Unit 2: Introduction to design and research skills in creative media production

07/09/2021 - Research (Intro)

Research is the investigation of a subject, generally in order to discover information or reach a conclusion.

Primary Research: Data/information that is created and/or collected yourself. (like from surveys or interviews).
Secondary Research: Data/information generated/gathered by another person. (Sourced elsewhere from books, websites, etc).
Quantitative Research: The collection of information in numerical/measurable form (Stats, Ratings, Percentages)
Qualitative Research: The collection of descriptive, non-numerical information. (Open-ended questions)

Referencing:
When using any secondary research, providing a reference to the source is required to avoid plagiarizing someone else's work, accidentally or not. Using secondary research is quicker, cheaper, and easier to use as it's readily available--but risky as it could be unreliable, unfitting, outdated, or flat-out wrong. (Tip for students reading this: Wikipedia is obviously frowned upon for secondary research, but the references are fair game. Use those instead).

09/09/2021 - Shot Sizes: Understanding Cinematography

• Close-up: A Close-up shot focuses the camera tightly on a person or object, commonly used to show character detail or emotion
• Medium Close-up: A Medium Close-up is essentially the halfway point between a Mid-Shot and a Close-up. The shot shows a character from the top of their head to around their shoulders/chest.
• Big Close-up: A Big Close-up shot has the character's face taking up the entire screen, from forehead to chin.
• Extreme Close-up: An Extreme Close-up shot is a more extreme variant of Close-up, more so than Big. It's so close-up that most of the face is out of frame. The viewer is essentially forced to see the raw emotion of the character.
• Mid-Shot: A Mid Shot shows a character usually from the waist up and is used to give equal emphasis and presence to them and their surroundings.
• Medium Long Shot: A Medium Long Shot shows a character from the knees and upwards.
  It still favors the scenery/background but not as much as a normal Long Shot.
• Long Shot: A Long Shot shows a character’s full body and a significant amount of the surrounding area around them. It's commonly used as an establishing shot.
• Over-Shoulder Shot: An OSS shot has the camera positioned behind one character and facing the other. It is a third-person variant of POV.
• Point of View Shot: A POV shot usually shows what a character is looking at, either through their eyes or the camera’s, with their reaction in the next frame.
• Dutch Tilt: Dutch Tilt has the camera tilted. It is used to disorientate the viewer and is very common in Action Films.
• Low Angle: A Low Angle has the camera set below eye-level, looking up. It’s commonly used to make the subject/object look overpowering.
• High Angle: A High Angle has the camera looking down at the subject from a high angle. Practically, it is the opposite of a Low Angle.
• Worm's-Eye View: A Worm’s-Eye View can be seen as a variant of the Low Angle. The camera is set directly below an object to make the viewer feel tiny, like a worm.
  
  
  Practice Exercise:

14/09/2021 - Animation Studio Research

23/09/2021 - Animation Pre-Production Research Presentation

Video:

Pre-Production Research Presentation Evaluation:

I got feedback that there was not enough on my slides. While I do think less is more when it comes to presentations, I must agree that I had too little.

I could've used note cards or something to read off of, but I didn't want that to be seen on-camera.
I've seen people just reading sentences/notes from the screen or cards and barely engaging with the 'audience', which is not something I wanted to happen.
I wanted to see how I could do by simply just going off the bullet points and winging it.
Not too well, apparently.

What I can do for next time is actually rehearse the presentation. Previously, I had done presentations from home due to covid which meant I could have notes on a second monitor and I couldn't rely on that crutch here.