Congratulations to Myself, Rob, the rest of our class and to the teachers. This unit is over.
I would like to thank my Mum, God, and all the fun times we have had in class. It could not have been done without you!
Amen.
Friday, 4 May 2012
Evaluation - Preliminary Task
The Preliminary Task was done for the purposes of continuity editing practice. The aim was to create a short sequence of two peoples conversation in a room using as many camera techniques as possible.
Success
Here is the first draftHere is the final version
Success
Here is the first draftHere is the final version
Success
Digital Technology: The HD camera was great quality which ended in a result of a crisper looking film to post. In my opinion the better the quality the better we perceive the video to be even though this is not always true as someone can have an amazing piece of work and the poorest quality camera.
Creativity: I believe the strengths of my work in terms of creativity are in the humour from the sound effects at each point something new is going to happen. Also, the concept of a thumb war is very creative comparing to our previous ideas.
Post Production: During the post-production I think that the editing went well. With a couple of tips from the helper for I-Movie, I quickly picked up the techniques to edit a video effectively. I managed to finish the editing and a sound effect before the deadline which was a great relief considering this meant the video was complete.
Research and Planning: During this phase the strengths certainly relied upon the research into the continuity editing. I looked out for TV programs that made use of certain shots such as match on action and the 180 degree rule. For example, Eastenders makes common use of the 180 degree rule which gave me a better knowledge of what it is and how to use it most effectively.
Failure and Improvements
Digital Technology: A disadvantage of the digital technology was that somehow we lost part of the footage on the memory stick and had to re-record certain shots whilst we had the time. However we then realized some of the shots had certain background footage in them that was significantly different to the original footage we had.
Creativity: I believe the strengths of my work in terms of creativity are in the humour from the sound effects at each point something new is going to happen. Also, the concept of a thumb war is very creative comparing to our previous ideas.
Post Production: During the post-production I think that the editing went well. With a couple of tips from the helper for I-Movie, I quickly picked up the techniques to edit a video effectively. I managed to finish the editing and a sound effect before the deadline which was a great relief considering this meant the video was complete.
Research and Planning: During this phase the strengths certainly relied upon the research into the continuity editing. I looked out for TV programs that made use of certain shots such as match on action and the 180 degree rule. For example, Eastenders makes common use of the 180 degree rule which gave me a better knowledge of what it is and how to use it most effectively.
Failure and Improvements
Digital Technology: A disadvantage of the digital technology was that somehow we lost part of the footage on the memory stick and had to re-record certain shots whilst we had the time. However we then realized some of the shots had certain background footage in them that was significantly different to the original footage we had.
Creative: The weakness of the creative side of this project was that it took more time than expected to actually come up with a creative idea. It seems we got sucked into the world of creativity and amazing plots. So stuck into the thought of good ideas we forgot that there did not actually have to be a lot too it which is what made us resolve this problem and finally begin the project properly with a good idea.
Post-Production: I think I should of added some sort of extra music/sound effects into the video that would of participated in the effect of entertaining the viewer. For example in my partners video he used the song, 'Power,' by Kanye West which really built tension in the beginning of the video.
Research and Planning: The weakness of this side of the project was that the only real plan was the storyboard. I think we should have spent more time looking into how to plan out a video that only needed to be 1 to 2 minutes long. Believe it or not I think more time to actually think about it was required instead of rushing straight into making the idea.
In my final production we used the HD camera that was used for the ‘pre-lim’ task to enable a high quality viewing which worked to our benefit. It gave our sequence a more professional style.
However a disadvantage was that we had some technical difficulties at times uploading footage onto our Mac which is similar to the problem we had in the ‘pre-lim’.
I believe our creativity was to a good stand. The idea was cemented from an early stage influenced from seeing our friends go through similar experiences. We believe the quality of our idea enabled us to have a clear and entertaining opening sequence that showed creativity and flair, for example through the jump cuts and quick changes in colour in each scene.
A weakness is that we may have spent too much time thinking about small things that don’t have any significant impact on the creativity of the final piece – e.g. we spent at least 2 hours of lesson time thinking of an overall plot for the film when it could have been spent thinking about the plot of the first 2 minutes. Another is example is when we constantly thought about the name of our film, even though the name came up on the last week on the production.
The post production stage went well as we both have a good knowledge of how to create a piece of work with verisimilitude, partly down the fact that we took part in the ‘pre-lim’ exercise. We also did the titles successfully as they gave a good connotation of the representation of Jamie that we were trying to get out to the audience.
