Category: Music Video

The draft 4 of my music video is the second to last process before it is finalised and put on my home page of my blog. I have inserted a clip below which represents my draft 4. Although there are many positive things about music video, there are also a collection of key points that need improving and for me to understand and apply myself to the factors of which need improving, my teacher & fellow peers kindly provided me with a screencastify of feedback regarding my music video.

Improvements (feedback from Miss Cobb & my fellow peers) 

• Slow down the clip of the feet walking in.
• Scale and Offset Performance clips of Max.
• Play with colours, curves and contrast performance clips with the black & white gambling scenes.
• Minimise the amount of black screens.
• Slow down the gambling track scene.
• Organise the clips – drink, lay the table, drink, lay the table.
• Reduce the amount of performance slips.
• Understand the pace in the narrative.
• Cut the letter opening scene and integrate in a POV shot.
• Include some more gambling scenes.
• Scale in on the letter ripping.
• Make the clips of Max more dynamic.
• Make the clips correlate with the pace of edit.
• Cut the song.
• Edit to the beat.

With this feedback, I am going to use as much of my spare time as possible to ensure that all of these factors for improvement are completed and also integrated into my music video. This sort of feedback will enhance my knowledge regarding what makes a music video successful and also a range of skills will be used when editing my draft 4 further.

Below, I have inserted a google drive clip of my draft 3 for my music video.  With this, I emailed a group of other students studying media, to evaluate and provide feedback in order for me to complete my draft 4. By completing this task, it allows me to understand what other pupils see when watching my video and how I need to improve to make this music video the best it can be. With each students ideas and visual representations being interpreted differently it opens an opportunity to take all feedback and use it effectively.

My Peer Feedback was as follows:

Feedback from Erin Vaudin

Above, I have inserted our music video draft 2. With this, the Specsavers team visited our school in order to advance our knowledge and skills using premiere pro. We identified, as a group, the pros and cons to our music video, listening to Elliot’s advice. This sort of interaction was very beneficial as we are now able to include all of our feedback in our future drafts using both performance & narrative. Elliot’s experience and professional ideas will most definitely aid us when it comes to finalising our music video – interpreting all editing and skill techniques successfully.

Summary of feedback & Targets:

• Add a B&W filter/grain into the narrative scenes of gambling to create a specific feel.
• Make sure to finalise the ending – beginning, middle, end is essential for a successful music video which connotes the story successfully.
• Use a collection of shots which relate back to one another through narrative and performance. This portrays the story in a collective way.
• Create a board / visual shot list to refer back to when completing the music video as having inspiration leads to more successful videos.
• When finalising, we should use adjustment layers and colour scheme our video accordingly within both the narrative & performance.

Technical / Creative ideas: 

This post is dedicated to reflecting our draft 2 music video. From receiving this feedback, we, as a group, are now able to enhance and improve our music video ensuring it’s the best it can be using varied skills, such as editing skills to familiarise and develop what we have already completed into something even better. With this, we will take the feedback and integrate it into the next step (draft 3) of our music video.

Summary Feedback:

• Great shot of the ‘whisky’.
• The filters and colourings have a substantial effect, which represent our genre well – setting the scene and atmosphere.
• Black & White filters are great, we shall integrate them into more of the gambling shots using grain and vignette to create effect.
• We have a strong selection of clips which we are able to use to create our music video.
• With help from Specsavers, we were able to establish a transition which works fantastically using tools on Premiere Pro we didn’t know, but have learnt how to use.

Targets for Development:

• Introduce the music video with a general shot – this will allow our audience to engage well and understand what is happening in the video.
• With our performance shots, we need to ensure that each clip is scaled and positioned correctly using offset.
• We need to add the most suitable filters and effects to certain clips.
• Retake both letter and pick-up shots.
• Using the clips we have, we now need to use them effectively to build the tension within the music video using the gambling scenes, prison scenes and performance shots.
• Use an establishing shot to introduce the ‘prison’ scenes.
• Ensure each clip is sequenced correctly.
• We need to finalise our decision as to how our music video will end and which clips we are going to chose in order to do so.

With this task, we had to chose a music video (previous students work) to analyse and reflect on whilst assessing our own draft 2’s. I have chosen a music video, which I believe, has similar themes and issue to my own – addiction, debt and defeat. The video is inserted below:

This music video, ‘You Know You Like It’ includes a repertoire of elements which connotes the genre and themes and issues well. These are a few of the things I noticed about the music video that stood out to me and I thought worked well:

• A variety of shots have been used throughout the music video, for example, close-ups, mid shots and long shots have been used well to enhance the significance of the performance videos – this is vital as it allows the audience to engage with the performer and understand the themes and issues.
• The use of mise en scene has been chosen effectively as the choice of props and outfits are well suited to the genre and style of the video. The lighting has been used in a professional and sophisticated way which emphasizes the point of the music video.
• The shots within the music video are all established well, conveying the different themes and the use of rule of thirds aids the viewer to relate with the music video.

Throughout this music video, there are a vast range of shots and angles, for example close-ups, mid shots, low & high angles, long shots, tracking and moving through the frame. With the choice of mise en scene and specific editing techniques, it allows the audience to make a distinctive connection between the narrative and performance through a fast pace of edit. The music video has been established effectively, which enables anyone watching to understand the themes and issues well; the themes and issues within the music video convey a sense of loss and weakness – the use of multiple locations has a positive impact on the video which represents chaos.

