Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am and A2 media student and this blog shows my planning and the process of creating a music video.

Links to the evaluation questions if they don't work on the blog

http://vid.ly/2r4m1e  Question 1
http://vid.ly/4o5s7e  Question 2
http://vid.ly/5b8c4n  Question 3
http://vid.ly/7h3s3l   Question 4

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

I did change the Digi Pak to maintain brand image, my final Digi Pak really shows this well despite what I say in this video. I did chance around with the fonts as I explained in my Digi Pak posts.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 4

Charlotte's evaluation

• I think the opening is good as his depressed state is left open to interpretation on why he is feeling the way he is. 
• Some of the shots are slightly long, I think they should change quicker to engage the audience. 
• I love the bit were we see Declan happy together with Emily, it's almost a relief. 
• The fast shots in contrast with the slow shots are a refreshing. 
• The editing when the cloud changes is really effective, it reflects the moods and emotion really well. 
• The location in the alley works well and again fits in with the mood, I'm not too sure about the shopping centre, I think it's better when he is shown alone and pushed out from anything social for example the alley and in the park. 
• The range of hand held, shots work well with the mood you are trying to portray. 
• When the chours kicks in the second time, the shot carry's on from the previous line, but I think it would be better if the shot changed when the music changes. 
• The shot when Declan attempts to drown himself is pretty dark, but I think there should be a following shot of him coming up and finding it hard to catch his breathe, as an audience I want to see the effect that this had upon him.
• When Declan is in the house writing the lyric's to the song, I think the house should of been abit more grubby, dirty and gungey looking, maybe with lots of empty bottle's around, pizza box's, left around rubbish to show his emotional state has had an impact on his usual everyday tidy self. 
• The repetition shots of  fire works well as it related to Declan's anger. 
• The ending works well with the shot of the picture being burnt. 

Final Cut analysis using Goodwin's 6 points

• The relationship between lyrics and visuals:

I interpreted the lyrics of my song to be about a young man who has recently broken up and is trying to deal with his pain. It shows how he copes during the time period of 2-3 days. It shows he's thinking about a "Trouble", "I need trouble and you need me" interpreting "trouble" as his ex constantly looking at pictures and getting to the point on mental instability as he progresses through a mental journey - symbolised by his constant movement. He is also writing the lyrics of the song as a kind of suicide note - I was going to take it to another level of darkness. His mentality starts to break when he screams into the sink, and with the help of alcohol which is also shown throughout: drinking whiskey, beer and smashing the bottle towards the end. Ending with him thinking and smirking as he sets the picture on fire, along with the lyrics which are his thoughts and feelings. The Fool, is characterised as the lead who is foolish for continuing to want to be with his "Love" but it could also mean that he is calling her 'The Fool' for leaving him, even though he is totally insane: allowing a bit of irony in the matter. You can also clearly see the scenes of him before when they were together to add an insight to the situation.

• There is a relationship between music and visuals

The music in the song is similar to the the alternative rock genre, which is why I have gone for a generally dark aesthetic. The first chorus provides the use of fast paced editing which is also is in time with the drum beats in the music. My shot on action is usually also on the beat, especially at the start of the chorus. Towards the end of the video (4:00) I incorporate many close ups and medium shots of the main characters face to introduce brand recognition which are also in time of the key beats starting with the breaking of the bottle.

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which will recur across their work.

The whole of the video is based around the main character who is the lead focus and repeating factor in the video. Throughout the video there is use of a variety of shots including close ups, medium shots, long shots ect. all of which are based on the character and the fact that there are some scenes of him sing the song and lip-syncing it.  

• The is frequently reference of the notion of looking and particularly the vouyeristic treatment of the female body.

I do not have many vouyeristic traits however I do have some close up shots of a photo of his ex lover as he longs after her (2:54).

• There is often intertextual reference to films, tv and other forms of media. 

This is where I failed slightly, there are a few shot I used which do have reference to my favourite film: 'Requiem For A Dream' especially the shot of him screaming in the sink, a key reference to the scene where 'Marion Silver' (character) screams into a bathtub as she is releasing her anger. The second shot akin to 'RFAD' is the shot when he takes a swig of whiskey out of the bottle, as if attaching the camera to the chest so every movement they do the camera does aswell. This is done brilliantly in the film when she is screaming in the bathtub to release all her stress and mental pain.  However in my video it looks a bit goofy almost like he is drinking the water, but I do like having it there as a bit of a homage.

The other shot I really wanted to use which I diddnt because of equipment and budget was a shot used in some Danny Boyle's films, Trainspotting and 127 Hours where the camera is inside of the Needle/Water Bottle respectively as it drains. I wanted a shot of the camera inside of one of the glasses he drinks in the pub and it slowly lowers with the level of the beer.

