UAL Level 3 Diploma

Unit 8: Developing a creative media production project 

The Final Major Project (Year One)

STATEMENT OF AIMS

Unit 8 is the summative unit in the first year of the two-year qualification. It will
provide students with a measure of self-directed learning through the
completion of a substantial creative media production and technology project. 
 
The unit requires students to apply the skills, knowledge and understanding
developed in Units 1–7, to complete a creative media production project. It will
provide students with a measure of self-directed learning, and an opportunity to
begin to clarify their longer-term goals through their choice of an activity to explore in
greater depth

Name
Harvey Gerring

Disciplines The primary disciplines that I will be using in my idea will

(primary/secondary be video and sound. This is because I don’t think that
) animation nor photography will fit what I’m planning to do.
(e.g. video,
animation, sound,
photography
Project (e.g. short My project will be an experimental short film with not much
narrative film, (There was no narrative in my final idea for my FMP)
experimental short narrative at all. Overall, I want my short film to be
film, experimental experimental and to look as visually appealing (I don’t think
animation, visually appealing is the way to describe how I’m trying to
cinemograph, time- make the audience feel. If anything, I’m trying to make
lapse etc. ) them overwhelmed from watching my piece through the
flashing lights. I think I wanted it to look impressive, not
visually appealing) as I can whilst taking inspiration from
other works to fit into mine.
Section 1: Rationale (minimum of 100 words)
There were many things that I learnt during the first 7 units that I will use in my
final major project. I acquired many skills for photography, animation, video, and
theory in these last 7 units. Like I mentioned in the “disciplines” section, I’ll
primarily be working on video and sound and won’t really be using animation nor
photography in my piece as I don’t think that is something that fits the themes that
I’m trying to present.

For video, I have learnt many things when using a camera including different shot
types, different camera angles and editing the manual camera settings to get a
specific look to my shot, like an underexposed shot
to get darkness, a high white balance shot to
increase the warmth of an image or even the shutter
speed and how it affects motion blur. This is also
seen in the exposure triangle which we also learnt
about in the first 7 units. The triangle shows that a
greater aperture means a deeper depth of field, a
higher shutter speed means less motion blur and
that a higher ISO means more grain onto the image. I
could use this knowledge in my own work for my
final major project because I will need to know how to alter my cameras settings to
get my shots looking as professional and visually appealing as possible, whether
that be through the correct exposure or even adding grain via ISO if I need it. I also
improved my skills of video editing
throughout my first 7 units in video
as I learnt how to mask and improve
my green screening ability. I have
also learnt how to do 3-point lighting
and which each of the lights do for
the shot. This would therefore create
the infinite void/studio setup which I
used in my Irn-Bru coursework. All
this work I did has increased my
confidence for video projects
therefore I’m going to be aiming a
little higher for my project proposal
than I would be before my college course.

For photography and interactivity, I learnt about the different genres of

photography alongside the settings of the camera in order to get what I would like
the photo to look like. For shutter speed, I learnt that lower the shutter speed,
means less blur and higher the shutter speed means more blur since the shutter is
open longer. We also learnt how to use
photoshop in order to create a portrait
blend and learnt about masking layers
and how to make someone appear as if
they’re floating. Also learnt how to use text
effectively in photoshop. We finally did
reflectors in order to find out how they
affect lighting, particularly on faces. We
then did Interactive Promotion where I
learnt how to analyse data that I collected via primary research and gathered from
secondary research. I then analysed the social medias, websites and promotional
videos for this market research to note what I thought was effective and ineffective
for my website that I created at the end of this assignment.

Finally, for animation I learnt about many things including how to use Adobe
Animate since I had never used it before, how to tween and different types of
animating – including straight ahead and pose to pose. I then learnt about single
point perspective, two-point perspective and three-point perspective in order to
form my drawings. I also learnt how to do lip syncing and gather
primary/secondary data for myself on my next project which was going to be the
sun and the cloud. I then ended up making my animation which I was ultimately
quite happy with.

