Interpreting the Client Brief -
I used a mind map to first begin to gather what my TV series may be about and to start figuring out plausible ideas.
Summary of my initial ideas:
- The main points of the client brief was to create a BBC 3 Drama series, following the ethos of BBC3, that was directed at 15-21 year olds with a very low budget.
- Being a BBC 3 Drama I thought it may have to be related to social issues such as, mental health, anorexia and homelessness.
- With the audience being quite young I have to make sure my TV series is appropriate for the age range of 15-21 meaning I would be aiming for an age rating of 15 or under.
- I need to think about how I will gratify the audience, for instance wether my series is escapism, surveillance, personal relationships or personal identity.
- The fact that the client specified the product being a "series" means that it has to be more than one episode and from knowledge BBC 3 Dramas tend to be between 6-8 episodes long.
- The production having a low budget also effects how I will have to go about creating my TV series for example I will have limited or very cheap locations, I will not be able to afford casting lots of actors and I will not be able to afford using lots of special effects in the post-production stage of my TV Drama.
My client is BBC 3 who have asked me to come up with an idea for a new drama series with a very specific target audience of people between the ages of 15-21 year olds. The constraints I have for the project is that the client has specified it must be low budget so I have to work with this by having a few actors who are relatively unknown, using few locations that are actually real so their is no cost of setting up the set and choosing locations that are cheap. My client BBC 3 have also asked me to not differentiate from their established ethos and brand.
Who are the BBC?
The BBC stands for the British Broadcasting Company and they are the worlds leading public service broadcaster which means the programmes they broadcast are designed to provide information, advice or entertainment without making a profit. As it is a public broadcasting service its programming has to be balanced and cannot choose any political sides and has to document current affairs from a neutral standpoint.
The BBC's mission statement is "to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain"
The BBC is also a conglomerate which is active in many media sectors for example, many radio stations, lots of TV stations, and digital web services ( BBC bitesize )
What is BBC 3?
BBC 3 is a British television channel which is a subsidiary of the BBC with the goal of providing "Innovative Programming" to a specific audiences of people between the ages of 16-34 using new technology and new actors to produce there programmes. They mainly broadcasts programmes such as documentaries, dramas and comedies which often have transgressive content as it talks about content that a lot of the mainline audience do not want to see.
What is the definition of a television drama?
A television drama is a show that runs in a series which usually is a genre of narrative fictions that is intended to have more of a serious tone rather than humorous. They also present settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A TV drama typically shows human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between.
Who are the competitors for BBC 3 and teen TV dramas?
The main competitors of BBC 3 are other TV stations such as ITV2 and E4 What are the main conventions of a television drama?
- Sub Genres of dramas
Period Drama
Crime Drama
Science fiction drama
Medical drama
Teen Drama
Melodrama / soap operas
Political Drama
Comedy Drama
Action/adventure drama
Fantasy drama
- Theres a problem / conflict that gets solved
- Dramatic narrative
- Ensemble cast ( each character has their own story which we see at times )
- Expressive lighting techniques dependant on sub genre
- High production value sound/emotion
- Exaggerated, hyper real representations of character
TV Drama Idea Challenge - Class pair activity to get us thinking
Tegan Bastow
Matthew Briggs
Genre: Action Drama - episodic TV drama for BBC 3 audience
Rules: Cant do the same thing twice in row
Environment: Castle
Goal: Escape
Wildcard: Something spooky
Synopsis of our idea:
A group of teenagers are trapped in a castle with the only rule being "they can't do the same thing twice" therefore they have to escape following this rule. Therefore for example they cannot open the same door twice else they day and they need to escape form the castle, the catch being only one of them can actually escape as they can only do things once.
Idea 1 Storyboard:
My first idea is about a police detective who grew up being neglected by the people around him and then because of this grows up to be desperate for any attention he can receive. One day he sees a police detective being applauded for solving a crime so he decides to become a police detective however he is not very good at and become frustrated. He then starts to loose it and begins killing people and framing someone else for their murder just so he can go into his job and solve the crime he committed, framing the wrong person.
Idea 2 Storyboard:
My second idea is about a young boy who is forgotten by everyone around him and they suddenly do not recognise him, so they start looking for him as they think he is lost but he is not they just do not recognise him anymore. We follow this young boys journey through his time being forgotten and unrecognisable and how he begins to look at this as an advantage and then the things he can do which he couldn't do before. This is all a metaphor for depression and how it can make someone feel forgotten and unrecognisable by the people around them.
Idea 3 Storyboard:
My thirds idea is a comedy-drama following a young boys life through school and how he faces the social issues in everyday life at school with a comedic spin. We follow him through his self brought on challenges of moving up the social hierarchy, trying to find a job, chasing a girl and buying expensive clothing, there will also be a few sub stories following a sort of crime thriller which will be wrapped up in the final episode.
Media Products, Media texts and media component = The same thing
Target audiences are categorised and media products are created with the audiences in mind.
Niche Products: Products which are specialised to a specificities type of demographic within a market
Niche --> Smaller market, specific product
Mass Product: A product that is made for everyone and is not specialised for any one demographic.
Mass --> Wide age demographic, both genders, may involve cultural objectives if it is international.
Example of a mass magazine:
This is a mass magazine as it does not focus on one specific subject or demographic instead it advertises to a wide demographic of people who watch TV, it does not talk about one specific show either; referencing many different shows which all have their own target audience in one. For example just on the front cover of the magazine there is adverts for a TV drama, The Great British Bake Off, Blue Planet, Ball & Boe, these individual TV shows all have their now market however the magazine as a whole is selling to the mass.
Example of a niche Magazine:
This is an example of a niche market because it is specialised to one specific demographic, people who enjoy fishing, therefore the contents of the magazine will all be specific to fishing as the market for this magazine is people who enjoy fishing therefore people who do not enjoy fishing will not buy the product and the magazine will not try to advertise outside this demographic.
