Location Shoot

The photos of locations are exactly representative of the footage we would get because it would need to be dark, also some locations aren't included because we are filming in Holland. I feel these locations really capture the urban culture of these destinations.

Story board

Storyboarding for us has been for us trying to construct themes and ideas that would appeal to our potential audiences. This has been constructing the representations of how setting shapes individual through fashion and culture. The reason for some vagueness of setting is down to the fact the majority of our filming will be in Amsterdam.

Props List

I am using balloons in my video as it is a common theme through out TheWeeknd’s videos, they can connote many different things such as emptiness or even freedom.

You often see TheWeeknd, or other artists smoking in their videos so I've decided to play around with some smoke and will experiment with different things and effects for this shot.

Across the genre, artists are usually smoking or talking about weed, even if they don't show the actual weed, they still blow the smoke out.

This picture shows a smoke bomb. I will be looking to use a black or a white smoke bomb as there is a common use of a black and white theme so I'm looking to experiment this theme by using different effects.

The lighting in TheWeeknd's videos are very specific and often consist of showing very little of the body and mainly only the face. To try and perfect this, I am going to be using a halogen spotlight.

In some videos, TheWeeknd is drinking alcohol so depending on the song we choose, we will use alcohol if we think it suits the song and the environment in which we film.

Initial Ideas

By doing this task, it has allowed me and my partner to put some of our basic ideas on to paper and start to really vidualise what we want in our video. As you can see I have added pictures in as it gave us a better idea of what we can do and what shots we could actually perform, seeing as we havn't actually decided on a song yet, we narrowed it down to a possible 3. This helped us as the songs are quite similar and our ideas can be applied to any of the songs that we decide to choose.

Contact with Artist

In this industry its important everyone has a good conscious in regards to Copyright as it effects the industry massively costing it billions of pounds a year. Therefore we chose to ask the artist permission in our circumstance being it educational and non-profit.

Moodboard

These are images showing how i envisage some elements of my final product weather

its props lighting or setting. My plan is for these images to reflect the video and be the basis

for the video to be constructed.

Filming and Editing Schedule

 

We made a filming and editing plan to make sure we stay on top of all the filming that will need to hapen in order to stay on track and create a succesful video.

Health and Safety

As directors, filmers and actors we want to ensure we are not in any danger. Tis wil be done by tightly following our control measure and having a generally careful attitude to any dangers in the process.

Detailed Analysis of Music video

From analysing the videos and making timelines I have learnt the conventional pace of editing including narrative and performance. I have learnt that conventionally, the pace of the editing will relate closely to the pace of the music and really exaggerate the effect which fits with the theory of Carol Vernallis. When the music is slow the movements are either very slow or the shot is completely still. Any narrative that is used does not tell a story and is usually shots of a different character in a mid shot or close up.  It is clearly conventional for the first shot to come in straight away even if there is no performance and to finish the video with the opening shot. I can use this analysis to make sure my video matches convention.

Magazine Adverts

By analysing theses magazine adverts it has allowed me to realise what is conventional it has also shown me in which magazines they are advertised giving me an insight that my audience enjoys gaming, sneakers and urban art. By understanding the suggestion of each element would allow me to make decisions if I was going to attempt creating a magazine advert for The Weeknd.

The Weeknds approach

The Weeknd talks about how he directs his music video's in the sole purpose of cinematography and artistry and his attention to detail about really getting the right hot and the satisfaction it brings him. This allows me to realise my music video should be more focused on urban artistry than narrative and the themes should be suggested rather than being 'in your face' and explicit. He also stated that he doesn't talk to magazines beause they are more interested in elaborate stories that the art. 

Inspiration and Influences

This task was vital in order to allow me to find effects themes and editing that would allow me to construct convention and communicate the emotion of the artist. These techniques will not t necessarily be effective but will give me the basis to experiment and grow te potential of the video. 

Tracking an artist through their career

By tracking an artist throughout their career I can see how their brand changes, therefore
I can decide in what direction i want to take with my chosen artist. I've also recognised that some artists chose to reposition themselves due to the change in the target audience or artistic change in the artist.

