Album Art (Part One)

Here are 5 different album artworks they are all of different genres. I am going to analyse them in detail and then look more in detail at one from our chosen genre and the one that is my personal favourite.

Album art is an important part of the sale process of music especially when it is in stores such as HMV. But our main interest in the artwork is for a digi-pack which is seen on iTunes when purchasing a single or album.  A digi - pack is shown next to the single which can be used to attract the audience to buy another single from the album or buy the album.

So whilst looking at album art I will be taking into account how it looks online and how well it targets the audience. I will also be thinking about the importance of album art and how many people actually view the digi - pack as a pose to when people purchase the physical album.

Lip Sync Task

For this task we had to look at how difficult it is to lip sync the footage to the song lyrics, this task was more to test our practical skills than our creative skills. The practicality of this task meant that we didn't think about location or mise en scene.

What we learnt from it?
- Lip syncing was more difficult that we originally thought, it showed us we needed a lot more footage that we actually had.
- This will be helpful in our music video as we plan to not only to get a lot of footage but also to give ourself more time for reshoots if needs be.
- A range of locations looks better than staying in one location.
- The most important thing that we learnt is that 30 seconds is a lot longer than we thought and you do need a lot of footage.

Marketing Research Project

Intertextuality Part 2

More recent example of intertextuality in music video - 

• Last Friday Night by Katy Perry (2011)

The music video is said to be inspired by 1980s coming of age films in particular Sixteen Candles. It was also based around teen film of that decade the video is stylised like a short film by the use of a title sequence and end credits. The music video uses typical 80's fashion such as neon colours, big hair styles and pointy heels. As well as the main point of intertextual reference being the 80s and coming of age films, it can also be related to coming of age films in general. It has the typical idea of making the "geeky" girl into something beautiful.

This music video also has sneaky intertextual references:

• Rebecca Black - The girl who is best known for the song "Friday". The two songs have similar themes in the lyrics about Friday being the day to party. 
• 80s/90s Star Debbie Gibson and Kenny G

• Alice By Avril Lavinge (2010)

This was made in collaboration with the film Alice In Wonderland, therefore it holds a lot of intertextual references such as:

- The White Rabbit
- The strange looking Caterpillar
- Larger than Life Mushrooms
- The Mad Hatter

It also includes a scene from the film using the character of the mad hatter and recreating the iconic tea party.

• Love Story By Taylor Swift (2009)

This video can be seen as a reference to the play - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare it references not only the theme of love but also the era in which it was written it it seen in the clothing that is seen to be worn by the two in the flashbacks. 

Intertextuality Part 1

Intertextuality 

• The shaping of a text's meaning by other text. 
• The relationship between two texts

Intertextuality is used in media a lot, it is when one form of media text references another.For the aspect we are focusing on which is music videos. It can be used in a number of different ways, music videos can reference to films, fashion, magazines but more recently they can reference to social media such as youtube videos and websites such as facebook and twitter.

The best way in which to understand intextuality is to look at some examples:

1.  The most famous music video for intertexuality is Madonna's Material Girl - This is referencing the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The top three images show Madonna's music video - Material girl and the Bottom shows the film Gentlemen prefer Blonde's starring Marilyn Monroe. 

In this video Madonna is not only referencing the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe in the film Gentlemen prefer Blonde's. But also she is referencing the song Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend and how that is somewhat "materialistic" therefore making Madonna's version slightly like a parody of the original. The underlining intextuality is actually the reference to the way society perceives blonde's. The image of a sexy blonde star and the way she can play men to get what she wants as many young girls who watched this music video back when it was first released wouldn't have been able to see the relationship between the two texts. As the film Gentlemen prefer Blonde's was released in 1953 where as Material Girl was released in 1985. 

2. Another well known music video for intertextuality is Man! I Feel Like A Woman - Shania Twain. It is referencing another music video Addicted To Love by Robert Palmer.

This video is already a form of intertextuality because the idea for the "mannequin" like models came from the fashion prints by Patrick Nagel -  These prints are known for their pale models with heavy black make up and dark hair as well as their provocative nature.

