TIMED 30-MINUTE EXAM
'Storytelling - narrative - is central to how people communicate their understanding of the world' (Kevin Williams). Explain the role of narrative in one of your productions.
Narrative is defined as 'the ways in which a story is told', which includes who is telling the story, the perspective of the story, what form this takes, and how much interaction the audience has with the characters. My music video project included elements and techniques used to define narrative, and I think that the story told throughout this was one that had a deep meaning to our audience.
The story within our music video was told by the woman, who showed how angry and agitated she was through the lyrics she was singing, and also through all the emotive body language she was using. For example, the kicking-over of the stool was placed into the video in order to show that she couldn't keep all this anger within her any more, and she had to vent it on something. This was backed up through our audience feedback too, who said that it was the key moment within the video.
We managed to tell the story through the lyrics of the song, and tied this in to our visuals. This was one of the principles listed in Goodwin's Theory - something we relied on to try and conform to making a good, quality music video. We also portrayed parts of the story through flashbacks, which were disassociated from the main narrative through a black-and-white editing effect, which automatically split the video into two sections. We wanted to make sure the video still made sense, but also that it was clear to people that this was a work of fiction, although these issues occur in everyday life, and by creating a music video that had a beginning, a middle and an end, which also interpreted the events in the past, we managed to do this.
We wanted to use our video to create a sadness through the footage, and so only used one perspective throughout - that of the woman's. We used a biased approach, and chose not give the man's point of view, as we wanted the audience to feel sympathetic towards the woman, and feel her anger too.
We also adhered to Todorov's Movement of Equilibriums. The video starts calm and soft, with the woman just singing, using soft transitions and very slow shots. This moves to the woman following the man, filled with suspicion, which disrupted the equilibrium. When the woman sees the man, she confronts him, when the disruption is recognised, and this is followed by the woman leaving him and trying to start again, which then starts at an equilibrium again.
Kevin Williams has stated that the narrative involved in telling a story helps people understand the world better. I disagree with this, as I believe that narrative does have an impact on lives, but does not necessarily shape their views on the world. It does, however, help make decisions for our audience, who can view situations in a different light, knowing full well that the text they are viewing is fictional. This is itself may force their hand into making a decision based on what they have seen, thus helping make an impact on their life.
END OF 30 MINUTES
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Conventions: Media Concepts
“the conventions of each genre shift, new genres and sub-genres emerge and others are 'discontinued' (Chandler)
a) Have you stuck closely to genre conventions in your production work?
- We stuck to conventions in both our portfolios, but subverted an equal number, to try and be creative. We didn't want to be stuck to these conventions, but saw them as foundations for us to build our own ideas on top of.
b) Have you created a hybrid piece?
- We didn't create a hybrid piece, but we did take ideas from several different genres. Our thriller opening was very conventional, but our music video contained elements of rock videos (performance sections), jazz videos (the panning through transitions), whilst maintaining the soft ballad sections too.
c) Have you used intertextual references?
- For both texts, we chose to keep away from intertextual references, as we didn't wish for anything to influence our own creative ideas. Our Advanced Portfolio proved very difficult with this, as we had used a signed artist, but we chose to effectively start again with a brand identity, and go from there.
'one could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable' (Bordwell 1989, 147).
a) Do you think it is hard to agree on a set of ‘rules’ to follow when making a product?
- It is very hard to agree upon a set of rules, as there are so many different aspects to consider for each media product. Each theorist we have encountered has looked at media texts in a different way, and with this in mind, it proves no-one can agree on one definition of a media text. With there being no definition of a media text, no-one can create a set of rules which everyone else will agree with.
b) How far have you followed any set of ‘rules’?
We didn't see the conventions as rules, but more like guidelines or foundations. They weren't there to tell you what to do, but to advise on how to make your products better. Within the thriller opening, we stuck to the majority of conventions, but subverted a few, whereas with the video, we subverted over half.
c) To what extent did you break ‘rules’?
We didn't always break the rules, but tried to bend them slightly. We kept, with both projects, within the boundary and the brief of each genre, but managed to stay creative, and input our own ideas within each convention to keep it all fresh and new.
d) Did you make any rules of your own?
Not as such, but by bending the conventions we had initially, we were able to re-write a few of these conventions to better fit both our thriller opening and our music video.