From analysing this music video, it has allowed me to understand and incorporate factors I need to include in my own creation:

• I have to ensure my performance clips are a suitable length, not too long and not too short – an equal amount of both narrative and performance clips is essential to allow the audience to build a connection through the themes and issues.
• Build up my clips with a story to tell, use them to fulfil the idea and significance of gambling and the consequences such addictions may have.
• Use a repertoire of elements throughout my music video to enable the audience to engage and gain an understanding of what is happening.
• The use of an accurate colour palette is essential to represent the themes and issues in the way they should be. For example, the gambling scenes I will put into black and white to connote the vintage / classical feel of a poker setting.

The group and I have completed a draft 2 of our music video. We situated a selection of clips which we used to finalize our draft 2. As a group, we collectively put together our ideas when editing in order to produce a successful draft.

Self Assessment:

• Lots of filters and colour correction used.
• A good selection of clips have been integrated into our draft 2.
• Clips / lip-syncing are in time.

Targets for Improvement:

• Introduce the music video with a general shot – this will allow our audience to engage well and understand what is happening in the video.
• With our performance shots, we need to ensure that each clip is scaled and positioned correctly using offset.
• We need to add the most suitable filters and effects to certain clips.
• Retake both letter and pick-up shots.
• Using the clips we have, we now need to use them effectively to build the tension within the music video using the gambling scenes, prison scenes and performance shots.
• Use an establishing shot to introduce the ‘prison’ scenes.
• Ensure each clip is sequenced correctly.
• We need to finalise our decision as to how our music video will end and which clips we are going to chose in order to do so.

Our performance shoot took place in a portacabin within the school grounds. We felt, as a group, this would be the best and most aesthetic place that allowed us to represent our themes and issues (gambling/addiction), well within our clips. As a group, we collectively put forward our ideas which worked well; with this, we were able to produce a vast selection of reaction shots, close up shots, high & low angles with Point Of View perspective’s using a repertoire of elements to connote our themes and issues but also our narrative – this ensures that the audience watching the music video have a clear understanding.

Self Assessment:

• We all contributed our own ideas – agreeing, allowing us to collect a set of clips suitable for our final music video.
• As a group, we put together a collection of ideas relating to media techniques which would suit our genre best, though at the same time, provided an understanding of our main themes and issues.
• We were all prepared, as we planned ahead – Costume, Lighting, Acting, Makeup, Props & Setting (CLAMPS).
• Our clips provided us with a guideline as to how we would like our final music video to appear, using a range of shots for example, low/high angles, close up’s, establishing shot’s, tracking shot’s and pan’s. By setting up our location early, we were able to identify the best ways to carry out each shot.
• Everyone contributed to the narrative shoot, in their own way.

Targets for improvement:

• I would’ve hoped for a location which represented our genre a bit better, however, we couldn’t find that, so an increase in location preparation may be needed.
• Our location wasn’t dark – though we can edit this in post-production.
• I believe we could’ve included a more vast range of shots, as there are many close up’s, and establishing shots; we needed more tracking and ped shots in order to connote our themes and issues the best we could.
• A few more clips involving the ‘seductive girl’ would’ve had great effect on the audience as it draws them into what could happen next – I think we needed this.

Focus forward:

With our focus forward, I think we should all take turns when it comes to directing and filming, this would definitely improve and benefit the group when it comes to advancing our camera technique and skills. I believe, next time we should, most importantly, plan ahead when it comes to choosing a location as our location could’ve been better, conveying a more realistic scene to the audience of our main themes and issues. We should next time, broaden our choice of the repertoire of elements which connotes a sense of understanding to the audience when it comes to our music video.

Below is our storyboard which we had to complete in order to complete our shoot effectively, whilst conveying our chosen narrative. The aim of this was to represent addiction in a way which suits our genre, using gambling as a method. Within this shoot, we will use a collection of elements, for example, long shots, close up’s, tracking shot’s, high/low angles, and reaction shots to emphasize the structured events happening within the music video – we have done this through creating a storyboard consisting of 5 boxes; each with an explanation and drawn image. With this, it should hopefully allow the audience to really understand and create some kind of relation to real-life issues happening within society daily. Our narrative storyboard has been completed in chronological order, starting a balanced equilibrium – a low angle tracking shot on the individuals walking into the frame. Our shoot was finalised with a reaction shot of the individual loosing their battle whilst gambling, however, no resolution.

When carrying out our shoot, it will benefit us as a whole to follow our storyboard, ensuring all repertoire of elements and techniques are included within a selection of clips; it will also aid the director when conducting the shoot to have structured plan.

Narrative Development is essential when it comes to shooting for our final music video. With this task, we had to complete and fill in an Extended Step Outline sheet which required us to explain and put forward our plan when it comes to our narrative section of the music video. As a result of this, it allowed us to easily understand and direct our own music video.

It is vital for us, as a group to understand the deeper meaning of our music video and with this we were able to briefly explain key aspects of our ideas. For example, Strength Vs Weakness, and Power Vs Wealth. This provides our music video with a sense of purpose, allowing our narrative to be an easy understanding for a subjected audience.

Despite there being a continuous and common use of an Equilibrium, we chose more of an abstract structure to be within our music video.  With a note of key aspects, the common structure and description/planning of our narrative, this sets us up well with creating a successful music video.

As a group, we completed a product meeting agenda in order to film and create a successful narrative shoot. With this, we can look back and refer to what is needed for our shoot, who is responsible for bringing equipment & props, the chosen location with dates and times and who is allocated to what role e.g. model, director etc. In addition to this, we have to ensure that our star image is represented accurately throughout the performance using a repertoire of elements and Mise En Scene.