Dr Who Magazine Reader - Imaginary Entity
Name: Izaak Shuttleworth
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Maritail Status: Single
Career Status: Student
Social Grade ( National Readership Survey ): Social Grade C2, Student with a part time cafe job
Personality Characteristics: Izaak is an outgoing character who enjoys going out and discovering new things as much as he enjoys sitting down watching Dr Who. His approach to work is candid and honest however he struggles to focus when others are around and he can often be seen day dreaming about the adventures he can have to follow doctor who. He also has a lot of free time which he spends sifting through TV channels and reading magazines throughout the day. He enjoys particular Si-Fi programmes and films which are thrilling and help keep the audience on edge whilst also having a family friendly safe net atmosphere.
Psychographics: He enjoys playing football and being active to help stay awake whilst also talking to friends about the latest developments in TV programmes, especially Dr Who. He values his family and friends and will always look out for them and treat them well, however is sometime oblivious to the problems at hand thinking they are straight forward. He does not follow any religion and because of this he creates his own path and begins to conform to the identities he relates with on TV and the people he looks up to in society. He looks after his appearance well and takes care in how he looks however he is not against the option to wear silly clothing when it may be humorous.
Daily Mail Reader - Imaginary Entity
Name: Stephanie Lincoln
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Ethnicity: British Caucasian
Marital Status: Second Husband
Career Status: Event Promoter
Social Grade: C1
Personality Characteristics: Outgoing individual who does not understand of the reality of the outside world. Believe she works hard for her money and her high income, however is mainly financed by her rich parents. Lacks a strong work ethic and is unable to connect with people and maintain a relationship due to the fact she has been shelter by her parents wealth throughout her life, therefore because of this she uses instagram a lot to feel some sort of acceptance and praise from her fake peers. She spends a lot of time on her appearance and can often be found in a fake tan booth, getting her nails done, in the hairdressers or at the gym. As she does not have a strong emotional connection with anyone as her upbringing effected this therefore she follows celebrity stories and their life to feel as though she is involved.
Political Persuasion: Labels herself as a conservative however has not made this decision herself, since she has been manipulated and influenced by her strongly right wing dedicated parents, and believes she is a conservative however does not fully understand what the party stands for.
Pop-Up adds: The pop ups adds that Daily mail may show whilst this entity is browsing the daily mail online could be adverts such as:
- The newest beauty trends
- Celebrity lifestyle quiz
- How to lose weight without the gym
- Newest tanning products you need
- What make up Kylie Jenner uses
Uses and Gratification theory:
Uses and gratification theory talks about how how and why people actively seek out specific media in order to satisfy their basic needs, and how the media works to gratify the needs we have as consumers. It also references how audiences engage with each other during the consumption of media and how audiences are active participants when using or consuming media.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivation theory which comprises of a 5-Tier model of human needs which can be used as a guideline for how your media product may affect the audience watching and how you will gratify them.
There are 4 categories that every media product can fall into which relates to what consumer need they are gratifying, and these categories are:
Surveillance -
This is about the consumer wanting to satisfy their curiosity from a media product, examples of this are the newspaper, online articles and the news. It is a media product which main purpose is to educate the audience and teach them about the topics they may be interested in.
An example of this on BBC 3 iPlayer is the TV programme "Spacey Dooley Investigates Whale Hunters" which is a documentary on the harsh truth that is whale hunting. This programme educates us of the negative affects of whale hunting and why these people do hunt whales, which satisfies our pursuit of knowledge therefore falling into the surveillance category.
Personal Identity -
This is when the media creates a character or product that the audience can relate to and reflects similar values and beliefs to the consumers own personal values and beliefs, this also can be when characters or products mimic some of the audiences own characteristics; for example it helps the audience discover and understand what I means to be a man or a woman.
An example of this on BBC 3 iPlayer is the TV programme "Young Offenders" which is about two teenagers and the problems they face at school, which for teenager audiences watching may be able to relate to this therefore satisfying the need of personal identity.
Personal Relationships -
This category is all about how the media acknowledges our tragic truth in life, that at times we all get a bit lonely, therefore this media focuses on creating a personal relationship between the characters on screen and the audience watching at home. Using the media to form a relationship with others even if it is a character on a TV show, just to create some companionship for the consumer.
An example of this on BB3 3 iPlayer is the TV programme "Looking for Alaska" in which we follow characters through there journey at a unique literature college and see them grow as people and relationships form between them on screen, which then sparks gratification for our own desire of personal relationship.
Escapism / Diversion -
To a degree this features in all media, it is about creating a separate reality for the consumer to go too when they do not want to be in their own reality, using the media as a way to escape and as a diversion of the real world so they don't have to focus on their problems. In simple terms it is the need to escape every day life and relax using a media product, video games are a great example of this.
An example of this on BB3 iPlayer is the TV programme "Don't Scream" where contestants compete to win money by entering a haunted house and if you manage to last 24 hours without screaming you win the money. This allows audiences to escape the reality of their world and enter a horror filled house and even play along with the contestants to see if they would be able to win the money, which helps audiences escape their reality therefore falling into the escapism / diversion category.
Representation in media, is the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. Stuart Hall came up with a theory about representation in the media saying, that an event that occurs doesn't exist in the real world until it has been represented in the media - the media gives meaning to these events. This means that all our assumptions of someone we have only seen portrayed in the media have been controlled by who ever is in control of the media, and wether they decide to represent an event in a positive light or a negative one.
Over time the hegemonic media producers own personal view will begin to narrow the diversity of representation and could result in stereotypes of minorities forming due to how they are represented in the media. This is why it is important to me to try and represent the characters in my music video from a neutral stand point, therefore I am not seen to be asserting my own personal agenda onto the viewers of my media product.
