Music Video - Final Edit

This is our final Music Video with all the mistakes taken out

Final Website

Finished Digipack

Evaluation Question Four

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

Throughout all of our research and planning we have come across lots of media technologies for example during our formation of the website we used dreamweaver which at the start was very difficult to use and moving pictures and adding text was really hard to do but once we had got use to the program it became really simple and this is when we began to see our website become whole. For finding our track when used google to search for unsigned websites and we then came across a website called http://www.totallyunsigned.co.uk/ and we just looked randomly at some songs after picking the genre from the websites serach engine when then came across Anna neales song and we new that it was the perfect song. During our mock ups for the CD cover and website we used basic programmes such as word and powerpoint just until we had finalised our designs and ideas before using the bigger programs to do our actual real websites and digipacks such as dreamweaver and fireworks. Blogger also helped me present all of my work and allowed me to include videos and images of the filming process and our actually finished products. QA blog is much easier to keep upto date with and handing in a folder would not have been permitted. Youtube was also another main source to help us upload our video onto and this also helped us get our written feedback.

Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Once we had finished editing our video when then uploaded it to youtube straight away, once it had been on a couple of days we then began to get feedback from the viewrs that had watched it some of the comments were:

Love it guys, fab x
annaneale 6 days ago
Love the video, very authentic and realistic. Good use of lighting and really impressive camera angles.
AthenaSky093 2 weeks ago
Wow factor is huge!!!! Great visual story, amazing lip synch. Loved it!!!
donandgerlinde 2 weeks ago
Wow factor is huge!!!!
donandgerlinde 2 weeks ago
Omg Love this video :)
SophieSockett01 2 weeks ago

These were all the comments that were taken from youtube, i was really proud for myself and the group on recieving these comments as all of them were positive and the main comment that really did stand out was the one from the song writer herself Anna Neale. We were really happy with the people that had viewed it also because the age range we wanted was males and females that were young adults and through monitering youtube this was the target audience that has been watching our music video. One comment that i do entirely agree is that we have created a great story and presented it visually in our music video this is what we aimed to do as a group and with this comment it has obviously succeeded in doing so. I also agree with the Lip syncing i think as a group we worked so hard to match the song up correctly with the video and took so many shots just to make sure that it would look in perfect timing that personally i dont think we could of got any better timed with the song, this was one of our aims at the beginning of creating the music video to make sure the lip syncing was in time. And also to make the lip syncing more believable during filming i actually sang the song outloud. I also thought that the video must of been of good quality for the song writer to put such a positive comment like that on youtube. Another one of our intentions was to make the shots look real and 'film like' and as naturalistic as possible so it didnt look fake or unrealistic. One comment was left saying that the use of lighting and camera angles was really impressive the reason for agreeing with this is because when we were filming we made sure that we re-filmed the shots as many times as we could for example filming long shots, mid shots and close ups this was so we had variety in the music video and also to take our pick of which shots to use instead of worrying that there wouldnt be enough material to fill in some missing gaps. Some shots I noticed in the final uploaded version we didnt cut correctly therefore showing a couple of seconds of film that shouldnt of been in the final version, so we had to go back and make changes so the video looked up to standard. On a whole I think that the video is fantastic even though some of the qaulity of shots let us down for example the first sequence where i am sat on the bench look really professionally done where as some other shots through out the video could of been better. Some shots were also not added from previous filming sessions due to the white balance being incorrect or the widescreen not set correctly. Overall the feedback so far has been positive apart from the few comments on our draft version which were given as advice rather than criticism. We have changed the errors in our music video and me and the rest of the group think we have worked hard to make this look believable and have succeeded in doing so, so we all have positive views towards the video.

Evaluation Question Two

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

The groups ancillary texts of the website and Digipack will make a very effective combination along with the music video due to having the similar costumes, lighting, tone and locations and these all together would create an overall image that the artist would promote the album.

