Thursday, 15 June 2017
PMP Production Report
For my PMP I produced a short film that I wrote about a young couple who are involved in an incident where they accidently hit someone with their car after they have just been drinking at a party. In the heat of the moment they bundle the man into the back of their car and take him prisoner. Everything starts to go wrong as the man breaks his leg and needs immediate medical attention but the pair are too afraid to take him to hospital because of the trouble they might get in.
I had a few different ideas before I decided on this one. One for another short film that followed a man who was training to run a marathon which didn't include any dialogue and 2 ideas for music videos. One for the song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John which followed a young boy through his life as he moved into a new house in LA and the other to the song was for the song "Stiches" by Shawn Mendes which would follow a man who has just been dumped in his efforts to become a professional boxer and win a Title match.
I decided to go with my first idea as I believed that would be the most interesting and most challenging idea to complete. I was also able to use a location that was perfect for the story line as I had access to an old house that had not been lived in for quite a while. This was perfect for what I needed and matched the story line perfectly making it seem like too good of an opportunity to missed.
There were also reasons as to why I could not have possibly made the other ideas. For example we could not have gone to film in LA so that immediately through the Tiny Dancer idea out of the window. The other short film idea was also not possible to create as there were no marathons anywhere near the time that we had to film and so this was also scrapped but this would be something that I would be interested in doing in the future.
After I had pitched my idea and taken feedback I began to write the script and bring a team together.
The script came along very nicely and I quickly made progress. After my first draft I received some feedback from my teacher and peers I made the changes that they suggested and began to look at which acting students would fit each role.
Sorting cast and crew was a fairly easy part of the production. For the crew all I needed to do was think back to when I have worked with others in the past and make my decisions based on that. This was very easy as we have created a huge amount of work for the course.
The actors were a little more difficult to decide on as I had only worked with the now 2nd year acting students in the past. So I decided that it was a good idea to go and see one of there shows to kind of scout out the best talent. I also asked other acting students and the first year film and TV students, who had worked with them already to produce their end of year films, who they thought was the best and so eventually I reached my decision of casting Sol, Sophie and Connor. I had seen all of these people act in their Christmas production and noticed them as stand out performers and had also heard great things about them from other people.
The pre-production process also went very well. I started by gathering research that could be used in the creation of the script. Things such as compound fractures and the punishment for causing injury by drunk driving were things that helped me to build my script and to help direct my actors reactions. I then started to gather information about the locations and create paperwork such as risk assessments, call sheets and shots list that would be hugely helpful during the production faze.
I also gave my script to the make up artist that was responsible for organising all of the make up and coming up with designs for things such as the broken leg.
The production faze for the most part went very well although we did run into some problems and technical difficulties which were out of my control.
The first shoot went very well. We began make up at 6:30pm and began filming at around 8pm. We filmed until 11pm and looking at the footage we shot some great stuff. The lighting was perfect and everyone conducted their roles excellently. I did slightly go over schedule on that day but It was worth it in the end.
The second shooting day did not start well at all. My actors were instructed to arrive at college at 9am so that we could be on set for 9:30. Unfortunately one of my actors slept through his alarm and did not show up to college at all. My makeup artist had forgotten the fake blood from college and there was no way for us get in due to it being bank holiday Monday. She had to buy supplies from a shop in order to make fake blood meaning that she didn't get to college until around 9:40.
We arrived on set at 10am 30 minutes behind schedule and then had to wait a further 20 minutes for make up to be completed. We began as soon as we could and got 3 scenes completed whilst waiting for my 3rd cast member to arrive. I had to send a member of our crew to collect him as he didn't have away to get to the location. He arrived on set at 12am and began to get his make up done. because of his lateness we lost 2 hours of filming time and were unable to film everything that was necessary. Thankfully all the footage that we did manage to get looked very good and was captured at high standard to match the scene that we had previously filmed. I will have to find a new day to film the scenes that we missed out of which there was 3 in total.
The 3rd shoot went much more smoothly and we managed to get exactly what we needed at a much faster pace. This put me back on track and ready to film the last 2 scenes necessary to complete the filming process.
Our 4th and final shoot also went very well we managed to film everything else that we needed and that wrapped up filming for roads. We also managed to re-film the footage that I realised that had gone missing when I started to edit my project together.
During the editing process I also ran into a huge issue. I discovered that some vital pieces of my footage had gone missing this presented me with a huge problem as we then had to figure out how we could work around this in the best way possible. I tried everything to try and retrieve my missing footage but there is absolutely no trace of it to be found.
I also had a few issues with casting after filming my first scene.
One of my main cast members dislocated his knee cap. We thought that he would be unable to shoot the rest of the film meaning that I would have to recast and reshoot what I had already filmed with a new cast member unless he some how made a miraculous recovery before our next planned shoot on Tuesday...
I managed to recast and reschedule so everything was back on track although filming would be finished later than initially intended. I have re-did all of my pre-production to match the new schedule and cast that I had got together.
My previous cast member made a miraculous recovery and was able to walk around without his splint on. This means that we didn't have to re-shoot and could continue with the original cast. However that did mean that all the paperwork I re-did was now redundant and I had to create more to match the slightly altered schedule. This also meant that although we had our original cast were still behind our original schedule.
From this production I have learnt that I must have a better contingency plan because although I managed to reshoot everything that was required and reschedule when necessary it was a very stressful time and was very hard to manage. I am also definitely going to back up all of my future footage so that in the event of footage magically disappearing it is backed up and we will not have to re-shoot.
Overall I believe that I have been very successful in managing the production period and I do not believe that anything that went wrong could have been fixed by me being a better producer. Everything that went wrong during my shoot was unfortunately out of my control. This isn't a goof thing in my opinion as I would much rather it be my fault that everything didn't go smoothly so that I am able to fix it but the production was not perfect due to situations and events that I could not change.
I feel like I have been excellent at problem solving during the production and I have made sure that all filming has been of a high quality.
