Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5 – Script

Project Overview

Overall, I have found this course to be challenging and interesting, and I have made three products I am proud of. However, if I could do the course again I would gain even more feedback and work on presenting the information on my blog in more exciting and unique ways.

This A2 course has been very interesting and has allowed me to be much more creative and develop my knowledge of media products in terms of music videos, digipaks and magazine adverts. I challenged many forms and conventions of music video theory, as well as conventions of the genre I chose, Indie/rock. I chose Indie/rock because I felt it would allow me to develop an engaging concept which would dominate the video, therefore I also chose to make it all narrative based. I had studied the Indie/rock genre before, but mainly in regard to music magazines, therefore the research I completed this year expanded my knowledge of the genre even more. I also decided to choose it because the Indie/rock genre has been increasingly popular within the music industry over the last five years. Furthermore, I researched many music videos from the same genre and found that it was quite uncommon for them to include special effects or a green screen, which I conformed to by filming entirely in the outdoor location of a park. I felt that this added to the tone of the concept and thus made the music video more appealing to my audience.

I had a key prop throughout the music video, and after extensive research into digipaks and magazine adverts of the same genre, I found that consistent use of key props and colour schemes across all three products was done considerably. Therefore I made sure I did this by using images taken from the location, as well as using the same costume and of course, including the key prop of the yellow balloon.

Throughout the whole project I enhanced my skills with media technology. For example, I had used Adobe Premiere occasionally during the AS course however I used it much more during the A2 course while editing my footage. I had basic skills for this software and then improved these skills and mastered others such as altering colour correction. This gave me a much greater chance of creating a successful music video because I had good knowledge of how to use the software effectively. I also used similar equipment I had used before in the AS course, such as the Canon 550D SLR camera. However during this course, I used it much more for filming instead of just taking images. This made me investigate different lenses and tripods or steady cams, and these made my music video look much more professional.

During the A2 course I also found that planning was essential in creating good products. I made sure I was planning throughout the year, and displaying all of it on my blog in order to keep it clear and concise. I completed several storyboards for each shoot, as well as making filming schedules in order to manage my time effectively. I also created mood boards containing images which inspired me for the music video, as well as a mood board for my target audience which helped me make sure I was appealing to them. All of these components made me extremely well prepared when it came to production shoots for my products, and thus showed I could manage my time effectively.

Furthermore, I found that audience feedback was a key component to help me improve and develop my products. I gained quite a lot of feedback from my target audience, as well as other audiences like media students. However, I felt that I could have kept a record of much more feedback that I gained.

In conclusion, I felt that my successful research and planning during the course were the key elements that allowed me to create successful products. Therefore overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this course because it allowed me to be independently creative and develop my skills with different types of media technology and I am very pleased with the outcome of my products.