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The Blog
14 April 2016
The picking of teams
Quite a few times with mini projects over the last couple weeks we have had to live
up to being either with being in teams of our choice or selected by our tutors. For a
massive, headache video production coming up, we had the licence to be in teams
of our choice (3 people per group). The decision as Justin wheeled himself over in
his chair, to ask whether I was willing to join him and Lyle. I accepted with smiles.
The stutter of a start
As always with group and independent tasks, it is quite difficult to get that kick start
with ideas. It came break time and ideas were really beginning to lack. I just stopped
and thought this next 6 weeks is going to be a tough examination. Before picking
teams, we did get a flavour of action sequence examples by watching clips on
YouTube as a class, still this didnt inspire us.
Breakthrough with a walk about
We would only have until lunchtime to get started with our pre-production as this
afternoon we were moving on to our work experience unit so time was now eating
away. It came to 10:55 and we had a little bit of a breakthrough! Simon the tutor for
the morning suggested to walk about college campus and that way youll see and
find things to inspire you with your sequence and it did after a 25 minutes wonder.
Our mind map and ideas were looking much brighter on the paper, now just before
lunch there was just enough time to pull everything all together and decide on a final
plot. We helped Lyle type and plan this out on his work station.

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Work experience session cancelled
Minute after minute of waiting for the two radio presenters to come up to the class, it
was only in maths at 14:30 where Owain told us the work experience is postponed
till Friday. This was annoying as it killed of a good half an hour of work but we
turned it around and made use of it by taking the photos for the location reci, filling
out the location reci form and risk assessment which I didnt get the chance to
upload. This will be done on (16th April). A very slow paced half an hour lead us also
to get on with mini tasks which were easy and quick like the mood board on
Photoshop and digitally completing the mind map.

15 April 2016
Morning of progressing with pre-production
As an early get together decision we decided upon to spilt away from each other for
finding evidence for ideas. This should be quick and easy as we roughly have an
idea already and we kind of covered this box yesterday by watching clips like James
Bond. It is just finding the evidence for Weebly.
Work was produced with ease and care just before break time and by that time my
confidence wanted to go and use my break to continue. I was in high form! Even
Justin was also so I and him went for a risk assessment in the location of the
sequence, whilst Lyle starts on the props/costume/casting list which didnt get
finished today. Reason being because if you like Lyle was acting
as the captain and pulled us in to start on some sketches for the
storyboard, again wasnt finished as before lunch we took some
more photos just in case we wanted to refer to a photo version of
a storyboard.

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Work experience cancellation strikes again

Lunchtime fuelled us up again but the fuel was meant for starting a new work
experience unit but was again it was cancelled! I do not know the reason being but
now the must be thinking of every excuse in the book. Anyhow that meant an extra 3
hours of valuable pre-production work. In that 3 hours, I spent it on brushing up my
unit 3 page with comments and writing up this blog document. With half an hour to
go on the clock, I went to take a picture of Darius in the green screen room, so that I
can add it to the casting list, which I will produce tomorrow.
Next week!
Next week, I have no idea when this work will be resumed but I am only guessing on
Thursday and on that day we need to get the parts that have been touched upon but
no quite finished so as follows
Props, costume, casting list
In the meantime, so tomorrow (16th April) it is a Saturday, the weekend and as well a
day off from work so in the case I am going to spend some time doing some out of
class work as we have time scaled our pre-production to be done by at least next
Friday (22nd April). I am confident we can do that we this still to do
Schedule
And evidence of notes from team meetings
Upload risk assessment and complete more for every room.
Complete more call sheets and location reconnoation forms.
Get everyone who is acting to sign the talent release forms.

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Good early start

As a day off from everything, it gave me every opportunity to knuckle down on some
good coursework, I had game unit stuff as well as this unit but I left that aside until
tomorrow (17th April.)
With me doing ever so well for time it was only 10:12 when I had got my storyboard
finished with colour and labelled key points. My storyboard is my idea on how I want
our film to look, but just like the Lynx advert just before Christmas, we may want to
switch to a better idea from either Lyle or Justin. This discussion will take place on
Tuesday afternoon, as I just remembered this morning Owain, is not going to be
here in the lesson on Tuesday so he told us before we departed Friday afternoon
that all I want you to do is crack on with your pre-production, but Simon will come in
from time to time to check how your all getting on.
The extra mile by midday
As you can see above in the to do list before the end of next Friday, I am aiming to
complete the evidence of props/costume and casting list.
Due to my commitment and a slight of boredom at home, I fancied jumping the gun
and getting this piece of evidence which was started by Lyle and finished by me. I
think I wanted to get it out the way mainly because I was stuck worrying how to
present this. Without worrying and just getting on with it, it was lunchtime and I had
successfully uploaded this piece of work to Weebly, happy days! To make the happy
days turn into an even happier day, I took the chance to upload four risk
assessments we did yesterday, as I thought, why not, as I knew next week was
going to be a busy week anyway with new units and assignments starting.

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No more worries
By not having to produce a list regarding, props, costume and casting no more, it
results in one less task to do for the pre-production, as I edge ever closer to this
certain deadline for this part of the assignment, with the session on Tuesday being
another valuable lesson in getting work finished.

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Jumping the gun a bad idea
When I got to the lesson on Tuesday afternoon, we as a group of three planted
ourselves to the middle of the table to finish storyboards, then I just thought to
myself, my storyboard is already at completion. Simon had a scan through with deep
concentration and thought then coming out, as impressed by my thought processing
with the storyline and he stated he could easily go film my storyboard as it is so
clear to understand. This was pleasing news. A side of my head was shouting hang
fire, knowing I had to stop being Mr Independent and help my partners (Justin and
Lyle) finish their storyboards. Still by 14:45, Lyle hadnt got his storyboard finished.
This went to show that he cared for his work and it certainly was proved by an A*
looking storyboard. His was sharper, mien was more colourful. Just for the record in
our discussion, we are going ahead with Lyles storyboard over mien and Justins.
Helping Justin with the prop, costume and casting list
Justin was getting easily distracted with other class mates and with a limited ideas
mind, but as our idea is all the same, I got up on the computer my prop, costume
and casting list. Obviously mien, his and Lyles are going to be identical because we
have the same idea but he has to change little adjustments to make it his own or
else he wouldnt achieve a grade and only be marked down for cheating!

