Music Video Evaluative Commentary

1.   In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our music video covers a range of forms and conventions of real media texts. One example of this would be the use of lip-syncing. The majority of music from various genres includes lip-syncing. In order to get this in time we had to spend a lot of time carefully editing to make sure the audio and visuals were as tight and precise as we could possibly get them. In addition, we have tried to use a clear narrative sequence (exposition, development, complication, climax, resolution) in the music video, which is a trait for lot music videos in similar genres; plus those from other genres too. For example we have used the first scene of Ally (lead male) playing the guitar. This is a ‘normal’ thing, which introduces the character to the audience and establishes the scene.

Moreover, we used camera angles that were common in the most part, for example extreme close up of Ally playing the guitar and mid shots of Ally and Shannon (lead girl) in the park walking together, long shots of Ally walking away. However, we decided to try and improvise and develop our filming and increase our range of footage, so we decided to increase our tripod as much as we could, hold it above our heads and turn the camera downwards, so we could film from a higher angle. However, because we wanted to catch Ally walking away, we had to move along with him, which meant that the camera shot was a little unsteady. This was soon fixed in the editing process where we used Apple software ‘iMovie’ in which we were able to use the stabalisation tool, which made the footage a lot smoother and got rid of jumps and unsteady filming that occurred whilst filming. The band ‘The Script’ inspired us to use an interesting idea – we decided to shoot videos of Ally and Shannon together and play them back as flashbacks on a projector with Ally sitting in front of it whilst singing the song. In order to make this work, we had to make sure that all of the lights in the particular room were turned off for the video to project clearly on the wall behind Ally, which meant we were unable to get any light on Ally, so we decided to have Ally in front of the projector so we were able to see Ally and the images behind him too. However, I believe that if we had a better location with a larger space, we could have had the images projecting on the wall and also have Ally lit up better without creating a shadow on the wall behind him, which would have made the video look more professional.

Also, we used a contrast in the video of black and white, with an almost sepia colour to make a clear contrast the feelings of the character. For example we used black and white for all of the scenes that Ally is alone to show how sad and distraught he is over his relationship ending. On the other hand when we introduce the flashbacks, we also introduce colour into the video, which instantaneously shows the change in emotions of the character and how he felt happier when he was in a relationship with Shannon.

Before we shot the video, we did a lot of research into the mise en scene of video of a similar genre (acoustic folk/soft rock/pop) and we made sure that the clothes that Ally and Shannon suited the audio and the lyrics of the song. Because the song was about a man being sad over a relationship not working, we decided to keep Ally in clothes that were not too bright. We also tried to make him look like an ‘everyday guy’, who looked normal. We did this, because we thought that the audience would find it a lot easier to empathise with someone in that they thought they had something in common with, rather than someone who is dressed over the top and looked too maintained and didn’t look realistic. We also picked suitable locations too. For example the park that we used for Ally’s solo shots and the flashbacks of Ally and Shannon was very big and we could shoot from a lot of angles. This was an advantage for us, as we could come in and should from a closer/tighter angle and frame which made the two characters look close, however we could also use a wider shot emphasizing the space around Ally to show how he had been left alone in the solo shots too. In addition to the mise en scene, we were lucky to be shooting in Autumn, because this meant that we could catch the autumn leaves scattered on the fields – we thought that this represented how Ally had separated from his lover and how he was feeling at the time.
 

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary task?

The main product and the ancillary task work really well together in my opinion. The front cover is of Ally. We made sure that he wore the same outfit as he did on the first day of shooting, when the first scenes took place to keep continuity present in the product. This reoccurring theme and relationship between the audio, visuals and ancillary products helped to build a brand for the product. The use of branding helps familiarise the audience with the product, and they start to recognise the product without seeing the whole thing. Throughout the whole digipak we decided to keep the reoccurring theme of black and white. This builds the relationship of the music video and the ancillary products.