 But Shania Twain is also famous for referencing the music video "Addicted to Love". The music video for Addicted to Love has been parodied a lot due to the mannequin style band it uses. But in Man! I feel like a woman, it has been used as an intertextual reference to the video by making the models in the background male she has copied the format of the original to make it more suited to the song and audience.

Mood Board - I Love It Ideas

The general link I have realised within this mood board is that we want the video to stand out and be bright to match the song's pace and lyrics. The original video includes some of these elements but I believe that with the use of paint dust we are going make our key focus the colour. The makeup and costume used for our key singer should be bright but also reflect the personality she is trying to convey from the song/lyrics. The toy cars, woodland and clothing being thrown out of the window are all separate elements we are keen to include in our video. The toy cars and clothes are connected to lyrics which we want to develop and the woodland is the setting we are thinking about using as the bright paint would contrast the natural colours of the trees.

Location Ideas - Painshill Park

We would like to set at least half of our video in an outside space but know this could be difficult to find somewhere that would not only let us film there but also use paint dust. We also have to think about the time of year we are filming in and what problems could be potentially brought on by weather.

Currently we are thinking about using Painshill Park in Cobham:

http://www.painshill.co.uk/

This location is the visually pleasing setting we want and it would also allow us a range of locations in one park to film it in. It is not to difficult to get to and we would potentially be able to get the amount of people we need to be in the filming to this location. The amount of different outdoor buildings would also be interesting to use even if we couldn't use it for the paint dust. Our biggest issue I believe will be shooting at this time of year, but we have spoken about making the video slightly ironic as the song talks about it being summer but we will be shooting our footage in winter. This will be made clear to the audience by not only our subtle hints to make it ironic but also the colours of the trees and foliage.

We are in the process of trying to get permission to use this location. If we cannot there are similar parks/gardens we could look into.

Lyrics Deconstruction

Here is my deconstruction of the lyrics to our chosen song, these are ideas we came up with how to link the lyrics to the visuals as well as how people can interpret the words. This can is a vague interpretation of the lyrics as we don't want it to link too much to the lyrics we want to include specific aspects like the age difference being mentioned. But we want to really avoid making it narrative based. 

Analysis of a Music Video Presentation

Audience Research

Here is a mind map of idea on what we should ask whilst doing audience research, we will carry out our research on teenagers aged 16-18 as this is the key audience that listen to pop music. We are drawing up a questionnaire that will cover the main questions and not be too long as we know from last year if the questionnaire is too long people are less likely to fill it in correctly or want to fill it in at all. We hope to be able to get an idea of what viewers enjoy in a music video as well as being able to get a general idea of what music people listen too. There will also be an aspect of the questionnaire that will link directly to our ideas to see if the audience think that it is a good idea for the genre and song we have pick as well as getting to know if they believe it will capture viewer attention and be unique. 

Videos that influenced our ideas

There are several videos that influenced our ideas for our music videos.

1. 

The Underdog - Wallpaper ( The Nerdist - Animal Fighting Championships)

This video is a personal favourite of mine and when we discussed using paint dust and doing slow motion this was the first thing I showed the group. The idea is very different to what we want to do, but the use of slow motion frames and the abstract/fragmented narrative is something I think we want to convey in our own video.  I like the creative element that has been linked in with a fragmented narrative and I believe as a group we would also like to have a fragmented narrative. The idea within this video is slightly over the top with the sheer amount of paint dust, confetti, streamers and actual paint used. Although it looks amazing and we want to try and recreate the slow motion shots we don't want to do something that would make our video look overcrowded.We want it to be inter cut and slightly more seamless between the narrative and abstract parts of the video.

2.


KickthePJ - Colour Bandits

This is a youtube video created by the channel KickthePJ, we have looked at this as a base of what we would like to create. Although this is not a music video it has been very influential to our group. It basically embodies what we would like to do design wise with the paint dust but possibly ours will be  a little less extreme as we don't want to cover the artists face. This video has been influencial but purely for the creative ideas as it doesnt link to a song. We love the way it looks  against a white backdrop and how bright and vivid it makes the colour and  is definitely we have thought about using ourselves.

3.

