Planning questions

(A)   Planning: The organisation of time and equipment

The foundation portfolio task was completed at a steady pace as homework and class work provided me with stimuli to post blog pages in moderation.

 Planning included a list of blog content that needed to be included with set deadlines of when each post needed to published. Because of this I was constantly aware of how much I had progressed during the portfolio stage and could compare my efforts against the other students so the planning was very effective.

Problems I encountered were figuring out how much content was needed and deciding which information provided was reliable. The combination of content and reliable sources would help me with my portfolio so were issues I needed to address. A recommended list of websites that included the ever improving Wikipedia and IMBD helped me to construct my work via their information and I was enabled to pick out key elements that I could elaborate.

Just like the foundation portfolio task, a list was provided with a time scale explaining the content needed within the portfolio. This allowed me to cross reference my progress with the list and make sure all my posts were delivered on schedule.

My progression occurred as I was more frequently publishing posts on my portfolio and going further than the suggested titles in the sense that I was adding pages explaining features unique, yet relevant to my production. This was different to my foundation portfolio task as I only posted pages that I was asked to.

(B)   Planning: The efficient choice and organization of actors, settings and props.

 The actor I chose was within the post production team so it made things easier in terms of getting together and filming the thriller opening. By finding locations around the local area I was able to generate an idea of how to shoot my production taking into account the setting.

My video included a lot of isolated frames of my character so external factors didn’t affect the process of my filming.

There were some problems with my actors willingness to act certain scenes due to being shy. This was combated by assuring that the thriller opening would turn out better if some sense of plausibility was sustained by good acting. Different levels of exposure for filming at different times of the day potentially ruined the continuity of the production. Post production helped this as I was able to change the colourisation levels.

There was more planning in my advanced portfolio through the use of drafting and re-evaluating plans before going out to film. I had multiple options for my shooting locations and by doing this it gave me the potential to find the best area possible for my video. I used the general public  within my music video so I was careful to incorporate the correct camera angles for each frame of involvement.  I also took into account my actors wardrobe in more correspondence with the overall image of the product. This meant that I made sure the actor was wearing clothes with colours that represented the brand.

I progressed a lot through my planning of locations. I set out a more varied list of locations for my music video and ran a trial and error assessment to make sure that the area would be the best for filming whereas in my foundation film, the locations picked were less analysed. My influence on my character developed more as I took more control of how the actor looked and was presented on the video; by doing this I could have created more of my intended effect.

(C)   Planning: Scripting and/or storyboarding

The foundation task storyboarding process involved creating proposed frames of action, camera angles,  transitions and effects that would make up the whole music video. These would be based on the narrative of the thriller opening so were very much one of the cornerstone pieces of planning. I didn’t include my non diegetic soundtrack with my storyboard final draft so I found it difficult to sync the visual and audio together in post production.

Although I didn’t include my soundtrack to accompany the storyboard, the planning was still effective as it allowed me to shoot my thriller opening frames consecutively.

There was a problem with the way some of the frames were shot due to the failure to secure a suitable location. This could have been improved through better planning of shot locations.

I completed 2 drafts of my storyboard for my advanced portfolio task. I also took into account the non diegetic sound that would be playing throughout my video. The basics of the process were completed in the same way, this allowed me to easily go through the filming process without making mistakes and missing frames.

Progression occurred as I realised that by completing 2 storyboards I could go through a self evaluation of my 1^st draft and change features that may not work and add in elements that could be produced better, even through research and new ideas I could have learnt after the 1^st draft. Because i selected and incorporated my audio within the storyboard I was able to write up some features that I wanted to synchronise between the visuals and music.

(D)   Research: Initial target audience research

I researched my target audience by matching my content ideas to the descriptions of thriller genres I looked up on websites; this seemed the most efficient way of coming across my target group.

This was effective as I was able to match an audience to my production in progress without having to change my foundations of work. By having a target audience I could evaluate my work in relation to the emotions provoked.

I did have a problem with this part of my production process as deciding what my target audience would be without feedback during the creation lead me to make the video without much guidance to as what elements were more appealing towards my targeted group.

I researched my target audience by looking at the themes of videos and matching them to the proposed target audience. Features of music videos such as denotation and connotation could be analyzed and categorized to see what kind of images appear in what kind of music videos. After I had constructed some of my ideas, I took part in an organized feedback session where I proposed my ideas and possible locations so far in my production to an audience I wanted to attract. From this I was given responses on how to further create an appealing video and continued support for my current ideas. To see if i had truly captured my target audience’s interest, my target audience questionnaire was given out to my target audience at a showcasing event and also via social networking site facebook. Using Facebook allowed me to simultaneously  release my final music video as well as contact a mass of my target audience with the questions quickly and efficiently.

This shows progression as I was able to reach my target audience more efficiently meaning time wasn’t lost collecting up questionnaires; taking full advantage of new technology. The use of the feedback session early in my production allowed me to update my work without going back and changing a lot of my project.