Production & Editing Skill Review of All Units

Throughout the year, my production years have definitely improved. At the start of the year, I definitely put off choosing the production options for the final pieces of my units. This was because production hadn’t been my strong point throughout A-levels, and I was quite reluctant to even try to improve. But, when it got to the end of the year and I was left without an option of writing an essay, I had to produce 2 short films.

My level of production skill prior to starting this course was incredibly dire. I was comfortable with the use of Adobe Photoshop, but that was it. I knew the very minimal basics of how to use Premiere Pro, but almost always found myself having to google what to do whenever I used it. I was familiar to using the studio, but I didn’t know so much about how to use the studio lighting. I was also unaware of the health and safety implications. The highest level of production I was able to produce was my photography and Photoshop editing skills, of which can be seen below:

At the time, 2 years ago, I felt my skills for a first year A level Media student was quite good. But as time went on and I didn’t progress, it made production this year quite tough. This was due to the fact that, despite being also an A level Film student, I moved away from the production options of the course and decided to write essays or scripts. I didn’t allow myself to develop my skills within filming and production. And, unfortunately, this course was far more film-production-heavy than photography.

The first short film I made this year was my music video for I Want You (She’s So Heavy) by The Beatles. I was quite lucky that the first film I had to make was a music video, as I am incredibly passionate about music and the visual aesthetics you can create with music. Given the creative freedom, I created a video that I thought that The Beatles would have actually had if they had a music video for this song. I chose a slow-paced, repetitive song because I didn’t want to force a narrative onto my audience as I wanted them to be able to create a meaning of the song for their own experiences.

My visual inspiration for the music video came from the pictures of Yoko Ono taken from around the time that Abbey Road came out. They were all black and white, with her long dark hair being the main focus of the images. I chose her to be my inspiration because the song, written by her husband John Lennon, is about her. I definitely think I achieved the visual aesthetic that Yoko Ono had at the time. I am confident that I achieved this visual aesthetic I was aiming for.

Evidence of my labelling clips

The actual filming and editing for this video was incredibly simple and basic, but that’s what I wanted. I wanted a simple, minimalistic music video to follow the minimalistic trends that John and Yoko used to follow. The physical production aspect of it involved simply setting up a camera directly positioned in front of my face which also would not disturb the lighting setup. The editing I did was cutting the footage and editing to the beat, so it was very simple and easy to complete. This music video allowed me to improve my skills because it allowed me to learn how to edit to the beat of a song and I learned out to use audio transitions. The music video module also allowed me to express myself as an artist, and I think that’s why my work for this module in particular was quite good in comparison to some of the other ones. I chose to make this music video in black and white also because it is genre-specific. Classic rock comes from a time when high-quality cameras weren’t readily available, so I felt that having it in black and white was very appropriate for the song.

Another skill that is displayed in this music video is my use of lighting. I used the correct setup for butterfly lighting, as that was a common choice of lighting use for close-up photography in the 60s. I also did this so that the focus could be on my face, and butterfly lighting was the most flattering way to present it.

With the music video module, I also made a test/back-up music video, prior to filming the Beatles one, just in case something went wrong. This was a music video I filmed with my iPhone in my kitchen at home. Sounds lazy – but I justify it as experimental. Music videos are often over-produced and I wanted to try something that looked like a childhood home video. Personal and homely was the aesthetic I was going for with my backup music video. This music video was recorded in one shot, which was quite difficult to finally get right, but I got it in the end. The video consisted of me singing to Bjork’s 1993 house hit Big Time Sensuality. I chose a song that was so incredibly 90s because it suited to the editing style I wanted to do. With this particular video, the editing that I decided to use was completely aesthetic effects. I had to edit it to look like a VHS home video, which I feel I definitely was able to achieve. I was able to do this by applying lots of noise, a bit of blur and sharpened the image. I also increased and decreased the saturation of certain colours, thus further enhancing the VHS effect.
Outside of Premiere Pro, creating the 90s aesthetic was quite easy. I did this through the mise-en-scene use of my clothing. I specifically chose to wear a Garfield sweater because Garfield items of clothing were so very popular in the 90s in America. Also, my use of an iPhone camera as opposed to a professional DSLR was better I think because the quality of the footage would be too clear.

The editing style I chose to use during this test music video was actually quite reminiscent of the first piece of work I produced for A-level media, which was shown in my introduction.

