Films and Beyond

Hello folks!  As you may have seen that all of my posts were all about how I was making my documentary, what was it about, how do I plan it etc. Its Finally Here! It took me about 3-4 weeks of editing, fixing mistakes and making it as neatly as it could get. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjaWmjGo8nA Watch, share and ike my documentary film and if you feel like knowing how I made it, theres a separate post on behind the scenes.

Hi Guys! Here is the link for my documentary's promotional website! I spent hours on it, just make sure to go through all of the pages and links given on it! Link:  https://amnaiftikhar.wixsite.com/ambitiontosuccess

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project? Ans: Tap on the link below to hear the answer in a podcast. Link: https://youtu.be/cbalsQBz9LA

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’? Ans:  There are various elements of my production that work together to create a sense of branding. In order for our product to stand out, there are a few things that we should keep in check just like I have: What color grade should the video have: Adding colour to the your product is important just like I did. From the film; using colourful shots to the posters, website and promotions, I used a variety of colours from the primary pallet to avoid making my product look dull and make it stand out. Does it need to have a professional aesthetic: Yes, I believe it is very important for your product in my case a documentary film to have a proffesional aesthetic. That is because shaky camera shots, bad picture quality and wrong angles can really spoil the whole mood of your film, as it serves as a distraction for the viewer itself. So, that is why I used the Canon 60D camera, a tripo...

How do your products engage with the audience and how would you distribute it as a real media text? Ans: In presentation! Press Play!

Q1) How do your products use or challenge conventions and how do they represent social groups or issues? Ans: Here is the link to my video answer!   Tap link to watch: https://youtu.be/EULXiEwvBNk

Promotion: Using Social Media/Web 2.0 In todays era, if you want people to see your work or reach your message to them, it highly essential you make best use of whatever technology is present. I myself wanted to show and promote my documentary to the world, because the sole purpose of making a documentary on Imkaan was to show them to the world. I wanted everyone to see how they're supporting their community by playing their part and that's how it should be. I resorted to using Whatsaap; that's because your friends and family are a really good way of promoting your work in my case a documentary film, that too for a good cause. I obviously uploaded my film on Youtube, one of the major social media platforms. Making it public and being available to a vast majority was neccesary. Similarly, I made an instagram account to promote my documentary film, I showed behind the scenes, posters and photographs from Imkaan's centre. It ...

Here are the official posters for my documentary, I took photos from a professional camera after so long!

Hey! Wanna go behind the scenes with me? I knew that everyone will be curious as to how I made my documentary. I also knew the blog won't do good on its own. So I made a detailed video of what happened behind the camera. To give you a heads up I used a Canon 6D Mark II camera, a crane, tripod and a collar microphone for the shoot. It took me a total of 2 days to shoot the footage and editing took me a good 3 weeks. The rest of the details are in the V-log, tap on the link given below to watch! https://youtu.be/RXlEYwjGkMg

Who was my style inspo for my documentary? Fun Fact: It was no one. I took inspiration from my own mood and how I wanted to control the audience's emotion. I believe in the theory presented by Adorno and Horkhiemer that the producer has control over how the audience makes meaning of the text. In film, I believe the way the product is edited together is very important. Elements like different angles, music and colour grading play a very important role in how the message being communicated is perceived. So, I tried to use fun and emotional music, to make the audience connect to the documentary, I used a variety of shots and angles to show exactly what Miss Tahera Hassan was saying. Similarly, I trimmed only the important parts of whatever she was saying in her interview so that the audience gets precise and to-the-point information. My style is more of conveying emotions through music and different angled shots, so I tried my best to use them wisely and edit them as i...

A good tech equipment and you're good to go ! Hello, Hello, as you may have noticed the picture above shows all of the equipment and hardware I used to make my documentary film. First things first I obviously needed a camera, the quality of this camera is superb, I even took my poster photographs from this and they turned out beautiful. I mainly used the crane to take zollys and still shots but I also used the tripod for a few of them. I used two of these because I didn't want to regret not taking a variety of shots from different angles and regretting later. Similarly I made use of the tripod on the day of miss Tahera Hasaan's(Founder of Imkaan) interview.The collar mike was also used to its best which resulted in her voice sounding nice and crisp. After all it was one of the major components of my film. The editing was a very tricky part for me and difficult as well, after my personal laptop crashed, I borrowed my dad's, the Dell Inspiron 15, luckily it...

