The Music Video

This is my media blog. Throughout the blog you will see lots of different posts regarding my production and other forms of media based interests. Shown above is my final production and after this will be both my ancillary texts and my evaluation questions. Enjoy.

Ancillary Text 1 - Magazine article

Ancillary Text 2 - Poster

Media Evaluation Questions 1-4

A2 Media Evaluation Questions

Shown below are all of my media evaluation questions for the A2 course

Production Editing

With my production, I did not do a large amount of editing as I felt the light and colour treatment of the shots did not need considerable amounts of work to it and I also felt that it would have a more realistic appeal to the whole production if I did not edit it too much.

The main thing I did edit was the speed of some of the shots and the transitions into other shots. I tried to slow down some of the shots with my actor running to give it a more dramatic effect and so that I could get more use from using less shots. The slowing of the shots needed to be relatively consistent with each shot so I tried to ensure that I slowed each shot to the same time (either 0.6 or 0.7) as this meant there were no elements which were overly slow and all of them managed to compliment each other well. I did however slow one particular shot down much more and the clip can be seen at the end of this blog.

In terms of editing transitions, I only really used a very blunt transition of just going into the next shot and I also used a fade which lasted for different times depending on which shots I was trying to put together. I used these as they are the most common ways of transitioning shots in both music videos and in films, also they were more relevant and looked more suitable than those that looked as though they would be found on a power point presentation made by an 11 year old. This gave my production a more professional look to t and this would have increased the quality of the music video and hopefully increased the interest of the viewer(s). I also used the transition of fading the text out at the start just to introduce the band and song name as this is the way it is traditionally done by channels such as Viva and 4Music.

Final Song Choice

After changing my idea constantly about what song I was going to use in my final production, I decided to use an acoustic version of an original song. I chose to do this as I listened to the original and the lyrics were very relevant to the storyline but because it was by a slightly "punk rock" band, the beat was a bit harsh for the mood of the video and there was a lot of heavy electric guitar and drum use. This was not ideal for my production as the atmosphere of the production is relatively slow and this needs a softer and more comforting track to go with it to make it seem as though they compliment each other well. The original song can be seen below:

I had listened to the above song plenty of times as I am a fan of the band and therefore have listened to a lot of their records. Because of this, I decided to see whether or not their acoustic version of this song would fit into the production with a more complementing fit. The lyrics are the same and the way it is sung is completely the same but the difference is that it is very light drum use and just an acoustic guitar, which gives a softer touch to the song and makes it seem more suitable for the mood that the video is trying to portray. This is why I decided to choose this song and therefore this is my final choice for my production. The song can be seen below:

Characters

As my production is a music video with a genre of a love/break-up story, I felt that I needed to ensure that my characters fitted the traditional conventions of music videos with this genre. Therefore I decided to have a male character and a female character. I decided that I would act in my production myself as this meant it was easier for me to control what sorts of shots I wanted and how I wanted the actor to play the part. In terms of the female actress, I asked one of my friends, Sarah, to play the role. I wanted the typical characteristics of an actress for this particular genre. This would include someone who is smaller than me, is very innocent looking and just what a typical girl would be classed as. For my actor (me) I tried to dress in very basic colours to give a feeling of not being very interesting and not being very bothered about anything. This is so that it supports the way the argument starts at the beginning of the music video. Pictures of both the actors in their costume can be shown below:

Sarah

Ben (me)

Movie Review 5 - The Devil Inside

Similar to the last movie review, I watched a horror film but this time it was called 'The Devil Inside'. This film is about a girl called Isabella Rossi, who tries to find out what has happened to her mother after she was sent away from her daughter for killing three people in what looked like an attempted exorcism which had not been deemed safe or the correct treatment by the Vatican. The film follows Isabella's journey to Italy to document the teaching of exorcisms and a reunion with her mother but after coming into contact with a pair of trainee exorcists, she finds out much more than she would from just sitting in a classroom.

I was slightly apprehensive about watching this film at first as even though I am a fan of horror films, I had found out that the first screening of this film had been done in an old church at midnight with no light. The reviews from those who experienced this had stated that they were slightly unnerved after they had watched it and they felt even more worried once they had found out that the case of Isabella Rossi's mother is a real life case which is still to be resolved.

