My AS media production group produced a film sequence to a drama film, this was called 'Impact', it focused on a teenage girl suffering from depression and struggling to get through her life. Whereas our A2 media production was a cross-media package; music video, website and digipak for our artist 'Stellato'. We used the song 'Hypnotic' originally composed by Zella Day to create a music video from. In both years research and planning were key elements in the process of learning new skills and creating our media productions.
At AS level i had little knowledge of film genres so before creating a film opening, i did a bit of research into what made a film fit the category of a specific genre for example horror. My production group briefly researched into different genres of film such as thriller, sci-fis, comedies and drama's. We chose to create a film opening for a teen drama genre due to this we looked into the conventions of a drama film. We found that drama films have the following; a clever complicated script that can relate to the audience, a heightened level of tension going through highs and lows with good editing, well structured involving a climax to keep the audience interested. Also drama films must be realistic , showing a journey of the character throughout and a form of realisation at the end. We looked at existing media products when getting inspiration and they showed us the conventions of a drama film these were 'Girl, Interrupted', 'It's kind of a funny story' and 'Kidulthood'. 'Kidulthood' inspired me when it came to locations and costumes for a typical drama film. For example in 'Kidhulthood' they wore casual clothes to relate to their audience, they also used the location of a school - which we did to. As well as researching into the conventions we looked at how the order of titles appeared in a drama film through use of the Art of the Title. For example i looked at the film opening called 'The Last of Us' to help my group work out which order they should come in. .
At AS level i had little knowledge of film genres so before creating a film opening, i did a bit of research into what made a film fit the category of a specific genre for example horror. My production group briefly researched into different genres of film such as thriller, sci-fis, comedies and drama's. We chose to create a film opening for a teen drama genre due to this we looked into the conventions of a drama film. We found that drama films have the following; a clever complicated script that can relate to the audience, a heightened level of tension going through highs and lows with good editing, well structured involving a climax to keep the audience interested. Also drama films must be realistic , showing a journey of the character throughout and a form of realisation at the end. We looked at existing media products when getting inspiration and they showed us the conventions of a drama film these were 'Girl, Interrupted', 'It's kind of a funny story' and 'Kidulthood'. 'Kidulthood' inspired me when it came to locations and costumes for a typical drama film. For example in 'Kidhulthood' they wore casual clothes to relate to their audience, they also used the location of a school - which we did to. As well as researching into the conventions we looked at how the order of titles appeared in a drama film through use of the Art of the Title. For example i looked at the film opening called 'The Last of Us' to help my group work out which order they should come in. .
Progression is clear when looking at how much more research went into my A2 productions. My production group progressed at A2 level when making our music video 'Hypnotic'. We researched in more depth looking at the conventions of a music video. These are the following; scenery, costumes, some form of movement (choreography), lots of cuts and transitions, repeated locations, lyrics matching visuals, the artist or band lip syncing and mise en scene styled to the genre. We also researched genres of music videos, for example rap,dance/pop and indie. Looking at these different genres helped us to know what we should include in our pop/dance music video 'Hypnotic'. Looking at different types of videos eg concept, narrative, performance, this was also beneficial for our understanding of what to include. For example, 'Runnin' by Naughty Boy featuring Beyonce is a concept video as it is a creative video, focused around an idea - being underwater, rather then the artist. Taylor Swift's 'Shake it off' follows a narrative style as it follows a story that is structured and organised in a way in which the audience would understand. 'Mockingbird' by Eminem is a performance video which is typical of rap videos. It is a performance video because it is based around Eminem's feelings towards his daughters. My production group took inspiration from all the real media texts we watched by incorporating some of the elements and conventions of each video into our music video 'Hypnotic'. Synergy had to occur between all three of the media products ; music video, website and digipak in order for the products to be successful and engage an audience. As you can see, my production groups research was more effective and influential at A2 level in comparison to AS level as i learnt more about the fundamentals of a music video of the drama genre.
We also researched into audience in both years. My production group briefly researched audience at AS level - looking at what our target audience would be and why. Audience was researched in more depth at A2 level than at AS level , to ensure that our music video would be popular and relevant. Research was vital for the other productions such as the website and digipak for our artist 'Stellato'.
