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"I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music." - Billy Joel


Over the process of planning and developing our music video, we ran into several problems that hindered the process. Initially we had found and secured a perfect location in the form of Grange Park in Winchester http://www.grangeparkopera.co.uk/ for which we developed the initial treatment and subsequent shot list for. We had agreed with another media group to 'share' the location on different days, but unfortunately, the other group had caused a dispute between the management of the location due to the performance element of the shoot being 'too loud', which posed a risk to the structure of the building as it is quite old. This occured several days before our shoot day, which meant we were left on our knees at a crucial time. We then had to design and build a set for the studio, and come up with a new appropriate treatment. This explains why the blog occasionally looks as if it's leading one way, yet finishes somewhere else.



The experience has been difficult, time consuming and at times a little stressful, however it is fulfilling to look back at the products I have had a hand in producing at both AS and A2. I enjoyed the challange of making a video for The Toy Hearts, it was challenging due to the Bluegrass genre, for which there is not a large market for, so targeting a niche market and developing suitable product to satisfy this market. We chose to attempt an unconvensional music video, to challange existing genres, and although this did not produce a product the particularly 'wowed' audiences with in our peer group, we produced something that people appreciate as something 'different' and interesting. If i were to start the process again, i would stick to what i know, and choose to make a video for a band within a genre that I am familiar with, and perhaps look to uphold conventions more instead of converting them as much.

DIRECTORS COMMENTARY

Once we had finished editing the video, we recorded a directors commentary along side the video. We selected a few key points of the video to discuss in terms of; editing, mise-en-scence, filming, etc. It allowed us to look back and reflect upon the product we have produced.

TASK 3 - WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

What I learnt from my audience feedback

As is the case with all media products, a music video is created for the consumption of an audience, therefore to assess the success of our pop video and ancillary products; it was important that we obtained feedback from our audience. By gathering a variety for feedback from members of our target audience and from wider audience demographics, using in particular the comments from our Focus Group, I looked to answer the question of “What I learnt from my audience feedback”

We considered the JICTAR system of demographic classification to help identify our target audience. Aware that our products and band require a high level of worldliness and patience in order to understand or enjoy or products, we decided our target audience would consist of members of the A, B and C ‘classes’. Class A consists of the ‘upper middle class’, those with status and wealth, who are likely to have a high level of education. Class B which encompasses the ‘middle class’ of society, those with education but less wealth and status, such as doctors or teachers, and class C which includes members of society with a limited level of education and status, but likely have skills such as plumbers and electricians. Classes A, B and C collectively account for 50% of the population. We had decided that our target audience would consist of both genders, however on a certain level, our video may attract more males given the emphasis on the female band members. Our target audience would consist of people age 18 – 60, as those younger than 18 are more attracted to products that are more conforming to conventions as well as their unlikely interest in ‘Bluegrass music’ and the video may be ‘lost’ on those above 60. We did not deduce specific area or aspiration profiles for our target audience.

You Tube allows users to upload their videos to; be seen by and commented on and rated by any other of the 48 million You Tube users worldwide. The original plan was to upload our video to You Tube, as this means there is the potential to reach a huge audience spanning the globe, and would provide a great opportunity to receive feedback from an audience out side the targeted one. However we were unable to upload the video, due to a dispute with the band, who are the legal owners of the copyright. This was a huge blow to our plan for obtaining audience feedback.

The main points we wanted to address through audience feedback were; whether or not the audience enjoyed it, what message they got from the video, did they believe the band had potential to be ‘stars’, did they relate with the band and how we could improve the video.

We decided that a focus group would be the most beneficial way to attain audience feedback. A focus group is a demographically diverse group of people assembled to participate in a guided discussion about a particular product before it is launched or to provide feedback. It differs from a questionnaire in that audience responses can be monitored and it is possible to request for responses to be built upon if required. It is also instant unlike a questionnaire. Our focus group consisted of eleven 17-18 year olds, this was just on the border of our target audience, but still proved useful. As media students themselves, they were keen to engage with us. There were 5 males in the room and 6 females. We wrote a set of carefully designed questions – it was important that they were ‘open’ questions, so that they did not prompt a certain response. The questions asked, and the most useful responses are listed;

1) What did you think of the video overall?

“We couldn’t understand the lyrics”

“It was very amusing”

2) What message do you think was being portrayed?

“All about having a good time”

“Having a fun, carefree time”

3) Do you agree with this message?

“Yes, they looked like they were having a lot of fun whilst shooting the video”

“This is what pop music is about, having fun”

4) What narrative do you believe was being shown?

