top of page

Context

Through my experience in my course and my growing interest in cinematography, I thought to do a project that encompasses most of the things I have learnt over the past 2 years. Stretching from Unit 1(Production Project) to Unit 9 (Sound for Media), making a cinematic short film covers most areas in which I have shown interest in. Although having experience at home experimenting with audio and video work, I have significantly improved in areas of music production and Media production through opportunities that were given to me; The Broadcasting project (Unit 6) was able to provide me with a chance to use my camera and video editing skills in a professional setting which I hadn't done before and for me, has set the standard for professional video work. The Yr 1 FMP taught me a lot about time management and discipline which gave me an indication of what to focus on for the year 2 projects, which will also include this FMP.  With that being said, there are a lot of areas that I would love to improve on such as camera work, video editing, and Music production for Film; Things that I would like to spend more time exploring and hopefully will be able to during the course of this project. Also actively getting feedback and outside constructive criticism is something I strive to do more of as then I will not be blind in my judgment of my work; shortcomings & possible mistakes I may not foresee. This will significantly improve how I evaluate my work and hopefully will improve the overall quality of this project.

​

I plan to create several short films showcasing the beauty of cinematography, travelling to multiple locations in the UK to film its landmarks and historical sites. I also plan to add self-written music and any possible foley that may increase the immersion of the short films. Film grading will be a primary focus during this project as I feel that the colour in Film is possible to tell a story on its own.

Research

Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 10.03.13.png

Primary:

  • Gear testing (Lenses, Gimble, Cost of gear, Lighting)

  • Test shots (Camera settings, Camera movement)

  • Test edits (Colour grading, Film style and editing)

  • Location scouting (Distance, Cost of travel)

  • Feedback (Questionnaires, Comments, polls)

Secondary:

  • ​Video tutorials (Colour grading, Editing techniques, Lighting techniques, Gear tutorials) Video examples are below.

  • Location research (Historic sites, Famous Landmarks)

What I've learnt:

  • Use composition as a form of storytelling

  • Be creative with the limitation of the your shots.

What I've learnt:

  • LUTS (Look-up Tables) are essentially presets that can be used to colour-grade the films. This will make learning how to grade the film easier as I can learn by example and reverse engineer how others do this.

Problem solving

There are multiple problems that may occur if I do not allow proper preparation. For example, during my last FMP, there were delays in time management because of a hardware fault that would have been preventable if I were to have taken the right precautions.

So for this year, I think it is best to try and plan multiple solutions to be able to cover all basis in the event of as many shortcomings that may occur:

  • Example 1:

    • SD card being corrupt 

      • Solution 1

        • Use the backup SD card slot to retain 2 separate takes of the same shot

      • Solution 2

        • Bring extra SD cards so I’ll be able to retake incased I cannot recover the shots.

      • Solution 3

        • Using my phone to record (Although it will not be ideal to use my phone because of its limitations compared to the camera, I will still try to get the shot needed for the short film)

​

This means I will plan to pack extra equipment if something like this happens. In this case, I will have to bring 2 extra SD cards and also ensure that my phone has enough storage space to record the shot. 

​

  • Example 2:

    • Burnout or not being able to generate ideas

      • Solution 1

        • Pace yourself and take breaks effectively in order to prevent this

      • Solution 2

        • Use feedback and suggestions as a guide to generate ideas

      • Solution 3

        • Work on other aspects of the project such as the sound design continues motivation for the project.

​

Knowing this I will need to make the pre-make surveys and send them off in case of Burnout happening in so that I will have suggestions and feedback if that happens.

Also Researching techniques about time management such as the “Pomodoro” technique can allow me to split up my time more efficiently to prevent burnout. Even though this technique is used for academic purposes, I will try to adapt this for film editing. 

Planning & Production

Equipment Necessary* (This may be subject to change):

  • Camera

    • Fujifilm X-T3​

  • Lenses

    • 16mm f.1.4​​

    • 30mm

    • 90mm

  • ND filter​

  • Tripod or Monopod​

  • Gimbal

​

  • Laptop

  • Software

    • Ableton​

    • Davinci Resolve

  • Microphone​

    • Rode Shotgun Mic​

    • Neat Worker Bee

    • Portable recorder

  • Cables​

  • Backpack

Thought Process behind time plan:

14 weeks = 1 Week project evaluation and feedback + 13 weeks of project time

4 videos in 13 weeks = 1 video per 3,25 weeks or 22.75 days 

  • 1 week for research

    • What/how to shoot

    • Travel route

    • Weather predictions

    • Travel prep

  • 1 day of shooting​

  • 2 weeks for editing

    • Video

    • Audio

  • And extra time for evaluation per video

Example time plan Per video
Screenshot 2023-01-27 at 13.11.49.png

Key:

Video Research

Shoot day

Editing

Audio work:

  • Background music:​

    • ​Use self-made pre-existing songs or ideas to be produced.

  • Foley:

    • Record during the trip will build a larger sound bank 

    • Record during the research phase 

Practical skills

For the practical skills, I have split this into 3 different sections, For video, I will use skills such as colour grading, merging video clips with different types of transitions, composing different shots with different camera lenses, the composition of the image and much more. 

Video

  • Camera skills

  • Colour grading

  • Transitions

  • Composition

  • Camera lenses

 

As this is what I am mainly focusing on, for video I will be researching and discovering techniques that I will need during shooting and also how I will edit the short film. Doing so will also allow me to make shooting and editing more efficient the more I research and also test out the skills I have learnt.

