Production log 15

13A2 Advanced Production Music Video

Mise-en-scene

Ariana Grande's music video for 'Problem' is aimed to look as if  she is back in the ’60s, this is connoted through the costume as she is dressed in knee-high go-go boots, 60s groovy hairstyle as well as wearing a large wigs and black bodysuits and short dresses. The costume clearly indicates the 60's theme because in the 60's women used to often dress most activities and wore beehive-inspired hairstyle with mini skirt, the skirt fell six to seven inches above the knee and were paired with tights and go-go boots which is exactly what Ariana Grande is seen in. The costume within the music video would remind the audience of the fashion from the past and how bold women used to dress in the 60's, the costume also suits the music as it is uptempo pop which is extremely playful, funky and lively. 
The lighting within the 'Problems' music video was ambient as it set of the 60's theme, there was a mix of black and white with a pop of color as their is a bright pink background included, this therefor goes to connote that the music video was set out to give a feel of the past and describes the livelihood of the 60's through the lighting. The lighting also involved a use of spot lights which gave the spiral effect in the background of the stage and giving of brightness. 

Camera Work

For Mr Probz 'Waves' music video there is several types of camera shot types used for example in the screen shot above the use of a long shot to establish the location which the story line for the music video is set in, we are able to see this long shot in first person view through the eyes of the actor who is swimming through the ocean.The long shot is one of the first camera shot used to introduce the setting which automatically links in with the title of the song 'Waves' which connotes obvious links between both song and location.

The use of a close-up is also seen in the music video, this was used to show the facial expression of the main actor and helps to explain the narrative of the music video towards the audience. The close-up portrays the fact the the actor is quite confused, damaged and lost,  the facial expressions are helping to connote the emotions of the song. 
There is many uses of close-up shots, for example in the image below the close-up concentrates on the actors face and connotes the fact that he is lost in deep thoughts and seems quite distressed, this makes the audience feel a sense of sympathy for the actor and displays the deeper meaning of the song.

Throughout most of the music video for 'Waves' the camera movement is shaky and un-settled, I think this has helped to connote the fact that the music video was aimed to look quite natural and also connotes the unsteady and emotional story line, the shaky camera work following the main character while he is walking shows that everything is very natural and gives a unprofessional feel on purpose. 

Performance 

For Justin Bieber's music video for 'confident' there was a lot of scene which involved performance by the singer including a few background dancers. The performance element of the music video was added to appeal to the audience and plays an entertainment factor which could influence the audience to dance to the music, also the performance suits the beat of the song and helps to make the song flow. The performance side would appeal to the audience who are more interested in dance and would therefore be personal identity towards them as they would be able to re-create the dance routine. By having a dance routine in the music video it means that when performing live at music awards of music festivals the artist would already have a dance routine which everyone is aware of and would recognize when Justin Bieber performs it.

For performance Justin Bieber also uses acting halfway through within the music video, he allows his audience to understand the story line and narrative of his music video better. The small acting scene in between the song connotes to the audience the fact that the girl is a confident girl who is not interested and has her own way which therefore goes to relate to Justin Bieber's lyrics. 

Editing 

For Nicki Minaj music video for 'Turn me on' the editing starts off with a montage/jump shots of varies different props within the room for example the machinery, skulls and tools within the factory the music video is set in. By using the jump cut the audience can already be able to see and understand the theme behind the music video which allows them to become more interested in watching as it is quite usual props shown to start a song. 

In this music video there is also a use of match on action as an edit, this edit helps to create the appearance that the actions appear to flow and continue as it is uninterrupted. Here in the screen shots we can see the mid-shot of Nicki Minaj wearing her gloves then it switches to a close up of the same action, this helps to clarify the action to the audience and makes it easier to understand.

Mise-en-scene, Camera, Performance and Editing

The costume in Beyonce's music video for 'Run the World' is seen to be fancy dress, playful and adventurous dresses for her as well as the background dancers. Beyonce is seen in the brightest costume out of all the girls and this connotes the fact that she is center of attention, Beyonce is wearing bright red clothes which is seen to be the most luxurious and detailed which therefore grabs the most attention and displays the fact she is seen the most powerful women throughout the music video. The Costume also connotes the fact that this music video has a theme towards it which could be a theme of the outgoing power women have due to the costume worn.

