Raw footage & Movement test

Magazine advert designs

Digipack designs

The first design featured the colours used in lots of the videos in the genre; blue and red. They can symbolize the city nightlife as well as violence and masculinity. The border on the cover with a photo of the artist inside is used in a lot of the covers in the genre. It gives the cover a more simplistic look which is very conventional in all the genre's forms. The X on the CD is used a lot in TheWeeknd's clothing line and videos. The back cover is also very simplistic with a red grungy design.

The second design is more monochrome with low key lighting giving a silhouette of the artist in black and white. The artist's name in the centre. The back cover is also in black with white writing but also features low key lighting showing smoke which is very conventional in the genre. The Cd design is as simplistic as possible with nothing but a white border.

Editing Plan

For our music video we will be using adobe premier pro and after effects to create are video and apply titles. we will be using Photoshop to design our magazine advert and digipak but may also be used in creation of the raw titles before they go in to after effects.

Shot List / Timeline

0:00 Tilt up / zoom in to longshot– Car park stairs

0:07 Crane down / zoom in to longshot– Stage spotlight shot

0:12 Zoom in to midshot – Car park stairs

0:14 Zoom in to midshot– Stage spotlight shot (Flashing titles)

0:16 Arc midshot – Car park roof, lit by car lights

0:18 Still midshot – Driving

0:22 Zoom in– Car park roof, lit by car lights (flashing titles)

0:25 Still midshot– Stage spotlight shot

0:27 Still midshot– Car park stairs

0:29 Still mid shot  – Driving, through the windscreen

0:35 Panning extreme close up – Black studio

0:38 Still longshot– Stage spotlight

0:40 Panning extreme close up of artist – Black studio

0:45 Side track long shot – Projected shadow

0:50 Still close up zooming out – Driving shot

0:56 Still midshot – Car park stairs

0:57 Still close up – Car park stairs

0:58 Zoom in from longshot – Car park roof

1:04 Zoom in to mid shot – Projected shadow

1:11 CHORUS Still extreme longshot – Hall projector

1:12 Still longshot – Hall projector (quick changes of projected images)

1:26 Still close up - Driving shot

1:33 Still midshot – Hall projector

1:40 Zoom in longshot – Car park stairs

1:54 Still midshot – Driving

2:02 Panning long shot – Projected shadow

2:08 CHORUS Still extreme longshot – Hall projector

2:16 Still longshot – Hall projector (quick changes of projected images)

2:20 Still close up - Driving shot

2:27 Still midshot – Hall projector

2:34 Zoom in longshot – Car park stairs

2:40 SONG BRIDGE extreme long zooming in shot – stage spotlight

2:52 Longshot zooming in – black studio (lowkey lighting)

2:59 Close up – projected shadow

3:04 Still longshot – Hall projector (fast paced cuts of projected video)

3:06 CHORUS Midshot – Car park roof

3:10 Midshot – Driving (flashing images in the window)

3:16 Extreme close up – Black studio

3:20 Still extreme longshot – Hall projector

3:24 Still longshot – Hall projector (quick changes of projected images)

3:28 Still close up - Driving shot

3:31 Still midshot – Hall projector

3:33 Zoom in longshot – Car park stairs

3:39 Zoom out from close up – Driving

3:42 Zoom out from close up – Car park stairs

3:46 Zoom out from mid shot – Stage spotlight

3:49 Tilt down from longshot – Car park stairs

3:56 Zoom out from extreme longshot – Stage spotlight

Filming and editing schedule

Health and safety risk assessment

Moodboard

Analysisof Song Lyrics

Costume Planning

These are photos of the costumes we intend to use. They all keep with the theme of all black costumes that are used in all of our artist's videos and a lot of videos in the genre. The black costumes go with the mood of the video we are planning to make but also don't distract the viewer as much from the lyrics of the song and the artist in the spotlight or the lighting and effects. The denim material connotes biker culture and wrongdoing and I think this is why it is appropriate for our video.

Props List

We will be using car headlights as a form of hard lighting as we have been influenced by The weeknds video of Wicked games. The car can connote money and power which are key conventional themes of the larger genre of hip-hop.

We will be using a spotlight in our shots to highlight the artist. It gives the video a more raw feel and seem more urban and grungy in terms of the setting.

   

We will be using jewellery in our video to convey representations of wealth which is something common through the genre.

