Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Question 3 - What have you learned from audience feedback?

I have chosen to answer this question using Wix, here is the link to my evaluation question 3-

http://nicolasuzanneevans.wix.com/evaluationquestion3

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary products?

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluating our Preliminary Task

Our 20 second music video was based on the song 22 by Taylor Swift.

What went well -

1. Inter-cutting - We used inter cutting last year in our piece and we mastered it quite well, therefore when it came to analysis music videos and how much inter cutting is used to create a fast paced video we knew what we were doing. The inter cutting matches the pace of the song, and also the style of music videos that is usually produced by this artist. 
2. Colourisation/Multi Screen - Towards the end of the video we used a multi screen in which we used the same piece of footage but colourised two of the screens and made the other two black and white. I thought this personally looked very effective and would like to use it when we make our actual music video as it isn't terribly difficult to do but does look good.
3. Lip Sync - This was a pain to do we tried to do a song that wasn't too fast so that the lip syncing wouldn't be too difficult. But it is a task to get the footage to match the lyrics, this we did effectively in this piece but I think we will need to think carefully about what song we choose for our actual piece.

Even Better if -

1. Disappearing - This was difficult to do effectively, but it doesn't look like a complete disaster. I think if we are to do this in our actual piece we would be able to spend more time on it to make it look a lot more professional. 
2. Choreography - The short amount of time we had avalible to us to make this piece didnt really give us much time to plan out an idea or storyline. We effectively made the video as a Taylor Swift style video by watching the original and making it more our own. I think given more time to plan would create a better piece as well as more time to film and choreography.
3. Instruments - The shots of the instruments werent as well done as I think they could have been. We could have used more shots and more instruments to make it more diverse. Or we could make a video without instruments at all, it depends on the idea we choose to use. 

Reviewing Year 12 Work

Film Opening - Year 12 

Research/Planning Design/Planning Production

• When it came to planning and research we did quite a lot of work towards this. The initial idea we had took a long time to plan but the research was fairly easy as we picked a well known genre that we were already aware of the conventions of. 
• The storyboarding we did although it gave us a rough idea of where and how we would shoot our footage as a group we generally knew what we wanted to do from most of our shots.
• It took us a long time to plan the production especially for the party scene we needed to gather together a lot of people as well as trying to figure out how we would keep the continuity in the shots. In the next years work, I hope not to have to re shoot as much as we did due to continuity issues.

Classwork/Independent Study/Personal Organisation

• Personally I found a new independance in the amount of work I needed to do alone. The independant study and classwork taught me to meet deadlines and understand the importance of the time given to complete a task. 
• My personal organisation skills also improved knowing that you are dependant on other group members and they are dependant on you to do a certain job, whether it be posting on the group blog or remebering to bring a costume for an actor.
• Working as part of a group was great, but needing to have group meetings and work together on who was free when showed me how to juggle my time with what needed to be completed. As well as showing me that you have to take more into consideration when you work in a team and that everyones ideas should be important.

Filming/Editing

• The filming and editing process took a long time to get to grips with myself I hadnt used any of the software the school provided before and it taught me a lot. I learnt a lot about how long you need to spend on this process to get the desired product out of it. 
• The initial idea of having a group effort made the workload easier to cope with but it also meant that we had some clashing ideas on how to shot and edit our footage but it was a group effort and some compromises had to be made.
• There were practical issues we faced during this process but are now more aware of how to deal with them if they should come up again in our next task.

Blog Work/Evaluation Skills

• Keeping the blog up to date hasnt been easy and it is a difficult task. But it taught me a lot of responsibility to my work and grades. Ther general working of the blog though has been easy, there wasnt a difficulty with the labelling etc.
• The evaulation skills I learnt have been key. I have learnt to be creative with my work and showcase my answers in a creative and experienced way that proves I am up to date with all types of media. 
• Learning to address the questions has also been important that I had a direct approach and answer instead of a vague or too in depth answer that didnt focus on the question. 

Improvement for this Year 

• There is a lot I've learnt from last year's work that I plan to put into the next year and develop on. Firstly I have a better idea of the task and technology I have to do it with. I am also more aware of my own dedication to the task and want a better outcome from it than last year. Also I am now more self aware with time and my personal oragnisation skills.
• Finally I think that the improvements for the next year will also be on planning so that we are more organised for the task we are given and how we want to film it.

Evaluation - Previous Music Videos

Previous Music Videos

1. Life Happens

What went well -

• The sort of documentary style music video is very hard to pull of and they have made it believable
• The variation in setting works well
• The performance is believable as was the storyline
• The ending works well 

Even better if -

• Adding colourisation could have make the footage look better

2. If you want

What went well -

• The uses of colourisation to show the difference in time period
• The layering of the image of the clock over the action looks great
• Good use of locations
• The performance is good

Even better if -

• The ending could have been improved upon maybe more dramatic
• The close ups of the male character were very shaky

3. Ike and Tina

What went well -

• The jump cuts helped keep the video fast paced
• The storyline was good so was the performance
• The "party" shots looked good not acted  - The use of lighting was great

Even better if -

• The lip syncing by the children wasn't at the right speed
• The intro is quite long

4. Lost

What went well -

• Great storyline that fits the genre of music
• The underwater shot is really effective
• The intercutting looks really good

Even better if -

• Lighting in the outside shots could have been improved
• The handheld effect is good but is slightly overused in the video

5.What We Started

What went well -

• The storyline works with the lyrics and the performance is also well done
• The opening shot in the rain, is really effective and has obviously been taking from another video of this genre

Even better if -

• The shots of the piano could have been done better
• The lip syncing is sometimes out of time

6. Nine2five

What went well -

• The storyline was creative and the performance was believable
• The shots of instruments work well in the video 
• The jump cuts are also really effective

Even better if -

• The song is quite fast paced and the lip syncing isn't always correct
• The lighting in the outside shots is sometimes too much (0.18) 

7. Rewind

What went well -

• Nice range of locations
• Lip syncing was good
• Specifically the phone shots were really well done

Even better if -

• The studio shots weren't done very well, there wasn't enough shot range and the lighting could have been improved
• The performance could have been more believable

8. Today I Cried

What went well -

• Good use of jump cuts
• The location choices fit the genre of music

Even better if -

• The lighting in some of the settings could have been improved
• (Personally) I find it very generic to the genre of music it doesn't capture my attention

9. 12 Rounds

What went well -

• A variety of shots and locations that suited the genre were used well
• Performance was good
• Lip syncing was done well

Even better if -

• The storyline could have been improved 
• The video was slightly repetitive 

10. Go In Go Hard

What went well -

• The use of a lot of different shots
• The lip syncing is really well done

Even better if -

• The footage is very blurry and not really focused this may have been the intended look but it makes it difficult to watch
• Locations were limited and there wasn't a variation
• Use of shot of instruments could have enhanced the video 

11. Sparks Fly

What went well -

• The storyline was easy to follow and linking into the genre
• The choice of locations were good

Even better if -

• The performance could have been improved to make the love story more believable
• More emphasis on lyrics
• The edits that slid round in a box like fashion looked really cheap and not very professional