Friday, 12 December 2008
Evaluation of Pitch
The main thing that we gained from our pitch was the fact that we need to incorporate a female character in the music video because the lead vocalist is female. The class agreed with us making the video postmodern by having a female character following the male character which will undermine dominant ideologies. Another factor of the response to the pitch which affected our idea was that we need a wider range of locations in order to keep the audience entertained. Furthermore, because we won't be using any performance shots, the narrative would need to have be depth and detail with a wider variety of shots and locations.
Furthermore, another piece of feedback we received from the group was how we were going to give the feeling of the video being set at night. A way that was suggested to overcome this was by filming in the early hours of the morning, at dawn.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Feedback #3
well done - some interesting technical observations. Your blog has improved, however can you go back do the following so that it is easy for me to review your previous grades:
1. change titles to start with your initials so I can see whose analysis is there at a glance (for all posts)
2. Double check spelling, punctuation, paragraphing - use subheadings if necessary
3. Can you let me know if you have made any changes to your textual analysis as per my feedback so that I can go back and re-read them.
At the moment, you are working at a 3+/4- level. To secure a level 4 (which you all need) for planning, then you must go to town on this blog.
Also - all analysis should have a link to the actual video or imbed the clip.
1. change titles to start with your initials so I can see whose analysis is there at a glance (for all posts)
2. Double check spelling, punctuation, paragraphing - use subheadings if necessary
3. Can you let me know if you have made any changes to your textual analysis as per my feedback so that I can go back and re-read them.
At the moment, you are working at a 3+/4- level. To secure a level 4 (which you all need) for planning, then you must go to town on this blog.
Also - all analysis should have a link to the actual video or imbed the clip.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Technical Analysis – Africa Shox – Leftfield and Afrika Bambaata
Evaluation
It is evident from my analysis that the duration of each shot does not exceed more than two seconds. However there is a longer shot of around 25 seconds but this shot uses camera movement to design a fluid, interesting shot. This technique seems to be an alternative technique to fast paced cutting. This is because the camera moves in different directions resembling a journey. It is not still so the shot doesn’t necessarily seem longer than the others, at least it is not obviously longer than the other shots when viewed passively. This effect adds fluidity to the process of revealing and anchoring s with the main character. It also gives us more detail of where he is and his surroundings which is s good way in setting the location. Other than this shot, the majority of the shots are between 1 and 2 seconds long. This follows the timing of the music and can add more detail in mise-en-scene whilst telling a longer story in a short amount of time. The shots follow in chronological order and are continuity edited. This allows for the narrative to flow through the invisible cuts.
The movement of the camera is also essential to making the cuts go unnoticed. For example, when we see the pigeons taking off, the camera starts pedding upwards. It then cuts to a shot, still pedding up, of the pigeons flying higher up. This means that the middle part of the pigeon’s flight not in the sequence but the audience will fail to notice this. This technique is seen throughout and by cutting whilst the camera is moving, to a shot where the camera movement is continued, the cutting goes unseen.
The majority of shots and MLS, MS, MCU and CU. This allows the main character to always be the focal point of the video, thus giving us the meat which builds up a star persona. These shots also position the audience with the character which means that a certain degree of emotion can be obtained through POV shots an reaction shots. This video uses this technique to convey pain and anxiety.
The video also uses other techniques. It is fairly voyeuristic of pedestrians and films them from low camera angles which connote degradation when used I this way. The camera also zooms into a group of pedestrians from a distance which has connotations of the paparazzi intruding, stalking and spying. The video also uses still shots to good effect. When the main character’s arm breaks off we get a still CU of another man’s face which doesn’t react to the situation or help the main character. The fact that he is filmed in CU with a low camera angle makes the man seem pretty sinister. However, this is anchored further as the camera doesn’t move, as though it had been stopped dead by the man’s callous.
I think it would be a good idea to use the voyeuristic shots used in this video and also using still shots in this way would be a great help in constructing the mood of our video. Furthermore, I will use cutting on action to conceal the cuts and I may even use a longer, more fluid shot to match the baseline in our chosen track.
It is evident from my analysis that the duration of each shot does not exceed more than two seconds. However there is a longer shot of around 25 seconds but this shot uses camera movement to design a fluid, interesting shot. This technique seems to be an alternative technique to fast paced cutting. This is because the camera moves in different directions resembling a journey. It is not still so the shot doesn’t necessarily seem longer than the others, at least it is not obviously longer than the other shots when viewed passively. This effect adds fluidity to the process of revealing and anchoring s with the main character. It also gives us more detail of where he is and his surroundings which is s good way in setting the location. Other than this shot, the majority of the shots are between 1 and 2 seconds long. This follows the timing of the music and can add more detail in mise-en-scene whilst telling a longer story in a short amount of time. The shots follow in chronological order and are continuity edited. This allows for the narrative to flow through the invisible cuts.