Conventions give the producers a framework to work with- a set of guidelines (McQuail)
a) Was it helpful to work within a set of guidelines?
Yes it was, as these guidelines helped give us a better understanding in which direction each portfolio had to head. By giving us guidelines, we were able to create projects that fitted the brief perfectly, and also aided the creative aspect to each idea.
b) Did you feel more secure knowing what the guidelines were?
In a way, I guess we were, but Naomi and I both had very strong ideas before even being handed some conventions. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but did have a very large influence on confidence within the Advanced Portfolio, compared to the Foundation Portfolio.
c) Were you happier breaking the conventions once you knew what they were?
With the Foundation portfolio, we were a bit scared with breaking conventions - seeing them as guidelines that could not be broken. However, within the Advanced Portfolio, there were fewer conventions that were too strict, and a much simpler brief, giving us more opportunity to break and bend the conventions.
"Sometimes, working within constraints produces the most interesting work” (Branston and Strafford)
a) Do you think you produced better work because you stuck to the conventions of the genre?
I believe we did create better work because by sticking to the conventions, we were adhering to the guidelines that help make the majority of thrillers and music videos. By doing this, our work actually looked like the genre they were meant to be, and also gave more of a professional finish to each.
b) Would you have produced more creative work if you had not known what the guidelines were?
I don't think we would have been any more creative without knowing the conventions for each project. We had ideas for the music video before receiving the conventions, which were used in the finished product, and the thriller opening adhered to the conventions, but bent several and subverted many to keep ourselves distinctive and different from the rest.
a) Have you stuck closely to genre conventions in your production work?
- We stuck to conventions in both our portfolios, but subverted an equal number, to try and be creative. We didn't want to be stuck to these conventions, but saw them as foundations for us to build our own ideas on top of.
b) Have you created a hybrid piece?
- We didn't create a hybrid piece, but we did take ideas from several different genres. Our thriller opening was very conventional, but our music video contained elements of rock videos (performance sections), jazz videos (the panning through transitions), whilst maintaining the soft ballad sections too.
c) Have you used intertextual references?
- For both texts, we chose to keep away from intertextual references, as we didn't wish for anything to influence our own creative ideas. Our Advanced Portfolio proved very difficult with this, as we had used a signed artist, but we chose to effectively start again with a brand identity, and go from there.
'one could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable' (Bordwell 1989, 147).
a) Do you think it is hard to agree on a set of ‘rules’ to follow when making a product?
- It is very hard to agree upon a set of rules, as there are so many different aspects to consider for each media product. Each theorist we have encountered has looked at media texts in a different way, and with this in mind, it proves no-one can agree on one definition of a media text. With there being no definition of a media text, no-one can create a set of rules which everyone else will agree with.
b) How far have you followed any set of ‘rules’?
We didn't see the conventions as rules, but more like guidelines or foundations. They weren't there to tell you what to do, but to advise on how to make your products better. Within the thriller opening, we stuck to the majority of conventions, but subverted a few, whereas with the video, we subverted over half.
c) To what extent did you break ‘rules’?
We didn't always break the rules, but tried to bend them slightly. We kept, with both projects, within the boundary and the brief of each genre, but managed to stay creative, and input our own ideas within each convention to keep it all fresh and new.
d) Did you make any rules of your own?
Not as such, but by bending the conventions we had initially, we were able to re-write a few of these conventions to better fit both our thriller opening and our music video.
Conventions give the producers a framework to work with- a set of guidelines (McQuail)
a) Was it helpful to work within a set of guidelines?
Yes it was, as these guidelines helped give us a better understanding in which direction each portfolio had to head. By giving us guidelines, we were able to create projects that fitted the brief perfectly, and also aided the creative aspect to each idea.
b) Did you feel more secure knowing what the guidelines were?
In a way, I guess we were, but Naomi and I both had very strong ideas before even being handed some conventions. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but did have a very large influence on confidence within the Advanced Portfolio, compared to the Foundation Portfolio.
c) Were you happier breaking the conventions once you knew what they were?
With the Foundation portfolio, we were a bit scared with breaking conventions - seeing them as guidelines that could not be broken. However, within the Advanced Portfolio, there were fewer conventions that were too strict, and a much simpler brief, giving us more opportunity to break and bend the conventions.