Depending on locations we may be using smoke bombs to interact with the lighting as well. It could work well with the colour filter editing.

Letter to record Label

Letter to record label

John Cabot Academy

Woodside Road

Kingswood

Bristol

BS15 8BD

Dear XO Records,

My name is Toby Collis and I’m currently a sixth form student at John Cabot Academy, I am studying media studies for A2 and our project is to make our own music video. I am writing to you in request for permission to use your labels song and logo for the purpose of my video to help me create a video that clearly represents the genre. The songs use is purely for educational purposes and to reflect my chosen genre accurately, there will be no profits or credit generated from the final music video. The logo will be something we use in another part of the task were we have to design a Digipak and Magazine advert, it would really help convey the genre through the use of this logo as it is so highly recognized in the genre. Again neither of these will be produced and no profits or credits generated from the final result.

Yours sincerely

Toby Collis

Initial planning ideas

Photos of locations

Task 14 - Research into digipacks

This task will be very influential in the planning of my own digipack. I like the mystery and the simplicity of The Weeknd's covers and CDs. creates by the plain black backgrounds and negative space. I also like the conventional overlaying of images done by The Weeknd and PARTYNEXTDOOR to give the impression of distortion influenced by drug use. I like the arrogant direct address as well as the mysterious looks away from camera in the album covers and I think I will have to look at both in planning. The traditional representation of men is a key theme but they are often the only person focused on in the cover. Looking at these conventions is inspirational as well as helpful and will be very useful in my planning.

Task 13 - Tracking Pharrell Williams

I think tracking this artist has been helpful.I think during my planning I will take into consideration image and representation of gender. The image of my artist is very important to the success of the song and the video. It is important to see how this changes or influences your audience. It was important to see how Pharrell has become so widely successful with such a broad audience.

Source: Pharrell Williams wikipedia

Task 12 - Music Channels

From this task I have learnt about how my music video will be consumed by my target audience. This will influence me massively during planning as I will have to plan features of my video that will stand out on online music channels such as VEVO to give it a good chance of getting lots of views through word of mouth and online sharing. Learning about existing music channels and the history of MTV has helped me see how my target audience's consumption of music videos has changed and this needs to be thought about.

Source: MTV wikipedia

Task 15 - Magazine adverts

task 15

From this task I have learnt a lot about the conventional magazine adverts in my genre. The artist, in the majority of adverts, is very much the centre of attenition, featured in a close up or mid shot in the centre of the frame, taking up the majority of the space. This helps the viewer recognise the artist and idiolise them as the most important thing. I think this relates to the nature of the lyrics in the genre as they make the listener want to live the lifestyle of the artist and look up to them. Common colour schemes are the blue and red used conventionally in the videos as well as gold as a clear sign of wealth. The adverts are vey simple and reflect the demand from the target audience that don't want to have to read lots of information. Some of the mystery in the adverts came across as arrogant and made you feel like you should know things like the re;ease date or the best songs. It will clearly help my planning as I will be making my own and trying to reflect the representation of the artist in the same way that the real artists are reflected and also give the target audince the same things they expect from the real artist.

Task 11 - Audience

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Task 10 - Analysis of student's work

Task 10 -

From This task I have gained a much better understanding of the marking criteria. I have learnt a lot about what does and doesn't work in a final video and in the research and planning. I think doing this task will influence my planning greatly as my own tasks can now reflect what I have learnt about the mark scheme and what I have taken as inspiration from these videos such as the framing from the first video and the the conventional effects in the last video.

Task 9 - Inspiration

From this task I have been inspired by lots of different elements from different videos. The film trailer for Sin City 2 was inspirational to me because of the lighting and contrast as well as the significance of the colour red. I was also inspired by the fast cuts and the extreme close ups. Childish Gambino 3005 music video was inspirational to me because of the interesting lights but also the slow pace of movements that were used. These also created some really abstract and interesting angles of the structure that I am inspired by. GoPro:One night with the Weeknd was really inspirational to me because of the flashing lights and neon symbols. The silhouettes and flashes to the beat were very conventional of his videos as well. The lighting really isolates him with a spotlight but the smokes adds to this as well. I think all of these inspirational factors will be things that I want to recreate or influence my planning and construction.

