Music video production.

Evaluation.

1)In what ways does you video use develop or challenge forms and convections of real media products.

As a group, we did a lot of research into other music videos of the same genre (R n B, folk and indie music). This was to help us see what typical convections there are for our chosen genre and to get influence for our music video production. We also made a marketing aims profile (target audience`s demographic and psychographic) before making each product. This allowed us to get ideas of how we could sell and promot our products successfully.

Our finished music video uses some convections of the R n B genre but also challenges some. We chose to use the structure of a R n B/rock video – where there's a band performance with underlying narrative(s). The main influence of how our video came from the scouting for girls video – “Elvis aint dead”. We were influenced mainly by the scene in which the band performance is set and the backdrop lighting. Just like the scouting for girls video, our video is set in a stage(church stage) and we used similar props – the keyboard, the microphone etc. We wanted to emulate the

style of lighting with candles but this was impossible as it was of a high risk and a dangerous fire hazard. The narrative style is similar – as we used a narrative and actors that is totally different from the band performance just

like in the “elvis aint dead” video. • We challenged the form of narratives of a a convectional folk/ R n B music video in the sense that the narrative does not all make up a story. Our aim was to depict different events happening in the world in different settings and from our audience feedback I think this was successful.

The tone and pace of our music video was also influenced majorly by skylar grey “invisible” music. In the sense that slow paced and has a eerie atmosphere which is what aimed to achieve.

Our camera work and visual style was mostly influenced by “Lana Del Rey`s video game music video. For instance, the shot of the pigeons, clouds and boat in our music video was done to look like some of the Lana Del Rey`s video. Also, the fact that some of the shots are not in synch with the music - (the music is slow paced and some of the shot are normal paced) – this was an effect

that we wanted to create too and we achieved that in the couple`s fight scene – the actors actions where a little bit faster than the music pace. We chose to this because we did not want to

follow all the convections of an R n B video.

• As well as using some of the convection of the R n B genre, we also challenged some of the convection . our music video has some elements of performance and narrative. There are less clips of the performance and the narrative overshadows the performance which is quite unusual for an R n B video. narrative main narrative show two different couple, one in love and the other fighting while the performance plainly shows the band performing the song. Our music video narrative style is linked to “Scouting for Girls Elvis aint dead” video as the music video switches from narrative to performance and there are no direct link between the music performance and narrative as the band(singers) are totally different from the actors in the narrative. the editing style our music video also shows inter-textual reference with the scouting for girls music video as we chose to edit our video using basic and simple editing tools in other to reflect the simplistic form the song/lyrics. Our editing style therefore anchors the meaning of the song/lyrics.

Costume/clothing:

• The costume used by the models in our music video also anchors the meaning we tried to convey. The first models are dressed in expensive and dull coloured clothes - anchoring their backgrounds. This portrays conveys their relationship/encounter in the way we wanted, as complicated, twisted and clogged up. The second (couples) are dressed in quite simple and bright coloured clothes which reflect their backgrounds and portrays their relationship in the as simple and easy going. The band who is dressed in black also portrays them in the way we planned which is quite similar to the Scouting for girls “Elvis aint dead” video as we wanted the band performance be in the background and not stand out. Overall, I would say our use of costumes does not challenge the normal codes and convections of your average R n B/folk music as we chose to use the costumes to portray the meaning rather than not use it.

Setting.• We chose our setting carefully when planning our music video. We decided to

shoot the first couple scene in brick lane which is quite a sophisticated, complex and expensive area to live, Our intent was that this would help convey the nature of the couple relationship which as the video shows is quite complex and the couple relationship. From our audience feedback this was deemed successful as the audience said that with the setting, they were able to get insight into the couple’s background which in turn portrayed the nature of their relationship. This is similar for the second couple too – the scenes are set in the park – which is quite a peaceful and relaxed environment. Therefore portraying their relationship as peaceful and relaxed. The natural elements/scenes from our music video emulates Charlie Simpsons “down down down” music video. The two screen grabs below shows the similarities in the natural convections.

