Research - Social Networking

I thought I'd look at what it'd take to put together a promotional campaign for our girl-group. Looking at class examples like Lily Allen, Chemical Brothers and Arctic Monkeys, I thought I'd try and find a few of my own examples of how musicians are getting engaged with 'The new media'. I looked at three different social media sites: Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Each service offer content such as the photos, behind the scene videos and stream for the artist/band's latest singles. Each page uses different techniques to connect to their fans. For example, Arctic Monkey's Facebook page allows users to stream their latest album 'AM' on Spotify using just a click, whereas Kendrick Lamar uses photos and music links from fellow members of his hip-hop collective 'Black Hippy' to reach out to fans, and finally, Lily Allen's MySpace page specialises in post and articles in which she expresses her views and opinions on current events (e.g. 'Double standards in media'). For my advanced portfolio I think it's vitally important to use social media to promote our single and so. Furthermore, I would like to use photo-sharing media application Instagram to track our process whether it be planning, editing or filming. I think this is a smart idea considering a lot of artists are starting to use Instagram and essentially raising their profile(s). Also considering that our target audience is a demographic of teenage/young adults, specifically females (13-29), we think it's vitally important that we use social networking to promote our artist as statistics suggest teenage girls use social media more than any other age group.

Lily Allen's Myspace Page

 

Arctic Monkey's Facebook Fan-page

Kendrick Lamar's Twitter Page

Links to these social networking sites:

Arctic Monkey's Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/ArcticMonkeys
Kendrick Lamar's Twitter Page - https://twitter.com/kendricklamar

Lily Allen's MySpace Page - https://myspace.com/lilymusic

Research - How Base-Tracks Work

Attempting to recap on my music video made before the summer in AS is proving to be a challenge - I can't find my video on the blogspot (Though my digipack's on there). However, I can remember the filming process; We filmed two base-tracks: A wide shot of me and my other two partners: Kellie & Deborah dancing, and a close-up tracking shot of us three again, but standing still side-by-side. Though I've got the gist of base-tracks, I'm still unsure of markers. I believe we used this to sync audio from the song with Kellie (the lead actress)'s facial movement. On the other hand, most of our video was choreographed dance so there were very few shots in which Kellie was caught singing. In all honesty,  markers is something I'm going to need to work on before filming my A2 video. 
Because I couldn't find our own cut of the video, I thought I'd post Madonna's original video. Perhaps you could feel sympathetic for me when you see the dodgy choreographed dance-scenes!

Skills Audit

In As there was a lot more research to do so I took more short cuts in order to get the work done but now there is less so I use a variety of sources for research - not just Wikipedia (more accurate sources) and also go into much more detail. A2 requires more analytical work, so that's one skill I think I have further developed since AS. I now know how to use blogger properly so it's easier for me to get my work done. A lot of the technology I used at AS it was my first time using but now I've had practice and I'm better at it and can use things much more efficiently than just doing the basic because I didn't know how to use them.

Reflection on Progress

I think I am progressing well with my blogging. I have done all of the research blogs and I am up to date. In comparison to last year I was more relaxed with blogging so a lot of the time I ended up blogging last minute instead of doing it over time and getting them done on time. I have used a much wider range of technology - Photoshop, Gif Maker, Prezi, Screenshots, Slideshare. I would give my self a 13/20 as I go into a lot of detail in my blogs but I need to use more visual representations.

Three things I need to do to improve:

• Better Time management - Blogging on time!
• Use more technology in my blogs
• Do extra blogs

How the music Industry uses social networking sites

The music industry uses social media quite efficiently especially when the artists album is coming out or when they're about to go on tour or are on tour. They make use of website like, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube  Tumblr and Instagram to help promote their album, build a fan base and increase their popularity. It is also a way for the artists to keep their fans updated and to interact with fans. We as an audience turn to social network for these updates and promotion so we create conversation about it.

One example is Jessie J. Her new Album wild is due to come out - Here are screen shots of her Facebook Twitter and YouTube accounts. Its obvious she is using these sites to promote her new album. Also on her YouTube she does live streams where she interacts with fans and answers their questions. This is a good way to keep her fanbase interested.