“I don’t believe there was any narrative being portrayed”

“If there was a narrative, it was unclear”

5) How is each member of the band represented?

“They all have a natural chemistry”

“They look quirky, slightly odd”

“The blonde girl looks slightly in your face” “They all look very natural”

“They all bring a different aspect to the image of the band, all individual”

6) Do you think they had the potential to be stars?

“Not in England, no”

“Possibly in Europe”

“They look too random to be stars”

7) Is the video entertaining?

“It was at the beginning but began to feel slightly repetitive”

“It was very different to any other pop video, so yes”

“It was broken up nicely by the different backgrounds”

8) Do you identify with any of the band members?

“No, they are too old for us to identify with”

“They are in too much of a niche market to identify with”

9) What do you think could be improved?

“More time focused on their faces”

“Slower spinning”

“Stop the spinning every now and then to allow a rest”

10) Did you find the spinning distracting?

“Yes, slightly”

“Only towards the end of the video”

“Felt like I was on a round about, sickening”

11) What would you give the video out of 10?

“7”

“5”

“8”

“9”

The responses were all quite varied but none of them came as a shock. Despite quite a lot of constructive criticism and negative feedback from the group, the ratings out of 10 were very high, higher than anticipated from a group of this demographic, which suggests Barthes’ Jouissance prevailed, and the audience enjoyed the ‘unexpected’.

To build upon the focus group, and to try to make up for the lack of feedback from You Tube, we took in to consideration the feedback from our peers such as; friends, family and other peers. We found that the originality of the video was really appreciated - they liked the fact it was unlike existing products. One of the most appreciated comments was “I think it’s amazing, really good job. It’s something new and different”. The lack of narrative was commented on, and it was suggested that the video could have been improved with the inclusion of a more obvious narrative through out. The repetitiveness of the spinning was also criticised.

Blumer and Katz (1974) devised a theory called ‘Uses and Gratifications’. The theory suggests that the audience take an active role in relating media to their own lives and it looks at the ways in which an audience interacts with a media product. The theory incorporates 4 elements; Diversion, Surveillance, Personal identification and Personal relationships. We can apply aspects of the theory to our media product;

1) DIVERSION – This suggests that an audience looks to a media product for; entertainment, escapism, and emotional release from everyday life.To expand on this, theorist Khuleshov stated that a media product has to entertain the viewer for 70% of the time to provide the audience with a sense of diversion. Some of the focus group felt some diversion, with 7 of the 11 members saying that they were entertained for 100%, however other 3 members of the group stated that they only found the pop video entertaining for around 50% of the time, therefore they were not successfully ‘diverted’. This emphasises the fact that different people respond differently to a product.

2) PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS – this incorporates the suggestion that an audience looks for ‘companionship’ in a media product. There were mixed responses when we addressed this issue with our focus group. The majority of the group, 9 of the 11 concluded that they felt there was no relationship formed. The quite substantial age difference between the band and our focus group, suggests an explanation for this. We did not expect the product to work on this level.

3) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION – this element of the theory is about how an audience can relate and compare with both the narratives and characters of a media product. Our video did not work as well as we had hoped on this level, as our non of out focus or peer group felt that they could relate with any of the band members. We had anticipated that perhaps the female members of the focus group would identify with the younger female members of the band. However none of them said they identified with them. But as expected, there was no relation between the males of the focus group and the product.

4) SURVEILLANCE – refers to media products that act as a supply of information to the audience. This is very difficult to relate to pop videos, as they usually focus on the other aspects of the theory.

Stuart Hall is another theorist on audience, and devised the ‘Encoding, Decoding’ theory. The basic model is that a Producing institution puts out a ‘preferred meaning’ by attaching it to a Media Text. This is the encoding phase. The decoding phase is how the audience ‘decodes’ or responds to the preferred meaning of the media text, they respond in one of three ways; they will accept the preferred meaning, they will take an oppositional reading and reject the preferred meaning or they will take a negotiated meaning.

The message or preferred meaning that we aimed to put across through the video was; that the world is a fun place and that the band embrace this and don’t take themselves too seriously.

Based on our focus group, no one took an oppositional reading, which is what we wanted. The majority of the focus group accepted our preferred meaning and agreed with the message that the video put across, however a few took a negotiated meaning and suggested that the message they got from the video was one that was celebrating the independence of a woman, which is likely to be because of the song lyrics which do suggest this.