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Thursday we resume
On Thursday (21st April) I am guessing we will be again on the stage of continuation
with pre-production with Simon in the morning, but Thursday is the day, where work
needs to be done at a quite efficient pace or the deadline wont be hit. I am
guessing, Lyle will continue his storyboard and I will crack on with Justin, the call
sheet, then together we will have a team meeting to conclude. I shall record notes
for evidence at this stage.

Thursday 21 April
Justin not in causes slight issues
With Justin not being in, the group size of three shrieked down to two, with me and
Lyle plucking the strings. As a two, we managed to get three of the call sheets at
completion. There still remains a few more to go. When I and Lyle both sat ourselves
down, Lyle came out with saying, today I intended to get a team meeting covered
but as Justin wasnt in attendance with the class, we have to postpone. Hopefully
tomorrow (22nd April) he is back feeling well and fit for a full day of work.
Drawn sketches cause an issue
As I look back on my work with Simon before lunch, one key aspect to pick out from
the discussion was the blurriness of the pics. Personally I thought this wouldnt be
too much of a problem because after all it is just evidence. My solution came from
doing all documents digitally. As follows are the documents which needed scrubbing
up.
Schedule (to be continued whilst doing production)
Location Research

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As you can see the risk assessment is not digital, as yes I have gathered it is
yet another blurry document but Owain said it is fine to keep. He may of
stated it is fine but I am going to make each risk assessment digital, just to be
on the safe side.
Tweaking the costume, casting and prop list is another change
Simon wanted to conclude his comments on my website by saying, think of
character names, as it is dull to think and not fair ever for a character to have no
name. Also he stated list why you have chosen those certain people for those
characters, you can do this as a change in plan comments below your casting list
as it helps shows your development.
No more ex policeman and no more outside guns
Wherever you see an ex-policeman that is no longer the case as we have now
agreed that he will be a protagonist character and his name is Spencer Riley, all
thanks to the Name Generator online. A change in plans with guns have been
changed, also this afternoon. We thought no guns will be included on the outside as
originally thought, because now I or either Lyle depending on the actor at the time
(still to be decided) will snatch the gun of the character who hasnt been decided
upon yet and this character will become beaten up. Lyle came up with this change in
plan. Changes in plans also mean not notifying the police but just letting the whole
college campus know.
The first day of production in the diary
On Tuesday (26th April), originally we were pose to be in college but it was
announced by Owain, Tuesday is a staff development day resulting in a closure of
college. Our group wont be in college as such but we will be in the car park as we
are shooting scenes 1 which will feature 6 shots. We are looking forward to it very

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much so. We attempted to ring Justin from college to home, but no answer. We rang
him to see if our first day of production is ok with him, thanks to him not picking up
we shall just go ahead with it and clarify it with him tomorrow, if he is in that is.

Friday 22 April 2016

Justin in attendance means progression
With Justin being in, there is always going to be a bonus because now we have got
the team back and we are sure ready! Well we were ready for the team meeting at
least. Discussions coming out were positive, with yet again more changes to the plan
for our sequence. Lyle was the main man behind them due to intense thought over
our film last night from him.
Changes in plans
Changes in props, changes in the adding of more scenes were the key changes. For
example, we are now adding in a fight scene between me and Lyle. This is still to be
storyboarded at a later date. For the record added props is, duct tape, a knife and
walkie talkies. To show evidence within our meeting, I took shots of the group
talking. I didnt do this for some random reason, it was for evidence. Staying with the
topic of photos, as I reflected my Weebly before 11:30, I saw I hadnt given my
photos a caption each on the location reci. Yes you guessed it, my next job involved
me putting a caption for each and every one.

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More Weebly updates

Previosuly I had uploaded just a picture of each added prop, I had to think twice if it
looked right on its own, but I knew it wasnt. To fix my worrying I gave it a
description, just like I have done with the prop table above from this. All done in the
neck of time before lunch.
Checking work resumes
Lunchtime had passed and the class had died down. With Owain being away it gave
people the license to come and go as they pleased. It was nice when the class was
narrowed down, as it was quiet and more settled to work. In a peaceful environment,
I managed to check if all the talent release forms had been done from every actor
and director taking part in our media project.
Reminder for uniform from the so called Captain Lyle
Before the dust was settled for yet another Friday afternoon, Lyle pulled me close as
I and him agreed and promised we would bring and change into our uniforms for the
sequence. My protagonist outfit and Lyles criminal outfit. We agreed to wear this for
a shot in the green screen room, just before Mondays English lesson. After all we

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are getting the equipment on Monday ready for Tuesday. Regarding shots for the
casting, Darius is already had his five seconds of fame, so now it is me and Lyles
time. Not Justin because he is no longer an actor in this.
Next Week
Next week, Monday is the start again and another week to plod on, getting pictures
of us and getting equipment for us is key Monday before going into the actual
production stage on Tuesday and Friday. Not Thursday as we are doing some more
planning towards a certain scene.

Monday 25 April 2016

Finishing off casting photos for I and Lyle
Stated at the end of the blog on Friday, we agreed to get the casting photos out the
way before we went into our final English exam, so that it relieved our stress levels
before the exam. When actually getting to college to meet Lyle, the plan change with
not much effect. With heavy traffic on the roads throughout and picking Justin up
along the way, all came to an arrival time of 14:25. Not enough time for I and Lyle to
have a snap in front of the camera. This was then rescheduled and completed two
hours later when English was finished.
Getting the car up to its best for production
Rewinding back to the weekend as on Saturday (23rd April) I promised myself in my
diary, I would
hoover the car and make it look
sparkling, before
loading the car with a full tank of petrol
at the local petrol
station. This was done to show I cared
about the
appearance of how my car looked in
the film.
Hopefully the audience will pick this

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out, because say if I left it looking dirty and mucky, it wouldnt look that appealing to
look at. Hopefully when looking back at the clips where the car is involved, the shine
pays off. This was the intention behind cleaning the car on the weekend.