Another example is Labrinth - Tumblr & Twitter

Labrinth has used his up coming album cover for his twitter background and has posted video's and pictures of his album launch and events he's doing leading up to his album release.

Our Music Video
When talking about our target audience we decided on youth (late teens, early 20s) and our wider audience is ages 16-30. Statistics show that this demographic are the most frequent users of social networking sites so it would be smart to use Social Networking Sites to promote our artist and also try and gain a fanbase.

Synergy

Progress

Overall I am managing to keep on track and on top of my coursework. I have managed to complete all the research blogs I needed to complete on time and add extra blogs too. I have used different technology for the blogs, including prezi, powerpoint, gif maker and photo bucket. I will continue to use these technologies and more as the course progresses. Overall if I had to give myself a mark out of 20 I would give myself  13. I know I can work harder and improve my work. I feel the three things I need to improve are:

1. Level of detail in my posts
2. Use more technology
3. Try to do some more posts.

I will continue to work exceptionally hard to achieve these goals. :)

Research: How the music industry uses social networking sites

Lots of music artists use social networking sites, such as twitter and Facebook to promote new music, build a fan base and to try to gain more popularity. There are music artists who just post videos on social networks to get discovered. A couple of music artists who have done this and gone on to become hugely successful are Adele and Lily Allen, who were both discovered on social networking site Myspace.

The link below is for Adele's myspace page.
https://myspace.com/adelelondon/music/songs

Many music artists have twitter accounts to promote new music. The annotations below show this.

 

In Katy Perry's Twitter bio she has the name and release date of her new album as well as artwork from the album all promoting her new music

Demi Lovato uses her twitter bio to promote her new album and singles as well as where to download them. She also has artwork promoting her new tour as well.








Selena Gomez is another artist who uses twitter to promote her new music. Her new album is clearly shown/advertised here and where you can purchase it from.








In Jessie J's twitter bio she subtly plugs her music with the text. Her new album is called Alive and she has this word as her twitter header and in her small text.








It's not just twitter that artists use, Jessie J, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Katy Perry also have facebook pages to promote their music. These can be found in the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/JessieJOfficial?ref=br_tf
https://www.facebook.com/Selena
https://www.facebook.com/DemiLovato
https://www.facebook.com/katyperry

For our music video we might create a Facebook page for our artist to gain more popularity and build a fanbase. We might also do promotional videos on youtube to put the word out there as well as create a twitter page for our artist, so they can communicate with their fans.

Analysing Costume, Setting and location

POP: Little Mix -Wings

Setting and Location
The studio setting of this video is quite conventional for the genre. It also set in a warehouse/ abandoned building. The two different settings match the song as it's a pop song with a sort of urban feel because of the beat. When the girls do their solo parts of the song they each have their own backdrop which represent them and show their personality but they also share a setting which shows that they are part of a group. The colours are very bright colours and they used a variety of colours throughout the video which are.

Costume
Their costumes change with setting, so when their in their own back drops they have one costume and when their in the abandoned building (blue) their costume changes etc. They wear quite girly/urban clothing, to match their genre and also the song. They do not wear the same colours but in shots when they're together they're wearing the same items of clothing e.g. all wearing shorts.

R&B/Pop: Labrinth - Express Yourself

Setting , Location and Costume
The song has a message of express yourself and the video is illustrating that message some most of the video is of people being them selves and not being afraid to act themselves. Labrinth is mainly the narrator and is performing. When the shot includes labrinth it's in the studio and there are various different back drops, school classroom, spinning chair (grafitti backdrop), studio waiting room, the comic book floor, bathroom but when he isn't the video is in a real life setting, in the street, house, kitchen. Labrinth changes costume with each set change. In total there are 6 costume changes.

Research: Skills audit

For AS we had more time to do our research as it was spread out over a few months because we had to learn about all the equipment we were going to use, health and safety and then all about the film industry. With that in mind, my research for A2 is a little less than my research at AS due to the time we had, however, the information in my posts I feel are much more detailed and accurate. I am putting in much more effort in these posts and I'm focusing to get it all up on time.

My skills for researching have improved greatly as I know what websites to look at and where to get my information from. I am able to use different types of technology more efficiently as I am more experienced now after using them at AS. I am also able to go into greater detail when researching and analysing.

