EVALUATION: Audience feedback during the construction stage.

For our questionnaire we learned the following points:

• Our specific genre we chose isn't actually preferred very much by our sample size. Although we attempted to hand out our questionnaires to fans of music who would understand the genre, a lot of them didn't mention it as their favourite/most enjoyable type of music video to watch.
• Hence we are definitely still aiming at a niche audience.
• Our sample range came from people who were mostly in school (as this is who it was easiest to reach) - we did however get one questionnaire back from a friends mum who is a nurse.
• She was impressed with our ambition and recognition of the problems - however didn't enjoy the style of music or find the poster particularly impressive.
• Most students enjoyed the video and, interestingly, were confused on the exact issue. A few people said that it was targeting the junior doctors strike which although isn't targeted - I can understand why people would think that with it being a large topic of conversation currently in the news.
• On average however our video scored a 4/5 on delivering its message - meaning this was something that we conveyed successfully.
• Peoples main 2 favourite sections of the video were the fast circular shot with the businessman and the panning shot with the doctors listening into the old man's pockets. I agree with this as these are arguable some of the clearest videos in terms of shot quality and message strength.
• People's favourite thing about the digipak are:
• the cartoon/animated style of it - one quoted it as "interesting".
• the government political theme carried through it
• the circular matching disk tray
• the text for the title and track list as it was rough and gave off that "ripped out" feel
• People's least favourite thing about the digipak are:
• the quotes overlapping onto the other section
• the fluffly cat logo looks just randomly placed
• the Drunk Abuse font seemed OTT
• the barcode looked unrealistic
• People's favourite thing about the poster are:
• the large backdrop of the performer
• the large logo
• the links to social media
• the "making you sick" falling onto the white cover in the background.
• Peoples least favourite thing about the poster are:
• the font colour against the backdrop (the blue was hard to read)
•  the android and iTunes logos white backgrounds

Overall, I think that there are many things we could improve on that, if we had time, we could go back to and amend. However, I think that overall our products were successful in presenting the genre effectively aswell as having a message twist that forced viewers to think about what they'd seen.

EVALUATION: Questionaire

This questionnaire garnered audience feedback during the construction stage of the dig pack, poster and music video.

EVALUATION: Post on the self evaluation of research and planning.

Planning

I think that our planning was one of the most successful parts of our coursework.

Our initial brainstorm sheets were useful at helping us refine our ideas into smaller shot lists - which we then converted into a shooting schedule where each shoot was mostly separated by location and actors available on the day.

Because of this we were able to use a large cast of people, organize many shoots, have creative freedom in taking "spur-of-the-moment" shots without having to compromise on what we wanted.

The Schedule was particularly useful as we came back to it after login each shot and could evaluation what we were doing, when, and could amend our plans to fit around each over.

 

Research

Our research was also successful but arguable less useful towards the creation of our final product.

My best research was the director study and initial video study as I learnt the conventions of the genre and could draw inspiration for our own video. The student work study was less useful as - although it was full of many conventions and showed us the quality of work which deserved the top marks - the genre conventions didn't tie in well with what we wanted to create.

One downside of the director study also was that as we'd focused heavily on one persons work - I started to be very similar to the kind of video they would create meaning, arguable, it lacked originality.


(This is further talked about in my question 4 evaluation).

Music Video V1

PLANNING: Division Of Tasks

When it came to dividing the tasks me and Callum played to each overs strengths as much as possible.

When it came to a shoot Callum would organised all the actors together and direct the mise en scence for most of the shots (certain days noted in our schedule and shot list I was unable to attend). On the shoot's I did attend my input on mise en scene was simply suggesting further shots which I knew would help from an editing point of view (i.e. this shot from the dinner scene I suggested we did so that we had a safety shot we could cut sections from.)

After any shoot I wasn't at I made sure I sat down with Callum, logged and talked about shots (evidence) and then wen't through the shooting schedule and concept shot list with him. That way I was able to make sure everything was on track and ensured that the shots Callum was taking without my presence were useful. This I believe was effective as Callum is stronger at explaining and organizing large groups of people - and I am stronger at editing/computer skills.

