Task 4 - Preliminary (6)

Evaluation
How professional is the finished preliminary task?

• I believe that the finished project is professional. My group tried our very best to recreate the first minute of the real music video and I think that we managed this. We used similar locations to what were in the real music video and we wore some of the same costumes and accessories that were in the real video.

What are the shortcomings of the video?

• One shortcoming of the video is that during the first shot when Lucy and I are lip syncing, she starts at the correct moment but I begin slightly behind her. This is a shortcoming as it does not look like we are in time with the track.
• Another shortcoming is that we did not have access to every prop that was used in the real video. An example of this is a skateboard which is used in the very first shot.

How useful was the process of the preliminary task?

• The preliminary task was a very useful process as it gave me an idea of the effort that has to go into filming a music video. Creating a music video requires lots of planning for things like the shots you will take, the costumes you will wear and the place you will film in among other things. This is why the preliminary task was useful.

What have I learnt?

• From the preliminary task, I have learnt that it is important to prepare for when you are going to create a music video. Preparation goes into a lot of aspects of a music video and it is important that everything is planned beforehand so you remain on schedule when filming the video.

What problems did I encounter and how did I rectify them?

• When it came to the editing stage, my group realised that we had not filmed one of the shots that was in the real music video. This was a problem as our preliminary task became shorter in length than the real video. However, this problem was rectified by slowing down some of the shots we had filmed. This made our preliminary task play at the same rate as the real music video.

Task 4 - Preliminary (5)

My Contribution
The full number of hours that I contributed to the preliminary task were 6:

• 2 hours for planning
• 2 hours for filming
• 2 hours for editing.

During this preliminary task, I had a go at lip syncing so that it would prepare me for the real music video that I create. Here is an image of me lip syncing in the video:

During this task I also filmed a few of the shots. Below are images of the shots that I filmed:

(With this shot I pressed 'record' on the camera and then took my place against the wall)

Finally, once the filming was done, I did my part of the editing. Below are screenshots of the bits of the video that I edited.

Task 4 - Preliminary (3)

Editing
The editing of the preliminary task was done over a two hour lesson. 
When editing as a group, we first downloaded the track we made the music video of and put it into the program we used - Adobe Premiere Pro - so it was easy to tell how long each shot needed to be.
After we had imported the footage and cut it down to the correct lengths, we tried to recreate the transitions between each shot that were used in the real video. This was a simple process as the transitions used were a fade in and a series of cuts.
The final part of the editing that was done was to put the real video into the corner of our preliminary task. This would help the audience to compare the real video with our preliminary task in terms of lip syncing, costumes, editing and locations.

This screenshot shows the real video in the corner of the screen while the preliminary task plays at the same rate.

Task 5 - Research into a Genre of Music

The genre that I have chosen to research is that of pop music.

Where does pop music come from?
Pop music is thought to have originated in the 1950s in the Western world in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The genre derives from rock and roll and usually brings together elements from other genres such as Latin and country.

There are many sub-genres of pop and these include:

• Bubblegum pop 
• Latin pop
• Electronic pop 

Who are the key players in the genre?

In the past, there were a number of artists that were key players within the pop music genre. This includes artists such as Barry Manilow, the Everly Brothers, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.

Currently, there are a number of artists that are key players in the genre of pop which includes the likes of Beyonce, Justin Bieber and Adele. 
The best selling single of 2015 in the UK was 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars whereas the best selling album of 2015 in the UK was '25' by Adele.
(The information on the singles sales comes from http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-songs-of-2015-revealed__13270/

Album sales come from http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-artist-albums-of-2015-revealed__13273/)

The Conventions of the Pop Genre
Below are some conventions of pop music:

• Pop song lyrics are normally centred around the theme of love.
• Pop songs normally have an upbeat tempo and tend to be set out in a certain structure.
• Pop songs are normally aimed at a younger audience and because of this they usually feature very little or no rude language whatsoever.

The Conventions of Pop Music Videos

In this section of the blog you will find out about some of the conventions of pop music videos.

• Pop music videos tend to take place somewhere bright and sunny. For example, a beach.
• The music videos also sometimes show a group of people having a good time. For example, they are at a party.
• Costumes are usually bright and colourful so the artist in the video stands out from everyone else.
• Make up is usually bright and colourful as well to also ensure that the artist stands out in the video.

Key Learning Points:
From looking into the genre of pop, I have found that the music videos are usually filmed in bright and sunny places or in places like a club. I believe this is so that the artist looks like they are having fun with their friends and love their life.
I have also learnt from this process that the artist needs to stand out in the music video so it is obvious to the consumer who the artist is.

Task 3 - Research into a Marketing Package for an Artist

The marketing package that I have decided to research is the one for Taylor Swift's album '1989'.

The album was released in 2014 and the first single off of the album was 'Shake it Off', which was released the day the album was announced. The video for 'Shake it Off' followed only days after the announcement of the album. 

