Yesterday, during our media lesson me and my group decided to venture out and start filming. Our locations were local as we stayed around school but varied as we had some shots by the lakes, fences and houses.
Later on, Sophie and Elle uploaded the footage we filmed and edited it to fit the footage in time with the music so the lip synch corresponded with the song playing. They used a black and white effect and adjusted the contrasts so the white and black were more prominent.
We used different camera shots and angles from canted angle to handheld shots.The video was strictly perfomance as it was just a practice to give us an insight into the lip synching and so forth.
I enjoyed the filming part and I think Elle and Sophie did an amazing job with the editing
When constructing a music video, it is essential to ensure that the producers, in this case me and my group that we attract and appeal to a certain audience. So we created a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions to gain feedback from a range of people so we know how to conform to their likes and expectations of a music video
Questionnaire
1.How old are you? 12 – 16 [] 17 – 19 [] 20 + []
2.Gender? Male [] Female []
3.Do you prefer a music video which is… Funny [] Serious []
4.Do you prefer abstract videos or ones that go with the lyrics? Abstract [] Goes with lyrics []
5.Do you prefer music videos that include special effects/animations etc? Yes [] No [] Why? _______________________________________________________
6.What aspects of a music video make it more interesting for you to watch? ____________________________________________________________
7.Do you prefer… Calm/slow music videos [] Lively/fast music videos []
8.Do you like to see dance routines? Yes [] No []
9.What’s your favourite music video? _____________________________ Why?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10.What’s your least favourite music video? ________________________ Why?_____________________________________________________________________ 11.What charts do you go by? (radio 1, kiss 100, UK top 40)?_________________________________
12.Do you prefer to watch narrative or performance video’s? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Storyboarding is a very important element in research and planning for our music video, so for ours we decided to be creative and different.
We decided to cut up little pieces of paper and use these as a shot. We drew our shot and wrote the shot type, the lyrics which will be corresponding with this shot and what will be happening.
We then played our chosen song in the background and filmed the storyboard along with the music and in time as it would appear when we start filming for our real music video so the lyrics corresponds with the storyboard.
We found this was a really effective way to storyboard as we realised some shots would have to be extended to ensure it fits in with the song which was managed to do.
Soonish, we will be allocated our group cameras and equipment to start filming ! So, in preparation for this we need to practice certain elements, one being 'lip syncing' and from our research on lip syncing we took all this into account and decided to put our theory into practice. Elle and Sophie created a megamix of different songs from different genres and lip synced to them...
Personally, I love this as they were in time with the music and they took into account the idea of exaggerating lyrics to make it appear more authentic. I think they did a great job and can't wait to experience this when it comes to the real filming for our music video...
A voyeur may observe others without them being aware of it by a number of strategies:
The voyeur may observe the subject from a distance, or use stealth to observe the subject with the use of peep-holes, two-way mirrors, hidden cameras, secret photography and other devices and strategies.
Secret photography may involve the use of normal cameras, but with the photographer being concealed. Sometimes the camera itself is disguised or concealed. The use of telephoto lens enables the distance from the subject to provide concealment.
Lip syncing is a very important element in the production of music videos so before we actually film for our music video we undertook some research and from this we will do some practical lip sync practice which will follow shortly...
Elle in our group will be 'Pixie Lott' for our music video so she will need to learn the lyrics
We need to pay particular attention to pronounciation of the words in the lyrics.
We found that it works better to mouth what the word sounds like coming out of Pixie's mouth rather than the exact word written in the lyrics as it will correspond better.
When we go out filming we need to play the song when Elle is singing and then edit it on the Macs in post production and use and uploaded version.
We need to practice with the tempo so that Elle can keep in time and keep up with the speed with the singing and the beats
We shouldn't lip synch throughtout the whole of our video but we should edit the best parts and use them.
Unfortunately, on Tuesday 9th November the trip to 'Rich Mix production studios' coincided with my Induction day at Asiana magazine for my work placement. After trying my best to attend both, I had to miss the trip as the induction over ran and I was unable to fit both in.
However, I did enjoy the induction and to my delight my placement has been brought forward to week commencing the 15th November for the duration of 1 week.
I was introduced to the world of the 'magazine industry' , given a tour around the building in Tower Hill, and a talk from the Features Editor.
I was given information on the different departments within the magazine including
Editorial-which consists of a lot of research and interviews with artists and actors etc.
Fashion-where I will be assisting fashion photography shoots and inputting.
Sales-which involves answering phone calls and dealing with companies
Production-comes towards the end of the production of an issue and is where the whole issue comes together and in which order etc
Digital-which involves promoting the new formation of 'Asiana TV' with an element of marketing.
We were told to be prepared to say which department we would most likely to work in and where we feel we will benefit from the most. Personally, I would like to work in all departments but I think I would benefit most from working in Editorial as this is involved what I would like to pursue as a career.
Changing our song may seem like a lenghty process we are taking on, but infact we are keeping most of our ideas the same and just applying it to a different song with a different protagonist. The initial ideas on our mind map still apply just with Pixie Lott, a female being the protagonist instead of Example.We will still incorporate the flashbacks on the park bench etc but with Pixie Lott being the artist as we are using her song.
My mood board still applies as it is 'ElectroPop' and although this particular song does not conform to the conventions of the ElectroPop genre, Pixie Lott as an artist overall fits in with the ElectroPop genre as most of her songs are upbeat and fast in tempo.
