Editing

I completed my rough cut and continued editing throughout the week, I have also started to think of effects and transitions which I may like to use within my music video, for example a fade out at the end as it is a love song.

Extra Filming

Last week I filmed some extra footage which needed to be used within my music video. This was the shots where the character opens the suitcase and picks up the picture which is on top of everything.

Equipment

Hi Ellen,
Will have camera etc ready for you on Friday Morning.
Mrs Excell

Friday 23rd November 2012 - Editing

Today was progress review day at school, this meant that everyone was off timetable, I used this to my advantage and came in from 9 till 12 to begin editing my music video. Through this time I lip synced all of my footage and also started my rough cut which I will now go on to continue doing at the next available time.

Thursday 22nd November 2012 - Uploading

Today I uploaded all of my footage and put it on to final cut express ready for me to start editing and putting together my rough cut of the complete music video.

Filming Continued (day three and four)

Tuesday 13th November was when I had originally planned to film with the artist although due to unforeseen circumstances this had to be changed to Friday 16th November instead. This went well and I managed to get all the lip syncing shots done which I want to use, I will be setting one more filming date with the artist before the month ends to get a tracking shot which I think will work really well within my music video. The next filming date was supposed to take place on Saturday 17th November, but I managed to rearrange this to be completed on Wednesday 14th November instead, I have one final shot which I would preferably like to reshoot and therefore I have set another filming date with the actress/actor to be held on Saturday 24th November.

Recce Shots

I have got images which show the different locations that I will be using throughout the whole of my music video. Each one was chosen for a different reason, either being the light, background view or something more specific like an object etc. I will be using 7 locations and these will all be shown in order of how they appear in my music video.

 

Issues with filming and next steps to take

My filming went pretty much to plan which I was extremely happy about, the only slight problems I had was the shake of the camera when we were filming through the evening in the car, I resolved this by steadying the camera as much as possible  to create a smoother shot. Another problem was filming on the road. I filmed in the middle of a road which turned out to have more passing cars than expected, this meant that for a period of time we were unable to film properly, although luckily within not too long the road was empty for a long while so this was resolved by itself in the end.

My next step is to film on (Tuesday 13th November) which is the scenes with the artist (Jess Nicholls) and this will be the lip syncing section. After that it will be the filming of both the actor and actress on (Saturday 17th November) at the two different chosen locations.

Filming Progress (day one and two)

Both filming dates which I scheduled to film in Vegas went ahead (Sunday 4th November and Tuesday 6th November). In this time I was able to complete the section of the scenery shots/evening shots and also the middle sections of being on the phone/texting the boyfriend/her admiring the view etc. The weather was really nice which was exactly what I wanted for these particular shots and was able to get a great shot with the light shining through behind where the girl was standing which I really like.

Filming Schedule

I have used my storyboard and other ideas for my music video to create a rough filming schedule, this will include the times I will be meeting the actors, location and what I aim to get done.

Sunday 4th November (in Vegas)
I aim to film most of the scenery shots on this date, this will be mainly evening shots, I hope to film driving around in a car which I am just waiting to be confirmed. These evening shots will be used roughly in the middle of my music video.
Tuesday 6th november (in Vegas)
I will be meeting the actress at 12 pm in the specific location I have chosen within Vegas. I chose an area full of trees but also that is very open, which will make the sun and blue skies have a greater impact on the footage I will be be to get.


Tuesday 13th November (in London)
I will be meeting Jess at 4.30 pm in order to film the lip syncing section of my music video, I will meet her at High Barnet station and we will then go on to film this section which on my storyboard is the part that is located on the field/grassy area.

Saturday 17th November (in London)
I will be meeting the actor and actress in Borehamwood at 11 am, we will then go to film the rest of the shots ie. on the phone. This will be inside the actress's house. We will then go to the same location (Tuesday 13th November) and film the opening scene. This will be my last day of filming and I aim to have all filming completed by this date.

Risk Assessment

Here I have uploaded a picture of my risk assessment in which I have filled out to ensure the correct health and safety is carried out at all times:

Storyboard

Here a pictures i have taken of my hand-drawn storyboard, these include all of my ideas for my music video production and have descriptions of each shot too:

Post-it Note Shot Ideas

I used post-it notes to write down ideas for specific shots I had and also the type of shots in which I would like to use. these are the ideas I came up with:

Target Audience Profile

Through planning and research of similar artists music video's, I was able to cover a wide range of ideas of what my target audience require. I have noticed specific elements within this in which I will need to make sure I include in order to reach out to the specific target audience my song and music video is intended for.

