In this post, I will be talking about my entire Winter Project (Project 2) from production, pre production, what went wrong and what succeeded.
Here is my finished Winter Project:
Firstly, planning and pre-production.
At first, I had many different ideas as to what my Winter project should be about. I considered music videos, interviews, stories etc. but I kept changing my mind constantly and coming up with new ideas. In the end, I decided on a short video which portrays the beauty and aesthetic of winter in general. My goal whilst planning my video was to make something that focused mainly on visuals that were aesthetically pleasing- many people see the season of winter as dull, gloomy and dismal and I wanted to create a form of media that showed its audience some of the nicest parts of winter. “Winter is beautiful” was my overall message to the viewers.
What is my project?
In my video, I gathered a set of shots which I had gone out and filmed of “wintery” landscapes and other pleasantries that one can associate with the particular season (hot cups of tea, bare trees etc.). I also included a set of positive text in my project- the words simplicity, tranquillity, beauty and relaxation can be seen throughout the video as these are all words that I relate to winter. This added to the general happy vibe of the video.
I would say that my project was aimed at anyone who appreciates simple yet aesthetically pleasing content- whether it be young art students or elderly people. My target audience (in terms of age) would most likely be 16+ as I know young people/children would most likely get bored watching it. I think my video should be watched because hopefully it has the capability to boost people’s moods (especially on miserable Winter days) and maybe even be seen as therapeutic by some.
I like to think my project is different because it promotes the season of winter and portrays it in a positive light, which isn’t something I have come across before (I searched for videos similar to this whilst planning and I couldn’t find any).
Audio (Unit 5- LO3.1)
I didn’t run into many problems whilst recording my audio. As the only audio in my video is one line at the very beginning, I didn’t find it too difficult to record. This being said, I originally wanted to record the spoken line whilst I was filming at the beach to have wind and the ambient sounds of the waves in the background. I tried this out but instantly realised this wasn’t a good idea as the ambient sound was far too overpowering and the outcome was not what I had in mind. I decided I would record my audio when I was at home and could find a quiet area with no background noise- which is exactly what I did. I had no problems syncing my audio with my video in the post production process either, as I have had practice with this previously. I think in the future, I will stick to recording my audio in quiet locations, as I have learned that trying to record in loud environments will never end well and the outcome will most likely always be disappointing.
Other than the audio I recorded, the only other audio in the video is the background music (Firestone Instrumental- Royalty Free). I like this track and decided to use it because it’s upbeat yet simple and not too energetic or too slow. It fits the calmness of my video but also has a certain fast pace to it.
Visual (Unit 6- LO3.1)
The main visual problem I encountered was the fact that I wanted my video to look as “Winter-esque” as possible, yet whenever I wanted to film, the weather was always sunny and warm! I had to wait until days that rain and grey skies were forecast before I could film, which was annoying as I began my filming in what was essentially the beginning of Spring. Thankfully I was able to look at the weather forecast to then find out that the next couple of days would be overcast- this meant I would be able to go out and film.
This being said, I did film some parts of my project in sunny weather. I waited until evening on one particular day so it still looked wintery and cold although the skies were blue. I like to think this was a bonus though, as it added to the “Winter is beautiful” theme.
In the future, I most likely won’t be doing any more season themed videos, as the weather can always be unpredictable which is an irritating factor as the weather has the ability change the whole video.
Interactive (Unit 7- LO3.1)
I shared my finished video on Facebook to be seen by friends and family- the number of views went up a substantial amount and I had a few comments and some nice feedback. My only regret was not posting it to my Twitter page- I wasn’t very active on Twitter around the time of filming so I didn’t think to post it there once I’d uploaded it. The reason I regret this is because I probably missed out on a fair amount of more views. Next time I upload a project, Twitter will be the first place I share it on.
I uploaded the video straight to my YouTube channel- I have 15 subscribers there currently (not much, I know) but I did get about 6 of my subscribers watching my video due to being subscribed to me on YouTube.
Before I film my next project, I want to have gained more followers on my college Twitter account and more subscribers on my YouTube channel. This way I can get more views, comments and feedback on my video.
Overall, I was pleased with how my final project turned out. The hardest part for me was the planning as it took me so long to come up with an idea that I was truly happy with. I wanted something aesthetically pleasing and I think I achieved that. I’m also happy with the fact that I made some mistakes but can learn from them in order for my Final Major Project to turn out well.
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