Today we discussed how we're going to progress our concept. This was based on our own thinking as well as the intial responses we received from our survey.
Our main change is in the narrative. Most feedback, as well as our own thinking, suggested that we change the narrative element to a more abstract, conceptual element. In light of this, we have decided to create more narrative fuzz in our video.
We have also begun to get a better idea of our settings. We have decided to use Dunorlan Park primarily, and are also considering other locations such as Brighton (due to our recent reccie) and Calverly.
Friday 30 September 2011
Thursday 29 September 2011
[DF] Development of Skills (Audience Research)
What was your sample audience?
Our target audience was the core audience of 15 to 24 year-olds. This will remain the same for our music video, as the genre is enjoyed predominantly by the same target audience. Our sample audience was small last time with ten respondents. We found that this did not give us enough feedback to make any real use of, and so this time we are planning to circulate our survey to a lot more people by using Facebook.
What method did you use?
We designed a questionnaire which we physically handed out to chosen members of our target audience. This meant that our respondents were reliable and focused to our target audience, however it hindered us in terms of numbers, and so we are planning to distribute it online this time.
What type of questions did you use?
We used quantitative closed questions as we felt that these would give us some more solid data to work off of. However, this meant that our respondents couldn’t always give their full opinion or ideas on our concept, so this time we plan to incorporate both types into our survey.
What did you learn?
We learnt that small sample sizes don’t give us very meaningful results to work from, and similarly it is important to use a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions to ensure we get all we can out of our respondents.
[JB] Technical Analysis Review
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
This technical analysis was very helpful in aiding me to understand the actual content of music videos. In this specific example, there were a total of 45 shots in the first 1 minute and 30 seconds, meaning a new shot roughly every 2 seconds. This is very helpful because it has made me realise just how many shots a music video contains. The average viewer of one of these music videos doesn't realise how many shots there are because they are usually in time with the music - and they are paying more attention to the actual content and/or narrative of the video rather than what the individual shots are of.
Rizzle Kicks - Down With The Trumpets
In contrast with Passion Pit's video, this video only contained 28 shots in 1 minute and 30 seconds of footage. This means the clips were a little over 3 seconds long each (on average). This goes to show that a music video doesn't necessarily have to have a fast cutting rate.
This technical analysis was very helpful in aiding me to understand the actual content of music videos. In this specific example, there were a total of 45 shots in the first 1 minute and 30 seconds, meaning a new shot roughly every 2 seconds. This is very helpful because it has made me realise just how many shots a music video contains. The average viewer of one of these music videos doesn't realise how many shots there are because they are usually in time with the music - and they are paying more attention to the actual content and/or narrative of the video rather than what the individual shots are of.
It also showed me how the shots vary in the video. By no means were the shots all similar - there were Extreme Long Shots, Extreme Close Ups, and everything between. There was handicam, zooms, panning and tracking as well as varying heights of the camera (eg. waist height, low angle) to name a few.
 |
| An example of when the video is more focused on performance than narrative |
It also showed us that the videos vary a lot in terms of cutting between narrative and performance. Once the music built up in the song, I noticed that the band members had a lot more screen time, and they were seen to be the focus of it. (Note: this conforms with Dyer's Paradoxes to some extent - that they are 'extraordinary' because they are considered the 'life' of the party and very important to the music video).
In contrast with Passion Pit's video, this video only contained 28 shots in 1 minute and 30 seconds of footage. This means the clips were a little over 3 seconds long each (on average). This goes to show that a music video doesn't necessarily have to have a fast cutting rate.
 |
| This clip was only 2 seconds long, whereas some lasted much longer than this. |
There was also great variation in the length of shots. Some of them were 9 seconds long whereas there were some that were shown for less than a second. It mostly depends on the tempo of the track - but not all the time, because in some cases in the video, the tempo sped up but the shots were still long.