Digipack

Our digipack uses most of the conventions that any existing CD's would use. The large image on the front of our album cover is the artist which is aimple yet effective and looks professional. This is the style that most artists use for their albums for example Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding and Kelly Rowland to promote them as an artist and their songs.

This images just like our Cd cover and inserts have a very sexy and confident image and each of these have different themes for example Ellie gouldings album Lights you can see from the editing on her hair are made up as lights and the background uses metalic colours such as golds and silvers and this fits in with her theme of lights.

The insert for our album cover consists of a range of images of me with one side the innocent character and the other side the darker more confident character and this fits in with the main song "Not made for this" but again sets the theme and atmosphere for all the other songs on the album.

Richard Dyer has noted: “a star is an image constructed from a range of materials”. For pop music these materials include:

1=The songs and their lyrical themes and musical structures/ genres
2=The record covers- singles and albums display a large part of the image the artist wants to create and present to an audience
3=Music videos, which may draw upon the image presented in each of the other aspects.

The group has conformed to this theory by creating cohesion between the three products we have made which include website, digipack and the video itself to create a star image. An artist will release a particular song from their album as a lead song before their album is actually released. As an artist it takes time at this point to create their particular style and image. Our lead single from the album would be " Not made for this" as we have done this for our music video. This idea for the ablum cover and other ancillary texts is to create a atmopheric mood that fits in with all the songs and shows the difference between the two characters. The inserts have two pages the left half is the innocent images and the other half is the more confident sexier look. The innocent character represents the acoustic songs on the album which again is why we chose that character as the album cover.

Website

Our website has the influence from the real Anna Neale website and we have incorporated the colours and the tones that we have used for the digipack and used in the music video, which is mainly back and white. We have used pictures of me that we have taken from filming session to add into our website design which we took inspiration from the way Anna Neales website looked. All websites have tabs linking to another page on their website so we managed as a group to hyperlink our tabs on our website to another page which uses the conventions of other websites. On our website just like other artists we have out in our music video on the page to show it off and this is what is normally on a artists website. We also wanted to keep that acoustic feel

Evaluation Question One

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

The main source that an artist uses to promote their song is the music video, and their albums show the style of the artist and songs it can show their versatility and make sure that it is exciting for the audience. A music video allows the song to be visually represented on the screen. When planning our music video as a group we wanted the style of the video to be authentic as attention was drawn to other music videos typical conventions.

Performance

“Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be a part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor. Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be a part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip-synch close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of music videos, as if to assure us that the band really can kick it.” (Steve Archer 2004)

Our video confroms this theory as me playing the role of the charcater is present throughout most of the video. I play a troubled girl that goes on a journey through every day life situations. And her charcater fits in with the changing of scenes such as the urban street look she changes her personality and her looks. So we conform to this theory very well and the video looks believable to the audience watching. Showing some target audiences that we had aimed our video at having a critical eye thought that our video looked very professionally done. I do believe that our video looks professional due to the group researching styles and following closely to the conventions of exisiting videos.

'Music videos allow an element of acting, which could include facial expressions, eye contact and mise en scene which allows the performer to be accessed by the audience in various ways, like the use of close ups and panning so everything is seen. This adds a story to the song which can match the lyrics or explore other meanings. As with star image this makes the song memorable and allows connections and implications the song would not have without a music video for people to see the song visually depicted'. (Pete Fraser)

In our music involves me acting a lot of the time as our video is based on the actor and lip syncing. I play a female character that is unhappy in her life with a relationship that is not working. Our video starts with a argument sequence with me playing the female character and Tom playing the boyfriend, this scene was very quick to film as me and Tom have taken A-Level Drama and also GCSE so we have gained experience. We wanted Tom to come across in a threatening manner and for the girl to eventually stand up to him at the end of the argument sequence and it ends with me leaning against the window with a unhappy expression on my face which again looks believable to the audience as was all the acting during this scene. As the music video carries on I portray a number of different personalities and a lot of different emotions through out as different bits of the song requires faster shots and slower parts of the song requires slower shots. As the character changes through the video I portray a different character which shows opposite emotions such as agression and frustration. My acting really shows and fits in with atmosphere of the song and this is the one strongest element of our music video which makes it believable and professional and from comments i think the group are also proud of the acting in of music video.

