1a) Research & Planning

Describe how you developed research and planning skills for a media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

For my AS Foundation Portfolio, I produced a film opening in the thriller genre, and for my A2 advanced portfolio, I created a music video to 'Mouthwash' by Kate Nash in the genre Indie Pop/Rock. Over this period two year period, research into the appropriate genres and using this information in my story board to create a realistic interpretation was essential.

At AS, I had limited knowledge of anything to do with filming a movie introduction, so learning and developing skills through my preliminary task enabled me to enhance shot types such as panning as my actor often lead the frame, especially when she approached the camera there would not be enough head room. Learning these new skills allowed me to include these more creative shots into my Foundation Portfolio, producing a more professional looking outcome.

For my A2 music video, having produced a second preliminary task to a music video by Snoop Dogg, I now understood the difference in amount of shots between a film opening and music video and complexity of editing. I could now use more complex shots through my enhanced technological skills  in my music video such as tracking shots, first person point of view shots and extreme close ups.

In order to further understand what shot types I would use in my film opening, I analysed other film openings. To learn these conventions, I did several semiotic frame by frame analysis of movies such as 'Taken' and 'Contagion'. Through this, I new wide shots were used so the audience could see the main characters surrounding, creating a sense of awareness and security, only to be broken abruptly through a drastic change in pace of editing and a quick introduction of tense music. To recreate this same mood in my foundation portfolio, I searched websites such as Jango for free, un-copywrited piano music.

With my new and confident skills in media, I was able to take more creative risks with my music video. The song I chose 'Mouthwash' by Kate Nash is of the genre Indie Pop/Rock, a genre which has no real conventions other than those described by Andrew Goodwin in his Music Video Theory. Because of this, I was allowed to branch away from the initial music video in my story boarding, and recreate my own concept and create new ideas from scratch. However, for inspiration, I looked at some award winning music videos from the past 5 years to see what they all had in common that made them so popular. I also looking more specifically at similar artists within the genre such as Lily Allen, in order to see how artists interpreted their own lyrics and created, like at AS, but more detailed 9 frame analysis of the songs 'Foundations' by Lilly Allen and 'Don't Stop' by 5 Seconds of Summer.

In conclusion, my prior experience at AS helped me to have a knowledge into how and what to look for when researching a genre of film or music however, my A2 Advanced Portfolio was made even easier by my in-depth research into music videos specific to my genre, allowing me to produce the create product I had planned for. Many of my ideas had stemmed from Kate Nash's 'Foundations' such as her literal take on lyrics as well as her use of stop motion of house hold objects.

Essay - 1A) Explain how your skills in the creative use of technology…..

Plan:

Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media production in your answer.

Throughout my A-level course, I have developed my skills while producing a horror film introduction at AS and a  Indie Pop/Rock music video at A2 through the creative use of digital technology with the aid of programs such as Blogger, PicMonkey, Youtube and digital cameras, mobile phones, editing software such as iMovie and more recently, Final Cut Express, PicMonkey and Gimp (a free form of Photoshop). These digital technologies have been essential throughout the production of my foundation and advanced portfolios. 

During both AS and A2, Blogger played a large part in allowing me to document my research creatively by allowing me to use power points  and images to show work. AS was my first introduction to Blogger although I had a basic understanding from my use of another blogging format: Tumblr. During my A2 portion of the course, I used blogger's easy access online during the production stages while on location, filming my music video.  Having my storyboard to hand for example, made it easy for me use on location and I could easily edit it or take notes on an app called Paint Fx on an iPad.

My first introduction to Apple Macs and the Macintosh software was at the beginning of my AS course and I found it challenging at first to use at an advanced level such as importing images from the internet or a camera as they were not automatically saved to a Photo folder, but the desktop. However, at A2, my basic understanding had grown and developed to a more complex level and I am now able to use shortcuts such as take a screen shot, and software such as Final Cut Express instead of iMovie where at AS, was used a majority of the time. At A2, I was able to use Final Cut Express because I found when producing my audience research, iMovie lacked the precision I would need for my music video. This developed understanding of general editing software has helped me to successfully use unfamiliar photo editing software such as PicMonkey and Gimp to create our digipak and magazine advert at A2, as we did not have to produce something like this at AS. For example, I used PicMonkey to import and manipulate our original photographs, select appropriate fonts and design a professional layout; through this I was able to create synergy between all the A2 products by manipulating the same photos and fonts and also incorporating stills from the music video. 

At AS and A2, I used a digital camera to record a voice over during the course. At AS, I included a voice recording in my final product whereas at A2, my audience research analysis took the form of a voice recording over images the subject was expressing- this was so I could produce my findings in a more creative way.  Comparing my skills from AS and A2 when using a digital camera to film my film introduction and music video; I think I have more of an understanding of how to film shots and place the frame well to capture the full image. At A2, I used a digital camera in a third way; taking photos to create the stop motion elements of my music video such as the sequence where multiple mugs of tea are being filled and emptied magically. 

At both AS and A2, I had to layer sound over the top of my clips, having to strip the audio. However, at A2, I had to match the lip-syncing to the words, making this tricky to get exactly right, that is why I started to use Final Cut Express as it is more precise; I added markers to help me change the shot on the beat and change the speed of some shots to fit the lip syncing to the music. At A2, I have added some swankier new techniques compared to at AS level such as stop motion and some animation of words going over the artist's head. 

While editing at both AS and A2, I added filters to my shots: At AS, I cut from black and white scenes to colour scenes which I had enhanced by adding cool tones to the shots to give it a darker, colder feel such as when my villain is digging the victims grave. At A2, I did this and also played around with other effects such as exposure, back light, brightness etc. for outside shots I filmed on location in Italy so the shots would not contrast too heavily- only enough to have the desired effect.   

In conclusion, I think my skills using digital technologies have developed in a way to form a more professional product through my audience research and my past experience at AS. Now having this experience, the technology became a tool, allowing me to create something original, unique and more professional than at AS. 

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