Recreation Task Storyboard

Before my group and I can begin filming for our recreation task we first need to begin making a plan of what we need to achieve by the end of production. The best way to organize our ideas is through story boarding. Below is the images of our story board for our future product. 

Creating a detailed story board benefits the groups as it able to provide us with some structure whilst we are filming. Having the images whilst on set is a good reference for what we need to complete in order to achieve our desired out come. 

Having visuals are the best way for my group and to check if we are on the right track and they also help us to ensure that we all know what we are aiming for.

When working in a group it can sometimes become unclear if we are all on the same page but story boards allow us to make sure that we all have the same image in mind 







Now that I have completed the planning stages I am now prepared to go ahead with production. Having this structured plan will give the chance to gather the props and actors needed as well as secure an appropriate location to film in. 

Recreation Task

My group and I were set the task to find a clip that related to our brief and recreate it. We decided to choose a clip that inspired us and matched the overall tone of what we intend to create for our final product. After a group discussion we decided that 'I Do' by Colbie Caillat would be the best choice for this task. 

We decided that we would focus on the first minute of this video rather than the whole piece as the beginning demonstrates certain conventions that we would like to include in our final product. I was drawn to the creative and interpretive aspects of this clip such as the inanimate objects resembling human emotions. This feature is effective as is it is able to emphasize and mirror the feel and transmit the overall tone of the music video to the audience. Recreating this clip will help me with my final product as it will give me the opportunity to experiment and try out new techniques which I can use when I begin my own production. This clip is not overly challenging in terms of technical execution however it will allows an element of creative freedom. When recreating this clip my group and I will aim to follow the structure of the music video above as well as try to incorporate our own ideas as.  

Next I will begin planning for the production of this recreation, I will do this by story boarding and confirming ideas with my group. 

Production Time Table

Currently I am in the early stages of production, during this time I will need to complete my product research before I am able to start pre production for my final video. The chart below is designed to help me with my time management and keep me on track for what needs to be completed by when.

From AS I have learned that time management is very important when it comes to production. Being able to refer to this chart will help me to effectively set and meet deadlines, I will aim to stick to the time allocated in order to avoid running out of time further towards the end of production. 

Production Pitch

Now that I have chosen a brief that I feel comfortable with, next I will begin to plan a production pitch. Although I feel that I often work well alone, from my AS production I have learnt I also work well as part of a team as it helps when coming up with ideas and overcoming problems. I also feel team work can help make a production strong as they are often well rounded as they have been views from perspectives other than my own. By acknowledging this I have decided to work together with two other people who have also chosen the same brief as I have. 

Below is my presentation for the pitch of my future product. Having a pitch is a good way for my group and I to begin as it helps when establishing ideas and planning for the desired outcome. 

My production pitch focuses on varies areas including a short synopsis, possible actors, locations and song choices as well as a examples of other music videos that I felt looked good and fitting their chosen tones. 



After delivering the presentation I received some audience feedback. The majority of the audience liked the sound of my overall idea of including freedom and openness however, some comments in relation to the location altered my original thinking. My preferred locations were originally open fields and woodlands however in discussion it was raised that these two locations can potentially give the audience varied feelings. It's important for me to consider this as I would want to avoid giving the audience mixed messages. 

Issues around lightning and colour treatments also came up as with some of the pictures and examples I used had different treatments from each other. From this I feel that I should chooses a more washed out colouring when it comes to post production rather than a bright one and colours that are over exposed. My production date will also be taking place in autumn and winter months so it is important that I am able to adapt my ideas in ways that are able to suit the environment. 

Receiving audience feedback is always helpful and is a useful and important part of any production. From taking in feed back I was able to see potential flaws and simple ways in which I can improve my ideas in the planning stages of production. 

Deciding on Brief

Before I am able to carry out any stages of further production I must first decide on which media brief I am going to use for my A2 course work. It is important that I choose the correct brief for my self and one that I feel that I can execute to the best of my ability. For this particular course work there are 13 briefs to choose from so I felt that it was important for me to run over each one and read all the details before ruling any out for sure. By doing this I was able to easily sort the briefs into two categories, the categories included one group of briefs that I felt were not right for me and one group of briefs that I felt interested and excited about. By narrowing down my choices in a tactful way I was able to make it easier for my self when it came to choosing the one most suited to my abilities.  

Initially I decided that briefs 11, 12 and 13 were not the best option for me to go for. I felt that these briefs were too specific and that this would place a limit on my creativity.

Other briefs such as the promotional package containing a teaser trailer appealed to me as the main task along with the ancillaries provided a certain element of creativity as well as a interesting focus. However when making my decision I felt that a teaser trailer may be hard to pull off in an effective and dynamic way. I also felt that this brief was similar when compared to my AS brief and I wanted the opportunity to try something different. 