Research - 'Mood' Board

We started to think about the look we wanted our own girl group to have. We decided to create a 'mood' board using Microsoft Word looking at the following:
- Musical influences - We looked at artists that are similar to ours, such as little mix.
- Fashion influences - We drew together images from fashion, hair and makeup that we felt represented the kind of look that we wanted for our group. We are using pictures of artists who influenced us, such as stooshe and the sugarbabes.
- Target audience - We found some pictures that convey the audience type we're appealing to. Young female adults and late female teens.

This is what we made:

This is what we found out:
-The wider audience will be around 16-30 yr olds.
-We plan to establish synergy through our three products by using similar colour schemes, similar costumes, similar text for advertising and on the digi pak.
-We're going to try and step out of the convention of using loud colours and go for a mix of pop and urban, urban being black.

Research - Reflection on Progress

When asked "How well do you feel you are progressing with your blogging compared to last year? What mark out of 20 would you give yourself at this point for use of different ICT and level of detail in your blogging?"


I don't think I've had the best of starts, simply being because I think I've started blogging far too late. With a week left until the deadline, it's hard to do all mandatory/a couple supplementary posts to a high standard without feeling troubled for time. On the other hand, I've taken this as a positive - I've learnt to start blogging something learned in class as soon as possible!

Moving on, without sounding big-headed, I would give myself a 16/20. Averaging 3 embeddings on each research post, I would say I use a lot of ICT considering I would only combine 2 bits of technology (YouTube Video & Screenshots) for my evaluation questions in AS. I think my posts could be more detailed with less waffling and a tad bit more terminology added. Looking back at my Laura Mulvey post, I think this was my weakest as I failed to elaborate on the male gaze and anything else mentioned. However, I think my best post was on Carole Vernalis, the combination of GIFs, YouTube videos and pictures interlinked well in my Prezi and I hope to keep it up to that kind of standard. 

Three things I could use to improve for 'Planning for Music Video': 

-Do posts as soon as possible - give myself enough time to comfortably edit pieces before the deadline
-Waffle less and add more terminology
-Do more supplementary posts

Research - Skills Audit

When asked "Think back to the research that you conducted for your AS practical work; how have your skills in research developed since then?"

Looking back to last year, my research was very vague. Looking at previous posts, it contained the repeated pattern of two paragraph and embedded pictures/videos - boring.  However this year, I've tried to look to link each post with examples from other theories/theorists learnt. For example, I'll try to link Andrew Goodwin's arguments with a post on Laura Muvley as well as use more terminology. Also this time round (A2), I'm attempting to incorporate more technology with my blogs; rather than using an embedded video as mentioned earlier, I'll link videos, throw in GIFs (A new feature I've started to use!) and insert a widget at the end of my post; this may consist of a sound bar, Prezi or Slideshare post. However, I could do with making more supplementary posts like I did in AS. I think with the pressure of making mandatory posts as detailed as possible, by the time I come onto doing supplementray posts, I feel lazy and sick of blogging. Though it's still early days, I'm determined to do at least 80 posts in this portfolio even if that means publishing 20 supplementary posts!

My research into film back in AS. Though posts were short
and concise, they could've been thorough (more detailed).

Research - Synergy

Single Cover - 'I Always Knew'

After looking at a Prezi on Synergy I noticed a few common features that is used to create a brand identity using media products: 'appearance, costume & props',  'colours' and 'font'. Using Daft Punk's 'Random Access Memories' for inspiration, I saw that both members wears their own helmets, personalising each of themselves. They also use futuristic colours to reinforce their sic-fi image gained by the helmets and lastly the same font is used for the video, track listing and titles in music videos. These features are linked across all platforms (Albums, singles, videos and tour posters) to make it easily identical by viewers as well as entice them. For my individual research, I thought I would look at Indie band The Vaccines and their second album 'Coming of Age'. Though I'm doubtful I'll be doing an indie music video, I thought it would be a good genre to fall back on.

Appearance, props and costume: The album cover displays the 4 members as women. This may be used to personalise the members as feminine, appealing to the female audience. They're wearing white shirts and denim vests - typical indie attire. Looking further into the album cover, singles and music video 'No Hope', this follows a black and white colour scheme. This neutral colour connotes style, chic and the classic traditional setting that indie music follows. Furthermore, simplistic bold text is used in the album and single, this is used to make the audience easily identify the band. Though there is no titles used in the music video, it follows the same black and white colour scheme.  

