Andrew Bragg

Complete Music Video

2010-04-25T13:56:00.001-07:00

Here is the final Music Video, which has been uploaded to YouTube:

Evaluation, Question Four - Technologies, Miscellaneous

2010-03-14T10:42:00.002-07:00

There were also some miscellaneous items of media technology in which I used to help the creation of our music video. One of these in particular was using the music production software Cubase Studio 4, using this I was able to edit our original track from its length of approximately five minutes to just fewer than three. This allowed the group to work quicker as it was a shorter track with fewer sections. We also used the DV cameras to record the footage for our music video – although we did not use any of the settings (such as effects) on the camera, it is still a use of media technologies worth mentioning due to its importance to our final product. If I were to improve on this use of media technology it would be to experiment more with settings on the camera, ranging from different effects to different types of focus and so on.

Evaluation, Question Four - Technologies, Photoshop

2010-03-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

Within this advanced portfolio, another media technology I used was Adobe Photoshop to create my album package for the ancillary tasks. There were many features of Photoshop which I was able to use and manipulate to ensure my DVD cover and magazine advert were to a sufficient and professional standard. Some of the tools I used within Photoshop included the gradient tool (to create backgrounds) along with the pen tool (to draw certain ideas as found on my magazine advert) and the mask tool (used to cut images with plain backgrounds). I also used many of the filters to add effects to images which I thought particularly successful - these include some of the cartoonise features that I used within my front cover, where on the back sleeve of the DVD I have applied this filter to images of the band members. Another smaller media technology I used within creating my promotional package was the use of a mobile phone camera, used to take images of the warning sign after copyright issues of images which I found on the internet. Using this technology also allowed me to be more creative with imagery, therefore improving my final ancillary tasks to a greater extent.

Evaluation, Question Four - Technologies, Final Cut

2010-03-14T10:41:00.003-07:00

One of the main media technologies I used within creating the coursework for the Advanced Portfolio was Final Cut Express, professional standard editing software which allowed us to edit a music video in a much easier way than using i-Movie, the previous editing software which we used for the foundation portfolio. Final Cut had many features which made it easier for us to put a music video together, such as the advantage of having multitrack video editing – this meant we were able to work in layers, and have all parts of footage available if we needed it. There was also advanced features of Final Cut which we were able to use to make our music video look even more professional, such as the ability to have split screen clips along with overlaying clips. We used these features well within the music video to go along with some of the rhythmic editing of the final product. One effect I thought we used particularly well within our Music Video was an effect called "Bad TV", used in the first screenshot which I have provided in this entry. The second and third screenshot show how we used different overlaying techniques within the music video.

Evaluation, Question Four - Technologies, YouTube

2010-03-14T10:41:00.001-07:00

YouTube was also an important technology to help me within the Research and Planning stages of the production. This media technology has only become popular within the last few years, but the ability for people to embed videos on places such as blogging websites helped me greatly to express ideas and findings found within the Research and Planning section. This mainly involved adding music videos to the blog which was relevant to the research I was undertaking (such as low budget videos and videos from our chosen music genre).

Evaluation, Question Four - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

2010-03-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Throughout the production of the tasks for the Advanced Portfolio, I have come across many media technologies which have helped me to create material and realise my ideas. For example, the use of blogs is an interesting use of media technologies regarding documenting my work. I feel I have been successful in using features of Blogger, such as the ways of uploading images and embedding videos onto the blog from video sharing websites such as YouTube. I feel something I could improve on with my use of blogs is using features such as adding images and video to a greater extent, making more use of the advanced features of the website.

Evaluation, Question Three - Audience Feedback

2010-03-14T10:39:00.006-07:00

The feedback we decided to act upon was the idea of the shots not being quick enough for the genre of music we decided to go for. As a result of this, we decided to review the section before the chorus, where the song builds in tempo - I feel it was the right decision to shorten the shots so that it fit the beat. In the final product, this is effective as it follows the Bordwell and Thompson editing theory (a convention of all music videos) but also fits in with the harsh, aggressive nature of our music genre.

Evaluation, Question Three - Audience Feedback

2010-03-14T10:39:00.005-07:00

After speaking to some of the group of people we gained feedback from, it was good to hear that the music video met most of their expectations of conventions of the Drum n Bass genre and the medium of the Music Video. For example, I asked one member of the group about expectations of the Drum n Bass genre which they saw within our music video – they commented upon the use of shocking images (such as the drug themes in our final piece), a similar idea and convention used by bands such as The Prodigy, who use some controversial images such as cigarette packets, not for the mainstream audience (as used in the video for Warrior’s Dance, shown as an example in this entry).

