Opening Sequence Storyboard

Evaluation Unit 2

Creativity: 
After looking back at all the work I have completed for Unit 2, I think that I have been quite creative. But I definitely think that I have got more creative as the course went on and as I learnt new skills. E.g. using Final Cut, Photoshop etc. I have done lots of research into each topic we were doing e.g. making a music video, opening sequence, magazine etc. to make sure I got the results that I was wanting and had hoped for. I also brainstormed so I could build up ideas and then choose the one that I was most happy with.

Working Accurately:
When I am creating a new piece of work for Unit 2, I always make sure everything is made presentable. For my magazine I aligned the cover lines on my magazine to make it look neat and tidy. For all my pieces of work I have mostly used Photoshop, I ensure that all my photos are cropped neatly and are inline with all the other images. When I am writing a piece of text, (like this one), I re-read it to check that I have used punctuation, grammar, and to check that I have not spelled anything incorrectly. As having mistakes in your work looks scruffy and unprofessional. I also underline and bold important headings, so that people reading it can see that this is the main topic.  

Saving/Storing Material:
On my work area I have saved all my documents and media pieces in a 'Media' folder, which is inside my 'mccg96' folder. I save it here as they are always saved in my area, as saving on your desktop is risky because the computer could break therefore losing your work. I have a number of different folders inside the Media so that I can easily find my work. E.g. I have a Magazine, Movie Poster, Music Videos, Music Video Textual Analysis, Video Screen Shots one etc. All my documents and folders are correctly named so that if I did lose something, I can quickly find it by going to Finder and typing in the name of it. 

Use of Equipment
The equipment that was new to me was using a tripod when we were filming our opening sequences, and a scanner for when we had to scan our movie posters and magazines in. Also I had not used the programs Photoshop or Final Cut before. We use Photoshop to create all our pieces of work, and used Final Cut to create my opening sequence. We then upload these pieces of work to our blog on Blogger. But I can now set up a tripod, scan in work, and use Photoshop confidently. The equipment that I had used before was a camera, printer, apple mac, word, Blogger, Google Documents and YouTube. Although I have learnt new skills for using Blogger (uploading JPEGS) and an apple mac (all the shortcuts) which I did not know before. 

Strongest Skills & Skills That Need Improvement
I think my strongest skill was when I began the course is using Blogger, a mac and using a camera. My skills with these programs have definitely improved as I can now work my way round a mac quickly as I have now learnt some short cuts e.g apple T = new tab, apple W = close tab, apple S = save, apple N = new window. I knew how to use Blogger but I have learnt how to select different layouts and backgrounds. I found using Final Cut for editing our opening sequences quite difficult as it was new to me at the start and it was hard to use. I do know some aspects of using Final Cut but I definitely think I could improve on my skills and that I could learn a great deal more. I think I am quite good at using Photoshop as I know how to use it but I think I could improve my skills further. I will improve my skills on Photoshop and Final Cut by looking at tutorials on YouTube on how to do different things. I could also ask other students and my teacher on things that I am stuck on and how to improve my pieces of work

Research Report

1. Explain what you have been researching and for what reason?

The research that I have been working on has been focussed on attempting to find out a variety of things about the form of a Music Video. The research that I did has gone into many different aspects of a music video coming from the same artist and the same genre. I have analyzed a range of music videos which include a similar artist and have the same genre. I have looked into the conventions which make up a music video, I have done this by looking at Andrew Goodwins 6 points. To get a knowledge of how to shoot and what is included in the shooting of a music video, I have browsed the internet for tips. To build up an idea of what my music video will be like, I have brainstormed the lyrics whilst looking for images that would suit and create the mood to my music video. This helps you construct ideas of what your music video will feature. When I had built my ideas together and had visualized what the image of my artist will be I then created a mood board to present this music video. When the mood board was completed, two people took part in evaluating my mood board whilst writing the evaluation on a feedback sheet.

