Section 1A - Research and Planning

Describe how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre - production of your AS and A2 coursework. 25 Marks.

When given my two briefs over the two year Media course I knew that without excelling in my research and planning stages I couldn't create a successful and professional outcome. I knew how important it was to use a range of different programs and create a variety of different methods to ensure that I had covered all elements needed in the pre production stage before filming could begin, the more tasks I completed the more creative I become in the way that my ideas started to surface and plans fell into place. Over the two year course I was given two separate briefs; In AS we were asked to create a 2 minute film sequence from either a Film Noir or Horror Genre including titles, I personally chose Horror because I knew I would be more successful at it. In A2 we were asked to create a music promo package which included; Music Video, Digipak and Advert I personally chose the Pop Genre and chose to use the song Cannibal by Kesha. Throughout this question I am going to talk about what skills I used in my AS brief and explain how each of them had equal importance before analysing how I developed these skills along with others in my A2 Brief.

In AS one of the first tasks I completed was a mind map showing the genre conventions of Horror films, this was created in PowerPoint but meant that I could gather all of my ideas together in note form to understand the type of concepts I would need to take into account when creating my own. This was the best way to input this specific task because I could set out each different convention with a detailed amount of points to back it up. Without making this I wouldn't be able to have the deeper understanding of what sorts of elements need to be included in my actual sequence, it also made me think of my own unique ideas that I could add so my work looked more creative.
I then created a titles timeline which meant watching a specific film that fits exactly to my chosen genre and watching just the title sequence noting down the specific times when each of the titles are shown for example names of the director, producers, actors in the film and finally the name of the film. This was noted down on paper however it helped me realise how long my titles should be for my own sequence, because only a few people will be acting in it and my overall film should only be two minutes long it made me think of ways I could make sure the titles and my opening to the film could all be covered, so I decided that thinking about speeding up the time in which the titles are shown may save space for more of the film. Without completing this task in my research stages I don't think I would have been able to plan out accurately how much time to give specifically to my titles so it did come in useful.
Creating documents regarding Audience and Institution research meant I had to look in depth to understand what different points are thought about regarding creating a horror film. For audience research specifically I looked into the interest in various horror films from the 60's to now and the story lines behind each to understand what impacts each of them have on the audience they are trying to attract. In the institution research I started to talk about the variety of popular production companies that support specific  genre's of films. So to give me an insite into the type of companies that distribute horror films in particular I looked into the companies Warner Bros who produced a smaller company named Dark Castle Entertainment who only distributed films of the horror genre, the 2011 film named The Unknown was a box office hit who made $136,123,083,  so I personally decided that this would be the distributor for my own horror sequence, which was only determined by the research otherwise no actual real decision could have been made. As I wouldn't have understood the meaning of what distributers and film producers are. 
I then went onto creating a pitch, this included an overview of the storyline as well as an in depth description of the variety of shots needed in order to capture each separate scene and also as in site into the funding and distribution companies that will be used to support my sequence and why. I believe this got me thinking directly about what the major ideas would be to create my storyline with the various conventions needed in order for it to be of the horror genre. Without actually completing this activity in the research stages I don't believe I would of had a clear plan of my outcome whilst filming.
Creating an audience profile meant I could actually visualise the aspects of the exact audience type that my sequence would attract. This information included the age, gender, hobbies and interests and favourite existing films. Collecting this type of information meant I had a clear idea of how I could promote my sequence in the future to attract these people to watch. I knew by creating profiles for both male and female audiences that it could attract more of a interest. This task played a huge part in the filming of my sequence as I now had the clear idea of how to conduct the scenes in order to affect my 'typical audience'.
The planning part of AS was much more thorougher and detailed than the research elements as these contributed quite a high percentage to my production value. The main elements where the storyboard/anamatic I created which included each separate scene that I will film in my sequence and also had a voice over completed on top which was created using the Flash Mic. This meant I could explain each point in detail for the examiner to know that it would be a task I would follow completely during my production stages and also for me to personally refer back to encase I am unsure about a certain camera technique for a scene e.t.c.
I had to complete 2 separate call sheets which included the location, actors contact details and camera equipment I would need for both locations. This was a useful element to refer to on the days of filming as I could get in touch with actors who may have been late or use it as a checklist to ensure the details of the location I was filming where correct but also that I had collected the exact equipment I was going to need.
Production schedule was a task created to keep to my time management of when exactly I would film each scene of my sequence in the allocated time given. This was especially useful to print out and keep a copy at home so I could check it each day and know when my next film day would be, however if I hadn't planned and created this schedule I may not have met all of my deadlines on time.
For my own personal use I conducted a separate photo shoot of the two main locations to ensure it would be of sufficient use for my actual sequence to link to the conventions I would need to cover in order for it to look of the horror style, the forest area was like a blank canvas but also very realistic which meant I could use up as much space as I need to capture the perfect shots and also the media studio was of a large size and could hold the 2 characters that would be acting in that scene, however if I didn't hold this small timed photo shoot then I could have turned up on the day in both locations and they may not have been up to the standard I need, so this planning activity was a crucial part of my production filming and although it wasn't compulsory it still came in useful.