We edited the piece in 8 hours over 2 days as we were fortunate enough to find this time. I primarily edited the clips together and applied any transitions or effects. However, Callum was always with me during the edit - almost directing the edit itself. As we are lucky enough to think along the same wavelength, this ensured that the concepts were coming out the way WE envisioned it. The only sequence in the video that wan't edited by me was the last scenes here:

I also recorded the song myself which I've written about the process here!

PLANNING: Shooting Schedule

Throughout filming we kept a shooting schedule so that we would be able to organised the different actors/props/locations and so on leaving enough time before the deadline.  Below are different dated versions of the file so you can see how we used it throughout shooting.

06th November 2015



13th November 2015



18th November 2015


24th November


03rd December


04th December



11th December


16th December

PLANNING: Concept Shot Lists

Throughout filming alongside Callum's Notes and the shooting schedule we kept a shot list that referred to each specific concept to ensure that we collected enough footage to be able to complete the music video. Below different dated version of the file so you can see how we used it throughout shooting.

18th November 2015


24th November 2015


03rd December 2015


04th December 2015

PLANNING: Premeditated Planning and Risk Assessments

PLANNING: Brightness

After taking the party shots we found out that they came out very dark. Therefore we tried to correct and brighten up the clips.



We applied an adjust effect onto the clip named "Lighting Effects". In the setting we had one light turned on. We tried the spotlight effect and played around with the different radius/intensity settings for it but decided it looked to false.

 

Therefore, we decided to try an Omni light type with default settings (shown left). We found this gave a better spread of light over the clip and can be seen in the before/after video below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only downside to brightening the clip in post production is the clip starts to get a slightly grainy texture. However, we think that the effect isn't too extreme in these cases and well intersected with our other incredibly sharply executed clips may work well in context.

This also may suit the genre in keeping with the DIY, slightly rough theme.

 

Poster V2

Poster V1

Digipack Version 1

Click on the images to enlarge:


Version W Pencil Marks For Cutting

Version W The Original Template Guidelines

PLANNING: Storyboards

As the majority of our planning are currently a large combination of shot lists and our schedule has presented us a window where we are able to easily group together and take the shots, we decided to go ahead and film without a storyboard.

However after shooting we decided to create an edit storyboard to ensure that the clips we have will be successful and group together well - ensuring that the shoot was actually a success.

 

Click the images to enlarge.

PLANNING: Edit Notes With Examples

PLANNING: Order of Sequence

This is the order of concepts that we wanted to intersect with the performance shots before the edit.

 

(ANC) PLANNING: Poster Sketches

PLANNING: Lyric Analysis

(ANC) PLANNING: Draft Digipack's and Sketches

NOTE: Links go strait to image examples - keeping all of my draft work on this post clear.

Before jumping into Photoshop I sketched out on a small A4 sized template what I wanted to create:

Click to enlarge.

As I went along I also came up with some ideas witch changed. Half way through I created another printout mini version so see how it was coming along:

• I change the information panel's making it more in keeping with the hospital theme. The photo is of the inside of the medical cabinet within my house. 
•  I wrote onto some index cards and tore the text out - scanned this in and then edited it onto the DigiPack to give it a DIY vibe that is common to the bands genre. This was inspired by the subhumans who hand wrote alot of their CD inserts - in particular the rats cover where the word "Rats" is in a fake torn out bubble.
• I used a previous test photo for the cover & "cartoonized" it. This was inspired by other covers (Bark like a dog & Dookie). Therefore it is common within this genre of music.
• I also decided to give the album a title "Making you sick", tying in further with the hospital theme.

My medicine cabinet. I gave it a slightly dulled texture to give off a sick hospital vibe and draw attention to the text.

For the final product my inside cover was also changed from the original sketch as I wanted to create something political. This is similar to the Dead Kennedy's Fresh Fruit (which contained a cover of the White Night Riots) or NOFX's War on Errorism which directly parody's politicians.

