Reflective Analysis

When it came to making a music video my ideas changed a few times before I settled on what I wanted to do and started planning. At first I had decided to create a music video for a local band but decided against this due to my timescale. After this I decided to produce a video for 'The Boredom is The Reason I Started Swimming, It's Also The Reason I Started Sinking' by The Front Bottoms, with the idea of a guy travelling the world whilst in some scenes a busker can be seen playing the song. I decided against this song and settled on 'Maps' by the same band and decided to combine the idea of the guy travelling and the busker by making them the same person so that it was actually the busker traveling. I settled on this idea as I felt this would be achievable within my time frame and I was only relying on two other people, which meant not as much could have gone wrong.

After I had decided on the song and the general ideas for the song, I got to work on planning specific shots and put together a shot/edit decision list, which included details of location, the shot type, camera angle and movement, shot length, a shot description and which lyric or part of the song that the shot would correspond to, this can be found here: http://kechncjakobmorrison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/shotedit-decision-list.html
To accompany this, I also created a visual mood board and a still images music video, I believe these helped me piece together what the music video would look like in my head and I used this alongside the shot/edit decision list when I was filming, this way I could keep on top of the work I had already done and see what needed to be done, these can be found here: http://kechncjakobmorrison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/visual-mood-board.html

When it came to actually filming, it went incredibly well and the majority of shots were done in one take, the performance shots were the hardest to film as the timing had to be perfect, I had my subject play alongside the actual song so that when it came to editing it would be easier to match the audio and the visuals. I feel like all of the shots I decided on were relevant and did a good job of illustrating the lyrics of the song whilst at the same time fitting with the band's image. The Front Bottoms take a very laissez-faire approach when it comes to their music and specifically promotion of themselves including their music videos, the majority of their videos are purely performance and are usually just them playing in their living room or garage, their own music video for the song 'Maps' is just the two band members travelling and messing about with each other, The Front Bottoms emanate the idea that they music because they like doing it, they don't care how good they are or how famous they get, they are doing this because it is what they want to do. I tried to replicate this love for music above all else by having the audience see a conflict between the busker and his girlfriend, within these few shots and a few lines we realise the busker is leaving a lot behind to pursue his dream, he has no guarantee that things will turn out well for him and yet he goes on this journey regardless.

After I had gathered all my footage, I got to work on editing, this task was a lot easier than usual as I had something specific to edit to, I knew exactly where I wanted certain pieces of footage and roughly how long each shot needed to be. I did find however that some of the dialogue within the visuals did not match up with the audio, I tried changing the timing of the visuals but could not match them up perfectly, to draw attention away from this I decided to include subtitles where the lyrics are being spoken on screen.

The subtitles I settled on were danish, and I used a very typical font with a yellow colouring, I felt they were aesthetically pleasing and very reminiscent of the french new wave. I also feel I could only get away with this because of the song and band that I had chosen to represent in the video, the song is called Maps and is all about his travelling plans so to use foreign language subtitles fits within the theme of the song, and as previously mentioned The Front Bottoms are a very playful band and I could definitely see them doing something similar themselves. One of my favourite techniques I used during the editing process was the double exposure, due to the fact that my lyrics and visuals are closely linked I wanted to do something to amplify the fact that there are multiple layers of lyrics.

Overall, I am very pleased with my final product, I put a lot of time and effort into research, analysis and planning and I think this can be seen in the final music video. If I had more time I would have added in some more shots, such as a cut in during the first shot just so the shot doesn't feel as long, I tried to deter from this by having the title still be on screen, in Danish, when this shot starts. There is also another long take of the busker travelling on the train and if I had more time I would have included some point of view shots from the busker or him on different forms of transport. I think the inclusion of just a few more shots would have made the video so much tighter but the sometimes slow feel of the video can be seen as amplifying the journey of the busker, he has a long way to go before he makes anything of himself and these shots do a good job of amplifying that. If I were to do this project again I would probably choose a more upbeat song as this would have made me gather more shots and the music video could appear so much smoother but for the song chosen I am very happy with the video produced.

Maps - The Front Bottoms

Research Evaluation

When it came to producing a music video, at first I had to analyse the codes and conventions of music videos, this way I would have a better understanding of what is needed to produce an effective music video. Therefore, the first thing I did was conduct some research on Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis, this wholly consisted of secondary research. At first, I took some basic notes down from sources provided by my teacher but after this went on to research the both of them in more depth, I did this by searching for them on the internet and reading their books, Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' and Vernallis' 'Experiencing Music Videos: Aesthetics and Cultural Context' and 'Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video and the New Digital Cinema' The main information I got from other people's summaries but I then checked that this information was correct against the relevant book, I felt this way I got basic points which I could then use the books to expand upon and validate. Due to this, the books themselves were definitely the most important part of my secondary research, I used them both as sources of information and also key texts that I could validate other sources with, this as a whole made the research I had found more reliable.

