Continuing my planning from the previous post, I decided that giving myself a tentative schedule to work on everything in my checklist would help improve efficiency and give me a clearer path to my goals for the music video.

1) Mid-October – Finalized lyrics and produce track (Track Production)

2)Early-November: Finalized shot-list and storyboard (Pre-production)

3)Late November to Mid-December (2nd week): Finish shooting. (Production)

4)January– Wrap up shooting, edit and colourgrade. (Post-Production)

5)Mid-February: Finish Digipak design and launch website.

6)February last week: Finish Critical Analysis.

7)March– Finish blog formatting and upload.

While the track I decided to compose and produce for the Music Promotion Package, titled “Endhan Madras” (My Madras) is still in its production stage, I decided that it was vital that I make a rough checklist that would give me a guideline to follow during the pre-production, production and post-production stages of the music video, as well as during the designing processes as well as release of the website and digipak.

The tentative checklist I made for myself is available below:

• Final Track (pre-production)– procuring or producing my composition and having it ready to plan my shoots with.
• Script/shot list (pre-production)– breaking down my ideas for the music video and putting it into a formatted list that I can use as a guide during my shoots
• Storyboards (Pre-Production)– Visualizing my shots as accurately as I can to help guide me during shoots and help the shoots go smoothly and efficiently.
• Final locations (pre-production)– Narrowing down the locations I wish to film the music video at and breaking down which shots take place at which location, ensure I have all the permissions required to film at these locations, etc.
• Casting/subjects required (pre-production)– arranging for actors or any subjects I require for the music video.
• Set shooting schedule (pre-production)– set dates to shoot the music video
• Procure any props, costumes, etc (pre-productions)– Ensure that I have any props or mis-en-scene requirements arranged in time for the shoot.
• Shoot (production)– Ensure all necessary shots have been filmed and all equipment necessary is available, etc.
• Design Digipak– Ensure all the written content as well as images for the digipak are complete. With the help of research and templates available, complete the design and layout of the digipak.
• Design Website– Ensure that the layout, link, tabs, etc have been planned and added to the website, using either Wix.com or Squarespace, etc.
• Complete and launch Website– Ensure details such as Concert dates, artist bio, promotional material such as teasers or posters, behind the scenes, singles release announcement, albums, merchandise are available on the website for the “artist”.
• Edit Music Video (Post-production)– Complete all cuts, color grading, positioning of clips, cropping of clips and sequencing is complete.

While there may have been certain aspects I could have missed out on or need to do further research on to specify more tasks to complete for the Music Promotion Product, as of now I plan on using this checklist as a rough guideline to ensure I progress towards a successful outcome.

While the Music Promotion Package does not require students to compose their own songs for the music video, I decided that composing and producing the track will not only allow for a more original final product, but would additionally allow me to enhance the music video in terms of creativity and quality as I would find the ideal, most suitable locations and subjects for the shoot. Making my own track would give me more experience working with other people, learning more about softwares and would contribute to the music video as I would be able to plan for the production and post-production with clearer ideas and space for adequate improvisation.

Composing “Endhan Madras”:

Lyrics and Music: “Endhan Madras” is a “Tanglish” (Tamil + English) song inspired by traditional folk music and current Kollywood film music that make use “Kuthu” beats (Dance music found in Tamil culture). The song is meant to have a comical tone; as most “Tanglish” songs do. The lyrics of Endhan Madras aim to talk about common practices, lifestyles and even bring out stereotypes that have been prevalent in this culture to allow viewers to relate and enjoy.

Keeping the song in mind, the music video would ideally make use of aesthetically appealing and culturally accurate representation- complementing the song choice and creatively depicting the lyrics/music as any music video should.

The lyrics begin with depictions of a typical morning in the city, talking about what people wake up to, what they eat, hear or tend to experience. The song then goes on to represent the daily lives of citizens; making use of colloquial language, cultural and stereotypical references used to stay true to the genre of music and aid in boosting the authenticity of the complementing music video. The song continues to talk about the diversity of the city and makes special reference to the history and geography of the city to point out the prominence of water in the city that was once known as India’s water capital. Focussing on such aspects of Chennai lifestyle allow its target audience of Chennaites and Tamilians to relate to the song and most importantly, the video’s content and its final message to viewers.

The Message: The Chennai water crisis had been raised to the level of a global issue and changed the lives of citizens drastically; increasing the importance of spreading awareness regarding our consumption of water as a society, as well as the ways in which we must preserve it.