In order to achive this I used the same paper scanning in technique (for the megaphone aswell as text) and also made Callum pose the way I wanted against a white wall. That way I could crop him out and put a drawing of a politicians head ontop. 

Below is the cropped out Callum and my draft drawings.

Here are some scanned in words before being cropped and placed onto the final product:

(ANC) PLANNING: Poster Mood Board

Here is a photo of loads of punk poster that we pulled together to create a mood cool looking mood board.

Click the image to enlarge.

PLANNING: Colour Palette

Following on from our test shoots, me and Callum decided we wanted to give our entire video a one colour tint to give it a certain atmosphere/mood. Here is a video of the different colour tints over the test shots from the medical room.

From this we concluded that the "Moody Blue" was our favorite, giving a dulled, sick hospital feel that we wanted to achieve. We hope to follow this through and use it in our final video. 

RESEARCH: Record Label and Band Image Research

PLANNING: Brainstorm Sheets

Our plan is to use these different brainstormed concept to create lots of mini sequences that we will intersect with performance shots to create the final performance shots, much like the Michael Moore videos I looked at in my research among others. 



RESEARCH: Potential Locations

After talking to Callum (my group partner) we decided that our video should me made up of a stream of concepts instead of trying to follow a narrative. Therefore, we set out and took some photos of some locations and setup some props so that we could come up with advantageous concepts to match our locations.

The Drama Studio

Here we can see that we have a room with a very dark backdrop. This means it could be used for a particularly arty look, where the imagery isn't particularly urban or realistic.

We may be able to use the whiteboard to our advantage and use that as a backdrop to draw around.

This is a concept that Callum came up with where you could have many people at once looking in on the one character. Whilst chatting with him about this we thought we could develop the idea - having maybe lots of old people looking in a young baby in the cage or vice versa. Hence, giving the imaginary a more philosophical meaning.

Here is a similar image of the concept from a different angle.











Out & Around School Areas

Here is a park bench. This area has nice symmetry - particularly if we moved the bin - and could give us a nice "rule-of-thirds" shot.

Again through chatting and brainstorming we decided this could have family doing various things around it - such as eating together.

This image is similar as the door falls center of frame. Callum had the idea of having the singer standing in the doorway and singing directly to the camera. I'm unsure about this as I don't want the video to be (like I found in the REM video here) led mostly by the singer and would rather have it be about the band as a whole.






Medical Room

Here we thought would be a good location to consider, as we could come up with some meaningful imagery.

The medical room itself is quite dirty and unclean (see the dust on the tiles). This could work in our favor as we try to create a gritty atmosphere .

The room is also quite small which, although limits the different range of angles we can use, can create a claustrophobic feel to all of the shots.

The room also had some shutters (see image below too) & obviously a professional medical bed - which we may be able to use in our favor.

Here the mirror could be used to create unique and interesting shots.

Music Rehearsal Rooms

Here is one of our music rooms. Like the medical room, its quite small, however this could potentially be a positive thing.

This room also has quite a dirty and gritty vibe (note the spillages down the carpeted walls) conveying our punk genre.

One thing I dislike about this room is the "music lesson" posters on the walls. If we could take these down and maybe put some other band posters up (creating inter-textual references) then it would be even more ideal to had the band contrive a performance in.

The kit within in the room is also convenient as it connotes the genre and is an obvious convention of a performance.

The only way this could be better is if brands synonymous with rock flashed their logos up i.e. Marshall Amps.

The messiness of the equipment give off the 'diy' vibe. In particular the drum stool is made out of tape (just like the singers microphone in Greenday's Geek Stink Breath).

This one particular image we thought would be a good close up once we had a drummer actually sitting.

RESEARCH: Michael Moore Music Video Director Study

Click here to be linked straight to the video on YouTube, in case the embedded clip above doesn't work.

Here is also a link to the transcript I used in preparation of recording the over voice for this.

RESEARCH: Target Audience Demographic Research

In the embedded slide below is research on the different audiences of related twitter accounts to the song we want to create a music video for.

