The student analyzed their progress from AS to A2 on their music video production project. In A2, they created more detailed case studies, treatment, storyboards, call sheets, and used feedback to improve. While time management as a group was a challenge, they improved tasks and learned to work under pressure. Presentation of research and planning has improved through blogging with pictures and using creative technology.

2. The research I carried out this year that were similar to my own production was case studies of music videos on
genres that I would like to do in which I analysed themes, motifs, expectations,
narrative/conceptual/performance, mis en scene, camera angles, special effects/editing, lip synching, target
audience, how the audience is encouraged to buy the record and what ideas I can use in my own music video.
It helped as it made me explore and choose a specific genre of music I wanted to choose. It made me explore
the codes & conventions of my chosen genre which I incorporated in our music video (The use of the narrative
and performance in the Keri Hilson case study which is what our music video is based as the music video has quite
an urban feel to it so it would be a good idea to base our videos like the professional urban ones also just like the
Keri Hilson video, we will be using the white backdrop in the studio, where Sarah will be lip synching and moving
around just like Keri, the use of the studio is something that we found was used a lot in urban music videos, an
example of this was when me and my group were looking at Rihanna’s four five seconds video which is something
that attracted us as it looks professional which is what we want our music video to look like.) Using similar codes &
conventions will allow the target audience to instantly know what genre of music video is which will lead to
instantly creating a sense of familiarity by using similar codes & conventions to ensure that the target audience
are attracted to our music video. During when I was creating my case studies, we did not know our groups so
which meant that I chose some music videos that do not relate to my genre right now however, I learnt about
different editing techniques and camera angles such as the use of flashbacks (Pink- perfect case study) which is
what me and my group will be incorporating in our own music video. Overall, I would say that the case studies
were very helpful in helping me with ideas and designs for my music video as it made me think about our target
audience in depth and also codes & conventions in depth.

3. In AS, I made case studies for my music magazine. It is clear to see that I have
improved this year significantly as I am more aware of the techniques
(camera and editing) used in media productions and this allowed my case
studies this year to be more descriptive. As I have been more descriptive, my
analytical skills have developed allowing me to know the codes &
conventions of certain genres in more depth which will lead me to me and
my group executing our chosen genre to a high standard. This years case
studies allowed me to be inspired better as this year I focussed on taking
more inspiration from the case studies to create a sense of familiarity for the
audience.

4. In A2, we had to present a pitch to potential target audience. We got asked several questions on our pitch, we
tried our best to answer them to a suitable standard. The audience liked the track which was crucial as if the
audience did not like the track, there would be problems as no one would want to watch our track so this was a
good advantage. I feel that we lacked in planning and this was a huge disadvantage as we could not get our
ideas across sufficiently like we wanted and this caused confusion for the audience, to improve/ compensate
for this, me and my group will be making another treatment in which it will address all the confusion in this video
and also be in detail to ensure that our planning is up to scratch. Also, we will have another female actor
involved, which is what was raised in this video, we still haven't picked an extra female actor but we are in the
process of doing so. I liked the idea that was suggested, the idea of the couple being in the distance while the
lip syncher is lip synching so the audience gets a view of the whole situation in one place, this is something we
will definitely think about taking on board. We definitely need to develop our whole concept and this will be
done so in our new treatment. Overall, I would say that the audience feedback was helpful as it will help in
improving our music video. Audience feedback is vital as it helps with knowing the opinions of others and
making sure you meet their requirements as an audience.

5. In AS, I was told that I need to be clear that it is a music magazine, this was
the case for A2, as the audience were confused at some of the aspects
however, they still understood the concept/ idea behind the music video, we
just had to be more descriptive to ensure that they understood exactly what
will happen in our music video, as a result of the confusion, me and my group
decided to create a new treatment, whereas, in AS, I did not address the
confusion which was a disadvantage. Creating a new treatment helped get
our thoughts clearly and descriptively in one place which was a huge
advantage as this allowed us to come up with a descriptive storyboard.