Owl City - Fireflies

Unlike the other videos, this has no use of paint or bright/vivid colour. The main idea that comes from this video is the toys. We have an idea that links in with the lyrics about crashing a toy car, this video proves that the use of toys can look creative and effective in a music video.  This doesn't really reflect the music video that we want to create it is more for that one specific idea/element. There is close up shot used on the "robot" toy whilst it flashes and comes to life, I particularly love that shot and how we could recreate something like that. Of course making sure it fits in with our theme.

4.



Icona Pop - I Love It

Finally the original video to the song we have chosen has been an inspiration to our ideas. We dont want to create a replica of the original we want to make it our own. The original video focuses on the party beat from the song as a base. But we want to focus more on the lyrics and ideas that we can take from the lyrics. But the idea of the colours being so vivid and central to the party theme of the video has been influential. We are keeping the kind of party idea for our video but our key theme will be from within the lyrics.

Music Genre - Pop

Initial Ideas

Here are some of our intial ideas for the song we have chosen - I Love it By Icona Pop. Now that we have chosen the song we need to deconstruct the lyrics, look more in detail to the genre and look at the artist to gain a greater insight to what we could sort of music video we could create. But these are the initial ideas we have to the song. 

This is the orginal music video - I Love It by Icona Pop

Ingredients of a music video

Every genre of music will have a different style of music video. The style will reflect that genre, but that doesn't mean that there aren't common factors which all music video follow.

The key ingredients of a music video are:

• Performance - The way the artist or actor performs in the video is so important. If the performance is dull it wont keep the viewer attention and if the video isn't intrigued by the video they wont continue watching. This could mean they wont continue watching that particular video or they wont continue watching the rest of the artists videos. 

• Narrative - A narrative isn't always essential especially with artists that like to experiment with the weird and wonderful. But when music video use narrative is can be  eally done really well and create a greater meaning from the music. But less narrative is more exciting. 

• Editing - The fast paced editing used in music video is key as helps to keep the pace of the video go with the pace of the music. Also the use of fragmented shots and jump cuts look really good when used in a music video. 

• Unique - The music video should be different to other music videos. To interest the viewer it needs to be something new and fresh that doesnt just look like a copy of another video. 

Music Directors - John Landis

John Landis is an America screenwriter, producer, actor and film director. In the world of music videos he is well known for his videos with Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and B.B King. He is most commonly known for his work in the film industry such as the film 'Twilight Zone - The Movie' and 'The Blues Brothers'.

Michael Jackson - 







These are the two videos that John Landis directed for Michael Jackson.

Thriller - This was shown in cinemas and was named the greatest music video in human history. But it was more of a short movie than a music video.  Landis is best known for his horror film and therefore was the best person to direct this video.
Black and White - Popularised the used of Digital Morphing. It raised the standard for music videos to use state of the art special effects.

Having been a film director, the music videos that John Landis has created is more in the style of short movies unlike a lot of music videos they follow a very detailed narrative and use a lot effects to make it more exciting to watch.

As well as directing these videos he has also directed;

• Spies like us - Paul McCartney 
• Into the Night  - B.B King 
• In the Midnight Hour - B.B King
• My Lucille - B.B King

Voyeurism

The definition of Voyeurism is a viewer gaining sexual gratification through observing naked bodies or sexual acts. 

Voyeurism is commonly used in music videos to attract more viewers. Its is often used in music videos to objectify women. The camera is used to portray the male gaze, therefore there are a lot of close ups and the use of low angles to show the sexual treatment of the star. This is especially used with a lot of sex symbols for example Beyonce, Brittany Spears and Rihanna. There are many videos that can show the way that female singers being objectified. Here are a couple of examples -

The most well know video for this is Benny Benassi - Satisfaction (2009) 