Lighting and editing. • Lighting. • We chose to use natural lighting through

out our music video. We used the natural light in the church but enhanced it by adding some ambient lighting from candle light. We choose to this to reflect the calm atmosphere that we were trying to portray in the music video, which in turn anchors the calm and relaxed tone of the music video.

• We also the chose to shoot all the couple scene in natural day light because we did not want it to look superficial or overtly manipulated. We wanted the audience to focus on the actions taking place between the couple rather than be distracted .

• we also chose not to use artificial lighting because we wanted to create a sense of verisimilitude and authenticity.

• Editing• During production, we planned to edit our video to fit

the slow pace of our song. When we where editing we found that using lots of transition would help slow the pace of the music video so we used used quite a lot of `fade in fade out` transition to stop the transitions between shots been too sharp.

• We originally planned to make most of the shots in our video black and white or sepia but after we did this, we found out the video became to dull. At the end we choose to reduce the saturation between shots – leaving it colour but not too colourful and not too dull either.

• There is also a balance in the lengths of the shots. The shots are not too lengthy and not to abrupt either - majority of the shots are between 4 seconds and 9 seconds - this reflects the mood, pace and atmosphere of the song(not too fast and not to slow either). The editing style of our music videos shows does not show the personality of the filmmaker and is relatively objective and functional to the song – we chose to do this because there is not much personality to song. Mad world by Gary Jules is quite a vague song that is open to interpretations. And we tried to convey through our editing style.

• Shots types.• We generally shot our music video in simple and easy

shots . Most of the shots medium close-up and establishing shots shot at a normal angle which are all basic shots. we did not want the final clips to look superficial or manipulated as we wanted the shot types to correspond with the natural elements/feel of our music video.

Media evaluation theories.How we applied Godwin`s theory to our music production.

• Goodwin’s theory of music video, states that all music videos contain either some or all of these elements .

• 1) Have a link between visuals & lyrics (compliment, contradict or amplify) - In our music video, the shot of the bus going backwards compliments that lyrics that states “going nowhere, going nowhere”. The bus is meant to be moving forward but we reversed the shot to make it look like the bus is going backwards – therefore going nowhere.

• 2) Have a link between visuals & music (compliment, contradict or amplify) – the link between the visuals and music is exemplified in the montage we tried to create of different couples – the music is about the “world” therefore showing a montage focuses on different aspects of life which includes: human life exemplified in the couples and busy street; animal life shown through the shots of the birds, nature shown through the fast clouds and other shots.

• 3) Have certain genre characteristics - we tried to place our music video between the R n B/folk genre and through our audience feedback, this was successful although a few people said it looked more like a folk music video.

• 4) Have inter textual references - according to Andrew Godwin's theory, I finished music video should have intertextual reference and relate to other existing music video. This is evident in our music video, because we have our narrative style is similar to the “scouting for girl`s Elvis aint dead” music video and the natural scenes in our music emulates that of Charlie Simpson's down down down.

• 5) Contain notions of looking - the notions of looking plays an idea of gaze and the way people are viewed. In our music video we`ve depicted how different couples are viewed. The public normally view couples as “in love or having problem(fighting”” without knowing what goes in their individual lives. One of our aim was to portray the stereotypical ways in which couples are viewed in the public and we successfully did this through the two different couple scene.

• 6) Whether the video is performance, narrative or concept based – our music video has some elements of performance and narration. The narrative main narrative show two different couple, one in love and the other fighting while the narrative plainly shows the band performing the song.

• 7)contains close up of the artist – our music video challenges this ides because we have very few close-up of our main artist but I make up for this in my other products by placing multiple pictures of the band on my digipak and website (digipack and website).

Katie wales: Inter textual concept in our music video.

• Katie Wales Described Genre as an Inter textual concept where two music video from the same genre show share similar convections.

