Self Evaluation against the Mark Scheme

This document gives a brief self-assessment against the Level 4 mark scheme for the video and print elements of the G324 coursework unit.

Film / Television / Video: Level 4

The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

● Shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shots sizes and close attention to mise en scene I believe I shot footage which was overall suitable for use in a professional music video, especially for the song in question. In terms of controlled use of camera, I do feel that the majority of shots are controlled; in the static shots the footage is appropriately still, any movement being minimal and in line with modern music video trends, and in shots with movement, the footage moves reasonably smoothly as if a track, for example, had been used. Because many tracking shots were used throughout the video and I did not use a track, some were inevitably jerky. However, I feel this works well with the pace that Rachel is walking and the speed of the song, but there is definitely room for improvement.

I did utilise a variety of shots; there were close-ups, extreme close-ups, medium shots and occasionally long shots. Additionally, as already mentioned, there were lots of tracking shots. This helped to keep audiences interested given the long length of the song (I hope), but the main focus was medium shots and close-ups in order to introduce Rachel to the audience.

● editing so that meaning apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects. Although the majority of the editing in the video is sublime, I do feel that it could be improved in relation to the narrative at one point. In the part where Rachel is walking through a side street, in one she is shot is seen walking in one direction and then in another she is seen in another. Although this is supposed to represent her state of limbo within a relationship, I feel this could be a bit confusing of the viewer. Otherwise I feel that meaning is apparent to the viewer, although it is ambiguous; her walking could suggest her trying to escape from a relationship or “looking for love”.

Initially, it was tempting to adopt every effect and filter that was offered in Final Cut, but upon reviewing the final rough cut of the video I decided to remove the mirror effects and replace this with other footage in order to keep the editing more consistent and cohesive, the main effects used being sped-up footage, split screen, “strobe light” and experiments with opacity and overlays. All are used sporadically to not overwhelm the viewer and create a more quaint video that

better fits with the “star image”. I also used titles at the beginning of the video and the record label logo and a copyright message at the end. I felt that this was completely appropriate given that most music videos do this in some capacity. Only one transition was used in the video and this was a subtle fade.

● recording and editing sound with images appropriately Obviously the recording of sound was pretty much irrelevant in the context of a music video, with the exception of the traffic sounds at the beginning of the video, which was created using Garage and works perfectly fine with the footage of the traffic going past despite it not necessarily being synchronous. Otherwise I feel that the editing means that the lip-syncing is perfectly matched up throughout most of the video. However through audience feedback I picked up on the fact that there are a few shots throughout the video which are not out of sync, but rather could be improved - otherwise Rachel’s performance was very strong.

Editing the footage so that thought beats are apparent is also very strong and is a major strength of the video; the number of cuts really immerses audiences with the sound of music. I wanted viewers to enjoy the video and the music it accompanies as in my audience research survey they identified a sense of fun as key to pop music and pop music videos.

Print: Level 4

The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use in most of the following technical skills:

● awareness of the conventions of layout and page designThrough research of existing digipak and adverts I was very aware of the conventions that uphold both genres and as such I included many of their conventions, i.e. barcode, copyright / production information, album title, artist name, etc, as well as the growing trend of QR code barcodes. In terms of page layout I tried to create products which would very much draw the eye in and look professional due to where things were placed, such as the items mentioned above for example. Although the star image I was trying to create was quite unique, I wanted the layouts to be conventional to add a sense of authority and authenticity to a new artist. This included layout conventions such as the album title down the spine of the digipak, top to bottom, the artist’s name at the top of the page, and the the barcode on the back pane in a bottom corner. In terms of the advert, the artist’s name was again placed at the top of the page, and the other details placed around the edge of the image and at the bottom rather like an advert. The less important information, i.e. contact details, etc. were placed at the bottom.

● awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text sizeI was very aware in the need to use a variety of fonts and text size in creating the two ancillary texts. Although I did only use two fonts I wanted the design consistency between the digipak and advert to be very strong and so I feel this is

counteracted. Furthermore the two fonts are substantially different in design, despite both being sans serif. Harabara is bolder, more rounded and arguably retro, whilst Total 90 is sleek and slim. Because the former is bolder is was used for the most important elements, i.e. album title, artist’s name, etc. and the latter, the less important elements, i.e. copyright and production information, etc. as I did not want this to stand out as much. Generally Total 90 was used in conjunction with much smaller text and Harabara with larger chunks. Both fonts are very much readable however.

