Tuesday 21 April 2015

Exam Question

Throughout the foundation and A2 portfolio a lot of digital technology was used to aid the process. My creative skills have developed from AS to A2 in multiple ways, from looking at intertextuality, style, simulation and consumerism.

In AS the use of digital technology was very simple. I used Final Cut Pro to put together our music video clips, this was simple and easy to use. I used basic colour correction in final cut to make the video clips look darker and then added the soundtrack over the video to complete the opening sequence. I also used final cut to make titles that disappeared behind the person when they walked across the screen. In comparison to A2 we were a lot more flexible in how we edited, more style was needed to sell our product. I used beat editing and lip syncing as this is what a typical music video included, this was a challenge but allowed us to learn how to precisely edit. This allowed my coursework to progress and in comparison to my AS my A2 coursework has become more complex and of a higher quality.

In research and planning I looked at other existing opening sequences cresting storyboards of a range of ideas. In A2 we had guidelines to follow which restricted us, we recycled and used a bricolage of existing ideas to make our own music video as we knew these ideas would sell. In A2 we had more freedom, I researched various different artists and chose my unsigned artist. We used Spotify to find our unsigned artist and was then free to create our own music video to match the genre of the song we chose. We also used YouTube and survey monkey to gather feedback of our rough cut so that we could further improve. Twitter and instagram was also used in A2 to gather information about her target audience so that we could gather a profile of her target audience so we knew what to include in our music video.

Looking back at my AS work it is clear that I didn't use an extensive amount of digital technology to its full potential. I used final cut, Prezi and blogger to present our work. This is because it was my first time in creating my own video and we had a genre convention to follow and not break. We used basic digital technology in As to make the video, in comparison to our A2 work we used a wider range of digital technology such as Wix to create the website, Photoshop to create our digipak and final cut pro/after effects to piece together our music video. For example I used an overlay effect in final cut to create a cloning effect of our main character to create a dreaming illusion. This was done using final cut, this shows a more productive and professional use of final cut in comparison to AS where we just put the different clips together.

Friday 27 March 2015

Practice Exam question


We used a lot of digital technology throughout our foundation portfolio and advanced portfolio. My creative skills have developed over AS to A2 in various ways. From looking at the originality, style, intertextuality, simulation and consumerism throughout digital technology over the two years it is clear how it has developed. 

In AS, the use of digital technology we used was rather basic. For example, our preliminary task in AS used simple shot types and editing techniques. This was because we were getting started in the task and developing our skills. We also copied other videos for technique, ideas and appearance. However, when experimenting with ideas in A2, we were a lot more complex and had to introduce more style to sell our product. We needed to learn about lip syncing and beat editing throughout our work, as well as having more control and better outcomes. Therefore, when looking at how we experimented with ideas and how much we had developed our skills in this area, we can see how my work had become more complex and of a higher quality in A2 compare to AS. This was because we had more of the idea that we needed to sell our product and make sure the audience received what they had asked for and that they like it. 

In the research and planning of our thriller we had to use digital technology to find examples of other thrillers we could take inspiration from and to find out the audience of a typical thriller. We did this to comply with the guidelines of what we could create and to not take any risks. In A2 we became more developed in using digital technology when finding an idea. The first way we had to use technology was to find an artist and contact them. This shows development in the fact we are not just using intertextual references to think of an idea but to take an aspiring artist and offer them our campaign to their music. We also had to collect our own audience feedback of the rough cut we created and take this feedback into consideration when finalising the music video. 

Considering the amount of technology we used throughout AS for research and planning, production and post-production, it could be said that we was not experimental. In AS we mainly used blogger, Final Cut Pro and sometimes prezi. Our use of digital technology throughout AS was therefore basic and could highly be developed. We used basic methods of technology to get our ideas and information across the portfolio in a simple way that could easily be understood. Comparing this to the work we produced for A2, we can see how much more developed and varied the use of technology is. As well as using blogger, Final Cut Pro and prezi, we also used Wix, Photoshop and created video diaries and voice overs. We had to be more developed in A2 as we needed to sell our products and create a campaign for the music video. Without using softwares such as Wix and Photoshop, we would not have been able to do this as effectively. We also used Final Cut in a more sophisticated way and used it to create hyper reality. For example, in my music video I used an overlay of videos so that it appeared the character was in the room in two different places at the same time. This also creates hyper-reality and originality in the music video. This shows development in simulation and originality from AS because in AS we were more basic as we was almost copying other thrillers and did not want to take risks that may cause our film to have a hybrid genre. 

Exam mock question

Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology has developed over time? Refer to a range of examples from your media productions in your answer.

The more experience you have with postmodernism the more you have understanding of what it is leading to you being able to have more of a creative producer.