The front cover of the digipak is a still image of Ally. However the shot is taken from a high angle and the space around Ally is made evident. This links back to what we were trying to do in the solo scenes in the park to try and show the audience that something was missing with Ally, and how he felt alone and segregated after his break up with Shannon.

The CD slot in the digipak also kept the same sort of ideas. We used an image of winter trees without any leaves on them. This shows a separation – which was a key theme all throughout the music video. This is the only part of the Digipak that does not include Ally on it. I think this was a good decision, as the image speaks for it self.

Also, it allows the audience to think about the meaning of the song and the visuals rather than seeing the main character all the time. This also links back to the theme and branding of the product, as the audience would not always have to see Ally to remember the song/music video.

On the in-lay/lyrics page we have decided to use another picture of the protagonist, to again show the relationship between the music video and the album artwork. We wanted to show the character being alone again. We deliberately left Shannon (lead girl) out of the whole digipak, as we felt it would make it clearer to the audience the message of separation and how Ally was left alone.

In regards to our poster for a magazine we had to have a clear target audience and branding/marketing strategy that we had to follow. After doing some research, we decided that it would be suitable for our poster to occur in magazines such as ‘Q’ and ‘NME’. These music magazines have similar types of artists such as ‘Florence and The Machine’, ‘The Maccabees’ and ‘Coldplay’ featuring in their product. We had a similar target audience in mind, so it made sense that we would put the poster in these types of magazines. Also these magazines have got websites, in which we feel our product could feature, to further our target audience and brand. For example the websites have a ‘featured videos’ link available where our music video could be shown. This is also an example of technological convergence and the way we could expand our brand and the way we would market the product. In addition to this, we would use social networking sites such as ‘Twitter’ and ‘Facebook’ to promote the music video and the song too. Also sites such as ‘YouTube’ would give the viewer the option to watch the video for free and share it with their friends.

3.What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We had a lot of feedback on both our rough cut and our final video, which made a monumental difference to our final product. When we showed people our rough cut, the majority of them came back to us and said that the lip syncing needed to be tighter and there needed to be more of it, so they could understand the feelings of the main character better. So we went away and re-filmed parts of Ally lip syncing and made sure in our editing, that we left more time to perfect this specific aspect of our video. Also many people from the audience that we showed found the story a little confusing in the rough cut and they found that they didn’t fully understand what was happening in the story line, as they couldn’t segregate the flashbacks from the events that were meant to be taking place in ‘real time’.

We decided to go back to the drawing board and re-write our story and alter the narrative, to make the plot simpler and easier to understand. Alongside this, we went back to previous locations to take some more footage for flashbacks of Shannon and Ally. This meant that we had more shots to choose from when editing the final piece. In addition to this, we also decided to put totally different effects on for the different parts of the video to make I clear to the audience what is happening. An example of this is the black and white scenes, to show Ally being upset and to show the atmosphere to be dull and the colour to be brought back in when the two characters were together in the music video.

Another thing that was brought up by the audience in the rough cut was the facts that the camera in some shots was not steady enough, which ruined some scenes and the atmosphere built around those scenes. In order to fix this, we went out and shot these scenes again, this time with a tripod to keep the camera still. However, still it was not how I wanted it to be and there was still some ‘jumps’ in the footage. To eliminate this problem, we decided to use the stabalisation tool, which allowed us to make the footage smooth and steady. This made the video look a lot more professional. After this tool was used, the audience feedback changed dramatically and they were left astonished at the difference in made to the whole video and the cinematic movement it gave to the scenes – especially in the end of the video with the high angle shot looking down on to Ally and seeing him walking alone into the distance.

Although we synced the audio and visuals well, I believe that it could have been better. However, does have do be said that the lip-syncing and the syncing of Ally playing the guitar in the beginning of the video improved considerably. Also when looking back on the video and being a harsh critic, I think the acting in the lip-syncing could have been done with a little more conviction. This was also one of the things that were picked out by the audience. If we were to film the video again, I would have spent more time perfecting this specific section of the video to ensure the audience instantly felt a genuine connection with the main character.