The film is shot almost all through the eyes of the camera man who accompanies Isabella on her journey and this makes it look as though it is a footage film. These films are not films i tend to watch very often but I wanted to try something new and to be honest, I like the way the used the camera man's point of view and the way they made it seem like a documentary. The film was very enjoyable and I would recommend it as long as the viewer isn't too squeamish as there is a lot of unnatural body movements and some aspects could make certain people feel sick. The trailer for 'The Devil Inside' can be seen below this text:

Film Review 4 - The Quiet Ones

Recently I watched a film called 'The Quiet Ones'. This is a horror film about supernatural events and in particular, the case of a university professor who specialises in the cases of the supernatural, and a small group of students who have been given the task of documenting the issue of a girl who is believed by some to be possessed while others have an opinion that she is just mentally insane. Their task is to try and prove she is possessed by documenting her movements and holding spiritual gatherings to see what or who is possessing her.

The film is shot from two different perspectives. The first is that it is filmed through the eyes of the audience, like most films. The second is that it is filmed in some areas through the eyes of some of the characters, especially the main student, Brian. He is the camera man who has been trusted to document the whole experience and the angles that the film is shot from at certain points is through the camera he uses. This gives a more genuine feel to things and also gives the audience more of a feeling that they are there alongside those in the film. Normally I am not a fan of films that are shot in this way but because there was a good mix of camera angles and shots, I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought. The trailer can be seen below this text:

Secondary Research - Music Videos

I wanted to do some secondary research to see how relevant music videos are when it comes to people listening to music. I found an article from 'The Hollywood Reporter' that was published in 2012 that showed me that statistically, most people (especially teenagers) use YouTube to listen to music more than listening to the radio. This means that more people are watching music videos along with listening to the audio which  goes along with the video. This may mean that the viewers find the music video more interesting as they may want to see the storyline behind it or even just their favourite artists performing. I have also noticed that any songs that enter the charts without a music video tend to not get past the number 20 mark very often before falling places. Then, once the music video for the track is released, the song tends to rise again in the charts. The article i found can be seen in the link below:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/youtube-radio-teens-music-survey-361857

Evaluation Question Planning

Once I have finished both my production and my ancillary text(s), I will need to focus on answering the evaluation questions that review my production. I did this last year and now there are fewer questions, it will mean that I can go into more detail when answering them and therefore make them even better quality and this may allow me to access a higher grade. The questions have to be answered through using a range of different media techniques and the fact there is only 4 questions means that it will be easier for me to use a wider range of techniques. Below are the questions and my plans for how I will be answering them:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For this question I plan to take another music video with a relatively similar type of song (slow with similar meaning) and screen it next to my video. I will then narrate over the top of both the videos and talk about what things I have done that are similar to the parallel video and what things I have done that I have seen in other videos. I am likely to use the video for Night Changes by One Direction as the music is a similar genre and tempo whilst the filming aspect is also very similar. I may also use the video for Another You, Another Way by Against the Current as this includes the memory aspect. Either that or I could use the video for 4am by Alex G.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary texts?
For this question I have thought about doing a narrative idea again with my ancillary texts being placed along side some clips from my production. I also may use a layout of the ancillary texts with arrows with descriptions of how they link to the production. This will be presented in a spider diagram style but will have the aspect of me narrating over the top of it so that I can incorporate more elements of using media to evaluate my final production.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
For this question I will collect a panel of people together and get them to watch my production. I will try to get around 5-8 people so that I get a variety of opinions but I will ensure they are all around the age of 18 as this age seems to be one of the ages that spend a large part of time watching TV and music videos. I will then review the feedback and present it in a sort of mind map document with a screenshot of my production at the heart of it.

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
For the final question I will look to use Power-Point or Prezi and split the slides into the 4 headings of construction, research, planning and evaluation. I will then give information as to which instruments I used for each section and how they were useful in the production of my music video. I am familiar with Power-Point but I think Prezi looks as though it will gain me more marks as it is slightly more complex and allows for interactive displays. Therefore I will look to use Prezi but if I am unable to get what I desire from it I will use Power-Point instead.

Music Video Review

When looking for more song ideas for my production I stumbled across an artist called Sam Hunt. I liked some of his songs and ended up looking through his YouTube account to see what sort of music videos he produces.

I liked the video for his song 'Take Your Time' and decided to consider using this for my production as I thought some of the lyrics were very relevant to the concept of my idea despite the idea behind his video coming from a whole different perspective of domestic violence. The video for this will be shown at the bottom left of this review.

The music video that caught my eye was the video to 'Leave the Night on' as it is a completely different idea to anything I have seen before. The song is relatively upbeat and has the theme of a party to it and this is different to what I usually listen to. The video is about Sam Hunt being a taxi driver and he is driving lots of different people to parties all across town. The video montages together all of the people in the back of the taxi as though the taxi itself is a party and it also has Sam Hunt performing the song by singing whilst he is driving. I thought the video was very eye catching as it is different and it looks relatively detailed considering the fact it is the first official music video he produced. The video can be seen to the bottom right after this text:

Altered Filming Schedule

Due to the fact I have decided to alter my idea, I have therefore had to change my filming schedule and film some of the shots again but from different angles and perspectives. By planning out a new schedule I will be able to look at how my filming is coming along and it will allow for me to see where I can fit other filming dates in should I need them.

