The Britney Experience Evaluation

As a practise run before making our final music video we copied all of the shots from the first 30 seconds of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. It allowed us to see how much effort is needed to complete even a section of a music video, and here is my evaluation of the experience:

1) What do you think you have learnt from the Britney planning, filming and editing experience?

I have learnt a lot of things from the experience. I now appreciate the amount of time that alll of the processes take. Planning needs to be carefully carried out to make sure that all of the shots are perfect and sync correctly with the music and at the right time. It was difficult at some points because some shots only lasted for a second, and there were so many more shots than I thought there would be. We created a written plan using the lyrics to help us establish what shot went with what line during the song. We also had to establish who would film when, and it was difficult to make sure that it was even because some of us had bigger parts in the actual acting and therefore they couldn't do as much filming.

The filming was challenging, but fun. We had to make sure that every shot was perfect and therefore had to do it at least three times, and had to remember to leave a three second gap either end of starting the scene in order to create scope to edit with. It was also difficult to get all of the shots in a short space of time. It however did make me aware of the importance of time management and to make sure that all of the cast are attending filming. It also became apparant how difficult lip synching is and that I will need to practise that if I am going to be in the final music video! The editing was interesting, yet it takes a very long time to edit just one small part of the filming as it needs to be carefully selected and then all of the effects need to be added. I feel like I was good at part directing the film and making sure that the shots matched up, and I was also fairly good at filming.

2) For you, what part of the process did you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed the filming the most I feel, as it was the part that I was most involved in. We had fun whilst filming as it was a new experience for all of us and we were therefore learning as we went along and all made mistakes so it was entertaining for all of us.

3) How do you think the work you have done will impact on your group project?

I feel like the preparation work we have completed will make us aware of all the things that could possibly go wrong with the final project and will mean that we can try and avoid them as much as possible. We now understand how much time is needed for the whole process, and with this experience we only filmed 30 seconds worth so we will have to be very focussed and organised to finish 3 and a half minutes worth.

4) What were your particular strengths?

I feel like I am very organised and also time conscious, so I would be able to keep the group on track and be a good time manager. I also like to make sure that we have got all of the shots perfect so I feel like I am good at directing pieces, as well as filming.