Our creative journey has developed in the past two years, through our media productions. Starting with the childrens film opening our first product, enabled us to understand the software used to create the opening sequence. For example we understood and used the basic tools in Final cut Express, which was key in the editing stage of our product as it would let us create our ideas into a final product.
Monday, 23 May 2011
Our journey of creativity
Creating is "to create something by taking inspiration from your surroundings, your past experiences, your friends, and family and your emotions. Creative instincts and impulses play a large part in how creative and original you can be. Creativity is a means of outputting and representing yourself, especially if you find it difficult to communicate who you really are".
Our creativity has developed over the course due to the fact that at the beginning of the course we were encouraged to stick to true media conventions, however as the course has continued we have been able to come up with our own ideas, challenging these conventions. An example of this is the journey from the children's film through to the music video. The children's film had to be genre specific, whereas the music video could incorporate individual ideas that are true to genre, but may be different to the genre conventions of the video; e.g the hotdog amongst the dance video setting.
The Thriller project enabled us to decide what sort of thriller it would be, weather it would be a traditional thriller, or a thriller with a sub-genre; for example our thriller was a psychological thriller and so we were able to explore real media texts of this sub-genre "The Shining" to develop further the style of our piece.
Our creativity has developed over the course due to the fact that at the beginning of the course we were encouraged to stick to true media conventions, however as the course has continued we have been able to come up with our own ideas, challenging these conventions. An example of this is the journey from the children's film through to the music video. The children's film had to be genre specific, whereas the music video could incorporate individual ideas that are true to genre, but may be different to the genre conventions of the video; e.g the hotdog amongst the dance video setting.
The Thriller project enabled us to decide what sort of thriller it would be, weather it would be a traditional thriller, or a thriller with a sub-genre; for example our thriller was a psychological thriller and so we were able to explore real media texts of this sub-genre "The Shining" to develop further the style of our piece.
My Creative Journey
My creative journey has been pretty much the same for each project i have completed, i have used the internet to find out what conventions are in each genre for the specific genre and used this to create a conventional piece of work. I have also used the internet to watch relevant pieces of footage of films that would relate to the project and help me be creative. In class we have also watched films that relate to projects and gained knowledge and inspiration from them to allow me to be creative and conventional at the same time.
my own creative journey.
Since I started the Media course I have come a long way on my creative journey. When I tried my first creative piece of coursework I had no idea how much hard work it would be. Now i have finished i realise how i could've improved things i've done and how they could've been more creative and imaginative. My first piece of coursework differs hugely from my last piece of coursework. At the end of the course i had learnt how to use Photoshop and Final cut properly and my researching techniques had improved. The project appeared very professional and I spent a lot of time editing the footage and making sure that the image was in sync with the music and rhythm. In terms of being creative my skills have improved a lot over the two years.
Write 250 words on your own creative journey
My journey over the two year course for media has taken my ability to be creative and turned it into a skill which i have largly benefited from. Starting in 2009 my boundaries of imagionation and creativity were not defined and I had no idea of how to use these skills in an efficient and meaningful way. Firstly it shows over the two years how my creativity has grow by learning to using it in research of other media products, for example with the use of the internet and other media conventions my creavivity has enabled me not only take conventions from media products liek I would have done in 2009 but to take and to change and develop them to what fits my product or my idea. This is seen in our first childs opening which only touches on simple and obvious conventions like smooth narrative whereas with our thriller opening in 2010 we took the convention of dark and quick cuts and added a little creativity by changing it from making the shot naturally dark to taking a shot in the sun/day light and adding through editing a dark filter. Another way in which my creative journey has taken a turn in the two year course is through evaluation as with the thriller project we had to produce a simple evaluation on all areas to do with the project, which changes as with the music video we were allowed to make a filmed evalution and by research we learned that the standard proceeder was to just talk to the camera and pull up quick still shots of our production. So we decided to chnge this by adding some imagionation and creativity as we wanted our evalution to get the examiner interested, so we made it into a interview setting which made the interviewer feel more at ease and made the responses personal and in depth. We also added vioce overs when stills were being shown which suggests we wanted to really evaluate our peice as we could use the picture on screen and the voiceover the really get the examiner interested in our work.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Digital Technologies
To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills over the 2 years?
Digital technologies have helped over the last two years in a big way, due to being able to access the internet for almost anything and find information on it, also things like final cut and Garageband have also helped for organising bits of work.
The internet has helped because things like "Blogger" helped me to organise work and get the planning done in an orderly way rather than having pieces of paper all over the place and not being able to find what I need when needed. An example of this could be the storyboard being put onto my blogger page rather than being left on a bit of paper and getting lost. This helped my planning skills because it helped me organise everything I researched and put it into a order that was easy to use.
The internet in general helped because if you search a specific area like song lyrics for my music video numerous pages appear that have them on. This developed my skills because without the internet the lyrics would be hard to find and would be done poorly rather than a higher standard.
Final cut has helped me to organise footage into specific sections rather than leaving it all jumbled up and in a mess. It also allowed me to plan if I was missing a certain piece of footage to go out and shoot the bit that I needed.
The internet has helped because things like "Blogger" helped me to organise work and get the planning done in an orderly way rather than having pieces of paper all over the place and not being able to find what I need when needed. An example of this could be the storyboard being put onto my blogger page rather than being left on a bit of paper and getting lost. This helped my planning skills because it helped me organise everything I researched and put it into a order that was easy to use.
The internet in general helped because if you search a specific area like song lyrics for my music video numerous pages appear that have them on. This developed my skills because without the internet the lyrics would be hard to find and would be done poorly rather than a higher standard.
Final cut has helped me to organise footage into specific sections rather than leaving it all jumbled up and in a mess. It also allowed me to plan if I was missing a certain piece of footage to go out and shoot the bit that I needed.
To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your reasearch and planning skills over the past two years
digital technologies have been a massive part of my development over the past two years in several ways.
firstly, sites like blogger have allowed me to greatly develop my planning and researching skills individually and within a group as this has been a massive part within all of the media projects i have worked on. the planning and researching aspect of the project was greatly enhanced by the fact that the internet was so easily accesable and we were therefore able to look in to other existing works ranging from proffesional to ameture. it was also a great help in allowing us to digitally note our thoughts and processes. the blogs hae also been massivly usefull in allowing me to review and evaluate my own work which i can then learn from and change or develop in my next production which has been a massive part of my development within my digital works.
As well as blogger, Youtube has played a massive part in my planning and research skills as with it i was able to view other works and review them. from this i was then able to take references from as well as developing my own ideas from them. it has also allowed for me to be greatly influenced by previous professional productions as well as past students work. i have been able to see things which i can then choose to encorporate into my own work or see something and decide how i would've done things differntly and then being able to look at my own work in the same critical fashion to make my own works better.
Digital technology was also a massive part in the actual production of our products as with out the use of the cameras available to us we would not be able to create our productions at all. This use of cameras has also greatly developed my skills and understanding of filming in general. throughout all off my production it is very clear to see a great development in camera work, filming style and general filming skills. all the productions also allowed me to be as creative and experimental as i wanted and therefore allowed me to develop my skills in this way to.
it is also very easy to see a great improvement in my editing skills when looking over all of our past productions. with the use of Final Cut Express, i have been able to practice and very quickly learn more and more about different editing styles and techniques which i have then used within our projects. the last one in particular (our music video) allowed me to really experiment and then develop my editing skills and allowed for the use of different filters, cutting effects and general effects to their full potential. most of my learning on editing has been done through trial and error and giving me more than enough time to look and experiment with any effect that i might then want to use which has been a very useful learning technique for me in particular.
firstly, sites like blogger have allowed me to greatly develop my planning and researching skills individually and within a group as this has been a massive part within all of the media projects i have worked on. the planning and researching aspect of the project was greatly enhanced by the fact that the internet was so easily accesable and we were therefore able to look in to other existing works ranging from proffesional to ameture. it was also a great help in allowing us to digitally note our thoughts and processes. the blogs hae also been massivly usefull in allowing me to review and evaluate my own work which i can then learn from and change or develop in my next production which has been a massive part of my development within my digital works.