The ideas of Greek philosopher Aristotle, although 2000 years old, can still today be applied to media texts. His ideas can be used to analyse how media products work on or ‘persuade’ an audience. Aristotle suggested three different ‘ways’ that a media product ‘appeals’ to an audience; Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

Ethos - or ethical appeal, suggests that a media text appeals to an audience when they are convinced by the character or author, so they need to be ‘credible’, just as Television news readers need to appear credible in order for us to believe them, and accept what they are saying. This can also be applied to pop stars in a Pop Video or actors.

Pathos – or emotional appeal, discusses how a media product appeals to the consumer’s (audience’s) emotions. Emotional appeal is a powerful tool for selling a product or persuading an audience that your argument is correct, language choice is a common way of doing this. Pathos applies regularly to the media that we regularly consume.

Logos – or logical appeal refers to a media text ‘persuading’ by the use of reasoning or speaking/ writing. Logos suggests how by using reasoning within a media product, to support your claims and discussing why your point is valid or correct, is highly important when it comes to ‘persuading’ an audience. This can be applied to TV News and University lectures.

The focus group responded to our video on an Ethos level, as they ‘believed’ the performance of the band, in particular the individual address by the female singers, and were convinced by it, which suggests why they were able to enjoy it. The focus group also responded on the level of Pathos, as the video prompts an unsettled emotion due to the constant spinning motion, and also the subversion of conventions entertained the audience due to the pleasure of the unexpected (or Barthe’s Jouissance). A Pop Video does naturally not apply the ideas of Logos; therefore our audience were not entertained by this idea.
We wanted to asses whether our audience understood and accepted our preferred meaning, which we found they did in the main, but from the analysis of our feedback it is clear that a narrative element to emphasise the message of the video would have been well received, so this is something we would change if we were to do it again. We would also re-asses the constant movement of our video, and look at trying to recreate the overall feel of the video with out the 360 degree panning as this proved to be distracting. Furthermore we successfully subverted conventions, and managed to entertain the majority of the audience, supported with some positive comments. It was always going to be a difficult task to create a product that would be widely accepted by an audience for such a niche group, but I feel the audience understood this and appreciated the originality.

TASK 2 - A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION TO EXPLORE HOW EFFECTIVE THE COMBINATION OF MY MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS IS

I tackled this question by exploring the synergy between my pop video, magazine advert and digipak covers. Each had to work off and intergrate with the other.

I hava analysed this process of synergy using the ideas of Dyer and Levi-Strauss.

DIGIPACK

A digipack consists of a series of carefully designed covers (front and back) and two inlays from within an album package. There is a correspondence between the construction of the digipack and it’s features (eg. text, images, graphics etc.) with the intended image of the band as a product. We created the digipack using Adobe Photoshop, and as a group decided some of the key features that should appear on the finished product.

The digipack is what will be seen when a potential buyer crosses the album, whether its in a music store, online or on itunes, as they obviously cant see the actual product, the music, so it is essential that the album cover (front and back) is well designed; stands out against other musicians ‘products’ and reflects the band in a positive light and how we want them to be received. We deduced early on in the process that ‘The Toy Hearts’ image was; fun, playful, eccentric and something different to the stereotypical musicians currently plaguing the charts. We decided that we should use a rustic styled background to reflect their heritage as an ‘organic’ band with experience and performing history. We also chose to include images of American ‘retro’ stickers, to reflect the bands American musical influence as well the quirkiness and fun feel to the band. We would use the images and background to create synergism across all Toy Hearts products, so that the ‘Toy Hearts’ image or brand, will be known by sight.


The front cover of the digipack features the ordained back ground and the ‘sticker’ images in the bottom left corner, that will be featured across all Toy Hearts products. The band logo featuring their name is included, with a ‘wacky’ typeface reflecting the eccentricity of the band, to; hopefully be recognized by Toy Hearts fans. The album name is too featured, as this tells the buyer exactly what they are buying. The main property of the front cover is the image of the whole band printed onto scrunched paper to create an unpolished appearance, reflecting a slightly carefree nature.

The first inlay incorporates the trait background. The main aspect of this inlay is the close up images of each band members instrument, as we want the audience or buyer to know that each band member plays their own instrument, and the instruments are not stereotypical; electric guitar, bass and drums, but are in fact instruments many of the audience will not of seen bands playing before, we felt this is a unique selling point of the band.