However, the things we do need to change are our 'band brand name' as IdEst is not an inspiration from Pixie Lott but from Example. Also, we need to change our 'Treatment' slightly in terms of the background information, the illustrations according to the lyrics and the costumes slightly but the locations and initial ideas still apply.
Our new song choice is Pixie Lott - Broken Arrow. We feel as if this would be a better song as the singer is female and we thought of much more ideas for this to avoid the weather.
Our initial idea for the song is to have our female character in a recording studio with a microphone and headphones for her to sing this song as shes broken up with her boyfriend. The concept will be the same as our old song, with the home video and with the polaroid pictures. These will all be her flashbacks of the good time as she's singing the song, as if we're getting into her mind and will be edited in black and white.
We also thought we would take influence from the song Kate Nash - Foundations, and for the chorus "Like a Broken Arrow" we will use a stop-motion effect of an arrow breaking. Also from the film 500 days of summer, when he looks back on their relationship he can realise where their relationship started to break down. We would like to use this as it shows the weak parts of her relationship and where they started to go wrong. These are all examples of intertextuality.
Song Lyrics
What do you do when you're stuck, Because the one that you love, Has pushed you away, And you can't deal with the pain, And now you're trying to fix me, Mend what he did, I'll find the piece that i'm missing, But I still miss him, I miss him, i'm missing him, Oh I miss him, I miss him i'm missng him
And you're sitting in the front row, Wana be first in line, Sitting by my window, Giving me all your time, You could be my hero, If only I could let go, But his love has still hit me, Like a broken arrow. Like a broken arrow.
He's the thorn in my flesh That I can't take out He's stealing my breath When you're around, And now you're trying to convince me, He wasn't worth it, But you can't complete me, It's the thought that he's missing, I miss him, I'm missing him, Oh I miss him I miss him, i'm missing him,
And you're standing in the front row, Wana be first in line, Sitting by my window, Giving me all your time, You could be my hero, If only I could let go, But his love has still hit me, Live a broken arrow, Like a broken arrow.
What do you do When your hearts in two places? You feel great but you're torn inside. You feel love but you just can't embrace it, When you found the right one at the wrong time.
And you're Standing in the front row, Wanna be first in line, Sitting by my window, Giving me all your time, You could be my hero, If only I could let go, But his love still hit me, Like a broken arrow. Like a broken arrow...
On Tuesday 9th, my media class went to Bethnal Green for a 'Rich Mix Productions' studio where they were introduced to the history and production of music videos. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this exciting trip as I went for an induction day at for my magazine placement.
I was very dissapointed that I had to miss this, but after talking with my group they talked me through most of the information and what happened during the trip so I felt as though I knew some of what had happened. They also made a fun short video of their trip to the studio so I felt as though I didn't miss much and was there myself ..!
My group felt that this was very influential and after talking to me abut the trip and what they had learnt,it made us decide that we needed a change of song. We felt seeing as our song was by Example, we would need a male character singing. We felt that this would be too much pressure on our male friend, and that if he felt embarrased or shy infront of us to lip synch then it wouldn't come out how we would want it to and we would not be able to achieve a successful music video.
Also as the song was called "Watch the sun come up" and we were filming at winter, when there's hardly any sun, or warmth, we thought that this was a bad decision. We therefore decided to change our song to a female artist called Pixie Lott and the song Broken Arrow. I will blog about it this further on...
We have decided to create a questionnaire about music videos so we can collect results and gain feedback to help us when constructing our own music video and so we can ensure that we are using the correct conventions for our audience. We found that the questionnaire needs to contain a combination of of Qualitative (opinions and open) and Quantitative (numbered or multiple choice) questions for an effective feedback.
Below are a few initial ideas for the questions I might use in my questionnaire:
-What’s your favourite genre? -Where do you hear about the latest music? Radio Youtube -What charts do you listen to and follow? Kiss Capital -Do you prefer a narrative or performance video? -Who are your audience? Classification-age gender occupation -Where are they? How do they access music videos e.g. YouTube, MTV -What are their expectations of a music video of your genre-what do they already know about your genre? -What do they want? How should your product be similar/ different -What should they want? -How do you (the music producers) give them what they want so you can sell your product?
Andrew Goodwin writing in ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ (Routledge 1992)
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (illustrative, amplifying, and contradicting)
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (illustrative, amplifying, and contradicting)
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intersexual reference (to films TV programmes and other music videos)
An element of thinking that developed within the academic literary theory and cultural studies.
Focussing specifically on rhetoric, some, such as Walter Ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation that the text is addressing.
Others, for example Ruth Mitchell and Mary Taylor have said that writers and speakers can target their communication to address a real audience.
Some others like Ede and Lunsford attempt to combine these two approaches and create situations where an audience is "fictionalized," as Ong would say, but in recognition of some real attributes of the actual audience.
Effects Model
The Hypodermic Needle Model - The intended message is directly recieved and wholly accepted by the reciever.
Two-step flow - The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others and is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model.
Uses and gratifications -People are not helpless victims of mass media, but use the media to get specific gratifications.
Reception theory - The meaning of a "text" is not inherent within the text itself, but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences
Obstinate audience theory - This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media and the audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The Zimmerman-Bauer study found that the audience also participates in the communication by influencing the message.
Hypodermic Syringe Effect - The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model) is a model of communications also referred to as the "magic bullet" perspective, or the transmission-belt model. Essentially, this model holds that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. The model is rooted in the 1930's behaviourism and is largely considered obsolete today.
