Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Production diary - Meeting 6
At the beginning of our meeting we had a anonymous vote of who we feel would be best suited for the lead singer and the 2 back up singers. I was voted as the lead singer with Ben and Steve as two back up singers.
Monday, 28 September 2015
Production Diary - Meeting 5
In our fifth meeting we listened to another few possible song choices and came up with 2 main choices. One of these was 'The 1975 - Falling for you' and 'The National - Fake Empire'. We the began auditioning some lip syncing for the songs to get to grips with the lyrics. Me, Steve and Ben were the ones performing "The 1975 - Falling for you".
We then put this on premier and are going to update this to our blog, after we are deciding who will be the lead singer and who will play the part as the band.
We then put this on premier and are going to update this to our blog, after we are deciding who will be the lead singer and who will play the part as the band.
Friday, 25 September 2015
Production diary - Meeting 4
In this meeting we all further researched song ideas as we all queried whether the pace of the song was too slow and would bore the audience. We also looked at a couple of editing ideas from some other songs such as projecting images on objects during the video.
Thursday, 24 September 2015
Production diary - meeting 3
Meeting 3 - In this meeting Steve was in charge of searching for props on the internet to see how we could purchase or access these specific props.
Our group also all came together to work out or shooting schedule, we all had to put days forward when we wouldn't be free to film and cross it off our calendar.
Our group also all came together to work out or shooting schedule, we all had to put days forward when we wouldn't be free to film and cross it off our calendar.
Production diary - meeting 2
Meeting 2 - In meeting 2 we split the group and carried out different roles. Me and Steve were in charge of choosing a certain song choice and analysing the lyrics to determined what ideas we could implement in our video. Will and Ben were in charge of searching for 1 more song to complete our 3 song choices, they showed us each song they found and asked for our opinion on them.
Music Inspiration
Here our our ideas for the music video task.
The issues we had with this as a music video is we thought the lead singers voice was too distinct and unrealistic for our group.
The 1975 - Falling for you
For the moment we have labelled this song as our main choice, the beat is similar to other ideas we had such as 'XX - Fantasy' however this has a faster pace and more effective use of lyrics for our ideas. With this video we can explore performance ideas in our video as XX - fantasy seemed too slow and dull.
The National - Fake Empire
We decided this song for one of our choices because we thought the voice of the singer was different and unlike most other.
We decided this song for one of our choices because we thought the voice of the singer was different and unlike most other.
The issues we had with this as a music video is we thought the lead singers voice was too distinct and unrealistic for our group.
Production Diary
Meeting 1 - In this first meeting we discussed song ideas in our group and thought of potential themes for the video l. We listened to a number of songs on YouTube and discussed ideas with our eyes closed to see what we pictured with the music playing.
Music video Timeline
St Louis Blues - Bessie Smith 1929
In this music video the camera used is shot in black and white revealing the quality of the technology in the 1920's. The setting is an old bar with much of the video being shown as a performance video as it shows no signs of a narrative, this is because of the video showing just a normal service in a local bar such as waiters serving with groups of people sitting around a table socializing. Much of the clothes being worn by the males involve a smart suit and a tie, where the women seem to be wearing dresses. Bessie Smith being one of the main actors in this video as she displays the performance aspect of the video. This aspect is shown through many mid-shots of her singing up against the bar while the actors in the background are carrying on with their normal bar duties. Long-shots of the bar are shown which reveals how a lot of individuals were very social in this time due to very little/if any technology in this time such as mobile phones.
Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock - 1950's & 60's
Elvis featured in many films during his time, in many of these films he performed his own songs such as Jailhouse rock in the film 'Jailhouse Rock' in 1957. The music videos follow performance closely due to Elvis performing with the rest of the band. The camera focuses closely on Elvis highlighting him as the main performer in this video. The focused mid shots also show the audience his dancing and singing ability as much of the video Elvis is singing and dancing. Although this video is following performance it also has an element of narrative as the song features in the film.
Queen - I want to break free
In this video we see a big change from the 50's & 60's. This video is filmed in colour showing the advance in technology through the videos i have displayed on my blog. Queen is shown as the lead role in the video which has elements of performance and narrative. Many of the early shots shown are mid shots of Queen performing while dressed up in women's clothing. This part of the video reveals parts of concept as Queen is dressed as a women but however he stills has his facial hair leading the audience into thinking why he is cross dressing. The video also follows no real narrative as many of the scenes are Queen hovering in the lounge of a household.
