This year my coursework task is to plan, complete and analyse a music video. I will be doing this by using a number of softwares such as Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and of course blogger. I will be doing this as a team effort with two of my friends which requires good team skills but more importantly requires experience which i gained last year in my As coursework, where i learned all the basics to using new programmes such as Photoshop. Skills i learned in this field was to edit backgrounds, upload new fonts and also finding out tools to edit sharpness and brightness to fit the image i wanted to give to my posters. Here is a link for my As coursework.
http://jacklorainemediaasmaintask.blogspot.com/
Planning
The song that me and my group have chosen is 'Heartbeat' by Nneka (Chase and Status Remix). This is because it is a song we all like and have been listening to for a while, so we are all comfortable that we can produce a decent music video. Also it is a Dubstep track which is the sort of music we as a group all enjoy so it will be a lot easier to come up with a music video concept.
Before choosing the song we researched the band and found out the following information
Chase and status have their own record label, i emailed them ' MTA' which stands for more than alot, gave us permission to use their song and re-create as its part of coursework and have given me trust that it will go no further than blogger and i wont breech their expectations. Otherwise it would lead to fraud etc.
These are the lyrics to my song;
You said you'd be there for me
In times of trouble when I need you and I'm down
And likewise you need friendship
It's from my side pure love but I see lately things have been changing
You have goals to achieve
But the roads you take are broad are heartless
That wants you make another way You throw stones
Can you see that I am human I am breathing
But you don't give a damn
Chorus:
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you're causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you're causing
Blood blood blood.... blood is rushing
And now the world is asleep
How will you ever wake her up when she is deep in her dreams, wishing
And yet so many die
And still we think that it is all about us
It's all about you
You sold your soul to the evil and the lust
and the passion and the money and you
See the same ones die, people hunger for decades
suffer under civilized armed robbers, modern slaveholders
Chorus:
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you're causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you're causing
Blood blood blood.... keeps rushing
Evaded, eliminated, erased, interrogated
Our tradition, our love for our fellow countrymen,
our property, our resources - our pride
Can you feel my heart beating
no no no....you don't
Chorus:
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you feel the pain you're causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you feel the pain you're causing.
Initial Ideas
The initial ideas i have at this moment in time is a girl in my Business Studies class who has a very pretty face and is a very confident person, i can see images running through my head of her playing the piano with her eyes closed with bright red lipstick at a extreme close up just of her lips, throughout the video as it progress's there will be more people getting onto the dance floor which will be set at my mates house who is actually in my group, Campbell Lacey. Towards of the end of the music video i can see everyone raving and going crazy to the song, and in sync with the beat.
There isn't any set roles in my group at this moment in time, however I'm keen on taking the lead role for mise en scene, because i feel i can bring that extra bit of Creation to the music video because of how passionate i am for this type of music, Graham King will be looking for the People to take part in our music video, Will Chipchase will be taking charge of the lighting and Campbell will film the video, and after we will contribute to the editing but this is all undecided.
These pictures below are the initial ideas running through my mind of what i want to be included or be similar to the music video.
Mise-en-scene
‘Mise-en-scene‘ - is everything placed in front of the camera to be photographed.
It is a french term meaning “putting into the scene” and was first used in stage plays.
Location & Staging - Staging refers to the filmmaker’s control over the movement and acting of the figures in the scene. The music video will be set at a friend’s house. It will be at a barn which can be converted into a club place. It will start as a plain dull dark room with a spotlight on the girl playing the piano. But then for the chorus there will be a massive rave, so the facilities for what we want the music video to look like is ideal. We also have the freedom to change how the room looks like which we wouldn’t be able to do in a outdoor environment or at college, so I’m very pleased with our set location. Costume - As a group we are pretty much sure for what costumes will be used. The girl will be wearing a long black dress with bright red lipstick and will be bare foot. This will relate to the song; being about love, be-trail & passion. These colours are bold and big and represent these meanings. These pictures below are reinforcing the narrative in the music video. These props that will be used create the characters traits.
Make Up - Makeup is primarily used to accentuate actor’s faces and assist the actor’s performance. In this case the make up being used is to show off the ‘fun’ factor.
During the phase of the chorus there will be bright glow sticks or uv lights on people’s faces to really give off that raving feeling. These are the main and most important parts of the mise-en-scene (make up). It is very important that the viewers relate to what the people look like and feel like in this case 18-30 year olds. The uv will make sure this will happen.
