In this post I will be deconstructing and analysing a previous students music video against the level ladder. This task has given me the ability to see what is possible and achievable in the short amount of time that I will have to create my own music video. Below is the video of the music video that I have chosen to compare against the level ladder and the comparison.

Here is my evaluation of the music video using the level ladder:

Holding a shot steady

All of the shots that required steadiness were held steady. The only unsteady shots were in fight scenes. For example in the first outdoor fight scene that took place in a field. These unsteady shots seemed to be deliberate as they added to the motion of the scene and worked well. Overall for shot steadiness I would give the video a level 4.

Framing a shot

The Framing of all of the shots was very good. Everything was always made clear and nothing was cut out. Key points in the film were focused on correctly using close-ups making the whole video far more understandable. Personally I feel that the extreme close up on the females face as a POV shot from the males point of view was good as it showed her dominance over the situation. The framing was well executed throughout the whole music video and therefore I would give it a level 4.

Variety of  shot distances

A variety of shots distances were used which gave more depth to the scenes and made them far more interesting. I particularly like the long shot taken in airport before the fight scene as it introduced the audience to the new setting perfectly. Level 4.

Appropriate to task 

 

Mise-en-scene selection

I feel that the colours used in the mise-en-scene worked perfectly. The complete outfits worked very well and fit the characters that the performers were playing. In particular I liked the mid/close-up performance scenes where they has paint on their faces because it was dynamic, interesting and engaging. Personally I would again give the mise-en-scene for the music video a lower level 4. (Lower level 4 because one of the settings for the fight scene was just a plain field and a better location could have been sought out to make that particular part of the narrative more interesting.)

Editing for meaning 

The narrative made complete sense. It had a beginning middle and end. It started out showing that you were going into a video game, then it showed the play of the video game all the way through to the final round where you saw the winner. Finally, it showed the video game ending and the than the video game in the room again to place the audience back where they started. All of the editing was to the beat and it was easy to watch and understand. I would definitely give this a level 4.

Shot transitions

The music video contained some very good shot transitions. For example when Isaac threw the stick in the final fight scene a very good shot transition was used to show the final destination of the stick. All of the shot transitions made complete sense and added well to the narrative of the music video so I would level this a level 4.

Sound with images

The editing was done to the beat which made the video far easier to watch and made it run far more smoothly. I would level this again a level 4.

Using titles

For use of titles, I would level a lever 4. This is because I feel that the use of titles to separate the music video into sections like a game added to the feel of the overall music video and gave it a far more game like feel. In particular I liked the final title that said the leaderboard scores as I felt it was a nice way to close off the video ending it the same way an arcade game would.