As well as blogger, Youtube has played a massive part in my planning and research skills as with it i was able to view other works and review them. from this i was then able to take references from as well as developing my own ideas from them. it has also allowed for me to be greatly influenced by previous professional productions as well as past students work. i have been able to see things which i can then choose to encorporate into my own work or see something and decide how i would've done things differntly and then being able to look at my own work in the same critical fashion to make my own works better.
Digital technology was also a massive part in the actual production of our products as with out the use of the cameras available to us we would not be able to create our productions at all. This use of cameras has also greatly developed my skills and understanding of filming in general. throughout all off my production it is very clear to see a great development in camera work, filming style and general filming skills. all the productions also allowed me to be as creative and experimental as i wanted and therefore allowed me to develop my skills in this way to.
it is also very easy to see a great improvement in my editing skills when looking over all of our past productions. with the use of Final Cut Express, i have been able to practice and very quickly learn more and more about different editing styles and techniques which i have then used within our projects. the last one in particular (our music video) allowed me to really experiment and then develop my editing skills and allowed for the use of different filters, cutting effects and general effects to their full potential. most of my learning on editing has been done through trial and error and giving me more than enough time to look and experiment with any effect that i might then want to use which has been a very useful learning technique for me in particular.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Post-production evaluation
Children's Film-
'What pre-production decisions did you make?'
Before shooting our children's film we brainstormed all ideas of what mice en scene we were going to use and what location would be best suited for our opening. We were trying to aim for a children's/teenage girls bedroom for our location and obviously, our choices were limited when it was being set in a sixth form college. We decided to go for a bare room that had plain walls and nothing there to ruin the illusion we were trying to portray.
We brought in our own props such as teddy bears, blankets, makeup etc. as we wanted to do a shot of everything close up so people get a good idea of what kind of show it will be and get to know the character without seeing her. We later did a long shot of everything involved within the frame for the establishing shot.
The lighting was very easy as in the film it was supposed to be set in the morning so we used natural lighting from the windows and no artificial light.
'What post-production decisions did you make?'
We edited out footage on rough cut, this helped us as it was an easy and fast way to experiment with transitions, sound effects, mixing up the footage etc. We decided to have out credited going at the edges of the screen when the visuals were still playing as we didn't want the children to lose focus without them.
'What pre-production decisions did you make?'
Before shooting our children's film we brainstormed all ideas of what mice en scene we were going to use and what location would be best suited for our opening. We were trying to aim for a children's/teenage girls bedroom for our location and obviously, our choices were limited when it was being set in a sixth form college. We decided to go for a bare room that had plain walls and nothing there to ruin the illusion we were trying to portray.
We brought in our own props such as teddy bears, blankets, makeup etc. as we wanted to do a shot of everything close up so people get a good idea of what kind of show it will be and get to know the character without seeing her. We later did a long shot of everything involved within the frame for the establishing shot.
The lighting was very easy as in the film it was supposed to be set in the morning so we used natural lighting from the windows and no artificial light.
'What post-production decisions did you make?'
We edited out footage on rough cut, this helped us as it was an easy and fast way to experiment with transitions, sound effects, mixing up the footage etc. We decided to have out credited going at the edges of the screen when the visuals were still playing as we didn't want the children to lose focus without them.
Blog task 18/05/2011
What post-production decisions did you make?
Music video- After the film shoot we got straight into editing our shoots by cutting them, rearranging them and adding transitions between shots on 'Final Cut Express'. This enhanced the continuity of our music video. After our draft cut we decided we didn't have enough shots of our lead band member singing the lyrics, which was what our genre had, so we did some extra filming and added some more. With our ancillary products we used the programme 'photo shop' to create a digipak and poster which added to our whole project. We added a filter onto our music video to give it the rustic and old effect that we wanted.
What is the function of post-production?
The function of post-production is to enhance our raw footage to make it into a string of images that makes sense and creates a narrative. This is all about cutting down from the raw footage to produce a refined and finished product with use in editing and sound.
Write a minimum of 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed over the two years- give detailed examples
Editing: Over the two years we have used Final Cut to edit our images together. When we first used Final Cut it took a while to get used to how it worked. With all the cutting tools and transitions tools. We had the same problem with garage-band and with photo shop but after two years and three media projects we advanced our skills and we now more confident when using the software. Over the two years with practice in three projects our skills at cutting and continuity have greatly improved through 'Final Cut Express'. For example in our first childrens opening our continuity was very poor with shots not syncing in time with each other like in our chase sequence when I ran around the corner when the other appear behind me I had run almost 30 metres in the space of a second. After two years the improvement shows in how we were able to use shot and sharp cuts of footage to fit in perfectly with the rhythm and beat of the music video.With Garage band our skills have improved over the two years, for example our soundtrack on the Thriller opening was rushed. We didn't leave enough time to create a good soundtrack and it ended up not matching with the footage which therefore ruined the whole product. In Final Cut Express we also learnt how to use filters and change the saturation and colour of our images. This benefited us greatly when it came to editing our music video. We could change the saturation and make it look old fashioned like we had planned.
Write 500 words in reponse to "To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your media A level."
Over the two years our ability in groups and as individuals has greatly improved and developed due to the developing digital technologies like the internet, blogger, facebook, quicktime player and many other technologies. Firstly the biggest digital technology which has had a big effect on to what extent our skills of planning and research have improved is the internet which we used for browser and site searches. For instance we used the internet to expand to amount of research we could do on our target audience for our music video, where we researched not only our bands music site but also others within that music genre. The internet enabled us to expand the amount of research and information we could get to make the planning of our project more defined and meaningful. We have also used blogger to write down all our research write helped us to improve and develop our skills in planning because we could access our work any time we wanted which made working from home much easier. Also with the application of QuickTime player we were able to research and access more material which improved our ability to research certain areas and genres within media like films/clips which may not feature on youtube. For example we used QuickTime player to play a digipak from some media examples as we research for features and conventions of digipaks like character evaluation from the director and the featured music video but with voice over commentary. another digital technology which improved our ability to research and plan was the site of 'facebook' because this allowed our group to communicate between lessons on where and when we planned to film and what each person needed to bring, this shows how the free technology for socializing was used for the benefit of planning in detail. Another digital technology whch gave us the edge when it came to research and planning was the digital stills camera which was used to take photo's of possible locations in our thriller opening. This really helped and enhanced our ability to plan as it not only gave us a location but also it allowed our group to plan shots and editing possibilities which we could use on the day of filming.
Children's film- after we filmed our film shoot we had to make huge changes to the order of shots and how the transitions went between each shot. Also we used final cut express to introduce editing techniques to add continuity to our piece. We used 'Garageband' to create the soundtrack for our peice and to add sound effects to enhance our product.
Thriller opening- In Post-production we used final cut express to edit all our shots together. We edited the saturation in our piece to enhance the horror genre. We also put text in our piece and edited it using Photoshop to make it look as if it was painting on the road. We edited our shots together to make it look like our main character was being stalked. We used Garageband to create a creepy piece of music to be the soundtrack to our Thriller.Music video- After the film shoot we got straight into editing our shoots by cutting them, rearranging them and adding transitions between shots on 'Final Cut Express'. This enhanced the continuity of our music video. After our draft cut we decided we didn't have enough shots of our lead band member singing the lyrics, which was what our genre had, so we did some extra filming and added some more. With our ancillary products we used the programme 'photo shop' to create a digipak and poster which added to our whole project. We added a filter onto our music video to give it the rustic and old effect that we wanted.