                     

                                 

Research - Group Account of Props, Costumes And Setting

As a group we looked at three music videos in class: Wretch 32's 'Traktor', Eliza Doolittle's 'When I Was...' and Paramore's 'Still Into You'.
 
After plotting points of costume changes for track 'Still Into You' by Paramore on a timeline using TimeToast.com, we came to the conclusion that there are around 3 different costume changes on average, but it does depend on the genre of the song. Female artists tend to have more costume changes than males, and even more if they are in a band. However, for the purpose of this video, Paramore stepped out of the convention by having the lead actress perform in one outfit with a variation of a jacket. This may be used to signify her lack of femininity (She's not like other punk singers), and that's why Paramore might have such a strong fan base, because they're different to the conventional punk-bands.

Research - Costume, Setting & Location

As individuals, we were asked to analyse costume, setting (later changed to props) and location in a music video of our choice. Considering the genre I want to do for my advanced portfolio, I thought I'd look at UK hip-hop artist Sway. I chose to study his video 'Level Up' in-depth as well as look for inspiration of my own music video. Furthermore, I thought this video was interesting at it follows a narrative rather than the artist's image, also conveying Andrew Goodwin's illustration (The video represents the track's lyrics). This video connotes what large sums of money can do to ones morale and happiness. Tubes, football correspondent from Saturday morning breakfast show Soccer AM was the lead actor in this video. I chose to mark down his costume & location changing

Working-class clothed men

The lads wearing their best suits, a step-up from the
beginning of the video

Clothing - Tubes starts off with very basic casual wear consisting of a sweatshirt and jeans. As soon as he wins the lottery, he then wears his best suit. Shortly after Tubes wins the lottery, he is seen wearing smart casual wear, the difference being that he's wearing chinos and designer shirts. Further more, he is videoed at a party with Sway very a very expensive looking suit. This video goes to say that money can not only improve your wardrobe but your overall attitude and desire to feel good (Look good - feel good).

The £2 coin used to buy the lottery ticket

Small investment - big return 

Props - I only noticed three significant props: A £2 coin (used to buy the lottery ticket; signifying hope - which we all have), a lottery ticket (Displaying chance - something a lot of use fail to take) and a big cheque (depicting a big pay off - something we rarely get). Creating a semantic field for money, each has their own meaning, something which Sway, though sticking to the generic conventions of hip-hop (ultimately money and women), has smartly kept secretly.

Working class council flat

Luxury studio the men aren't afraid to take
women back to 

Location - There was two six locations used in the video - both Tube's working class life and new-found wealth contained three each. This was used as a comparison in standard, for example, the external location was a street for working-class Tubes, wheres wealth Tubes was on the red-carpet. And looking at the internal locations, both a council house and a luxury studio was used; you can guess which one belonged to who.    

Check out the video out for yourself!

Research - Combining Theorists

After looking into: Andrew Goodwin, Laura Maulvey and Carole Vernalis, I thought I would analyse a music video which was relevant to all three theorists. Just to recap:

- Andrew Goodwin argues that traditional narrative analyses doesn't apply to music videos.
- Laura Mulvey argues that in a patriarchal society, women are looked upon by the majority of heterosexual males as objects, reluctantly accepting this. As a result women are seen as victims of men's fantasies. 
- Carole Vernalis observes that edits in music videos are a lot more frequent than in film.

Considering Mulvey's theory is harder to find in music videos than the other two, I thought I'd look at another 50 Cent video, this time 'Candy Shop'. This video is a provocative as it gets; with women being presented in bikinis, making phallic symbols and dropping down low, any heterosexual viewer will find themselves enticed. This video displays Goodwin's theory of 'amplification' - the video matches the lyrics almost exactly. The term 'Candy Shop' is being derived as a colloquialism for whore house. Looking into Vernalis' theory, editing is faster than it would be for a film and there is no exception for this video: Jump cuts are used whilst 50's running up the stairs to make action appear seamless. Also, the track's beat is almost in sync following a pattern of 3 edits per 3 second loop. And the final thing I noticed was an obvious edit (50 Cent's shirt being 'whipped off'). Overall, this is something I would not like to replicate for my own coursework, in fact, I don't intend to do anything that might associate my video to Mulvey's theory. However, I'd like to make my video similar to this in terms of amplification. Though jump cuts and fast-paced editing is vital for a good piece of film, I would like to avoid using SFX as I'm not confident enough with Final Cut Pro to do so.

