To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your Media 'A' Level?

1a. To what extent have digital technologies helped develop your research and planning skills during your Media 'A' Level?

introduction: 

        introduce how you used digital technology in research and planning eg using youtube for finding inspiration from similar genre videos

paragraph one: 

       say how digital techonologies did help. The use of the internet helped majorly during the research stage of the A level. We used websites such as youtube to research videos which are of the same genre as ours. We also used the internet to find out about digipacks and magazine adverts. Cameras were used to film our products in HD. Editing programs on the computer were used to add better effects to our products.

paragraph two: 

          say how they werent the only source that helped. We also used our own knowledge to find out about the genre of our product, we also used paper and other resources to plan our products, such as storyboards and filming scripts.

Conclusion: 

conclusion: say how over all digital technologies were very helpful. generally sum up

Section A 1 a - Post-production

MUSIC VIDEO


What post-production decisions did you make?
We chose to use Final Cut to edit our footage,
we chose to re-film the lip syncing element of the chorus in our music video
We used slow motion, grayscale, changed the colour saturation, split screen.
From our rough cut feedback we decided to add more visual effects.


What is the function of post-production?


To rectify any wrongs
make it look like a music video
to give a professional look
to remove any mistakes during the filming process




How have your post-production skills developed?
Our post-production skills have matured like a good quality cheddar !
not stilton that is rank. its like all blue. could be like edam thats quite nice.
goats cheese isn't that nice. cream cheese is good with salmon on bread or crackers.
red leister is alright but an odd colour. 
cheese is good for your teeth because it has lots of calcium in it. 
so is milk and many other dairy products because of the calcium, your bones and teeth will be strong, might even be better than eating a petite filous yoghurt.
To conclude a nice hard cheese is better than a stupid soft fancy foreign cheese like brie. Also would like to add everyone likes cheese especially with crackers.

Essay plan - Section A 1a

Has using conventions from real media texts in your work enhanced or impeded your ability to be creative?


THRILLER OPENING


1) Define stereotypical conventions  you would expect to see in a thriller


Mise-en-scene, Camera, editing, sound


2) what conventions you used in your thriller opening

Post production

What post production decisions did you make?
In my thriller we decided to create the soundtrack that would begin the thriller opening, this was created on Garageband and we used sounds and tracks which combined, created a feeling of suspense helping us meet the thriller conventions in our video. We also used qualitative research to gather feedback from our roughcut video. Using this information we reflected upon our work, changing the introductory soundtrack and titles.
In my music video post production methods included meeting our ghost effect. As we wanted our band to appear as ghosts suggesting their the antagonist, editing in final cut express was needed to achieve this effect. This effect was achieved through cropping, fading and continuity in camera shots. We decided not to use Garageband to create a soundtrack that would meet music video conventions, this decision was made because we were trying to meet other music video conventions such as selling the artist. This was achieved by playing the bands music throughout the video which was much against every ones advice.

What is the function of post production?
The function of post production in our music video was to meet audience expectations. This was achieved through clever use of editing such as our previously discussed ghost effect. We also used post production to create camera shots such as shot reverse shots to suggest to the audience that the protagonist and antagonist were indeed confronting each other and in the same room. This was to improve the quality of our video.

The function of post production in our thriller was to create continuity between shots. Without post production, micro elements such as editing would not be achieved therefore conventions would not be met. Without post production a soundtrack would not have been included, without our eery soundtrack in our beginning establishing shot there would not be an immediate suggestion to the audience of what genre our media product was.

How have your post production skills developed?
My post production skills have developed in a number of key areas. Firstly I learned how to use the program final cut express. By using the tools available I can now edit film to create a narrative and meet genre conventions. This is achieved by placing shots in order, creating creative shots such as shot reverse shots and placing transitions and effects to separate scenes and meet conventions.

For the music video I used final cut express to match the soundtrack of much against every ones advice to our film sequence so the lip syncing matched the lyrics of the song. This helped meet the music video convention of selling the artist.

Secondly I learnt how to use sound editing software such as Garageband, this was particularly useful to the thriller task as a good soundtrack which would meet thriller conventions. I made a eery soundtrack at the beginning of our thriller opening to match the establishing shot we filmed. This helped meet the convention micro elements combine to create suspense, without post production this effect would not have been achieved as there would have been no sound.

Using real media conventions and post-production

Using Real Media Conventions
For two of your products make notes on:
The Genre of your Product
- Thriller- Conventions:
Themes of seeing, reflection and mirroring. Manipulation of perspectives, visual McGuffins, and optical illusions are common.