"Sometimes, working within constraints produces the most interesting work” (Branston and Strafford)
a) Do you think you produced better work because you stuck to the conventions of the genre?
I believe we did create better work because by sticking to the conventions, we were adhering to the guidelines that help make the majority of thrillers and music videos. By doing this, our work actually looked like the genre they were meant to be, and also gave more of a professional finish to each.
b) Would you have produced more creative work if you had not known what the guidelines were?
I don't think we would have been any more creative without knowing the conventions for each project. We had ideas for the music video before receiving the conventions, which were used in the finished product, and the thriller opening adhered to the conventions, but bent several and subverted many to keep ourselves distinctive and different from the rest.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Post-Production & Exam Structure
'The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process.'
How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?
Introduction: Do you agree with the quote? Do you feel progressed in this area?
What did the post-production stage involve? (Give specific detailed examples)
Why you used these effects/transitions/editing to create meaning?
How successful/important was it? What didn't work?
Complete last three points for both foundation and advanced portfolios - mention progression and what you did differently.
Introduction
Across the two productions I have created (a thriller opening at AS and a music video at A2), I feel that the post-production stage has been significant because...
Eisenstein believed that editing was 'the foundation of film art', and he means by this...
In this essay I will discuss my skills development using these ideas.
Body
In my thriller opening, I used a slow motion shot to represent the reflections and memories of my central character. It was through iMovie and the options available to adjust the speed of the frame to slow the shot down. This editing effect was used as the main character (protagonist) was experiencing flashbacks.... In my music video, however, the motion of a shot was frequently changed and reduced to represent the lyrics of the song, 'I'll give you time', where it was important to represent the idea through editing. I feel the progression here is clear as I was matching visuals to music at the post-production stage. Eisenstein's belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the 'foundations' of that film is evident here - the slow motion makes the meaning of time clear to the audience.
How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?
What did the post-production stage involve? (Give specific detailed examples)
Why you used these effects/transitions/editing to create meaning?
How successful/important was it? What didn't work?
Across the two productions I have created (a thriller opening at AS and a music video at A2), I feel that the post-production stage has been significant because...
- Use the grids we filled in - 3 examples for thriller, 3 examples for music video.
- Integrated analysis - mention both foundation and advanced in each point. Show progression and how skills have developed.
- Use PEE - Point, Evidence, Explanation.
- Point - what editing tool/technique did you use? What did it suggest/connote/represent?
- Evidence - specific evidence from your thriller/video.
- Explain - have you progressed from AS to A2? How does this example show this progression? What did you experiment with? Take risks with? Were you more confident? Were you more adventurous?
- Use theorists we have learned about - Eisenstein, Goodwin etc.
In my thriller opening, I used a slow motion shot to represent the reflections and memories of my central character. It was through iMovie and the options available to adjust the speed of the frame to slow the shot down. This editing effect was used as the main character (protagonist) was experiencing flashbacks.... In my music video, however, the motion of a shot was frequently changed and reduced to represent the lyrics of the song, 'I'll give you time', where it was important to represent the idea through editing. I feel the progression here is clear as I was matching visuals to music at the post-production stage. Eisenstein's belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the 'foundations' of that film is evident here - the slow motion makes the meaning of time clear to the audience.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Digital Technology
“Digital technology turns media consumers into producers”. In your experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions? [25]"
Throughout my Foundation and Advanced Portfolios, I have worked with different elements of digital technology, in order to give myself the best possible chance to create a good project. Digital technology is the term given to all new media devices and software, from cameras to video-sharing websites.
There were a few constants in both portfolios. We used iMovie '09 to edit the footage we shot together in a professional and concise manner. It was a relatively simple editing package, but did a very effective job in creating the projects we did. We used very basic editing techniques in the thriller opening, like a sepia filter over the footage, which gave it an aged look. This was as extensive our techniques went, as the brief and actual product didn't need a lot of work. The music video, however, needed a lot more advanced methods, like colourisation, beat marking, video stabilisation, cropping and ken burns, to name a few. Each tool added more depth to our video, and allowed us to do things we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. We were unaware to some tools, like video stabilisation and ken burns, until we uploaded our footage to the Macs, and pop-up windows appeared making suggestions and giving tips. Had this not occurred, we wouldn't have been aware of these techniques, adn thus wouldn't have sued them.