My music video will be representing band members in a neutral light as there is no negative representation, but there is also no positive representation; however it is clear that the band members do look like there having fun which the shows it in a mildly positive light. All the band members are of the same ethnicity which is representative of the band I am covering, however this does not mean that all people of that ethnicity are in a band and can play instruments.
The concept of my video represents the conflict of love and how it can cause damage, however I am aware this is not always the case and there is also love which doesn't involve conflict. This means that I have represented love in a negative view point which could have an impact on younger viewers who do not yet know what love is.
Stereotypes
A stereotype is a preconceived judgement based on past experiences with a small group of people who belong to a certain demographic, which then affects your judgement on the rest of the people in that demographic.
I don't believe that I have used stereotypes in my music video as the stereotypical view of indie-rock band members is usually long hair, smoking cigarettes and being reckless. The actors in my music video do not conform to stereotypes as they do not have long hair, they are not smoking cigarettes; therefore they are creating their own image and identity. All my actors wearing Hawaiian shirts which creates a certain look not familiar to the indie-rock genre, this therefore creates a contrast in stereotypes.
Genre -
The song I chose to cover in my music video is an indie-rock song. Indie-rock songs tend to be more upbeat and include some hidden meanings behind the lyrics. Therefore to film a successful music video I will have to identify the hidden meaning behind the lyrics of my chosen song, Damage Done by the Sea Girls, and try hint to this in my music video.
Indie-rock songs are typically performance and narrative pieces performed in abstract locations so that the band can show off their energy to the viewers/fans. They also tend to contain colours that represent the theme or mood of the song and are filmed using a variety of shot types.
Themes of the Song -
Here is a quote directly from the lead singer of the Sea Girls who wrote the song I am covering in my music video:
"Damage Done is about young love and moving on. The night before the song was written I recognised that a part of my past was amazing, a bit flawed and broken all at the same time. I wanted to try to be at peace with it, and to realise that better things are to come rather than holding onto the past. I sort of told myself I'm singing to no one if I'm not thinking of the future"
From this and reading the lyrics I think it is obvious to identify the themes of this song:
- Young love and moving on ( And you only wanted me )
- Forgetting the past ( Who needs memories? )
- Not being able to change damage that has happened ( The damage is damage is done )
- Feeling alone ( Talking to myself again )
My Visuals -
I have tried to reflect the themes and meanings I picked up on in the story go my song lyrics, and portray them successfully in the visuals of my music video. I have tried to reflect the theme of young love and moving on in my music video by having a female actor pose the part of an ex-love interest throughout my music video, so that it appears like the lead singer and the ex-love interest are talking about their past love.
I will try to achieve this by introducing the ex-love interest on lyrics such as "Took it all last night", assuming a reference to each others love that they took. Then seeing the lead singer, sing the line "and there's no, going back", only to cut to the ex-love interest again when the lyrics say "Who needs memories?". I also plan to film the 1st Bridge where the lyrics are "Talking to myself again" four times, in a way where it appears like the ex-love interest character is talking to herself again.
I also plan to use a variety of colours, such as red, blue, yellow and purple, in my music video to reflect the upbeat overtone of the song and the points of the lyrics which have more energy and can be reflected by a change in colour.
Conventions -
For my music video I plan to conform to the conventions of an indie-rock video therefore I will be using my research of genre conventions to aid the process of filming and producing my music video.
Indie-rock videos tend to be quite low budget, and to film my music video I don't have any finance so therefore I am already conforming to this convention. They also tend to be filmed in simple locations as the video is focused on the artist and the music they play rather than anything else, therefore my plan to film in a shed fits this convention of using a simple, easily accessible location.
Indie-rock videos also tend to be performance videos with narrative segments inter-cut throughout the video. For my music video I plan to conform to this convention by having the main part of my music video be a live performance and intercut narrative scenes that link directly to the lyrics at that time.
I also plan to use typical camera shots seen in indie-rock music videos which involves a lot of establishing shots of the whole band, close ups of instruments and band members; and low angle shots of the artist. I strong convention in indie-rock music videos is the camera being hand held in order to create a greater sense that it's 'real' and almost as if the audience is watching live instead of through a screen; therefore I plan to shoot the majority of the performance segment of my music video using a handheld camera stabiliser so that there is still that 'real' feel to my video.
I also plan to try create some iconography of the band in my music video, so all the band members will be wearing Hawaiian shirts, as creating iconography is a convention of the genre.
The final convention of indie-rock music videos I will try to conform to is in the post-production stage where clips are cut on the beat. This is because cutting on the beat makes the video easier to watch for viewers as it is what your brain expects to happen, making it more comfortable to watch.
Metaphors and symbols -
I would like to include an object as the metaphor inn my music video, however I have not quite worked out howe to do this yet. I thought to include a clip of a guitar being smashed which would represent the love between the lead singer and his ex-love interest however this is all dependant on if I can find an old or cheap guitar to smash. The guitar would be a metaphor for love as when it is smashed the energy of the song lyrics and visuals would increase showing that love creates a lot of energy and powerful emotion when it is broken, however when the song comes to an end, I plan to show the guitar being in pieces on the floor, which is to be representative of the fact with work you could put the guitar back together - the same as love.
How my Ideas are Suited -
My ideas are suited for the genre as I have done extensive research into the genre of the song I chose, indie-rock, and the conventions this genre; therefore I know what ideas and themes are suited for the genre. My ideas are suited to the genre as they involve visuals that are directly imagined whilst researching and looking at the conventions of a indie-rock video.
My target audience is people between the age of 16 and 22 who are interested in the indie music genre. My ideas are suited to the target audience as I have covered an indie song in my music video, there are also no childish themes in the video that may deter viewers over the age of 16. My music video is also cut on the beat which means that its is comfortable to watch, which my target audience would prefer and younger audiences may not be too bothered about. Finally my music video will involve lots of energy and bright colours which will keep my target audience interested and attentive to my music video as things are constantly changing a new features are being added.
