Research Dossier

Dungeons & Dragons

Primary research is when you conduct the research yourself. We created a questionnaire to find out if people knew what D&D was and if they understood the rules. We also wanted to know what kind of people others thought played the game.

Secondary research is when you look at research that has been conducted by other people, this is what I found out about Dungeons and Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) since 1997. It was derived from miniature wargames with a variation of the Chainmail game serving as the initial rule system.D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry.

The early success of Dungeons & Dragons led to a proliferation of similar game systems. Despite this competition, D&D remains the market leader in the role-playing game industry. In 1977, the game was split into two branches: the relatively rules-light game system of Dungeons & Dragons and the more structured, rules-heavy game system of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as AD&D or ADnD). AD&D 2nd Edition was published in 1989. In 2000, the original line of the game was discontinued and the AD&D version was renamed Dungeons & Dragons with the release of its 3rd edition with a new system. These rules formed the basis of the d20 System which is available under the Open Game License (OGL) for use by other publishers. Dungeons & Dragons version 3.5 was released in June 2003, with a (non-OGL) 4th edition in June 2008. A 5th edition was released during the second half of 2014.

An immediate predecessor of Dungeons & Dragons was a set of medieval miniature rules written by Jeff Perren. These were expanded by Gary Gygax, whose additions included a fantasy supplement, before the game was published as Chainmail. When Dave Wesely entered the Army in 1970, his friend and fellow Napoleonics wargamer Dave Arneson began a medieval variation of Wesely's Braunstein games, where players control individuals instead of armies. Arneson used Chainmail to resolve combat. As play progressed, Arneson added such innovations as character classes, experience points, level advancement, armor class, and others.^[60] Having partnered previously with Gygax on Don't Give Up the Ship!, Arneson introduced Gygax to his Blackmoor game and the two then collaborated on developing "The Fantasy Game", the role-playing game (RPG) that became Dungeons & Dragons, with the final writing and preparation of the text being done by Gygax. The name was chosen by Gygax's two-year-old daughter Cindy — upon being presented with a number of choices of possible names, she exclaimed, "Oh Daddy, I like Dungeons and Dragons best!"

(09/03/2017) wikipedia

MARILYN MANSON

Growing up in Ohio, Brian Warner was a pretty geeky kid, not only playing roleplaying games, but also painting miniatures. He talked about playing D&D growing up in his book, The Long Road Out of Hell.

manson’s song, “15“, includes the lyrics, “This time I won’t hesitate to kill to protect what I believe in.” Sounds a lot like a paladin who has taken the Oath of Vengeance, and it wouldn’t surprise us if Manson was a spellcaster as well as a fierce fighter.

JAMES FRANCO

It doesn’t surprise us that James Franco is a D&D player, having not only played himself but also acting as a neophyte gamer in a 2000 episode of Freaks and Geeks:

While James makes a pretty convincing Dwarf fighter in the above montage, after watching Pineapple Express and 127 Hours, we can’t help but think of the actor as a Druid who has specialized into the Circle of the Land. Maybe the spell Goodberry would have allowed his character from 127 Hours to hold out almost indefinitely.

(09/03/2017) http://geekandsundry.com/5-celebrities-youd-never-guess-played-dd/

Quantitative data is research that can be sorted numerically. A normal example of this would be CD sales. We didn't really do any of this as we did not find it necessary to do so. It would not affect our documentary if we did it or not. Qualitative data is the opposite of quantitative. This is all of the research that can not be sorted numerically. An example of this would be film reviews. Again we didn't really need to do this so we didn't.

Data gathering agencies such as BARB collect data, for example they collect television viewership. Another website that keeps track of these things is "IMDB" which also shows you the ratings for the box office.

Audience and Market research is when you look into demographics. This is age, class, and male or female. This can be a factor in which someone enjoys a product. Things can be targeted at certain genders being a target audience. We went through this in our survey.

Production research is when you look into location and finance. All we had to do for this was figure out where the interviews were going to take place.

We didn't really have to do to much in preparation for this documentary as it was mostly conducted inside of college. The only thing that we had to do was a location recce and talent releases.