Colour - The colours used will pretty much be black and red because of the lyrics including heartbeats and love and hatred. Until we hit the chorus which will be bright colours such as lime green and baby blue. There is going to be a big contrast of colours from the beginning to the end which actually relates to the lyrics because there is a change in feelings and emotions throughout the duration of the song. This will be strongly conveyed in the music video. Props - Props used will be a piano, black dress, red lipstick, glow sticks, uv facial face paint and coloured spotlights. These props will defiantly add value to our music video.
Music Video Analysis
Eminem - 'Beautiful ' from his new album RELAPSE, is a great example from my prospective for an inspiring music video, because the video is simple and it defiantly relates to the lyrics which is what i like in music videos, i also really believe the performance, i actually believe every word he says, if i can do this in my music video i would be very pleased that i can portray the lyrics into a video effectively. This is one of my favorite songs of all time and the video is mainly why i like it so much, so I've now realized that the theme and lyrics fit in well with the video. This is only one great example of why Eminem's music videos are so successful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfnmCOUieLw&feature=fvw
One of the reasons why i chose a Chase and Status song is because of there previous work, especially the song pieces, which is a personal favorite of mine. I love the song but i really enjoy watching the music video. Roughly half way through the music video there is a man walking along the street with different backgrounds flashing through which has inspired me for my music video, this video has defiantly helped me with my ideas for my music video. There is a link below to see for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MJspL232c8
This is another music video that has inspired me - 'I Gotta Feeling' by The Black Eyed Peas. Which has inspired be with my chorus for my music video, especially the bit when they're using the face paint. This is the link below : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMxASjxRk1w&feature=fvst
Storyboard
My storyboard is a process i used to put my trail of thought into practice with images to help guide me to produce the animatic and finally produce the music video.
My first shot is establishing the scene, which enables the viewers to see that she is the main character and the song will evolve around her. This shot then leads to a close up of the piano which shows that the beat in the background is the girl playing the piano, this conveys the key narrative to the girls performance, the next shot is rotated round so we can see the girl play the piano, this is so the audience can see her emotions and expression to the song, this is shot is also identifying the girl who’s singing the song. There is then a long/mid shot which is number 4, this again is carrying on the narrative to the idea of the music video which is the girl who is performing is alone and sad, also with the black dress and black piano, this adds to the sadness as these colours are perceived in that way. The next shot is called a birds eye viewed shot which makes the performer look small and vulnerable which also adds to the sadness and loneliness.
Shots 6,7 and 8 all link very well together, shot 6 starts as a close up so we see the performers face in great detail, as an audience we can now see the performers emotions and relate to it and feel involved with the performance. As the shots go on, the shots gradually zoom out. This creates the sense that as an audience were falling away from the girl just like the way she feels, falling away from things, for example loneliness. Shot 9 is a low angled shot of the trees, this makes the trees look big and important and show that something with the trees is about to be included. The tree is then zoomed out to an extreme long shot to make the trees look vulnerable and small, this relates to the girl, she was big now she’s small and vulnerable and is being blurred out the way. The next shot is a long shot of a boy who’s also known as a ‘raver’. He is walking past the trees whilst brushing the trees with a paint brush with UV paint. A completely different contrast to the narrative so far, but this is when the beat starts to fasten up. The next shot is zoomed out seeing the boy walk past more trees whilst brushing the other trees leaving a pattern to where he is heading. The next shot is shot back the main girl performing on the piano, not letting the boy with UV paint take over the narrative. Then the next shot is a extreme long shot of loads of boys and girls walking towards the trees, showing that they’re following the boys UV trail. The next shot is people walking past the trail knowing that it’s an identity for that there is a party somewhere or rave. The 16th shot is a moving subject in an extreme long view, this shot will be panned from left to right, and this is so that the audience feel involved as they will be going on the same journey as them. The following shot is an a long shot of a big house, which is establishing something new to the narrative, the idea of this shot is to convey that this is the building to the girls performance. The next shot is a medium shot of the people following the trail of UV paint realising there is a massive house with doors wide open and music be played out. This leads to shot 20 where they walk into the house, but before hand, shot 19 takes place, where it last longer than the normal shot, it’s the girl singing the song standing up looking straight into the camera singing the chorus. This is a strong way of making the audience know that she is still the narrative to the whole video.
