Prelim: Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? 
 In my group I worked with Charlotte and Sarah. We all had different duties in this task. We all planned together and took care of prop list and timeline and arrange costumes, and we all confirmed a song together/ Sarah and Charlotte acted, whilst I filmed. And then Charlotte and I edited it all together and tried to make sure the lip syncing was as accurate as possible whilst matching it to the song. We also tried our best to make sure every shot was the same as the original music video and tried to make sure they all lasted for the same amount of time. When editing this we was aware this task was very difficult as in some circumstances we didn't film for long enough.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
To plan our sequence we went through the first minute of the Taylor Swift- You belong with me music video and added timeing and what she done so we could duplicate her idea. We analysed the setting and costumes so we could try and make ours as similar as possible. However, this was very hard due to the fact we had to do this in school so we were very limited on settings and props. We bought in our own costumes to ensure we looked as similar as Taylor does is each shot, but the setting for each shot was very hard to get but we made sure it looked as similar as it could. Then, we kept looking back at the original video to get the same shots and the same actions to make it look as good as we could.

3.  What theories could you apply to the video you chose?
Goodwins theory can be applied to the video that we chose. He stated that each video illustrate using the video to explain the genre and the lyrics of the song. Our video is a typical girly song about romance so the video explains this and relates to the lyrics very well. 'She wears short skirts I wear t-shirts' and the video shows Taylor in casual clothes and the girl she is singing about in a short skirt and more dressed out. Goodwin also empathised how important star image is. In the video Taylor is dressed very 'cute' and causal which may appeal to many people as it gives her the likeability factor, it is more relateable for her younger fans as she is not dressed in skimpy outfits.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
The technology we used is Adobe Premiere, camera and a tripod. We used the camera to film the shots, the tri pod to make all shots stable and not bumpy, and we used Adobe Premiere to edit all of the shots together and make it look like the real Taylor Swift music video.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning this video, we had to take into account all of the shot timings and make sure they all were there same in ours as they are in the original. When shooting, we had to take into consideration lip syncing and make sure the lip syncing matches the song and we also had to take into consideration the angles of the shots. When editing, we had to take into consideration the things we had to add over the top of the shots. For example we had to add windows over the top of ours to make it look like the real thing as we did not have access to these type of windows in school. We also had to add a green screen for the bedroom background, as yet again we did not have access to a bedroom in school.

5. How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?
Overall i think parts of our music video was good, however it did not look very professional due to the lack of things we had access to. Therefore, what i would do differently is to have better access to props and settings so it looked more professional so we don't have to add them ourselves. Other people said our production was good overall, however they also said that it did not look very professional and looked amateur due to not having access to the right setting.

6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
What I have learnt from this prelim task is that it takes a lot of planning to get it right. You have to analyse the shots and the timings and costume to make sure everything is right. Also what I noticed is that differently to making a film opening, the shots have got to be fast pace and cut quickly to make it effective. Also, I have learnt that it is best to over film rather than film for just the time you want as it is almost certain that you are not going to have enough footage. Also, for making my real music video I have discovered that we have to have the actor/actress singing the whole song in one shot rather than just get them to sing the lyrics that are in that shot due to the fact the lip syncing does not match as well.

7. How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?
When shooting a film opening, it is a lot easier and less time has to go into the planning than for a music video. Although it takes a lot of time to decide what shots you are going to include from what angle and what the film opening is actually going to be about, when you have an idea of what you are doing you can film to the storyboard and get each shot how you imagine. However, when it comes to a music video we don't have an accurate description of how long each shot is going to last due to the fact all shots have to be short and fast pace for the video to become effective. Whereas for a film opening, long shots can be effective as you are telling a story.

8. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?
I think my strengths as a group member is that I am very accurate and like things to be done to the best of my ability, therefore I am always willing to add extra work to achieve higher. I also am confident on Adobe Premiere ( the software used to edit our footage ) so I also think my strength is editing due to the fact I am very aware of a lot of the editing tools that are available. However, I think a weakness is that I am not a very good actress and tend to laugh a lot when being on camera, therefore I don't like being the main star in any piece of footage therefore I filmed and edited the work whilst Charlotte and Sarah acted and performed.

9. Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
The video I thought was the most successful was Joe Griffiths, Drea Bunce, Beth Brain and Jack Jordan's. I think this was successful because all of the shots were in perfect timing to the real music video and they made it look as professional as they could with the resources and equipment that were available to them. I also liked the split screen that they used, as I think it looked very much like the real Knock You Down music video.