Research into the relevant genre

by having a good understanding of my genre and the roots of it. will then allow me to create a product that aligns with the progression of the genre; whilst taking elements from the old and traditional and from the contemporary. I think its important from this task to include themes of wealth, sex and conflict. 

Audience Research

Research into existing companies that produce and distribute music videos

Influences of Style

I feel the style of The Weeknd is sometimes communicated by urban settings and interesting architecture and old fashioned items that are renewed for effect. in concern to costume the baseball style combined with patterned quite striking outfits are appealing in the genre. Its important to wear out of the ordinary garments in order to create an iconic look that would be enjoyed by the 'hipster' target audience.

Conventions of a Music Video

By identifying the convention of a music video it allows me to begin to realise what would be
effective in my own music video, also i will need to carry the main themes of wealth, lust, women as a symbol of art and the constant intoxication and loneliness battle.By completing this task, it has really helped me develop an understand and gain some knowledge about different artist and different songs. By this I mean the shot types that are used an the effect that they have. It made me think about how some shots can be perceived as different videos include the same shots but can have a very different meaning so when planning my music video I am going to have to make sure I take into consideration how I want my shots to be interpreted. I have also learnt that in 'The Weeknds' music videos he uses a lot of slow motion and empty space, which connotes his loneliness or vulnerability.

Music Channels

The most important platform for viewing music videos. I feel
this is because of the 'on demand' nature of the internet giving
viewers almost instant access to videos they love. furthermore
the interactivity and makes the experience more personal and
rewarding for the individual.

Research into an Artist

I researched who The Weeknd is by analysing his products and life
in order to truly engage with his persona and style. I chose to research two
similar artists so I could draw inspiration from those with slightly altered
style and fanbase 

Research in to Digipaks

The common themes throughout the covers are a subtly or a metaphor
is provided, all of them suggest a sense of emotional struggle for the
artist and In my genre females have to become attractive and slightly
provocative also its important to have a recognisable font or trademark. 

Analysis of previous students work

  www.fahminaali.blogspot.co.uk

This blog is good because all planning and research tasks have been

completed to a proficient level, she used a variety of technologies. The video

fits the conventions of her, genre and the colour change effect on the drink

is effective and is lip synced excellently. Her Digipak is cohesive with the video

her font edit and colour all fit with convention. However the video doesn't contain

enough variety of shots and the video is artistically limited due to framing and lac of 
narrative

www.i-m.co/kayjianoran/kayjianoran

The Navigation on the blog is amazing and over all the visuals of the blog are great

however the content of each post despite being aesthetically pleasing do not

contain enough detail or focus on the task. The music video has clearly considered its

audience but the video itself isn't synced very well and it contains very similar and long

performance scenes which doesn't engage the audience enough. The digipak follows convention as the pop genre focuses heavily on the look of the artist and the boy is shown to have "fan girls" which is good . Although it doesn't have a professional quality.

www.laraanisere.wix.com/media-a2-coursework-

I feel the video was really strong because it balances performance and narrative 

in a an effective way whilst keeping framing and composition professional.

However the blog isn't labelled, is hard to navigate and doesn't contain the sufficient 

amount of research in order for it to be a success. the digipak has the artists on a bad background and the costumes aren't consistent with the genre or uniformed. the website 

wouldn't be audience friendly.

What I can take from this

I have noticed the best blogs are easy to navigate with a simple slick colour scheme with 

a wide blog boundary. As far as the tasks go its important to focus on the task without writing too much and too little. Its important to make the blog appealing. i think videos are really

good at expressing your research. For digipak's I think its important to have a 

appropriate picture of the performer with good lighting and backdrop. The websites also have to be easily accessible with good social media buttons and all three forms of media should follow a colour scheme.

HIstory of the music video

It has been important for me to study the history of the music video and see how videos have changed over time. I think it is important that my video looks very modern but I can take inspiration from key components that made some of the first music videos stand out and inspire others. I have learnt about how the rise of MTV pressured a vast improvement on music videos with more cinematic aspects. I think the online audience are creating a similarly competitive market via YouTube and VEVO.  

