Friday, 25 October 2013
Friday, 18 October 2013
Project log 18/10/13
Transcript:
This is my project log for the 18th October 2013. Today I've just basically been doing a lot of my research tasks, and yesterday I was off school ill so I've just basically been using my time wisely to finish off my research tasks and I've managed to finish all of them so I'm really pleased about that as it means I can now get ahead with my music video. I've completed my risk assessment which was quite a helpful task because it helped me establish all of the different health and safety issues I might have with my music video and how I can prevent these from happening. Also I've done an analysis of a previous A2 music video, so that's just basically made me look at different ways in which students have made their music videos successful and I have analysed Roberto's, so that was quite helpful. I have finally uploaded my storyboard also, but I've basically changed all of my ideas for my music video now so it means that I'm going to have to re-do my storyboard again at some point, but I have uploaded this original storyboard. The new ideas I have for my music video are that it's still going to be half narrative, half performance-based and it's still going to be the same song. But I'm just going to use my actress walking through the woods and then she'll pick up different props that will be in her pathway, and each time she picks up a prop it will merge into a flashback that relates to the prop. The narrative part will basically be "5 stages of a relationship", and it will be her previous relationship with her ex-boyfriend. It will show flashbacks of each stage, e.g the heartbreak stage, the comfortable stage, the nervous/excited/early stage, and each prop will link to each stage. However, the audience will not know until the end that the props are actually a figure of the girl's imagination because she is experiencing almost post-trauma from her break-up as she is heartbroken. So that is my idea which is going to be quite hard to do, but I think it will work if I put a lot of work into it. I have also done voki creations of my actors that I'm going to be using, so I've basically just done a brief outline of what sort of people my actors are and things like that just to give the audience an insight. I have also done the "influence of music genre" task. I have re-done my lyric annotations because I felt as if my previous lyric annotations were not as great as they could be, so I have re-done them on a word document so that they look a lot better. Also I have realised that my picture mood-board that I completed quite a while ago isn't really that great, it could have a lot more work done to it, so I've started creating a mood board video instead, which is being created on Adobe Premiere Pro. I've completed this but there's been a few technical difficulties with that because it's not exporting so I'm going to have to ask the teacher about that. Also, I have added alterations to quite a lot of my previous tasks because obviously I have changed quite a lot of my ideas now to a completely different concept of my music video, so of course I need to inform the examiner that there's been a lot of changes and what changes have been made.
I also filmed on Wednesday and I got several first shots for my narrative done for Georgina and Matt. The majority of the shots were done in Georgina's room, so I basically almost finished the "first stage" of the relationship, which was the nervous/excited stage of the relationship. This is where I filmed shots of her getting ready, throwing clothes around, doing her make-up and things like this. I also filmed the "first time they met" and went on a date together. Georgina has a bar in her back garden so I filmed them in the bar together, but I used a certain angle so that it looked professional. I attempted to film that but the camera ran out of battery so I will have to continue that soon. However I am quite pleased with the shots I have filmed so far and I plan on continuing to film hopefully next Wednesday because that's the next time Matt has off work, so hopefully I can get the majority of my filming done then. Then on the performing-side of my music video, I will be doing a lot of them shots with just Georgina so that she does not get distracted by Matt, and I will most likely be filming them next week some time.
Influences of the pop genre
This is a powerpoint I have created on explaining the influences of pop music. I explained why I chose this genre for my music video, artists of this genre, a brief outline of the pop genre's history and how it began, the influences of pop, and what made the pop genre come along in the early 1900s. Creating this powerpoint/completing this task was very beneficial for me because it gave me a deeper insight into the history of pop which I did not know a lot about before, and how it can effect its audience which was very interesting.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Risk assessment
Above is a risk assessment I have completed on Microsoft Word, listing the risk types there could be with the production of my music video, the details of the risks, ways to minimize the risks and who is responsible for them. Completing this task has opened my eyes as to the ways my music video could go wrong or how the production of it could be altered or slowed down, and the ways in which people could get injured. So, completing it has been beneficial because now I have realised the ways in which I can prevent this from happening so that everyone is safe and things can run smoothly.