When starting to use the digital technology I would use the internet and refere to exiting media texts, such as, with the Thriller created in the first year we created a Thriller text which meant researching what was included in a Thriller, from this I watch a number of different Thrillers with different genres, this shows that I used a modern way of gathering research of a Thriller due to watching a film on a television and also where films were created in a morden world. Where we was only willing to get inspiration from existing thriller films, intertextuality was widely used. Where as in the second year we was using the internet a lot more to research different artist within the sam genre, we used YouTube to do the majority of research of the music video, we also used email to comunicate to our artists and audience. The use of technology was a lot less compared to the huge use of it in A2, this is because in AS we wasn't challenging and we just conformed with what was required from the brief, where as we was able to have more freedom when went on to A2 as we was able to present our work in different ways and was able to do trial runs to see what conformed with our artists genre and what didn't. We was more aware of deadlines when we came to A2 as we was creating a product to sell which made us more focused on reaching the deadlines. We also had a larger audience relationship when getting to A2 as we had an audience and artist where we would gather feedback from where as in AS we gathered feedback from friends which can sometimes give very biast feedback.

Before we when to produce the time we had between production and research & planning was shorted as we didn't dig in depth with what we had available to us on the internet. As we limited ourselfs with what we wanted to find out. Where as in A2 we was more indepth with with the work inbetween with tasks that will relate to our production.


Tuesday 24 March 2015

24.03.15 lesson notes

How do post modern media texts challenge traditional text-reader relations and the concept of representation? - Immersion, challenges - collapses it 
Thesis
Black mirror and wreck it Ralph are post modernism to different extents however neither challenge text-reader relations. They are both modernist forms (reference gaming & social media). They are stylistically Pomo (intertextuality, nostalgia, style over substance), black mirror theoretically uses Pomo ideas.

How does post modernism make text a richer experience for audience?
To what extent can some texts be considered to be post-modern? 

1) Must be able to define post modernism - relationship to modernism - traditional ideas and structures - Post modernism rejects this
2) applying characteristics to text - empty, superficial, hyper real - what POMO looks like Jameson
3) apply to texts - thinking POMO - argue but this is 
4) historical 

Revision - 
Reading over notes - not recommended 
Practice papers 
Deciding on what words are important 

Construct 3 paragraphs 
Can we consider all 3 texts as post modern based only on simulation? 
Fluid identities - gaming yes, you create a simulation of yourself, WIR no, BM no (links to prefer the fake)
Simulation - gaming yes, simulated worlds, people and scenarios, WIR yes, all animated
Advance in technology
Social autism
Collapse of boundaries
Audience part of text - no longer tell what is real
Prefer the fake
1982 TRON enters the game world
Exposes who we really are without social boundaries 
Lack of morality 
Consumerism is the only value - everything is a commodity
Media is more democratic - everyone can take part
Superficial 
A detachment from reality by screens 
Digimodernism continues and intensifies 
Kirby 


Lesson 24.03.2015

1. Define post modernism
- Compare to modernism
- Rejection of structure
- Emptiness

2. Applying - Style - Jameson
- Superficial
- Hyperreal
- Distorted

3. Thinking Pomo - Theoretical
This is a structure

4. Historical


Black mirror and Wreck it Ralph are post modern to different extents. Neither challenge text reader relations as they are modernist forms. They are stylistically post modern as they have intertextual references, nostalgia and style over substance and black mirror is as it theoretically uses postmodern ideas.

Representation
fluid identity
sims

Sunday 22 March 2015

Friday 20 March 2015

Lesson notes 03/02/15

Summary of blog post; 
The post is saying how black mirror gives a representation of how technology is starting to take over people and they are becoming obsessed with the idea of it. It is saying how we buy things that don't exist and want to watch other people's lives on TV, so we don't care so much for ourselves and are becoming lost in the idea of the virtual world. It also demonstrates how we rely on TV and are becoming submersed into it; we want things shown from adverts and put time and money into it. 

Screens replace reality, reflect emptiness 
Irony - Bing's speech - buying shit we don't need - apps, avatar 
Black mirror - more Pomo - uses theoretical - awareness - a message - after X factor
Black mirror is almost like a warning - mention in intro 
Wreck it Ralph doesn't deliberately use theoretical approach - uses stylistic approach (Jameson) - nostalgia 

Wreck it Ralph - stylistic 
Historical 

Black mirror, stylistic
Historical & theoretical 

Commodity - product 

Parasitic relationship - if nobody goes to work then the 99% collapse - won't do because it's all they know - world will become dystopia - fear 

Our view of reality is created by the 1% who give us this view 
Society of the spectale - deborde - black mirror - warning 

Screenshot 1 - dystopia, technology is taking over and people have lack of control over it, no belief in progress 
2 - grand narrative because he has morals and is saving people, good vs evil
3 - both because she is a tom boy princess, woman in power, celebrates the individual in her