Evaluation task 4- technology

Evaluation task 3- Audience feedback

Initial screening feedback- video

After two shooting days, we held an initial screening in order to gain feedback. During my initial screening, I received many of the same comments, therefore I have concluded them into bullet points for me to review in an easy format.

WWW

• Good lighting in dark woodland. Urte is bright and detailed
• Camera movement is smooth
• Slow motion looks dramatic and works well with the 50fps
• The cohesive use of dark blue and cool colours throughout ties the different shots together
• Performer is very confident and it shows
• Woodland location is very dramatic - all mise en scene generally nice
• Pull focus through leaves while performer is down by the water. More of this?
• Opening establishing shot nice, movement smooth

EBI

• Needs more lip syncing throughout
• Addition of one more location
• Needs more shot types
• More use of the bokeh/light effects throughout
• Shots are too long. Break up with shorter clips
• Tv signal effect is random and isolated, maybe remove?
• Colourisation of some shots needs to be altered. Some are too warm
• Shot where lip syncing starts half way through, seems out of sync

(Almost) Final screening feedback- video, digipak and advert

Class feedback- final video

My response to how I addressed my target audience- video, advert and digipak

Summary of final feedback for video

Throughout my social media (below) and class feedback, the feedback was similar.

Positives tended to be for the mise en scene aspect of my video. Considering hardware, the lighting was effective and the camera movement was smooth which made it look more professional. Also the variety of shot types was identified as positive. The locations were effective and the juxtaposition of the bright white sheets and dark wood locations got positive feedback also. Props-wise, the smoke was received well by my audience as it was frequently mentioned. The ending shot which transitions by Urte looking from the camera up to the sky was mentioned as positive, also.

Things mentioned that could be improved on included more variety in facial expression from Urte and camera angles. However the general feedback given focused on the lack of narrative. Although given positive feedback for the portrayal of a dark mood, some stated they felt they needed more of a story to follow. I could have implemented this by incorporating a male character within the woodland scenes.


Social media feedback- final video

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Evaluation Task 2- Main product and ancillary tasks

Overall, I feel that how heavily I considered cohesion between my final video and ancillaries has really shown. I used the logo throughout each one to link them and create a brand and identity for the artist. This is supported by the cohesive use of cool colours throughout each product and direct address, There is a sexualisation within each media product which is carried through and is also cohesive. In conclusion, I feel I was successful in creating a brand for my artist.

Evaluation task 1- Conventions

In what ways does your music video use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music videos, digipaks and magazine adverts? 

Before planning or creating my music video, I underwent a lot of research into existing media products within my genre- female indie singer-songwriters. I particularly looked at the conventions they followed within:

• mise en scene (lighting, props, costume, setting, colour, actors, makeup, costume)
• editing (pace, special effects, shot juxtaposition)
• narrative vs performance shots
• camera angles, shots, movement

The use of these conventions clearly reflects the genre and enables the audience to understand the overall intention of the video as they will understand the genre's target audience. I found recurrent use of certain conventions within music videos I analysed and stated these in my research to gain a good understanding of the genre and what is typically found within it.

 I thought it would be effective to adopt conventions heavily in my music video in order to keep the genre it is sat in clear to our target audience. By doing this I can also ensure that my video is successful in catching the attention of my target audience- which is essential in dubbing the video a success.

Here i've compiled visual examples where i've used, developed or challenged the common conventions I identified within my research:

Final magazine advert

Final:

First draft:

Digipak

 

FINAL IN NET FORM:

 

 

Final draft: 

 

Second draft:

 

First draft:

   

   

Final outcome

(Ensure that viewing in highest quality possible.)

Task 7- Logo font (digipak and video opening)

I wanted to create a signature font for my artist to create branding and identity. I wanted to keep this cohesive between the digipak, magazine advert and opening of the music video allow the audience to instantly recognise Urte as an artist.

The identity of the artist is typically slightly futuristic and the minimalist white writing of both Lorde and Ellie Goulding's branding appealed to me as they both fall into this category, too. I took the capitalisation from both and incorporated it into my own logo. I also took the use of a sharp one word reference name from Lorde and took my performer's first name which is short and easy to remember.

I used Dafont to find a decorative and futuristic font. I decided on Inspira as the font itself is simple, much like Ellie Goulding and Lorde's font, although the decorative lines and arrows personalise and add identity. It also remains easily legible.

I downloaded the font and altered the letter spacing on Photoshop until the letters nearly touched to allow for the largest possible sizing within the video dimensions. I made the font colour white in order for it to show when layered on my video and saved it as a transparent PNG file. This meant when layered on top, no background will be evident.

Below are the three stages of the opening where the logo is flashed up. It carries the first shot through the transition and into the second where a pull focus is used to bring Urte into focus.

Task 6- Smoke grenade test

The smoke grenades were purchased from an Airsoft equipment supplier who I know. He assured me of safety requirements with them, including using well away from roads as the smoke carries itself. We moved location to an isolated patch of woodland far away from any roads and let the first grenade off to test it's strength before lip syncing as it's smoking.

We realised how dense the smoke was and how Urte had to be in front of it rather than behind it (shown in first clip).

Task 5- Shoot day 4 (Forest lip syncing + smoke grenades)

This was perhaps most successful shoot of all the days and ended up making a bulk of my final piece. I set the camera to film on tungsten lighting which immediately cooled the footage for me and make editing much easier. This, as was the previous shoot, shot in the morning and natural light was used as apposed to the LED lighting used at night and inside.

