What Music Means To Me

My Childhood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OipmKFDeM&safe=active


Early Teens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSLv68OHGWY


Now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcrbM1l_BoI

Music Video Prelim Evaluation

1. Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?

- I really enjoyed the workshop day. I loved being able to be in front of the camera for a change, and experience how the actors would feel. It was interesting to be able to see a semi-professional shoot in action, and all the different elements coming together. It really helped me to realise that this is definitely what I want to do in the future. One of my favourite parts was the end dance routine, where everyone came together to perform. I also loved shadowing the director, doing playback (showing the actors the shots they were about to perform) and cable bashing as I really felt like part of the team.

2. What have you learnt from participating in each of the prelim tasks?

- I learnt many things throughout the whole process of this music video recreation. The first task was analysing a music video. I chose Beautiful Liar by Shakira and Beyonce and this helped me to study the lip-sync more closely, see discontinuous editing in action and understand the other conventions of performance music videos.
- The next prelim task was the audition video. This really helped to get all the performance nerves out of the way early. We realised that we had to be confident performers for the final video to look as professional.
- Once we were given our parts we had to learn the performance. Tasha, a year 13 with dance experience taught us the dance. It took a lot of concentration and practise and I learnt how much time and effort needs to go in before the actual shoot day. As soon as one person went wrong in the dance, the whole shot would look bad, so we needed to concentrate individually.
- Planning and organising costume was a particular example of where we learnt the importance of teamwork.  We all brought in clothes and lent them to each-other. Although costume may seem like a minor part, this was the point at which we realised how important it is. Once a costume was accurate and complete, everything looked better and it felt like things were starting to come together.
- One Day Workshop. The things I learnt which stand out are the importance of pre-planning for the actual shoot, and the amount of shots and set-ups that are needed to make a music video look professional and interesting. Without all the highly organised pre-production, the shoot would never have come together as successfully as it did. Records and paperwork are of the utmost importance. I also learnt that there were many specific roles and jobs for the people in the production team and they are always stuck to.
- Workshop Edit. In the editing process, the different takes and set-ups seemed vital in make our re-make video seem interesting and bland, it also gave us a better chance of creating an exact match. It also helped me realise that timing, particularly in the dance, was of the utmost importance to get right on the day, because we were not able to re-shoot. There were many shots when the dance was wrong or actions were incomplete, and these are the shots where our edit looks less professional than intended.


3. Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look?

- I'm really pleased with how the footage looked. There were shots which didn't capture the actions in the real video exactly, but a lot of them were extremely similar. The confidence of all the performers also shines through. Our editing of the shots are very accurate and the finished product looks very professional. However, there are quite a few shots where the actions and dance moves are not particularly in time or exact   when compared with the real video. Not everything was achievable because of the day's time-limit, but if we had more time in hindsight, we could have spent more time making sure all the shots were exact. Due to the amazing lighting on the shoot day, the grading was kept to a minimum. With the low budget of the production, i'm extremely impressed with what we've achieved.


4. How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

The process has really helped me to realise how important the planning process is, so I will make sure that our group spends a lot of time an effort towards this next term. I also now see that costume and set/mise-en-scene can really take a music video from amateur to looking professional, I will therefore ensure this is planned out thoroughly. Before the shoot, I was definitely hesistant as to deciding on a studio based performance video, but after participating in this remake video I have completely changed my mind. This style is really fun and when done well, looks very professional and exciting. After playing one of the band members, I understand the pressure put on the actors when shooting, so I will ensure that they are well-treated and made to feel comfortable to maximise their energetic performances.
This prelim has really given me an insight to the work we'll need to put in to create an exceptional music video next term.

Performance Music Video Analysis

The music video I have chosen to analyse is 'Beautiful Liar' by Beyonce and Shakira.

1. There is not much of a link between the lyrics and imagery. However, the style of dancing performed by both Shakira and Beyonce fits with the style of music. The persono singing does not necessarily dictate who is in the shots on screen, but often this is the case. The colour scheme and calm nature of the video matches the style of music.