The next step of my research was vital in the production of my own music video. After researching Vernallis and Goodwin, I used their information to conduct my primary research of music video analysis. When it came to choosing music videos to analyse, I decided to choose two within the same genre of my track choosing two indie/alternative songs and then also choosing a pop song, I felt like this would give me a wider variety of research than just analysing the codes and conventions of the genre that I will be producing a music video for. Analysing the music videos within my genre allowed me to gain an understanding of how music videos of a certain genre are constructed and how they differ to that of another genre, this all helped me gain inspiration and allowed me to form ideas about my own music video.

I also conducted primary research which I then validated with secondary research in the form of lyrical analysis of my song. I decided to analyse the lyrics of the songs that I had chosen to produce a music video for as I felt this benefit me when it came to ideas about how to use the visuals to either amplify or illustrate the lyrics. After analysing the lyrics myself I then used the Internet to see what other people had interpreted the lyrics to mean, I shared very similar views with that of genius.com, a lyric website dedicated to finding the meaning of lyrics. Seeing that my own interpretation matched that of many others on the Internet, I felt like this piece of research was as valid and reliable as it could be for a subjective piece of research.

If I were to undertake this research project again I would definitely analyse a few more music videos, including at least one by the band that I will be making a music video for. This way as well as identifying the codes and conventions of the specific genre, I would have also been able to identify any particular codes and conventions that the band themselves may have when it comes to their music videos. I also would have done some more research into the band themselves but because i am very familiar with the band I felt this was something I could afford to miss when it came to my research project, but with more time I would have been able to identify the band's star image and iconography and tried to incorporate this into my own video to get across that it was still very much a Front Bottoms music video.

Following on from my analysis of music videos and the lyrics for my song, I felt that I needed quantitative data to compliment my qualitative data that I had gained from analysis and so went on to create a questionnaire, the questions and results of which can be found here: http://kechncjakobmorrison.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/music-video-research-questionnaire.html
This questionnaire formed the bulk of my quantitative data as I structured the questions in such a way that the majority of answers given could be used as hard facts and statistics, for example I asked 'Do you prefer a narrative or performance based music video?' With the options being either 'performance/narrative/mixture' Questions of this style allowed me to gain quantitative data that I could use to inform my own video. When looking back at the data that I gathered, I had only asked very basic questions and as such the data that I gained from it I used as a very beginning of planning my own video, such as using  mixture of both narrative and performance and that people would prefer a fast and energetic music video rather than a slow-paced one. The genre that came out on top was 'rock' closely followed by 'indie', as the music video i'm producing falls under the genre of 'indie' I felt that the other results of my questionnaire should definitely be used to inform my own production. The questionnaire I produced was answered by a total of 37 people, these people were a mixture of all ages, genders and had a variety of different favourite genres, because of this I feel like my questionnaire is quite reliable even though I did have to limit the possible answers given by using multiple choice.

Having gained quantitive data from a  primary source, I felt that the next logical step was to gather some qualitative data, I did this in the form of a focus group with my fellow HNC students. This consisted of me playing an excerpt from the song to the other students, telling them some of initial ideas and asking for further comments on these initial thoughts. At this time I had decided on doing Maps by The Front Bottoms and had done analysis of the lyrics and found that the song was about travelling the world but being reluctant to leave your old life behind. This would form the basis of the narrative of my video but I was unsure of how to incorporate traits of a performance music video into the production. The majority of the focus group agreed with my idea of a music video rooted in travelling and felt that a good mix of industrial and natural locations would be ideal for the song. When it came to incorporating a performance element to the video, a brilliant suggestion was made to include a busker in a few of the locations that the traveller visited. I initially was going to go along with this idea but decided to combine the performance and the narrative, making the busker the main subject of the video, so that he is the one that we follow on his travels. The focus group was recorded as I could only make quick notes when people were discussing ideas with me and as such didn't take it all in, listening back to the recording allowed me to gain more data, all of which I took into account when I began to plan my music video.