The second inlay, features the lyrics to the song for ‘This Little Kitty’, we put these in to imitate existing products on the market today as this is often done by bands, it is done with the intention of creating a feeling of interaction and involvement with the audience, instead of an us and them mentality. This inlay also features a logo for the single ‘This Little Kitty’ as this would be the first single released off the album, so would hopefully be recognized by fans, this logo was created by imitating the iconic ‘Jack Daniel’s Whiskey’ bottle sticker, which is a recognizable white font on a rectangle black background with line graphics exclusive to the Jack Daniel’s label. We chose to imitate the label, because the music the Toy Hearts make, ‘Bluegrass country’ music, has it’s routes in the USA state of Tennessee and Tennessee’s other most famous export is Jack Daniels. The bands actual logo is also featured, which will be instantly recognizable by fans.

The back album cover features the same background. This features the track listing for the album, which conforms with the conventions of other existing products, it tells the audience exactly what they are buying, and may feature songs which they didn’t realize were on the album which may encourage them to buy. This cover also features a black and white image of the double bass player in the ‘Toy Hearts’, it is a nice shot conforming to the rule of thirds and showcases the ‘freshness’ of the band. To conform with existing products on the market we incorporated the record label logo, copyright icon and barcode to make it look as realistic as possible.

TASK 1 - IN WHAT WAYS DO YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTS USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

The first step taken in the production of our music video, was to research and analyse the major conventions of a pop video. We looked at a number of pop videos including Michael Jackson's Thriller, various Imelda May videos and Mumford and Sons' Sigh no More. From this we could see that pop videos use three major elements - the perfromance, a narrative or images that may or may not relate to the song. More specifically, popular music theorist, Keith Negus identified 13 major conventions of a pop video, 11 of which are listed;
• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

• The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

• Repetition of reoccuring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

• A possible narrative structure

• A possible performance element

• The flexibility to disregard Realism!

• Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

• Use of special effects (lighting, animation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track

• High impact instantly! (Don’t forget that competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense)

Whilst developing our music video we looked to either IMITATE or SUBVERT these conventions, which as film theorist Barthes states gives the audience ‘pleasure’ in two different ways. The first of which, plaisir, describes the act of imitating conventions to give the audience pleasure through the expected. In contrast to this, jouissance, is how Barthes describes the act of subverting a convention in order to give pleasure through something ‘new or unexpected’.

The message of the song ‘This Little Kitty’, is portrayed through both the lyrics and also the apt music, the message is one that depicts; a ‘crazy’ girl, who’s only concerned with having fun, and cannot be tied down by anyone, and particularly any man. It is pro-women, and portrays woman in a strong, passionate and dominant manner. In regards to the band, the image or ‘brand’ that we tried to convey was; they are committed to music, they are strongly influenced by American country music but are British, they are quirky, eccentric and something slightly ‘different’ to the current typical music taste in England.

Through the use of constant 360 degree panning when filming, combined with the use of edge wipe transitions in the post-production stage, it was possible to imitate the Negus convention of a pop video 'the flexibility to disregard realism' and give the appearance of the same girl appearing with in the frame twice. This helps to portray the bands 'quirky' image. This similar technique was used in an existing media product, the music video for Charlotte Church's 'Back to Scratch', which to features a woman multiple times within the same frame at once.

This shot, featuring the two females performing directly to the camera is an example of how the convention identified by Negus, that there is ' the explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist's "image"' is IMITATED. We are using the image of the females, to 'sell the product' and the direct gaze to camera suggests a sense of intimacy between audience and the band. This shot also upholds the 'Rule of Thirds' convention, as the singers faces are positioned on the hotspots in the top left and right corners, respectively.

We chose to SUBVERT the convention of there usually being a 'NARRATIVE' element within the music video as we chose to shoot ours with purely a performance aspect (upholding the existing convention of there being a performance element). We chose to do this because we felt the image of the band, could be best portrayed through the band playing the song, with out the distractions of an inter-cut narrative element.

This close up shot of the bass player conforms to the rule of thirds, and imitates professional shots used in existing media products. We imitated Negus' convention of High ratio filming, as we took many shots, over 100, and used much less in the final cut, this is common in existing videos, as directors will take many shots in a day of shooting because shoot days are not cheap to organise, often record companies are spending tens of thousands of pounds to fund a shoot, so it is important that sufficient shots are taken as it will not be possible to get a shot after.

The digipack, or album sleves and inserts, is too of paramount importance when it comes to how the band is portrayed, and also IMITATES and SUBVERTS conventions of real media products. Our digipack features an Image of 'The Toy Hearts', accompanied by the bands name, with selected 'mise en scène' appropriate to the image of the band. This is a common theme across the thousands of album covers and digipacks in existence.