In this music video the camera used is shot in black and white revealing the quality of the technology in the 1920's. The setting is an old bar with much of the video being shown as a performance video as it shows no signs of a narrative, this is because of the video showing just a normal service in a local bar such as waiters serving with groups of people sitting around a table socializing. Much of the clothes being worn by the males involve a smart suit and a tie, where the women seem to be wearing dresses. Bessie Smith being one of the main actors in this video as she displays the performance aspect of the video. This aspect is shown through many mid-shots of her singing up against the bar while the actors in the background are carrying on with their normal bar duties. Long-shots of the bar are shown which reveals how a lot of individuals were very social in this time due to very little/if any technology in this time such as mobile phones.
Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock - 1950's & 60's
Elvis featured in many films during his time, in many of these films he performed his own songs such as Jailhouse rock in the film 'Jailhouse Rock' in 1957. The music videos follow performance closely due to Elvis performing with the rest of the band. The camera focuses closely on Elvis highlighting him as the main performer in this video. The focused mid shots also show the audience his dancing and singing ability as much of the video Elvis is singing and dancing. Although this video is following performance it also has an element of narrative as the song features in the film.
Queen - I want to break free
In this video we see a big change from the 50's & 60's. This video is filmed in colour showing the advance in technology through the videos i have displayed on my blog. Queen is shown as the lead role in the video which has elements of performance and narrative. Many of the early shots shown are mid shots of Queen performing while dressed up in women's clothing. This part of the video reveals parts of concept as Queen is dressed as a women but however he stills has his facial hair leading the audience into thinking why he is cross dressing. The video also follows no real narrative as many of the scenes are Queen hovering in the lounge of a household.
Friday, 18 September 2015
Carol Vernallis Theory
Carol Vernallis has her own theory based of music video editing. Her theory is divided into 4 key concepts which are: Narrative, editing, camera movement and framing and diegesis. Carol says that the video that is on-screen looks to help explain the narrative. She is therefore saying that the lyrics are also reflecting the narrative.
Carol then says that the narrative may not be completed or may appear disjointed and incomplete. This could be done to leave many questions being asked, this can be shown by the video showing the narrative in parts rather than a clear focus for the audience.
A variety of editing used in a music video is:
The camera shots and frame movements are also a key concept to a music video. She says that establishing shots are most frequently used along with close ups. The camera tends to move in time with the music and the lyrics, this gives off a sense of rhythm.
Carol then says that the narrative may not be completed or may appear disjointed and incomplete. This could be done to leave many questions being asked, this can be shown by the video showing the narrative in parts rather than a clear focus for the audience.
A variety of editing used in a music video is:
- Jump cuts - These may be used to speed the narrative up as music video's only last around 2/4 minutes.
- Breaking of the 30 degree rule
- Cutting with the lyrics
- Big changes of pace
The camera shots and frame movements are also a key concept to a music video. She says that establishing shots are most frequently used along with close ups. The camera tends to move in time with the music and the lyrics, this gives off a sense of rhythm.
Applying theories
This video looks to use Goodwin's idea of making a star image of the main artist showing many close ups and medium shots of him, an example is the screenshot above. By using these screenshots it allows the audience to identify who the main artist is as he is being used as the main acting role. The chains being worn and the clothing shows us the artist (Wale) and his style. We can then gain a perception of their personality through his clothing style.
Another aspect of Goodwin's theory is being used in this video where the visuals are matching the lyrics. In this video we see Wale rapping to an attractive women trying to win her over, these are matched with the lyrics as he is effectively trying to charm her and win her over. Lyrics such as "Can i be with you one night? I'll wear you out inside" are showing he's trying to win a chance with this girl to show her what he can do sexually. As the lyrics are matching the visuals in this song it makes the whole situation more realistic and believable to the audience that Wale is trying to win this girl over.
In this shot we see a part of Vernallis' theory being shown through editing, helping to explain the narrative. We see a shot of Wale then his picture fades out and we see a close up of the women he is rapping to. This could help show the audience that Wale is on her mind and she is thinking about being with him.
