INTRODUCTION

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·       What was the project task?

 

The task for this project was to create a music video for any song, genre or type of video for example we could either make a performance, narrative or an abstract video. I chose to make a mix between performance and narrative. We also had to do all the research, pre-production and all the production for the video in order for it to be of good enough quality and to fit the criteria for the project.

 

·       What did you plan to produce for the project?

 

I planned on producing around a four and a half minute music video that had both narrative and performance segments mixed together to create something very interesting. I planned to use the song “Fire” by Kasabian meaning I could base the video around fire and destruction. I planned for the video to be very fast paced with lots of clean quick cuts to the beat as I switched between performance, where I planned for a band to be playing, and narrative which I planned to be based around burning material items and then going crazy. I felt while planning that if I could archive all these things my video would look professional, would be engaging to watch and would be interesting, whilst still being within my capabilities to make.

 

RESEARCH

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·       What research did you conduct?

 

I did both secondary and primary research for this project to ensure I had all the knowledge I needed before going into production. I began by doing some secondary research looking at three different music videos of the three different video types; narrative, abstract and performance such as Becky Hill “Overdrive” and Fall Out Boy “Dance Dance”. I then analysed each of the videos and looked at what they had in common, what was different between them, how they were filmed and edited, if I liked them and what I learnt from them. By doing this it gave me a good understanding on how the different genres make videos to fit the song and genre and all the ways I could make my video. It gave me many different ideas on different shot types and editing techniques to fit with the song I chose.  

 

After I did this, I moved on to looking into Malik Sayeed who is a famous cinematographer who has worked on music videos for Beyoncé and won a few awards for his work. By looking into his work it gave me an idea of what the music video industry is like and what it takes to be involved in it and what roles you would need to do. I found this a really helpful way of seeing what a top end cinematographer does so I can try and recreate some of his shots in my music video and follow his way of making music videos to ensure mine is of a good level. Lastly, I did some primary research looking into Sayeed’s work more and trying to recreate some of the shots he did in the music video “Formation” for Beyoncé. I felt this was also a very good way to experiment with some new shot types and ways of filming . By doing this I learnt some new shots I hadn’t seen before that I tried to also use in my music video as I did in the experimental research as I really liked the way they looked.

 

·       How useful was your research for the development of the project?   

 

I thought that the research I did was very useful for my project as it gave me a good understanding of the typical codes and conventions of a music video and how they are filmed. It also helped me choose what I wanted to do for my video. I felt that the experimental research we did recreating some shots from a chosen music video was really helpful for me as it helped me discover some shots I had never seen before and then planned to use in my video. However the music video analysis was also a very good way of seeing lots different music videos from all the different genres and seeing how they are made and what similarities they share. This then helped me decide how I wanted to go about making my video and what I could include in it to make it look as good as the professional videos.

 

·       In what way could you improve the research that you carried out and what impact do you think this may have had on the project?

 

I feel I could have done some more primary and experimental research for this project as although I did all I was supposed to, I feel I could have experimented more with some different things such as editing and lighting before I started this project to give me a better understanding of the more practical skills involved in making a music video and film making in general. I feel if I had experimented with this more it would have made my video look more professional as I would have had a better understanding of how to set up proper lighting for my indoor shots to ensure it looks as good as it can and as professional as possible to ensure the colouring of all the shots was perfect. But I still feel confident with the work I did and happy there were no huge errors in my current video. If I had done more work on editing before I began postproduction of the video, I feel I could have made the video look better with more effects and filters. All I really know how to do is transition’s cutting things together and colouring. Although I didn’t do this, I do still think my final edit was satisfactory and went to plan.  However I feel it could have been better. Next time I will ensure I do as much experimental research as possible so my work is as good as it can be.

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FINISHED PRODUCT

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·       Who was your music video designed for?

 

My music video was designed for a both men and women. However I feel it will mainly appeal to men. I think it would appeal to a target audience of anyone in the teenage years or early 20s as it is quite fast paced and intense so a younger, yet mature audience would understand it better. 

 

I also feel it would appeal to someone who likes the rock/pop genre as this is what the song comes from. Because of this I feel it will appeal to a more active/outdoor kind of man as it based a lot in the open countryside.

