Pitch and write-up of audience feedback.

As my pitch was preseneted to an audience they had the chance to fill out a form I divised to help them give their advice and overall opinions. The questions followed conventions that required personal opinions, it acted like a survey to help me see how strong of an idea I had and to see if there were any improvements I could make.

Here are examples of the responses I received.

 

 In this question I asked 'Do you believe my idea is achievable?' and every single person of the eleven I asked responded with the answer yes. Therefore, that has given me confidence in my own work and to go ahead with my plan.

In the second example I have taken a photo of a response that became a frequent answer. The question was 'what do you believe could affect the success of my music video?' Almost everyone replied with getting clearance by the exam board to use old family footage that I hadn’t personally shot. I can be relieved to say that I did get clearance only if I use 1/3 of the duration of the video on the old footage, 2/3 of the film has to be footage I personally shot.

All in all the responses help show me how confident of an idea I had, and if perfected the way I have planned will come across extremely well. This has been positive for me as with the help of the responses it showed me what could go wrong and how I could improve, which I have done.

3/3 Ancillary Task

Front
The front is animated, I decided to choose to deconstruct an album that has chosen a front cover that is animated but every single one I came across was abstract something I could never achieve with the editing software of Photoshop. However, as I remember the simple black and white colour scheme of the cd cover of Royal Bloods debut self-entitled album I thought it was ideal, due to the fact I could achieve the same effect with the editing software to my disposal. The full reason behind choosing an animated cover was because the rest of the albums I have deconstructed all use real images ones that I could also reconstruct however looking at Royal Blood has given me inspiration if I want to change my original idea. It has shown to me that animation is achievable and creates a great look also.

Back

The back clearly shows track listings however all the song titles are in a format one underneath the other it has no numbered or bulleted track listing format. This makes the back a simple and doesn’t compare to the front the only similarity is the colour scheme and font of the front cover. Whilst they have taken the important information in the smallest point because they clearly believe music is more important than company logos and official wording that is required by law and by record label to have on the album. This is a factor I will also put into my album back cover due to the fact it symbolises the importance of the tracks and music and not companies.

 

2/3 Ancillary Task

Front 

I have chosen to deconstruct the album Good Kid Maad City by Kendrick Lumar due to its front cover being the same idea I have. The album cover is a Polaroid of a car. This format is what I wish my cover to be. However my cover will be a photo of a Polaroid image with an all-white background, the image will be an image probably taking on set of the shooting of my music video therefore the album will connect together. Another similar thing this album uses is actual handwriting instead of a computer font, the personal effect of this is the aim I also going to use I will hand write both the band’s name and the name of album onto the Polaroid.


Back

The back is conventional, the type of style consumers would expect. The plain style of the black and white colour illustrates perfectly the intended purpose of a back of a CD. It is there to serve the purpose of making the track listing the key point of the back, it shows the track listings and when they come on the CD. Further information is given such as logos, information from producers and the record label, this is vital as it gives the customer details that are required. This is also key to emulate for my CD the back must look professional and conventional to look of high quality and the standard consumers are used to. The back of the image doesn’t followed the Polaroid style shown in the front cover of the CD however the theme of a car is shown on the front cover the car is shot on its side whilst the back of the CD sees the same car but from backwards. This makes sense due to the fact is it the back of the CD cover.

Inside

The inside of the CD is simple, it is a booklet with images and song titles to go along with it, as the CD was released both normal and in a deluxe version, there was a difference. The only difference was that the deluxe CD package came with an additional CD that held instead audio track entitled as a bonus a kind of incentive to pay more. This I will not be doing as I think it takes away the integrity of the whole record.

Ancillary Task Deconstruction 1\3

Front
The front cover of the album is an image of a male and a female both representing their individual gender via the symbolism of flags tied to their necks. The blue flag represents the male whilst red represents the female. This idea goes deeper and further when the meaning is fully explored because the albums songs represents relationships the colour of the flags both represent fire and water. They act as counter actions as water can take out fire, this is important because it represents the purpose of the album and its song to show a female and a male when in love react well to each other it shows when a couple have a great chemistry bound they are nothing short of perfect. The reason I have chosen this front cover is because it has used nature and not animation. Another reason is that the font and font size chosen for the band and the album title is very simplistic but it doesn’t make the cover simplistic. It further helps the album to stand out due to its simplicity as the attention is on representing the front covers image and not the font. I want to bring this element into my album cover.


