QUESTION: Explain how your research and planning skills developed

over time and contributed to your media production outcomes. Refer to a

range of examples in your answer (AS & A2 Productions).
My AS media production group produced a 2 minute opening sequence to
a coming of age entitled Behind Blue Eyes. This focused on a male
protagonist who consists of bipolar disorder and shows how his mood
swings sudden occur during his therapy lessons and how he feels isolated
because of the disorder. Whereas our A2 media production was a music
video for Made in Heights and their song All The Places. We used our
creativity and made a narrative of a girl who is reminiscing her past with a
so-called-friend who likes her, but she doesnt really understand her
feelings for him and considered no more than a friend. In both years of
production, we used many different types of technology and different
details we gained from research.
Before starting the production in AS, we were given a preliminary task to
help us familiarise with how to use a DSLR camera and editing software
such as Final Cut Pro and iMovie. I used iMovie during my GCSE years but
hadnt yet used Final Cut Pro so that was a new experience for me. I
learnt the basics such as placing the scenes in the right places, blading
them, using transitions and sound effects, etc. During this time, I didnt
focus as much as how the scenes have to be in beat with the music for the
video to appear more effective.
By the time we got to film our production in year 12, our software skill had
improved after looking at other film openings of the same genre and
basing a lot of our filming around research. We researched lots of
conventions which resulted in giving us a much better understanding than
before in choosing which scenes will be more effective. For example, we
researched a lot about Silver Lining Playbook as it had a similar narrative
as us. We observed how medium shots were often used to show more of
the protagonist and we used that in our production too. Because of our
research, we focused more on our scenes and how they followed the flow
of narrative and our main storyline. In our year 12 evaluations, we used
many different applications such as Final Cut Pro, PowToon and
Garageband, which we used to create our own radio show. This was all
backed up by research we done by looking at previous students work and
how they used research to help them with technology. From looking at the
different ways evaluations can be presented, we decided to use creative
ways instead of just writing it up.
When it came to year 13, our knowledge towards digital technology and
conventions had improved, which helped us work more efficiently.
Sumana Asgar

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However, working with music videos meant that we would need more
research as what conventions go into our chosen genre and what theories
can be used well with our music video. I focused most of my research on
Andrew Goodwins theory which basically describes 5 aspects:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

the relationship between the music itself and the visuals

performance and narrative of the song
technical aspects
star image
thought through beat

We researched many aspects not just for our music video but for our
ancillary products too. We researched a range of magazine advert and
digipaks from big celebrities to not-so-big celebrities. We found out that
whats used in the digipak is connected to what goes on the magazine
advert. For example, with Years and Years, they use to letter y on their
magazine and they use the same background for their digipak as well. For
our magazine advert, we researched many examples and came to a
decision after looking at a cover by Lucas Nords song Tove Lo. We liked
how they have a white background and the name with scenery as the
background for inside the text. Based on this research, we designed our
magazine advert using the same concept.
Before going onto filming our music video, we did accurate planning which
was encouraged by the research we did by looking at previous students.
We made a schedule with all the locations and timings, showing what
scenes will be shot in what precise place. We created our own test shots
and animatics to help us decide the exact shot sizes and camera angles.
This helped plan how were going to do everything and resulted positively
as we managed to get all filming done before the deadline and we got all
the scenes we wanted to do in the chosen locations - except one that was
because we were really tired so we decided to change one of our locations
to something more nearer.

Sumana Asgar

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