Task 8 - Theory

Andrew Goodwin: 'Music videos are simply an extension of the lyrics'

His theory is that music videos mirror the lyrics in a way that tells the same story or reflect the emotion in the lyrics. There are videos that prove and disprove this theory. Some music videos such as Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me, have a very literal interpretation of the lyrics as what you are seeing on the video is exactly the story being told in the song. Some videos can take a more metaphorical approach to Goodwin's theory and reflect the lyrics through connotations of imagery. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River is a good example of this as the dark colouring and the rain reflects the emotions of the lyrics rather than the lyrics directly narrating the video. However, some videos seem to bare no relation to the lyrics of the song. This is a strong convention of dance music and Duke Dumont - Won't Look Back is a good example. The majority of the time, Andrew Goodwin's theory can be applied however it is not always true as videos can purposely try to go against this convention in an artistic or abstract way.

Carol Vernallis

Narrative: Vernallis says 'The visual should be based upon the lyrics'. Whether it is through the performance or narrative or a mix of both she feels as it is always relevant to the lyrics. She also says regardless to the narrative everything will draw you to the performer for example if the song is a literal story the shots of the artist/performer will be more dominant to idiolise the performer. This is commonly found in music videos however Ed Sheeran - Don't is a good example of how artists can use actors as the main focus of the video and not idiolise themselves. 

Diegesis: 'How a story is created with in a video' ' The world within the music video'. These views can be shown through repetition, gaps in time, performance and narrative.

Camera shots: Music videos try to avoid mid shots. Adopted speed of filming and camera movements. Meaning that the camera movements will be at the speed of the music. I think a good video to disprove this theory is Frank Ocean - Novacane as almost the whole video uses mid shots. 

Editing: 'Will be left in a state of disjuncture'. This meaning that the editing is disconnected and can cut back to shots already featured or the used of fast cuts between various shots


Much like Goodwin's theory, Vernallis is backed up by the large majority of music videos. However i think that they do not allow for the more abstract videos that challenge convention with unusual music videos.

I think it is important to look at the theorists as it helps me look deeper into what makes up a music video and I will have to plan my own narrative and will have to think about Goodwin's theory. I will also have to plan the ways in which Carol vernallis' theory is going to apply to my video as the large majority of videos do. 

Task 7 - Research into Alternative Hip-Hop

From this task I have learnt about the origins of the sub-genre from Hip-Hop and how some conventions of the larger genre were kept and some were challenged. It has helped me realise the certain ways in which the genre represents men and women as well as how the artist is idiolised and how this has come from the ideas of the hip-hop genre. When I think about the ideas I have for my music video, I can now look at the things that have influenced my artist such as the first hip-hop video and some of the most inspiring. I think some of the outfits in the Run DMC video are very retro and will help my planning of costume as I can be inspired by the retro look. I can take inspiration from the way artists are represented in early Hip-Hop videos from the low angles and the way they have a lot of support and seem to be enjoying themselves. The Frank Ocean Novacane video will really influence me with the slow movements and the constant mid shot.  The video uses differences in opacity to create overlaying images. These give the impression of drug use and make the audience identify t=with the artist and the way that they are feeling due to the influence of drugs.

Task 5 - Research into 'The Weeknd'

I think analysing the videos, website and album covers related to this artist have given me a lot of ideas on not only how to make my own coursework look good and effective but also how to make them look like something my artist would use. I plan to use The Weeknd's video style a lot in my video incorporating the hard lighting and high contrast as well. I could adopt the simplistic black and white style or the colour filters in my video. I plan to use the same style of cuts matching the pace of the song. I plan on developing this simplistic theme in my digipack as The Weeknd has in his album covers with a dark feel and a focus on the artist using a mid shot.

Task 3 - Resarch into Companies

Artist, 'The Weeknd' was discovered at Drake's OVO fest in July 2011. The Toronto based rapper was signed by the record label, Republic records to produce his first official album, Trilogy. The record company is owned by Universal music group and other artists on the label include Drake, Nicky Minaj, Tyga and Lil' Wayne. It was founded in 1995 and is distributed by Universal Music and Virgin EMI. The Weeknd also has his own imprint label called XO. Republic records is a large profit organisation under Universal. The Weeknd's label XO is small and has not been around long but is building as The Weeknd becomes a lot more popular. However his features with Drake feature the combination of their two labels OVOXO.



























