Creative Media Production homework - 22/06/16

1) Why is media research carried out and by whom?

Media research can be carried out for academic purposes, which would be conducted by universities. It can also be carried out for commercial research, made by commercial media organisations.

2) What area has much media research focused on?

Much media research has been focused on how audiences interact with the media they consume. This has helped to change and shape policy within media companies and governments, in relation to codes of practice.

3) Why is it important for media producers to commission research?

Media producers commission research in order to understand the consumer habits and activities, whilst predicting our next purchases. It allows producers and advertisers target their products more effectively to consumers, and to identify niche markets such as the 'grey consumer', or 'grey pound'.

4) What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is an assumption or question about a topic, which research will either prove or disprove.

5) What do students gain from undertaking media research?

One reason, is to gain a greater and more in-depth understanding of a certain topic, and to develop research skills, which would be useful in further education or in a job. Also, the more research you carry out, the better you can evaluate the research of others.

6) What's the difference between primary and secondary research?

Primary research is new research, that is carried out in the hope of answering questions, or to prove a hypothesis right or wrong. It can involve questionnaires, interviews, and observations. On the other hand, secondary research is making use of information previously researched, that is publicly available, and this can be found in books, newspapers, and the internet.

7) What's the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, and why ideally do you need a mixture of both?

Qualitative research is a type of research that attempts to explain or understand something, which takes discussion and interpretation of behaviour and ideas. Quantitative data is a type of research that is used to measure stimuli, and works on collecting numerical data, to produce evidence such as graphs and statistics. It is ideal to have a mix of both, as quantitative data gives a statistical overview, which is easy to understand and gives quick, clear evidence; whilst qualitative data answers important questions, giving more in-depth data, and both of this research together gives the most descriptive and thorough research.

8) What do the terms subjective and objective mean?

To be subjective, means to be influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions. On the other hand, to be objective means to be bias-free, and to not let opinions or personal feelings have any part in research.

9) In research terms what is a methodology?

In terms of research, methodology is the system or manner used to carry out research, and the different ways in which data can be collected.  

Music Video Production - Progress Diary

Progress Diary “Percipient”- Emily Merritt-Moore 

Monday 21st March

We met with Greg Vernon to discuss our ideas for the music video with him. We explained to him our idea for the narrative and performance aspects; the locations we wanted to film at; the costume and lighting ideas. We also discussed dates that were good for everyone involved, and arranged times that we could film. We arranged to film at ‘The Metway’ (a recording studio and office building) on the 10th April, and at Preston Park Rockery on the 15th April. 

Sunday 10th April 

We had to reschedule filming at ‘The Metway’, due to our artist being ill and therefore unable to perform. We set the new date for filming at ‘The Metway’ as the 24th April.

Friday 15th April

Due to adverse weather conditions, we had to postpone filming at the Preston Park Rockery, as it would have been irresponsible to film in the rain, as it could have damaged the cameras. We rescheduled the shoot at the Preston Park Rockery for the 22nd April.

Tuesday 19th April

We went to Preston Park Rockery to film cutaways for our music video, and filmed shots including close up and panning shots of flowers; long shots of the willow tree; establishing high angle shots of the Rockery, taken from the bridge.

Friday 22nd April

We filmed Greg Vernon at the Preston Park Rockery, singing and playing his guitar in time to his track, ‘Percipient’. We filmed a range of shots such as: close up shots of Greg’s face and hands on his guitar; tracking shots of Greg playing guitar, standing under a blossom tree; Greg playing guitar and singing, sitting in various locations including a rock and stone steps; Greg walking across the stepping stones over the pond to exit the park.
We believed we would be filming with the main character of our narrative, Grace Harwood, on this day. However, one of the team members changed the plans last minute, therefore causing confusion amongst the group and causing Grace to believe she was not needed for this day. To overcome this issue, we arranged a date with the talent that we could film with her.

Sunday 24th April

We filmed Greg Vernon at ‘The Metway’, singing and playing his guitar. We filmed multiple shots of Greg playing guitar and singing in different locations within ‘The Metway’, including: in ‘the dungeon’ ( a store room), on a stool; on the stairwell; in an armchair in the bar of ‘The Metway’. We also filmed shots of our main character, Grace, and filmed shots such as: Grace in various positions (e.g. sitting, standing, lying down) with the mirror in front of her face; Grace sitting on the stairs with the mirror in front of her face, Grace walking down a corridor.
We were meant to start filming at 12:30pm on this day, however due to communication issues and lateness, we didn’t begin filming until 2:30pm. To overcome this issue, I negotiated with the person with whom I’d arranged to book the location, and we were able to extend our allotted time, to until 5pm.