What is the function of post-production?
The function of post-production is to enhance our raw footage to make it into a string of images that makes sense and creates a narrative. This is all about cutting down from the raw footage to produce a refined and finished product with use in editing and sound.
Write a minimum of 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed over the two years- give detailed examples
Editing: Over the two years we have used Final Cut to edit our images together. When we first used Final Cut it took a while to get used to how it worked. With all the cutting tools and transitions tools. We had the same problem with garage-band and with photo shop but after two years and three media projects we advanced our skills and we now more confident when using the software. Over the two years with practice in three projects our skills at cutting and continuity have greatly improved through 'Final Cut Express'. For example in our first childrens opening our continuity was very poor with shots not syncing in time with each other like in our chase sequence when I ran around the corner when the other appear behind me I had run almost 30 metres in the space of a second. After two years the improvement shows in how we were able to use shot and sharp cuts of footage to fit in perfectly with the rhythm and beat of the music video.With Garage band our skills have improved over the two years, for example our soundtrack on the Thriller opening was rushed. We didn't leave enough time to create a good soundtrack and it ended up not matching with the footage which therefore ruined the whole product. In Final Cut Express we also learnt how to use filters and change the saturation and colour of our images. This benefited us greatly when it came to editing our music video. We could change the saturation and make it look old fashioned like we had planned.
Write 500 words in reponse to "To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your media A level."
Over the two years our ability in groups and as individuals has greatly improved and developed due to the developing digital technologies like the internet, blogger, facebook, quicktime player and many other technologies. Firstly the biggest digital technology which has had a big effect on to what extent our skills of planning and research have improved is the internet which we used for browser and site searches. For instance we used the internet to expand to amount of research we could do on our target audience for our music video, where we researched not only our bands music site but also others within that music genre. The internet enabled us to expand the amount of research and information we could get to make the planning of our project more defined and meaningful. We have also used blogger to write down all our research write helped us to improve and develop our skills in planning because we could access our work any time we wanted which made working from home much easier. Also with the application of QuickTime player we were able to research and access more material which improved our ability to research certain areas and genres within media like films/clips which may not feature on youtube. For example we used QuickTime player to play a digipak from some media examples as we research for features and conventions of digipaks like character evaluation from the director and the featured music video but with voice over commentary. another digital technology which improved our ability to research and plan was the site of 'facebook' because this allowed our group to communicate between lessons on where and when we planned to film and what each person needed to bring, this shows how the free technology for socializing was used for the benefit of planning in detail. Another digital technology whch gave us the edge when it came to research and planning was the digital stills camera which was used to take photo's of possible locations in our thriller opening. This really helped and enhanced our ability to plan as it not only gave us a location but also it allowed our group to plan shots and editing possibilities which we could use on the day of filming.
Blog Task Brook, Theunissen
What post-production decisions did you make?
Children's film
-transitions between scenes making a soft appearance.
-including sound into the opening using garageband to set the adventure tone.
-edited in a chronological order.
-with feedback, edit the sequence to make it more successful.
Thriller film
-hard transitions between scenes were made fast to increase tension in opening.
-sound was used to build suspense. Made in garageband.
-edited the sequence in chronological order
-added still images to build on the conventions of political thriller openings.
-edited the saturation of the shot to make a dull, tense mood.
Music video
-Edited shots with a fast pace to make the viewer not look at one shot for too long.
-lip-synchronized to match the lyrics to the video.
-added filters to challenge the conventions of the the genre.
-adding text of the lyrics to build on the conventions of the genre.
What is the function of post-production?
The purpose post-production is to build on the raw material obtained. For example with our thriller and children's film openings adding a composed music soundtrack to the filming using garageband, helping set the tone and builds on suspense and follows or challenges conventions of the genre. We used Final Cut Pro to put our filming in chronological order and edit to make our productions more successful. The main purpose of editing allowed us to ensure continuity. By this, we mean ensuring the filming follows the context and making sure nothing disrupts time and space.
How our post-production skills have developed over the 2 years
The main source of our development has been the use of technology and learning how to use the technology over the two years. For example, Final Cut Pro, was used to edit all of our raw filming and it has many techniques to edit filming and sound. For example, in Ryan's music video, he used filters to build on the conventions of the genre of the soundtrack. Final Cut has a range of transitions which make a production more successful, also set the mood and build on the genre that the production hold. For example, when making my thriller opening, we used fast, harsh transitions to ensure a thriller genre recognition by the audience. The use of the blogging system has allowed to plan, research and develop our productions. We research professional and student examples and tried to include their conventions and also begin to challenge their conventions used and also begin to originate our own.
"To what extent have digital technologies helped developed your research and planning skills over the 2 years?"
Technology has had a significant impact on how we have researched, planned and developed our product. Software such as the blog site, garageband, Final cut pro, photoshop and other software helped us to do this. The blog site helped us store our ideas to research other examples to influence our products both of a professional and amateur level. We planned our ideas using a shot list and storyboard and these were displayed on our blog and were used to edit our idea both during and post-production. By displaying our step-by-step method on the blog site we were able to obtain the coursework mark tiers, develop our final production, edit the blog to cover research and planning and see what we have and haven't done to our whole media production including ancillary products. Youtube was a big part in our researching section - looking at other products that had been produced. We took note of their product characteristic and begin to plan our idea with the research in mind. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks allowed us to access their fan page to build the conventions among the people who belonged to that genre. Challenging them was also a big part of using the conventions obtained.
Aother way digital technology has abled to expand our ability to plan and research during the whole 2 years is through the Preliminary Tasks that we did before the main production. The first Preliminary Task was to understand the task before going into it and to develop our skills with the technology for example the camera, the editing including using final cut pro and its techniques and garageband to compose music and finally photoshop to minipulate the product as a whole in screening.
Children's film
-transitions between scenes making a soft appearance.
-including sound into the opening using garageband to set the adventure tone.
-edited in a chronological order.
-with feedback, edit the sequence to make it more successful.
Thriller film
-hard transitions between scenes were made fast to increase tension in opening.
-sound was used to build suspense. Made in garageband.
-edited the sequence in chronological order
-added still images to build on the conventions of political thriller openings.
-edited the saturation of the shot to make a dull, tense mood.
Music video
-Edited shots with a fast pace to make the viewer not look at one shot for too long.
-lip-synchronized to match the lyrics to the video.
-added filters to challenge the conventions of the the genre.
-adding text of the lyrics to build on the conventions of the genre.
What is the function of post-production?
The purpose post-production is to build on the raw material obtained. For example with our thriller and children's film openings adding a composed music soundtrack to the filming using garageband, helping set the tone and builds on suspense and follows or challenges conventions of the genre. We used Final Cut Pro to put our filming in chronological order and edit to make our productions more successful. The main purpose of editing allowed us to ensure continuity. By this, we mean ensuring the filming follows the context and making sure nothing disrupts time and space.
How our post-production skills have developed over the 2 years
The main source of our development has been the use of technology and learning how to use the technology over the two years. For example, Final Cut Pro, was used to edit all of our raw filming and it has many techniques to edit filming and sound. For example, in Ryan's music video, he used filters to build on the conventions of the genre of the soundtrack. Final Cut has a range of transitions which make a production more successful, also set the mood and build on the genre that the production hold. For example, when making my thriller opening, we used fast, harsh transitions to ensure a thriller genre recognition by the audience. The use of the blogging system has allowed to plan, research and develop our productions. We research professional and student examples and tried to include their conventions and also begin to challenge their conventions used and also begin to originate our own.
"To what extent have digital technologies helped developed your research and planning skills over the 2 years?"
