Evaluation

Regular evaluation updates are required, as with every unit. Please

remember to take photos as you film. You might find it easier if you note
down a record of what you did each day in a diary form.

Please use the following guidance to help you with each week.

LO1 This week you worked on your initial ideas

What have We have been asked to create a visual production such as a feature films
you been or short films and music videos. These will be sent to the Raindance, a UK
asked to film festival for new British directors and cinema. The submissions will be
selected based on quality of narrative and filming techniques as well as the
do?
originality. For the film festival I have decided to create a music video to
the song “Various Storms and Saints” by Florence Welch. I have only
attempted to create music video for our first ask of the year but I didn’t
finish the project. So I wanted to see if I could create a quality music video,
it will challenge my quite elementary editing skills. I hope editing a full
length music video with narrative will help me develop my creative eye in
the media sphere, and develop my own understanding of what techniques
works and what doesn’t. I will make my music video for my target audience
of 13-20 year olds as the video will feature actresses in that age bracket
and the artist has a predominately younger audience

How has The brief was a good foundation for the beginning of my visual production,
writing the using it helped me plan beforehand what I wanted to put in my video
brief helped regarding location, actors or mise en scene. And as I developed my idea
further I would go back and add to my brief new idea or themes I had
you to
about it.
finalise your
idea?
How has I analysed videos that were in the same or similar genre as the song I was
analysing going to use for my music video. Taking a more analytical and contextual
videos awareness approach to breaking down the themes, location, costumes
and mise en scene and how the artist is using that to their advantage to
helped you
create an idea or mood. It did really help me develop a greater
to understanding of the genre and the conventions they have in their
understand productions.
the genre
better?
 In
this screenshot I have linked the imagery of the video to the narrative idea
they are trying to convey. By discussing things such as proxemics and
camera placement I can link these techniques to the narrative.

This is the last analysis slide of my presentation, here I can use the imagery
and contextual awareness of the video to explain the ending in a more
analytical method. The genre of indie pop, which is the genre of the song
I’m using in my visual production in my music video typically have a
nonlinear narrative shown in conceptual visuals with a mixture of
performance visuals. The lyrics are visually amplified in the music video to
create meaning.
What are I am taking the typical convention of indie music video artists using
you using in inexpensive locations like public spaces for their music videos. I have
your planned my locations on inexpensive places in my immediate area,
Reading. I have planned to film in the reading town centre as it has
production
wearisome areas that will help convey the idea of one of my characters. I
from this have also filmed in woodlands and nature reserves in my home town such
analysis? as Caversham courts. I will also try and have conceptual shots in my
 production, making sure the angle, background and mise en scene in the
shot are carefully planned, and are visually pleasing.

LO2.1 This week you worked on your planning and pre-production

What did I tried to be as thorough and efficient when I was planning my production,
you learn the quicker I got it done the more time I had to film. The more time I had
from your filming the more footage id have and with proper planning like a location
recce and shooting script, it made filming a lot easier and quicker and I
planning this
was able to experiment with camera movements and techniques. With a
week? shooting script I was able to plan out line by line what I wanted visually in
the shot, was able to link the visuals and the lyrics, before I had even shot
them.
How did you I used a story board to give a basic idea of what I wanted my music video
ensure that to be, I used a storyboard creating service online to create mine. The
your service was actually quite helpful as it had editing amenities that helped
me change certain boards to fit alongside my idea better. As I am not an
storyboards
able drawer I thought it would be better to use a computer application to
were to a make my storyboard look better than it would if I had drew it. It was also a
high enough clearer and better way to present the ideas and kind of shots I wanted in it.
standard?

How much I managed to do all of my planning in the lesson which benefited me as I

work did you had longer filming weeks and could get more footage. It means I could be
complete more flexible with my actresses as I didn’t have to rush about getting filming
done, and it wasn’t an issue if they couldn’t film one day as we had time to
outside of
reschedule. All of my filming was done outside the lesson as I wanted mine
the lessons? to be all on-location shooting as I thought it would intrigue the audience.
What issues Well my actress’s availability was an issue when we were filming as they are
did you also college students and have exams and deadlines to work for, so getting
have when a night where they weren’t revising or working was difficult. But as I had all
my planning done in the lesson I could dedicate more time to sorting out
planning
shooting days with them. I wanted my music video to have variety in things
your like angles and movement, but also have different lenses to make it look
production? more interesting. But I only have one lens for my camera but fortunately I
How did you had friends who was kind enough to let me borrow one.
overcome
them?
High Grade Tips

Look to use these terms in order to improve the analysis of your own work.

