid shots/two shots are used when the character "RS" goes up to other people to help the viewers interpret what other people around "RS" think of him.

Slow motion was used during the clips of showing the charecter at the start by the use of this allows the short film to emphasise the status of "RS" as being high up and important. This slow motion technique allows the viewers to pay close attention to the charecter and what to expect from the character. This later turns out to be a total binary opposite when we see the character "RS" for ourselves and how he reacts in clips.

Non-diagetic sound is also a big factor of this short film as it is mainly used to help cuts jump from one place too another this is also conventional as it helps match the too places together and disguise the cut.

The narrative of this short film is again to be comedic against people who act like "roll safe" who is meant to be a gangster of London. By showing the charecter "roll safe" as being stupid and not smart shows us what life would be like as a being a person like him. This is a binary opposite as it shows him thinking he is right and getting then getting told or shown that he is infact wrong this is really good for the comedic aspect of the short film.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Big Society Analysis

Big society is a short film thats genre is to be a mockumentary, and have comedy mixed with it. The short film has a very well thought out layout by this I mean the way it was edited to show some clips before the others. The film shows the man cooking in his house to start off which is a very traditional   activity to do making the man seem peaceful and not someone you would expect for the part this is what adds to the comedic value of the short film. Going against the hegemonic views as they show him then fighting people in the public its very unexpected and totally changes the views on the man but as soon as it goes back again to the clip inside the house cooking it will change again. In a comedy short film this style is very conventional as it makes the users laugh as they are binary opposites and unexpected from the audience.

A hand held camera had been used in the film as a technique to show stress and that it was a dangerous environment. The use of hand held cameras is also a conventional way to record a film as short films dont have big budgets and this effect is very cheap to do as it can be done with only one camera without it being on a tri-pod. Rule of thirds is also being used when in the main actor or the protagonist, he has not been placed in the center of the shot but to the right hand side this is conventional as its very unusual for a film to have a person in the center of the screen. A few POV shots have been used throughout the short film also to show certain objects such as the cake progressing through its cooking stages and for items like the taser. By the showing of the cake again and again throughout the film it also could be representing the protagonist how he is growing and becoming harsher and harsher. The editing also backs up this idea as the clips get shorter and shorter so it speeds up the pace of the film, this is shown from clip lengths such as the lengths of the clips get shorter and also more violent towards the end.

The film maker made the short film interesting through  camera shots and editing as what was shown in the camera shots through mise-en-scene. For example the cake that was being shown added more to the story as it showed that the man liked to cook as well as be violent to people that litter.

The short films narrative is to be a comedic film about people who litter and how the protagonist fights against them to help fix the litter problem, but the way in which he does it would not be seen as right in real life this and the use of binary opposition with the protagonist is what really makes the mockumentary funny. This interests the audience in the short film through the use of comedy this is done in a number of different mockumentarys there for this short film follows convention.

What is a mockumentary ?

A mockumentary or docucomedy is a type of film or television show in which fictional events are presented in documentary style to create a parody. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. They may be either comedic or dramatic in form, although comedic mockumentaries are more common.


Information from:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary)

General Notes For The Project

General Ideas and Notes For the Project

Genre: Mockumentary

Media examples of mockumentary’s:

Big society - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geq4MHsoH4Y

Monty pythons - https://www.youtube.com/user/MontyPython

Hood documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=165R9OWugAk

Devvo - https://www.youtube.com/user/RealDevvo

Things to think about when making a film [Resources]:

Location, Cast, Script, Length, Equipment

Convention:

-          Comedy is a big aspect

-          Most start serious, and then show you something unexpected

-          Close ups are good for showing facial expressions

-          Music in background can help portray emotions.

-          Hand held camera

-          Binary opposition

Ideas [Mockumentary ideas]:

-          School / outside littering / not studding /

-          Religion such as Monty python’s life of Brian

-          Poverty, classes and status

-          Places such as the hood different people going to different places

Ideas for my film:

Litter issues around Chelmsford, someone litters idiot hero tries to sort it out, goes up to the guy and knocks him straight out, this would be filmed hand held to add effect. Another time could be where people are doing graffiti but the type of graffiti they are doing is for an artwork project and they have permission for it

After each scene it will cut back to him doing something peaceful and something not expected from a person like him for example it could be cooking or listening to peaceful music and sunbathing.  The the actor would talk for a bit at why he is right [idiot hero] when he hurts people for littering or doing wrong in public. By the use of this binary opposite it should create comedy.