In A2 my priorities where of a fixed standard as I knew the workload was of a higher level and much more detail would need to be added to each task. Even if I used the same tasks as AS they were much more developed to ensure my skills were shown to the examining body in a much more professional and organised way. The first main task I completed was researching into my specific genre of music to find the conventions that are specifically used in them types of videos, which is similar to the task completed in AS however because this brief meant I was filming a full music video compared to a small sequence I had much more of a large amount of conventions to write about which I used for personal use to refer to throughout the rest of my research and planning tasks as this was a starting point. The development from AS to A2 was the fact that I understood the priority to create such a high level piece of work was crucial and that the more conventions that I came across the easier it would be to incorporate them into my music video, this was actually used throughout the production process however I didn't use my AS mind map at all.
A shot count task was then completed to see how many different angles and camera changes where in one single music video, I made sure I used a video linking to my chosen genre which was also upbeat like the Cannibal song I had chosen, this task had to be checked over around 3 times before I settled on a number and I believe the whole reason for completing it was to realise how much variety I would need to add to my own video in order for it to look interesting to the audience. Although this task wasn't completed in AS I do believe the whole idea was to think about the different shots needed during the filming stages to get the highest level which I made sure I captured in A2 but at AS I just thought about ideas as the process went on and didn't really have much variety to work with. 
I then completed a lyric breakdown of the whole song to explain what would actually be shown on each line of the song that plays, this was a long process however it helped me realise the timing I would need to consider between each of the shots because it is so fast paced a lot of jump cuts and cutaway techniques would need to be used in order for the video to flow easily with the audio. It also made me actually imagine the lyrics being sang and visualising my idea together with them in order to achieve the best outcome, although some of the ideas didn't start to look right without this task I wouldn't have even known the difference and when it come to filming that's when the problems could have started, once again this task wasn't completed in AS because not much words where spoken however the detail that this task made me think of meant I was a lot more creative and imaginative with each of the scenes to captivate the audience.
Various mood boards where then created regarding the clothing, make up, scenes that were going to be used to make it easier to visualize how each of them would come together, I believe this was another task that brought my creative side out as the original outfits I planned to put together didn't actually work with my main characters identity when shown in pictures so I had to re think a few plans however without these I wouldn't have been organised enough to dress my character in the best way as in AS everyone's outfits in their sequences where similar because of the genre so mood boards weren't a necessity however in A2 because I was planning to create a variety of different scenes creating a photo filled document helps the ideas come to life.
By creating draft ideas it meant I could fully understand the plan of action for my video and how each of the scenes would look, comparing this to AS it was of a much larger scale as this video had longer timings and hundreds of different shots to think about. Although these weren't my final outcomes for the filming of the music video it meant I had solid ideas that I could refer back to when it came to the production level, if anything then needed changing I would know what type of scene I would be working in e.t.c. The workload is the main development of my ideas being drafted because in AS I was only generating small ideas for a sequence but my input needed to be more detailed in A2 to ensure I spoke about each of the scenes, camera skills, wardrobe and characters used.


 In the planning stages I made call sheets however the locations where more imaginative this time and there was a precise few more than in AS because I wanted to make the settings look more realistic and interesting to the audience rather than just using the media studio for the whole shoot, although I did use this again it was more discrete and meant I could get away with it being a studio room. I also added much more camera equipment as I wanted this whole music video to look of a professional level, compared to only using a small handheld camera in AS some of the shots where wobbly and it was easy to spot, however here I asked for tripods and better quality cameras in order to get the best results. The A2 call sheets had much more detail added to them compared to AS as this time I had to explain each of the outfits that would be worn listing each element which was minor detail for the AS sheets, without creating these locations and ideas would not be understood by tutors.
The treatment sheet is something used only in A2 which is a small overview of a background to the artist, the specific wardrobe of clothing my character would be wearing in each of the scenes, the variety of locations and also the influences in which I took ideas from to incorporate into my own music video. This was one of the planning methods that I made sure was most detailed in order to refer back when needed because it was a small document that included all the most important information. This shows how much more organised I was at A2 and developed my imaginative skills in order to come out with the best outcome. 
Compared to AS I captured a selection of test footage that showed my main character in the decided outfit in also the specific location to see if it would match up on camera and look of a professional level. Although they were only small 30 second clips it give me the sense of how the real footage would look and in one specific location (forest area local to college) I decided it was too risky as it's a popular place so I may never pick a correct time to visit, but without actually going to the location and setting up I may never have came across this affect and it could have ruined the chance of getting high marks, I didn't even think about testing footage in AS, this just shows how much more committed you have to be in A2 to get the higher marks in the course. The Anamatic I created in A2 was of a much more bigger scale than in AS, when completing my storyboard for my horror sequence it was made up of 12 separate frames compared to 80 frames in A2. This was all because of the longer duration that the music video took as the scenes are much longer and have much more of a variety compared to the basic story line created for AS. Just by looking at the extended piece of workload from 12 to 80 shows how many tasks need to be completed in the beginning to ensure that everything is covered before the production starts, this being the main one because without an actual storyboard showing specific dance routines or camera angles it would be a very blank canvas when it came down to filming priorities as no real ideas would have been 'set in stone' to refer back too which is what I seemed to feel like a lot in AS because of the limited amount of sketches I actually created.  

Overall from the two years I think I have developed in a variety of different fields including time management, organisational structure, detailed analysis and production value. In most of the research and planning tasks I felt like in AS I had successfully completed each of them but in A2 I developed on these types of answers to make sure they were detailed enough for the higher level criteria to be met.