Here is our FINAL draft for our music video to Low Down by Venbee.

I am really pleased with the overall final outcome of our music video and it has changed so much through the drafts with all of the different feedback we have received. In this video the star is presented to be quite ordinary in some scenes allowing to her to be in reach of her audience and have more of a relation through the narrative. As our narrative is based on a story of a girl who has lost touch with her mother and it struggling on her own, this may be a relatable story for a minority of the audience and therefore presenting the star to be ordinary allows fans to relate with the story even more. Although in order to make this a successful and exciting music video we did try and also present the star to be extraordinary (Dyer) through some shots such as the performance clips which have been shot professionally and edited to a high standard with effects using AdobePremier Pro.

When editing and shooting our music video it was key to ensure there were some conventional elements to ensure the audience can understand the video as well as being able to recognise the genre and enjoy it overall. Before beginning the editing process we looked into what was conventional in a EDM music video so that we could follow the repertoire of elements (Altman) making it easy for our audience to recognise the genre of the music video. Some of these elements which are conventional to EDM are combination videos which means the narrative and performance clips are combined and shown through one star. We did this in our music video and really liked how it turned out as it allows the viewer to connect with this one star a lot more than they could if there were multiple different stars within the video. Editing to the beat was a another convention we tried to follow as again this is very relevant with EDM as this type of music generally contains strong beats throughout which can be very effective when the music video is edited well to these beats.

When filming our music video and then selecting the clips we wanted to use ensuring the clips were filmed with a steady hand was key as shaky clips would look very unprofessional in the final video. Choosing a variety of shots is also very important as it makes the sequence a lot less boring, I think we did this well by including a range of long shots, close up and mid shots throughout in order to not let the audience get bored from one shot distance. Miss en scene was another element which is important within a music video and we ended up with at least 5 different costumes throughout our music video to show different times and places in the video. For example the performance shoot were shot In different costumes to the narrative in order to give these scenes some more separation. Choosing costumes is very important and I think we had some very effective costume choices in our music video such as the long dress in the pool clips which worked really well and portrays the sorrow ‘drowning’ image we aimed for.

We used a range of effects in our music video to make it more exciting and align with our genre such as the heartbeat edit which we included twice in the sequence for the chorus along with the colour change edit which matched the beat of the song. We also used transitions such as fade to make some changes in clips less harsh and this was also very effective.

At first we struggled to ensure that our narrative made sense In our video as the order was jumbled and there were too many gaps in the story although in the final draft I am confident that the narrative is much more clear and easy to understand by the audience which is very important for this to be successful.

Reflection

This is our draft 4 which I am really pleased with and this is the first draft we have had which is now complete with footage and doesn’t have any gaps. Now that we have all of the footage there are just minor adjustments which need to be made before our final draft. Being able to watch the video through with no gaps now makes it much easier to adjust clips and move things around so that the order makes sense.

What is good: 

• we now have a complete full draft
• the storyline makes more sense now as we reordered it
• we have a range of close up and extreme close ups throughout

Things to improve :

• ensure all clips used are shaky
• make sure all lip sync is perfectly timed
• add some extra FX to make some scenes more exciting

This is some further feedback that we got from our teacher about what we can improve for our final draft.

In order to get more feedback on our music video we had our draft 3 peer assessed to give us another opinion on what is good or bad in each element of the music video. This showed us what we can work on to make sure all elements of our video in draft 4 are as good as they can be.

from this feedback I am able to recognise that we can work on adding more transitions, making sure our shots display a variety of movement and that all of the clips used are steady and not shaky unless on purpose.

This feedback was really helpful as It gave us our best element of the video so far and the biggest thing that needs to be worked on which for us is the narrative at the moment as we have not finished all of our filming therefore the storyline doesn’t completely make sense at the moment.

This task will be really useful continuing onto our 4th draft as it gives us clear things which we need to work on to improve.

This was another shoot we did to gather most of the remaining narrative footage we needed. This took place at my house to capture footage of the star at home with sentimental items such as photo albums, the cliffs and also in a swimming pool which allowed us to get some very effective and distressing underwater shots of the star image.

What went well :

• the underwater footage turned out really really well and the long satin costume is very effective in the water
• the narrative footage with the photo album etc has helped make the storyline more clear in our video
• we managed to get a lot of close up shots

what we need to work on :

• the main thing we need to focus on is filling the remaining narrative gaps in our music video by doing a few more shoots at my house as well as the pier

Here is our music video draft 3!!