 

I would say it would be rated a 12A due to the violence and fire.

 

·       How well received was your video following the screening?

 

I felt that my video was very well received and I got both positive and negative feedback. This will really help me improve my work in the future but also it means I know what I am doing right so I can continue doing it. I feel the most prominent negative was that the lip-syncing was off. However I feel this was mainly due to a lack of resources and not having the right actor for the song but I made it work in the end. I did also get some really good positive feedback; for example people thought that the different shot types I used were all very good and unique so I will try and use them in my future projects. Overall, I feel the screening of my music video went very well.

 

·       What feedback did you receive? Do you agree? Why? Why not?

 

I received lots of feedback both positive and negative. Someone said that they didn’t really understand the storyline part of my video which I do agree with as I feel the original storyline began to become hidden when we had to rush the filming due to diminished light and because the actors I had originally had planned to use pulled out  at the last minute leaving me to have to get my Mum in to help. 

 

Somebody also said that I should have used more close ups of the instruments which again I do agree with and I feel this could have upped some of the production values of the project. However I just didn’t think to do them at the time which is a sign of bad planning and I need to make sure I pay more attention to things like this next time. 

 

I did also get positive feedback; a few people said that my editing was very clean and timed very well to the music which is what I had aimed to do. I do agree with this as I spent a lot of time making sure the visuals went with the song and went to the beat of the song. Furthermore a few people said that some of the shots I used were cool and fitted well with my video which, again, I feel is right as that was the aim of them. I found them from my experimental research and decided to try them out in my video as it seemed that people liked them. 

 

How could you make improvements based on the feedback received?

 

I feel the only way I could improve based on the feedback I received would be by reshooting some of my footage and making sure the  lip-syncing are perfect so the video looks more professional. I would also film some more close ups of the instruments to ensure the camera work looks good at all times. 

 

Next I would make sure that the drums are being played properly as a few people said it did not look right with the way they are being played so this could be improved. 

 

To conclude I would work on making the narrative more understandable for people as I feel the original idea got very clouded. I feel if I made all these improvements it could make my video look much better and would enhance the professionality of it. However, on the whole I am still very happy with my original video.

 

·       What impact would these improvements have on the audience?

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I feel if I was to reshoot and make these improvements my video would be easier to understand which would mean people could follow the story more. It would also look  more professional and  well planned if I could get the lip-syncing and instrument playing on point. 

 

However I do feel although these changes would make a difference, they wouldn’t make a massive impact and not enough to require a whole re shoot. Therefore, I won’t be reshooting anything for this project as I am very happy with how it turned out. However, I do feel  that I could make a few changes to some transition’s so they are a bit more exciting.  Someone said this and I agree and it would mean my video looked more professional and generally better all round.

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

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·       What areas have you improved on throughout this project -  carrying out research, analysing research findings, using research to develop your ideas, planning, organisation and time management, filming, editing, writing, directing, Wix website building, writing production diaries, etc?

 

I feel from this project I have improved in lots of different areas. For example I have improved in my research skills as I have now gained more experience doing research and with experimental research in particular.  I have learnt a lot from doing this. 

 

Furthermore, I have learnt more about editing and my editing is improving as I’m doing more of it. I’m also getting more experience so the quality of work I produce is also improving.  My filming skills are also improving and as I have done more of it the experience I am gaining is starting to show and my videos are filmed to a much better standard now. 

 

Lastly, my production diaries are getting more in depth and I am getting more used to remembering to keep it updated as often as possible so it is clear what I have done each time I do an editing session. 

 

·       What programmes, tools and processes have you learned to use?

 

From this project I have learnt to experiment with lots of different unplanned shots as much as possible when I am filming as this really helped me have enough extra footage to keep the video fast paced, like I wanted to and I will be trying to do this in every project from now on. 

 

To add on I feel that by using the method of doing each shot multiple times is a very good way of ensuring you get the perfect shot and this helped me ensure that I had enough fire footage for the chorus so my video kept to the theme I had planned. 