Technology has had a significant impact on how we have researched, planned and developed our product. Software such as the blog site, garageband, Final cut pro, photoshop and other software helped us to do this. The blog site helped us store our ideas to research other examples to influence our products both of a professional and amateur level. We planned our ideas using a shot list and storyboard and these were displayed on our blog and were used to edit our idea both during and post-production. By displaying our step-by-step method on the blog site we were able to obtain the coursework mark tiers, develop our final production, edit the blog to cover research and planning and see what we have and haven't done to our whole media production including ancillary products. Youtube was a big part in our researching section - looking at other products that had been produced. We took note of their product characteristic and begin to plan our idea with the research in mind. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks allowed us to access their fan page to build the conventions among the people who belonged to that genre. Challenging them was also a big part of using the conventions obtained.
Aother way digital technology has abled to expand our ability to plan and research during the whole 2 years is through the Preliminary Tasks that we did before the main production. The first Preliminary Task was to understand the task before going into it and to develop our skills with the technology for example the camera, the editing including using final cut pro and its techniques and garageband to compose music and finally photoshop to minipulate the product as a whole in screening.
Post-production
Childrens Film
After capturing our children's film on camera we uploaded it onto the computers to final cut express to begin the process of editing, to get rid of footage that we didn't need in order to make the opening scene look and flow better. Editing the footage took up some time as we wanted to add effects such as sepia to make the sequence more interesting to the eye, after sorting the editing of the scene out and having it in order, we began to add sound effects using garage band to help emphasise the footage and make it more interesting and deliver the opening scene as a whole package with a soundtrack and some sound effects where appropriate.
The function of post-production is to make your final product look the way in which you intended it to and to make it look more professional with slick editing that keeps the audience entertained throughout the scene. Adding sound effects and soundtrack helps emphasise the footage as it helps give the audience an idea of the mood that is trying to be created, as it was a children's film we used quite light and upbeat music.
Thriller
Once we had finished filming our thriller opening sequence it was uploaded onto final cut express we began to edit the footage, we decided to make our cuts very quick and precise in order to keep the audience guessing about what was happening within the scene. We decided not to add any sound effects other than the "natural" sound, however we did decide to add a soundtrack but this did not go as planned as when we uploaded our final version there was no dialogue in the scene and you could only hear the soundtrack.
The function of post-production within our thriller opening sequence was to help add tension and suspense. We did this by making our cuts very quick and precise, so that we did not reveal a lot of information to the audience so that they were kept guessing.
Music Video
After we had finished the filming of our music video we uploaded it to final cut express so that we could begin the editing process, for our music video we decided to make our cuts and transitions slower to fit the pace of the song which was slow. We had to fit a soundtrack to the footage which was quite difficult to achieve as it had to be perfect. After fitting the song to the footage we added effects to some of the clips to make them more interesting as our editing was slow paced we didn't want the audience to get bored.
The function of post-production for our music video was to put our footage in to chronological order and then fit the original song to the video after editing.
To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills over the 2 years ?
Digital technologies that i have used over the past two years have helped me develop my research and planning skills. The internet has been a big help whilst doing research and planning as it gave me access to alot of information easily and quickly using website like Google for the main body of research, for watching clips of films for inspiration i used youtube. My skills have improved over the past two years as i can filter out relevant information from things that aren't useful for me or my project. Also i find that i now can make a better final project due to the skills i have developed in research and planning, i know this as i have seen improvements in my marks from the first project i made (childrens film) to the last project that i did which was the music video. Blog Nog
What post-production decisions did you make?
Post production of our children’s film.
We started editing after filming all the scenes for our children’s film. We started cutting scenes that we didn’t need as we had filmed each one several times to make sure there was at least one that worked well and looked good. We had also used a moped in our children’s film although it looked slow and downplayed the action in the film so we decided to edit it and speed it up to make it more exciting for children to watch. We then added the title ‘The pursuit’ and some credits, as this was what had been suggested in an evaluation by the class. Once all the editing was complete we could export the film into Garageband and begin editing the sound and get it perfectly in time with the sequence.
Post production of our thriller.
The Post production stage started with the editing. As our thriller opening was not in chronological order, the cut up and placing of the footage took a long time. We decided to cut our footage up into small segments and then put them next to other pieces of footage, that is why there are some parts of the opening that follow and story. We then also decided to change the video filter on the product so it had a grainy look to it, so it looked as if it was old footage. We also decided to disorientate the viewer by putting some shots in reverse, and also speeding them up. We decided to ass credits on to the opening, the decisions we made for this were the font to use and where to put the credits. Deciding on where to put the credits was difficult as all of our shots were fairly short, and had something going on, and we wanted to make the credits subtle, so we edited them so they looked like they were on the wall. Once the editing was complete we had to create a soundtrack. We come the majority of diagetic sound, but as the majority of the footage was sped up or put in reverse it sounded very disorientated, which was the feel that we wanted. We also created a drone on Garageband to play through the film.
Post production of our music video.
The Post production stage of our music video started with editing the footage. As we had already decided what order our shots were going in it was not to hard to do, we just had to cut up the footage and place it where we wanted it. We then decided to put filters on the product so it looked old, as we wanted it to be a punk style music video. We put a filter on the footage to make it more grainy, and we also changed the colour of the footage to a yellow colour, so it looked more 80’s. As we were creating a music video, the music element to the video was already produced so we just had to put the music on top of the video. Once we had done this we had to move a few of the shots so that the lip-syncing was in the right place.
What is the function of post-production?
The function of post production is to turn your raw footage into an actual product. You do this through editing and sound. Post production turns your footage into a story, or your desired product. The post production stage of the product is important so people will understand your intentions.
Write 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed the 2 years-give detailed examples.
Over the two years our post production skills have improved dramatically. When we first came to long road, we knew nothing about the post production stage of a product, and as you can tell from our products over time, we have improved. If you look at the children’s film, there are obvious continuity errors. For example when Will stands up at the beginning, the next shot shows him standing up again, whereas if you look at our music video, the continuity is good. This is due to editing. Over the two years of being at long road we have used final cut express. When we first came to the college, we had never used the software, but over time we have become more familiar with the software, meaning that our product look a lot more professional. It also means post production time can be reduced as we are much more familiar with the editing programmes and can therefore get editing done a lot quicker, meaning more time can be used for filming resulting in better shots. Editing has also become more adventurous, for example in my thriller opening we changed the lighting of some of the shots but for the music video we were able to change the colour of the shots as well as the lighting to create an 80s looking film.
Write 500 words in response to "to what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research & planning skills during your media a-level.
Digital technologies have helped us develop our research and planning skills in many ways. The biggest aid to us has been the access that we have to the Internet. The Internet is very useful to us especially during the research stage of the project. This is because there is almost an unlimited amount of resources, from many places, from many different people. The types of resources that you can get online are also very different to anything else. You can get audio footage, video footage, images and text. Examples of these are that for our music video. We went on to YouTube where we could watch other music videos that are in the same genre as our production and look at the styles and techniques which are common within that genre, and then use them as we wish. An example of images is for deciding our costumes for our production. We went on to Google images and searched key words such as “Punk” and “80’s Police office”. This meant that we could see what they were wearing and we could base our costumes around them. The Internet was also useful as we could create blogs. This meant that we could post all of our ideas onto the one place, which is safe. It also meant if a member of the group had an idea and wanted to share it with us, they could write the idea on the blog for others to see. Other ways in which digital technologies have helped us through or research and planning stages of our production, is through a still’s camera. We could use this to take images of locations, props and costume’s and decide how we would use them within our production; it is also useful as it meant we could insure everything looked to how we planned to make our time more efficient. We could also use video cameras within our planning and research stage. This meant we could get test footage of what we wish to do, and then analyse it and see if it was how we expected. An example of this is within our thriller, in which one scene there is footage of someone washing blood off of his hands. We did test footage of this to see if the colours were how we expected. Digital technologies have also helped us with the decisions that we made when putting filters onto our videos. With the test footage that we took we could upload it into final cut express and then put filters on it to see how it looked. This saved time within the postproduction stage of the film, as we already knew what filters that we wanted on our footage.
