Final Reflection

U.S.S- https://vimeo.com/379632583

At the end of 2019, I completed the egg hunting studio. In the first blog, I mentioned that part of the reason why I first chose this studio is that I love music, and another reason is the recommendation of my friends. After six weeks of study, I am very glad to make this choice. From finding the audio to editing, we did it by ourselves. At last, watching a complete music video, I felt proud.

After finishing this music video, I am very satisfied with it. Because the whole video shows the ideas of my team and me, and because of the limitation of time and money, I think we have done our best to make it at our current level. I like the color of the whole video. It’s very cool. And it also echoes the content of this song, because we create a party atmosphere with dark red. Besides, at 1:18 and 1:39 of the video, we used the first angle of view to shoot the drunken state of the protagonist. I love this shooting technique very much. This idea was put forward by our team member Nan. If we want to further improve our video, I think the fuzzy filter is used too many times in the whole music video, such as, in 18 seconds, 31 seconds, 35 seconds and 52 seconds. In less than a minute, we used blur four times. And I know there are some blur filters to cover up the jitter and out of focus of our lenses, but we still have to admit that our shooting technology is not up to standard. The second point is that at 1:45, the video scene was changed into an alley. In the beginning, we wanted to present a dream, but I think the design of this scene is a little lacking and the content is not rich enough. Also, the filter and special effects in this section do not highlight well that it is in a dream. And it may make the audience confused about the storyline of the whole music video.

Working with our artist is a very enjoyable and valuable experience. He is also very excited to participate in our creation and use his songs. In the communication between our team and artist, everything went smoothly. From understanding his original intention of creating the song to presenting the whole music video, he has been supporting us and putting forward effective ideas to inspire our team. So, I didn’t encounter any problems in cooperation with our team and client, I believe the M.O.U we used was sufficient for this purpose.

I believe that I am a good cooperator. The first point is that I try my best to communicate with my team and participate in all the extracurricular discussions. I will try my best to contribute to the shooting or editing after I guarantee to finish my task. In the days when I was absent, of course, I told my team about this situation, and I also tried to keep communication with the team. And when I return to the team, I will want to give a little more strength, for example, I will find the right rhythm with the director and find special effects during the editing process, although this is not what I am good at. Besides, I think my team members are very effective partners. I’m very moved that everyone is working hard for the same goal and trying their best to finish the final work.

One video I’d like to focus on is the ‘Comfort You’ (Robert Baxter) video.

In this music video, I think these shots are very effective. When the lyrics say “comfort you,” the audience sees roses, gift bags and plush toys. When I look at it from the perspective of a lovely girl, I think these scenes are very warm and loving and echo the lyrics.

Another effective lens appears in 2 minutes and 19 seconds. This mirror processing effect also makes the audience feel that the singer is talking to another person or himself. Echoing the words “I do my best to comfort you “.

A second video I’d like to focus on is the ‘Omens’ video.

I think the 45-second of the shot is very effective. The boy was standing in front of the screen, and behind him were all kinds of protests. When the shadow of the video is projected on the little boy’s face and matched with the boy’s expression of despair and helplessness. This scene makes the audience feel his helplessness and heaviness.

When we were shooting, we reserved green studio to do matting for editing. But it’s a pity that the shooting in the studio doesn’t quite match our final work, so we didn’t use it in our final work. Also, white balance is the most important step in shooting, which ensures the frame we shoot. So, learning how to operate the camera, how to set the white balance and a series of preparation steps are very helpful for us. I believe that in the future I can apply it to any shooting.

To do list:

Some scenes’ chromakey

Some lenses have a lot of noise because of the dim light

Delete meaningless shots (like open the door)

The scene needs a transition- directional blur (like in the alley scene)

Slow-motion (cigarette)

Light up the scene in the alley

Partial background virtualization

The ending shot is quite long

Pay attention to the frame composition and leave more space at the top

Pay attention to the synchronization of rhythm and action in the scene of toilet

Some of the blurry scenes confused the audience. They didn’t know whether it was about the plot or the technology problem. So, maybe we should make the artist drunk more obvious so that the audience can feel what lens wants to express.

Blog 3

Vernallis discusses several different modes of storytelling inherent in music videos, mainly outlining the different effects of narrative and non-narrative videos. She describes the primary objective of music videos, where they generally underscore the music, highlight the lyrics and showcase the star. In the case of narrative-based music videos, a balance should be struck between the story unfolding on the screen and the original story in the song to avoid the music “hide” into the background. For example, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is a 14-minute music video with Zombie dance and songs. It’s also a typical narrative style video.

