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I do not think I will be using SurveyMonkey to collect results in the future. The program works fine, and my disdain for the website comes from the responses, not the technical aspects. Firstly, it's very easy for people to give a one lined answer, and although all feedback is welcomed and positive, it's not very beneficial when there's a lack of meat to it. Secondly, most of the survey's I've conducted online have ended up being unsuccessful or riddled with unhelpful and unfunny comments. This is completely exhausting when you're looking over the results, as the feedback is limited and completely unuseable. The main reason people can get away with this is definitely because the anonymity of an online survey allows whomever to troll and prank without receiving the consequences that I ended up receiving.

In the future, I am urging and challenging myself to get out there and really grab all of the information I need in the form of questionnaires, voxpops and street surveys. This is because I can get a better understanding of my audience by going out there and actually speaking to people. This also really cuts away the impersonal element of an online survey, and slims down any chance of bias.

The screening probably gave our group the most constructive and useful feedback, as we learned that the 50's aesthetic was favoured, and the spectators enjoyed our variety of locations. This feedback is important because it means that we managed to get our message and narrative across, as well as properly portray the time period we were going for. If I have one issue with the feedback, it's that we didn't get enough constructive criticism, and that's always important when progressing along from project to project. Again, I definitely want to try further ranges of research in the future, just to expand my own knowledge and expand the basis of any future projects I work on for this unit or for any course.

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More shooting left me in a state of grouchiness, which is an attitude I could have really left at home rather than pack up and bring with me, but my own poor demeanour was about to be proven wrong by the supportive and excited team members around me. Everyone was way too enthusiastic for a Wednesday afternoon, and even though I was a tidal wave of exhaustion, I felt their energy as I set up and helped dress the actual set. A fun thing about the scene we needed to shoot is that our editor had the idea of stringing lights around the set to create an interesting light source and prevent the scene from looking dull or matching the previous ones. This was probably the most successful shoot of the unit, as everyone got involved, everyone was exciting, and the energy was positive and encouraging, which meant that we were all able to produce some of the most visually fascinating clips you'll see in the video.

Although the shoot went well, there are always slight issues I have when it comes to organisation and getting the team to gel. As we're in a very late stage of the project, this is probably the best that everyone has been together in terms of teamwork and even friendship. Sure, there are issues with getting certain members to stick to their roles and actually put effort where it needs to be due, but the latest shooting session showed us all cooperating and actively creating something interesting and fun to work on.

So, how did this affect the video? Well, not only did we complete the music video by the end of this week with no extra footage needed, but we have something that we're all proud of, and even though we've had a variety of bumps in the road, we all stuck together and finished the week with a completed project.

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I didn't want to shoot again, at all. I wanted to get the first draft of the edit done, and although this was finished up eventually, we ended up shooting for what will hopefully be the final time. Although this is realistic, and the first shots aren't always going to be the greatest, I thought we had good ground work and would be fine to go on with the content we'd already had. It turned out that my judgement was wrong, which was disappointing, but completely fair.

So what did I get up to this week? Not only did I finish my section of the rushes log, but I shot more scenes with our actor. A big issue we came into contact with was the fact that our actress couldn't make it for these re shoots, but out of sheer luck, a volunteer from another group decided to help us out. She was enthusiastic and did an excellent job at pretending to be another person, and although it was awkward to constantly pan down to her shoulders, I feel as if we can definitely get away with the double shots. What did we need to improve anyway? Well, we'd needed to improve the lighting, so the whole team got together and created a setting we all liked. This meant there were no dividing opinions, and no controversy. In the end, we had a few new shots and a great starting point for editing.

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This week was a struggle, as we had a lull between production and post production. Upon discovering that we did have some scenes to reshoot, I spent the following days in a slight rut. I hadn't felt this out of it during the production at all, and now I was killing my chances of a decent grade because my confidence had been knocked and I was suddenly unsure of creating a music video that was as dynamic and visually appealing as I'd have hoped to create.

A lot of the paperwork I had to do couldn't get finished due to other people needing the documents, and it was a hard week that seemed to be bringing everyone in the class down. Optimism isn't exactly the answer here, because no one was having a good time creating their videos. At one point during the week, Delta gave us a talk, asking us what was going on, but what did we know? We weren't sure where the motivation had gone. Improvement comes in experimentation, and that's definitely where I had gone wrong. Upon finding out that the main issue with some of the scenes was lighting, I knew that I should have gone and worked on that, but I never did. I was shaken and exhausted and fed up. I not only need to find motivation, but I need to do extra experimentations in order to find out my own artistic vision as the camera operator. I definitely won't be slacking during FMP, as it's getting serious.

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This week was not only half term, but a strict production week. For the majority of it,  I was on a variety of sets and locations, shooting with actors and the rest of the production team. It wasn't as smooth sailing as I would have enjoyed, especially during the first day, but as we got to know each other and became more comfortable with the situation, the shots became better, the chemistry was less wooden, and the general quality of acting and framing for our video improved in leaps and bounds.

