Under analogue communication, data is in blocks and needs a lot of frequency space. However, digital is based on binary code (0s and 1s) and compresses strongly into minute packets of data of much higher quatity. This makes it faster, smaller, better quality and is interactive. For example with digital TV you can buy things, play games or choose an angle at which you watch a football match. With analogue TV the information just comes at you and you can’t send anything back. Digital technology has made cameras (both still and video), sound recording, editing and viewing higher quality for all. It has also allowed the invention of PCs, the internet and mobile phones.
New media technologies I used in the production of my media product include:
- Digital cameras (still and video)
- Internet
- Mobile Phones
- Final Cut Pro
- Adobe After Effects
- Photoshop
All these technologies were used extensively at all stages of production from: research and development; planning/pre-production; construction; post production; distribution and evaluation.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
I was able to use the internet to aid my research into music videos. By accessing YouTube, I was able to observe and study pop videos and came to the conclusion that most pop videos follow a similar form: colour, fast editing, lots of shots, suggestion of sex and discontinuity editing. Using this knowledge I was able to start thinking about my own ideas for a video.
Using my PC I listened to numerous songs from a selection of genres until an idea really hit me. I was able to narrow my choice down to three songs. Using Microsoft PowerPoint I created presentations of my three ideas and showed them to my class. We then took a vote and ended up settling on ‘Assassin’ by Muse. I was then able to move on to the next stage of production.
PLANNING/PRE-PRODUCTION
In this stage we drew storyboards, wrote up a timeline, and constructed a call sheet. Due to digital technology we were able to Word Process all these documents on a Computer, or at least digitally scan sheets of paper into the PC. This was useful when it came to producing multiple copies of our twenty page call sheet. If it were not for digital technology we would have had to write each one by hand. We were also able to film our story boards and edit them together on Final Cut Pro. We then put it to the song so we had a good idea of which shots would or wouldn’t work and how well it would cut. This was particularly helpful as it made us realise we needed a lot more shots and faster cuts for the video to have our desired effect
We looked at a number of locations for the stairwell. Naturally not everyone could always visit them; we often had to send one or two people by themselves. Luckily, using digital cameras, we were able to take high quality and easily accessible stills of each location so whoever hadn’t visited it still got a good idea of what it was like.
We were able to utilise the internet to look for a number of our props and costume. For the SWAT team outfits and replica weapons, we looked on lots of army surplus stores. This, however, proved too expensive and we ended up borrowing camouflage gear and guns from the school theatre department and a friend.
We were able to secure a location to film the SWAT team section of the video in a Guildford car park. We did so through email, this made the process so much faster than having to find time to talk on the phone or send a letter.
CONSTRUCTION – SHOOT
My pop video, because of its pace and action packed narrative, contained mostly 3 second shots. The video was 3 minutes long and therefore had a total of 60 shots. In film making the average ratio of shots filmed to shots used is 10:1 respectively; due to this we had to film a total of 600 shots to achieve a good edit. This was possible with digital technology because the cameras were light weight, small and easy to use allowing us to work quickly to get lots of shots in a short space of time. Also due to the camera we were using the quality of our footage was very good, it is said that the picture from a digital is 1000x than that from an analogue camera.
We used the JVC1500E camera to film the pop video, this is a fairly high tech camera and allowed us to be very creative with shutter speeds and focus pulls ect. One shot where this is evident is a mid shot of the singer with the bassist behind in soft focus, when the bassist starts to sing backing vocals there is a focus pull bringing him into focus.
The Camera’s weight and size allowed us to much more, than would have been possible with an analogue camera. This is demonstrated in some of the stairwell shots where the camera man literally had to sprint up a staircase following a SWAT team, for example:
When we were filming in the studio we had two large overhead screens linked to the camera. From a directors point of view this was very helpful as it allowed me to see exactly what the finished product would look like without having to squint at the tiny screen on the camera or a small monitor. For example, in this shot of the drummer’s hands, it was important to see the fine detail to know whether we were achieving intended outcome (drum sticks blurring).
CONSTRUCTION – POST PRODUCTION
Using Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects we edited one afternoon for 3 to 4 weeks and managed to produce a final cut, complete with special effects which we did ourselves. This was made possible with new media technologies. If we had been editing linearly, it would have taken at least 6 weeks of full time editing and we would have had to send it off for after effects to be put in. Also, every edit of the video you produce drops in quality slightly; digital technology allowed us to maintain high quality.
We used a blue screen when filming in the studio. New media technologies allowed us to create a digital backdrop on Adobe Photoshop using images of cityscapes taken from the internet. We collected as many pictures of big cities at night as we could and started to layer them on top of each other. First we created the back layer which would act as the skyline with lots of distant buildings. We then built up a slightly closer layer with fewer, but larger, buildings. Finally we topped it off with a couple of very large buildings in the foreground. This layering effect gave a 3D feel to the picture and made it look more realistic, especially in the tracking shots.
DISTRIBUTION AND EVALUATION
The internet was an essential media technology in the distribution and evaluation of our video. We used Blogger.com, Youtube.com and Facebook.com to showcase our product and give others, predominantly our target audience, a chance to comment and give their opinion on the video. This allowed us to improve and make a video that our target audience would enjoy more.
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