Before filming on a public road you must contact the local police and the Highways Department of the local authority. Both will need to make sure that your plans are safe and pose no threat to road users. If you plan to stage stunts, a stunt co-ordinator should be involved in any planning discussions.

http://www.britishfilmcommission.org.uk/crew-facilities/locations/filming-in-public-spaces/#sthash.wG5EQ82G.dpuf

you need to ensure that everything that you broadcast on a documentary is true and that it is educational.









Survey Feedback

Documentary "mini task"

A documentary is a factual media production that explores a certain subject and they go into depths about what goes on in that subject. Sometimes documentaries represent the subject in such a way that they make people question if it is fact or fiction. The what that I would define a documentary would be a film that goes into depth about the activities that took place at a certain time.

Expository
An expository documentary is when during the entire thing there is a voice over talking to the viewer. These documentaries are made to persuade the viewer and they propose a very strong argument. A good example of an expository documentary would be "Frozen Planet" by David Attenborough. This programme is an expository documentary because you don't really see David Attenborough in the actual episode itself but he is giving a voice over the entire time to give you facts.

Observational
An observational documentary (AKA fly on the wall) is when they don't acknowledge the fact that a documentary is happening and you just observe what is happening. An example of this would be "Metallica's Some Kind of Monster." This documentary is about the struggle that the band went through when making there album "St. Anger." This is a bit of a weird documentary because they do acknowledge that the cameras are there but the band act completely normal around them. They filmed them for a couple of years and they just went through all of the struggles that they had. For example when the lead singer, James Hetfield, went to rehab for his alcohol problems. In the documentary they hire a therapist so that they can all get their feelings across to each other while the cameras are rolling so that we can watch and see how much trouble they had and how much they went through just to please the fans.

Interactive
An interactive documentary is when the filmmaker's presence is known and they actually follow the crew around and asks questions and there is an interaction between the interviewee and the presenter. Arguments can also take place during these types of documentary as people all have different views. A good example of this would be Louis Theroux when he did a documentary on Scientology called "My Scientology Movie" which had him going around asking what it is like being involved with Scientology.

Reflective

A reflective documentary is where the filmmaker attempts to expose the conventions of documentary to the audience. They consists of shots that will build up and then have a deeper meaning behind them. An example of this would be "Powaqqatsi" which is a sequence of shots that have a very deep meaning.

Performative

A performative documentary usually uses re-enactments and are usually exaggerated to make everything look a lot more dramatic. A lot of people believe that these documentaries are not truthful. Some people also believe that they are just the exaggerated truth which is what I believe they are except for when they change what happens in the end. An example of a performative documentary would be "Paranormal Witness" which is when they have people talking about their paranormal experiences and they also have people re-enacting what happened.   

I feel like the documentary filmmaker should give the audience factual information and only factual information. Fair enough that performative is exaggerated but it also tells you the truth. If they are not doing this can it really be called a documentary? When a documentary doesn't give you factual information it is basically just a mockumentary and the viewers do not understand if what they are hearing and seeing is the truth.

Editing Task - Sequence of our Choice

History of Editing
When editing first came about they had to actually cut the film with scissors and then splice it back together. Nowadays they just do it in editing systems such as premiere pro and sony vegas. before any of This they had to do all on the camera by cutting in the exact right time and had to press record in the exact right place as well.




At the beginning of the scene it shows the daughter looking at something at the bottom of the corridor ad then when the mother asks what she is doing and hey both look at the bottom of the corridor and then then you see Valak (the nun) standing there. The way that they edit this is by having an eye-line match which is where the character looks out of frame and then usually in a POV shot or at least very close to a POV. This is to help you feel the way that the character is feeling as it puts you into their shoes.

When the mum walks through the door it starts with a POV and then it cuts to her walking through the door. This is a match on action which helps us follow the scene. These cuts help us to understand what is happening in the shot without getting confused.

As the scene progresses the editing gets faster and faster which gets our adrenaline going and that gets our heart going. This makes us feel very uncomfortable. It almost makes us start to panic, this is fully intentional as they want us to be as uncomfortable as possible.

