Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time:
Since taking media for A Levels I have learnt a range of skills in the use of digital technology for media production, that is, filming the first two minutes of a psychological thriller opening sequence called 'Premonition' which showcases a narrative story line of a teenage girl having a premonition of her boyfriend suffocating and killing her but is unaware as to why this happens and at A2 I developed my skills further when filming for our R&B music video 'Hate This Part' where we created a narrative story line displaying how the female protagonist is reminiscing over relationship, coming to the realisation that it is going to come to an end due to constant arguing between the duos, heightening the emotions of sadness and heartbreak that the couple felt as they were aware of this.
When we started to create our psychological thriller opening for our foundation portfolio at AS we decided to film using the Canon HD camera which we found to be high in quality in terms of both its lighting performance and in definition. Whilst filming our thriller film opening we decided to use a range or media equipment ranging from dolly's and tripod's to film several of the tracking shots to using spotlights and light reflectors to enhance the footage of the night time bedroom scenes where the protagonist was filmed sleeping and becoming restless when having her premonition. All of which worked together really well to create a variety of successful scenes for our opening sequence Nevertheless, after our first filming session we decided to upload the footage onto the Imac computer but unfortunately had trouble in doing so as we hadn't completely got to grips with the Imac software but after several attempts and help from tutorials and teachers we were able to upload the footage sufficiently ready to start editing in Final Cut Express. As well as using Final Cut Express when editing our opening sequence, we also used other digital technology software's such as 'Photoshop, Live Effects and After Effects' to create our credits and production logo.
When working on Final Cut Express to edit our footage we were able to learn a variety of new skills and techniques and develop them further the more we edited our opening sequence. One skill in particular that I learnt after several attempts at trying to create this was a wire-framing effect where I was able to display two separate pieces of visual imagery, that is, one shot of the female protagonist slowly beginning to wake up from her dream as she began to slowly open and close her eyes and the second shot was of the ceiling which was filmed slightly blurred and was a POV shot of what the protagonist was looking at as she began to wake up. Each of these images were placed on top of each other and then blended together using the blend tool where we were able to change the percentage of how bright the image appeared on screen lowering it slightly, allowing it to blend in with the second visual image. An additive dissolve was also an effect used to create the blinking effect where the two visual images blended from being together as one to suddenly changing back to two separate images. This particular effect was inspired from a scene in the film, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
We used the wire-framing effect again during another stage of our thriller opening sequence, when creating our company production logo where we began to animate a still image of a keyhole to coincide with the production company name of 'Keyhole Productions.' Along with this, I also learnt how to create a subtle fade in and fade out effect when creating the credits for our opening sequence and a dip to colour effect where I changed the colour from black to white in order to create a white flash highlighting the barrier between appearance/the dream world and reality (the moment the protagonist was having the premonition). Additionally, when creating the thriller soundtrack for our opening sequence we chose to use Garage Band as we were able to create a subtle, yet eery melody using the different tools and instruments which could be fitted into our sequence successfully.
When starting our advanced portfolio for A2 I found that I was more comfortable and familiar with the media equipment and software's so I decided that to develop my skills even further I wanted to begin learning about more of the effects that were available on Final Cut Express and Photoshop to help define the editing process of footage that we'd either filmed our self or was made accessible to us from our teachers. For instance, we were able to develop our special effect skills further when creating two preliminary tasks such as an Animal Costumes video where we had to pick an audio track and using the animal costume footage edit it accordingly so it fit in with the beat of the song. This task allowed me to experiment with changing the speed of the footage (speeding it up and slowing it down) and using the reverse tool forcing the footage to play backwards. Our second task was a lip sync task where Khushel and I chose to do Nicole Scherzinger's "Right There" where I learnt to place out markers in order to align up where our footage and soundtrack should be placed on the timeline in order to create a perfect lip sync.