The movement of the camera is also essential to making the cuts go unnoticed. For example, when we see the pigeons taking off, the camera starts pedding upwards. It then cuts to a shot, still pedding up, of the pigeons flying higher up. This means that the middle part of the pigeon’s flight not in the sequence but the audience will fail to notice this. This technique is seen throughout and by cutting whilst the camera is moving, to a shot where the camera movement is continued, the cutting goes unseen.
The majority of shots and MLS, MS, MCU and CU. This allows the main character to always be the focal point of the video, thus giving us the meat which builds up a star persona. These shots also position the audience with the character which means that a certain degree of emotion can be obtained through POV shots an reaction shots. This video uses this technique to convey pain and anxiety.
The video also uses other techniques. It is fairly voyeuristic of pedestrians and films them from low camera angles which connote degradation when used I this way. The camera also zooms into a group of pedestrians from a distance which has connotations of the paparazzi intruding, stalking and spying. The video also uses still shots to good effect. When the main character’s arm breaks off we get a still CU of another man’s face which doesn’t react to the situation or help the main character. The fact that he is filmed in CU with a low camera angle makes the man seem pretty sinister. However, this is anchored further as the camera doesn’t move, as though it had been stopped dead by the man’s callous.
I think it would be a good idea to use the voyeuristic shots used in this video and also using still shots in this way would be a great help in constructing the mood of our video. Furthermore, I will use cutting on action to conceal the cuts and I may even use a longer, more fluid shot to match the baseline in our chosen track.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Analysis of TV Heart Attack - Bang Bang Bang Music Video
From watching this music video it is clear that videos from the genre we are looking at uses quick and very short shots, this is apparent as the longest shot lasts around 2 seconds and the shortest one lasts around half a second. This video which is a noir video has hardly any or no static camera shots. Looking at the video the shots are always panning back or across the artists or the females or males within the shot, this moving means that the longer shots within the video don’t seem as long.
I analysed the first 2 minutes and 6 seconds and sound that there were 100 shots within this time, although some were repeated, this will help when making our video as knowing short repeated shots are as good as ones that have not been shown before. The noir element is clear within this video as it is in black and white as well as having shadows showing a figure with a gun killing the boxer. What I did notice is that there were not very many angled shots within this video, it may have been that they were not appropriate but more so that they were not always needed, there were a lot of flat shots especially when showing the band with close ups of their faces.
An interesting idea that I noticed in this video was the idea of the reverse narrative, this is common within the noir structure in films and music videos. The way the dead boxer was shown at the begging and then the story was told through the video. This was linked in with the cuts of the band playing witch is an idea for our music video.
From watching this music video it is clear that videos from the genre we are looking at uses quick and very short shots, this is apparent as the longest shot lasts around 2 seconds and the shortest one lasts around half a second. This video which is a noir video has hardly any or no static camera shots. Looking at the video the shots are always panning back or across the artists or the females or males within the shot, this moving means that the longer shots within the video don’t seem as long.
I analysed the first 2 minutes and 6 seconds and sound that there were 100 shots within this time, although some were repeated, this will help when making our video as knowing short repeated shots are as good as ones that have not been shown before. The noir element is clear within this video as it is in black and white as well as having shadows showing a figure with a gun killing the boxer. What I did notice is that there were not very many angled shots within this video, it may have been that they were not appropriate but more so that they were not always needed, there were a lot of flat shots especially when showing the band with close ups of their faces.
An interesting idea that I noticed in this video was the idea of the reverse narrative, this is common within the noir structure in films and music videos. The way the dead boxer was shown at the begging and then the story was told through the video. This was linked in with the cuts of the band playing witch is an idea for our music video.