PARTYNEXTDOOR is a Canadian singer from Ontario is signed to Drake's 'OVO sound' label. His first extended play, 'PARTYNEXTDOOR' was released under this label in 2013. Drake's label was founded in 2012 and is based in Toronto. The label formed a partnership with it's parent company Warner Bros. records shortly after being founded. Warner bros are also the labels distributors.






















  


Drake is another Canadian artist based in Toronto. He is signed to Republic records as well as Young Money, Cash Money and his own label OVO. Cash Money was founded in 1991 by the artist 'birdman'. Today it acts as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and is distributed by Republic records. Young Money, founded by Lil' Wayne in 2005 is an imprint of Cash Money. Both labels have signed artists, Lil' Wayne, tyga, Nicki Minaj and Drake achieving 8 No.1 US albums since Young Money's founding. Drake's OVO record label is still growing and signing more artists but it is fairly well know as he shouts out to OVO on many of his best selling songs and sells the merchandise on his website.






From researching the labels and companies it is clear that the common companies are Republic records who are The Weeknd's label and distributers for drake's label OVO. OVO is also a common label with Drake as the founder and PARTYNEXTDOOR  signed. From this I have an idea of the type of label that would produce and distribute my video.

Task 1 - History of the Music Video

History of the Music Video

It has been important for me to study the history of the music video and see how videos have changed over time. I think it is important that my video looks very modern but I can take inspiration from key components that made some of the first music videos stand out and inspire others. I have learnt about how the rise of MTV pressured a vast improvement on music videos with more cinematic aspects. I think the online audience are creating a similarly competitive market via YouTube and VEVO. Artists such as Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry create risky and memorable videos to get a lot of views. In my planning and construction, I will have to think about how to stand out in such a competitive industry.

Task 6 - Influence of Style

Influence of Style on PhotoPeach


I picked these photos as influences of style. I think they have inspired the type of music video that i want to make. I looked a bit at my artist and another artist from the genre. The artists both wear all black costumes excluding accessories such as chains and I think this is the modern day look for the hip-hop style where as an older hip-hop style might be a lot more flashy and bright. I think in my video I will mainly be looking at the modern style as the artist is very modern and my choice of song will be as well. The costume also goes with the type of video that the artists make which are usually very dark. They use hard lighting and colour filters to show a very dramatic video. I looked at some of the styles in the artists such as influences from 80s style arcades and oriental influences. I also looked at a photographer called Brassai who I think will be really inspirational to my video because of the lighting. I like the silhouette style long shots as well as Brassai's two shots with a romantic theme which is used in a few of the videos in the genre. I also added the film Sin City 2 as an influence. I feel the black and white style can be conventional in the genre but I also like the hard lighting and high contrast. I also like that they use the colour red to symbolise violence as I have found is conventional in the genre. From this, I feel I have a much better understanding of what I want from my video and have been inspired by other sources that I will be reffering to throughout the construction faze.

Task 4 - Timelines

From analysing the videos and making timelines I have learnt the conventional pace of editing including narrative and performance. I have learnt that conventionally, the pace of the editing will relate closely to the pace of the music and really exaggerate the effect (linking to Carol Vernallis). There are lots of flashes in the genre when the music is fast with multiple cuts in a quick second or even flashing titles or shapes overlaying the video. When the music is slow the movements are either very slow or the shot is completely still. Any narrative that is used does not tell a story and is usually shots of a different character in a mid shot or close up. These are quick clips lasting 1 or 2 seconds making the majority of shots performance. Titles slightly challenge convention however they are used in the 'Live For' video. They are used overlaying the first shot. It is clearly conventional for the first shot to come in straight away even if there is no performance until the intro is finished. I can use this analysis to make sure my video matches convention and gives the same dramatic effect on the audience achieved by the pace of the shot.

Task 2 - Conventions

Convention

   In this task I looked at six different music videos that relate to my chosen genre, alternative hip-hop. I learnt about different conventions from the mise en scene, camera and editing from the task.
    I found that a main convention in the videos was hard lighting and high contrast to give the video a dramatic mood. I found the costumes were conventionally black all over and very casual. The main props were traditional signs of wealth such as jewellery or cars but the lighting was also used as a prop in a few of the videos to add to the grungy scenery. A lot of the editing was very fast paced however on a few of the slower songs the cuts were slow to match. The videos often featured colour filters in blue or red as they signify power and masculinity as well as replication the feel of a night club scene. Otherwise it can also be conventional to edit in black and white. A very conventional camera shot type is the extreme close up often focussing on the artist's face during performance. The rest of the video is often mid shots and longshots with one long shot in the video making the performer look isolated possibly as a silhouette. Some of the angles can be very abstract as well as the movements to recreate a nightclub scene and make it look hectic.
    From researching these conventions I have a much greater understanding about the look of he videos in the genre and what effect they have on the audience. These are the effect that I will trying to recreate and this research has helped me think about how i will do that.

