Critical Reflection Essay: On component 3

Preparation table for essay

• How do your products represent social groups or issues?
• How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
• How do your products engage with the audience?
• How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

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Critical Reflection Mindmaps

Reflection

From filming and editing the music video we have used many effect controls to edit the shots to add a depth and meaning to the narrative, by using the effect controls and video effects we made an effective impact on the narrative so that the video is engaging and exiting to an audience. Although we had a wide range of effects to sue we kept going back to the same ones so that we did not overcrowd the video with many different effects that may have consequences on the narrative and shots, the outcome we got from using premier pro was exactly what we wanted as the stairs were abstract and the naturalistic scenes appeared to be simple and express the emotion we wanted them too.

Unfortunately, after our first draft was completed we lost the full draft footage. Although this happened I think that it happened for the greater good as the new draft we did after was more effective and portrayed the narrative in a more powerful way than the first draft. Along with a better understanding of the narrative the shots we put into the video and effects added to the narrative and format of the video, the stairs looked much more abstract and the school scenes really portrayed the emotions of the girl.

The process of creating this music video was stressful but very rewarding as we got the narrative clearly across to the audience with effective shots and editing in the overall outcome, when reediting the drafts we always realised that something could constantly be improved or cut off to make the edit better. We found that the second draft was over edited so we took out multiple of the edits in some shots to make it clearer and simpler to the audience and make the shots more focused to the narrative, these changes helped to effectively display the character of the girl in the video and the ideas of stress, anxiety and tension through the editing and shots.

Controls

Opacity

We used the opacity effect many times in the music video draft to be able to layer shots on top of one another to give a confusing and slightly chaotic effect, from using this effect we were able to layer stair shots to really convey the stress in the girls mind and there is nothing she can do to make it stop. We further used this effect to create a graphic match that is shown at the beginning and end of the music video, this effect control was very useful to design shots that looked especially confusing and odd to the audience.

speed

We then used the speed effect to speed up and slow down shots, this was mainly for the stairs and abstract scenes to reflect how no matter how quick or how far she seems to never get anywhere. We used this effect to also reverse some shots so that it could further look like the girl is truly struggling, however we did not use it often as at times it did not effective in the shot. Overall this effect proved useful to the editing as it gave us the freedom to change the speed and direction of the shots in the music video.

scale

The scale effect was used to change and alter the zoom on the shot, so for example if we did not like the background of a specific shot we could easily zoom it in with the scale effect to remove what we did not want in the shot. We used the scale for many shots to get them to be perfect for the video, so that there was not a fault in the shot at all. We used this effect many times for stair shots so that we could completely remove the background from the shot and only have the stairs in the shot to remove the sense of place in the video.

Effects

cross zoom

The cross zoom effect was used many times for video transitioning as it was an effective way to portray how the stairs are in the girls mind, almost every time we used this effect it showed how the stairs are in the girl’s head and she cannot escape the stress of running. The effect of this zoom flowed smoothly through each shot connecting them fluidly in a powerful way that made the video look professional and seamless.

cross dissolve

The cross dissolve is similar to the cross zoom but as it states dissolves the previous shot so that it flows smoothly into the following shot, we used this effect during the stair scenes and the school scene to show how all the shots are linked in the same story of the girl trying to find her way to the top of the stairs.

barn doors

The barn door effect gives a clean transition from the past shot sliding the shot across the screen into the next one, we used this shot when displaying the school scenes to reflect how her life is a story that the audience are watching. The barn doors are a clean transition that is quick and effective leading to why we used it in our music video.

Reflection

From completing the first video draft I have learned how to effectively create a video that is catered towards a specific audience, the narrative of the video needs to be constantly present so that the audience can properly understand the story line and therefore wants to watch it again. From doing this draft I have realised how important it is to get effective shots that are clear and steady as this really alters the videos quality, in our first draft many shots were repeated as we did not have enough shots to make a full music video with powerful angles and shots.

For the final cut of the video we want the video to give a really strong impact to a teenage audience as they should be able to relate to the events and narrative of the video, in the first cut only half of the whole videos shots were filmed as in the next term we need to film many realistic shots of the girls everyday life to give a more rounded narrative and effect. The music video should give a big impact on the narrative as there is no singer in the video, however the star image needs to come across within the full narrative as they show how everyone goes through the same thing as a teenagers with the struggles and many flights of metaphorical stairs.

Screen Shots:

Premiere pro

The razor tool allowed us to cut shots so that they could fit the framing and times of the music video, we used this a lot to cut out the start and endings of shots to edit the shot in perfect time to the video and lyrics.

The video tool on the left moved the video over to the sequence of the shots without the sound, so that the song could be easily played over the top of the shot.

The effect control tool allowed us to move and zoom into a shot if we wanted to change the position and composition of the shots in the video, this tool allowed us to have more freedom with what we did with the shot and change it around for a stronger effect.

The video transitions enabled us to add in many types of transitions into the video to make it more interesting to an audience, the speed of the different video transitions gave us the opportunity to use these effects to change the mood and atmosphere in the shot.

The image control let us change the colours in the shots to allude to a specific mood or tone we wanted, we used this effect to add to the strong tones in the music video and layer onto the idea of pressure and stress.

Camera

We used extreme close ups in the video to get the power of the raw emotions in the scenes and shots, the audience can clearly see how the girl is effected by the stairs and ultimately her journey of life.

By using different angles in the location shoot and studio shoot we got to make the scenes more interesting to an audience so that they want to continue watching the video. The different angles represented the different emotions she felt in the shots, allowing the audience to feel connected to the girl.

Getting shots of different expressions of the model allowed us to connote the different emotions in life and represent them in the music video, this was effective as we could provide the idea of life struggles in our music video.

Overall Achievements

My overall achievements from doing the first draft of the music video, is that I have successfully created a music video with an understandable narrative and effective shots. I have properly learned to edit and cut shots together to create a powerful story line for the video, I know how to create effective shots in a video connoting to a range of themes and ideas in the video that we want to present to a teenage audience.

• created a music video
• effectively displayed a narrative
• used effective shots
• edited the video well
• edits shots together for good effect
• shots that connote to themes and ideas
• related the video to the target audience