Peter Oppersdorff

Learning Agreement

Course: Level: 6

Unit Reference: N/A

Credit points: 60

Weighting 4.0

Tutor(s): Liam Birtles, Phil Beards, Bob Cotton

Assignment Brief

In this unit, you will produce a finished piece of work that will be the culmination of your three years study. It will be a substantial project, at a professional level, that is the pinnacle of your work so far. Ideally, it will tie together several areas of interest, and will consider deeply and build upon the knowledge you have acquired as a student. The final deliverable should aim to be innovative yet intuitive and easily understandable, and to develop on themes in the area under investigation. The project submission will be of a standard that, if appropriate, can be exhibited or submitted to national or international competitions. You will need to use a concept driven approach to the project development, rather than technology driven – focus on the idea, and solving the problems that the idea brings up, rather than finding a new or augmented use for an existing system or product.

Design Brief

I am required to produce a music video for a local musician called Mischa. The name of the song is ‘On My Own’.

Synopsis of Study

My focus of study and desired outcomes of this unit have changed considerably since the beginning of the year. Initially I wanted to explore new ground within digital media and explore and develop a deeper concept and applied understanding of the medium. However, my specialist unit did not go so well in the end and the final outcome was rather disappointing. So I have decided that this unit, my final unit, is the last chance for me to really make something stunning on this course. I want this unit to actually be my signature piece from the course because at this moment in time, especially in the last half of the course, I don’t feel I have really done myself justice in terms of creativity and technical skill. I am struggling to really put a showreel or portfolio together at the moment and feel this is something that needs to be addressed.

This video is going to be an exploration into the relationship between the music and lyrics, and the imagery and narrative that I use. This song works on so many levels that I feel it can be interpreted in many different ways. I will develop a narrative that is consistant to the theme of the song and my choice of imagery will reflect this accordingly. With regards to the platform I will use, it will primarily be a DVD that has two functions The first is to act as a promotional tool for Mischa, something he can sends to prospective agents, something that could be distributed at future gigs and events, and the other is to simply act as a piece of memorabilia, a catalogue of memories for fans to cherish.

After this course I intend on going straight into work and I want to give myself the best possible chance to get a job or placement within the industry, and I feel producing work to a professional standard as opposed to the more experimental approach would be the safest option, because as I learnt in the last unit, I don’t want the idea or the concept to detract from what I want to do, which is to make something video based to a professional standard.

My choice of content for this unit has actually been in the pipeline for a while. My best friend is an aspiring musician whos ever growing status within the Bournemouth music scene is a testiment to his natural ability and glowing charisma. He got to the final round of a national music competition called ‘Live and Unsigned’ and has been playing gigs all along the south coast for nearly two years now. His unique sound makes him stand out from the mainstream and I truly believe that with a little bit of luck he could well go on to achieve great things in the music industry.

With regards to how this particular choice of content fits into my grand scheme of progression into the professional arena, I feel it is the ideal platform to show numerous elements of creative talent. First and foremost, it will allow me to demonstrate an ability to inspire, develop and complete a project within a budget, to suit the specific needs of a client in a practical way, which is something I feel that will be vital if I am to successfully work in the industry. Secondly, the platform is an ideal chance to apply and develop all the skills I need to know to successfully work in the film or television industry. I hope to enhance numerous skills in areas that I am lacking such as production planning, lighting and cinematography, whilst branching into technical processes such as green screening. I don’t feel I have displayed my best work on this course to date, and it is sad that I am in this situation. I feel my ability in film has diminished on the course, and this is something I intend to address. The final outcome of this unit will be a music video,, that is to be completed to a professional standard and will be the pinnacle of my portfolio and showreel throughout the next stage of my professional development.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

LO1 – Demonstrate my ability to rigorously apply specialist knowledge, understanding and creativity in the production of my extended major project.

LO2 – Demonstrate my ability to manage the complexity of practice demanded by the extended major project by managing your time and work efficiently.

LO3 – Demonstrate ability in the coherent use of various representation techniques, documentation and presentations to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

LO4 – Demonstrate my awareness of the ethical, social and cultural issues appropriate to the concept of a responsible professional practitioner, whether working independently or as part of a team

Assessment Requirements

Body of work to be identified through and in the negotiated Learning Agreement – 100%

Assessment Criteria

Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills – Specialist knowledge and understanding are evident and applied in the work (LO1)

Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection – Informing the development and management of the project (LO2)

Evidence of realisation through presentation – The communication and presentation of ideas reflects best contemporary practice (LO3)

Evidence of knowledge of concepts, contexts, criticism and theory – The work demonstrates awareness of concepts relevant to the responsible professional practitioner (LO4)

Reference Material

http://www.myspace.com/mischamusicplace

http://mischa-music.co.uk/mischa-gallery.html

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96257034150&ref=ts

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/swanson_grant/sin_city1.php

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/harrington_richard/final_cut_color_correction

Action plan

1st – 7th February

Client Meeting

Research – Existing Artists, Music Videos (Creative Styles, Representation of Music)

Research – Mischa – Interests, Influences, Personality

Film Shoot – Haiti Fundraiser – The Old Firestation, Bournemouth – February 7th 2010 18:00

Experiment One – Multi Camera Illusion

8th – 14th February

Client Meeting

Film Shoot – Room Six, Bournemouth

Analysis of Lyrics – Content, Meaning

Research of Industry Production Techniques (BA AUCB BA Acting Year Three, Lighthouse, Poole)

Mischa Logo Design for DUMA Competition

15th – 21st February

Analysis of Lyrics – Content, Meaning

Initial Ideas – Visual exploration of Lyrical Content & Meaning

22nd – 28th February

Client Meeting

Location Scouting

Experiment Two – Green Screen Test – Film Mischa in front of Green Screen

Film Shoot – Chaplins, Bournemouth

Edit Film Shoot

1st – 7th March

Time Lapse Experiements – People, Transport, Environments etc

8th – 14th March

Client Meeting

Development of Time Lapse Theory – Static Characters & moving Enviroments

Exploration of Imagery – Transport, Bus Stops, Train Stations….symbols of routine

Final Idea Development – Concept, Story Board

15th – 21st March

Client Meeting

Production Planning, Film Time Table

22nd – 28th March

Final Idea Development – Storyboard, Imagery & Production Plan

1st Shoot – The House

2nd Shoot – The Pub

29th – 4th April

3rd Shoot – The Journey to and from Work & Pub

5th – 11th April

4th Shoot – The Call Center

Development of Final Storyboard

5th Shoot – Mischa Layers

Research into Influences and Colour

12th – 18th April

6th Shoot – The Bridge

Complete Filming diary

19th – 25th April

Complete first Edit of video

ReShoot any final/inadequate shots

Develop Graphical Theme through experimentation

26th – 2nd May

Commence second edit of video (colour grading, Special Effects, Stylise etc)

Evidence & Blog ALL stages of development and experimentation

3rd – 9th May

Finish Editing of final video

Edit interview with Mischa

Complete Presentation

Auther to DVD

10th May – Final Critique