AICE Media Studies

Question:   How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?    Answer: Firstly, it uses the convention of general advertisements. It presents a situation where there is some sort of issue, and the product I am "selling" solves it. In terms of conventions specific to my product, I had shots that focused on the writing of each pen, close up shots of the pen itself, and created a light-hearted, fun mood with my song of choice. I also followed the format of the professional setting that is common in pen commercials. It represents the social group of students and the youth of today. One social issue this commercial could relate to is the anxiety and pressure that students can experience when working.    Question:  How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?  Answer: This product engages with audiences by showing how this pen can improve your experienc...

      This is the first project of the year that I have worked on. This project was a bit of a rollercoaster. I ran into a lot of issues while trying to piece this together, but I think I learned from those obstacles. While I do think it is good for my first time doing something as demanding as a commercial, I expect to do much better in the future. I think the final product itself shows my determination, but it doesn't show what my group and I went through just to produce this. That's just how it goes in the filming world, though. What gets shown to the public is only a small fraction of what goes on. My favorite part of the process was probably the filming itself. It was very hands-on and I felt the most productive. It allowed me to move around and interact with my environment and my classmates, in contrast to sitting in a lecture. Overall, I'm very proud of what I managed to create and hope that in the future I can do even better. 

 Today I made an awful discovery. The platform that I was using was going to require me to pay for exporting into any other file format. This was a mistake on my part. I've used that platform before, but not much. I'm guessing that I never exceeded the free trial, but this commercial was a long term situation. So, what were my options? I could pay for the program or I could experiment with other programs. I dislike spending money on any sort of computer software, so I decided to experiment. Researching different free programs was useful. First, I tested a program that was ranked number one by a tech website. Sadly, this one did not meet my needs. Its way of exporting files was confusing and unnecessarily complex. It was also too big for my screen, which meant it was out of the question. Next, I tried an app that was recommended by my classmates. Everything seemed fine in the install process, but when I imported my files, the quality tanked. I tried to get some classmates to hel...

Today, I finished the filming and gathered all of my files. It was now time to edit. I have had experience editing before, so I got how most programs worked. I'm not a technological expert, but the experience did help. I just needed to figure out how to go about getting things done.  In terms of compiling all of the videos together, that was simple. It was a drag and drop method. Then, I ran into an obstacle. I had no idea how I was going to get that split screen effect. Luckily, the internet is full of tutorials, and I managed to find one for the platform I was using. However, the tutorial was not even necessary. The effect I wanted was already pre-built into the program. This is a bit embarrassing, but it is a good lesson.  Now I needed to figure out the effects I wanted. In the storyboarding blog, I state that I wanted the logo to fade in for a nice conclusion. However, I didn't know if that was possible. After doing more exploration in the program, I discovered an array of...

 Today Kayla and I entered class knowing we only had one shot left to film. It was the first shot of the storyboard. It was a wide shot of Kayla entering the classroom. We could not film it yesterday due to difficulties regarding film location, but today we were able to. It took some trial and error, but proper communication always helps. The shot did end up changing. She suggested that the camera should get closer and follow her. This would make the entire thing a wide shot to a tracking shot. We decided to try it and it turned out great.  It was a good idea on her part. Her intelligence and creativity really shined.  After doing this, we reviewed our shots. Our timing was correct and I went over the rubric to make sure we had everything we needed. We haven't jumped into the editing process yet, but we are nearing starting. I'm a bit concerned about this process because editing can be a hassle, but I think this is a good opportunity to learn a new skill.  Overall, f...