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
social action report
For the social action unit I was involved in 2 productions. Firstly I was involved in a video called "Educating Grandad" in which I wrote the script and produced the majority of the paperwork and secondly I produced video aimed at young people encouraging them to use their vote to make the difference that they wanted to see. This video was titled "Vote"
"Educating Grandad" was created so that we could enter the "equality and diversity" competition which was ran by our college Stockton Riverside. Although I was not on set for this production I did contribute hugely to its production by helping to come up with the idea and also writing the script. During the brainstorming faze I was the person with the initial idea to have a family sat around a table conducting some kind of activity. The group thought back to experiences that they might of had where someone has said something slightly racist and politically incorrect and most of the group could remember there grandparents saying things that were a bit off and that is when we decided that the person who was going to be educated was grandad. In I our group production folder you will be able to find things such as mind maps and research that everyone in the group has contributed to.
I would say that my individual contribution to the group on this project was very important and useful as without me we would not have the same final product as we do now. The idea and script may have gone down a very different road as I wanted to keep piece very light hearted and entertaining as I believe that that is the best way to make someone realise they are wrong. Calling someone stupid and aggressively telling them what they should think doesn't work in my opinion and that is why I kept it light and used statistics to make the video educational and provide anyone watching with entrainment as well as knowledge.
The video was a huge success as we won the competition and received a huge amount of positive feedback. The video was also featured on the college VLE and social media outlets. Many people were very impressed with what we had managed to create as it was so much better than all other entries.
In conclusion the finished product was perfect for its purpose as we won the competition that it was created for and it also gave Ufilms a lot of publicity in the process. We aimed our video at all ages and I think that what we created was very suitable for this as we used actors that spanned across a wide age range and received feed back from lots of different individuals as well. The message that we wanted to put across was very clear as the script was well written and checked over by multiple members of the team. The piece was very impactful from a narrative point of view as we showed a characters progression from being misinformed to being educated and from a technical stand point some lovey shots and editing was used.
If I was going to do this again I would probably cast the piece differently. Although the cast did a brilliant job I think that it would be much better if we used a real old person instead of a middle aged person with make up on. I think that this would make the overall quality of the piece much higher and would also make it more authentic. I would also probably choose a different ethnic actor as it wasn't quite the effect that we wanted to have. Someone who is visibly more ethnic would have fit the role a little better however the actress that we used still did a great job and fit the part.
During the production of "Vote" the crew rotated jobs so that everyone got the chance to do all jobs. I acted as boom operator and Camera op as well as being in the video its self speaking to the camera and addressing the audience. The idea of "Vote" was very simple. We wanted to encourage as many people as possible to use there vote to make a change in our country.
This video was also very successful as it was shown at a talk in college with the then Labour candidate and now Stockton South MP Dr Paul Williams. We had some great feed back on this video with Dr Paul himself saying how much he liked and thought that we had done a great job trying to encourage people to vote.
In conclusion the video was very successful and was once again perfect in fulfilling its purpose and reaching the target audience of young people. By being in the video ourselves it was much easier for us to address the target audience as we were just saying things that we would want to hear. The message was extremely clear due to the simplicity of the video. Everything from the statistics to the title screamed one message, Vote.
From a technical stand point the video was very simple yet professional in its execution which is exactly what we were going for. Our original intent was to try and persuade young people to vote for reasons that mattered to them and not everyone else and I think that this video expressed that perfectly.
If I was to do this again I would definitely consider interviewing a much wider range of individuals rather than just students from our college. I think that by interviewing a wider range of people we will be able to gain more of an understanding to what people think about voting. I would also like to ask people who don't vote exactly why that is and try to provide them with information to try and change their minds
Another thing that I would do is conduct surveys to gather our own information instead of using stats that we have found online that may not be fully accurate. This way we know that what we are telling people is true and is more suitable for our area.
"Educating Grandad" was created so that we could enter the "equality and diversity" competition which was ran by our college Stockton Riverside. Although I was not on set for this production I did contribute hugely to its production by helping to come up with the idea and also writing the script. During the brainstorming faze I was the person with the initial idea to have a family sat around a table conducting some kind of activity. The group thought back to experiences that they might of had where someone has said something slightly racist and politically incorrect and most of the group could remember there grandparents saying things that were a bit off and that is when we decided that the person who was going to be educated was grandad. In I our group production folder you will be able to find things such as mind maps and research that everyone in the group has contributed to.
I would say that my individual contribution to the group on this project was very important and useful as without me we would not have the same final product as we do now. The idea and script may have gone down a very different road as I wanted to keep piece very light hearted and entertaining as I believe that that is the best way to make someone realise they are wrong. Calling someone stupid and aggressively telling them what they should think doesn't work in my opinion and that is why I kept it light and used statistics to make the video educational and provide anyone watching with entrainment as well as knowledge.
The video was a huge success as we won the competition and received a huge amount of positive feedback. The video was also featured on the college VLE and social media outlets. Many people were very impressed with what we had managed to create as it was so much better than all other entries.
In conclusion the finished product was perfect for its purpose as we won the competition that it was created for and it also gave Ufilms a lot of publicity in the process. We aimed our video at all ages and I think that what we created was very suitable for this as we used actors that spanned across a wide age range and received feed back from lots of different individuals as well. The message that we wanted to put across was very clear as the script was well written and checked over by multiple members of the team. The piece was very impactful from a narrative point of view as we showed a characters progression from being misinformed to being educated and from a technical stand point some lovey shots and editing was used.
If I was going to do this again I would probably cast the piece differently. Although the cast did a brilliant job I think that it would be much better if we used a real old person instead of a middle aged person with make up on. I think that this would make the overall quality of the piece much higher and would also make it more authentic. I would also probably choose a different ethnic actor as it wasn't quite the effect that we wanted to have. Someone who is visibly more ethnic would have fit the role a little better however the actress that we used still did a great job and fit the part.