RESEARCH: Analysis of A Student Music Video

The first student music video I looked at was "Macklemore - Can't Hold Us" embedded below:

This video is of the "Hip Hop" genre - and we see certain conventions of this genre within the video.

One convention is playing with social conventions to give the artist an "above the law presence".  Here we see some over-the-top, slapstick performances of some burglars that don't get caught.

This shows this convention as the burglars spot a "cop" and then shrug him off as being unimportant.

This is something that is close to the 'Hip Hop' genre - however doesn't mean that we won't use that at all in our video - and may consider constructing this in a different, more genre relevant way.

An example of this occurring in a mainstream "Hip-Hop" video is in Eminem's "Without Me" - where a young boy is saved by listening to Eminem's CD, despite it having explicit content.

The entire video actually draws many parallels to the "Without Me" video due to both of them incorporating comic book style titles and having comedy moments:

Here are some examples from the Eminem video. Comic book style panels are used (e.g. "Meanwhile, on a nation talk show...") along with a thought bubble ("What a nice lady!" - also an example of comedy through sarcasm) and comic book style onomatopoeia (the big "POW!" in the yellow & red font).  This particular clip is also presenting comedy through satire (mocking a "Jeremy Kyle" or "Jerry Springer" style show) as well as juxtaposition (the male playing the female character). This is something that works well when accompanying a song that doesn't want to be taken seriously - even if it has controversial subject matter. Therefore, depending on our song choice for our music video - it may be relevant to include some of these features.

Some examples from the Macklemore student video are found here. The frame freezes and changes into a drawn, comic book, effect. We then have the camera panning around stills, with the cartoon effect, making it seem like we are moving from box to box within a comic book. They again use cartoon onomatopoeia ("KAPOW!") - like in the Eminem video - and examples of thought bubbles... & panels are also seen elsewhere in the video. Furthermore: comedy is presented differently to the Eminem video. I.e. at the end of the clip the camera movement creates a comedy moment as it tilts away from the characters - and then tilts back to reveal the man has escaped leaving his jacket. This is funny as the visuals create something surreal occurring which the audience didn't expect.

Another genre convention is the use of low angle close up shots.

An example of a low framed shot with the artist filling the frame.

These are often used through the genre as rappers are stereo typically wanting to brag about how much power they have whether its in terms of  money/possessions or credibility. 

The low angle shot gives the artist a status over the audience and makes them seem more dominant.
The close up has a similar effect - as the artist should take up most of the frame as he is the most important object around.

 

As well as genre conventions, the video used typical characteristics of music videos.

The video is mostly a compilation of comedy moments. This derives firstly from The Beatles video "Hard Days Night": which was the first video to involve the band filmed clowning about with wacky camera angles being cut together. This was also used in Blink 182's Rock Show (I've previously researched). This shows that this type of video convention isn't particularly genre specific and can be effective in many applications.

 

There is an attempted link of a narrative throughout the piece (What's in the box? -  at the end it's comically revealed to be a chicken.) however I wouldn't say this is a predominant feature of the piece as the narrative isn't continuously executed throughout the video (i.e. the dance section seems to divert from the main story).

 

A final 2 convention's used are: lip syncing (which was particularly effective when the artist are walking towards the camera and the camera pans backwards following them - video below) and dancing. Both of these are usual features of music videos - independent of genre.

This shot was particularly effective, and showed good smooth camera control combined with exceptional lip syncing.

The video is most successful when it...

...used certain compilations of comedy sections and conveyed the humour differently. One example is their use of 'whips' to help bring out the humour.

 

For example in the clip above the whip helps to jovially reveal different elements within the scene - making what we see funnier and more expected. 
Panning shots were also used for a comedic effect - like explained above in the Eminem comparison above - and the actors extreme facial expressions helped add to the humour.

They were also very successful with their use of location:
 

 



The images above show 2 great examples. Low angles facing up towards the monuments help to emphasise their magnificence and by framing the main character centre of frame (in front of the buildings) gives them a larger than life presence - again connoting the typical hip hop "power".

