Lewis Stewart A2 Media Studies: June 2014

1) What did you find the most challenging and why?

There was lots of different parts to creating our music video for Rihanna’s song ‘You Da One’ that I found challenging and for lots of different reasons. When deciding on what video we wanted to recreate, we chose this one because of how it looked like something that would be achievable with the time we had and the equipment we had access to. Putting the different video clips together, trying to get them in order and choosing the ones that were the best was a difficult part of the process. This was because there was lots of different shots to choose from, and syncing the music the artist in the video miming to was difficult because if you got it slightly off then it wouldn’t work or look good. I think this was the most difficult because it would be the part that everyone would see, so had to look as good as possible. Putting the text onto the video was difficult and trying to put it on wouldn’t work properly so we decided to leave it out, as it still looked good without text.

2) What will you do differently when you make your A2 product next year?

I think that research would be an important part of creating a music video for A2, as I could look at different techniques I could use and see if they were achievable with the time I would have to create it. Looking at a variety of different techniques would benefit me greatly as I could see which ones would suit the music I had chosen, and so would look the best possible. For my music video next year, I would make sure that each of my shots were longer and I would take each one more than once so I had options when choosing which one looked the best. When making my music video and editing it, I would make sure to edit it regularly and keep it as good as possible so that it wouldn’t be just a big rush at the end of the year.

3) How has doing this task helped you and why? What have you taken away from this experience?

I think this task has helped me realise not to be too ambitious with the music video I want to create, but this doesn’t mean I want to make something that is plain, boring and simple. I think doing this has made me realise that editing isn’t as easy as it looks and putting things together takes longer than expected, so I will have to organise my time appropriately.

4) How successful was your product? Why do you think it was successful or unsuccessful?

I think our product is both successful and unsuccessful in different ways because of how different things worked out. I think it is successful because the different shots look good and the video as a whole reflects the attitude of the song. I really like the shots near the end of the video because of how they look really professional, I like how the light has created the shadows on the artist. I think the video has partly been unsuccessful due to the fact we couldn’t put the text on the video.

5) How do you feel about developing to A2 level now you have completed this task?

I feel like I have learnt quite a lot through making this music video so would feel comfortable going onto A2 media. Learning about how to edit the video was quite difficult but made me realise that it takes a lot more effort to make a video than I thought. Creating a music video was fun although it was challenging and I think that I would enjoy making a full video. I think I would particularly enjoy making a full video because it would allow me to do a variety of shots, and for my A2 video I would like working on my own as I wouldn’t have to depend on anyone else, so would only have to rely on myself.

6) What do you like most/least about your final product?

The thing I like least about my final product is that there isn’t any text, which would have made it look a lot better and more like the real Rihanna music video. The thing I like most about my music video is the different shots that there is. I especially like the shots near the end were the artist’s face is covered by shadows because I think this looks really nice and professional.