Marking criteria - planning & research

I have self-evaluated all of the planning and research that I have done so far. This is of all the work that is currently on the blog. I have used the marking criteria to see what level I think I'd mark myself as at the moment.

Level 3
There is proficient organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
Level 4
There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
There is excellent work on shot lists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
Time management is excellent.
There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.
There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation.
There are excellent communication skills.

Things I think I could improve on;
I think I can definitely make the 'proficient organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props' into 'excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props' and move up a level. At the moment I have blogged about the locations which I intend to use but I still need to ask permission to film in the cafe. I have sent a message to the drama department to ask the 6th form drama students about getting a cast so I am in the process of obtaining one but I haven't put any of this information on the blog as yet. I am planning to do this once I have a better idea about what is happening with the casting.

Target audience

My target audience is primarily people who are currently in higher education, either in 6th form, at college or at university. These people are studying subjects which can be classified into the following; arts, sport, science, humanities, social science and technology.
They are people who like music, TV and films, sport and socialising with friends and other people. They usually have a similar taste in music to their friends. The top 3 most popular genres of music amongst the males in my target audience are indie, rock and pop and amongst the females they are rock, pop and RnB.
Amongst my target audience the most popular type of music videos for males are performance, narrative and thematic, equally, and for females it’s performance. Both males and females tend to watch music videos on music channels and YouTube or a similar site. When buying and downloading music both males and females mainly buy the albums on CD and use free downloads (legal and illegal).

Audience research results

For my audience research I intended to send my questionnaire to 30 people, with an equal amount going to both male and female. I asked year 12 students, year 13 students and first year university students (freshers).

Unfortunately, I was unable to get hold of enough freshers to complete my questionnaire.

Personal

Are you male or female?

How old are you?

Music Video

What type of music videos do you prefer watching?

How do you watch music videos?

What is your favourite/the best music video you've seen? And why?

Buying & Downloading Music

How do you usually buy music?

About You

Do you have a similar taste in music to your friends?

What are the top 3 music genres that you listen to?

Briefly state what sort of things you like to do in your free time.

What subject(s) are you currently studying?

Example - Last Ones Standing

If you had the chance to shoot a music video for Example's 'Last Ones Standing', what type of music video would it be?

Briefly state what sort of elements you would put in it.

Would you add in special effects during the post-production stage?

If yes, what sort of effects would you use?

Locations

I am going to film my music video around different parts of Bury St. Edmunds. On the map below I have marked the parts of the town which I plan to use. The green lines indicate the areas where I will find and the red lines show the proposed route.

For the bar scene I am going to film in the 6th form cafe.

Shot lists

These are the shot lists to accompany the storyboards.

Cafe

 Performance

 Bury St. Edmunds

Storyboards

The numbers on the storyboards next to the shots correspond to the sections detailed below.

Section 1
Instrumental

Section 2
Tell the taxi driver pull up over there
Section 3
Sprint down the street and we don’t pay the fare
Section 4
Onto the district line, force open the door
There’s loadsa seats free but we cotch on the floor

Section 5
Last night we both died a death
Just flowed ‘til no cider left
Jumped out the wrong side of bed
Now another night of wrong lies ahead, [ha]
Section 6
To be a kid again, Nancy and Sid again
Need medicine, cut out the middle men
Run free, only way to get rid of them
Never gonna catch us

Section 7
We’re on the run
And I’m about to lose it
She’s like a gun
And she ain’t afraid to use it

Section 8
Come on
We’ll catch our very last train
Light our very last flames
And we’ll knock it all back and forget our names
Coz it’s our last night
Section 9
And it’s one last fight
We’re the last ones
The last ones standing

Section 10
Go tell the waitress, we’ll have 2 rum and cokes
Ask for the bill and then we’ll split when she goes
Out the fire exit wearing some stranger’s coat
We’ll sing it out ‘til we’re sore in the throat