Collecting equipment to finish up

Before we all went off in our own separate directions to get home, Lyle, I and Justin
went over to the media department office to find Owain and collect the relevant
equipment for tomorrow, remembering we cant come running in tomorrow if we
forget anything because it is a college staff development day. Equipment included
only a camera with its bag and spare batteries. The other equipment was already
hired out to other students until Wednesday, so we will have the licence to have a tri
pod etc. on Thursday when we are next in production after tomorrow (Tuesday 26th
April).

Tuesday 26 April 2016

Worries over the busy car park
It was 9:50 when I arrived to the college car park with me taking Justin in again.
When we had arrived, it may have been just staff in today, but the car park was still
heaving! Whilst waiting for Lyle in the car, I was telling Justin, We are going to
struggle with shooting, as the amount of cars that are going to pull in and out of the
car park throughout the day is going to be a nightmare. He said not to worry, just

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before we turned our heads to the right to see Lyle there with the camera in hand. It
was a fright to us but so was knowing we are in production already in this
assignment. It was a good fright to have.
Establishing the shots we need today
With Lyle having an eye like an eagle he was able to pick out the back car park was
looking bare and dead ready for some engines to be revived in an almost empty
area. Justin stayed in the passenger seat to set the camera up but Lyle explained
the shots that we would cover today, just like an ordinary director out in the cold
outside. I driving was the biggest priority today which would see me going round a
corner in a wide shot and close ups of my face in full focus. Of course we knew
there was going to be more shots along the course of the day.
Reshoots is all perfectly normal
As always with every film you do, even the professional have to take reshoots to get
either a better shot or something was mucked up. This is all perfectly normal in a
film. Reshoots were done as we went from one shot to the next and reviewing at the
end on the camera. Once we had found the perfect shot, the old versions of that
particular shot were deleted, to save memory storage. Reshoots had to be done for
every shot we done as we want to have that perfect film come 27th May 2016.
Little break in Costa
At 10:45, we decided upon to have a break for roughly ten minutes because, one we
are ahead of schedule and two we want to get home, as after all it is a day of for us
and some of us have other duties back at home. In our little break, Justin announced
he will not be in on Friday as he has personal commitments to attend with, so
whatever we have planned on Friday will be worked around on Thursday by me and
Lyle. Also we agreed that on Thursday we are going to type up some fresh new

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ideas which we had come up with in the little break we had. New ideas mainly
feature more shots.
The clouds start rolling in
Before we wrapped up for the day, we just wanted to seal a big section of the
storyboard off, which saw me pulling up to the pavement which shows me the
Protagonist character arriving and walking through the automatic double doors. The
pulling up didnt have no reshoots. I got the impression I did something wrong with
my facial expressions, but I havent checked the camera footage for this shot yet. I
think Justin and Lyle wanted to get it out the way because by this point the hail
storm began and they were getting cold.

Finishing up
And that was that! Our first day of production out the way and it was a good first day
of production! We moved ourselves to a strong position ahead of every other group
in the class which is of course pleasing news but now for Thursday, we are going to
have to add parts to the schedule and work around what is going to happen Friday
without Justin. Lyle, like yesterday took the equipment home and I took Justin home
but before all that we treated ourselves to a McDonalds lunch with a friend of mine.

Thursday 28 April 2016

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Second team meeting within a week

Before we began anything today, Lyle wanted to pull us together in the Green
Screen room to let out his thoughts on what should be done today, and the plans for
tomorrow to me personally as Justin wont be with us tomorrow. Originally, today
was going to be the day, we added parts to the schedule but now it has turned to us
shooting the stair case scene and the shot where I pull up outside the double doors
in a window shot. That is all what the team meeting entailed of. I had a little bit of a
dumb moment when the meeting was concluded, as for a minute I thought I was in
the wrong outfit but then me realising I am. Lyle wasnt though but he doesnt need
to act today.
Time to get creative
Setting up and getting practical was next in store for us. Our film entailed a basic trip
wire, which needed making. Fishing wire was the materiel we were after but failing to
get it, as the teacher who we were requested to, didnt have none on her at this
moment in time. A trek back to class wasnt just wasted with disappointment on our
minds, as bright spark Justin knew Jay was using some sort of string for his bomb
making. As you imagine when we got back we instantly asked and as ever Jay
happily accepted. Sellotape and a steady camera which proved to be difficult to set
up was collected before moving into more vital production with our materials and
camera equipment at hand.
The most reshoots so far
After having a good crack from each and every one of us with the setting up of the
steady camera, Lyle finally cracked it! It was sussed when Lyle slid a small piece of
paper underneath the camera. But why paper? Reason being was because the
screw we had was the wrong screw and to know each of us tried to get it fixed, hurt

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me inside. Anyhow, when we actually got shooting, Lyle and Justin took it in turns,
one by one to have a go at shooting me simply running down the stairs whilst being
careful. The perfect shot was only just achieved at first attempt after break. It was a
relief because we must have had at least 19 of the same shot beforehand.
No more string for trip wire
In a simple confession by Lyle when we got back to the classroom to review footage,
he thought, string wont be visible and an awful piece of material to use for a trip
wire. He then confessed he shall bring some actual proper fishing wire from home
tomorrow. Thankfully, the piece of string which was previously going to be used for
the trip wire hadnt been used yet.
One final bit of motivation in the last 60
Before all motivation was lost, Lyle and Justin set themselves for a second time of
asking today, whilst I still acting again for a second time made my way to the car. It
was time for me to pull up outside the double doors in a window shot. When I was at
the relevant place (side on outside automatic double doors). I thought to myself this
shot needed to be quick because I was legally blocking the road to other drivers. To
help with communication between us three, I had Justin and Lyle on loud speaker in
order for them to direct me, what to do, where to be etc. The shoot was all perfect
from my point of view but it was just ruined by the fact, people walked in front of me
or either a car passed by. It was a pleasing half an hour of work but the other half
an hour, before lunchtime was wasted by Justin getting side-tracked with other
groups and me sitting looking like a lemon whilst Lyle wastes time by mucking about
with the rough edit he edited Tuesday night.