This spread on various media platforms, being covered by newspapers, news channels, radio and most effectively, social media. A movement inspired by the Blue For Sudan movement was brought into effect- inspiring many social media users to change their profile image to a Yellow color to spread awareness and speak out about the water crisis in order to bring it to the attention of the government and push citizens to be more careful with water usage. Celebrities like Leonardo Di Caprio had also posted about the Chennai water crises- further spreading the awareness of the dire situation and emphasizing the fact that media as a platform can be used effectively to make a change. I was inspired by the importance of Media in important social movements such as this as a person living in Chennai myself. I decided that a music video dedicated to the city of Chennai (Historically known as Madras) and its people would be an effective way to deliver this message and take part in spreading awareness of responsible water use to the target audiences. I am hoping to bring in elements of this message in the digipak design as well, adding details such as organizations people could donate to, the goal of the song release and where the funds raised by the single would go, etc.

Examples: As part of research and to further understand how other music videos depict their messages (if any), I decided to refer to videos I found most contextually appropriate or drew inspiration from. The music video most similar to my project is a song called Earth by Lil Dicky that also addresses an important environmental cause with a humorous take and is part of the Rap music and Pop genres. “Endhan Madras”, besides obvious differences, would not make use of any animation and could be considered an ode to the city with a more subtle dedication to the cause of water preservation as opposed to Earth’s approach to the its message.

Other music videos with a message such as 1-800-273-8255 by Logic use a linear and more narrative centered structure and voice for their music videos. Other music videos such as “You Need To Calm Down” by Taylor Swift give out strong messages through lyrical references and portraying relevant characters.

Vision for the music video: While I have not started working on storyboards or a shotlist, for Endhan Madras’s Music video I am hoping to bring out aspects of vibrant colours, make use of diverse subjects, shoot relevant objects and locations with focus on aesthetics, Mis-en-scene and movement. I am hoping to experiment with the numerous conventions of a music video such as FPS (Slo-mo), close up shots, etc while giving myself room to improvise and present the subject/objects in the most appealing way that works with the music.

In future blog posts I will be updating more details regarding the visuals as and when I work on it; complete with shot lists and storyboards. I will also be updating blogs regarding the planning, organization and research process before the project’s production begins.

In a previous post I had analyzed a film trilogy (Lord Of The Rings) using Vladimir Propp’s Character Theory, Levi Strauss’s Theory Of Binary Oppositions and Tzevtan Todorov’s Narrative Theory.

While the effect of the aforementioned theories have been prominent in most popular films (it can be seen in LOTR as well has Harry Potter, etc), I was interested to see if the same theories or patterns can be found in Sitcoms or other television series; for example, Friends or Gilmore Girls.

Gilmore Girls circles the lives of the main character, Lorelai Gilmore and her equally important daughter who has the same name. The show is 7 seasons long and has mild themes that are followed throughout, with conflicts of varied magnitude coming into the storyline ever so often.

Using the Theory Of Binary Oppositions on a pleasant show such as Gilmore Girls would be interesting as there is no prominent conflict or main negative theme that stands out in the series. However, the protagonist does find herself in various situations where the Binary Opposition could be interpreted as “Lorelai vs the World” or even “Gilmore Girls Vs Stars Hollow“. It would be difficult to box the entire series under one Binary Opposition as there are different conflicts and themes that the characters encounter or that the show introduces as it progresses (This could also be because each character has their own character arc and development as they go through different events or phases in their lives within the show). Smaller themes could be “Rory vs Love” or “Lorelai vs her parents“.

Character Theory, unlike the Theory of Binary oppositions is something that we can distinctly see being used in Gilmore Girls; although the extensive character arcs prohibit us from classifying the characters into only one ‘trope’ or role. Some characters may not fit into the roles exactly, but have evident displays of tendencies required. The list below has my observations of the most prominent characters and how they may fit into Character Theory roles at various stages in their development throughout the 7 seasons.

• The Hero– Lorelai and Rory Gilmore
• The Helper– Sookie St. James, Lane, Luke Danes, Jackson, Etc.
• The Prize– Luke Danes, The Dragonfly Inn, College, etc.
• The Dispatcher– Emily Gilmore, Lorelai Gilmore, Jess Mariano etc.
• The Villain– Taylor, Jess, Dean, Emily and Richard, etc.
• The Donor– Emily and Richard Gilmore, Lorelai Gilmore, Luke Danes, etc.
• The False Hero– Taylor, Logan, Jess, etc.