Relevant and coherent – make sure your research sources are not just the same as the
media product you hope to make and talk about how they inform your planning.
Sustained – continue your research throughout the 4 week project and don’t just limit
yourself.
Efficient production against timescales – how is your planning helping you to meet your
deadline.

LO2.2 This week you worked on your production

What I have filmed a music video for the song “Various Storms and Saints” by
practical Florence and the machine. The first half of my filming I had my friend be my
work have actress for the music video, her character was the “good girl”. So we
filmed in the day on good weather and in Caversham courts and Clayfield
you done
copse, Both local and inexpensive settings. Having my location recces
and how planned beforehand helped me loads on the days we filmed as I had
helpful was good idea of where we could film in these areas and how long for. For the
your earlier second half of my filming I asked a student at my college who takes
planning? drama A-level. Her character was the bad character, she wore dark
clothing and we filmed at night as would better convey the mood I
wanted for her character.
This a photo of my actress in the same pose as a shot I used in my music
video, I knew this graffiti was in reading and so planned to walk past it on
the way to another location to get some shots with my actress standing
with the wings and halo, a visual juxtaposition as she is darkly lit and with a
sad expression. My attention with planning helped me put focus on the
mise en scene.
I also changed the location for her to the Reading town centre, I wanted
the two girls to juxtapose each other visually so I filmed in nature for good,
and in urban areas for the bad character. Having a schedule for town as
well was helpful, as I already had planned where we were filming.

This schedule was helpful in my filming as we started by the station so I

planned to shoot from there to where I had parked my car when we were
finished.
How will this My planning skills and organisation skills have improved with each project.
be useful as When filming for this music video I wanted all the shots to be carefully
your planned and had attention to detail, as in my genre of music video mise
en scene is very important and carefully planned. Having the planning for
production
location and props and costumes done before filming makes the process
process for production a lot easier, as you have the planning to fall on if your
continues? filming day doesn’t go to plan, it’s a lot easier to reorganise shoots if all
have to do is planned and written down.
Analysing the music videos of my genre, I looked at how indie pop artists
use conceptual shots to convey an idea or narrative. Taking a different
approach to watching music video being more analytical rather than a
passive watcher. This different mentality towards media production will
help me be successful in future projects, as being able to recognise these
conventions will help me apply them to my productions.

Here I discuss how the nonlinear narrative visuals are shown in a sequence
that tells a narrative that has relations to lyrics of the song.
Upload your
photos
(explain
what they
show)

Here is a photo of me and my actress, she was playing the bad girl, who
was meant to show the negative ways someone can indulge in after a
break up. I the shots of the bad girl to play with light and have attention to
detail in the shot. In this alleyway I shot the performance side for her part in
the video, the alleyway was long, narrow and looked run down, matched
what I wanted associated to this character by the audience.
On my camera to make to performance visuals stand out I used a vibrancy
effect on my camera, it wasn’t a drastic change in the shot and I thought
it made the actress more visually engaging for the audience with all the
different colour lights on her

Here is an example of the using the lights in the alleyway to make for an
intriguing looking shot that conveys the spaced out and disconnected
ideas of the character. The reflection also conveys the idea of self-
reflection, taking on a more visually obvious relation to the lyrics

