Fiction Adaptation - Critical Reflection

Research:

Poet - Anthony Anaxagorou

An award winning poet, performer, educator, and has published 8 volumes of poetry. He comes from central London and is of Cypriot origin which is Greek but he was born in England. He was one of the first young poets to win the London Major's Poetry Slam.

Why did I choose him?
His words were very powerful, he works revolve around politics, racism, education, poverty, all of these can be found in his poetry. His writing style almost makes me think that he is talking directly to me and his descriptions are often spiritual but at the same time they have a sense of reality and you can also relate to it which combined can be very powerful.


Poem - Broken Shells

The poem, according to the poet is about trying to capture two diametrically opposed truths. One being more scholastic and the other more sensual.

The poem is fictional with the twist presenting itself in the end when the reader is made aware of the narrators double standards.

The idea of truth being a single egg refers to the oppression of women and the corruption of men (particularly politicians and lofty speakers) in this instance.

All in all it's about the power in which men have and the truth being what they doing with it, too much power can be a bad thing because some men don't know what to do with it.


Actor - John Redding

John is a part time stand up comic as well as well an actor. He has a very passionate and expressive personality which drew me to him. He agreed to be part of my filming and he and I had a couple of meetings and online chats so we knew what we were working on and how we were going to film the production.

As he talked to me for the first time I imagined him reading my poem and when directed the right way he could bring more emotion into the piece. He had the right tone and look to be a powerful character and yet at the same time a sensitive, expressive and somewhat vulnerable character as well.



Locations - 

River side Country Park Rainham:

Why did I choose this location?

My research into this location lead me to two things about Riverside Country Park which I liked and could use in the poem.

• The old rusty broken down boat

I wanted this in my film to show symbolism of life which in some terms is what I thought the poem was all about, especially at the beginning. The boat is rusty, old and not doing it's job anymore, I had a thought on what if machines have feelings? This boat (back in the day) I imagined what it was like back in the day when it was young, brand new and had a purpose by helping people crossing the water.  But now it's rusted and abandoned  and my character comes to this boat and measures it like as the poem says "You weren't made just to die".

• The Power plant 

At Riverside at a distance you can see a massive power plant that I wanted to represent the power and corruption of men and how it's destroying our planet as it's described in the poem.

I had planned to do the beginning of the poem with my main character going to a old broken boat on a beach to then look at a power plant in the distance in resemblance to the corruption of power by men and the boat being the symbolism of human life.


Development -

Day one:

• The idea was to shoot at Riverside Country Park first and then record my actor reading the poem so I could start work on the edit immediately.

• The park was nice and empty, there were a couple of pedestrians but they didn't really get in the way. 

• It was a nice clean shoot, no accidents, no trouble, and the weather was on my side that day as the sun made some of my shots come out even better then I originally thought. 

• Recording the voice was harder than I thought, at first the volume of my actor's voice came out too strong and I had to find a way to turn it down. When I found the right volume the recording went forward. The session lasted for at least an hour and because my actor couldn't stay for long but for some of the lines he nailed them perfectly.

 Day 2:

• With voice recorded, and the beginning parts shot all there was to do was the bench scene but this was where one of the main changes occurred. My original plan was to do the second part of the poem at Cossington Park Rainham but since Riverside had everything I needed and because the park was quite empty and quiet I thought I would be better to finish the shoot at Riverside.  

• The weather was still nice for the shot but the wind was agin the problem so I could record any nice ambiance for my piece.

•  When it came to the journal scene I had to make sure to get as many shots as possible, even though I planned some shots in my head I tried many different angles in order to get as much to work with as possible.

• At the end of it all it was a very nice and uninterrupted shoot, I always liked shooting out doors and I felt that it went better than my director's brief although I did think that next time I should shoot at an indoor location.

Testing my ideas:

• 50 Frames per second - Workshop experiment

Using 50 frames per second and adding slow motion to make the feel of a shot more powerful.

For my workshop experiment I got my camera and then stated recording things with help from a fellow first year, Leo Baruzzo.

This footage I me using my Nikon D5200, filming at 50 Frames Per Second, and slowing down in editing:

Testing the idea in editing:

• As I thought, not a problem and it came out how I envisioned.

• My favorite shot I when John is walking with a tracking close mid shot of his face looking into the distance 

25 word pitch -

A man who has lost everything recalls lessons from his unknown father and loving mother as he reflects on his life and describes the truth.


The Script:

Script - Broken Shells


Script  development -

• One location was deleted

• The egg shot at the beginning was deleted and replaced with animated text.

Were there any changes?

• Instead of using 2 locations, Cossington Park Rainham being one of them, it was left to just Riverside Country Park as the rest of the film could be done on that location.

• Most shots where changed as I had planned to use the track and dolly but could not be used for filming on location as I did not have the permission from the Kent film office.