Although this video isn't selling the artist as a sex symbol, it is selling the song through voyeurism.  The establishing shot of the music video is a women banging a nail into wood. But she has minimal amount of clothing and is bent over in a very sexual manner that would appeal to a male audience. The jump cuts then used to show her in a mid shot and then a long shot to show off her body. There is also then use of slow motion so that viewer is able to see her whole body shake whilst she is hammering the nail. For a female viewer it is clear within the first 10 seconds that this video isn't really aimed at them. The close ups of the intimate places on the female body is also to emphasis the sexual element of this video. The slow low angles used to show of the females legs as well as a fast paced editing used to showcase a number of images of different females bottoms and lips. All of which over emphasis the sexual nature of the song. The use of power tools can be seen in a number of different ways that link to sex. Firstly the word tool is used to describe a male who sleeps around with a lot of women and doesn't really have a lot of respect for women. The tools are also being advertised which can be seen as the way women are viewed in music videos, they are trying to sell the music off there bodies. Finally there is a contraction to the female stereotype. Females are seen as too delicate to do DIY or manual labour and this video contradicts that and also shows them as being sexually attractive whilst doing it. Also each women is shown to be sweating from that manual labour and working out which links back to the sexual tone of the video and lyrics. The lyrics are also key to this video. "Push me and then just touch me so I can get my satisfaction" This relates to the female objectivity that the video is showing as well as how women can be seen as objects of sex to the male gender.

A more recent video is Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball



This song can be seen as an emotional song but the artist has ruined this by sexualizing the video to sell it. The video begins with close ups of the artists face and tears streaming down her face this then goes on to her in a room by herself with a sledgehammer and of course a wrecking ball. This continues and there are a lot of sexual innuendos used that do not even relate to the song or lyrics at all. She is seen to lick the sledgehammer and ride on the wrecking ball nude. This is only after we have seen her wall around the room in only a white top and white underwear although white can be used to symbolise purity in this case I cannot see a link to purity when the video is so over sexualized. We also see a a range of close ups, mid shots and long shots to emphasis her lack of clothing when she is on the wrecking ball. Adding to this she bites her lip in a sexual manner as she is on the wrecking ball. Personally I am not sure what to make of this video as it has been made with a clear intention to attract a male audience to watch it even though it is quite an emotional female song. It seems as though the artist wants the male attention and is therefore gaining that from the viewers of the video even if the song with it emotional meaning and lyrics isn't. She is objectifying herself in this video, as this is only of the first emotional songs to have sexual footage and connotations within the video.

As for voyeurism in women it is very rare for a male to be objectified for the sexual gain of women but there are certain cases in which this has happened. For example

How to be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds 


This video uses all the techniques used to objectify women but to men. The use of the shower room to show the males as wet, and the close ups of the water running of their heads, chests and tattoos. This is alluring to the opposite sex. As well as objectifying  males this video also shows a lot of the female artist but as a "player". It shows her as a fully in control women that can have which ever man she wants and the lyrics are are trying to advocate the behaviour that women can fool around as much as men can. The use of the "rules" are also interesting as if to show women how to objectify men. It proves that it is not just something that males can do as well as showing that objectification in music videos works for both genders not just women. Although there are not many videos in which this occurs therefore this could be seen as an exception to the rule.

Payphone - Maroon 5

Review

• Personally this is my favourite music video of all time. I love the extravagance of it, the storyline is elaborate and a there are a lot of extremely good shots in my opinion. I also love the fact that it starts at the end and then proceeds to show you how he got to the payphone. 
• The storyline keeps you watching there is so much going on once the robbery has taken place there are explosions and car chases and it makes it into almost a short film. 
• There are so many things I would love to use that are used in this video. The shots in which you seem them getting shot at look amazing, as well as all the car chasing and explosions but realistically we cannot pull that sort of thing off. But I would like to use some of the other shots like the one of them running down a crowded street I think it looks good as well as the range of long shots they use.
• I have learnt from this music video that a lot of work can be put into music video and some can even look like short films but for that to be possible a lot of money and time is required. 
• Although I do love this music video I think this style of video would need to be avoided as there is no way we could go around blowing things up! But it would be great to try and create a music video that is almost as good as a short film. I think the key thing is looking a song and its lyrics to create a strong enough storyline. 