Here is an example of how I tried to get as many visually pleasing shots that
converged with my idea of my characters, I had this character looking
over the town on a high rise, this further connotes to the disconnection the
character feels.
 This is how I used the setting to convey the characters narrative, she sits still
looking directly at the camera as the sun shines on her. I purposefully shot
her at this angle to get the sun illuminating her as it would connote to the
positively and goodness, and looks like she is angelic.
What issues Weather was problem when I was filming for the first half of my shoot, for
did you my good character I wanted to have the sun shining as to make the shot
encounter look more bright and angelic to convey the positive mood I wanted from
this character towards the audience. But during my planned shooting
and how did
week the weather wouldn’t allow, so had to miss out on one day of filming.
you However, I was able to reorganise a day with my actress when we could
overcome shoot, the following day. However, It still wasn’t my ideal weather for the
them? video so we changed the location we were mean to be shooting at on a
different day, and shoot in a dense forest. Where not much rain or light
could get in. With other actress we had difficulty finding an evening where
we were both free, I wanted to film my other actress as the bad character
at night so the two characters visually juxtapose each other. But my actress
is in her last year of college and has a lot of revision and coursework
deadlines to work to but we managed to get two days in the half term
where we could film, it was later than I wanted as I wanted all my filming
done before the half term. But this actress and I work well together and we
got good shots on the days we filmed and I was happy with them. Having
all my planning done made the problem a lot easier to deal with as
rescheduling was easier as I already has the other half of my filming done.
How helpful Being able to get feedback from my teachers was defiantly beneficial
did you find towards the quality of my production and the planning and contextual
the verbal research behind it. Having all the work I needed to do in checklist format
with notes was really helpful as I could easily go down the list and develop
feedback?
more on my research with their direction on what to focus on and what
was completed. I also conducted a survey on survey monkey.

Here I have asked my audience if they enjoyed the video, I only got four
replies but I still got a complete 100% yes they enjoyed it. I can conclude
my video was enjoyable to watch by my audience.

Here I got my surveys are range, most of my responses were from 17-19
year olds, which is the target audience I wanted and they enjoyed the
video, I can conclude I was successful at creating a production that was
enjoyable to my target audience.
Here I have asked my audience if they actually got the concept for the
music video, which the whole survey response was that they got the
concept.

In this question I asked my survey if they thought my locations were

successful in conveying the ideas, to which the whole survey responded
positively, I can conclude my planning and choice of location was
effective in conveying the idea of the video.
 Here I asked my survey if they believed my actors were successful in their
roles as their character. My whole survey responded yes that they thought
my actresses were successful in conveying their respective roles and
effectively conveyed the ideas behind them. My choice in actresses for my
production was beneficial and successful.
How did you The editing and filming process was the most time consuming part of the
find the whole production. Filming was made easier by all the premade planning I
filming and had, I could get with my actress and we’d almost immediately start filming
and get different shots of her doing the same action or having to reshoot
editing
some parts was timely, but as we had plenty of time to shoot as id planned
process? to shoot with her the whole week so any shots that didn’t look adequate
we could go over the next shooting day. The editing processes was also
difficult as I am not completely familiar with the software I used for editing
so it was a matter of trial and error at the computer. I would experiment
with the footage and see what visuals or effects were convergent with the
ideas in my music video.
 here is an example of my editing work I have added effects to the footage
to change the speed of it or add a filter.
How do you My production has a concept that I created and tried to keep as true to it
feel your as I could, I don’t have access to the budget conventional music videos
product would have. Even indie pop music videos with inexpensive locations and
relatively low budget spend much more money on their videos than I have
compares to
access to. However, I tried to be meticulous in my filming as to make look
existing as professional as I could, and I got shots that I was satisfied with and knew
professional I would be able to work with when I came to editing my music video. The
products? concept I came up for my music video I tried to follow with through my
preproduction planning, filming and the editing, and I am satisfied my
music video is the concept I wanted for my visual production.

Here is the music video to Florence and the machines music video to “how
big, how blue, how beautiful” where she battles with the other half of
herself, this video idea helped me develop the ideas I had for my music
video. The setting is a lot more visually appealing the outside theatre
overgrown by vines and trees, it is also the only location as in mine I
wanted variety of locations.
What area In my next unit I want to be able to improve my editing skills so I can
are you confidently use the software better to my advantage. If I had better
looking to understanding of effects or uses, I could added a filter to make the good
character appear brighter connoting to the angelic idea I wanted or
improve on
added an effect to the footage of my bad character to emphasise the
in your next idea of her being “bad”.
production?
High Grade Tips

Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other
pieces.

Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your

production process – such as still images, and annotated screenshots of your specific
production and editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’.
Specific – be specific! Don’t just say e.g. ‘the lighting was good’ – show us where the
lighting looked good and why you think that.