G325 Timed Essay

Discuss how far digital technology has enhanced the creative process in your media production work.
 
Throughout studying media in AS and A2 digital technology has played a vital roll for the production on my work. There are three areas of digital technology in particular which have played a vital role and these are; blogs, cameras and editing software.

In media lessons i have used blogger and i have posted all my work on there, the good thing about blogger is that it is really easy to contain all of your work and you can edit where required. For my media production at AS for my coursework i had to produce the opening footage of a film and i used blogger to post all my thoughts, ideas and work on there. If it wasn't for digital technolgy throughout the process of my coursework, everything would have to have been hand written and this would make the process a lot longer. With blogger it makes everything short, quick and simple. Also with blogger it doesn't just allow you to publish written work, you can post videos and pictures as well. You can put embedded codes onto the blog from sites such as YouTube and it will upload the video for you. This is very useful if i want to compare videos for my coursework, as all the people that visit the blog will be able to watch them and see a clear comparison. By posting pictures it allows you to show a step by step process if you like as to what you're doing. You can upload photos of possible shot locations etc. Blogger has allowed me during my production to upload so many different types of media onto one webpage and has saved me a lot of hastle!

To be able to produce an effective piece of work for my coursework the camera which i use will play a vital roll. If the quality of the camera isn't good then it's likely that the final video won't be as good due to the quality of the picture. However, luckily this year i'm now able to use an HD (high definition) camera and this has a much better picture. Last year for my AS production the camera which i used was standard and the final picture was alright but it wasn't great.

To be able to complete my video i have to edit the footage which i have filmed. Editing footage plays a vital roll in making the final video look effective. Last year the software i used was iMovie, an editing software designed by Apple which can only be found on their own products. iMovie, i found, was a great piece of editing software to use because it wasn't too hard to use and it had a great deal of effects etc on there. However, this year i have to use Adobe Premier Pro which is a software i'm not entirely keen on as it seems a very complicated programme to use but the final product will look a lot better than what iMovie can offer.

Overall, digital technology has played a vital role in my media production over the course of AS and A2. It has made everything a lot simpler but at the same time, it makes the final product a lot more effective.

Lyrical Analysis

The song 'Mr Brightside' is about the speakers optimism and how he looks on the brightside of any given situation. The song talks about his love for a woman who he's only just met and the heartbreak he suffers as a result of it.

"I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all"

In the opening fiew lines the speaker talks about how he's 'coming out of his cage' and opening his heart for the first time, which was being locked away in the cage.

"It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss"

Here he wonders how he could care so deeply for someone so much after one kiss.

"Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag"

As he's going to bed, she's going to see the guy that she's falling for.

"Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his-chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, letting me go
And I just can't look its killing me
And taking control

He feels 'sick' that she's off with another man and he refuses to accept it, thinking that it's all in his head and that he's imagining it.

"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside"

Here he's states he's paying the 'price' for having feelings for this girl too fast and he's heartbroken. However his eyes are 'eager' for the next girl to come along and he's the optimistic 'mr brightside'.

Lyrics of the Song

I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his-chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, letting me go

And I just can't look its killing me
And taking control
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside

I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his-chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, letting me go

Cause I just can't look its killing me
And taking control
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside

I never...
I never...
I never...
I never...

Theme of my Video

For my video i have decided to base it on the theme of romance. The start of the video shows the couple breaking up and leaving. As the video progresses it shows pictures and videos of the couple when they were togther before the split and this eventually leads to them at the end of the video getting back together.

The Killers - Mr Brightside

This is the song that i'm going to use for my video. "Mr. Brightside" is a song performed by Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. The song is featured on the group's debut album Hot Fuss and was written by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.
It was named "Song of the Decade" by UK radio stations Absolute Radio and XFM, and in April 2010 Last.fm revealed that it was the most listened to track since the launch of the online music service, with over 7.66 million plays scrobbled. In October 2010, it was voted at 9 in the Greatest Guitar Riffs of the 21st Century so far by Total Guitar magazine. "Mr.Brightside" peaked at Number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and has since become one of the longest chart sitters in the 21st Century, spending a total of "71 weeks in the UK Top 100". Its last appearance was in January 2010, six years after its original UK release.