[MP] Technical Analysis Review
The Kooks - 'Always Where I Need To Be'
The first video that I analysed revealed to me the seemingly ridiculous number of different shots that were used. In the first 30 seconds there were 24 shots, giving each shot an average length of 1.25 seconds. This is quite fast even for a music video, but even if our shots lasted for an average of 3 seconds we will still need a considerable amount of footage to fill the 3.30 that our song is.
I also discovered that the large majority of shots in the video were mid shots, with long shots coming a close second. This will influence the making of our own video so as to keep to the conventions of our indie pop genre. To continue, nearly all of the shots were hand-held, giving a very personal feel to the video, which is also in keeping with the video for 'All The Pretty Girls' by fun., which Dom technically analysed. This suggests that there is a trend towards a feeling of being less manufactured than those videos of chart music, which would fit entirely with the creation of indie pop music which has a much more natural sound, with far less electronic influence.
Another finding was that there was far more performance than narrative during the first 30 seconds, 17 of the 24 being so. This suggests that the metanarrative of the band is more important than the narrative fuzz during the beginning of the video. This allows the audience to recognise very early on who they are watching and to give an idea of how the video will progress.
The Killers - 'Human'
The second video that I analised had a much slower cutting rate, with meat shots especially lasting longer. In the 120 seconds that I analysed, there were 26 shots, giving an average shot length of 4.6 seconds, a considerable amount longer than the previous video. I think that this presents a different challenge in the way that each shot has to be much more interesting to keep the audience captivated.
This video is also very performance based, but in the performance there is much more happening , which makes up for the lack of narrative. Furthermore the setting for the performance is a rocky desert meaning that the setting plays much more of a part in holding the audience's attention.
The first video that I analysed revealed to me the seemingly ridiculous number of different shots that were used. In the first 30 seconds there were 24 shots, giving each shot an average length of 1.25 seconds. This is quite fast even for a music video, but even if our shots lasted for an average of 3 seconds we will still need a considerable amount of footage to fill the 3.30 that our song is.
I also discovered that the large majority of shots in the video were mid shots, with long shots coming a close second. This will influence the making of our own video so as to keep to the conventions of our indie pop genre. To continue, nearly all of the shots were hand-held, giving a very personal feel to the video, which is also in keeping with the video for 'All The Pretty Girls' by fun., which Dom technically analysed. This suggests that there is a trend towards a feeling of being less manufactured than those videos of chart music, which would fit entirely with the creation of indie pop music which has a much more natural sound, with far less electronic influence.
A well composed performance shot
Another finding was that there was far more performance than narrative during the first 30 seconds, 17 of the 24 being so. This suggests that the metanarrative of the band is more important than the narrative fuzz during the beginning of the video. This allows the audience to recognise very early on who they are watching and to give an idea of how the video will progress.
The Killers - 'Human'
The second video that I analised had a much slower cutting rate, with meat shots especially lasting longer. In the 120 seconds that I analysed, there were 26 shots, giving an average shot length of 4.6 seconds, a considerable amount longer than the previous video. I think that this presents a different challenge in the way that each shot has to be much more interesting to keep the audience captivated.
This video is also very performance based, but in the performance there is much more happening , which makes up for the lack of narrative. Furthermore the setting for the performance is a rocky desert meaning that the setting plays much more of a part in holding the audience's attention.
The main setting for the performance shots
Wednesday 28 September 2011
[GROUP] Outkast - 'Hey Ya' Task
As a class challenge we were set the task of filming and editing a video for the Outkast song 'Hey Ya', given a short amount of time. This was done for two main reasons:
The new kit we had to experiment with made a lot of jobs easier, and allowed us to try shots we wouldn't previously have been able to do.
- To get some experience in filming a music video.
- To get to trips with some of the school's new kit.