However we found it difficult to get the editing spot on straight away for the rave scenes, going through various different ways of showing it, e.g. using a split screen, which we eventually decided not to do.
Our research & planning went particularly well. Our Vox Pops gave us a great idea as to what our audience wants in the main character and also managed to give us feedback on what people liked about our idea, supporting the argument that our creativity was to a high standard.
I do not particularly think there are any big downfalls in my planning as it provided us with the in depth insight into the genre and themes of our sequence in order to get it spot on in terms of reaching the right audience and giving a specific message.
However a disadvantage was that we had some technical difficulties at times uploading footage onto our Mac which is similar to the problem we had in the ‘pre-lim’.
I believe our creativity was to a good stand. The idea was cemented from an early stage influenced from seeing our friends go through similar experiences. We believe the quality of our idea enabled us to have a clear and entertaining opening sequence that showed creativity and flair, for example through the jump cuts and quick changes in colour in each scene.
A weakness is that we may have spent too much time thinking about small things that don’t have any significant impact on the creativity of the final piece – e.g. we spent at least 2 hours of lesson time thinking of an overall plot for the film when it could have been spent thinking about the plot of the first 2 minutes. Another is example is when we constantly thought about the name of our film, even though the name came up on the last week on the production.
The post production stage went well as we both have a good knowledge of how to create a piece of work with verisimilitude, partly down the fact that we took part in the ‘pre-lim’ exercise. We also did the titles successfully as they gave a good connotation of the representation of Jamie that we were trying to get out to the audience.
However we found it difficult to get the editing spot on straight away for the rave scenes, going through various different ways of showing it, e.g. using a split screen, which we eventually decided not to do.
Our research & planning went particularly well. Our Vox Pops gave us a great idea as to what our audience wants in the main character and also managed to give us feedback on what people liked about our idea, supporting the argument that our creativity was to a high standard.
I do not particularly think there are any big downfalls in my planning as it provided us with the in depth insight into the genre and themes of our sequence in order to get it spot on in terms of reaching the right audience and giving a specific message.
Digital Technology
I improved on my use of technology through using various pieces of equipment to film and record information. It widened my knowledge of editing programs such as Final Cut express which could aid me in my future productions for A2.
As well as this, I recognised that every day pieces of technology such as an IPhone can aid your in much more than you would expect. Without my phone, the whole project would have taken a lot more time which means we would not have met all of our deadlines. However in the ‘pre-lim’ an IPhone was not necessary as the production was on a much smaller scale comparing to the opening sequence production.
Creativity
I learned to think creatively when in need of a good idea – to not just sit and think but look around on websites such as ‘postcardsecret’ and use a variation of techniques – e.g. walking around an environment and looking at each object and developing story on the basis of each different object you look at.
I also improved on my creative skills by recognising how to use fonts to connote certain meanings. By looking at almost every available font to us on the Mac I got a good idea of which ones created the mood and effect we were looking for in the title of our opening sequence as opposed to the ‘pre-lim’ where we used a simple black font.
Post-Production
Most importantly, my editing technique has improved hugely from the whole process, from the ‘pre-lim’ to the final production. I have learned how to use Final Cut Express at a basic level with the help of my parter, Rob, who already had a basic knowledge of it which meant he could teach me how to use various tools and functions during the opening sequence production, comparing to the ‘pre-lim’ where we done it individually. This new skills means I have an advantage for projects using Final Cut Express in A2.
As well as that I have gained the skill of being able to edit with continuity to make sequences look smooth and professional.
Research and Planning
I have gained a better knowledge of how to accurately research. In the ‘pre-lim’ I watched many TV programs to gain an idea of how continuity works. However in the opening sequence I specified what it was I wanted to find – e.g. news articles of squat parties.
I did this by using a search engine. Now I know to save time and get more accurate research done you must specify what it is you are looking for. If I was to go back and do the ‘pre-lim’ again I would research a variety of programs that show constant continuity before hand to prevent me watching the ones that do not show continuity.
Production log - Week 12
This week I focused on completing the rest of the evaluation tasks. The joint tasks were done in lesson with Rob whilst the rest were done in free study periods or at home.
The task about social groups being represented in our sequence was challenging as it requires in depth analysis of why and how you used the particular conventions to connote various social groups. However, once I got into it I found it easier as the representations in the sequence are fairly clear.
Here is a screenshot of the 'technologies' post enabled me to explain how we made use of various new media technology, but was fairly time consuming as I had to do 2 drafts in order to get the explanations right. Giving each item an evaluation made it clear as to what I might use in future media projects.
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