Below is the lip syncing video which I created on WeVideo, I played with a variety of clips recorded at the green screen studio, to try and produce the best work possible, as a beginner.
Lip syncing is a very important part of a music video. Artists pre-record their tracks and later add them to the video which they have created and match up with lip syncing. A good attempt at this means it will look believable and be professional. It allows the artists to portray emotions and represents their star image as they would like. It is crucial they make it look as real as possible and match it to the lyrics, if not they may cause a distraction away from their image. Their appearance also plays a big role and if they do not match the voice then the accuracy if the star image will not match.
What went well?
variety of shots and angles were used
lip syncing was in time, most of the time
What could’ve been better?
if the lyrics were revised and known better
avoid over pronunciation of the words as it can make it look fake
to show confidence and energy to present a better performance and make it look exciting
more transitions, it was something I struggled to incorporate and work between the different shots.
This was a perfect task to complete in order to get an insight into the first steps of creating a music video. Focusing forward I know exactly what needs to be improved on and worked towards when it comes to creating own. I need to ensure my artists has revised the lyrics and to spot (and subsequently avoid) over pronounced words when shooting.
On of my initial ideas of a song for my music video is Ariana Grande ‘Better Off’, from her most recent album ‘Sweetener’. This RnB break up ballad is about the artist’s wish to exit a toxic relationship. She discusses her feelings within the relationship and how she would rather be alone and live her life, not ready for love. It sounds as if the song is written whilst still in the relationship and what she experienced the whole time, not when they broke up.
Lyrics
You keep me in your orbit
Well, I know I’m a hard one to please
Give it too much importance
My love’ll have you fall to your knees
I tell them this too often
Know better than to bark up my tree
Just for me to fall and leave
Nah, I’d rather just watch you smoke and drink, yeah
Steering clear of any headaches to start
And if we’re being honest
I’d rather your body than half of your heart
Or jealous-ridden comments
That come when you let in them feelings
That I don’t want
I never let ’em know too much
Hate gettin’ too emotional, yeah
I’m better off without ’em
I’m better off being a wild one
On the road a lot, had to keep it a thousand
So that I’m better off not being around ya’
Go on and face it, I’ll never be ready for you, ready for you
I swear my love is a curse, make you handle my shoes (hand over shoes)
Let’s put them topics to bed and go
Fuck on the roof, just to say that we did it
You keep insisting I listen to your proposition
I dismiss them all, no offense, yeah
Steering clear of any headaches to start
And if we’re being honest
I’d rather your body than half of your heart
Or jealous-ridden comments
That come when you let in them feelings that I don’t want
I never let ’em know too much
Hate gettin’ too emotional, yeah
I’m better off without him
I’m better off being a wild one
On the road a lot, had to keep it a thousand
So that I’m better off not being around ya
I’m better off without him
I’m better off being a wild one
On the road a lot, had to keep it a thousand
So that I’m better off not being around ya
I have created a word cloud which includes all the words associated with the song.
Narrative of performance
A young girl who is struggling with anxiety. She has a group of toxic friends who are the ‘popular girls’ in school who she hangs around with so she can been seen as one of them. However they are nasty to her and treated her like rubbish, she is always getting picked on by them. On the flip side she has another group of friends who are just and ordinary group of girls who have no label to them, they are pretty irrelevant to everyone else but they are kind and very caring. Her anxiety is making her overthink drowning with worry. She is worrying that the other girls will start acting even worse towards her, but looking at her own emotions she knows being friends with them is not good for her, at makes the change for the better.
Description of performance
The aim for this is to show the day to day life of someone who is struggling with anxiety & friendship issues. I will use several locations for my music video, with appropriate lighting to reflect the mood. I will use a female singer as she is the subject of the matter, the lyrics of the song are representing her feeling hence why she will be the only one lip-syncing them.
