Timed Essay in Class - Conventions

Exam Question: “Sometimes working within constraints produces the most interesting work” (Branston and Strafford) how have you used real media conventions to produce interesting or effective coursework productions?

Throughout my two productions (Thriller opening and Music Video) I have adhered to many set conventions and I have also subverted the conventions. I feel that these conventions have helped me to an extent as they have improve my creative mind, and they have helped me to produce pieces of work that have engaged audiences because I have used the common conventions. But I also feel that these conventions have held me back, and therefore this is where I have broken the set ‘rules’ to try and enhance my creativity. I shall now discuss specifically how these real media conventions have helped me produce interesting and effective productions.

Branston and Strafford’s quote raises many questions related to the conventions of productions. It makes me wonder whether I produced better work because I stuck to the conventions of the genre. But I then thought I could have of possibly bent the rules within my thriller this is because I made it sticking to the conventions extremely tightly and I therefore feel that I made my thriller quite predictable. I feel that my work progressed within the second year as I didn’t stick to the genre completely and I therefore feel that it produced a better music video. But I also feel that I wouldn’t have of produced any work at all if I didn’t have the conventions as guidelines, as the conventions gave me a set idea of how to produce a piece of work that would suit audiences.  There are many other people that have had similar ideas to Branston and Strafford; they have all produced ideas about the many forms and conventions of genres within productions.

The idea of a piece of work fitting in within a genre or sub-genre is discussed by Chandler he states that “the conventions of each genre shift, new genres and sub-genres emerge and others are ‘discontinued’”. This makes me think whether I actually stuck closely to the genre conventions within my productions. I feel that I stuck closely to the common forms and conventions of my thriller genre. This is because I had been taught the rules and I thought that this is what I had to do to make the best work, therefore I used the convention of flashbacks and colourisation effects such as the black and white effect. Whereas in my music video I subverted the common convention of using many close up shots. This was because I didn’t think it suited my narrative or genre. I therefore feel that I have progressed throughout my two years as in my second year creating the music video I used the conventions that I felt suited my work the nest and I managed to break the rules to create an overall better production.

I personally feel that it is hard to agree on a set of rules and conventions. This is also discussed through Bordwell. He states that “one could..argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film goers would find acceptable”. I kind of agree with this statement and this is because I feel that everyone’s ideas are different and we all want to mould the conventions to suit are needs.

This made me think about how far I followed the set of rules/conventions within my production. I have found that I followed more rules and conventions within my thriller film and this was due to me ‘playing it safe’ and not really knowing how to break the rules or mould them to my own productions. For example I followed all the set conventions for the thriller genre and these included the build up of tension and the black and white scenes. In my music video I was able to mould the set genre conventions to fit my creative ideas and I therefore feel that I have progressed within my two years. In my music video for example I broke the set convention of using many close up shots and I feel that this again shows my progression as I felt confident enough to do this.

McQuail suggests that “conventions give the producers a framework to work with – a set of guidelines.  This is somewhat different to Branston and Strafford’s ideas and this is due to them seeing the conventions in a different way. McQuail is discussing that the conventions give people a template to work with and that it gives people a guideline on what to work with. I do slightly agree with this as within my thriller production the genre conventions helped me make an opening sequence that engaged the audience and this was due to it being similar to other thriller films. Without these conventions I’m not sure I could have produced a piece of work that worked as well, they made me feel secure in the work that I was producing. Whereas within my music video production, the set conventions just made me want to break them and this was due to them not suiting my ideas. But I felt happier breaking the rules in my music video once I knew what the set conventions were. This was so that I could choose which rules to break without the end product looking terrible.

                Overall throughout my two productions I feel that Branston and Strafford’s idea is generally extremely relevant to my work. This is because I have used conventions and set rules within both of my productions and I have also broken the set rules and moulded them to suit me. Therefore I feel that ‘working within constraints’ does actually help to produce interesting work as it does give you a set of guidelines as stated by McQuail, but it also gives you the opportunity to bend the conventions as suggested by Bordewell.