2. What were the findings from the research?

I have learnt a range of skills from doing this project, by looking in depth at my artist to get the image right to go with the genre. I focused on the types of shots I wanted which ranged from Long shots, Mid shots and Far out ones. I chose a variety of shots so you can get a different view of Justin from different points. Using different shots also gets the viewer focusing on the artists image and how he is acting, which is important for this type of video. I chose a specific location (white, empty room) as I wanted the audiences main focus to be how he is illustrated. Justin's attitude is different in this video compared to his other videos. As he is acting romantic and lovable whereas in other videos he is acting cool and rebellious. I downloaded the lyrics to Justin's song to feature in my mood board. This gives the audience a feel of what the song is about even though there is no music. I dressed Justin in a casual yet smart dark suit. This appeals to the target audience which would be woman who are interested in Justin and his music. His performance is very much based on the narrative of the song. As well as singing the song in the music video, he acts out the lyrics in some parts of the song, to emphasis the meaning of the song.

3. How will these findings affect your idea?

After reading through my feedback from Milagro and Megan for my mood board. I decided that if I was to go back and change any part of it, I would include on the analysis page information about how I would edit the video afterwards, e.g. talk about effects, the cuts, images etc. Also I would add a warp effect to the writing so it fitted to the shape of the picture. When I was researching music video conventions I found that artists like Justin Timberlake are usually based in tropical, night life locations, are not found with instruments, usually found dancing with woman and featured with cars and money. Whereas I went for the opposite - white room, no props, no woman or cars. As I thought that the song would go better with this image rather then the stereotypical one. The feedback I got from Megan and Milegro; that my idea was original, the images fit in with the treatment and they both understood where the artist was heading.

Focus Group Feedback

Video Textual Analysis - Justin Timberlake

Music Video Screen Shots

Rihanna, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj + Will.i.am and Beyonce + Lady Gaga:

I have chosen 4 different artists with slightly different genres but have similar videos. There are many similarities and differences between these videos. The videos are all female artists who are singing in the videos without any instruments. All the videos feature the artists dancing with dancers and have lots of effects in the videos. In all of the videos the artists are wearing bright eye catching clothing which looks good and is interesting look at. Each of the videos have interesting shots e.g. close up, full body, mid way and far out ones. Also they have put different ways for you to look at the artists like through pictures, cameras and screens. These make the video interesting to look at (see pictures for examples). The similarities between these videos is that all of them have vivid, bright, eye catching colours in them which appeal to the audience as it brightens up the video and makes the artist seem fun and bubbly. All of the artists here Rihanna, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj + Will.i.am and Beyonce + Lady Gaga are going for the party, rebellious look. You can tell this by the way they party in each of there videos and by the clothing they wear.

Kanye West Screen Shots

Kanye West Screen Shots:

I chose four different songs and videos by Kanye West, but they all have the same genre. All of the shots are always close up or full body of Kanye, to make sure you focus and look at the way he moves and looks. Each video has some similarities and differences. In each of his video he is seen to be just rapping his lyrics, looking cool whilst 'dancing'. (As there is no real dance routine there, he is just free styling), which is very typical for a rap artist. In nearly every one of his videos, it features him dancing with a girl e.g. Gold Digger, Good Life, American Boy. Kanye keeps his image the same throughout each of the videos aswell as some of the locations e.g. Good life is shot in a white room, so is American Boy and Love Lockdown. Although Homecoming is shot outside. In Homecoming he is doing his usual rapping and dancing but it hasn't got any attractive ladies dancing with him. Also it has a member of Coldplay playing the piano which is the first music instrument shown and played during one of his videos. The Homecoming video is probably the one that is the odd on out from all of his videos. There are lots of interesting shots in homecoming with him looking into a mirror, a shadow of coldplay playing the piano, the piano being played and other effects which can be seen in the pictures. American Boy features Estelle singing and then Kanye rapping. There are no props used in this video other than the couch that Estelle is seen sitting on at the beginning, Then it is just Estelle and Kanye dancing with each other or on their own. In good life Kanye and T-Pain act out the lyrics whilst animated objects flow round them as the song carries on, whilst dancing with an attractive woman. Finally, in Love Lockdown, Kanye is singing to himself in a white room. Also half way through the song african tribal dances come on and start dancing out rituals. For all the videos the editors have used quick, interesting shots with colourful effects to keep the audience watching, make the artist look good and to make the video/artist seem professional. Kanye wants his audience to think of him as this rebellious, 'do anything he likes' character which appeals to the rap style audience.