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Performance, Narrative & Concept
In this task we are researching for a video that shows - Performance, Narrative & concept. I then will compare and contrast each of the videos.
Performance
A performance video would usually include the artist performing whether this is a live performance or in a studio. It would include a lot of close ups of the artist while performing.
Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
This video is my example of performance as much of the first 30 seconds includes close ups of Justin singing and dancing in a bright, colourful surrounding. The use of the many close ups identifies to the audience that Justin is performing in a typical pop video where the majority of the video involves Justin performing. The video would have been filmed in a studio due to all the effects of the bright lights and special effects used where Justin starts to float in the scene.
The beginning 30 seconds contains many mid shots of Justin dancing which matches the tempo of the beat. The lyrics match the visuals due to most of the lyrics relating to Justin wanting to dance a girl and him saying he wants to "Rock your body". The close up shots also may be used to show that Justin is a good looking guy and enhances 'female gaze'. A lot of the shots containing Justin dancing also are used to show the audience Justin's dancing ability.
I think this would have been an expensive video to film due to the setting of all the lights used and many special effects.
Narrative
George Michael - Careless Whisper
A narrative music video is one that shows scenes or a number of shots that tell the audience a story. Whether this is a life story or experience this is classed as Narrative. I am using this video to portray Narrative. This video shows a story of George having a loving girl by his side from the beginning with scenes of him making love to her. We then see a long shot of George on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a different lover. The audience may then begin to realize his first lover is unaware of this situation.
We see glimpses of performance in this video as well with close ups of George singing, this may highlight to the audience that these lyrics are important to George and that he feels strongly about what he is telling us due to his serious expression shown.
Lyrics that match the visuals in this video is when George sings "I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm". These lyrics could be George saying that he's never going to fall in love again due to him messing up in the relationship we see in the video by getting caught cheating with another women in his bedroom. The shot we see is when in the foreground we see George's current lover looking towards the door while in the background we see George's old lover by the door in a reflection of the mirror. This is when the audience realizes that George has been unfaithful to his first lover.
Concept
Fatman Scoop - Put Your Hands Up
Concept is a much different style of music video to both performance and Narrative. This type of video would usually be very unusual so it draws the audience in whilst entertaining them at the same time. I chose this Fatman Scoop video as it is very unusual down to the fact it is animated and all characters shown in the video are seen with a large head and feet (not attached to their body). Much of the surroundings such as the buildings shown in the video are able to move which to the beat if the music which further highlights this video as a concept video.
You could attach a stereotype to this video as there is hints of there being a story involved. We see a common stereotype of a black rapper (Fatman Scoop) being involved in crime. This is outlined in the video when we see a a close up shot of a group of policemen driving round the corner which then switches to Fatman Scoop jump into his car trying to escape the scene.
Performance
A performance video would usually include the artist performing whether this is a live performance or in a studio. It would include a lot of close ups of the artist while performing.
Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
This video is my example of performance as much of the first 30 seconds includes close ups of Justin singing and dancing in a bright, colourful surrounding. The use of the many close ups identifies to the audience that Justin is performing in a typical pop video where the majority of the video involves Justin performing. The video would have been filmed in a studio due to all the effects of the bright lights and special effects used where Justin starts to float in the scene.
The beginning 30 seconds contains many mid shots of Justin dancing which matches the tempo of the beat. The lyrics match the visuals due to most of the lyrics relating to Justin wanting to dance a girl and him saying he wants to "Rock your body". The close up shots also may be used to show that Justin is a good looking guy and enhances 'female gaze'. A lot of the shots containing Justin dancing also are used to show the audience Justin's dancing ability.
I think this would have been an expensive video to film due to the setting of all the lights used and many special effects.
Narrative
George Michael - Careless Whisper
A narrative music video is one that shows scenes or a number of shots that tell the audience a story. Whether this is a life story or experience this is classed as Narrative. I am using this video to portray Narrative. This video shows a story of George having a loving girl by his side from the beginning with scenes of him making love to her. We then see a long shot of George on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a different lover. The audience may then begin to realize his first lover is unaware of this situation.
We see glimpses of performance in this video as well with close ups of George singing, this may highlight to the audience that these lyrics are important to George and that he feels strongly about what he is telling us due to his serious expression shown.