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Plans for Friday

Friday as mentioned many times before Justin wont be with us but in his absence
me and Lyle will get the hostage scene out the way. This is where Darius comes in.
In this scene also, I, Lyle and Darius are all involved and as you expect it is another
day of me coming in my Protagonist outfit. Lyle tomorrow will also do some vital
changes to paperwork which he promised to do and whilst he does that I have
adopted to help another group with a car scene of theirs.

Friday 29 April 2016

No unit 3 to start
Friday as a whole is a very lengthy day dedicated to lessons with our main course
tutor all day up until 15:15. Currently us as a class our juggling a lot of units at the
moment and one of those units featured us making a game for our Tuesday tutor;
Frazer. Tonight the deadline is due for his assignment, so up until 11:00 we have to

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focus hard with this. For me that wasnt the case, as I had got all work finished on
Wednesday, my day off. My two hours of hard work saw me finishing up parts from
the work experience unit that I and Anna started yesterday.
11:00 could only mean more production
Like I stated yesterday, at some point in the course of the day I put myself forward
to helping another group with a car scene of theirs. They planned to have it down
within an hour or two but it was over within 15 minutes. Maybe they rushed it?
Maybe there wasnt the right planning? But it didnt bother me, I had other
commitments to get on with in my group. After I was finished with the other group, I
went straight into production with my group. With Justin being away we got little
snippets of the hostage scene done, where both and Darius and Lyle came in.
Production in K021
Today footage only saw Lyle pushing Darius to the floor and shooting a close up of
a scared Darius. Who was the cameraman? After being asked to bring in my
costume today by Lyle, it went to waste, as I didnt take part. I was handed the
cameraman in replace of Justin. My walkie talkie radio kind of toy was the only prop
of mien that was used today. I might have as well wore my normal clothing. Back to
production. Rope falling loose and duct tape sticking to Darius face was causing us
issues, so after taking the same shot multiple times to reshoot we gave up as soon
as we found the perfect shot which fell on the last take. Darius must have been
pleased as he was hurting with bruises.
Fight scene to conclude lazy afternoon
I say the afternoon was lazy because this unit was left alone for long periods this
afternoon, but it wasnt all afternoon because my afternoon was spent doing work
experience stuff. Maybe I should have done some editing, or even some more

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planning with Lyle but Lyle wasnt even doing this. He was focusing on his game
unit. Around 14:06, we got up, went to the Green Screen room and did a practise of
the fight scene. We didnt film because at this point we realised we really need
Justin! The practise was short and sweet and with some planning next week on
Thursday, I should think we are ready to act out the fight scene on Friday or even
Thursday.
Next week
This weekend, I think on Sunday I will spend jotting down some personal targets for
me in the upcoming week and this will state the day I am planning to start editing
some of the footage we already have. Other notes will include, when extra call
sheets will be made and I am sure over the weekend Lyle will work more on his ever
detailed storyboard. (My personal targets will be posted below in a picture.)

Plan is highlighted in
But the not highlighted notes are not related to this unit 3.

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Thursday 5 May 2016

Being ill is not too much of a big deal
This Tuesday just gone, I was timetabled to be in college for the day but that wasnt
the case when I phoned in ill at 8:45. I was becoming more ill as the morning wore
on because I was worrying about me missing some valuable work to go for unit 3.
Missing one day, always feels like a whole month missed. Thankfully after having
discussions with my friend Jay that night, he told me this afternoon we were just
purely focusing on audio and nothing else. This was a huge gasp of relief for myself
and to make the stress kill of that little bit more, Jay stated we will be resuming with
unit 3, once more with Simon on Thursday morning. Phew!
The worst of the worst starts
This morning it was a morning, or should I say terrible morning to forget as one I
forgot to bring my Protagonist outfit and by having this mistake labelled to my name
all day, we had no possible way of shooting. I felt I was at fault but I didnt feel too
bad as all Lyle and Justin did was watch YouTube clips and sit there like a pair of
oranges waiting till Christmas.
My paperwork plan collapses
To attempt to lighten up moods and save the despair of a group looking like they are
about to give up, I had to put in my input and say how about we get some last
remaining paper work done, I mean paperwork like the finishing of the schedule and
the final call sheets for each scene. As sweet as it sounded, I failed on this front so
it came down to one last remaining option, editing. Post production is meant to begin

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(17th May), 10 days before the official deadline but there is nothing wrong with
starting early. I might as well because teammate Lyle has already begun with his
edit.
Crash on Adobe is good in a way
Just before lunch, I tried to render my footage I had already edited and it all went
bottles up! No footage was lost but all that happened was the software closed
unexpectedly and wouldnt allow me to reopen. It was frustrating, especially for the
moment I was in at this current time with my group. I went to lunch leaving this alone
but I wasnt just going to sit there for the last 20 minutes wasting time. I wondered
over to the group to find out, we can possibly shoot two parts to the film once we
had our hands on a camera

Close up of car wheel

Me getting out the car without seeing me
By having to do these shots outside it lifted up the smiles in the team, as it was such
a nice warm day seeing temperatures reach 21 degrees.
Fixing my little software crash
My little crash was easily fixed within seconds as all I did was refer to the Adobe
Premiere crash poster just a few yards behind me. I didnt need Owain for the issue
which shows my independence in this project. Anyhow, problem solved and I think it
was time for me to crack on with some early editing.
Early editing only sees me doing basic editing and leaving the fancy stuff, like
adding in colour corrections at a later stage. When I was going along, Owain stated
to make some bins and make some shots at a quicker pace. Bins do not only sort
out my footage but it also is a requirement for evidence. Before long at 14:16, 14

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minutes just before maths I got slightly over heated and bored so I cracked on with
some work experience stuff independently without Anna.
Tomorrow (the plan)
Another week is almost over and it will be concluded tomorrow with me remembering
to bring my outfit to wear and also again bringing along the walkie talkie prop for the
radio. By doing all this, us a group can nail and do some intense shooting! Like
nonstop! If we get bored, we can easily go back to editing but with this on the
agenda, Friday is looking much more relaxing than other days this week.