Evaluation, Question Three - Audience Feedback

2010-03-14T10:39:00.004-07:00

Audience feedback is an important part of the production process. It allows the producer to gather comments regarding their work and allows opportunities for improvement. As part of the advanced production, the comments which I received would allow our group to progress further and develop our music video. We gathered a small group of 17+ year olds (approximately our target audience group) and allowed them to watch the video, giving us feedback. One person we asked for feedback from stated: “I think the link to theories is very good like the cutting on the beat, I think also the use of colour was very good - the only improvement is that I would make some of the shots quicker”. Another person we asked included in their feedback that: “The music video is full of energy and is easy to take in...” One comment that came from someone who watched our music video was that "I think black and white would make it more professional" - from this comment, an improvement that I feel we could make is using more of the black and white effect in the video.

Evaluation, Question Three - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

2010-03-14T10:39:00.003-07:00

Gaining peer feedback was very useful. As media producers, it allowed us to think about how to change and alter our music video to make the result a higher standard. From the audience feedback, I feel it would benefit our group to make some of the scenes and shots faster in the final edit, which would emphasise the genre – the fast paced, aggressive nature of drum n bass. It also made us ensure that our work when complete would target the correct people, as opposed to targeting those outside the genre.

Evaluation, Question Two - Link, Warning Sign

2010-03-14T10:39:00.002-07:00

Another image which was prominent in my music video was the warning sign in the narrative section. I felt that this was an image which would work well in a design of a DVD album cover. With this in mind, I took a close up image of the warning sign, and added various effects to it such as saturation and an emboss effect, to make the image stand out. The effects to this image also made it look dangerous, a link with the aggressive nature of our genre. The use of effects on the image creates an air of the unknown, something which links into the mysterious and suspicious nature of our music video, another link to the video which I feel is successful.

Evaluation, Question Two - Link, Second Colour Scheme

2010-03-14T10:39:00.001-07:00

I also used another colour scheme present in my music video for the inside DVD cover. Whilst this colour scheme was perhaps not as obvious as the red colour, there were elements of the colour black within the music video. This theme was particularly present through some of the shots later in the video. For example, some of the later shots of the lead singer are close up shots of his face in silhouette. I used the idea of the black theme with a streak of light going through as I felt again it connected with the genre of music we used. The colour of black gives a sense of mystery, another link with the music video of unseen activities which perhaps make the audience suspicious in some way.

Evaluation, Question Two - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

2010-03-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Within the advanced production of the Music Video, there are a few themes and ideas which I have taken to use in my ancillary tasks of creating marketing material for the new artist. One example of a theme which I have taken directly from the Music Video is the colour scheme for my outside DVD cover and magazine advert – the idea of the red colour is present in some of the performance aspects of the video, taken from the red drum kit and the red lighting present in some places. I feel that this was a striking colour, which fit in well with the genre of music being aggressive, with red usually having connotations of danger and so on. I also used this red idea in my inside DVD cover for the track listing. Against the background, the deep red colour was bold and stood out, prominent for the audience.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Themes of the Genre

2010-03-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Although in our video we follow a narrative, one of the main editing techniques used was the idea of montage editing – following a non chronological timeline in our video. Whilst it is clear there is some sort of narrative, the ideas and themes are usually not in a chronological order. The idea of montage editing is emphasised through our use of effects, creating a sense of unease for the audience, particularly through our use of the Final Cut effect “Bad TV” as seen in the instrumental section, as it could add a sense of mystery for the audience and also links in with the aggressive nature of our drum n’ bass genre.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Montage Editing

2010-03-14T10:36:00.002-07:00

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Live Performance

2010-03-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

Particularly within our genre, an emphasis on live performance is important. To include this convention of the music video within our final product, we decided to film a performance segment of the video. This was done using equipment from our school’s music department along with a performance space including various lighting opportunities. In the final product, I feel that the band segments were a big success – we were able to synch the performance of the lead vocalist well with the original track along with getting tempos right with the drummer. This gave the product a professional look, but also emphasised the idea of music videos promoting a band or artist.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Close Ups

2010-03-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

The way the band is presented in a music video is very important. People who watch the music video and the target audience of the artist want to aspire to the people in the video – therefore, bands need to be represented in either a sexually attractive way or in a way that will inspire their audiences to be like them. One method of achieving this is using close ups of band members, a convention used in many music videos. In our final product, we have used this technique effectively, particularly in using close up shots of our lead singer. The lighting in these shots also helps, giving the lead singer a type of attitude and dark nature similar to that of our genre, something which our target audience would aspire to. It also links to Vernallis' theory of the "moment of pleasure", seeing the artist on screen so that people would perhaps feel sexually attracted to the band, as opposed to just liking the music.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Cinematography