Skills Review

Research

   My AS task began with my research in which I went into depth, watching and evaluating a number of existing openings. I chose to research these openings by looking deeply into the sub-genre, British gangster. 

   To make my 2 minute opening look professional and realistic I had to research and then use the conventions of the existing films, looking at features such as mise en scene (costume, props etc.), sound, titles, camera techniques and editing techniques.  As well as the films themselves, I looked at the companies responsible for producing and distributing these films and the funding available to them. This gave me an idea of how the films are made and what considerations were needed. From the research I found that typically, British Gangster films were limited to smaller budgets than other sub-genres, but focused strongly on themes of violence, drugs, comedy and realism. I made timelines of the openings of British gangster films, Snatch, Rock'n'Rolla and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

    Todorov, Propp, Barthes, and Levi-Strauss are some of the theorists I looked at and applied to the genre. This provided an insight into how messages are portrayed and represented in films, how films are structured, and provided me with ideas of how my opening should take place.

   Finally, I researched into my target audience. With my research into these themes I thought about what kind of audience would watch these films. I then made a survey to do research of my own into the target audience. By comparing this to my previous research, I was able to identify what people wanted to see in an opening, and what I should include in mine as well as how the main character should be to relate to this target audience.

Planning

    The planning stage was where I started applying my research with my partner, and begin to think about what would be in my opening, and how it will be shown.


We started with a presentation on our ideas which involved our characters, narrative, camera techniques, editing and sound. It helped with the bigger themes of our film and how we could produce these successfully to our target audience.

After my initial ideas, I began planning the individual aspects. I looked at costumes , character profiles and a props list. As well as this, I went out to find locations. I took a number of photos and videos of potential locations that fit the theme and style of a British Gangster films, that I would be able to use in my opening.

Once the props, costumes and locations had been decided, I began planning the narrative. I created a storyboard, detailing what would be happening in each shot, before going on to write a script for the opening.



   After the narrative, I began deciding how I would be creating the opening. I decided upon a filming schedule, picked actors, and completed a risk assessment. I also continued to choose editing software, fonts for the titles, and the non-diegetic music for the opening.

   Finally, I created a pitch for my plan and ideas, detailing every aspect of the opening and how it would be made.

Construction

   The construction stage involved the filming and actual production of the opening.
To start, I went out and captured all of the raw footage for my opening, that I could then use to create my rough cut which was the original performance of the story, camera and editing. After putting the footage together, I was able to review the rough cut, and got feedback on it. There were a number of issues with the first cut and the initial footage that I was able to reflect on before going out to capture new footage. During the second set of filming, I had a much better idea of what was necessary, and successfully captured the shots I needed as well as some new editing and filming techniques I was advised on to help portray the themes and get across some of the real conventions of the genre.

   After beginning to put together the second set of footage, I decided upon a number of changes that would improve the opening. Some of the feedback was to make the scene more urgent and fit with the action conventions of the existing films. Finally, after collecting all of the desired footage, I was able to edit it all together, adding the titles, cuts and edits that I had planned. I produced the final opening, which I then reviewed again and got more feedback, which was a huge improvement on the initial cut.

Evaluation

   After the final presentations of the final cuts we each did an evaluation do properly review our use of mise en scene, camera, sound and editing and how this represented certain social groups.

I then went on to look at the institutions that might be involved in my film. I looked at who could produce and distribute my film, and the reasons behind this. I also continued from my planning, and looked into my target audience in more detail, suggesting who the typical viewer would be. As well as this, I asked members of my target audience what they thought, and what attracted them to the film.

After looking at the opening itself, I evaluated the technologies I used during the production. I looked at what each piece of equipment was used for, and what it added to my opening.

Finally, I compared my final opening to the preliminary task I completed earlier in the year. The final piece was a vast improvement, with much better use of just about every aspect. The shot types were much better, the equipment and quality was an improvement, and the editing was much more professional.

