RO81 PRE- PRODUCTION UNIT. Revision Guide

Transcription

1 RO81 PRE- PRODUCTION UNIT Revision Guide 1

2 Contents Design Elements... 1 Mood Boards... 1 Mind Map / Spider Diagram... 2 Storyboards and Scripts... 4 Annotated example: January exam January exam... 8 Visualisation Diagrams January exam Camera Shots and Angles Client Requirements / Target Audience Client Briefs Target Audiences January exam Work Plan Work Plans Gantt Charts Hardware / Software Hardware Software ICT Legislation Intellectual Property Copyright Trademarks Copyright Open Licenses Copy Right Free and Royalty Free Certification Data Protection Act Health and Safety January exam Compression

3 File Formats Animation Images Video Audio Versions & Naming Evaluations Client Feedback

4 Design Elements Mood Boards What is a mood board? A collection of ideas, visible in one place as a new project is beginning. Mood boards tend to include: Colour samples & schemes Similar examples Photos / images / sketches Text & font Why are they used? They provide a visual representation of the work. Allows the user to compare, identify & develop the mood, genre & style of the product When can they be used? They can be used within any type of project, such as; audio, video, games, interior / fashion design etc 1

5 Mind Map / Spider Diagram What is it? It s a visual tool used to show ideas and how they can link together They will have a central topic with headings shooting off them They are a mix of images / text and tend to use different colours Why are they used? Designers will use them as they are gathering ideas - they are a good tool to show how elements can link together Spider diagrams use different headings and under these headings will be the ideas that fit with these When can they be used? Spider diagrams can be used by anyone for anything! 2

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7 Storyboards and Scripts What is a Storyboard? A series of panels that contain a sequence of sketches which depict a story to show what is going on at certain points. They tend to include: Sketches of the action Directions to show the order of the scenes Dialogue The different camera shots Why are they used? Storyboards are used as they show visually the ideas and concepts held about the direction of a scene or key moments from the scene Storyboards make production easier as it shows how a scene should be set out and what will happen during the different shots 4

8 When are they used? Storyboards are used in several situations, such as: Creating a video / movie Creating a story / comic Theatre production / play What is a Script? A script is a document that shows how characters will interact with each other through speaking, their body language and detailing what they will be doing Scripts follow a strict format. Some examples include: Must be wrote in font Courier size 12 this is because in general one page of Courier font = 1 minute of screen time The character who is speaking will have their name above the dialogue they say Scripts will detail how the scene begins & will include a heading to detail the scene When and why are they used? When? Scripts tend to be used mainly in movies / TV programmes / plays / theatre productions Why? Scripts are used to explain different scenes, that is happening and who is speaking at certain points. They provide key information to help with the flow of a scene 5

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12 Visualisation Diagrams What is a Visualisation Diagram? A diagram either hand drawn or digitally created that demonstrates what something will look like when it is created A visualisation diagram may show how the design has developed through several stages Why are they used? They are used to help with different planning and can be a rough design or a detailed final design. Most visualisation diagrams are labelled detailing specific points of the image When are they used? Visualisation diagrams can be used for several reasons: Web designers to label the different parts of the website Graphic designers to label the visual styles they will use / to describe the different designs of their image. Where text / images will go. Fonts / styles / colours used 9

13 Fashion designers different colours / materials to be used / different design styles 10

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15 Camera Shots and Angles What are camera shots / angles? These are the specialist terms which are used to describe the view of a character and their background a viewer may have. When are they used? The different camera shot / angles can be applied to things such as: Filming a video / movie / TV programme Storyboard designs Picture stories / comic strips There are several different types of camera shots which are used at different times for different effects. Examples Key examples 12

16 Wide shot puts characters in context to show their location and how it relates Medium close up concentrates on a single character Extreme wide angle establishing shot. Shows where the action will take place and will set the scene. Often pans or zooms in slowly as the scene is set Extreme close up focuses on a single aspect of a person for effect, such as the eyes / nose / mouth etc High angle used to create the feeling the character is being watched as the viewer is looking from above the character. Used regularly in thriller movies 13