This is the front of the digipak that was used for '1989'. The image on the front of the digipak helps marketing as it shows Taylor Swift standing there in casual clothes which means the audience feel that they can identify with her. This makes the album appeal to consumers.

This is the back of the digipak that was used for the album. It is a very simple design and just shows a picture of Taylor Swift with the track listing on the left. By having a design like this, focus can be made on the tracks that are on the album. This helps marketing as the audience will read the tracking listing and will be interested in hearing the music. Therefore, the audience will buy the album.

This is the poster for The 1989 World Tour. This tour goes along with the album. 
The image used on the poster is very simple and shows Taylor Swift sat down wearing sunglasses. This image will help marketing as it clearly shows the artist and and clearly displays when the tour will be happening so the audience know when to buy their tickets.












(Information about Taylor Swift's marketing strategies has come from: 
from http://www.business2community.com/marketing/taylor-swifts-1989-campaign-marketing-perfection-01050718#JxixT3TrO3BRzzET.97).

Different Theories About the Music Industry

Dyer's Theory
Richard Dyer stated that a star is an image created through a range of materials such as advertising.
Dyer stated the star image was based upon two paradoxes:

1. The star is ordinary but also extraordinary - this means that the star is shown to be doing regular everyday tasks such as shopping at the supermarket but is extraordinary in the sense that they have lots of talent.
2. The star is absent but also present - this means that the consumer does not personally know the star but they feel like they do because they have seen interviews with the star and seen the star in magazines.

Adorno's Theory
Adorno believed that capitalists make videos to help create false needs in our lives. These false needs are things that do not matter but we feel like they do.
Adorno believed that we need false needs in our lives to distract from our own problems. These problems could be things that are political, social, economic etc.

Hebdige's Theory
Hebdige explained that he believes that people interpret videos differently and because of this, how people view music videos is altered.
Hebdige also believed that sub-cultures of people, such as punks, can make their own decisions and this also alters how people view music videos.

Negus' Theory
Negus' theory is called the Ideologies of Creativity. This focuses on two different types of artists: ones who are organic and ones who are synthetic.
Organic artists focus on albums and the music they are creating.
Synthetic artists usually have their image constructed by the record company. Also, more focus is put on singles than albums.

What is the purpose of a music video?

This section of the blog brainstorms why music videos are created to go along with tracks.

• To entertain the audience.
• To tell the story of the song.
• To display an artist's track.
• Get attention for an artist's track and maybe their other music.
• Generate sales for the track.
• Make a connection with the audience.
• Music videos show that the record company have an element of control over the artist.

Boom! Video - Tips for Directors

In class, we were shown a video about the Boom! competition that ran a number of years ago. The competition was about creating a music video based on one track chosen from a selection.
The video we watched showed some music video directors giving the directors of the competition videos some useful tips. Below are the tips that were given:

• Have a narrative ready for the music video.
• Plan the music video using storyboards and shot plans.
• Think of an exciting narrative for the video.
• Prepare for the filming of the video - things including the location of the shoot, actors who will be in the video etc.

The music video directors also provided some tips for editing. These are:

• Log the shots that were taken on the shoot before editing.
• Create a base for editing before you properly start the process.

Task 4 - Preliminary (2)

Filming
The preliminary task was filmed all around the school and areas where shots were filmed include the field and the music room. Each member of the group took it in turns to film different shots of the video and this worked out to be an efficient system as all of us got to have some experience of directing a shot.

A problem that was encountered during the filming of the preliminary task was that because we needed to film in different locations for each shot, the equipment needed for filming needed to be carried around to each location. This problem was solved by filming the shots out of order. This meant that the shots were all filmed in one location and so no time was wasted carrying the equipment around to each place when we needed to film a shot. This gave us as a group more time to ensure that we were pleased with each of the shots in the preliminary.

Task 4 - Preliminary (4)

Final Product
Here is the final result of the preliminary task that my group has produced.

Task 2 - Research into Student's Work (Part 2)

Research into Another Student's Work

Student Number #2
The second student's work I am going to be researching is Josh Mellard's from 2015.

Research:
A strength of Josh's research is that he researched different areas surrounding music videos before he began to plan creating his own music video. The areas he researched included the codes and conventions of a narrative in a music video and research into the band whose song he was going to use to create his music video. 
A weakness of Josh's research is that some sections of his research, research into the actual band for example, do not seem very detailed. Another weakness is that he seems to have only used images and text as a way of expressing information and not any other media platforms.

Planning:
A strength of Josh's planning is that he has addressed many different areas that need to be considered when planning to film something like a music video. These areas include a risk assessment, which shows how likely an accident is to happen during filming, and getting permission to film in the location that you plan to.
A weakness of Josh's planning is that it does not seem very detailed and limited information has been provided. This is a weakness because the information provided does not explain things such as what equipment will be used when filming the music video and also who will be in the music video.