Within this shoot, I focused on collecting enough lip syncing as this morning was not quite as cold as the last. On this last filming day, we introduced the smoke grenades which I found to be a great visual effect.

Shots that included no lip syncing were shot in 50fps so when slowed down, will remain smooth. This was particularly for shots MVI_4769 - 4775 where either the hair or dress is blown by the wind. he outcome is dramatic.

Task 4- Shoot day 3 (Morning woods scene)

For the third day of shooting, I returned to a woodland scene, although this time a different location and  in morning in order to make use of the natural light. This time, no LED lighting was used and the outcome was as successful. Although the colour of these shots are much warmer- not what I want- I will be able to edit this in post production. 

Within this shoot, I particularly like the height of the trees shown in MVI_4612-4616.

However, when I came to edit, I realised that I didn't have enough lip syncing footage. This was due to the immense cold when shooting making it hard for my performer to maintain performance to camera. I planned to reshoot mainly lip syncing on my final shooting day.

Audience feedback- initial screening

After two shooting days, we held an initial screening in order to gain feedback. During my initial screening, I received many of the same comments, therefore I have concluded them into bullet points for me to review in an easy format.

WWW

• Good lighting in dark woodland. Urte is bright and detailed
• Camera movement is smooth
• Slow motion looks dramatic and works well with the 50fps
• The cohesive use of dark blue and cool colours throughout ties the different shots together
• Performer is very confident and it shows
• Woodland location is very dramatic - all mise en scene generally nice
• Pull focus through leaves while performer is down by the water. More of this?
• Opening establishing shot nice, movement smooth

EBI

• Needs more lip syncing throughout
• Addition of one more location
• Needs more shot types
• More use of the bokeh/light effects throughout
• Shots are too long. Break up with shorter clips
• Tv signal effect is random and isolated, maybe remove?
• Colourisation of some shots needs to be altered. Some are too warm
• Shot where lip syncing starts half way through, seems out of sync

MY ACTION PLAN IN RESPONSE

• Continue to use LED lights when shooting in dark locations.
• Continue to use 50fps when slow mo-ing.
• Continue to use colour theme throughout.
• Edit the colourisation of some shots to make them less warm and fit with the rest of the cooler shots.
• Continue to use woodland locations.
• Use a pull focus somewhere else within my music video.
• Keep establishing shot as opening.
• Ensure I film bulk of lip syncing shots when filming next time to ensure I have enough when I come to edit.
• Use a variety of shot types - including extreme close ups and long shots.
• Use more lighting effects - lens flares?
• Break longer shots up with short shots (shot, break, shot).
• Remove tv glitch effect.
• Ensure all clips are accurately synced. Remove shot where syncing begins half-way through.

Task 3- Shoot day 2 (Bed scene)

FILMING DAY 2

I used the LED lights fixed to the camera again in order to effectively light the shots. I complied the footage into a short montage to see how they appeared to music. I was extremely happy with the lighting of the shots and liked how the white sheets, indoor and bright scene juxtaposed the dark outdoor woodland scene, demonstrating binary opposition.

Task 2- Shoot day 1: initial footage. (Night woods location)

FILMING DAY 1

I went out to my chosen woodland area and took some test footage to see how the LED lighting and steadicam would look in editing. I was really happy with the outcome. This was shot in 50fps and then half speeded to give a dramatic effect. I will definitely keep this when it comes to filming my next footage.

Also, I added a cooling colour filter and a slight light bokeh to some clips. I like the effect of this and will experiment with this further in my following footage.

I also feel that the costume and makeup work effectively together and fit with both the surroundings and music.

Full footage without music:

Cropped with backing track:

Task 1- Double speeding song

I used Adobe Audition to double speed my track. This will be used to lip sync to and then half speed the footage taken to create dramatic slow motion movement in some scenes, as seen in Tom Odell's I Know video. I uploaded to Youtube in order to access and play it on my phone during filming.

Inspiration:

Task 16- Audience research evaluation

Task 15- Health and safety risk assessment

It's important to engage in a risk assessment to identify any health and safety issues that may occur during filming and settle on methods of reducing the possible risk to as low as possible. I have identified what I feel are the most likely issues and decided on these control measures accordingly.

Task 14- Magazine advert planning

Task 13- Digipak initial ideas

Task 12- Editing software plan

1. Key framed text
I may experiment with incorporating key framed text within the opening frames of my music video. I feel that key framed text appears more slick and professional as it demonstrates a high level of technical skill.

2. Light leak filters
I will source light leaks from the internet and use them as overlays with various blend modes to create a dreamy feel and maintain mystery behind them.

3. Colour filters

As I have a cohesive theme of cool colours throughout my video, a cooling filter of a cyan-lilac colour will be added to the entire video to tie it together.

4. Smoke filters
As I will be using smoke grenades, I may create a filter to apply to footage using them. I can overlay this using blend modes to add texture and atmosphere to woodland and water footage or exaggerate exciting smoke within the shot. 

5. Double exposure

I may experiment with double exposure by overlaying two pieces of footage and using a blend mode to combine them. I feel this would be particularly effective in water scenes or slower periods of the song. This double exposure technique was something I identified within Birdy's Light Me Up video.

6. Greyscaling
I may experiment with greyscaling certain shots of bedroom scenes. I found this to be particularly successful in Banks' video for Fall Over as it creates a cinematic effect.