Question 4 - Evalutation - Lucy Clark

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

After completing our exam and coursework last year, our teacher gave us a couple of tasks to get us used to lip syncing and filming music videos as it is so different to filming a film opening. For our first exercise we were given the freedom of choosing a song and filming a basic music video in small groups which must include lip-syncing. We actually found this very difficult as a class and so our teacher gave us an exercise to do as a class, with teachers help. The first task was difficult because we didn’t fully understand how much footage we would need. However, the group task was much easier because our teacher filmed with us and reminded us of how much footage we needed. We ran the song through 5 or 6 times using different shots each time, for example one was a handheld shot and this involved me holding the camera and getting up close with the person who was singing. Other shots included a long shot, a medium shot and a shot from the floor looking up at the performer. The song was Tom Jones “It’s Not Unusual” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zmk6aDvuOc) and as a group we were pleased with our overall product. This exercise helped us understand the importance of getting a variation of different shots and the volume of footage we would need. Another exercise that we did was our animatic storyboard which we did after doing our written storyboard at the beginning of year 13. In our group we are all quite bad at drawing and therefore we weren’t happy with our storyboard at all! We also uploaded a rough cut of our video to youtube after editing for several weeks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34pigPEBH3c)

For our A2 piece, we were lucky enough to have the availability of using the Sanyo HD cameras from school. Last year we found that the cameras we used were not of a good standard and believed that this contributed negatively towards our final piece. Therefore, after being given the opportunity of using the HD cameras this year, we would take full advantage of this. As well as this, we felt that last year we were not correctly taught how to use the special features that our editing software ‘Final Cut’ had to offer. However, this year we did many exercises involving practising using different effects and features and this really helped us to edit our video to how we wanted it. The tri-pod we also feel was easier to use this year, they were not as stiff and temperamental as last year and so this also helped.

Before filming, we carefully thought about where we wanted to film and also asked for other ideas from our peers. We did this by presenting the class with a power-point presentation of our ideas and then giving out questionnaires to our class and one of the questions asked for ideas on location. For example, one of our class members suggested we go to St Pauls to film and after considering the idea we believed that it would be an excellent one because of the protests that we happening there at the time. We feel that this is one of the main locations featured in our video as it adds to the political aspect of our idea. The London Eye was another idea that was suggested by one of our peers, and again we feel that from this we created a clever piece of editing that we’re proud of.

We feel that the use of camera work was of a high standard for our video. Ellie Scott, who did the majority of the filming, had a good technique and patience with the camera, always remembering to white balance the camera before using it. We think that Ellie was best for doing the camera work because she enjoys it and has a skill with it. We used a HD camera this year, which in comparison to the camera we used last year for our film introduction was a million times better. It was smaller and more compact, yet did so much more than the camera we used last year did. We were properly taught by our teacher the features of the camera too, which we were not shown last year. Therefore, we feel that the combination of the good camera and Ellie being our camera woman is one of the reasons as to why we are so pleased with the final outcome of the video. 


Personally, I am very happy with the way we have edited the video. I did the majority of the editing whilst sharing the duties with Ellie Scott. This was because I tend to have more patience with the software and Ellie is very good with ideas. Therefore, the two of us worked together to complete this. We used the software called ‘Final Cut’ which after struggling to use last year, we found to be easier this year after being taught about the shortcuts and different tools and their purposes. We used the razor tool to cut footage down to fit into the gaps of our other footage as well as using the mouse to drag footage to make it longer. We also used the marker tool which was a massive help to us. By using this we were able to cut to the beat of the music more accurately which is important for a music video. Without this tool we feel that we would have not been able to be so accurate with having the footage cut to the beat of the music, in particular the part at the end with the road signs.

During the filming of the performance part of our video we were happy with what we were gaining from it. However, after putting the footage on the editing suite and uploading it to Final Cut, we realised that unfortunately we had a slight flicker in some of the footage. Some parts were okay, and others were not so good. We realised that the flicker was not due to our filming technique but is a limitation of the shutter on the camera which could not be fixed, therefore we would not have been able to correct this. However, by this point, we decided that we did not want to re-film this part of the video because the same thing was likely to happen again. However, we did manage to get some footage without it and obviously this was the best footage. If we was to have had the time to re film it then we would have most probably changed the location and used a different light, however, this was not really possible as it was the last thing we filmed.

After learning the basics of using Final Cut last year I felt that it was easier to pick up the new techniques that our teacher taught us. Out of our group, I have the most patience with using the software because last year it was quite frustrating to use. Therefore, we decided that I would do most of the editing, which I was happy to do.

We then did a photoshoot to get a collection of potential images for our digipack and magazine advert. To do the photoshoot we used a Nikon D40 digital camera. As well as this, we used the green screen for a more basic background which would make photo-shopping the photo easier. We used filler lighting for the shoot in which a light was put on the floor so that it shined upwards towards the people we were photographing. This filler light provided illumination for the parts of the image that was slightly shadowed to give full brightness on the image.

We used Adobe CS4 Photoshop to alter the background of the images as well as add effects to them. Ellie Glickman created the digipack and Ellie Scott and I created the magazine advert. Our teacher regularly have us feedback on the images we were creating, and Ellie Glickman in particular, made several changes to the 6 digipack images throughout the time, making them better each time. Whilst doing the magazine advert, we too had some difficulties at the start with understanding how to use the program. We had not used it before and because we had been editing, we hadn’t picked up the skills that Ellie G had. Our teaching assistant Jack was more than helpful to us, and when he wasn’t there, Ellie helped us with using the tools on the program immensely. The main tool we used was the magic wand tool in which we cut out the picture we wanted to use for the advert as it was on a busy background. It took a few attempts to fully grasp the technique of the magic wand tool and once we had done this, the rest was straightforward.

We used the website ‘wordle’ to make word clouds featuring words associated with punk-rock genre and London. We used this website because it is a creative and colourful way to present our ideas to our audience (http://gliscoproductions.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/word%20cloud).

As well as this, we used youtube (web 2.0) to gain feedback from viewers on our video. After completeing around 1 minutes worth of footage and editing, we put a rough draft of our video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34pigPEBH3c&feature=relmfu) and asked our peers for feedback. Using youtube worked in our favour as without this we would not have been able to gain feedback from ex-Clash member Terry Chimes and therefore uploading our music video to youtube was beneficial to us. Also, it’s a simple way to refer back to our video whenever we need it, for example for screen captions etc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVsSYPm9BUU). 

also view my evaluation on: http://www.wix.com/lucyclark1994/glisco-production#!question-4