After the people have walked in and have shut the door, it is all clear that the rest of the video will take place in this house. Shot 21 is the girls bright red lips in a extreme close up so we can just see her lips, the colour red will represent passion, pain and love. This is the narrative to the song. The drop of the beat to the song leads to a long shot of the performer with a slight smile on her face with everyone raving to her behind her, his completely switches the tension of what the songs about, this twist will immediately make the audience feel happy but also jealous that they’re not there to rave with her. This is because the audience have been on the sad journey with her, now she’s happy you want to enjoy it with her. The last 3 shots are all medium shots with slow shutter speed, this makes the ravers look drunk and happy, this backs up the ravers identity and ends the video in a happy style.
This storyboard has definitely helped me guide my filming, but I do have more ideas, such as at the end going back to the performer singing, and acting as if it was all a dream and going back to the trees where there is no paint on there anymore, this will be a good ending but still haven’t made our mind up yet as a group.
Digipak
As part of my coursework I have to produce a Digipak and promo pack. A promo pack is the Music Video Digipak and avert combined, to produce a promotion pack to showcase the band or artist and their product available on the market.
A Digipak is a patented style of compact disc or DVD packaging, with graphics on the outside picturing the band or artist, the name of the album, and a listing of songs.
Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. The term digipak, means an object to hold the digital.
Ways in which the Promo pack and Digipak link are through images of the band or artist. In the example of the promo pack I am going to produce. Pictures of my Artist Chase & status will feature on both the promo pack and the digipak. It will be obvious that the photographs of my will be all from the same photo shoot, but they will all be staged different and conform with themes from the music video. The reason they will be clearly the same is that they will feature the same colours, for example in clothing. The characters in our Video may be wearing red, white, black(mainly strong colours) due to the feel of the song and it relates well to the consistant mise en scene, we may use the same colours in the Photo shoot.
There may also be props that feature predominately in the video, we would therefore en corporate this into the images of the digipak.
The Fonts on the promo and Digipak will be the same, so that the two can be easily identified as the same product, and stand out to the target audience and consumer.
As apart of my decision into how I will design my own digipak, I am going to evaluate and analyse two digipak covers of artist from a similar genre to my own.
The two digipaks Ive chosen to analyse are 'The Prodigy' and 'Pendulum' mainly because there both massive artists and are collectively known as drum n bass 'hero's'. I will analyse Pendulum in more depth as i am a huge fan and know more about them. However the first digipak i will analyse is Prodigy;
This Digipak shows that the artist is trying to promote their single 'invaders must die' which is what digipak promo packs usually do. The writing and colours are simple and bold, this is useful information for me which i will definitley consider using for my promo pack. Pendulum
The images below are previews of the digipaks;
These previews of the digipaks have clear narrative running through the pack due to the colours being relatively similar. The colours are rave and party 'disco' colours which represents the artist collectively as being fun and 'current'. I won't copy this idea but i will use certain aspects of this as it shows clear representation and narrative.
My flatplans for digipak (In Order of completion)
1.
For the first flat plan I tried to relate it the narrative of the song so I would firstly have the out front panel with the girl at the piano, I was trying to keep it simple, I added lights ‘neon’ and the title Chase and Status featuring Nneka at the top in graphite writing. The inner left panel is the girl performing to the large crowd, the ‘ravers’. Also the Track will be on there, it's like the contents page for a book, it gives you insight for what the digipak includes. For example ‘1, Heartbeat’ this will also be in neon writing to link to the narrative of the chorus when the ravers take place. The outer back panel states the artist again in neon font; this takes control over the outer back panel, because for me it’s the most important bit. It would also include the song title so the audience see what the song is which is important. Just below the title includes an actual heart beat which is what heart beat monitors show. This adds to the narrative and adds the effect of the neon/edgy style.
For the 2nd flat plan I decided to include the girl in all panels purely because she is the solo singer and I feel she is the narrative to the song so I need to convey that to the audience. The Out front panel is the girl performing, she’s in a long black dress, bare-footed and has long let down brown hair, this gives the sense of freedom she has but because she’s so small in the shot it shows how vulnerable she is. She is on a stage with loads of people watching her which shows she’s a big and good performer. Above her is the title to the artist. This will be either in neon or red writing, neon for the party affect or red for the ‘heartbeat’ in the song. The inner left panel for my 2nd flat plan is simpler; it just shows the girl in a long black dress with the microphone, with the title and track number. This is so that my track isn’t overcrowded with excess information. The font will be urban. It will be ever love red or neon red. Outer back panel just shows the girl, piano and the heartbeat sign. This is as simple as it could have got for me without getting boring. I feel this is the best way to promote ‘Heartbeat’.
