This week, we were lucky enough to have people from the Specsavers creative team visit our class and give us some feedback on our music videos. They have lots of experience in this field so hearing their constructive criticism was very helpful.

Draft 2 Specsavers feedback:

• Our narrative was too long, we need to cut the performance shoot more often
• Create a very clear transition between before and after they change outfits. Make it extremely obvious that they have changed from dull office wear into indie grudge outfits
• We should make the footage from before the change of clothes black and white or less saturated.

They also showed us the colour preset feature on premier pro, which we used to test out their advice on changing the colours before the change of clothes to black and white.

Above is our second draft for the music video. In order, to make some improvements we filled out a self assessment and received some good feedback from our teacher.

Self Assessment 

What went well:

• The mise en scene used in both shoots clearly coveys the genre of indie grunge, through our stars dark clothing, makeup and excessive amount of jewellery
• The editing at the beginning of the music video is fast past and highlights our stars importance by implying that she is newly famous and getting used to this kind of lifestyle
• Microphone used as a prop helps to emphasise that our star is being interviewed on the red carpet as she is getting bombarded with paparazzi.
• The footage that we have is all exquisite and we have enough of it to convey our narrative

What to improve on in the future:

• I don’t think we got enough close ups in the narrative. Close ups are important especially in boy girl music videos because they help to create affection between the pair.
• The editing is not to the beat, which is something that will take a while but we will ensure to include in the future
• We do not have any special effects included in our video so far. This is important and something we need to look at when we come to do our next drafts if we want to achieve the best grade possible.
• The narrative appears as though it has no proper storyline behind it. We need to make sure that we edit our narrative footage to show that their is a storyline behind it

Teacher Feedback:

• Erase the head-bopping- it looks unnatural.
• Narrative footage is too long
• Include more close ups, and a variety of different shots and angles

We shot our narrative on the grounds at saumarez park. In the performance shoot I was the only person who was featured, however for this shoot we had another person.

What went well:

• The scenery was perfect and helped us to reinforce the mes, as well as highlighting the storyline.
• We got some really good, detailed shots from a variety of different angles
• We got a variety of different scenes and all of the footage is in focus so there is no need to reshoot, like we had to do with the performance
• The outfits that the stars both wore were good and help to convey their transition from plain to punk

What could be improved:

• In one particular scene when I removed the magazine from my face to reveal my outfit change I didn’t completely remove the magazine from the shot so you can’t see my full outfit
• In the background of one of the shots you could see our bags and clothes which isn’t very appealing
• The storyline, is slightly unclear and we need to work on our story

Pls click image for pdf.

In order to prevent any complications for our shoot it is very important to have a specific agenda with everything from timing and locations to mes en scene planned out. This agenda is helpful because it is our groups check list to create the right representative for our star image and also allows our teacher to understand what we are trying to achieve.

One important thing to remember when planning on telling a story through the narrative is to use a variety of different shots that will express meaning and emotion through them but also help the audience to understand the narrative sense.

In order to do this, my group and I created a ‘narrative photoboard’ which includes a variety of shot distances and sequences that we will take at the location shoots. The shots that we will be using include:

• Low angle
• Eyeline match
• Ped
• Pan
• Match-on-action
• High angle
• Two shot
• Cut to close up
• Close up
• Wide shot
• Extreme long shot
• Medium close up

Creating a storyboard and putting together a variety of different shots that we will be using will be extremely helpful when it comes to the filming of the shoots because we are able ensure that are audience stay entertained throughout the entire music video. The variety of different shots also makes it easier for us to convey the narrative themes to our target audience. For example, the wide shot of the pair dancing freely will show how far their relationship has developed and how much more confident they’ve become around each other.

Above is the rough cut from the performance shoot.

What went well:

• The mise-en-scene was perfect. The outfit, hair, makeup, jewellery and props all help to convey our indie star image. One thing in particular I like is the huge leopard print bow on the star’s head, it is good because it stands out and highlights to the audience how bold she is.
• The camera flashes that seem like paparazzi emphasise that our star is like a celebrity.
• The bold expressions on the star’s face highlight to the audience that she is very much aware of who she is and her stardom
• The editing is swift and the variety of shots and positions that the star appears allows an audience ton stay entertained

We decided to shoot our performance during lunch time in the Black studio. My group consists of just Henry and I, and I am in the music video. So I had the job of being the star image and expressing all of the elements of a quirky, rebellious character.

What went well:

• We got some really good, unique shots such as a pan shot.
• We were organised and remembered to bring all of the correct props, costumes and makeup in order to convey our star image
• The studio was exactly what we wanted, the black backgrounds help to emphasise our punky and gothic themes.
• The mise-en-scene was perfect and enabled our star to look like a grungy superstar

What could be improved:

• Some of the footage appeared to be fuzzy and out of focus when looking back on it
• We filmed all 4 minutes of footage for every shot we did, which was a mistake because it didn’t allow for our star to take a break or catch their breath
• We didn’t get any close ups or extreme close ups, which would be a perfect shot to highlight the star’s emotion

Overall I feel as though the first performance shoot went quite well as we were able to shoot some good shots and get some good angles.  Focusing forward, my group and I have decided to we will be doing a reshoot so that we can include all of the shots we missed and depict the star image as a moody and punk character.

In order for the performance shoot to run smoothly we need to be organised and plan out every little detail. We planned out everything in this table from the timings that we will be shooting to the outfits and props we will be using. This reminded the group what to expect and reinforced the mise en scene that our star image will express. One thing the group need to remember when shooting is to check the background and ensure that there is nothing distracting such as rubbish or a car that hasn’t been put there on purpose so that our genre can clearly be portrayed to the audience. This should be easy to remember because we are shooting in the black studio, however when it comes to our second shoot, the narrative, this may be more challenging as we are filming in public.

Our shoot on Thursday cannot be done with a risk assessment, as they are essential to ensure key health and safety. They create awareness for any hazards, providing control.