Planning played a huge role at AS level in my production groups film opening 'Impact'. We made a storyboard which we stuck to as we needed guidance and structure as we were inexperienced in creating media productions. But at A2 level the storyboard we made was more in depth due to the complexity of a music video and shots/cuts were in need in comparison to a film opening. We had about 100 shots in our music video, and about 25 in our film opening. We followed the storyboard loosely at A2 level as we were advanced enough to be able to improvise and adapt to changes. This freed us up to be more creative and imaginative.
We also planned a shot list and shooting schedule which was really helpful to the making of our media production as it helped us to know what we need to do and stay organised at AS level. We briefly created a risk assessment to minimise the risks of danger when filming. This meant we stayed safe when filming. But at A2, the shot list and shooting schedule were created in more detail/depth as it was helpful for me and my production group to be organised. So we knew when we were going to film, this was vital to drive our music video. The risk assessment was made in more depth as we were aware of more possible risks, as well as us using new and unique locations such Ripley's mirror maze in London. This helped us to remain safe throughout filming.
When planning at A2 level we also did a lip syncing task to work out who would be best to be the performer in the music video, but at AS level we just picked someone with no trial run of who would be best to perform in the film sequence. We planned our music video through making a Stealomatic this was a collation of ideas from other music videos that my production group used to develop ideas for our video. The stealomatic consisted of videos all put together roughly matching how i wanted my music video to be like - taking ideas from each clip. My production group and i did this to research more into our genre and come up with more ideas of what we wanted our video to look like. This was a very useful task to do as it widened our creativity when it came to creating our final production. The further planning at A2 level shows the progression of my research and planning abilities over the two years.
Feedback was very important for both years and very useful in the development of our media productions. We received a lot more feedback at A2 level as the requirements were much greater. We got feedback through our peers from questionnaires and group decisions about productions. We used this feedback to improve both productions more. For example at A2 we filmed in greenery areas such as Tropical wings and Hyde Park in London - responses from our feedback said that they didn't feel that this matched our other darker, unique locations like Ripley's mirror maze in London. So my production group decided to remove footage from these locations in hope the audience will prefer our music video without the greenery side to it.
My production group researched by looking at real media texts such as the music video 'Somebody that i used to know' by Gotye featuring Kimbra. I planned by using various different presentational tools to structure my groups ideas and formulate a plan as to how we are going to create a film opening revolving around teenage depression and a pop music video.
It is clear that at AS level my production groups decisions when researching were heavily impacted by real media texts and made a huge contribution to the creation of our media products. For example we found that teen drama films tend to have the setting of a school and a house/bedroom - so we incorporated these locations into our film sequence. Whereas at A2 level research needed to be done in greater depth, but it was important that there was an element of creativity to our productions. Which wouldn't of been possible if our skills had not developed. My production groups research was good at AS level, however we conformed to the stereotypes of a drama film so there was very little creativity. Where as at A2 we challenged many of the stereotypes of a pop/dance music video to be more creative.
Overall,as my skills in research and planning improved the better my productions were.To conclude my research and planning skills developed over the two years and helped me to create two media productions. The decisions i made when researching and planning contributed to my media production outcomes. For example if we hadn't of researched mirror mazes as an idea we wouldn't of found Ripley's 'Believe it or not' Museum which was the main filming location for our music video 'Hypnotic' our music video would have been completely different. But at AS level we filmed at our school and at my house which were easy locations to find.
It is clear that at AS level my production groups decisions when researching were heavily impacted by real media texts and made a huge contribution to the creation of our media products. For example we found that teen drama films tend to have the setting of a school and a house/bedroom - so we incorporated these locations into our film sequence. Whereas at A2 level research needed to be done in greater depth, but it was important that there was an element of creativity to our productions. Which wouldn't of been possible if our skills had not developed. My production groups research was good at AS level, however we conformed to the stereotypes of a drama film so there was very little creativity. Where as at A2 we challenged many of the stereotypes of a pop/dance music video to be more creative.
Overall,as my skills in research and planning improved the better my productions were.To conclude my research and planning skills developed over the two years and helped me to create two media productions. The decisions i made when researching and planning contributed to my media production outcomes. For example if we hadn't of researched mirror mazes as an idea we wouldn't of found Ripley's 'Believe it or not' Museum which was the main filming location for our music video 'Hypnotic' our music video would have been completely different. But at AS level we filmed at our school and at my house which were easy locations to find.