Overall I felt that all the research gained helped me get some inspiration and form ideas for my own music video, which is why I had undergone the research project in the first place so I couldn't really ask for anything more. My initial research into Goodwin and Vernallis allowed me to gain an understanding of the theories which could be applied to my work straight away when it came to in depth analysis of music videos. Although the quantitative data was useful in determining basic concepts for a music video such as pacing as narrative/performance mixture, it would have been useless without the qualitative data to expand on these points. The focus group was probably the biggest help as it allowed me to conduct a piece of primary research, the results of which would directly inform my own production. I tried to use a variety of sources when I came to conducting this research project using books and the internet as well as people's opinions, having gathered from various sources I could check my own findings with that of others, this meant that the research I gathered and presented was both reliable and valid. The major improvements I would make would definitely be to my questionnaire, I would ask more questions directly relating to the production of the video and expectations of the people answering the questions, for example I could ask 'What do you think makes a music video appealing?' giving options such as 'lighting/narrative/star image' but also including an 'other' option, this way as well as gathering quantitive data from my questionnaire I could also have gathered some qualitative data.

Visual Mood Board/Still Images Music Video

As well as creating a mood board of my initial ideas, I decided to create a still image music video, this is a very rough draft and I will only be using it for my own benefit, this will go hand in hand with  my shot and edit decision list so that when it comes to filming and editing, I know exactly what i need to film and where I want to edit it, hopefully this will make my production and post-production a lot easier.

The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather

The start of the video is a blank screen with the letters THE NBHD, a shortened version of the band's name, this fades out and we are presented with the band sat in their house. Before the title of the song is even shown on screen there are several cuts between the original shot and other imagery, all in time with the drum beat, including a vinyl and a close-up of a girl's face not particularly in focus and a shot of the band silhouetted against a city skyline. These simple and quick cuts create an enigma code, we gain more interest in the video and want to know what all of these shots mean.

When the title of the song appears we can see a shot of the band in a car, this is easily the longest shot of the video and one that the video often comes back to, this shot is like an anchoring point of the video. It actually contradicts the premise of the song 'Sweater Weather' as the weather is quite clearly not sweater weather and instead is a lot nicer. The music video follows the band as they have a good time throughout the city, scenes are shot at both day and night to show that whatever the time the band no how to have a good time somehow. There is also a lot of cuts between the band and a particular woman, she is always lit with low-key lighting which adds a sense of mystery to the woman, which could be why Jesse Rutherford is so interested in the girl. Furthermore, the girl is only ever shown indoors which actually amplifies the idea that "its too cold for you here and now."

When it comes to band identity, The Neighbourhood are known for doing visualettes to accompany their songs, these are usually just a car journey, they have incorporated the car drive into the sweater weather video. Another key aspect to The Neighbourhood's band identity is their black and white approach to pretty much everything they produce, all of their music videos, album artwork and merchandise use a black and white colour scheme, so much so that the mere thought of The Neighbourhood makes me think in black and white for a second. The Neighbourhood's logo, an upside down house, appears in the music video but the first time we see it, it is the right way round before the whole shot is flipped upside down. The camera slowly zooms towards the house as we see various shots similar shots to ones already used. Sweater Weather was the first major single from the band, and definitely the single that made them a lot more well known, because of this I felt they wanted to make a subtle note of this in the video, the whole shot being flipped so that the logo is the right way round, shows that now The Neighbourhood are here for real and they want to identify a band identity using this logo. At the end of the video, we are shown the opening shot if the band sat down in their house, as the camera zooms towards them, the screen fades to white with the logo once more. This is a simple but effective ending for the music video, it happens during the outdo of the song which gets exponentially quieter and as such is quite calming and the visuals amplify this by just being so simple. 

Shot/Edit Decision List

Song, Lyrics and Meaning

There is a map on my room, on the wall of my room and I've got big, big plans

• While he is still living at home, he has plans for the future, to travel, to be someone, to do something important

And I can see them slipping through, almost slipping through the palms of my sweaty hands

• The sweaty hands are a clear indicator that he is nervous and feels he may be incompetent when it comes to putting these plans into action

And I move slow, just slow enough to make you uncomfortable

• These 'big plans' are 'slipping through his hands' because he's getting older and still has not many any effort to go through with these plans and this is making a loved one of his uncomfortable, they are worries he'll never go through with these plans

You say I hate you, you mean it and I love you sounds fake, it's taken me so long to figure that out

• Couples can happily joke that they hate each other but he is beginning to worry that when their partner jokingly says they hate them, it sounds genuine and the serious statement of 'I love you' feels forced and fake
• It also alludes to how passionate people are when they say they hate someone, it comes from the gut, whereas you tell people you love them as a formality even when it's not true

I used to love the taste, I would do anything for it, now I would do anything to get the taste out of my mouth

• He used to love how saying 'I love you' made him felt but now that he's realised it sounds fake, the idea of love disgusts him