Friday 6 May 2016

What a start!
Knowing now that I am driving and drive to college every day, I expect traffic which
delays my arrival time to college. Today was different, much different. Arrived at a
changed time of 8:50 and then seeing Lyle and Justin, waiting for me patiently with
pieces of the plan in hand. I sensed today was going to be much better, you could
see in both of their faces. They looked pleased to see me in my correct uniform with
all the right props in my bag ready to use, now we waited until Owain came in to
grab ourselves filming equipment before anyone else. It was only a 10 minute wait.
Matt, Dante and Cai crash the party
In our first and only location for the day, it saw us being under the staircase and
being seen in the corridor. We expected lots of people to be around but that lots of
people were each and every group in the class wanting to use the corridor. We won
the race to film their first and we were rushing to budge out the way. We had an
intense fight scene to deal with between me and Lyle. Some reshoots had to be
retook, as either I wasnt pushing Lyle with enough force or I was being to slow on

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my approach. My game was instantly turned on just at the wrong time, as every
other group had disappeared to shoot a different part to their film to wait for us and
would come back later when the corridor was free. It was Matt, Dante and Cai who
stayed and distracted us by standing in every position we needed. I was frustrated
by it even though the words of magic to shoo them off came from Justin.
Needing a breather
The annoying domination of Matts group got to us and we needed a sit down in
Costa, where we were joined by Darius and Alayna. Production was going to be
postponed now till after lunchtime, as one some editing needed to be done and also
Lyle was hurt from the falling to the floor multiple times.
College campus server crash causes further problems
Editing was going sweetly for at least half an hour and within that 30 minutes gaining
I would gain some feedback and make some changes to my sequence after showing
my footage for the first time in this assignment to Owain. The problem aroused at
11:49, Adobe crashed, internet failed to boot up and there was no access to the
home drives where the work was kept. It was only I, Matts, Owain and Jays
computers that crashed. It was horrific. We were sent for lunch early but the
recovery to save this issue was completed over lunch and thankfully, no footage was
lost or nothing in that nature.
Tiredness kills the afternoon
I had enough of editing after lunch and I wasnt feeling that motivated either, so I
moved on with some work experience stuff but I couldnt. I was called over to
resume some shooting again. I was in that no motivation feel at this time. We got to
the corridor with no one being there, but all we wanted to get out of this afternoon
was cracking the part where I and Lyle conclude the fight scene for once and for all.

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It took some attempts, as I was leaving too much of a gap between his face. This
was seen when reflecting on footage. But what do you expect, I dont want to
actually punch Lyle in the face and give him a black eye in the morning. The
tiredness of me transferred over to Lyle and Justin, so we called it a day with a
possibility of filming early on Monday before English as there is still a far way to go
after reflecting from Lyles footage he has edited so far.

Next week
Where plans are concerned, it is just purely editing and filming at a nonstop pace, as
we have now officially three weeks, 21 days till the all-important deadline. Recently,
I, Justin and Lyle have started up a Facebook chat so we talk through plans and
decisions with where we are going with work over the course of the weekend. Lyle
has kindly dedicated his time on the weekend to write up a plan for us for next week
even though it will be nice hot weather outside. At this moment, I dont know what he
has planned, but I think we are going to move into more production early on Monday
before we go into English with editing the focus on Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday 10 May 2016

The setting of own individual targets

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It was a fresh new day with a new week on the horizon and some important
production needed to be cracked this week, as next week we are on post production.
This is scary knowing this! One point to make is yesterday, (Monday) we didnt come
in early to do filming neither did Lyle plan for the week ahead. I knew today had just
got to be planning or else we wouldnt have a clue what we are doing. Planning
wasnt on the agenda announced by Lyle, it was the scenes where the lift and Justin
were seen. The only planning we did was setting own individual SMART targets on
Pro Portal.
Half motivated, half distracted
Motivation at the time we arrived to the lift was good and promising but all at the
same time as scratching our heads to what could possibly go on with this scene.
Five minutes later, still nothing came out from either one of our mouths. It wasnt
shortly after we headed to a dark, empty costume room to attempt to find a thug
like costume for Justin. All was wasted when Justin decided he will pull his hood up.
However motivation was certainly back to full rhythm, when I for once got the acting
spot on and Lyle was bang on with the filming! Obviously some reshoots needed to
be done but even that was a struggle with the surroundings of people walking in
front of the camera. Not even one person said sorry! Even class mate Brandon was
being a distraction today.
Further distractions
By the time we moved to floor 2 for thug Justin scene, a certain two people were
still in childhood mode. I needed to step up and be the adult here, but I had no
motivation, not even motivated to act no more. The children of the group dropped to
the floor and there was silence between us all. Playtime over! It was too perfect of a
location to sit, right next to the male toilet. It may have been awkward for those
walking by but it fell perfect to our next scene.

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The awkwardness of the toilet scene

For the next scene we were seen in the male toilet on the second floor. Yes the
toilet! I guess we were trying to comply comedy. It would see Justin coming out the
toilet before coming out to surprise me, where I would be looking around being
cautious. Justin was either too slow coming out on his approach or we were put off
by the fact we had people coming in and out of the toilet. Yet another distraction! By
the time the third person came in, we had officially given up on the day and hoped
the footage was ok and not too horrific. To be reviewed Thursday when we get our
hands on an SD card.
Editing for unit 3 doesnt get going
Intrigued to start editing because now is the point I begin to worry about the deadline
which is only 17 days away which is not far away at tall. The motivation to edit was
all built up to be wrecked as the fire alarm blared out. Time we got back, my unit 3
motivation had gone, but editing as a whole wasnt lost because I edited my work
experience interview from lunch.
Thursday is a new day
Thursday looks like a day focusing on filming again and wherever there is free time
available in both Owain and Simons lessons I can edit and review footage from
today. This goes for Friday also. There was rumours flying around that Lyle wanted
to come in tomorrow (Wednesday), our day of to film further more. Justin couldnt
afford the bus and I had other coursework commitments to get on with. Thursday is
next day in production not Wednesday.