They were also successful when framing their shots. Left are some examples where the rule of 3rds has been used effectively - particularly when the artist is sat centre of frame with symmetrical background either side of them.

Other examples of good framed shot at the usage of the phone (where the screen isn't pixelated and appears very sharp and clear in focus - while the others doing less important actions are out of focus) and the shot between one of the characters legs - which is creative and creates a smart symmetrical line either side of the tree.
The video is least successful when it...

... used comedy sound effects. For example: the use of the phone sound effect over the music video and the loony tunes motif at the end of the video shown in the video below.

 

This is unconventional as it draws away from the song - which the video is meant to be promoting and therefore the focus of.

Furthermore, part way through the video the song is interrupted completely by a record scratch sound effect . This again draws away from the song and, despite the sound effect acting as quite a good link, was inappropriate towards promoting the song the music video is around.

Another error was that different people would be singing with the same voice. This is an obvious error - however wasn't overtly obvious because of how well the shots where composed and executed.



From this video I can conclude that for my video I will need to stick to conventions and make sure that the song is the most important part of the video. Furthermore, I should ensure that I make good use of visuals (i.e. using locations smartly and making good use of camera movements) to create different moods/emotions throughout the video.

RESEARCH: Analysis of 3 Music Videos

Blink 182 - Rock Show

The video opens with some white on black titles explaining the concept of the video followed by some handheld "documentary-esque" shots of the band members coming out of their tour van and talking directly to the one camera. They explain the videos concept further. As Blink 182 are of the pop-punk genre (a sub-genre to punk), this DIY/Indie method (i.e. 3rd wall breaks and handheld camera) demonstrates the punk-ethos which influences the band.

The band are also in all back: with large logos printed T-shirts and either shorts or black jeans. This is conventional of many rock/alternative and is a predominant colour set for a band to use: usually red, white & black. (Other examples of similar bands: foo fighters, green day & white stripes.)



Their hairstyles are also cut short: conventional of the pop-punk genre and steering away for typical "rock" long hair.

The shots of them spending their cash on random things are constantly intercepted with live performances. The first performance being shot in a room with fish eye lenses: which are always cut with the lyrics synchronized (lip syncing) to the song. This is to emphasize that a large element of the band is their live shows: also exaggerated by their jumping and energy going into the performance.
This is demonstrated to a further extent by the 2nd performance venue shown in the video: in front of a large hyper crowd.

Performance number 2 also shows lots more connotations towards the bands genre. We see a lot of close up shots on the singers face & instruments. This helps bring out the front man's role leading the band as-well as emphasizing the role of the instruments in create the music. The handheld camera is continued with no nicely polished shots - as the grittiness contributes to creating the strong punk/indie vibe. Low angle and overhead shots are also used (with many slightly "dutch-ed " angles) helping to create the artistic imperfections.

The shots of them spending money on various  things are all handheld shots hinting back to the "punk-ethos" mentioned earlier. Gaze theory can be applied to the women in bikinis car washing: suggesting that the video is appealing to the bands fan base which may be mostly male and of a younger/teenage age.
The dancing man also helps displays the bands sense of humor - conveying their jokey personality within the video.

Furthermore, later on in the video we see: the drummer smashing up a TV, a car being smashed from a crane/ran into from the bands van & skateboarding.
All these things hint towards the punk genre (in particular skateboarding- which carries conventions towards the sub genre of "skate punk" witch Blink 182 are often categorized) and help convey the bands attachment to the genre.


All the shots are edited frequently (however not fast cuts) at times where it feels comfortable alongside the music (keeping the edits smooth) however aren't matched "to the beat".

The video ends with the title of the Album "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" trailing a plane - helping promote its release as well as "Rock Show" being one of the albums single releases.