Post production of our children’s film.
We started editing after filming all the scenes for our children’s film. We started cutting scenes that we didn’t need as we had filmed each one several times to make sure there was at least one that worked well and looked good. We had also used a moped in our children’s film although it looked slow and downplayed the action in the film so we decided to edit it and speed it up to make it more exciting for children to watch. We then added the title ‘The pursuit’ and some credits, as this was what had been suggested in an evaluation by the class. Once all the editing was complete we could export the film into Garageband and begin editing the sound and get it perfectly in time with the sequence.
Post production of our thriller.
The Post production stage started with the editing. As our thriller opening was not in chronological order, the cut up and placing of the footage took a long time. We decided to cut our footage up into small segments and then put them next to other pieces of footage, that is why there are some parts of the opening that follow and story. We then also decided to change the video filter on the product so it had a grainy look to it, so it looked as if it was old footage. We also decided to disorientate the viewer by putting some shots in reverse, and also speeding them up. We decided to ass credits on to the opening, the decisions we made for this were the font to use and where to put the credits. Deciding on where to put the credits was difficult as all of our shots were fairly short, and had something going on, and we wanted to make the credits subtle, so we edited them so they looked like they were on the wall. Once the editing was complete we had to create a soundtrack. We come the majority of diagetic sound, but as the majority of the footage was sped up or put in reverse it sounded very disorientated, which was the feel that we wanted. We also created a drone on Garageband to play through the film.
Post production of our music video.
The Post production stage of our music video started with editing the footage. As we had already decided what order our shots were going in it was not to hard to do, we just had to cut up the footage and place it where we wanted it. We then decided to put filters on the product so it looked old, as we wanted it to be a punk style music video. We put a filter on the footage to make it more grainy, and we also changed the colour of the footage to a yellow colour, so it looked more 80’s. As we were creating a music video, the music element to the video was already produced so we just had to put the music on top of the video. Once we had done this we had to move a few of the shots so that the lip-syncing was in the right place.
What is the function of post-production?
The function of post production is to turn your raw footage into an actual product. You do this through editing and sound. Post production turns your footage into a story, or your desired product. The post production stage of the product is important so people will understand your intentions.
Write 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed the 2 years-give detailed examples.
Over the two years our post production skills have improved dramatically. When we first came to long road, we knew nothing about the post production stage of a product, and as you can tell from our products over time, we have improved. If you look at the children’s film, there are obvious continuity errors. For example when Will stands up at the beginning, the next shot shows him standing up again, whereas if you look at our music video, the continuity is good. This is due to editing. Over the two years of being at long road we have used final cut express. When we first came to the college, we had never used the software, but over time we have become more familiar with the software, meaning that our product look a lot more professional. It also means post production time can be reduced as we are much more familiar with the editing programmes and can therefore get editing done a lot quicker, meaning more time can be used for filming resulting in better shots. Editing has also become more adventurous, for example in my thriller opening we changed the lighting of some of the shots but for the music video we were able to change the colour of the shots as well as the lighting to create an 80s looking film.
Write 500 words in response to "to what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research & planning skills during your media a-level.
Digital technologies have helped us develop our research and planning skills in many ways. The biggest aid to us has been the access that we have to the Internet. The Internet is very useful to us especially during the research stage of the project. This is because there is almost an unlimited amount of resources, from many places, from many different people. The types of resources that you can get online are also very different to anything else. You can get audio footage, video footage, images and text. Examples of these are that for our music video. We went on to YouTube where we could watch other music videos that are in the same genre as our production and look at the styles and techniques which are common within that genre, and then use them as we wish. An example of images is for deciding our costumes for our production. We went on to Google images and searched key words such as “Punk” and “80’s Police office”. This meant that we could see what they were wearing and we could base our costumes around them. The Internet was also useful as we could create blogs. This meant that we could post all of our ideas onto the one place, which is safe. It also meant if a member of the group had an idea and wanted to share it with us, they could write the idea on the blog for others to see. Other ways in which digital technologies have helped us through or research and planning stages of our production, is through a still’s camera. We could use this to take images of locations, props and costume’s and decide how we would use them within our production; it is also useful as it meant we could insure everything looked to how we planned to make our time more efficient. We could also use video cameras within our planning and research stage. This meant we could get test footage of what we wish to do, and then analyse it and see if it was how we expected. An example of this is within our thriller, in which one scene there is footage of someone washing blood off of his hands. We did test footage of this to see if the colours were how we expected. Digital technologies have also helped us with the decisions that we made when putting filters onto our videos. With the test footage that we took we could upload it into final cut express and then put filters on it to see how it looked. This saved time within the postproduction stage of the film, as we already knew what filters that we wanted on our footage.
Questions about our products
For all of your productions answer the following questions:
-What post-production decisions did you make?
During post-production of our children's film project we had to decide upon certain editing elements to include to our product after the written response from our peers and teachers who took it upon themselves to view our video. After watching the video the class provided constructive criticism and positive feedback so as we could improve the product according to the genre. Following the feedback on our product we decided to add a voice over; traditional to the opening of most children's films. Our video needed something more than the stop motion fairy so we decided to make the mushroom rock and the eyes of the trees blink. During post-production we also used garage band to create our score to create the atmosphere that we desired.
For our thriller we also audience feedback, which we then used to improve our product. Some criticism we received was the shot duration of some of our clips at the beginning, which we altered in the post-production phase. We tried to incorporate a variety of different angles to match the feedback.
Our music video received a lot of criticism regarding pace, shot duration and the parallel narrative. However because we wanted our video to challenge traditional conventions of a dance video we had to take on board the comments and adjust what we could without jeopardising our original idea. For this we upped the pace a little and further intertwined the narratives to give a better flow.
-What is the function of post-production?
The sole purpose of post-production is to adjust your product to suit its audience after being viewed when in its uncompleted stage, meaning that you do not go off track with the purpose of your video. Post-production includes all the changes made after filming, therefore includes editing, voice overs and audience feedback.
Write 500 words in response to "To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your media a-level".
During our research and planning stages throughout our media A-level, we have used a variety of digital technologies, including digital cameras for our test footage which helped with the research when seeing what worked in our projects and what was effective. This was useful as we were able to film a small portion of footage and decide where to go from there rather than doing the entire project with no clue as to the outcome or overall effectiveness.
Youtube provided us with constant effective means of research when in the developing process of all of our projects throughout the course. Some quick examples of YouTube being used for this purpose are; our first children's film opening sequence whereby we were able to search similar story-lines to our own ideas; for instance 'Tinkerbell' which gave us inspiration as to what type of character our lead would be. A further example of YouTube being used was for our thriller project, where we could gain access to plenty of psychological film sequence for example 'The Shining', which unlike Tinkerbell was the concept which made our piece as styalised as it was, with the incorporation of short cuts. A final example of YouTube being employed is for our music video project, where Cascadas music videos were a source of inspiration for the lead character. Over the duration of the course digital technologies such as YouTube have enabled us to develop our planning and research skills by using the internet as a source of inspiration regarding style and genre which have contributed enormously to all of our projects throughout the media A-level.
-What post-production decisions did you make?
During post-production of our children's film project we had to decide upon certain editing elements to include to our product after the written response from our peers and teachers who took it upon themselves to view our video. After watching the video the class provided constructive criticism and positive feedback so as we could improve the product according to the genre. Following the feedback on our product we decided to add a voice over; traditional to the opening of most children's films. Our video needed something more than the stop motion fairy so we decided to make the mushroom rock and the eyes of the trees blink. During post-production we also used garage band to create our score to create the atmosphere that we desired.
