Unit 5 | Task 2 - P2 M1 D1 | Re-submission

Assignment Unit 5 - TV & Short film production

Task 2 - P2 / M1 / D1

P2
Filmed evidence of equipment setup

During the equipment setup, I had to demonstrate a variety of procedures. These include various steps like setting up the tripod, attaching the baseplate to the camera, extending cables and others...

The most important parts of the set up were: doing the white balance, checking audio levels, focusing camera and exposure. White balance has to do with the colour of the light and it was necessary to make sure the lighting was balanced for all the shots. Although different light sources have different colour tones, by setting up the white balance the camera makes sure all indoor and outdoor lights are smoothly assembled. Therefore, avoiding any shots to look too bright or too dark. To do the white balance it is necessary to use a white surface like a wall or a blank white paper. Then if a box appears on the screen it would mean that the white balance has been set up properly.

Moreover, another important part of the set up was checking the audio levels. To do this I had to take out the mic, the gun, the boom pole, cables, headphones, and check the setting on the camera. Firstly, I had to take the boom pole, extended it and twist it to make sure it was tightened enough. Then I had to take the gun out to attach it at the top of the boom pole.

After that I had to take out the mic and insert it inside the gun making sure the top bit of the mic was facing forward and the end bit was near the hole of the gun where the cables would pass through. Then I had to extend the cables and attach the male and female end to the camera and to the mic. And finally I took the headphone and attached it to the camera as to hear the audio levels and check if it was too loud or too quiet.

Furthermore, I had to make sure the camera was focused and the exposure was well balanced as to avoid having blurriness and keeping a clear distinct image with detailed features.

Shots from the film with corresponding storyboard drawings
We referred back to the storyboards when filming as to keep our initial plan. On the storyboards the shots look really bright, but this is changed in the film as we decided to make it a bit gloomy and therefore include the idea of mystery and urban.This colour correction makes it more related to the genre, therefore having that sense of darkness, fear and panic, as the surrounding atmosphere makes it seem like that.

Risk Assessments

Risk Assessment Form –  Part A

Production Name:	Voices
Production Address:	Mulberry UTC 64 Parnell Road Bow E3 2RU	Producer / Editor Tel: Mobile:	Caitlyn Devlin 0203 137 7024
Start date	6th of March	End date	16th of March
Distribution List Who gets a copy of the assessment	Habiba Islam, Mahid Uddin, Najma Bihi, Rahim Wahiduz, Mahir Ahmed
Outline of risk assessment Summary of what is proposed in terms of sequences and set ups.	Risk assessment is for the filming of scenes in the production of “Voices.” Equipment is set up in this way: camera on a tripod, microphone on boom pole attached to camera via cables.
Production Team List those involved	Habiba Islam, Mahid Uddin, Najma Bihi, Rahim Wahiduz, Mahir Ahmed
Locations Outline locations involved –   indicate any which are hostile environments	Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Shoreditch High Street, Mulberry UTC, Bow Church Station, Roman Road Market.

Hazard list – select your hazards from the list below and use these to complete Part B
Situational hazards	Tick	Physical / chemical hazards	Tick	Health hazards	Tick
Assault by person		Contact with cold liquid / vapour		Disease causative agent
Attack by animal		Contact with cold surface		Infection
Breathing compressed gas		Contact with hot liquid / vapour		Allergic reaction
Cold environment		Contact with hot surface		Lack of food / water
Crush by load		Electric shock		Lack of oxygen
Drowning		Explosive blast		Physical fatigue
Entanglement in moving machinery		Explosive release of stored pressure		Repetitive action	ü
High atmospheric pressure		Fire		Static body posture
Hot environment		Hazardous substance		Stress / anxiety
Manual handling		Ionizing radiation		Venom poisoning
Object falling, moving or flying	ü	Laser light
Obstruction / exposed feature		Lightning strike		Environmental hazards
Sharp object / material		Noise		Litter	ü
Shot by firearm		Non-ionizing radiation		Nuisance noise / vibration	ü
Slippery surface		Stroboscopic light		Physical damage
Trap in moving machinery		Vibration		Waste substance released into air
Trip hazard	ü			Waste substance released into soil / water
Vehicle impact / collision	ü	Managerial / organisational hazards
Falls from height		Management factors  (lack of communication, co-operation, co-ordination and competence)

