A2 Media Studies Advanced Portfolio

Here is my evaluation for my finished video!!!!!

A2 Media Evaluation

For my A2 Media studies project I decided to make a music video. The brief was:

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak.

For this project I worked individually instead of a group. Even though working on my own was harder and made it feel like a bigger challenge it also helped, as I was able to make my own decisions about mise-en-scene, camera angles, the song, location. This experience enabled me to understand more about what it takes to be successful, not only in my coursework but also a slight taster of being in the industry and making my own music video. As this is the A2 coursework, the skills we learnt in the foundation portfolio also had to be demonstrated and used especially in the design and creation of the magazine advert.

When researching music videos I analysed current music videos in which are popular because of the artists/performer or the message of the song. I analysed music videos by Eminem, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce. I chose these videos because they were each about a bad breakup or the woman being abused or feeling trapped in a relationship.

When analysing these videos, the use black and white was used and the mise-en-scene played an important part of the video. For example the dark setting in the video of ‘Love The Way You Lie (2010, Aftermath Records)’ by Eminem and Rihanna and the darkness used in “Behind These Hazel Eyes” (2005, RCA Records) by Kelly Clarkson.

As these songs are about breakup and sadness the use of dark surroundings has become more common as a way to express the meaning of the song.

These music videos I found on ‘YouTube’ and I deconstructed them scene by scene like a short film. I did this because I was looking at each aspect of the video and the conventions which were used. I looked at:

· Representations – the representation of the artist and how they are behaving/acting within the video.

· Language and Forms – How the use of the language of media is seen in the videos and how they are used to carry a narrative.

· Narrative – What kind of narrative is used in the video and how it is linked in with the song.

· Genre – I looked at the genre of the song and then looked at the representations which the artists/actors were shown and how they linked.

· Institutions – I looked at the institutions and how the song can be used to promote a film or a new artist.

· Values and Ideology – The values and ideology were different in each song as the values of each artist are different and how their values are portrayed. For example the treatment of women in the videos by Beyonce and Eminem.

· Audiences – I thought about how the audiences would respond to the videos whether they were fans of the singer or whether they would watch it in the moment on TV.

As these videos were each of a different genre, the conventions of each would be different but they still challenged them. For example ‘Love The Way You Lie’ (2010, Aftermath Records) is an R&B rap song released in 2010. A stereotypical R&B music video would emphasise the use of women and money by the artist. However this video challenged these conventions as it showed a darker side of love and hate between a couple. As I analysed these videos and taking notes on each aspect I was able to see how they each worked to attract their target audience and to market the song. This enabled me to gather more ideas for the narrative of my video. Out of all three videos two are in forms of a narrative video as they are telling a story within the video. Whilst the other is more of a performance than a narrative. This is because the focus was on the performance of the singer than the characters used unlike ‘If I Were A Boy’. Not only does Beyonce play herself as the performer/artist but also as a woman in a difficult relationship. In the narrative forms of music videos I have noticed that the artist of the song is actually in ‘the background’ of the video and is not the centre of the video. Instead it is based around characters like in ‘Love The Way You Lie’ where Eminem is only seen is quick and short shots of the video instead of dominating it. This is what I have noticed in more current music videos.

When looking at more videos to analyse I decided to look at a song from a female artist and compare how the conventions change and the narrative. I looked at ‘If I Were A Boy’ (2008, Columbia Records, Jake Nowa) by Beyonce. I looked at this because it is a very well known video and it again, challenges the conventions of a R&B video especially from a female artist. One reason I looked at this video is the length, the length of the video is 5 minutes and 5 seconds. This is an unusual time for a music video as they are mostly the length of the song. Instead this video had footage at the start which introduced the video and a section in the middle which expresses the narrative further. The analysis of this video helped with my planning and ideas because it showed a different way of making a music video. Not only does this have footage at the start of the video before the song has started, but also in the middle where the roles are switched between the two characters. Like Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson’s video ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ (2005, RCA Records) is a video about the emotions from a females perspective on a broken heart. Her imagery and mise-en-scene played a big role because she was wearing a wedding dress and the used imagery of a wedding. This was a good example to use and analyse the use of the setting and costume. Looking at these current examples have really helped me think about the production of my video and how I want the audience to read the text. After looking at current products I created my storyboard and created my animatic. I made these so that I could have a base to which I could look back and see my plans for my video. I took pictures of what I wanted and made the into a moving storyboard. These two pieces would indicate what I was aiming for and the plans I hoped to have. Even though I made these due to changes I had to change the setting very slightly and change some of the shots around.