17 Close Up focuses in on one person as they are saying something or to show their facial reaction Two-shot used for conversations between two characters when what they both have to say is important Low / long angle creates the impression the viewer is small & the character is powerful Wide angle shows the whole character against the background Over the shoulder used when another character s speech is more important than another's 14

18 Client Briefs Client Requirements / Target Audience Client requirements are based upon what does the client want from you. In your exam / coursework you will be given a brief which details the required end product expected, who it is aimed at and some of the required specifications What is interpreting client requirements? This is looking at what you have been asked and detailing the key aspects of what you are required to do, adding further detail as to why you have to do this. Why establish the client s requirements? It is important to identify and know what it is that we have been asked to do and who the end product is for. It helps provide an aim for the product Examples of client requirements: Who has asked you to make the product (client) The target audience The product you have to make The technical aspects required for the product File formats mp3 (audio), mp4 (video) etc 15

19 Target Audiences What is a target audience? A target audience is a group of people who all share a common interest This can be the specific gender, age range or a combination of the two that your product is aimed at. Depending upon who your target audience is, your design choices should be tailored to their needs You will need to think about: What things will they be interested in to relate the product to them? What colours would you usually associate with them? What design ideas would be most suitable? Where is the target audience located? Is there a specific ethnicity / religion associated with the target audience? Depending upon what you have been asked to make, you may have a specific target audience or more of a generalised audience 16

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21 Primary & Secondary Sources What is a Primary Source? A primary source, is information which you have collated yourself Examples of Primary Sources Interviews Questionnaires Photographs Sound recordings Video recordings What is a Secondary Source? A secondary source is information which someone else has already collected which you are using to help with your study / research / project Examples of Secondary Sources Newspapers / directories / books / maps DVDs Websites TV & Radio The examples under primary research could also count as long as someone else has done them Secondary sources of information should be referenced in a bibliography Biased Information As someone else has conducted the research, secondary information can be biased. This is because it could contain the person s opinion / views. To avoid biased information, you need to check: Who produced the information? What is the purpose of the info? 18

22 Is the information trying to persuade people? Does the information give just one point of view? Qualitative vs Quantitative Data When conducting primary / secondary research, the information you find can either be classed as qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative This information is usually a result of the information people supply from open ended questions during interviews or from open questions in a questionnaire. These results cannot be measured and changed into statistics; however the resulting information can be approximated. Quantitative This information can be measured statistically as it is usually a result from closed questions. For example in a questionnaire if 10 out of 20 choose yes to a question, it can be analysed to show 50% of people said yes. 19

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24 Work Plan Work Plans This is a breakdown of each individual task during the process of working towards the final product They can either be displayed tabular or through the use of a Gantt chart What do they include? Tasks & activities what are you doing & what is involved Workflow order of the activities identified Timescales start and end dates, expected time to complete task Resources what will you need Milestones - specific points during the activities Contingencies extra time you may have available to assign if a task goes over its original allocated time Gantt Charts Visual representation of the tasks involved in making a product Tasks can overlap one another (e.g. Design log, creation of product and some testing) Each individual task is usually colour coded 21

25 Hardware / Software Hardware What is hardware? Hardware is the physical elements of a computer that you can touch and see Examples of hardware Monitor Mouse Keyboard Web camera Software What is software? Software is a collection of instructions that tells the computer what to do. They make the computer run Software is not a physical thing; it is a lot of code. However it is saved to hardware. Examples of software Windows 8 Mac OS Microsoft Word Peripherals 22

26 These are hardware devices which are connected to the computer and are controlled by the CPU. Examples Monitor Keyboard External hard drive Speakers Choosing the correct hardware / software When you are beginning a project, it is important that you choose correct hardware and software to use. Every piece of hardware and software has been created to complete a specific job and they will have specific features that help make it easier to use them. For example, if you were asked to make a video, which piece of software would you use? Photoshop image creation / editing software Serif MoviePlus video creation / editing software Microsoft Excel spreadsheet / calculation & formula software You would use Serif MoviePlus. Although it may be possible to use other software, this program will have all of the necessary tools How to choose? When choosing your hardware / software, there are some questions you can ask yourself: What am I trying to create? What do I need the hardware / software to do? Will I be able to learn how to / be able to use it? 23

