Planning and Research

For the lip sync task we simply watched the Bonnie Tyler video and got a feel for the style of video and song. It was a powerful song so when practising we used big, melodramatic arm movements and facial expressions to connote this, although the end product turned out as a bit of a humourous pastiche. This exercise proved useful as it allowed me to use lots of different digital technologies for example, sites such as Youtube enabled us to watch karaoke versions of our songs and learn the lyrics easily. We used the camera and were able to zoom in on appropriate times, we started off with the camera on the stand and then by the end of the video zoomed in with an extreme close up to create a more dramatic, over the top style. We also used Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 in order to gain experience with video editing before making the final video. I learnt how to import footage from a digital video camera and how to edit it sucessfully in sync with the lyrics to the music. This knowledge will be incredibly useful throughout the video production task as the skills required to edit will already have been previously gained during this research and planning.

Here is the finished product:




For the second 'What I go to school for' video, I was the assistant director. This meant that I had to take control over the planning and research for the task alongside Milly. It also meant that I had to organise the class and instruct them on various issues. I helped to plan the video by firstly creating a story board, then a schedule for the weeks lessons so that we would finish in time. I also made lists of props and extras we may need for each shot.

The storyboard was made by watching the original Busted video and grabbing screen shots and pasting them into an organised table. The table showed the shot, the timing of the shot and the different props etc. that we may have needed.

When we looked at each shot separately it became clear that many of the shots were repeated (for example, close up of Miss Mckenizie's face) so we decided we could do all the similar shots in one day. We created a 'shot list' which was a schedule of the week and allowed the class to know what they had to bring in on what day. We then decided to do the easier shots at the start of the week (the close up of characters faces) and the harder shots for the end of the week when we had got more accustomed to filming (the outside dancing shots)

The filming overall went pretty much to plan, although there were a few learning curves. On the last day of filming, we filmed the whole group outside. However, we thought we were pressing the camera on to record, but we managed to film the preparation and when we thought we were filming we were actually turning the camera off. This left us with limited recording for the last part of the task and has taught me to be more careful with the camera equipment when recording. I will remember this when going into the A2 course next year.

We used more variations of camera techniques during the Busted task. This was because we had to mimic all the shots of the original Busted video.

Here is the finished product:



I really enjoyed the teamwork and practical aspects of these tasks!

Introduction

After our As Media Studies exam, we were given two tasks to help us continue with our A2 Media Studies coursework. Firstly, we had to do a lip syncing exercise to Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of The Heart' and secondly we had to re-create the first one minute thirty seconds of Busted's video 'What I go to school for.' For the Lip Sync task I was partnered with Milly Morris and for the Busted Excercise I volunteered to be assistant director and also starred as one of the leading roles in the video.