Pitch

Pitch

My Pitch: My music video will be based on two people in love. It will follow a narrative where the girl goes on holiday, even though she is enjoying herself, she is constantly missing the boy, I will portray this through both editing and various shots which will all in some way relate back to their relationship. At the moment I am thinking of specific shots which will help me to relate back to them as a couple even though she is on holiday with friends, but more importantly, without him. Shots I am thinking of are:

A panning shot around her to emphasise she is separated from him and on her own at that precise moment, whilst also showing how in awe of the place she is in at the same time.

An over the shoulder shot whilst she is updating her Facebook status to say something along the lines of ‘having a great time but missing …’

Her looking at a picture and remembering a specific memory of them both

Updating her twitter whilst she is packing to return to say something along the lines of ‘had an amazing time, can’t wait to see … though’

Either a POV shot/eye-line match shot of her writing him a postcard.

Peer Feedback Sheet

Peer Feedback

Through doing a task within class which involved moving round to listen to everyone’s music, think of ideas and brainstorm them on to a sheet, I was able to attain a better insight in to the type of music video in which other’s thought would match my music piece well. I already had my own ideas on how I would use a narrative to match the song I have picked, this I thought would include a couple, various locations and lots of soft and calm, but at the same time bright colours. On my peer feedback sheet, various people said that they would suggest ‘soft colours; greens, blues, pinks, whites, pastel colours’ whilst many other people suggested locating my music video in the outdoors, countryside or field areas. People suggested that for my storyline I should use a couple, which confirmed the idea I had previously drawn. I had also thought of the idea of using a grassy/field/countryside location with my artist sitting playing her guitar and lip syncing to the music, many people who analysed my music and gave me feedback said that I should use the idea of the guitar sound/have the artist playing the guitar and lip syncing, this was also reassuring to see as I feel that my previous ideas will be able to relate to others just as it has done with my class group. I found this exercise extremely helpful and it has now given me more detailed ideas which will help me a lot to finalise and create my story board and then music video.

Booked Equipment

Hi Ellen, You may equipment on Friday 26th October. But you have not told me when in the day you are picking it up.
Please come and tell me.

Mrs Excell

Mood Board

I created a collage of images to represent the kind of colours/imagery I would like to at this stage represent in my music video. In my mood board I have used soft, calm colours that represent the idea of love which is portrayed throughout this song. In my music video I will include close ups of features such as the eyes, and a couple holding hands, this will also work well to show the love aspect. The use of light in my music video will also have a huge impact on how well it turns out, the dark, evening look will   work well along with the soft day light.

Lyrics with ideas

I was given permission by my artist Jessica Nicholls to use her song 'Im Yours' and she also agreed to feature in my own music video. After this i received the track and lyrics from her which meant i was able to continue my further planning and put any initial ideas together. Through breaking down the lyrics, I was able to put together some rough ideas of what I could use within my music video. 

Song Lyrics

Im Yours

Something about the way you smile

Something about you caught my eye

Something about you that night

When I look up in the sky

When I see your face in the stars

And you’re shining down on me

As I’m playing my guitar

I am yours

And you are mine

You can do what you want to do

Don’t you know I’m here for you

Well damn you look so fine

As your strolling through the park

And something in your eyes

Says were the lucky ones

I know we’ll make it through

To see the brighter days

And if its alright with you

Lets stay like this always

I am yours

And you are mine

You can do what you want to do

Don’t you know I’m here for you

I can look you in the eye

Say I’ll be by your side

Cos no matter what our lives come to

You’ll have me and I’ll have you

Cos I am yours

And you are mine

I am yours

And you are mine

You can do what you want to do

Don’t you know I’m here for you

Cos I am yours

You best believe I’m yours

If you want me I’m yours

I’m yours

Representation of gender in music videos - Micro Elements

In today's lesson we have been discussing as a group different ways in which gender can be represented through music videos. the five key micro elements we decided on were;
1. Use of the body
2. Facial Expression
3. Mise-en-scene
4. The gaze
5. How the camera frames the body

We watched various videos such as  'Ayo Technology' by 50 Cent ft. Justin Timberlake, 'Cater 2 u' by Destiny's Child and also other A2 student's work.