Technical Justification - I will make sure that once I have completed my media product and am happy with the final result I will export it in the highest file quality possible, an Apple ProRes 422 file, this means both the visual and audio media is in the highest possible quality; this means I can send it to the client in this file format so it is immediately ready for broadcast in HD quality.
How you edit your media product is vital to the quality and how professional your end product looks, and also how the audience reacts when viewing your product. During the post-production process editors can use may different techniques and processes to create meaning within the video which audiences interact with and spark some emotion, this could range from anywhere between feeling happy, uncomfortable, scared or thrilled etc.
The client specified that my music video "must run for the length of the chosen song and be suitable for the musics target audiences." during the post-production process I focused on meeting these clients needs and making sure my music video did run for the length of the audio and also edited my music video keeping in mind the conventions of Indie-rock music videos.
Post-production Conventions of an Indie-rock music video:
- Most indie-rock music videos tend to use some kind of cinematic effect to make the production look more professional and more like a short film rather than a music video, as conventionally most indie-rock songs have a story behind the lyrics.
- Indie-rock music videos tend to be edited on the beat as the audience expects a change on the beat so this makes it more comfortable for the audience to watch as what they see matches what they're expecting.
- Conventionally indie-rock music videos will include some unique editing effects in order to stand out from other music videos in the same genre and create iconography in the post-production stage.
My Music Video:
I have used many different techniques and process when editing my music video in order to create meaning that is relevant to the song I covered. The main theme of the song I used in my music video is - emotional wounds after a breakup and dealing with this - so I have tried to edit my music video to represent this and create visual changes that will be meaningful to this theme whilst following the conventions of an Indi-rock music video.
The Opening Scene:
The opening scene of any media product instantly sets the scene for the video and lets the audience know what to expect and what the video may be like, so in my opening scene I wanted to do just this and introduce the audience to the band and the music softly. I edited my music video opening scene so that the audio gradually gets louder, from 0 decibels to 12 decibels so that the audience can settle into the music video, making them feel comfortable. I also used the fade to and from transition on the title form my music video, which is also the bands album cover for this song. I did this to once again, softly introduce my music video to the audience and I made sure the title had faded out before the band members enter the shed so that the audience has a clear picture of where they are and what is happening.
Cutting on the Beat:
Cutting on the beat is an editing technique whereby there is a visual change on the beat of the music, for example a transition on the kick of a drum. Cutting on the beat gives your video a more 'real' feel as the visuals and audio appear to be in sync with each other, it is also used to comfort the audience as our brain expect a visual change on a beat drop so when there isn't one when we expect it, it can make the audience feel uncomfortable. I used this post-production technique all throughout my music video trying to match what the audience would expect to see so they carry on watching.
J-Cut:
J-cuts are a simple editing technique used in media where you hear the audio before you see the clip its coming from, this then creates a J shape on your timeline, hence the name. I used this technique at the beginning of my music video as the music begins to play before we see the band actually playing their instruments or the lead singer singing. I used this technique as it is a way of creating flow witting there video with the audio guiding the way, once again this was to make the audience feel comfortable with the viewing there are about to commit too.
Placement of my Actress:
As I was trying to tell a story through a performance piece I needed to be very careful about the order in which I show different characters and what the lyrics are at the point where we see them. The actress in my music video acts as the love interest to the lead singer therefore we only see her when the lyrics are talking about the the emotional wounds of a breakup. In total we see the actress five times throughout the music video and two of those time is when it is just one shot of her on screen, these two times we see her have been specifically placed in my timeline in order to introduce the actress as a love interest. The first time we see her is over the line "And we took it all last night" possibly referencing that they took all the love from each other; the second time we see her is over the line "Who needs memories?" which can be clearly interpreted as the lead singer trying to forget about the pain of this breakup.
Letter Box Effect:
The letter box effect simply is what its called when you put a black border alone the bottom and top horizontal of your frame, this then gives then give the effect of a letter box. I used this effect whenever there was a single frame shot of my actress on screen, I did this to focus the audiences attention on my actress and the lyrics of the song that were playing over the top when we see her so they begin to recognise the meaning and significance off seeing the actress.
Final Cut Pro "Flash" Transition -
The Final Cut Pro flash transition was a transitional effect that is build into the Final Cut Pro software and just allows you to transition between shots using a flash of white light. I used this effect when transitioning between two shots from verse one to the first chorus as I felt this audio change between verse one and the first chorus was quite significant and the energy of the vocals increased so I wanted to represent this with a white flash, almost representing the energy being given too the band.
Invisible Whip Cut -
An invisible cut is when there is a change of scene or shot that is hidden to the audience, for example the cut may be hidden in the motion of the shot if it's moving or in the blackness of a shot. I used an invisible cut in my music video when transitioning from one angle to another and hid the cut within a whip pant. Invisible cuts create meaning as they provide a smooth flow throughout transitions and help the media product feel more fluid and less like its all cameras filming actors, they also help to keep continuity witting the production which helps the audience stay focused and interested throughout different scenes.
Static Transitional Effect:
I used a static transitional special effect that Final Cut Pro offers as built in software when transitioning from my actors playing their instruments to the first 3 by 3 grid of the actress. I used this effect as I felt like static is typically thought of as a thing that occurs on TVs that don't work which is what I wanted to use to symbolise the actress as a love interest as the love hasn't worked just like a TV with static on it; therefore I used this effect to reveal my actress before the lyrics go into "I'm talking to myself again". The fact that it appears that the actress comes through the static is significant as well since it shows her coming through what others might thing is a bad thing, acting as a metaphor for coming out of a bad relationship and still being ok.
Positioning of Shots:
During this 3 by 3 grid of my actress singing whilst the lyrics repeat the line "I'm talking to myself again" I wanted to make a direct relationship the the lyrics and visuals at this point, therefore I positioned my clips in such a way that it looks like my actress is talking to herself. I wanted to create this framing makes it appear to the audience the the centre shot is the actual actress herself and the shots surrounding her are representative of her self-conscious, as she is talking to herself again.