• The original ending was changed from having text appearing from my actor's head to just a close up as that was more powerful.

• Many different shots were added such as the flower and close up of the boat. Different shots of my actor writing in his notebook such as the shot focusing on the power plant and then a cut but to my actor.

Prep and Planning for shoot:

Story Boards -

Release Form for Actor - (Confidential information covered)

Kent Film Office Permit -

Evaluation:

What went well:
The chemistry between me and my actor, he knew what I wanted and wasn't afraid to ask what I wanted and helped me to see if I could make any shot better.

The weather was all a stroke of luck. I had the right amount of sunlight and some shots came out better then I expected.

The slow motion went really well, with my last experiment I knew what to do and using the 50 frames per second function on my camera I managed to get the right speed and feel to my piece.

The voice of my actor was exactly as I wanted it, he had the right feel, the right tone, every was to my liking.

Some shots came out really well,  I'm glad that I managed to get as many shots as possible so I had more material to work with.


What didn't go so well:
Some recording sessions were a little unprofessional because I had to use my digital recorder. I would have used the studios microphone but since as my actor was only free of a couple of days and had a time frame so I couldn't get into the studio for a proper recording.

The weather had it's bad points as well, dispute it being really sunny the wind was absolutely terrible and because I had a very sensitive microphone the ambience was all muffled and I couldn't hear any birds or anything else, just the wind.

Some aspect of the sound design was a bit of a let down as I didn't have much ambience sound recorded to amp up the feel of my piece. So I had to book out a recorder and microphone from the studio and record some ambiences I could use to see if that would help. Some of the recording came out ok, but most of it were of people, traffic and the noises of the satellites from the studio.

I was planning to have a track and dolly on my shoot but due to complications from the Kent film office I could have the track or dolly on location.


What I could I have changed:
I would have changed my sound a lot depending if I had more time I would have worked more on the sound.

I would changed a few things to the animation of the text to make it more fluent and stand out.


What I would do next time:

• Next time be prepared for weather problems and record ambiance earlier as back up so my sound design would be more professional.

• See if I can get locations that would allow me to use the equipment I wanted to use so my work can look ever better.

• Get down more than just one idea, let the poem inspire you to imagine it in a different way so you can come up with other ideas that could make it stand out more.

Conclusion: 

I have truly understood the power of poetry and the spoken word and how it applies to media. The poem I have chosen truly made me think outside the box and if given all the time in the world, I could have adapted this in many different ways. Poetry is still relevant today, and I have also learned that there are still many different people out there who are willing to express themselves throughout the art of poetry and when using the power of media can make their voices heard even louder so that their soul can be heard across the world. Like any project there were some flows that couldn't be helped but like any let down, we learn from, so if I can quote my poet:

'So stand in the present, draw for the future, and shoot with all the ammunition of the past" (Anaxagorou, 2015).

Critical Analysis Essay

Intro:

News is the most relevant source of global media out there as unlike television shows or other media driven entertainment, news gives out stories that impact audiences and keeps them up to date on our world today.

The digital news production ‘Filmhouse News’ was created in response to the brief and will be used as a case study during this critical analysis of new production in general, and it's evolution. An analysis will also take place regarding how news teams find and develop impacting stories and the importance of the news agenda. The critical analysis will also explore the different examples of professional news broadcasts and compare the issues these companies have to tackle in contrast to the way in which Filmhouse News dealt with the same problems.

How has the News evolved?

News broadcasts today are accessible from many different types of multi media platforms such as newspapers, television and now the Internet. With all sorts of blogs and company websites dedicated to keeping the general public up to date on both local and global issues. As our technology has become stronger and faster as well as information becoming more easily accessible, we are living in the age of evolution when it comes to ITC and all aspects of media.

As Terry Flew wrote:

“At their simplest, theories of new media propose that the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution that has gained momentum from the 1980s onward has so transformed the global media environment that we are witnessing the twilight of the old media associated with digital technologies, convergence and networking” (Flew, 2007: 21).

With our up to date electronic devises, the news seems to be more part of our daily lives wherever we go. It’s everywhere, weather you are sitting at home watching television, surfing the web, in 2013 studies show in the Digital News report that 76% in the UK alone use their computers and combined, 79% use both tablets and smart phones (e.g. IPhones, IPads) to access the news.


This graph shows - Changing in audience's behaviour when accessing the news

Figure 1. Accessing new per device by household income – UK. (2013)

Here is short video on how people access the news on different multi media platforms:

The video is a vox pop that shows people explaining why they prefer to use smart phones and tablets to access the news. Some say that it is easier and cheaper to access the news through the Internet rather than purchasing a newspaper. Others express that it’s more frequent and superficial, meaning that they find the news on a tablet or smart phone to be more truthful than newspapers.