During the production of "Vote" the crew rotated jobs so that everyone got the chance to do all jobs. I acted as boom operator and Camera op as well as being in the video its self speaking to the camera and addressing the audience. The idea of "Vote" was very simple. We wanted to encourage as many people as possible to use there vote to make a change in our country.
This video was also very successful as it was shown at a talk in college with the then Labour candidate and now Stockton South MP Dr Paul Williams. We had some great feed back on this video with Dr Paul himself saying how much he liked and thought that we had done a great job trying to encourage people to vote.
In conclusion the video was very successful and was once again perfect in fulfilling its purpose and reaching the target audience of young people. By being in the video ourselves it was much easier for us to address the target audience as we were just saying things that we would want to hear. The message was extremely clear due to the simplicity of the video. Everything from the statistics to the title screamed one message, Vote.
From a technical stand point the video was very simple yet professional in its execution which is exactly what we were going for. Our original intent was to try and persuade young people to vote for reasons that mattered to them and not everyone else and I think that this video expressed that perfectly.
If I was to do this again I would definitely consider interviewing a much wider range of individuals rather than just students from our college. I think that by interviewing a wider range of people we will be able to gain more of an understanding to what people think about voting. I would also like to ask people who don't vote exactly why that is and try to provide them with information to try and change their minds
Another thing that I would do is conduct surveys to gather our own information instead of using stats that we have found online that may not be fully accurate. This way we know that what we are telling people is true and is more suitable for our area.
Thursday, 8 June 2017
PMP Production Log
Pre-production paperwork:
On the 20th of March I pitched my final idea and begun to create all the necessary paper work and research to help me create my script.
I have started to create my script and have been given feedback on my first draft on which I will make the improvements that have been suggested by my peers. I have also done research on how the medical aspects of the script would effect each character physically and mentally.
In the weeks leading up to my first shoot on the 16th of May I have created all the required paperwork such as risk assessments, shot lists and release forms. The evidence for this
1st shoot: 16/05/17
Today's shoot went very well. We began make up at 6:30pm and began filming at around 8pm. We filmed until 11pm and looking at the footage we shot some great stuff. The lighting was perfect and everyone conducted their roles excellently.
18/05/17
One of my main cast members has dislocated his knee cap. He is in a leg cast in will be unable to shoot the rest of the film. This means I will have to recast and reshoot what I have already filmed with a new cast member unless he some how makes a miraculous recovery before next Tuesday...
I have managed to recast and reschedule so everything is back on track although filming will be finished later than initially intended. I have re-done all of my pre-production to match the new schedule and cast. I sure hope nothing changes again that requires me to create a brand new batch of paperwork.
23/05/17
Good news! (kind of) My previous cast member has made a miraculous recovery and is now able to walk around without his splint on. This means that we don't have to re-shoot tonight and can continue with the original cast. However this does mean that all the paperwork I re-did is now redundant and I will have to create more to match the slightly altered schedule. I sure do love paperwork.
24/05/17
Today I began to edit the scenes that I have so far. It is starting to come together very well and I am very happy with the overall look and how everything is fitting together.
2nd shoot: 29/05/17
The shoot did not start well at all. My actors were instructed to arrive at college at 9am so that we could be on set for 9:30. Unfortunately one of my actors slept through his alarm and did not show up to college at all. My makeup artist had forgotten the fake blood from college and there was no way for us get in due to it being bank holiday Monday. She had to buy supplies from a shop in order to make fake blood meaning that she didn't get to college until around 9:40.
We arrived on set at 10am 30 minutes behind schedule and then had to wait a further 20 minutes for make up to be completed. We began as soon as we could and got 3 scenes completed whilst waiting for my 3rd cast member to arrive. I had to send a member of our crew to collect him as he didn't have away to get to the location. He arrived on set at 12am and began to get his make up done. because of his lateness we lost 2 hours of filming time and were unable to film everything that was necessary. Thankfully all the footage that we did manage to get looked very good and was captured at high standard to match the scene that we had previously filmed. I will have to find a new day to film the scenes that we missed out of which there was 3 in total.
3rd shoot: 04/06/17
This shoot went much more smoothly and we managed to get exactly what we needed at a much faster pace. I am now back on track and ready to film the last 2 scenes necessary to complete the filming process.
4th shoot: 09/06/17
This shoot was also very successful we managed to film everything else that we needed and that wrapped up filming for roads.
Editing
Editing has been going very well. All aspects of my film seem to be slotting together very well. I am very positive about the final product and can't wait to see how turns out.
Whilst editing today I have discovered that some vital pieces of my footage have gone missing this presents me with a huge problem as we have to figure out how we can work around this in the best way possible. I have tried everything to try and retrieve my missing footage but there is absolutely no trace of it to be found. I am now working on rewriting my script to try my best and patch up everything that we have and see what I would need to make the film whole.
After I had re-filmed the editing went very smoothly and I was able to complete my film in time.
On the 20th of March I pitched my final idea and begun to create all the necessary paper work and research to help me create my script.
I have started to create my script and have been given feedback on my first draft on which I will make the improvements that have been suggested by my peers. I have also done research on how the medical aspects of the script would effect each character physically and mentally.
In the weeks leading up to my first shoot on the 16th of May I have created all the required paperwork such as risk assessments, shot lists and release forms. The evidence for this
1st shoot: 16/05/17
Today's shoot went very well. We began make up at 6:30pm and began filming at around 8pm. We filmed until 11pm and looking at the footage we shot some great stuff. The lighting was perfect and everyone conducted their roles excellently.
18/05/17
One of my main cast members has dislocated his knee cap. He is in a leg cast in will be unable to shoot the rest of the film. This means I will have to recast and reshoot what I have already filmed with a new cast member unless he some how makes a miraculous recovery before next Tuesday...
I have managed to recast and reschedule so everything is back on track although filming will be finished later than initially intended. I have re-done all of my pre-production to match the new schedule and cast. I sure hope nothing changes again that requires me to create a brand new batch of paperwork.