Change of Song

I have now decided to change the song for my music video to Mr Brightside by The Killers. The reason why i have decided to change the song is because that i was struggling to come up with an idea that would go with my original song which was landed by ben folds. I have now come up with a better, much more structured idea that will go well with song.

Action Plan

Deadlines:

1. The Main Task (Music Video) is to be handed in on Friday 28th January.

2.  The Ancillary Task (Digipak) is to be handed in on February 18th.

3. Planning and Research will be done throughout the duration of my tasks until they've both been handed in.

4. My evaluation will commence after my tasks have been completed.

Date of when filming will commence: Monday 20th December.
Throughout the christmas holidays i will spend the majority of my free days focusing on filming my music video. I will need to film early in the day as i don't want to have to film when it's dusk or when it's dark.

Date of when filming will finish: Friday 14th January.
I need to finish my filming roughly two weeks before the deadline in order to edit. This will allow me to do any more filming as well if i feel it's needed for my video.

Date when editing will begin: Saturday 15th January.

Date when editing will finish: Thursday 27th January

I will take pictures for my Ancillary Task whilst i'm doing shooting for my main task.

Ideas for My Video

As i'm focusing the video on the topic of landing i have come up with some ideas as to what to film for my piece. I'm thinking of shooting some of these possible clips:

• A child on a trampoline
• Children flying a kite
• An aeroplane taking off/landing
• Band singing the song on stage
• Band singing the song in a studio

To make these shots become more effective i will then edit them in slow motion. My video will include short clips with different people in different situations.

Copyright

Much of the music today has copyright. Copyright means that all rights are reserved by the record label. Piracy or breech of copyright is a serious offence and it can lead to a huge fine or even a prison sentence. In order not to breech the use of copyright i have sent an email to artist arena, Ben Folds Privacy and Security company to ask about the possibility of using his song 'Landed' for my music video.

Ancillary Task Ideas

For my Anciliary, one of the tasks is to produce a release cover for the music video. I have been looking at various release covers from bands and artists in order to get some ideas as to what i should do for my own release cover. When i looked at the beatles release cover of abbey road it has made me think about the possibility of doing a spoof on this. As i am doing my music video on the ben folds song landed i am thinking about the possibility of instead of having people in everyday clothes cross the road i could use tourists and continental people in their own styles (obviously these would be friends in fancy dress and i wouldn't hire these people to come over from abroad to do the shooting!) I will now look at possible locations for me to shoot this image.

Main Task

Here is a list of the things i need to have done for my main task:

1) Chosen a Song
2) Decided Theme of the Video

Planning and Research

3.1) Exaples of similar work
3.2) Locations

Audience Research

4.1) Video
4.2) Data
5) Actors Confirmed
6) Locations Confirmed

Ancilary Task

For my ancilary task i have to produce:

• A cover for the release of the song
• A magazine advertisement

Here is a set list of all the things that i'll need to do for this task:

1) Digipak Audience Research
2) Examples of similar work
3) Locations

Audience Research

4) Video
5) Data
6) Actors Confirmed
7) Locations Confirmed

Filming Locations

Recently i have been looking at possible locations for my music video. As i am going to use the subject of 'landing' it will involve people coming and going from different places and it will be good to shoot from popular tourist arrivial points such as Norwich bus station, train station and airport.

Moodboard

Rough Story Board for my music video

My idea for the music video is to show people ‘landing’. It shows people coming and going. Shots can include for example, people getting on and off buses, coming and going off trains and getting on flights. These different images can be shot at the bus station, the train station and Norwich airport. There can also be a sense of ‘coming back down to earth’, such as people breaking up.