Using Narrative Theory to interpret a T.V show that is 7 seasons long may be a bit difficult as the narrative has development and constant change through each season. However, here is my broad understanding of Gilmore Girls using Narrative Theory.

• Equilibrium: Lorelai and Rory live together, grow together, are both single and have issues with Emily and Richard Gilmore, School, working at the Inn, etc. Minimal conflict and peaceful development for the most part.
• Disruption: Financial issues, Involving Emily and Richard Gilmore, Dean is introduced before Jess and Logan (all bringing their own conflict into the narrative) and Lorelai faces issues that are mostly financial, clashes with her parents and loneliness. Emily and Richard are separated, etc.
• Quest: Rory enters college, Lorelai opens the Dragonfly.
• Climax: Lorelai enters a relationship with Luke Danes and the Inn is on the road to success, Rory dates Logan, etc.
• New Equilibrium/Restoration: Lorelai and Luke living together, Rory emerges a successful adult with a difficult love life- much like her mother.

As can be seen above, the show has various characteristics of the Narrative Theory but unlike a commercial film, clearly distinguishing each stage is more difficult due to the depth and periodic growth of the plot.

After analysis of a film trilogy and a television show, I understand the differences between them in relevance to plot and narrative development as well as establishment of main themes.

After choosing the Music Promotional Package, I had a few original composition ideas to choose from. To help me narrow them down and choose my song, I decided to search for locations as this would be one of the most important factors in helping me choose a song to work on.

On 5th June, 6:30 Am, I started scouting for locations for my A level Music Video coursework. I decided to start searching for suitable locations for my first idea; a song I wrote about a hillstation in Tamil Nadu (Kodaikanal), called “Princess of the Hills”. As I could not afford to take my cast and equipment up to the hill station mentioned, I had to find similar but more accessible locations in and around Chennai. To do so, I had taken the highway road to Pondicherry, where I spotted many hillocks and fields. I had also visited a Hindu Temple situated on a hill, which I thought would have been a suitable location for my song.

Even though I was able to find a few nature filled, hilly locations and farmlands that would work well for the shoot, I decided to go a different direction and choose another composition I had been working on called “Endhan Madras” or My Madras. The locations I had found for the first composition (Princess Of The Hills) were not up to the standard that I had imagined for the music video, while I found several aspects of each location that would go well with the song, Endhan Madras, as it is about the city itself.

On location recce, I couldn’t help but picture a music video dedicated to the city I was brought up in- it would give me the opportunity to capture the old town, new city and other aspects of Chennai with my music video, as the song talks about the average life of a Chennaite, taking colloquial, emotional and comical tones with its lyrics and representing music and culture of the city with its authentic dance beat and instrumentation. I had started composing this song in June, although I am yet to produce the track.

Recently, our class of A Level Media studies had been introduced to a number of theories regarding film analysis. These theories included topics of characters in film, narrative structure, and overall conventions found in film plots.

The three theories I will be using to help analyze my chosen film trilogy, Lord Of The Rings are firstly, the Theory Of Binary Oppositions- Levi Strauss, second, Character Theory- Vladimir Propp and lastly Tzevtan Todorov’s Narrative theory.

The Lord Of The Rings is a series of 3 films (The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.) whose plots, characters and narratives are derived from the original books written by J.R.R Tolkien.

Below, I will be giving my understanding of each theory and analyzing the films broadly using them.

1. The Theory Of Binary Oppositions- Levi Strauss: This theory revolves around the idea that a narrative makes use of contrast by implementing opposing main characters or themes. This idea may help thicken a plot or help add organized elements to the narrative that would make it more attractive to the target audience; a relevant example being Good vs Evil.

In the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, an obvious theme of Good Vs Evil can be observed as there is war involving the protagonist (Frodo Baggins) and his team of “good” characters (The fellowship of the ring- characters including Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, Boromir, Legolas and Gandalf.) vs the antagonist (Sauron) and his team of “evil” characters (Saruman, Orcs, Uruk-hai, etc.). While there are grudges held between characters and communities within the plot in a small scale, mankind, elf-kind and other creatures fight for the “good” side alongside the people of Rohan against Saruman’s army towards the end. This reinforces the presence of a Good Vs Bad theme in The Lord Of The Rings, as the films depict various characters coming together, picking their side and fighting the large scale battle.