23/05/17
Good news! (kind of) My previous cast member has made a miraculous recovery and is now able to walk around without his splint on. This means that we don't have to re-shoot tonight and can continue with the original cast. However this does mean that all the paperwork I re-did is now redundant and I will have to create more to match the slightly altered schedule. I sure do love paperwork.
24/05/17
Today I began to edit the scenes that I have so far. It is starting to come together very well and I am very happy with the overall look and how everything is fitting together.
2nd shoot: 29/05/17
The shoot did not start well at all. My actors were instructed to arrive at college at 9am so that we could be on set for 9:30. Unfortunately one of my actors slept through his alarm and did not show up to college at all. My makeup artist had forgotten the fake blood from college and there was no way for us get in due to it being bank holiday Monday. She had to buy supplies from a shop in order to make fake blood meaning that she didn't get to college until around 9:40.
We arrived on set at 10am 30 minutes behind schedule and then had to wait a further 20 minutes for make up to be completed. We began as soon as we could and got 3 scenes completed whilst waiting for my 3rd cast member to arrive. I had to send a member of our crew to collect him as he didn't have away to get to the location. He arrived on set at 12am and began to get his make up done. because of his lateness we lost 2 hours of filming time and were unable to film everything that was necessary. Thankfully all the footage that we did manage to get looked very good and was captured at high standard to match the scene that we had previously filmed. I will have to find a new day to film the scenes that we missed out of which there was 3 in total.
3rd shoot: 04/06/17
This shoot went much more smoothly and we managed to get exactly what we needed at a much faster pace. I am now back on track and ready to film the last 2 scenes necessary to complete the filming process.
4th shoot: 09/06/17
This shoot was also very successful we managed to film everything else that we needed and that wrapped up filming for roads.
Editing
Editing has been going very well. All aspects of my film seem to be slotting together very well. I am very positive about the final product and can't wait to see how turns out.
Whilst editing today I have discovered that some vital pieces of my footage have gone missing this presents me with a huge problem as we have to figure out how we can work around this in the best way possible. I have tried everything to try and retrieve my missing footage but there is absolutely no trace of it to be found. I am now working on rewriting my script to try my best and patch up everything that we have and see what I would need to make the film whole.
After I had re-filmed the editing went very smoothly and I was able to complete my film in time.
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Small business: Task 3
In the future when I move on from Ufilms and go to University I intend to set up my own branch of Ufilms in Manchester. In this business I would take on the role of director for any jobs that we may acquire and also take on a managerial role in the overall business.
As my skills are mostly in the directing and management department I would mainly work with business ideas that involve a strong leader to manage the project successfully and keep things on track and to schedule.
The idea for my business would consist of me teaming up with Matty, Jess and Matthew who are also going to Salford University. We would start our business by creating a Facebook page that was specific to our location instead of using our current page that is more specific to the Teesside area. We would initially start off with just the 4 of us to set up a basic structure of how things could work and eventually we would draft in others, perhaps from our university courses that could help us on projects with the more practical side of work after we have been on the course for a while and have established who is the best in each area such as editing, filming and preproduction paperwork.
In the first few weeks we would make a huge push to advertise and get our names out there to the local community. We could perhaps provide our services at a reduced rate at the start of our business venture to establish ourselves and hopefully word would get around if we work in a professional manner and create videos of a high standard. This will of course add to our portfolio of work to show other potential clients as well. This would hopefully create contacts so that if those companies need any work doing in the future they would contact us and provide us with fully paid work.
My aim would be to mainly create promotional videos for small businesses who are looking to promote themselves but we would also look into creating educational videos for schools if that would make us any profit.
Eventually we would have a solid team that worked in a very efficient way to create quality content.
I think that our main source of work would be from small companies that are currently setting up there own businesses and trying to make a name for themselves. These are the companies that will be most in need of our services and as students we will be able to provide our services on a cheaper rate. Any businesses that want to promote themselves but don't have the budget to pay an actual production company would find our rates very attractive as this business would be providing us with invaluable experience as well as a bit of extra cash.
When starting up initially I would of course have to think about the hiring of equipment and so I would have to include this in the cost of productions. My aim for my first year of the business would be to break even whilst I was establishing myself and creating a company that has the potential to make money. This would also mean that I would not be required to pay any taxes on the company as we would not have made any profit.
In the second and third years I would like to start making a marginal profit that could be reinvested into the company in order to make our productions to make the process easier. We could use any profits that we make to purchase our own equipment such as cameras and tripods. This would reduce our overhead hugely and mean that in the long run we would increase our profits hugely as it means that the money we were charging just to break even for hiring would turn into profit with no pricing changes.
The main way that we would reach our customers would be through social media and contacts that would hopefully be made at our time in university. Doing work for free or at a reduced rate means that when the businesses are promoting themselves using our content we would also get our own name recognised by whoever views it. When they see the work that we have done they may think to them selves that they could also use a promotional video of there own and contact us to create one. But this time we would charge them and make some money in the process.
At the very beginning of the business we would recruit no staff as with 4 people all in agreement about not earning much money whilst we set things up there would be no issues and I believe that we would be able to manage any work that we would be able to gather between the four of us without needing the assistance of anything else.
In the long term we would recruit other members of our university course who we believed were particularly skilled in certain areas as employees. Myself, Jess, Matty and Matthew would then take on a more managerial role in taking bookings, forming teams and directing operations to make sure that everything runs as smooth as possible and to time.
Business plan:
My business offers services in media production, producing media at a professional standard for companies and individuals. I have previous experience in producing adverts and filming events and so this is what the main focus of my business would be. As I have been involved in numerous paid projects in this category I have the experience required to create content that all of my customers will be pleased with and will be willing to pay for.
My customers would be able to obtain my services in one of two ways. Either online via Facebook or email or by telephone. This way it is much easier to communicate with each other and figure out exactly what the customer wants and whether it is possible.
