What I Have Learnt About...

Scripting- When my group decided to create our short film we decided to create a storyboard instead of a script because it is much simpler than a script as you then have to include all speech and directions.
Storyboading- I learnt that when doing a story board that each picture does not need to be fully detailed and to give you some guidelines you can write stage directions or speech underneath each picture.
Locations- When making our short film, we were quite limited with locations but we used locations that we think was quite unique and it made our film seem more realistic.
Talent- Many people are quite camera shy and they were not a lot of volunteers so amber one the people in our group was in the film aswell as Mr Swain and Mrs Fearnley who acted as the parents in our short film. It takes many takes the get the actor/actress in the right position and to get the right angle of the shot.
Organisation- Its very important to be organised especially when you have to share cameras. Its better to have a rota so groups dont argue over cameras and equipment. Some days we couldnt use cameras and so we had to find something else to do while waiting etc, editing.
Teamwork- I found that our group worked well together and we communicated well aswell.
Editing- I had never really done any editing before this project and so it was intresting having to do that. Its definatly not as easy as it looks and it can take time to get it perfect but you do have to think about it carefully and be patient.

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Analysis

Andrew Goodwin writing in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (Routledge 1992) describes the different characteristics of music video's-

1- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics- stage performance or dance routine will define whether it is for a boy or girl band.
2- There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals- There are 3 types- Illustrative- acting out literally. Amplifying- exagerrating the meaning. Contradicting- going against the meaning.
3- There is a relationship between visuals and music- Either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.
4- The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.
5- There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic/erotic treatment of the female body. Depends on gender.
6- There is often intertextual reference- to films, tv programmes etc.

Types Of Music Video's

There are many different types of  music video's in todays industry:

- Random story line
- Lip sync or no lip sync
- Montage
- Rauchy/Dirty
- When the band performs the song
- A story
- When the video is all completed in one take
- Intertextual- when the video references a tv show
- When the idea of the song is exaggerated
- When the band are represented as cartoon characters in the video
- Humour
- A video that go's on for a longer period of time than the song itself does
- Low/High budget

Music videos have certainly changed through time, but many of the same techniques and types of music videos are repeated in todays modern era as some artists like to bring the past to the present. I will try and include at least one of these when creating my music video as I believe this is important to appeal to my target audience. I know I will definatly include Lip sync, but I will have to have a think about the others.

The Difference Between A Feature Film And A Short Film

Short Films-
- Less cast members
- Shorter length of time
- Aimed at a nice audience and market
- Smaller budget
- Less complex story line
- No A-List actors
- Shown at smaller cinema's

Feature Films-
- They create franchises
- Better quality film
- More impact
- Long duartion
- Bigger budget
- More dialogue

Comparing One Direction And The Exciters Music Videos.

One option we have for our Coursework is to create a music video. We watched both One Direction- What makes you beautiful and The Exciters-Tell Him.
These 2 music videos were made 50 years apart and so there are a lot of differences between the two of them.

Firstly, In the exciters video the camera quality wasnt very good and this is because when it was shot in 1962 they had a smaller budget therefore the cameras used were not of high quality. Whereas in One Directions video the picture is extreamly clear and precise as they had a much larger budget to use compared to the Exciters very low budget. Also, in the Exciters video there wasn't any other women in the video and animals were used instead, whereas in One Directions video there were a group of girls which the band used as eye candy for viewers and themselves. 
There were also some similarities between the 2 videos, firstly being that One Direction and The Exciters both used eye contact with the camera so that they make a good solid contact with the audience. This way the audience feel that the video is more personal. Also, both videos used the zoom on the camera to focus on the individual which is singing.                                                                 

Pudding Bowl- An example Of A Short Film

Pudding Bowl is a short film about a girl named Ivy who dreams of becoming a beautiful woman when she is older.
Sound-
- There is very little dialogue throughout the film.
Camerawork-
- There is low angle shot looking down on ivy at the beggining showing that her brother called jack is more powerful than her.
- There is a birds eye view of ivy as if she is looking at getting revenge.
- When ivy starts dreaming there is a shallow focus shot as men in her dream are chasing her.
Editing-
- Cuts are done well and quickly.
- Match on action used
Mise-en-scene-
- Both dresses that Ivy wears are very similar so the scenes flow well together.
- Ivys mum uses the pudding bowl to cut her hair off and this relates to the title of the short film.

Dean Attkinson- Roses Are Red- Textual Analysis

Sound-
Firstly, the music that is being played in this short movie which occurs at the beggining and the end which is in a minor key, instantly makes the audience feel emotional as the story line is very sad. Also for sound, there is an example of non-diegetic sound which is the voice over and the main character says the line, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Lastly, in this movie there isnt a lot of dialogue so it could mean that this clip is very personal and it could show that the main character is quite lonely.
Camerawork-  Firstly, the use of a close up on the rose shows that the film really had a loving meaning to it as the rose represents love. Also, there was a wide shot of the surroundings and the architecture in the film is very eye catching as the buildings are very tall. Lastly, there is a over the shoulder shot of the main character looking at his laptop which shows that the audience gets the feel of what his perspective is of the pictures he had taken.
Editing- The use of an eyeline match of the main character looking at the rose could show that the rose has a very important and special meaning to him and he could realte the rose the girl in the movie. Also, the use of a blur on the rose as he looks at it while its in his hand, could show that as it blurs he is actually crying because the images of her in his mind can make him particualry emotional.
Mise-en-scene- Firstly, the use of the red rose shows the fact that there was love between the girl and the boy. It could also show the fact that the main character has suffered heatache due to the death of the girl. Next, the fact tthat when he gets home to his the use of low key lighting this could show that, he is trying to hide how he is feeling and he is still in a dark place therefore he is still in grief. Lastly, the use of the pink coat on the girl actually draws attention to her as it contrasts against the dull dark weather throughout the surroundings.