For the props in this music video we are able to see Beyonce is wearing a crown/head peaice on her head, this prop goes to connote the fact that Beyonce is seen to be a 'Queen' in the fantasy world the music video is filmed in. This would be the very easy for Beyonces fans to understand because she is seen to be 'Queen Bee' in the music industry. The crown also suits the message behind the song which is that women are powerful and can run the world, this song also comes across quite feminist and would not appeal to all audience types for example males.

The camera angle here is a close-up, this close-up is used to portray beyonces facial expression and is used to connote the fact that Beyonce is a fierce, strong and confident women. The close-up also shows courage which is portrayed in Beyonce's facial expressional which is what she wanted to deliver to her audience through this song and be a inspiration to women.

The performance in Beyonce's 'Run the World' is very big and dramatic, it involves a whole group of people who dance in sync, the dance is very hectic and chaotic to suit the beat of the song. The performance in this music video is very appealing and therefore makes it a success when it comes to people talking about the song through world of mouth as people would discuss the large routine within.

In these screen shots above we see a match-on-action editing technique, this is seen during the performance and there is a long shot of the dances which then changes to a close-up of their foot action. By using the match-on-action it allows the audience to see the moments and actions of the dancers more clearer, the match-on-action also means there is a sense of continuity throughout the whole music video as there is a sense of flow and there is no jump shots included. 

Evaluation

Part 1- Brief

In our brief we were working towards creating the first two minutes of a British Social Realism film for Film 4 which was then targeted at 16 to 24 year old audience. We made sure to develop graphical, editing and music style clearly throughout our two minutes. We were We were sure to follow the brief by conforming to all the conventions of a British Social Realism film such as including natural lighting, simple editing, working class locations ect...Before creating our own British Social Realism film we made certain to research the genre and look at the different types of British Social Realism films which are existing and are successful such as the research I conducted into Yasmin, Kindulthood and Made in Britain. http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/camera-editing-and-mise-en-snece.html
We  created entirely our own visual and audio by our selves this is due to the low budget of Film 4.
Me and my partner have choose to call our British Social Realism film Fake ID because it helps to connote the theme and narrative of our film which is about a teen who is living two separate lives one of which she is seen as a  religious girl and the other as a westernized prostitute. The title connotes confusion, enigma and mystery as the audience would want to know more into the story line to know about the fake identity. Fake ID is aimed at a 16 to 24 year old audience following the brief and in the sequence narrative we have a teenage girl named Ayesha who goes against her religion in desperate measures as she gets dragged into prostitution and faces other negative situations as she approaches life on the streets.


















 Our British Social Realism film explores the themes of religion, poverty, sex, rebellion, isolation and exclusion which are obviously noticeable throughout the sequence. I also found in our research that these themes are included in films such as Fish tank where the main character Mia plays a rebellious teen who disobeys her mother which relates to our British Social Realism film because Ayesha goes against her parents beliefs and this is shown in 0:44 when she is changing into westernized clothing. I found in my research that Fish tank includes the theme of isolation and exclusion as the main character Mia is struggling to find her place in society and this is the same with my character Ayesha as she is trying to hide her fake identity and is stuggling by being excluded from society.  http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fish-tank-case-study.html
 

Part 2 - Youtube Video

Part 3 - What impact did the media institution Film 4 have on each production stage? 







Part 4 - Youtube Video

Part 5 - how does your media product represent particular social groups?

Camera
In Fake ID, when creating the opening sequence me and my partner made sure to include numerous long shots. We included long shots as it allowed the audience to see the main characters costume connoting that she suppose to be a young religious teen in a Hijab covering her body to respect her religion which is the usual representation of a Muslim social group. As we go further through the sequence the long shot also help us see the changes the main character does when she strips into a completely different costume that is more westernized and subverts from her religion into a short skirt and high heels. By doing this with our camera language we are able to represent how religion has changed in society in different generations. The long shots also allowed us to represent the main character Ayesha as being quite cautious and alert through her body language because she is shown to be looking around when she leaves her home incase she is caught by her neighbors and this type of body language portrays young teenage girls as being quite anxious and aware. 