And you're so confident but I can hear you crying in your sleeping bag

• On the outside they appear to have their life in control but they cry themselves to sleep at night so no one can truly knows what goes on behind closed doors

But you were broken bad yourself, you were mad as hell, you felt that if you had done anything with anyone else it would have worked out so well

• This quite serious statement ends on a sarcastic note so I feel like he is implying that although she may blame him for their problems it would have been like this with anyone because of how broken she is

But you are an artist and your mind don't work the way you want it to

• One of the hardest parts about having a creative mind is that inspiration can strike at any time, you can't choose when you want to be creative, this can result in personal frustration and even depression due to waiting for an artistic breakthrough you know might never happen
• In order to be creative you have to think outside the box and as a result of this you might feel like you never really belong hence it not working the way you want it to

One day you'll be washing yourself with hand soap in a public bathroom

• One day you could have a lifestyle which requires you to wash with hand soap rather than taking a shower
• Due to his career goals he has become a nomad

And you'll be thinking 'How did I get here? Where the hell am I?'

• If you're ever in that situation you'd question why nothing seems to be going right for you but at the same time he's very nonchalant about the situation as he feels if he carries on going there is a chance for things to change.

If the roles were reversed, you could have seen me sneaking up, sneaking up from behind

• He thought he had all the time in the world to accomplish his dreams and so ended up relaxing too much but now time has caught up with him and he wishes that he could go back and change things

She sees these visions, she feels emotion, she says that I cannot go, she sees my plane in the ocean

• The loved one doesn't want him to leave as they are worried that there will be an accident like a plane crash and they'll never see him again

'And what about your friends, don't you love them enough to stay?' And I say if I don't leave now I will never get away

• She tries to convince him to stay because all his friends are at home and he tries to explain that if he doesn't leave while he is young he'll become too attached and never want to leave
• The longer you stay somewhere the harder it is for you to leave

Let me a blue raft on a blue sea, I'll blend right in

• Specifically he wants to be lost out at sea but more generally he would rather be lost than in the comfort of his own home

There is a map in my room

On the wall of my room

And I've got big, big plans

But I can see them falling through

Almost feel them slipping through the palms of my sweaty hands

And I move slowly

Just slow enough to make you uncomfortable

But you were broken bad yourself

And you were mad as hell you felt

If you had done anything with anyone else it would have worked out so well

But you are an artist and your mind don't work the way you want it to

One day you'll be washing yourself with hand soap in a public bathroom

And you'll be thinking 'How did I get here?'

'Where the hell am I?'

If the roles were reversed you could have seen me sneaking up

Sneaking up from behind

http://genius.com/The-front-bottoms-maps-lyrics

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

This video will serve as a big inspiration for my own music video, it is a very similar style of music and the video captures perfectly the kind of thing I would expect to see in a travelling music video.

Two Door Cinema Club - Eat That Up, It's Good For You

For this video a handheld camera is used to film a young couple in one location, their flat. At first they seem like a perfect couple but as the music video progresses they argue and eventually she leaves him to be alone at the end of the video. As far as editing is concerned the video utilises whip pans and the cuts are done during these to make the video seem for the most part one fluid shot. At one point there is a clear cut as everything on screen is black but this is followed up by an even more impressive time lapse continuous rotation. This time lapse takes place during the instrumental section of the song that is far more fast paced than the previous sections of the song, the rotation speeds up as the music speeds which is a very simple yet effective way of making sure the visuals suit the audio. Interestingly the camera remains in pretty much the same location throughout the entire video and just rotates in the same direction for the majority of the music video until at one point it rotates backwards slightly and stops to focus not he young couple having an argument, when the music kicks back in the camera shakes and at the same time we see the man wave his arms angrily as if he has just shouted something, this is a very simple way of emphasising the rhythm of the song.

The video both lies on natural and artificial lighting to give the video a much more realistic feel. Shots set at night use the natural lighting of the sun and the location allows for plenty of sunlight to illuminate their flat, and when it comes to night time artificial lighting is used to illuminate whats needed in their flat, these lights can be seen to show that this lighting is supposed to be realistic and not done for the music video. It could be seen that aspects of the male and female gaze are present in the music video as both the man and woman are seen with very little clothing at some points. However, these shots are not particularly sexualised and appear to be used to add a more natural feel to the video, they are a young couple who live together and have no interference from others of course they're gonna walk round their flat with as much clothing as they like.