​

Audio

  • Composition

  • Mixing

  • Mastering

  • Foley

  • Instrumental 

  • Equipment knowledge

 

For audio, I will use compositional skills that I have acquired over my time as a musician and be able to mix and master tracks to fit the film. Furthermore, creating foley to highlight certain aspects of the film gives an extra layer of immersion and hopefully makes the film more pleasing to watch.

I plan to do a mini vlog of what I am bringing alongside a detailed list of what I am going to bring in preparation for the day. This will be used as evidence of my research as the video will be directly influenced by said research.

 

Organisational

  • Time management

  • Finance management

  • Discipline 

  • Communicational

  • Punctuality

 

Organisational Skills will also be essential as this will be the key to determining if I am able to finish this project in time with the schedule I have set for myself and being punctual will eliminate any shortcomings that may appear.

Evaluation & Reflection

Instead of reflecting weekly, I thought it would be better If I focus on planning per city I shoot based on the time plan. 

Again this will include:

  • Planning/Research

  • Shooting/Recording

    • ​Because it will not be convenient to write problems during the shooting day as this will only waste time, I will be using voice notes to quickly explain any problems that may happen and use that alongside writing down the events of that day after the shooting day as a reflection.

  • Editing

  • Overall Evaluation

 

As mentioned during the planning & production section, each of these will have its own mini-evaluation and then an overall evaluation that encompasses the whole of what I’ve done for the location. This is so that I ensure proper evaluation for each of the items I may improve for the next location. 

 

Finally, I will have the final evaluation for the entirety of the project. This will use resources available after the premiere date:

  • Youtube analytics

  • Comments

  • Surveys

    • Personally, I will be actively pushing surveys or any type of feedback throughout the project to try and gain a more fair assessment of how I have done and what I can improve. This way I will not be as blinded in my own judgment on if something I am trying to achieve is unrealistic to accomplish or not.

    • There will also be a final survey lined in the description of the videos that will ask questions about how the videos have turned out and if I was successful in creating this project.

Presentation (Notes)

Context

Introduction

 

Overview of what I’m going to cover during this presentation

 

For this FMP

  • I am deciding to do a Cinematography based project

  • Encompasses most things I’ve learnt for the past 2 years

 

The aim is to create 4 short films showcasing the beauty of cinematography travelling in the Uk.

  • More in-depth on why 4 videos in further in the presentation

 

Of course, this will include

  • Editing (main focus)

  • Scoring

  • Foley

 

Research

Primary

  • Gear testing, Test shot/ edits etc

    • Trial and error see what works best for me

    • Curtal because I will be mostly doing this by myself

    • Currently transitioning from my old camera to this one.

  • Surveys for feedback throughout the project.

    • More focus on this as it gives a more fair assessment of how I am progressing

Secondary

  • Tutorials, Youtube,

      • Discover techniques that work for a one-man rig would be beneficial

  • Inspiration from other cinematography

  • Forms

  • All will be cited with Mybib

Equipment

  • Subject to change dependant circumstance

  • Grant example

Push creativity

Problem-solving around it

​

Problem-solving

  • In the past, I’ve had problems with time management because of equipment faults that would’ve been preventable with proper risk assessment.

so for this FMP

  • Planning Multiple solutions for issues will cover more basis when shortcomings occur.

Sd card example

  • Backup SD card slot

  • Backup SD card

  • Phone Recording (Not ideal because I’ll need to improvise with the limitations of my phone but if need be I will do this for the shot)

 

Of course, many more problems may happen, but I have made sure to have accounted them in my proposal

​

Time plan

A brief summary of the time plan

sum it up

  • works out 4 videos for 14 weeks (including evaluation)

Each video will have

  • 1 week Research

  • 1 day shoot

  • 2 weeks editing & evaluation

 

To go more in-depth on what I’ll do for those weeks

Research

  • Prep

  • Gear testing

  • Make shooting day efficient

Shooting

  • Travelling

  • Recording footage

  • Recording Foley (diegetic sounds)

Editing

  • Video

  • Foley

  • Music

Evaluation

With all that in mind

The premiere date will be on the 19th May 2023

 

Practical skills

I have split it into 3 different parts

  • Organisational

    • Time management (complete the project)

    • Finance Management (stay within budget)

  • Video (reference research)

    • Editing

    • Filming

  • Audio

    • Composition

    • Mixing & Mastering

 

Evaluation & Reflection

Done a bit differently

  • I will be doing this on Wix

  • Instead of weekly, Will be following the time plan and per location,

Again will include

  • Research

  • Shooting

  • Editing

  • Overall evaluation (for Location)

The reasoning behind and overall evaluation

  • Each segment will have an evaluation.

Note for shooting

  • Voice notes will be used to ensure adequate reflection during the shooting

 

Final evaluation

After the premiere date

  • Youtube analytics

  • Comments

  • Surveys

    • Actively pushing for feedback on this

A great indicator of how well the project has done.

This will be written in a separate segment on the website

Thank u for listening,

Are there any questions?

​

Click on the button for the UAL Template version on the Proposal

*because of the amount of information the for each section, unfortunately, they are not able to fit in the text box. so I have here a Google doc with all the text.

By Jake Lee. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page