Section 11
This ain’t child’s play like pass the parcel or
Build a castle, jus’ a couple of rascals who
Section 12
Go harder, live faster
Section 13
Fight ‘til the end like Jason’s Argonauts, ha
Coz life’s a carnival
There’s no reason, motives marginal
Don’t care if we’re cold and starvin’
We’ll still be laughin’ when…

Section 14
We’re on the run
And I’m about to lose it
She’s like a gun
And she ain’t afraid to use it

Section 15
Come on
We’ll catch our very last train
Light our very last flames
Section 16
And we’ll knock it all back and forget our names
Coz it’s our last night
Section 17
And it’s one last fight
Section 18
We’re the last ones
[The last ones] [x2]

Come on
We’ll catch our very last train
Section 19
Light our very last flames
Section 20
And we’ll knock it all back and forget our names
Coz it’s our last night
Section 21
And it’s one last fight
We’re the last ones
[The last ones] [x2]

Section 22
The last ones standing

We’re on the run

Section 23
Come on
We’ll catch our very last train
Light our very last flames
Section 24
And we’ll knock it all back and forget our names
Coz it’s our last night
Section 25
And it’s one last fight
We’re the last ones
[The last ones] [x2]

Section 26
Come on
We’ll catch our very last train
Section 27
Light our very last flames
Section 28
And we’ll knock it all back and forget our names
Coz it’s our last night
Section 29
And it’s one last fight
We’re the last ones
[The last ones] [x2]

Section 30
The last ones standing

Audience research questionnaire

Personal: This section of the questionnaire sets up my analysis as it then allows me to separate the results between the different genders and age groups.
Music Video: I wanted to find out what types of videos were most popular among my target age group and also how they were more likely to watch music videos. I decided to ask what their favourite/the best music video they've seen was out of interest and to see just why they liked certain videos.
Buying & Downloading Music: Even though this doesn't have any bearing on music video consumption, I wanted to find out where my target audience obtained their music.
About You: This section will allow me to build up a picture of my target audience as I will be able to see what sorts of music they like as well as what they like doing generally and are currently studying.
Example - 'Last Ones Standing': This section won't have any bearing on what I am going to put in my music video but I thought it would be interesting to see what other people would maybe do if they had got chance.

Permission to use audio track

Example is signed to Data Records which is part of Ministry of Sound. I was unable to find a contact address for Data Records so I contacted Ministry of Sound to ask permission to use the audio track 'Last Ones Standing'. I got a reply back which put me in touch with the person that I needed to speak to regarding my request.

At the moment I haven't heard anything back so I am still waiting to see if I can have permission.

Final idea

The final idea has changed compared to the original idea but the narrative element of the music video is still relatively the same.
A guy and a girl are out on the town, on a date, just having fun with each other. They're running around the town and messing about and they go to a bar for a drink.
Performance shots will be inserted into the narrative. The performance shots will be of only the guy against a background singing the song. These will be separate from the narrative and the guy will have a different outfit on to make that distinction.

For my ancillary tasks that will accompany my music video, I am going to do a digipak and a web page for the artist.

Brainstorms of initial ideas

Please click on the brainstorms to view them.

Web page textual analysis

I am going to do a textual analysis of Alexandra Burke's official web page; http://www.alexandraburkeofficial.com/

What ideas I will take from this web page for my own:
At the top of the page I am going to have the artists name (along with the title of the song that I'm using). I am also going to have a big picture of the artist. These will be the first things you see when you load the page.
Like Alexandra Burke's web page, I am going to split mine up into different sections. I am going to have a 'video' section at the top which shows the music video. I might have a 'music' section to advertise the artist's albums. I am going to have an 'events' section but I am going to write the tour dates in this section instead.

Digipak textual analysis

For my textual analysis of a digipak, I decided to have a look at a cardboard sleeve digipak.



I also decided that I'd look at a digipak that had more to it than what a cardboard sleeve does.