Planning of a Past Exam Question

Exam Question: "Sometimes working within constraints produces the most interesting work" (Branston and Strafford) How have you used real media conventions to produce interesting or effective coursework productions?

I think that the quote is suggesting that although we have access to a wide variety of media to help us produce products, we are almost better off using basic applications that do not distract our attention from our original goal.

4 conventions that I used within my;

Advanced Portfolio

Matching the lyrics to visuals

Used the genre characteristics of acoustic soul type music.

Foundation Portfolio

I used a Thriller soundtrack

I created tension by using flashbacks

- I adhered to these conventions.
- They made my products a lot more convincing and created what I had expected
- They show my progression throughout the two years as I followed through the conventions to try and make a more effective product.
- The foundation portfolio introduced me to forms and conventions of genre and I managed to use my knowledge of genre characteristics to apply them to my music video.
- The foundation portfolio also gave me a better understanding of how to apply my conventions to my products.
- I decided to avoid using the more technical conventions and try to stick to the most common conventions. As this seemed to work for my thriller opening.
- I decided to take more risks when creating my advanced portfolio this was because I thought some of the conventions needed to be challenged.
- This made my products more effective as i was able to create what I wanted and was able to mould an existing convention to what I wanted.

Real Media Conventions and Examples

EXAMPLES:

Seven

• Shadows created an atmostphere
• Colourisation
• Soundtrack created tension
• There are unexpected twists and turns
• There was no face shown

The Kooks - She moves in her own way

• Matched lyrics to visuals
• used a variety of shots
• Voyerism was used
• Editing was matched to the music
• The gernre conventions were used
• They used a performance/narrative based music video
• They used a guitar to match the sound.

HOW DID I USE REAL MEDIA CONVENTIONS WITHIN MY PRODUCTS?

For my music video I followed these Music Video Conventions: from Andrew Goodwin

• Matching the lyrics to visuals
• Used the genre characteristics of acoustic soul type music.
• I also used voyeurism in a variety of shots.

I challenged these conventions:

• Instead of using lots of close ups I used many long and mid shots as this is what I thought was necessary for my genre.

I also used some of Pete Fraser's conventions these included:

• Matching my editing to suit the genre and pace of music.
• I also used the image of a guitar to emphasise the guitar part within my music.

To create my Thriller Openning also followed many conventions. These mainly came from Saul Bass. He said that a thriller opening should 'settle them down and create a sense of anticipation.. hit the ground running' (complexity within simplicity).

I used these conventions:

• I created a build up of tension
• I also created a atmosphere of anticipation, fear and confusion.
• I used a dark shadowy atmosphere for parts of my flashback scenes.
• I delayed showing the face of my significant character until right at the end.
• I used a thrilling soundtrack!
• I had a morally ambiguous character.
• I used flashbacks
• I had unexpected twists and turns

I didn't however use these conventions:

• I didn't have a hero(ine)
• I also didn't have a red herring
• I also didn't involve a murder within my opening.

Timed Essay in Class - Post Production

Exam Question: “The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process”. How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?

Throughout my two years of media studies I have created two productions, one in my foundation portfolio and one in my advanced portfolio. My foundation portfolio involved creating an opening to a thriller film and my advanced portfolio also explored the making of films, by creating a music video for an unsigned artist.

Both of these productions have been enhanced by the help of digital technology. The imovie application enabled me to use many different editing effects throughout my productions. Therefore I feel that post production stage has been an important part of my productions.

My thriller opening included many editing effects, for example I used slow motion to create tension and anticipation within my protagonist’s thoughts and flashbacks. I found this to be very successful as the audience found it exciting and found that it made them feel tense. I also used slow motion within my advanced production, but here it was for a different reason. I used it in my music video as my music was slow and beautiful; also the footage had many interesting and picturesque shots within it. Therefore I wanted to showcase these shots and make them last longer and slow motion was definitely the best technique to use. I feel that this has shown my progression throughout my two years as I have used an editing effect to create two different effects. Eisenstein believed that editing and the post production stage was the ‘foundation of film art’ I believe this in a way as without the editing effects I would not have of been able to use the same effect to produce two different styles.

