Question 1

Evaluation

My brief for my coursework was to complete a music video of any genre and to use an artists song for my music video. I needed to get permission for this which we asked by email to the record label. I then took inspiration from many different music videos which were similar. In our group there is myself, Drew Wyllie, Georgia Crandon and Jenna Van Bergen. My group and I came up with many ideas for our music video although we preferred Nina Nesbitt's song 'The Apple Tree'. I like this song as it has ba good beat and has lyrics which have worked well which our ideas. My role in the group was helping to film at various locations, helping to choose locations to film and also giving ideas for our group to use to make the best music video we can. I learnt how to work well in a group, how different camera shots can portray different things and how lighting can change the appearance of the footage being filmed for the audience.My group and I worked well together, if there was a problem with filming we all felt comfortable to rearrange the day and worked well together to get the best footage for the music video. I think we made a successful music video with both filming and editing for our music video and made it suit the genre so that the audience can recognise it during the first few seconds watching it.

A music video is a video that is the length of a song and has connections between the lyrics of the song, the props, costumes and setting in a music video. This advertises their song or album and with a good music video which touches the audience may get them notices and more fans would want to buy the album. As their are many different genres the difference between the genre of a song is related to the music videos, as with an R&B song like the artist Drake in 'The Motto' he shows off his clothes wearing rolex's and other expensive clothing. We also see a lot of women who seem to be dressed in minimal clothing and Drake himself is filmed in an expensive car. This is conventional for videos that are in the R&B genre, whereas other artists, such as Justin Bieber who in his song 'Beauty and a Beat' which appeals to a younger audience, is at a water park with both boys and girls appearing to be having a good time. This is conventional for a pop song and where the audience if young as you want them to enjoy the music video and understand whats happening rather than something thats too old for them. Lastly, rock which uses lots of instruments and dark clothing in their music videos to fit in with the conventions. Music videos each have a specific primary audience which they apply to in order for them to buy the song. They also get shown on different music channels, you are more likely to see a music video by rock artists on a music channel like Scuzz, which specialises in rock as a whole. MTV which has recently branched off to introduce many different channels such as MTV Hits and MTV Dance which plays similar music but are specialised to play songs which relate to their channel.

For my music video, my group and I chose a female Indie artist who follows conventions of pop and alternative. We chose this genre as we though we could have many creative ideas as she didn't have to be perfect and followz the rules of pop which has a younger audience but didn't have tot be too over the top that would start to look like more of a R&B video or rock but have a completely different sound. In my music video, my artist 'Georgia Ray' plays the guitar in the settings by the tree in the forest, this is conventional for the indie genre and will most likely be seen in every music video of the indie genre so the audience can tell they are good at playing live. we got our inspiration to have a relationship which isn't always perfect from Rihanna's music video ' We Found Love'. This showed the relationship being on both good and bad terms with a number of memories. I instantly wanted to base my music video on this. I included this in my music video by filming both Drew and Georgia in London. They seem to be having a good time while also showing their rebellious behaviour throughout. There are clips of the two in a pub also called 'The Apple Tree' this shows them enjoying each other's company. Another shot we used is where we see them in bed with Georgia looking out of the window. This shows their relationships starting to fall apart. I have followed Indie conventions in my music video by having a simple storyline. This is used a lot in Indie songs as they let the music stand out itself rather than let the video be the main aspect. We have challenged Indie conventions when styling Georgia Ray. We have chosen a lot more of a grungy style which contrasts clothes that we would expect an Indie artist to wear. Although the clothing is conventional to the location, it doesn't suit the music video. The performing section of our music video is conventional as it shows the soft side of Georgia Ray which suits the lyrics and makes us want to find out more about them both.