Katy Perry - Thinking of You

Katy Perry's 'Thinking of You' is a narrative based music video, presenting the lyrics within the video. The lyrics talk about a couple torn apart by war and the female lead trying to move on but not quite feeling right with her new partner. The video features a past and present insight into the woman's life, showing her new failed attempt at a relationship and the funeral of her ex boyfriend the soldier, this is coupled with flashbacks of the couple before the war, including them going on dates such as dancing and picnics.

The visuals do an excellent job of illustrating and at the same time amplifying the lyrics. For example, at one point the video cuts to a panning shot of the female's new lover as the line 'I guess second best is all I will know' is sung, this clearly reflects the woman's feelings about her new relationship and that she has to settle for someone who will never truly replace her first love. Similar to this, when Katy sings 'I am thinking of you' the video cuts to a flashback clip of her and the soldier having fun, symbolising exactly who she is thinking of. The line 'and bust in the door' is sung as the female protagonist closes the door, this creates a direct link between the lyrics and the visuals. It also amplifies the tragic nature of the video as she is wishing for the soldier to return home, we re actually seeing her close the door to attend the same soldier's funeral.

There is a strong connection between the music and the visuals shown through the order and timing of the cuts, that work perfectly in time with the beat of the track. The cuts are smooth and run evenly, without becoming jumpy or unnatural in the slightest because they are guided by the beat of the song. There are a range of close-ups of Katy perry singing the song, this helps establish Katy as both the artist but as the female lead, separated from her lover by the war. This promotes Katy as a singer but also an actress, and fans love it when their favourite musician isn't just as musician. The close-ups also bring the audience closer to the artist, they also enable us to see the raw emotion in this song, which gives the music and visuals an even more coherent link.

Within the music video, the male gaze of the new lover is used a fair few times, this is to encourage the audience to indulge in similar behaviour. the character looks at Katy in a very sensual and predatory manner, this results in the sexualisation of the artist and makes her more appealing to the audience. The mise-en-scene, regarding clothes, backs this up in that it is very scant, aside form her funeral outfit, Katy is seen in either her underwear or very little clothes, this has probably been done to portray Katy as sexually desirable, which would promote her as an artist, especially to male viewers, but it also makes her seem a little elegant as although she is dressed scantily clad, she is still presented as a classy woman. Although, she is presented in very little clothes and the camera does take on a voyeuristic approach, the main focus is on Katy's eyes and lips rather than breasts, legs or bottom. This is probably due to the nature of the music video being very tragic and the over sexualisation of Katy would ruin this, so the filming technique and style creates an impression of elegance and attractiveness but certainly not promiscuity.

There are slight bits of footage featuring Katy and her new lover having sex, but they are short and modest, so as not to make it a highlight of the video, but rather presenting it as sad and emotive, particularly as it is evident that Katy is not truly interested. 'Thinking Of You' is primarily narrative based because the footage does follow a storyline; a soldier and his girlfriend torn apart by war, her attempt at replacing him but failing and also the revelation of his death in her preparing for his funeral, coupled with shots of their time together pre-war. However, the music is also partly performance based because it features Katy singing snippets of the song in character whilst also acting as the female lead in the video.

Design Brief

The music video follows a young man who has decided that he wishes to try makes his dreams a reality. He sets off with his acoustic guitar to travel and try and make something of himself whilst at the same time wonders whether he's made the right decision to get away from everything. On his travels he meets new people and performs in the street wherever he goes but sadly no one notices him and he's forced to carry on living like a nobody, moving from one town to the next, hoping that someone will pay attention to his story.

Music Video Research Questionnaire

The purpose of this questionnaire was to get some quantitative data for my research, I have chosen to use multiple choice questions, a few of them also have an other option, but this kind of data is far easier to analyse and display in charts, this questionnaire has given me a basic understanding of what people are into something I must take into account when making my own music video.

From the results I collected, the two genres which stick out as people favourite are rock and indie, The Front Bottoms fall under the genre of folk punk/indie rock so the song I have chosen words well with my findings.

The majority of people prefer a mixture of both narrative and performance elements in a music video, originally I was planning on having the video purely narrative bad but due to these findings I would like to incorporate some performance elements into the video that work alongside the narrative.

Looking at the pacing of the video, people much prefer a mixture of fast/energetic and slow-paced, those not wanting a mixture seem to prefer a fast and energetic video to a slow-paced one so I will try to make my video fast and energetic for the most part whilst also having slow-paced moments when it suits the song.

