In terms of my foundation portfolio (AS) I had to create an opening title sequence for a thriller movie which I named vindicate. It focused on 2 male protagonists who were on a look out for an assassin in an abandoned house, in order to prepare for the opening title sequence I was also required to complete a preliminary tasks which taught me the basics about maintaining continuity and familiarising myself with the editing software. My advanced portfolio (A2) production focused on a music video for the indie band 'Bastille' and their song 'Pompeii', we decided to hybridise the type of the video and created a performance based music video with a narrative based twist, the advanced portfolio was also accompanied by a magazine poster and a digipak (CD cover) which was part of the ancillary tasks.
Research and planning
is fundamental to any coursework production and it allows for a
measured, well timed production that is fully informed by both
primary and secondary research into audience, genre and
representation but also ensures the filmmaker is fully aware of the
extent he/she has to go to in terms of production values and
construction.
One piece of technology that was used throughout research and planning was Blogger; this was a very helpful and informative all the way throughout my coursework; this is because it let me embed insightful YouTube videos, write up my own essays and also embed soundcloud audio files onto it which all helped contribute to my knowledge and further enhanced my knowledge. Although blogger was very helpful at times it did have some issues, for example sometimes blogger would not work in certain rooms such as the common room or the library this meant that the use of blogger was limited and I had to use it in the media room which wasn’t accessible at all times. However, to eradicate this issue I done a lot of my blogger work at home which meant that I could catch up.
I also used YouTube to help me analyse existing media products to help inform my one. For example in preparation for my AS opening title sequence I looked the opening title sequence for ‘Se7en’ this made me aware of what exactly opening title sequences were, what they consist of and how long they are. In progression to A2, as well as looking at existing music videos from established artists I also looked at exemplar work from previous A2 students; I looked at a range of music videos ranging from level 1-4 this meant that I could analyse what they have done good and what they have done bad. This ultimately meant that I could pick up the good things and incorporate it into my media product.
In order to help inform me about by treatment (in terms of research) I had a skype interview with music director Ryan Mackfall. Ryan Mackfall gave me insightful information on how to write a good treatment and what a music video should consist of. During AS media we also had a skype interview with Mike Harrowes; an industry professional editor who gave us key hints and tips on how to edit a media product. Having a skype interview with these two industry professionals meant that I gain feedback from people who have actually had professional experience with film-making. However, a key issue with Skype was that it was quite hard to have a good connection and we only had one hour time slots which meant that we couldn’t fit as many information as we could have.
In terms of planning there has been a clear progression in our group work and contribution from AS to A2. During AS media, my group had randomly assigned pre-production roles to each other meaning that we all got randomly allocated to tasks (non-bias). However, in A2 media we allocated roles accordingly to what a person felt more confident with for example I put myself forward with schedule list because I can effectively meet deadlines and I have had experience with creating schedule lists before, and Jeremy was collectively assigned as prop and costume list as he is a drama student and has had experience with costumes before. This had developed our group skills more because as I group I feel like we have co-ordinated well as opposed to last year where group working wasn’t considered as important.
Researching equipment was also vital to help me produce a better final piece in A2 as opposed to my AS product. For example in my AS opening title sequence I used an internal camera microphone which was poor and didn’t have much range; as a result of this I had to record my own foley which meant that the sound seemed quite artificial. However, in order to eradicate this issue in A2 media I decided to use an external microphone for the dialogue at the start of my A2 music video; this meant that the sound was crisp and clear and meant that foley was not required as the sound was easy to understand. This meant that mistakes were kept minimalistic which meant that my
technological knowledge had increase because during AS media I would have not even considered using an external microphone.
In conclusion, the importance of new media has been apparent in my research and planning. Audience members are now being fragmented more than ever meaning that it can be harder to reach out to an audience, but websites such as YouTube are also making it easier as we are our own consumers (a term David Gauntlett used meaning that we produce and consume our own content using web 2.0). I feel that I have made a significant improvement from the transition of AS to A2 media, which has made me a much more competent student. Websites like YouTube have also made it easier for me to research key ideas for my music video such as camera tutorials and exemplar work from previous AS and A2 students; as media theorists Michael Wesch says “YouTube is a cultural phenomenon” which I can totally relate to as it has helped me in so many ways in terms of research and planning.
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