Case Study

- The Presenter/ Reporter 

 

The reporter or presenters play an important role when it comes to the news. It's up to these men and women to tell the general public the stories they need to hear such as.

• Weather
• Sport
• Current Affairs
• Politics
• Local News
• Global News

These types of news categories are necessary to keep the general public up date and aware of what’s going on in their area around the globe hence the term global news.

When it comes to presenting in news there are certain qualities that a presenter needs to have. According to The National Careers Service the requirement to be a presenter is that:

You would need to have excellent personal presentation and a clear voice. You’ll also need to have a good memory to recall facts and be able to improvise if something unplanned happens. There are no set entry qualifications for becoming a TV presenter, although many new presenters have a degree. (National Carriers Service 2015).

Analyzing the presenter/ reporter, what truly makes them what they are? Firstly by this picture of ITV News Presenter, Alastair Stewart:

Fig.2. Alastair Stewart - Biography and Images.

Firstly by the way he is dressed, most professional television news presenters and reporters all wear smartly dress cloths, looking as sophisticated as possible. It shows that these presenters and reporters keep a smart and classy status and shows they take pride as well as their jobs very seriously. So in return the general public can respect them and take the time to listen to them.

Now listening to them is very important as well, because presenters have to keep a cool attitude and maintain a serious tone when telling the news from this video example:

The presenter remains calm and serious thought the programme to deliver the news, as most stories are usually bad news. For example, if the presenter were being happy and laughing during a story about a boy having a life threatening illness people would take it the wrong way. So if remained professional, the public can not only listen but also respect what he is saying with no offence.

- Scripting

Scripting for news has a high importance as with any aspects of television, scripting helps organize the shots and sound for a production especially for a director.

From the book, studio television and directing it stated that:

Scripting is a production function - writing - that has a good deal of impact on how a Director actually cues a program' (Utterback, 2007 :136).

Unlike film scripts, documentary and news scripts are almost similar as they put what sounds and what actions are going to be presented on different sides of the paper. As Andrew Utterback's book further explains:

The first column indicates production information. The right-hand column is where the actual script will follow the protocol of the rundown' (Utterback, 2007 :136).

This script shows -

· On the left the timing of which an action will take place.

· In the middle, the video/ action showing what will happen on screen.

· Lastly on the right, The audio/ words that people will say during the production.

When it came to writing Filmhouse News's script, the same layout was used making sure to have the video/ actions at the left, and the words I was going to say on the right.

Figure 3. Scripting For News. (2015)

- Video Packaging

A video package is a short pre recorded piece of video that is inserted into the news to introduce the next story or headline. Packages usually involve a big story and various amounts of interviews. According to media.about.com:

News packages usually run for 1:15 to 2:00 in length. In the case of magazine-style news programming, packages can be 20 minutes or longer. This type of news presentation is best for complicated stories or ones that have multiple interviews. (Halbrooks: 2015)

How does a news package work?

With a news package it's about the story that it's tackling. Setting up the place where the story happens is usually a good place to start. Filmhouse news started a package with an establishing shot of the location of the story and the presenter's voice over telling the beginning of the story before coming into shot.

Charlie Brooker on the BBC in this example shows how to report the news, and at the same time, in a comedic fashion, what goes into a news package.

From this video, this is the type of structure that a news package is likely to have when edited together:

• First establishing the location
• Next the presenter to the camera
• Depending how long your story is, show other shots of the location as the presenter (using a voice over) keeps talking and giving the story more development.
• Showing graphs and facts to back up an argument set by the story. This is often used in finance or politics.
• Voxpops showing the people and giving their opinions of the story.
• Interviews with witnesses of the story. Some interviewees are experts of the subject of the story.
• The presenter ends the story.

- Live Report

Unlike a package report which has already been recorded and edited together, a live report is news that is happening and being reported at that very moment. This why it is called ‘Breaking News’ as it break the schedule of the current news programme and cuts to an even bigger story happening at that present moment. Thanks to the advancement of technology, cutting from one place to another is made easier than before. To clarify this, Jane Chapman has written in Broadcast Journalism A critical introduction;

‘Technology has made it easier then ever to report live form the scene of events, whether from a remote Welsh hillside, a war zone or the magistrate's court... Communication with a location reporter is via an earpiece, in which the reporter can hear the instructions of the studio director, usually saying when they are on and how long they have got their piece’ (Chapman, J. 2009: 145).

For ‘Filmhouse News’, the live report was done by pre recoding it and editing it together like a package. This was then put into the show to give the impression that it cut to a place where their reporter waited to do their piece with an interviewee in a different location entirely. From this experience the news team leaned that reporters had to deal with the unexpected. The Filmhouse news’s reporter had to interview someone with a specific time slot and had make sure that the reporter could get her questions through to her interviewee. One of these difficulties was when the reporter was walking with her interviewee and the floor began to creek resulting in the sound being less professional. Even though what we encountered was problematic with a minor issue, with professional live broadcasts with professional live reporters their problems can be more major.