In the music video 'Ayo Technology' 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake are both portrayed as the business man. They are suited and booted and throughout the video are always in control of what the women are doing. In parts of the video, Timbaland uses a screen and gloves to pick which girls he wants to see and more specifically which part of the girls body he wants to focus on. Another example of this matrix-like scenario is when Justin Timberlake uses his hands on the opposite side of the closed door to the girl, to control her actions e.g. when he moves his arms, she does too, but in a sexual way conforming to the idea behind the video. Their facial expressions suggest they are in control and they know what they want.

In the Destiny's Child song 'Cater 2 U' all three ladies use there bodies to attract the men without contact for the first half of the video. Instead of physical contact, the men are sitting, admiring the women, whilst each woman uses a different kind of way to express the idea of 'the homemaker' but in a much more sexualised way e.g. kelly Rowland moves her body across the car whilst singing how she can look after her man. The camera uses the women's assets to its advantage for the audience, and are forced to focus primarily on different parts of their bodies.

I have analysed my own music video and included these 5 key elements to see if it either uses or challenges these ideas.

Gold Digger - Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx

I am going to analyse Kanye West's 'Gold Digger' music video which was released in 2005 as I believe through studying Goodwin’s theory I can say that I believe it is a great example of the key features Goodwin describes a music video including. He has 6 key points in which he says most videos follow, these are:

1. Links between lyrics and visuals
2. A relationship between music and visuals
3. Genre related style and iconography
4. Demands of the record label (how the artist is presented)
5. Voyeurism
6. Intertextual references

There are several links between the lyrics and visuals within this music video, for example when he says ‘From what I hear she got a baby by Busta’ and here is a woman standing with ‘Baby by Busta’ al in red capitals. A particular part of the music video where Goodwin’s link between lyrics and visuals can be picked up is when we hear ‘We want pre-nupt’, the audience at the same time see’s a magazine cover with another woman on and the headline is ‘PRE NUPT’. Also within the Gold Digger music video another clear relation is when the words ‘You don't want your dude to smoke but he can't buy weed’ we are shown another magazine with the word ‘SMOKE’ above a provocatively dressed woman. The mise en scene is also relates extremely well to the video throughout. The ‘SMOKE’ magazine shot is a perfect example of good mise en scene as throughout the shot, lots of smoke is used and the black background indicates a contrast to the rest of this music video as during the other shots they are usually bright and colourful

Within the first minute of this music video the music and visuals relationship is met through a fast paced drum beat and quick jump editing showing off woman’s features eg. Lips, body, eyes etc. This both draws in the male attention which was intended and is a good example of how the sound is in sync with the visuals we see. When the tempo of the music increases the pace of the editing also increases, as this music video does not follow a linear narrative it relies on this to in order to create a clear understanding of particular important parts.

The genre of this music video is clearly represented through several aspects, for example the dancing is a clear indication of this R&B track. The genre of R&B is also portrayed through the use of women dressed in a provocative way wearing very little, but sexual none the less clothing. These sexual references along with lots of dancing and flashing lights link to the particular genre of this song well.

In this music video of ‘Gold Digger’ the main focus is around predominantly Kanye West and then Jamie Foxx which is to help promote and expand themselves as artists. This is represented through the use of plenty of women and is the reason behind the many close up shots used throughout the 3 minutes and 28 second video. During part of this video there is a couple of shots where Kanye West is showing a woman how to do a particular dance of his which is used to help involve the audience, as they can then learn and use it. Kanye West is also dressed to represent himself throughout this video, for example he wears his shirt half tucked in and half out trying to set a new trend, which then became very popular.

Throughout this whole video voyeurism is a particular key feature which largely shows up of which Goodwin talks about. There are lots of women and you see women in most shots. They are all portrayed as sex symbols that are there particularly for male attention but also for females to look at not necessarily in a sexual way but in comparison to themselves. There are lots of shots of particular parts of the female’s bodies which highlight this sexual symbolism and throughout the video women play an important role which is intended as it relates to the meaning behind the lyrics too.