It's My Party - Jessie J

Review

• I love the use of different sterotypes in this video, the way in which each group is in a seperate rooms and by the end of the video they are all mingling and bonding over the party. I also love the chaos in this video there is never a boring second its jam packed with footage. The fact that the video doesnt have a specific storyline either is done so well. 
• What keeps you watching is the curiousity of what is behind each door as well as the chaos, Jessie J's video tend to have a lot going on and no real storyline it makes the unique and great to watch. 
• The key thing I would take from this video is lighting and setting. Setting wise the variety in setting is great each setting fits the stereotype as well as the lighting. For the more rock and roll setting the lighting was dim and for the posh setting it was bright and colourful. 
• In relation to music videos I have learnt you dont have to have a specific storyline as long as your video fits with the lyrics, for example in this video everything is about partying.
• I would avoid the self held camera shots used in the middle of this video. Hand held shots can make it more authentic and exciting but it didnt look very good and I dont think it would look that good if we decided to use it. 

Brokenhearted - Lawson ft B.O.B

Review

• What I like about this video is the inter cut storyline with the footage of the band. The lyrics are the storyline to the music video. But personally my favorite thing about this video is the fact that the male character is shown to be in the same room as the female but she cannot see him. I think this is an interesting concept to play with. 
• I think for most people the storyline would keep them watching but myself I kept watching because I really enjoyed the way the angled some of the shots in which you can see intruments and the band, where as in most other music videos they focus on the band not the instruments. 
• This is quite a generic music video if I am honest not a lot of things stand out in particular but I do like the editing used and the way it jumps back and forth between the two characters as well as from storyline to band shots. 
• I have learnt in relation to music videos that its difficult to make a video that is completely unique as many ideas have already been used and recreated. But I have also learnt that shots of the instruments can look good if used correctly. 
• I would avoid this genre if I am honest, last year we went for quite a generic genre in film I think it would be a mistake to pick a generic genre in music because we would be stuck with the same sort of ideas we had last year. And I am sure that we want to create something completely different this year. 

Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little

Review

• I love the creative element of this video. There is lot of use of colours and different settings but it is in comparison to other music video pretty simplistic. I think the simplicity of the video is what makes it so good. 
• The thing that kept me watching was the inter cutting, the use of so many clips to show the excitement of the street and what it was like. The colours kept me interested it wasn't dull or overly dramatic, the song is supposed to be quite up beat and cheerful and the video reflects that.
• In particular I love the use of the birds eye view shot, I think it looked really good and also gave a different angle that is not usually shown in music videos. I think it could be interesting to experiment with this when it comes to filming our own. 
• In relation to music videos I have learnt that the colours used in the settings/locations can have a big effect on what the audience will perceive. The uses of such vivid colour not only helps to portray the excitement and happiness of childhood but also helps to keep the video exciting and keep audiences watching. 
• The main thing I would want to avoid would be the shots towards the end in the pool, although potentially this could look really good I think it would be a lot of work and it could ultimately end up looking rubbish. I also think we should avoid the big focus on the main singer, I think it would be better to create a storyline than just have someone dancing around and singing.  

Love Me Again - John Newman

Review

• This video is quite unique in the fact that it uses a performance from the band and singer aswell as having a storyline, both of which being in the same setting. What I love about this video is the use of a spot light to highlight the dancers and also dancing as a key part of the video.
• Personally I would say the performance from the singer is what kept me watching although the storyline was good. The performance from the singer was more exciting and eye catching. 
• I think the interesting things to pick up on from this video is the performance, if we do any shots of  band and the singer I would like them to be that exciting and full that the audience cant look away. But also the spotlight to highlight the dancers was an interesting technique as it was more about the silhouette and their movements than the person.
• I have learnt from this video that using shots of the singer and band can look good and also still be appealing to the audience. I have also learnt that the shots of the singer/band dont have to be in a studio they could be worked into the storyline. 
• I think the only think I would avoid is the amount of shaky camera shots they use in this video. I think it looked effective within this video but I'm not sure how effective it would look in something we create.