The magazine advert is of prime importance in a musicians marketing campaign as it can increase awareness of the band and reach a broader target audience. The magazine advert is made with synergy between the digipack which is imitating existing products as this is a common trait

TASK NUMBER FOUR - A DIRECTORS COMMENTARY ON HOW I USED NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES

‘New Media Technologies’ refers to Digital technology, as opposed to Analogue technology, which is dated, relating to media such as film production and distribution.

Analogue refers to devices which utilise analogue signal to transmit and process information electronically, which is a continuous signal of information such as how AM and FM radio is transmitted. Digital refers to the utilisation of digital signals, which uses a series of wave pulses of signal or varying voltage electrical pulses, to create a sequence of 0s and 1s (‘offs’ and ‘ons’). Digital technology is the basis for; computers, mobile phones, modern video and still cameras, editing, Internet and email, MP3 and Ipod, modern radios, modern movie projectors (no longer film based) and most technological equipment ranging from hospitals to schools and transport.

The advantages of Digital over Analogue are; it is quicker, of higher quality, its cheaper, allows far more space for storage, allows for Proliferation (Sky TV’s 800+ channels over analogue TVs 5), it provides the opportunity for interactivity (two way signals using same medium), it makes convergence more widely available (combining different technologies such as TV and Internet). I used new media technologies extensively throughout the different stages of the music video, benefiting from a wide range of different technologies available which made my tasks easier (or in some cases, possible) than if I had tried to complete the tasks without the digital technology.

During the research and development stage, we used the Internet, which is an example of new media technology, copiously. We used the internet primarily for research purposes, to search for other existing songs that were in direct competition to our song and also pop videos for these songs and similar genre songs, the ability to stream media from the internet (using websites such as Youtube – which would not be possible with out digital technology) was very useful, as it meant we could watch videos for hundreds of videos without having to pay or even see the band directly. Whilst searching for locations for the shoot we used the internet to filter between potential choices with ease, and the access to a wide selection of high quality photographs allowed us to pick ones suitable for how we wanted to portray the band and video. The Internet also allowed for email, which allowed us to efficiently send ideas and images to other members of the group as well as liaise with the band. Digital technology, underpins the internet, which made our research quicker, easier and more thorough.

In the planning stage we performed a camera test, took pictures of a potential location, and then used some of these photos to design a story board. For all these tasks digital cameras were used, a Sony Z1 HD digital video camera mounted on a tripod for the camera test and a Nikon still camera to take photos of the location for planning purposes such as the storyboard. The compactness and high storage capacity of the Nikon still camera allowed many photos to be taken imitating the size and angles of several potential shots. Of much benefit was the ease and speed which the footage and videos could be transferred from device to computer, and subsequently into necessary software such as ‘Preview’ and ‘Final Cut Pro’, in history this would have been a very long tedious process. Another important part of the planning process is the creation of a call sheet, which needs to be sent to all involved on the shoot day prior to the shoot. This was constructed using Microsoft word, which in it’s self is digital technology along with the Mac Book on which it was designed. If desired ‘hyperlinks’ could be sent within the virtual document with direct links to web pages which may offer further necessary information, such as a link to ‘Google Maps’ with the directions of the location. The call sheet was then sent on mass to those who required it using email, with ease.

Construction – Shoot. For the shoot we used a Sony Z1 HD video camera, positioned on a wheel mounted tripod, which allowed us to turn in a smooth 360° motion. This would not have been possible with analogue technology. New media technology, has allowed for cameras to reduces in size by many times, whilst improving in quality and memory, this is due to digital. Digital footage can be stored on a tiny memory stick inside the camera, unlike the 35mm celluloid film on which it used to be imprinted on, therefore allowing for much more compact devices, without which our shoot would not have been possible as it required a very tight turning angle and needed much versatility. Digital technology also allowed for us to take precisely 147 shots, despite only 48 of these making the final cut (shooting ratio of 3:1), with the old celluloid camera, this would have been impractical as it would have taken up much more time and been very expensive for the film.

The use of the digital camera also made lighting easier, as they can operate with much less light than was previously possible, this was particularly important for shooting our video as the 360° nature made it impractical to have a large number of standing lights and we relied on over head spots. Despite not using it ourselves, new media technology has bought about the possibility for advanced special effects with the use of green/blue screening, this has revolutionised how we watch films. For example, the idea for James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, pioneering in terms of special effects, came long before the film was made, this is due to the fact that the technology was not yet advanced enough to produce Cameron vision, however once digital technology had further developed it became possible to cope with the CGI necessary.