Risk matrix – use this to determine risk for each hazard i.e. ‘how bad and how likely’	Likelihood of Harm
Severity of Harm	Remote e.g. <1 in 1000 chance	Very unlikely e.g. 1 in 200 chance	Unlikely e.g. 1 in 50 chance	Possible e.g. 1 in 10 chance	Likely e.g. >1 in 3 chance
Negligible  e.g. small bruise	Trivial	Trivial	Trivial	Low	Low
Slight  e.g. small cut, deep bruise	Trivial	Trivial	Low	Low	Medium
Moderate  e.g. deep cut, torn muscle	Trivial	Low	Medium	Medium	High
Severe  e.g. fracture, loss of consciousness	Low	Medium	High	High	Extremely high
Very Severe e.g. death, permanent disability	Low	Medium	High	Extremely high	Extremely high

Risk Assessment Form – Part B

Location – where this activity will take place:				Dates / times:
Hazards2 List what could cause harm from this activity e.g. falls from height, trip hazard, fire, etc.	Who exposed List who might be harmed from this activity e.g. staff, contractors, contributors, public, etc.	Risk3 For each hazard, decide level of risk as if you were to do the activity without your controls	Control measures For each hazard, list the measures you will be taking to minimise the risk identified e.g. appointing competent persons, training received, planning and rehearsals, use of personal protective equipment, provision of first aid, etc.	Risk3 For each hazard, decide level of risk once all your controls are in place
Trip hazard – tripping over cables or objects and debris in the cemetery	Crew & cast	Medium	Ensure that all members are aware that there are cables on the ground, remove any objects in the cemetery that are trip hazards, provide first aid if anything should happen	Low
Object falling or flying – objects such as the camera falling or the microphone	Camera equipment Sound equipment	Medium	Ensure that all camera equipment is layed out properly and also ensure that the cameras and microphones are attached properly to the object	Trivial
Vehicle impact/collision – cast and crew members could possibly be injured from this or frightened	Cast & Crew	Medium	Ensure that all members were crossing the road on a zebra crossing so that cars stop and allow us to cross or use the crossing where there traffic lights are, walk in pairs of two to ensure that everyone is safe	Low
Repetitive action – muscle strain	Cast & Crew	Medium	Ensure that everybody takes equal turns in using the equipment and if someones his struggling to keep hold of an object for a while take it off them and give them a break whilst someone else does it	Low
Nuisance noise / vibration – making too much noise could cause the public to get frustrated and annoyed and disrupt filming	Public	Medium	Ensure that all members are quiet when filming in public so that the public is not disturbed	Low

1 – complete separate table for each activity     2 - from hazard list in Part A     3 - from risk matrix in Part A

To make our short film we had to make sure we had a risk assessment as to be aware of any threats, potential hazards, injuries and reassure the safety of everyone. One of the first thing we had to consider was to reschedule our filming days due to the snow. This is because it would be difficult to film on a snowy weather, as there’s a high chance of trip hazard due to the slippery surface caused by the snow. Also it wouldn’t match with the story as there’s no snow in our short film.

Moreover, the different kind of hazards we had to think about were: situational hazards, health hazards and environmental hazards. Things we had to consider in the situational hazards were: objects falling, moving or flying; trip hazard and vehicle impact/collision. We had to consider repetitive action as a health hazard. And finally litter and nuisance noise/vibration as an environmental hazard. We didn’t have to consider any physical/chemical hazards or managerial/organisational hazards as we didn’t use any liquid substances like water, oil or alcohol and we didn’t use fire; also we didn’t have to look for management factors as we had a good communication with our peers and we all contributed to collaboration skill.

Furthermore, all the hazards that we considered: trip hazard; object falling or flying; vehicle impact/collision; repetitive action and nuisance noise/vibration, all had a medium level risk making the likelihood of harm unlikely and the severity of harm moderate.

The crew and the cast had to be careful on not tripping over cables or objects and debris in the cemetery. Therefore, we had to ensure that all members were aware of cables on the ground, remove any objects in the cemetery that could cause trip hazard and provide first aid if anything should happen, making the control risk low.

