1a. Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology have developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media production in your answer.
In the research and planning of our foundation portfolio we made an opening for a thriller, we used google and youtube to research possible intertextual references, in order to be inspired. We used youtube to watch Schindler's List, which was one of our main intertextual references. This gave us the idea of using the Pleasant Ville effect, an effect which excludes any colour apart from red, which I used Youtube to learn the effect and After effects and Final Cut to practise this for when it came to post production later in the project. This made our thriller opening hyper real, and represented danger throughout the only colour being red. We also completed some preliminary tasks such as recreating the title sequence to Dexter, so we used a camera and exported the footage onto final cut pro and edited this, this developed our skills to our advanced portfolio the next year. We also used blogger to present our portfolio, and after effects to create some of our effects and our production logo sequence.
In our advanced portfolio we made a music video we had the skills of using digital technology that we had developed throughout the foundation portfolio. We were able to then use more technologies in our research and planning. We again used Youtube, Google final cut pro and After effects, but this year we also used the television using MTV as research, we used Youtube to gains some intertextual references, including the 1975, using their Music video to chocolate to learn abut shot types for a music video, as well as their dull colour grading, which we practised on Final cut pro and After effects, also their website, we practised by researching how to use tools on Wix and also their digipak. We practised and researched different digipaks including Ellie Goulding and Taylor swift, so we had practise with the camera, exporting and Photoshop. So we had immensely developed from last years research and planning we were able to use more digital technologies and use ones we had previously used with more skills and confidence to make our preliminary task which was a remake of a Hot Chip music video.
We used final cut pro and after effects (the pleasant villa effects) to edit, add effects and colour grade our Thriller opening sequence, we developed our skills here so we could use this more confidently in our Music video. But we also used more technologies such as Wix and photoshop for our digi pak and website. We had more freedom in our advanced portfolio because we didn't have to stick to a code for a thriller, therefore we could use what every style, genre and image. We used the 1975 because they were also Pop Rock, had a rebellious image and had a target audience of 18-30 year olds, so we had a black and white colour scheme, this was because we knew the 1975 sell to our target audience, so if we followed this our product would sell to the consumer too. We developed the our style too so the video can be hyper real and superficial, so we learnt to use a green screen, and I learnt how to replace the green on photoshop, to make our character look like he is being reborn by falling in a cross position onto rail tracks, which makes this part look simulated as this is not realistic similar to a professional film or a video game. In our Advanced portfolio we need to be able to beat edit and lip sync, which we did not with our thriller, so we practised these skills in our preliminary task, hot chip edit.
We only used social media last year to receive feedback in our evaluation but this time as well as the evaluation we used social media within the planning and research. Using Twitter to look for our target audience, to gain information on image, we also used Facebook in the evaluation. Our project this year was more post modern and developed our creativity by using different forms of media including social media. In our evaluation we used Survey Monkey then sent this to our target audience on Facebook and Twitter, we found out our target audience were too rebellious, shown by the low key lighting and dark costume, we found this through audience members of The Archetypes by looking at their Twitter's friends. This made out campaign sell to our consumer, helping us with the style over the substance.
We had to develop our digital technology from last year, because contrasting to last year our brief was to create a campaign for an artists, so we had more freedom and didn't have to follow the conventions of a thriller. Our music video was a narrative conceptual so it was hyper real so we could challenge and break boundaries of artificial and real. There were also more techniques to learn so we had to develop our existing skills. The media i.e our music video is artificial and this is what sells, our world revolves around fake commodities.