Lyrics that match the visuals in this video is when George sings "I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm". These lyrics could be George saying that he's never going to fall in love again due to him messing up in the relationship we see in the video by getting caught cheating with another women in his bedroom. The shot we see is when in the foreground we see George's current lover looking towards the door while in the background we see George's old lover by the door in a reflection of the mirror. This is when the audience realizes that George has been unfaithful to his first lover.
Concept
Fatman Scoop - Put Your Hands Up
Concept is a much different style of music video to both performance and Narrative. This type of video would usually be very unusual so it draws the audience in whilst entertaining them at the same time. I chose this Fatman Scoop video as it is very unusual down to the fact it is animated and all characters shown in the video are seen with a large head and feet (not attached to their body). Much of the surroundings such as the buildings shown in the video are able to move which to the beat if the music which further highlights this video as a concept video.
You could attach a stereotype to this video as there is hints of there being a story involved. We see a common stereotype of a black rapper (Fatman Scoop) being involved in crime. This is outlined in the video when we see a a close up shot of a group of policemen driving round the corner which then switches to Fatman Scoop jump into his car trying to escape the scene.
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Respresentation
In this task i am looking to analyse the album cover for a specific and see what key features are used to brand the album. I also have to look at any other promotional material used such as magazines or websites that also look to brand this product.
Here is the front cover to the Album 'Mastermind' by Rick Ross.
The key features on the front cover is the artists face with a cartoon effect with a graffiti effect in the background. What makes this cover noticeable is the contrast between the artist being shown in black and white against the bright colours of the graffiti in the background.
One of the singles displayed on the album uses synergy from the music video "Paradise Lost". On the screen-grab below you can see the use of the album cover in one of the tracks from the album promoting listeners to listen to the rest of the album.
The key features on the front cover is the artists face with a cartoon effect with a graffiti effect in the background. What makes this cover noticeable is the contrast between the artist being shown in black and white against the bright colours of the graffiti in the background.
One of the singles displayed on the album uses synergy from the music video "Paradise Lost". On the screen-grab below you can see the use of the album cover in one of the tracks from the album promoting listeners to listen to the rest of the album.
Audience
How do you consume music? I listen to music regularly on the radio and also on my phone, this is mainly through downloading off YouTube.
When? do you have a daily music routine? Is some music more suitable at a certain time of day than another? I tend to listen to classical music in the morning on the way to school as it makes me feel optimistic about life. During the day and of an evening i listen to grime, rap or hip hop.
Where? clubs, bedroom, gigs, car? I listen to music during the day at school in class while getting on with my work. Every year i tend to visit V festival to listen to music and get a closer experience to the answer.
Who with? do you share your music or is it an individual experience? Listening to music is an individual and social experience for me. When with friends we all listen to music quite often and find out new songs from each other as we generally share the same interests.
How? radio, computer, ipod, tv, live, dancing, homework, getting ready ie doing other things - background wallpaper - I listen to music on a variety of devices such as my phone, computer and speakers. While completing homework i listen to music through speakers and while travelling i listen to music through headphones.
Why? What are the pleasures associated with music consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify? - The reason why i listen to music is because i think it creates a better atmosphere whether that's with a group of friends or when i'm by myself. It creates a more relaxed and more interesting environment.
When? do you have a daily music routine? Is some music more suitable at a certain time of day than another? I tend to listen to classical music in the morning on the way to school as it makes me feel optimistic about life. During the day and of an evening i listen to grime, rap or hip hop.
Where? clubs, bedroom, gigs, car? I listen to music during the day at school in class while getting on with my work. Every year i tend to visit V festival to listen to music and get a closer experience to the answer.
Who with? do you share your music or is it an individual experience? Listening to music is an individual and social experience for me. When with friends we all listen to music quite often and find out new songs from each other as we generally share the same interests.
How? radio, computer, ipod, tv, live, dancing, homework, getting ready ie doing other things - background wallpaper - I listen to music on a variety of devices such as my phone, computer and speakers. While completing homework i listen to music through speakers and while travelling i listen to music through headphones.
Why? What are the pleasures associated with music consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify? - The reason why i listen to music is because i think it creates a better atmosphere whether that's with a group of friends or when i'm by myself. It creates a more relaxed and more interesting environment.
Friday, 11 September 2015
My prelim video
Here is the prelim task video where me and my group looked to replicate the original video.