We had to ensure that all camera and sound equipment was layed out properly and the camera and microphones were attached properly to the object, as to avoid the hazard of objects falling. The control risk is trivial. In addition, we had to make to make sure that all members were crossing the road on a zebra crossing so that cars stop and allow us to cross. Also we had to ensure that everybody takes equal turns in using the equipment and help those who are struggling to keep hold of an object and give them a break whilst someone else does their turn. This is to avoid repetitive action so to not cause muscle strain.

Finally, we had to make sure that all members are quiet when filming in public so that the public is not disturbed or get frustrated. These last tree hazards are at low risk for control measures.


M1

Urban Genre research– codes & conventions in urban genre films

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

The conventions of 'Straight Outta Compton' relates to the urban genre as the clothing of the characters are really gangster like and urban. Also the use of hoodies, caps, chains show that it is urban genre.

Anuvahood (2011)

Conventions of urban genre can be seen at the front of the film poster, as the characters are wearing urban/gangster like clothing and also their facial expression hints that it is suburban like. Also the council flats at the back depicts their everyday living condition. In addition, the use of weapons like the gun being held by the black man explores the sense of violence and aggression, as one of the main conventions of urban genre films. 

Juice (1992) 

The conventions of the film Juice can be inferred through the use of gang culture. This can be explored through the use of low key lighting, dark clothes and hoodies, gun, aggressive facial expression. Also, the use of cigarettes depicts the theme of illegal behaviour so the usage of drugs which is really common in urban genre films. Another convention could be the representation of a black majority ethnicity which is usually associated with violence and crime.

M1 and D1
Codes and conventions of urban genre in our short film

In this shot the actors are wearing casual clothing which relates to what characters in urban genre films like Anuvahood and Juice would wear. The atmosphere is eerie and there is a low key lighting which demonstrates that it's urban and has that sense of mystery and horror theme. Also the setting is in a cemetery which further develops the idea of a scary abandoned place brilliantly matching the urban genre conventions.

This shot shows gravestones and has a spooky appearance. The dead leaves and the skeleton like trees with the gloomy background connect with urban genre conventions. This creates the meaning of being in an abandoned and isolated place. It is a wide shot as it gives a full picture of the urban genre setting. The use of the cemetery goes very well with the surrounding atmosphere. 

This medium shot also depicts the sense of urban ambience. This is due to the low key lighting and the tall trees at the back with the dim light of the sky that makes it look like a halloween day therefore having the connotations of fright, mystery, horror and unusual happenings. In addition, the representation of the character at the front correlates with the urban genre conventions. This is because the costume she's wearing portrays casual teenager clothing which symbolises teenage outfit in urban society. The use of dark clothing also symbolises the urban genre as people in urban films tend to wear mostly black costume like hoodies. This links to the films Straight Outta Compton and Juice as the portrayal of costumes worn by the cast, especially jackets, hooodies and black outfit, is mostly dark, chilling and shady, implying the sense of crime, danger and bleak events. Moreover the way the character is wondering around looking up develops the sense of mystery and doubtfulness, this also applies to the enigma code as it makes the audience question "what's gonna happen?", "what is she staring at?".

This is a two shot and it illustrates the conventions of urban genre. This is through the use of low key lighting making it look creepy and daunting. This associates with the films Juice and Anuvahood, as there is a great representation of the urban genre through their use of low key lighting.  Also the background buildings demonstrate the urban quarter, relating to the urban genre film Straight Outta Compton where the surrounding area also affects the overall urbanistic look of the film. The costume of the actors: hoodies, jackets and coats, are casual and dark which is a common feature of the urban genre. This can be linked to all three films: Juice, Anuvahood and Straight Outta Compton, as they all depict casual, non-professional and dark clothing relating to the urban genre. The way the character with the dark red hoodie is looking at the other character infers that she's not interested and doesn't care of what the other character is saying. This emphasises the idea of deceit and lack of trust, which is one of the characteristic of urban films. For example the film poster of Juice has a big image of a character from the film not looking directly at the audience, but on the side, implying the sense of trust lacking, fraud and treachery within the film.