Carol Vernallis

In her works 'Experiencing Music Videos: Aesthetics and Cultural Context' (2004) and 'Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video and the New Digital Cinema' (2013) Carol Vernallis identifies 4 key concepts that all relate to the way a music video is produced, these are:

• Narrative
• Editing
• Camera Movement and Framing
• Diegesis

Narrative

The video is a visual response to the narrative. Therefore whatever is happening on screen in some way reflects the choice of lyrics that the artist is singing. However, the narrative may not always be completed and can be partial with the video appearing disjointed, disconnected and appear in fragments. The video has something driving it forward but this may not necessarily be the narrative, it could be the music itself or other elements in the video. However if the video is left uncompleted it can lead to many questions about the narrative that wont always be answered throughout the video. Finally although the video may have a theme or a narrative, it is probably displayed in a montage style rather than in one clear focus.

Editing

A clear convention of music editing is that the video may disrupt or break the conventions of continuity editing. The editing may also be bought to the foreground, become visible and not hidden as apposed to the invisible style of continuity editing, meaning the video will have a style of editing running throughout that is distinctive to that video. For example, you may see:

• Jump Cuts
• Breaks of the 30 Degree Rule
• Extreme Changes in Pace
• Juxtaposed Frames

Camera Movements and Framing

Establishing shots are one of the key camera features of a music video and are used frequently throughout a music video as well as close-up shots. The style of framing of the video again is quite distinctive to the video and at time the camera may move in time with the lyrics.

Diegesis

In terms of media, the diegesis is the world of the music video, the diegesis is usually revealed quite slowly. The actions in the video won't always be completed and may be disrupted in some way. There will be many repetitions throughout the video and some frames will appear more important than others due to the way they have been framed.

Vernallis, Carol. 2004. Experiencing Music Videos: Aesthetics and Cultural Context. Columbia University Press.
Vernallis, Carol. 2013. Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video and the New Digital Cinema. Oxford University Press.

Andrew Goodwin

In his work 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory', published in 1992, Andrew Goodwin identified 5 key aspects of music videos that we as an audience should look out for, these are:

• Thought Beats
• Narrative and Performance
• Star Image
• Relation of Visuals to Song
• Technical Aspects of Music Video

Thought Beats
The first step of Andrew Goodwin's theory on thought beats is looking at the music itself, we must take into account the structure of the song for example, taking notice of chorus and verses. Secondly, we must look at the singer's voice, an artist's voice is extremely unique and can form identity. Most people can recognise an artist by their tone and grain of voice, this relates to Roland Barthes theory of grain of voice. He sees the singing voices an expressive instrument and therefore able to make associations of it's own. Goodwin also points out the artist's mode of address, if a song can be seen as story then that makes the artist the story teller, as such a music video is a form of two way communication, with the artist telling us a story and us listening.

Narrative and Performance
Songs themselves fail to give us the complete narrative, we get a gist of what the artist means and then we each make our own meaning for a song. Goodwin believes that music video's should ignore common narrative, it is important because music videos are a form of advertising, instead narrative and performance should work hand in hand, because this makes it easier for an audience to watch the same video repeatedly without losing interest. If the artist acts as both as the narrator and the subject of the video/song it makes the video seem more authentic and original. Goodwin believes though that miming is still the most popular thing done in music videos today, however it is in the artist's best interests to make it look as real as possible to the audience.

Star Image
Star image is vital aspect of any music video, artists obviously want to look unique in order to stay current and for audiences to remember them. This star image tends to develop overtime and plays a big role in the production process of music videos.

Relation of Visuals to Song
There are three ways in which videos are used to promote a song:

• Illustrate - The visuals on screen directly link the words sang, for example, 'I wanna read American Psycho again' could be illustrated by a copy of the book on screen.
• Amplify - The visuals add meaning to the words sang, for example, a red tint could be use when romance is sung about.
• Contradict- The visuals completely go against the lyrics being sung, for example 'Stop crying, you're an adult' could be contradicted by a child smiling.

Technical Aspects of Music Videos

Technical aspects such as mine-en-scene, camera movement or angles, hold the music video together. Lighting and colour can help set the mood and adds emphasis on key/dramatic moments adds extra effect. Miss-en-scene is also vital, it needs to look realistic in order to look professional therefore appealing to a larger target audience. The editing is also a key part when incomes to technical aspects, editing to the beat/rhythm of the song is a simple task that makes the video seem so much more professional and enjoyable.


Goodwin, Andrew. 1993. Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music, Television and Popular Culture. Routledge.

Reflective Analysis

Originally I was planning a short promotional video for a local band but having contacted the band, I felt that they were too relaxed about the concept and as such making a promotional video for them would be far too hard to organise especially to a strict deadline. I decided to then ask one of the trip coordinators for the creative arts trip if they were looking for a promotional video and thankfully they were. I received my brief and discussed in person some of my initial ideas with the client, these ideas were well received and so I started on planning my video. This was probably the weakest part of my promotional video, I didn't organise myself very well and initial planning only really consisted of me location scouting and determining that I needed plenty of shots with students engaging in the activities the trip provided. One of the points raised by my client was that she wanted the video to be from a student perspective, because of this I felt that thorough planning was not needed as what I would normally film or photograph is a student perspective.