I also used colourisation within my productions, again for different reasons. In my thriller I used a black and white effect; this created a mysterious vibe towards my film. This effect worked in the sense that it created tension and anticipation as it supposed to within a thriller opening, but it kind of distorted the image of the shot. Therefore if I did it again I would possibly not use as much of the effect, so that I we could see a clearer image. Within my Music video I used colourisation in a different way, I used bright colours. I did this by using one of the applications within the imovie programme. This emphasised the beauty of the shots and they became more appealing to the eye. I also used a sepia effect within the video, and if I did it again I would possibly use just one type of colourisation as I feel that it would have more of an effect.

One of the main editing techniques used within my music video was creating the scrapbook effect. This would not have of been done without the post production stage of editing. This is because within my original planning I had thought about using Polaroid pictures within my video, I found this to be hard. But when using the editing programme imovie, I came across a scrapbook effect that illustrated my ideas brilliantly. Therefore I again believe Eisenstein’s theory of editing being the foundation of film art, as editing enabled me to be more creative than I was when originally planning on paper.

Within my thriller opening I used many fades. This was used to show my protagonist drifting in and out of his flashbacks; I feel that this worked as it clearly showed what was going on in the opening. But also if I did it again I would possibly use some cross dissolved as well, as after a while the fades did get a bit boring and predictable. This is what I didn’t want in my thriller opening. This does meet Eisenstein’s style of dialectical montage’ as it was very abrupt and jagged, and I did not want to aim for smooth continuity.

NOT FINISHED L

MARK

20/25  = A

EAA 9/10

EG 7/10 - Watch your timing, refer to specific parts of both productions as examples.

TERM 4/5

Exam Practice on Post Production

"The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process". How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?

Across the two productions I have created (a thriller opening at AS and a music video at A2) I feel that the post production stage has been significant because I would not have of been able to gather as many ideas as I would have of done on Paper. Also I think it inspired me to be more creative in my work.

Eisenstein believed that editing was "the foundation of film and art" and what I believe he is saying is that the editing stage is one of the most important and is needed to bring together ideas of art into film. This was true for me as it brought together my ideas that I had originally planned on paper and the editing stage brought them to life.

In this essay I will discuss my skills development using these ideas. In my Thriller Opening I used a slow motion shot to represent the tension and anticipation of the storyline. It was through the effects on imovie I was able to do this. I was able to adjust the speed of the frames to slow down the shots. This effect was also used when my protagonist was having flashbacks. This therefore made the audience think a lot more.
I also used slow motion shots within my Music Video, this was used to frequently represent my music and the lyrics of my song. I feel that the progression here is clear as I was particularly matching the lyrics to visuals, using conventions of a music video.

Eisenstein's belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the 'foundation' of that film is evident here is clear as I was matching the visuals to music at the Post Production stage.
Eisenstein's belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the 'foundation' of the film is also evident here as the slow motion matches the meaning of 'time' and this is clear to the audience.

• When writing in exam, use 3 examples for Thriller Opening and Music Video.

Evaluating Post Production Skills

	Editing effect used	Effect it created	Successful?
Thriller Opening	Slow Motion Colourisation Fade	Tension + Anticipation Black and White Mysterious Mystery	Yes Kind of... slightly distorted the image Could have of used dissolves?
Music Video	Slow Motion Colourisation Cross Dissolve	Suited the music Sepia + Bright colours Suited the music	Yes Could have of just used one colour scheme? Yes

Media Concepts

Post - Production


EISENSTEIN

• Eisenstein believed that editing was: ‘the foundation of film art’
• For Eisenstein, meaning in cinema lay not in the individual shot but only in the relationships among shots established by editing.
• He created an editing style that he called "dialectical montage" that was abrupt and jagged and did not aim for smooth continuity.
• The jaggedness of Eisenstein's editing can create a sense of emotional and physical violence , but he also aimed to use editing to suggest ideas, a style he termed "intellectual montage."
• One of his films concludes with three shots of statues of stone lions edited to look like a single lion rising up and roaring, embodying the idea of the wrath of the people and the voice of the revolution.

