Deconstruction and Reconstruction of a media text

Iona Gladwin- Cast

Sophie Fitzmaurice- Producer and director

Rhona Drake- Editor

Shannon Sutton- Camera and editor

Jasmine Davies- Camera and editor

Song chosen to do a deconstruction and reconstruction: Lana Del Rey 'Summertime Sadness'

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That, baby, you're the best

I got my red dress on tonight

Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight

Done my hair up real big beauty queen style

High heels off, I'm feeling alive

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air

Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare

Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere

Nothing scares me anymore

(1, 2, 3, 4)

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That, baby, you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

S-s-summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh, oh

I'm feelin' electric tonight

Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99

Got my bad baby by my heavenly side

I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air

Telephone wires above are sizzling like a snare

Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere

Nothing scares me anymore

(1, 2, 3, 4)

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That, baby, you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

S-s-summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh, oh

I think I'll miss you forever

Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky

Later's better than never

Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive (drive, drive)

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

S-s-summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh, oh

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That, baby, you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

S-s-summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh, oh

Location:

• Outside the Wilson building in the forestry
• Wooded location outside of the college site

Props:

• White dress 

Lighting:

• Natural lighting

Our final music video reconstruction

Summertime sadness Evaluation

Whilst doing our reconstruction of Lana Del Rey 'Summertime Sadness' we faced a lot of challenges which we had to overcome.

The first challenge we faced were location issues. Because we filmed in and around college we found it hard to replicate the location in the video and therefore we had to come up with another solution. The ideas we came up with were to film over the weekend but many of the group had work commitments and therefore that idea was not used, the second idea was to film in different locations which we used and worked well. The location changes meant a lot of time had to be committed to the project for location changes as we didn't have transport. 

The second challenge we faced was that members of my group were often missing and they had things that we needed to make the video. Time was often spent getting the song on our phones and therefore time was wasted. Also time was wasted looking back at the original footage instead of using a storyboard which I realised was a vital part of post-production. 

Another challenge we faced was that there was a scene in the original video were Lana Del Rey free falls off a high platform and that was going to prove to be the hardest challenge as we had to come up with a way of making it look as though our performer was also doing the same without causing damage or hurting our performer. We came up with many ideas but the one we went with was to film our performer in the brace position and then cut to the next shot which seemed sensible and without risks. 


Our falling position

Lana Del Rey falling position






The last challenged we faced was that we had to have an elegant old vintage style gate for our performer to stand in front of for a scene in the video, however as we filmed around college it was hard to find a gate that reflected those characteristics and had to opt for a gate that didn't look anything like the one in the video which meant that the style of the overall video was affected. After filming the sequence we realised that we could of searched for a location that held a gate of those characteristics. After showing the video back to the group that was the only element to our video which we really found difficult to overcome. From this mistake I have learnt that it is key to getting mise-en-scene right to create an overall affect and therefore stick within the aims and context of your chosen music video. I also learnt that better preparation and research is key to making an aesthetically pleasing overall product. 

The gate we used which didn't hold any key characteristics to the gate in the video.

The vintage style gate used in Lana Del Rey's summertime sadness.








In conclusion I have learnt that to make a successful product that will reflect your ideas and the genre you must put time into preparation and research, also time has to be spent wisely so that production time isn't affected also you have to be able to pick a group wisely who you know will be there and be willing to put time and effort into post-production and production, I would have to say that was the only thing I regretted about the whole project. 

Skills development essay

Skills development essay

For my foundation portfolio I was given the brief to design and produce my own magazine front cover, content page and double page spread. For this assignment I was given preparation after designing a college magazine with front cover and a contents page. My foundation portfolio was to broaden my knowledge of media texts and put them forward to help come up with an original idea that would conform to the codes and conventions of this existing media text.

Before my AS media foundation portfolio I had used Photoshop before but never at an advanced level that was required for the foundation portfolio. I understand the basics of Photoshop such as how to add text to an image or how to enlarge an image, all these things were used but I had to learn a lot more to help produce my music magazine.

I had to start my research project by analysing existing music magazines based upon my genre (pop). This helped me to gain an insight into the kinds of magazine that were already available on the market and how I could make mine different but still follow the codes and conventions. For these analysis’s I had to construct a LIIAR analysis on three front covers, three contents pages and three double page spreads, this helped me to understand the different conventions of a music magazine, therefore I had an understanding of what was expected of my music magazine.

After research I moved onto post-production, this meant creating mock ups and also designing what my product was going to look like. This part was the most difficult as I would often have an idea and change it due to the fact that my images didn’t work or that I was struggling to find colours that would illustrate my genre well. For my mock ups I produced four digital mock ups and a digital mock up using an existing image. By producing the mock ups it helped me to understand how I had to arrange the conventions on my front page, contents page and double page spread.