At one point in the scene it really slows down, this is at the art the nun's shadow starts walking across the wall. This makes us wonder what is going to happen next. This gets out heart racing even more and makes us panic a lot more. This whole part makes the viewers heart start beating very fast.

After this it starts to pick up the pace again and it makes us feel the exact same way as before but in this shot it leads to a jump-scare which is the big pay-off after all of the suspense. If you want to create a jump-scare you have to build up he suspense which starts off slow but then when the actual scare itself happens it need to get really quick out of nowhere so no one knows when it is coming.

Continuity

There is not any establishing shots (a shot that shows you where the scene is located) in this scene, it just jumps straight in looking at the characters. I think that they decided to do this so that it makes you feel very uncomfortable and you are not familiar with your surroundings. I think that this has a strong as you do not know where they are located in the house.

The 180 degree rule, this is when you have to stay on one side of the characters so that the audience do not get confused about where people are standing, was never broken in this sequence. When they go into the room with the nun painting the camera is always on the left side of the room.

In this scene there are shot reverse shots, these are typically used when two or more characters are talking. They use this in the scene when the nun is running after the woman, this creates suspense as it starts to cut quickly between shots. This picks up our heart rate which causes a sense of panic which then creates a more dramatic effect.

There is at least one match on action, this is where one action continues through two shots. This helps continuity as it doesn't stop the flow of the scene. The only one that I found was as she walks through the door, it starts behind her when she opens the door and then goes to the other side of the door.

An eye-line match is where a character looks out of shot and then it cuts to a POV which helps you feel what the characters feels when you see what they are looking at for the first time. This is used so that everything the character feels you feel as it puts you in their shoes for a brief moment.

Identification with main protagonist or other characters

The way that you can tell you the main protagonist is by seeing who has the most screen time. The main protagonist always has the most screen time as it is their story being told. If there is a character who still gets a lot of screen time but just not as much then they are most likely the supporting actor. The main character in this scene the mother as she is the one with the most screen time. The supporting character would be the nun based purely on the fact she gets a lot of screen time as well but not as much as the mother.

Close-ups are important in a scene as they make the audience feel uncomfortable because we are not used to being that close to somebodies face. There are a couple in this scene, one that stuck out to me was when the nun started running at the mother. This causes a sense of panic as the music also starts to kick in but the fact that her face is up close just makes it that much more creepy.

Main characters also get a fair amount of point of view shots as it makes us feel how the characters feel and we can also get the same reaction that they get. These are usually only used fro the main character and occasionally the support characters.

The director usually shows the main characters reactions as we want to know how they are feeling when they see something that might give out a reaction.

In this scene they all kind of shots, for example there are long shots, close-ups etc. one of the close-ups is when you can see the painting over the mothers shoulder. This is an effective shot as it makes it seem as if there is always someone hanging over your shoulder.

During this scene there are multiple point of views when the nun starts to chase the woman and the POV shots keep switching between the two characters so that you can see how they are reacting and what kind of faces are being pulled.

TV Advertisement Evaluation

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N5YNJRR
Embed your PPt book of responses

People said that are work had a lot of good camera movements and some people also like the close-ups that we had. Another thing that people liked was the end shot with the close-up of "BRUT". The thing that people said we could improve was the music and have the people in the advert to actually use the product. Some people said that they would prefer to see some other people talk about how the product helps them, just so there is more variation.

For this assignment we had to make a television advert to re-brand a Unilever product to gain more profit. The product that we decided to re-brand was "BRUT". The way that we decided to re-brand this product in our group was by re-pitching each of our ideas and the whole group voted for which one they thought was the best. The current target audience of "BRUT" is older males and we decided to re-brand it to 16-35 year old females because we are trying to give women the confidence they need to do well in their profession. Our idea was to have a couple of women doing whatever it is that they do best and during the advert they will talk to the camera saying that "BRUT" gives them the confidence to do their certain profession.

The way that we collected out feedback was by making a survey and putting a bunch of questions on there about the advert and then the people that filled in the survey so that we could see how well we did when we were making the advert. It also showed us how well we executed the advert was and how well they reacted to it.