The level of depth that this overall theme (Good Vs Evil) and smaller nuances of the film (such as character arcs, interactions and histories) have added to the plot is incredible; allowing for 3 feature films that are each more than 2 hours long as well as adding detail to every character appearing on screen, making the viewer’s experience a truly memorable one. According to Box Office Mojo, the Lord of the Rings films have each earned an average of $970 million apiece.

2. Character Theory- Vladimir Propp: This theory discusses the conventional characters that may be found in many narratives. These character tropes include The Hero,The Dispatcher, The Helper, The Prize, The Donor, The Villain and the False Hero.

In The Lord Of The Ring, these character tropes can be observed easily. However, each character has various aspects to their personality and actions. Hence, they be perceived differently based on a viewer’s opinion. Having said that, my character role interpretation is as follows:

• The Hero– Frodo Baggins
• The Helper– Samwise Gamgee
• The Prize– Peace or to “save the good left in middle earth”
• The Dispatcher– Gandalf The Grey
• The Villain– Sauron
• The Donor– Aragorn, Smeagol
• The False Hero– Boromir

As nearly every character in the Lord Of The Rings series has a well developed character arc, it is difficult to place them in conventional character roles. However, characters such as the Hero, Dispatcher, Helper and Villain remain clear.

3. Narrative Theory- Tzvetan Todorov: The Narrative theory suggests that each plot has a 5 part segmentation including the following sections:

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• Quest
• Climax
• New Equilibrium/Restoration

In the 3 films in the LOTR Franchise, this narrative structure is used quite creatively.

In the first film, the introduction or origin story of the ring and how it reached Bilbo Baggins itself makes use of Todorov’s shorter narrative theory involving only 3 steps: Equilibrium, Destruction, New Equilibrium. The usage of this shorter narrative theory in Fellowship Of The Ring as well as the 5 step version spread out across all 3 films in the franchise show us just how vast the story is and allows for more seamless narration- it may help audiences understand the plot further as they are given enough context to enjoy the film while staying true to the original book and plot.

After this introduction, The Fellowship Of The Ring or film one continues into usage of the 5 step narrative theory. My observations regarding this are as follows:

• Equilibrium: Bilbo and Frodo Bagins seemingly regular life in the Shire.
• Disruption: The return of Sauron.
• Quest: Frodo and the Fellowship Of The Ring traveling to Mordor to destroy The Ring.
• Climax: Gollum’s death, the destruction of the Ring and the end of Sauron.
• New Equilibrium/Restoration: Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor with Arwen as his queen, Samwise returns to the shire and has a family and Frodo leaves Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves.

As part of research and practice (preliminary task), I decided to attempt pre-production elements of a Montage. After working out a shot list, I decided to create a storyboard. Storyboards help cinematographers and directors communicate and allow for the desired outcome of a film.

The plot of the montage revolves around a subject who wishes to pick up a musical instrument for their music class at school, but is unable to find the right one for them until the end. Throughout the montage, the subject is seen going back and forth from the music store to find their instrument, with similar (disappointing) results until the end.

A helpful source I found while researching about montages is linked here. This source provides us with various theories, where I learnt of the importance of symbolism, juxtaposition and usage of similar shots in a montage amongst other things.

As my shot-list consisted of over 20 shots, I decided to draw up just 3 shots from the list that repeated at various points and have the same framing with certain elements (minor changes to props or costume to show the passage of time) changing as the shots progress.

To draw these storyboard images, I used an iPad Pro, An Apple Pencil and an art application called Medibang. After attempting to sketch these on paper, I decided that drawing them digitally will allow me to clearly depict the framing and composition I have in mind as it is generally a more forgiving medium.

Montages are a popular product of video editing that are used to creatively condense a sequence of shots and depict the passage of time. As part of a class activity and as well as part of research for the music promotion package, I decided to attempt planning the shot-list and drawing storyboards for a montage.

While a music video is likely to be longer than a montage (Among various other differences); both types of film typically have close to no dialog. Due to this, the “script” as such for a music video and a montage would have similarities and I decided this would be a good way to experience pre-production of this type of project before I begin my A Level Coursework Planning.

The plot of the montage revolves around a subject who wishes to pick up a musical instrument for their music class at school, but is unable to find the right one for them until the end. Throughout the montage, the subject is seen going back and forth from the music store to find their instrument, with similar (disappointing) results until the end.

To begin, I started searching for examples to understand the editing technique further. I was exposed to montages from Rocky or Up and was particularly inspired by a YouTuber’s musical montages for the music promotion package.