An example of a professional live report with almost a major issue can be seen from reporter Matt Frei working on Channel 4 news on November 15^th 2015. Here we see the reporter remaining calm after what was lead to believe a gunshot being fired in Paris France 24 hours after the major terrorist attack.

From this footage we can see that the reporter remains calm and tries to give out as much information as possible as to what is occurring.

- Agenda

A news agenda is an action plan to choose what items and stories to use in upcoming news programs it is also know as the agenda-setting. From the University of Twente website the Agenda Setting Theory, it states that:

Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues (University Of Twente, 2015).

Using as well as applying this theory of agenda, news companies then have to decide what makes a story news worthy.

The story needs to have an impact on public. The story’s issue has to make them think that it is the most dominant, current up to date info on what most important. Filmhouse News had different stories to tackle and some didn't make it to the news agenda.

An example would be a story that Filmhouse News recorded regarding the BFI London Film Festival and what was going to be shown in the festival. The Filmhouse News's story on the festival had low development and was only informative. The story left not much of an impact and therefore was deemed under developed.

A story like a murder and an unidentified killer on the loose can have quite a development and a high impact as it has the components of what makes a news story worthy such as.

Timing:

When and where it happened so like a package it establishes the location and setting of how the story began.

Significance:

A victim, and the family or friends can bring interviews or a voxpop and highlights of what might have happened and their feeling towards the whole thing. Interviews with the police can give details and thoughts onto how the murder might have happened.

Human Interest:

The escaped murderer in question, where is he or she? Which can lead into more development until there are more clues or until he or she is caught. It these questions that make a story news worthy as it grips and intrigues the audience and holds them till the end of that story. For this particular story there is no ending, which makes the public aware and alert especially if that murder happened in their area.

These are just some of the key headings into what makes a story news worthy and most likely to be put onto the news agenda.

Conclusion:

From this critical analysis I have learnt how professional news companies choose their stories and how important the news agenda is. News is the most relevant form of media today, it’s something we tune into and look at everyday weather it is on our television screens or the Internet. Presenters and reporters do their jobs when facing the unexpected when issues occur. In the studio or out in the street, presenters and reporters are highly professional, and when they are on screen, they try and keep a sophisticated look and voice when presenting, keeping the audience’s respect and attention. Scripting is done in a certain way and is different to film, as it is done in a table setting showing the left side with actions and the right side with audio. Packages help to nail each story thrown in a certain amount of time. I agree with Charlie Brooker’s video example from the BBC that shows how news packages are done in that particular sequence. News stories have not only a relevance but have also a lot of research and development attached to it. The news agenda ensures that each story fits those requirements so the news has the most current stories and issues to bring to the audience at home. The most important aspect of developing a story is research, as every story requires it in order to bring the right facts so as not to misguide the public. In conclusion the news is as strong as ever and has become more global by using the power of the Internet. Wherever you go there will always be a story and people who want and need to know about it.

Illustration list:

Figure 1. Accessing new per device by household income – UK. (2013) [screenshot] At: http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2013/the-growth-of-multi-platform-news-2013/ (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Figure 2. Alastair Stewart - Biography and Images. (2015) [Image] At: http://tvnewsroom.org/biography-images/alastair-stewart-3586/ (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Figure 3. Scripting For News. (2015) [online] At: http://lawrencematthewsedgwick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/research-and-development-28102015-news.html (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Bibliography:

BBC. 2010, Charlie Brooker's How to Report the News - Newswipe - BBC Four. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Channel 4 News. 2015, Matt Frei's live report as crowds run in panic. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9vpgaBgzY (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Chapman, J & Kinsey, M (2009) Broadcast Journalism A critical introduction. New York: Routledge.

Digital News Report (2015) The Growth of Multi-Platform News. At: http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2013/the-growth-of-multi-platform-news-2013/ (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

Flew, T (2007) Understanding Global Media. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.0

Halbooks, G. (2015) News Package. At: http://media.about.com/od/mediatermsandglossary/g/News-Package.htm (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

National Careers Service. (2015) TV Presenter Job Information – UK – 2015. [Online] At: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/tvpresenter.aspx (Accessed on 16/11/2015)

TV Archive. 2015, [HD] ITV News at Ten: Alastair Stewart's final NAT - Friday 9 October 2015. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjicTHuuaBA (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Utterback, Andrew (2007) studio television and directing. Abingdon: Focal Press

University Of Twente (2015) AGENDA SETTING THEORY. At: 

https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Mass%20Media/Agenda-Setting_Theory/ (Accessed on 06/12/2015)

Media College (2015) What Makes a Story News Worthy? At: http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/news/newsworthy.html (Accessed on 06/12/2015)