The new kit we had to experiment with made a lot of jobs easier, and allowed us to try shots we wouldn't previously have been able to do.
 |
| Track and dolly |
Our track and dolly enabled us to have smooth crabbing shots, as well as smooth tracking shots. The fisheye lens gave parts of our film a different look, and caused more of the mise-en-scene to be captured by the wider lens, meaning we had to be more vigilant about the positioning of objects in the room and the framing of our shots.
 |
| Fisheye lens |
The curved mini motion cam was designed to create smoother handicam shots. We found this useful in some respects, but found it on the whole somewhat awkward to use effectively, and so we are planning on testing this piece of equipment more in the near future. One thing we did find useful for this purpose, however, was the cam frame. Using this would make it much easier to create a lot of movement in our music video, which is important in keeping our audience interested.
 |
| Curved mini motion cam |
 |
| Cam frame |
We also got a chance to experiment with a green screen. This would allow us to superimpose an actor into a different setting, or simply change the background colours. This may be useful in our music video for changing the background, and we look forward to testing what it can do and what we can do with it further in the future.
 |
| Green screen |
[DF] Technical Analysis Review
fun. - 'All The Pretty Girls'
My technical analysis of this video showed me first and foremost the sheer amount of shots used in a music video. In the first minute and a half which I took notes on, there were 56 individual shots - averaging out at just over 0.6 shots a second, or more than one shot every two seconds. This means that on our project we will really need to have a solid plan and storyboard to ensure we can fill the time, and we should also be taking lots of filler shots whenever we can in case we don't have enough footage and we are nearing the deadline.
I also decided to highlight in two different colours which shots were performance and which were narrative, to give me an idea of how these elements are juxtaposed in the video, as well as what proportion of the film time is given to each. What I found is that the beginning of the video (as well as, upon further inspection, many other videos in the genre) is performance-based - in this case, the first seventeen seconds. This seems to be a way in which the band image is imposed upon the audience, and the way in which the metanarrative of the artist is immedietly continued. It also allows the audience to quickly recognise instantly what band's video they're watching. From there on, however, narrative seems to take the main focus of the video, with performance jumping in every now and then to keep the band image fresh in the audiences mind or, in terms of Richard Dyer's paradoxes, present. The end of the video becomes dominated by narrative as it reaches its conclusion, perhaps to leave the audience with the message they were trying to convey, or to make the artist simultaneously absent if we again look at Dyer's paradoxes.
Another interesting thing I noted was that the entire narrative was filmed employing the use of handicam. This gave the narrative a somewhat personal feel - as if the audience is there in the video. Furthermore, it creates the kind of constant motion that is important to keep a video interesting.
The shot type was also something I was keen to look into, as I was unsure how we might approach the diversity and distribution of shots in our video. What I found from this video was that long shots were very common in the narrative, in establishing the setting and capturing a lot of the action in the handicam way used. However, the performance consisted far more of medium close-ups and close-ups. This is again to create a strong band image, and plenty of 'meat' shots (close-ups of the singer's face) are used.
Tegan and Sara - 'Hell'
For my second video I decided to choose something a little different, so that I could take a look at other ways of doing music videos from a fairly standard performance and narrative video. This video is far more conceptual, and mixes concept simultaneously with performance. The video also reflects the nature of the band. Tegan and Sara are identical twins, and consequently the video shows two rooms which almost mirror each other in all except colour. The camera consistantly switches between the two rooms, sometimes even without a cut, as seen in the shot beginning at 0:18 and ending at 0:33, where the camera goes through the wall.
It was interesting to see how a loose narrative or concept could be integrated completely with performance, however it seems to me that doing a video in ths way requires a much more interesting and gripping concept, as it only has the singular element to hold the audience's attention.
One aspect of this video which we are planning on possibly employing is the way in which the artist lip syncs as the background or their costume changes. In this video, they often lip sync with their head through a picture, and the picture changes as if cutting, but the artist remains the same. We were considering something similar in our performance aspect - regular changing of T-shirts while the performance continues.