Ed Sheeran - Give me Love

Review

• What I love about this video is the use of settings and creativity. I love the storyline and how it fits to the lyrics. I personally think this video is so good because it doesn't revolve around the artist in actual fact the singer isn't even present in this video. The focus is on the storyline. 
• The storyline keeps you watching as it starts by showing you the end of the video, and the audience is curious to know how the woman/angel ends up dead. 
• The most interesting thing about this video is the use of lighting and shots. The main room that the woman is seen to transform in uses very dim lighting and it shows you the silhouette of the wings once they have grown and I think it look very effective. I also love the the use of the blurred shot and the not in focus shots. 
• From this music video I have learnt you can have a storyline and not need the artist present but therefore you wouldnt need to lip sync the song to the singer. But if the storyline isnt gripping enough that could cause issues with people not wanting to watch the whole video. As I believe many people watch music videos to see their favourite artist.
• Although I think it works well in this video I think it is something we should avoid when we make our own I think we should have a main singer even if we inter cut it with a storyline. 

Ellie Goulding - Burn

Review

• I like the use of location in this video, the place in which this was filmed makes a beautiful background setting for the song. I also love the use of inter cutting in which there are two separate story lines that come together in the middle of the video. The use of light into the video is also amazing, the globes of light used toward the end of the video show the connection to the lyrics and the video. 
•  The storyline makes you keep watching the video, the emphasis on the lyrics and how that is used in the video is inspiring. 
• The most interesting thing about this video for me that could be used is the camera shots. The singer is shown in mostly long shots and mid shots to show her as the main focus but the footage it is inter cut with those shots are mostly obscure shots of a close up of there legs of lower bodies. The faces aren't really shown until the two storylines collide. 
• What I have learnt from this music video in particular is that inter cutting can work and look effective. There is also the use of lighting that, it has shown me that lighting is key to the mood and feeling of the video.
• Personally I think we should avoid trying to create a video that is on that much of a large scale. I also think there is a lot of use of smoke although it looks effective in the video with the use of coloured smoke I think it would be too difficult to pull off. 

True Love - Pink

Review

• What I absolutely love about this video is the craziness, there is so much going on in this video it isnt a crafted storyline but its realistic and the style of a montage is fantastic. There is footage from the singer's life including tours, family life and backstage which are all used to create the perfect sequence of shots. It inspires me to want to be as creative with the music video I will produce in a team. 
•  The chaos is what keeps you watching, the fact that the audience cant guess what will happen next and it could be anything there is no way of guessing as it doesnt have a typical storyline.
• The most interesting thing about this video is the use of a green screen, there are a variety of shots that the background has been put in. The pop art style backgrounds not only look attractive to a viewer they are also adding to the chaos and its a very creative way of using the green screen that doesnt look fake. I also love the performance as some of it is genuine footage of her family. 
• From this particular music video I have learnt that a montage can look effective in a music video if you have enough footage that is relevant and you dont try to make it look to serious the fact that this video embraces the chaos and it is all about the singer having fun makes it easier to watch.
• The only thing about this video that I really would want to avoid is the montage element although it looks great in this video I think it would involve a lot of work and dependant on our time scale I dont think it would be possible to create a montage music video that would look professional. 

Paramore - Still Into You

Review 

• The thing I love about this video is the variety and bizarre range of ideas in such a short space of time. A lot of music videos tend to be sexualised and Paramore are known for not doing this within in there videos. The fun fast paced video makes a statement in my eyes that love can be fun not just sexualised. I also love the fact the main focus of the video is the woman. The creativity that has gone into the video is inspiring the effort to have a boat with a bunch of blue and white balloons to make it look like water it looks fantastic as well as the shots with the fireworks/sparklers they also look great. I think the variety within the video is great. 
• I think the reason the viewer keeps watching is the idea that you don't know what could happen next, there is no specific storyline its is just friends having fun and doing crazy things. This makes the viewer question what they will do next and keeps them watching the entire video. 
• There are a range of techniques,idea and shots I want to take from this video as a personal favourite video of mine. The use of light in this video is the main thing I would like to take from it in particular. The light makes the video more fast paced and exciting, especially the light/firework idea. The explosions of light would be a great idea to try to recreate. 
• In relation to music videos, I have learnt that there does not have to be a specific storyline but if you are going to film a variety of shots with different things happening they have to link in some way.
• I think we should avoid filming in the dark as although it looks professional here, with the cameras and equipment we have it wouldn't be possible to make it look as professional. 

