This stage took the longest as prior experience of using the Final Cut Pro software was in short supply, as well as the fact that we had to rifle through all the videos shot to find the ones that were suitable for the final edit. In future it would be best to number the clips in order to speed up the editing process. Once all the clips were on the timeline we had to cut them to the appropriate size in order to match the actual video’s production. Once this had been done we imported the Trouble Town mp3 file and the went about syncing the music to that of the lips in our own video and making sure these also corresponded to the cuts within our own video. This stage took the most time, due to our inexperience using the software and the fiddly nature of syncing all the clips and music together, to create an accurate lip synched video. We matched the normal conventions of a music video as not doing this when trying to replicate a real video would have had disastrous consequences. I feel the video worked well and ran smoothly.
Tuesday 25 June 2013
2) Production (filming etc)
From the pre-production we had chosen our locations and casted our video, so with our storyboards were able to film our video, which we filmed chronologically. This started with us filming the camera from the car, which was done through the windscreen, so wasn’t as authentic and showed dirt on the glass, although it gave the effect of the real video with the speed bump and the housing estate location. In future fitting with a camera on the cars exterior could look even more authentic. We then filmed the scenes on the field using a similar location and then the scene shots of buildings (such as the tower block). We used many varied camera angles on the outdoor shots, so our video would include many fast paced authentic cuts. Getting used to the camera and its functions was relatively simple as I had used them before in previous tasks, this was the same for the use of the tripod, which gave us steady shots which looked both professional and like the actual video. The filming was probably the easiest area of the videos overall production and took the least time, as we used typical filming conventions.
1) Pre production (story boarding, prop lists etc)
We chose to re-produce the music video of Jake Buggs 'Trouble Town, as we were interested in this particular genre and the video could be produced realistically, due to minimal props being used and the location being easy to replicate in the surrounding areas. Therefore we decided to re-produce the video, as opposed to making our own impression or a parody video. Next time a more complex video could be chosen to further challenge ourselves, or to even create our own interpretation of a video or a parody. We learnt simple often looks effective and attempting to replicate something to complex could look cheap and unprofessional. We storyboarded our video to replicate the length and camera angles of shots. The storyboard gave us ideas for small changes we would have to make when replicating the video, such as not being able to include an electricity pylon. The storyboarding showed that often ideas can be easily replicated or even adjusted using limited resources to create a professional video. We then casted our video from the people in our group and planned to wear clothing that suited the genre and matched the video. Our small group fitted the videos small cast.
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Note to Examiner
To Examiner,
I hope you enjoy reading through my AS Coursework Blog and at the work I have created. During the process I feel my knowledge of magazines has improved drastically, which I hope is represented in the development of my work.
All of my posts are labelled and ordered appropriately easing the navigation of my Blog.
Again I hope you enjoy reading my work,thank you!
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Preliminary Magazine- 'THE Subject'.
This is my preliminary front cover and contents page for my school magazine 'THE Subject'. I created it using Adobe Photoshop and used it as a great start for discovering elements and ideas to use in my final piece. Although my final magazine will be somewhat different, elements of the layout such as the Strap-lines and text around the image will be considered in my final piece.
Also everything included was done so with the intention to create an authentic school magazine, so lexis associated with school is used as is the image and the font.
Front Cover
The front cover to my Magazine features 3 colours, blue, green and red. Firstly I chose the blue and green as they are the colours of my school logo, but also because the colours represent life. Blue being the sea and green being the land. I felt this gave my magazine a lively feel, but one that wasn't manufactured one that was more authentic and natural. I also felt the two colours complimented each other well. Meanwhile I also used red to highlight the most important features upon my cover, such as the main article 'A MAN' and the top strapline "THE CURRICULUM REVEALED". I did this as it made them greatly stand out and take prominence above all else.
The font I used on magazine cover continues throughout my contents page and is somewhat a 'Geeky' font, it isn't very cool. However I felt this fit the purpose of a school magazine as it looks like a old type writers font, so it gives my publication authenticity. On the cover I did use one other font on my top strapline in order to make it bold and stand out, therefore this font is strong and powerful. Initially I had used a cooler bubble font, which had a cartoon feel to it, but it just didn't suit the feel of my school magazine at all, so I replaced it. Though it is a font I would consider on my final piece.
Furthermore the image on my front cover is one I took at home, therefore there is an unpleasant shadow, something I will not have in my final piece. It is of myself dressed as a stereotypical geek to fit the genre of the magazine. Also because of the light background I was also able to put the text freely around the image without any text boxes/backgrounds. As well because I was wearing a white shirt I could place text on here, as I have done with "A MAN" which stands out strongly and clearly.
I tried to spread the colours evenly to create a nice balance, without overloading on one colour, this is something I would like to achieve in my final piece.
Finally I added a tag line "START READING BETWEEN THE LINES" to my magazine and rotated it so it read vertically. Therefore it quite literally reads between the lines. I felt this piece of humour added a humourous element to a publication that otherwise could be perceived as boring.
I used the same font for the contents page so I won't explain my reasoning behind that again. Although on my "EDITOR'S NOTE." section I used a bubbly font at the time to give the contents page a bit of life, whilst a bolder clearer one for the text below, to give the impression it had been written on a chalk board. Therefore I used white text and put it onto an image of a cartoon chalk board to create this authentic school effect. Whilst including an editor's note I felt gave my magazine authenticity as this features in real publications.
In addition I used blue text for all of my title and the majority of the contents, as I felt it looked better than the green as it was clearer on the white page. I continued to use blue text throughout because of this (and to continue the continuity), apart from on a few occasions. When mentioning the main article I used a red font as I had on the front cover. This was again to make it stand out but also to provide continuity throughout my magazine. Also I put the word sports in the contents into green, because of the association with sports regularly being played on a green surface, such as grass. Whilst I also used green text upon my tablet feature to avoid overloading upon the colour blue.
Furthermore I put my page numbers into boxes, to make it look like a school textbook, giving my contents page a more authentic feel. Also I felt it kept the page tidy and showed the difference between the numbers and the words that followed. Though this could have been achieved through the use of a colour change, something I will seriously consider in my final piece.
The title of my contents page is "This weeks Subjects..', which I chose because it has the obvious link of the word 'Subject' to the front cover creating continuity throughout my magazine. I also felt this would create yet more identity for my publication. Also there is the double meaning of the subjects within the magazine and the fact that subjects are what are taught at school and are the foundations of education. Much like a contents is the foundation for a magazine, the starting block.
Finally I used two green lines below each line of my contents title to make it very clear it was the title, but to more importantly fill the space, because without the lines, the page looked bare and boring.
In summary I was pleased with my preliminary piece but would hope for my final piece to look far more professional and credible. This I would hope to achieve through the use of effects on Photoshop and by taking more photos, which are also more professional and interesting. In turn helping to make my final piece more interesting, credible and most importantly authentic.
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