However, the narrative function of a music video does not often reflect that of a classic Hollywood film, wherein narrative planks allow audiences to construct expectations and predictions. Instead, music videos produce vaguer and fluid temporality within the narrative, which is not necessarily presented as a cohesive whole but instead demands a relationship with the lyrical and sonic aspects of the music itself.

Non-narrative music videos tend to reflect this idea to an even further extent.  Vernallis proposes that “each shot possesses its truth value” and can be understood in its own right. But because of the length of music, music videos tend to follow the conventions of commercials or film trailers rather than films or television shows: they need to express their intention in a limited amount of time and to a gripping effect.

According to Cescca (2014), Douglas Rushkoff states ‘Most rock videos do not aspire to tell stories with beginnings, middles and ends, but instead impart meaning through visual collage’ and that ‘No attempt is made to convey reality. Instead, videos are liberated into a timeless dream world’. Unlike classic Hollywood cinema, generally “demands attention at every instant” and as such should not depend on what is to happen next, but rather what is happening at each specific moment. It is with this in mind that we can understand music videos as a unique mode of storytelling, both restricted and unbounded by its limitations and stimulus.

References:

Cescca 2014, “Narrative structure of music video”, SCRIBD, updated 24 Sep 2014, viewed 12 Nov 2019, < https://www.scribd.com/document/240792231/Narrative-Structure-of-Music-Videos>

Vernallis, C 2004, “Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context”, Columbia university press, pp 3-26

Blog 2

I think a very effective music video is Beyoncé’s Formation. When I first watched the video, I was shocked by the power of the video. The lyrics of the song contain sharp political criticism, described by the Los Angeles Times as “a statement of the radical black initiative.”. Also, the lyrics are full of power and pride, and the content of MV also echoes the lyrics.

“Formation” was shot in Los Angeles, California, and it features references to Hurricane Katrina, antebellum and Louisiana Creole culture, police brutality, racism and black pride. This music video has won many awards like the best music video, the best photography, the best editor, the best choreographer, and so on. Besides, the director spent hours on the Internet browsing books about history at that time for video creation and looking for images that could resonate. For example, in the opening scene, Beyoncé sits in a police car in the river; At the end, Beyoncé and the police car slowly inundated. And this reflects the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This visual effect is very bold and can drive the audience’s mood so that the audience can feel the situation at that time.

In this music video, the director carefully creates the core concept of the entire MV through choreography, scenes and costumes. Singer wears an elegant full dress to show women’s strength and confidence. It can also see from the various hairstyles, and facial features display by the dancers that the song calls on the audience to accept the diversity of people(Hartmann, J 2017). In the music video, a large number of the close-up shot and long shot make the actors more powerful, more provocative, and more in line with the meaning of the song itself. This music video combines music, lyrics, performances, dance actions, costumes and scenes to achieve a strong visual impact so that the audience can feel the feminism and racism that the singer wants to express.

With the release of songs and music videos, various publications published reflections on songs and the current stage of racial relations in the United States. At the same time, the Islamic minister also mentioned supporting the female singer in his publication. The theme of the video has aroused people’s sensation and resonance, which is the goal and achievement of this music video. Although the music video only uses a simple continuity editing technique, the director combines the mise-en-scene with the song itself appropriately, which shows the symbolic meaning of the song itself.

Reference:
Hartmann, J 2017, “Sound, Vision, and Embodied Performativity in Beyoncé Knowles’ Visual Album Lemonade (2016)”, European Journal of American studies, DOI: 10.4000/ejas.12415 ISSN: 1991-9336, <https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12415>

Blog 1

Why did you enrol in this studio? What would you like to learn about? What would you like to achieve?

One of the small reasons I signed up for this course is my friend’s recommendation. She thought the course was exciting and gave them the chance to create unlimited imagination. Besides, another important reason is that my love for music made me choose egg hunting. To exaggerate, I can’t live without music. I like different kinds of music, such as pop music, electronic music, jazz music. I think the melody of music is the most important because it establishes the style of the whole song. With the right lyrics, the song has a soul. But a complete music work is indispensable to show via video.

From the development of the music video, my understanding and attitude towards songs seem to be changing. In the past, many footages or images usually came to my mind when I listened to music. Those are my understanding of that song. But when I watched the music video, it’s fantastic when all the footages and images come true and are recorded with a camera, and even if it’s different from what I imagined. It gave me a new way to think about the song.