For our thriller we also audience feedback, which we then used to improve our product. Some criticism we received was the shot duration of some of our clips at the beginning, which we altered in the post-production phase. We tried to incorporate a variety of different angles to match the feedback.
Our music video received a lot of criticism regarding pace, shot duration and the parallel narrative. However because we wanted our video to challenge traditional conventions of a dance video we had to take on board the comments and adjust what we could without jeopardising our original idea. For this we upped the pace a little and further intertwined the narratives to give a better flow.
-What is the function of post-production?
The sole purpose of post-production is to adjust your product to suit its audience after being viewed when in its uncompleted stage, meaning that you do not go off track with the purpose of your video. Post-production includes all the changes made after filming, therefore includes editing, voice overs and audience feedback.
Write 500 words in response to "To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your media a-level".
During our research and planning stages throughout our media A-level, we have used a variety of digital technologies, including digital cameras for our test footage which helped with the research when seeing what worked in our projects and what was effective. This was useful as we were able to film a small portion of footage and decide where to go from there rather than doing the entire project with no clue as to the outcome or overall effectiveness.
Youtube provided us with constant effective means of research when in the developing process of all of our projects throughout the course. Some quick examples of YouTube being used for this purpose are; our first children's film opening sequence whereby we were able to search similar story-lines to our own ideas; for instance 'Tinkerbell' which gave us inspiration as to what type of character our lead would be. A further example of YouTube being used was for our thriller project, where we could gain access to plenty of psychological film sequence for example 'The Shining', which unlike Tinkerbell was the concept which made our piece as styalised as it was, with the incorporation of short cuts. A final example of YouTube being employed is for our music video project, where Cascadas music videos were a source of inspiration for the lead character. Over the duration of the course digital technologies such as YouTube have enabled us to develop our planning and research skills by using the internet as a source of inspiration regarding style and genre which have contributed enormously to all of our projects throughout the media A-level.
Post Production
Childrens Film
For my childrens film project the post production decisions i made included, the editing we used within the project for example cutting down shots to make the project faster and flow better, we also put a soundtrack over the footage we shot, this was created in garage band, this is a piece of post production. The other thing we done was put credits on top of the footage which is also post-production.
The function of post production is so that the piece of work we are creating can look and sound the best it can so the audience can enjoy it to the fullest, rather than getting a half put together piece of footage with basic sound and poor shots that drag on for too long.
Thriller Opening
For the thriller opening the post-production decisions were similar to my Childrens Film, for example we edited the shots together so they would flow well and fit with one another, this was all done on Final Cut. We put credits over the footage that was also done on Final Cut which could not be done before post-production. The soundtrack was firstly made on Garageband then was imported to Final Cut and put onto our footage which is the most effective way to put a soundtrack onto footage. Another post production decision was to put a voiceover onto the footage, which was recorded and then imported into Final Cut and put over the footage following the footage and matching the images shown with the voiceover talking about the image shown.
The function of post production is so we could achieve the image that we wanted to achieve by making a creepy thriller and i think without the voice over this would not have been achieved because it adds to the effect of a killer and his voice. Also the soundtrack achieves an element of darkness because its quite mellow but chilling at the same time, without this the piece would not have been as effective as it was.
Music Video
The Music video had various post production decisions made. The first being that we made all of the footage have a filter over it so that it looked darker than originally shot, because we were doing a graveyard/zombie theme and we thought darkness fits this a bit more than the sun beaming down. Another post production decision was we decided to do a piece of editing where it showed us all together playing the guitar, but we appeared at different times and in different colours, this was a non-conventional thing to do and made our video a bit more edgy. We made the footage rewind at a section that the song rewinds at the same time. We also made a bit of footage reverse which was the lead band member getting out of a grave, we reversed this so it looked like he was getting back in the grave showing he is done with the song and going back to sleep. The song we chose also got put on in post production and we cut it and used the bits we thought we synced the best.
For my childrens film project the post production decisions i made included, the editing we used within the project for example cutting down shots to make the project faster and flow better, we also put a soundtrack over the footage we shot, this was created in garage band, this is a piece of post production. The other thing we done was put credits on top of the footage which is also post-production.
The function of post production is so that the piece of work we are creating can look and sound the best it can so the audience can enjoy it to the fullest, rather than getting a half put together piece of footage with basic sound and poor shots that drag on for too long.
Thriller Opening
For the thriller opening the post-production decisions were similar to my Childrens Film, for example we edited the shots together so they would flow well and fit with one another, this was all done on Final Cut. We put credits over the footage that was also done on Final Cut which could not be done before post-production. The soundtrack was firstly made on Garageband then was imported to Final Cut and put onto our footage which is the most effective way to put a soundtrack onto footage. Another post production decision was to put a voiceover onto the footage, which was recorded and then imported into Final Cut and put over the footage following the footage and matching the images shown with the voiceover talking about the image shown.
The function of post production is so we could achieve the image that we wanted to achieve by making a creepy thriller and i think without the voice over this would not have been achieved because it adds to the effect of a killer and his voice. Also the soundtrack achieves an element of darkness because its quite mellow but chilling at the same time, without this the piece would not have been as effective as it was.
Music Video
The Music video had various post production decisions made. The first being that we made all of the footage have a filter over it so that it looked darker than originally shot, because we were doing a graveyard/zombie theme and we thought darkness fits this a bit more than the sun beaming down. Another post production decision was we decided to do a piece of editing where it showed us all together playing the guitar, but we appeared at different times and in different colours, this was a non-conventional thing to do and made our video a bit more edgy. We made the footage rewind at a section that the song rewinds at the same time. We also made a bit of footage reverse which was the lead band member getting out of a grave, we reversed this so it looked like he was getting back in the grave showing he is done with the song and going back to sleep. The song we chose also got put on in post production and we cut it and used the bits we thought we synced the best.
Post Production
What post production decisions did you make?
Thriller- Uploading footage onto the computer and sorting the video into chronological order in a basic rough cut. Created a soundtrack in GarageBand to incorporate into the video and make sure that it fits the genre. Merge the soundtrack with the video in Final Cut. After all this we added subtle transitions to make the video seem more slick and neat. Finally credits were added to legitimise the quality of the product in line with normal, conventional movie openings.
Children's Film- Uploading footage onto the computer into Final Cut Express and sorting the clips into order of narrative in a basic rough cut again. Again another soundtrack was created to enhance the movement of the narrative and to make it fit the genre of a Children's Film. Transitions and finishing touches were then added to make the video appear more professional in its approach.
Music Video- Uploading footage onto the computer into Final Cut Express and sorting into chronological order. Imported the actual song we had into Final Cut and went about syncing up our video footage to the song lyrics. Added animations and lyrics on screen as a visualisation of lyrics. Again small transitions were added such as small fades. When working on the ancillary products for this project, we used a picture from the photo that we had taken on the day of shooting the video and then placed in it into Photoshop and began editing it into the style of genre that the music entails. We used this method for both the Digipak and Magazine Advert however the two products gave of different amounts of information and varied in style.
What is the function of post production?
The idea of post production is to change/manipulate/enhance our product after it has been filmed to amplify the overall quality and create a more effective product relating to the type of genre characteristics.
Write a minimum of 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed over the two years. Give detailed examples.
Editing Skills- Skills that were introduced two years ago in using Final Cut Express have developed. The way in which we now use the simple and more advanced tools are now intuitive. For example at the beginning of the course when we were doing the Children's Film, the basic tools that were introduced to use were easily forgotten as we were not use to the programme and the techniques required. Skills such as the speeding of the video weren't really used in the early stages of the course due to the fact that we did not need to use it until we started doing the Music Video project. This is were we all learnt how to control the speed of clips and to efficently sync music lyrics on a song, to video.