The final unit that I produced a short film was for the Promotional Video unit. This unit, my video fell a bit shorter in terms of quality in comparison to the previous videos. I feel that this was mainly due to my time in hospital during the unit and my sheer lack of interest in the topic. My interest in the music industry definitely carried me during the unit prior.

Due to my time in hospital, and my initial client letting me down making me waste more time, I was unable to obtain my own footage and I used the footage of my work partner. However, this footage was quite shaky and not the kind of footage I would have chosen to shoot myself. But I was strapped for time so I made do with what I had. Due to this, I had to learn how to stabilise my footage.

Had I not been in hospital I would’ve shot some better footage and I would’ve had a little bit more creative freedom which would have made my quality of work improve.

The editing aspect of this module was similar to my final music video. I edited to the beat with the royalty-free song I chose and used a lot of soft transitions. My demographic was those 35 and over, so having a really fast-paced and upbeat commercial wasn’t really my aim. My client wanted me to have something simple that showcased the club and focussed on the pool aspect of it, and I think I delivered on that. It definitely could have been better if I captured my own footage as it would have been my own work that I would have envisioned myself beforehand and planned properly. It would also have been better if I didn’t feel so strapped for time when it came to editing. I wasn't happy with my video, but my client was, and that's all that really matters in this unit.

Prior to this whole course, my editing skills went as far as applying transitions to videos and cutting clips. Now, I have learned how to add titles to my videos, how to correctly use audio transitions, aesthetic editing such as making films black and white or creating a VHS style effect without a downloaded filter and lots of other tools. I have certainly improved, become more confident and more time-efficient when it comes to media production. I no longer feel as though I should stick to writing essays and essays only as I have proven to myself that I am capable of producing films that I think are to a good standard, especially my music video.­­­­

Evidence of appropriate labelling of files

Health & Safety in the Studio

Health and safety within the photography studio is incredibly important and has the photographer, the subject, assistants and models' best interests in mind. Though it may seem straightforward and simple, some issues can occur in a studio that can result in those in the studio being put in danger. Here is a guide to health and safety in the studio.

No food & drink 🍷

Food and drink is NOT permitted in a photography studio (unless of course it is a prop or relevant to the shoot). This is because food and drink could be spilled, damaging the equipment, ruining the models clothing etc. Spilled food and drink could also result in a slipping hazard. Not only this, but in the studio, photographic chemicals may be present, thus contaminating the food and posing a further hazard.

Wires ⚡️

All wires and cables, leads, etc, must be taped down or put under the rubber floor protector. This is to prevent the potential tripping and falling. It also prevents cameras (etc) from being damaged as if a wire was to be tripped over, the camera or whatever other item that was being used, would fall and break also.

Lamps 💡

Do not touch lamps as they are hot. Even if they are cold, do not touch them. This is because finger marks may be left on the bulbs and these marks can cause localised hot spots that could cause the bulb to explode. Also, make sure to leave plenty of time after using the studio to allow the lights to cool down.

Suspended Equipment

Make sure that all suspended equipment in the studio (ie lights, reflectors etc) are fastened as securely as possible to prevent them falling and causing injury. Safety chains may be necessary for heavier items.

Edge Lighting (rim lighting)

Edge lighting in this example is where one side of the face has much stronger shadows and the other side, and some features on the shadowed side, is much lighter. It splits the subject's face into half and in my case, highlights the right hand side and creates shadowed effects on the left.
Edge lighting is achieved by having the key-light parallel to the subject and positioning it at the same height as the subject's eye.

Understanding and Demonstration of Aperture

Aperture is the hole within the lens that allows light to travel through. How much light travelling through can determine the brightness of the photo. Aperture is like a pupil; which can open and close to allow more or less light to enter the lens. A large aperture will allow a lot of light into the lens, resulting in a much brighter photograph and a low aperture will make a photo darker. Both a small and large aperture can have benefits dependant on what kind of photograph is wanted.
In a dark environment, a large aperture will be needed to be able to pick up on what is in the photograph, similar to when your pupils dilate when it is dark.
Aperture can affect depth of field. This is because a large aperture increases blurs and a small aperture reduces them. Large aperture results in a shallower effect in photos.
Apertures are described in the terms of f-numbers. For example, f/11 is a small aperture, and f/3 is larger. The larger the number, the smaller the aperture (confusing).

Experimenting with Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is simply the amount of times the shutter is open. 