Final Group Digipak

Final Group Advert

Final Music Video

Question 4

Question 2

Comparison between our music video and 'Your Song' -Ellie Golding

I've decided to analyse my groups music video which is 'The Apple Tree' by Nina Nesbitt and 'Your Song' by Ellie Golding. I think our artists are similar as they both follow Indie conventions. This is shown from the true story that they use in their narrative. Ellie is filmed with her friends in the forest and with her kittens. This shows many natural sides of Ellie that her fans wouldn't necessarily see unless they were close to her. We have used a couple who have a troubled relationship, we've portrayed this by including memories to let the audience see the good times that they shared. Using memories throughout the music video allows the audience to have an insight into the artists life. This lets the audience feel like they have a closer connection to the artist, therefore buying more songs. Both my music video and Ellie's use forest scenes. This conveys to the audience that they are innocent artists. Although we see an edgy style with the way they dress. They both use bold colours such as black an dark red which portray the artist as strong. The edgy style that both the artists dress like is an Indie convention, this shows to the audience what kind of artist they are. In my music video I have used lots of high key lighting, this lets the audience see their relationship as happy and being a good couple. This is also shown in Ellie Goldings music video, as she is in the forest, she wants to let the audience see as much as they can. The editing used throughout Ellie's music video is straight cuts, which is similar to ours. She uses panning shots to capture her movements and uses lots of close ups, this again gives a more real relationship with her audience. In an Indie music video, we regularly see instruments being used, this follows the conventions of an indie music video. In my music video we have used a guitar which Georgia plays in the performance section, whereas in Ellie Goldings music video we see her friends playing the piano while Ellie sings along. This follows the conventions of the Indie genre therefore relates more to the target audience that they are aiming it for. We have chosen to have performance and narrative as 50/50 this allows their to be both the same amount of narrative that their is for performance. Ellie has also used this element in her music video using both narrative and performance at 50/50. This allows the audience to see the artist in their comfortable place with their friends and also when they performing which shows the audience what they'd be like on stage. Both of the music videos I am analysing use limited iconography, this lets the music video be simple and lets the audience focus on the song and the narrative more. Both music videos follow conventions of the Indie genre. 


True story

Forest setting

Memories

Bold clothing

Edgy style

High key lighting

Straight cuts

Piano instruments used

Red hat

Narrative and performance 50/50

Not many props

Conventional

Panning

Close ups

Question 3 video

Evaluation - Question 3

Meetings and Discussions

Where should we shoot?

-Brick Lane

-Lonely tree- high key 

-Bed

-Filming Drew filming Georgia

-Bonfire

-Council estate

What outfits should Georgia and Drew wear?

-Edgy clothing 

-Red/Claret pieces of clothing 

-Jeans

-Black

What shots should we use? 

-Close ups of both Drew and Georgia together

-Georgia playing guitar under the tree-close up of guitar and long shot showing the surrounding area

-Brick lane, having fun together-close ups of them together, mid shots, long shots

-Smoking in Brick Lane, shows rebellious behaviour- close ups of cigarette and smoke coming out

-Argument in the council estate- mid shots and long shots of them arguing and Georgia walking away

Filming Schedule

Film schedule

·       Why is a filming schedule important to have?

·       Did you follow the schedule while filming, or did you make any changes?

·       Include your filming schedule

Filming Schedule is important to have so all members in your group know when they are filming so they can make sure that they are going to be free. This also lets you know what you have filmed and then what you have to film next time. We had to make sure that we filmed everything that we was supposed to film as we may not be able to get back to the location with a lot of ease. It also made it difficult when the weather wasn't good, this would have made filming very difficult. There was occasions where we had to set a different date so we could film as with problems such as weather and the light outside. It is very important while filming a music video to make sure everything is in order as you don't want things to become complicated, many things need to be completed so when we are filming everything is ready for us to use, such as hair and makeup, costumes for Georgia, the camera and other equipment. Many filming sets were a distance away which meant we needed to organise travel and being able to take the equipment with us and bring it back. We also had to make sure that where we was filming it was easy to take props and filming equipment as we didn't want to be carrying lots and not have enough hands to carry them in, we had to make sure the area was safe and if we had to put something down someone else wouldn't pick it up. This made it crucial that every decision we made was good and that we all could help each other out making us work together better as a group. While filming the filming schedule came in use although we did change few things like times we could film, if it was too dark or if someone had an emergency. Other than this we kept to the filming schedule and it helped us remember what we needed to film and how we should fit it in. 