I am really happy with how it is looking so far and we have managed to fill a lot of empty gaps since draft 2 and now just need to gather the rest of our narrative footage to fill the gap where the man is singing (therefore cannot be performance).

We were able to make this draft of a better standard after taking in the feedback we got from supersavers about our draft 2 and use these editing tips to add more FX to our video.

There are still a lot of things which need improving before our 4th and then final draft but I think we are making good progress and gathering the reaming footage we need for draft 4 will help us then focus on the little details in editing to make it perfect.

Below is a screen castify from Miss giving us another perspective and more useful feedback to help us when creating our 4th draft:

Feedback overview:

• dissolve shots between bathtub clips to make smoother transition
• longer on letter shot to make it clear to read it
• more footage on the photo and slow down of it smashing
• look at what shots are in black and white, need to make sense
• over shoulder shot of photo album
• fade out flame shot
• jump cut on cliffs to 3 different shots
• rearrange cliff shots to create more variety
• get remainder of footage!!!

We were very lucky to get some further expert feedback from Lenny at Specsavers on our draft 2. We learn some really useful tips and tricks on how to improve our music video as well as more tips of how to use Premier Pro in a more advances way.

The main feedback we were given was –

• Take time to organise our workspace on premier pro, including organising all of our footage into folders for each shoot and categorising the footage in our video into colours so that we can see if we have a balance of footage from each different location
• They also complimented how effective our pool footage was and suggested we slow the footage down to make It more of a feature as well as take up more empty space in the video
• Try out more FX and play around with different filters, speeds and graphics
• Concentrate on getting a complete music video and then focus on the detailed editing and switching out clips but having a full music video to watch will help with our vision of the final piece

This feedback was all very helpful especially the tips and tricks of how to properly use premier pro as we learnt so much about easier ways to edit which will not only speed up the editing process and make it easier but also make it a more advances level. This feedback will really help us moving forward to work on our 3rd and 4th music video drafts.

For our second shoot which was equally narrative and performance based we had 3 main locations – the cliffs, inside with a white background and the bath. This gave us a huge range of contrasting shots which we can choose from and use throughout our music video. All of these locations worked out really well and we got good footage from each. The bath and white wall we chose as settings for more performance shots whereas on the cliffs we tried to capture clips presenting loneliness which is key to out narrative.

What went well – 

• The MES was successful as we had different effective costumes for each change in location all of which worked with the genre and themes
• we got a variety of close up and long shots
• we got a lot of footage which we can now select our favourites from when editing
• the cliff footage was very effective at presenting loneliness

What could be improved – 

• we still ended up filming more of performance footage to fill gaps and need to focus on getting the remaining narrative footage as well
• some of the footage from the cliffs came back out of focus which was a silly mistake
• we need to keep following our plan to make sure we are getting all of the required shots we need and not going off the plan

This is our draft 2 for our music video, there are still quite a lot of gaps which need to be filled so we have just inserted text for what needs to be filmed there. We are still lacking a majority of the narrative as we weren’t happy with some of the footage we had filmed and would like to re do it to a higher standard.

Here I have self assessed our draft 2 to help me see what is good and what is missing/needs work in this draft. This self assessment is very useful to help see what I know needs more work to make everything excellent.

What is good – 

• the effects and filters we have added In are minimal but effective
• the performance lip sync clips are in time with the song
• we have made good use of close up shots as well as long shots
• the pool footage is very effective

What needs work- 

• we need to finish the narrative shoot to complete a full draft with no gaps
• we need to rethink the narrative to not focus on drug substances and base the storyline more on her emotions
• insert more cliff footage as it is very effective
• add more colour flashing lip sync clips like one at end throughout

Teacher feedback 

• extend the slo motion of the smashing photo frame clip
• make sure the note is long enough to be able to read
• add more FX
• bring some of the current narrative footage forward to make more sense

Here is our risk assessment for our narrative shoot. This is an important part of planning for our shoot as it makes us aware of any potential risks with our filming locations and makes us take responsibility to make sure our filming is all safe. This also states what locations we will be in at what time so that our teachers are aware of where we will be for the shoot if anything goes wrong.