Analysis of a previous A2 music video
Roberto Manfredi's A2 music video
This music video starts off with what sounds like diagetic sound of a tape recorder being put on, with visual faded lights on the screen. I think this starts the music video off very well indeed because it adds a realistic feel to it, making us, the audience, feel as if we are being "plugged in" to a different world. What accentuates this even more so is that you can see a human figure in the background fiddling with the tape player, which I believe is effective as it makes the viewer almost feel as if the soundtrack is "live" and there is effort being put into it. Then, as the acoustic instrumental begins, the audience are started off with a blurry blue coloured shot of some fingers plucking at some guitar strings. As the camera pans up the guitar, the blurriness gradually begins to fade, however watching this almost made me feel like a lot of it was mysterious. I liked this because I think one of the most important aspects you could have in your music video is to persuade the audience to question it.
Then, we are presented with a reoccurring shot of half of a boy's face miming to the music which we now establish is the performance-based part, however it is only half of his face, he looks like he's lying down staring up at the cieling as he mimes, and around him is blood smeared on white walls. The shot overall has a red effect to it, representing a morbid, dark feeling to it which really matches the song's dark vibe. Then, the narrative kicks off. A man in a suit walks into a white bathroom, chucking his blazer on the side. I really love how a very high camera angle is used, because there is almost a distance created between the audience and the actor, highlighting the mystery I had mentioned at the beginning. Meanwhile, there are reoccurring shots of what looks like music equipment but it is hard to make out, with a very red and black effect added to it, again exaggerating the aloofness and morbidity. There are some really smart, interesting camera angles Roberto has used which I find particularly inspiring. These are for example a fish-eye camera sort of effect, where it is only videoing the bottom half of the actor's legs, yet it is so effective because the audience do not know what his top half is doing, and this adds to that mysterious feel because the song is so dark. There is also a slow motion effect added to when the actor's legs begin to move, which suits the slow pace of the start of the song.
The audience are brought back in and out of the performance and narrative shots. There are shots of the piano playing, the music tape, lights, the guitar and more are used to create a feeling that the song is being performed "live" which is really effective. If you look closely, Roberto has also paid very close attention to the mise-en-scene of his shots to create a strong contrast between the performance and narrative ones. In the performance shots, a lot of blue and red is used, whereas in the narrative ones, a lot of red and white is used.
I particularly loved the shot where Roberto must have used an under-water camera to film the actor cleaning his hands in the water. This was quirky and different, and it portrays that a lot of effort and thought has been put into the music video. As this shot is being filmed, the camera sort of shakes around a lot to represent uneasiness and loss of stability. Aswell as this, now there are links between the blood shown on the walls and the washing of hands, things begin to make sense - maybe there is a reason why the actor is washing off his hands. We can see now how the narrative is slowly building with suspension, adding in clues on the way through. This slow, tension-filled narrative is extremely smart.
Roberto has also used Andrew Goodwin's theory of a correlation between the lyrics and the visuals in a lot of the shots. However this is particularly highlighted in the shot where the lyrics state "got someone waiting at home for me, staring at the door" and the audience are presented with a dark, quick shot of a man in a suit in a small room, staring into space. This shot is fast but effective as it is quite "freaky" and again, it makes the viewer question "why" and what's happening.
The suspension is built up as we follow the main protagonist character on their journey to a place we do not know, the shots dark and mysterious, and inbetween we are shown performance shots of an actor miming, but they are only ones of half of his face such as his lips. I noticed something more than half way through the video, too, that the song always refers to "shadows", and this is exactly what Roberto portrays in the video. He is constantly showing shots of shadows and darkness, and this correlation is really effective because the song suits the visuals so much.
During the build up, the audience are almost informed that the "beat is going to drop" because we are shown shots of buttons on the music equipment being turned up etc., which leads up to a massive climax. Suddenly, there are loads of fast shots used with the red effect on them, and most of these shots are finally performance-based. The idea I took from this is that perhaps suddenly the shots are all performance-based is because he wants the audience to really enjoy the music through being shown these different instruments and to accentuate that it's "live". I also noticed that now there has been a climax, we are suddenly being shown the actor's full face in the red effect as he mimes to the camera. It is almost as if he is finally being revealed to us. On the final shot, there is a hand-held shot of the corner of the bathtub we were shown before, with blood all over it. There was no resolution to the narrative of the music video and we as the audience never really find out what actually happened in the narrative, which I think really adds to the mystery about it and it makes you question it.