2010-03-14T10:34:00.002-07:00

Another convention which we used very well within our final product of the music video is use of a variety of shots and cinematography. This keeps the music video interesting for the audience whilst making it exciting within the context of a music video. There are many examples of various shots we used; one of them I was particularly proud of was the shot in the narrative section moving through the branches, where the branches hide the action of the scene, making it very mysterious and creating a sense of the unknown. Other shots I was pleased with include some shots of the band segment which we filmed using the fig rig, where we were able to get effective close ups and flowing shots, giving the video more movement. The examples I have uploaded (one the completed music video and the other the live footage of the original band Pendulum). From these comparisons, it is clear that during the band segments of my music video has varied cinematography - the fig rig allowed us to create interesting shots of band members (such as the shots found of the guitarist and drummer in the performance segment of the video) and these were similar to some shots found of band members in the live Tarantula video.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Godwin's Theories

2010-03-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

We also used another media theory to help create a professional, effective music video. This was Andrew Godwin’s theory of amplification of the lyrics, meaning we were able to give the lyrics present in the video a new meaning. Whilst analysing the lyrics, we felt the lyric “inject me with bacteria” could be considered as almost a drug induced line. This analysis of the lyrics gave us the main theme of our music video, slightly controversial though fitting in with our gathered, “amplified” meaning of the lyrics.

Evaluation, Question One - Conventions, Bordwell & Thompson

2010-03-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

One of the ways in which my main product follows conventions of music videos is by following one of Bordwell and Thompson’s editing theories – Rhythmic theories. This determines the duration of each shot, and has more of a link and impact with the music if the shots are edited as such so they change on the beat. I feel that there many example of when we have used this editing theory to a successful effect, for example, the point towards the middle of the song, before a chorus where the song builds with a strong bass drum beat. This accentuates the tempo of the song and also gives across the fast paced nature of the song as well as the fast aggressive nature of the genre.

Evaluation, Question One - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2010-03-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Music videos are created mainly as a promotional tool to advertise new songs from artists ranging from different genres, bands and demographics. They appeal to everyone in different ways through means of different cinematography techniques, differing effects and differing editing techniques. Music videos appeal to all – they are usually the first airing of songs and albums for new and upcoming artists. I feel my music video is successful in advertising a new artist. It follows conventions such as cutting on the beat, close ups of the artists and a slight narrative within the video.

Completed Magazine Advert

2010-02-21T07:00:00.001-08:00

Completed Inside DVD Cover

2010-02-21T06:59:00.001-08:00

Completed Outside DVD Cover

2010-02-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Creating the Magazine Advert

2010-02-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

My Magazine advert has a similar theme to that of my outside DVD cover, that being the main colour scheme being the red/orange firey look. I decided on using this type of gradient to keep the design aspect of all my promotional material the same and recognisable.

One of the main features I used on my magazine advert was the idea of having a tarantula image in the centre - to do this, I used the drawing tool, and drew 3 versions of a firey/tarantula shape. I then used the fill tool to colour each of the objects, making them stand out from one another. As this was a magazine advert for the release of the DVD, I felt that the DVD needed to be included. To do this, I used a DVD box template (similar to the one posted) and used the free transform tool to change the perspective of the outside front cover and the spine.

After analysing other such magazine adverts, the text which I included was important to creating an official looking advert. Text included the band/album name, along with release dates and reviews from relevant music media. I used a clear, bold font for these pieces of text, but also a font which was relevent to the aggressive tones of the genre.

Creating the Inside DVD Cover

2010-01-29T03:55:00.000-08:00

Although there is not much to my inside DVD cover, I feel that the final product is an effective cover which would work in an offical Music DVD. My first initial steps was to create a gradient for the background of the cover. Originally, I made the gradient similar to that as I put down in the original paper design. However, I felt this was too similar to the outside cover, so I decided to change the final gradient design to a bold white streak going along a black background, which I feel had more of a visual impact, and emphasised the track listing found on the left pane.

The font I decided to use for the track listing was a harsh, almost graffiti like font, which I feel went well with the agressive nature of the genre of our initial music video and our artist.