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Thursday 12 May 2016

Smiles were back!

At the very beginning of a day, which looks like it will be just focused solely on
production. I was wrong there would be editing too in both, work experience and this
unit (unit 3).
Before we made our return to the lift, we were gifted with a little entertainment from
Lyle. He presented to us his little show reel which he took the time out to edit. He
should have been planning in that time, but I cant say enough of how great the
show reel looked. His final film, I sense will be five levels higher than this short clip
of entertainment after having the privilege to see that top, top, top show reel! It
certainly brung smiles back to the team!
Back to the lift we go
Got equipment, got props, we were ready to return to the lift, where would be doing
a fair share of reshoots and new shoots seeing me being launched against the wall
by bad guy Justin. This hurt by the way. Shots were affected by people coming in
and out of the loos. Same problem as yesterday! It was only early 10:00 and we had
already bagged our self some new promising footage to edit after break. Was all
going smoothly, still with a beaming smile on each and everyones faces but our
break was extended when awkwardness near the ladies toilet arose. To all of us at
once
Awkward moment near the ladies
It was 20 minutes before we were going to call it a wrap for break time but like I
have stated before, that break came shorter than expected. A lady staff member
came wondering towards us and questioned what we are filming and mentioned it is

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not best to film here chaps, it is weird and you may get people complaining. She
went to the loos and we packed up quick without telling a soul when we made our
return to class.
Editing to cover up the awkwardness
To avoid being caught or even complained about, editing was are only cure to kill
time to lunchtime. Justin wouldnt get started with his edit but he did eventually after
a little motivation from a certain someone. He needed to or else he would be rushing
at last minute with his edit and it wouldnt look that good of an end product. Where
editing was concerned with me, I was planning on getting some fancy stuff done next
week but I made a start today. It all began with me adding in a black and white tint
to the clips I already had edited.
Being careful around the lift/toilet area
We may not have secret spies in our film but we were certainly acting as them all
throughout the afternoon. It felt nervy every time someone walked by. We were
caught again! But not so much of a big deal this time because it was the
maintenance men wondering what we are doing with the lift. The lift must have had
enough of us because we were either going up or down the lift, sometimes we even
accidently went to the wrong ground floor. At the end of the day at 14:30 it didnt
matter, if we were on floor 2 or ground floor, because all that mattered we had all
the footage we needed today. Big thanks to Jay for taking the time out to help us
record the sounds with a boom mic whilst Lyle films and me, Justin act.
Tomorrow (the Friday plan)
Tomorrow will be sort of similar to today. Filming for a large percentage of the day
and where free time comes about it will be spent editing. I didnt get my work
experience edit done today, so I will attempt to find some time tomorrow even if it is

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after college to complete this equal important work. Footage sees possible reshoots
of Darius hostage scene. A location where there will be no awkwardness because
we have the licence to use K021 (hostage room) at any time on Friday.

Friday 13 May 2016

Editing to begin a promising day
SMART targets were the first course of action today but shortly after it was time to
knuckle down and edit the unedited footage that was left alone for a whole week in
my temporary storage area. Editing was easy and relaxing. I could have done it all
day, it was that sort of atmosphere in the class. My peaceful vibe was interrupted
when Lyle came over looking all glammed and dressed up whilst the cameras were
in the hands of Justin! Today could be the day, we may actually get production done
if we have a successful production!

Reshoot of the vital fight scene

When we got to the corridor decisions were made that, Darius hostage reshoot
scene is going to be put on pause due to him being busy with his own production
today. This meant we could jiggle things around with our production. It was a

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substitution of rescheduling Darius scene to (Tuesday 17th May) and shooting the
fight scene again today (Friday). In our previous fight scene, it would see me and
Lyle having a basic fight which doesnt last too long. It needed to be longer. To
achieve this longer duration time, we included more fighting actions which go all the
way down the whole corridor. Obviously we didnt go full on filming, each time we did
a separate bit of action then cut. Justin did a good job to maintaining his cool, as we
had a distraction in Brandon again and there was no way of him disappearing until
break.
The darkness effect to the corridor
In the previous shoot we would have all lights on but we wanted to make it a cold,
dark feel just for this one certain scene. It was so dark it seemed daft wearing
sunglasses for my character. I couldnt even see a thing. It was that bad, many
reshoots had to be done, for example me picking Lyle up by the jacket. I struggled to
find his jacket, so it was a bit of a guess game for myself. I did state the scene looks
like the London Underground which is a good sort of feel to have in our action
sequence but when it comes to editing I am debating whether to use a black/white
tint because it may be too dark.
Coming back to heartbreak
It wasnt discovered on my edit but it was with Lyles all so good edit. All the footage
which we shot together looked good and promising but it turned to nothing but dust!
When shooting we didnt realise but the frame setting on the camera was the wrong
setting for each and every shot. This needed to be checked and changed, but also it
needed us to reshoot everything from today. Three people in our group and
numerous of emotions came out of our, angry, frustrated, upset and stressed minds!
I attempted to hide my feelings by finishing the edit of my work experience interview
to try and heal some heartbroken feelings and it didnt!

