Evaluation

1) Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were you best bits and why?


I really enjoyed the workshop as it was a unique experience working in such a professional atmosphere and working with very experienced and intelligent people in their respective roles.

There were many bits of the shoot I thoroughly enjoyed, both in front of the camera and behind the camera. Performing a dance routine in front of the camera was something new for me, and although I was nervous at the start, I later became confident and started enjoying the dance. I most enjoyed shadowing the director and learning exactly what their job was. Directing is one of the main things which appeals to me, and shadowing a director at work was a valuable learning experience.



2) What have you learnt from participating in each of the prelim tasks?

I have learnt a variety of different things from this prelim task which will prepare me well for the music video if I were to continue doing media.

Task 1 (Analyse a music video)- Analysing a music video allowed me to understand the typical conventions of a music video, although the prelim was a remake, I can apply my learning of music videos on the A2 task.

Task 2 (Audition video)- I understood the importance of a lip synch and how it is made to look as realistic as possible and that required the performer to know the lyrics and be able to sing the song.

Task 3 (Learn your performance)- Performing is vital for certain music videos, and therefore every single performer needs to know their part well as otherwise it'll stand out and look odd on camera and this can ruin the music video. This was one of the reasons for having as many rehearsals as possible.

Task 4 (Plan and organise your costume(s)) - Costume was important in our prelim as we tried to replicate 'Wings' so we had to try to get our costume to be as similar if not the same as the ones worn by the 4 main artistes and the background dancers, which was possible in some cases whereas with others we had to compromise.

Task 5 (The one-day workshop)-  I learnt the importance of teamwork in a shoot, as each person was required to do their job smoothly and swiftly to ensure there were no problems on set. I also learnt how time keeping was vital to shoots as a schedule with the different shot types and set ups have to be followed to ensure the shoot can be completed and completed as successfully as possible.

Task 6 (The workshop edit)- This where I learnt the difference between editing continuity sequences and music videos, as timing was crucial in a music video, especially with the lipsynch. I also learnt how you have to be able to adapt with different types of shots if the initial ones do not work.





3) Are you pleased with your footage and your edit? Is it how you expected to look?

I am very pleased with the footage, not only is it very professional but the 4 main girls were able to pull off a similar look to the the original 4 and this was something which stood out for me. The whole crew were able to replicate the music video in terms of the shots. With our final edit we stuck to the original when it came to the order we arranged our shots, however there were times where some of the shots didn't work too well and as a result we had to use different types of shots. For example we used a close-up instead of a mid-shot solely because it worked better.

Some parts looked how I expected it to, for example the beginning where each singer have their own background with a specific theme, such as the flowers. However there were parts turned out differently, which were still good but not as I expected such as the scene in the blue grunge. But this did give it our own unique touch to the final edit.

4) How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on you approach to next term's music video coursework?

The prelim task has helped emphasise the importance of thorough planning throughout the whole process and as a result during the music video coursework I will put a lot of work into this to ensure the whole process is carried out well.

My confidence level when it comes to music video has increased a lot, not only will I be able to do the work behind the camera but over the prelim task I have developed the confidence to work in front of the camera too.

I have also learnt the key skills when editing, such as lining up the audio waves to ensure the lipsynch is accurate.

Music Video Analysis

Labrinth - Earthquake ft, Tinnie Tempah

1. Yes, the music, lyrics and imagery work do work in collaboration in the music video. For example when the lyrics mention 'ground breaker', Labrinth points to the floor. The special effects also work well with the lyrics, this can be seen throughout the video such as 'set this place on fire', fire appears on the screen. 
2. The performance drives the music video as both Labrinth and Tinnie Tempah perform throughout and there is not cut away to anything else. The whole music video is around the two, however mainly Labrinth as expected. 
3. Both Labrinth and Tinnie mime throughout, however there are some shots where they do not, but this is very little. 
4. The role of the artists do not switch. 
5. Yes the audience will see dancing and singing throughout as both artists dance and sing throughout their parts of the song. 
6. The performance is engaging due to the variety of different effects used in the video. These video emphasise parts of the lyrics, such as the earthquake effect. The use of these effects are unique and make this music video stand out. 
7. Labrinth wears a variety of costumes, and these would appeal to the intended audience as they'll look up to him as he makes himself as aspirational as he can. 
8. There isn't a huge sense of development throughout the video. 
9. Yes, there is a strong sense of the artist's identity as there's a reference to Buckingham Palace highlighting it's a British based song. Their style is unique to them, giving them a strong sense of identity. 
10. There are quite a few money shots and this brought across through the use of closeups. 
11. There isn't significant juxtapositions and opposites, but there are contrasts in sets and themes.  
12. There is discontinuous editing. 
13. The audience will enjoy the popular culture, such as the British iconography as the Mini brand is British.
14. There isn't much layers of meaning or deeper meanings. 
15. Yes, because it is something which will appeal the fans of grime, dubstep, rap and the fans of the two artists. 