I dedicate to exploring the relationship between music and video, and I think the relationship between them is complementary. So, when I have the opportunity to make a full professional music video, it’s fascinating. Also, compare with shooting, my editing skill is weak. I hope that in the whole process, I can learn and try various styles of editing skills. What I want to achieve from this task is to make a music video full of creativity and even odd. And further mining the association between video and audio, so that the audience can experience music through these two forms.

Final Reflection

Everything I’ve experienced this semester has amazed me. I remember my first day in that classroom was tense, overwhelmed and inferior because I look like a blank sheet of the paper compares with other people’s film festival experience, I don’t have any a relevant experience that can enable me to contribute to this course. Maybe because of the different ways of education in each country, I didn’t have many opportunities to create something by myself before. On the contrary, I was told what I should do and how I should do, so I always feel that I lack relative creativity and innovation ability. Looking back, it felt like the time passed super quickly. Although this long and exciting journey is over, I am still immersed in joy and shock. Form Richard’s speech at the first week to the end of our film festival, I felt I had made the right decision, to be honest, in the first week I even thought about changing this studio. Now I am happy for my perseverance. For me, all this is a new beginning. I need to challenge myself to be brave enough to accept these difficulties. It sounds incredible to hold a film festival, but we did it. Although the process was arduous, we succeeded in the end, so the experience I have gained in this studio is something I won’t forget easily.

Overall, the first Melbourne International Film Festival was a success because we show what we have to do. Hold a film festival to show different niche movies and talented young filmmakers. The opening night at the Backlot was a success, and it was beyond my expectation. We sold out all the tickets, and I think that the venue was great and can help to have a lively atmosphere. Also, the DJ is a good idea. He made our venue lively and helped us celebrate better. Although all tickets have been sold out, there are still some vacancies in the cinema which make me feel a little depressed. This means that not everyone who has tickets appears, I am a little confused. But I was shocked to see a pair of white-haired old people coming to our film festival that day. It also makes me feel the amazing thing about movies and their festivals. They belong not only to young people but also to the elderly. This confirms that movies have no boundaries, no age limit, and no biased. “Like music festivals, film festivals should realise that, especially in the age of online, it’s the offline communality of film festivals, the fact that we are all getting together to do the same thing, that is part of the source of their joy” (M. Cousins, 2012) Delicious cheese, platters and drinks make this festival even more exciting. On that night, I could feel everyone’s excitement, as if everyone was eager to watch a movie. In addition, Amy, Ann and I also prepared a small gift for the opening ceremony. We contacted a friend who worked in a bakery and asked him to help us make a cake with the MIYFF logo because we all thought the cake was meaningful and as a tradition. Maybe this tradition can be preserved at the next film festival because there will be a more festive atmosphere and it looks professional.

Unfortunately, due to personal problems, I did not attend the matinee Australiana session on Saturday afternoon. But I know from my friends that the afternoon activities are also very successful. We have professional producers to answer questions and provide some professional services for the audience. As for the closing night on Saturday night, although I think it is not as good as the atmosphere of the previous night, it is undeniable that the closing night went smoothly. I arrived at the building 80 around 5 pm and then helped other people go to the supermarket to buy ice cubes to lay out the venue. I think we have been successful in choosing films because it seems that many people are very interested in the diversity and diversity of our films.

If I want to mention something that can be improved, it is in teamwork. Because there are more than 20 people in a class, it is unavoidable that half of them do a lot and half of them do very little. Perhaps in the next job, we can assign tasks more effectively. For example, each group elects a representative and then assigns tasks to the rest of the people. Overall, I feel that I am not as good as others at this festival, I also want to contribute to this film festival. I hope we will be able to distribute evenly in the next teamwork so that everyone has tasks to complete. In addition, the venue problem also needs improvement. On our closing night, I think the venue may bring us some difficulties in creating an atmosphere, because the cinema is too big, and there is some depression and dreary. I think a way for everyone to enjoy and immerse themselves in the festival is that maybe a more open space can bring people together, just like a small private party. In addition, we are limited by the problem of funds. We do not have enough time to raise enough funds. Although RMIT has paid us some fees, it is still not enough. With a lot of money, we might be able to do better in snacks and drinks. Moreover, propaganda and marketing is also an indispensable part. I think we should spend more time and money to extend our ticket sales so that more people can support and participate. It sounds crazy and exciting if we have a year to prepare for our film festival. Finally, in the reception section, maybe we can do more professional. We can send one or two students to receive guests, guide them and help them. For example, introduce briefly to our film festival, or introduce our layout of the venue, so as to avoid the lack of direction for some visitors.