Here is our second production meeting agenda, this one is for our narrative shoot. Again this was very important to help us plan our costumes, makeup and props for our shoot. Without a PMA we wouldn’t be organized when it comes to shooting our music video as we wouldn’t remember what Mise en scene we had planned for the shoot. It is important to make sure this is detailed enough and our group found that this planning was a necessity last time for our performance shoot as we kept looking back at it to make sure we have the costumes we planned.

Above is our first rough cut that we edited from our first shoot, although the aim of this was to be a rough cut of the whole song purely with performance footage we did not gather enough footage to do this so have uploaded the three sections of the songs that we have edited with performance footage. This was an issue because we didn’t film the song the whole way through and ended up only filming a few clips of the same lines multiple times, this made us realize that our priority is to film the whole song through in different locations using different cinematography multiple times rather than just filming short clips of specific lines. I am confident we have collected the majority of our performance footage and now just need to focus on our narrative shoot to fill in the gaps.

What I like about our rough cut:

• I am pleased with the quality of shots we have
• The close ups are very effective and look really good in the rough cut
• I am pleased with the editing we have used – glitch effect and fade in effect as well as colour filters
• The slow-mo on the smashing of the photo frame is very effective
• we managed to sync the shots to the song well

what needs improving:

• we need to gather more footage so that we can create a rough cut of the whole song with more footage
• Need to ensure all of the clips are synced perfectly
• make sure we are getting a range of shots including high angle, low angle, long shots swell as close ups
• film whole song though in every location so we have loads of clips to choose from when editing

Here we created a photo board with shot ideas showing our shooting locations and ideas for the narrative shoot. We included potential shots that we wanted to do for each scene and what the model will be doing in those shots, this was helpful as it has given us a clear structure of what we need to shoot for our narrative. We can keep looking at this throughout our shoot to make sure we are doing all of the shots that we have planned. Cinematography is key to making sure your music video is exciting to watch and not just filmed in a mid shot throughout as this would be very boring to watch.

The type of shots use are also very important as to how the star image is portrayed in the video as without close ups the audience doesn’t get to interact with the facial expressions of the model and same goes for having a music video without long shots the viewer cannot get a true idea of the stars costume or body language.

Editing is also obviously a key part to a successful music video although in order to be able to edit well we need to make sure we have a range of well filmed shots to edit with, to make sure that we are happy with our footage after the shoot it is important that we shoot every scene at least twice so that we have more of a chance of coming back with good footage.

Focusing forward this task was very beneficial to giving us an exact idea of what we need to film for our narrative shoot and a structure of the precise shots we want of the model for each scene.

Our first performance shoot location was a storage warehouse which we were allowed to use as it gave the impression of a run down tired barn setting that our model lived in. This suited our narrative as the star lives alone without her mother so this beaten up house gave the ideal setting for our first shoot. We focused on getting lip sync footage using make up effects such as mascara running down the models face to create a sorrow but dramatic appearance.

We also got some footage in my room using my red LED lights lip syncing for the hallucination scenes of our song (chorus). For these scenes we used euphoric makeup such as gems and eyeliner to create a more presentable and preteen look on our model.

I am happy with how our first performance shoot went overall as we managed to get a range of shots focusing on close ups due to these scenes prominently being lip sync and I think that we worked hard to ensure we had the best costumes and makeup for that shot.

what went well –

• our costume and makeup for our model went really well and how we wanted it to
• we used a variety of shots including close ups, mid shots and low angles
• our location was perfect for the narrative and scene we are trying to portray

what could have been better –

• we ended up shooting the same line quite a few times over and therefore didn’t get a lot of footage for the rest of the song
• we need to shoot the whole song through in a variety of backgrounds so that we have the whole song worth of footage to edit with
• the red LED lighting made the camera quality quite bad so we could try reshooting these scenes with bright lighting and editing on red lighting effects later
• little things like hairband on wrist!!

Focusing forward we now know what we need to do better next time after looking at our footage from our first shoot. It was expected this shoot may not come out with the best footage although we now know exactly what we need to do next time so this was a successful first go.

This is our production meeting agenda which we had to complete before starting our shoot. The purpose of this was to gather our final ideas on costumes, makeup and general mise en scene for the shoot. We also decided on our final locations and recognised little things that were important to remember when and before shooting.

Production meeting agendas are key before any shoot as it makes sure we are as organised as possible before trying to film so that our footage turns out the best way.