Friday 29th April

We filmed Grace Harwood at the Preston Park Rockery on this day, and filmed her in a happier mood, interacting with the flowers and being excitable. We filmed various shots including close up of Grace ‘smelling’ flowers, and long shots of the talent walking around the rockery. We did this to contrast to the gloomy mood of the shots that we had filmed in ‘The Metway’, the previous week.

Monday 9th May

Editing began, and has been going quite well. However, I have realised that matching Greg’s lip synching to the song has been harder than I anticipated, partly because when lip synching, Greg appears to mumble his words. This has made synching him to the track quite difficult, as it is hard to understand what he’s saying. Also, I am finding it difficult to match the strumming of the guitar to the song. This is partly due to the fact that this is my first time editing shots of a guitar, and I do not really understand chord changes. In addition to this, we were not able to gain all of the shots that I had planned in my storyboard, therefore my edit will not exactly match it.
In spite of this, I have been making progress with my edit, and am optimistic for the outcome.

Week beginning 16th May

Now mocks are finished, I have been working hard on finishing my edit. I have found that conveying the narrative is a challenge, as it doesn't make complete sense, and the shots we have of Grace with the mirror can come across as confusing. In hindsight I realise now that we shouldn't have used the mirror at all in the music video, as it makes the storyline hard to follow (unless you understand the context and idea behind it). However, I have been making progress, and I believe the storyline is beginning to make sense. My first goal is to create a rough edit, and then adjust where possible, to help explain the narrative better and make it a more interesting video.

Week beginning 23rd May

After much practice, I am improving with matching the guitar, and Greg's lip synching to the track. I am understanding the process and am getting better at it.
Whilst editing the section of the music video which involves the talent in the Rockery, I have discovered that whilst some of the shots are excellent, others are shaky and out of focus, which are unusable. This is frustrating, as I am running out of good footage to use. It has also caused a problem regarding the shots of Greg and Grace on the bridge individually. Somehow the footage of Greg on the bridge is of a great standard, but the shot of Grace is out of focus and poor quality, therefore the two shots side-by-side look strange, as they are both of differing quality. In addition, some shots of Grace do not stay still for long enough to be used as an effective shot. For example, one shot of Grace on the bridge zooms in and out quite quickly, meaning that there is not a period of time that is long enough to be used as a still shot.

Week beginning 30th May

Effectively conveying the storyline is still a challenge, but I have found some ways to improve it, and to hopefully overcome this issue. Firstly, there is the issue of why Grace leaves the confines of 'the dungeon', and her sadness, to escape into the Rockery. To help establish this, I have included more shots of Grace's hands clutching and pulling at the bars on the door of 'the dungeon', and her looking longingly out of the window, to show that she is constantly wishing to leave, and trying to escape. Secondly, I didn't believe that the section of Grace in the Metway contrasted enough to the section of her in the park. To overcome this, and to create more contrast between the two settings, I changed the shots in the Metway to black and white. In pre-production I dismissed the idea of using black and white into colour to show a contrast of feelings, as I saw it as cliché and overrated, insisting we only use low and then high key lighting. However, I realised that the contrast between the Metway and the Rockery was not enough, and I believe that adding a black and white effect to the shots of the Metway, really helped emphasise a contrast and change. In retrospect, I understand that using black and white shots into colour is cliché because it is effective, and this technique has been used by many film makers. Therefore in the future I shall not be so dismissive of ideas such as this.

Week beginning 6th June

I have been making some final edit changes, such as adding a title and making any last adjustments. I believe that adding a title to my edit, makes the first shot visually more interesting.
I have been showing my edit to friends and family, asking for feedback and constructive criticism. The main point, is that the use of the mirror is unclear and many find it confusing, as I had feared. However, I think the narrative is slightly open to interpretation by the viewer, which is line with the fact that Greg Vernon believes the meaning of 'Percipient' is open to interpretation by the listener.
Overall, I am pleased with my final edit of this music video. It is not without flaws, however I am proud of it.

Friday 17th June

The peer feedback I received in class has been positive, with the majority of people liking the creative qualities and the editing. I am very pleased with this, as I was worried that the narrative wasn't going to make sense, and that people would find it boring. I am pleased with my final edit as I believe it was successful in conveying the narrative.