● accurate use of language and registerI believe that the language used in my digipak and advert is sufficiently neutral in its register; not too formal or not overly informal with simple compound declaratives such as “produced by Rachel, …. and...”. I made this decision as to not deter away the young audience with highbrow and overly complex language, which would also detract from the persuasive aim in the case of the advert. I didn’t want to be too informal as this would make the products seem amateurish and unprofessional when in fact they are pieces of art. The language used was also minimal and elliptical, as is convention in the digipak and advert, assuming that audiences know what it inferred, i.e. purely giving a date of release rather than putting “OUT NOW”. It could be argued that with an abundance of colours the imagery is quite informal, however I would argue that it is quirky and subscribes to the pop genre. I did try to apply deep contrasts to counteract this to some extent.

● the appropriate use of ICT for the task set Both the digipak and advert were created using Adobe Photoshop CS6, which allowed me to continually improve work over a period of time, moving things around to experiment and see what would work best in terms of the layout and incorporation of different elements. I could also undo mistakes. The fact that I created the work digitally opens the products up to an online world where much music promo package advertising takes place nowadays. Furthermore I was able to present the work creatively and professionally, with a variety of colours and fonts, the ability to airbrush, and create a fun, exciting layout.

● appropriate integration of illustration and textThe text and imagery in both the digipak and advert perfectly complement each other in creating two successful ancillary texts. The bright colours and quirky design of the former is cohesive with the quirky nature of the overall digipak and advert, and their use of imagery, yet still manages to stand out. I feel there is a good balance between the amount of text and images and furthermore they illustrate one another, i.e. the cracks over the image reflecting the title of the album, Broken Love.

● framing a shot, using a variety of shot distances as appropriate I believe that the majority of my shots are framed very well; being a photography student I was very confident in taking the photos and I feel this has paid off. The composition of the images all work well and are tightly-framed, giving a real

dominance to the artist. I experimented with different framing in the photoshoot, although I do feel in the digipak I rely too much on close-ups, only one image being a medium long shot. This would add more visual variety.

● shooting material appropriate to the task set, selecting mise en scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and settingI believe that the images created in the photoshoot were very much appropriate to the overall themes in the video in terms of all these elements, which were considered in relation to the video and the overall star image I was trying to portray through Rachel. The mise en scene at the actor’s performance complemented the video well; she was quite moody and miserable, and looked trapped; this in my opinion is much more intriguing than just smiling for instance. The outfit wasn’t stereotypically provocative like most female pop artists, but instead quite simple; a t-shirt and trousers. The t-shirt featured a heart which linked to the video and disc and the concept of “broken love” / “heart of steel”. The costume was, however, unlike the video, quite colourful to attract audiences and subscribe to a quirky feel overall. Lighting wise, the images were shot in the studio to give a professional feel to them with bright, high-key lighting and a plain white background which enabled me to undergo much experimentation with the imagery. The main object(s) used in the video were the chains which were supposed to represent the sense of being emotionally, but not physically, trapped in a relationship. This therefore strengthened the link with the video.

● manipulating photographs as appropriate, including cropping and resizingThe photographs used in the ancillary texts were manipulated quite substantially and being a photography student I was very confident in doing this. I feel that I all the manipulation I undertook was appropriate as it was all done to conform to genre expectations. The images were indeed cropped down and resized to fit the sizes of the advert, and the digipak template, also in many cases to give a tighter and more cohesive composition on the digipak panes. All the images were brightened and sharpened to give them a more defined quality that would stand out on the products, and Rachel was airbrushed to give her a more glamorous look, although this was done only minimally to deviate from convention.

The photographs were also manipulated by adding cracked brushes to them in various colours and sizes. This is not a genre convention but added in creating a strong “star image” that goes against female stereotypes.

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident. I have worked by myself for the entire duration of this project including construction and thus this criteria has obviously been met.