I think that we managed to make the advert for the appropriate target audience and I think that we got our message across. I hope that the advert will have an appropriate impact on them as it means that it will make them the best at what they do. We also made the people in our advert the age range that we were targeting so that there can be no confusion with who the target audience is.

Our advert did come out rather well but we didn't execute it the way we planned but it still ended up quite well. Originally we planned to have 3 or 4 people using the product and talking about how it makes them the best at what they do. We ended up having only two women selling the product in the advert.

We tried to get the "BRUT" bottle in at least two shots but we actually ended up getting it into more. that was the only thing that stayed the same between the cuts between the two people in our advert. When we were filming the ad we tried to have a lot of variation in our shots and I think we were successful by doing this. We used a sliding shot at the beginning as an establishing shot which I think worked really well. The way that we did it was by started by looking at the door and panning to look at Viv while she is doing science stuff. When we were editing we found the perfect music to go along with the actual advert. It worked really well as it was calm and collected and nothing in the advert is too outrageous.

I think that our advert does sell to the specific audience as we only have our target audience in the advert itself. We did this intentionally so that there would be no confusion with who the target audience actually is.

The persuasion techniques that we used were using the people in our advert to tell people how confident it made them feel. It also showed them doing what they do best so that it would make the viewer want to go out and get the product and be the best at what they do.

We were not very good at getting our message across because when I showed someone I know the advert they didn't understand what was being advertised. Our persuasion techniques that we tried to use was getting the viewers to understand how good "BRUT" can make you feel but it didn't turn out the best it could've.

I feel like the advert is very well filmed and it has some very professional looking shots. When we were making the advert I don't think that we offended everyone because we did not stereotype in the advert. We had one of the women acting as a scientist and the other was a dancer.

People said that are work had a lot of good camera movements and some people also like the close-ups that we had. Another thing that people liked was the end shot with the close-up of "BRUT". The thing that people said we could improve was the music and have the people in the advert to actually use the product. Some people said that they would prefer to see some other people talk about how the product helps them, just so there is more variation.

Considering some of the struggles that we had while filming I am actually quite happy with the final edit of our advert. Some things didn't go to plan because we had some trouble deciding when and where we were going to film. We did end up managing to sort it out by filming in college so that there was no travel issues. Overall the advert came out rather well but if I had to do anything differently I would make sure that we got all of the cast ready and that we had them ready to film on specific days. I would also make sure that we planned the whole thing a lot better just so that we couldn't run into any problems when we are filming and then we may come out with a much better advert. I think that I put a decent amount of ideas into the editing part of the production but I could of put a bit more into the rest of the production. I think that I did help when someone was struggling to do something meaning that we didn't get delayed in the process.

Pre-Production for Brut Advertisement

production diary 2

05/01/2017
Today we started to create the script for our television advert. We decided to go with Josh's idea which was to do a "BRUT" advert. The idea was to have a few women doing there profession but at some points have them talking but they they will all be saying the same thing so that we can cut to each person saying the same thing so that it shows everyone that uses "BRUT" is the best at what they do.

06/01/2017
Today we started to do the storyboards after finishing the script. the script will say "BRUT gives me the confidence to..." the end of the sentence depends on what their profession is. We also got the prop list and equipment lists complete as well.

09/01/2017
Today we continued with the storyboards. We started to draw out each shot that we were planning on doing so that we could try and get the advert perfect and without any flaws. I have also nearly finished the risk assessment.

09/01/2017
We continued with the storyboards, starting to write out each sequence including the location and the dialogue. and I finished off the risk assessment making sure that I covered everything that could possibly go wrong and how we could avoid it..

11/01/2017
Today we finished most of the pre-production including storyboards and scripts.

13/01/2017
Today we uploaded our pre-production paper work to our blog.

16/01/2017
Today we went out to buy our product and then we got back and we chose when we were going to film and who we are going to be filming with.

19/01/2017
Today we didn't get up to much but we were deciding what we need to do with the rest of our advert. We ran into some problems and we couldn't decide if we should try and make what we have the best we can or if we should completely scrap it and start from scratch.

20/01/2017
Today I didn't do much but we are still deciding what else we need to add to our advert to make it better. because we still need to film some more but the people we need are not available.

Unilever Re-branding Pitch