We will charge by an hourly rate of £10 an hour per camera during filming and a further £10 an hour for every hour spent editing. We will agree on a price before production begins but if the product is not able to be completed in the agreed amount of working time through no fault of our own we will have to renegotiate and include extra fees.
My short term objective is to break even after the first year whilst establishing our company and making a name for ourselves as well as expanding the company to hire more employees.
My long term objectives are to start making a profit in the second year and began to reinvest these profits into the business to make productions easier and simpler.
Business Proposal link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s6SZLZECV5uiuc86iX6qJ5ns80V-cYHuT7OaoMxJnxk
As my skills are mostly in the directing and management department I would mainly work with business ideas that involve a strong leader to manage the project successfully and keep things on track and to schedule.
The idea for my business would consist of me teaming up with Matty, Jess and Matthew who are also going to Salford University. We would start our business by creating a Facebook page that was specific to our location instead of using our current page that is more specific to the Teesside area. We would initially start off with just the 4 of us to set up a basic structure of how things could work and eventually we would draft in others, perhaps from our university courses that could help us on projects with the more practical side of work after we have been on the course for a while and have established who is the best in each area such as editing, filming and preproduction paperwork.
In the first few weeks we would make a huge push to advertise and get our names out there to the local community. We could perhaps provide our services at a reduced rate at the start of our business venture to establish ourselves and hopefully word would get around if we work in a professional manner and create videos of a high standard. This will of course add to our portfolio of work to show other potential clients as well. This would hopefully create contacts so that if those companies need any work doing in the future they would contact us and provide us with fully paid work.
My aim would be to mainly create promotional videos for small businesses who are looking to promote themselves but we would also look into creating educational videos for schools if that would make us any profit.
Eventually we would have a solid team that worked in a very efficient way to create quality content.
I think that our main source of work would be from small companies that are currently setting up there own businesses and trying to make a name for themselves. These are the companies that will be most in need of our services and as students we will be able to provide our services on a cheaper rate. Any businesses that want to promote themselves but don't have the budget to pay an actual production company would find our rates very attractive as this business would be providing us with invaluable experience as well as a bit of extra cash.
When starting up initially I would of course have to think about the hiring of equipment and so I would have to include this in the cost of productions. My aim for my first year of the business would be to break even whilst I was establishing myself and creating a company that has the potential to make money. This would also mean that I would not be required to pay any taxes on the company as we would not have made any profit.
In the second and third years I would like to start making a marginal profit that could be reinvested into the company in order to make our productions to make the process easier. We could use any profits that we make to purchase our own equipment such as cameras and tripods. This would reduce our overhead hugely and mean that in the long run we would increase our profits hugely as it means that the money we were charging just to break even for hiring would turn into profit with no pricing changes.
The main way that we would reach our customers would be through social media and contacts that would hopefully be made at our time in university. Doing work for free or at a reduced rate means that when the businesses are promoting themselves using our content we would also get our own name recognised by whoever views it. When they see the work that we have done they may think to them selves that they could also use a promotional video of there own and contact us to create one. But this time we would charge them and make some money in the process.
At the very beginning of the business we would recruit no staff as with 4 people all in agreement about not earning much money whilst we set things up there would be no issues and I believe that we would be able to manage any work that we would be able to gather between the four of us without needing the assistance of anything else.
In the long term we would recruit other members of our university course who we believed were particularly skilled in certain areas as employees. Myself, Jess, Matty and Matthew would then take on a more managerial role in taking bookings, forming teams and directing operations to make sure that everything runs as smooth as possible and to time.
Business plan:
My business offers services in media production, producing media at a professional standard for companies and individuals. I have previous experience in producing adverts and filming events and so this is what the main focus of my business would be. As I have been involved in numerous paid projects in this category I have the experience required to create content that all of my customers will be pleased with and will be willing to pay for.
My customers would be able to obtain my services in one of two ways. Either online via Facebook or email or by telephone. This way it is much easier to communicate with each other and figure out exactly what the customer wants and whether it is possible.
We will charge by an hourly rate of £10 an hour per camera during filming and a further £10 an hour for every hour spent editing. We will agree on a price before production begins but if the product is not able to be completed in the agreed amount of working time through no fault of our own we will have to renegotiate and include extra fees.
My short term objective is to break even after the first year whilst establishing our company and making a name for ourselves as well as expanding the company to hire more employees.
My long term objectives are to start making a profit in the second year and began to reinvest these profits into the business to make productions easier and simpler.
Business Proposal link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s6SZLZECV5uiuc86iX6qJ5ns80V-cYHuT7OaoMxJnxk
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
Ufilms: College Promotional Video: Task 1B
Through our company Ufilms I project managed a promotional video for Stockton Riverside College that aimed to give a better insight as to what student life was like. Myself and Jess took charge and created this piece on our own for the most part with a little help from our peers when it came to conducting interviews. This production came off the back of our company winning a dragons den style competition which I was also a part of.
For the competition we had to pitch our business and a business plan to a panel of local business owners and a member of the princes trust. We pitched the idea of creating a series of promotional videos for the college, one for each department, as we believed that the college was not promoting themselves in the right way to attract their target audience of young people. As young people ourselves we believed that we were the perfect people to create content for the college to distribute and so we pitched our idea and won a prize of £100.
Our first ever meeting took place 24/1/17. In this meeting we discussed our plans to produce a series of promotional videos for the college from a students point of view. It was decided that Myself and Jess would be the project managers for this task and so we set up a meeting with a member of the college liaison team.
Our first meeting with a College representative took place on 8/3/17. During in this meeting we discussed with James, who was our main contact, exactly what he wanted us to show to future potential students. He expressed to us that main focus of this video should be to show potential students what student life was like at the college and to show exactly what kind of vibes our college has whilst of course remaining professional in our execution. He wanted to address issues such as safety and learning experience and thought that because we are currently students studying at the college we would be perfect to answer these questions and entice other students to join the experience.