Headroom:
When we see the actress in the 3 by 3 grid where the frame is built to appear that she's talking to herself I cropped the middle shot of her, so that there was reduced headroom on the middle shot. I did this to create the impression that she was trapped by the voices she's hearing, almost cornered talking to herself. This creates meaning to the audience as they might not know about the lack of headroom if they do not understand media but they will know that the frame is closer to the actress making it apparent she is the main focus.
Colour Scheme Reference:
In my music video I wanted to make it clear that the band playing and the actress singing were related so I decided to add in a reference to the colour scheme I used with the actress ( Blue, red and yellow ) during the performance of the band. This created meaning to the final media product as it shows a direct relationship between the two performance segments coming together to show the story of conflicted love interest.
Ken Burns Final Cut Effect:
I used the built in Ken Burns camera effect that Final Cut has to offer in my music video which you can set two frame perimeters in and it'll zoom into this frame for you. I used this effect in my music video to add meaning to the lyrics at this point, the point in which I used the Ken Burns effect was during a long verse which repeated the lyrics "No I don't really wanna dance" eight times each time with more energy; so I used the ken burns effect on the last line of this verse where there is the most energy. Using the ken burns effect allowed me to add emphasis on this last line as we zoom in to see the lead singer, so the audience is closer to him when he is singing this line, which acts as the pinnacle point for my music video as this is the point where the relationship between the singer and actress opens up.
Cutting on Action + Cutting on the Beat:
Cutting on action is an edition technique where you cut from one shot to another whilst there is some sort of subject action on screen, this technique is a way of preserving continuity and helps draw viewers into your story as you cut on action. I used this technique when cutting a shot of a guitar being smashed on the ground then repeated the shot so that the guitar smashing on the ground twice also was cut on the beat so the guitar hit the ground on the beat of the drum. These two editing techniques used together creates an experience for the audience which first of all draws them into the action and scene then satisfies their expected change of visuals on the beat.
Audio Match Cut:
A match cut is when the composition of one shot matches with another, so an audio match cut is when the audio from one shot matches with another. I used this technique in my music video when the lyrics repeat the line "The damage is damage is done" two times with first line being sung by the actress and then cutting to the lead singer singing it. I did this to create a sense of relationship between the actress posing as the love interest and the lead singer, so that the audience can connect with the two characters solving their conflicted love; this then may help audiences that are currently struggling with love in their life.
Narrative Ending:
I purposely included shots of both the band leaving their set and the actress walking out of frame, this was to create a sense of ending for the audience, they get to watch these characters come into frame then listen to the song and follow the conflict of love the see the characters leave having resolved their conflict. This just creates a sense of story for the audiences and not like they've just watched a music video but watched two people make up and become one again.
Ken Burns Effect:
I used the ken burns effect again on the very last shot of my music video where the frame zooms into the smashed guitar on the ground when the last line of the song plays - "The damage is, damage is done". Zooming into the guitar at this point creates good ending to the music video as it sums up the song title and directly relates the visuals to the audio as the damage to the guitar is done. This the makes the audience feel comfortable as they have been shown an ending to the music video and are not left with any questions unanswered, being completely satisfied with the media product they have just watched.
I exported my final music video in two different file formats: Apple Pro Res and H.264
Apple Pro Res provides an "unparalleled combination of multi-stream, real-time editing performance, impressive image quality, and reduced storage rates" This means that exporting my music video in an Apple Pro Res format it is at the highest quality possible for audiences to view, however it still takes up a large amount of storage, larger than a H.264 file format.
I would export my music video as an Apple Pro Res file to send to the client due to the fact it exports the best audio and image quality, therefore the client has the best version possible. This is then helpful to the client as they have a version they can manipulate for whatever media purpose they want, for example if they wanted to publish it online they could export it to a lower resolution file so that it loads quicker for audiences, and if they wanted to upload a HD version which audiences might expect to take longer to load they have the capabilities to do so.
H.264 file formats are popular as they take up very little storage, for my music video the H.264 file format took up 75% less space than the Apple Pro Res, however in order to be able to compress files to this level the H.264 flies have to sacrifice somewhere so these files are not as high quality as Apple Pro Res file formats
This is the H.264 file format I exported my music video as so that I was able upload it to YouTube to show my audiences and be able to embed it into to other areas of my blog. I used a H.264 file format for this purpose as it compromises between high quality and small file size so that it will upload quickly and it will also load quicker when the audience views it.
I do believe my music meets the client brief as the visuals are as long as the music track, the visuals conform the conventions of the genre, indie-rock, it promotes the artist and visually reflect the theme of the song in many ways throughout the performance.
My music video promotes the artist as it includes many close up of each member of the band, showcasing their talent as a performer and showing them as a person for the audience to recognise. My music video also reflects the themes of the song throughout the videos the song talks about "love" to which the visuals show a love interest, the song talks about "damage being done" to which the visuals show objects being smashed and damaged, in this case a guitar.
I believe the final cut of my music video is successful as it meets all the clients requests and promotes the artist very well as it shows them as talented individuals whilst also showing them enjoying what they do and having fun making a music video which I believe the audience will like and begin to view the artists as people with personalities. It also creates some iconography for the band as they are all wearing Hawaiian shirts which the recording label of the artist can utilise and use this fact to start generating a brand image for the band.
Conventions
My music video is and indie-rock video and I have chosen to produce a performance music video with an overarching narrative theme, so we can identify a storyline through the performance sequence of my music video. To do this I recorded a performance of actors who played as a band with instruments and also recorded a segment of an actress lip-syncing who acts as the love interest throughout my music video. I then cut these two segments together in the editing process at vital points in order to tell the story of conflicted love throughout my production.