Essay Structures

For Post Production Questions

Intro do you agree with the quote? Did you feel you progressed in this area?
What did the post production process involve? (Give specific detailed examples)
Why you used these effects/transitions/editing to create meaning
How successful/important was it? What didn't work?

using... PEE

POINT – What editing tool / technique did you use? What did it suggest / connote / represent?
EVIDENCE – Specific evidence from your film (AS? A2?)
EXPLAIN – Have you progressed from AS to A2? How does this example show this progression? What did you experiment with? Take risks with? Were you more confident? Were you more adventurous?

Digital Technology Theories

With the most primitive means the artist creates something which the most ingenious and efficient technology will never be able to create. (Kasimir Malevich)


What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds. (Steve Jobs)


The proper artistic response to digital technology is to embrace it as a new window on everything that's eternally human, and to use it with passion, wisdom, fearlessness and joy. (Ralph Lombreglia)

Exam Practice on Digital Technology

“Digital technology turns media consumers into producers”. In your experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions? [25 marks]

Throughout my two years of my media studies A level I have used a wide variety of digital technologies. These digital technologies have helped me create an opening to a thriller film, a music video and a CD and Magazine cover. They have enhanced my production work and they have enabled me to use my creativity to its best. The statement says that it turns people into media producers, and it most certainly has with me. This is because I have used digital technologies that I would normally use to produce a piece of production work.

During my AS work (making a thriller opening sequence) I used a variety of digital technologies. I used imovie which was on the apple macs at my school. We also used the internet to source a piece of background music. We got our music on the website called ‘freeplay music’ it enabled us to gain copyright free music that we were also able to stream online without any issues. We also used cannon digital cameras to shoot our footage. These digital technologies enabled me to make an opening sequence that fitted the genre conventions of a thriller and they helped me to create my ideas. They were effective as the music and the effects on the apple macs created tension. We used a black and white effect that was pre loaded onto the macs. The digital cameras made us able to film our footage. But they were not the best type of camera that we could have of used.

This brings me onto the limitations that I occurred when using the digital technology. The digital cameras were not very good quality therefore our lighting had to be perfect. We filmed one location and because it was too dark we couldn’t see what we had filmed, when it was played back on the mac. Therefore we had to find a new location with better lighting. If we did this project again I would most definitely try and find a high definition camera, that would allow me to shoot locations with dimmer lighting. Therefore it may have of fitted the conventions of a thriller more.  

This year during my A2 course I have had to use digital technology for a variety of productions. The main task included me making a music video, and then I had to make two ancillary tasks. This included making a CD and Magazine cover. For these productions I used a number of digital technologies.

For my music video I used imovie, itunes and a social networking site called MySpace. I used this website to find and contact an artist to use her music, to make a music video. MySpace allowed me to stream music for free and legally, it also helped me be creative in the way that I chose my music as it made me aware of many different types of artist and music. It also therefore made me creative in my thoughts for the music video itself. Imovie helped me to again fit the conventions of a music video. I managed to cut the music to fit the visuals, this therefore enabled me to lip sync the music to visuals. I was also able to cut the music to the beat. It also enabled me to be very creative, as I used colourisation to make the visuals more appealing and again fit the genre characteristics. Itunes is something that I use on a day to day basis and therefore the quote in the question relates to me enormously. I used itunes in this production to gain the music of my artist. The music that I purchased was then able to be used in the video.

