Lip Syncing Practice

Today in my media lesson I was put into a large group in my class and we had to perform a task which was lip synching. The song that the class was given was "Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 Ft.Christina Aguilera". This song has a fast beat and features a man and a woman singing. Here is the song:

Even though I had heard the song before, I was not familiar with the song. As well as practicing lip syncing for the music video that I am going to create, I also used set lighting and the camera's during this lesson. When I had to lip sync with another class member called Lauren, I was very nervous and I mad a lot of mistakes but over all it was very fun! I think this lesson helped a lot and made me realize how hard it actually is to lip sync.

My Favourite Music Videos

Reviewing previous A2 music videos

Review of previous AS coursework

Our AS Media Film project "The Slayer".

Here is the video of my AS project from last year. I'm going to review over what happened during the production of my AS movie project and going to discuss what went well, what could of happened better planning/production wise and what could have been improved within the actual film.

                                    

What went well/wrong with the project?

Here I'm going to talk about how successful my media project was and what could have been done to improve it. I'm also going to talk about how I'm going to learn from mistakes and disadvantages I came across in AS to overcome them in A2 and use them to my advantage in production.

Blogging

One of the main parts of the course during AS was to update a group blog which would present the production of the film that my group made. I think blogging is a great idea for sharing the thoughts and ideas of production when it comes to media and film. Within the blog that my group and I created during AS, my group added a lot of pictures and short clips of the production of the film. The pictures would be annotated with description about what was going on in the picture. Not only did my group post pictures and short clips of the production, my group and I also included posts of things that went wrong, meetings, planning and research. This became useful because it allowed our group to use the blog as a source of information to help with the production, instead of researching online which is required to have the atmosphere of horror in my previous AS opening sequence. This research consisted of previous opening sequence which may be similar to ours, location research (what type of locations should be included into the film) and actor research (how the actors should look, what type of mis en scene). As a whole, I think blogging was very useful in my previous AS course and I'm looking forward to using blogging again for my A2 media project.

What am I going to do different when it comes to blogging on my A2 course? 

When it comes to blogging in A2, I am not going to change much on my blog because I got a good grade for AS. I believe that if I do more work on the blog that is actually set by my teacher, I think that it will improve and give me a high grade. Another thing that I'm going to do differently for A2 blogging is to keep to deadlines and not leave things to the last minute. Last year when I was working on my AS blog, I left some things to the last minute which was very stressful. This year, I'm going to be stress free and complete the work to the set deadlines.

Editing

Editing was a very important key when it came to producing the film for AS. The software that was used to edit the film was called Final Cut which runs on a mac operating system. In my personal opinion, I think that editing was not one of the strongest parts of the course for my group as my group and I were not familiar with the software that we were using. Because of this, my group had to test a lot of the features and tools that were included in the software as we didn't understand some of the editing tool names and what the tools did. Due to this, a lot of time was wasted when it came to editing meaning that the film was not as good as it could have been on the editing side. Besides that, I think it was a great part of the course as I learned some techniques and skills with the software that I had to use. With the skills and techniques that I picked up from AS, I am going to use when producing the music video that is required to pass the A2 course. I also think it would be a good idea to look at some video tutorials online to get a clearer understanding of the software so time is not wasted as it is going to be a lot harder this year for A2.

What am I going to do differently when it comes to editing in A2?

During the A2 course, I am going to look at some tutorials to ensure that I have a good understanding of the software that I'm going to use for the A2 media course. If I do this, I will be able to create a more interesting music video and a high standard.

Planning and Development 

When it comes to creating a media project, I believe that planning and development are really important factors of production of a film or music video. During AS, my group and I planned the film that we created, but I don't think that we stuck to the original plan 24/7. We were always changing things around and making things complicated and confusing. Because of this, it was hard to decide which shots to keep and which shots to delete which were filmed. Planning during development can become really important because when creating a project, you can keep track of how far you have got to go before finishing the video. This means that you can keep to deadlines and not fall behind. During AS, there were times that my group and I fell behind because we were not planned as well as other groups. Another part of planning was story-boarding. During AS, I didn't really contribute to the story-boarding side of planning because I was never good at drawing. I regret not sticking to a story-board because without one, deciding what shots to take just took longer and make things more complicated.

What will I do differently when it comes to planning and development in A2?

The things that I'm going to do differently in A2 media when it comes to planning and development is that I'm going to stick to deadlines that have been set, I'm going to create and contribute to the story-boarding side of development. I'm also of thinking of creating some sort of planner or date calender when the course fully starts so I am really planned for this project as I really want to get the best grade to my potential.

Teamwork

One of the key parts of creating a successful video is teamwork. Without my other members of the group that I was put in, I wouldn't have been able to handle all of the work alone. Within teamwork, communication is very important. During the AS course, our group shared our numbers so we could communicate out of school. We also gave each other our email addresses for MSN and added each other in Facebook so we could keep in contact about the As media course, we also got our parents involved to help on the things that we couldn't do ourselves ( a parent taking us to a location to shoot instead of walking, this saved a lot of time when filming ).

What am I going to do differently for teamwork in A2?

There isn't much that I will do differently in A2 because my teamwork for the previous AS course worked out very well to achieve what I achieved for my AS media film and keep up the good teamwork. I would probably influence others to be a good team member of the group.

Use of Equipment/Props

There were a few bits of equipment and props that were used in my AS media film. The equipment that I used during the media course of AS was a tripod and a video camera. During the filming part of the production, my group and I made very good use of this equipment. Whenever we wanted a still shot, we would use the camera on the tripod to keep the camera still. I think the tripod was very effective. Another thing that was used in my media project for AS was the use of props. I think that the use of props were effective as it helped perform the narrative of the opening sequence that I created with my group. An example of props that were used during the AS course was fake blood, wigs and clothing. There were some things that went wrong when using the equipment during the AS media course. There were on some occasions where the camera's where not charge on the day of filming. This wasted a lot of filming time which was very important because we were limited to when we could use the cameras due to other groups needing the camera's as well.

What am I going to do in A2 with the use of equipment and props?

The things that I'm going to do when it comes to using equipment and props in A2 media are. I'm going to ensure that the camera is charged the night before the day of filming to make sure that my group will be able to film the music video for as long as possible with maximum charge. Another thing that I'm going to do is use props to show the narrative/genre of the music video. It just wouldn't look right if there was a Metal genre song and the actors in the music video were wearing baggy sports wear and sport hats. It wouldn't mix well with the music on the video. I'm also going to make a budget to how much my group will spend on props for the music video and look online for cheap clothing and props. This will make the music video more interesting and realistic.

Conclusion

To conclude, I am going to take the problems that I came across in AS and make sure none of them happen in A2 so that the music video will be to the best of my potential. I will also make the changes the I have discussed about to improve my work style and increase the standard of work that I produce. I have learned a lot from AS and I am looking forward into creating this music video for A2. I think it will be a harder challenge than AS but if I can correct the problems that I came across in AS, it will be achievable to pass.

Introduction To Myself

Welcome to my A2 media blog. My name is Daniel Walter and I'm studying A2 media at Coombe Girls Sixth Form. Through out this year, I am going to be updating this blog with the work that I produce until I will eventually conclude with uploading my very own music video! I really think that it's going to be hard this year compared to AS media as there's a lot more work to handle. I'm really looking forward to using the cameras again and the new equipment that I have been introduced to such as the set lighting and the reflecting panel for the lights.

 Not only am I looking forward to working with equipment I have not experienced, I am also looking forward for working in groups and working on my very own music video.