L3 CMPT Final Major

Project Reflective Entries

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
This is where you think about your FMP learning journey and development.
Dont simply describe what you did - consider what you have learnt and how this has benefitted
your project.

Week 1 / 2
How has writing a concept /
proposal helped you with
finalising your idea?
How did the feedback help you The feedback that I got from my teacher helped me to change
adapt your idea what did you the way I thought about the process of making a creative media
change after feedback?
How has the research for your
target audience helped you
understand your production more we found that much of hip-hop is targeted towards males; this
fully?
How did your primary research
help you?
This week you worked on your initial ideas and started your
FMP concept
Writing a concept has helped me establish the general direction
of my production. Once I have the concept I will be able to
conduct research into the chosen medium, genre, target
audience etc. It has helped me gain better understanding of
what I want to achieve with the music video. I feel that instead of
doing just one proposal but evolving it and producing more
informed ideas would help to create a better final product.
However since we need to follow deadlines for this course we
only have time for one proposal. If I were to produce another
creative media project with more time to think about conceptual
ideas, I would conduct more than one proposal.
production. It forced me to tweak my idea so it would conform
better to my ambitions for the video. For example, we changed
some of the initial ideas for camera angles and effects. This is
because we were thinking of producing a video that did not
really hold a narrative. After gaining feedback, we recognised
that if our ambitions were to create a video that the artists would
be proud of, we would need to have a loose narrative or
direction that made sense alongside the lyrics to the song.
Another thing I took away from the feedback given to me is that
I should take more time to determine my ambitions of the
project, Because if I do that I can quickly move on to
researching more about what I want to achieve.
This week you worked on your initial ideas and started your
FMP Research
Performing research into who our suggested target audience is
has helped us better understand what is expected. For example,
means there will be certain conventions of the genre that we
can expect and use in our own production. Such as male
dominance over females. I think that I could have produced
more relevant evidence of the typical viewer. If I were to do it
again I think I would try and provide more sources and also
compare statistics and opinions of these different sources to get
more accurate research.
Conducting primary research into our target audience has
provided us with information such as typical age and gender,
allowing us to create a profile of the most likely person to watch
our video. Therefore, we can tailor our production to best suit
the needs of these people making sure it is something that is
successful and well received. I think that the primary research I
conducted into my target audience helped me understand what
people my own age and own region thought the topic. If I were
to create a better set of primary research results I would need to
conduct a survey over a much larger standard, with more
people and more of a variety of people, not just other college
students. The research did however provide me with a good
idea of who I needed to aim my video towards.
How has researching the
conventions of your chosen genre music videos from the golden age of hip-hop. This has helped
helped you understand what is
required from you in order to
meet a distinction grade?
How has including a variety of
sources (primary and secondary) more legitimate and thorough information into our medium and
helped with your understanding of genre. For example by asking peers of mine about my chosen
your medium / genre?
High Grade Tips
We have researched conventions of my genre by analysing
us identify and understand techniques in filming, planning and
editing that we must use to create a good music video. For
example, the wide range of camera angles used in videos such
as Still D.R.E is a staple of the hip-hop genre. Therefore, we
must also be sure to use a wide range of angles. Another
example is the smooth editing and bright lighting used in It Was
A Good Day. They both help invoke emotion within the viewer,
in this case happiness and calm. This fits perfectly with the
message in the lyrics as well. By researching what makes other
hip hop videos popular, it has helped us identify what we can
incorporate into our own production which will push our grade
up. Overall I think my secondary research and analysis was
very useful because I clearly established a set of conventions
that I would need to follow. I then thought to myself how I could
make my research better, I thought that reflecting upon the
analysis and perhaps drawing on certain comparisons and
differences to other ages of hip hop, or even other genres would
be useful. I concluded that if I compared the conventions to
other ages of hip hop music I would have a better
understanding of what makes my specific genre successful. I
compared them to the conventions of modern day hip hop and
discovered that many of the themes have changed over time.
For example many artists during the golden age would use
rapping about their harsh reality as a way to educate. Nowadays
many artists sensationalise and glamorise these conditions.
This helped me to establish a clear understanding of the social
importance and significance of my genre. I kept sustained
research by adding to it throughout the project, each time I
learnt something new which would benefit me.
By conducting both primary and secondary research we have
medium we established that music videos seen as useful for a
number of reasons. Such as a way of promoting an artist songs
and image, or telling a different or unknown side of a song. It is
also vital to conduct secondary research into both medium and
genre. This is because it provides us with lots of detail and
history. With this we can better inform our own decisions when it
comes to planning etc. I was also sure to analyse various music
videos both within and not within my genre. This again helps us
identify what sets our genre apart from other music videos. I
think that my primary research could have been more thorough
and asked a wider range of people. The various websites/
articles that I listed as sources helped me to delve deep into the
history of my genre and medium.