New media technology played a vital role in the post-production process due to the extensive use of post-production and editing software, to cut and manipulate our footage. ‘Color’ is a programme that allows for colour grading, to make colours sharper and the overall image clearer, this was not possible to do in as much detail before the age of digital technology. ‘Final Cut Pro’ is a far cry away from the old days of editing film footage. Editing used to be a long, tedious process of cutting reels of film at the exact points where ‘cuts’ would occur, and then gluing two succeeding pieces of film together. This required much patience and a large space. Now a similar process takes place, but in a virtual sense and on a much smaller and simpler scale, Footage is still sieved through, cut and placed accordingly on a time frame but the digital technology allow for real time play back of sequences including all the effects and transitions that can be applied, such as; edge wipes (used in abundance during the editing process of ‘This Little Kitty’) and dissolves. It also allowed for non-linear editing, as footage can be placed at the end, in the middle and filled in between in a non-linear fashion. Adobe AFX is post production software used to design complex effects, and is an example of new media technology, although we didn’t use this for the music video, I used this throughout the post production phase on my thriller in the AS year. The opening sequence features segments of a webpage, including a video blog element, coming together, to form a complete image. It then zooms in further until the video fills the screen. This required the use of layers, and the designing of virtual cameras which could be programmed to ‘navigate’ through the image over time, as well as using key frames to move individual layers (along X,Y,Z axis; left to right, up and down, forward and back) over time.


During the Distribution and Evaluation phase of the process, we used new media technology in the form of Youtube, a phenomenon that allows for our video to reach a mass audience. Pre-digital technology it would have been necessary to organise a screening and perhaps pay people to view our product in order to obtain feedback, where as Youtube allows for free upload of the video, and a potential audience of tens of millions, and it allows viewers to provide feecback with ease. Also instead of sending a hard copy of the video to those necessary to show it -whether its for TV consideration or other- for perhaps a high cost, it is possible to send a link to the video via email for free.

New media technology has revolutionised the whole process of a music video; cutting costs, saving time and producing more and better quality videos.

EDITING BLOG

Editing or Post Production is the crucial stage when the rushes are bought together and we moved from first assembly to various fine cut versions of our Pop Video. Eisenstein, the famous Russian film maker, argues that the meaning of a film comes through the montage, the sequecnes, the order of the shots and how they are assembled one to another. We were constantly aware that we were creating meaning through montage.

Since the end of filming, and getting to the rough cut of the music video, I have spent several evenings and afternoons editing using Apple’s Final Cut Pro editing software, which amounts to at least 15 hours spent personally. Given our late change of original idea and loss of location, we had limited time to prepare for the shoot day, therefore did not manage to develop a new story board for the project, so could not follow this during the editing process.

All of our shots, except a few close ups, were done as 360° tracking shots, fitting with our new avant-garde idea. To begin the editing process, we filtered through all our shots, and got rid of any unusable shots, such as blacks, and then renamed shots aptly (eg. ‘CU INTRUMENTS WHOLE SONG‘) to make the process as efficient as possible. We then created several log bins (eg. ‘BANJO SOLO’) and put appropriate shots with in them.

To begin with we put in the audio file containing the song, followed by a wide shot of the whole song as a ‘foundation’. To follow this we put in an alternate wide shot at the end of the timeline, which was shot specifically to end the video, which incorporates a change of set. We then watched the wide shot, and went through our footage to see what specific shots we wanted to place within the song (eg. wide bar scene) and placed these on the timeline ensuring the image was synchronised with the audio of the song. To ‘sync’ audio and image, before placing a shot on the timeline we inserted a ‘marker’ at an easily definable point on the shot using the recorded playback from the day, and then placed a marker on the timeline for the same point, so that when we dragged the shot onto the timeline, all we had to do was ‘sync’ up the two markers and delete the recorded audio.

Next we identified distinct sections of the song, such as fiddle solo, banjo solo and guitar solo, and ‘cut in’ fitting footage for them, trying to ensure that the musician who’s solo it was the focal point of the image. Because our footage was constantly tracking right to left (camera moved left to right), it was necessary to combine different shots of the same musician consecutively, using video transitions such as ‘edge wipe’, to create seamless ‘cuts’ between shots, to uphold the effect that the image is constantly moving. This also regularly creates the appearance of the same musician with in the frame twice (upholding Negus’s convention of a music video that there exists ‘the flexibility to disregard realism’).