What ideas will I take from this digipak for my own:

I am going to use the same colour scheme throughout the digipak. This colour scheme will match my web page as well, creating a consistent look to the style of the ancillary texts.

On the front cover I am going to have a big picture of the artist along with the artist's name and the title of the track.

On the back cover I am going to have the track list of the album as this is conventional of a digipak.

Textual analysis - previous student work

Beastie Boys - Triple Trouble


Strengths:
• Really good variety of shots
• I like the shot of the billboard
• Lip syncing has been well done
• The two-shot of the same guy
• Variety of locations
• Very quick and smooth editing
• Split screen shots
Weaknesses:
• The sped-up shot at the beginning should have matched the pace of the music
• The colours added in post-production could have been a bit sharper in places
• The sets of three images
• I don’t like the way they’ve changed the colour of their skin during the post-production

I really like this music video and it's one of the best that I've ever seen to come out of Thurston. I think it's good how they've stuck to performance throughout the video and not added in any other characters as such (other than the London "statues"). It's a fun video and that's what I want to achieve with mine. After seeing this video, I don't want to add in colour post-production as I want it to feel natural, also, mine will be narrative performance rather than performance.

Puretone - Addicted to Bass


Strengths:
• Good lip syncing
• I like the sped-up shots of the cars
• The fast paced editing over the instrumental shots where it switches scenes in quick succession
• The layered shots that show the girl in more than one place at one time
• The fast paced editing that moves the girl from one place to another within the same shot
Weaknesses:
• Some of the outside shots are a bit too dark so you can’t see her face
• I don’t like the shots filmed in the white room, they seem a bit disjointed from the narrative
• Mainly filmed in mid-shots

This is a good video but I think it could've done with having a few other people in it as well, just to create some variation. By filming outside in the dark, some of the shots haven't come out very well and the shots filmed near street lamps have cast a yellow glow which I don't think suits the video very well. Because of this, I shall film my outside shots in the daytime so that I am using naturalistic lighting.

Textual analysis - Just A Dream

Nelly - Just A Dream
Music video director - Sanji


Type of video: Performance with some symbolic elements.
Setting: On the beach, in the water and in the city.
Camerawork: The shots vary between being clear shots and blurred shots.
Lighting: This video is filmed in black and white.
Main theme or idea of video: Nelly is dreaming about being the girl that he has lost.
Symbolic elements: The ring is used to highlight the line "shoulda got that ring", showing that he really loved this girl and wished that he'd made her his wife.
Special effects: Many special effects are used; the car, ring and apartment are all floating and go up in flames towards the end of the video, Nelly's eye is made to look like it is glass as it smashes and it has a water droplet coming out of it horizontally.
Editing: Mainly straight cuts are used, causing confusion between the dream state and reality. The scenes of Nelly and the girl in the water have been slowed down.
Main characters/performers: Nelly and his girl.
Overall effect: This video shows Nelly's dream state vs the reality and it often blurs the lines between the two.

I like the way that this video blurs the lines between dream state and reality. I think this causes the viewer to really pay attention to the video as you have to try and work out which parts of the video are Nelly's dream state and which parts are the reality.

Textual analysis - Poison

Nicole Scherzinger - Poison
Music video director - Joseph Khan

This is a narrative performance video.

Goodwin's Six
1. Demonstrate genre characteristic:
The genre of this song is electropop. The video does convey the electropop genre to some extent as choreographed dance scenes are inserted into the fighting scenes. The scenes with the journalists also reference this genre as they are acting as though they are in a nightclub.
2. Relationship between music and visuals:
The pace of the music suits the pace of the editing well as the editing is deliberately fast paced to suit the quick tempo of the song.
3. Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
The lyrics talk about poison and the visuals, even through they don't how poison, they convey this idea as they show the struggle between good vs evil.
4. Demand of close-ups from record label:
There is a lot of close-ups of Nicole, especially close-ups of different parts of her body.
5. Frequent reference to the notion of looking:
The notion of looking is portrayed throughout the video. There is a shot of some men staring at Nicole near the beginning as see goes into a telephone box which has clear windows. Lots of close-ups of Nicole's body are shown, often causing the viewer to focus on her body.
6. Intertextuality:
The video is based on a superhero good vs evil theme. A close-up shot clearly points out that the motorbike that Nicole is riding is a BMW.