2. The performance definitely drives the music video. Both Beyonce and Shakira are very much playing up to the camera throughout the whole piece and there is never a moment when they are not in shot performing.

3. Both artists' lip syncs are maintained throughout the whole music video successfully. However, there are some point where the artists do not mime the words and are solely performing to the camera.

4. The role of the artists do not really switch, it is only artist performance. The performance in the video does not particuarly match the story being told in the lyrics in a narrative way.

5. The video includes both singing and dancing, typical of Shakira and Beyonce.

6. The interesting settings, changes in styling and constant beauty shots of the artists are definitely striking and engaging. However, compared to some of the artists' other videos, it is not as upbeat and memorable, it is all quite calm and collected.

7. Everything in the video is definitely highly stylised. Being a studio based video, there is variety in the settings and backdrops, differing for each artist. Shakira and Beyonce's outfits are constantly very flattering and work well together.

8. There is not a strong sense of development in the performance, however the artists do join together towards the shots and the end, enhancing the performance further.

9. From this music video, we get a sense of the style of artist that they both are. There are sections where Shakira is belly dancing, a common feature throughout her performances. They are both presented as beautiful and aspirational women. However, in many sections of the video, they are portrayed similarly, blurring the individuality of the two different artists.

10. I think that nearly every shot in this video could be seen as a beauty shot. Beyonce and Shakira are highly stylised throughout the whole piece and there are both CUs of their faces, and LSs to show off their figures and outfits.

11. There aren't many binary opposites as the artists are presented quite similarly throughout, however there are differences in setting. For example, Beyonce with the blue background and Shakira with the red. They both dress in black and act and dance in similar styles.

12. The editing is discontinous, cutting between shots and often going back to the same set ups.

13. I feel most of the pop culture references would come from the lyrics rather than the music video. However, the way Beyonce and Shakira move and dance is how many girls would dance now, and if not, theis would be recognisable and aspirational. Their clothing is typical of this style of video too.

14. The music video does not seem to be polysemic, as it is quite similar and simple from beginning to end.

15. The video did provoke a strong audience reaction, most probably due to the aspirational artists and their confidence throughout the video, gaining 47,903,712 views on YouTube.

Reservoir Dogs Remake

This is the video of mine and Emily Grant's edit of the title sequence from the movie Reservoir Dogs.

Homework 4 BLK - Continuity Film Clip Analysis

I chose to analyse the continuity techniques of a clip from Hairspray.

Shot/ Reverse Shot

This technique is used particularly well well Tracy is standing with Wilbur and talking to Edna. We go from a MS of the two characters, to and OTS so we can see Edna. The depth of field is extremely effective and noticeable as Tracy and Wilbur are blurry and our vision is focused on Edna. The camera takes us to exactly where we would naturally look when following someone else's conversation and the CU shots help us to form the characters emotions.

Establishing/Master Shot

The very first shot is a LS tracking around the room so the audience gets a sense on the environment the characters are in and the spacial relationship between the two of them. We can establish they are in their home and we get a sense of their personality from the cluttered environment and warm colourings.

Match on Action

All the shots flow seamlessly together and there are no radical jumps from long shots to close ups. The slight camera movement keeps the realism and helps the audience feel like they're there. Everything has a logical order and framing and the clip's matches on action are perfect. One spot where it stood out was when Tracy turns round and says "I don't wanna be a laundress, I wanna be famous!". The camera switches from facing her front, to facing her back ready for her to turn around, and the timing has been executed flawlessly.

Dexter Title Sequence Re-Edit - Evaluation

1. Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task

• Titles with the names of the cast (and crew)
• A font and colour theme appropriate to the genre

2. How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (consider timings, industry requirements etc)

Firstly, we decided to watch the clip through and work out where there were appropriate places to place titles. We searched for shots with open spaces or simple action. We chose a white colour for our 'Insomnia' font because it was the most legible on all the shots and fit in well with the Crime Drama genre. We thought this would be an important industry requirement. We ensured the same font and colour was used throughout the whole sequence for continuity, and that the names of the actors came first and then the director for a longer time at the end. After watching other opening sequences, we realised this was a common occurrence. We decided on the names quite randomly but also included our own names!