Compared with our film festival, I had a look at the Children’s International Film Festival which is running from May 24-June 10. The theme of the Children’s International Film Festival is similar to that of our film festival, but we are more focused on young people, the Children’s International Film Festival are targeting children. Their venue is also very beautiful, but not as good as our festival atmosphere, and it is cheaper than our ticket price. Although I’m not their target audience, I still find those movies very interesting. It was also a great experience.

In terms of reading, Bohdana Rambousková has very unique views on the promotion of a festival, which is very accurate. But unfortunately, due to the problem of time, space and funds, we cannot meet the standard as he said, which is very unfortunate. As I mentioned earlier, if we had a year to prepare for a film festival, it would be crazy. Another reading material that impressed me was ‘‘Who Is Organising it? Importance of Production and Team Members’’. I think he helped us think about how to link the elements we needed to accomplish with the festival. For example, directors, technicians, hosts and so on. Although we do not have a very professional and complete team, we can help and fill the vacancies in this position from other parts.

Overall, although the festival still has a lot to improve, I still think it is the first successful film festival that students try to organize. This process taught me a lot. It also made me realize how difficult it was to balance the choice of movies with the audience’s preferences. It also made me understand how difficult it was to market our festival through the media in just a few weeks and appeal to many people to attend. More importantly, this valuable experience has made me feel the joy and satisfaction of everyone striving for the same goal. When I stood in front of the big screen with other students at the opening night, I had a pride that I never had before. Imagine that at first, we were a group of students who had no idea how to organize a film festival, or even, like I never attended any film festival. So far we have received sponsorship and the film festival has come to a successful conclusion. This semester’s experience is really a wonderful memory for me. This experience has made me feel more deeply about the festival. It is not just a process of showing movies and an opportunity to make money. It also gives a group of people who are so keen on the theme of movies a chance to gather together. I think when I come back to China, I will definitely find an opportunity to attend a film festival in our country and even try to be a volunteer. I think this experience can help me understand more about the way different countries hold film festivals. In addition, if there is the next film festival held by students, I hope it will be better and better.

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REFERENCES:

Andrea Kuhn, “Who Is Organising It? Importance of Production and Team Members (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” in Setting Up a Human Rights Film Festival, vol. 2, Human Rights Film Network, Prague, 2015, pp. 71-83.

Bohdana Rambousková, “How to Successfully Promote Your Festival (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” in Setting Up a Human Rights Film Festival, vol. 2, Human Rights Film Network, Prague, 2015, pp. 97-114.

Reflection- Week 10-12

Over the last three weeks, everything has been well. Looking back at the three-week course, the film festival has reached the final countdown, and we are also very excited and nervous. It’s like a nurtured by our hands then we watch it grow up gradually. Although at first, I had doubt that it was impossible to hold a film festival because it was too difficult; and also we experience some setbacks, but it is undeniable that we all had overcome them one by one. Now, our trailer was posted on YouTube and everyone could search and watch it; brochure has also been printed and can be distributed to anyone interested; tickets have also been presold. All this means our film festival- MIYFF is slowly on track. From the trailer, social media content, logo, sponsor and even interview, I feel the strength of the team. Nothing is impossible when everyone is involved in their roles and focuses on their own tasks.

I think this course is a valuable experience and lesson. It made me really understand the importance of teamwork and how to practice it personally. In this activity, we have a clear division of labor, everyone has different areas of responsibility. Although I’m only responsible for the trailer part, maybe a little easier than what others are responsible for, I did my best to keep up with the progress of the festival, not just the trailer part. Last weeks, we went to the venue with some lovely girls because we need to consider where to put snacks and drinks, where to put MC platform, where to check tickets and will it block important passageways. Lots of works need to be considered, and even some details, such as the microphone have to be put in a place with power supply. It makes me proud of other teams and I feel that everyone is working for our common goal.

In the future courses, this experience will certainly bring me more skills, such as how to cooperate with the team, how to communicate with others. I hope I can apply this experience to the next teamwork and can give the team something to be proud of.