Evaluation Post

Explain what your brief was
Introduce your group members
Explain what your role was and what you were responsible for and what you learnt for it
Did your group work well within a group
Explain if you think you have made a successful music video and ancillary texts


Our brief for the coursework was to complete a music video of any genre and to use an artists song for our music video. We needed to get permission for this which we asked by email to the record label. We then took inspiration from many different music videos which were similar. In our group there is myself, Drew Wyllie, Georgia Crandon and Jenna Van Bergen. My role in the group was helping to film at various locations, helping too choose locations to film and also giving ideas for our group to use to make the best music video we can. I learnt how to work good in a group, how different camera shots can portray different things and how lighting can change the appearance of the footage being filmed for the audience. Our group worked well together if there was a problem with filming we all felt comfortable to rearrange the day and worked well together to get the best footage for the music video. I think we made a successful music video with both filming and editing for our music video and made it suit the genre so the audience can recognise it during the first few seconds of watching it.


A music video is a video that is the length of a song and has connections between the lyrics of the song and the props, costumes and the setting in a music video. This advertises their song or album and with a good music video which touches the audience may get them noticed and more fans would want to buy the album. As their are many different genre the difference between the genre of a song is related the music video as with a R&B song like the artist Drake in 'The Motto' he shows off his clothes wearing rolexs and other expensive clothing, we also see lots of women who seem to be dressed in minimal clothing and Drake himself is filmed in an expensive car. This is conventional for videos in the R&B genre, whereas other artists such as Justin Bieber who in his song 'Beauty and a beat' appeals for a younger audience, is seen at a waterpark with both boys and girls appearing to have a good time. This is conventional for a pop song and where the audience is young as you want them to enjoy the music video and understand what's happening rather than something that too old for them. Lastly, rock which uses lots of instruments and dark clothing in their music videos to fit in with the conventions. Music videos each have a specific primary audience which they apply to in order for them to buy the song. They also get shown on different music channels, you are more likely to see a music video by rock artists on a music channel like scuzz which specialises in rock as a whole. MTV which has recently branched off to introduce many different channels such as MTV Hits and MTV dance which play similar music but are specialised to play songs which relate to their channel.

For our music video we chose a female indie artist who follows conventions of pop and alternative. We chose this genre as we thought we could have many creative ideas as she didn't have to be perfect and stick by the rules of pop which has a younger audience but didn't have to be too over the top that it would start to look like a more R&B video or Rock but have a completely different sound. In the music video our artist 'Georgia Ray' plays the guitar in the settings by the tree in the forest, this is conventional for the indie genre and will most likely be seen in every music video of the indie genre so the audience can tell they are good at playing live. We got our inspiration to have a relationship which isn't always perfect from Rihanna's music video 'We found love'. This showed the relationship being on both good terms and bad terms and a number of 'memories', which we instantly wanted to base out music video on. 

I think my ancillary products including the advert and the digi pak are effective as the digi pak follows the same colour code, this colour which is a dark red and is also used during the music video in the clothing that 'Georgia Ray' is wearing. There also are conventional features in the digi pak such as the guitar that's on the cd, the guitar which is on the artists back on the back cover of the album cover. I think the digi pak is most beneficial as when your looking at the album cover of someone who is a well known mainstream artist, they seem to have everything perfect and it also relates back to the music video, this is what i have tried to do and make the first song on the album one that matches the album cover and the music video. Me and my group decided to submit Drew's digi pak as we felt it had the most conventional features of the indie genre, he has 6 pictures which all relate to eachother and the music video well, te editing which he has done on Photoshop has worked really well and looks like a professional album cover. Both the writing and pictures are similar to the magazine advert to advertise 'Georgia Ray' which again is important as the finalised products should match eachother and look good together while taking influences from the music video. Both the music video and ancillary products use the same colour as the trademark colour for her first album, we can see that this is a deep red. The music video which has scenes set in a forest and by a bonfire has had frames taken to use for the digipak, these have worked well as we know they are from the music video which shows the link between the two pictures.