Creating the Outside DVD Cover

2010-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

There are many elements of Photoshop which I have used to create the final version of my DVD cover. Initially, part of my design was a firey background, and to create this I would not only need to add a gradient but I would need to manipulate the colour of the gradient - to do this, I went into the gradient settings and was able to change the colour spectrum towards red, which would give a gradient that went from Red to Yellow, the colour I needed.

One of my next steps was to add images which I had taken to go onto the front cover. An image from the Music Video which I found particularly strong was the image of the warning sign, bright yellow with a bold exclamation mark - I felt this was a strong link to our agressive music genre, so I used the image in the cover (the image I took and used is shown in this entry). As I only wanted the actual warning triange with no background, I used the magic wand tool to get rid of the block white background. To make the image look more interesting, I added effects to the image.

Other images I added to the cover included screenshots from the music video (to which I added a cartoon effect, subtle but adding to the look of the cover) along with official images such as a 15 certificate, which I feel gives a strong clue to the audience to which our band appeals to.

Finally, I needed to add text to the cover. To start with, I added main text such as the title of the DVD along with the band name and track listing. I also added special features to the DVD to appeal to the audience, and also official copyright information (a format which I followed from viewing official DVD covers on the internet). I feel the fonts I used were mainly successful - I feel I made the right choices with font, as they suit the genre well.

Some aspects I had to change regarding my paper design was the layout of the back cover (due to space taken up by the track listing) along with a different image for the front cover (an image of a tarantula I feel would have been hard to find myself). However, I feel the image on the front of the cover as it stands is effective as it has a stronger impact on the audience and suits the genre well.

Font Choices

2010-01-17T10:42:00.001-08:00

For the design of the ancillary tasks, I felt I needed appropriate fonts that would be easy to read but also fit in with the genre of the band.

In the end, I made the choices of font to be:

Sexton Sans, an industrial looking font which would be appropriate for the album name "Poisonous".

A screenshot of the font has been posted into the entry.

DVD Cover/Magazine Designs

2009-12-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

For the ancillary tasks, we have to individually create a DVD cover for the release of an album along with a magazine advert promoting the release of the DVD. As a design feature, we had to watch our videos again to get ideas that we could incorporate into our designs. After watching our video, I decided that much of the effects and lighting we used was of a deep red colour, therefore I decided to use a firey design on the outer DVD cover and Magazine advert, creating a marketing link between the two products. The tracklisting in the inside DVD cover I have designed in a scrawly, almost grafitti like style, reflecting the almost angry tone of our genre.

I have also thought about audience, and generally bands in the drum n'bass genre are usually quite explicit with their videos and/or lyrics - therefore, I have decided to "certify" my DVD release as available to those only over 15 years of age, a clue to the audience I am trying to reach.

Refilming - 4th November 2009

2009-11-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Today, we were able to refilm the band segment to our Music Video - I felt this filming session was much more successful than the previous one, as we had enough actors for a full band along with a male singer who looked more of a singer in the genre.

Again, we were able to get many interesting shots of all band members - I was in charge of using the Fig Rig to film the segment which included the guitarist. I feel some successful shots came out of this, as I was able to capture some interesting close ups and tracking shots into the guitar, which is an improvement on the mise en scene from our last filming session.

Now, we need to upload the footage onto Final Cut Express and review it, to ensure it's good enough to use in our final music video.

Refilming Band Sequence

2009-11-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

As a group, we have decided (along with the deadline coming up for the music video) to refilm the live band sequence sometime this week. Although from a cinematography point of view the last session was fine, the mise en scene of the footage was a problem.

Therefore, I feel it will benefit us as a group to plan out props and costume - this will mean having to think about our genre a lot, and will mean having to use authentic props to give the final produt a sense of realism.

Initial Editing

2009-10-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Now, we were able to being to edit sequences within our Music Video - the software now worked which obviously worked to our group's advantage. As I knew the basics of how Final Cut Express worked, I was able to give a quick tutorial to my group as to how to use it. This included describing the process of 'in' and 'out' points for footage and using the blade tool to cut up pieces of footage on the timeline.

As a start, I put some of the band footage on the timeline in time with the music to show the simplicity to the group of how to edit. John decided to put together some of the narration footage which made a good introduction to the film - the shots had quite a fast pace and some of the shots which were added in were interesting to watch.

Refilming DHM/Decks

2009-10-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

In the lesson on Friday 16th October, the room in which the decks were kept was free, so we decided to refilm the decks sequence for our music video. This time, we ensured that the lighting was correct as we found that was a major problem the last time we filmed (such as seeing the lights on the vinyl records). We therefore was able to change the lighting which added more atmosphere and looked good on screen.