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More misery, more pain for me
After lunch I couldnt face doing that whole morning worth of footage again, but I
couldnt face my next misery of the day either. I only unlocked my PC to resume with
editing and starring right in my face was grey scale lines crossing through parts of
my footage. I checked out this and saw footage was all in a scramble and
sooooooooooo out of order! What on earth would have happened? I promised Lyle
and Justin, I would be down by the corridor in five minutes to start over again, but
that turned to them finding me half an hour later trying to fix the issue with Owain.
Owain found a solution but it came to me deciding I will restart my edit on Monday
(my day off). I needed to get filming again and I just knew Justin and Lyle werent
happy with me. I was that emotionally upset I even forgot my sunglasses upstairs.
A slight bit of relief
We still had an hour and 15 to go before home time and I just wanted that to be
sooner. I wanted to go home! Relief came from actually having enough time to get
all the shooting done again and we actually had the setting right this time after
checking over and over again after each and every shot. The shots may have been
rushed but we were happy with them, reviewing them along the way. I was planning
to stay after college till 4pm but I wanted to get in the car instead and drive home. I
was stressed enough, I couldnt even face doing the blog for today. It was postponed
until I am in a more stable state.
Next week
Like I have stated in the blog, Monday will see me editing all over again and
Tuesday will see me reshooting Dariuss hostage scene again. When that is all but
done, that is production done! At the moment it doesnt feel sweet enough to say

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that but as for Thursday and Friday that will be spent doing any relevant reshoots
and adding in the fancy stuff on my edit for example transitions.

Monday 16 May 2016

Some lovely company with Justin
It was early into Monday afternoon when I arrived into the college campus having no
idea what time I intended to be here till, but I am going to give myself a finish time of
17:00pm. Reason being I have to get back for athletics training tonight. When I got
to the ever so quiet classroom, I was shortly comforted by Justin because just like
me, he got the impression he was the only one in today. He watched YouTube, I
edited, what great company he was.
A rush to get all footage onto temp store
It was 12:25 and we had an hour and five minutes to grab the never ending footage
of Lyles temp store before the Performing Arts group came in for their hour lesson. I
did ask for Lyles permission before transporting the footage from one computer to
the next. It was a long wait, so Justin and I popped down to the canteen to get
ourselves a drink to kill time. 13:26 came around and we still had 8 minutes to wait,
whilst knowing we had 4 minutes to go until we got the boot. It was 33 minutes past
the hour and the class who were meant to be here didnt show their faces. Not a
single soul. We took it as it came and resumed with our work duties.
One panic over, one to go!
I had an hour to edit, until you guessed it another class came intruding in (GCSE
English). In that hour I managed to edit the car scene and lift scenes again. It was
happy times but panic times were back to get all the fight scene reshoot over from

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the temp store to my memory stick. I was moving over to K117, a free computer
room for the afternoon. That is why I needed to import the footage over in the time
that I had.
Showing my dedication to my work
In my time of being in K117 I hadnt actually got the fight scene edit finished, so
when it got to 16:30, I was free to move back to my previous position from earlier on
in the day and finish this certain edit. Being K117 saw me complete todays blog
also. 17:09 rolled around and it was time to call it a day and hit the road home.

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Straight into the action
I was in the LRC over lunch and didnt even return to the class and when I did
return, I was there literally for five to ten seconds. We were all set to go straight
away with cameras and equipment all set up to go. I was so happy to see the
commitment return! Today was intended to be focusing on getting the Darius scene
out the way but instead that was postponed until later on in the afternoon. Our first

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course of action saw us down at the bottom floor lift again, to reshoot a scene that
plays a part in the early stages of the film.
Why and what the reshoot entails
When we filmed this scene previously, two parts were spotted when reviewing and
needed to be addressed and re done. The reshoot sees me turning and looking
longer at the lift when I come in through the automatic double doors and the other
being a close up of me pressing the lift button on my arrival. Previously this shot was
out of focus resulting in a blurry outcome. Retake three saw me, looking for longer
and Justin having the camera in focus which then saw us achieve getting the perfect
reshoot. Time to move on
Filming postponed for approximately 45 minutes
On arrival to K021, the eyes of Lyle and Darius saw a room with a few art students
studying hard at their studies. Nothing like Fridays one bit. Not empty neither quiet.
45 minutes from now it would be 14:15 and that is when it would be quiet for the rest
of the day. Discovering this information from the lesson timetable outside. Waiting
was not a time to be stalkers, it was a time to be productive by being able to shoot
add an in a walking down the steps scene and finishing of where I left in yesterdays
basic edit. The editing back in class was sort of treated like a break for Justin but
thankfully 14:15 came around quick for him and slow for me. 14:15, time to grab the
equipment and head back down to K021 for a second time of asking today with
Alayna who sort of invited herself.
Darius frustration is a low point
The frustrating and moaning of Darius really began right at the start because first he
didnt want fake blood made by Lyle, splattered over his face for a realistic effect.

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Two, the rope round his arms were either too tight or to loose. I knew Darius was
going to be a pain because he was itching to get back to his edit. We only had four
shots to do with Darius, one being the part where Lyle pushes him to the floor. This
was done earlier in production and nothing was at fault with it, it just needed
reshooting because Darius had a change of T shirt today.
The moment Darius quits
Darius was either not showing enough expression in his face or he was laughing at
not the best of times. Especially when it was my time to act. It wasnt long after
Darius lost his boil and was heading back to class! The shots we had were awful,
not a single perfect shot! It was a whole 25 minutes wasted. Attempts to get him
back were a struggle, his phone went to voicemail multiple times. Lyle got him back,
God knows how he did it but we honour Lyle for that. Darius was back and he was
back to best behaviour and we finally found the perfect shots, now he was free to
go! As frustrated Darius and Alayna departed it gave us the opportunity to conclude
the day, with me walking into the hostage scene whilst holding the gun up to the bad
guy. It may have been the last part we did today, but it is that shot which actually
starts of the hostage scene.
Thursday, Friday and next Tuesday
Thursday and Friday will be spent editing. Intense editing! Which sees me adding in
more effects, video transitions audio transitions and adding in the sounds from Foley.
This will be evidenced also on my Weebly site for evidence. Tuesday next week this
is (24th May), Justin will get for us some fishing wire from his Dad this weekend in
order for us to film a trip wire scene. Lyle is so desperate to do this scene. It will
only entail 2 shots.

