Photoshop Workshop

Photoshop workshop was an opportunity for my class and I try out some of the many effects within Photoshop. Prior to the workshop, I had very little, if no experience of Photoshop meaning I could experiment with the many effects available and familiarise myself with each tool and what they could achieve when used. Below, is a screenshot of what each tool logo within Photoshop can be used for.

Our Media Studies teacher (Miss.Macdonald) gave us all a Photoshop guide which informed us on what processes we can do in order to achieve a specific look. On the left, is a screenshot of a page from the booklet. As you can see, I chose to practice colour popping. Colour popping an image is an effective way of drawing the consumers attention to the key focal points in the frame. Colour popping especially when designing my film poster and film magazine cover will give a simplistic yet effective appeal; for example, emphasising blood spatters adds to the audiences understanding of the genre of my film and presents the typical conventions of horror.

The image on the right is my final version of my attempt at colour popping in Photoshop. Seeing that it was my first attempt, I was satisfied with the overall result; although, I did receive some help from my teacher when wanting to know how to erase finer details such as grains of sand.

Make-up Tutorial Footage and Images

Photography Workshop

This workshop was organised by our Media Studies teacher (Miss.Macdonald) to allow my class and I to understand and familiarise ourselves with using a digital camera (specifically a Canon EOS 1100D) and applying techniques that help to achieve a professional look for our product; in this case, my product being a virus sub-genre teaser trailer.

Within this workshop, skills that were developed were -

 - Applying the use of composition, framing and depth of field which all help to hold the audience's attention and create suspense.

- Mastering handheld techniques so that I become prepared when having to shoot on the go, in low light and other challenging situations (especially outside).

Composition

The way people or objects are framed within a shot help within the process of storytelling. I had to make sure that within my stills photography, framing only gave a sense of movement whereas, within filming, room must be left for actual movement to happen. For example, applying the rule of thirds. Rule of thirds require you to split the frame into thirds, both vertically and horizontally making the main intersections (lines crossing over one another) give four points.

Western Shoot-out Workshop

As part of introduction into film production, my group and I had to gain understanding into the principles of film making and practice applying them to create effect within our filming. The composition rules that were put in place were - 

Head Room - position of the subject within the frame of the image. Headroom refers o the distance between the top of the subject's head and the top of the frame to include the sense of space on both sides of the image. 

Rule of Thirds - a concept in video and film production in which the alignment of a subject with the guide lines is divided into nine imaginary sections. Miss. Macdonald wanted my group and I to apply this rule and break it when necessary to see what is achieved. One example of this being broken was through the use of a cowboy shot. This is a shot framed from mid thigh up to ultimately focus on the weapon; the antagonists/protagonists gun.

Looking Room - the space in front, and in the direction, of a moving or stationary subject.

Eye Level - a shot that has very little to no psychological effect on the viewer. This shot is when the camera is level or looking straight on with the subject.

30 Degree Rule - a guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees between shots of the same subject occurring within a sequence. If this rule isn't followed a jump cut occurs and there is a risk that the audience become disorientated.

Here is the link to our final edit - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp4bB79OBTA&list=UUf603_XBXxsENFXOHF5VEoA

Our final production was edited through Final Cut Pro. I have never used this editing software before but watching online Youtube tutorials helped give step-by-step advice on how to upload,save,add SFX and VFX and alter the length of video clips during the process.

For example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTGR3FjWU4A (Final Cut Pro X - The Basics for Beginners) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UET7QptHtc (Final Cut Pro X Tutorial Beginners) was great for anyone (like myself) who was unsure how to approach film production in the correct way. Overall the length of our shoot-out was 1 minute, 19 seconds. Unfortunately, my group and I didn't have enough time to film the final shooting between each antagonist. Therefore, this has encouraged my group and I to be more organised when it comes to arranging and applying a shooting schedule as well as being efficient with the amount of filming time given.

One way of doing this is within pre-production. By holding a group meeting, my group and I will be able to select times, dates and locations that all three of us are available.