After analysing current products I decided to plan ahead with my video and I decided to do a performance video, as I wanted the focus on the artist. As my song is a mix between Pop and R&B I took conventions of each genre and tried to incorporate them into my finished product. The conventions of a pop video include: Edits to the beat, bright colours, use of close ups, artist performing. All of these I have included in my video, However I have challenge the conventions by not using bright and typical colours but instead making them bright by using natural light. In my video I have set it in the snow which creates natural lighting and puts an emphasis on the colours of the woodland. I wanted my performer to connotate her feelings through her outfit and her actions so I decided to dress her in a white dress and long coat.

When filming in the snow I had to think of the natural surroundings and I found that the use of the lighting and the setting really helped me create a sense of loss in the first half of the video. I filmed shots of the trees and the sunlight peeking through the branches, which broke up the light. I decided to film the first half of the video in a wooded area because I wanted to portray a feeling of her being trapped and enclosed. I did this by filming the trees and having my performer running through the wood and filming her being surrounded by branches. As the second half of the song is more uplifting I moved it to a more open space. I did this because I wanted her to portray a felling of starting to become free and alive. As the whole area is covered in snow it made it look like it was untouched and the area was bigger. I again used this to my advantage as it looked like a blank canvas and I could interpret this into my video and its message to my audience. The song is about a breakup and having emotional feelings. I have connotated her cold feelings through the mise-en-scene and the use of the snow. This is how I have used the conventions of a Pop music video to my advantage as I have taken aspects of them and incorporated them into my own style.

In order to have an essence of passion and love in the video I used a red rose for her to hold throughout the video in order for the connotation of love to be seen. Using this imagery of a rose this means that the audience can identify that it is a love song. As my song is quite slow I didn’t want too may cuts so I was able to do long shots, which would add fluidity to the sequences and allow them to flow better along with the narrative. I wanted to have subtle transitions as I wanted the performer to be followed throughout by the audience and I felt that having too many cuts would break this and disorient the audience at times.

I have also used close ups to make the song more emotional and connect to the audience. However I have also used long shots to make it seem like the performer feels distant from someone, which is what the song is about. The performance given is one aspect of music videos that is very important as they act like a ‘story teller’ to the audience. My target audience was 16-24 so I used a performer who could represent the target audience. This age range is a typical mainstream audience and the audience who would be most interested in watching music videos. This would include students who would be most interested as they could feel connected to the video and who are more aware of current productions, which have been created.

The use of costume in this video is also special, as I wanted my performer to be similar to her surroundings, as she is feeling emotionally cold. I was able to make a dress which was made up of two layers, with the first layer being a patterned material which shone in the sunlight. This was a great effect as it showed colour when it hit the light. This was a way in which I was able to express the performers character shining through even if she was drained and cold. The use of costume to connotate emotion is a common feature in music videos as they are representing the performer or the character in the narrative.

When it came to editing I wanted it to be a relaxed style of editing and have longer shots. As I filmed the video in a wooded area I used the natural lighting and colours to my advantage. I used the natural colours of oranges, yellows and greens around my artist so that she looked framed within the surroundings. I used the programme ‘Adobe Premier CS4’ for my editing. I found this programme easy to use and I was able to create my first draft very quickly. I have used transitions such as cross fades to enable the fluidity of my video to work more well. I also used the ‘rate stretch tool’ which enabled me to make a shot in slow motion. Using slow motion enabled the video to become more emotional and also express the song well. I used the ‘dip to white’ fade transition so that it linked in with the use of white and also made it more ‘dreamlike’. I made changes to my editing after making my first draft. I decided to use more shots of the surroundings and also the use of close ups. I also experimented with transitions and edits to the beat. When the climax of the song appears I have created 4 shots which are very short but cu to the beat. This makes it more dramatic and uses the conventions of cutting to the beat.

For my ancillary texts I decided to make a magazine advert and a digipak. For these I looked at current examples of well known music magazines. As I did this in my AS year I was able to include conventions I had already learnt and apply them to my coursework this year. The conventions I looked at, was the use of the text and the placement of it, the image used on the front which would attract the target audience and how it represents the album. This is an example of how I have used the conventions and applied them to my own product. For my digipak looked at the conventions of albums. For example the artists name, the image they represent and the message they try to get across to the audience. I have looked at these and applied them to my digipak cover.

Music videos are part of a promotional campaign for the artist and song. Along with the video there is a release of a separate piece of artwork for the single cover along with other promotional images in magazines or online.

For my video I used the red rose as a motif and I carried this through within the ancillary texts. For my main image I took a selection of pictures which had my artist in different light and positions and then decided which would go best for the main image. I eventually decided on one which I cropped to fit the shape of a CD cover. The image I decided to use was a close up with falling rose petals shaping her face. I chose this image because it included the motif of the rose and it was also a very sharp image and really drew the attention of the audience. When taking these pictures I was able to drop the petals down her face and capture them as they fell. I highlighted her left side, so that the focus and sharpness would be in her eyes and they would draw the audience further into the image. This worked well on my final photos and made the image look more ideal as the main image. As this is a picture, which would have to appeal to audiences, I chose to make it a close up because they are more inviting and they make the audience focus on the eyes.

