Category: Music video

Below is our final draft of my group and I’s music video, ‘THE BEST YOU HAD’. We have used the reflection from our previous draft to improve on our music video from various feedback from peers and our teacher. There are a few big changes within this video, for example half way through editing we realised we didn’t have enough shots of the couples together, this meant we had to change and reshoot our model to ensure we are portraying the narrative and our star correctly, and in a way that is clearly understood by our audience. Throughout our music video, are star is presented as an  ordinary (Dyer) character who is heartbroken after her relationship comes to an end, this is a relatable aspect of our music video and helps the audience understand how the star is really feeling. Her extraordinary side does appear appear, as Dyer states this is crucial in the creation of a successful music video. Each shot captured and included in our music video consisted of the technical conventions and a blueprint (Altman) to ensure our genre is recognisable.

As a group, we are really happy with the outcome despite the last minute changes we had to make, however this proves that we can work efficiently under pressure. As a whole we feel we have best portrayed our star and narrative whilst keeping to a running, coherent theme of the pearl necklace throughout our products. The only element we are disappointed with is the black and white jump cut as from feedback we found that it was difficult to determine between the two girls. We managed to work around this and ensured it was edited as well as we could to the best of our ability.

This is our fourth draft of our music video. We have used the screencastify from our previous draft to improve on our video and include any suggestions made from our teacher to ensure our music video is edited to it’s full potential in order to convey our narrative.

To assess our draft four, we partnered up with a media student from another class to give peer assessment feedback on our music video, I then gave feedback on theirs. Having another media student watch our music video with fresh eyes allows us to correct out any errors we may have as well us having new ideas on how we can finalise our music video.

Peer Feedback 1;

Peer Feedback Two;

Peer Feedback Three;

 

In particular, we will ensure close up shots are shown throughout so that the lip syncing is clearly visible, allow the black and white filter to make better sense to others and ensure the story is being conveyed in the right way and check that all clips are completely lined up and synced correctly with one another.

This feedback has given my group and I the knowledge we needed in particular areas of our music video, the opinions and advice we have gained allows us to enhance our clips and editorial skills to create a slick final draft.

Above is our complete draft 3 of our music video. his draft contains our new footage of James, instead of Ewan, as well as new clips inserted in different places. We still have a few gaps however with our extra footage we can sort that easily. There are still a few clips out of sync which need to be altered but keeping in mind that we need to be editing to the beat. When editing our draft 3 we used the feedback from both our teachers comments as well as the creative designers from Specsavers to further improve on our work.

Specsavers Feedback:

• Stabilise first, opening clip so that it’s no longer shaky
• Making sure we are editing to the beat so that each clip flows smoothly onto the next whilst fitting to the style of the song
• Relating our narrative clips to our performance allowing them to tell the exact story intended to our audience
• Zoom in on our model in the performance clips more to give a more personal, engaging feel, this allows the audience to understand who our models are and there intentions throughout the music video
• Shorten some of the performance clips as they are too lengthly

Teacher’s Feedback- Screencastify:

Our Media teacher, Mrs Cobb watched through our draft 3 of our music video and then recorded a screencastify regarding her thoughts and opinions on our work. She gave both her likes and dislikes which would support us in improving our music video further.

Feedback from our teacher:

What worked well:

• Opening clip, panning into the song
• Black and white clips of James and his ex
• Narrative shots of the couples
• Performance shots, keeping eye contact with the camera
• Close up narrative shots, very engaging
• How obvious the narrative shot of the couple walking on the beach, then being noticed by his ex

What we can improve on:

• Stabilising first clip
• Potential split screen where we have the jump cut
• Use more close up clips so that the audience can engage more
• Allow both the ladies to look more unlike each other so it is easier to understand who is who
• When putting pearl necklace on, jump back to the opposite point of view
• Add more slow motion clips to add a sense of meaning
• Adjust our narrative jump cut by having 2 clips out of the 4 being longer than the others so that it works well with the edit of the song

To further succeed our music video we are going to amend all of the above as best we can and take on all advice given, in particular we re going to stabilise the first clip and make sure slow down a variety of clips to portray a sense of meaning so the audience understand the narrative clearly.