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Thursday 19 May 2016

Word of warning to the group
Early Thursday morning before I headed to college, I went to Lyle, Justin and my
Facebook group chat. Reason being to message them two to inform, that I wont be
in my normal Protagonist outfit today because today and tomorrow on Friday no
production regarding me or no one is happening. It is just two days spent on editing!
Simon asks me to add in music and sounds before he watches
I had all my basic edit done excluding the Darius hostage scene. I was going to get
this done first, so that it is out the way, but that part of the agenda ended up not
getting done today. This is because we couldnt find the SD card which traces to the
footage from Tuesday. My first course of action now was to show Simon my edit.
Again this turned out not to be the first course of action today. As soon as Simon sat
down he plugged in the headphones and instantly he said add music and sounds,
then I will watch because an edit is boring to watch without this.
The perfect sounds for the perfect sequence
To begin my sound/music gathering, I wanted to begin basic by adding in the
relevant sound effects from YouTube and converting them into MP3s. Sound
gathering saw me getting a sound of a punch, car lock etc. YouTube wasnt my only
source for sounds, so was Foley sounds. This had to be evidenced on Weebly. I just
had enough time before lunch to find myself not one, but two suitable action
sequence soundtracks. One in which being the same as Matt, but the other was a
copyrighted labelled piece of music. In order for me to avoid getting in trouble, I sent
the creators a quick email. Again evidenced on Weebly.

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University level quotes Simon
When Simon did eventually sit down to watch my sequence, he was surely not
disappointed. The comments he would come out with just flattered me as one!
Words like Alex this is university level work straight away, impressive stuff! He
really liked how I timed the music to the moment where I press the lift button on my
arrival through the automatic double doors. Minor tweaks needed to be addressed,
for example making the gun scene at the end, fall into silence so that it builds the
suspension. I made that change after lunch and Owain helped me build on more
changes to make the film that extra bit special.
Adding in a black and white tint once more
Before my major Adobe nightmare last Friday, I had made all my footage in a
black/white tint in colour correction to portray mysteriousness in the sequence. Matt
helped me with this for the second time of asking before his exam. Whilst no help
was around, I added in some audio transitions to make the music sound smooth
when fading out.
Tomorrow is a new day in editing
My first course of action on Friday morning will entail me finishing of the Foley
evidence on Weebly. This is important regarding evidence. I had a go getting it done
tonight when I got home, but I think I need a little more guidance from Owain. Back
to tomorrow. A day which will be concluded with me editing the Darius hostage
scene if I am able to find the SD card that is.

Friday 20 May 2016

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The search for the footage

Today marks a whole week until the deadline that is! Editing is almost at completion
and the evaluation needs to be started and finished in this time. The final week
countdown begun with me going through each and every SD card, Owain could find.
It was the last SD card that had the footage. Thank goodness for that because I was
beginning to worry that we may have to reshoot. Back to the editing
An edit done within half an hour
All my edit had been checked and everything was all ok, so my next stage was to
edit the Darius hostage scene. A scene that saw four shots. I was quick but effective
all at the same time. Likewise to yesterday I added in the relevant sounds, colour
corrections and again matched the music with the action. All was done and it was
time to check.
Time to add some alternative sounds
Owain like yesterday remained very positive with his comments towards my edit, I
was still in dreamland. Below is Owains feedback

Remove Justins voice

Both punch sounds sooner
Pushing to wall sound
All changes were swept aside just before break, leaving me a whole two hours to
finish of the Foley evidence for Weebly. Again this was done with ease but the
downside is I am left with nothing to do this afternoon. Majority of the time I was

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acting like a lost puppy. It wasnt until 14:04 when I decided to write up todays
blog.
Next week
Next week, the nerves, the stress will begin to develop for each and every one of us,
I think I should be ok but my week will entail me filming the trip wire scene Tuesday
and edit this on Wednesday. I was planning on editing Thursday but due to exam
reasons no students are allowed on campus. This then leads me to do the
evaluation on Friday even though I may possibly start Sunday.

Tuesday 24 May 2016

A worry for myself to begin
Last night I had athletics training which has no relation to my college work what so
ever but during that session I badly sprained my foot, meaning it would be a struggle
for me to run. The injury grew into Tuesday morning and I was worried that I would
let the team down and pull out of the last scene of the whole sequence. The trip wire
scene.
A relief for me
When we got to the shoot of the trip wire scene, which saw us take three separate
shots, my foot injury had healed immensely and the scene didnt see me running in
any capacity, it was just walking. What a relief! Justin set the fishing wire, Lyle set
the camera and for me resting that all but important foot of mien whilst feeling sad to
know, today was the last time of production but the show had to go on.

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The final production of level 2 media
It may have been a debate whether fishing wire was a good materiel to use but we
stuck by it, as today was a day not to waste. Other units had to be done by 23:55pm
tonight. The fishing wire was proving to be difficult to see and that was proved when
a staff member went straight through, not knowing an almost invisible material was
there. Too late to notify them, the fishing wire snapped to its knees! Justin set up
again and we went again!
Quick shots mean no more production
It was funny because ever since that teacher walked by, no other soul walked on by
meaning it was a quick and quiet time to shoot the three shots Lyle had planned.
Reshoots were also a pretty chilled out activity for a peaceful Tuesday afternoon. It
was 13:50 and it was a wrap for the day and production for the very last time as a
media student! But now it was time to edit for the very last time as a media student.
The last little bit of editing
Likewise to production, it was a chilled out time to edit with nothing to worry about
for myself. My editing was slightly repeating itself slightly because I had to put a
black/white colour correction in the edited clips and find the relevant sounds/music. I
showed Owain before exporting, but before all that he wanted me to make the wall
hit sound effect sooner so that it matched the relevant clip.

14:07 and
PRODUCTION AND POST PRODUCTION WAS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!
After a long five weeks of some very intense hard work from myself and my group, it
was a day to celebrate! Production and post production had been signed off with a

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smile. Justin and I being one of the first few people in the class to export and upload
to the YouTube playlist, made me happy on my journey home, however it is sad to
know this is the last time I will do a project like this again. All that is left for me is to
complete the evaluation on both Thursday and Friday.

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