The conventions of an indie-rock video include lots of shots of the band members, typically as instructed by the record label in order to start selling the band members to the audience and begin to generate them fame and popularity. I have done this in my music video as I have include many shots of all the band members which clearly show their identity so that the audience will recognise them if seen else where and start to build a relationship between the viewers and the band members.
Indie-rock videos also tend to create iconography for the band or include existing iconic items if they are already an established band that the audience will immediately relate to that specific band. I have done this in my music video since I instructed all the band members to wear Hawaiian shirts, this may not be the most flattering clothing however it is original and now iconic to my band meaning that when viewers see a Hawaiian shirt they may think of my band.
Conventionally Indie-Rock videos are very low budget and shot in very simple, easily accessible locations as the focus of the video is on the band members and the music itself rather than the production value of the music video. I did not have a budget to produce my music video therefore I spent no money during the entire production which fits this convention, and I also filmed it in my garden shed which is a very simple set, and easy for me and my actors to enter.
A lot of indie-rock videos tend to be filmed hand held to give a more 'real' feel to the video and try to put the audience in the action. I did film a lot of shots using a hand held stabiliser to try and conform to this convention and give a more fluid and 'real' feel to my music video.
Finally the editing of indie rock videos is very important in order to captivate the audience and keep them interested in your video; conventionally this includes clips being edited to match the tempo of the music usually being cut on the beat as this is what your brain expects, which makes it more comfortable for the consumer to watch.
Composition
Throughout across all media there is always headroom for actors in shots unless you are trying to portray the feeling they are trapped or nervous, in my media production I did leave enough headroom throughout the performance segment with my band members and purposely cut down the headroom when filming the shots of my actress. I did this because at the time we see the actress it is over the audio of "I'm talking to myself again" therefore I wanted to represent this in my shot, reducing the headroom so she appears trapped which is meant to symbolise being trapped in your own head.
I did try to use the rule of thirds when filming my music video as this is conventional for indie-rock videos as it makes the audience feel comfortable, however I wanted lots of movement and energy from my subjects so it was hard to maintain this composition however I did create one shot using the rule of thirds.
In this shot the lead singer is in the foreground at the centre of the screen being the main subject in the shot however in the background the two guitarist are positioned on the two vertical lines in the rule of thirds.
Camera Shots
Indie-rock videos tend to include a wide variety of shots however the main ones are usually medium a close up shots as the video is produced around the artist and the music they play, so establishing and long shots don't tend to fit in with this convention. I conformed heavily to this convention as the main shots I used were medium shots of the actors and also close ups of the band members playing their instruments.
Camera Angles
Indie-rock videos are conventionally shot from eye level or low angles this is because eye-level shots help the audience connect with the band on a more personal level as it gives the impression that the viewer is watching the band through their own eyes; low angle shots are also used so that the audience is looking up to the band members which makes the viewers idolises the band members. In my music video I used lots of eye level shots and a couple low angle shots to conform to this convention.
Camera Movements
Conventionally in indie-rock music videos the camera movements tend to follow and trace the artist in the video as they are the main focus in frame. Typically this includes camera movements such as pan, track and hand held. The majority of my music video is shot with the camera being hand held which conforms to this convention, I also used tracking when filming my lead singer as I wanted to keep him as the main subject in the centre of frame. I also used a couple of quick pan shots in order to create invisible cuts within the movement of these camera movements.
Mise-en-scène
In the frame there is all four actors the majority of the time, which each represent a member of the actual band, this also generates some sort of community on screen seeing these actors playing together. We also see the corrugation of the concrete walls surround the set which are constantly in frame which represents the simplicity and low budget conventions of indie-rock music videos. It is evident that my music video is shot at two different locations for the two different performance segments. The second location is filmed in a school classroom where there is just an actress in frame in-front of a blank white board, I created this frame so that the actress was the main focus in the frame and the audiences attention was just on her.
I did use props throughout my music video as it was essential for creating a realistic music video as it would confuse the audience if the band did not have any instruments. I used props such as: drum kits, two guitars, a microphone and an amplifier, this was so I could create a realistic image of the actors playing their instruments in time with the music, giving the illusions that they are playing the audio the audience can hear.
My actors are dressed in everyday clothing which the viewer is most likely have at home however the only difference is my actors have Hawaiian tops over the top of these clothes. This then gives the viewer belief that maybe they could be like the band members if they dressed like them and provokes more interaction from the audience.
I also used lighting as a key feature throughout my production, colours such as yellow, red, blue and purple in order to give a feel of warmth to my production so it could be perceived as more 'live'. The lighting I used is also effective to create professional lighting techniques such as half and half, 45 degree and racoon eyes in order to create a vast amount of compositions throughout my music video.
All of these elements combined help to represent the emotion behind the song lyrics and also the illusion of these actors playing their instruments so that it is believable to the audience. It helps create a sense of excitement with the changing colours and the odd clothing, it makes the audiences think they are seeing something different and unique, which in turn will help the band grow.
This is my very first cut of my music video, this is the version where I had just got everything onto the timeline, in the right order to start to visualise the whole video and the order of how my video will play out using the clips I collected. I knew what I wanted my video too look like and the overall feel that it would be so I just focused on creating this throughout the editing process.
2nd Rough Cut:
Feedback:
I did not receive any formal feedback from my first edit of my music video just helpful tips on how to improve in casual conversation where the main points spoke about creating a more fluid transition into the first time we see the actress and to place the 2nd time we see the actress in the right place in the timeline.
Changes:
The first change I made was on the first time we see the actress, I didn't just change the transition into it but changes the whole sequences so that instead of the different compositions coming down like a wipe affect I put them all into a 3x3 grid so to give the affect that she is talking to herself, I also added a static transition between the band performance segment which then dissolves away to reveal the actress.