I really like the way the video is edited between the shots of Nicole in the white outfit fighting the bad guys and then the shots of her in the black outfit fighting the cops. The editing is really seamless here, making the video very smooth within its transitions of the same types of shots.
Some inspiration that I got from this video was to make my visuals fit the tempo of the music and to make use of straight cuts in order to make my video flow smoothly from one shot to the next.

Textual analysis - Against All Odds

Chase & Status ft. Kano - Against All Odds
Music video director - Tom Ward


Type of video: Narrative performance.
Setting: An underground nightclub/casino.
Camerawork: A mix of static and moving camera. Long shots, wide mid-shots, close-ups, zooms and reverse zooms are all used to create variety.
Lighting: Low-key lighting. It is dark outside and it's also quite dark and smokey in the club to create the effect of a retro style video.
Main theme or idea of video: Chase and Status play Kano at a game of cards and he cons them into winning their car.
Special effects: Titles are used at the beginning to convey the idea of it being a film.
Editing: The editing is all done in fast paced straight cuts to enforce this idea of the video being like a film.
Main characters/performers: Chase, Status and Kano play the main characters and Kano performs.
Overall effect: Stylistically this video looks quite old as it is a retro style video. The fast paced editing reflects the pace of the song. The editing speeds up the narrative as this is quite slow.

I like the style of this video and the way that the editing speeds up the narrative. However, I think that the video is a bit too dark. The style of the video fits the style of the music really well.

Director study

For my Director study into a music video director, I chose to look at Jonathan Glazer.

Director Study - Jonathan Glazer

View more presentations from YNWAMediaProductions.

Brief

The brief for the Advanced Media Portfolio was;
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with 2 of the following 3 options:
• a website homepage for the band
• a cover for its release as part of a digipak
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak

A2 Practical Coursework

Same blog, new look and a new topic. This is the start of my blogging for my A2 Practical Coursework - Music Video.

Evaluation

Preparation for evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• Main characters are male.
• Ordinary people drawn into danger by accident.
• Identity of killer is known.
• [Violent confrontations].
• Set in exotic settings.
• Heroes are accustomed to danger.
• Retardation (concealment of identity).
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• The main social group is teenage boys aged 17/18.
• Boy racers.
• Care-free.
• The other social group is adults aged between 25 – 28.
• Emotional.
• Car.
• Costumes.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Sony/20th Century Fox → reach a big audience.
• Certificate 15 (relates to what would happen in the rest of the film).
• DVD.
• Sky Box Office.
• Mainstream TV launch.
• Where to advertise.
• ‘Above the line’ advertising → trailers, posters, full page adverts in magazines & billboards.
• ‘Below the line’ → interview with cast member.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
• 16 -29.
• Demographic groups.
• Lifestyle.
• Already detailed on blog.
How did you attract/address your audience?
• Ages of the characters.
• Gender of the main characters.
• Sub-genre.
• Questionnaire.
• Showing film.
• Adjusting the film.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
• iDVD.
• Garageband.
• DV camera.
• Blogger.
• iMovie.
• Internet research.
• You can fit quite a lot into 2 minutes but not always as much as you would like to.
• Connecting camera to iMovie.
• Blog - embedding clips from YouTube.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
• The bigger the cast the more difficult it is to organise a day when you can get everyone together.
• Moving shots are very difficult to film with a hand-held camera if you want them to be steady.
• Filming outside is quite temperamental with the weather.
• The bigger the cast is, the more out-takes you end up with, the funnier the filming is & the harder it is to control the cast.