Friday, 4 September 2015
Prelim Evaluation
1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with Connor, Will and Harrison. Will took care of the paperwork such as the Storyboard of each shot in our video, prop list and wrote up the lyrics. Me and Harrison wrote up the shooting schedule and also made some arrangements to organise the props such as coats and gloves. Connor edited the video throughout and we all acted in the video.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? We planned by writing up all the lyrics to help us learn them off by heart. We planned on each day when all of us were free to film and added this information to our shooting schedule.
3) What theories could you apply to the video you chose? I would apply Andrew Goodwin's theory to my music video as I feel the visuals match the lyrics as the actors shows actions of pleading because of the lyrics "Stay another day".
4) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? We used premier edit our film by adding effects, background music, slowing down/speeding up the video etc.
5) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing? We had to take into account that our whole group took different A level choices so we had to plan when everyone was free to film. We also had to work on our own to complete individual tasks due to us not being in the same lessons. When shooting we had to figure out how to black out our surroundings to match the video so our location had to be suitable. For editing we had to make sure we matched the outfits to the ones worn in the video as best as we could so this meant we had to wear coats, gloves and hats. All our acting for the video had to also be in time with the song so this meant our singing had to be in time so therefore a lot of slowing down and speeding up had to be implemented.
6) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production? I feel our video was very successful because it seemed to match the original very well. Our acting was also very similar including hand movements, singing and outfits. In future we could improve the look of our actors such as facial hair as this would look more realistic.
7) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
8) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film? I feel this task was much more relaxed as there was less components to the video. We also worked harder as music was a big interest for our group so the results were more positive.
9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member? I feel as a member i contributed with my performance in acting as i stood out by putting good effort in to replicate the original video. I feel my weakness to the group was my technology skills as i couldn't contribute much to the editing side of the video due to my inexperience of using the programme Premiere.
10) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
I worked with Connor, Will and Harrison. Will took care of the paperwork such as the Storyboard of each shot in our video, prop list and wrote up the lyrics. Me and Harrison wrote up the shooting schedule and also made some arrangements to organise the props such as coats and gloves. Connor edited the video throughout and we all acted in the video.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? We planned by writing up all the lyrics to help us learn them off by heart. We planned on each day when all of us were free to film and added this information to our shooting schedule.
3) What theories could you apply to the video you chose? I would apply Andrew Goodwin's theory to my music video as I feel the visuals match the lyrics as the actors shows actions of pleading because of the lyrics "Stay another day".
4) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? We used premier edit our film by adding effects, background music, slowing down/speeding up the video etc.
5) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing? We had to take into account that our whole group took different A level choices so we had to plan when everyone was free to film. We also had to work on our own to complete individual tasks due to us not being in the same lessons. When shooting we had to figure out how to black out our surroundings to match the video so our location had to be suitable. For editing we had to make sure we matched the outfits to the ones worn in the video as best as we could so this meant we had to wear coats, gloves and hats. All our acting for the video had to also be in time with the song so this meant our singing had to be in time so therefore a lot of slowing down and speeding up had to be implemented.
6) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production? I feel our video was very successful because it seemed to match the original very well. Our acting was also very similar including hand movements, singing and outfits. In future we could improve the look of our actors such as facial hair as this would look more realistic.
7) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
8) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film? I feel this task was much more relaxed as there was less components to the video. We also worked harder as music was a big interest for our group so the results were more positive.
9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member? I feel as a member i contributed with my performance in acting as i stood out by putting good effort in to replicate the original video. I feel my weakness to the group was my technology skills as i couldn't contribute much to the editing side of the video due to my inexperience of using the programme Premiere.
10) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Dry the river - No rest
In this task we watched this music video and was asked to picture visuals of what we think would sui the song best.
Ben - He pictured a little boy being bullied in a school scene and when the music pace was increased the boy faced his fears and fought the bully.
I thought the visuals would have been a lonely man tirelessly walking through an empty field with no one beside him. These visuals link in with the song title "No Rest" as he was walking endlessly with no time to relax. I pictured the main artist singing on his own slowly falling to the floor. I pictured the man in old clothes (possibly worn for days on end).
Will - Will had a similar idea to me in the way of the visuals and surroundings.
Analysis of the video
At the beginning of the video we see a close up shot of each band member laying on the ground.
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