27 PDF (Portable Document File) PDFs are a file format developed by Adobe. They are an example of formatted documents that are saved in an electronic version which can be sent to a recipient and can be viewed electronically. PDFs tend to be read-only documents. They display the information as intended their format will not change. 24

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29 ICT Legislation Intellectual Property What is it? This is the term used to describe something which has been created by a person. For example: Books Films Movies Games Apps Words / phrases Copyright What is copyright? Copyright is a law / legislation that protect someone s work which they have created. Copyright begins as soon as someone has completed the work. Using Copyrighted Work If you wish to use something someone has copyrighted, you must: Contact the owner Ask for permission to use it Potentially pay a fee However in some circumstances copyright can be avoided: If the work is used for educational purposes If the work has been referenced If copyright protection has ended 26

30 Trademarks What is a trademark? A trademark can be a name, word, slogan, design, symbol or other unique device that identifies a product or organisation. Registered trademarks may be identified by the abbreviation TM, or the symbol. Copyright Open Licenses This protects people whom are happy for others to use their products / work, but still want some element of protection Examples: Creative Commons a license agreement where the creator allows their resource to be used. There are different types: o CC BY resource can be used however you want as long as the source is referenced o CC BY NC can only be used if you do not charge others for its use. You also need to reference the source GFDL copyright license for free documentation. The readers are given the right to do whatever they like with it. E.g. Wikipedia Public Domain not copyrighted. Can be used however the person wishes Copy Right Free and Royalty Free What is the difference between the two? Copyright free the work is not protected by copyright. A fee may have to be paid in order to obtain the work, but your use will not be restricted. Royalty free a onetime fee is paid in order use a piece of work which has been copyrighted. The work is not copyright free however. 27

31 Certification Different countries have laws on what is allowed to be seen and shown. Censorship is when artists/filmmakers are not allowed to show their complete work Certification is the process of informing the audience broadly on the suitability of content. Certification is a major aspect when thinking about your target audience. Data Protection Act What is it? The Data Protection Act is a law which protects people s information. It is a set of rules for people who store information to follow and it gives the people who provide the information rights. People who use the data are called data users People who provide the information are called data providers Main Points of the DPA If you collect data about people for one reason, you must not use it for a different reason; You must not give people's data to other people or organizations unless they agree; People have the right to look at data that any organizations store about them; You must not keep the data for longer than you need to and it must be kept up to date; You must not send the data to places outside of the European Economic Area unless adequate levels of protection exist; Organizations that store data about people must register with the Information Commissioner s Office; If you store data about people you must make sure that it is secure and well protected; 28

32 If an organization has data about you that is wrong, then you have a right to ask them to change it. 29

33 Health and Safety There are many risks associated with the use of ICT and it is important to try and avoid any dangers. Risk Assessment There are several steps to follow when completing a risk assessment: Identify the hazards / dangers Decide who might be harmed and how Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions Record your findings and implement them Review your assessment and update if necessary Potential Risks Eye strain this can happen when someone has spent too long looking at a screen. Especially in bad light / glare / if the screen flickers Back pain due to poor posture / awkward sitting position. To avoid, use fully adjustable chairs. Footrests. Adjustable monitors. RSI Repetitive Strain Injury is damage to the fingers, wrists and other parts of the body, due to repeated movements over a long period of time Deep Vein Thrombosis the veins in your legs become compressed due to sitting for prolonged periods of time Stress many people struggle to use a computer correctly and don t want to admit they don t know how to use them. People are afraid they ll replace them in their jobs. Difficult to keep up to date Wires loose wires can cause people to trip up Food and Drink if a drink spills, it could cause a computer to blow up 30

34 Electrical Sockets these could be overloaded with too many computers, which again can lead to computers blowing up Space / Workspace - can be difficult to work without any room. If the computers are too heavy, they could break the bench they re on Heating & Ventilation computers become hot whilst they re on. They could overheat and catch fire. 31