Ideally, all the production should have been finished before the February half term which is around the same time as Valentine's Day (14th) but due to other commitments I have been unable to finish the required filming. Therefore I will be filming very often in the half term as this is convenient form both me and the actress I am using.

I have already got some shots regarding the scene with the girl in her room but I will not be able to finish this scene without filming the others first so I will leave that filming until the end. I also do not want to try and film it all in one day as this would be too difficult and I want to make it seem like the different scenes are all filmed on different days to represent different memories. By filming on different days, I will be able to make it seem like time has past by using things such as different weather conditions, the characters wearing different clothing and other alterations. A brief outline of my altered production planning will follow:

Monday 16th February - I want to try and film the first scene all within this day. I will be filming in the centre of Oxford and will act it out in the same fashion as a first date. It will be from the guy's point of view and it will show the two characters meeting, walking around for a bit, possibly sitting in a restaurant or a cafe, then it will show the guy walking the girl home and them saying good bye before the next clip occurs.

Thursday 19th February - This will be the second scene filming. The second scene will show the characters as more comfortable with one another and this will make the characters seem more fluid in their movements and how they act with one another. It will be either in University Parks in Oxford or it will be like the two characters going for a "day out" together and having fun. The reasoning for leaving a gap is so that I can attend any other commitments I have but also so that I can see how the weather conditions may alter and so that I can change the clothing of the actress to make it seem like it is more further on in time.

Friday 20th/Saturday 21st February - This may take me one or two days to complete as I am planning on filming the rest of the scenes in the house and also the final scene which includes shooting from the guys point of view. I have left this to last as both of these scenes occur on the same day and therefore I want to try and ensure continuity is kept as well as the fact I can't shoot any more of the scenes in the house without having the other bits of filming done first. I may need to film the remaining house scenes on another day because I may have to do some more editing before these can be completed.

Film Review 3 - American Sniper

The Main Poster for American Sniper

The recently released film American Sniper has been a huge hit in America and has smashed the box office by receiving millions of views and becoming a huge success. A couple of weeks ago I decided to go and watch it and from my own experience of the film, I can see why it was such a big hit in America. The film stars Bradley Cooper who has also starred in another film in which I have reviewed in a previous post (The Place Beyond the Pines). He plays the American Soldier Chris Kyle as the film follows the life f the US Navy Seal and how he became the most lethal and feared sniper in American history. It also follows his life at home and how he dealt with the aftermath of the war in Iraq. It also shows how his family were affected by his time serving in Iraq and how his own experience nearly breaks his family apart.

As I have stated earlier on, the film was very widely credited in America and it made a substantial amount of money through the box office. It also received various nominations for awards including Best Picture and Best Male Actor at the Oscars (two of the most prestigious awards). It was also however subject to much controversy not just from some areas of America but from other countries as well such as the UK. This is because a lot of film reviewers and journalists spoke about how they thought the film "Glorified War" and how it does not balance a fair argument between the two sides in the conflict.

Despite this I thought the film was a triumph and I thought that it showed quite a lot of truth into what happens in the battlefields of wars. I though the acting was brilliant throughout the entire film and Bradley Cooper managed to take on the role very well as I thought it was very different to some of the other roles he has played in films such as The Hangover and The Place Beyond the Pines. The trailer for American Sniper can be seen below:

Production Alteration

As you may have gathered from looking at some of my previous posts, I have 2 characters in my production with the girl playing a more dominant role than the guy. I have been having difficulty finding times when they are both free to do some filming and it is normally due to the male character being unable to make it to the filming destination because of their work commitments. Therefore, I have decided to alter the way I will be going about my production and I will be using the idea of one of my previous posts as inspiration for my idea.

In one of my previous posts I mentioned a couple of music videos that use the camera from the point of view of one of the characters so it is like you are seeing the situation through their eyes. I like this idea because it gives a more personal feel to the video and could make the viewer seem as though they are more inclined to watch the video for one reason or another. With this change of idea on how to shoot the film, I have also decided to alter some of the scenes and some of the props that would have been included in the original idea. I wanted to change the idea of pictures or photo album to either an old video camera or a DVD which the girl can watch the "flashbacks" on as this will save more time of me getting the photos developed and it will also be easier to transition between the watching of the film and the actual film itself. I also might change the idea of the last scene and alter the other two scenes to make them easier to incorporate with the idea of the point of view filming. As well as this, I have also considered changing the ending to make it happier and so I can incorporate more camera angles to try and bring my mark up.