This filming session was more successful as we were able to get much more interesting shots with interesting angles. These included close up shots of the decks as the records were spinning, which gave some interesting shots when we uploaded the footage to Final Cut the lesson after.

Editing

2009-10-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

Today, our group done two things - we had to upload some more footage which had been sadly lost, but this gave us the opportunity to experiment with some of the effects that Final Cut had to offer us.

We found some interesting effects, one I particularly liked was called "Indent" - it gave the video almost a serious cartoon look, and made the frames darker which would fit in with the style of our song.

As I have used Final Cut before, I began to see if some of the performance segment we filmed would fit in with our track - I done this by setting an 'in' and 'out' point from the footage we needed which fit the mp3 version of the song - this seemed to be successful, but as we have decicded to reshoot some of this segment, the footage was not the final version.

Uploading Footage 2

2009-10-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

In today's lesson, due to some technical difficulties the lesson before, we re-imported our narrative section of our Music Video. For now, we did not re-import all of our footage, meaning we could analyse what we filmed for the narrative section.

I feel the footage we filmed was successful - we were able to get interesting shots using parts of the location to our advantage, such as allowing the camera to look through the trees, as if something is hidden to create a sense of unease for the audience.

We also achieved other things in today's lesson. I was able to find an MP3 version of our song which I imported into the timeline of our Final Cut project, and used the select tool to move the track to the beginning of the timeline where our clips would line up. In this lesson, Georgina also redrafted one of our storyboard sheets to fit in with the new footage we'd filmed for the narrative, but also due to the group decision to abandon the 'rave' idea - we thought it was impractical, especially getting the right number of people to take part in the segment.

Uploading Footage

2009-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

For the previous lessons, we have been uploading our footage to Final Cut Express, the editing software which we will be using to create our Music Video. Although there have been some problems with uploading (such as frames being dropped and having difficulty saving), we have been able to come up with a general idea of how our footage looks.

WWW:
- Good Lighting,
- Interesting Camera Movements With Fig Rig,
- Decent Mise en Scene,
- Good Framing on Stationary Shots,

However, some of the things such as props and actors in shot we feel needs to be changed, which has made us think to refilm some segments of our footage.

Third Filming Session

2009-10-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

After school today, myself, James and Georgina filmed the live band segments of our Music Video. Obviously, due to the reduced number of people, we had to rethink the members of our band. Therefore, whilst Georgina arranged the music and lighting, me and James took roles as the musicians (me as a bassist and James as the drummer).

I thought it was effective just having drums and bass as our artist, reflecting our genre of Drum n Bass. I thought using a number of cameras was a good idea, as we were able to get a variety of different angles for one performance. I also enjoyed using the 'fig-rig' - whilst filming the drum kit, I was able to get interesting sweeping shots and steadicam shots, which I am looking forward to editing together later in the construction stage.

Part of our plan this afternoon was to re-film the decks sequence, but we could not do this in the end due to the absence of John. Therefore, we will have to rethink a time to film the DJ sequence.

Although I felt a majority of this afternoon's filming was successful, I feel that when we review our footage we will need to re-film some stuff. However, this is all part of the process, and happens within the industry.

Successful Second Filming Session

2009-10-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

Today, we decided to film some of our narrative section in lesson, as it was a dull/overcast day which meant it was darker than usual. We found a suitable location round the back of the Sports Hall, which was overgrown and damp which we felt was suitable for the dark, secluded place needed for the narrative section.

In all, we got about 5 minutes of footage, but many of these were for short flashes and short segments. We were able to keep to much of our storyboards, getting close ups of syringes and the belt. However, we were able to get more interesting shots when we saw what we had to work with in our location. For example, when we arrived there we found some warning signs, which were bright yellow in colour - vibrant and bold. I was therefore able to get some interesting steadicam shots using the tripod, the handheld giving a sense of unease which is suitable to our music video.

I was also happy with a shot in which we see the two characters on the stairs as there is a lot of light behind them, meaning they are hidden in silhouette which adds to the mystery of the narrative section. Although perhaps we could have thought about location more, I feel that this morning's filming session was successful, but obviously we will need to review our footage when we upload to make a fully justified judgement.