Intertextual references are used within the whole music video at different points, Kanye West refers to other artists for example Busta Rhymes. Also the use of women on magazines is another specific reference as women are used specifically on front pages of male magazines.

The Auteur Theory

Auteur is the French word for author, which suggests that a director’s film/advert/music video etc. is a reflection of his or her style. French directors first introduced the Auteur theory in the 1950’s. A key person was Francois Truffaut who pushed a focus on to the contribution that directors have on the style and form of a piece of work. He quoted “A true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinely personal to his subject instead of producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material” An auteur is a director whose signature style and distinct qualities are represented through their creative media pieces.

Alfred Hitchcock, born 13^th August 1899, is very much regarded as an auteur theorist. His most famous films are Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and Rear Window. Hitchcock’s technique was known widely for its intelligent plots, funny dialogue and the mysterious murders that occurred. One of his most renowned pieces of work was the shower scene in Psycho, this featured 70 distinct shots in less than one minute. His genre was very much based on Thriller and used the power of suspense to capture the audience, he would allow the audience to know more about what is happening than the characters do themselves which leaves the audience trying to figure out what will happen when the audience learn as much as we know. Hitchcock also featured in his films quite a lot although most of these were mostly minor roles.

Harold Williams, better known as Hype Williams is an American music video and film director. Williams has created and directed many music videos for various artists including 2Pac, Jayz, Kanye West, Ne-yo, Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes etc. 

Up until 2003 his signature style was the fisheye lens which distorts the camera view around the central focus. Another particular signature style of his was putting shots in regular widescreen ratio with another shot split and placed above and below, this style shows up in music videos such as My Hood by Young Jeezy and Beyoncé’s Check On It. 

Since 2003 Hype Williams has adopted a new signature style including a centre camera focus on the artist or actor’s body from the torso up combined with a solid colour background with a soft different coloured lighting being shown in the centre of the background. This can be seen in music videos such as Gold Digger by Kanye West and Digital Girl by Jamie Foxx.

Some example's of William's work inluce:

Busta Rhymes : Gimme Some More

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtn06ZW9Xm0

Busta Rhymes music video 'Gimme Some More' portrays Williams use of the fisheye lens perfectly and shows us the creativeness he was able to bring to life through this in the video.

Ne-yo : So Sick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxszlJppRQI

This is a perfect example of Hype Williams second signature style of the splitscreen above and below the widescreen shot.

Beyoncé : Video Phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGkvXp0vdng

This music video for Beyoncé's 'Video Phone' shows Hype Williams newest signature style through softer lighting in the centre of the background compared to the darker colour around the edge. For example At 2 minutes 8 seconds we can see a a very dark, dim red background with a bright circle of red in the middle behind her.

3 influential music videos

Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You

This music video takes us on a journey throughout the length of the song. the lighting used is very dark which creates a strong atmosphere connecting the visuals with the music and lyrics. I particularly liked the shot of the mum clearly waiting for the husband to come and eat the dinner she made, this shot is built up well through the use of lighting and the visuals really match at this point, the low lighting, the rain outside the window and the emotion shown through the womens face and body language creates a good bond between that itself and the particular lyrics in that shot and the ones that closely follow. Another part I really liked was when the mum was sitting on the bed taking pills and the young girl who is suppost to represent the artist at a younger age, is standing outside although we cannot see her at this point, the mother comes to close the door and because it has a mirror on it, when the door is shut we are able see the emotion and sadness of this little girl which striked me as a clever idea which merged well within the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra-Om7UMSJc&feature=related

Taylor Swift - Love Story

Taylor Swift's lyrics of Love Story are portrayed through her music video completely. There are specific times when the visuals match up to the lyrics, such as 'see the party, the ballgowns' and in this specific shot there are several men and women at the party in the background with the women dressed in ballgowns. Taylor Swift plays the main character in this video and refers to herself and the man as 'Romeo and Juliet' she also refers to particular scenes of Romeo and Juilet incorporating this in to the storyline of her video. For example, Taylor Swift is up on the balcony whilst the male character is on his way to rescue her. The scenery and buildings used in this video stand out in a good way, the visuals and storyline match the lyrics extremely well and the cuts between each shot match the music well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E

Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqON44CLaQM&feature=relmfu

I really love this video because it uses some brilliant shots, for example when the 'director' says "black and white" it changes from colour to black and white. I also really like the uniqueness of the idea of the director telling Enrique the ideas for the video and the music video is portrayed through the eyes of them picturing what it would look like. The use of lots of close ups on the artist and the girl matches the music and lyrics really well. Everytime the director is talking to Enrique the video is suddenly bright and the lighting used is very strong which visualises for the audience lots of colour, however when we see the shots of the proposed music video within this almost short film concepted idea, it is all very dark, the lighting used is very soft, and all the character's clothing are dark too.

