Retrospective

I am pleased with my website as I feel it represents my collection of work very well. My first year at Weymouth College has been a pleasant one. I’ve worked on three practical projects to date and in my opinion vary in success. I think my favourite project was the music video. I feel I completed all my goals with this project and it is my most beloved rewatch of all three products. It was currently my most polarising output. I feel many people don’t ‘get’ it (which is completely fine) but for me, it’s my most personal work yet. My TV Advert was probably met with the most acclaim and agreement. It received a distinction and is easily my most accessible project. Also the filming for the TV Advert was the most fun personally. Swimming in the sea was a highlight. The title sequence has been my biggest struggle as through-out production I wondered if it would all come together the way I envisioned. By the end, I was happy with my outcome, although making a media product for someone else’s vision was difficult.

I have gained many skills on this course. Importance of time management, planning and practical understanding have all come into play and strengthened as a result. Research of other professions has also been a massive input into my craft as without my may have lacked originally. Learning what has been done and then what should be done next is an incredibly process when trying to stand out in any art. Strengthening my planning skills has been a great help in lessening the stress of creating a media product. I have always enjoyed the writing and vision of creating art but the practical side has previously eluded me. The three projects have made me more confident in my skills as a technician and I have grown as a creative outlet as a result.

TV Advert: The TV Advert was my first project. I was assigned to plan and produce a TV Advert, advertising a product of my own choosing. The idea came to be before the product. I wanted a journey were a character would prove (by his own foolish behaviour) how effective a product was. Uber eats matched this description brilliantly and so I adapted the idea to fit the context. The project taught me many skills as a first assignment. The necessary strive for ambition. My advert was going to need a lot of filming days due to large number of locations I wanted. The production ran smoothly and all my location were shot with me holding the McDonalds food bag. The TV Advert project, being my first assignment, was the first time I worked with Premier Pro. I learned basic editing and colour grading. I don’t like editing my work too much as I feel it takes away from the natural beauty of my imagery but it was a handy skill to have learned.

Music Video: After I had learned the basics of filmmaking and storytelling in my TV Advert, I could now go on to tell more complex narratives. My music video is slow, perhaps too slow for some audiences but this is a way of easing you in. I allow the imagery to breath. Once we are at the latter half of the music video, a cluster of information is shot at the audience. The second project taught be how to successively play with an audience’s perception by playing fast and loose with the information release. This has been my most valuable lesson learnt this year by studying the work of Tarkovsky, Bergman and Bresson. In particular, Bergman’s ‘The Virgin Spring’ (1960) has been the most informative piece of media I’ve consumed whilst being at College and greatly influenced the slow breathing in my Music Video.

Title Sequence: this project taught be the basics of other softwares such as After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator. Though I am currently unaware of how they can used in my vision, again it’s handy to a least have that toolkit if I ever do. The technology based nature of this assignment meant I learned a different kind of creative process. This entailed more computer work than anything. I was not a fan, but the activity did help become more thoughtful of my position in the Industry. Therefore a helpful exercise none-the-less.

As a creative process, this course has been delightful. The time, creative freedom and broad assignments mean for a unique collection of work every time. My website, I feel, fits my image as a creator very well. My work is very easy to access now, as one only needs to press the portfolio. All my research, pre-pro and evaluations are found on each page and I’m looking forward to uploading the masses of work required by the FMP (final major project).