Another thing that was pointed out to us by a small amount of people in the rough cut was that they felt that some of the scenes lasted too long and they felt as if they were waiting too long for the video to move along. In order to try and manipulate this, when we edited the music video, we made sure that we included a lot of jump cuts/cross cutting to make sure the video kept moving at a steady pace. This was also important to do as the song was very slow and if the visuals were also at the same pace it would definitely make the video boring and hard to watch for the audience. Also we keep the camera moving when we filmed and resisted the temptation to have the tripod and film from one steady angle at all times. We made sure we experimented with using various camera angles such as:

High angle

Close-ups

Extreme close ups

Establishing shots

Long shots

This helped our video to flow and give the video movement throughout to stop it from becoming boring and stale. 

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During our research stage we used the Internet a lot. Sites such as YouTube allowed us to view videos from similar and different genres for free and evaluate them and how they were made. This was a fantastic tool as this meant that we could watch these videos as many times as we pleased. This allowed us enough time to dissect these video and research how they were made, the use of different camera angles, editing techniques, mise en scene and the relationship between the visuals and the audio and how all of this was represented to the audience in such as small amount of time.

Also when planning our music video, we found the artist Erick Baker on the website www.unsigned.com which is a website where unsigned musicians and bands upload there music for it to be heard and for them to have a chance at being discovered. Locating this website meant that we could have a choice of artists and music to choose from.

When looking into and researching digipaks for our ancillary tasks we used Google images to try and find work from other artists to see what they have used for example front covers/magazine spreads/posters. This allowed us to learn how a digipak is put together and the style that artist from similar genres use.

During our planning stage we made extensive use of the smartphones we had available in the group. This was especially useful when trying to pick out locations to shoot the video. This was very convenient and practical, because when a member of the group found a location that they liked or they thought would work out well with our concept they would take a picture and send it via email or multi media message to other members of the group to see if we agreed. This was a quick way to work as it meant that everybody didn’t have to be together, yet the work was still getting done which shows evidence on how we worked well as a group and as individuals too. These photos, if approved by all of the members of the group would then go on to the blog as a reference for us to know where we were shooting and ideas for how the final video would/should look like.

When making the music video we used a HD quality video camera. This ensured that we had the best quality camera that we could afford, although most music videos are either shot on SLR cameras (commonly Cannon 5D) or Red Cam, which provide a much higher quality image. However, considering the camera we used, I believe that we have got an outstanding result. The software we used to edit our music video was Apple software ‘iMovie’. This software allowed us to cut and edit scenes (cut short/lengthen), add in transitions (cross fade/dissolve/cross zoom) edit sharpness, saturation and brightness of footage, edit footage colour (eg. Black and white/sepia/full colour/vintage) and stabalise shot with the use of the stabalisation tool.

When trying to evaluate the music video, we knew the importance of showing people and receiving audience feedback, so we decided to use social networking to reach out to as many people as we could. We used the social networking site Facebook and the private messenger provided by the site to share our video to people and get their opinion on it. Also when evaluating the project as a whole, I went back to YouTube and watched the videos that I watched when we were researching music videos and tried to compare their videos with our final product. Although the quality of the video itself lacked because the equipment used, the ideas and thought behind creating the product was very similar. 


Blogger was one of the most important parts of our research, planning, and the evaluative period during the whole course. We used this to keep information and present/layout our work such as research from other artists, storyboards, rough edits, location shots and of course the final video. Blogger also helped us as we could all share our joint work such as storyboards/call sheets/ rough edits and final videos. 


Although we used a lot of technology, we also had some difficulties. For example I was using a Apple Mac Laptop and the rest of the group were using PC. This made file sharing difficult at times as a lot of images were opening on different formats that PC's did not recognise. Also because iMovie is Apple software, it meant that we all had to do the editing when we had the Apple Mac which was challenging at times. Also when at school a lot of the time we could not access sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube due to security reasons. This made it hard for us in our research and planning sections as we used these sites to watch video and receive audience feedback.