Lyrics Of The Song

We'd hit the bottom,
I thought it was my fault
And in a way I guess it was
I'm just now finding out
What it was all about

Moved to the west coast away from everyone
She never told me that you called
Back when I was still, I was still in love

Till I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's bye-bye, goodbye, I tried
And I twisted it wrong just to make it right
Had to leave myself behind
I've been flying high all night
So come pick me up...I've landed

The daily dramas she made from nothing
So nothing ever made them right
She liked to push me and talk me back down
Until I believed I was the crazy one,
and in a way
I guess I was...

But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's bye-bye, goodbye I tried
Treading a sea of a troubled mind
Had to leave myself behind
Singing bye-bye, goodbye I tried

If you wrote me off I'd understand it
Because I've been on some other planet
So come pick me up...
I've landed

And you will be so
happy to know
I've come alone,
it's over

But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it's by my goodbye I tried
Down comes the reign of the telephone czar
It's OK to call
Now I'll answer for myself

Come pick me up,
...I've landed

Audince Research Questions

1. What do you look for in a music video?
2. What do you believe makes a good video?

MTV

On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m., MTV: Music Television launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack. The first music video shown on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles and the second video shown was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run."

In the beginning, MTV had a profound impact on the music industry and popular culture. Slogans such as "I want my MTV" and "MTV is here" became embedded in public thought, the concept of the VJ was popularized, the idea of a dedicated video-based outlet for music was introduced, and both artists and fans found a central location for music events, news, and promotion. MTV has also been referenced countless times in popular culture by musicians, other TV channels and shows, films, and books.

Things I Now need to work on:

1. Give information on the song Landed which i'm doing for my music video
2. Produce a story board
3. Get my audience research uploaded onto my blog
4. Conduct rsearch and analysis for the actual 'story' in my video

Song for My Music Video

After conducting audience research for the choice of music for my video i have chosen Ben Folds - Landed. I will now produce some ideas for the video.

4 Songs to 1...

I have now come up with 4 possible songs to use for my music video, these are:

Train - Hey, Soul Sister
Ben Folds - Landed
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Jack Johnson - Better Together

To help me chose my song i will conduct audience research to see what song they'd prefer in the music video.

Owl City - Fireflies

This video by Owl City uses a different type of animation compared to the other two videos i have analysed. In this video it uses stop motion animation. Stop motion would take a lot longer to produce if i was to do this type of video. However, if i was to produce this and did it well then i'd produce a very effective piece of work. Stop motion can create a very effective video and it doesn't necessarily have to tell a story like what happens in most videos.

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are

This is the video from Bruno Mars for his new song Just The Way You Are. This video uses different animation to that of Trains Hey Soul Sister. In the video we see Bruno unravel a tape and from this he creates words and drawings and later on it becomes himself in a moving figure. Throughout the video there is a range of close up shots used. At one point even though there is a close up on him we still see the animation of him in the background and this gives it a drmatic effect.

Indepth Analysis of Train - Hey, Soul Sister

The Mise-en-Scene used in this video is very effective. There are different colours used throughout the video to make it bright and happy. In places the video is black and white but the vast majority of it is in colour, the only time that black and white is used is when we see the animation of the lyrics being used, mainly when the man is painting. The video itself has a number of different settings, the main setting is on a street corner where we see the band play the music and we also see a number of different people along this street as well, some are sitting outside cafes, others are walking along the street and others are biking. Throughout this video we see a wide range of cast members being used, these are people who we see in our every day lives such as the postman.

But there are two main characters, a man and a woman who we see walk on a journey to meet each other and they meet at the very end of the video, ironically where the band are playing. The clothing that the two charcters are dressed in are very different, the woman is dressed all in white where as the the man is dressed all in black, the clothing that they are wearing can symbolise their personality.

Analysis of Another Music Video; Train - Hey, Soul Sister

In this music video various animation is used throughout. As the lyrics are said, also in the background the words appear and this creates a really effective piece of work. For my music video i'm thinking about the possibility of doing this sort of video and i maybe using this song as well! In the video there's a story that's being told through out but it also cuts back to the band playing on the street in places as well. This video symbolises the type of video people like to see, it tells a story, you get to see the band playing too and it uses animation to keep you interested.