I had a few limitations when using digital technology in this project. In my planning stages I wanted to use Polaroid pictures within my video, but I couldn’t get hold of a camera. This was because they are highly expensive and valuable nowadays. Therefore I compromised and found a scrapbook effect on the apple macs, and this actually worked better than I thought it would. Also I wanted to create an effect where I could have a split screen in my music video. But the Apple macs could not do this effect, it could only do picture in picture, this did not work. Therefore if I did this project again I would find a different programme that enabled me to do this effect.

To make my CD and Magazine cover I used again a variety of digital technologies. I used serif photo and page plus, I also used a still camera to take photos to use on my CD and Magazine cover. These programmes made my ancillary tasks look professional. They helped put my drawn ideas that were on paper, to life. I managed to make the Polaroid pictures using the different tools on the serif page plus programme. Serif Photo Plus enabled me to use colourisation in my still photos; it also helped me crop my pictures. This therefore matched my music video as I used it in my music video. But the quality was not very good when using the different colour effects; therefore I needed a different programme.

This was a slight limitation as if I had the Photoshop digital programme then maybe my photos would look a bit better.

All the digital technologies that I have used throughout the last two years have enabled me to become a media producer, as I have used the technologies on a day to day basis as a media consumer and therefore when doing my coursework productions I have become a media producer.  

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Research and Planning

PLANNING

(A) The organisation of time and equipment

In the Foundation Portfolio I made a shooting schedule, this showed me when I needed to have camera and what other equipment and props that I may need. It was very effective as it made sure that I was organised and it also helped me plan ahead, for example I could start to think about how to edit. This was because I did not have to worry about when I needed equipment, as I had already planned when everything was needed. I encountered many problems, as I went to film I realised that it was far too dark to film. Therefore I had to reschedule to another day that would have better lighting, but then I had the issue of finding a day that my actors could do. I could have improved these issues by planning my filming time more, this could have of ruled out the issues of lighting. Again for my Advanced Portfolio I made a shooting schedule, this time I made sure that I factored in the time of day that I would be filming and whether it would suit the mood for my music video. Therefore my filming was successful this year.

(B) The Efficient choice and organisation of Actors, Settings and Props

In my Foundation Portfolio I organised my actors and actresses into their different roles by choosing what characteristics they already had and therefore choosing character they suited best. It was effective as I managed to get correct actors/actresses to match the character that I had already planned. I encountered some problems and this was due to the filming problems. It therefore meant that I had to find some different actors/actresses as they could do most of the suitable rescheduled days. It could have of obviously been improved my planning my filming process better. My setting was also carefully planned to suit the thriller genre. In my Advanced Portfolio Task I again planned my actresses to suit the character that I had already thought of to match the music video. She had the same characteristics as the character I had already thought of; therefore emotions throughout the video were shown extremely well. My setting was also planned thoroughly, to ensure that it fitted the genre and style of music. I didn’t encounter as many problems as I did last years, therefore my planning must have of progressed.   

(C) Scripting and/or Storyboarding

In my Foundation Portfolio I used both of the processes of Scripting and storyboarding. I used scripting to guide my actors and actresses in what to say, it also enabled me to use the conventions of a thriller as it built up tension. I also used storyboarding and I did many drafts, I found it quite effective as I managed to get all my ideas down. It also helped me to find the best ideas and therefore use them. In my Advanced Portfolio I used Storyboarding and I did many more drafts than what I had done for my Foundation Portfolio, this again helped me to find the best ideas and discard the worst ideas. This shows that I have progressed as I managed to create better scenes within my music video as I had planned it a lot better.

RESEARCH

(D) Initial target audience research

For my Foundation Portfolio I researched my target audience by carrying out many questionnaires. They highlighted what films they liked and therefore I found out that they liked films that were similar to my idea. It was effective as I managed to fit a specific target audience to my film. Therefore finding out what I needed to include in my film. I encountered some problems and this included many people having different opinions, but I overcame this by choosing the majority of the same views and opinions. In my Advanced Portfolio I also carried out audience questionnaires, but I did this differently this year. I organised and presented a pitch, this showcased my ideas and I got lots more feedback than what I did last year. Therefore I feel I have progressed over the two years, as my audience feedback this year has helped my video be specific to what my audience wanted.