Technical Analysis
Technical Analysis-Evaluation
I have found the technical analysis of ‘Time is running out’ film noir music video version by Muse useful because it has showed me the sheer volume of shots needed to make a successful music video. This can be seen through there being 100 shots in the first two and a half minutes of the video. It was also useful because it showed the shot length needed to make a good music video, this can be seen by the fact that the longest shot in the video was around four seconds. In this music video there is continuity editing and this gives the video smooth cuts which make it flow with the song. Furthermore, jump cuts are used to cut between the male and female characters when they are is different places, there are also a few fades used to go from one shot to another which are used successfully because they enhance the feeling of mystery in the music video. This evidence will be useful in our music video because that is the effect that we are aiming for. The Close-Up shot of the main characters is most predominantly used in this music video which enables the producers to use the film noir elements of the music video through close-up shots of the character’s faces cast in shadows. There is not a lot of camera movement in the shots because they are so short, however, one successful camera movement was a pan down the body of the male protagonist. The music video is also useful because it shows how certain camera angles can be used successfully, for example, there are a lot of low camera angles tilting upwards at the main male character, giving him power over the female character. The narrative is constructed technically in this music video through the use of cuts between male and female characters and jump cuts between the two characters watching each other and their reactions. There are a few close-up shots that are repeated in the music video, for example shot 13 is repeated as the 15th shot. This music video will be useful in our planning because it will help us form our storyboard because it gives an idea on the amount of shots needed to make a good music video. Furthermore, this technical analysis has been useful because it is a low budget, amateur version of the music video for the original track and this is what we will be aiming to achieve.
I have found the technical analysis of ‘Time is running out’ film noir music video version by Muse useful because it has showed me the sheer volume of shots needed to make a successful music video. This can be seen through there being 100 shots in the first two and a half minutes of the video. It was also useful because it showed the shot length needed to make a good music video, this can be seen by the fact that the longest shot in the video was around four seconds. In this music video there is continuity editing and this gives the video smooth cuts which make it flow with the song. Furthermore, jump cuts are used to cut between the male and female characters when they are is different places, there are also a few fades used to go from one shot to another which are used successfully because they enhance the feeling of mystery in the music video. This evidence will be useful in our music video because that is the effect that we are aiming for. The Close-Up shot of the main characters is most predominantly used in this music video which enables the producers to use the film noir elements of the music video through close-up shots of the character’s faces cast in shadows. There is not a lot of camera movement in the shots because they are so short, however, one successful camera movement was a pan down the body of the male protagonist. The music video is also useful because it shows how certain camera angles can be used successfully, for example, there are a lot of low camera angles tilting upwards at the main male character, giving him power over the female character. The narrative is constructed technically in this music video through the use of cuts between male and female characters and jump cuts between the two characters watching each other and their reactions. There are a few close-up shots that are repeated in the music video, for example shot 13 is repeated as the 15th shot. This music video will be useful in our planning because it will help us form our storyboard because it gives an idea on the amount of shots needed to make a good music video. Furthermore, this technical analysis has been useful because it is a low budget, amateur version of the music video for the original track and this is what we will be aiming to achieve.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Audience Research Results/Analysis
Focus Group-Results
After gathering our focus group of ten males aged 17 to 35 together, we played our track choice to them and asked them to think about what feelings the track, Sneaker Pimps-‘Spin Spin Sugar Armand’s Dark Garage Mix’, gave them. The general feeling was that the track generated a feeling of strangeness with most of the focus group feeling that the song gave a suggestion of drug and alcohol abuse. One member of the focus group said that the song “had a feeling of a diabetic having a sugar rush,” this seemed a good idea for a part of our proposed narrative because it would create a link between the lyrics and the visuals. After asking the focus group to tell us how they would make a music video for the song, a development of the previous idea was made by a fellow media studies student. He suggested that the lyric “spin spin sugar” could be used as a suggestion of taking cocaine in order to build a link between the lyrics and the visuals. This member of the focus group had the idea for a music video as “the main character getting high and then seeing the effects of it with shots of the character spinning to make the people watching feel how he is.”
We then asked the focus group to think of a word or phrase that would describe the track and their thoughts about the music video they visualise for the track. Their responses were:
“Someone in a club”
“Club scene, pills”
“Disorientated”
“Shaky camera”
“Strobe light”
“Colours changing”
“Drunk”
“Dark”
We then described our idea for the music video to the focus group and asked how we could develop our idea. The focus group thought that a narrative music video was the best way to present it, they agreed with the idea of a male main character but one member of the group thought that it would be better with a young woman following him; “a man being tormented by a woman”. Another member of the focus group suggested: “making a storyline similar to how it is in ‘Skins’ with a shaky camera,” another person then suggested slowing any possible shot of characters to fit the speed of the song.
We then asked what the focus group would use as camera shots in our idea for a music video to the track. One member of the group responded that; “there should be shots of the character spinning around out of control when the main lyric comes on.” After hearing our idea of using shots of the main character in mirrors and reflections one member of the group suggested a shot “with the camera behind the person showing their reflection in the mirror”.
