A2 Music Video Evaluation

Charlotte EnglishCheshunt School

8046

A2 Music Video Evaluation

Charlotte EnglishCheshunt School

8046

In what ways does your media use, develop or challenge forms of real media products?

Throughout the duration of planning my music video, I researched existing conventions and products and then decided what I would like to use or challenge within my final product.

Our original idea was to make a pop music video with occurring drug and alcohol scenes. However when we came to film the video, we realized that it wouldn’t be as easy as we thought to film in clubs. Also to be surrounded by lots of different tablets, which would be representing the drugs, would be difficult. Another idea was to also have lots of alcohol scenes, such as in shops surrounded by alcohol, but then we realized that shop owners may not be happy with people filming in their shop. This meant that we had to change a few ideas. We also wanted to make the love-hate relationship between the couple clear to the audience.

We researched many pop videos to see what occurred frequently to give us ideas to what we should include in our video. We found that pop videos have many scenes which flick from scene to scene with lots of shots being shown more than once.

We made sure that we included this in our video to make sure that our video fitted in with the forms and conventions of real media products.

Media institutions that we used:

This year was our first year of using blogger as a place to save and present our work. At first we were all a bit confused as to how to use it, but with the help of our teacher we all managed to pick it up and found it very easy to use. I did enjoy using blogger, as if I ever forgot to back up my work, it would always be safe on blogger. An advantage of it is how easy it is to use. It can also be used on an iphone as it has an app in the app store and therefore it can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Blogger has been a major help to us completing our coursework as it is all saved in one area and we don't have lots of different files which we constantly have to search for. Our posts can be found under labels in the side bar on our blogs which made it a lot simpler for us as students. Another problem that I came across whilst using blogger was the HTML codes. I have never had to work with these before and although at first it looked very confusing, I soon found that it was pretty easy to embed codes from YouTube and post videos to my blog. When we came to finishing the evaluation and planning stages, and starting our evaluations, we found that blogger decided to change their format and layout. This also meant that a few people in my class came across a few problems, such as posts changing into drafts, but luckily no ones work was deleted and i managed to figure out how to use the new layout very quickly.

We used Apple Mac computers with the program iMovie installed to edit our footage. We used iMovie at AS and therefore we knew very well how to use it. We were advised to use Final Cut Pro to edit our work, but none of my group had any idea how to use it and so we thought it was better to use iMovie instead of wasting valuable time figuring out how to use a new software.

Media institutions that we used, continued..

YouTube was an institution which we used over and over again. We used it first of all when we were analyzing existing music videos, again when we filmed our one minute clip and then when it came to filming coursework, it was a place where we could upload our footage to keep it safe and also to get feedback.

Facebook was another institution that we used regularly. We used it as a place in which we could upload our music video and see the responses in which we got from the viewing audience. It also helped us to test whether our target audience of 15-25 year olds, who liked pop music liked our final video and whether they thought it was a typical pop video. This helped us in the evaluation stages and it also gave us insight as to where we could improve.

As you can see here, we posted our video to Facebook to see the response we got. It was all very positive. We have got 10 likes so far and the comments we received were stating that they liked the video. This was a great way to get response from people in our target audience and we found it very helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Oj1Ov6flOYE

Links between lyrics and visuals

‘We found love in a hopeless place’ The lyrics and the visuals fit perfectly as the couple are in a field which is the ‘hopeless

place’ where they found love. These scenes capture and evoke a lot of emotion from the viewer as they can see how happy the couple are together.

The song we used don’t actually have many lyrics, and the main section of the lyrics used are repeated many times. Therefore, there is not many sections of our video where the lyrics link to the visuals. The scenes which do have links, fuel the emotion and energy of the video very well.

From previous research I found that many videos do link with lyrics and the visuals. I looked at Pixie Lotts video – all about tonight and found that there was a few shots where they both linked. For example:‘I got a new attitude when I walk’Links with the picture here:

Links between the music and visuals

The links between the music and visuals are much less obvious than the lyrics and visuals but they are also just as effective. In our video we show the artist with a spotlight flashing on her face, making it look as if she is in a club. This occurs when the music speeds up and it is the beat of the song playing with no lyrics.

Here is a scene where the couple are spinning round really fast in the field. This occurs at another time where the music speeds up and there are no lyrics being sung. There is a lot of emotion shown in this scene as we can see that the couple are very bonded here and it also shows the narrative clearly.

Genre Characteristics

Genres of music was a main factor in the planning processes which I done a lot of research into. I had to do a lot of brain storming and lots of different sub headings and blog posts concerning genre. I and my group had many different times where we had to discuss clothing and appearance of the artist, as well as the settings and location in which we would be filming our video. Our genre was pop and we watched many different music videos to make sure that we got a precise image for our artist.

The first thing we looked at was appearance. We planned our music video very similar to the videos that we analyzed. We made sure that our artist wore a lot of, and very seductive make up. This included dark smoky eyes and bright red lipstick. The artist in our video wore a number of different outfits, with most of them being a seductive look, including minimal or tight fitted clothing. This is because from analyzing music videos, we found that the genre of song in which we used, the artists seem to be dressed in a very similar way. We decided to use bright colors, as this is what interests the viewer and is also eye catching, which keeps the audience involved and motivated.

Genre Characteristics

Another thing which relates to the genre characteristics is the fact that we didn’t just choose one type of video. Our video is narrative and performance based, and therefore it makes it more interesting for the viewer. Many videos show just a narrative, but many like to add performance to emphasize the energy and entertainment of the band.

Forms and conventions of real media products…

General conventions include things such as:- Lip syncing- Performance- Genre being reflected by the mise-en-scene- Digital effects- The fast cut montage, which is one of the most common forms of editing as it is a

way to enhance repetition- Close ups are regularly shown of the main artist

Lip Syncing: We used very minimal lip syncing in our video as we know that from research of previous A2 students, it is very rare that it works perfectly.