Change of Plans

2009-10-06T01:41:00.000-07:00

Due to many reasons, usually beyond our control, our group has made some different plans regarding filming. These reasons include rooms not being free during lesson time along with people not being able to turn up/people not being free for filming sessions. Today therefore, after discussion with our group, we have come up with this backup plan:

Wednesday 7th October 2009:

Film Live Band segment, with our group cast as the band. Use any available equipment from a music room, be sure to use a drama room so that lighting effects can be used. Costume will be: Smart black shirt with dark jeans. After we have filmed band segment, we will aim to go to another music room where we should be able to re-film the decks to make the shots better than before.

Thursday 8th October 2009:

Early finish - if we need to re-film any part from the shooting period yesterday, we will do it after school.

Segment set in the forest/woody area will possibly be filmed at the weekend - spend an hour or two filming parts of the narrative.

Initial Filming - Decks/DHM

2009-10-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

As part of our storyboard, and to fit in with the electronic genre, we decided to add some shots of decks being played by a DJ. We had the facilities for this in the Music Department, and a member of our group (John) was experienced in using the equipment, meaning the shots would look more authentic.

Some of the shots we filmed in this session were quite interesting - we were able to get some extreme close ups at interesting angles of the equipment in use, and was able to use authentic vinyl records on the deck to add realism to the shots. However, after reviewing some of the footage, we realised that the light on the ceiling was reflecting on the surface of the records - although we do not know the full extent of what is visible on screen, when we upload the footage we will review this scene and decide whether or not to reshoot the segment, to get the best quality results for our Music Video.

Props List

2009-10-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

As with all Media Productions, we thought it was essential to create a props list that we could use during filming so that we would not forget any essential items needed to allow our video to work. There are two main segments to our Music Video, the performance section along with an narrative section - here are the props we thought we would need in each segment:

LIVE PERFORMANCE SEGMENT:

Drum Kit
Bass Guitar + Amp
Electric Guitar + Amp
Keyboard?
Microphone (for Vocalist)
Microphone Stand

NARRATIVE SEGMENT:

Syringe
Drink Can
Lighter
Belt/Ribbon

Although the props in the Narrative Segment may sound extreme, this is the sort of look and feel we want to our music video - we want the video to be shocking to the audience, almost as shocking as some of the lyrics present in the song.

Storyboarding

2009-09-29T04:23:00.001-07:00

After looking at our lyrics and noting down initial ideas regarding some of the themes we thought were present in the lyrics, we began to storyboard our ideas. This involved a lot of discussion, listening to the track several times and looking at the lyrics to be sure that our ideas were solid and definite. With our storyboards, we tried to keep them in as order as they could be (although they may be uploaded to Blogger in the incorrect order), but also used similar colours that we would use within our Music Video so that we had an idea of the sort of Mise en Scene we would eventually go for.

Second Shooting Schedule

2009-09-29T04:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of our second shooting schedule. We have revised the dates that could not be done previously, and changed the dates accordingly. Creating a shooting schedule has allowed our group to be more organized and has improved our planning skills for our project - it has allowed us to be more efficient with our time.

"Tarantula" Lyrics

2009-09-29T02:49:00.000-07:00

The main lyrical themes throughout "Tarantula" are quite simple - the song is made only of one verse and one chorus, each time the lyrics being the same content.

Whilst reading the lyrics and after realizing how aggressive and upfront our genre was, we thought that it might be effective almost to shock our audience. In the end, some of our initial ideas included shocking shots of things such as drug taking and alcohol abuse, to fit in with lyrics such as "Go-a your funeral". Although we are not illustrating the lyrics and taking them literally, we have decided to amplify the lyrics, and give them a new (although admittedly dark) meaning.

[Chorus]
The tarantula,
Time for the massive come sing ya
Blad tarantula
Don't play with my style I might sting ya
Blad tarantula
You want me inject me bacteria
And if ya body goin’ stiff
And your spine goin’ numb
Now come fi get some...

Massive! Time to fix you up something here right now!

[Verse]
Shotter, hitter, serial killer
Go-a your funeral and all drink out your liquor
When you are bury we a-stand next to the vicar
Fling on some dirt and make your bury a little quicker
Shouldn’t test the youth them in the Tommy Hilfiger
Hug up ya mama, say sorry to ya poppa
All-a get number for ya little sister
It true we cold like alaska, freezer

Shooting Schedule One

2009-09-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the first draft of our shooting schedule, in which many of the filming days fell through due to actors/people we'd asked not being able to make it. One part of this essentially was the band not being able to make dates that we had usually thought about filming, and as we thought the band segments were a pivotal part of our Music Video, we decided to change the dates of filming to accommodate when the musicians would be free.

After discussion, we will put up another shooting schedule which will be the revised version and hopefully one that will be followed.

