Evaluation

I have decided to put my evaluation on a different blog. I have chosen to do this because I see it as the best way to present it. It can be found at http://jamreaymedia.blogspot.co.uk/

Music Video Deconstructions

Toy - Motoring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDYMjvdCWpc
This is a music video that I enjoy watching. It is a video that is made to look quite old due to the effects  (flicking lines and dots) that are placed on top of the video. The effects placed onto the people also look quite retro. The colours in this video are very bright and eye catching and are almost too bright. The content of the video is a performance video in front of a blank background. I feel that the background needed to be blank for the video effects to work the best. Throughout the video the focus depth changes; when singing is introduced the singer becomes the only thing that is in focus. It is almost a visual direction to focus on the words. The shift to different visual effects and camera shots as the video goes on keeps the viewer actively engaged in the video and work really well.

The Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fn8BQPBir0

This video has a high contrast in shot quality; they have chosen to vary the shots from low quality world war footage to modern high quality camera's.The video also varies in colours; the band are shot in black and white but the main actress and the action relating to her is in full colour. The content of the video is very explicit and aggressive; some of the content has had to be blocked out because of this. As with the previous video it evolves the conventions that were set out in the first half. The additions of new colour filters and effects have changed the tone of some of the video. The green overlay seems to replicate what you would see on a war room sonar scope. The actresses in this video are displaying what many would consider modern capitalism. The cut speed throughout this piece is quite quick; this has been done to match the pace of the song. 

The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74

Throughout this video there is one main shot which is returned to on a regular basis. Cuts are made to other shots in this video, some are close up shots of other items and others are POV (Point of view) shots. These shot variations keep the viewer entertained as does the music. There are very few performance aspects in this video, which is something I would consider unconventional for an indie music video, apart from the fact that the lead singer is miming to the words. I am a fan of the fact that the whole video is based around one idea of a man walking down a street; it is a simple concept but you have a really engaging video out of it. The close up of the singer miming the words is almost like he is saying these words to you are only you; it is a very personally engagement. 

The Cure - Friday Im In Lovehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa2nLEhUcZ0

The first thing I see when I look at this video is that is it in the 4:3 aspect ratio, this is becuase of the date the video was produced. As far as content is concerned, this video is very fun; it features all of the band loosely performing the song in question while performing what appewars to be some kind of stage show. It has all of themes that you would expect in a show of this nature; props, stage helps and curtains for the change of scene. The colours are very vibrant and are intentionally so that it works with the play feel of the video. This video as with many I have seen have one main shot which is returned to throughtout the video; cuts are made show close the musicians as well as the stage helps who are dressed up in costumes to match the theme; one is dressed are Charlie chaplin. The cuts are fast to match the pace of the video.

Feedback from Target Audience

"Love the superimposition of your singer and the music instruments, as well as the exteriors. I think it was a great idea to do that, very imaginative!"

"I love the shot at the end of the sunset of the beach! Well done James"
 
"It's really good James"

"Well, overall enjoyed the vid. Loved the overlay of some of the scenic images on the band members but felt the river footage had too much sun reflection (sun spot) that could perhaps have been edited out. The beach footage was a little juddery in places and at the end of the panorama when panning back it was a very sudden move, perhaps a fade out and back would seem less sudden. As for the music, really enjoyed it." 
- I tired to edit my video to adjust my story to these claims but it was not possible to edit them and since this opinion was in the minority I considered it to be almost irrelevant due to it being out numbered. 

Feminism

My music contains no women becuase there are no women in the band that the song is for. It was always my plan for my video to contain exclusively band members becuase in the context of my song there was never going to be a role for a female. A feminism who see this as being sexist towards them but I would argue that it would not fit the genre of the song or the style of video to include a female charcter.