We noted that the beginning of song lyrics (eg. first line of the second verse) were important, and thus was necessary to accommodate several of these ‘first lines’ with a shot (be it close up, wide or medium) of the lead vocalist. This was also applied to several of the backing vocals.

After watching the current video back, we noticed that there were prolonged periods of black, which would need to be filled. To do this we found shots that would fit the gap and used ‘edge wipe’ transitions at both the beginning and end to slot the clip in between the existing enclosing shots. It was often necessary to alter the beginning and end points, and even the angle, of the ‘edge wipes’ to accommodate for the occasional variations in tracking speed of juxtaposing shots.

To emphasises the atypical nature of our video, we found sections of footage, such as a wide shot of the whole band, and sped this up to near 1500% of original speed, which created a rapid spinning sensation, and this fitted perfectly with the intro/post chorus/outro swift guitar riff.

Our aim for the pop video was to accentuate the idiosyncratic nature of the song, band and genre; which is ‘Blue Grass’, a form of country music with a fast tempo. It is not a typical genre for music videos as it would not be encompassed by the term ‘popular culture’, therefore we opted not to try to produce and archetypal music video but attempt to be innovative. The lyrics of the song are sung from a female characters point of view, and the lyrics and music combined portray the message that the girl is; strong, rebellious and independent. The constantly tracking footage portrays visually what the song does aurally, unsettled and unrestricted freedom. The constant movement also suggests voyeurism, and creates an element of intimacy between the band and audience, which is how we want to portray the band; not an element of ‘us and them’ but makes them appear more ‘accessible’ and less distant.

The band are dressed in bright colours and the girls have brightly coloured hair (red and blonde), the clothes are to an extent smart (such as the trousers, shirt and jacket combination of the males and the dresses of the girls) yet with an ‘edgy’ nature about them. The movement within the frame of the band from right to left, suggests too the unconventional and rebellious nature of the band.

The unfamiliar constant tracking motion of the video, combined with the appearance that in terms of camera and editing it could be one consistent shot (bar a brief section of cuts) yet in terms of realism is completely impossible would be the unique selling point of the video, capitalising on theorist Barthes’ jouisance (meaning pleasure through the unexpected). Due the niche market of ‘bluegrass’ musicians and fans, there are little other existing bluegrass videos (in comparison to ‘pop’ or ‘rock’ music, where there are tens of thousands) and therefore the audience do not know what to expect at the beginning of the video, and we attempted to uphold this throughout, by often introducing new scenes and shot sizes, to constantly keep the audience in anticipation for what could appear onscreen next.

Continuity editing is used to establish a logical coherence between shots, and is commonly found in media products with a narrative or something thats trying to portray fact such as a film, TV programme or documentary, how ever this is not always the case. Discontinuity editing is when the purpose is not to portray realism or to create an element of alienation, it can be achieved by changing shots before the viewer has time to recognise what is going on or breaking the 360degree rule to give the appearance that the subject has changed direction, amongst other various methods. We used mostly continuity editing, as we wanted to make the majority of the video appear as one long smooth shot. During the middle of the song, the camera stops tracking and remains fixed, at this point we adopted standard cutting technique and used methods such as eyeline match, when there is a CU of the lead singer playing her instrument then we cut to a CU of her face looking down at what she is playing for a bried moment before she looked up again.

We chose to both challange and uphold many of Keith Negus' common generic conventions of popular music promo videos. We upheald the convention of 'the explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist's 'image'' as the subject of our video was only the band, and incorporated no narrative (challanging his convention that the video often contains a narrative element), as we decided the band and the performance were more important. When straight cutting was used we ensured the convention that 'shots are cut tightly to the beat' was upheld as we did so, and at this moment we adopted short sharp shots, of no longer than 3 seconds. We developed a repeating thematic element in the form of the constant tracking, fitting the convention.

Negus' convention that 'a wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement', as we only used CU, MEDIUM AND WIDE SHOTS, which were always at the same level - there were no angles used. We also challanged the convention that there is often the feature of 'special effects', there is no element of CGI or in camera effects used, only a small amount of colour editing used.

SHOOT DAY

The timetable for our shoot involved half a day building and painting our set, one day actually shooting for seven hours, and then two hours to strike the set. This involved hard work following our call sheet but worked out well. We managed to shoot all that we had planned and more.