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis Theory

Narrative: Vernallis says 'The visual should be based upon the lyrics'. Whether it is through the performance or narrative or a mix of both she feels as it is always relevant to the lyrics. She also says regardless to the narrative everything will draw you to the performer for example if the song is a literal story the shots of the artist/performer will be more dominant to idiolise the performer. This is commonly found in music videos however Ed Sheeran - Don't is a good example of how artists can use actors as the main focus of the video and not idiolise themselves.

Diegesis: 'How a story is created with in a video' ' The world within the music video'. These views can be shown through repetition, gaps in time, performance and narrative.

Camera shots: Music videos try to avoid mid shots. Adopted speed of filming and camera movements. Meaning that the camera movements will be at the speed of the music. I think a good video to disprove this theory is Frank Ocean - Novacane as almost the whole video uses mid shots.

Editing: 'Will be left in a state of disjuncture'. This meaning that the editing is disconnected and can cut back to shots already featured or the used of fast cuts between various shots

Much like Goodwin's theory, Vernallis is backed up by the large majority of music videos. However i think that they do not allow for the more abstract videos that challenge convention with unusual music videos.

I think it is important to look at the theorists as it helps me look deeper into what makes up a music video and I will have to plan my own narrative and will have to think about Goodwin's theory. I will also have to plan the ways in which Carol vernallis' theory is going to apply to my video as the large majority of videos do. 

Andrew Goodwin

"Music videos are simply and extension of its lyrics" - Andrew Goodwin.

We felt this statement meant that the music video conveys similar themes to the lyrics, with what we expect to see based on the words in the lyrics but also some connotations that help the audience understand and find entertainment from the video.

A way of this theory being proved is to view the video or listen to the lyrics individually and consider whether the other could be guessed, also we felt the extension doesn't have to be positive.

We felt the music video isn't always an extension of the lyrics but sometimes of just the artist this is prevalent in the rap genre to show the riches of the male artists and the female attention they receive.

Stuart Halls theory of encoding and decoding is relevant because the artist has creates a meaning based on there contexts but it may not necessarily be interpreted by the audience in the intended way.

There are videos that prove and disprove this theory. Some music videos such as Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me, have a very literal interpretation of the lyrics as what you are seeing on the video is exactly the story being told in the song. Some videos can take a more metaphorical approach to Goodwin's theory and reflect the lyrics through connotations of imagery. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River is a good example of this as the dark colouring and the rain reflects the emotions of the lyrics rather than the lyrics directly narrating the video. However, some videos seem to bare no relation to the lyrics of the song. This is a strong convention of dance music and Duke Dumont - Won't Look Back is a good example. The majority of the time, Andrew Goodwin's theory can be applied however it is not always true as videos can purposely try to go against this convention in an artistic or abstract way.

Lip Syncing Workshop + Narrative Workshop

We experimented with composition and framing whilst testing our lip syncing skills in groups of three. Post production and screening highlighted the things that worked such as matching the precise position of each actor in the shot so it gives a seeming less cut whilst editing. Also the fact that a confident performance can make the video authentic.


Composition and Framing

- We used negative space effectively although we feel we need to fill the space with interesting backgrounds, colors and patterns which reflects the narrative.

- We also incorporated some leading lines and matched the precise position when changing performer.

Equipment

- Some issues with memory card which cost us some time, now we realise we should check our equipment before going to film at a location.

Editing

- We didn't use clip markers that effectively which meant some of the lip syncing was out.

- In future we are leaving the recorded audio in place to make it easier to match because it is more clear that you cannot cut during a line or verse.

Location

- Has to be carefully considered to include an interesting and relevant to the genre/song; whilst including techniques such as symmetry, depth of field, negative space and rule of thirds.

- We also realised that we should have filmed the same shot from various angles because it adds a really good effect.



We experimented with creating a narrative and we found it worked when a variety of shots were used and a mix of connotations were created through props to create meaning and mood to be more explicit you would have to use the typical ie. Rose for love.