Within our Thriller Intro we used the convention of mirror reflections and illusion around an ordinary situation to introduce the credits and the atmosphere of the sequence. To continue in building suspense- we combined the used of non-diagetic sound to the appearance of illusions. When the leading female character walks across the shot of her reflection in the mirror- the equivalent sound of a heartbeat, in sync with a flash brings up a blood stained message on the mirror. It gives the impression to the audience that its all in the characters head. It begins to build the situation where the protagonist is in a complex mental web. 


How using genre and conventions helped in the creation of our product


Both genre and conventions helped in the creation of our music video. The genre of our piece was acoustic alternative, we based our film around this as the stereotypical conventions within this genre of music video centre around scenery. We used scenery within our music video to reflect the emotion within the song.  For example, at the beginning of the video there is a shot of a leaf moving slowly back and forth, we changed the colouring of the leaf to make it brighter and slowed the clip down. We did this to fit the mood of the song and heighten the effect. We also used different conventions which helped in the creation of the product, such as using different camera angles.


How has your understanding of genre developed of 2 years


Post- production
For 2 of your products makes notes on:
Post-production decisions


After creating our music video we made a few other products such as a digipak and a magazine advert. We made these both similar to our music video.

Using Real Media Conventions

Music Video
Our music video actually contained a narrative which challenges the convention of many rock music videos as they do not generally contain a narrative in their music videos e.g. "American Idiot" by Green Day, therefore this gives keeps the audience more interested and entertained and brings more variety to on-screen activity.
We used dark clothing and intertextual references of other bands e.g. Foo Fighters and Pink Floyd found in other rock music videos e.g. "Almost Easy" by Avenged Sevenfold, which makes it much easier for the audience to relate to the band and understand the message and communities they are trying to represent. We used the convention that the lead singer has the most amount of screen time compared to the rest of the band which is found in most rock music videos, this therefore allows the audience to have a greater understanding of the lyrics.
We use a very rural setting which challenges the convention of many rock videos as many rock videos take place in front of a green screen or in a much more urban setting e.g. "Rollin" by Limp Bizkit, this makes it much easier for our audience to relate to our band as they can relate to the settings and location of the video more easily.
We develop the convention of using a variety of camera shots and angles through the characters point of view and regular positions which is not always found in other music videos e.g. "Waiting For The End" by Linkin Park therefore allowing the audience to become more engrossed in the narrative.
We also used a typical convention of using rock music video props e.g. musical instruments so that the audience could be clear as to what kind of artists are band was.

Our music video genre was for a rock music video which usually involves:
A band performance of some kind
Lead singer generally having the most amount of screen
Dark clothing and jeans generally in most videos

Knowing what the actual conventions were and having an interest in that actual genre of music as well allowed us to create a product which we thought was original and engaging to our target audience, our understanding of genre has increased over the two years and being fans of rock music videos as well made it easy to know what conventions to use and develop.

Thriller
In our video we challenge the convention of starting the film with footage of the protagonist e.g "The Bourne Identity" and instead start with footage of the antagonist which draws the audience in more and allows them to see the story from a different perspective and so making it more original.
Many thriller films are set in urban settings e.g. "Seven", while our film is set in an rural setting. This makes our video seem much darker due to the reduced amount of non-diegetic light and therefore helps set the mood easier. It also makes it much more relatable to our audience who generally aren't from an urban environment and therefore can draw them in alot more and make it seem like it could happen to them.
Our thriller lighting is very dark and the antagonists wear dark clothes which is typical for a thriller movie e.g. "Underworld" and therefore helps set the mood for the movie by building up a dark atmosphere and suspense and therefore keeping the audience engaged.
We used many quick cuts during our thriller which is a typical feature of many thrillers and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and stops the footage from becoming repetitive and boring.

Thriller movies normally involve:
Dark colours, clothes and lighting.
Normally death or serious injury
A protagonist and an illusive antagonist.
Violence or Conflict

We had watched many thrillers before hand so we knew what conventions to follow and which ones we could potentially develop to make our product more original and therefore more engaging to the audience.

G325 A 1a

1 a) The genre of our opening film sequence was thriller. We used conventions such as fake blood, this was used to create more of a shock to the audience. we also used this to write the credits to create suspense and again to create shock. Slow mo was used to create suspense / to keep the audience waiting and at bay. The sound was high pitched in order again to create suspense. We used very little diagetic noise to not give to much away and to highlight her isolation.

b) The fake blood was only meant to be used for the actual shower scene, however we decided that it would actually be effective if we used it in our credits as well. We were originally going to have a one high pitched tone in the background but we decided to add a certain beat with it to maintain the pace and to add more suspense.

c)