EVALUATION

All of the five videos I analysed to look at different skills of editing did not all match the
conventions of my chosen genre. This was because I couldn’t gather all the skills I potentially
wanted to use that would be used in a mystery drama. Instead I explored a wide genre of
videos that were music videos, films and had different storylines to each of them, which all
presented different editing skills and how they can easily change the feel of a
production/storyline.

For this production we had the success of being able to access expensive equipment that
would help make it look more professional. We were able to use Charlies high quality
camera along with his two lenses. Noah supplied us lighting and a boom mic which helped
improve the sound quality and blocked out any background noise, making it crystal clear.
The LO1 for my website was also completely fully as I enjoyed researching the ideas I could
create in my head and they were very easy to replicate for my practice shoots. However I
did not get to use all of these ideas but in total the LO1 was a success for this unit.

Where do I start with weaknesses. First off, I believe me working in a group is a horrible idea
as I felt like I was chained to an iron ball and couldn’t express my ideas but had to choose
something between a group of people. One thing about me is when I can’t create what I like
I lose interest immediately as I don’t realise a lot of people think differently than me. Next
time I plan to stay by myself so that I can direct everything the way I want it to go instead of
clashing with my group about the shared ideas that I did not personally like. Secondly the
time it took to start filming really got on my nerves as I like to get all the writing work done
so I can prioritise my production in the making without stressing myself out, however it took
my group a week just to write the script and I had to follow along with that as my
storyboards couldn’t be finished otherwise. This left us in the last week to film and edit
which made me feel very pressured, especially with having to do extra editing for the boom
mic and lining it up in place with the correct clips. Finally, when editing the actual
production, I was struggling to get it done as Charlie had shot in raw 4k, premiere pro
couldn’t handle it and it would continuously lag, wasting my time by a lot. This left me
struggling to get it done for Friday, however I finished it the night before as I said I like to get
things out of the way so I can focus on the next part of my work. However, trying to export
it went terribly wrong as the project file was too big and overall it had corrupted my USB to
the point it wouldn’t even read correctly. I was very disappointed as I worked hard on the
editing and tried my best to show my researched and present it in my production. Luckily
this was a learning curve and not to shoot in raw 4k for my final project, which working by
myself would suit me a lot more and let me achieve the things I want to achieve. Another
problem was that my group didn’t have as much motivation as me to do the written work
which made me feel like I was just doing everything and couldn’t speak my word on the
actual outcome. As a whole I was not pleased at all with this production as everything went
wrong.

I made sure to compare my work as much as I could to the LO1 research, however not
everything I researched would fit within’ my production so I had to ignore some parts.
However, the two I thought would fit was the colour grading from the music video Happier
by marshmallow and the switching clips with the same voice over from Independence Day. I
used Happier’s colour grading to show the confusion for murphy when the door was locked,
the colour fading from a bright orange to a light blue hue. This showed her emotion and let
the audience understand better from the detective’s point of view how she felt. With
Independence Day I felt like changing the clips with the same voice over made it feel like the
audience was there as you cannot tell where the clip cuts off, and makes the run through
smooth, just like they were really talking to you as you get both points of view of the
characters, allowing them both to have the spotlight. I didn’t use Amber’s music change as I
feel like I did not have enough time to focus on the music and could not change it as I also
needed audition for that. Along with the usual suspects my group didn’t want to take the 3
shot idea, and the clips of the board were just stills and not of the actors face which also
didn’t link in to my LO1. Additionally, I think I could’ve included Apocalypse Now when
Murphy was laid on the bench and her thoughts could be playing in the background, but
once again working in a group restricted this access and I was not able to add it into my
production. In total I presented two out of five other productions, and used them to show
my understanding of my research. Next project I’d like to try involve each and every one in
its own way, even if its small and unnoticeable I feel like it’ll show that I’m attentive and try
my best to put everything in with a limited idea.

I believe that our production did in fact not look professional, the lighting seemed too much
and there wasn’t particularly a shadow on one side of the characters face, which gives off
cinematic lighting. The shots also seemed pretty lazy as they were mostly all just taken from
a single angle or the gimbal was overused. I feel like if we had more time to film along with
more shots used it could’ve become something better than what it already was. Our
promotional material was what I planned it to be, however we don’t have an actual
production to upload so that doesn’t exceed my expectations. I believe with more time it
could’ve defiantly looked better than what it already is though it would need some changes.

The theme of the website and social medias all seem pretty basic, as with the logo does not
have much effort put into it rather than just the title name. I feel like this won’t attract a
large audience and make it harder to promote our production in the long run. I do think that
the behind the scene photos help interest people who want to get into the industry or are
just fascinated by what happens behind the camera in general. I feel like creating an open
atmosphere for the audience to examine and study will make them feel like they are
actually apart of the crew and get to understand the hard work and effort that was put into
such production. Whereas a closed off company may push their audience away as they
don’t care much for what the audience feel except the income they get from the fans
watching their movie/TV show.

I feel like the website doesn’t exactly promote our production that well, firstly starting again
because we don’t have one however I feel that the websites just seem basic and generic,
with very little effort put into them. I think taking the time to adapt it more to the theme
and grow connections could easily help to promote our website, such as adverts you’d see
on youtube or trailers.
Finally, this unit as a whole was probably the worst yet, I feel like I can make many
improvements in preparation for my final such as working by myself. I’d like to keep two
copies on different USB’S just in case another corrupts just like this one. Working in a group
had affected my work time a lot as it took my group a lot longer than it would take me to
write a script as I like to get things done quick and fast so I have all the time I need to film
and edit. However, we did not have that for this project and had a week to edit and film.
This was very stressful and with the camera quality being in shot in such a big file, it took
ages to even edit when it could’ve been a lot shorter without the mass amounts of lag. I also
believe that the idea in general was not the best and would lack interest, it was quite a basic
plot and even though that makes it easy to film the main goal was not reached which was to
attract an audience, but a detective being sat in an office for the whole production can grow
boring and lead to the audience not wanting to watch anymore. If we had created a more
interesting plot that could let others give recommendations such as our production which
would increase the viewers meaning more revenue and a fanbase in general. Though I did
not like the idea at all and for my final I want an actual meaning to be imported into my
music video which is what I wish to do next, scouting out a various range of locations so on
and so forth.

Overall from this unit I have learnt I work worse in a group than by myself as I get easily
frustrated when told what to do when I already have an idea in my head of what I want to
do, and can easily disagree on an idea when it’s simple and doesn’t create much meaning.
I’d like to work on myself and learn from my mistakes in this unit and past units, so that I
can make sure nothing goes wrong for my final and that I have everything submitted with
110% effort put into it. My goal is to create a professional piece of work and make sure that
I can improve my skills ready for the second year at Henley’s Creative Media Production.