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This is how I changed the the "1st talking to myself again" segment as I felt when we saw all the boxes filled it gave more of a visual representation that she was talking to herself again, as if they were the voices inside her head she was talking to. I also added some colour effects in on the boxes on the third time the line repeats itself and on the fourth time the line repeats itself this is to try and represent the colour lighting I used when filming the performance segment of my media video so it shows a relationship between the two.
This is the changes I made to the time line by adding in the static transition, I did this because at the time the verse starts there is a small static noise in the actual song audio therefore I wanted to represent this visually. It also provides what I think is a very neat transition between the two performance segments which helps keep the flow of the video going.
The complete transition is a fade from the performance segment to the static effect which was available on Final Cut Pro, to a black screen, then a cross dissolve to reveal the actress through the static.
The second change I made was adding another grid of the actress over the second point in the song where its a verse about 'talking to myself again' however the second time the song sings this it is with more energy than the first time so I wanted to represent this in the visuals by adding lots of colour and moving subjects.
As I wanted more moving subject to reflect the higher energy at this point in the song I added in a clip of the guitarist, turned to opacity of this down and the overplayed a free lighting affect my teacher gave me ontop of this clip and used the "Luma Keyer" effect on Final Cut Pro to remove the empty black space in the lighting effect; this then created a really nice composition which could be seen in the background.
The third change a made was manipulating the audio at the beginning of my video, this didn't mean completely changing it, I just cut and duplicated the humming noise at the start of my video so that it went on for longer and meant that there was less time where there was visuals on screen but now sound playing, I also think it helped to build suspense before the music video fully started.
The fourth change I made was adding in some shots of the guitarist and drummer during the final chorus, as I felt like the audience needed a visual change from just watching the lead singer sing all in one shot. I chose the drumming shot in as there is more emphasis on the drumming at this part in the song audio so again I wanted to reflect this in the visuals.
To summarise the changes I made between my first rough cut and my second rough cut were:
- Changed the composition of the 1st "talking to myself again sequence", to make the visuals represent the fact the actor is talking got herself more clear.
- Added in a 2nd "talking to myself again" sequence, to match the song lyrics which involves a 2nd "Talking to myself again" verse, and under-layed some lighting affects at this point.
- Manipulated the audio in order increase the introduction length so that it builds some suspense to audiences that have heard the song before as it won't start when they think it will.
- Over-layed some clips on-top of my timeline in order to show a visual change so the audience doesn't lose interest just watching one clip.
3rd Rough Cut:
Feedback I received from my teacher:
- Check the lip-syncing during the first time we see the lead singer.
- At 01:00 there needs to be a visual change
- Add in some close up shots of instruments
- Hint to the love interest earlier on
- Add in a reference to the colour scheme used in the panel segment
- Make the killing the guitar shot longer
Changes I made:
The first change I made was to fix the lip-syncing in the opening scene, to do this I copied and pasted the clip on-top of itself so that it would not have any effect on my timeline. I then cut it down to the same length and fiddled about with it, moving it a frame forward, a frame backwards until it looked better and like the actor was actually singing the lyrics.
Version 2 lip-syncing:
Version 3 improved lip-syncing:
It is only a minor change however it plays a large part in the video and how professional the final product is; and as this scene is at the beginning off my video it is also the audiences first impression of the performance segment, therefore it may inflict their impression on the rest of the video if the first lip-syncing they see is slightly off.
The second change I made was to add in a visual change at 01:00, this was something that I knew I needed to do as when watching the video it would become a bit boring as its the same mise-en-scene for a long time which shouldn't one the case in an indie-rock video. To add a visual change I added in some close ups of instruments and some more shots of the drummer on-top of my time line in order, again, to no disrupt the time line and the lip-syncing.
Visual change added:
This is how my timeline looked before I made
visual changes at 01:00, as you can see it was only one clip playing continuously.
This is how my timeline looked after I had made
visual changes, I added in a short still of the bass drum in order to show the transition into a drum segment. Then I added in 3 clips of the drummer playing the drums and a short clip of my actress, the love interest which I will expand upon later.
The third improvement I made was to hint at the love interest earlier on in the music video so as the audience is not confused when we see her on the 9 by 9 panel. To do this I added shots of her in between takes just looking around and smiling which I think introduces her nicely as the audience begins to build up a relationship with her seeing more of a personality than just an actor. I tried to introduce the character of a love interest at point where it seemed natural to see a different character, so I added my chosen shots of her when the lyrics suggested to a love interest. The first time we see her is when the lyrics say "took it all last night" which is possibly the lead singer referring to someone 'taking' all his love:
The second time we see the actress before the 9 by 9 panel is when the lyrics say "who needs memories" this is clearly the lead singer referring to past memories and possible conflict in his past, which is why I believed it was appropriate to see the actress for the second time at this point:
I also made some independent changes which my teacher had not given too me which I thought would make my final product better. The first change I made was adding some different angles into my product in some of the more instrumental / mellow parts of the song and my music video in order to give the audience a feel of the different space. I used a short clip of low angle pan which idolises the band members slightly as the audience will be looking up at them and then I used a eye level shot just from a different point in the room which again showed more of the space it was being filmed and how this relates to the genre convention of music videos being shot in a low budget location:
With shooting from a new angle this allowed me to create an invisible whip pan transition between angles which I believe is really effective and puts the audience into the action as the chorus starts; instead of in version 2 where it was more of the camera just tilting up and the the lead singer jumping back into frame.