Before doing our shoot we had to complete a risk assessment to identify potential risks that could occur whilst we are out filming. For example we recognised that we need a lifeguard if we wish to use a pool for filming. We all signed the document so that our teacher knows we are aware of the risks and can allow us to go ahead with filming.

Here we created a mood board for the star of our song. We actually decided to use a different artists, Bru C, who produces similar music to our chosen song as our artists is not very well known and therefore we struggled to find enough media coverage surrounding her to make a mood board. By using a different artist we were able to understand the task more and create a better image surrounding how a star is portrayed in the media.

This task helps us think about how we want our star to be portrayed in the video which can be very much determined by use of mise en scene. Looking at how we describe this well known artist simply from his social medias and media coverage can help us see how we need to portray our star to get the desired look across to our audience. For example we picked up that Bru C was cheeky and fun just from looking at this colourful outfits and poses and facial expressions in his photos. The audience should also be able to identify the genre of music from the cinematography in the music video as well as the mise en scene chosen for the star image. Editing techniques such as pace of edit can also completely change the appearance of a music video and have an affect on the aimed genre.

For our music video and chosen narrative I want our star to be presented as a lonely, sad and drained image as our storyline is quite sad and distressing. This contracts the image that we found Bru C presents through his social media and music although showed us that these emotions can be shown through facial expressions, body language and the correct use of mise en scene. Our song is EDM which is generally associated with cheerful and uplifting music although this contrast with the nature of our chosen song as the words are quite deep and therefore we are matching our star more to the lyrics rather than the genre.

For the digital and social media page I think it is important that our star is presented as someone relatable and approachable to her fans and someone who can be seen to help people going through similar situations that are presented in our music video. It is important that our star is presented as the same person across al platforms including her music, social media and magazine. Our audience need to see the same image and personality being displayed across all products in order to feel connected and related to the artist/

This task was helpful before deciding on our final mise en scene as it helped us recognize the importance of not only costume and body language and how that presents the star but also how the star is presented through social media and what personalities and opinions can be gathered from that.

Here we performed our music video idea to Miss in order to gather some feedback about our narrative and overall ideas and give us an idea of what we still need to think about and change.

positives 

• LED lighting scenes will be effective
• our model already knows the lyrics which is a advantage
• our narrative some what follows the lyrics of the song making it an amplified music video and may make it easier to follow

targets to consider 

• make sure we plan properly as our narrative and performance are merged together and they do need to be told apart from each other to be effective
• make sure we use a variety of angles when filming especially in studio filming so that It is not boring
• have the model looking into the camera for interaction but also away from the camera to give different depths of eye contact
• make sure our narrative is completely clear and we understand how we are going to show the mother within the narrative

This task was definitely useful as it made it clear to us what we still need to work on and ensure that our narrative actually makes sense and is properly planned out.

In order to use our chosen song, Low Down, we had to ask permission from the artist.

Here is a screenshot of Lani asking permission from Erin Venbee, the artist, if we can use her song in our music video for educational purposes. This is important to avoid copyright and the chances of being charged for using this song without permission.

Final song :

After doing all of our own individual pitches and ideas for a music video, we then came together in our groups and shared our ideas with our team so that we could decide together on a final song and narrative. The aim was to include ideas from everyones pitch and we did this successfully.

We ended up deciding on the song which Lani initially pitched and then used a combination of all our narratives and performance ideas to come up with out final plan.

We decided on low down as a song as it was best suited for the narrative which we wanted to go for and also fit best with our idea of how we want our star to be portrayed in our music video.

Above is our team agreement which we did as a group, this is important before we start planning our music video as it makes it clear how we can distribute the roles evenly within our group and prevent disagreements when producing our music video. This is important for our communication, organisation and delegation without our group.

It also allows us to have something to look back on and see what we have agreed to before we started the music video.

Reflection

Here I have created a mini pitch to present to my group about my ideas for our music video. It includes my song idea aswell as my narrative and performance ideas to go with my song.

I embedded to lyric video of my song In order to not give people a vision of the existing music video so that they can just envision my narrative with the song and focus more on the vibe and words in the song.

The synesthetic world cloud helped me pick out elements and get an idea of the song and what it feels and looks like just by listening to it.

I also have visions about editing including editing the clips to the beat and looking at pace of edit to reflect tense or dramatic situations going on.