SFX of shirt being whipped off

Research - Contradictions of Mulvey's Theory

Laura Mulvey argues the determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly. For those who don't quite get that statement, it means women are present to be looked at in a derogatory manner. Though some argue this problem persists in modern day music, I believe this is not the case. Though I've seen posts attempting to contradict Mulvey's theory, all the examples posted were by female singers; of course they're not going to conform! n order to contradict Mulvey's theory, we must look at music videos from male artists. Luckily, I found two examples: Calvin Harris' track 'I Need Your Love' and Labrinth's 'Beneath Your Beautiful'. Despite featuring female singers, both songs were written by both male artists to convey how much more women mean to them than just object, though both hold similar connotations, both are presented differently, here's as follows:

Labrinth's video looks at Emeli Sandé as a goddess. Using Andrew Goodwin's illustration, the lyrics suggest that she is a respected women who's not easy to 'pull'. This is reinforced in the video by the extreme close-up of Emeli's eyes. Linking in Carole Vernalis - matching the slow pace of the music, most of the video features a close-up of Emeli's eyes suggesting that all a guys attention should be used to focus on a woman's face, not their chest.

Though Ellie Goulding's seen with nothing but a bed-sheet on within the first five seconds of the video, this is used to document the fictional couple's happiness rather the male gaze; Harris' stepping out of the convention of displaying women as whores. Looking at Goulding as a soulmate, this video depicts what it's like to be with someone you love using multiple first-person POVs or better known as 'selfies', something which is considered by the general public as the norm in today's society.

Research - Previous Student Video Review

Colour-washed Effect

Though grime isn't one of my favourite genres (Yes, there is a distinction between hip-hop and grime), the student video for Krept and Konan's Play Dirty had me bobbing my head up and down wondering why my life wasn't as urban as the one conveyed in this one (I kid of course). 
The added layers of colour-washed effect made for a distort sort of style, this I particularly liked. Despite using the vast range of camera shots vital for a good piece of work, the camera would move within the hazy/wavy vibe that was being displayed around the house at the time. Furthermore, it didn't fail to capture the party life with it's use of tracking shots and close-ups. The base track that takes place in front of the green screen made the feature smart, yet simplistic. Also, being a low-budget music video this contained all the generic props that would typically been seen in grime videos: cars, girls, booze and contraband of some sort. 
Though some would argue this video's a bit explicit, I would agree; the lead girl Hannah could've been a little less provocative - conforming to Mulvey's theory about women, all that unnecessary 'bosom sticking-out' business wasn't needed. On the other hand, I think Aysen was the highlight of the video. The second verse that takes place with Aysen spitting to himself in the mirror conveys Andrew Goodwin's amplification. Though this doesn't has much to do with playing dirty, I believe this scene depicts what your subconscious can encourage you to do. I honestly enjoyed this video and would like to do something similar to it for coursework.

Research - Laura Muvley's Theory

I think that Mulvey argues that in a patriarchal society, women are looked upon by the majority of heterosexual males as objects, reluctantly accepting this. As a result women are seen as victims of men's dark twisted fantasy (no pun intended) 

I made a short animation based on my interpretation of Mulvey's theory using GoAnimate, check it out!

Referring back to my animation, I found that hip-hop tracks such as 50 Cent's P.I.M.P tends to exploit women more than any other genre. For example, there are a couple low-angle shots of women wearing nothing but their cheeks on show. Also, the large assortment of half dressed women are used to project the fantasy of having an orgy as a charming Lloyd Banks states to have done in his verse. This is essentially used to engage and stimulate viewers. But to be fair, who wants to see grown-men dougie or count money without the company of good-looking women? I certainly wouldn't. The GIFs attached depict examples of Mulvey's theory 'The Male Gaze'.

