Dear Reader,

​

Throughout my Final Major Project I have joined the Level 3 Theatrical Department in order to advertise their filmed production as well as looking at what happens in the process leading up to a production focusing on the things that people don't see. 

In my journey I will be exploring the world of make up, costume, lighting, sound, set creation and the theatre itself as well as the staff used during the performance. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did.

​

Scott

​

​

Week 1- 12/03/2021

​

Earthquakes In London Poster

This week has shown quite a few changes to my original proposal. I planned to get into working on my mini-documentaries straight away. However, the group I am working with are not doing the correct things at the moment for this to happen. Also not being able to attend College physically has meant my in-college plans have been set back a week. I have also changed the direction of my series. After considerations and advice from others, instead of just having lots of mini-documentaries I will be releasing a full documentary closer to the deadline with mini clips as advertisements as I go along. This allow more time to advertising as well as for the editing. This has meant that some weeks plans have now been combined such as filming the Theatre tour and the set creation as well as costume and makeup. Edits have now been added to each week instead of leaving it and doing it all at one point and additions to wix will be added as soon as they are completed.

​

Although adjustments have been made, I have been in contact with Sarah who has invited me to use the time until the class start their new project to advertisement for their current one which covers 'Earthquakes in London' through a home filmed and edited production. Taking up this offer will add to my skills and allow me to get to know both the staff and students I will be working with in my final major project.

​

My First Editing Meeting

Yesterday,  the editing team meeting for the film took place where I presented my current idea for their advertisement (which currently looks like this): 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Everyone in the group seemed to like the idea. However, I am going to alter it after listening to the meeting yesterday.

Editing will include tilting the pod positioned at the front (from the London Eye which is positioned on the right in the background within the soundwaves) anti clockwise. I will also be researching how glass reacts when coming into contact with the water when falling from a height at speed. This may mean I will need to make it so the glass smashes. I will be doing it because the pod will be positioned within the River Thames and therefore will need the pod hidden slightly with waves crashing against it.

Adding this project to my plan has also given me time to look at certain areas of my main project, such as where it will be displayed and how I will be editing it.

 

Editing Plans

My first plan was to edit the videos on Vimeo, but Vimeo does not have video editing software. Therefore, I will be using Vimeo as a display platform at the end of the project and use the in-college software of Premiere Pro. I did consider In Shot which I do have on my phone, but you do have to pay for that. This will become my back-up editing software if we were to go back into lockdown once again.

​

Website Creation

I have added a new section onto my wix page from last year and named in 'My Final Project', within this folder I have added seven pages ranging from Planning to Problems. I have also decided to now doing interviews with each person I follow to allow viewers to get to know who they are watching so I will be placing these on a different page too. This will also increase the volume of work shown online.

​

Next Week

Next week my work includes more work with the 'Earthquakes in London' advertisement, this will edit my plans even more, and hopefully a film within the theatre itself. Before that I will need to compare the video cameras in the Music department to those in the Photography department. 

​

​

​

Week 2- 21/03/21

​

Behind the Curtains and She Kills Monsters

This week was very much a 'get back to grips' week with everyone being back on campus.

My original plan to borrow the camera at some point, this was put in place on Monday morning by emailing Phil to clarify Charlie's last name so that I could message him about borrowing a camera for Behind the Curtain's theatre tour. At the same time I emailed Ross about the possibility of this happening. I also clarified with Sarah about which member of staff was involved in which department so I knew who to approach in the future.

After this email I discovered that I wasn't 100% sure who was in charge of sound or make-up and therefore needed to email back to find this out.

​

Theatre Tour

Ross confirmed the tour of the theatre for Thursday Morning at 9:30am, which meant that I needed to confirm with Charlie that I could borrow a camera for that time. If I couldn't I would have used my phone as a back-up. I started my research into behind stage at theatres and what happened during lockdown later on that day. I found that it was extremely interesting, one film showed a variety of theatres in London shut. I want to see which of these theatres are actually still in business and which are not. There are a lot of theatres involved in that one film and it could take a while but I think it will be worth it in the end.

​

Planning and She Kills Monsters

I also created a few Gantt charts for the rest of the project, one is set up for all the project and others are set up for each week. The week before a new chart will be set up to guide me with my plans for the following week. An example can be found below.

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

I was able to ask Phil during tutorial who was doing sound in the list that Sarah provided me for their next production and he was able to tell me that it was Steve that was going to be in charge of the Props, Lighting and Sound. I am, however, yet to find out who is in charge of the make up, but looking on the bright side, that is one issue down. Phil also advised me to leave both the costume and makeup to a bit later as they would not be taking place yet.

​

Theatre Tour and Logic

Thursday Morning did not go quite as well as I had hoped it would. I woke up feeling funny and thought it would be better if I cancelled with Ross and used the time to calm down (instead of ending up at Hospital). Ross and I will re-schedule the tour for when is appropriate for us both, as my plan shows that I'm not due to actually record the theatre tour until next week, it is alright. I will need to re-think my plan for the entrance as I was going to do a film from the front of the college to inside the theatre. This probably isn't 100% possible due to the Theatre Bar being out of action due to COVID Testing taking place, although this may not be a bad addition to the film.  The following session included a refresh in the booths with Logic, which has never been my favourite piece of equipment. How I got on has been placed within 'Practical Skills' (click for link).