Train - Hey, Soul Sister from Matthew Stawski on Vimeo.

Action Plan

I now need to do some research and planning for my A2 production;

• Analyse some Music Videos that contain similar ideas to my own

That's pretty much it..

Research and Planning Prompt Questions

How did your research into genre contribute to your production work?

During my post production i conducted research into the same genre as my film. I looked at films such as Like Mike and Coach Carter which are films both based on basketball and it gave me an insight as to the sort of things i should do for my film. I was also asked to mark other candidates work from the previous year by using a mark scheme and this gave me an idea as to the sort of standard my work should be at and what things i needed to include.


How did your research into audience contribute to your production work?

In some ways, by asking other people it helped me with my production but then in other ways it didn't. By asking a lot of people i got a lot of completely different responses, this is due to the fact that people have their own personal interests and this will differ to others and in some ways i found it hard to include what all the people wanted but there were a fiew things that many of the people agreed on. The sort of things they agreed on was to to give much away at the start of the film, not to use much dialogue and not to have the credits at the start.



How did your research into institutions responsible for the production and regulation of the media influence your production work?

My research into instituitions responsible for the production of media did not help me very much with my work at all. They're the same as everyone else in the sense that they can produce what they want, but at times there will an age limit put on if it isn't suitable for everyone.




What pre-production planning techniques did you employ (scripting, storyboarding, shot-lists etc.)? How effective was your planning – how did it help you in the production phase?

For my pre-production i created a story board and a basic script which helped me to produce my final piece of work. Last year my planning wasn't that great a standard which is something i'm aiming to improve this year.

A2 Brainstorming

1) Music Video

Train - Hey, Soul Sister. I'm thinking about the possiblility of using animation. Like the video, i'm thinking of using animation for the lyrics so when they're said in the song, they will appear in the video at the same time. This won't be for every single lyric though.

Fyfe Dangerfield - Always a woman.

What is Creativity?

Creativity is the ability to generate ideas and manifest them from thought into reality.

The 4 characteristics of creativity:

• Imagination
• Purpose
• Orginality
• Of value

'Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value'

Creative Development - The Creativity Wheel

VALUE:

• I can use things i already have learned to help me

By learning from things i have done wrong in the past i can then put the corrections into place so that it does not occur again. E.g in my mock exam i got an E but by going over the things i didn't do i understood what i needed to do in the real exam.

IMAGINATION WITH A PURPOSE:

• I am able to try out new things

By being able to try out new things, especially in things such as coursework, it allows me to be a lot more creative and produce an effective piece of work.

ORIGINALITY:

• I like finding out about new things and new ways of doing things

A2 Production Portfolio First Thoughts

After looking at the briefs for this years A2 production there are several different ones that take my interest.
The choices that i have are:

• Music Video
• Original Childrens TV Drama
• Documentary
• First two pages of a local newspaper
• Short Film

Last year for my AS production i chose the video option and i would like to stick with that rather than do print. The two options that i am particularly keen on doing at the moment is either the music video or the short film. 

In class today we looked at two different childrens programmes; button moon and rainbow.

G325

G325 is a written paper that we sit in the summer. It is called a synoptic paper as it draws together everything we have learnt in the course.
All of Section A is devoted to our production work at AS and A2. (G324)

1. Research tasks carried out (including audience research/research into similar media texts)
Audience research; i asked a number of different questions to give me an idea of what film to produce. the sort of questions that i asked were regarding what they looked for at the start of a film, what genre they like, whether they like credits at the begging of a film etc.

2. Planning activities undertaken - including scripting/storyboarding/actors' notes
I produced a storyboard to give me a structure to work with. I also made a preliminary video to give me an idea of which angles and shots to use.

3. Challenges which arose during post-production - including editing/layout design.
 I used the Apple Mac to complete my production. The challgenges that i had to overcome were trimming the clips to get the footage that i wanted. 

Things i want to do differently this time:

• Produce more detailed planning and research