The relationship between the music and the montage editing technique create complementary and appealing visual and auditory products, as can be seen linked below; this directly links to my ideas for my A Level Music Promotion Package film.

After initiating the montage planning process by writing a plot for the video, I decided to draw up a shot list. Inspired by the videos linked above, I decided repetition of shots perfectly depicts the monotony of a subjects life and the events taking place in it- as can be seen in the plot described in the beginning of this post.

Shot No:	Description:	Subject:	Shot Size:	Camera Angle:	Camera Movement:	Location:	Equipment:	Duration (Approx):
1	Establishing music class.	Door with signage	Mid-shot	Eye Level, high inclined	Pan shot (handheld)	School- Interior	Camera, SD card, Lighting	3 seconds
2	Establishing Subject.	The subject’s nervous expression.	Close Up	Eye Level	Still Frame	School- Interior	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	2 Seconds
3	Establishing Conflict (reason why subject is nervous)	Shot of printed form on the subject’s table, asking for their preffered instrument (focus on this) the subject taps the pen nervously on the desk.	Mid-shot	Subjects perspective, Low Inclined	Pull-Focus/Still	School-interior	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.
4	Subject walking towards the music store	Subject wearing schoolbag, evidently upset.	Wide-Shot	Midriff Level	Still Frame (subject walks into frame and then out of frame)	Road- exterior	Camera, SD Card, Tripod	3 Seconds
5	Establishing the store.	Subject walks in as the door swings open.	Close-up	Ground level (shot of the subject’s feet walking into the store)	Still Frame	Store- Interior.	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	2 Seconds
6	Subject leaving the music store (same shot as No.4, with new props and emotion)	Subject wearing schoolbag and holding a violin case. (hopeful, enthusiastic)	Wide-Shot	Midriff Level	Still Frame (subject walks into frame and then out of frame)	Road- exterior	Camera, SD Card, Tripod	3 seconds
7	Figuring out the violin	Subject holding Rosin in one hand and bow in the other, confused and dejected. Violin on the table in front of them.	Pull Focus (from violin to confused subject.)	High Inclined, Midriff Level	Still Pull-Focus.	Subject’s home- Interior.	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	3 Seconds
8	Repeat of shot 4, exactly:		Wide-Shot	Midriff Level	Still Frame	Road- exterior	Camera, SD Card, Tripod	2 seconds
9	Figuring out drums	Subject sitting at thedrums, sticks in hand, cringing at how loud it is	Mid-shot	Low Inclined Eye level	Still frame	Store- Interior	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	2 Seconds
10	Repeat of shot 6, except subject is empty handed, different clothes							1 Second
11	Repeat of Shot 3 Exactly. (pen tapping, more intense.)							1 Second
12	Repeat of shot 5							2 seconds
13	Shot of flute case opening	Subjects hands, flute case and flute.	Mid-shot	Birds eye view (as if the subject is looking down at their lap, but with more aesthetic focus)	Still Frame	Subject’s home	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	2 second
14	Shot of guitar string snapping	Subjects hands, guitar	Mid-shot	Birds eye view	Still Frame	Subject’s home	Camera, SD card, Tripod, Lighting.	2 seconds
15	Shot of Piano lid closing
16	Shot of subject picking up the ukulele
17	Shot of subject starting to strum, with a smile on their face
19	Shot of subject playing the ukulele in front of a larger audience (family, at home)
20	Shot of subje parents faces-proud
21	Shot of subject walking with the ukulele on their shoulder
22	Shot of subject filling out the form confidently
23	Shot of subjects confident expression.

While researching the terms Synergy and Cross Media Convergence in relevance to marketing and production of media products, I discovered that the two are connected concepts. Listed below are the sources I found helpful while understanding the differences between Synergy and Cross Media Convergence as well as their purposes, effectivity and varied examples.

Cross Media Convergence & Synergy from Liz Davies

Synergy and cross media convergence from sandraoddy2

These sources linked allowed me to understand the various uses and of Cross Media Convergence and Synergy, as well as how well blended the two concepts are in Media.

Cross Media Convergence, as I have learnt, refers to the usage of multiple media platforms including OOH, New Media, Traditional Media and Activation to market the same media product.

For example, films such as the Deadpool series were marketed using Cross media convergence- Activation, New Media and Traditional media (As well as Synergy, which is often used as part of Cross Media Convergence) were all used effectively to promote the film.