A main issue during the beginning of shooting was that the actors didn't seem to feel comfortable with each other. What this meant for our shots is that they often looked rigid, awkward, and uneasy. If we'd have had the actors meet beforehand, maybe the beginning of the shoot wouldn't have panned out this way, but it's hard to tell. As a group, we struggled to find and keep actors for longer than a week, due to medical issues, or even that they didn't feel comfortable working on the project, and obviously this was an issue that kept us from feeling initially confident. Neither of the actors we used were actors. One was a model, the other was a student for a subject so far away from acting that it almost didn't make sense to cast her, but they had the right look, and were available for the shoot. Obviously, we never took them for granted, and were very pleased that they even showed up to the shoot. Looking back, I feel as if they did incredibly well giving the time and resources we had.

Another issue was the fact that was constantly had to keep changing cameras over and over again, which wasted our time and spread the quality of our video to around 4 or 5 different types. It was irritating for everyone involved and took up a good portion of time we could have used to film. In the future, organisation is absolutely key. We need to engage and communicate and be punctual with our casting and our equipment booking, so we can get extra batteries or the best equipment in time. Any negative feedback from the shoot stems from mistakes in organisation.

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This week featured more pre-production and further team meetings. I feel as if our group has issues with staying in touch, as people seem to forget things or not even consider them, myself included. Although I'm not the director or the producer, I feel as if I can make my own positive contributions to this issue by completing whatever work that needs doing on time, letting people know of my whereabouts, and attempting to stay as focused as I can even if I don't find the subject at hand engaging. By being a positive and excited member of the team, I feel as if this brings the levels of motivation up tenfold, rather than bringing them right down and allowing people to feel negative. I want to avoid going into anything with a negative attitude, as going in this way doesn't solve and problems.

Something to note is that our director had taken one of my pre-production documents and did it himself because of time constraints and reasons to do with me being unable to visit the location and fill out the location log sheet. In the future, I need to act up and do my own tasks without letting people coast for me, it's unprofessional and isn't a good quality to display.

Apart from the paperwork and meetings, I was able to play around with lighting and camera angles, which was incredibly fulfilling due to the fact that I had been feeling to nervous at the prospect of wielding a camera, therefore I was sure that my confusion and inexperience would stop me from producing a quality product. Contrary to my own beliefs, I produced some interesting and dynamic test shots that I was proud to create and look at. Improvement can always come in my concentration, as I am an often scattered person who will either work on something at 1 AM or do anything in their control to not do something. By creating lists and setting goals, I think I can achieve and succeed without hurting myself and without hurting the group.

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Getting put into groups was a relief. It had felt like a long time since we began to plan and research, so it was exciting to meet the people we would be collaborating with for the next couple of months. I would be lying if I said that I was thrilled with the outcome, but I did have mixed feelings. First of all, I realised that I really did want more control, and I wish I'd put myself forward for a directorial role, but that wasn't exactly an option with my weak idea and my weak execution of the pitch for that idea when it came down to presenting. As well as that, I realised that my skills were lacking, and this does give me a good chance to flex my personal talents and attempt something new (camera operation) but it leaves me at a slight standstill when it comes to personal knowledge and learning curves. For example, instead of actually creating the shots, I'm going to have to spend a heftier amount of time improvising and learning the craft of videography, and that can not only waste time, but it may be a problem during shooting.

In general, there are swings and roundabouts, but I plan on making the best out of a situation I'm not that happy with. I'm going to create a decent product and I'm going to make sure that all of my work is at a high standard so that when the editing is finished, I have a quality piece of film to put on my portfolio. This week was mostly pre production, and I feel as if it's the most confident I've been with pre-production, something I usually can't stand even thinking about. This is another sign of my own personal development, and my developing maturity as it comes to the end of my second year. Not only did I make sure it was completed, I made sure that I felt confident, I created positives where I hadn't seen them, and I made something out of nothing. That's the attitude I want to see this project out with.

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I am incredibly let down with myself. There are a good few reasons for this, but the main reason is that I didn't allow myself to reach my full potential when we were showing off our ideas and presentations. I'd like to think I'm a somewhat creative person with a good brain, but where I'm creative, I'm also very anxious when it comes to letting people know what's going on and why they should choose and understand my goings on. As a writer, I love character and descriptive moments, and as an artist, visuals excite me to no end.

The Padlet page for my music video positively reflected both of these things, and I even created a mood board to visually represent my vision, but then my pitch left a lot to be desired. I was awkward and stuttered through it with no audible cohesion, and I wasn't saying anything I'd planned on saying. The real upset was caused by my confident and properly informative practice run, so nosediving in front of 30 people was humiliating but has taught me a great deal about how to present myself in front of a group. Be confident, be creative, and don't try and tell awkward jokes to climb out of a hole you're already deep inside. For future pitches, I need to practice and rehearse frequently in order to get something I care about so much correct, otherwise I will be faced with a similar situation.

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Due to an illness that kept me in bed for most of the week, I spent most of my time working on the academic essay that was required by UAL. There isn't much to discuss in terms of  progress, but I have mentioned in previous diary logs that I regret whenever I can't make it into class. Whatever I'm missing, I'm still missing it, and I'm not one to waste the time of tutors or myself. I don't see it as a fair trade. Regardless as to what I spent the week quarantined with, I made sure to finish the work that I was desperate to finish, because I wanted to start the next part of the unit with absolutely no baggage and little to no worry. With all of the base stuff done and dusted, this meant that I could move on and get the pitch for the following week done.

I understand that my productivity was limited to the only thing that I felt I could focus on, and although this wasn't the most intelligent way to handle my lack of will to work, I was pleased with the progress that I did end up making on the academic essay, even if it was often limited at times. I understand that I can procrastinate from time to time, which is a massive weakness and has been prevalent from day one.

Following up on that, if there was something that I could have done to improve this week, like always, I would definitely say my work ethic. I gave myself a moral pass due to my illness, but that's not always an excuse to be lazy and ignore all of the responsibility that this course requires, so I hope to be more motivated and really go in for everything and anything come the next academic writing piece.

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Weezer - Buddy Holly (Official Music Video)

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This week involved a hefty amount of music video watching. This was incredibly interesting to me, as I've wanted to do theory and secondary research in this format for a while, so to finally do it was fun. It meant I got the chance to write about a lot of different videos and a lot of different techniques, showing off my knowledge and displaying everything I know. Writing down and documenting parts of the project like this means that I get a great portfolio to look back on during the actual filming process. If I need a good example of camera angles, I can go to my document and pick apart the video I used as an example there, and so on and so forth. There are an incredibly varied amount of examples that not only Leila supplied us with, but just in general.

Music videos come in hundreds of formats, hundreds of lengths and shapes and types. It's not as if I'm stuck for inspiration here, and I could generally use a creative edge for some of my more vague ideas. I feel that as an artist, I'm often guilty of ignore my predecessors in fear of creating something bad, or I rely too heavily on my predecessors in fear of creating something with zero substance. By watching and learning and understanding the different ways that you can create and take a brief, this should hopefully help spark some initiative and therefore give my music video some extra edge and fire that it could be missing without key influencers.

I could always stand to be more efficient, as a lot of my recent work has been finished at 2 in the morning due to poor scheduling and awkward habits, including the ridiculous times and a severe amount of procrastination. To promote better behaviour, I hope to start creating and finishing work way before the deadline, as this seems to be one of my main issues, and it means I often rush the work and it ends up messy and awkward to read.

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Finish your research tasks and then try to complete your analysis of that research.
Collect 10 music videos to analyse.
The finishing section was completed, but I haven't completed the analysis. As well as that, I need to find the remainder of the songs I want to use for the academic essay. I could have been more punctual with a lot of my work, and that's the goal for next week, with most of my work.

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L.O - Critically describe a range of contextual perspectives influencing a chosen discipline in creative media production.
Understand the critical context used within music videos and its influence on pop culture.
Pay full attention and don't let yourself become distracted by outside articles.

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Loved listening to this interview Kat; very well done! You're lucky your dad is such a great case-study

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Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

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It's very important to note down everything. Coming back to college after the winter break was a shock to the system, because someone (me) forgot that we were starting to early. I was fully convinced that we weren't arriving back in class until the next Monday, so being informed of when we were actually coming in was...alarming. Running on 3 and a half hours sleep and no caffeine, I arrived in and was delighted to grab hold of the brief and really embrace it. I'm very excited to start this music video project, as I find the medium of music videos to be fascinating, not only as an art form, but as a promotional tool. Artistically, I can really go out with the visuals and be as creative as possible, something I've wanted to explore and do from the beginning of the course. There's a sort of leeway that excites me, and I'd love for this video to be my directorial debut. I personally think I have a great eye for aesthetics, this is my strength, so I hope to put that to good use in order to create a product that is professional and effective.

On the more negative side of things, we began as we always do; research. Research makes me anxious, and so does speaking to complete strangers, so when we were sent off to do Voxpops in the local town centre...I felt myself crack. Everyone seemed incredibly out of it, and no one had a key focus or a goal, so I began to ask and ask and ask and eventually crumbled due to constant rejection. There are a plethora of reasons that we had no respondents. The time is key to this, as it was getting dark and gloomy and essentially, people were getting off of shifts and finishing school runs. No one really had the time to stop and answer a few questions, and in the cold post Christmas atmosphere, I sympathise. I think another reason is that we didn't come across as professional, we were just kids who looked bored to the public, so I think a way of possibly garnering actual results the next time we do this sort of research, we need to be diligent and actually work as a team. No one is going to take us seriously if some people are vanishing and others aren't really caring.

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LO: Be able to evaluate solutions to an audio/visual based problem in creative media production
Identify the purpose and contents of client's brief
Analyse the purpose of music videos and justify reasoning
Identify your own personal target:
- Become more confident with on the street primary research.