From the meeting myself and Jess thought that it was clear as to what we needed to do. We began brainstorming ideas and decided that we definitely needed to include interviews from current students to get there take on what the college was like. As for showing the vibe of the college we knew that this would be slightly trickier. We looked back at when we first started college and decided that one of the most nerve racking parts of our enrolment was not knowing our surroundings and this also rang true with some other members of our class when we consulted them. From this revelation we decided that the best thing to include in the promotional video would be a brief look at some key areas of the college a bit like a guided tour would provide. We decided that in this tour we should include: The LRC, Student Common room, Cafeteria and SRC TWO.
Filming Began on 9/3/17. First of all we filmed the virtual tour section of the promotional video. Myself and Jess took a camera and walked on the route that we had plotted previously trying to show off as much of the college as we possibly could. We then conducted 2 interviews with members of our class (Chloe and Taylor) and asked them questions that ticked the boxes we had set ourselves. After the filming process was over began to put everything together in editing. Everything was coming together very well and was looking pretty good but we decided that we should probably include 1 more interview just to be safe.
On 27/3/17 we conducted our 3rd and final interview with Flo a first year acting student and with that filming was complete. We went back to the edit and added Flo's interview and a few finishing touches to what would be our first draft video.
Our first draft was completed on 4/4/17 and so we contacted James to arrange a meeting. He came down with a few of his colleges from the liaison team so that they could view our first draft and suggest any improvements that they thought would benefit us and the final product.
For the competition we had to pitch our business and a business plan to a panel of local business owners and a member of the princes trust. We pitched the idea of creating a series of promotional videos for the college, one for each department, as we believed that the college was not promoting themselves in the right way to attract their target audience of young people. As young people ourselves we believed that we were the perfect people to create content for the college to distribute and so we pitched our idea and won a prize of £100.
Our first ever meeting took place 24/1/17. In this meeting we discussed our plans to produce a series of promotional videos for the college from a students point of view. It was decided that Myself and Jess would be the project managers for this task and so we set up a meeting with a member of the college liaison team.
Our first meeting with a College representative took place on 8/3/17. During in this meeting we discussed with James, who was our main contact, exactly what he wanted us to show to future potential students. He expressed to us that main focus of this video should be to show potential students what student life was like at the college and to show exactly what kind of vibes our college has whilst of course remaining professional in our execution. He wanted to address issues such as safety and learning experience and thought that because we are currently students studying at the college we would be perfect to answer these questions and entice other students to join the experience.
From the meeting myself and Jess thought that it was clear as to what we needed to do. We began brainstorming ideas and decided that we definitely needed to include interviews from current students to get there take on what the college was like. As for showing the vibe of the college we knew that this would be slightly trickier. We looked back at when we first started college and decided that one of the most nerve racking parts of our enrolment was not knowing our surroundings and this also rang true with some other members of our class when we consulted them. From this revelation we decided that the best thing to include in the promotional video would be a brief look at some key areas of the college a bit like a guided tour would provide. We decided that in this tour we should include: The LRC, Student Common room, Cafeteria and SRC TWO.
Filming Began on 9/3/17. First of all we filmed the virtual tour section of the promotional video. Myself and Jess took a camera and walked on the route that we had plotted previously trying to show off as much of the college as we possibly could. We then conducted 2 interviews with members of our class (Chloe and Taylor) and asked them questions that ticked the boxes we had set ourselves. After the filming process was over began to put everything together in editing. Everything was coming together very well and was looking pretty good but we decided that we should probably include 1 more interview just to be safe.
On 27/3/17 we conducted our 3rd and final interview with Flo a first year acting student and with that filming was complete. We went back to the edit and added Flo's interview and a few finishing touches to what would be our first draft video.
Our first draft was completed on 4/4/17 and so we contacted James to arrange a meeting. He came down with a few of his colleges from the liaison team so that they could view our first draft and suggest any improvements that they thought would benefit us and the final product.
There feed back was as follows:
- Title sequence
- statistics
- social media tags
- subtitled version
- Ofsted rated good
- include pupils first name and school
We found this feed back extremely beneficial and kept it in mind when re-editing the promo. We were able to include almost all of the changes that were suggested apart from the inclusion of pupils names and former schools as unfortunately this did not look right or fit with the final product and so had to removed.
With all the other improvements added we were extremely happy with the outcome of the video. It is crazy how such fine details can add that little something which makes a video look so much more professional.
We contacted James and arranged a final viewing. He was also very pleases with what we had created but did point out a few punctuation errors that we had missed before exporting the video. We quickly fixed these issues and James collected the video and paid us our £80 fee.
From this production we were also able to secure a second promotional video that explores the specialist facilities that the college offers such as the aviation plane and Salon. This video is currently in production.
With all the other improvements added we were extremely happy with the outcome of the video. It is crazy how such fine details can add that little something which makes a video look so much more professional.
We contacted James and arranged a final viewing. He was also very pleases with what we had created but did point out a few punctuation errors that we had missed before exporting the video. We quickly fixed these issues and James collected the video and paid us our £80 fee.
From this production we were also able to secure a second promotional video that explores the specialist facilities that the college offers such as the aviation plane and Salon. This video is currently in production.
Ufilms company report: Task 1A
Management/Leadership and structure of the company
The management system that is in place for our company Ufilms is fairly straight forward and simple. Within Ufilms there are 3 members of senior staff that are responsible for over seeing the company as a whole.
Matthew Taylor - Human resources manger.
Matthew is responsible for the well being of all members of the company and ensuring that every member is happy. He often held sessions to spread positive messages about each member of the team and keep spirits high.
Jess Bramfitt - Accountant
Jess is responsible for keeping track of all funds that our company has. If any member of the company wishes to access our funds to purchase anything they must first consult Jess to ensure that the purchase is acceptable. She is also responsible for drafting legal documentation such as contracts and invoices.
Danniella Cooper - CEO
Danniella is responsible for the general management of all projects and members. It is her job to ensure that everyone is putting in enough effort and pulling there weight in whatever way they can. She is also responsible for ensuring that all projects are on track to meet there deadlines within the company.
