The Kooks and Postmodernism

The Kooks and Postmodernism on Prezi

Hobo with a Shotgun intertextual references

Hobo with a Shotgun evidenced intertextual references to Steampunk and it reminded me of the film Doomsday by Niell Marshal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3Gvx-WKG4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGA7q9VLfps&feature=related

An example of a Postmodern Film

I think an example of a postmodern film is Jarhead



I think an example of postmodern television is Generation Kill

Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework

Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework

I learnt that the importance of good research and planning incorporates numerous elements. Research and Planning holds great importance as it can help substantially in the latter parts of the coursework. I learnt this from AS and A2 as I feel that my research and planning improved substantially at A2 standard as thus I realised how it can help later in production.

I did learn that for the most effective research and planning the sources that are used for primary and secondary sources must be analysed to decide whether they are trust worthy to provide reputable research. At AS this was more of a problem considering searching for magazine covers often produced previous students work. At A2 fortunately YouTube made it easier to be certain that they were the official video as they were published on the artist or bands respective channel.

As the ultimate aim of research and planning was to make production easier, the organisation of the work would help with this. AS level was the first time I had used blogger and as the course developed I developed ways to improve my organisation. For example, I learnt the importance of reordering my blog so that the posts grouped together. I also used  labeling so that each post fell into the correct category. This made production significantly easier as I could click on the category and include all the relevant information. I developed into A2 through my better understanding of Blogger and my use of functions provided such as polls and playlists. Alongside this I made better use of guidance given in organising my work, making myself aware of what I needed to do for when, ensuring I completed all work to the appropriate deadlines.

I found at both AS and A2 that the use of a draft is to improve your ideas and receive useful feedback. At AS I produced drafts for my magazine’s front cover, contents page and double page spread and the feedback I received allowed me to make thorough relevant changes to my work and improve it substantially. At A2 I used feedback in the same way, especially that which I received concerning the digipak and magazine adverts. I was again able to rethink my original ideas and allow me to work them into the next stage of production.

At AS my planning wasn’t structured very efficiently, however my planning significantly developed into the A2 course. It was structured via the use of my storyboard which allowed me to be aware of what shots needed doing and where, ensuring that I used my time efficiently. I learnt the importance of structuring my plans and work and thus incorporated this throughout my later work. At AS I used the plans and mocks that I had made loosely, referring to them mainly as guidelines rather than strict structures. This developed significantly into A2 when I found that following the storyboard that had been constructed made production far easier. This is something that I realised as vitally important in Research and Planning as it made production far easier than it had been at AS. 

The presentation of my research and planning was also something which I discovered as important. At AS and A2 it was primarily constructed as Blog Posts, allowing me to place them all together and organise my blog efficiently. At A2 this developed into more creative presentations of my work, such as the use of Prezi on our coursework pitch or embedding YouTube clips. The importance of this was to allow the work to look more creative and in some circumstances, to highlight areas of research and planning which were of particular importance to the production of work.

Research and Planning at both AS and A2 level heavily influenced the work that I created during production. For example, my research into genre at both levels influenced the style of Mise en scene I created, firstly for my photo shoot and secondly in how I filmed and dressed those within the music video. The importance of my research and planning became particularly obvious during in production, when the use of the guidance I had developed became vital. For example, the structured shot list at AS or the storyboard at A2 were vital to the efficient production of my final pieces. 

Presentation of Research and Planning

Presentation of Research and Planning

The majority of my research was presented via blog posts. For my primary research this is especially true. At AS and A2 my research of magazines and music videos all took the form of blog posts with the posts becoming more creative when I added images of the magazines I had analysed and embedded the music videos I had researched from YouTube. We used a variety of means to make the blog more creative. For example our pitch was presented on the blog in the form of Prezi and our animatic was constructed via iMovie and embedded on the blog. Secondary research that we constructed was posted on the blog, but was made more dynamic and creative via the inclusion of links to certain websites of blogs that i had been researching from.

Organisation of Planning Materials

Organisation of Planning Materials

My planning materials mainly consisted of our storyboard, which had been constructed to allow us to be aware of what shots needed doing, when and how to manage our time effectively. I could use the storyboard to number the shots so I could see every shot I had to complete in a certain location ensuring that I used time efficiently. My organisation however, went further than just the practical side of the coursework. I also developed a to do list for the work that had to be completed on the blog, to ensure that I did not miss vital pieces of work.

At AS level I hadn’t used Blogger before and therefore it was a new feature which I did not utilise to the full. For example at AS I wasn’t fully aware of how to add extras alongside the Blog to provide further information about what genre of music I was doing etc. At A2 however, I provided a poll to give a popular vote on which song should be used for the music videos and I feel that I used labels more efficiently and constructively. 

Throughout the construction of my AS coursework I followed my plans loosely in that I used them more as a guideline. Instead I used real features I had researched from real music magazines to add features to my own work. I did this because my mock designs were my original ideas but at the time of their construction my research might have not been in depth enough to ensure I knew what features I should place on it. At A2, our plans on the storyboard were followed far more closely as they had been constructed far more carefully. We followed them closely as they made production far easier than if we had started filming without a true idea of what to do. if changes had to be made they were placed alongside that area of the storyboard so that when we came to it in the shot list, we knew what changes had to be made and how we should do it.

At A2 both me and my partner had a copy of the storyboard. This allowed us to prepare separately for whatever filming we had scheduled but also it meant that we always had a spare copy in case one of us misplaced our work.

At A2 I posted about how progress was going on filming. This was useful when we came to film our second draft as it allowed us to see what shots had caused us particular difficulty. We also blogged about what the weather had been on certain shots and therefore when we came to filming the second draft we could see which ones we might have struggled with weather wise and thus could take the time to film these again.

My research and planning skills were again used in the production of my magazine advert and digipak. I could refer back to the blog and my posts on mise en scene to ensure that I had all the elements correct before taking the photographs which would be used on the designs.

Planning - Pre-production and Requirements

Planning - Pre-production and Requirements

Drafts

At AS I produced one draft for my front cover, contents and double page. This draft was useful in providing feedback which heavily influenced my final design. It allowed feedback in that it was marked by the teacher who then handed it back with useful points upon which I could work to further improve my work. At A2 there were more drafts to produce, for example I had to produce a draft for my music video and for the magazine advert and digipak. Again however this provided useful feedback and eventually led to me redesigning the whole design of my magazine advert and digiak. 

Feedback

At AS and A2 this feedback was taken into account and was collated easily as it was all written on one sheet of paper. Providing the information on what I needed to do. From AS to A2 my ability to take account of feedback improved, whilst at AS I did register what needed to be done, I didn’t act upon it as thoroughly as I did at A2.