Feedback for 1st and 2nd flat plans
James Shree: I like how the girl is in the digipak all throughout. It shows how she is obviously the singer and performer. I also love the neon font, it’s groovy!
Emma Sutton: The neon writing is very good, but the colour choice is poor, my favourite two things are the heartbeat monitor on the outer panel on the 1st flat plan and the CD design with the heart on the chest.
After receiving and analysing the feedback of both female and male, I think the 2nd flat plan is maybe a bit dull for a dub step track and the 1st flat plan doesn’t include a narrative running through the concept. So for my 3rd flat plan I will add a clearer narrative for the before going into designing the digipak. This will be the heart beat monitor in all 3 panels of the digipak in red neon. It will be in red neon because it’s what people like to see in this genre plus it represents love, hatred, passion and obviously relates to the heart. The outer front panel will be a big set with the girl performing to a large amount of people showing her importance but yet conveying her vulnerability. The lighting will be focused on her, also being included in the shot is red neon showing the title of the artist. The inner left panel is like a contents page, its showing you what the digipak is mainly about and what is included. The font and colour has stayed urban neon red. This is so the narrative is coming through. I’ve kept the ‘panel simple due to me not wanting too much information overriding the importance of the audience knowing what the track is, which is what my digipak is promoting. The outer back panel now shows the performer on the piano, it’s a sneak peek of what to expect, so this is now heavily promoting my track which is key. It also offers sophistication as well as depression, but yet appeals to the youth with my font choice, this means the targeted audience doesn’t have to be generalized. However the main target audience is people who love dub step, I.E 17-24 year olds. Again it shows the title and track so the audience aren’t forgetting or being carried away with what the digipak is about because there is a lot going on. Throughout the whole digipak there is a heartbeat monitor at the bottom of the screen is the same colour, this shows the narrative throughout the whole flat plan. However the heartbeat is different. The heartbeat is different in all panels, this represents the change of emotion she has and will have throughout the duration of the song.
Digipak final completion ( in order - 1-2-3-4)When taking photos for the digipak i had to make changes, the person who was originally in our group dropped out so therefore could use lights and the piano for the digipak.
Outer front panel
For my outer front panel I took the advice from the feedback I received from Emma in the TV advert. It was to change the beginning of each word with a different colour. Mainly because I want the digipak and TV poster to have clear narrative and continuity. I put the artist names at the top mainly because there the main people behind the prom pack. I didn’t change the beginning of Nneka's name because i wanted 'NNEKA' in clear bold red so the name stands out; this is so people know that the picture is a representation of Nneka. The person is really Ella Highsted my girlfriend. I took pictures and used her because i could rely on her, and I also had permission to take photos of her. I wanted a clear white background with a shade of grey so you can see her shadow and the font colour black and red stand out, because of the black dress and red lipstick, also due to the fact black and red represent love and betrayal better than any other colours. Heartbeat is the name of the song and is down the left hand side of the page underlined by a heartbeat monitor, this adds to the continuity as it is included throughout the whole promo pack. Fonts used were Jacinto Sans & Dorceon Wave.
Inner left panel
CD Panel (inner right)
Inner panels are pretty much identical, the colour of fonts are the same, both fonts used are Dorceon Wave and it’s at the same location. The inner left panel is a shot 3seconds being played into the song and the CD panel photo is when the song is 1min 45sec through. Again this is showing clear narrative and is also more related to the genre - 'Dubstep' Although Ella is the main character I’m trying to make sure the digipak isn’t getting carried away, after all this song will being played in clubs. These photos show why!
Outer back panel
This is my outer back panel, it includes similar features to the outer front panel, this adds and builds to the clear narrative I’m trying to convey to potential consumers. It has the same font, same colours and has the heartbeat monitor, which is representing Ella's heart rate, 'unstable', this is because of the betrayal which will be later shown during the video. I’ve made the artists names very small but recognizable because it lets the song titles take attention and control which is my aim. The audience need to see what the promo pack involves. I’ve also put another photo with Ella in with the same clothes but out of focus so she is still part of the outer back panel but the music tracks taking control. The main track is in a bigger font 'Heartbeat' which will help this takes place. After completing my digipak I will now promote and advertise this digipak through a TV poster. I will complete it in the same process as my digipak. Firstly planning, and drawing up three flat plans, then take these flat plans and ask for feedback of both a boy and a girl then make changes according to the feedback.