Research
Thorough research - include plenty of sources and detailed analysis of this information
relevant & coherent make sure your research sources are not just the same as the
Media product you hope to make - and talk about how they inform your planning
sustained continue your research throughout the eleven-week project and dont just
limit it to the first two weeks
accomplished & considered all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly
reflections
Week 2 / 3
What did you learn from your
research?
How will this be useful to your
planning?
What sources of information did
you look at that were different
from your proposed project
This week you will start your planning
My research taught me a number of things about my medium,
genre, artists to admire, target audience, platform that I will use,
and also legal and ethical issues I may face. My primary and
secondary research into my medium helped me to understand
what makes a music video successful and what people thought
music videos were useful for. My genre research taught me
about how vastly two sides of the same genre can differ when it
comes to techniques and conventions employed by producers.
It taught me the best ways to make a successful hip hop video
from using camera angles to costume design and how it sets
the tone of the video. I researched into two professionals whose
work I admire and analysed what makes their productions
admirable. It helped me better understand what real life
problems are faced by actual professionals in the industry. It
taught me how these professionals challenge themselves and
how they have produced work for extremely popular artists,
within my genre. I took away a few things from researching
professionals within my industry which included the importance
of having a well-balanced and pleasurable viewing experience,
also how one can employ certain filters and effects to build up
character and emotion within a scene or shot. The next topic I
had to research was my target audience. I have explained
above what I learnt from this research. The next thing was the
platform that I would air my production. The primary and
secondary research taught me that YouTube was the most
popular and easy platform to publish music videos. It helped
inform my decision quickly. Lastly I learnt about any ethical
issues that I may face when creating my video. I learnt about
YouTubes content policy and became informed as to what can
and cannot be published on their site. Overall the research
section of this project was extremely useful and informed lots of
my discussions regarding the planning of my production. To
improve I would again survey a larger amount of people as well
as a more diverse spread.
This will be useful to the planning stage of my production in a
number of ways. Firstly I will be able to draw upon my research
of genre when thinking about the shooting script. This will give
me clues as to what I can include and whether it would conform
to the conventions of hip hop. I will be able to experient when it
come to the storyboard because I know from my research that
numerous camera angles are important to the genre. Another
way my research will prove useful to my planning is the fact that
I now have a better understanding of how costume design and
props can help to set the tone of a video. By using the correct
props and costume design we can portray the situation and
mood of the character.
Some sources that I referred to during the planning stage of this
production include google maps which helped me with creation
of our location recces.
What did you learn from your
planning this week
What issues did you encounter Some issues that I faced included deciding how to make the
and how did you overcome them? runtime of our music video slightly longer due to the fact that the
High Grade Tips
The planning stage this week has been difficult to organise and
make sure everything is ready for filming. I learnt a number of
this week. For example that co-ordinating a group of people and
agreeing on days in which we need to film can be extremely
frustrating. It made me realise the importance planning ahead
and being aware of the direction you are taking your music
video. Another thing that I learnt about was location scouting
and how important choosing the right location can be to your
production. This week also helped me to understand how to
juggle multiple responsibilities, in situations where it is vital that
the work is done. Parts of the planning that I thought went wekk
include the clearences form which I created and all of the actors
signed confirming their dedication to our video. If I were to be
doing another production which required large amounts of
planning and pre-production, I would ensure that I took more
time with each section and filled out the planning efficiently and
with lots of detail, that way it is a lot easier when it comes time
to film.
song was only around 2 minutes in length. After some thinking
we decided to use a small section of another one of Archies
songs and use it as music for an introduction and titles section.
In my opinion I think this is a clever way to solve our problem
because it is still an original song by the same artist and also
other artists have been known to do that sort of thing, such as
superstar A$AP Rocky. One other problem I encountered was
finding a good location that was contrast to the nice area we
also used. To overcome this I spoke with some of my friends
and their families who told me about an abandoned pavilion that
would be useful to our production. I am pleased with the way I
handled these issues since I found the quickst solution and took
action almost immediately. This thereefore allowed me to stay
on top of the work and deadline despite the problems faced.