We used numerous close up shots when filming as it was a strong way to portray prostitution, the close up camera angles helped to portray women position in society as being a symbol of sex. When using the close up shots we decided to add a close up of the high heels the main character changes into which portrays her trying to be quite provoking and appealing which conforms to the representations of women social position. 

Mise-en-scene

When deciding where to film my partner and I thought the best way to represent poverty and underclass would be through a neglected, unsanitary and rough alley way because it shows how the underclass are living in Britain and how the typical representation of Britain is broken as people think Britain is a posh and elegant place.  

The costume was one of the key elements in our opening sequence as it was a main way to show the Islamic religion and how religious the main characters family are. We had to conform to the representation of Muslims society by having the mother dressed in a head scarf and Burka and the father in a mosque wear and hat. The main character was playing a prostitute so we decided to have her costume as quite revealing and the complete opposite to her costume in the start of the sequence to connote the two different sides of character. 

When thinking about the props we might need to use we thought about the social group this opening sequence is for so as it was for a teenage audience we thought having a mobile phone as one of the props would really show personal identity as they would have this type of technology as well and would help them relate more to the film.By having one of the props as a mobile phone shows that this generation is very modern and are into technology. The mobile phone fit in well with the story line of our opening sequence as it shows the way Ayesha (main character) communicates with her client (Hassam) when he calls. 

Typography 

As we came to the stage of adding typography in my partner and I decided we wanted something which would stand out and represent the youthful and urban social groups in Britain but not take the full attention away from the film playing in the background. We thought the typography we choose included quite a gritty and realistic look towards it which is the whole aim if British Social Realism as it was not very professional or fancy and seems as if someone has hand written it. 

Iconography

To represent the Islamic religion and a Muslim family we thought the icons we could use that would be clear and powerful about what religion this is based on would be having the prayer Matt and the Arabic writing on the walls as a clear denotation. We decided the writing on the wall would be the impressive way to show Islam because when we see Arabic writing it automatically connotes a spiritual or holy meaning. This certain iconography shows that this family is very passionate about their religion which makes the story line more tense when the daughter goes against it. The prayer mat which the mother is standing on is another icon to clarify the Islamic religion to remove any confusion in the audiences minds. 

Part 6 - YouTube Video

Part 7

Part 8 - looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

The Encounter

Fake ID

Digital Technology 

In the preliminary task the digital technology I used was a HD camera, Tripod and a IMac to edit on. When doing this task I was able to be reminded of different types of shots I could use from previous experience as I had done Media for GCSE. The range of shot types used are shown in 0:10 (over the shoulder), 0:17 (long shot), 0:34 (extreme close-up) amoungst others. I also had to keep in mind the rule of thirds and 180 degree rule through out. The camera in the preliminary task was a bit shaky so therefore it made it look unprofessional in places. I then used Imovie on the IMac to edit the footage filmed, I was also familiar to using this software from GCSE and knew the basic skills such as adding transitions and adding typography however in this task I had discovered how to add sound on top of footage which is visible in 0:04 the sound of school bells and 0:18 foot step sounds. A problem I came acros when editing was that I filmed each shot to short so therefor I had less to work with and this created a struggle for me.

In the coursework for Fake ID I remember to keep the different ranges of shot types in mind to have a variety so I used a close up in 0:10, long shot in 0:21 and mid-shot in 1:32 and this allows me to portray the knowledge I have in camera shots. In the long shot in 0:21 the purpose was to display the characters costume which was a headscarf and long black dress, I wanted to show the audience straight away what religion this sequence was based on which was clearly Islam. The long shot was also to display the body language of the main character which was quite conscious and insecure as she looked around for people connoting that she is about to do something negative. In the opening sequence my partner and I wanted to make sure we kept the camera stable so our work looked skillful, this was a problem we came across in the preliminary task and we did not want to do this mistake again.