Soundtrack Creation- During the Children's Film project, our soundtracks were very basic as we were new to the software, however as are research skills develops, we were able to identify more precise and detailed characteristics of the genre and thus make the overall soundtrack more in keeping with the genre. With our thriller project, a different approach was needed to the soundtrack as the genre is a complete contrast to the last project of that of a Children's Film. The basic skills that we acquired in the previous project were used again in the Thriller, but a small adjustment of the genre type of music we were creating. We aimed to create tension and a sense of the unknown,
Photoshop Work- Already having Photoshop experience before the production of our media products, many skills and functions were easily appliable to the elements required to help enhance the ancillary products of the Music Video project. Being able to edit and image to include black and white, with a small piece of colour was something that I was already experienced with, so when we decided to do it in our magazine ad, I knew it would look good and fit perfectly as a whole package.
Write 500 words in response "To what extent have digital technologies help develop your research and planning skills during your media A Level".
Basically, were awesome. Always have been, always will. Digital technologies has just made us look even more awesome.
To a great extent digital technologies have developed our research and planning skills throughout our media projects. Using the internet was a major source for research, with the use of Youtube it was easy to see other band's music videos in the genre and therefore we could incorporate some of the conventions seen in these videos into our own video. The internet enabled us to gain an increased understanding as to how music video's reach their audiences, and how they can be promoted and shared through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Being able to use the internet to research and plan has, over the last 2 years, been paramount in helping us find out about other projects. Having the ability to look at other students work over Blogger was a great way of being able to generate idea's and planning out how we could go about making our on projects. Being able to read feedback on our video's made re-thinking or re-doing a certain aspect of our video, which helped create a better overall product. Using Blogger to lay out the whole of one project added a sense of structure to the projects and gave us direction when we were lost on something to do.
Another way digital technologies have been able to expand our ability to plan and research during the whole 2 years is through the Preliminary Tasks that we had completed prior to our major projects. The first Preliminary Task was at the very start of the year, which gave us hands on time with some of the equipment and technologies that we would come accustomed to. After been giving the task to film a conversation, we set about familiarising ourselves with the equipment such as the Camera and Tripod. Before this Task, I had had no real experience with this sort of equipment, so everything was brand new to me. Now during the latest project of the Music Video, I can say that I was completely comfortable operating and being in front of the camera. This has then in turn made me confident in being able to plan more advanced and different filming techniques.
Thriller- Uploading footage onto the computer and sorting the video into chronological order in a basic rough cut. Created a soundtrack in GarageBand to incorporate into the video and make sure that it fits the genre. Merge the soundtrack with the video in Final Cut. After all this we added subtle transitions to make the video seem more slick and neat. Finally credits were added to legitimise the quality of the product in line with normal, conventional movie openings.
Children's Film- Uploading footage onto the computer into Final Cut Express and sorting the clips into order of narrative in a basic rough cut again. Again another soundtrack was created to enhance the movement of the narrative and to make it fit the genre of a Children's Film. Transitions and finishing touches were then added to make the video appear more professional in its approach.
Music Video- Uploading footage onto the computer into Final Cut Express and sorting into chronological order. Imported the actual song we had into Final Cut and went about syncing up our video footage to the song lyrics. Added animations and lyrics on screen as a visualisation of lyrics. Again small transitions were added such as small fades. When working on the ancillary products for this project, we used a picture from the photo that we had taken on the day of shooting the video and then placed in it into Photoshop and began editing it into the style of genre that the music entails. We used this method for both the Digipak and Magazine Advert however the two products gave of different amounts of information and varied in style.
What is the function of post production?
The idea of post production is to change/manipulate/enhance our product after it has been filmed to amplify the overall quality and create a more effective product relating to the type of genre characteristics.
Write a minimum of 250 words on how your post-production skills have developed over the two years. Give detailed examples.
Editing Skills- Skills that were introduced two years ago in using Final Cut Express have developed. The way in which we now use the simple and more advanced tools are now intuitive. For example at the beginning of the course when we were doing the Children's Film, the basic tools that were introduced to use were easily forgotten as we were not use to the programme and the techniques required. Skills such as the speeding of the video weren't really used in the early stages of the course due to the fact that we did not need to use it until we started doing the Music Video project. This is were we all learnt how to control the speed of clips and to efficently sync music lyrics on a song, to video.
Soundtrack Creation- During the Children's Film project, our soundtracks were very basic as we were new to the software, however as are research skills develops, we were able to identify more precise and detailed characteristics of the genre and thus make the overall soundtrack more in keeping with the genre. With our thriller project, a different approach was needed to the soundtrack as the genre is a complete contrast to the last project of that of a Children's Film. The basic skills that we acquired in the previous project were used again in the Thriller, but a small adjustment of the genre type of music we were creating. We aimed to create tension and a sense of the unknown,
Photoshop Work- Already having Photoshop experience before the production of our media products, many skills and functions were easily appliable to the elements required to help enhance the ancillary products of the Music Video project. Being able to edit and image to include black and white, with a small piece of colour was something that I was already experienced with, so when we decided to do it in our magazine ad, I knew it would look good and fit perfectly as a whole package.
Write 500 words in response "To what extent have digital technologies help develop your research and planning skills during your media A Level".
Basically, were awesome. Always have been, always will. Digital technologies has just made us look even more awesome.
To a great extent digital technologies have developed our research and planning skills throughout our media projects. Using the internet was a major source for research, with the use of Youtube it was easy to see other band's music videos in the genre and therefore we could incorporate some of the conventions seen in these videos into our own video. The internet enabled us to gain an increased understanding as to how music video's reach their audiences, and how they can be promoted and shared through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Being able to use the internet to research and plan has, over the last 2 years, been paramount in helping us find out about other projects. Having the ability to look at other students work over Blogger was a great way of being able to generate idea's and planning out how we could go about making our on projects. Being able to read feedback on our video's made re-thinking or re-doing a certain aspect of our video, which helped create a better overall product. Using Blogger to lay out the whole of one project added a sense of structure to the projects and gave us direction when we were lost on something to do.
Another way digital technologies have been able to expand our ability to plan and research during the whole 2 years is through the Preliminary Tasks that we had completed prior to our major projects. The first Preliminary Task was at the very start of the year, which gave us hands on time with some of the equipment and technologies that we would come accustomed to. After been giving the task to film a conversation, we set about familiarising ourselves with the equipment such as the Camera and Tripod. Before this Task, I had had no real experience with this sort of equipment, so everything was brand new to me. Now during the latest project of the Music Video, I can say that I was completely comfortable operating and being in front of the camera. This has then in turn made me confident in being able to plan more advanced and different filming techniques.
Production evaluation
What post production decisions did you make?
There wasn't much editing involved in the post-production stages of our childrens film as it was a stop-motion animation and most of the film was created though what we made for the animation. We added a voiceover to introduce the film as this seemed to be a conventional thing to do in children's films:
'Deep in the enchanted forest of the night is a magical land of mushrooms for houses and where trees unite. Where creatures create magic an where fairies take flight. Come and meet Cinnamon.'
We also added credits at the end, these seem rather rushed and haven't really been thought through.
With the Thriller opening we used a number of post production editing techniques. We added a production logo to add professionalism (storm productions) which we made flash, putting the sounds of thunder and lightening over the top. Throughout the whole video, we put the subtle sounds of bird song over the top of the sound track. Throughout the video, the credits stay in the same corner (bottom-right) so they wouldn't distract from the content of the film. As the characters are introduced, we decided to stop the non-diegetic soundtrack as the characters are introduced to provide a contrast between the previous rather more spooky scene. This contrast can also be seen in the colouring and contrast of the video; we heightened the contrast and darkened the colouring of the creepy woods scene so the more light hearted scene would look sunny and juxtapose well with the diegetic sound of Bob Marleys 'three little birds'. To fit with the title of the film (silhouette) , we heightened the contrast more so as the antagonist stands on the hill looming down on the protagonist, all that can be seen is a dark figure. Other sound effects used, were the creepy sounds of woodland creatures (howling, chirping etc) to unnerve the audience. We also added dripping noises as the protagonist enters the cave in which the well is located.