Gabrielle Aplin - Panic Cord

Review

• What I love about this music video is the use of a storyline, the lyrics of the song have been made into a relating video as well as using instruments without it being in a studio looks really effective compared to what we did in our preliminary I would rather use instruments in a similar way to the way they have been used in this video. 
• The storyline in this video keeps you watching as it is relative to the song and its lyrics, it is telling the story to the lyrics and personally that is my favorite kind of music video. When the lyrics and the video tell the same story.
• The key thing that interested me about this video is the range of shots that they use that include the guitar that make it look good and flow with the music video, instead of coming away from the story to show you studio shots of the guitar they have used the same setting and inter cut it with the storyline. It makes the video flow better. I also think the performance is brilliant in this video it seem very realistic not acted. 
• In relation to music videos I have learnt from this video that the lyrics and the song can link and tell the same story. I also think that the use of a realistic home setting was something to learn from, as I didnt think it could look that well done as its a real setting not a fancy back drop like most videos have. 
• Although I do love this type of music video, I would avoid it as being the music genre we choose because it is too difficult to pull of a realistic performance. 

Evaluating our Preliminary Task

Our 20 second music video was based on the song 22 by Taylor Swift.

What went well -

1. Inter-cutting - We used inter cutting last year in our piece and we mastered it quite well, therefore when it came to analysis music videos and how much inter cutting is used to create a fast paced video we knew what we were doing. The inter cutting matches the pace of the song, and also the style of music videos that is usually produced by this artist. 
2. Colourisation/Multi Screen - Towards the end of the video we used a multi screen in which we used the same piece of footage but colourised two of the screens and made the other two black and white. I thought this personally looked very effective and would like to use it when we make our actual music video as it isn't terribly difficult to do but does look good.
3. Lip Sync - This was a pain to do we tried to do a song that wasn't too fast so that the lip syncing wouldn't be too difficult. But it is a task to get the footage to match the lyrics, this we did effectively in this piece but I think we will need to think carefully about what song we choose for our actual piece.

Even Better if -

1. Disappearing - This was difficult to do effectively, but it doesn't look like a complete disaster. I think if we are to do this in our actual piece we would be able to spend more time on it to make it look a lot more professional. 
2. Choreography - The short amount of time we had avalible to us to make this piece didnt really give us much time to plan out an idea or storyline. We effectively made the video as a Taylor Swift style video by watching the original and making it more our own. I think given more time to plan would create a better piece as well as more time to film and choreography.
3. Instruments - The shots of the instruments werent as well done as I think they could have been. We could have used more shots and more instruments to make it more diverse. Or we could make a video without instruments at all, it depends on the idea we choose to use. 

Reviewing Year 12 Work

Film Opening - Year 12 

Research/Planning Design/Planning Production

• When it came to planning and research we did quite a lot of work towards this. The initial idea we had took a long time to plan but the research was fairly easy as we picked a well known genre that we were already aware of the conventions of. 
• The storyboarding we did although it gave us a rough idea of where and how we would shoot our footage as a group we generally knew what we wanted to do from most of our shots.
• It took us a long time to plan the production especially for the party scene we needed to gather together a lot of people as well as trying to figure out how we would keep the continuity in the shots. In the next years work, I hope not to have to re shoot as much as we did due to continuity issues.

Classwork/Independent Study/Personal Organisation

• Personally I found a new independance in the amount of work I needed to do alone. The independant study and classwork taught me to meet deadlines and understand the importance of the time given to complete a task. 
• My personal organisation skills also improved knowing that you are dependant on other group members and they are dependant on you to do a certain job, whether it be posting on the group blog or remebering to bring a costume for an actor.
• Working as part of a group was great, but needing to have group meetings and work together on who was free when showed me how to juggle my time with what needed to be completed. As well as showing me that you have to take more into consideration when you work in a team and that everyones ideas should be important.