Filming a Live Band

2009-09-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

As part of our Music Video, I thought it would be a good idea to have segments of a live band performing the song, as the instrumentation in the genre (such as electronic instruments i.e. guitars and synthesisers) I felt called for some aspects of live performance. As part of planning for this segment, I decided to watch a clip of the song "Tarantula" being performed live by Pendulum, so I could note down ideas to carry forward when we eventually film the live music segment of our Music Video:

At the beginning of the song, there are long shots of the entire band, used almost to introduce the act and each member,
There are lots of sweeping shots and other interesting cinematography such as crane shots and extreme close ups to keep the audience's interest,
Cutaways are present usually showing aggression and attitude of the lead singer,
There is some extremely fast cutting and some clips are sped up, to add excitement to the live performance, something I feel would be effective in the editing stage,
There are many close ups of the instruments as they are being played, something I feel would look good within the style and genre of our Music Video.

Here is the clip I took this inspiration from, taken from an official DVD released by the artist:

Table of Specific Genre

2009-09-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

Similar to the table that we produced before analyzing Music Videos of various genres, we had to produce a table analyzing three videos from our chosen genre of Electronic Rock/Drum n Bass. Similar to before, we analyzed such aspects as cinematography, costume, props and locations. This helped us more with the planning as it allowed us to see how the genre we had chosen was interpreted by other directors on video.

Pictures From Our Chosen Genre

2009-09-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

As part of the research stage (and entering the planning stage), we decided to look at different images from bands from our chosen genre. These included artists such as "Pendulum" and "The Prodigy". Looking at these images were useful, as it allowed our group to decide how artists from our chosen genre were represented on film and in images. I came up with the following points regarding the images we had collected:

- Usually in dark clothing, normally in Black

- Look of attitude on their faces – quite angry, quite aggressive

- Live performance looks colourful and extravagant

- Some element of make-up in their image

- Costume is usually informal – denim, jeans etc.

- Opportunities for live performance aspects

- Usually made up of ‘strong’ looking males, tough/aggressive image

- Many of the band photos are close up, adding to the aggressive sort of image - it's quite intimidating to the audience.

Tarantula Song

2009-09-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the song, uploaded to YouTube by a YouTube user:

The song has many sections to it, an interestingly "laid back" introduction with overtones of the Reggae style, which led us to choose the song. Later on in the song, a heavy drum beat enters which I feel we could do some interesting editing/cinematography against, such as cutting to the beat and so forth.

Sadly, no official Music Video was made for the song - however, I feel this works to our advantage as a group because it means all of our ideas can be original - we have no creative barriers (such as copying ideas from the official video), though we have watched other videos by the artist and got ideas of how the genre is represented on screen.

Our Chosen Genre

2009-09-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

Originally, our group was planning to make a video for a Reggae track, but after discussion, we realised that we may not be able to successfully create a Reggae Video - it would need exotic locations, lots of extras and so on. We did not want to go down the route of making a music video for a predictable genre such as Indie or RnB, so we decided to venutre into Electronic Rock/Drum and Bass. It was with this decision that we decided to make a video for Pendulum's "Tarantula".

Low Budget Videos - "X-Ray" by The Macabees

2009-09-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

Similar to the previous music video, "X-Ray" by The Macabees is another good example of an effective low budget Music Video.

Simple use of effects (such as colour hue changes, split screens and boxes),
There are only a few shot types used throughout the video,
Simple, accessible locations are used,
Costume is kept simple and usually to a minimum,
Mise en Scene is made up of cheap materials,
The video is made up of one simple but effective ideas - there is one main theme throughout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNXcHJFtVeI

(embedding has been disabled by the YouTube user)

Low Budget Videos - "Jenny Again" by Tunng

2009-09-28T03:43:00.000-07:00

There are many aspects of this Music Video that makes it an effective low budget music video.

The video contains more of a narrative,
Very soft focus editing, almost hiding something - makes it quite emotional,
Mainly use of simple camera techniques such as close ups,
Not cut to the beat which is different and goes with the slow feel of the song,
Lots of bright colours and natural light are used,
There is a change of sound halfway through, making use of a basic but effective audio effect.

I feel that this video shows how simple technology and techniques can be used effectively to create a good music video - the lack of extravagant effects and shots make the video easy to understand and to watch.

Sugar Water Powerpoint Presentation

2009-09-28T02:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a PowerPoint which I produced analyzing the Music Video for Cibomatto's "Sugar Water". The PowerPoint detailed how different editing theories were used within the Music Video, and other details including genre and demographic. We presented our PowerPoint presentations to some other people in the class, and here is some of the feedback we received:

WWW:

Presentation related and applied to genre of the song,
Correct use and detailed content about the theories,
Good use of Media Language,
Good mention of Audience and Demographic,
Right context in terms of Godwin's Theories.