RUNAWAY – this video is amplified but also illustrated as AURORA is the main star image in the video creating a story through lip syncing the song. The narrative is linear as it is based around feeling the words in the song. The chosen mise en scene  portrays that she is running away from pain and now trapped in harsh landscapes in a lonely circle. She was in search of a soft happy place but her energy gives the adrenaline of escaping or running away from danger, pain or even loss and shows how she is a lost in a world that she doesn’t know. I think this music video is powerful as it is a performance of the song with the use of lip syncing to act like the model screaming through these empty landscapes.

WILDEST DREAMS –  this narrative is a linear amplification of the song as the story is presented in chronicle order, Taylor Swift is the main star image and has use lip sync to give emotion through the video and tell the story through her lyrics. The story behind this follows the lyrics as it shows Taylor filming a video with a man who she falls in love with and then has dreams about him. The video ends when Taylor attends the awards at the end of the film production where she then sees the man she is in love with alongside his wife so remembers their love was only meant to be pretend in the film. The ending puts her dream of love in reality that their romance is not real.

LOCKED AWAY – This music video is an episodic illustration as it contains multiple different clips of stories from separate families. It presents situations of family being split apart through war or offences or money problems. At the beginning of the narrative there are sirens and a clip of cops arresting a girl before the music starts, this introduces the story before the song has even begun. The video is edited well switching between clips of fighting and also includes some slo-mo scenes to make the fighting and emotion more powerful.  Although this is also a combination music video as it keeps switching to the artist lip syncing throughout the video. I think this music video makes the song even more powerful than it already is and is emotional to watch.

My narratives 

Poisoned Love – a girl completely in love with her boyfriend living in her dream world, finds herself poisoned after a night out only to find it’s her love that is poisoned and her world with her boyfriend turns upside down as she finds herself drawn to his best friend through poison.

Drugged up – A girl trapped in a circle of loneliness with her drugged psycho parents, she’s never seen the outside world but through online dating she’s soon to meets someone who will change that.

Hallucinations – A boy with a lifetime illness involved with hallucinations feels like he is living in the past with continuous flashbacks finds himself involved with drugs which turns out to be his only way to reality and way of escaping.

Reflection

This task was important to be able to analyze key elements of music videos such as if the structure is linear, episodic,  thematic or anachronic and the narrative is illustrative, disjunctive or amplified. I was also watching the videos to try and understand the meaning of the story behind the video.

This task helped give me ideas and inspiration for when creating my own story and meaning behind my music video.

The second task I did in this was to actually come up with my own mini narratives which can be explained in a few sentences but would work to be extended into a video.

Here I was watching previous student work in order to peer assess and help understand the standard of work I need to aim to produce when making my own music video. By deconstructing various professional music videos and these student music videos I notice that all music videos share the same conventions including being narrative or performance as well as the the use of mise en scene and lip sync

Reflection of overall music video

• The performance of the music video very much reflects the genre of the song
• The MES perfectly demonstrates the desired genre and emotions which are portrayed through the song
• There are a wide range of shots used which are appropriate to the narrative
• Overall the lip syncing of the performance is well executed
• There have been some good edits and cute which fit with the narrative

By deconstructing these students work I have been able to identify what they have done well and what isn’t so successful which will help me when planning my own music video. I can recognise the importance of MES in music videos and how strongly they back up the genre which is being portrayed in the video.

Analysing these videos made me watch them thoroughly to see whether they met the desired success criteria, I was specifically focusing on the use of mise en scene, star image, camera shots and editing skills. 

Above shows my research that I did looking into conventions of good successful music videos. I deconstructed different types for example a performance based one and a narrative based as well as a combination video, this was important as it taught me how to decode all different types of videos.

Music videos are a key part of promoting an artists music and therefore them being the main star image in their own music video can enhance their recognition as they can then be recognised as the artist, this is common in performance and combination music videos. When pulling apart these videos I started by focusing on the MES used and seeing how it was or wasn’t related to the genre and overall narrative of the music video. I then spoke about the themes and meaning behind the video depending on whether it was narrative or performance based. In narrative videos I identified whether it was made to be a illustration, amplification or disjunctive – meaning the story in the music video is mirrors the lyrics, has a link. but also another complicated element in the story or is completely separate from the story told in the song .

Focusing Forward

This task helped me to think about important elements of a music video and what is successful but also what didn’t work so well even in these famous music videos. I now understand the importance of music videos more and the difference between performance, combination and narrative.