Creativity 

In the brief for the preliminary task we were asked to film a short sequence where there was a conversation, this sequence must include match-on-action, 180 degree rule, rule of thirds and shot reverse shot. We also needed this short film to have a sense of continuity so therefor to be creative we made sure to film each angle of the main characters action to portray as if there are more than one camera around displaying match-on-action here, this seemed to be a success because it allowed the film to flow better, this is visible in 0:21. To make the sequence appealing from the start me partner and I decided to start of with an establishing shot to display that the whole sequence took place inside a canteen in a school 0:04. We then wanted it to be quite a dramatic to draw the audience in the film so we made the conversation between the two characters dramatic and amusing 0:06, this is due to the two characters talking about a break up. We then thought about the brief and decided to use the shot-reverse-shot during the conversation in the beginning because it was a suitable way to use this camera movement.

Me and my partner were having difficulties remembering the 180 degree rule when filming the preliminary task, this then caused us to re-film because looking back at it we saw that we lacked in this rule. After re-filming we finally understood and established the 180 degree rule and this is seen in 0:14 onward because we stayed on one side of the camera through out the whole sequence. I think we both showed creativity in doing this as it was not obvious that we were trying hard to stay on one side at all times and did it with ease, this led to making our preliminary task look polished and efficient. We had to make sure that the main character was always on the left side of the camera so we then filmed from this side only. The rule of thirds was quite simple and straightforward to follow as we had to make sure that our characters faces were exactly where we wanted when filming, this is the most noticeable 0:11 when the characters are in a discussion. The preliminary task was overall a success as a result of us confirming to the brief by including shot-reverse shot, match-on-action, rule of thirds and 180 degree rule through out.

When creating our British Social Realism film my ability to represent match-on-action has refined and I am able to show a sense of continuity through this rule. Match-on-action is obvious when the main character is shown walking from the front and the camera switches to a back angle allowing the audience to see the location through this 0:14. Match-on-action is used constantly in our final piece because we were more familiar with this rule and an example would be in 1:26 as well as 1:35, we thought it was vital to include match-on-action because a British Social Realism film has to always carry forward and show all movements of the character. The 180 degree rule was also visible as Ayesha (main character) is always on the left side of the camera. In 0:48 the use on rule of thirds is clearly shown as the main character is positioned on one corner of the 3 sections of the screen. I believe that if I had not been given the preliminary task in the beginning then I would not have been able to produce the final sequence with as much knowledge and insight into the different rules I could apply to make my sequence of higher quality. When producing the my work for next year I will always keep these rules in mind as I know why they are important.

Post-production

After filming as a group, when it came to post-production we started editing on our own so therefor we took the same footage my partner and I and then put it together individually. As I was used to using IMovie from before I knew how to use all the editing tools such as adjusting speed, color and trimming sections of the footage to an exact point. However I had one difficulty which was when trimming the scenes to flow with the match-on-action rule, this was a hard task because I had to guarantee each second of the shot was precise to suit the next shot. In the editing process I was able to put everything together and see if my match-on-action looked natural but before perfecting the sequence I had to change speed on some shots as in on shot the main character was walking to slow and the other reasonably fast.

In post-production, editing for British Social Realism was fairly easy as I did not have to include effects or transitions because it was suppose to look completely realistic so therefor editing was simple. I also found editing fast because I recognized all the editing tools from preliminary where the basic editing was used such as adding typography and adding in sound. On the other hand one thing I came across which I found difficult was using Live Type for the typography, In the preliminary task I used the graphics took already on Imovie. this was because I did not use it in preliminary task and was newly introduced to this software therefor it took me a while to get used to. 

Research and Planning 

To plan for the preliminary task my partner and I created a storyboard where we planned out each shot including camera angle, lighting, setting, sound and description so therefor when we went to film we would be very organized and could start straight away with filming. We also numbered each shot so we could be able to tell which came first and last. 