Filming/Editing

• The filming and editing process took a long time to get to grips with myself I hadnt used any of the software the school provided before and it taught me a lot. I learnt a lot about how long you need to spend on this process to get the desired product out of it. 
• The initial idea of having a group effort made the workload easier to cope with but it also meant that we had some clashing ideas on how to shot and edit our footage but it was a group effort and some compromises had to be made.
• There were practical issues we faced during this process but are now more aware of how to deal with them if they should come up again in our next task.

Blog Work/Evaluation Skills

• Keeping the blog up to date hasnt been easy and it is a difficult task. But it taught me a lot of responsibility to my work and grades. Ther general working of the blog though has been easy, there wasnt a difficulty with the labelling etc.
• The evaulation skills I learnt have been key. I have learnt to be creative with my work and showcase my answers in a creative and experienced way that proves I am up to date with all types of media. 
• Learning to address the questions has also been important that I had a direct approach and answer instead of a vague or too in depth answer that didnt focus on the question. 

Improvement for this Year 

• There is a lot I've learnt from last year's work that I plan to put into the next year and develop on. Firstly I have a better idea of the task and technology I have to do it with. I am also more aware of my own dedication to the task and want a better outcome from it than last year. Also I am now more self aware with time and my personal oragnisation skills.
• Finally I think that the improvements for the next year will also be on planning so that we are more organised for the task we are given and how we want to film it.

Evaluation - Previous Music Videos

Previous Music Videos

1. Life Happens

What went well -

• The sort of documentary style music video is very hard to pull of and they have made it believable
• The variation in setting works well
• The performance is believable as was the storyline
• The ending works well 

Even better if -

• Adding colourisation could have make the footage look better

2. If you want

What went well -

• The uses of colourisation to show the difference in time period
• The layering of the image of the clock over the action looks great
• Good use of locations
• The performance is good

Even better if -

• The ending could have been improved upon maybe more dramatic
• The close ups of the male character were very shaky

3. Ike and Tina

What went well -

• The jump cuts helped keep the video fast paced
• The storyline was good so was the performance
• The "party" shots looked good not acted  - The use of lighting was great

Even better if -

• The lip syncing by the children wasn't at the right speed
• The intro is quite long

4. Lost

What went well -

• Great storyline that fits the genre of music
• The underwater shot is really effective
• The intercutting looks really good

Even better if -

• Lighting in the outside shots could have been improved
• The handheld effect is good but is slightly overused in the video

5.What We Started

What went well -

• The storyline works with the lyrics and the performance is also well done
• The opening shot in the rain, is really effective and has obviously been taking from another video of this genre

Even better if -

• The shots of the piano could have been done better
• The lip syncing is sometimes out of time

6. Nine2five

What went well -

• The storyline was creative and the performance was believable
• The shots of instruments work well in the video 
• The jump cuts are also really effective

Even better if -

• The song is quite fast paced and the lip syncing isn't always correct
• The lighting in the outside shots is sometimes too much (0.18) 

7. Rewind

What went well -

• Nice range of locations
• Lip syncing was good
• Specifically the phone shots were really well done

Even better if -

• The studio shots weren't done very well, there wasn't enough shot range and the lighting could have been improved
• The performance could have been more believable

8. Today I Cried

What went well -

• Good use of jump cuts
• The location choices fit the genre of music

Even better if -

• The lighting in some of the settings could have been improved
• (Personally) I find it very generic to the genre of music it doesn't capture my attention

9. 12 Rounds

What went well -

• A variety of shots and locations that suited the genre were used well
• Performance was good
• Lip syncing was done well

Even better if -

• The storyline could have been improved 
• The video was slightly repetitive 

10. Go In Go Hard

What went well -

• The use of a lot of different shots
• The lip syncing is really well done

Even better if -

• The footage is very blurry and not really focused this may have been the intended look but it makes it difficult to watch
• Locations were limited and there wasn't a variation
• Use of shot of instruments could have enhanced the video 

11. Sparks Fly

What went well -

• The storyline was easy to follow and linking into the genre
• The choice of locations were good

Even better if -

• The performance could have been improved to make the love story more believable
• More emphasis on lyrics
• The edits that slid round in a box like fashion looked really cheap and not very professional