Final Complete Music Video

Evaluation 4

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

Forms and convention are the backbone to any music video, when recording the music video the director could choose to challenge, use or develop forms and conventions. In our music video we mainly used and developed the general forms and conventions found in music videos and didn’t challenge them for instance: a music video would show all the members of the band and we have done just that:

Also a music video should represent the band positively while showing their personality, it is clear that our band is acting wild and out of control just like the majority of rock/pop bands, The female is confident and sassy, she plays around with the feelings of those close to her, this also relates to the lyrics “love hurts weather its right or wrong”.

A music video should also use bright colours and clear lighting, we have done so as the music was shot during the day and in a white room. In the photo below you can clearly see the light bouncing of Vida's face and hair.

Lastly a music video should have fast cuts which synchronize with the track, by clicking on the link to our music video on the post above you can clearly see that we have done so.

Evaluation 3

What have we learnt from our audience feedback?

We have uploaded our final music video to YouTube which then in turn has been linked to our Facebook account and viewed by a global audience. We have received no constructive criticism and only good feedback. I can conclude that no further editing is necessary and we have produced a well rounded music video. 

Evaluation 2

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

Living in the 21^st century we are blessed as students to have the amount of resources freely available. This allows us to use professional editing software and share our production and thoughts with people living all over the world with similar interests, long ago only certain wealthy individuals would be making a song as you would need expensive equipment but now all you need is a laptop, a mouse and free beat production software.

During our production we documented our progress using blogger, to do so we needed internet access and a computer. Our college provided use with access to MAC’s and I used a PC at home, the two systems are compatible with each other most of the time however at some points you may run into slight errors. The Mac is well known for never getting viruses and for video/image editing software’s therefore it was a wise choice using a Mac when editing our music video.

At the beginning of our blog I have used Google’s website to search and add pictures to the blog, this was very useful as it gives the reader a vivid image of the message I was trying to portray however not all images were available on Google therefore I used the school’s Epson’s perfection v500 scanner located in the library to scan and upload our storyboard.

During the research phase of our project, YouTube was used a lot to watch existing music video’s which then would be analysed and uploaded to our blog, the written analysis was carried out on a software called ‘Microsoft Word 2007’, this was a great program as it lets you change the font, correct spelling mistakes, make headings, add images and so much more.

 As I was working from two locations there had to be a feasible way to transfer my work, I was able to do this thanks to the use my Universal Serial Bus (USB), they can hold vast amount of data and moreover they are very small and robust; I used my USB to hold my images, storyboard, word documents and Photoshop images.

When creating our ancillary texts we used a Cannon EOS 5D Mark 2 camera fitted with a Canon EF 16-35mm F2.8L II USM lens. This equipment can cost up to £30000. Fortunately our teacher is friends with a studio manager who lent us the equipment needed. The camera was linked to a G4 Mac by a Profoto Sync Cable for instant image manipulation. Once the photographs were taken we used Adobe Photoshop to create the digipack and promotional advert.

When filming our music video we used a Sony DV hand held camcorder and a tripod to stabilise the shot, we also took some stills using a digital camera/mobile phone then uploaded them to the blog. Once all the filming was done we uploaded all our footage onto Vida’s iMac using a male to male 6 pin Firewire. The editing took place on iMovie where we added our song to the video, cut unwanted scenes out, added special effects and pieced together our music video. 

While using the green screen effect on our music video, there was one scene which came out not how we expected it to; it occurred at 2:58 and when we tried to revert the problem the system crashed and wouldn’t let us change it back therefore we let it stay in our music video however our audience liked the whole music video.

After the completion of our music video, we created a complete CD cover and poster. We used the photos taken with the Cannon EOS 5D Mark 2 and edited them on Photoshop CS4/7.0, this is where problems started to occur as I was using Photoshop 7.0 at home on a windows where at school I would be using Photoshop CS4 on a Mac however similar these two programs were there were missing fonts on my version of Photoshop and the layout was somewhat different.

When I went home to complete my poster I couldn’t change the size of the font as I was missing it so I had to download it from Google then add it to my fonts. Once I downloaded my font, I extracted it to the desktop and installed the font. To do this I went to "Start menu > Setting > Control Panel > Fonts" and simply copied my font there.

Evaluation 1

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

To complement our music video we have created a complete CD cover (including front, back and inside) and a poster.

The music video was shot predominantly at Holborn studios so we decided to use a picture of our protagonist (Vida) seated in the white room for the front cover of our CD front cover, the background contrasts with Vida making her stand out really well.