Here's the view from screen when I was editing !

Here are the mood boards I made for my documentary film: Location: Colour Palletes: Individuals: Angles:

While I was shooting for my documentary I took a few clicks of the children as well! Here's some candid shots I'd like for you all to see!   They wanted to pose with the victory sign so I said ,"why not?!" 2 is good but 3 is even better!  Working Hard! Gymnastic Girls! Gymnastic Boys!

How I chose my documentary Music: Whether you realize it or not, music is a really important part of the films we watch.  A successful film captures the audience's emotions, and a powerful score can help to inspire those feelings. Music can make us feel sad, hopeful, scared, anxious, or elated. Music provides us with cues about how we're supposed to feel during a movie scene, and even the science behind that concept says it works. So, I decided to choose from a few of the options I truly loved when I was writing down my script. I choose a happy score and an inspiring score. To compliment my footage and give cue to the audiences emotion. I'm mentioning the options I had below with their links so you could get an idea. Mein To Deikhoonga ( I will see):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsyyR2Yo83M  Kholo Kholo (Open Open):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIaUYKLg5S4 Interstellar ost cover:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW6CDFJzCIc I cho...

How I used media theories to construct my film I believe that one can always apply theories when constructing their text,consciously or sub-consciously. Especially in todays era, people would not like to believe what Roland Barthes might have suggested earlier in the day, "Death of the author". That is because modernity has taken over major parts of the world. People like to associate the author to its published text because why not? It is quite next to impossible that an author did not have any kind of intentions while putting out a text. The construction of his text obviously involves his thoughts, prior experiences and beliefs. You cannot always get away by calling your work fictional, even fiction can involve a personal antedote or a social purpose. Similarly, the 21st century brought other authors into light as well. Such as Adorno and Horkheimer of the Marxist school of thought. They suggest that a producer constructs his texts purposefully to convey a...

Documentary : More than what you see(working title) Introducing location, children, daily activities Background score(To be decided) Location: Machhar Colony(Mosquito Colony) Question(s)for the owner: How did you Come up with the idea of starting the NGO Why did you think it was necessary for you to take this step on your own Whats the reason behind the name “Imkaan” How many children are under this shelter  What all activities are happening under one roof You have 4 different sections of the NGO, please tell us what are they and why do you think it was necessary to take one step ahead of other NGOs Child ( Lead ) & other(s)questions in urdu if required: What do you like the most about this place ? Do you come and attend day school or live here permanently? What are your daily activities ? How did you find this place or did they find you? What do you wish to become when you grow up Urdu answers will be translated in English, subtitles...

Here's a detailed filming schedule that I followed for shooting my documentary! Key: HC= Health Centre RC= Recreation Centre

Steps to a successfu l narrative: Tell a True Story: The audience is more keen to see a true or near to reality based story. Since, we are focusing on a documentary, it is a must that our content is authentic and based on facts and figures. Structure your narrative: Try and lay out your rough idea. Which is also referred to as the "vision" of a film maker. I had a vision the instant I decided I was making a documentary. It was, make it short, precise, touching and informative. Research: The most important step before sitting down to write a script for a documentary was to do research. I made sure I was well informed about the organistation I was covering and how sensitive their representation is. I collected data on how the organisation is run, what they are known for, and where are there operations conducted. Writing the Script: Sit down with a cup of tea. Grab a paper and a pencil. Make your draft. Write all of the locations, where you ...

Meeting to set schedules   Note: Added this picture recently because I forgot to take pictures from our meeting :( Today, I met miss Tahera Hassan, founder of the 'Imkaan Welfare Organisation'. It was our first time meeting after I talked to her on the phone. The thing with working with an organization, that too at a young age is that people give you that leverage for making mistakes or asking too many questions. Thankfully, Miss Tahera was very kind in guiding me about Imkaan. She explained how Imkaan runs, where it is located, what is their mission and how I can cover it. We decided on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday of February to shoot. She gave me the contact of their field officer in Machar(Mosquito) Colony. So that he could lead me to their facilities and make me meet their staff and children. Similarly, we decided that the Friday we choose will be used to take her interview. As she is usually free on Friday mornings and the week can be decided next month. ...