​

First Year Student Assistance

We have each been assigned a first year to help us through out our FMP, as they look at their own and the Radio Station. Each first year has been given two second years as there is a 2:1 ratio. Both Grace and I have been given Annabelle, a first year with an interest in Music. The combination of her work and mine could become very interesting and I am looking forward to using her skills, possibly in the beginning and ending sequences. My first meeting with her was on Thursday afternoon and she seems as keen as I Grace and I are to get the wheels in motion.

​

Earthquakes in London Advertisement and She Kills Monsters

I ran into a few class members working on Earthquakes In London at lunch as well, and showed them the plan for the advertisement to see if I could get any feedback from them about the plan. Feedback was in short supply but they did seem to like my plan. Discussion did move onto their next project though and I was able to find out some information about how it is planned to run. Some of them mentioned that they are not only acting but are working on things like make up and costume. Therefore, my issue about who is in charge of makeup for the project has been sorted out. I emailed Sarah to find out if I could be added into any class chats that they may have, and she replied with an invite to their class on Friday if I could get in.

Unfortunately, I have felt unwell since Wednesday and spent most of Friday in bed. I feel like it was a missed opportunity, hopefully I will be able to attend next Friday's session and get to know the rest of the class then.

 

​

​

Week 3- 27/03/21 

​

London Theatres Research and Practical Skills

My third week has been fairly successful but not without its issues. Monday and Tuesday were spent researching the theatres in London that were shown in the first video linked on my research page. There was a total of 51 Theatres so it took a while to establish whether they had shut, were restoring the building or had moved online. I also added a range of videos online from my session within the music booths on Practical Skills. I am unsure of how to alter the videos to be displayed how I would like them and I will go over our session about that either this week or next week and sort that out.

 

My Deadline Moved!

We have been told that our deadline has moved and therefore we have to hand in a week earlier than we were originally told. It seems that actually I had written my dates down wrong and was aiming to hand everything in a week before that anyway, therefore because of the move I have actually gained a week. This made me look at my planning again and alter it. I have decided to change the order of things and try and get my research done in the first few weeks and leave the filming towards the end. I feel that this will give the theatre group a chance to start their production rehearsals and I will be able to follow their story more closely than I would have before.

 

Live Stream Set Up Video

We also looked at how to set up a live stream ready for when we want to show the final product. I think this will be helpful for me as I can set everything up and then have a Premiere type event, releasing little clips for advertising until then including the time and date of the premiere on them.

​

She Kills Monsters-  First Hand

Friday I spent the whole day with the drama group I am working with, it was a real insight to both the play and the characters within the class. It was fun to work with them and see the start of everything. The day included the character read through as well as the first rehearsals. It was interesting to see how they are incorporating a student who is currently in Norway. I was also able to ensure I had everyone's emails and what else they were doing for the production. I realised that throughout my filming I don't want to give away any of the lines within the story and it got me thinking about how to cover the actors rehearsing. I have decided that I will include a range of photos that I have taken throughout the day. Therefore none of the script is given away.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The skills within the class range as there is an actor filming as well for his studies. We have decided to collaborate with the projects and share what we shoot. As a result, I have created a folder on drive that we can both place our work, making it easier to view. I have also shared it with the rest of the class. This means if there is anything that the rest of the class want to add to the folder they can, they can also tell us if they don't want a certain picture of film to be used with more ease.

​

In the Future

I will looking to cover more of their journey as they continue through the process, including them practicing with make up application and making their costumes.

My photos and films have been a bit shaky because of my hands, I have therefore ordered a tri-pod online which will help with this, I will have to test this out to get used to using it. I will therefore be adding before and after shots to my practical skills page.

 

​

Week 4- 03/04/21

​

Video Tricks

This week I have been altering some of the videos that I have filmed using just Wix's own video mask. With this I have been able to change the appearance of the video through shape and the visual elements, making them seem fuzzier than originally filmed. Some videos I have also added a layer over the top with dashes or smiling faces in which to alter them. These can be found on the Practical Skills page. I found that using these tricks really challenged my computer skills at first but became easier as I continued to use it. Some of the skins that have been used I really like, such as the fuzzy and diamond ones. However, I am unsure on the smiley faces and diagonal lines as I feel they obstruct the audience's view of the video. In the future I feel that I wont use these two skins again, but I would use the video mask as I feel it draws the eye towards the video and also looks more attractive than just a rectangle.  

