How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The first piece of technology we used was YouTube, this was during research so we could view existing music videos for inspiration. We started off by viewing past student videos, then onto other student made videos from other schools until we had began to form an idea. We then began drafting a storyboard on paper and finally began viewing professional videos of the style we wished to re-create. One example of a genuine music video that we found and agreed had a similar style was "Flashed Junk Mind" by Milky Chance. After building up several videos that we liked we began our final storyboard before turning it into a mock video using 'Animoto.'
Animoto is a form of video editing software that allowed us to have individual photos of each panel of the storyboard on screen, for the time that is labelled in the shot, essentially creating our music video. We did this as a way to visualise the continuity of the storyline and give us a more accurate representation of what our video would look like compared to just a storyboard.
We then began filming some shots as a way to really see what the video would look like using the school's Panasonic HDC-SD90 camcorders. This also helped us to practise working with the mise en scene we encountered on set to try and make our video as genuine as possible. Had we gone straight into the final filming, it would have taken several attempts to get everything in the shot looking right, but as we filmed some test shots first, we didn't waste any time with the actual attempt.
When we had acquired some test shots we decided to begin filming properly, we did this using a Nikon D7200. The D7200 allowed us to get a much higher quality final product than if we had used the camcorders but it also allowed us to alter and 'play around with' the settings and get the shots we wanted even in unfavourable conditions. The second benefit of using our own camera was that we could get shots whenever we wanted to, inside or outside of school. For example, some of the shots in the video consist of fireworks and a bonfire, I captured them whilst at home by chance, not thinking at the time that we would use them in the video. But they turned out to be some of the best liked shots we had and that was only possible thanks to having access to a DSLR that had manual control of focusing and was available whenever.
The other technologies we used during the production stage mainly consist of filming accessories. For example, not only did we use a tripod to stabilise the mid, long and establishing shots, we also used a special handle grip in an attempt to capture low angle shots and movement. When we were filming inside or during night time, we used a large LED light with a diffuser just to help get a more even spread of light on the performer. This really helped us when we were filming in a bedroom, it was dark outside and the main room light was very yellow.
In Post-production we spent most of our time collating all the shots from several different SD cards onto one mac, then arranging that footage on final cut pro. The final editing stage was both very enjoyable but also stressful as we realised that their were gaps that needed filling, re-shoots but also arguments about what should go where. We all respected the fact that even the slightest change in speed of movement in a clip, or the brightness or especially the clothes worn by those in shot could greatly alter the underlying theme of the video. This is why final cut pro was so useful as it allowed us to change the mood and style of the video even after we had filmed everything and knew all the essential parts. By the end of the editing stage, our final product resembled our original ideas but had also grown into something unexpected and more thought provoking than we anticipated.
In the evaluation stages, most people did all their drafts as blog posts to try and work what they were going to say or type etc for their final answers. For the first question I simply laid out the text in the form of a double page spread using photoshop. For the second question I used pinterest, the third I wrote a fake letter directed towards a possible distributor and finally I have presented this through slideshare.
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