To research before filming I went on various different websites to find out and clarify what 180 degree rule, match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot and rule of thirds were so I could be confident when starting to film. I also used You Tube to see examples of these different types of rules to give me an idea on how I could be able to use it in my own preliminary task. You Tube helped me gain more knowledge and information about these sorts of rules. http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/continuity-editing-exercise.html

For British Social Realism I was more positive in doing research and analyzing different types of   British Social Realism film because I gained more understating in how and what to research on from preliminary task so I started quite fast. To research I analysed Bullet Boy, Train Spotting, Football Factory and London To Brighton which helped me pick out different themes and narratives used in this genre of film. http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/how-british-social-realism-themes-are.html The preliminary task boosted my analyzing skills so I could deeper into writing about story lines and what it connotes and denotes, props and costume in British Social Realism analysis. 

I also went into researching Mise-en-Scene, editing and camera language for films such as Yasmin, Kidulthood and Made in Britain. http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/camera-editing-and-mise-en-snece.html From my preliminary task I found that recognizing the different camera movement helped me analyse the camera language section of this research which is a positive and useful factor.

To research for British Social Realism I executed a case study on Fish Tank which was one of the key films I watched that influenced my story line for Fake ID.

http://halimabegum29.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fish-tank-case-study.html By doing this case study I was able to develop my knowledge into themes and situations, music and sound effects, camera work and editing along side other conventions. I found this very useful because looking back at it, I was able to see how I could add certain points from my research into my own work.

Production week 18

In my opinion I think this production went as well as i hoped, my partner and I have managed to keep to the deadlines by keeping on task and planning out our dates well. We have also made sure to use our media skills to the best way possible so therefore I am happy with the end result. 

I have made sure to commit fully towards this production and have taken 100% responsibility on my part of the work. I have done my equal amount of filming, editing and planning and so has my partner and we have over all worked great as a group in this peice of work. 

In my opinion my group was successful, 

my partner an I have worked together for previous pieces of work and we are used to communicating which made the process easier for us. A negative part of working with my friend was that at times we would become quite talkative which led to us getting easily distracted and off topic sometimes and met we had to stay back sometime after lessons to finish the work however we did meet deadlines. 

The strongest point for me throughout this process has been the editing, I found that editing was simple and actually enjoyable and this is due to the fact that I was quite familiar with using Imovie as I had used it in the start of the year. After messing round with Imovie I was able to learn how to trim shots to an exact point i wanted and how to increase or decrease the speed of certain parts of the film. I also found that filming was a strength of mine as I kept in mind the different typrs of camera shots while filming and have clearly used the various different types through out the film. I think filming process has allowed me to show how I can be practical an my strength with jsing the camera in ways which makes my film flow. The fiming has also made me put my creativeness into the sequence and has allowed me to play aroud with shot types.

To improve I think I would try to focus more in class and try finishing the work off during lesson rather than completing after school as sometimes it leads me into rushing my work. 

Production week 17

The sound editing seemed to be an easy process as all we did was compose the music to suit our film which had an traditional vibe towards it to suit the Asian family in our film, we thought this music was perfect as it started of straight with the cultural and powerful sound. 

then imported the music onto Imovie. One of the problems we did come across was the overlapping of the music during the end which made our opening sequence look quite dodgy and un-professional so therefor it took us a while to fix this problem with the sound editing other than that this was one of the quickest part of the editing process. 

To fix this issue we inserted the music twice so it would not overlap and would flow more smoothly, this was a simple task we had to do which allowed us to fix our sound editing problem.

Production Log 16

This week has been very busy for my group as we had our opening sequence viewed and then realized that it was missing some key footage so therefor we had to go out and re-film our sequence to the standards we wanted in the first place. Due to the fact we needed to re-film this left us very few time in the end to edit but overall we were able to finish on time and meet the deadline. 

The feedback me and my partner received on our editing was that we made the shots too fast which took the realism out of our sequence and made it quite obvious that we increased the speed, after receiving this feedback we went back and made every scene the normal speed which improved our film and made it look more original.

FAKE ID