When filming I made sure that I shot a variety of items such as location shots, panning shots in galleries, tracking shots of students and plenty of shots of students either interacting with one another, taking pictures of exhibits or discussing artwork they had just seen. The shots produced were a variety and I felt this allowed the audience to get more of a feel of the surroundings, hand held tracking shots were used very effectively in the video as I feel they make the audience feel almost as if they were there in the galleries in Madrid with me. Placing the audience member into my shoes on the trip is the best way to encourage people to go. One thing I did feel I was lacking in were establishing shots, Madrid is absolutely stunning and although I feel I did manage to capture some of it's beauty, a few more location/establishing shots would have really brought the video to life. Due to the fact that I was doing a promotional video for the Creative Arts trip to Madrid, all of my filming, minus interviews, was done whilst in Madrid, and as such meant that they only had one chance to get the footage I needed. This made me more organised whilst I was actually on the trip and after reviewing my footage from the first day I found that I needed more shots of student engagement and could focus less on scenery and artwork. When back in the UK I decided to shoot some interviews with students who had gone on the trip, I contacted both an Art and a Photography to show the different subjects that could lead you to this kind of experience. I originally intended on having 4 interviews, the extra two being with an Art Foundation student and a Creative Media Production student, unfortunately I didn't have time to get these two interviews but in editing I spaced out the interviews I did get so that absence of the other two interviews wasn't noticed as much. The questions I asked in the interview were very simple as I just wanted to know what their favourite part of the trip was and how they've benefited from the experience. These two me were the most important things in determining whether the trip was good in terms of student engagement and if it did actually benefit their work.

When it came to choosing music for my promotional video I had to make sure that I chose something that was royalty free for legal reasons and also suited the production piece, the music I went for was 'Brazilian Samba' by BenSound, which I was legally able to use as long as I credited BenSound in my final production piece. The song was very uplifting and fast paced which gave me something to edit to, the cuts in my video are very quick and precise to match the rhythm of the music, and even though its technically a Brazilian piece of music, the song still suits the lively, happy go lucky atmosphere of Madrid. It was after selecting my music that I felt more comfortable editing, I needed something to edit to and the fast up-beat 'Brazilian Samba' was perfect for this. I feel I did a good job of editing in time with the music and just with editing in general, this was probably due to the fact that editing is where I am most organised, making sure that the relevant footage is in the right folders making it far easier for me to locate footage that I need and that I know I can use.

After completing a first draft of my video, I watched it with my client to gain some initial feedback. One key point raised was that they're wasn't enough student engagement in the video, as I had filmed in Madrid it was practically impossible to reshoot and so instead I spoke with another student who had also been on the trip and she was happy for me to use some of her footage. This made the video a much more student lead video and I think this was key in meeting my client's brief, the main thing they wanted from this video was that it was from a student's persecutive and how the student's engage with the activities on the trip. Using the feedback I altered my video and when it was completed, I again sat and watched it through with my client and she picked up on the alterations that I had made and seemed happy with the finished product.

I think the video produced does a good job of giving the audience a feel for what the Creative Arts trip can be like and I think this is down to the fact that a student produced it, the target audience are students and it was key to get across to them the benefits of such a trip. Watching the video through, I am grateful that I got the opportunity to go on such a trip and as shown from the interviews other students were just as happy to go on the trip. Overall, I am very happy with my promotional video, I just wish I'd been more organised in my planning so that I got more interviews and more student engagement on the trip but I still believe it is effective in 'highlighting the creative arts faculty and the student engagement in the trip' and it also 'demonstrates how rewarding and enriching trips abroad are for students and the multiple activities that take place' which is what my client was looking for, according to their design brief. After completing the video I watched it through with a few fellow students and some of them made comment about how they wish they'd been able to go and others saying that they would definitely try to go on a trip like it in the near future. A few students I watched it with said that they could see the educational benefits on the trip but were worried that they might not get much freedom to explore and as such wouldn't enjoy the social side of the trip much, I could have asked questions about this in the interviews so that students could hear directly from students on the trip that the social side of the trip is just as good as the educational, or also included more footage of students engaging with one another rather than just the activities and artwork. Obviously the only way for sure to know whether this promotional video has succeeded in it's job is to compare numbers from this year's trip to next year' trip, for this data I'd have to wait another 7/8 months to find out, so students already saying they wished they'd gone and that others are hoping to go on the trip next year is the best indicator I can ask for.

