Audio Vox Pop task:
The Audio Vox Pop task required me to use my journalistic skills and retrieve information from students on how student life is going so far in the first semester.
In looking back at my experience creating this artefact I have considered Kolbs reflective theory which explains what I did, what were any discrepancies that I encountered and how did I overcome them.
I think my Vox Pop was successful because I asked a variety of questions and included contributors of different genders, living in all sorts of different accommodation’s therefore resulting in very different student experiences for each individual.
However, one discrepancy I encountered was that I should of included more contributors as my artefact only consisted of 6 people. In the long run, this would have provided me with more diversity, making the artefact more interesting. In looking back on conducting the artefact, I discovered that qualitative interviewing is a technique that allows the interviewer to get more thorough answers. In this case, more detailed answers on students different experiences just starting university.
I have also learnt a lot through my experience of making this artefact. Due to it being the first artefact I made, it thoroughly helped me express my journalistic skills and encouraged my confidence to grow. The editing process was also an efficient learning tool.
However, during editing I did realise that as we weren’t allowed to include the interviewers voice, some of the contributors answers didn’t make sense as they didn’t repeat the question. However this was redone and the answers made sense in the final artefact. This discrepancy is helpful as it is something to learn from in future interviews in order t get a more lengthy and in detail response from the interviewee.
Bibliography:
https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/teaching-resources/interview/qualitative
The Sequence task:
The objective of the sequence task was to show various types of shots to demonstrate and show our camera skills.
The types of shots needed were;
Establishing shots
CU’s
Match shots
Cutaways
The 180 degree rule
In relation to Kolbs experimental learning cycle; how?, I set up the equipment and planned out the narrative of my sequence myself. What happened? The main discrepancy that I encountered was that I was unable to demonstrate the 180 degree rule which I found quite challenging when I look back on filming the sequence. After seeing the finished product I began researching various examples of the shots needed for the artefact and I found that they are very important as they are key aspects of video storytelling.
However, I did show some significant establishing shots such as, wide shots, extreme close ups and long shots, all of which I practised during Media Studies in Sixth form. Even though not all shots are shown, I think it is evident that I have told the narrative through my editing skills. At first I wasn’t very confident in editing, however I have established that I can move from one angle/shot to the next smoothly without interrupting the flow of the sequence. For example, the Journey of Jasmine’s (model used) journey from her bike to the bench. I wanted to show her from all different angles and distances from one shot to the next. I believe this was successful in the narrative I wanted to tell. I also incorporated uplifting music, bird sounds and distant traffic sound effects to make the aim of the story more significant. These sounds complemented my artefact successfully and made the sequence more upbeat and fast rather than slow and boring which was what I was aiming to achieve.
It was also important to understand the element of health and safety within a production environment. The equipment used is expensive and very heavy so I had to take care in carrying it to various locations. Operating the camera also took a lot of care but it also taught me a lot as I was able to discover its different features and how to utilise them effectively within my artefact.
Health and safety also comes in to play when filming in potentially dangerous locations such as near busy roads or lots of pedestrians where it may be hard to handle the equipment efficiently. I didn’t encounter any difficulties regarding health and safety while filming the sequence as we worked on campus which was quiet that day. This worked fact as there were very little and the lack of people around suited my narrative and set the scene how I wanted it.
In the future, I would make myself more familiar with the types of shots and research in to them more to help me with the outcome of my artefact.
Bibliography:
https://storify.com/mututemple/sequence-shooting
TV Studio task:
https://vimeo.com/album/4971277/video/251302112
The TV studio task required us to work as a group to create a topical magazine TV show for a duration of 10 minutes. We were required to 1 live interview and 2 VT’s. We decided to cover dry January as it was a popular topic at the time of creating the TV how, therefore more interesting for the audience. We also included a segment on how to cope with exam stress and how students can eat for less at university. These are many issues that students face at university our thought process was that it would relate to our audience demographic of students going through exams and struggling to budget, especially those living in student accommodation.
