Wednesday 26 May 2010

Week beginning 24/04/10 -

24/05/10 -
Looked over the captured footage. Went to finally go film the interview the gamestation. Went reasonably well, framing wasn't too bad and it went on for long enough. We also went around shops looking for deals on the consoles, this section didn't go well and will most likely be scrapped. Activity 4 is completed on freelance portfolio.

25/05/10 -
We have filmed the console analysis for the Xbox 360 and PS3. I scripted the conclusion therefore the script is now completed. We have also filmed the conclusion which brought back the idea of the transition between the aggresive modern war and then finally peace for the conclusion. It looks ''alright'' but we're to close to the end to do much about it now.

26/05/10 -
Today blog was put up onto blogspot as you are now seeing, Freelance portfolio Activity 2&3 are now completed and a folder has been bought for it. Film is currently being edited and looking quite humourous.

Week beginning 17/05/10

17/05/10 -
Script still being written for scenes we haven't filmed yet, nearing completion.
Freelance portfolio activity 1 fully completed, Activity 3 semi-completed.

18/05/10 -
I had the idea with our old idea Retro Vs Modern to have a shot by the river, talking about the peaceful old days and then contrasting it with the newer grittier days. I decided to keep this idea in as I want it to have a feeling of peace before making a grittier talk about the battle between the console for the contrast and effect. This will also be used in the conclusion in someway, although that won't be scripted for sometimes. For now I will ponder.

19/05/10 -
Script continuation, Looking over the schedule setting failed gamestation interview back from yesterday to monday. Things just keep being set back, freelance portfolio looms over me threateningly.

20/05/10 -
Game footage done, I have a cold which really doesn't help when you want to present. We tried to desperately film in Beths house for a re shoot of the introduction scene and further introduction. I get continually annoyed with how bad it is but what can I do we're running out of time. Trust illness to strike.

21/05/10 -
We reshot the transitional scenes due to some bad shooting and sound errors the first time. Luckily we have the time to reshoot. Maybe we should edit all the first failure shots together make that documentary give that into the lecturers once they've watched it give them the reshoots and seem so much better. Transitional scenes look much better now. reshooting was worth it. Still has some sound issues though.

Week beginning 10/05/10

10/05/10 -
Problems with Codemasters and getting copyright off everyone, Microsoft and Sony are all good and they're the main ones looking, might have to cut codemasters section out but too early to say. Freelance Portfolio Activity 1 is half completely going to look at NGamer magazine/Kerrang Magazine for examples of article writers/journalism.

11/05/10 -
We went around town looking for vox pops we got one gamer and tried to get people which didn't fit the stereotype which midday in stratford did not prove difficult. We also decided to get more gamer vox pops at gamestation when we have the gamestation retailer interview.

12/05/10 -
Filming at Alex's House. Before we started I reminded people of the Charlie Brooker set and showed them the video and we basically mimic'd it in a basic way. We got a few geeky posters to put behind me.
We filmed:
Introduction,
Halo 3 Review,
Killzone 2 Initial Reactions.
Game Footage.
Today was a good day for filming.


13/05/10 -
After capturing the footage we realised it wasn't all that great. Some wasn't exactly usable and the in-game footage didn't work. Luckily we had enough time to put things right and we did get some usable footage so it wasn't exactly a wasted day.

14/05/10 -
I scheduled the rest of the assignment with the group.

Week beginning 03/05/10

03/05/10 -
Day Off. Although still working on Codes and Conventions, Also existing documentary styles and convention clips. Also set design based on Charlie Brooker bit added.

04/05/10 -
Idea was commissioned. There were still problems but it wasn't all that bad. Our overall style, set, interviews and narrative have been decided. Now for filming.

05/05/10 -
Script work while people try and work out a game footage. Script the introduction and a few analysis scenes with research to back it up.

06/05/10 -
Working on script, locations and set design for pre-production.

07/05/10 -
More research and script looking good. Schedules are done as well.

Week beginning 26/04/10

26/04/10 -
Videos are on the presentation on existing games documentaries, I have my research on existing games documentaries. Narrative Structure Completed, Synopsis general overview completed, Questionnaire and graphs completed. Day before the pitch...Now we pray.

27/04/10 -
Everyone dressed up for pitch day, presentation is half the battle and increases confidence. We went in fairly confident and explained our idea and answered questions reasonably well. Negative points being not enough explanation for narrative, not an obvious overall question and Ben mentioning Racism.

28/04/10 -
Noting down improvements to presentation, my narrative structure was a bit of a rethink. Also starting on more updated questionnaires with better results.

29/04/10 -
Got much more research on existing games documentaries and codes and conventions of existing documentaries that for some reason I forgot all about.

30/04/10 -
Copyright issues come up so we come up a form of contingency plan but that is only if things get really desperate. The only way I want to change the idea if it's one of the group members dying wish really. I think we should run with this rather than all of our research become irrelevant. So therefore this pitch has to succeed. As long as we have enough research and evidence to back our idea up it should all go well.

Week beginning 19/04/10

19/4/10 -
Today the pitch was on the agenda, and had alot of ideas to what to include within the pitch, and our specific roles within the pitch. I was to take care of the overall idea and narrative structure. The focus of the documentary has still on bit decided. Whoop-e-doo.

20/04/10 -
THE FOCUS IS DECIDED. The Xbox 360 VS PS3 idea that Beth and Ian have been banging on about relentlessly has been decided as the focus due to the relevance today. I would've prefered to do the Retro VS Modern idea as while it may be a niche market, it could've been more developed and interesting but oh well, roll with the punches. I've begun the script now the idea is complete. Still just basic ideas.

21/04/10 -
I looked at the narrative structure for the pitch, The overall question has been decided. I've also written a detailed synopsis.

22/04/10 -
We looked at documentaries again to compare to our own ideas, mainly the visual ideas and how the presenter acts and brings the overall feeling to the documentary in the script and transitional scenes. This gave the me the idea as well my analysis of Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe to follow a similar direction. I also looked at Games Britannia which has interesting ideas within its links to interviews.

23/04/10 -
Put the intro clip of Gameswipe onto the presentation. The Pixelated Avatars remind me of a project I did in Broadcast day called ''In-Game Revolution''. I asked my friend Kevin Haynes to put them together. Must ask him to see if he can do something similar for the documentary.

Week Beginning 12/04/10

12/04/10 -

Today I learnt about the codes and conventions of documentaries such as VO's, Graphics, Interviews with Cutaways etc. We also learnt about the narrative structure of documentary which we used to apply to our idea to put into the pitch

13/04/10 -

We watched a documentary on the truth of food, which was meant to inform the audience of what is in what they eat and how it is affecting them. This showed us the codes and conventions of a documentary in action and how they can be manipulated depending on the subject matter. In this case they were quite exploitative of certain restaurants and made them the enemies in a way.

14/04/10 -

I started researching on previous Video Games Consoles, sales figures and facts. I looked at the guiness world book of gaming records which also includes some general facts on past/present consoles which were quite useful. I also as the presenter wanted to do the script so I decided how I would set-up a basic layout and story. Also tried to brainstorm interesting sketches and ideas.

15/04/10 -

Beth Sharpe joins the group and our idea is decided as a Retro to Modern take on games consoles but with a back-up idea of Xbox VS PS3.

16/04/10 -

Arguments commence with what our idea is going to be, with it constantly changing. We decided to just choose one thing, put up with it and run with it. We've done a lot of research on gaming so we have definately chosen to stick with that.