Music Video:



A strength of Josh's music video is that he has provided both a first draft and a final draft. This allows us to see the progress made between the two drafts in things such as editing and if they filmed any extra shots.
A weakness of Josh's music video is that some shots seem out of focus or seem to be of low quality. An example of one of these shots was when in the first few seconds, a shot of an aeroplane flying in the sky was used and was out of focus because it was so far away.

Digipak:
A strength of the digipak is that Josh has explained how he created it. He did this using screenshots and text to explain each of the steps that were involved in the process of creating the digipak.
A weakness of this digipak is that Josh posted a second draft of it but did not explain what had been changed from the first draft. This needed to be done so it could be made clear what progress had been made between creating each of the digipaks.

Magazine Advert:
A strength of the magazine advert is that a mock up was created of how it was going to look before it was actually created on the computer. This shows that the person making the advert is organised and has a clear idea of what they want it to look like.
A weakness of the magazine advert is that the drafts that were created on the computer have no explanation surrounding them. This is a weakness as it is not clear what progress has been made between each of the drafts.

Evaluation:
A strength of the evaluation is that different formats have been used for each of the questions. This means that a variety of media platforms have been used and is more interesting to read than simply having text and pictures.
A weakness of the evaluation is that one of his questions - question 3 - has been completely written in text. This is a weakness as it is not showcasing a variety of media formats that could possibly be used.

Task 2 - Research into Student's Work (Part 1)

Research into Another Student's Work
This is the section of the research and planning where I analyse two past student's work and give strengths and weaknesses of each section of their work.

Student Number #1
The first student's work that I am researching is Nikki Brown's from 2014.

Research:
A strength of Nikki's research is that there are many different sections of research such as research into genres and what music videos actually are.
A weakness of Nikki's research is that her some of her posts, especially the one about music video analysis, is largely text based so does not show a wide range of media platforms.

Planning:
A strength of Nikki's planning is that she has planned everything in advance so she is organised. The planning she has done includes the type of equipment she will use and a schedule for when footage for the music video is going to be filmed.
A weakness of Nikki's planning is that she has not used a wide variety of media platforms to showcase the planning she has done. The most frequent type of platforms she uses are text and imagery.

Music Video:



A strength of the music video is that a wide variety of shots are used throughout in such a short space of time these include long shots and close ups. Using a variety of shots shows skill and it means the audience can see the band playing in the music video from different angles so everyone in the band is clear on screen.
A weakness of the music video is that sometimes the shots can appear too long and sometimes the video is edited so that it takes some time to move onto the next shot.

Digipak:
A strength of Nikki's digipak is that she has shown what the first draft and finished draft both look like. This means that she has been able to show that she has made clear progress in the process of creating the digipak.
A weakness of Nikki's digipak is that on her post about her first digipak draft, she lists different fonts she could use but does not explain why they would be suitable.

Magazine Advert:
A strength of Nikki's magazine advert is that she has shown both her first draft and the finished product. This means that Nikki has clearly been able to show the progress that she has made in the process of creating the magazine advert.
A weakness of the magazine advert is that when Nikki is explaining her first draft, she has a picture of it then explains it only in text. By only using one image and text, it means that a variety of media platforms is not being used.

Evaluation:
A strength of Nikki's evaluation is that she has used a different format. As she has used a prezi, the whole evaluation seems a bit more interactive and has clearly used another format other than text and images.
A weakness of this evaluation is that while a prezi has been used, a lot of text has been used in it so it would have maybe been a better idea to use other formats in the prezi so the evaluation showed more media platforms such as using videos and sound clips.

Task 1 - Analysis of a Real Music Video

Shot by Shot Analysis of a Real Video
For this research and planning task, I have done a shot by shot analysis of the first 30 seconds of a real music video. 
Below is the real music video that I am analysing:



Track: '7 Years'
Artist: Lukas Graham 
Record Company: Copenhagen Records (subsidiary of Universal)
Release Date: 18th September 2015
Length of Video: 3 minutes 59 seconds

I chose to do a shot by shot analysis of this video as it is one of my favourite songs and one of the songs that I listen to most frequently.

Shot Chart:

Below is a chart detailing the number of shots used in the first 30 seconds of the music video and what can be seen in each shot.

Analysis:
From the shot chart it can be deduced that the most common type of shot that was used was a long shot. I believe this is because a long shot can help the audience to understand what is happening in the video as it can fit a lot of things in one shot which helps the explain the narrative of the story.

Task 4 - Preliminary (1)

Task Outline and Real Video

The preliminary task that has to be completed is for us, in groups of three, to recreate between 60 and 70 seconds of a real music video.

Below is the music video that my group has to recreate for this preliminary task.
'New Perspective' by Panic! At the Disco:




Planning - Storyboard

Below is a storyboard of the shots from the music video that my group is going to recreate and explanations of each of the shots.