My technical analysis of this video showed me first and foremost the sheer amount of shots used in a music video. In the first minute and a half which I took notes on, there were 56 individual shots - averaging out at just over 0.6 shots a second, or more than one shot every two seconds. This means that on our project we will really need to have a solid plan and storyboard to ensure we can fill the time, and we should also be taking lots of filler shots whenever we can in case we don't have enough footage and we are nearing the deadline.
I also decided to highlight in two different colours which shots were performance and which were narrative, to give me an idea of how these elements are juxtaposed in the video, as well as what proportion of the film time is given to each. What I found is that the beginning of the video (as well as, upon further inspection, many other videos in the genre) is performance-based - in this case, the first seventeen seconds. This seems to be a way in which the band image is imposed upon the audience, and the way in which the metanarrative of the artist is immedietly continued. It also allows the audience to quickly recognise instantly what band's video they're watching. From there on, however, narrative seems to take the main focus of the video, with performance jumping in every now and then to keep the band image fresh in the audiences mind or, in terms of Richard Dyer's paradoxes, present. The end of the video becomes dominated by narrative as it reaches its conclusion, perhaps to leave the audience with the message they were trying to convey, or to make the artist simultaneously absent if we again look at Dyer's paradoxes.
Another interesting thing I noted was that the entire narrative was filmed employing the use of handicam. This gave the narrative a somewhat personal feel - as if the audience is there in the video. Furthermore, it creates the kind of constant motion that is important to keep a video interesting.
 |
| 'Meat' shot of the lead singer |
Tegan and Sara - 'Hell'
For my second video I decided to choose something a little different, so that I could take a look at other ways of doing music videos from a fairly standard performance and narrative video. This video is far more conceptual, and mixes concept simultaneously with performance. The video also reflects the nature of the band. Tegan and Sara are identical twins, and consequently the video shows two rooms which almost mirror each other in all except colour. The camera consistantly switches between the two rooms, sometimes even without a cut, as seen in the shot beginning at 0:18 and ending at 0:33, where the camera goes through the wall.
It was interesting to see how a loose narrative or concept could be integrated completely with performance, however it seems to me that doing a video in ths way requires a much more interesting and gripping concept, as it only has the singular element to hold the audience's attention.
One aspect of this video which we are planning on possibly employing is the way in which the artist lip syncs as the background or their costume changes. In this video, they often lip sync with their head through a picture, and the picture changes as if cutting, but the artist remains the same. We were considering something similar in our performance aspect - regular changing of T-shirts while the performance continues.
[JB] Brighton Reccie - 27th Sept 2011
On Tuesday, 27th September 2011 the entire Media Studies class went on a recreational filming trip to Brighton. We carried out a few practice shots, and got a feel for what it will be like when we are producing our actual video. We also visited a few interesting locations in terms of mise-en-scene - for example, we carried out a few experimental shots in front of some large walls covered in very artistic graffiti.
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| A graffiti-covered wall in the North Laine region. |
A few days before we departed on the trip we collaboratively agreed on some shots which we would experiment with, including shots such as the whip pan, birds-eye view and a 360 pan, and we also wanted to experiment using a fisheye lens and some handicam shots.
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| A fountain near the Royal Pavilion (using fisheye lens). |
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Sunday 25 September 2011
[DF] Audience Research (Questionnaire)
This is the questionnaire I have devised for our audience research. We will circulate the survey around Facebook in order to get as many respondents from our target audience as possible. Our first question is used to further discern who is part of our target audience, and therefore may affect how we use their answers.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8DMGCZC
For our AS we decided not to use an online service like SurveyMonkey, but rather we handed out physical surveys. This caused issues in that it was more difficult to get a good amount of respondents, so we decided to use an online version this time.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8DMGCZC
For our AS we decided not to use an online service like SurveyMonkey, but rather we handed out physical surveys. This caused issues in that it was more difficult to get a good amount of respondents, so we decided to use an online version this time.