Advert Analysis
The two adverts I’m analysing are both in my genre, dub-step. Also the artists Pendulum and Chase and Status are in my target audience, 18-25year old male and female. The main concept to the genre dub-step is the feeling of having a good time and getting drunk in a club. So it includes things such as loud music, neon lighting, alcohol, and a lot of people. This is what I want my advert to have. The first advert I looked at was Chase and Status, firstly I picked up on the colours, which was neon blue and pink which in my opinion represents female and male. Because stereotypically blue is a boys colour and pink is a girls colour. The font is very bold and is an electric white, with paint dripping down of the main information like the dates. This shows that someone has spray painted the poster. This makes the poster look urban and very retro which is what people are perceived as in the dub-step genre. The artists name is in black which stands out from the rest of the neon font, which could add elegance to the band, so not only exciting there serious about the music. I think this advert will definitely help promote Chase and Status which is why I will use some of their ideas, like the font and spray paint around the main people in my music video like the girl who is playing the piano. Pendulum’s poster is my favourite out of the two because does it not only look exciting it looks sophisticated and mature, when dub-steps stereotypes people as being immature, this is due to the occurrence of mosh pits, which is basically a slang term used to describe people going mad and punching and kicking people, so it’s basically a free-for-all fight. That’s why I like this idea so much. Also the colour is sky neon blue. Which not only looks fun it looks peaceful and relaxing, this could attract more than the expected number of audience, for example not only do you have 18 – 25 year olds you may have married couple who are 32-35. The poster has dates of performances all over the UK. Which shows they’re big have loved by the public, also the font is 3d which makes it look bigger representing them as an artist being big in real life. After looking at both posters I have an idea to include a picture of the artist, prices and dates and key information in the same font in maybe a neon blue with pink surroundings that looks like it’s just bee spray painted but also in the artists name in 3d. However I’m going to be drawing three flat plans at the minimum to help guide me to the best possible way of promoting my digipak for my music video.
Flatplans (In Order Of Completiton)
For my first flat plan I made sure I included the key concepts to the music video, Ella Highsted the girl performing in the music video. Green neon font, the black dress and red lipstick and of course the 'heartbeat' monitor at the bottom of the page. The reason for including the heartbeat monitor is to add continuity to the song; it’s also a representation of Ella's heartbeat. Looking at the first flat plan as a whole I realized that it isn’t grabbing your attention at a glimpse of a second, I believe that there’s too much writing and not enough of Ella, so therefore the next flat plan will be worked upon by a bigger picture of Ella on the flat plan. The 2nd flat plan is a much better concept; it looks more together and feels as its promoting my music video (digipak). Ella is a beautiful girl so the closer up she is to the camera the better. I’ve decided to add the front panel of the digipak to the TV poster; this shows the continuity and consistency throughout the whole project. It not only gives the consumers/audience a clear narrative it shows clearly whenever you see a heartbeat monitor or a picture of Ella close up, it will somehow relate to the music video I’m producing. For the 3rd flat plan, I haven’t made as many changes from the 1st to 2nd flat plan as I have now from the 2nd one. I have decided to keep the red colour font as it relates to love, heartbeats, and also the meaning of the song, betrayal. This will be deeply discussed later on in my evaluation. I’ve added tour dates, a website to make it look professional and also the font type will be the same as the digipak. The fonts I used were Jacinto sans and dorceon wave.
Feedback
James Shree: I really like the 3rd and final flat plan but it doesn’t seem very professional due to the fact it doesn’t have a rating from a record label or magazine? However it looks very appealing and will defiantly be purchasing.
Emma Sutton: I agree with James, it definitely need a rating. Also the font is a bit boring just being red... So I would change the beginning of each word with a new colour or different type of font..... It’s just an idea, but so far so good Jack!
Final TV Poster Completion
The TV poster is very clearly similar to the digipak, so when someone sees’s this and the digipak it’s very easy to see the correlation and identify it. I took the advice from my feedback and made sure i included a rating from a magazine form a dubstep magazine, MIX-MAG. I also made sure that the front cover of the digi pak was included into the poster, after all that is what I’m promoting.
I used Jacinto sans and Dorceon wave for my fonts. Heartbeat is down the side just like the outer front panel of my digipak so it’s a clear continuity of the promo pack. I decided to go with a close up with the advertisement because there isn’t really a close up of her in my digipak so it’s important that the audience see what Ella really looks like close up. Also to show how important she is to the project. Here is a clearer preview of the fonts I used...