Narrative Structure Workshop

   In this task, we filmed around a minute of narrative shots to fit with a theme or story that we were given. We were given the task of editing these shots into a story and then into the lip syncing task that we had already produced to create a 'mini music video'.
   I have learnt from the narrative structure task that Andrew Goodwin's theory is correct and the narrative has to be an extension of the lyrics, proving his theory. Our story or theme we were given to portray did not completely fit with the lyrics and gave a different impression than the intended one when paired with the song.
   In audience feedback, one audience member told us that the story was definitely different to what we had intended although it was better composed and the editing was good.They understood he clear conflict between the two female characters however what was not certain was the reason for the conflict or the ature of their relationship due to the lyrics. Another also picked up on the story fault that came from Andrew Goodwin's theory not being met. This shows how important the narrative is and how important it is that it meets the lyrics of the song as our narrative did not work along side the song and did not feel like a real music video to our audience.



screenshots and discuss composition




   Carol Varnallis says that the narrative in a music video is shown in a montage style and is very disjointed. Not often finished or reaching a final equilibrium. I think the workshop proved this theory to some extent as our video was in a similar montage style to that described.  She also says effects are used to draw the attention to the editing of the video such as cuts to the beat of the song and I feel like this is something we could have used in our own mini music video.

Editing skills

These are the skills that I feel I have or know. I feel I have shown these skills in my AS final gangster opening as well as in my lip syncing task. Both involving uploading footage, creating a project on Premier Pro, importing my footage and adding it to my timeline. They also involve unlinking audio and using the razor tool but the syncing was all done in he lip syncing challenge. I have shown all these skills effectively and to a good standard and feel I can continue during the course of this project.

Lip Syncing Workshop

   In the lip syncing workshop we experimented with lip syncing a Taylor Swift song in a group of three, each taking turns to perform and direct thinking about composition, framing and location as well as how well we were performing and syncing the clips.
   Composition and framing was taken into account largely, using what we had learnt from the last workshop task to create a visually successful and interesting video. We used rule of thirds compositions to create aesthetically pleasing shots using negative space as well as experimenting with other perspectives and apertures that we didn't use. I learnt that this can be hard while trying to capture a performer and focus on their lip movement.
   The locations we used were well chosen as they were secluded, attractive and made it easier to compose the shots we wanted.
  The equipment we used was the DSLR as well as the tripod. Also using PremierPro for the editing.

   I feel our final video was fairly successful. The lip syncing was very good and well timed. the cuts between the different singers also worked. I feel the composition could have been improved in a few of the shots but I feel like this could come from having more locations in future.
 
   I learnt a lot about the editing from the lip syncing workshop. I learnt to use markers on Premier pro to really perfect the lip syncing. It was also the first time we shot on location and I learnt how difficult finding the right location can be and how that can affect finding the right composition. In the future I will definitely be more prepared for shooting as I will have thought about locations and compositions before.

Composition task

    Before

        This was a task based on composition. I was trying to show the them of surreal/real through my first pictures. I used perspective mainly to see the building from an odd angle and make it seem surreal by giving then viewer a different perspective. I also used symmetry as a factor in my photos creating a surreal attractiveness. The lines in the photo are very leading towards the focal points of the photos and create an interesting photo.

    After

      My second shoot was to try and use different techniques and show how they can improve the composition. In my first shot I experimented with aperture settings to change the depth of field in the photo. It allows the viewer to be attracted to the focal point and emphasise it.   This can be effective in film to focus on a particular object of significance.  The second photo incorporates the perspective and lines of my first shoot however I focused more on the use of negative space and framing. The space makes a very attractive photo allowing the curved line to be the frame of the photo. I think this task has helped improve my range of compositions and framings.




The task was on composition. It was to help and improve my framing and composing and make me think about the composition more when I come to film my coursework as well as have the creative ability to make it successful and effective. I learnt different techniques in the task such as aperture settings creating a shallower depth of field. I also learnt the application of this towards a theme or subject. Using these techniques to create surreal pictures was definitely helpful and successful and I feel that I would now be able to apply this to the themes I would like to portray in my production. If I could do this task differently I would think more about my framing, as with a couple of my shots there are distracting features in the corners mainly because I haven't had the chance to edit and crop them.