A more regional example would be Super Deluxe, A 2019 Tamil release that made use of New Media, releasing an extremely popular trailer on YouTube as well as maintaining an active Instagram account with a significant following. Cross Media Convergence could be observed as Traditional Media and OOH were also used- promotional material could be found all over the city and in Cinema theaters.

Synergy could be observed as actors from the film were interviewed or had collaborated with YouTube content creators– marketing the film further to their target market while giving the YouTube Channels more viewers (Brought in by the popular actors from the film). Another example of Synergy in the film Super Deluxe was merchandise- A line of products including T-shirts and posters were released with the film’s title, catchphrases or characters by a popular brand known as Fully Filmy, this was official merchandise for the film.

Synergy in Media refers to the collaboration of different institutions releasing multiple linked products simultaneously to effectively market a media product. This could include a partnership between two or more parties or can be products released by different companies of a conglomerate, etc.

For example, Releasing of films from the Harry Potter Franchise along with a video game series developed by EA (UK) and published by Warner Bros. and Electronic Arts. These release dates coincided with movie releases from 2001 to 2011, making usage of Synergy.

In conclusion, Cross Media Convergence and Synergy are found in the marketing, promotional and distribution aspects of nearly all media products sold. Cross Media Convergence allows for a wider reach and can help increase the sales and potential audience of media content. Usage of Synergy would allow for benefit from and to various sources- growth of popularity of Media Product as well as a growth in profits of the product can be observed.

Current technologies used in film production is an important research topic as it is likely to increase my knowledge and understanding about cameras and other necessary equipment in order to make the process of making media products of my own more interesting and efficient. However, before learning about the latest innovations in film technology, I decided it was important to learn about the scientific origins as well as early innovations that built the foundation to the motion picture industry.

Some of the most informative sources I used to learn about older technologies are linked below:

Linked above is a detailed explanation of how Technicolor works, using some of the oldest colored films as examples. This video debunks a claim that the Wizard Of Oz is the first technicolor film and uses creative methods to explain the origin, science and technology behind technicolor.

Technicolor started off with only red and green colors or strips in the camera- seen prominently from the late 1920’s to the early 1930’s. an image’s RGB areas are split and then merged after coloring the film. Blue, the third crucial strip, was introduced in 1932. To create a technicolor image, negatives of the image were shot through a prism that split the light into RGB negatives. These negatives were flipped and dyed in the complimentary colors. This dye is then transferred- creating a technicolor image strip. This technology was difficult to perfect and required a large camera with sound proofing (to make the process less noisy, as the camera produced a lot of sound while filming a sound motion picture) and a large amount of light sources to shoot with.

The video linked about consists of examples of film products from the era of kinetoscopes to modern day technology. This video is a simple collection of films that allowed me to analyze the changes in film in relevance to the technologies used. It also gave me a few historically significant examples of films.

This video is one of a 17 (and counting) part Crash Course series on film history. The second part of this series (linked above) speaks in detail about Dickson (working under Edison in his lab) inventing the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope. Eventually, “Kinetoscope Parlours” were established and popularized. This helped Edison make profit off of the patented invention.

The Kinetograph used innovative technologies from various other scientists to create a motion picture camera using rolls of celluloid coated in light sensitive chemicals to portray motion pictures, supported by the Phi Phenomenon. Sprocket Holes are another key invention. These are holes that were punctured into the rolls of tape to ensure that the pictures in each frame can be seen as one fluid motion picture. The sprocket holes helped achieve this as they allowed a “stop and go device” to make intermittent pauses during a Kinetoscope display that helped enough light pass to make the film perceivable.

The Kinetoscope’s increase in popularity resulted in Dickson and Edison building the first Motion picture production studio called the Black Maria. This studio had a retractable sun roof as well as a rotating base, solely to capture enough light to film so that the subjects may be seen against the black backgrounds. Stickslap comedy and other motion based acts were filmed as synchronous sound was too difficult to achieve at that point in innovation. These films were mostly less than 20 seconds long and as the Kinetograph was static and could not be moved- only one angle or position could be used. Dickson played a major role even here as the camera operator, producer and director to a lot of the films made.

The video provides a historical narrative and technological milestones using a timeline to explain the innovation of the first motion picture camera. The series speaks about various important areas in film history.

The video linked above is a prompt and clear analysis on technological developments in film and their affects on the industry.

After viewing these sources, my understanding about the technology and their inner workings improved vastly. This will help me further understand current technologies and allow me to follow the development of technology over the years as well as its effects on the industry.