We also kept to using the Canon miniDV205 digital camcorder to shoot our footage. Although it was low-quality, and still used cassette tape, it was very functional, easy to use, and also we were used to it by the time we created our Advanced Portfolio, so this gave us an upper hand on those who had changed cameras.
30 MINUTES INCLUDING PLAN
Planning and Research
For the Foundation Portfolio, Naomi and I created an opening to a thriller film. As we worked together, it took a lot of planning to ensure we organised our time efficiently. We chose times and dates to film that fitted with our schedules, and also planned these dates in advance to make sure that there was nothing else going on. It worked very well, and we had very few issues with clashing dates. These were easily sorted, as we just chose other dates. This gave us less time to edit, as we still were shooting footage, but we managed to complete the project successfully, and on time.
We kept the same process for the Advanced Portfolio too, in which we made a music video. We chose dates that fitted other commitments, and stuck to them. However, this time, we also chose some 'reserve dates', in case we needed to film more footage, or swap days for other reasons. Thankfully, we didn't have to use these dates, but it gave us more options if we needed it.
The Foundation Portfolio was relatively simple to organise. We had storyboarded the idea of a man being killed in an office, set back in the 1940's. Seeing as we were in an old school, complete with old offices, we decided it would be a lot easier to use one of these rooms. Our actor was in our Media class, and we agreed to be in his video, providing he was in ours. This was extremely effective, as the three of us managed to get all filming done very quickly by using alternate lessons and days to film the openings.
The Advanced Portfolio was a little trickier, though. We had chosen three actors - one main, and two who had minimal parts in the storyboard. Come the day of filming, two of the three pulled out, and this meant that Naomi and I had to step in, to stop us losing a day's worth of filming. This led to issues over who filmed what, and what we could do to be creative. The settings were relatively easy to choose, as again, we used the facilities available at school for the performance sections, and a park down the road for the narrative sections. This was all built upon the skills we learnt from the thriller opening, as we made quicker decisions and used different options available to us to use the time properly.
Both portfolios had very little dialogue. The thriller opening had one line, which was all it needed to give suspense and also leave the storyline open. The music video had no dialogue, as we used lip-syncing instead. Both did have storyboards - the foundation was very simple, with minimal detail, whereas the advanced was long, listed every shot and gave information on lighting, directions, props and transitions. This gave us a guide on what shots we were to shoot, and when.
However, for the Advanced Portfolio, we storyboarded several times. We did a final draft storyboard, just before filming, and then completed another storyboard after filming, so we had a visual representation of the shots we had available to us, and in what order we wanted them. This was something we struggled with in the thriller opening, so having an editing storyboard as well helped us massively.
Our target audience research was crucial into how we market our film. For the Foundation Portfolio, our research was to look at other thriller films released in the year. This wasn't sufficient enough, and so, in the Advanced Portfolio, we made an assumption, then had feedback from this assumption, before researching other videos and looking at ways we can meet this criteria. It was a lot more work, but gave us a better idea of what to create and who to aim it at.
Finally, we did a lot of investigation and research into similar media products for both portfolios. The Foundation Portfolio included looking and watching a number of thriller openings, to gain some background knowledge and to adapt them into our own ideas. This was really helpful, as we were able to come up with more complex potential storylines for our thriller. We chose to do even more research for our Advanced Portfolio, and look at different music video genres, which then narrowed down to our music genre, and we did a lot of qualitative research into different elements of each video. This all came from the skills we learnt from the thriller opening, but we were able to further our research by looking deeper into the theories and ideas behind the music video.
We kept the same process for the Advanced Portfolio too, in which we made a music video. We chose dates that fitted other commitments, and stuck to them. However, this time, we also chose some 'reserve dates', in case we needed to film more footage, or swap days for other reasons. Thankfully, we didn't have to use these dates, but it gave us more options if we needed it.
The Foundation Portfolio was relatively simple to organise. We had storyboarded the idea of a man being killed in an office, set back in the 1940's. Seeing as we were in an old school, complete with old offices, we decided it would be a lot easier to use one of these rooms. Our actor was in our Media class, and we agreed to be in his video, providing he was in ours. This was extremely effective, as the three of us managed to get all filming done very quickly by using alternate lessons and days to film the openings.