The lighting of our music video is bright and lively which appeals to our target audience so I kept the lighting extremely similar for the CD covers. If anyone was to watch our music video they would be able to quickly identify the CD cover and poster.

Through all my media texts, we used the image of our protagonist to keep it consistent throughout our production.

I have carried out semiotic research into other existing CD covers, the most fascinating discovery I have found is that symbols would signify the image the artist is trying to portray, for instance on the cover of 50 cent’s ‘Guess who’s back’ album cover he is clearly representing gang culture, the symbol which makes it clear is the use of a 9mm handgun pointing slightly towards the camera in addition the Christian necklace represents religion which tells us that he believes that God is with him.

I decided that we didn’t need to use any additional props for the CD cover but I considered the pose she struck carefully. She has both hands on her head and is looking seductively into the lens of the camera; other females would want to be like her.

I also carried out research into the differences with album covers and posters and established that the cover to an album can also be used as a release poster; however the poster will include a few more details such as the release date and independent reviews. Using the album cover as a poster keeps things simple, in addition the more times an image is repeated the more likely it would be noticed and/or remembered by the customers.

As you can see from the image above, we also used the CD cover as our poster; however we included the release date, the record labels name and information about the production team.

All in all the combination of our ancillary texts and main product is extremely simple and effective; it quickly allows the audience to identify the genre. The colour and texts used are consistent throughout and so is the costume and props.

Completed CD cover, Inside cover, Back cover and Poster

For our album cover we decided to do a fashion style photo shoot with a variety of camera angles. Here are few examples of what we took from our trip to Holborn Studios:

Here, Vida is grabbing her hair, with a seductive look to the camera. She has a lipstick on which is a symbolise love and passion and that is what the music video is about. The way she poses also means that she is very confident.

We did not have any plans for capturing any close ups, but by chance we took some and we actually liked them. Therefore decided to use one as the inside cover.

We also did a couple of medium long shots, this is Vida's favourite image and we will be using it for album back cover with the names of the album tracks and EMI record label (EMI is the record company for our production).

And this is the promo poster, with the name of the album: What The Hell (which is also the song's name) and some information regarding the production company. 

Mise - En - Scene

Characters in videos build up main part of the narrative which takes place in especific locations with especific props, proper lights and in suitable costumes. So mise-en-scene as an important factor in making a video attractive and succesful, tell us the charactors personality and their story. Mise en scene is made up of Characters, Location, Props, Lighting, Sound, Costumes, and basically anything that the audience can see on screen.

For our music Video we have put our best effort to design a scene relevant to the story and the charactors which I will explain step by step in details through elements of mise en scene. 

   Characters and Costumes 

Rebel girl (Vida). She dresses in a funky and a teenage style to suit the target audience taste and the song which is pop punk. She wears red body suit with black tights. Body suit is what pop stars like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Jessie J and a lot more singers normally wear in their videos. Colour red is because of her being sexy and playful who goes on different dates! The same is with her golden Heart necklace. In the video she's the vocalist, dancer and the guitarist.

The modest boy who becomes a rebel at the end(Mohammad). He is wearing a ripped off trousers with red t-shirt. Red t-shirt is because of him being romantic and in love. He is playing spanish guitar in the video. 

His friend who the girl is playing around with (Chester). He is wearing a baggy jeans, with a white shirt and ties, so punkish that suits his proud character which attracts the girls! In the video he will be playing electric guitar.  

    Locations and Settings 

The story is taking place in different locations. It starts from inside Vida's flat, where the story begins. Her room is decorated with her pictures and the couples. Camera zooms in to show Vida's pictures on the, then it pans to her pictures with Mohammad, then after Chester appears in front of the camera. 




For this shot we had to print out 60 coloured A4 pictures with 4 pictures on each. then cutting out each one and stick to the wall.

External streets with graffiti on 

walls in the background, in places like Brick lane or Hoxton. 

Vida's hair suits the graffiti in the background and the woman in green skin is good for green screen effects in imovie.

We have used these two shots in our video. They are shot in Brick Lane, London. 

Lightings 

Low lights with a few tonal flash lights such as red, yellow and green (like the ones in clubs and discos) while the main female artist is dancing and having fun. While recording other shots we will use normal day or light sources. We also use red and blue tracy papers to make our video more colourful and meaningful. Red implies sexuality and love, while blue can mean coldness in a relationship.

Since the song is an upbeat and fast paced it inspires crazy shots from weird angles. We decided to take a camera with us to a party locations such as the Coronet Theatre on Halloween (Oct 31st 2011). We recorded some good shots of people raving and drinking in the club which we will insert into our video.