Task Outline
For the preliminary task we were asked to recreate the 1998 Britney Spears classic 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. We decided to create one video within the class rather than split into two gro ups and create two videos as we thought it would get better results.
If we want the video to be well produced and be completed on time then we will have to work hard and well together to get good results. The setting is easy for remake of this video because it is in a school which means that we won't have many problems with finding where we want to film or props. The video is dominated very much by females which isn't a problem to our class in particular because there are more females than males in our class. The males will however have to contribute at some point in the filming so that we can get the highest possible grade.
Planning
As there are quite a few of us in the class we decided to all split up and be assigned to different jobs. I was assigned to create the costume list for males and females. Sam, Rachel and Ellie all went to find the appropriate locations which we could film in and finally James and Richard did a shot by shot photo dump so that we could match the shots for our film.
For the preliminary task we were asked to recreate the 1998 Britney Spears classic 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. We decided to create one video within the class rather than split into two gro ups and create two videos as we thought it would get better results.
If we want the video to be well produced and be completed on time then we will have to work hard and well together to get good results. The setting is easy for remake of this video because it is in a school which means that we won't have many problems with finding where we want to film or props. The video is dominated very much by females which isn't a problem to our class in particular because there are more females than males in our class. The males will however have to contribute at some point in the filming so that we can get the highest possible grade.
Planning
As there are quite a few of us in the class we decided to all split up and be assigned to different jobs. I was assigned to create the costume list for males and females. Sam, Rachel and Ellie all went to find the appropriate locations which we could film in and finally James and Richard did a shot by shot photo dump so that we could match the shots for our film.
The shot by shot photo dump was very useful to us when we were filming because it meant that we could follow chronologically the order and keep on track of which shots we had done. The people which were going to be in each shot were written down next to the applicable shots.
Filming
As we had chosen to all work in a big group we had to make sure that we were all going to contribute equally. We all needed to act, direct and film within it all. Some of the people in the class like to contribute more than others but we knew that this could not be done in this task. As we were thinking for ourselves it meant that we could choose what lighting we thought was appropriate and we could all have a contribution.
For the mise en scene we needed to try and create an exact re-make or get as close as possible to what they were wearing. To do this, the people that were acting brought in appropriate clothing to wear. The girls wore a white shirt, black/grey skirt, tights or knee high socks and we wore our hair in pigtails or plaits so that we could look as similar as possible to Britney Spears. The boys were made to wear blazers and white shirts so that they could fit in with the mise en scene of the school location. We added some props as well to make the mise en scene even more believeable and decided that bags, lockers, folders and books were appropriate.
When I was filming, I definitely found that the screen dumps were helpful because I was able to see what I was supposed to be filming and also the angle it should be filmed from and how the lighting should be. When I was acting, I had to be the main Britney at the beginning of the video and I also had to do some dancing within some of the shots. We all had to learn the choreography and all of the steps before we actually filmed which took up quite a lot of time but we wanted to make sure that everything was going to look professional and of a good quality. As none of us are actually dancers I think that the effort that we put in showed and was portrayed well in the video.
Editing
When we did the editing we decided to split into two groups because we thought that it would be much better to get different videos. One half of the class edited the first 45 seconds and the other edited the last 45 seconds. When I was editing I worked with Rachel and we split the editing equally between us so that we could both get used to using Premiere Pro again. When the other was doing some editing we both spoke to each other about what we were doing and whether or not we agreed with their decision. Not many special effects were necessary and it was mainly just cutting some of the shots and then putting them in order so that the were synchronised. When we finished the final product I was happy with it.
The Final Product
I am happy with our final product after the small time that we had to work on the project. I think that it has managed to come out well and the recreation looks quite similar to the real video. It was different having to act a lot throughout the video but I also enjoyed working behind the camera and having my opinion heard when I was contributing and saying what I thought would make the video look professional.
Evaluation
I think that as a group we managed to work really well. Everything was well planned and went smoothly. Everyone managed to contribute quite equally into the filming, acting and lip synching. This was a necessity to make the video as good as possible. As the dancing was a big part of the video I felt that we managed to do quite well in the recreation as we are not professional dancers. The quality is obviously not as good as the original but this is down to the equipment that we can afford and the location that we were able to use. I think that we worked well with what was available to us.
After doing the preliminary task I have become aware of how difficult it is going to be for me to create my own A2 video. I am going to have to work very hard and efficiently to get the results I want and need. The shot changes are very quick and I am going to have to do a lot of filming. I am also going to have to work at getting my video to a good quality but I believe that if a lot of time and effort is dedicated I will be able to get some good results.