Our first issue we encountered was tat there were only 7 of us in the group therefore it was difficult to assign roles to everyone. This also meant that everyone had to work a lot harder in the studio to make sure everyone in both the production room and in the studio were prepared. However, this brought us closer together as a team and allowed us to work more closely and confidently together due to use being such a small group. This also made the preparation stage easier as due to us being a small group it was easier to bounce ideas off each other. Everyone was also able to get involved in the process rather than being left out which may have been an issue in bigger groups as people would of had less work to do than us.
My role in the task was floor manager. This role required me to communicate information from the director and producer to the presenters. I had to count down and make the presenters aware of when they were live on camera after the VT’s had stopped rolling. This was an important job as it controls when the presenters begin each segment. It is important that floor managers are quick, efficient and communicate correctly as we were on a schedule of 10 minutes. I believe that I was successful in this role, however at one point I was unaware that I had to take food and cutlery over to the presenters during a VT as this was never communicated to me from the producer. However, the presenters coped with this extremely well and recovered the situation to make sure the rest of the show flowed smoothly. Our whole group worked well as a team, therefore I believe that the outcome of the artefact was successful.
I was also involved in the making of the exam stress VT. I helped come up with many of the ideas and operated the camera. I believe that the VT was successful in demonstrating how students can deal with exams coming up.
To conclude, in the future I would consider switching roles to something more managerial as I believe I had more to offer and would enjoy a role with more responsibility.
The Instagram task:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bihi3E9g7nc/?taken-by=libby.ince
For the Instagram task we had to individually produce a seasonal greeting video 4 behind the scenes photos hosted on Instagram.
Due to the audience demographic being 18-24 year olds I decided to take a modern, mainstream approach. The film “Mean Girls” is an extremely popular film which I assume many young people have watched. Therefore I decided to take inspiration from the iconic Jingle Bell Rock Christmas dance featured in the film. I believe this was successful as it is comical and fun, gaining the attention of the target demographic.
One discrepancy would be that the overall outcome of the artefact would have been better if we thought of involving civilians on the streets of York in the dance. This would make the video even more enticing and interesting for the audience. However, on the day of filming we discovered York wasn’t very busy, therefore I thought I would struggle to make it work. To overcome this, I still tried my best to make the video interesting and I think its simplicity works really effectively as I didn’t want anything to take away from the video.
My behind the scenes stills that feature on my Instagram show us rehearsing the dance a few days before filming. This shows the audience what to expect from the upcoming video and it also shows how much we planned to make the artefact perfect. I also included behind the scenes images on the day of filming, showing what happens behind the camera. This shows how the task was conducted and carried out. Popular hashtags were also used such as #jinglebellrock, #Christmas and #seasonsgreetings. The aim of hashtags is so my artefact appears on the explore page whenever someone searches the specific hashtag. This gets my artefact more recognition and appeals more to my target audience.
In the future, I would plan the task more in detail as I would of liked more behind the scenes stills, such as a spider diagram of all my previous ideas that I had before settling on the Mean Girls approach. This would of shown that I took care in planning before I made the decision on what my artefact would be based around. However, the stills I do have on my Instagram, show the production process well and makes it exciting for the audience to see what went on behind the scenes before shooting. This is an effective technique used by film makers to gain the attention of the young demographic in particular as it builds anticipation for the finished product.
Election interview with George Coombs:
This task required us to work in groups of 4 to film an interview with a candidate for the election. We interview George Coombs running for president of the Students Union. Different types of questions were discussed with George before we began the filming process. We also set out a fun quirky shot that shows George’s personality which was edited to appeal to the audience. The filming process involved setting up the camera and lighting which was significantly important to make sure the candidate was well lit and the footage looks warm and appealing to the audience watching.
The filming process was very successful as we got the camera and lighting set up effectively and the cooperation from George was quick and efficient so we got many of the shots in only a few takes.
However, one issue I encountered while creating the artefact was some of the editing elements. I found it difficult to keep the interview duration at one minute as George said many interesting things that were difficult to cut out.
However, I managed to capture most of the intriguing moments within the interview. I included an animated graphic at the start of the interview to make it clear who that candidate was. I also began the artefact with George stating who he was and what he was running for to grab the audiences attention immediately.
I am happy with my editing, however in the future I would play around more with close up shots to make the artefact more engaging and effective in order to ultimately persuade the audience to vote for George Coombs.