Section 2: Project Concept (minimum of 200 words)

My project concept is going to be an experimental short film like I mentioned
earlier where it looks visually appealing (Not visually appealing). My basic idea is
going to be a non-sensical narrative (There was no narrative whatsoever) where
someone walks into a dark room holding one of those large buckets of popcorn,
and sits down into a comfortable arm chair and turns a light on via a pullable cord
which doesn’t actually turn the light on but the way we setup will make it look like it
is. It will really be turned on by me clicking a button on a remote instead of the pull
cord.. The light will be a disco bulb where many lights project around the room
whilst flashing as they sit there and eat some of the popcorn. Then, they stand up
and turn the light off and walk out of the room. That’s when the loop happens as it
goes pitch black. This is when a warning
will appear warning people with
photosensitive epilepsy. This will be a
fade of opacity so that the loop can still
appear effective. When they’re eating the
popcorn there will be around 4 camera
angles (There ended up being 2 camera
angles because 4 camera angles
would’ve took a lot of management to
setup and carry around the whole time and frankly the college cannot provide that
many cameras for a project) set up in a square (I’m not completely sure why I ever
thought this would be a good idea. Putting the cameras in a square wouldn’t make
any sense because you would see the camera on the other side alongside the
lightbulb itself? I’m glad I ended up with only two camera angles but I think 3
would’ve been the maximum if I wanted anymore) around them showing all angles
of them. The edit will switch between these four (two camera angles) to make it
interesting with some being closer than others to highlight the colours being
projected onto their face and the food. Taking inspiration from Douglas Gordon’s
“Déjà vu” I am going to use 3 different shots with a slight delay between them all
with different colours on each requiring me to film it three different times with
similar movements in each. I am aiming for this to be 2 minutes in length overall
with research into recording the sound via a microphone (I didn’t think I needed a
microphone as the music would’ve been the primary source of sound in my piece. I
think it would’ve been a good skill to learn how to use the boom microphone to
really get that sound of him eating the popcorn however I am not that upset about
not using it because the microphone on the camera picked up a good amount of
noise.) and how to do that alongside how to get the best video effects. I will also
want to research what lighting has the best effect onto different colours of clothing
which I can collect data on myself.

Section 3: Evaluation – How you plan to record your progress (minimum of 100
words)
I plan to record my progress throughout my final major project via the website
page that I created named “production diary”. In this website I will be reflecting
upon my “planning/schedule” that I would do the week before to see if I achieved
what I wanted to that day and evaluate whether I thought that it went well that day.
Furthermore, I’ll be reflecting on what I did well that day and what I think I could’ve
done better and improve on next week. I’d then say how I think I’m doing in
relation to the whole assignment and whether I’m on the track that I hope to be on.
I’ll be evaluating every time I do my work in order to keep on top of this. Then, at
the very end I’ll reflect on my big decisions that I had to make and say whether it
was a success or not.

Proposed Research Sources

For my project, I’ll have to start researching experimental short films like the one I
want to create myself. My idea has taken clear inspiration from Douglas Gordon’s
“Déjà vu” and Andy Warhol’s “Hamburger”. This means that I’ll have to research
things that are similar to these and mine alike; maybe I could research someone
sat there and eating a bucket of popcorn like Andy Warhol eating the Burger King
(I didn’t as I think Andy Warhol’s art installation was sufficient research.)
Furthermore, I could look at some visual art with different variations of the same
art with different colours, if there are any, to take inspiration from in my work. I
would find these either on YouTube, in an art gallery, somewhere on the internet
or even in a book from the library at college. I’m sure I could also find articles
about these specific pieces of work to find out the meaning/purpose of these works
to see how they compare to mine.
Equipment Required
- Computer for editing
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Adobe After Effects (I didn’t really need to use Adobe After Effects because
my edit was simple enough to do in Premiere Pro and Premiere Pro has
most of the features that After Effects has anyways)
 - Google Chrome
- Boom Microphone (this is a maybe) (The maybe turned to a no. The
microphone on the camera did the job)
- 3/4 (I ended up using 2) video cameras
- Headphones for editing
- Lamp/light for the lighting

Resources Required
Props:
- Popcorn
- Lamp/light for lighting
- Chair (preferably a comfortable one like a lounge chair)
- Light switch/pull cord
Locations:
- Studio or a small-ish room (this will depend on what’s available and has the
facilities to hold what I need like a light switch and a chair).
Costumes:
- I will need a white shirt with white/black trousers for the person in the video
as it will reflect the light to the camera the best. This was my prediction for
what colour would be best – I was correct after doing my own Primary
Research.