Camera and Editing

'A variety of camera angles and movements of different locations featuring the artist are used in quick succession to create the unique music video style that differs from how a film operates. This style of camerawork gives the video a more dynamic feel and vibe that promotes the song and generates interest by leaving an 'imprint' or memory on the audience so whenever they hear the song they will have an image of the music video in their head'. (Pete Fraser)

During the planning stage for the music video at the very beginning we said we all wanted to avoid long takes of shots because it looks more amateur and would also get very boring to watch and repetitive. Our video does involve this theory because we have used lots of different sequences in different locations for example the street locations against the wall and walking down the street. We used close ups of me acting and then filmed another shot of the same thing, the reason for using close ups was because we wanted the character to connect with the audience and show her emotions.

Changes and corrections made for final edit

'Although the draft edit was near enough as perfect as we could get it there were a few changes we knew needed to be made to improve the quality and make the final version as good as it could be. In addition feedback from the draft edit gave us some areas to work on. So in the final edit the following areas were changed.

Pre-Song Material
Originally we used the sound from the footage of the house pan and arguement zoom in the pre-song material however our feedback told us that the background noise sounded like hoovering and was very annoying, this was the building works on the house opposite the street. You could also hear the noises of the camera moving and zooming in, which was distracting and unprofessional. For the final edit we downloaded a background wind sound effect to play over the images. We also downloaded some bird noises that we placed together and manipulated to add another ambient sound. Unfortunately when trying to export the video we realised one of the bird sounds had a copyright on it and could not use it. The other bird sound was to short to use on its own as it sounded artifical and annoying, so in the end we did not use any bird sounds. (Me and Josh executed this change)
We increased the length of the 'Suffolk Lodge' sign shot because it cut between it to quick in the draft edit. (I executed this change)
We cut a section at the start of the arguement sequence off so as the shots comes up the couple are already arguing whereas before we were still and started arguing- making it look as if we were waiting to start. (Sophie executed this change)
We tried to find a way of hiding a part where the camera distorts for a second in the zoom towards the window through fades and other effects however this just made it more obvious so we just have to live with that one error being in there- it is quick and not too obvious. (All of the group tried to rectify this)
We cut the end of the argument shot sooner as before we uploaded the draft edit we extended the clip too much by accident and you saw Sophie come out of role. This has now been rectified. (Andrew executed this change)
Other Changes

Opening instrumental- we extended the shots of the garden as they were cut between to quick before hand. We then shortened the mid-shot of her looking through a window so the footage stayed to the original timing with the music and avoid being out of sync. (Sophie executed these changes)
In the draft edit at the end of the second verse another clip was to long and you saw Sophie come out of role- we extended the fade to the next shot so you cannot see this anymore. (Andrew executed this change)
In the draft edit at the end of the second verse we cut to a walking shot we had already used that did not make sense. We placed it there quickly before uploading, we replaced this with a side on mid-shot of Sophie on the bench where she sighs and looks down, this links to the narrative and further conveys her emotions. We placed fades to black before and after the shot as it his suits the slower tempo of the song. (Me and Andrew executed this change)
In the bridge of the draft edit the camera cuts to a low angle shot of Sophie and she looks away almost immediately. For the final edit we extended the clip before where she looks towards the camera and then placed the low angle shot again and she returns from looking away to look at the camera in this postition. This makes it flow better. (I executed this change)
Near the end of the song the camera cuts to a pan around Sophie in the street, however at the start of the shot Sophie looks like she is waiting to start. Therefore we extended the clip and fade before this shot so it cuts to this shot just as she starts singing. (I executed this change)