Back

The back of the album is what you would expect from a CD, it gives the essential information such as the date it was recorded, the record company, names of people who worked on it, the barcode, logos of the companies that are involved in manufacturing and the process of the album. But lastly, in larger font and tracking listing of numbers all the songs their names and the order they come when the CD is playing. The most important thing I found about the back of the album cover is that the back shows the same location with only one flag. The flag is green and represents the theme of the front cover nature and all things nature. I think keeping a theme for front and back is important as it will feel like one completed album and not just a mix and match.

Inside
The album folds out unveiling further images within the contents of the CD case, it has two CDS in two sleeves each one represented by a flag, within the sleeve is also a booklet that keeps the theme of flags and also gives the listeners access to the lyrics.

The lyric booklet is a great way to communicate with the listeners as it gives them knowledge of all the lyrics mentioned in every song. Plus it adds added value to the product as the more content within a digipak the more exclusive and unique the product will be come. So therefore the contents that are not a CD is all for promotional purpose to offer the listener a deal they cannot refuse. In turn, this will back the buyer feel as though they are getting their moneys worth.

Institutional Research

Institution	Details	Productions
Silvertip Films	A UK a digital video production company producing music videos and corporate videos, shooting live music and events and creating motion graphic animations.	Thomas Cook winter TV advert, Music videos for bands and a video for The Goosebumps jazz band.
LondonMusicVideo	The company creates bespoke music videos that help promote performers/musicians and are perfect for anyone looking for an affordable music video.	Local and unsigned artists and bands based usually in UK and more specifically London.
Digital Video Productions	Digital Video Productions is a long established business offering all aspects of video production, duplication and DVD transfer services to clients throughout the UK.	People have used this to not only film music videos but also weddings and events alike. A production company that targets everyone who needs something filmed.
Banter	Banter are a Manchester based music video production company that film the band or film a music video for a band. They have recently one into doing TV adverts and poetry shows.	They filmed a band called manifesto and A Poetic Yesterday. Both music videos as that is the company’s main purpose.
Epik Music Videos	A London based Music video production company who only film and produce music videos.	Their work includes Lori-I’ve got something for you and Kane Luke-Remedy.

Media Production-Moving image planning document.

Media Production

Moving Image planning document

 

What emotional impact do you want your music video to have upon the viewer? How?

As my videos purpose is to make the audience feel enjoyment and not to be bored. The only emotion I want my audience to feel is the purpose filming was intended for, as that means it doesn’t distract the audience into not watching the filming and hopefully makes the music either more memorable or more enjoyable. How I will make this happen, is through editing techniques such as time lapse. As the pace of the song goes quicker the pace of the video will to and the transitions between narratives will come and go quicker. This method of cross cutting will emulate the song and for me that connection will make both the song and video become as one. This will hopefully make watching the video enjoyable and that is how I believe I will gain the audiences emotions.

 

 

What personnel do you need? Who are you going to film?

One male, his name is Johnny. He is fitting for the role as he is the frontman of a band. In fact, the song I am thinking of using is from his band. Therefore when miming the lyrics it will fit him nicely, this will make the video more realistic and watchable. His look of long hair and a beard makes him relative to the music indie of indie/rock. So you would associate him with the music style I am going for with audio track and the music video in general.

 

 

What props will you need?

I will need one working radio and record player as they are the focal point of the music video for the first 15 seconds of the film, they are used to establish the band whilst the radio is tuning. Other props would be natural, as the natural setting in rooms will be in the background it is a part of the set.

 

 

How are you going to emphasise colour?
My main colour schemes are white and old vintage faded colours from old family footage; it is all out door so it should be a variety of colours you can naturally see outside such as the blue sky and the sun.

 

 

 

Have you briefed your personnel/models?
Yes via Facebook messenger the person I am using is more than happy to get involved in this musical project as it is effective for him and me. The creativity of the music video ignited his interests within the video and for me, it will benefit me because I will be the man behind the camera so I can concentrate more on the video and not finding a lead role or being the lead role and taking on too many tasks. The male I’m using knows exactly why it is being used where it will be released upon and why I want him to be the specific protagonist.

 

 

 

 

What lighting will you need? Any other equipment?
Lighting will not be important to me however for most of my filming I need a simple backdrop of all white background as most of the lighting should be natural lighting.

 

 

 

 

Where will you shoot? Will you need a backdrop?

I will be shooting in my house when not in college, so it will save me vital time and to also have a natural setting of the background. Instead of what most of my video will filmed in a white studio. The backdrop I will need is simply an all-white wall, plain and simple so it will allow me to use a projector on the walls and see the writing perfectly.

 

 

 

Make-up? Costume?
Standard clothing, nothing I need in specific costume or make up wise. Whatever the guy I use wears on the day.