• If we apply this to music videos this means our music videos reference other videos through convections and visuals. In our music video, we both challenge and use some expected convection of the folk/indie genre. Folk music is generally naturally looking but we choose to use both urban and natural elements to our music video and this is shown through the difference in the setting and the actors clothing from the two screen pictures from our music video below.

• The shots in our music video also reference “Lana Del Rye's video games” video which is of similar genre.

• Our narrative style is also similar to “scouting for girls Elvis aint dead” music video. This shows a reference between our music video and other existing music video in the folk genre.

DIGIPAK AND WEBSITE.

Digipack.

• My digipak uses and develops the convection of folk music genre. Just like the website I've only used dull/dark colours to create link between the two – this then reflects the mood of our music video. The front cover is in a montage of the band images, just like the masthead of my website, therefore advertising the band. The title of the album is the name of the band “the maroons” and the title track which “mad world” are convectionally placed on the bottom left hand side of the Rosewood STD front cover and is in bold font. I chose that front because the typography is eye-catching and would stand out to our chosen audience on the shop shelves. In addition, the title of the album and the title track is in black and placed against a white background. I deliberately chose not to put an image of the band behind the album title in other for it to stand out and make it eye-catching/appealing to my target audience.

• I've also used the same of font that I've used in the website in other to create links between the links between the website. The name of the band is the title my CD cover and is also the title of the website. In both the Digipak and the CD cover the Title( name of the band) is on in the same font and typography ( ) this instantly creates links the digipak to the website.

• In my digipak I've also pictures of the band in three of the four pages. I did this to feed in to the labels appeal. As there isn't enough clips of the band in the music video, so I chose to advertise the band through the digipak by using lots of pictures.

• Since finishing my digipak, I've had to make some changes to the front page as I was told that the montage made the front page look too busy. This is what it now like. I've changed the front page from a montage containing 5 pictures to a single picture I've also corrected some typographical errors on the back page and align the picture with the boarder line to make sure it does not overrun. And below is what it now likes.

Website. For my website, I chose to use the same colour scheme as my digipak (predominately white , black, grey and some red), showing clear links

between the two. I used Photoshop to design the webpage which was later transferred into Dreamweaver. I placed the banner at the top of the page which is a convection of most music website of the folk genre. The banner contains the name of the bad “the maroons” boldly at the top right of the masthead in bold font as the title of the website. This instantly advertises the band to the viewer as the banner is normally the focal point of a website, therefore, when they look at the website they instantly see the name of the band. In addition I also placed photos of the band in the masthead to form a montage . I did this to feed in to the label `s appeal, therefore advertising the band. Some of the photos are actual shots from the music video shoot which advertises and promotes the song as well as the individual band members to the viewer and also anchors the montage elements of our music video.

Right in the middle of the page there is an option to see photos of the band which also promotes the band and makes them recognisable to their fans. At the left hand side of my website, I also placed an interactive page were fans can make comment and read other comments from fans alike. I chose to do this in other for the fans relate the band and make them feel like they have voice/ can interact with the band. Right underneath the interactive box, there are also links/buttons to the band`s twitter, face book and Ustream page which are all social networking that enables the fans to communicate with band. Therefore increasing and maintaining the fan`s `relationship` with the band. lastly I chose the place the latest song/title track of the album on the website to promote the song. At the bottom left of the webpage, there is an option to win ticket to see the band, I chose to this because they are a new band and seen as the target audience for the band are roughly between 18 - 25 , working class/students ,an offer like this would appeal to that demographic group and would therefore attract more fans. The photos below shows my website and Gary Jules Website.

How did you use media technology in the construction and research planning and

evaluation.

• During the pre and post production aspects of creating our music video, I have used a variety of media technology and have learnt a lot in the process.

Pre-production. word press – throughout pre and post production we`ve used word press to document all our work

which includes, research, planning and production. I`ve also used slide share to embed power points to my word press account. For thus i had to set up an account to be able to use it for sharing purposes.