Friday 23 September 2011
[JB] Technical Analysis (2)
Rizzle Kicks – Down with the Trumpets
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Duration
|
Type of Shot
|
Mise-en-scène
|
|
1:30-1:33
|
MS, Steadicam
|
On beach, next to beach huts, singer in
foreground, other singer is doing some kind of deal with stranger
|
|
1:33-1:35
|
MS
|
In bedroom, two band members
singing/dancing
|
|
1:35-1:40
|
MS, POV Eye-level
|
Two singers walking away suspiciously,
stranger walking other direction
|
|
1:40-1:48
|
MS, POV, Eye-level, handicam
|
Singer using first-person mode of address
and singing into camera, in same location
|
|
1:48-1:53
|
MS
|
Stranger looking at his money, checking
if it is real, realizes it is monopoly money and proceeds to run after the
two singers. Singers blurred in background running away.
|
|
1:53-1:55
|
ELS
|
Stranger running after them, camera
tracking them from a distance, beach huts in background
|
|
1:55-1:58
|
MLS, Montage
|
Quick succession of ‘jumpy’ shots with
time compression, cutting out sections of the clip. Band members running
between beach huts and climbing up wall to escape.
|
|
1:58-1:59
|
MLS
|
Jumping over wall and hiding other side
of it
|
|
1:59-2:02
|
MLS, Montage
|
Similar shots to the ones seen at
1:55-1:58, jumpy editing, this time of the stranger following their path
|
|
2:02-2:08
|
LS
|
Stranger jumping over wall, slow-mo, with
some sections sped up to normal speed. Documents his action of jumping over.
|
|
2:08-2:12
|
MLS
|
Band members getting up from behind wall,
relieved, singing to the camera
|
|
2:12-2:16
|
MS
|
In bedroom. One band member catching bra
thrown at him, both of them still singing into camera.
|
|
2:16-2:18
|
MLS, POV
|
Band from behind, on some kind of
pathway.
|
|
2:18-2:19
|
MS, Eye-level
|
Band members now facing camera, one
playing with football, other holding trumpet in his hand.
|
|
2:19-2:21
|
MS, Eye-level
|
Same mise-en-scène as previous shot, but
from slightly different angle.
|
|
2:21-2:23
|
MLS
|
Back to behind the wall, one of them
singing into the camera, the other one inspecting the trumpet and playing it.
|
|
2:23-2:25
|
MS
|
Back into bedroom, first person mode of
address, both singing into camera.
|
|
2:25-2:27
|
MLS
|
At the path again, FPMOA.
|
|
2:27-2:29
|
MS
|
FPMOA, singing into camera, still at
path, from different angle
|
|
2:29-2:31
|
MLS
|
Same shot as 2:25-2:27
|
|
2:31-2:33
|
MLS
|
Steps, same shot as 2:21-2:23.
|
|
2:33-2:36
|
MS, Crabbing around them
|
Sitting down next to path.
|
|
2:36-2:42
|
MS
|
In a field, lens flare over their heads,
FPMOA from one band member whilst other is still inspecting and playing
trumpet. He falls backwards.
|
|
2:42-2:44
|
MS
|
Playing trumpet, looking /feeling
confused/dizzy
|
|
2:44-2:46
|
MLS, Fisheye lens, Tracking shot.
|
Band member falling towards camera using
FPMOA.
|
|
2:46-2:47
|
MLS, Fisheye lens, tracking shot.
|
Completion of previous action, in a
different location, he pushes back up from ground and stands up again. Very
effective.
|
|
2:47-2:56
|
MCU, Tracking shot, Montage
|
Continuous sequence of the same shot,
band member falls against wall holding trumpet and appears in different
location in same posture, happens multiple times in different locations. Very
effective.
|
|
2:56-3:00
|
MLS
|
Band members dancing at path again,
FPMOA.
|
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