The structure of Ufilms is also very simple. Every individual including the 3 senior members are able to take part in any production. When a new project becomes available the team must decide who would be the best suited to take this on bearing in mind the skills of each individual. Firstly a project manager is assigned and then a team will be formed to fill each required role. It is then that teams responsibility to plan exactly when each aspect of the project such as filming and editing will take place in order to meet whatever the final deadline is.
Another part of our business structure is the designated jobs that each member of the team is assigned. These jobs are similar to the ones of senior management but slightly more specific. For example I am responsible for attending any meetings that may occur between our company and an outside client as I was chosen as someone who is best at speaking to potential clients and securing deals for the company. Another example would be Matty Dickens who is in charge of our social media presents on twitter.
How you have received income from your products
We receive our income for each project that we complete. Our costing format is based on an hourly rate of £8 an hour per camera for filming and a further £8 per hour for every hour spent editing. However the agreed price is based on an estimate of how long we expect each aspect to take.
In the past we have done work for a multitude of individuals and companies. We were hired to film and edit a couples wedding video which secured us £250. We worked with the council during the first year of our business to film and edit the Stockton rediscovered youth market where we were paid £200. We are also currently working with the college to create a series of promotional videos selling at £80 each and a local youth theatre and children's party company Page2Stage to create 2 promotional videos.
These business ventures have meant that on paper our company Ufilms has made a just over £1000 pound profit in just over a year.
How you market your business
At Ufilms we take our marketing very seriously and run a number of social media pages. Since our rebrand at the start of the year we have made/updated Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts all of which are kept very active by members of our team. We think that it is very important to document exactly what we are doing and show all the progress that we have made to our supporters and followers. By doing this we are able to attract the attention of people and organizations who are currently active in the industry. For example on our Instagram page we often find our content being liked and commented on by a number of people that are currently based in LA and are working in the film industry. Most recently we have attracted the attention of the Newcastle Film Festival which was launched this year at Cannes. They supported us in a competition entry for an anti-smoking campaign as well as liking a large number of our posts.
As well as the documentation of all of our work we also try our best to keep up with social media trends. Late last year we uploaded our own version of the manikin challenge to Facebook which gained a decent amount of views. We did this as we thought that due to the popularity of this trend we would perhaps be seen by more members of the public who may be in need of our services.
On Twitter we got involved with popular film related # such as #filmplotsexplainedbadly which gained popularity earlier this year.
On social media we always try to make ourselves look as busy as we possibly can (even if were not) as this helps to breed the thought that we are a good company that many people are doing business with.
Successes and Failures
Ufilms a has had its fair share of success and failure during its time. Our first success was probably when we won a Dragons Den style competition in which we had to pitch our business and a business plan to a panel of local business owners and a member of the princes trust. We pitched the idea of creating a series of promotional videos for the college, one for each department, as we believed that the college was not promoting themselves in the right way to attract their target audience of young people. As young people ourselves we believed that we were the perfect people to create content for the college to distribute and so we pitched our idea and won a prize of £100.
Our second success would probably come in the form of winning another competition to create a piece that represented equality and diversity and how peoples attitudes need to change.
This landed us a prize of £150.
Another success was in the production of one of our college promotional videos. We completed production and were paid £80 but as well as the money we also managed to secure the production of another video due to the quality and professionalism that we showed. That advert is currently in production.
The failures of Ufilms come in a few different forms. The main failure that we can learn from is how we chase down money. Unfortunately although we have completed many projects many of which we have been promised payment for we have been unable to chase down these payments on many occasions and when we do we are also unable to access them due to them being paid to us through a college account which we have no idea how to access. Even when trying to talk to people to try and figure this out we have been getting lots of different very complicated answers. This brings me on to the next biggest failure with the Ufilms team, communication.
Communication has been one of our biggest issues as we find it very difficult to keep everyone organised on keeping projects to time due to our lack of communication. This is not an issue when working in smaller groups but it is when working in large groups that this issue becomes visible. I believe that this is due to another one of our issues, enthusiasm and equal distribution.
Within the team there are certain members that care a lot more than others and this is shows in attitudes and how much work individuals want to do for the team. With out enthusiasm then the team suffers as these members do not do as much work as they should be doing.
How the business illustrates the skills required to run a small media business
Our business illustrates the skills required to run a small media business because we are very aware things such as branding. We mark everything that we do with the Ufilms logo after it has been checked by multiple members of our team and the quality has been approved.
We are also very careful about keeping our accounts up to date and we note down all deposits and with drawls so that we know exactly were all our money is coming from and going.
We also all have our own sets of specialist skills that we use together in our team in order to complete each project in the most efficient way possible and also as fast as possible.
How the business obtains, maintains and deploys its resources
Our business obtains its main resources such as equipment and software from our college. This means that we do not need to pay for the hire of any cameras or areas in which we can edit meaning that we don't have any costs to pay out. We deploy these resources based on what we believe is required for each project or whatever the client requests. We maintain these resources by keeping all equipment in a secure room and ensuring that everything is packed away properly and placed where they should be. This prevents our equipment from getting damaged and makes it far easier to find everything whenever the next project comes around.
Another one of our resources is the green room. We have access to this resource due to our college course and often use it as a make shift studio to film parts of our projects in a quiet and controlled environment. We maintain this resource by keeping it in a neat and tidy state after we have finished with it and by always making sure to it is locked up securely at the end of the shoot. This is also were we store all of our equipment so it is important that we keep it secure.
The management system that is in place for our company Ufilms is fairly straight forward and simple. Within Ufilms there are 3 members of senior staff that are responsible for over seeing the company as a whole.
Matthew Taylor - Human resources manger.
Matthew is responsible for the well being of all members of the company and ensuring that every member is happy. He often held sessions to spread positive messages about each member of the team and keep spirits high.