Storyboard

Above you can see my pages of storyboards. I constructed these to give me a rough idea of what my video construct will look like. From what I have learnt; the story board does not always look like the final product. The drawings and the idea's are my very first thoughts so if they were to change, I would say that it was an evolution of the product.Some include arrows to show very important camera movements and some of the screens have been left blank but the reasons for doing so can be read underneath the box. Creating a story board helped me with my action plan; it help me plan which locations I needed and what time of the day that it would be best to go to them. 

Action Plan

Prior to the construction of any plan I created an action plan for myself. This included activities and when they were gonna be completed by. I completed this activity in a word documents and the contents of this document can be seen below.

Basic research into target audience and chose brief - by october half term
Planning for the filming (both in the context of contents and when it is going to happen) and what my product will look like - before Christmas break
Ancillary tasks such as Poster and digipack. Filming also be completed by this time - to be completed prior to February half term.
Editing and blog to be finished - by easter holidays.
Evaluation -  Prior to summer term

Previous Student Work

Eliza Blue - Read All About it Part 3
The shots in these video's are of a high quality; they are almost HD. This is really good as it shows care has been taken in the quality of the product.
The bleak colour palette works really well in this; it matches what could be described as a sad song.
I feel that the repetition could distract some viewers but Overall I thought that it was a great video and would watch it again.

Oasis -  The Meaning of Soul
The video is shot on a low quality camera, the production value is low with what I call cheesy transitions and the acting is very poor. The shaky camera makes it very very difficult to watch. The beat match is often very out of time. I will try to avoid create a video that looks like this because of all of these flaws.

Tammy - "Unknown Song title"
This is a low fi indie music video to suit the song. Some of the shots are blurry and some of the singing does not match; I will aim to avoid this as much as I can because it looks very unprofessional. In the whole I like this video the things that make it wrong, make it right in the context of this style of video.

The XX - Intro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTVOVJUMyM&&safe=active
This is another Lo fi video and the music suits this style. In a way this is a very confusing video as there is no distinct narrative to the piece and if there is meant to be one it is not apparent. The camera  quality is low but this is all part of the video. I would like to create a video in a similar vain to this one as indie music will be my genre.

Marxism

My video is not intended to be a marxist video. It features no materialistic items although the musical instruments could be considered this. The perceptions are that the video is seen as an average indie guitar band. I have done this so that they relate to the target audience. The independent aspect of my music video shows what an independent budget can afford. The society that views this will be well accustomed to this life style of living for what they can afford; ideal and materialistic items will be out of the price range. The style that the video is shot in is not meant to out shine other video's; the video is a lo-fi spectacle and was created with exclusively the target audience in mind. It does not exaggerate the special or the high value.

My Creative Project

For my creative project, I am going to create a music video for my band Back to Basics for the song that I wrote called "Good". It is a video that will feature the two musicians in the band as well as shots from what looks like a holiday. I will aslo create a CD digiapck for the single release of that song as well as this I will create a poster to promote the release of this single. All ogf which will have the same style to keep the promotion scheme the same. I will also create a record comapny logo to show who the video is produced for.

Characterisation

James Reay - Drummer
James Reay is a hard working graphics student who comes from an middle class background. He is a lover of most music and is a drummer in an indie rock and roll band. In his ideal world he wants to perform muic for a living but he realises this is very difficult so choses the option of a graphic designer. Got into music through his father's record collection and wanted to learn to play songs from that collection becuase he loved them so very much. James is usually a very insecure person and music is the way that he expresses himself best; it is outlet to the world, the way his opinions are carried to outsiders.

Phillip Reay - Singer and Guitarist
Phillip is a very intelligent secondary school student who one day wants to be a pharmacist. He is a strong lover of music and has spent mant years playing guitar. He plays guitar in two different bands and at one stage he wanted to be a full time musician/ music teacher. He is also of a middle class unbringing due to him being the younger brother of James. Phillip Learned to play guitar before he knew much about the music he was playing but learning the guitar has taught him so much about music and how to be in a band. Phillip is a strong character who very rarely says a lot until he is onstage and that's when you get to hear what he has to say.