I have also considered changing the song because I wanted to make the video more of a happy video and this would be difficult with the original song I had planned. The song I was considering as a replacement still has an element of sadness to it but the lyrics make it sound more happy. The alternative music choice will be placed below:

Filming Plan - Day 1

The first thing I want to try and film are all the shots that don't include any of my actors as this will be relatively easy and quick to do as I will be able to do these on my own. My plan was to go into Oxford City Centre, as this is where most of my filming will take place, and I planned to film some shots whilst there was sufficient amount of sunlight to show the happy side of the music video. Then I could either use the same shots but edit them with a darker effect for the sad aspect of the music video, or I could film them again when it gets darker and later but I may not be able to get the desired level of continuity that I want if I was to do this. I also planned to do some practice shots of just the girl but I will be doing these on another date, which will be in the next week or two.

The scenes I would particularly like to get done are the scenes for the first meeting and also the second scene as these will both be relatively easy to do. I don't want to try and get the shots for the third scene just yet as these are whether dependant and I will have to ensure I am able to act fast if i want to be able to film these shots. As for the bedroom scenes, I need to find a place which has the criteria that I am after. The outside of the house does not necessarily have to be the same and for this reason I will probably try and find a nice house placed on its own to try and film a very short clip. I will most probably be able to do this when I go and film the shots by myself as it will be easy and does not require me using any of my actors.

Ancillary Text Ideas

As I have already established, I am doing a music video as my production idea and therefore I think the most suitable ancillary text for me to use would be a poster and then I will also make a website as we have to provide two different ancillary texts. I feel that producing a poster is the most relevant form of ancillary text because if you are to look at how artists sell their music, (not as much now) they would use physical copies of their music in the form of CDs. One of the main reasons why people were attracted to CDs was because of the album art that is presented on the front of it. Some artists would use similar pictures from the album art to make posters and vice versa. This meant that they were giving themselves a public image and it also meant that they were advertising their music in such a way that it was able to catch the eye of consumers. Some consumers even collect the posters and album art as it is seen as a form of collective memorabilia to them. Below is an example of the album art and a poster of the artist who produced the song that I will be using in my final production.

Poster Promoting Her Song "Bones"

The Cover of Alex G's First Album

Oxfordshire Youth Media Awards Review

Before Christmas, our school was invited to attend an awards presentation for media at Wheatley Park School. This is where our school, along with 4-5 others, would present some of the best AS and A2 media productions that they had to offer to a judge pane and then they would be nominated against one another for an award. The judging panel included the head of the SAE Institute, a successful documentary film maker and Niv Adiri, who won an Oscar for his sound work on the film Gravity.

The Marlborough School had 3 different productions that were shown and of these 3, 2 of them walked away with awards. The music video produced by last year's A2 student Ben Pilston won best music video and another former A2 student, Ellie Bunce, won the award for the best camera work for her music video. Both of these videos will be presented at the bottom of this blog.

From attending this event, I have learnt that their are many different ways in which ideas can be presented and the amount of camera and editing techniques that are available has allowed me to think in more detail about the ones that I will be using in my production. This will benefit me greatly as it will allow for me to produce my final piece with more detail and greater care and this should mean that my final product will be produced to the best quality possible.

Below are the two music videos that won awards for the Marlborough School at the event. Ben's is on the top and Ellie's is on the bottom.

Alternative Shots Idea 2

Recently I watched a music video that I thought captured the way in which the artists were seen differently and the whole video could give the viewer more of a personal feel towards it as it is filmed through the eyes of someone opposite the artists and therefore makes you feel as though you are actually in the video itself. The music video was Night Changes by One Direction. Normally I am not one to listen to artists such as One Direction but I heard this song on the radio one day and decided to check out the video. I was interested in the idea of the videoing in first person and it gave me the idea of doing this in my production.

The concept of filming in a first person view like they did isn't seen much in music videos as you normally are able to see the main characters in third person. However, I thought the use of the first person was very clever as it was not something I had seen before and thought that the way in which the band members interacted with the camera was very good. An example of one of the interactions I liked is very near the beginning where the band member puts the scarf around whoever was filming. The video also gives the feel that it is actually a person and not just a camera as you see the band members holding the camera woman's hand at a few points and you also see her foot and lap towards the end. This was clever use of the camera and this gave me some inspiration if I was to change the idea of my production. The only drawback with using this in my production is that I need to include a wide range of camera shots and angles and with this method I will only be incorporating one type of shot and it would need very little editing which may bring my grade down unless I was to be very precise with filming and ensuring I make it as perfect as possible.

The video for One Direction - Night Changes can be seen below: