Media Evaluation by Mia Smith

Welcome to my wall

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 10:42:56 UTC

I will walk you through my progression from my preliminary task to my final opening sequence

Preliminary Task

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 10:51:45 UTC

This was our preliminary task for our coursework...

Final Version

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 11:45:22 UTC

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 11:49:18 UTC

Weaknesses to the Preliminary Task

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 11:49:49 UTC

Our preliminary task was our first encounter with creating video and we had a lot to work on after this: it was a very basic video consisting of one scene for 20 seconds.
Firstly, there is no storyline or narrative as there is only 30 seconds of footage. This was very restriciting. Secondly, there is no variation of camera angles and we only used basic editing because we had not experienced editing much before this. However, after the Preliminary Task I learnt a lot about editing technigues. This piece also needs colour corrections. There was also unsteady movements to the camera. Also, with sound, the dialogue was quiet and the sound was choppy due to editing different pieces together. There are also differences in lighting as well as very basic camera composition creating uninteresting scenes. Also, there was no non-diegetic sound which is boring. There is no detail in costumes or props or location which is also boring and doesn't aid narrative or characterisation. However, we did use match-on-action and 180 degree rule which this was a good practice.

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 11:56:37 UTC

How these Issues were Addressed

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 11:57:09 UTC

For our opening sequence we had a bit more time to work with and we had time to plan and research and draft, unlike in the preliminary task. This helped a lot and was very important for ensuring our opening sequence was the best it could be. We were able to come up with a comprehensive narrative so the opening sequence was understandable, unlike the short basic preliminary task where there was no narrative. I learnt that the narrative has to be obvious in order to create a good piece of work.

Quality of Shot - We planned our camera angles in the storyboard in order to make sure we had lots of variation and to make the quality of the video much better and give it a developed/advanced look. We also decided to use a tripod for steady movements like in hospital scenes which greatly reduced camera shake seen in the preliminary task and made the video better quality overall. We also used camera focusing and unfocusing in appropriate places, which varied the shot style and gave it a better visual style which was important for creating a better quality piece.

Quality of Image - I also colour corrected the opening sequence during editing so it was all one consistent colour and looked better quality, like in the hospital scenes where I changed it to high saturation/exposure and high contrast. This was an improvement to the preliminary task as the colours had not been corrected and appeared to change between scenes, so I improved on this as well. I also tried to create interesting shots with angles and movement and compostion.

Quality of Sound - We also attempted to amplify the dialogue, which was a problem in the preliminary task, by using a superimposed narration recorded on a microphone which gave a clear sound. I also used non-deigetic music which created atmosphere and gave the video better quality unlike the preliminary task which had none.

Quality of Mise-en-scene - I bought lots of costume parts to explain narrative and characterisation, which was lacking in the preliminary task. We also filmed in one room to get rid of differences in lighting and thus make it more consistent and of better quality. We also decided to use different locations like London, a spare room and the trainstation. This gave much more variety and gave it a higher quality because setting was much more clear.

Editing techniques and Continuity - I also tried to experiment with editing so like including different transitions and the Camcorder effect , this was an issue in the preliminary task because we had basic editing with NO effects whatsoever which made it look very basic and not very good. So, to improve, I tried to use lots of different editing techniques. I also spent much more time in editing so it was perfect, whereas we rushed the preliminary task and this brought down the quality so I addressed this issue by carefully editing.

Learning

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 12:20:05 UTC

I learnt a lot during this progression:

The importance of these issues and how to overcome them, like the tripod for steady movement and the microphone for clear recording.

I didn’t previously realise that the camera doesn’t pick up much sound by itself so I learnt about the importance of sound production, etc.

I also learnt about how to explain narrative in a short time, this was unknown in preliminary but I was able to spend time learning in research on how to do it.

I also learnt new techniques with experimenting with camera and editing after preliminary.

The importance of planning and drafting to perfect work.

Storyboard Camera Angle Planning

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 12:23:57 UTC

Camera and Mise-en-scene Improvement

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 12:33:45 UTC

Soundtrack

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 12:34:42 UTC

Non-diegetic sound used in the opening sequence to improve it.

Editing Transitions and Effects

mia_smith312 — 2014-05-05 12:42:43 UTC