The Advanced Portfolio was a little trickier, though. We had chosen three actors - one main, and two who had minimal parts in the storyboard. Come the day of filming, two of the three pulled out, and this meant that Naomi and I had to step in, to stop us losing a day's worth of filming. This led to issues over who filmed what, and what we could do to be creative. The settings were relatively easy to choose, as again, we used the facilities available at school for the performance sections, and a park down the road for the narrative sections. This was all built upon the skills we learnt from the thriller opening, as we made quicker decisions and used different options available to us to use the time properly.
Both portfolios had very little dialogue. The thriller opening had one line, which was all it needed to give suspense and also leave the storyline open. The music video had no dialogue, as we used lip-syncing instead. Both did have storyboards - the foundation was very simple, with minimal detail, whereas the advanced was long, listed every shot and gave information on lighting, directions, props and transitions. This gave us a guide on what shots we were to shoot, and when.
However, for the Advanced Portfolio, we storyboarded several times. We did a final draft storyboard, just before filming, and then completed another storyboard after filming, so we had a visual representation of the shots we had available to us, and in what order we wanted them. This was something we struggled with in the thriller opening, so having an editing storyboard as well helped us massively.
Our target audience research was crucial into how we market our film. For the Foundation Portfolio, our research was to look at other thriller films released in the year. This wasn't sufficient enough, and so, in the Advanced Portfolio, we made an assumption, then had feedback from this assumption, before researching other videos and looking at ways we can meet this criteria. It was a lot more work, but gave us a better idea of what to create and who to aim it at.
Finally, we did a lot of investigation and research into similar media products for both portfolios. The Foundation Portfolio included looking and watching a number of thriller openings, to gain some background knowledge and to adapt them into our own ideas. This was really helpful, as we were able to come up with more complex potential storylines for our thriller. We chose to do even more research for our Advanced Portfolio, and look at different music video genres, which then narrowed down to our music genre, and we did a lot of qualitative research into different elements of each video. This all came from the skills we learnt from the thriller opening, but we were able to further our research by looking deeper into the theories and ideas behind the music video.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Creativity
There are many different theories and definitions of creativity that all have separate elements and ideas. The first is that of Jones, back in 1993, and he said 'a process needed for problem solving... not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by many people'. In essence, this means that we can all be creative, and we can all use creativity to solve the problems we face. Over the four projects, we have certainly encountered problems. Within the thriller opening, Naomi and I had issues with the camera and the lighting, but we managed to overcome these using some very simple brightness editing techniques on the Macs. The same occurred throughout the music video, but we overcame this by turning the footage that was an issue into black and white, giving us more opportunities to use the footage that would have otherwise had to be re-shot.
A second theory is that from Isaksen and Treffinger, also in 1993, noting 'novel associations which are useful'. This is attempting to make the links that are new, and to challenge the conventions presented to your genre. The thriller project was more of a murder mystery, as it began with the death in the opening, leaving the plot open to several potential storylines, and the capability to ensure a gripping film. With our music video, however, we chose to challenge conventions keeping our video to one basis, and created a narrative and a performance based video. This helped add depth and give the audience more reason to be interested.
The third theory we have studied was 'the making of the new and the rearranging of the old', from Bentley in 1997. Simply, this says that creativity is taking something there already, and making it your own. We used this theory in our ancillary tasks - we chose to shoot our magazine advert and digipak cover, but then recycled these images and used them within the digipak too. This helped convey our theme of separation by the techniques we used.
A second theory is that from Isaksen and Treffinger, also in 1993, noting 'novel associations which are useful'. This is attempting to make the links that are new, and to challenge the conventions presented to your genre. The thriller project was more of a murder mystery, as it began with the death in the opening, leaving the plot open to several potential storylines, and the capability to ensure a gripping film. With our music video, however, we chose to challenge conventions keeping our video to one basis, and created a narrative and a performance based video. This helped add depth and give the audience more reason to be interested.
The third theory we have studied was 'the making of the new and the rearranging of the old', from Bentley in 1997. Simply, this says that creativity is taking something there already, and making it your own. We used this theory in our ancillary tasks - we chose to shoot our magazine advert and digipak cover, but then recycled these images and used them within the digipak too. This helped convey our theme of separation by the techniques we used.
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