I decided that I wanted to make an effect on the image that would make it more dramatic and also grab the attention of the audience, so I decided to make the image black and white but keep the colour of the rose petals. For the ancillary texts I used the programme ‘Adobe Photoshop Elements’. I found this software quite hard to use at the start but I was eventually able to find my way around and use effects on images. I created layers on the images so that I was able to use an eraser but not erase the original image. I did this for my front cover of CD so I could make the main image black and white but reveal the original colour of the petals. I cropped the image so it would fit the size of an album cover and also make it look more professional.

Another ancillary text I had to create was the magazine advertisement. I looked at current products of adverts and looked at how they were advertising the album and the layout they used. I was able to recognise the ways in which the album was ‘sold’ to an audience. I looked at how the album cover was used as the main image on the advert. This is so the audience can recognise the album and to also further promote the sales. I added quotes from popular music magazines so that it would look more professional and modern to current examples. As I looked at more examples in notice that the aspects that stand out most is the date of release and of course, the album itself with the name of the performer. When looking at a advert for the album from Jay-Z’s ‘Blueprint’ I noticed how the date and name are all in bold whilst the rest of the text is in a smaller text. This is because they want the audience to firstly notice, the name of the album and its release date. I have therefore looked at my own advert and made these changes to make it look more professional. Like professional adverts I have used the main image for my album as the image for the advert. This is because I want it to look authentic and to also promote the album. As I have used the motif of the red rose this links in with each of my ancillary texts as it carries the link with the rose. This is effective as it means that all of my texts and video are linked together and they carry a motif throughout.

When I completed my video I asked people to complete a questionnaire based on my video and how they felt when they watched it. I included questions such as; ‘Did you enjoy the music video?’ and ‘A music video is used to promote the song. Does this make you like the song? Why?’ I used both open and closed questions so that I could get in depth questions and also quick yes or o questions. These helped a lot because it showed me that have accomplished my aim of the video and that my target audience like the product. I asked both males and females from the age range of 16-30+. I asked 8 people overall of 4 males and 4 females. All of the participants felt that the video was rally emotional and the use of the red rose connotated a romance. All of the participants liked the use of black and white on the cover of my album and thought that the colour scheme worked well. All of the participants also liked the font that I used on the front cover of my digipak and the back cover.

After looking at these responses I have learnt that the work I have done has worked well as a promotional package and they all link together. I have also learnt that even though I had to change the order of some shots and use a different setting that they actually worked well to create a more meaning narrative to my video. I have also learnt that the editing I have used created continuity in the video and that in enabled my video to flow. All of my participants felt the emotional narrative from the video and that the editing, costume and colour scheme all worked well and created the emotional narrative I wanted.

When I started planning my work I used a range of skills using different forms of technology which I had learnt in the first year. For the planning of my video I used Blogger to keep a blog of my work. This was a great way of keeping my work all together in one place and looking back at the work had done and make sure they all link together. I was familiar with the site as I had used it in the AS year. I was able to organise the blog with my research and planning as I was familiar with the layout and what I needed to include. When looking at current examples I looked on YouTube for the videos as this is the best website to view them. I also used this website to post my 1^st draft of my video and the final draft. This also enabled me to share it on my blog. Using the internet as a way of storing my work is a way in which I have used technology to help me with my research and planning of my video. For the storyboard I used a Canon D200 camera. This is another piece if technology which I have used for my planning and research and production. When I completed my video I was able to export the footage and put it on my USB and then upload it onto YouTube and my blog. I was also able to convert it onto a DVD which I designed myself.

To film my footage I used a Canon HDV video camera. This enabled me to film in HD. This really brought out the colour of the light and the settings which was naturally there. For the editing I used Adobe Premier CS4 to edit my footage. This is also in HD and I found this technology easy to use. All of these, I have posted on my blog which has been quicker than if I had to print off my work or type it up. For production of my ancillary texts I used Adobe Photoshop to create effects on the images to make it more professional and also to create unique effects for my own work. I used a black and white and then erased the top layer so that the colour of the rose petals would be on top of the lack and white. This technology helped me a lot as I was able to create a unique effect and make it look more eye catching to the audience. I also used Photoshop to create my magazine advert where I was able to add text, logos and adjust the main image. Using these programmes, enabled me to reach new levels in my skills and learn new skills on editing and Photoshop.

In conclusion I have really enjoyed the production and planning of my music video and the analysis of current products. Overall I am really happy with the finished draft of my video and the amount of work I have done. It has been a success because I have accomplished my aim for my audience and the editing, setting, mise-en-scene has all worked well and complemented each of my texts.