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

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.