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36 Compression Before a digital file has been saved in a specific file type, it is known as RAW. By saving the file, you are providing it with a label that software can recognise, making sure the correct program is used to open the file in future. Some file types try to avoid any type of loss of data these are generally BIGGER and HIGHER QUALITY. (Lossless) o Quality can be important especially with big images o If editing and changing a file its best to begin with higher quality Some file types are produced using compression algorithms to make them SMALLER. (Lossy) o Smaller means they take up less hardware space, saving memory, cost and access speed. o Smaller is faster to upload, download and share online. Compression algorithms are so advanced that most people cannot tell the difference unless files are HEAVILY compressed. 33

37 File Formats Animation The two main file types used for animations are: SWF can contain a variety of content such as; video, animations, games and small apps. Uses a lossless compression, resulting in larger file sizes. FLV this is a container. It can only contain video. This file format is used for only a single purpose. Allows for a video to start even if it has not completely downloaded. Uses lossy compression to provide smaller file sizes. Images There are several different file types suitable for images. Both printed and online: JPG this is an ideal file format for digital photos which use more than 256 colours. JPG images tend to lose quality as the images are compressed to make the file smaller. The lower the quality %, the higher the compression of the image. Web images PNG developed to be similar to GIFs in terms of images that provide transparency, but still maintain a quality image. PNGs have varying levels of transparency. They can be compressed into smaller file sizes. Web images TIF a TIF can be compressed and maintains a lot of detail. Images saved in this file type can retain 100% of the original image, not losing any colours. Print images GIF ideal for images that use large blocks of single colours, it can support a maximum of 256 colours. It is possible to make the background on GIFs transparent. The fewer colours used, the smaller the file size. Web images 34

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39 Video There are several file formats which are used for videos. The most common are: MP4 - It is a type of video format which is usually used to make and store digital videos and digital audio files. It is referred to the MPEG-part 14. MPG - It is also a type of format which is used to store videos and uses same lossy type compression for the purpose resulting in ordinary result video. MOV - It is also an audio video saving format which is developed by the Apple Inc. it contains the digital encoded video stream and is compatible with windows. MP4 is the high quality video format which is used to play and store video files. MOV is designed by the Apple Inc. Mpeg is used to play videos in cheap quality. MPG is a video format which is used mostly in mobiles. These file types are all compressed (lossy). They use smaller file sizes, resulting in faster loading speeds. Audio There are several file formats which are common for audio files. MP3 these provide smaller file sizes as they are compressed. MP3s are commonly used on devices as they do not use a lot of memory and are of high quality. AIFF these are an uncompressed file format. They provide high quality audio. AIFF files are compatible only with Macs. WAV these file formats are again high quality, but are uncompressed resulting in large file sizes. WAV files are compatible only with Windows. 36

40 Versions & Naming Versions When you are creating a product, it is vital that you save different versions as you progress through. You save these versions with different names. For example: My-website-v1 My-website-v2 My-website-v3. If the latest version gets deleted or corrupts, saving versions mean you don t have to start the work from the beginning. You have a version that is reasonably up to date that you can go back to. Versions can be used to show how you have developed a product and the changes you have made. Naming There are recommended guidelines when naming a file. These include: The file name should be 8 or fewer characters. These are easier to read. Use a 3 character file extension. For example.tif not.tiff Only use alpha-numeric characters, except for dashes and underscores. File names should never contain spaces. All letters should be lowercase. 37

41 Evaluations When evaluating your finished work, there are several things you can do in order to provide a clear, detailed evaluation: Compared to the brief Review and compare your work to the original brief have you done what was asked? How? Think about the following: format style, clarity suitability of content for the client and target audience Review positive and negative aspects / areas for improvement. Think about the following: format style, clarity suitability of content for the client and target audience colour scheme content additional scenes Client Feedback When you have created a product, it is likely you would receive client feedback. This is important because: Pre-production provides the opportunity to show ideas before development You will know if you have met the client s needs Any improvements you could make to the work Is it suitable for the target audience? 38