Performance: We added quite a few performance scenes as we knew that this would be the parts which would make the video interesting. We used a few scenes which were made to look as if the artist was in a club, we used a spotlight on the artist to make it clear that she is the one who has the main attention from the audience.

Genre: The genre of music videos tend to be given away by the mise-en-scene. This includes things such as the clothes in which they are wearing, their make up, personality etc. I think the genre is made very clear in our video from the simple thing such as her outfits. When doing our research we found that pop artists tended to have many different outfits on and all being very seductive, and minimal clothing. Also they wore a lot of make up, especially in the performance scenes.

The images above show that the artist wearing a lot of make up, and the ones below show how the artist wears a range of different outfits, with some being seductive.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of our main product and ancillary texts are very effective as we used the same color scheme throughout with the red lipstick as an occurring image.

As you can see, this is the image which we have used on the album cover. The final copy is this picture in black and white, with the lipstick in color.

The red is also used on the back cover of the digipak. This is because it is a very eye-catching colour.

The combination of our main product and ancillary texts...

The first obvious similarity with the digipak, website and music promo is the fact that the artist is used in both. We also used parts of the footage as a picture, such as when the artist is sitting on the wall with a daisy chain, breaking it apart. This is showing that she is unsure about her relationship, and the sad face beneath her which is spray painted on the wall, shows the audience that she is feeling unhappy. This picture includes a lot of emotion. Another way in which they tie together is the colour schemes throughout. The red is seen throughout the video which represents many different things. It is also kind of left to the audiences imagination as it can portray love, danger, seduction or also a kind of 'warning.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We asked many people to have a look at our work over the months and tell us what they thought of it. These included, teachers, friends, parents and fellow classmates. At the beginning we were told that we needed to film some more performance shots and also to make the narrative much clearer. Every draft that we had we made sure we asked especially our target audience what they thought of it, so we could make our video as successful as possible. We always listened to the feedback, whether it was negative or positive as we knew that we would get honest opinions from people outside of our group. Once we had completed, changed and edited many drafts, we finally had our final draft ready to showcase to friends and family. We made questionnaires to give out to get feedback for how we can improve our final draft. We got some very overwhelming and positive feedback with only a few negatives. Many people commented on the lip syncing, but when the video was watched on a MAC computer, it was completely in time. On the evening, the music was slightly behind the video, and therefore it made it look as if it didn’t fit in with the video. The main positive comment which we got was that we followed the narrative of the story very well.

Here is some of the feedback…

The narrative of the story was

very clear.

The lip-syncing was slightly too

slow for the music.

This video is 10 out of

10!

Well done! This is a great video for the

song, and fits in with the narrative

perfectly!

The mini performance shots

made this convincing as a pop

video.

The editing was very good

with a good variety of

shots.

Feedback about the digipak…

I chose to design the front cover of the digipak as I had lots of different ideas as to how I could create it. I had also researched many different pop digipaks, so I knew what kind of images I needed to take of the artist, and also what kind of information I needed to include. I decided to make a few different designs and then I asked the target audience to tell me which one looked the best and most life like. The feedback I got was very constructive, and most of it I agreed with.

The audience liked the fact that the album cover didn’t include too much and that it was very plain and simple. They liked the fact that the picture was in black and white and the writing was in red. They thought that it was very eye-catching. They also liked the idea that the artists name looked as if it was her own signature. They felt that it made it personal, and as if it was a gift from the artist.

This first copy didn’t include the artists name as a signature.

Drafting Analysis

Drafting Analysis continued..

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?We used media technologies to show how the power of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter have shaped artists careers. We also looked at official music websites to gain an idea of how our website should look. To construct our video we used final cut pro and iMovie on the Apple Mac computers . We also used Sony Bloggie video cameras to film our footage for the music video. We used YouTube to share our video to the public and also for a chance to get audience feedback. We used Photoshop pro and Fireworks to edit the photos that we had taken of the artist, which we needed for the digipak and website.

The internet was the main source which we used to carry out our research. We used websites such as Google to search information about pop groups, digipaks and also how pop websites are laid out. We used YouTube throughout the planning stages as we could play and pause videos which meant that we could analyze videos thoroughly. We used Blogger to record all our research and planning as it is a safe place to store all our work and it also means that we can comment on fellow classmates work and by looking at our teachers blog, we knew what work we had to catch up on.

Here is the link to my blog: http://charlottesblogformedia.blogspot.co.uk/

During the making of the music video…

During the making of the music video, we used a Sony Bloggie video camera to film the video and also to take pictures. We then uploaded the photos to Photoshop and or Fireworks so that we could edit them. We uploaded the footage to iMovie to edit all the scenes together and also to add effects and music in the background. We also used Fireworks to make the digipak as it meant that we could edit the images and add different texts and change colors, all on one program. I managed to get the font for the artists name from an website online called dafont. By looking online, it meant that I could find a font, different from any on a normal computer, and also different to what everyone else would be using. We wanted the album title to look as if it was a signature, as the title was the artists name. This was because it made the album look a lot more personal and as if it was from the artist herself. We used a close up image of the artist herself on the album cover as we when had researched other pop digipaks, this is what occurred frequently.

Here are two album covers from the same genre as our music video. As you can see they both include a close up image of the artist, and also very minimal writing. One picture is in color and one in black and white. We chose to use both color and black and white in ours.

This is the original picture edited, without the artists name and album name on the cover.

To the right is the completed digipak front cover.

The final digipak front cover portrays the artists name as her own signature and ‘addictive’ which is the albums song name is made to look as if it is a tattoo on her chest, saying that she herself is addictive. The red is to make her look seductive.