Jess Bramfitt - Accountant
Jess is responsible for keeping track of all funds that our company has. If any member of the company wishes to access our funds to purchase anything they must first consult Jess to ensure that the purchase is acceptable. She is also responsible for drafting legal documentation such as contracts and invoices.
Danniella Cooper - CEO
Danniella is responsible for the general management of all projects and members. It is her job to ensure that everyone is putting in enough effort and pulling there weight in whatever way they can. She is also responsible for ensuring that all projects are on track to meet there deadlines within the company.
The structure of Ufilms is also very simple. Every individual including the 3 senior members are able to take part in any production. When a new project becomes available the team must decide who would be the best suited to take this on bearing in mind the skills of each individual. Firstly a project manager is assigned and then a team will be formed to fill each required role. It is then that teams responsibility to plan exactly when each aspect of the project such as filming and editing will take place in order to meet whatever the final deadline is.
Another part of our business structure is the designated jobs that each member of the team is assigned. These jobs are similar to the ones of senior management but slightly more specific. For example I am responsible for attending any meetings that may occur between our company and an outside client as I was chosen as someone who is best at speaking to potential clients and securing deals for the company. Another example would be Matty Dickens who is in charge of our social media presents on twitter.
How you have received income from your products
We receive our income for each project that we complete. Our costing format is based on an hourly rate of £8 an hour per camera for filming and a further £8 per hour for every hour spent editing. However the agreed price is based on an estimate of how long we expect each aspect to take.
In the past we have done work for a multitude of individuals and companies. We were hired to film and edit a couples wedding video which secured us £250. We worked with the council during the first year of our business to film and edit the Stockton rediscovered youth market where we were paid £200. We are also currently working with the college to create a series of promotional videos selling at £80 each and a local youth theatre and children's party company Page2Stage to create 2 promotional videos.
These business ventures have meant that on paper our company Ufilms has made a just over £1000 pound profit in just over a year.
How you market your business
At Ufilms we take our marketing very seriously and run a number of social media pages. Since our rebrand at the start of the year we have made/updated Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts all of which are kept very active by members of our team. We think that it is very important to document exactly what we are doing and show all the progress that we have made to our supporters and followers. By doing this we are able to attract the attention of people and organizations who are currently active in the industry. For example on our Instagram page we often find our content being liked and commented on by a number of people that are currently based in LA and are working in the film industry. Most recently we have attracted the attention of the Newcastle Film Festival which was launched this year at Cannes. They supported us in a competition entry for an anti-smoking campaign as well as liking a large number of our posts.
As well as the documentation of all of our work we also try our best to keep up with social media trends. Late last year we uploaded our own version of the manikin challenge to Facebook which gained a decent amount of views. We did this as we thought that due to the popularity of this trend we would perhaps be seen by more members of the public who may be in need of our services.
On Twitter we got involved with popular film related # such as #filmplotsexplainedbadly which gained popularity earlier this year.
On social media we always try to make ourselves look as busy as we possibly can (even if were not) as this helps to breed the thought that we are a good company that many people are doing business with.
Successes and Failures
Ufilms a has had its fair share of success and failure during its time. Our first success was probably when we won a Dragons Den style competition in which we had to pitch our business and a business plan to a panel of local business owners and a member of the princes trust. We pitched the idea of creating a series of promotional videos for the college, one for each department, as we believed that the college was not promoting themselves in the right way to attract their target audience of young people. As young people ourselves we believed that we were the perfect people to create content for the college to distribute and so we pitched our idea and won a prize of £100.
Our second success would probably come in the form of winning another competition to create a piece that represented equality and diversity and how peoples attitudes need to change.
This landed us a prize of £150.
Another success was in the production of one of our college promotional videos. We completed production and were paid £80 but as well as the money we also managed to secure the production of another video due to the quality and professionalism that we showed. That advert is currently in production.
The failures of Ufilms come in a few different forms. The main failure that we can learn from is how we chase down money. Unfortunately although we have completed many projects many of which we have been promised payment for we have been unable to chase down these payments on many occasions and when we do we are also unable to access them due to them being paid to us through a college account which we have no idea how to access. Even when trying to talk to people to try and figure this out we have been getting lots of different very complicated answers. This brings me on to the next biggest failure with the Ufilms team, communication.
Communication has been one of our biggest issues as we find it very difficult to keep everyone organised on keeping projects to time due to our lack of communication. This is not an issue when working in smaller groups but it is when working in large groups that this issue becomes visible. I believe that this is due to another one of our issues, enthusiasm and equal distribution.
Within the team there are certain members that care a lot more than others and this is shows in attitudes and how much work individuals want to do for the team. With out enthusiasm then the team suffers as these members do not do as much work as they should be doing.
How the business illustrates the skills required to run a small media business
Our business illustrates the skills required to run a small media business because we are very aware things such as branding. We mark everything that we do with the Ufilms logo after it has been checked by multiple members of our team and the quality has been approved.
We are also very careful about keeping our accounts up to date and we note down all deposits and with drawls so that we know exactly were all our money is coming from and going.
We also all have our own sets of specialist skills that we use together in our team in order to complete each project in the most efficient way possible and also as fast as possible.
How the business obtains, maintains and deploys its resources
Our business obtains its main resources such as equipment and software from our college. This means that we do not need to pay for the hire of any cameras or areas in which we can edit meaning that we don't have any costs to pay out. We deploy these resources based on what we believe is required for each project or whatever the client requests. We maintain these resources by keeping all equipment in a secure room and ensuring that everything is packed away properly and placed where they should be. This prevents our equipment from getting damaged and makes it far easier to find everything whenever the next project comes around.
Another one of our resources is the green room. We have access to this resource due to our college course and often use it as a make shift studio to film parts of our projects in a quiet and controlled environment. We maintain this resource by keeping it in a neat and tidy state after we have finished with it and by always making sure to it is locked up securely at the end of the shoot. This is also were we store all of our equipment so it is important that we keep it secure.
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