Main Text Deconstruction 3

Death From Above 1979-Trainwreck 1979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqBYHrw9_ys

I have chosen to deconstruct the official music video by Death from Above 1979 due to its lyrical and imaginative narrative. As the music video doesn’t follow typical codes and conventions because it doesn’t show a story through a narrative, or have any characters. It is simply conveying still images into moving images and at times animated images. Each image represents a certain part of the song via objects such as badges or jackets the background is constantly revolving  in the same pace as the song, and that is my aim to have the editing pace similar to the music. Another reason I specifically chose this music video was because it is unlike the other two music videos it doesn’t display old footage or cross cut in between two narratives. So, this video displays what my second narrative out of 3 would be I my music video, whilst the third structure to my video will be filming a male so I can get camera shots and angels within my music video.

Camera angles

Due to the camera never moving it doesn’t actually have camera movements, therefore the only element I can talk about is the camera angles it is in a constant medium shot, sometimes going into a close up to certain elements of the video that need to be priorities such as lyrics, this is for the audience to also priorities what elements of the video is important.

Sound

This music video uses only non-diegetic sound because the audio track needs to be heard due to the purpose of the video is to promote the music.

Mise en scene

The main theme of the music video is badges, it’s the only thing that is used in every shot. Although, the colour and shape changes it’s the one thing that stays in the music video. The rest of the props seem to be things you can place badges on such as jackets and other pieces of clothing. I didn’t think of themes as important roles of a music video but having watched this music video, themes are the core of a music video otherwise the video would become unstructured therefore I am now thinking of placing a theme into my music video.

Editing

There is no real editing other than taking still images and making them into a fully moving video, this is basically placing all the images together which transfers into a montage.

Main Text Deconstruction 2

Coared by Cheatahs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqci-GfiKuk

A similar music video that both follows my idea, concept and music audio track is the music video for the song Coared by Cheatahs. This video only follows one narrative, which is following the events of a birthday party, the story is simple it has no real editing techniques and is all done by held hand cameras. Although, back then it (the 70’s) was set in the present and everything was live, the band have taken old family footage and used that today as a music video- and that in essence is what I am doing and trying to achieve whilst incorporating two other narratives that are set in the present.

The only issue with this music video is that it doesn’t meet all the requirements I would have to meet. In order to gain the best mark I could possibly achieve I would have to show a range of camera angles and movements to meet the criteria’s. This is where the video fails, the use of old family footage means the camera would have been hand held therefore camera angles and movements may be non-existent. In order to place vital camera angles and movements within my music video I would have to take inspiration from this music video whilst undertaking an additional narrative that would install camera angles and movements into my video.

Camera Angles

As mentioned previously the footage is filmed via hand held camera therefore the camera angles were very limited most of the music video you can see medium shots because with it being a hand held camera the cameraman would not have been so close to people otherwise he would have been stepping on everyone’s toes therefore he shot from his point of view in which came through as medium shots through the camera. This allowed the narrative of the party to flow as we got introduced to each individual and could identify what part of the family they are via their age and gender.

Another main camera angle was the long shot, a main example of this is when the video opened it was filmed in a garden in which the camera man tried to get the whole family into the picture ton indicate to the camera this is the family and this is why the video is being filmed to show family moments. The long shot is further used when a child is about to blow her candles out this was used to show the whole camera and the action of the female blowing out the candles. Simply camera angles seemed to be effective as it showed simply to the audience what the story was about and the reason for the footage to be filmed.

Camera Movement

Due to the fact that the footage is filmed via a handheld camera it is based around action shots in which the director simply walks the audience around the party making the audience feel apart of the family as it is at a family event after all. To go into detail there is times the camera tracks a certain person in the family part, mainly the birthday girl who is followed on her way to blow the candles this is an important shot as it shows the audience why the video is being filmed.

Another movement is the camera zooming to peoples faces as they response to the party, another use of the footage is they way it zooms into to certain objectives to reinforce importance onto certain objectives such as birthday cake. This puts certain objectives in terms of priority at the top therefore the audience will share the same importance to the objectives that have been zoomed into.

Sound

In this music video there is use of only non-diegetic sound as the main focus of the video is to promote the audio track from the band The Cheatahs. Therefore it is vital not to include any diegetic sound.

Editing

Within this music video, editing seems to be the less important factor of the music video due to the fact they have assembled numerous clips and emerged them together in a flowing montage of old family videos all set in the same day but cut parts out. However, the narrative can still be easily followed by the audience.

Mise en Scene

The video is featured I believe in the 90’s maybe late 80’s the reason I could detect this was the trends at the time are being seen through the music video from the clothing to the packing of certain products, old TVs and furniture all indicate authenticity to the time it was filmed.