Overall I think that this music video was brilliant. I believe Roberto really put a lot of thought into it and the ideas he put into the building of tension to the final climax was really effective. The miming was successful, and the pace of shots was brilliant because each shot fitted each beat perfectly, and everything was synchronised. Finally, the fact that Roberto used only one character throughout the music video is great because it means you can focus on one person and the tension is accentuated. Overall, a really successful music video. It kept my attention the whole way through.
Then, we are presented with a reoccurring shot of half of a boy's face miming to the music which we now establish is the performance-based part, however it is only half of his face, he looks like he's lying down staring up at the cieling as he mimes, and around him is blood smeared on white walls. The shot overall has a red effect to it, representing a morbid, dark feeling to it which really matches the song's dark vibe. Then, the narrative kicks off. A man in a suit walks into a white bathroom, chucking his blazer on the side. I really love how a very high camera angle is used, because there is almost a distance created between the audience and the actor, highlighting the mystery I had mentioned at the beginning. Meanwhile, there are reoccurring shots of what looks like music equipment but it is hard to make out, with a very red and black effect added to it, again exaggerating the aloofness and morbidity. There are some really smart, interesting camera angles Roberto has used which I find particularly inspiring. These are for example a fish-eye camera sort of effect, where it is only videoing the bottom half of the actor's legs, yet it is so effective because the audience do not know what his top half is doing, and this adds to that mysterious feel because the song is so dark. There is also a slow motion effect added to when the actor's legs begin to move, which suits the slow pace of the start of the song.
The audience are brought back in and out of the performance and narrative shots. There are shots of the piano playing, the music tape, lights, the guitar and more are used to create a feeling that the song is being performed "live" which is really effective. If you look closely, Roberto has also paid very close attention to the mise-en-scene of his shots to create a strong contrast between the performance and narrative ones. In the performance shots, a lot of blue and red is used, whereas in the narrative ones, a lot of red and white is used.
I particularly loved the shot where Roberto must have used an under-water camera to film the actor cleaning his hands in the water. This was quirky and different, and it portrays that a lot of effort and thought has been put into the music video. As this shot is being filmed, the camera sort of shakes around a lot to represent uneasiness and loss of stability. Aswell as this, now there are links between the blood shown on the walls and the washing of hands, things begin to make sense - maybe there is a reason why the actor is washing off his hands. We can see now how the narrative is slowly building with suspension, adding in clues on the way through. This slow, tension-filled narrative is extremely smart.
Roberto has also used Andrew Goodwin's theory of a correlation between the lyrics and the visuals in a lot of the shots. However this is particularly highlighted in the shot where the lyrics state "got someone waiting at home for me, staring at the door" and the audience are presented with a dark, quick shot of a man in a suit in a small room, staring into space. This shot is fast but effective as it is quite "freaky" and again, it makes the viewer question "why" and what's happening.
The suspension is built up as we follow the main protagonist character on their journey to a place we do not know, the shots dark and mysterious, and inbetween we are shown performance shots of an actor miming, but they are only ones of half of his face such as his lips. I noticed something more than half way through the video, too, that the song always refers to "shadows", and this is exactly what Roberto portrays in the video. He is constantly showing shots of shadows and darkness, and this correlation is really effective because the song suits the visuals so much.
During the build up, the audience are almost informed that the "beat is going to drop" because we are shown shots of buttons on the music equipment being turned up etc., which leads up to a massive climax. Suddenly, there are loads of fast shots used with the red effect on them, and most of these shots are finally performance-based. The idea I took from this is that perhaps suddenly the shots are all performance-based is because he wants the audience to really enjoy the music through being shown these different instruments and to accentuate that it's "live". I also noticed that now there has been a climax, we are suddenly being shown the actor's full face in the red effect as he mimes to the camera. It is almost as if he is finally being revealed to us. On the final shot, there is a hand-held shot of the corner of the bathtub we were shown before, with blood all over it. There was no resolution to the narrative of the music video and we as the audience never really find out what actually happened in the narrative, which I think really adds to the mystery about it and it makes you question it.
Overall I think that this music video was brilliant. I believe Roberto really put a lot of thought into it and the ideas he put into the building of tension to the final climax was really effective. The miming was successful, and the pace of shots was brilliant because each shot fitted each beat perfectly, and everything was synchronised. Finally, the fact that Roberto used only one character throughout the music video is great because it means you can focus on one person and the tension is accentuated. Overall, a really successful music video. It kept my attention the whole way through.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)