Actors:

Patrick S
Olivia (maybe)
Emily G (maybe)
Arianna (maybe)
Nathan
Aidan
Anjana
 g

Zombie Make-Up


This a video of a possible way to do the zombie make up:

This is the effect we intend to create with our zombies, but as we have a few zombies, we will make each zombie have scars in different places to make it look as realistic as possible.

• We will use red face paint to create the blood on the zombies.
• We will use tissue to create the scars and the eyes.
• We will use either powder or something similar such as white face paint to create the pale effect on the skin.

These are the style we intend to use:

Location

We had two ideas which we were thinking about doing, one being a zombie themed one and the other being a witness themed one. Therefore when we went out to check out locations having both ideas in mind, so we checked out a variety of locations to suit the ideas.

Firstly, we went to an alley way which we could use for the witness themed idea.

This alley would work perfectly for the witness themed idea because the alley bends to the right, as a result there's a blind spot, so a pedestrian walking through cannot see anything happening. Therefore we'll be able to use other media/film techniques to add the tension, such as music and sound effects. This will make the murder we intended to have would be dramatic and work perfectly. However, the one main negative is there's nothing the witness can hide behind to shoot the killing by the gang, which we'd have to do something about if we were going ahead with this idea.

For our idea on zombies we found good locations, which looked like it was in the middle of no where highlighting a sense of isolation and fear. This will work well for our idea.

Below are a few pictures of the locations which we intend to use, Aidan and Daniel have written about these on their blogs. 

Remake of Reservoir Dogs Title Sequence

We remade the title sequence of Reservoir Dogs.

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Matt, Aidan and Daniel. In our first meeting we gave everyone tasks which had to be complete for the shoot; this included the script, shot list, story board and the shoot schedule. The tasks were given to each person based on what they wanted to do and their skills, for example I took charge of organising the shoot schedule and directing and shooting the sequence, Aidan did the storyboard, Daniel did the script and Matt did a detailed shot list and all three of them were acting in the sequence.  Although as a group we all contributed towards each individual task and it was a group effort.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

We all put forward ideas and this was noted it in a mind map where we had a heading for key points such as the genre, story etc. We had put forward various different ideas for our continuity clip; however as a group we decided to do a serious one with a humorous twist at the end. We used the theory of continuity and this was thought thoroughly throughout our planning, shooting and editing as it’s vital for our sequence to be successful.  During our planning we used this theory to help as with shots, therefore we included shots which followed the 180degress rule, match on action, shot reverse shot and a master shot. Once things were put in place we moved onto producing a script, shooting schedule and a shot list.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

In order to complete this task we used a variety of technology, we used a camera and tripod along with paper work for shooting and used Adobe Premier Pro for editing. We used the tripod to help us achieve the shots we wanted at a high quality as it prevented the camera for shaking and it allowed as to track smoothly.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

When planning we had to consider things to ensure shooting and editing ran smoothly and prevent any issues. We had to plan the location and times of our shots, this is to prevent clashes with other groups and to have the same lighting (if shots are outdoors). We had to consider who was going to act in it and play what role. 

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

Our sequence worked well and most of the shots worked and flowed well, however there were shots which didn't work as well as we wanted it to. For example the shots with Matt walking had the windows open in some and closed in others, this is a continuity error. In the future, we would look out for these errors and make sure they do not occur. We broke one of the rules with the conversation between Aidan and Matt, however we resolved this by adding another shot of Aidan, but from this we have learnt to ensure we shoot a master shot of any conversation. We made a mistake with continuity when Matt opens the door, as it's open in one shot and then closed in the other. We would improve the sequence by making sure all the shots followed without any continuity errors such as closed/opened windows and doors.  

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

From this task I have learnt the importance of planning and following a shoot schedule as organisation is vital to completing the shoot with no major issues. I have learnt the key theories of continuity as I have actually done a practical; this has also allowed me to experiment on things which I could try on the final coursework. We also learnt that things can be changed and you do not have to stick to the plans you made, for example we changed the order of our shots to make the sequence make more sense, this included Matt and Daniel's walk into the room.