I have picked my favourite music video from a former student. I have inserted it below:
Personally, I feel this video really demonstrates to a beginner what a good music video looks like.The narrative to performance ration is around 50:50, both are equally applied. Not everything is perfect like a professional one would be but it really highlights what needs to be included to get a good grade. The lip-syncing is consistent throughout, the person who is lip syncing the lyrics, knows exactly what they are doing. It is clear that they have studied the words in advanced to make sure they get it right. As a consequence, if none of this was applied and the lip syncing was off it would make the music video look unprofessional. From the very beginning the narrative is told/shown so the audience quickly have an idea on what it is about. The editing of the clips throughout the video is consistent as I feel most of the transitions were relevant, fitting the genre/style.
However, in this music video there is a particular scene which I do not like and feel as if it ruins the music video. The couple begins to argue, they are miming words to each other which are not the lyrics or real words, they are just simply moving their mouth. I think it is important to just stick to lip syncing the lyrics of the song as that is all you need to portray.
The generic mise-en-scene was a convention which impressed me as I feel everything applied well. They chose good scenery and a variety of locations to shoot their music video, all of which matched the genre. Along with appropriate makeup/hair/costuming to add to the narrative. They used props in a subtle way which did not overtake or distract the audience from the artist, only vital props were included.
As a result, I have gained basic information of what is good and what is bad, which will really aid me in making the perfect music video myself.
Below is 2 more music videos in which I have analysed very closely to expand my knowledge in order to make my own production work successful.
Music Video 1
Katy Perry ‘Chained To The Rhythm’
please click on image below to view
Music Video 2
Harry Styles ‘Adore You’
please click on image below to view
Personally I feel as if I have really benefited from analysing these videos in much further detail. It has given me even more of an insight into what is included in a music video in order to make it conventional and work well for the audience. I am knowledgeable on what narrative to include in my music video whether it is illustration, amplification or disjuncture in order to portray the intended narrative. Along with camera angles/movements and mise en scene I need to make sure it works well with my narrative to avoid confusing the audience, hence why I may possibly avoid using disjuncture within my own music video.
In this task, I learnt to analyse music videos. Looking at an array of different genres within the music industry, I was able to gather all the different conventions in order to make it work. The overall purpose of a music video is to produce entertainment for their audience, and convey a message surrounding their song. It is also another way to show off the artist and their brand as long as promote it globally.
When looking at the music video it is important to be able to understand what is going on between the song and the narrative, so you can gather a bigger picture into the relationship. Ways in which we can understand this is:
Illustration-The narrative clearly echoes the music and the lyrics
Amplification– The narrative whilst inspired by the song adds a new element to compliment the song.
Disjuncture– when the narrative seems to hold very little relationship to the song and seems quite random.
There are also many over-arching technical conventions within a music video of any genre. These include:
lip-syncing
editing to the beat
mise-en-scene
camera movements
This task has really helped me to understand all of the typical conventions of a music video. Being able to understand and represent the narrative if the music will be very important when it comes to creating my own.
In groups of 4, our task was to create our first montage piece, we chose the theme of ‘practice makes perfect’ and ‘determination’. In order to show our theme we decided to create and montage of a montage about the production of it, we wanted to show the passion and the amount of features which needed to be included when creating one. We created a storyboard in advanced so we knew what we were doing, therefore not missing anything out. It also benefited us when we came to creating the montage as we knew what order all the shots went into. After the planning we then went out and filmed our shots.
Above is the final product, I worked along side one other group member to make this. The opening instantly gives the feeling of determination and continues to represent it until the end. I think my montage has an impact in representing the theme. This was mainly due to the style of editing, its fast movements from (00:04-00:07) showed the character getting things done in order to prepare, a sense of progression is created from these fast movements. However, within this montage is several transitions, it makes some of the shots seems very quick paced and busy so it something that can be improved and avoided throughout the rest of the project. There were no repeated shots in my montage as everything only needed to be done once e.g. collecting equipment. Although, some shots which I could’ve done to further communicate my idea was maybe to show the setting up of the equipment, I felt as if we only showed the gathering of the equipment and then went straight into the actual production part.
This task gave me my first insight into Adobe Premier Pro, I managed to learn some of the basics and it has given me a starting point for this project. There is a lot to work on in order for me to create the best piece possible but it is something I will be able to do, when it is time to create my final product.