Conclusion
Overall, we came to the conclusion that the focus group was a success because the people in it agreed with our idea for a music video to the track. It was most useful in that the group gave us a number of different ideas and suggestions for shots which have widen our possibilities of parts of the narrative and kind of video we are aiming for. We have been wanting to make our music video postmodern and noiresc and certain ideas from the focus group which we haven’t thought of will allow this to happen. The idea of having a female following the male character and “tormenting” him will make the video postmodern because it would portray the woman as having power over the man, challenging the ideological discourse of hegemonic masculinity. This idea was even more useful by the fact that it means we can possibly incorporate a female character into the music video which will fit the track more because the track is sung by a female artist. Another idea that made the focus group successful was the idea of a camera shot over the character’s shoulder focusing on their reflection, when discussing the focus group we developed this to an idea about a shot of the character being extremely pale and then cutting back to them being normal.
Overall, our audience research is useful because it shows us what our niche audience look for and expect in a music video for an alternative, dark garage song.
After gathering our focus group of ten males aged 17 to 35 together, we played our track choice to them and asked them to think about what feelings the track, Sneaker Pimps-‘Spin Spin Sugar Armand’s Dark Garage Mix’, gave them. The general feeling was that the track generated a feeling of strangeness with most of the focus group feeling that the song gave a suggestion of drug and alcohol abuse. One member of the focus group said that the song “had a feeling of a diabetic having a sugar rush,” this seemed a good idea for a part of our proposed narrative because it would create a link between the lyrics and the visuals. After asking the focus group to tell us how they would make a music video for the song, a development of the previous idea was made by a fellow media studies student. He suggested that the lyric “spin spin sugar” could be used as a suggestion of taking cocaine in order to build a link between the lyrics and the visuals. This member of the focus group had the idea for a music video as “the main character getting high and then seeing the effects of it with shots of the character spinning to make the people watching feel how he is.”
We then asked the focus group to think of a word or phrase that would describe the track and their thoughts about the music video they visualise for the track. Their responses were:
“Someone in a club”
“Club scene, pills”
“Disorientated”
“Shaky camera”
“Strobe light”
“Colours changing”
“Drunk”
“Dark”
We then described our idea for the music video to the focus group and asked how we could develop our idea. The focus group thought that a narrative music video was the best way to present it, they agreed with the idea of a male main character but one member of the group thought that it would be better with a young woman following him; “a man being tormented by a woman”. Another member of the focus group suggested: “making a storyline similar to how it is in ‘Skins’ with a shaky camera,” another person then suggested slowing any possible shot of characters to fit the speed of the song.
We then asked what the focus group would use as camera shots in our idea for a music video to the track. One member of the group responded that; “there should be shots of the character spinning around out of control when the main lyric comes on.” After hearing our idea of using shots of the main character in mirrors and reflections one member of the group suggested a shot “with the camera behind the person showing their reflection in the mirror”.
Conclusion
Overall, we came to the conclusion that the focus group was a success because the people in it agreed with our idea for a music video to the track. It was most useful in that the group gave us a number of different ideas and suggestions for shots which have widen our possibilities of parts of the narrative and kind of video we are aiming for. We have been wanting to make our music video postmodern and noiresc and certain ideas from the focus group which we haven’t thought of will allow this to happen. The idea of having a female following the male character and “tormenting” him will make the video postmodern because it would portray the woman as having power over the man, challenging the ideological discourse of hegemonic masculinity. This idea was even more useful by the fact that it means we can possibly incorporate a female character into the music video which will fit the track more because the track is sung by a female artist. Another idea that made the focus group successful was the idea of a camera shot over the character’s shoulder focusing on their reflection, when discussing the focus group we developed this to an idea about a shot of the character being extremely pale and then cutting back to them being normal.
Overall, our audience research is useful because it shows us what our niche audience look for and expect in a music video for an alternative, dark garage song.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Audience Research plan-Focus Group
Our audience research will be in a focus group in form time. We will use qualitative research in order to gain different ideas and make the participants more active in creating good ideas. The purpose of our audience research will be to find out how other people would respond visually to the track. We are expecting to gain new ideas for shots, locations and narrative; this will test the quality of our original idea and will give us new ideas which will create more variety in our video. Our sample audience will be a young demographic of around 10 people who listen to a lot of alternative music, this will enable our focus group to respond with good ideas because they have experience of the genre. The media stimulus will consist of playing the track a few times to the group and showing them our mood boards and pitch our idea to them. We will use open questions such as "what do you think of the track" "what images spring to mind when you here the song" "how would you visualise the music video".
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