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group. 

• Using a white font to increase legibility
• Using the 'Insomnia' font to portray the theme
• Putting effects on the titles to match the action in the shots

4. How does your re-edit compare to the original?

Our re-edit was quite different to the original! Their font was a lot more basic and deep red in colour, which was synergetic with the DEXTER title at the beginning. Their titles matched the action in the shots a lot better than our attempt did, but we had the same idea. Some of our titles could have been longer too, so they were easier to read. We mainly included the names of the actors, and the original also included the majority of the production team too! We had fewer titles, about half the amount they did. In hindsight, I feel that we could have included more. We decided to leave the interesting looking shots untouched, whereas in the original, there is practically no point without a title. 

Preliminary Exercise - Evaluation

For our preliminary exercise, we were given the task of producing a continuity clip, filming and editing a character opening a door, entering a room and exchanging some lines of dialogue with another character. It had to demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked in a group of three with Emily and Anna during the preliminary exercise. As we only need two characters, they both took up the roles and I alternated between directing, shooting and organising the lighting. When either Emily or Anna weren't in a shot, they filled in another production role alongside me. We worked well together, especially in terms of the sharing of roles. 

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

We began planning our sequence by brainstorming some ideas. We thought about what genre we wanted to portray and a clear narrative that we could capture in a short amount of time. We orignally wanted to do a 'Mean Girls'-esque High School rom-com, but we realised that by doing a thriller, we could showcase our skills more effectively. We then began to script our task to ensure we included the lines of dialogues which we could shoot with the shot/reverse shot technique. After deciding on the preferred location for our piece, we made a story-board followed by a shot-list to work out the logistics of the filming. We did not create a title for our film until the editing stage. During the planning stage we didn't have any inspiration and thought that getting a narrative was more important. After watching our final product, we realised that 'Withheld' was a suitable title. Emily's character is withholding information, as well as literally being withheld in this small enclosed space.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? 

We planned all of our task using lined paper and sugar paper, we found it easier when we could see all of our ideas on a page in front of us. We filmed our clip using Canon DV30s and tripods, and for the majority of the shot we needed to use a paglight. Our location was the small  and rather dark edit suite, so further lighting was needed. After capturing all the footage we needed, we edited using Adobe Premier Pro, which allowed us to cut our clips up, and sequence them. 

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

When planning, shooting and editing, there were lots of things we had to take in account. For example, the locations that were available to us. Due to the fact we were shooting in school, during school-hours, we had limited setting to use: outside, or the media block. A few other groups were shooting their preliminary exercise at the same time and had the same issues, so we also had to share locations. We had a limited amount of time (1 hour each for planning, shooting and editing) so we had to take this into account too when planning how many shots we  had and the sharing of locations. We had to consider the lighting and weather, so we shot indoors and organised a paglight to help brighten the dark edit suite in our scene. 

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/ do differently?

I think we effectively included all the required processes and conveyed our genre really well in a short space of time. We were creative with our ambitions of what we wanted to do and overcame issues along the way, for example the lack of good lighting. We varied our shots well and created realistic matches on action with the walking to and opening of the door. We worked well as a team and took planning very seriously and eachother's ideas into account. We decided to rehearse our sequence and take photographs so we'd have an idea of what each shot would look like, this worked incredibly well. I think that our final outcome was well edited and we had aimed to edit in a frenzied way to match our thriller genre. In hindsight, I feel that we could have made it a bit longer and varied the shots even further. We could have used more ECUs and odd camera movements to distort the vision of the audience, which is a convention of many thrillers. We also filmed some shots as handheld OTS, but only in the editing stage did we realise that the tripod had been left slightly in shot, so they were unusable.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

  I have learnt about the importance of planning and how to overcome difficulties you may face when shooting. There was a lot to learn in regards to the whole aspect of continuity that you might not think to consider when shooting. It will definitely be significant in every aspect of filming. Any form of film sequence needs continuity, otherwise things will not seem realistic or make sense for the viewer.

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