Criticism Session Reflection

Right now, our film festival-MIYFF has entered the final countdown stage. For our class in week 9, we need to prepare a small informal presentation to tell everyone and special guest Rohan Spong and Erin Rosenberg about each team’s progress. In the “criticism session”, we showed our Chinese trailer to everyone. We were nervous on that day. After all, this is the first time that we have invited everyone to watch our works which we spent much time. I don’t know if it will be accepted by the audience and feedback from them and Rohan also made our nervous. So, the whole of our team knew the importance of this ‘criticism session’, every bit of advice and feedback was absolutely crucial.

Fortunately, everyone was interested in our second trailer and we also got useful advice from Rohan and Erin. For example, the first international trailer shows the two male figures almost disinterested so might not be a wise choice whereas the second international trailer shows two people genuinely interested in going and putting their phones, and use social media away and connecting over a social event. So, first one may need a bit more editing to feel more upbeat like the second one. At the same time, Rohan also made some valuable suggestions on the main trailer, like the main trailer is not as inclusive and may alienate people who are not mega cinephile or who are not as well versed in the cinematic side of things, so should show different people of gender, age, race.

In addition, another great idea came from Rohan. We should test all the equipment one week before the event. Although everything was normal at the time, it was likely that this was not the case on the day of the festival, so testing equipment was a very important priority.

I think I am very lucky to get valuable advice from Rohan and Erin this time because we are all students, we don’t have these extra experiences, so it is invaluable to get such detailed face to face advice from industry experts.

Reflection

Week 10

What impressed me most was last Thursday’s fundraising activity. As you can see from the teacher’s email, the fundraising campaign was very successful. I’m very excited that we succeeded in attracting so many audiences and it makes me feel that everyone’s efforts have paid off. So, when I saw the layout of that night, I was pleased that the scene was as warm and comfortable as possible, the lights, music, and snacks all made out fundraising activity more distinctive. Of course, there are a group of cute team members to make our film festival go smoothly.

Ben and Tessa are absolutely capable of leadership. I know hold it’s difficult to organize this event, they need to identify the theme and contact some film producers. Maybe there’s more complicated content. Including the design group, I was shock and excited that day when I first saw the short sleeves of our festival logo. I saw all the work going in an orderly way, everyone working in their own position and doing well.

But for the effect of the final film festival, I think we still need to work hard. Especially how to publicize our film festival on social media to attract more and more people, because social media is our biggest and fastest way to get more support. So, I hope to contribute to this activity to have a more active and lasting interaction with the audience through social media.

In the part of our trailer, when our first trailer was rejected because it wasn’t invested enough, we filmed another interesting one, and we hope it can be accepted in the next class. So, when we encounter difficulties, we greet it with battle effectiveness and do it better because it is not our individual work, it will affect the whole team and the whole film festival. I must cooperate with the whole team with a serious and dedicated attitude.

Overall, in the next three weeks, screening and categorizing movies, MIYFF t-shirt, promotions, also including details such as scene layout, drinks or snacks, should be considered thoroughly. Through such a large team, I am confident in our film festival.

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Film Festival Reflection

Week 8

This is the first week after a short holiday, and I can feel that everyone seems more energetic. Everyone has presented new content and works so that our film festival can go a step further. For me, it’s important to continue to improve and strengthen our trailer this week. Our team members made some suggestions to our trailer, like fix the background noise and separate the subtitle color from the background color so that the audience can see it more clearly. At the end of the holiday, everyone is more engaged in their work.

Actually, we weren’t satisfied with a mini trailer. It didn’t show our theme, and it was too brief to attract people’s attention. So, we are hindered in terms of creativity and inspiration. Like, an inspiration we rejected before the holidays: we sat on the grass and talked freely. Suddenly, a lot of paper planes flew in and we found that it is posters of our film festival. But because the lens is too difficult to control, such as wind speed wind direction, paper plane flight trajectory and so on, so after we tried, we found that the effect did not reach our goal. This also made me understand that my ability is insufficient and the actual effect is often different from what I think. This is what I need to strengthen in the future.

In addition, fundraising activities are also under intense preparation in class. Although we missed some of the class because we were out shooting, I was also very interested in it. It gives me a professional feeling. I hope I can follow up on the fundraising activities at any time in the next weeks. Maybe I can also learn some skills, such as how to communicate with people, how to implement programs and how to organize members.

In this week’s reading, I learned about the classification guide for movies. I learned six classifiable elements in movies which are themes, violence, sex, language, drug use and nudity (Guidelines for the Classification of Films 2012).

Reading:

“Guidelines for the Classification of Films 2012: Classification (Publications, Films, and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” on Federal Register of Legislation website, accessed 28 April 2019.