When working on Final Cut Express to edit our footage we were able to learn a variety of new skills and techniques and develop them further the more we edited our opening sequence. One skill in particular that I learnt after several attempts at trying to create this was a wire-framing effect where I was able to display two separate pieces of visual imagery, that is, one shot of the female protagonist slowly beginning to wake up from her dream as she began to slowly open and close her eyes and the second shot was of the ceiling which was filmed slightly blurred and was a POV shot of what the protagonist was looking at as she began to wake up. Each of these images were placed on top of each other and then blended together using the blend tool where we were able to change the percentage of how bright the image appeared on screen lowering it slightly, allowing it to blend in with the second visual image. An additive dissolve was also an effect used to create the blinking effect where the two visual images blended from being together as one to suddenly changing back to two separate images. This particular effect was inspired from a scene in the film, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
We used the wire-framing effect again during another stage of our thriller opening sequence, when creating our company production logo where we began to animate a still image of a keyhole to coincide with the production company name of 'Keyhole Productions.' Along with this, I also learnt how to create a subtle fade in and fade out effect when creating the credits for our opening sequence and a dip to colour effect where I changed the colour from black to white in order to create a white flash highlighting the barrier between appearance/the dream world and reality (the moment the protagonist was having the premonition). Additionally, when creating the thriller soundtrack for our opening sequence we chose to use Garage Band as we were able to create a subtle, yet eery melody using the different tools and instruments which could be fitted into our sequence successfully.
When starting our advanced portfolio for A2 I found that I was more comfortable and familiar with the media equipment and software's so I decided that to develop my skills even further I wanted to begin learning about more of the effects that were available on Final Cut Express and Photoshop to help define the editing process of footage that we'd either filmed our self or was made accessible to us from our teachers. For instance, we were able to develop our special effect skills further when creating two preliminary tasks such as an Animal Costumes video where we had to pick an audio track and using the animal costume footage edit it accordingly so it fit in with the beat of the song. This task allowed me to experiment with changing the speed of the footage (speeding it up and slowing it down) and using the reverse tool forcing the footage to play backwards. Our second task was a lip sync task where Khushel and I chose to do Nicole Scherzinger's "Right There" where I learnt to place out markers in order to align up where our footage and soundtrack should be placed on the timeline in order to create a perfect lip sync.
After these practice sessions I became more familiar with some of the special effects on Final Cut Express and was able to put this into practice when creating our music video for 'Hate This Part' which consisted of two visual images, one of a birds eye view shot of London night life and the second consisting of features of the artists face and body which were then placed on top of each other and blended together. These special effect shots was inspired from Pixie Lott's "All About Tonight" video where she used a similar effect of features of her face and body blended together with shots of downtown LA. We also experimented with how to create fast paced editing for the choreographed dance sequence which we were able to create successfully by placing out markers on the timeline according to where the beat changed in the song allowing us to edit the footage according to this. As last years footage appeared high in quality in terms of lighting and definition we decided to film using the same Canon HD camera as well as using the dolly and tripod to film several of the tracking shots when the artist is seen walking away from her boyfriend towards the end of the video as well as using the spotlights and light reflectors to enhance the footage, especially when the artist was staring straight into the camera singing in order to highlight her features and add tones and brightness to the shot.
When creating our ancillary tasks, that is our Digipack and Magazine poster we chose to create them using Photoshop where we were able to create text effects, colour effects and spotlight effects to enhance each of the images for our album and poster. Since I was not completely familiar with how to create effects on Photoshop I decided to research tutorials using Web 2.0 allowing myself to watch several clips on YouTube and reading through step by step tutorials on other websites. This was a great help in hand when creating effects for our Digipack and Magazine poster as it allowed me to learn and develop my skills further as I learnt how to use gradients and contrasts to enhance several of the images.
Over the last two years, since creating my psychological thriller opening for my foundation portfolio and R&B music video for my advanced portfolio I have gained many skills using digital technology in media production allowing my editing to become more defined and sharp as well as being able to become more creative in my filming ability due to the incredible uses and opportunities given to me when using the camera equipment which has resulted in my filming becoming more enhanced.
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