Making mistakes and getting feedback is a crucial part of making a music video, in order to make a music video which everyone is likely to enjoy and appreciate you have to put yourself out there and make sure people have seen the rough copy and have given you a positive and a negative comment. This helps you see where you have made a good decision and where there are aspects that you can change and improve to make sure that everyone has a good comment to mention. We picked youtube to showcase our music video as anyone who is online can watch youtube this makes it easy for people to quickly view the video and let us know what they think of it, it also is easy for our family and friends who would like to see the music video and make a comment on it to go on and watch it. When receiving a negative comment from a random person who doesn't know us makes us want to make sure that we improve it as they don't have to make us think that the music video is good to make us feel better. A teacher at school gave us a comment saying 'it's a great music video, however some of the performance singing is out of time'. Also from a student who said "it is very conventional to the indie genre, I love how the characters are really quirky". This shows that we have been successful in representing our characters and the genre as Indie. These are both positive comments which have made us happy with the music video that we have made and want to make sure we carry out the  feedback so can make sure that the song matches the artists singing. The comments which we received made me happy with the music video as they both had very positive comments which made me feel as though the music video has come out well, after having a few glitches that we need to sort out most of the comments are good, which couldn't be better. We took on board the audiences comments and manage to change a bit of the music video so that 'Georgia Ray's' lips were moving in sync with the songs lyrics. This feedback would help me if I was working in the music industry as I would be able to notice the mistake for myself the next time I was making a music video and make sure that it wouldn't happen again. This would also make me notice other things in the music video which could be corrected and made better than what it is already. 

In order to make the music video and the ancillary products we needed to use media technologies to complete our research we needed to use youtube to put up our vox pops and get comments from other youtube users, we also needed blogger to upload our work for the questionnaire and vox pops.

Planning for our music video we needed to use blogger to note down what we need to remember and the ideas that the group has come up with. We also used the camera for filming the music video and taking pictures for the ancillary products which consisted of digi pak and the magazine advert. For the construction of the music video we used Final Cut Pro X which we use to edit the music video, which includes placing the fragments of film into a sophisticated order that would suit the music video best. We also used photoshop to add extra detail onto the pictures for the magazine advert and for the digi pak, this makes all of the pictures look as though they were taken professionally and changed to make the artist look the best she can be. We used youtube converter to put our music video onto youtube in order for us to get the maximum comments we can that are both negative and positive. I think that the main software that we wouldn't of been able to do without would defiantly be the Final Cut Pro X because if we hadn't of had that then the music video wouldn't of been made, not only was it good to work with but it is fairly simple which made it easy for the editors. I think it is a very beneficial software to use for making a music video and am sure that I would use it again to make a music video. Photoshop is also another program a which meant a lot as we could change things ips nt he digi pak this made everything different as if we hadn't had that then all oft be pictures from each person in our group would roughly be the same with the same background and nothing that we could do to change it. For our music video we didn't use a green screen as there was never a scene where we wanted a different background that we couldn't find and that wasn't realistic.this made it fairly easy as we didn't have the hassle of finding something top it behind although it isn't very conventional for the indie genre so we shouldn't have needed it anyway. I think every programme was beneficial at some stage during the process of making a music video, as there are many different sites which we may need to use without even noticing. They all helped us achieve the music video we have today.

Digipak Reflection

While creating my digipak, I was constantly coming up with ideas that I wanted to include. I wanted each slide to coincide with the next, I thought an idea that would keep this going would be the forest. I have used these pictures for every slide except from the CD. This allows all of my digipak frames to relate to each other. As our genre is Indie, I have chosen to picture georgia with the guitar on many occasions and even using the guitar to be the main image on the CD. I consistently used the same typography, this stood out on the slides which needed minimal writing. Although I used a normal font on the Thank You page as I felt as though it had too much writing which would then make it too confusing for the audience. Throughout each slide I used different edits and effects. One of my favourite slides which is the 4th slide which has a G in the middle of Georgia's face. I changed the opacity of the middle of the G which allowed the little bit of image to change colour. I also really like the back cover. I chose to have Georgia Ray facing away from the camera which relates to the back cover of the digipak. I also made sure the guitar was involved that is pictured on her back as I wanted to relate the Indie genre into the digipak on every slide. I have also added a universal sign which is shown regularly on album covers of those who are signed to the Universal team. And also a barcode which makes the cover look more like its just come of the shelf. I changed the effects I used on every slide which made is diverse but also made it similar as I was using the same setting for each slide. With her outfit being shown in many pictures it let us. I edited my digipak on Photoshop CS4 which I had used before. This meant that I had a bit of practice before I started my digipak. The CD itself has again a guitar pictured also with 'Georgia Ray' this informs the owner that if the digipak is separated they would still know that it's Georgia Ray's.