Planning

The following equipment will be needed for my promotional video:

•   Canon 700D

•   Tripod

•   SD Card

•   Shotgun microphone 

Before flying out to Madrid, I had a look online at some of the places we would be visiting as a college but also looked at some locations that I felt would be good to film in, I decided to film at Centro Centro, Reina Sofia, Buen Retiro Park, the flamenco show we would be attending and then a few locations like the Plaza Mayor and the Palacio Real de Madrid.

I tried to get a mixture of photography and moving image for each of the locations that I visited and most importantly I got plenty of footage of students interacting with one another, with their camera equipment or with the art that they saw in the galleries. 

Whilst filming in Madrid I was working with another person and so we assigned each other tasks to do, whilst I took on the majority of the filming at locations such as the Reina Sofia or Centro Centro, my partner filmed at the flamenco show and between the two of us we filmed the streets of Madrid. 

At the end of each day I reviewed the footage I had got and after the first day found that I was lacking in a lot of student engagement with the trip and so the second day I focused less on the scenery and artwork and more on how the students reacted to this.

Health & Safety

Health & Safety:

While shooting this for the promotional video we had to make sure that we were shooting in a safe environment so that no harm was caused to our crew or to the people involved.

• When shooting on the streets of Madrid, I had to make sure I was aware of my surroundings so that I didn't knock into anyone or trip over and damage my equipment.

• When shooting with tripods we had to make sure that they weren't in danger of falling over and hurting someone or breaking something.

• When recording interviews I had to make sure that the weather was acceptable so that none of the equipment got water damaged and I had to make sure that wires were placed in safe positions so that people didn't trip over them.

• When shooting in the Reina Sofia and Centro Centro, I had to make sure that I had permission to film on the premises and what kind of filming/photography I could do, I also had to make sure I was aware of my surroundings as I was filming with the general public so there is more of a risk that equipment could be damaged.

Copyright/Legal:

For the music used in the promotional video, I had to make sure that it was copyright free music as my video is essentially trying to sell a product, the music I used met these requirements as I simply credited bensound for the music.

All of the people that featured heavily in my promotional video were students of King Edward VI College and therefore have signed forms at the start of the college year o allow themselves to be filmed or photographed in such a way that I have done, as such no talent release forms were needed for this piece of production.

Feedback

After watching the first draft for the promotional video my clint gave me some short feedback to try and help me improve my video. These were some of the points raised:

• The first shot is too long and as such can seem a little dull at times, something more dynamic that captures an audience's attention.
• The shot before the interviews was not necessary.
• The interviews would be better off being dispersed throughout the video coupled with shots that show location that the students are talking about.
• The music also needs to be quitter whilst students are speaking as at one points it is hard to pick up what they are saying.
• More shots of the students actually engaging in activities such as photography or drawing should be used.
• Titles should also be used to show who students are and the different locations and activities students engaged in whilst on the trip.

After watching the final video, I asked my client to fill out a short questionnaire to gain an understanding of what my client thought of my finished video.

Client Feedback Form

Please answer the following questions using numbers 1-5 (5 being excellent, 3 being average and 1 being poor)

How happy are you with the final product?	4
How happy are you with our response to the brief?	4
Would you agree that communication between you and me, the production team, was prompt, clear and concise?	Yes 5
How close is the final product to your expectations?	4
Any further comments: The final film shows how fun, engaging and most importantly how much of an impact the Creative Arts annual trip abroad has on the students work, to potential new students, as well as a good reflection for those that went, which is it’s main purpose. The interviews add a student voice and reflects on the impact of the trip on the students work, this as a result fulfils part of my original brief. It is also filmed to a high quality; the sound quality particularly is outstanding. You have been resourceful in gathering student work and images to add into the film too which highlights the range of activities we did on the trip, such as the night photography task. Again another big positive. Overall a good promotional video that delivers with quality footage on nearly all aspects of the original video brief. A very pleasing outcome. Well done and thank you for your hard work. Improvements that would have benefitted the final production of the video are as follows: ·      The use of font for the subtitles isn’t in keeping with the college branding. ·      The subtitles for the students interviews could have been better designed, such as those used in the Art show video last year that were shown to you. ·      More footage of a range of students, especially at the galleries engaging in the exhibitions. ·      There could have been footage included of Amber Jesson’s Madrid inspired art work too. ·      The beginning of the video could have been more dynamic if a larger range of footage was filmed overall.