Artist Confirmation

Andrew Goodwins Theory

Andrew Goodwin identified various techniques which in are the key to a music video.

He said that there is a bond between the lyrics and the visuals, meaning that the visuals will illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics themselves.
He also said there is a bond between the music and the visuals, again with the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
Goodwin also stated that in all music videos, close-ups of the artist or vocalist are always used, along with the video following a genre-related style, such as having a story to match the meaning of the lyrics.
Close-ups of the artist/vocalist are used to build up the connection between the audience and themselves, it helps us learn a little bit more about them through their emotions and is undependent on it's genre. It gives us a good representation of themselves and their music.
Andrew Goodwin says that Voyeurism often plays a huge part in music videos, especially in connection to women. It is used to draw attraction to the video and particularly works well for males.
He goes further to state that intertextual references with other media texts could be present.
Goodwin suggests that music videos are often established by the relationship between both the visuals, the artist and the song and the music video creates these links.

Music History Timeline

In 1894 the first 'illustrated song' was produced, this involved several still images which were projected on to a screen whilst a live performance of Little Lost Child was played. This allowed the audience for the first time ever to have a visual whilst listening to a song at the same time.

By 1926 the arrival of the 'Talkies' brought the idea of visuals with music further through musical short films. These featured bands, vocalists and dancers which gave a live experience of what was to become a music video.

Longer musical films were established during the period of 1930 - 1959 and this was a genre in which songs were incorporated in to the film itself.

1940 - 1949 saw the arrival of many promotional clips which showed many famous jazz artists and their bands on in a mini movie type of clip.

In 1964 the Beatles release their 'A Hard Days Night' which was a motion picture featuring themselves, this was definitely a step forward towards the modern music video.

Shortly after in 1965, the Beatles recorded 10 films which were then used to promote the release of albums. This is what really kick started the idea of video promotion into practise.

Music marketing by the mid 80's was starting to be taken over by music videos as the launch of MTV, which was a 24 hour music programme allowed music videos to be shown around the clock.

Michael Jackson's music video 'Thriller' was released on December 2nd 1983, the music video was 13 minutes and 43 seconds long, it was voted as the most influential pop music video of all time and it was listed as the most successful video ever in 2006 by Guiness World Records.

Following 'Thriller', on May 31st 1995 Michael Jackson released his song 'Scream' which featured his sister. This video won many MTV music awards along with a grammy. It cost in total around 7 million dollars landing itself a spot in the Guiness World Records for the most expensive video ever made.

The launch of Youtube in 2005 was a massive step forward for the music industry and in terms of music videos and reaching a wider audience for an artist to promote their music, this was definitely set to be a huge success. Youtube is a video sharing website which allows not only signed artists to post music videos online but it allows absolutely anybody the ability to upload their videos for people all over the world to view. In May 2011 Youtube said in a blog that they were receiving more than 3 billion video streams per day, however in January 2012 this figure had risen to over 4 billion views per day, showing us that Youtube is still a consistently growing social media site 7 years since it was first available.

In 2005 we also saw the launch of iTunes, which is a media player that allows you to play, save and organise music, but more importantly allows you to download music videos directly from the internet. iTunes was proved to be a huge success and crucial step forward within music videos after reaching a mark of over one million downloads after just twenty days.

In 2010, 183 million viewers boosted the number of music videos viewed online to roughly 34 billion, this just shows how relevant and necessary music videos are to both the artists target audiences and other audiences as they are easily accessible and there is a clear demand for them.

A2 Task

The task for A2 media this year is to plan and to create a promotional music video with the original music track of an unsigned artist, we are also required to produce a digi-pack which is the CD cover and also a magazine advert, these are all forms of promoting the artists song and will allow me to improve on skills i have already gained through AS media whilst also allowing me to develop new skills. 

