Creative Critical Reflection

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?

My product uses conventions in terms of props, subject matter, camera shots, and setting. The props used in this commercial was a pencil, paper, a desk, and the product that is advertised (in this case it's the Staedtler eraser). These props are commonly seen in Staedtler commercials and is typically interacted with to drawings or other media, which is reflected in this commercial. In terms of the subject matter, usually Staedtler commercials are centered around the product that is advertised and what that product creates. In this commercial that I made, I advertised the eraser, and created highlights onto the face of the drawing with the eraser. Conventional camera shots that is used in Staedtler commercials typically consists of close up shots of the actors hands holding the product and creating something with it. This convention is reflected in my commercial, especially in the camera tracks of me using the eraser to create highlights in the drawing. Common settings in Staedtler commercials are usually a studio, workplace, or one's home. In this commercial, it can be interpreted that it could be a studio or one's home; therefore using Staedtler's conventional settings. 

There are some aspects in my final product that does challenge conventions. Conventions that are challenged in this commercial are the lighting, actors, camera shots and the sounds. Staedtler commercials tend to have high-key lighting; in this commercial there's harsh shadows and hard lighting, which is low-key lighting, this is especially seen in the scene with the spotlight casting down at the eraser. In terms of actors, Staedtler commercials tend to have actors that shows their face and interacting with other actors.  In this commercial, the actor doesn't reveal themselves and the audience can only see their hand. Conventions in terms of camera shots in Staedtler commercials tend to have master shots and establishing shot of the characters and the setting. In my final product, it only shows close-up shots of the drawing, there's no establishing or master shots providing context to the setting or the actor. In terms of sound, Staedtler commercial tend to have non diegetic sounds of narrators and upbeat music. In my final product, it only consists of a brief diegetic sound of ambience in the first scene and classical incidental music, which is dramatically different from a conventional Staedtler commercial versus my final product. 

The way my final product showcases social groups is in its use of the subject matter, which is centered around the making of a drawing. It's evident that my final product is targeting artists, so the social groups that's represented in my final product is anyone that is interest in art or artists themselves. It establishes this representation by showing art materials used by artist: pencils, erasers and paper. And it shows the deliberate process in the making of an artwork such as establishing values in creating shadows and using the eraser to create highlights in a drawing. 

2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

My final product engages with audiences in its use of sound and lighting. In terms of sound, the first scene starts out with just quiet ambient sound with the pencil setting down on the desk. Suddenly there's dramatic classical music that starts abruptly. This serves as the 'hook' of the commercial. It also engages with audiences by establishing the commercial's objectives in a visually interesting way. The objective of the commercial is how the eraser is essential in the drawing process, and I establish that through dedicating a whole scene with the eraser under the spotlight. This engages with the audience that this is the most essential subject of the whole commercial; I made sure that everyone could unanimously focus on the eraser with the use of a spotlight to identify that it's a crucial tool for the drawing process. 

How my final product would be distributed as a real media text is that it could be featured in a YouTube advertisement or even a TV advertisement. This could serve as a YouTube and TV advertisement as it's very short and brief, which tends to be the ads that are featured in these real media texts. 

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this product?

My production skills developed significantly throughout this project. I think I'm starting to realize the value of time and how it significantly plays a factor into production skills. Throughout the project, I noticed how time consuming of not only filming and editing itself, but I how long it could take to import media onto my computer and then exporting the .mp4 file when done with the final product. Throughout this project, with these factors in mind, I'm beginning to value my time in order to create something that I want to be proud of. So, my production skills improved as I begin to understand that time is essential to have successful execution.  

Additionally, I'm beginning to get the hang of editing. I'm becoming increasingly familiar with the features in iMovie that I could navigate throughout the program with relatively good efficiency. I starting to understand how to cut clips, insert transitions, insert media, mute certain clips, add transitions, add audio in certain times, etc. 

In terms of filming, I've learned a lot more about the camera's features. Initially, I was pretty familiar on how to adjust the settings of the camera, such as shutter-speed, aperture, and ISO. But I was familiar with it in a different media: photography. In this situation, the media I'm working with now is film, so I was able to apply the skills I had learned previously from photography to film. What I learned new was how to record and how to cut takes directly in the camera. I also learned how important takes were in creating video media, as I found that I couldn't get the perfect shot that I had envisioned in one take. Which also adds to how essential time is to consider when making film. I also learned that I could apply from what I know from other parts of media such as drawing & photography, and apply it to film. I have an advantage when utilizing my skills in these areas in order to create a successful video. For example, since I have a good but evolving understanding of composition through drawing and photography, I could apply my understanding of composition to film, to create a successful vision to the audience. 

4. How did you integrate technologies-- software, hardware, and online-- in this project?

I used several technologies to create my final product. I used the Canon EOS Rebel T2i and a tripod to film all of my takes for this commercial. All of these takes were stored in an SD card, and I then import all of the clips to my computer to organize them into a file folder. Once I renamed all of the video files in numerical order, and they're synced up to my iCloud storage, that's when I could start editing. Because the takes were synched up to my iCloud, I can edit in my iPad. The editing program I used was iMovie. In this program, I was able to add transitions, media, background music, audio etc. With this program, I exported my video as an .mp4 file, and I emailed the .mp4 file to myself. Finally, I uploaded the video onto YouTube and embedded the link here, in Blogger.