Practical Skills

Storyboard

Planning the narrative, shots, angles and camera movements:

Title generation

To find a title I wanted something relating to surfing so I searched up a large list of surf slang hoping to find an interesting title. Soon enough I came across the term Beach Break which I think is perfect for a double entendre title.

First definition

A beach break is a surf-able wave that is breaking onto a beach. The wave is created by the shallow sandy bottom, or sometimes a jetty. A beach break can either be caused by a sand bar out a little ways, or by the wave forming against the shoreline.

Second definition

Secondly, it can just mean having a break at the beach. Its a perfect title since part of the target audience is to attract tourists for a great family holiday.

Props

The props I needed to buy for this project were beach balls and whiteboards as according to my storyboard. To find these I just searched for the cheapest ones I could find on Amazon with the fastest shipping.

The rest of the props (Surfboards and Wetsuits), I accquired from Barefoot Boardriders, family, friends and Newsurf in Newgale.

Problem Solving

Actor's Availability

Day 1

Organising the schedules for day 1 of filming requires a day that Jack and Taylor are available.

Taylor and Jack earliest availability: 15th May

Finding 3 people (minimum) for day 1 of filming.

Jojo: available

Morgan B: available

Morgan A: unavailable

Heledd: unavailable

Georgia: unavailable

Aimie: unavailable

Johnny: unavailable

Available to film day 1: 2 people

Originally I'd planned to film all the shots in one day considering the little time I have to finish the project but it will have to be split into two days.

Only shots requiring Jack, taylor and I are able to be filmed day 1.

Day 2

Taylor and Jack not required for day 2 (16th May)

Finding 3 people (minimum) for day 2 filming.

Jojo: available

Morgan B: available

Morgan A: unavailable

Heledd: available

Georgia: unavailable

Aimie: available

Johnny: available

Available to film day 2: 5 people

Enough people are available to be in the advert for the next day.

Rest of shots will be filmed day 2.

Weather

Weather for original shooting day is sunny and clear but sadly most of the shots will be filmed the next day when it is scheduled to be raining.

To overcome this, I'll be bringing an umbrella for the camera and editing the shots to look more summery in post-production.

If weather conditions are too bad to edit, I will be including the change in weather as part of the storyline, proving even bad weather conditions cant stop people from having fun with Barefoot Boardriders.

The extreme difference in weather created a far different effect on the colours and lighting of the clips filmed on day 1 vs day 2. To combat this issue, I took to Davinci Resolve and used curves to balance the lighting differences and colour masks to balance out the difference in the colour of the sky, sea, and skin tones.

Concept Change

Due to my green screen not being big enough to work for the final shot where the camera pans out from a TV, I've decided to change the concept. Instead of the entire story being presented as a TV advert, it will be shown as a visual storytelling of a postcard from the main character to a friend. The main character will be telling their friend what a great time they've had learning to surf with Barefoot Boardriders and the advert will be a visual representation of what the message in the postcard. Evaluating the pros and cons of this idea against other possible fixes proved it to be the true winner. As devastating it is the green screen footage didn't work out, I'm glad it helped me think of the post card concept since I think it really elevates the entire narrative and works better with my aims and objectives.

Failed green screen footage

Custom post card created to replace green screen concept

Branding

After exporting my advert and looking back through my research, I realised I forgot to include any kind of branding early into the video, meaning if the advert were skipped after a few seconds the company name wouldn't have been seen. To correct this issue, I've taken the post card from the opening and made some adjustments to fit the Barefoot Boardriders logo in, giving people a chance to remember the company name even if the ad is skipped.

Before After

Sound

The length of the music was much longer than the 1 minute and 30 second duration of my advert so I had to evaluate how I would cut the audio down. At first I considered just abrupty cutting the audio at the end of the video. The problems this idea had were the fact it made the advert seem less professional and gave it a less satisfying ending. Next, I contemplated simply fading the audio out, but this had a similar problem to the first idea. To create an intentional closing for my advert, I decided the best option would be to take it into final cut pro, take the ending of the song and blend it with the section I wanted it to end at. To create a seamless cut between the sections of the audio I lined up the beat of each clip and used the fader tool for a nice blend. To end things off, I automated tape delay and reverb plugins to come in at the very end, creating a natura sounding finish to the song.

In the end, I think I made the right decision, giving the advert a purposeful and ideal ending for the audio and all around creating an advert that appears higher quality.

Since I was infront of the camera most of the time, I would film an example shot with another subject in place of me, to show the camera operator exactly how I wanted the shot to turn out or just what angle or movement to use. This also gave me the opportunity to figure out what lighting and angles did or didn't work so it could be changed for the final shot.

Practice Shots

In the end, using test shots helped me produce shots that were just as I envisioned or better. It gave me the chance to evaluate the effect different angles and lighting were creating and use that in my favour to help me achieve the goals I was aiming for thematically.

Colour Grading

All editing was done in Davinci Resolve. I first did a rough cut of the clips, then cleaned it up and worked on colour correction and colour grading based on my research of 60s surf photos.

As seen in this example, the highlights became more teal and midtones-shadows has an orange tint. To create this colour grade I used the nodes in Davinci Resolve and individually adjusted each scene, starting with the same orange and teal colour grade that was created to begin with.

The final result induces a more vibrant and energetic feel while fitting into the theme of 60s colour grading.

Music and Sounds

Taking into consideration my 60s surf rock theme for this project, I looked on the internet for some fitting and copyright free music. Using this 60s surf rock music creates an energetic and adventurous feel to the advert and appeals to the older and younger generations. I found a few options on Youtube and narrowed it down to these two songs. After some deliberation, I decided to use the first song as the second one was pretty short and wouldn't be long enough for my advert.

When looking for foley sounds, I wanted to keep most of the sounds pretty realistic with a touch of fun sounds splashed through the advert. Adding in some dramatic sounds would fit in with the 60s over dramatics and add some more interest for the audience's enjoyment.

To edit the sound effects and music I used Logic Pro. To create a more natural sound for the sound effects I used, I added a reverb and tape delay which made it sound a lot more realistic and cohesive. Last of all, I used a compressor on the music and sound effects to equalise the volume levels and prevent clipping and peaking, overall creating a more professional sound.

Fonts

Searching for a font inspired by 60s postcards to create the location title for the first establishing shot (intended to be the front side of a postcard) I found the font Sunborn.

Using this font I created a title for the postcard in Illustrator using a picture of a beach and a clipping mask.

Looking at the inspiration, a caligraphy font is also used so I found the font Palm Canyon Drive and added the word beach below.

Comparing my result, I could've added to the effect by creating a 3D effect on the text but overall I'm happy with how it turned out and I think it captures the spirit enough that people would understand what it represents semiotically.