Matthew feedback

Soundtrack could be more audible
Good fast-paced editing of shots when pace of song picks up for chorus
good variety of shots/ events happening
The filter on the 'happy' shots in the past could be a lot more obvious- hard to tell the difference between the different times.
Good sense of emotion created
There are no instruments present un the video and little lip syncing
Some shots are repeated a few times and some shots last a bit too long

Conor feedback

• repeated shots
• one shot has poor camera quality
• lamp is shaking
• some shot timing not precise
• shot to shot flows well
• shots suit mood of the song
• no instruments in video

Equipment used whilst filming

For this project I am using many types of equipment for the film making process.

I am using an:

• iMac

iMac: This is the second year running that we used the iMac computers in school. The reason for this is because it is an industry standard computer capable of many high class things. The problem with this is that we were using iMovie, which when explored is a decent editing software but getting to grips with it can be impractical and a use of trial and error. For example the ability to precisely trim a clip is hidden in a menu instead of being obvious from the start. It was refreshing to come back and use the macs after the first year and using precise editing and different filters was a lot easier to use on second viewing. However the thing I really didn't like about iMovie is that it has no clock or timer, I mean this because in a music video it helps to see how many seconds are used and whereabouts key beats of the music is in the music not just a trial and error activity. 

• HD Video Camcorder

For this project I decided to use my own HD Camera: a JVC Everio GZ-HM650 - Camcorder - High Definition. This camera is superior to the cameras issued by school as it as 720p HD/1080i recording capability with an impressive "3.32 Mpix, 40 x optical zoom, Konica Minolta

Achieve superior low-light performance for fantastic Full HD video and stills, whatever the scene, with this memory camcorder. It is loaded with a spacious internal flash memory and an SDXC card slot, 40x optical zoom, advanced image stabiliser, and a 2.7" "frame less" touch panel LCD for easy and smooth operation. A range of features make shooting more fun than ever."

But I did encounter a major issue with my camera: After I filmed my first shoot for my rough cut I copied all the files to my Laptop, and then to a memory stick to then transfer to the Mac's. However I had not anticipated the Macs inability to use these files which are .MTS format which is a standard video format. To my surprise and misunderstanding iMove does convert these files but only if you import it directly from the camera which is a massive design fault. I had already deleted the file of my camera to free up more space to re film if I had to so the only way I could get it onto iMovie now was to convert it using a converter on the Internet. When I did this the quality of the footage dropped significantly shading in the darks with large Pixels, however when on iMovie I added the "Romantic" filter which minimised its obviousness, I also use some of these shots in my Final cut but I make sure they are fast as to prevent their flaws from being immediately shown. When I re-filmed my video I knew to upload using the camera and the crispness of the HD compared to the converted files was massive.

The Non-HD, video conversion of .MTS to .MP4

The Full-HD video direct from the camera

• Tripod

I used a "Jessops TP 323" Tripod for my project, it helped during my shooting on location. I also used the full height, rotation and tilt available to use with these tripods allowing smooth panning and it also surprisingly helped with the tracking. Because we are not able to access equipment like a Steadycam it was easy to film the tracking shots holding onto the bottom of the tripod making it less shaky and more precise: 

Callum's Feedback

Love the different locations when the music kicks in, the music and the actions are in time perfectly, for example when the glass smashes. Really enjoy how there is a story behind the video, shots from past times and you can tell by this due to the tints.
Not many negatives, same shot is repeated once or twice, some clips tend to be a little to long, drag on a little bit, apart from that very good.

Final Cut

This is my final cut of my music video. Completed and improved with the feedback I got and combining some footage form my original rough cut but used some filters to give it a darker tone. Also the story is a lot more obvious because of this and you can tell the chronological impact of the narrative.

Costume

Looking at the costumes from the videos I have analysed, especially You Me At Six I decided to make my protagonist wear dark clothing to portray his mood of depression. This was the outfit I chose him to wear: Black Hoodie, Plain Black T-Shirt, Dark Jeans and Dark Converse shoes. It fits the mood of the song and shoes such as Converse are familiar to fans of the Alternative genre.

Props

The props I used during my music video were:  

A pen to allow the protagonist to write the lyrics of my song and get rid of some of his anger.

 The notepad he writes on, and eventually rips out some pages and sets them on fire.

 A Glass he uses to drink his whiskey.

 The Whiskey he drinks after loosing his love,
















The beer he is seen drinking outside before throwing the empty bottle so it smashes.













The matches for setting the picture and lyrics on fire. Extra long to avoid the actor being harmed.

 The sink he almost drowns and screams in.

The mirror he looks into.

This Picture of his girlfriend he sets alight.