Green Day - Geek Stink Breath

"Geek Stink Breath" is another pop-punk style song. As expected, the video has similarities with the Blink 182 video. There are many close ups on their instruments and the singer/front mans face to emphasize their importance. A mixture of many extreme low angles and high angles are used to create a "punk/alternative" vibe along with handheld shots showing off a DIY punk work ethic. The edits and movement are frequent however not fast cut and aren't matched "to the beat".

Additionally, the live performance from the band (stressing how important their live shows are towards their image) intercepts with other clips, with lips synced to the song. These other clips however aren't random things they are spending money and are instead close-ups on dental surgery taking place - tying in with the songs lyrics and title.

The mise-en-scene of the live performance is vital towards the image the video is portraying for the band. The room they are playing in is a red/orange which complements their black outfits which are conventional of genre and similar to the ones Blink 182 wore. They all also dyed their hair extreme colours: conventional of the punk style as it make them stand out and not appear to care what other people think. Other details such as the gaffer tape securing the mic to the stand and the stickers covering the singers guitar give the video a DIY vibe - hinting at another punk, anti-mass production idea.

The performance has also had the shots heavily edited in post production. A grainy pinstriped texture has been added to make the piece feel more gritty. A high contrast is used on all the shots too to make the colours pop out and seem more extreme. Also the colours seem to warp as if the shot is damaged. This adds to the DIY vibe as well as adding a more manic feel to the video connoting genre conventions. They may also be complementing the lyrics content - reflecting the references to oral problems associated with the use of meth - creating a trippy colour palette in the video.

The imagery of the tooth being pulled out is extremely graphic - exaggerated by the extreme close up handheld camera's being used. This would have been done to purposely create controversy and create a reason for people to be drawn to the video. This also is a strong punk rock connotation. A lot of the shots are from the POV of the dentist, in conjunction with some really close shots on the patient/dentist making him look freakish and horrific.

Nofx - Bob

"Bob" is a song of the ska punk genre and moves away from the 2 previous pop punk songs. However, many conventions are carried over. It opens with a small narrative setup (like the concept setup in the blink video) demonstrated by some unprofessional "child like" drawings: giving the independent, DIY, punk vibe. The live performance interjects the narrative shots (mirroring the narrative in the lyrics: in particular "rides a scooter") with close ups on the singers face. Also the performance shots are edited to be black and white - giving it a certain punk feel in contrast to the brighter scooter shots. There are also examples of handheld shots in various places creating a similar effect.

The rest of the video follows the lyrics in the videos in and out of sync. E.g. we see the man (Bo") shave his head however the lyrics "once a day he shaves his head" aren't until later on in the song. In contrast the lyrics "will he ever walk the line" meets with a shot of Bob literally trying to walk  line . Lip syncing is also used on the performance shots. Furthermore, when the shot of the van driving past is played the trumpets play a "van-like" sound - meaning the video is "mickey-mousing" the instrumentation.

Some camera movement and edits are atypical of the genre. For example: we have big cinematic, smooth camera movement and pans up on Bob on his scooter and smooth fade transitions are used. This isn't as we'd expect as punk music is generally praised with its imperfections. One bizarre sequence is at 1:14 where the same shot is repeated in a loop - further aiding the DIY character of the video.

There is also less emphasise on the band members and their appearance as all shots on the band are mostly above shoulder level or cut away from too quickly to be a predominant features. The outfits in the ska section (e.g. sun glasses & white trilby hat) are more about enhancing the contrast of section than to acting as a uniform for the band. The DIY/ unprofessionalism of these sections (i.e. the bassist playing a block of wood with a sting attached to it) help convey the bands gentle sense of humour. However, one way the band market their image in the video is by splashing their logo around the video: particular on the bus stop seen in the last shots.

The rate of shot change and style of shots also mirror the music changes. Moving from the opening to the ska/trumpet section we get a slower edit rate, longer shots and colour performances of the band dancing (less frantically). This dramatically changes when the ending plays its faster section and the cuts are frequent, unstable and mostly based on performances and general "mania" from the crowd.

Conclusion



In conclusion for our video which we plan to be for a song of a similar genre we would have to make sure that we follow the common conventions that are common between all the videos.