After taking each option into consideration I decided that that first option of making a promotional package including a music video would be the brief most suited to myself and my abilities. 

When analyzing the brief I felt this choice would be able to provide me with creative freedom and a wide choice of options. I also felt comfortable with the ancillaries texts of a magazine advert and a website homepage which helped me to conclude that I would be able to complete this task effectively.  

Now that I am happy with my chosen brief I will now work on creating a pitch for my future product.

The Boys whoes Skin Fell Off

'The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off' is a film documentary that follows the life of John Kennedy in his last 4 months of life. He sufferers from dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa which causes his skin to break away from his body at the slightest touch, this documentary provided a candid and very personal perspective of dying as well as well as living whilst also raising some sensitive and controversial issues.

Below is the link to the full documentary 
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-boy-whose-skin-fell-off/4od


One of the most prominent issues that is raised in this piece is the reality of life and living when faced with death. A question that came to mind when begging to watch this documnetry was is it morally wrong/right to document someones death in a media text? This question was present in my thoughts especially knowing the fact that this was broadcast on TV and is still available to watch now. The way the text is presented it comes across that John was heavily invloved with the filming process and the planning of how the documentry would be formed, in one scene he actually mentions that he wasn't going to die according to the schedule. This was said with humor but it does suggest that the specifics of his death was discussed in detail and what role it would play in the documentary coming from a tenchical aspect. Due to John's consent I feel that this documentary, depite being senetive did not cross any moral boundries. The boudries were pushesed  but from this bravery shown by both the documentary makers and John himself channel four were able to make a emotional but thought provoking piece. 
The documentray was able to show the stress that illness can place upon family relation ships and I feel that the way his family were represent by the media was appropriate and done well. Due to John's condition the majority of the attention has had to be on him and the film was able to show how this has effected his brother and mother. Out of context the attitudes of John's brothers could be viewed as selfish but with in the media piece John's emotions were able to provide insight and shed light on the fact that everyone's emotions are valid no matter of their situation.The documentary was presnenting John as a admarble character who appeared have a full fulling life however there were many things that were not present in his life that most of us take for granted. John's lack off romatic relationship were also touched on in the proccess of this documentary and at some points the framing and the camera angles shown were able to emphasize this further. I felt this was executed subtly but were still able to have a impact on the audiences emotions.   







With in media we the audience are often trying to relate to what we are being presented with and over I feel that documentaries of this nature are rather important. They are able to put life in to perspective for those of us who have perhaps lost sight of things or who have got wrapped up in materalism. I also feel they are able to provide comfort for those people who too have life threatening illness and can help them feel that they are not alone. These kinds of films are not all about death but they are also about living life and making the most of it. 

AS Over View

Below is the video for my AS final production, the creation of my opening sequence was able to expand my media knowledge as well as improve my over all skills.

From this production I was able to learn how to effectively execute the three areas of media production which include planning, filming and editing. I feel my group and I made good use of the time that we had to plan and accounted for everything that needed to be done by our set deadline. Because we were well planned this allowed us to get to filming our opening in good time as we were ahead of schedule, however we had to postpone our filming date before hand which ended up dragging out our overall production process. From AS I have learnt that having a good a detailed plan makes the rest of production run much smoother and is able to save time for the other areas of production. 

From the previous course I was able to learn a lot about film language including symbolism, camera shots, angles and movement. This was beneficial to my production as I was able to apply it when filming, I feel that my product as a whole was good as it included a variety of camera shots and angles however I feel it could have had more movement. If I was to re film my opening sequence I would aim to have more control over the what is seen in the shot, there are some shots that to me come across messy and not organised. I don't think it harms my product to badly but I now see several ways in which it could have be avoided. Now moving on to my A2 course when it comes to filming I will make efforts to make sure that everything seen in the shot is there because I have chosen for it to be. Another area I would improve is try to make the production as whole seem more natural, a lot of the shots were very obvious and I think that is the main factor that makes a student piece come across less professional. The challenges of filming were ones that were often out of our control for example the weather, however due to our good organisation were able to plan around this effectively. 

This production was able to teach me the fundamentalist of the editing process and I was able to learn that it is important to leave adequate time for editing. Editing allowed my piece to come together and in the end I was pleased with the overall out come. In the future I would put more time into the color treatment as this is able to determined the tone of the sequence. 

Now approaching my A2 I will apply everything learned from AS in order to make my future production as strong as possible 

Having this post will be a good reference for how I have improved when reaching the end of my new course. Next I will decide of which brief I feel will be most suitable and appropriate for my self.