Planning & Production

effective planning, organisation your FMP Workbook will explain what you need to do
in the next few weeks to make sure all of your planning is completed, and also how this will
help you
efficient production against timescales your FMP Proposal will clearly identify how
you intend to create your project before the deadline in May
commitment & subject engagement all of the above referred to in your daily/weekly
reflections

Week 3 This week was the start of your production process

What practical work have you This week we have completed no practical work due to the fact
done this week - and how helpful that we have agreed with our actors on dates that they can all
was your earlier planning commit to, as well as it being half term. Because of this we have
made sure that our research is all up to standard and also given
more details with some of the planning. For example I added
more to the shooting script.
How will this be useful to you as The earlier planning will be extremely useful to us as we
your production process continue the production. It will guide us and make the actual
continues filming process a lot simpler, since we have a plan already I
place.

Upload and pictures you have N/A

taken
What issues did you encounter N/A
and how did you over come
them?
High Grade Tips

Practical Skills & Presentation

Considered and capable demonstration of processes very detailed documentation
of your production process - such as still images, and annotated Screenshots of your
specific production and editing process including what and why, not just how
skills and knowledge used to develop alternative ideas evidence of different ideas
developed for more than one version of your Media product

Week 4 This week was the second week of your practical

What did you learn in your
sessions this week
Have you tried anything new this This week we tried using a gorillapod tripod to get some shot
week - if so, was it a success
What feedback did you find most I found verbal feedback the most useful because it often
useful verbal or written
production
This week we completed all of our filming and captured good
amounts of footage. We learnt how difficult It can be to maintain
continuity when using lots of camera angles. To overcome this
problem we filmed continuous shots of archie rapping the whole
song. This way we can break it down and place it together
during the editing process and not have to worry about timing
during filming.
from the ground looking up as well as off of a platform. We
found that it worked to an extent that they were nice steady
shots but the angles were disappointing. If we were to improve
next time we could have booked out or purchased a larger
tripod to attemt to capture some steady shots not just handheld
ones.
happened as we went along, we all tried to experiment with how
we could improve the look of our video. Therefore we made
adjustments along the way. For example we changed some of
the plans for the outro and filmed some extra bits that were not
originally in the script. I felt that it would add more substance to
the character and tone of the video.

How will this be useful to you as This will be useful to us because it shows that we have found
your production process comes to ways to make our lifes easier and have minimalised the amount
a conclusion of work needed to be done.

What issues did you encounter One issue we faced when filming was the battery for my camera
and how did you over come died but we came prepared and had a spare battery pack
them? charged and ready.
High Grade Tips

Practical Skills & Presentation

Considered and capable demonstration of processes very detailed, annotated
Screenshots of your specific production and editing process including what and why,
not just how
skills and knowledge used to develop alternative ideas evidence of different ideas
developed, and more than one version of your Media product

Week 5 This week was your finishing off week - for both your edits
an written work
What feedback did you find most This week I found that written feedback was helpful because it
useful verbal or written told me clearly in black and white what I still needed to improve
on and add more to. Whether it was parts of my research or
planning, I could see what I needed to do and could tick off each
box as I went along, for this reason it made improvements
easier and quicker.
What did you learn in your Whilst my team member completed the editing of our video, I
sessions this week began to prepare our pitch to the rest of the class. I had to go
over the research we conducted previously as well as justifying
our results and showing how we applied it to our production.

How has this helped you meet The fact that we needed to show the class how we achieved our
your targets - see FMP Workbook production, helps us meet our ambitions set out in our original
brief.

How helpful did you find the pitch The pitch was helpful because it gave us an idea for the first
what feedback did you get? time of peoples opinion of our final video. It also gave us a good
opportunity to explain the process we took to creating the video.
I also found it useful to see how other people in my class went
about producing their final major project. I could see how they
approached their work and could take away things that I thought
were good. This way I can use it in my next project and improve.
Some feedback we got was that they thought the video looked
professional and had a good variety of inventive camera angles.
How did your peer feedback help The peer feedback did help because it helped me gain a better
understanding of what others thought of my production. Their
feedback helped me realise what I did well and what I could
have done better.
What issues did you encounter Some issues we faced were problems lining up the lip syning in
and how did you over come parts of the video. To overcome this my parter added effects to
them? draw the attention away from the lips at the time.
High Grade Tips

Evaluation & Reflection

reasoned decisions and inform the development of ideas both your evaluation and
the weekly reflections above will clearly show both how and why your ideas developed
throughout the project
demonstrating clarity in thinking all of the above plus very clear links between your
research, planning, idea development and the production of your poster and film trailer