Looking at Beyonce's Single Ladies, she conveys Andrew Goodwin's theory of disjunction. Though the lyrics display the opposite of Mulvey's argument (Women being looked upon as objects), Beyonce does nothing but conform to this theory of women being looked upon by men as objects. Wearing yoga clothing, she is joined by two other women dancing and strutting their 'stuff' in front of camera. They are breaking the fourth wall encouraging the male gaze of visual pleasure.

There's nothing like arguing women's rights than showing your arse to
the camera!

Research - Carole Vernalis' Theory

This is a Prezi I did for Carole Vernalis' theory on editing and camera from 'Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context'. Enjoy!



Note: I made GIFs for the Prezi, however, they don't appear to work. So I've attached them to the bottom of this post

Rizzle Kicks - Lost Generation

Mark Ronson - Bike Song

ScHoolBoy Q - Collard Greens

Research - Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Looking at Dancing in the Distraction, Andrew Goodwin argues that traditional narrative analyses doesn't apply to pop videos. Though there are a number of reasons behind this, Goodwin believes it's just that they approach narrative from a different angle to novels and films. Instead, reasons for different narrative structures are as follow: 

- Pop videos rely on repetition; repeating images in the way the song repeats the chorus or lines meaning that we become familiar with the genre. Think to yourself, why would we change it? With certain expectations held on generic pop music videos, it might be dangerous to challenge these conventions. 

- Pop songs, typically, have a form of closure and ending. Often reflected in the structure of the music, the 3 minute single that a video is based on must end. This can be used to promote commodities such as film or encourage viewers to watch it again, and again. 

- The visualisation of a song may go beyond the original meaning. There are three types of relations between songs and videos that display this: Illustration, Amplification and Disjuncture

Illusion - I took Ab-Soul's Illuminate (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) as an example of Illustration. Goodwin argued Illustration is where the video tells the story of the lyric. Intrigued as I was by this video, I noticed Ab-Soul stating if you give him a chance to kill competition, he won't hesitate to make room for newer-upcoming rappers ("Put a pistol in my hand and I won't think, Rest in peace, you just made room for the next to be"), furthermore, this video connotes what the world is like after hip-hop (hip-hop being my own interpretation) becomes extinct and it's left to the new generation (conveyed by the young adults) to 'resurrect' it. 

Amplification - Being one of my favourite music videos out there today, Arctic Monkey's 'R U Mine' conveys the lengths one would go to be with some they like; Despite the temptation of willing-women and hanging out with the lads. I believe this video introduces new layers of meaning that don't necessarily contradict the lyrics as Goodwin states. 

Disjunction - Beyonce's Single Ladies has nothing to do with being single nor' sticking rings in various places. Instead it's just a trio of light-skinned women performing in their best yoga outfits. This video also conforms to male gaze, but I won't get into that now. Though this video is the equivalent to a discrete opening I learned about in AS, Goodwin claims that disjunction is where there is little connection between the lyric and video. 

Research - Functions In A Music Video

For this post, I thought I'd make a power-point presentation about the functions of music videos using Google Documents and upload it to Slideshare after.

Research - Copyright Clearance

During my summer break, I attempted to reach out to RCA Records, a branch of Sony Entertainment, in order to get Copyright Clearance  for grime track 'Cruddy Pacs - Stepped In The Rave' in order to make a video for my A2 Media Studies coursework. Despite sending my email to RCAVictor back in July, I'm still optimistic that I'll get a message back...!

Check out the track for yourself. Hopefully you'll see why I like it so much

Reflecting Back on AS - Music Video Remake

"Embed a copy of the music video remake that you produced in June"

We did the remake for Madonna's Vogue. For some reason I couldn't find my group's music video let alone anyone from my Media set. However, I found my digipak. In all honesty, I can't remember anything about the filming process nor' making a digipak; creating it on Adobe Photoshop's as much as I can remember. Looking back at it now, there are a couple things I would change: the title on the front cover, and possibly the colour scheme. I also intend to take the time to take a picture for this rather than using a sample found in the college's resources folder!

Reflecting Back on AS - Technical Skills

"Quick bullet pointed list of the technical skills that you have developed during the course of the AS year. Remember to include filmmaking and all aspects of editing and sound."