Audience Research

My first question was simply 'Do you enjoy music videos?' this is an important question due to the fact I am creating a music video. If the people I surveyed did not watch music my videos then I would have had to go into another genre and another idea completely. This would have set me back a couple of weeks and i would have been behind the rest of the class. Therefore, it was pivotal for the answer to this question to receive 100% yes answer and in fact they all watch music videos with enjoyment. With this is mine production of my music video could now begin. 

In order for me to see what type of music videos and the style of music videos people are currently watching i asked for a question that required the audience honest response. The question 'What was the last music video you watched?' to my happiness everyone had recently watched a music video apart from one person who could not remember what they last watched. This was an important answer for me, as the other answers showed that people watch a variety of music videos all with different genres, codes and conventions. So it is good I'm trying to attract people who like diversity. On the other hand the person who did not remember what they last watched proved to me that I need to think about the people that come to the music video and go away not remembering the video and the song. My new purpose due to this is to entertain i want the music video to leave a lasting impression and in essence will make the music rememberable that in itself should give the band credibility.

This question was aimed to understand how often music videos are watched by teenagers who are my target audience and not to my surprise 60% of people watched music videos daily that showed me there is a market for a new music video and it would be watched. My only concern is that one person answered never, that they never watch music videos, although it is a minority vote it still counts as I should be able to appeal to most of my target audience. Other than that this question taught me that music videos are still within trend and are still a reliable source of entertainment and music. 

Main Text Deconstructions 1

Gone Gone Gone by Phillips Phillips

My initial idea and probably my final idea goes along the same lines as the music video for the song Gone, Gone, gone by Phillips Phillips. It is a video that captures new footage that cuts alongside old footage, the perfect blend of the two have inspired me to create the video I had in mind, as I have seen what the outcome can be after seeing this video.  However, there is an array of ideas that I will do differently although it has the convention of showcasing a personal relationship between a male and a female then cross cutting to another topic is highly relevant within this video. Within my video these conventions will not be seen, personally because the song ideas I have in my head don’t relate to love and love isn’t important factor for my music video. What I will do differently and what I hope to achieve is to create a music video with alternative pace, from the dramatics of being slowed down when the music is at its slowest point to the quick speed of the music that will go in sync with the pace of the video. This I think will leave an impression, showing the importance of music. As I believe that is why a music video should be made to give the music a lasting impression upon the listener.

The strengths and the similarities of the music video for Gone Gone Gone, are very useful. The still black and white images and the faulty coloured early 70’s footage is the exact idea I am going for. I will be cutting from old home made footage to the present day, which that music video does perfectly.

Camera Shots

The recurring camera shots are the medium shot, this is mainly used to show the male singer playing a guitar as the focus of the camera is upon his lips (where the voice comes from and the guitar (where the music comes from) the importance of these two factors are key this is why the medium shot has been used to capture both of them in one shot. It gives the singer and guitar importance, we also see a recurring theme of a close up usually to the guitar when there is no vocals in the music, this signifies the acoustic guitar is at the heart of the audio track and the audience will feel the same when the camera goes from a medium shot to a close up.

The video opens to an establishing shot of a family; this is a major theme within music videos as it sets the scene and shows the viewers the place, scene, time period and actors. The importance of the establishing shot within the Gone Gone Gone video is vital as it has high significance, that we later find out during the video, it’s the start of a long story that progresses throughout the video therefore the establishing shot establishes the purpose of the story within the video.

Two shot camera angle holds an important part within the video due to its use. The director signals out two people, a narrative of a relationship, the female and male are apart for most of the video. However, when they finally meet the use of two shot establishes their love and suggests they are in a relationship and throughout the rest of the video we hardly ever see the male or female without one another.

Camera movements

To create a sense of urgency to be within sync of the sudden change in pace of the music the director uses a lot of tracking shots to keep up with all the moving people running within the video, as the main character is constantly on the move later on in the video it is important the tracking shot was used. The tracking shot allows the audience to focus on what is important within the music video whilst it is all moving in a fast movement the camera stays focused on the characters with big significance such as the musician.


Editing

Cross cutting occurs throughout the music video, to establish two narratives occurring at the same time, it’s a technique that allows the audiences to keep track of all the storylines. The prime example of this is where the male and female relationship struggles and the events of their friendship that are at on a field hosting a bonfire. The two narratives are seen using cross cut until the end of the video in which they all come together as one.

Sound

This music video does have both no diegetic sound and diegetic sound as we can see a man lip syncing the words whilst the audio is playing as well as him playing a guitar. However, it has non diegetic because a lot of the video overseas old family footage with the music tracks playing over it. For me, my whole video will be non diegetic sound due to the fact I will be focusing on old footage and there will be no artist or band playing within time of the music.