Rough Cut

Self Assessment

This first draft of the music video in my opinion is decent but the whole presentation of the narrative could be much better and more effective. The flow of the narrative is not as smooth as I was hoping for as the shots sometimes do not line up with the narrative, the use of different shots could be explored more in the final video to give a stronger effect. The incorporation of the photos in the video give a strong effect and contrast to the lightness of the shots on the stairs, making the video more intense and sharp. There needs to be a stronger sense of journey and failure within the video and it show clearly show how the girl is getting progressively more worn out as she begins to struggle with going up the stairs, the addition of more shots of different realistic settings will help bring the music video to life for an audience.

In the final cut of the music video we will change these aspects to make the video more effective towards a teenage audience, the interoperation of the music video is very important to give a message to the viewers. The final music video can be much more powerful than this first draft and can play with a lot more shots and editing techniques to help make it as professional as it can be, I hope that when we put together our final music video that it includes all the most vital aspects. Including editing techniques, use of different shots, a well presented narrative and gives the audience excitement and the urge to watch it again.

Targets

For the final music video the shots will need to be much more clean and the narrative will need to be clearer to the audience, the editing and sequence of shots need to be easily followed by an audience.

• deeper narrative and meaning
• still photos in black and white
• close ups with blindfold
• symbolic colours with emotions of running
• make sure shots don’t show the still and cue
• get rid of lawn mower
• do not repeat shots
• need the doors, opening and closing
• connection with life and photos
• maybe add performance of lips
• sad objects in black and white
• more upside down shots of running
• shots of someone singing

Photos

Evaluation

This shoot went really well and was very successful, we shot many types of shots and angles to display the emotions and feelings of the narrative. By using many different sets of stairs it created a sense of a never ending journey that all humans go through in life, the different venues each portrayed a contrasting feeling in the story.

From the three hours of shooting on different staircases we successfully achieved multiple different shots and angles from the vast amount of shooting we did, we ended up having around 150 videos that we can then edit and design into an effective story for a teenage demographic.

Targets

From doing this first shoot we have discovered that having smoother shots will contrast nicely to the intense fast pace movement shots from the handheld camera, more framing shots would be nice to help create the sense of entrapment and loss of freedom. When we do a second stair shot we will think about shooting these types of shots to really express the feelings of fear and the symbolism of a race in life, that all teenagers experience.

• smoother shots
• framing shots
• more intimate shots

Test Shoot

We decided to do a test shoot with the stairs to see if the idea could come out well and effectively portray the emotions we want in the music video, the results from this shoot were positive and helped our ideas to come to life. We used many types of stairs to give the effect of journey and energy, helping the emotions to come through in the shots and editing.

What went well

• many stairs used to help symbolism
• effective editing
• intimate shots of actor
• powerful shots
• shots from different angles
• sense of energy and excitement

What to improve

• use more intimate shots
• stronger sense of life
• include more symbolism

Production meeting shoot 1

Aim

The aim of this shoot is to get many shots of the girl running up the stairs to reflect the journey of life, it will show how as people get older the burdens and struggles we deal with get heavier and heavier but it is possible to come out successful.

click to see full image

Risk Assessment

We have assessed the areas wee will be shooting and have carefully thought about how we will shoot these shots for the first shoot of the stairs, we have considered what we will use and who we will need to shoot this shoot.

The actress we will be using is a media student and is allowed to be taken out during school time to shoot this music video narrativbe.

Introduction

Due to performance issues and shooting issues we were unable to find anyone to do the lip syncing for out music video, as a result we have to now shoot a 100% narrative video. Although we have developed an effective idea for our full narrative video that will work well, and have a lot of symbolism within it to connect to the target demographic.

PowerPoint

this is a powerpoint that states what we are planning to do and how we want it to be presented to an audience.

Canva Moodboard

please click on image to see full presentation

How will this help?

Canva

From doing this canva moodboard it will help to understand what audience we want to target the music video at, by having a full understanding and developed idea of the audience it can help to shape how we shoot and design the music video. The star image in our music video should accurately reflect the image Ruel upholds in the media and on stage when performing.

These images and shots of how Ruel is portrayed to the media and in music videos will effect how we design the image of our star connote specific aspects of the performer. From these images the star image will be quite casual but stylish, he should appear to be a classic image of a teenage boy, so that makes him very relatable to the audience and connects them to him.

Padlet

The shots in the padlet from the music video used to portray Ruel are very simple shots, but they are very effective when it comes to portraying him in a positive manner that appeals to the target audience of teen girls. Depending on the concept and design of the video the use of shot differs but one shot is constantly used, this is the close up shot to give a visual image of Ruel to the audience and sell his star image.

Star Image

The star image of an artist is vital for success in the music industry as it is how that singer is portrayed to the audience, the theory from Dyer of the star image states that to be a successful artist you have to have an appealing star image in the media and on stage when performing. Dyer says that you need to be able to sell an artists image to a specific demographic for income and to build a new star in the crowded music industry, when designing our own star for the music video we want him to be connected to the audience he aims towards and needs to be visually attractive to help the attraction of an audience.

From the research about the artist Ruel, as a teenage male singer his biggest demographic are teenage girls as they feel the most connected to him due to age and star image in the media, as a target audience they are connected to the artist mostly through social media and technology. As the influence of social media is getting larger everyday the importance of Ruel to use these platforms of media to connect to his audience is very important, this will reflect on how we want to design our music video and the star image to target it to teenage girls through the media.

Focusing forward

Focusing forward when doing the music video we want to design the singer and performer to have a teenage image of a boy that appeals to the audience of teenage girls, from the research I have done about Ruel he has a close relationship with his audience due to his young age. In most of his music videos he is portrayed by simple shots in a simple narrative but that then makes him more realistic as an artist and does not place him very highly above audiences so they can find it easier to connect with him.

Padlet of Shots

List of shots

• Establishing shot
• long shot
• close up shot
• extreme close up shot
• pan
• pov shot
• aerial shot
• low angle shot

Analysis

From looking at the music videos of Ruel’s music and Shawn Mendes’ music, they are very similar with how the stars are portrayed to the audience, both artists appear to be very appealing to a female audience and their music relates to the artists star image. The genres of both artists is pop and R&B music which is connoted through the music video styles, the simplicity of shots used in Ruel’s music videos and the repertoire of elements allows the main focus to be consuming the star image of the singer and understand the lyrics of the song connecting the audience to Ruel. Shawn Mendes tends to develop the narrative more through the use of shots to emphasise an emotion or feelings making the audience connect with him through emotion, the genre of his music is clearly seen through his style of music videos that are normally very sentimental and reflects the R&B music style.

It is very important to understand the conventions of the genre so when it comes to creating the music video we can properly understand how different and specific shots work to portray the artist in a way that appeals to the target demographic. The video we are planning to create needs to be different but the same as it needs to stand out from the other videos like it but needs to easily recognised as a specific genre, although the video needs to be seen as a genre such a pop through the mise en scene and editing it should perhaps display a different narrative to the audience allowing for something new.

Permission

I sent this message to Ruel via Instagram asking for the rights to use his song for the music video, primarily for educational purposes so that we do not get copy righted.

Final Pitch

Feedback

Positives

• has a good narrative
• simple and effective
• relates to the target audience
• a powerful video idea
• dark tones from lighter tones
• developed and interesting narrative
• idea of shots is good
• idea of production plan is good

Targets

• add a stronger sense of symbolism
• categorize it into a thriller of obsession
• make it more relatable to the audience
• bigger sense of obsession
• reflect how people are blind to reality
• images of facial features to connote virtual image
• develop the narrative
• keep audience demographic in mind