After post-production I moved onto creating my product. First of all I started by taking my pictures which I had to do several times as the images didn’t seem appropriate once placed on the front cover, getting the right picture was key but it was something I found difficult as it didn’t represent my genre or sometimes I couldn’t get the model to look the way I wanted too. After several attempts I finally got the shots I wanted and was happy to move onto using Photoshop. This was something I had used before but not to the level was expected at AS media. I knew the basics but after help I moved onto the more complex skills such as how to give the model a flawless look by removing imperfections and replacing the skin with a more even tone, this was a typical convention of a music magazine as artists usually have their skin Photo shopped.

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(Using the spot healing tool on Photoshop)

Another skill I learnt whilst creating my product was how to bring the photo forward so the model looks closer to the camera then she/he already was, this helped me make sure that the reader felt more engaged with the artist, another key element in getting the image perfect. Another skill I learnt was how to change the colour of some features on the image, for example as a trail I changed the colour of the models eyes to make the image look more interesting and eye catching, however this didn’t work and I resorted to the models natural eye colour. Nether the less it was skill worth learnt.

My skills developed by doing the foundation portfolio because I learnt that codes and conventions are important because it all effects how the audience represent the product and this is what sells a product in the world of media. Also the skills I have developed will helped and inspire me during my ‘Advanced portfolio’ for my A2 course. The key element I learnt was creativity, I learnt that creativity was the key to a successful product because the product has to represent and ‘reach out’ to an audience as well as possibly enticing a wider audience, again all key to a successful media text.

After summarising all the skills I have learnt I have come to the conclusion that the skills are essential in order to understand and produce a media text which sticks within the codes and conventions and stick to the form of a music magazine. Photoshop and other digital technologies such as; Prezzi and Go Animate all helped in order to produce something creative which expresses the points I was trying to make. Since starting my foundation portfolio I have developed my skills in all aspects of production, I realised that research was important in understand media texts that already exist and that by researching those I can change my product so that it stands out from others therefore making my product eye catching and possibly reaching a wider audience. Research is also important for developing a target audience and understanding their needs and preferences in order to create a media text which reaches out to them.

Overall I believe that all the skill I have learnt from doing my foundation portfolio (music magazine) can be used to create my advanced portfolio for A2. Skills such as how to use the codes and conventions to portray a message or to please your target audience, also how to use creativity to make a media text stand out from the others on the market.

Performer profile

Name: Shaunna Davies

Age: 17

Hobbies: Like to watch films, loves music and hanging out with her friends.

Role within the production: Shaunna plays the imagined artist as well as posing for my model within my ancillary texts.

Why I chose this performer: Initally I had a choice of two actresses. I chose Shaunna because she is my twin and we live together which meant I could ask her to record whenever I needed. Shaunna has also stared in many productions as a child and knows what it takes to put on an affective performance. Shaunna has also studied AS Media and AS Film Studies so she could also give me her input into the overall outcome of my video.

Audience response

To gain an audience response I have come up with the following questions:

1. What features of this video do you like?
2. Do you like the natural location?
3. If you were making a video to this song, what would you visualise?
4. If anything, what would you change about this video?
5. Would you have a change of location in the video?

The video I have shown my audience is the following.

I created this video to show an audience response to the original video of the song 'Skyscraper'. I filmed this video using a girl aged 16 who's social group fits into group E. This girls music preference is bands rather then singular artists. This girl had never seen the original video and has also never heard the song before but managed to come up with some creative ideas for the kind of music video she would visualize for the song 'Skyscraper'.

Audience response 1


















I created this video based upon my audience response one (above). This video is a brief summary of my audience response one and it was created using GoAnimate.



I created this second video to show an audience response to the original 'Skyscraper' video. I filmed this video using a girl aged 17 who belongs to the social group E. This girls music preference is the pop genre and likes both bands and singular artist. This girl has seen the original video before and has also heard the song before but still managed to come up with some creative ideas similar to audience response one (above), but also managed to come up other creative ideas which would work well for my creative project.

Audience response 2
















I created this video based upon my audience response two (above). This video is a brief summary of my audience response two and it was created using GoAnimate.

Audience Key Terms

Qualitative data- The term qualitative data is used to describe certain types of information. Such as surveys, questionnaire, this type of data can not be put into numbers. 

Quantitative data- Quantitative data is were data are more precisely described in terms of quantity and in which numerical values are used, this type of information can be turned into graphs and pie charts etc. 

Demographic data- Data that describes the characteristics of the human population. Often used in government surveys. 

Psycho-graphic data- This is used too collect data about an audience. Data such as personality, attitudes, interests, hobbies, lifestyle, values and beliefs.  

