Hello and welcome to my A2 Media Studies blog, Please feel free to use the navigation bar located at the top of the page to look through my work from research to the final product.
Below is the brief for my A2 Media Studies product.
Brief
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together
with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the band;
a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).
NickelbackOur final product we are going to create is an advert which promotes the release of the new album by our band. Similar to our other products, before we can create our advert we must first understand the conventions of adverts within our genre, American Rock.
For this task we chose to study an advert for Nickelback and their album “The Long Road”. For performing this task we gather information on what we need to include in our advert in order to fit into the American Rock genre. We learnt that the front cover of the advert tends to be the advert design, however other examples we looked at had other album art used as apposed to the front cover. We also learnt that we need to include information such as release date, name of the band and album, platforms the album is available on, etc.
From performing this task we are ready to draw up a draft of what we would like our advert to look like and what it will feature.
To see the analysis of the advert, click the image below.
For this post I looked at previous students work which was completed a year previous to my work, by doing this I will learn what is required of me for my music video and for the digi-pack. Also, by analyzing the music video and digi-pack I can see what has worked well in the past and what has not, in order to make my music video and digi-pack be the best it can possibly be.
For this post I will be analyzing Adam Le Gallez’s music video and digi-pack.
Digi-pack
Below is the digi-pack that I am analyzing, click the images to see them in more detail.
Click the image below to see my analysis of the digi-pack
After analyzing the music video of my star, Wiz Khalifa, I then moved on to analyzing his Digi-Pack for the song in which I analysed, See You Again by Wiz Khalifa. The reason for analyzing the digi-pack is to see the star image in the digi-pack and whether it carries over from the music video.
From analyzing the digi-pack, in which See You Again by Wiz Khalifa is on, I have learnt that the digi-pack of a star is constructed in order promote the star image, the star is the main focus of the digi-pack, and the star image shines through as his mise-en-scene is stereotypical of the genre of music. There is also an intertextual reference in the digi-pack as Paul Walkers car from the Fast and Furious franchise is in the digi-pack, this shows that Wiz Khalifa is the star of the digi-pack, however, he is not the center of the digi-pack as he is allowing the car to be a focus point of the digi-pack out of respect for Paul Walker, the actor who has died.
Too see the detailed analysis of See You Again by Wiz Khalifa Click the link below
The next stage of our planning was for us to understand what was needed from us, we needed to explore what it takes to have a “Perfect Production Group” and what qualities are required from each role. On an A3 sheet we listed all the roles that we believed were needed for our production, we then, below the different roles, listed all the qualities that we believed were needed. Some qualities crossed over the different roles, for example, “Organised” is a quality that is needed by multiple roles, such as, the director and costume designer.
To see our Perfect Production Group Click the Image Below
By doing this task, we as a group are able to assign roles to people who we though would fit the roles, this allows our production to be made more efficiently as we have people who we know will help us and be able to fulfill their role without trouble.
Our first practical work for this course was to film a swede as a class. A swede is a shot for shot remake of an already existing media product, for our swede we chose to use Come Together by Echosmith. We will be filming both the narrative of the music video and the performance, However, the performance wont be filmed shot for shot as we are focusing more on the narrative being equal to the original music video.
This post is showing the journey from planning to the final product of a swede.
To see the music video we used in the swede watch the video below.
First off we, as a group, we had to watch the music video and study the narrative shot for shot. We were give two sections of small sections of the music video within a group of 4, we the split off into pairs and closely studied the section.
After watching the video closely we then re-watched the section of the video that was assigned to us, Section E 1:12 – 1:20, and we created an in depth storyboard for the section. On the storyboard we included a drawing of the shot, a description of the shot and type of shot and final the action which takes place during the shot.
To see the storyboard click the image below.
Next we watched the section again and this time created a shot list of all the performance sections within our section, we listed the type of shot it was and who was in the shot, we also added a time stamp of where the shot was. We then came together as a class and listed the 8 most important shots that we needed to cover as a group. For the performance we chose instead of filming shots for the duration that they are needed, we are filming the whole song from the angles needed giving a variety of moments to work with when editing. The 8 shots were then split among the groups, for my performance section I was give a dolly wide angle and a long shot with zooming.
To see the shot list click the image below.
Finally before filming the swede we needed to create production meeting agendas, one for the narrative and one for the performance. This was important as it prepares us for the day of shooting by telling us when we will being filming that section, who is needed and what props and costumes needed to be ready for that day.
To see the narrative production meeting agenda click the image on the left.
To see the narrative production meeting agenda click the image on the right.
The purpose of these documents is make sure that when we come to film the swede we are prepared as we possibly can, this means that on the filming day all shots go smoothly and according to plan. This in turn saves us time allowing us to focus more on other angles and shooting a shot more that once to make sure we have different shots to work with rather than having to film at a later date.
These documents were used to help us successfully film the narrative and performance for our section of the swede, we then edited the clips in Adobe Premiere Pro trying to match up the narrative as close to the original as possible, filling the time period we were given.
To see our section of the swede watch the video below.
To see the full class swede with all sections edited together watch the video below.
What lessons did you learn about planning and the use of Storyboards/Shot Lists and Production Meeting Agendas? Why are they important when out on shoot?
The planning documents are important as they keep us as a group on task. Should anybody be lost or unsure of what comes next we are able to refer to the documents in order to get back on track. The documents also helped us to perform our shoot efficiently saving us precious time. This meant we could film each section multiple times to guarantee that the shots we had were perfect for what we needed them for.
Target: Always keep these documents to hand during filming in order to aid our shoot.
What should the camera operator be doing whilst filming?
The camera operator should be concentrating on the framing of the shot, if one of the band members exits frame the camera operator must direct them back into frame. The camera operator should also be giving instructions of what they want the band to be doing, if not the band may stay stationary during the whole filming process and the shots would be boring.