Version 2:
Version 3:
I also used the "Free Light Leaks 4K" video that my teacher downloaded for me again and put it over this scene, then used the Luma Keyer effect on Final Cut Pro to remove all the black colour and was just left with a nice moving coloured lens flare effect:
This is my timeline on Final Cut Pro showing where the free light leaks is over layer and how the luma keyer effect is added and the settings of this effect:
I also added in a very short clip of the drummer to have a visual change and then to put emphasis on the lyrics the singer is singing when we cut back to him singing which are "don't try to make me jealous" which I thought was important to emphasise as the song is about being in love and the conflict of love:
I changed the "1st talking to myself again" transition out back to the lead singer, as in my 2nd version the colour effect I added disappear as the boxes begin to disappear to reveal the lead singer so I just changed this so that the colour effects did not disappear as the boxes begin to disappear and to keep consistency within my video:
Version 2 1st talking to myself again transition out:
Version 3 1st talking to myself again transition out:
Following the feedback I received I added in some references to the colour scheme I used in the 1st talking to myself again scene. I added this colour scheme of blue, red and yellow into the part of the song where it says "No I don't really wanna dance" eight times so I thought it would work if I put colour effects on at this point and have them change every-time the line repeats itself, finishing on yellow the same as the first 9 by 9 grid:
Version 2, no reference to colour scheme:
Version 3, reference to colour scheme:
This is what my the colour board on Final Cut Pro looked like for each different shot:
I also changed the part of my where it sings about not wanting to dance and as the last line "No I don't really wanna dance" is expressed heavily in the audio I wanted to show this is in the visuals as well. This is the segment before I made any changes:
Then the changes I made involved actually changing the clip, as I found a shot we did where the lead singer tilts his head back which I think looks really nice and adds lots of emphasis to performance. I then used the ken burns effect on this shot to zoom into his face in the post-production stage and this is the final result:
My teachers also recommended that I make the segment where the guitar is smashed longer so that it can be appreciated more, instead of being over before you can blink, however I still wanted the guitar to hit the ground at the same time the beat drops so I had to think about this carefully and played around with the shot moving it back and forth along my time line until I was happy with it.
Original Smashing guitar clip:
New longer Smashing Guitar clip:
The actually change is very small but I do think it looks a lot better and even more on time with the beat drop in the song audio. This is how my time line changed:
Original Smashing Guitar Timeline:
Improved Smashing Guitar Timeline:
Upon looking through my footage again I found a really nice shot of the lead singer and both guitarist singing directly into the camera so decided to add this into my music video where appropriate. I ended up adding it over the top of a clip of the drummer as this is where the lip-syncing fitted in with the audio and I thought it looked good:
This is how the changed looked on my final cut timeline:
One of the largest changes I made was once again changing the 2nd talking to my self again segment with the actress moving around the screen, I had be playing with this idea for a long time and had even made it so the panels move on the beat which took along time unfortunately it was then too fast and I didn't like it. I then tried using a 2x2 grid instead of a 3x3 grid so the image of the actor was larger and we could see the lip-syncing more accurately, however once again I did not like this. Then I decided to create just one panel with the actor in the centre of which gets further away from screen and then cut to the 3x3 grid again on the final song line.
As I wanted more moving subjects during this part of the song, instead of trying to have multiple panels moving I chose to layer one panel on-top of a scene of the actors playing their instruments with the free light leaks once again put over it, this is how it looked in my final cut timeline:
I layered the clips on-top of each other in this way so that the free light leaks would be played over the actors moving but not over the shot of my actress, so that it would not effect the colour change I made to the shot of may actress.
The final change I made in my music video was to add a short clip of the actress walking away from the camera in order to give the feel of finish within my music video, as we have all the subjects leaving before the song ends. I shortened the clip of the actors feet walking out the shed and added the clip of the actress leaving after this:
This is how the changed affected my timeline in Final Cut Pro:
Version 2:
Version 3:
To summarise all the changes I have made between version 2 and version 3 of my music video, I have polished up the lip-syncing so that it looks better and more believable, added in a larger variety of shots to interact with the audience better so they do not lose interest when watching my music video, added in more shots of the actress so the audience becomes familiar with seeing her a recognises that she is the love interest and the one the lead singer sings about "not being the inspiration" and finally changed the 2nd talking to myself again clip so that it looks better and doesn't seem too tacky.
Final Cut:
Feedback I received from my teacher for version 3 of my music video:
- Add a proper title to my music video
- Think about cropping the edge of the frame when we see the actress
- Colour correct my clips
- Give myself and actors credit at the end
The first change I started on improving was adding in a proper title to the start of my music video, I played around with the website www.dafont.com in order to try and find a font which looks like the font the artists use on all their album covers. This was a success and I found the font they use however it would have cost me £59.99 to purchase so I did not use this font. Instead I had an idea to download an image of the original album cover for my song:
Then as I put this image into Adobe Illustrator and deleted the white back ground so I just had the black shapes and text, then I turned this into a vector so there was no chance of it looking pixelated on my music video.
The next change I made was to add a black border around the clips when we see the actress, to do this I first of used the transform tool on Final Cut Pro to reduce the size of the clip to 85%.
I then layered this clip on-top of an image of a black screen so that the empty space where the clip has been reduced from was just a black image.
The next change I set about to do was to colour correct all my images so that the colours in them looked more vibrant and crisp, and the shadows and darkness could be increased or reduced. To do this I went through every clip on my timeline and used the colour correction bar final cut has to offer and used this to make my images look more professional and better quality. Her are some examples of clips I colour corrected:
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After:
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Another change I made was to fix a little glitch I spotted at the end of my music video version 3 when the actors are leaving the shed:
The glitch was only small however I thought that once noticed, it impacted the quality and how professional the overall end product looked. It was only a small change but where I had cut the clip before hand was incorrect and made this small error in the video which caused the hand movement to repeat itself, so I just had to re-edit this clip so that I removed this mistake:
I also created a credit scene at the ending of my music video to acknowledge and give credit to my actors, the artist of the song and myself. I created this using a title generator tool in Final Cut Pro, so that I could create an end credit scene which comes onto screen and the writing passes up vertically:
Also due to adding in this end credit scene I decided to manipulate the actual music audio so that there is still audio playing whilst the credit roles. To do this I cut and copied the final end chorus before it played out and added this on the end so that it played again whilst the credits rolled.