Summary of work done

For my A2 summer work I researched my chosen genre and created a fact file based upon my chosen artist. I also created a post which shows music videos similar to the song I have chosen. All the videos chosen show some of the codes and conventions of a typical music video.


As a part of my research I have made two audience response videos as well as making a poll questionnaire. I have made these to gather more information about my target audience, also the audience response videos gave me some new ideas that could maybe be used in my creative project.

As a part of class work we've begun to make a reconstruction of a storyboard based upon an existing music video. After getting into a group we started filming using a HD camera borrowed from the media department (Ray Hutty; Media Technician). Filming begun on the 01/10/12 and we encountered our first problem which was the location as it was hard to get the location right.

Today I uploaded a blog of possible locations for my music video to be set. I took the images during the summer as a part of extra summer work. The images represent a natural location. Also I have been working in a group to do a deconstruction and reconstruction of an existing music video, for this work I have found it very challenging to work within a group. We have also had issues with time organisation, music problems however editing has gone fine and we have nearly finished, we just need to add the music to the edited footage and when we should be done. 

I have begun to start planning my storyboard and I hope to have my first edit finished by the end of November or beginning of December. I am finding it hard to make the shots long enough to fill the time gap without keeping the shots running to long. I have been trying to picture it in my mind and have been adding edits to make the shots and video more interesting rather then keeping them running to long and risk them being boring. 

I have finished my storyboard and have made arrangements to book the thearte with Andy Feetom. I have emailed Andy so far and booking the thearte is proving difficult as all the days and spaces seem to be booked for over events, however we have arrange a meeting and he has given me the option of using W1, again this is proving difficult as that location isn't ideal.

25 October I shot my first couple of shots at home. I did this during the holidays. At first I found it difficult to use the camera but I got the hang of it. Another problem that occurred was that I wanted to shoot a lot of my video but the weather wasn't the ideal and therefore I was unable to do so. I am planning on booking a camera for a couple of weeks time to shoot these shots.

Today I have decided to do a paper questionnaire as I hadn't had much response to the questionnaire on my blog. I also think a paper questionnaire are more reliable then the latter of the internet. I am also starting to think about my CD and Web Page work. I am also putting plans for another filming day which I hope to do during the weekend of the 24th November.

I have been recently working on my health and safety assessment  I have done this to highlight the health and safety issues that could arise whilst filming on location. I have highlighted ways of preventing these issues arising and stated the level of risk.

I have been asking people to fill out my paper questionnaires and have a few responses from my media class. I am going to ask people outside my media class to be able to get a wide range of answers from different people.

I have emailed Andy Feetom to suggest a time for a meeting which I hope will take place on Thursday 22nd November 2012 to discuss booking the thearte for some shots with the piano.






I have had a response from Andy Feetom who has informed me that the thearte is fully booked for a long while. This has caused major problems as this space was ideal and the piano I intended to use was in the same building as the thearte and therefore the space was defintly ideal. Andy has suggested that I use W1 space in Wilson building but this is a long way to take the piano and is also not the ideal location.

I have now emailed John and Tim to discuss my problems with getting the thearte space. I am thinking about new ideas instead of using the thearte.

Over the weekend of the 24/11/12 to 26/11/12 I was planning on doing the shots from my natural location, however the weather let me down. I knew I needed to film some shots and decided to do some alternate shots which I needed to do anyway but to film these in another location.

I requested that my model come in for some filming after college. We used the green screen as I wanted a black background. I am also hoping to add a smoke effect to the clip.

I have just edited some of my footage on the edit suite. I am also going to get the affects of Ray Hutty (Media Technician) so I can add the smoke effect to my footage for the end of the music video. I am also arranging another filming session with my performer on a day were she is able to come in and film the piano scenes which will go at the beginning of my music video.

The weekend of the 12/01/13 I filmed the full song three times at different angles, I wanted to do this to create more of variety of shots for the music videos itself, I wanted to do this to keep the audience/ viewer intersted in the music video by using cuts to represent these different angle changes.

During the holidays I filmed some more footage. We went to the natural location for this as the perfect weather came along and I wanted to get some footage for this location. All the shots filmed went great but the tape unfortunatley ran out before we had chance to film all the shots.

I have planned a two day filming dates and I am hoping to get them complete this weekend. We are visiting the natural location and then the second location. I have been thinking about alternate shots to the ones original planned, this is to reflect the lyrics within the song more. I have uploaded rushes (see rushes shoot 2) from the previous shoot and I have explained what the shots reflect and positives and negatives of these shots.

Storyboard of existing music video and video

The music video that the storyboard was created from was Demi Lovato 'Skyscraper'. I chose this video as this is the song I would like to create my music video too. I like this video because it's simple yet effect and goes with the song. The video also features the typical layout of camera shots.