Target: Always check if the framing is correct for the shot and that band members are in frame, when they are, give them instructions or actions to perform.
What lessons did you learn about directing people in front of the camera? What information do they need to know about their character / their performance style? How can the director get them to relax and have confidence in front of the camera in order to perform well?
The most important thing to do is too keep the actors and band members as calm as they can possibly be. One way to do this is to give as much information on their character as you can, by doing this the actor is able to empathize with the character and can perform as they would. If little to no information is provided then the actor will start to feel unsure of what to do and begin to panic.
Usually the actors reflect the feelings of the director, so if he is calm they are calm. It is important as a director to no be too calm as this could lead the actors to be too calm and not perform and just corpse. A level of strictness is required by the director to keep the actors in check and performing as they should.
Target: Give as much information about a character to the actor so they are prepared. Retain a degree of strictness when directing in order to keep your actors in order.
What lessons did you learn about filming the performance for your production?
It is important to film the action from as many angles as possible during a single run-through. It is difficult for actors to perform the same actions in the same place during a certain part of a song every time they perform, By filming from multiple angles the same actions are caught giving continuity to the performance. Filming 4-5 angles at the same time helps with editing. Also it helps to shoot a full run-through of the song rather than small sections, this makes the overall filming process easier.
Target: Shoot as many angles during each full run-through in order to capture as much action as possible.
What did you learn about editing and post-production?
From the editing and post production I found it is very important to have as much footage as you can possibly get, this helps as there are more options for shots during the performance when editing. If you don’t have enough footage and a variety of angles the performance can seem lacking and boring. A skill I have learnt from this task is lip syncing and how important it is in editing to get it right. Having footage slightly out of time leads to an unprofessional look and can be off putting.
Target: Gather as much footage and variety of angles as possible before editing the video, and get the lip syncing as perfect as possible.
What did you discover about the use of conventional Mise-En-Scene for music videos?
Mise-en-scene within a music video is heavily dependant on the genre of the music, from costume to lighting to the setting of the video, it all revolves around the genre of the music. A heavy metal music video would not have people in shorts a t-shirt and flip flop at the beach, but rather men in leather jackets with long hair in a dark environment or destroyed location.
Target: Match the Mise-en-scene with the genre of music which is being used for the music video, follow the conventions of the genre.
For this post I looked at previous students work which was completed a year previous to my work, by doing this I will learn what is required of me for my music video and for the digi-pack. Also, by analyzing the music video and digi-pack I can see what has worked well in the past and what has not, in order to make my music video and digi-pack be the best it can possibly be.
For this post I will be analyzing Adam Le Gallez’s music video and digi-pack.
Digi-pack
Below is the digi-pack that I am analyzing, click the images to see them in more detail.
Click the image below to see my analysis of the digi-pack
Music Video
Click the image below to see my analysis of the Music Video.
After analyzing the music video and digi-pack of my star, Wiz Khalifa, it was now time to analyze the star himself, and specifically his star image.
In order to analyze my star I set up a pinterest page, on this pinterest page i liked images which I though showed off the star image of my star. For each image I also added some adjectives that showed off the star image of my star.
For example, on my pinterest page I added an image of my star smoking, this links in with current news stories which say that Wiz Khalifa has been caught in the possession of drugs. This effects his star image as he is setting a terrible example for people who listen to his music and for people who may discover the artist through the popular song See You Again.
From creating this pintererst page on my star, Wiz Khalifa, I have come to understand that my stars image is mainly linked with him smoking or being around we can only presume are drugs. This is a bad star image, and for my star when making my music video I will not go down this path of star image, but rather something that the audience can relate too rather that something such as drugs.
To see the pinterest page which I created about Wiz Khalifa click the See On Pinterest button below.
For this task I had to pick a star in which I could analyse closely, this includes a star who is constantly in the media and who has a star image in which I could closely analyse. This star would have to have stories in the media, an star image to his name and have content in which I could analyse, this includes a music video and a digi-pack.
The star I chose to analyse was Wiz Khalifa, I chose Wiz Khalifa because he is constantly in the news concerning drug use, he also recently wrote a song dedicated to Paul Walker, The actor in the Fast and Furious film franchise who recently pasted away. This song has recently become very popular, this is the reason I decided to analyse the music video to this song.
By analyzing this music video I have learnt that the star image usually matches to the genre of the music and that the mise-en-scene also matches with the star image and genre of the music. In the case of Wiz Khalifa he is a rap artist, in the music video the costume he is wearing is very common amongst rap artists. Including the denim clothing and the tattoos on the artist. The music video also has connections to the Fast and Furious franchise by having fast cars within the music video, this can also be an intertextual reference to the Fast and Furious franchise.
To see the music video in which I analysed click the video below.
To see the in depth analysis of See You Again by Wiz Khalifa click the image below.
The first task we were given in our coursework was to take 6 music videos and analyse the videos. This included the duration of the music video, Mise-en-scene within the video and the ratio between the narrative and the performance within the music video.
By analyzing these 6 videos I learnt a wide variety of things about music videos, for example, the ratio between performance and narrative. The majority of music videos are a mixture of performance and narrative, it is not always a perfect balance of the two but rather a 60% to 40% split. However, not all music videos follow this pattern as two of the music videos I analysed were completely one content ratio.
The Alter Bridge song that I analysed was purely performance based containing no narrative whatsoever, and the song by Five Fingered Death Punch was purely narrative and contained no performance by the band. This shows that not all videos are a mixture of performance and narrative, however, I don’t think that I am going to path of pure narrative or pure performance as there would not be enough substance to the music video.
To see the analysis of the 6 music videos click the image below.