Unfortunately, we lost our location a few days before our shoot so had to devise a new concept that we could operate in the studio. We came up with quite an unusual idea that would challenge several conventions of ‘the pop video’. Our new idea is as follows; to hang a black curtain in a circle (360°) and position a camera fixed to a wheeled tripod in the middle and place the band members under pools of light in a ring around the camera. The camera moved in a circle, performing a 360° continuous Pan, capturing each band member consecutively and the order of band members, shot sizes and backgrounds were changed regularly to keep the video interesting. The 360° Pan was going to be our only camera movement. There had to be sufficient room between each band member so that we could fill the camera with black to give us a point to cut. The camera moved round in an anticlock wise motion (from left to right), so the band travel across the frame from right to left, suggesting a rebelious nature, fitting with the theme of the song and lyrics for 'This Little Kitty'.

• 
  Before the arrival of the band we prepared the studio, after the last minute change of idea. The front of the Juke Box prop that we had sourced for our video fell off, so we had to fix this for use. We cleared space and provided tables and chairs for which the band could use to get ready and to use when they were not needed for filming. We painted large wooden panelling (approximately 2m X 1m) white, to place beneath the camera to serve as a flat platform free from bumps to give the camera a smooth movement and to reflect further light on to the musicians, as due to the 360° nature of the video, we could not position standard redhead and blonde lighting in a 3 point set up, so we used overhead spot lights, which cast a downwards shadow occasionally but the white panels on the floor fixed this.
  
  We then made sure that the camera, a SONY NX5, was white balanced and ready to film. Following this we established optimal positions for the band members under the five pools (spots) of light surrounding the camera, and used electrical tape to mark these positions. We ran a brief test run with members of the crew standing in the markers to identify any problems with the camera and to test the spots we had established.

• Shot a wide of the whole band, whole song. We then repeated this but got the band members to move around behind the camera and switched positions so that when the camera had done a 360° rotation - there was someone else in the same position. This proved fairly difficult as sometimes people weren’t in position before the camera reached them again or they had not stuck to the markers and were not in sufficient light.



• Shot mid of whole band, whole song



• Shot CU of instruments whole band, whole song – problem was that due to variation in musicians heights and sizes of instruments and the constant 360° motion of the camera it was difficult to capture all the instruments with in the same frame, so we had to sit the fiddle player down and get the double bass player to stand slightly further back.



• Shot the fiddle player, playing the solo with wides, mids and close ups.



• Shot the guitarist, playing the solo with wides, mids and close ups.
  


• Shot the banjo player, playing the solo with wides, mids and close ups.



• We then shot the lead singer, singing several important lines such as the beginning of verses and choruses.



• We then introduced the jukebox and stools into the frame, and had two extras sat on the stools with drinks as if to suggest a bar and shot the band in wide with a few stationary close ups.



• After this we added a wooden bar stand painted black, with a drinks stand to expand the bar and a table with chairs and added more extras to the scene. We positioned the band next to this environment and stopped then camera on the band and healed until the end of the second chorus.



• For the final shot, we constructed a raised stage and hung stage like lights that flashed consecutively above, and positioned cinema like seats in front with extras sat in them to simulate a ‘gig’ atmosphere.

A shot that I felt really worked well was the one with the bar situation set up as there was movement between the extras, and someone reached out towards the bar to usher a drink just as the camera passed, so it ‘lead the eye’ through the bar to finally rest on the band and the camera stopped. It fitted very well with the music, as there is a feeling of movement through out the song, but this sense of movement stops at the point we paused the camera on the band.

Another shot or sequence that i felt worked well, was the close up shots of the various band members and instruments, as they are not conventional 'band' instruments, including a banjo, fiddle and a double bass. There is a lot of movement due to the fast musical nature of the song, for the close up the camera was framed quite tight around the musicians hands which made the image interesting.

I was happy with hown the day had gone, and it was free from any major set backs. Given the state of uncertainty we were in before filming due to the last minute change of ideas, the day could not have gone any better. We had ample footage to edit, keeping with Negus's convention of a music video that it is filmed with a high shot ratio. If we had more time, we could have perhaps shot a narrative element to which we could cut to regularily, however challenging this convention, may prove in the videos favour as described by Barthes' theory of Plaisir 'pleasure through the unexpected'.

Permissions Letter

Here is a copy of the permissions letter, sent to 'The Toy Hearts' seeking permission to use thier song as part of our music video. We were legally and morally obliged to obtain the permission of a copyright owner to enable us to not only shoot the pop video, but also be allowed t0 place it on the internet at various sites.



The Toy Hearts Band
Birmingham
09/11/10


Dear Sir or Madam

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

’This Little Kitty’ by ‘The Toy Hearts’

With your permission, the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely

Joshua Jackson,
Hurtwood House School