I used an animatic to help guide me and my team to help shoot the music video, its like a plan but with images for guidance.
Animatic
For the animatic I used the same shots from the storyboard. This is because as a team we decided that we were sure on the shots taken that they were going to take place. The animatic could have been improved with more shots, however but we were convinced that we knew that the shots when editing were going to be a lot shorter anyway. We weren’t too bothered about the quality of the animatic we just needed a guideline for the real thing, are animatic offered us this.
Plan B!
As we couldn’t use the resources we needed, for example the barn and the piano. We could not make our video as the original plan. Time became a huge factor, my girlfriend Ella had a virus and was off college for 2weeks - 2 and half weeks at the minimum. So we decided to change the idea. I was then voted the main actor in the video as my choice but still contributed to the camera work, we also kept the concept of the betrayal, and also we decided to keep Ella in the video as much as we could by adding a picture. This in the end plays a huge part to the storyline. As we had only 1week to shoot we had to shoot it in one day as we were only able to book the camera for 4hours, we were also allowed a tripod. We couldn’t use the facilities originally suggested due to the fact Campbell Lacey's mum being poorly so we wasn’t able to shoot. With only one week we had to make these must needed changes. with time not on our hands changing the planning, storyboard, digipak, TV poster etc was not an option, we had one week left to edit so that was our main focus, we pulled very well as a team and contributed very equally, before each shot our thought process was each one of us come up with a idea and we would agree with each idea and try and uses everyone’s ideas together.
The Music video - Heartbeat By Jack Loraine, Campbell Lacey and Graham King
These shots were most of the shots used. The shots that weren’t used we either down to the fact that the lens and tape was dirty so ever so often a shot would be distorted.
The idea behind the video:
The idea behind the video is that I receive a phone call about something which is a trigger to my emotional pain being shown. When receiving this phone call it’s a long shot, which is also known as an establishing shot which is setting the scene. Then I walk away from the camera kicking and punching air in frustration, but clearly I wanting to be punching someone.. I then run away which represents I’m running away from something or someone. I then lean at a tree which makes me calm down, then when the beat picks up I punch and break a tree. Part of the tree falls off and when the tree bounces off and hits the floor it’s in time with the beat which looks very good. I then walk up from the bottom of the forest, being jump-cutted witch is sketchy but so is the song and the start of the music video. When I get to the top I come through the gates with an angry face, you can see this because it’s a close up. I then walk towards the water where I find Vodka which I drink with hesitance, because I know it is the wrong thing to do, but it’s the only thing that is helping me emotionally. I then spit it out in a close up so you can see my face in disgust of the taste of the vodka. After I run towards where there is a photo of Ella, which i walk towards and have a last kiss goodbye. I then throw the bottle, but it repeatedly shows my face when throwing because it’s important that the audience see the anger that I was feeling. You then see the last kiss because it’s all about to finish and then, 'Smash' the vodka is thrown and you see the vodka drip down Ella's face which represents the tears.
Camera work & shooting the video
For the 2 minute we produced we used a tripod, this is so there was no movement and the shots being caught looked professional. We hardly zoomed because we didn’t want to knock the camera of focus, we also didn’t have time to change zoom because we only had 4hours to film, and we just had to make sure we filmed enough first. Towards the end we used the panning technique from left to right, we followed the journey of me when I walk away from the photo and get ready to smash the photo with a bottle of neat vodka. When we was filming this shot we also changed the white balance settings, we had to do this because we went from outside to inside. To add to the lighting and add focus to me in the shot be smashed a hole through the roof which makes me look more in focus. When I open the door to go to the picture, we changed the shutter speed, this emphasises the fact that I am drunk for drinking the vodka.
The aperture wasn’t changed as the shot was exactly how we wanted it, we had to right amount of light coming into the shot. The shot when coming into the room, it shows a narrow depth of filed, because you can’t clearly see the background but the foreground is clear, this is so the audience can see clearly where i am at that moment in time.
Graham King was the director throughout the video but we decided to let Campbell Lacey to direct the scene where I’m inside with the photo. Another technique used throughout filming was an idea I came up with, we listened to the song and heard loads of jumps with the beat so for our chorus I came up with the 'jump cut' idea, it takes place when I walk up from the bottom of the forest towards the pond where the bottle of vodka is.