Below I have inserted images from out narrative reshoot. As a group we attended the same locations we went to previously in order to get the correct footage we needed. These locations included Saints Bay Harbour, Fort Hommet, Le Guet and Cobo Beach. At each location we ensured we had a generous amount of footage capturing the scenery with our models, we did this just incase some clips weren’t usable. Each location was conventional to our video, including meticulous lighting and attention to detail.

As a whole, we feel the narrative reshoot was the right approach to take in order to make our music video the best it can be. We came way with more successful footage which linked better to our narrative and helped conveyed the story we planned. These clips will be inserted into our draft three and edited correctly to the beat.

This is our risk assessment for our narrative reshoot. We used the exact same locations as our previous shoot, meaning we did not have to change any key elements. It was crucial that we all signed this sheet again to ensure each of us knew exactly what to do and understood how to avoid any risks we may have.

  

Below I have embedded the second draft of our music video.

This is our music video self assessment sheet;

 

What has worked:

• A variety of shots used such as close up, long shot, low and high shots and mid shots to convey meaning and representation throughout
• Editing to the beat is effective with the lyrics lining up
• The final, black and white clip fades to black to represent the ending of a relationship
• The performance jump cut

What needs improving:

• Add more extreme close up’s of the couple, for example holding hands
• Include and reshoot more narrative clips so there is more of a variety of performance and narrative clips
• Need to adjust the performance clips as some of them are too lengthly regarding singing
• Add more transitions and edits as this will make the music video more creative and interesting as well as emphasising the change in scenery between each clip

Teacher feedback:

• Opening clip to be more close up to our model as she’s singing
• To include more front view clips of our couple so the audience understand who they are
• Close up of each individual hug to show the intimacy between the couples
• Close up shot of Evelyn singing, not too long
• POV on the swing to support in establishing the relationship
• Long performance shots
• Add in more narrative clips to break up the singing
• Add in scale and position throughout the clips to change the dynamic of the video

As a group we visited various, different locations for our narrative shoot. this includes the Saints Bay Harbour, Le Guet, Fort Hommet and finally Vazon Beach, we then filmed a few scenes in Evelyn’s bedroom where she was already dressed with makeup and hair completed as this makes it easier for us in the long run as it allows us to see the positives and negatives and to then focus on upcoming aspects of the video, it’s also helpful knowing we have that footage and can change or reshoot if we need. The aim was to find the best lighting we could that was fitted which each clip, for example Vazon Beach for high key lighting and Evelyn’s bedroom for low key lighting, this ensures we get the best angles and shots we can. This really helps to convey the genre of our music video as well as keeping it conventional to our narrative.

Below I have inserted process images from the shoot:

     

What went well:

• We were able to use a wide range of shots and angles
• We were able to use a tracking shot of both couples together holding hands
• All our shots were in focus and clear
• We conveyed the narrative and genre well during our clips

What we could’ve improved on:

• Ensuring the camera’s battery is fulled charged and that we have spares incase
• Add a few more bold accessories to our models outfits
• Have accurate, planned shots that we want to achieve at particular locations so that we know exactly what we are doing

Overall, Evelyn, Evie and I are pleased with the footage we have, we managed to attend every location we had planned and left with generous amounts of footage from each. We took the skills we learnt from the performance shoots and used and enhanced them during the narrative shoot allowing us to come away with necessary elements from a successful day of filming.

This is our Production Meeting Agenda for our Narrative Shoot. We have ensured we have filled everything in including locations, models, equipment and filming times, our media teacher then signs it off when she is happy as well as my group and I’s signatures.

Evelyn, Evie and I put together a story board containing ideas of conventional angles/shots for our narrative shoot, we then included the narrative outline where we explained how and why we will be using a variety of shot distances and reaction shots. We have included multiple locations with a specific narrative outline on each slide, this way we know exactly what we need to achieve in order to create a successful music video. This was very useful as it allowed us to save time for future filming as all our ideas are written in one place meaning we won’t forget any shots or locations we wanted to use.