6. Right from the start we knew we wanted to use one of our team member to act as the main actor and she agreed so this
was a huge advantage as we knew she would be reliable as she is in our group. Furthermore, after presenting our pitch to
the class, we realised that we needed two other actors, one male and one female, this was soon resolved as one of our
team member knew of two people who are her friends, which meant that these actors will definitely be reliable so we all
agreed on this. Our level of organisation when it came to choosing actors was very good as we had come up with actors
rapidly. When it came to locations, this was one of our strengths, as we knew of many locations that would be perfect for
our music video. We wanted locations that were big and airy with people surrounding and this is exactly what our chosen
locations represented. The spacious locations was a good idea to choose as our genre of urban suits the locations perfectly
as most of the urban music videos included spacious areas. When it came to choosing the costumes, we found it easy as
we had watched a lot of urban music videos so we were knowledgeable about what urban costumes consisted off so we
made collages of celebrity outfits from other urban music videos and took inspiration from it and as a result, we came up
with similar costumes, this will help the audience identify with the genre of the music video. When it came to discussing the
props we thought the props would be something that we can use to promote a unique selling point, so we came up with
the idea of using colour smoke bombs and sparklers, this is something we were inspired to do by looking at other music
videos, we just thought that it would be something that would create a suspense and also, will allow us to showcase our
editing skills as the scene we would be using these props in would require a lot of high standard editing to ensure that we
execute the scene to a high professional standard. The talent release form was helpful as it was proof that the actors will
definitely be acting for us which was an advantage as we needed some form of reliability, this was signed by all the actors,
also everyone in my group. The risk assessments were done by all of us and was easy to do as we were all familiar with our
chosen locations. It was very useful as it ensure that we had explored all the risks in detail so that we were aware of all these
risks beforehand, decreasing the chances of these risks happening as we were aware of them beforehand. The call sheet
allowed us to plan our schedule effectively, which was very useful, it included all the locations, timings, team roles, scenes,
props, make-up etc... Which is literally everything which allowed us to plan effectively. The team meetings were done over
whatsapp, this was convenient for us as it allowed us to stay in contact even though we haven’t got a media lesson, we
had a conversation regarding what tasks we should assign to each team member and this is something we stuck to which
was an advantage as we got our planning done effectively and quickly.

7. In AS, all I had to make in terms of logistic was a call sheet
and contact sheet which was different to A2, as we had to
make more logistics. I would say that I improved significantly,
this is evident in the call sheet below as in A2, the call sheet
was more detailed because it is a music video we are
creating we knew that we needed to create detailed,
precise logistics to ensure that everything was planned out
well so that everything can run smoothly.

8. When starting the narrative process, we decided to annotate the lyrics, and then we
divided the lyrics into scenes, this was helpful as it allowed us to annotate descriptively and
this decreased the chances of confusion. Later on, we started on the storyboards together
so that it was fair as we could all input all our ideas. Initially we had finished our storyboard
which was about two pages however, we decided that this was very limited and when it
came to filming there would be a lot of confusion, so as a result of this, we decided to start
a whole new storyboard, this is where we made a huge improvement as we ended doing
eleven pages of storyboards in much more detail, in which every single line of lyric was
annotated for example, we would write about the shot types we would be using, the
timings, the lyrics itself, and also the locations we will be shooting these shots at. Overall, I
would say our narrative planning was up to a high standard even though we had problems
this was addressed straight away and as a result, our storyboards helped us get our
thoughts together in a creative, visual and descriptive way saving much more time when it
came to filming as we know exactly what we are doing.

9. In AS, I had to create a flat plan for my music magazine, which
was fairly easy as I did not need to make actual pages for it, I
just needed ideas and this is why my flat plan lacked detail
which is a disadvantage as I was not able to explain myself
properly in the pitch this might have been due to me trying to
get things done as quickly as possible. However, I would say
that my narrative planning has improved immensely, even
though we had problems with the storyboards initially this was
soon resolved and annotated with a lot of description which
was really useful as it allowed us to portray our ideas how we
wanted it to be portrayed.

10. In my humble opinion, I would say that my own time
management was better then the me and my groups time
management as I met deadlines far more quicker than this year
which allowed me to make any changes if I wanted to. Part of
the reason I think that my own time management was better
was because in AS, I did not have to rely on anyone to share my
ideas with or them sharing the ideas with me. However, this is not
a bad thing because this year, even though we have had
problems (storyboard), we’ve still used our time wisely and
improved tasks throughout this process to make it a high
standard, however, after improving tasks there is no time to
improve the tasks again. Furthermore, improving tasks allowed us
to work under pressure because of timing, yet still get our tasks
done to a high standard which is the most important thing. We
are improving our time management skills as this process has
made us more analytical so we are more quick to pick out any
mistakes.

11. I would say that my presentation of research and planning has definitely
improved in A2, I am regularly blogging our progress every media lesson
with several pictures. I have also been complimented on my blog for
looking organised which is what I have been focussing on this year. Also, I
now tend to put everything on a creative technology rather than type it
up on blogger which is what I used to do in AS, which was a
disadvantage as I need to showcase my use of creative technology and
this is something I am focussing on improving this year. For example, in last
years case studies, I did not use creative technology which was
unfortunate, however, this year I used various creative technology to
present my case studies, using creative technology allows me to present
everything nicely and also showcases my technical skills.