 

I have also improved my Adobe Premier Pro skills even more and I am getting more and more compatible with the editing software and how to work with it to get the look on my video that I want to. This means that my editing is getting better and quicker which is good for this project and future projects and will help me save time as I learn more and more shortcuts and features of the software.

 

·       What challenges did you have and how did you overcome them?

 

I faced quite a few challenges with this project. It began with trying to find some drums which was much more difficult than I had envisaged. This caused many issues until I finally manged to find some from someone in my class and I got my Dad to drive a few hours to get them for me. 

 

Once that problem was solved, I next had the issue of actors and trying to find the right people for each role. The first issue I had was finding a singer for my video but I manged to find someone, after hours of searching, the night before I needed him. 

 

The next issue I had was that I had planned to use Nim as one of my actors but then the day before she pulled out as she was unwell. However I did then manage to replace her with someone else. However a few hours before the shoot he pulled out as well so I was left to just have to use my Mum at the last minute so I could have the amount of people I needed for the scenes. However, when you watch the video you can really see that this was unplanned and wasn’t supposed to happen but at least I could get the filming done.

 

My final issue was that me and my dad spent a few hours building an outdoor stage for my music video to ensure I could use as much of the fire cannons as possible but then on the day of filming when I had all my actors coming over, there was a strong storm so it was too windy to film outside anyway. Which meant we had to relocate inside and I wasn’t able to use the fire canons quite as much as I had originally planned. However I do still feel the way the performance parts looked where still fairly good and you wouldn’t know that we had to have a last-minute set change due to the weather. From this I have learnt to always check the weather before planning a day to shoot so things like this don’t happen.

 

·       Which skills do you feel you need to develop further?

 

I feel I need to work more on my organisational skills as this project was all over the place in terms of plans for it and it seemed like everything, I tried to do caused some kind of issue. Next time I think with better planning and thinking things through more this shouldn’t be as much of an issue as it was in this project. I

 

I also need to improve in my directing skills as I’m not very good at telling my actors exactly what I want and need them to do which is then reflected in my videos with the performance of the actors. In my future projects I will really try my best to improve on this so everything is perfect and looks as professional as possible. 

 

Lastly, I feel I need to improve on my knowledge around lighting as this is a huge blank spot for me and I feel it could really up the production values and quality of my videos. However,  I just don’t know how to do it all properly yet so I will make sure I learn this ready for my final major project so it can be of the highest quality as possible.

 

·       How could the new skills and knowledge developed throughout this project help you with your future education and career.

 

I feel that the experience in cinematography skills I have gained from this project as well as my editing skills will really help me make sure all my future projects are of as high level as possible. Although there is still more to learn I feel I have got much better at it through past projects and this project. I also think all the planning I did for this project will really help me work towards my end goal of being a Producer. It will also help me in future projects as well as I can reuse the skills I have learnt from this project and improve on them now for all future projects.

 

·       Discuss your overall project - what went well and how would you improve it if you had more time or an opportunity to start it again?

 

I feel that my overall project went pretty well although I faced a lot of challenges, I did manage to overcome them even if it did affect the video. I feel if I could start again, I would begin by planning for this video better as I wish that I sorted out a cast earlier so I can make sure they all knew the song before filming so the lip-synching was right and not how it is now. It would also mean that my last few shots with my Mum in could have been done better with better acting and costuming. 

 

Although I had issues, I feel the project still went well and I am still happy with how it turned out. I really liked the way the fire turned out which is good as that was a huge part of the video and I also like the way my cinematography turned out and I thought it was smooth and had lots of different shots and movements that really enhanced the video and made it look professional. 

 

I also feel that my editing went well and I got it all done in good time working on all the different things in stages which was a better way of doing it. Normally I just edit all in a muddle. However, by doing it in stages this time it helped me focus better and spot any mistakes. Furthermore, my research was very good and I thought I went into lots of detail which is good and really helped me come up with ideas for my own video. However if I did it again, I would do some more primary research as I felt like I didn’t do enough of this and maybe if I did more my video might have had some more unique ideas in it. In addition my pre-production went very well as well and I got all the video planned out and all the paperwork filled in quite quickly and to a good standard as well.