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Who Are you Really.mp4final evaluation
ao1:
Use research to inform a specialist investigation in a visual arts area, considering purpose and audience.
I chose the brief ‘Ephemeral’ as I liked the words ‘Fleeting’, ‘Momentary’ and ‘Resonate’ in particular. I felt that the brief linked to memories or history, or moments in time in a way that was more open to interpretation than the other briefs. I felt that I could have more control over where my ideas went with this brief and that I could be more abstract or creative as the other briefs felt more restrictive. For similar reasons, I chose to create a music video as I could use abstract concepts and imply meaning more subtlety than in a short film or documentary.
My target demographic for this project was 17-25 year-olds, or young adults. This is because I felt they could interpret meaning from my work without explicit guidance, and are more likely to have a similar music taste to me, so would appreciate the product more.
The purpose for this project was to improve my hard skills surrounding shot composition and camera techniques to use the equipment more purposefully and for dramatic effect rather than by accident. I also wanted to improve my soft skills in planning and organisation by extending my pre-production, particularly storyboards. I wanted to have more detail in these documents so that I felt more secure when it came to production.
Overall, I wanted to push myself creatively with this project. I wanted to use frame-by-frame animation for sections of the music video, as well as choreograph the performance, two things I was thus far unfamiliar with. I felt that this brief and this subject gave me the opportunity to develop new skills to extend my work further.
Using secondary research into choreography, animation and shot composition helped to develop my understanding of how to make a good music video. By researching choreo, I learned how to fit movements to music, and how to apply tone and emotion to a dance sequence. This was incredibly helpful when it came to conveying my message through performance. Additionally, researching and emulating different shot compositions using the rule of thirds improved my understanding of creative techniques and how to draw the viewer's eye to something in particular. Animation research and tests built my knowledge of the software I intended to use, Krita, and gave me a more accurate framing of how long it would take me and how it could fit into my project.
Additionally, pre production documents such as the location recce helped me understand more deeply about management and organisation, and I developed these soft skills through booking classrooms for each filming date, and ensuring they had projectors that I could use.
Primary research also helped further my understanding of music videos, as I gained valuable insight from my target audience about what they liked and didn’t like about my project. This meant I was able to make changes in the edit so that my work better suited my audience.
tweening arm.mkvinbetween frames.mkvao2:
Use specialist materials and media to generate and communicate ideas and concepts in a specified context.
I chose to create a music video for Who Are You Really? by Mikky Ekko. I felt that my target demographic would understand and appreciate the song, especially due to its connotations with the TV series Teen Wolf. I also felt that the song linked to the brief well through lyrics such as “Where are you going?” and “make decisions that you think are your own”, relating to words from the brief such as ‘resonate’ and ‘momentary’. I felt that these words imply a sense of inevitability and lack of control over the passing of time, reflected in the lyrics.
I used secondary research to develop my ideas around costume and pre-production. I researched how to create a dirt effect with makeup, and tested this on myself. This solidified my ideas for the costume, as I wanted a contrast between dirt and cleanliness and planned to use ballet/dance wear to do this. Knowing how to use face paint effectively brought me more ideas on how to use it purposefully, for example only putting it around the eyes to emulate makeup.
Testing the editing effect was also useful as it gave me ideas on what to include in my frame-by-frame animation and how to include this in the live action footage. This also gave me the idea for projecting the animation over myself and using black and white colour grading, as I knew I could get the colour back in the palette.
Pre-production was also very helpful in developing my ideas, especially storyboards and animatics. I used the storyboards to first get shot ideas out on paper and then to organise them into more of a sequence. I then developed this into an animatic. Linking this up to the song forced me to fill in any gaps, meaning I produced ideas for all parts of the music video which I then took with me into shooting.
I continued to develop my ideas during production, as unexpected changes or difficulties left me with more time on some days and less on others. This meant I used the spare time to get other potential B-roll shots that weren’t necessarily in the shot list, such as the mid shot on the skirt.
I chose to create a music video, so that I could meet my goals of using frame-by-frame animation and purposeful shot composition. By choosing a more artistic and free-form type of audio-visual product I felt that it would be easier or more thematically appropriate to use these skills in an interesting way. I decided on using the projector to combine both live action and animated footage, which also helped me keep to centralised framing.
colour pass.mp4
storyboard animatic again2.mkvao3:
Select and use specialist techniques and processes to develop, refine and present ideas and outcomes that meet the requirements of the brief.
tweening arm.mkv
I found the animation tests and animatics to be the most useful in developing my ideas. When testing the animation and learning the basic skills I needed, I learned what I could do with the program and how I could implement these skills in my music video. For example, learning tweening gave me the idea of the spinning spiral, as I knew I could get a smooth movement without having to draw each frame individually. It also gave me the idea for the instrumental sequence, as I learned how to draw and move simple limbs.
The animatic is where I finalised my ideas for the sequence. I made sure each gap was filled and I knew almost exactly what would be happening in each section and how it would progress. I was able to develop my ideas surrounding projecting the animation and how I would incorporate animation into live action footage.
I have been quite comprehensive with my testing, through primary and secondary research, and action research. For example, researching how to build choreography was helpful in understanding how to fit my movements to the song, and to the animation. Additionally, researching shot composition helped me understand the rules so that I could use them effectively in creative framing. Testing the animation and learning those newer skills were valuable in developing the animated sequences and figuring out how to achieve them.
I faced a few problems when filming. Firstly, I missed the first week of shooting as I was on a trip. However, I managed to schedule my time effectively and get everything done in just the second week. This was partly due to having an animated section, which I finished before shooting began, but I also used any extra time in school to film with projectors to get the most out of the week without needing an extension.
I did have some issues with the projectors, as they were slightly different in different classrooms. For example, one was framed too high, so it didn’t cover my torso well enough, and I couldn’t move it. I used the time in these situations to film with a white background and rescheduled the projector shots for different days, and managed to get them all done in time. I also had trouble with the costume, as on a few days I forgot different pieces, such as the shoes. To make up for the shots I couldn’t get, I took some equipment home and used a sheet as my background to get the shots of the pointe shoes instead of in a classroom.
ao4:
Use ongoing evaluation to inform and progress a specialist investigation in a visual arts area.
My goals for this project were to improve my use of the DSLR cameras through shot composition and slow motion footage, to learn how to choreograph a short dance sequence, and to use frame by frame animation for a segment of my music video.
I feel that, throughout this project, I have successfully reflected and evaluated my work as it developed. I have aimed to continuously link back to my original goals and objectives, as well as the brief to keep myself on track with my project and ensure I met my aims. I used my proposal presentation to compare my pre-production, production and post-production to my goals and make sure that what I’m working on is helping me achieve them or develop the skills I wanted to learn. I used written notes to keep track of how I felt about my work, and how my ideas were developing.
I think that I have met my goals successfully in this project. I researched and implemented purposeful shot composition, using central framing and the rule of thirds. I also learned and tested how to shoot in 60fps, which I then carried into my production to modify the footage into smooth slow motion. I also researched choreography and used that knowledge to create a dance sequence which I performed both with and without animated projections. Finally, I met my goal of learning and using frame-by-frame animation, using it in both animation-only sequences and combining media by projecting it over live action footage. Overall, I am very pleased with how I have met these goals and how I have reflected throughout my project.
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