Internet and social networking for research purpose – I majorly used the internet to research similar music video. I used YouTube to watch and compare videos which helped us to make a decision on what genre of music to use. We also used last fm online listening like:

Online listening sites like Last FM and groove shark.: (http://www.last.fm/music/Lana%2520del%2520Rey?ac=lana%20del ) and (http://grooveshark.com/) to search for artist and to easily find similar artist as it has a links that directs you to similar artists to the one you`ve searched for.

Youtube/vevo/yahoo music. We used YouTube to search for the song we chose and also to download the track we used in our during editing. We also used YouTube to publish our final music video. We mainly used yahoo music for vidoe resaerch

• Production and post-production.

Video cameras- we used cannon video camera for all the filming. This was quite challenging as none of had used one before. At first we`re filming and overwriting what we already filmed because we tried to watch back what we had filmed and forgot to fast-forward it. When we filmed the band scene (lip-synching) we took out the micro-phone from the camera to act as a micro-phone for the singer – unbeknown to us that it was actually the sound recorder. When we started editing we realised that all the scenes of the lead singer had no sound. This made making his singing in synch with the actual song almost impossible. From this I was able to learn how to: set up to a video camera without altering/distorting its functions; use a video camera effectively; and what to change and what not to touch when using a video camera.

Photoshop - having used Photoshop before, I was quite familiar with most of the features. In this project, I used Photoshop to: design my Digipak; design the webpage layout of my website and design the banner for my website. I will develop this further in dream weaver and add html and links. I have also used photoshop to edit the pictures that I have used for my website and digipak. From using photoshop I have learnt how to how to create a design using different layers to make editing easier, I have also learnt how to edit pictures properly.

Dreamweaver- as well as using photoshop to design my website, I have also use Dreamweaver to create hotspots in other to make all the buttons work, and to navigate from page to page. I have also learnt how to embed a video into the webpage.

Final cut pro – we used final cut pro to edit. We all had impute in the editing and we all too turns in logging and capturing the clips we needed. I added some of the transitions like the cross dissolve and fade in fade out to slow the pace between the shot of the exemplified in the shot between the birds and the fast cloud. I also sped up the shot of cloud by increasing the speed from a 100% to 2000% - thus compressing it from a five minute clip to a less that 20 seconds. I also added mild filters to some of the clips i.e. I reduced the contrast in the clips of the birds and the clouds to add a washed out effect as it is heading towards the end of the music video.

Using final cut pro to edit the sound was really challenging because all our recordings of the performance had no sound so we had to read the singers lips and guess which part of the song he was singing before placing the clip on the right position in the timeline.

What have you learned from you audience feedback?

• Class feedback – our finished music video was played in class and we received some feedback from our peers.

• Getting audience feedback helped us improve our rough cut – as we were told that our narrative was not clear – with this we decided to do some more filming to help our audience understand the narrative. Audience feedback also helped to know the success of our final cut as – the main comments given where:

The camera work was good: to be specific they said the camera work on the scenes with the first couple was good and the setting was specifically good and they liked the fact that we had a variety of shots from different angle. They liked the simplicity of the shots and that there was a balance between it beign simples and boring.

The editing is efficient and anchors the genre/style of music – they commented on the editing and favoured our editing of the shots. Although they said we could have used less transitions as it was not needed. I agree with this and would remove some of the “fade in fade out” transition effects if I was giving another chance to correct the editing.

The random cut out scene makes the music video more interesting and adds to the montage style of the video – I also agree with this and would add more random shots if I could to fit into the montage.

The story line could have been more clearer – this true and evident in the music video. If I was to film again I would add in more couples to make the montage more effective and I would keep the actions in the scenes simple so that is understandable to everyone and not just to those of our target audience. The storyline is not clear because the actors where too shy to act out some of the scenes that we intended to shoot. If I had more time, I would do some more filming to make up for it.

2)How effective is the combination of your product(video) and the ancillary text (digipak)

and homepage.