Using a JVC camera with a tripod to film our 3 minute opening, along with my group, we used a vast range of shots to make our opening look professional. These shots include: 

Motion

• First Person POV
• Wide Shot 
• Tracking Shot
• Close-up
• Mid-Shot

Though these types of shots were new to me, I was already familiar with using a video-camera at GCSE, however at AS I leaned how to use the following: Final Cut Pro, Motion and Soundtrack Pro.

Soundtrack Pro

With Final Cut Pro I learned how to:

• Import/Export footage
• Place it in a chronological sequence 
• Trim clips/sound
• Add transisitions, effects and the title sequence

Despite using iMovie on many occasion, I found Final Cut far more technical. Though this felt challenging at times, especially deadline day, it felt rewarding when the final product was complete. With Soundtrack Pro, I learned how to compose a score for my 3 minute opening by mixing up a string of samples and beats. With Motion, I was able to create an ident for my fictional distribution company. This involved experimenting with transitions and title movements.

Favourite Previous Student Work

25. Christabell Ndive, Juliana Lopez, Tamara Akotuah from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Andrew Goodwin Theory

This video follows the conventions that Andrew Goodwin claims in his theory. There is no traditional narrative structure in this video as there isn't really a story to follow we are more focused on the artist and her performance. The artist is the protagonist in this video throughout the whole video she is looking straight at the camera and she acts as both the narrator and the character. There is quite a bit of repetition in this video. We return to her on the stairs, on the balcony and underneath the stairs. Also we return the first location at the end of the music video. This video is disjuncture as there is no connection between the video and the song.

Carol Vernallis

Editing: Edited to the beat, Jump Cuts, Obvious edits - Speeding up and Slowing down of time
Narrative: No particular narrative in this music video, Mainly performance (disjuncture)
Diegesis: The artists was moving to the music
Camerawork: Quite a few base tracks - On the Stairs, balcony, Alley, Many Close ups, Repetition

Laura Mulvey

This video goes against Mulvey's theory as she was not presented as an object of male desire. She was wearing clothes that covered her and her body parts were not the focus. Although she is dismembered in this video at the very beginning but that is the only time in  the whole video. We are not forced to see the video from a males perspective as Mulvey suggested as there aren't any other people int he video except for her.

Strengths and Weaknesses 
What I like about the video and a strength of the video is the way it is edited. it was edited really well and also the way it is edited mimics the song. a weakness of this video is that there is no narrative so we don't have anything to follow or something that might make it memorable.

Research: Analysing student work.

This is a previous student video.

Setting and Location
It is night time in this video, which is typical of the rap genre and it is set on the streets, on a bridge, in a room with a piano and what we assume is a green screen room for graphics and effects, which is again common for rap music videos.

These screen grabs show the different locations in the video.

Costumes
The male rapper is wearing a cap, which is pretty much the norm for the rap genre and when he is in the alley way he is wearing a baggy jumper and trouser which are common clothes for rappers. The female is seen wrapped up warm whilst singing which is different from the rapper is wearing outside as he has a body warmer on.

 

This screen grab show the male rapper wearing a baggy jumper.

 

 

Intended Audience

I would say the intended audience would be around the late teens and early twenties bracket, so around 16-24 year olds. This is because you don't really associate the rap genre with people older that bracket.

 

Narrative/Structure

The camera focuses on both artists when they are singing/rapping/, however, when the female is singing there are a few times when the camera switches to the male artist. This doesn't happen the other way, so all in all, the male artist has more screen time than the female, although the last shot does show them leaving together. The lyrics: 'don't be afraid of who you are' tell the story and the male who is rapping freely in public isn't afraid of doing that and in total being himself, so the video matches the narrative perfectly.

 

Camera work

 

There are:

• Close ups of their faces
• Two shots
• Wide shots
• Tracking and Panning
• Medium close ups

 

 

This is a mid shot used in the video.

 

 

This is a two shot used in the video

This is a close up used in the video
 

 

 

Editing

This video is edited to the beat and there are base tracks, particularly when the shots cross over into each other.
 

Representation

The female isn't dressed provocatively for the 'male gaze', she is in fact covered up. To me this represents maturity as she isn't willing to show her body off to the camera so the audience can view and judge her so. The male rapper is just oozing with confidence as many rappers are as well.