I’m looking forward particularly to brainstorming ideas and putting them into action to put together my final music video piece and see the overall outcome at the end. I also enjoyed using final cut express last year for my AS so I will also be looking forward to the editing side of it as well.

Digital Storyboard

Reflection

The task set was to produce a film opening with titles for the duration of no more than two minutes.

An opening title sequence has the purpose of enticing their target audience, they do this by focusing on their needs. It also establishes the location it is set in and gives an opportunity for the genre of the film to be introduced. The opening title sequence acquaints the audience with the people behind the camera, for example the director, editor, costume designer and the rest of the film production team. Throughout the film opening the main character is also usually introduced, this is called the protagonist or antagonist.

Throughout my opening title sequence my location is established and this is along with the main characters. The typical conventions of a film opening are to introduce either the protagonist, which is the hero/heroine and the antagonist who is his or her opposition. The credits of the production team are used in a chronological order based on importance. The director is the last to appear, meaning they are most important, these credits appear clearly and so that they are clearly legible. The music and body language of both the characters, showing clearly mysterious actions, for example when the girl walks past the bin, with the next shot showing the envelope gone, urges the audience to want to question what is in it, what relevance it has etc. The close up’s towards when she is about to walk past the bin followed by an extreme close up on her hand when she has walked past emphasises the importance and increases the attention on to the envelope.

In my opening film title sequence the protagonist is the girl who finds the envelope and the antagonist is the other female character who left it on the floor. I have represented a particular social group within my media product through both characters. Having both females attracts my target audience but also allows all ages to find some sort of connection with the particular scenes therefore widening the social groups it could reach. The demographic of my opening title sequence is teenagers to young adults who are supported in a positive light for the opening film title sequence.

The production company I have decided to use is Mandate Pictures, I chose this because they have also been the production company of films such as Whip It! and Juno. This production company was founded by Joseph Drake as an independent film company in 2005 although it was formed in 2003, helping make many films since they first began which have helped also to finance and award-winning films. Also the films this particular production company tend to support have similar and the same genre to my own film. I also decided to use Pathe Pictures International as my distributor as they have a huge influence within the media industry and therefore can help play a huge part in distributing my film well.

I chose a target audience of 12 and above, my film requires a certain level of understanding, this is because there is no diegetic sounds so it may need more thinking, the mise en scene also reflects this as the people shown are teenagers. According to my primary research in which I gathered through questionnaires, 7 out of 10 would rather watch a Drama based film rather than a Comedy. Also my research shows that 80% of people thought my film was of a Drama genre with the further 20% choosing Action. Furthermore, 2 people who were given questionnaires both under the age of 12 said even though they could not because of the age rating, they would like to watch the film if they could.

Through this task I have learnt to use various programmes including a blog, which was used to track and show evidence of my planning. I also created a digital storyboard using a camera to take still images, of my hand drawn storyboard, I then uploaded them to the Mac computer in which I added titles by using final cut express to create a moving storyboard of what my final film should look like. By using final cut express I also discovered that I could fade the titles in and out over certain images and make my title’s bigger or smaller, this was useful because I was then able to use it on my final piece. Although I have had previous experience with using the film camera, throughout this task set I was able to gain a wider more advanced knowledge of how it works. I was able to film specific scenes whilst using my storyboard to know where the film titles would be when I came to edit. I then was able to upload all my filming to final cut express when I had completed filming in which I was able to edit, using specifically the razor tool to remove unwanted clips and through this I was also able to take out the unwanted diegetic sound and replace it with the non-diegetic music which I had researched and found. I used a copyright website to find the track I specifically wanted and then transferred it to iTunes in which I then moved it to final cut express and added it to my film and made sure it fitted in with the specific timing.

From the preliminary task of a person opening the door, going from one room to another and having a conversation which was a very simplistic task, I definitely feel I have improved as I have been put in specific situations which have helped me to progress. I can now use equipment such as the camera, tripod, editing software confidently and am much more familiar with final cut express. The continuity between shots in my final piece is definitely more consistent than in my preliminary task. I have also been able to identify how specific conventions of a film such as lighting, music etc can effect a film and how they can be used to the advantage to help portray the genre of a film.