Shutter speed is measured in seconds, or in most cases - in fractions of seconds. Eg: 1/1000 is a much faster shutter speed than 1/30. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time. The shutter speed and aperture together control the total amount of light reaching the sensor. A quicker shutter speed will prevent motion blur and will produce a clear image or video of motion. In my example, the shutter speed is in the middle as it is clear to see the motion of the water but not as clear as it could be. In most films, shutter speed is quite low as some motion can be easier to see and more aesthetically pleasing at a lower speed, as the human eye can only see up to 1000fps and rarely above.

Examples of lighting types: Rembrandt

Above is my own example of Rembrandt Lighting.
What makes this example 'Rembrandt' is the small triangle beneath one of the subject's eyes and one side of the subject's facial contours being shadowed by the lack of lighting on one side.
Rembrandt lighting is a lighting technique in which a key light and a reflector is used, or in some cases, two lights are used. Below is a diagram showing a simple set-up used to achieve Rembrandt lighting:
 (diagram courtesy of photoblog.com)

In the example above, the key light is facing the subject's face and there is a reflector to the other side of the subject. Whilst trying to achieve my example, it was a case of trial and error to find out whereabouts I needed to locate the key light and the reflector to achieve Rembrandt lighting. Even after a while of figuring out where to place them both, I still feel that my example wasn't as rembrandt-esque as it could have been.

Examples of lighting types: Butterfly

 Here we can see an example of butterfly lighting. Butterfly lighting is also known as Paramount lighting, as it was mainly used for traditional Hollywood glamour photography. On my beautiful model, I placed the light slightly above his head, looking down on him to brighten his face and cast shadows amongst his cheekbones. The most noteable shadow cast is the one below the nose of which is the shape of a butterfly, thus the name.
Butterfly lighting is achieved by simply placing the light directly in front and slightly above the subject, as displayed in the diagram below:

Evidence and Understanding of Pull Focus

A pull focus is when the camera's focus changes from one subject to another during one shot. Within this particular shot, the camera is initially focussing on the greenery in the background, to then focussing on the person standing by the camera, sharpening the subject. This is done by adjusting the focus ring until the first subject becomes out of focus, proceeding to blur out the entire shot, then finally focussing on a second subject. 

A technical challenge I faced with this particular task is that I have no knowledge of photography so it was all completely new to me. Though it was explained and demonstrated to me multiple times, it was still difficult for me to grasp onto it. The motion of the subjects in this footage was difficult to focus on but still (I think) produced a pull focus. Perhaps not as good as others. 

The exposure triangle

The exposure triangle is a term for three conventions of taking a photograph that affect the quality of an image.
The 3 factors that contribute to the exposure triangle are:
- Aperture
- Shutter speed
- ISO
Getting these three things at the right level will produce a better quality photograph.

Aperture is a measure of how open or closed a lens is. If a lens is opened wider, then more light will flow in. In simple terms, the wider you open your eye, the more light you can see. A narrower aperture (or higher f-number) will allow less light to reach the sensor. Aperture allows a sense of depth of field. Narrower apertures give a greater depth of field, where as wider apertures give a lesser depth of field. A narrower depth of field can isolate a single subject; an example of this is within portrait photography.

Shutter Speed is simply a measure of how fast the shutter remains open and how long the sensor is exposed to light. If a shutter speed is faster, it allows less time for light to reach the sensor. The type of image this would produce would be lower exposure, whereas slower shutter speeds allow more time for light to reach the sensor thus creating an image creating a higher exposure. Higher shutter speeds during stop motion can allow the images to maintain sharpness.

ISO is the measurement of sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number is on the ISO, the less sensitive the camera is to light. In simpler terms, the lower the ISO is, the darker your photograph is, but the higher the ISO, the brighter. It should be noted that high ISOs can create a lot of noise in the photographs, therefore a high ISO ideally should be avoided for a better quality image. ISO should only really be increased when there is not enough light to capture a bright photo in any other way. Another reason to take photos with high ISO is to avoid motion blur or when capturing ultra fast motion.

Evidence and demonstration of understanding of ISO

ISO is one of the 3 factors of exposure along with aperture and shutter speed. ISO refers to light sensitivity of either the film or imaging sensor. Adjusting ISO changes picture quality:
Higher ISO: more light exposure, however more noise in photos creating a grainy image.
Lower ISO: less light exposure, however better quality and clearer image.
In my filmed example above, the ISO is placed at 100. This is the lowest setting my camera would produce therefore the quality is high.
This video is effective in displaying ISO because it is natural light.