EBI:

Expand on some bullet points and go into further detail,
Expand ideas on Mise en Scene,
Some more specific details on target audience needed.

Cibomatto - Sugar Water

2009-09-28T02:35:00.000-07:00

As part of our research into the ideas and conventions of Montage and Continuity editing, we were given a music video to analyse, ours being "Sugar Water" by the Japanese group "Cibomatto".

Continuity:

Simple shots used - one continuous shot throughout the video,
Follows each character through a narrative,
Chronological (in time order),
Only three real locations used (not extravagant).

Montage:

Extravagant use of effects (reverse, split screen etc.),
Characters are reversed in split screen (Abstract),
Mirrored split screen on the right hand side,
Messages for the audience (for example the "You Killed Me" sign),
One shot but a variety of angles are used.

There are some screenshots of the video above, which show the idea of the split screen, the idea of the message showing to the audience and also the simplicity of cinematography - the mid shot being used pretty much throughout the whole video.

Montage Editing...

2009-09-28T02:34:00.001-07:00

Continuity Editing...

2009-09-25T04:08:00.001-07:00

Godwin's Theories

2009-09-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

Godwin came up with theories to do with lyrics in a song and how they can be shown on tape. There are three main theories:

Illustration: The visual narrative tells the story of the lyrics in the literal meaning/in a literal way.

Amplification: The visual narrative does not contradict the lyrics, but creates new levels of meaning (in a metaphorical way). In amplification, the theme of the lyrics is present in the visuals.

Disjuncture: The visual narrative goes against or does not match the lyrics in the song.

Bordwell and Thompson - 4 Categories of Film Editing

2009-09-25T03:49:00.000-07:00

There are four methods of editing that can make a Music Video interesting to the audience, or any other type of video in fact.

GRAPHIC:
Draws upon Mise en Scene and Cinematography

Graphic Match - Linking shots by graphic similarities,
Graphic Continuity - Centre of interest constant throughout the cuts,
Graphic Discontinuity - juxtaposition of centre of interest.

RHYTHMIC:
Considers the duration of each shot (long or short?)

SPATIAL:
Is to do with the Mise en Scene and how it is established - how is it placed within the frame?

TEMPORAL:
To do with time - is it like a film? Is it chronological?

Genre Analysis

2009-09-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

After collecting the results of my Questionnaire, I analysed 3 music videos from 3 different genres, those being the most popular from the results I had found. These were "Rock", "Indie" and "Soundtrack". Within these three genres, I looked at aspects such as the locations used, costumes, props, effects and editing techniques used, which allowed me to see how videos for different genres were constructed. Here are the videos I analysed in the order as shown on the sheet.

Kings of Leon - Notion (embedding disabled): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oayv_JWCpY

Coldplay - Yellow (embedding disabled): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAME8GDRTfI&feature=PlayList&p=FDC7E7E03039788B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=10

Evaluation of Questionnaire and Results

2009-09-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

WWW:

Wide range of questions asked to find out more about the demographic
Clear questions, with a mixture of open and closed questions
Talked well about Music in general, finding out the target audience's tastes and so on
Clear percentages in summary and good visual representation of results

EBI:

Better if I collected more of a sample, for example a greater number of people of different demographics
Some more questions focussing on the elements of Music Videos
Ask a wider range of ages and demographics for varied results

Questionnaire Results

2009-09-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of my Questionnaires (in percentages). The results shown although interesting, may not help a lot with the development of the music video, and this could be due to many reasons. Primarily, I feel that I did not reach a large enough demographic, I could have solved this by asking a greater number of people with wider music tastes, although through people taking part in my questionnaire, I was able to gain a wider understanding of what people would expect in a Music Video, which included dancing, a variety of cinematography, the Band/artist performing and some sort of narrative.

Music Video Questionaire

2009-09-25T03:42:00.001-07:00

As part of our Market Research, we had to create a Questionnaire to give to a number of people so they could fill out their ideas and views on what a Music Video should be. In my questionnaire, I included basic demographic questions such as age and gender, but also asked people about their favourite genres of music, and asked some of the things that they would expect to see within a music video.

Advanced Portfolio - Music Video

2009-09-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

For our A2 project, we have to create a promotional package for a new band, including making their music video. This blog will detail the processes of Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation.