Imogen Polycarpou TV Production Blog

In todays camera workshop we covered the 180 degree rule. We were given a script called 'Crossing the Line' and had to shoot the sequence in 4-5 different shots without crossing the line and confusing the audience. My original idea did not work but I believe that my second time is more successful:

In todays lesson with Ferg we went over sound and what microphones are used. W used: Rode NT2 Gun Mike, Senn high G3100, Blimb and Beye ME66. In the exercise  we were given we had to practise with sound in a noise environment. The image above is called a dead cat; it helps block out all background noises. Sound is a topic I have never covered before and it was very useful. It was exciting to get my hands on proper sound equipment and practise with it. But, as we were in groups of two being both the camera man and the sound man was difficult but manageable.            As a second assignment Ferg took us outside to practise filming in a windy and noisy area. This exercise wasn't only for sound (you didn't have to use it f you don't want to) but it was just to practise more using the camera.           

In yesterdays lesson we went over Story boards and how they can be used. Even f you are not a artistic person you can choose for a more simple way by drawing stick men (which is what I will be doing) or you can just describe all the different shots in bullet point form (chronologically). The main point of a story board is that it must concentrate on the key frames of a scene: frames that tell the story and usually are the key moments of your story. The more detailed your story board the easier it is for all stages of the production. You should mainly be able to know what type of shots you can use. I've put together a little collage of shots:

Add: They are both very talkative Both, Androula and Maroula believe in God.  Religion: Greek Orthodox They allow most of their judgement to happen because of what they believe God believes. Their judgement is also based on their community e.g. Women should be married by the age of 25 and have a family. Hence the reason they feel the urge to arrange a marriage between their unmarried children who are in their 30s. 

As my idea is about two English-Cypriot mothers arranging a marriage for the children I did some research on typical Cypriot weddings and how they've changed. I did personal research as my family is English-Cypriot and experienced both types of traditions; the Cypriot one and then the English-Cypriot one. I spoke to my grandmother, my aunty and my great-aunty. Background information After the was in Cyprus many Cypriots immigrated to England The main areas in which they moved to was Camden Town, Warren Street (where they had a Cypriot Brotherhood) and Kentish Town. It was strange and difficult for them to adjust to the life as they had to rent out rooms and share bedrooms, kitchens, bathroom. No matter how poor they were back in Cyprus they still had their own facilities.  As for work; women sewed with machines and when they had children they stayed at home sewing and had the children on their shoulders. Couples usually opened up Fish & Chip shops as well as rag tradin...

During this session, Ferg showed us the basic of Premier Pro 2015 and gave us an exercise where we had to edit different clips to make a video. Premier Pro 2015 is completely new to me so I've had no previous experience with it but was eager and excited to learn. For my first go I believe I was successful and just needed a few improvements in certain areas and of course more practise. This past week has been very exciting for me and challenging at the same time. One thing I did wrong in the beginning was constantly compare my work to students who had a lot more experience then me and that bought my confidence down a lot. I came to uni for a reason and that was to learn how to use all these cameras and editing and to learn about lights and sound. I am determined to become successful and improve my skills.

On the 5th October we had our first camera workshop with Ferg. We had the opportunity to learn about Sony cameras. We learnt about Sony XDCAM-100 and Sony XDCAM-200. For me, it was very intimidating as I had never used nor seen these cameras before unlike a few fellow classmates. SONY XDCAM-100 SONY XDCAM-200 Our first assignment we had to practise with focus. Our task was to change the focus from one object to another, this is known as Rack Focus. Also we had to try and keep the object in focus whilst it was moving. Due to the lack of success me and my group had in doing this, I had very minimum clips to edit to make one video, but I still made one to remember and compare later in the future how I started and how I finished. I found it difficult to swap from one subject to another but after a bit of practise I picked up on it although I still need some major word!  The bit of the assignment which was to stay in focus while the object was moving was even...

'The Meetings!' (P.S this is a temporary name)  My pitch: 26 words Two mothers are arranging a marriage for their children without their consent and are competing to prove who has better connections to set up the wedding. Brief Explanations:  Who: two greek mums What: arranging their children's marriage without consent (arranged marriage). They try and compete, as well as impress each other by saying they know more people to help them with the wedding and better people e.g. better church, better priest, better cook etc. When: wedding would take place end of May in Cyprus..arranging it in London, over coffee one day, announce the news to their children on New Years Day and don't give them the option to back down or run. How: secretly arranging Where: in a kitchen Why: children don't seem to be getting married any time soon, therefore they decided to take action themselves and speed up the process NOTE: In script and video the audience will not...