​

Live Stream and its Thumbnail

I tried to set up a live stream ready for when the documentary is released, this also involved creating a thumbnail for go at the beginning. The thumbnail went well, it was done on Canva and fitted an image that I had had in mind for the opening sequence that I have had since the very beginning of the project, I originally had balloons either side of the title but they were very cartoon like and didn't fit in with the background. Therefore, they were replaced with firework sparks that seemed to fit in with the idea much better. However, once the thumbnail had been added It wouldn't let me create the live stream. Why this is I'm not 100% sure. They did advise me to try again in the future which is what I shall be doing. In the future, when it comes to creating thumbnail images I think I will try and avoid mixing a picture background with cartoon-based images as they don't seem to work well together. I will also make sure that the thumbnail is created ahead of trying to set up the live stream so I have plenty of time to alter the image as to what I would like. I shall also try and post the Live Stream a couple of days ahead of when I feel like it would need to be up just encase I have an issue such as this.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Week 5- 09/04/21

​

Live Streaming

I have tried to create the Live Stream again this week, but this are still not going quite going to plan. I managed to get a little further this time and have actually created it on Youtube (I think!). However, I still havent managed to get it to link with obsproject.com or onto here. I am unsure of whether it is because I am using my Laptop or whether its just not working at the moment. I am going to persist and witll try again at College, sometimes my class mates can give me pointers into how things work that maybe I am not aware of that can lead me to where I have gone wrong. In future I think that I will try and do all my work on one/two computers instead of three/four as this may have some bearing on the issue. I will also continue to make sure I have plenty of time for it to be created.

​

Updating my site

I have spent some time adding work that I have done on the site the work that has been completed. I found there was a fair amount of work that was in my drive but not on the site. It got to a point that I didn't know if something was on my site and what wasn't. I feel that I had become unorganised despite having had planning sessions. From now on I will adding work onto the site straight after it has been completed to ensure that it is online. This will be difficult due to the timing of certain pieces of work that rely on other people but I believe that with focus it is possible.

​

​

Week 7- 19/4/21

​

Planning

I had originally planned to be filming an introduction to people I wanted to interview for the documentary this week. However, I haven't had a great response from those within the class. I would also like to find out when the class plans for the sound set up, as well as when they are working on the costume and make up. I have originally been communicating with the class through E-mail but I think I will have to change this into going back into the class and talking to them face-to-face. It will also be interesting to see how far they have progressed since the last time I was in class. Therefore, I shall also take a few more pictures. I will be checking with Sarah if I can spend the day with the class again on Friday.

​

Camcorder Research

I have started looking at different Camcorders that I could have used during this project. I specifically looked at five different types of camcorders: Mini-DV, DVD, Hard Disk Drive, Flash Memory and Combo Models. I have also included my Mobile Phone within the research as a comparison. I have looked at both the positives and the negatives within each model and compared to each other. I also included what type of camcorder I would have chosen to record my documentary if I didn't have my phone, or if it had broken for some particular reason. I feel like that maybe I should have done this research before I started filming my project and therefore in the future I will do it at the beginning. Other camcorders do have some positives about them that I hadn't really thought of: such as the Flash Memory Camcorder not being as easy to break. I feel like if I did drop my phone I would have a problem, not only with recording but in my day to day life as well.

​

​

Week 8- 1/5/21

​

She Kills Monsters Research

I decided this week to look at the background of She Kills Monsters. Although I knew some of the plot, I didn't know certain things such as Agnes lost her parents as well as her sister in the car crash. I also looked into where and when the play premiered, along with who created the poster for the production. This led my research onto a new path of looking into their background. I feel like if I had looked into this at the beginning of my work with the drama class I would have had a better understanding of the script they are working with and maybe even a different way of filming their rehearsals. I look forward to learning more about the production from the cast themselves.

​

Friday's morning session with the Drama Class (Video Entry)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Friday's afternoon session and the Documentary Plan

Friday afternoon there was a bit of confusion as I was told there was a props meeting but no one showed up for it. In the time waiting for others to appear I decided to work on the Plan for the full documentary, this included the Scene length, where each came and the transitions between them. I also looked at how I could incorporate both the staff and the cast's jobs into the film. I decided on making the image greyscale and using freeze frame to add to the effect. This will allow me to add in the ideas I have. I have also taken a lot of photos in the journey, with I'm sure, more to come. I decided that I would like to get some of these into the film as well. A montage at the end seemed like a fitting way to add this in, with the credits between them and a final page as the title and subtitle of the documentary "Behind the Curtains" on top of "She Kills Monsters!".

I'm sure as the project continues that this will change and I will alter the plan I have already created, but a base plan is always good to have there.  There is a link below.

​

​

 

 

​

​

Week 9- 8/5/21

​

Production Meeting and Poster Plan

Today I had a production meeting with everyone involved with the play. This included the Director, Production Manager, Stage Manager (SM), Deputy Stage Manager (DSM), Assistant Stage Manager (ASM), Sound, Electrics and Lighting (LX) and Audiovisual (AV) crews. As the designer for the poster I sat and looked at the official poster that was created in the past to see how we could alter it for the production. The Picture below shows a quick sketch of the design: 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

The sketch depicts the actor playing Tilly/ Tillius the Paladin in their costume positioned in front of the monster Tiamat, whilst the head of the actor playing Agnes lying on the floor. Gaming dice have also been positioned behind the Title and the name of Samuel French is replaced by the class details. The MET Logo would be positioned between the Title and the position of the writers name. I found it hard to find a position for this due to the nature of the original poster. Everything is displayed in symmetrical positions and so would look out of place in a corner and so needed to be placed in a central line.

​

​

Instagram Account

​

​

​