The music video took the most work in post-production. The video begins with the sounds of farm yard animals as the camera zooms into the book, this sets the scene for the theme and location of the video. To clarify the 'Animal Farm' inspiration for the video..
There wasn't much editing involved in the post-production stages of our childrens film as it was a stop-motion animation and most of the film was created though what we made for the animation. We added a voiceover to introduce the film as this seemed to be a conventional thing to do in children's films:
'Deep in the enchanted forest of the night is a magical land of mushrooms for houses and where trees unite. Where creatures create magic an where fairies take flight. Come and meet Cinnamon.'
We also added credits at the end, these seem rather rushed and haven't really been thought through.
With the Thriller opening we used a number of post production editing techniques. We added a production logo to add professionalism (storm productions) which we made flash, putting the sounds of thunder and lightening over the top. Throughout the whole video, we put the subtle sounds of bird song over the top of the sound track. Throughout the video, the credits stay in the same corner (bottom-right) so they wouldn't distract from the content of the film. As the characters are introduced, we decided to stop the non-diegetic soundtrack as the characters are introduced to provide a contrast between the previous rather more spooky scene. This contrast can also be seen in the colouring and contrast of the video; we heightened the contrast and darkened the colouring of the creepy woods scene so the more light hearted scene would look sunny and juxtapose well with the diegetic sound of Bob Marleys 'three little birds'. To fit with the title of the film (silhouette) , we heightened the contrast more so as the antagonist stands on the hill looming down on the protagonist, all that can be seen is a dark figure. Other sound effects used, were the creepy sounds of woodland creatures (howling, chirping etc) to unnerve the audience. We also added dripping noises as the protagonist enters the cave in which the well is located.
The music video took the most work in post-production. The video begins with the sounds of farm yard animals as the camera zooms into the book, this sets the scene for the theme and location of the video. To clarify the 'Animal Farm' inspiration for the video..
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Practice exam Questions
What post-production decisions did you make?
Children's film - We tried to use Photoshop animations but this although looked good at first, but however managed to end up losing the whole thing on the deadline day when the photoshop files were removed and we managed to end up with un-rendered over all the footage.
when we needed to think about the soundtrack for the film we looked at the program garage band in order to compose our soundtrack after we had edited as this made it easier to put music to the footage. We didn't change much of the music we used most of the defaults which is in contrast to our Thriller were we made most of the music ourselves.
for the editing part of our post-production work we didn't really do anything that was overly complex as we were still inexperienced with the final cut software, this lead to us only using quick cuts to simulate speed and movement.
Thriller - Parallel narrative, Different parts in focus with foreground and background. So for example from the children's film us we were the main focus, but in the thriller we are using other parts as the focus, like the shot through the banisters. Our garage band soundtrack was much more custom made, and we used a voice over to reveal more of the story and create more questions. We also made our credits blend into the environment, like blending one into the pedestal. As it was a thriller we decided to make the colour of the screen darker to suit the dark and gritty mood of the thriller. Our most creative part of our thriller is the parallel narrative which we used to make a anachronic feel to it buy using flashbacks to show past stories. And we made the screen black and white to show this without having to show timestamps on the screen.
Music Video - For our music video we did not have to make a soundtrack as there was already one, this freed up time for us to concentrate on other aspects of the post production. In the case of editing we used simple techniques to create the feeling of voyeurism on the main actor, we also used other footage from news networks to emphasise the point of our film. The transitions that we used was called "bad TV" which we varied each time in order to not make it seem over used, it also added to the voyeur feeling as it seemed like you were actually watching a T.V this was backed up by a form of glitch that we added to the footage to make it seem like a bad connected stream of footage.
The function of post-production is to add effects and the cutting of footage after all the footage has been shot that it gives it order as well as enabling editing of the footage.
To what extend have digital technologies helped developed your research and planning skills, over the two years.
Through the use of blogger and sites like youtube we had managed to get lots of information on what are audience had wanted and how it is best to get it out there too them. Digital technology also included final cut, garage band and the cameras we used to film the piece. Our Music video had looked much more professional due to the fact that the cameras we had used HD cameras, and we became much more inventive with garage band and final cut.
While planning our projects our use of digital technologies changed and improved, for a start we begun to use the internet in new ways looking on lots of different sites for information, for example Know your Tribe rather than referring to the default response of just checking Wikipedia altough this was only the case in terms of information that we needed, when we required more information on people e.g. The King Blues we managed to find their blog site and were able to find out alot of stuff about them like their political views and opinions.
You can see how much we increased in using the blog by comparing the children's blog with the thriller one, as the thriller one is full of information to do with similar films to the genre we were going to focus on. Whereas children's film we concentrated on the whole children's film industry as a whole.
Children's film - We tried to use Photoshop animations but this although looked good at first, but however managed to end up losing the whole thing on the deadline day when the photoshop files were removed and we managed to end up with un-rendered over all the footage.
when we needed to think about the soundtrack for the film we looked at the program garage band in order to compose our soundtrack after we had edited as this made it easier to put music to the footage. We didn't change much of the music we used most of the defaults which is in contrast to our Thriller were we made most of the music ourselves.
for the editing part of our post-production work we didn't really do anything that was overly complex as we were still inexperienced with the final cut software, this lead to us only using quick cuts to simulate speed and movement.
Thriller - Parallel narrative, Different parts in focus with foreground and background. So for example from the children's film us we were the main focus, but in the thriller we are using other parts as the focus, like the shot through the banisters. Our garage band soundtrack was much more custom made, and we used a voice over to reveal more of the story and create more questions. We also made our credits blend into the environment, like blending one into the pedestal. As it was a thriller we decided to make the colour of the screen darker to suit the dark and gritty mood of the thriller. Our most creative part of our thriller is the parallel narrative which we used to make a anachronic feel to it buy using flashbacks to show past stories. And we made the screen black and white to show this without having to show timestamps on the screen.
Music Video - For our music video we did not have to make a soundtrack as there was already one, this freed up time for us to concentrate on other aspects of the post production. In the case of editing we used simple techniques to create the feeling of voyeurism on the main actor, we also used other footage from news networks to emphasise the point of our film. The transitions that we used was called "bad TV" which we varied each time in order to not make it seem over used, it also added to the voyeur feeling as it seemed like you were actually watching a T.V this was backed up by a form of glitch that we added to the footage to make it seem like a bad connected stream of footage.
The function of post-production is to add effects and the cutting of footage after all the footage has been shot that it gives it order as well as enabling editing of the footage.
To what extend have digital technologies helped developed your research and planning skills, over the two years.
Through the use of blogger and sites like youtube we had managed to get lots of information on what are audience had wanted and how it is best to get it out there too them. Digital technology also included final cut, garage band and the cameras we used to film the piece. Our Music video had looked much more professional due to the fact that the cameras we had used HD cameras, and we became much more inventive with garage band and final cut.
While planning our projects our use of digital technologies changed and improved, for a start we begun to use the internet in new ways looking on lots of different sites for information, for example Know your Tribe rather than referring to the default response of just checking Wikipedia altough this was only the case in terms of information that we needed, when we required more information on people e.g. The King Blues we managed to find their blog site and were able to find out alot of stuff about them like their political views and opinions.
You can see how much we increased in using the blog by comparing the children's blog with the thriller one, as the thriller one is full of information to do with similar films to the genre we were going to focus on. Whereas children's film we concentrated on the whole children's film industry as a whole.
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