Evaluation of music video

1.

It is clear by looking at the conventions of Folk Rock that our products fit in well with the genre. Firstly my having the artist in normal clothes for example jeans and a t-shirt it shows the audience that he is just a normal man that likes to get his points across through music. This is very common in the genre for example Frank Turner who is another Folk Rock artist is usually seen wearing similar types of clothing in his videos. By shooting a lot of our footage in a natural environment like the park scene we also followed the conventions of a folk rock video as many include natural instruments or just singing so the setting goes well with what the music is about such as in Bon Iver’s video Holocene where it is set in a very natural outdoors setting. Although I think to improve we could have used more props for example a guitar as they are usually included in folk rock videos and I think it would have made it even clearer what genre it came from. When looking at Goodwin’s points it is also clear we have met some of these while making our music video.

 Throughout the music video we have shown a lot of the artist both on his own and with the mime character which would meet the demands of the record label as they may want the audience to see that the artist can have a relationship with someone different and help them through bad times which is a good image to have. We have also made sure that the lyrics and visuals go well together and especially at the end of the song when the mime is taken to his new love as the lyrics state “No I can’t always be waiting waiting on you, I can’t always be playing playing your fool, fool”. This link is very clear through the shots we have got using reaction shots of both mimes brings the audience into the scene and it marks the end of the story which has been playing out throughout the video.

While editing we were also able to make the video look more like a folk rock video. By using final cut we added effects and filters on every scene to make it have more dull colouring as this is a key feature when watching other folk rock artists.

 We have also added an extra layer to our video by including the mime throughout. When looking up the history of the mime we began to take ideas from where it came from and what it represented. We have used both the ‘sad clown’ and the ‘happy clown’ two of the possible five types of mime there is. The love story within our music video goes with the generic mime plays where love plays a big role.

2.

When looking at all our products together it is clear there is a strong link between them all. Firstly we have carried the idea of the mime across to both our magazine advert and DVD case which helps the audience relate the music video to both these products. We felt that by taking the mime from the music video and making that as well as the artist the main focus of all the products we could then develop other ideas to expand on which we were able to do. We decided on a circus theme and because the colours and filters we used in our video made it look like an old film we could go with an old style circus theme. By collecting knowledge from the internet on what kind of things were included in circus posters we found some images that we really felt we could edit to make them fit with our ideas. The mime as the main concept brings all our products together as juggling is often connected with the circus and therefore if we were to make any more products we could use this theme. It also allowed us to come up with some ideas on what extra features we could have on our DVD so we used the circus theme to come up with a circus tour which was included on our DVD. We could have however done a lot more with this and added more to our DVD by creating and inside design which used the juggling balls in more focus which I believe would have worked well in the place where the DVD itself would go as the shape of both would fit together. But overall I feel that we were able to create three products that when seen next to one another it would be clear that they were all related to the same video.

3.

The feedback we received was very helpful as it gave us not only positive feedback on the video but what could have been improved. The feedback shows we made good links between our lyrics and visuals and because of this the story we have used is easily worked out when watching the video. The feedback also commented on our locations and they said that because we changed locations a lot the audience did not grow bored and it therefore kept them interested. This was one of our main goals and if we hadn’t have filmed in so many different locations it would have affected the way we edited as there wouldn’t have been as much choice when it came to shots. They also said that the mime was a good idea and it kept them interested throughout. The feedback also stated that there could have been more shots of the artists lip syncing. This was helpful to know so that if done again we would add in more shots of the artist so the audience feel like they see them enough and we really sell them to the viewers. I think we have developed our video a lot from when our rough cut had feedback as one of the main points for that was to change the tone of the video and we done this by using filters so the whole mood of the video is changed. They also said that they did not see enough of the performer so we added some shots of him so that it would break up all the scenes of the mime.

4.

Throughout the process I have learnt how to use many different types of technology and been able to develop skills on those I have used before. The first thing I used when in the planning and research stage was ‘blogger.com’ this is where all my research and planning would be displayed. To research into music videos I used youtube.com which was able to give me so many music videos and ideas as to what kind of thing is usually included in different music videos. The blog we made shows the stages we went through to get our final idea which is great because it means when looking back we can see the stages we went through. At this stage we also used cameras to take pictures of where we were thinking about filming which meant that we could have a clear image in our mind before moving off to start shooting our video. In the planning stage I was able to use Photoshop which enabled me to get used to where many things were and how to use it on a basic level although it was only to make a mood board it gave me some knowledge that I would be using later to make the other products.

The filming stage of the project can be seen as one of the most important and by using the HD camera we were able to get the best out of it. I felt that I already knew how to use the camera which was a benefit as this meant we could start filming right away. We got the best quality shots which then made our music video look even more professional.

The editing stage I believe is the most important and the different technology that can be used makes the process even more exciting. Using final cut at first was a little confusing but after getting used to the program we started layering our clips on and then lip syncing. Lip syncing was a vital part of the editing stage and if it was not done right with precision then the whole video would not have looked at good quality. The effects we added when in final cut meant that the rendering time for our video was over 2 hours which then meant we could not watch the footage in full before it had to be uploaded on the blog. Although I think in the end the video came out well it could have been a little more improved by just going back through one more time and re adjusting the filters.

When using Photoshop this time I was able to use in more depth. When making the DVD cover and advert I was able to work out how most the tools worked and by using them I took an image and completely transformed what it looked like originally and then was able to add in our own images to the template so that our ideas could come to life. Although I did look on font websites we decide that the best one we felt fitted with our ideas was one of the ones on Photoshop so by using that we made our products really have the circus theme.