When walking up from the forest you'd expect me to be in the middle of the shot. But I’m walking down one side, this represents that something isn’t right and something is missing, the thing missing could be anything? It could be Ella? This creates a sense of enigma which leaves the audience to guess what’s going on..
My Evaluation
I tried to compare my music video to as much as Eminem because there’s always a true meaning to Eminem’s performance. He wins the crowd over with a matter of seconds, in Eminem’s music video he smashes a bottle on the pavement to show he's feelings which is very believable. So I decided to include that in, but throw the bottle at someone or something.
I also made sure that my digipak had a clear narrative, for example the outer back panels are the similar and the inner panels are pretty much identical. This was an idea that came to mind because of my digipak analysis of Pendulum.
Also in another music video which is my favourite of all time, 'i gotta feeling' someone jumps on the couch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMxASjxRk1w&feature=fvst he jitters, what I mean by that he goes back a fourth 3 or four times which looks cool, so I done this for my shot when I threw the bottle at the photo of my girlfriend in emotional pain. For my promo pack I made sure there was a clear continuity throughout. Even though are idea had to be adapted quickly over a short period of time, we cleverly made sure Ella would be in it even though unfortunately she became ill. We done this by adding a photo which was the main part of the music video, also because there is a female singing the whole song we changed it so the video was abstract and she was narrating the frustration and emotional pain.
Throughout the promo pack there is a symbol/object which is included most of the time. 'The Heartbeat Monitor' this is not only a representation of the song it represents the heartbeat of me in the video or Ella in the digipak, the video conveys the fact that there in a relationship, as I’m in a relationship with her in real life it was easier to act the part in the video. The colours red and black are very important. They are in every part of the promo pack which again conveys the clear continuity of the project itself.
This is effective because it helps deliver the message from the promo pack to the video. It’s essential that i got it right in the promo pack otherwise it would make sense. The font is a bit edgy just like the genre itself. Dubstep. The TV poster is a close up of Ella and so is the last shot, which gives off information that Ella is an important part to the song.
I decided to use blogger because it’s a free website and it’s easy to upload JPEG photos and upload videos very quickly. I use blogger to write about my project. I don’t design anything on blogger. To do this I used Photoshop CS2. I then save this as a JPEG and then upload it through blogger. To catch shots I would print screen then paste this shot into word, I would then cut out all the useless parts to the shot and would then re-print screen for the 2nd time and upload it into paint where you can save it as a JPEG.
I didn’t use in design as I didn’t know how to use it and there’s only one room in the college that has the software, and 12 rooms had Photoshop so I was the sensible option.
For when we were using the camera we used the tripod, as none of us in our group had steady hands. After filming the music video we uploaded it onto a Apple MAC laptop. This enabled us to edit the video, which we had to do as some shots weren’t in the correct order and some had to be removed due to the fact our tape was dirty. After finishing editing our music video we downloaded the video onto a memory stick which we then downloaded onto windows moviemaker and then uploaded into blogger via the link upload stage.
Feedback of the video:
Luke Sidwell: The tune is great! So is the vid! But i think you need more people in it to make it more fun.
Ella Highsted: Wish i could of been in the video! But it’s looking great; you’ve conveyed the idea so well! But you could have used a better picture of me. ha-ha
Ian whiting: Jack man the acting skills are fab! Really get the idea of the song and video. What did she do?
Leanne Wiltshire: I’m a massive fan of Dubstep. I like the idea but i would rather see a video that’s happy. That’s what Dubsteps about, having a good time..
After receiving feedback not only on my video but my digipak and advert, i would make changes I did make changes, but the changes I would of made due to the feedback, would defiantly add another person or two, so it’s not as boring as some people find, maybe add a picture of Ella that was in the video or put the picture of Ella from the video to the advert.
Taking Leanne’s advice would be the wrong move because as a group we were set on the idea of betrayal, as it’s never been done before that’s clearly recognizable at the moment in the music charts.
I am happy with Ian’s Feedback as the video has left him hanging, which is a nice way to end the music video, this therefore could enable Ian to listen to more of the tracks on the album and future records being released.
I would love to change the video so it suits everyone, but in 21st century in the music industry its quite simply impossible, as that’s why there is continuously new genres developing through.
I have also learned that feedback helps you understand what is needed to be included, sometimes i got carried away with ideas that I like when the most important thing is what, the audience within Dubstep like.