Skills to develop/learn
Something that I’ll need to develop/learn for the final major project is my
knowledge of camera settings. I know a little about camera settings from my work
in video however I would like to develop this knowledge further to learn more
complex settings and how to use them effectively. I’ll also like to know how to
setup lighting effectively since we’ve not done much lighting work, other than the
three-point lighting that we did. Finally, I’d like to improve my knowledge of after-
effects as I don’t know very much about after-effects and think I could use that
alongside Premiere Pro (I never ended up using them together and just used
Premiere Pro alone) to make the best piece of work that I can.

Personnel and responsibilities

Behind the camera:
- Harvey Gerring (me)
It’ll only be me behind the camera setting up everything and recording
everything. The lighting will also be setup by me with the only thing that
someone else will do is the acting.
Actor:
- Isaac Gannon
Isaac will be the person Infront of the camera eating the popcorn with all the
lights flashing onto him.

Intended audience and context

Going into this, I wasn’t thinking of a specific audience however when going into
more planning for my project, I’ve concluded that the intended audience for my
piece is people who are more interested in experimental art than someone who
prefers more traditional art. This is because at face value, my piece of work might
look “pointless” from the perspective of someone who likes traditional art. I do not
intend to target an audience of any specific gender nor age since I believe all ages
and gender can enjoy my piece. If my piece was to be used, it’d be used in an art
gallery installation which plays 24/7 and loops. It’d be projected onto a big wall in a
dark room where the video is the only thing that is lighting up the room, therefore
making it look more visually appealing to the people in the art gallery. (After I
realised that this wouldn’t be possible for my exhibition, I decided that I’d make it
based around a dark room where the only thing that the audience can view, is the
video itself. For my exhibition, I am planning on creating a box around the screen
that the people look into with perhaps some mirrors reflecting the video into their
eyes alongside the video itself from the main screen. This will overwhelm the
viewer which is exactly what I’m ultimately aiming for).

How my project will ‘loop

The opening shot of my art installation will
show a door which someone will soon
walk through. Then, the ending shot will
be someone walking out the door and
returning to the original shot of the door
being closed – therefore creating a loop.
I’ve drawn a concept of what this might
look like. This’ll be a matching image at
the start and at the end. (This was
probably the biggest change in the end.
Due to the way the studio is setup, the
door is leading to the corridor where of course, there’s lots of lighting so eventually
I had to adapt this idea to Isaac just standing up and walking out of shot, instead of
walking out of a door. I think this works as well as if he walked out of a door but
this was my initial idea.)

How to successfully complete a final major project

1. Do something you enjoy – look back on projects this year and think about
what skills you’ve learnt and which you have really enjoyed. What job would
you like to do in the future? How can you apply it to your project? Pick an area
which you can connect with.
LOVE YOUR PROJECT

2. Do lots and lots of research – primary and secondary are both essential.
Use a wide range of methods and resources, such as questionnaires,
surveys, interviews (Primary), and researching the work of professional
practitioners and techniques (Secondary).
3. Manage your time – 9 weeks of practical work is not long. Just think how
fast this year has gone so far. Plan ahead and don’t fall behind. MAKE USE
OF INDEPENDENT STUDY TIME.

4. You must document everything what happens as you go along. Your entire
journey from start to finish should be fully recorded. Describe and analyse as
you go along. Every aspect of your project should be fully considered. Your
Planning and Schedule will be vital to the success of your FMP

5. Research, design, experiment, build, evaluate. Your project should evolve

over the allotted time. Be flexible and adaptable if your FMP decides to go in
a different direction than first intended. Ensure you record all developments as
the project develops.

6. Critically analyse and evaluate – this will refer to the research you undertake,
the pre-production, production and post-production. Don’t just describe but
analyse, interpret, research and evaluate.

7. Listen to advice from your lecturers in formative assessment sessions

throughout the project. You might just find that as we are used to marking
work we know what the requirements are to make good/exceptional projects.
Remember, your work will be graded at Pass, Merit or Distinction, so aim
for the best grade you can and take advice on board when given.

8. You are being graded against FOUR Learning Outcomes, so you need to
ensure that you do the very best in each of them to achieve the grade you
may require, so pay close attention to all parts of the FMP. Remember that
the lowest awarded grade for any Learning Outcome will be the final grade
for the FMP unit.