(E) Existing media practice/products

In the Foundation Portfolio I researched many different thriller films, I analysed how they fitted the genre conventions and therefore studied the different conventions needed for a thriller film. I found this research extremely useful as it made me realise what I needed to include in my opening sequence. I encountered the problems of not knowing whether my thriller sequence would fit these conventions; I therefore had to change some of my ideas to fit the current conventions. In my Advanced Portfolio I also researched many different types of products related to my project, this ranged from music videos to CD and Magazine covers. This time I tried to relate them as much as I could to my original ideas to make sure that I had no problems over matching conventions. I researched conventions of all three products and this enabled me to come up with the common conventions of the products. I feel that I have progressed as I have been more practical and logical in linking my products with conventions.

Creativity Theories

How can I relate media theory to my Question 1(a) answer?


Theory 1 :  "A process needed for problem solving.. not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people" (Jones, 1993)

• I interpret this theory as creativity is about overcoming difficulties and that it is not always a natural gift that few people have but many people have with or without this natural ability.

In my AS work, when filming my thriller film we came across many difficulties. They mainly included are locations, it took a long time to get to our first location and it was too dark. Therefore we had to find new places to film. We took a long time to find a new location but when we did finally find a new location we found that our problems had been overcome and that our new location was actually better than our original one.
In my A2 work, we had the idea of using Polaroid pictures in our music video. We found that this was going to be very hard to do as it involved a lot of editing on the computers. We decided that we would try it out, but we then found a scrapbook effect on the Apple Mac's. Therefore we solved our problem of wondering how to create our Polaroid pictures, and it again worked out better than we thought it would.
Also the theory suggests that creativity does not always come from a natural ability. Now I wouldn't say that I had natural ability for the arts. But making my CD cover and Magazine advert I realised that I could actually be quite creative and therefore I feel the theory is quite relevant and real.


Theory 2 : "The making of the new and the rearranging of the old" (Bentley, 1997)

• I interpret this theory of creativity as creativity is using the old to make the new.

In my thriller opening sequence for AS we studied many Alfred-Hitchcock films including Psycho. This film was in Black and White, due to the age of the film. But many films after this used black and white effects as they thought that it fitted the conventions of the thriller genre. Therefore we decided that we would also use black and white effects. Therefore we created a film, using conventions from the past that are very much the new.
In my A2 music video we have again used the old to make the new. I did this by using the idea of Polaroid pictures. I used this idea as the music had a definite vintage feel to it, therefore I wanted to incorporate some kind of vintage feel to both the music video and CD/Magazine covers. Polariod pictures are something now of the past, as we now have new digital technology that enables us to take digital pictures and store them on a computer. Therefore I have used this theory as I have made new products from rearanging the old.


Theory 3 : Rule Breaking/Boundary Testing


In my AS work I tested the boundary's of the genre. I used a controversial storyline - 2 girls and one getting hurt/abducted/followed by a stranger. Although Thriller storyline should be unexpected and scary. But I used a sensitive issue, that many people could object to.
In my A2 work I have broken the common conventions of a narrative music video. I did this by using many indirect looks from our actress. But we did this for a reason; we wanted to sell the music on its beauty and not on our artisits beauty. Therefore we made sure that the music was the main focus of the video rather than the narrative. Narrative music videos usually have mnay direct notions of looking, to promote the artist.

Exam Format

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production


- Question 1(a)
This section of the exam will make me reflect over the past two years work. I will have to evaluate how my skills have developed. the question could relate to;

• Digital technology
• Creativity
• Research and Planning
• Post Production
• Using conventions from real media texts

- Question 1(b)
I will have to select one production and evaluate it in relate it to a media concept. They could be;

• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media Language