Music Video Remake Evaluation

Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why? 

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day as I found I was never without
something to do. I especially enjoyed shadowing Harrison, our director, and gaining a better insight into his role on set, as well as working the camera for a couple of shots and feeding the wire. Most of all however I enjoyed my time on the other side of the camera, dancing as a whole group for the 'Union Jack' set ups, even though it got very tiring towards the end. Getting ready before-hand was also fun and I enjoyed helping others with their hair and make-up. Overall the experience of being involved in a semi-professional shoot was extremely rewarding and entertaining and a memory that I will remember for a long time.

What have you learnt from participating in each of the prelim tasks? 

Analysing a music video

Here I learnt the key conventions of a performance music video, in particular the technique and importance of discontinuous editing.  

Creating an audition video 

This was a probably the most fun prelim task and prepared me well for my performance on the day of the shoot. I learnt how to lipsynch and be more confident on camera and know what looks good.

Learning the performance 

This was also a very fun part of the project, as I enjoy dancing a lot. Being a principle dancer enabled me to help others learn the dance and I realised the importance of working as a team for the project.

Planning and organising costumes

The main lesson I learnt here was to immediately flag up issues I was having with gathering my costume as it would be a lot easier to resolve witht he help of others.

Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look? 

I am quite impressed with the footage as it looks a lot more professional than I thought it would do. The edit is also quite impressive as it matches up to the original video quite accurately. However there are certain shots we did not get and so had to work with what we had to the best of our abilities.

 

How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework? 

Next term I will have a much clearer idea of how to run a music video shoot. In particular:

• I will definitely plan each stage of the music video, creating deadlines along the way and ensuring they are met so that the project is finished on time and as least stressful as possible.  
• I will feel a lot more confident in front of the camera if I ultimately end up appearing in a music video.
• Editing a music video in a discontinuous style will be more familiar to me and I could perhaps be more adventurous with my editing style and technique.        
  
  

Homework DYM: Music Video Analysis

The video I will be analysing for this homework is by PSY- Gangnam Style. I am using the 15 top key features of a performance video to structure my analysis.

1. There is a clear link between the music and imagery- usually when there is a change of beat the video will cut to a new shot. The lyrics also dictate changes in shots, only less often than the music. The music is very upbeat, which matches the bright and striking imagery such as the carousel and city skyline shots.

2. The performance drives the video as the main dance is repeated during the chorus with lots of interesting imagery inbetween making the audience watch on. The video is more conceptual than narrative as a story is not being told, whereas there are horses for example which is what the famous trotting dance move is emulating. 

3. PSY lip-syncs throughout most of the video and it is believable as it matches the lyrics. 

4. The main artist appears to switch from performance to in-character performance at 0.48 where he is with another two men in a sauna. 

5. There is lively singing and dancing throughout the video, showcasing PSY's talents and conforming to his well known lively persona. 

6. The performance is definitely striking as there are many random images of various settings such as a hot tub, horse stables, on what appears to be a party coach and on top of a building etc. This makes the video engaging as the audience always wonders what will appear on screen next and can enjoy the surprises and shocks. 

7. Many various sets are used are there are many various locations features in the video, PSY's costumes along with the main female roles' are very stylised and make-up looks flawless as expected in a high concept music video. 

8. The video develops and builds up to the main dance sequence in the final shot of the music video. 

9. PSY's wacky dance moves and outifts are typical of the image he has created for himself, thus strongly reinforcing his identity. This creativity can be considered aspiration to many, especially his fans. 

10. Beauty and money shot can be seen at 0.08 when there is a CU of PSY's face. 

11. There are no real strong opposites and juxtapositions shown in the video however there are differences between the male and female characters, settings and some outfits such as the casual wear PSY is dressed in when he is on a boat compared to his usual smart suit attire. 

12. The editing is discontinuous- cutting to and back to various shots, and switching between close ups and long shots for example. 

13. South Koreans may be able to appreciate the included popular culture references more than audiences from other parts of the world- they may recognise locations features in the video and 'Gangnam' itself is actually a district in South Korea. 

14. The song does not appear to have any strong meaning or message, and is more of a novelty for pure fun, enjoyment and engagement of the audience as they are able to replicate his moves.

15. The video has proved to be extremely popular with audiences, with over 1.6 billion views on YouTube. 

Reservoir Dogs Remake

Here is my groups' remake of the famous Reservoir Dogs (1992) opening sequence!

Dexter Preliminary Evaluation

Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task.

• When creating a title sequence it is important to include all the cast and crew credits as this is a requirement by law. 
• These names must appear on the screen for an appropriate amount of time and in a legible size and font, enough for any audience to read comfortably. 
• They must also be the same colour and font in relation to each other in order to maintain the theme across the entire title sequence. 
• For our task, names were not so much an issue as we had to make up ourselves and did not have a set limit to how many we should include. We did however ensure they all were the same size, and in a font that matched the theme of the Dexter title sequence. 

How did your group plan to edit the titles sequence?

• The placing of each name was key for this task. We first watched the whole title sequence to gain a feel of its mood, then we watched it a second time to look out for any gaps or specific times when we thought a name was needed. 
• We worked from the beginning adding in the names where they fit and then when all were in the correct locations we went back in and added special effects to a few we felt required them, in order to enhance mood and the theme.  

Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

• We decided to go with the font 'Insomnia' because we felt it was typical of the drama genre, especially with its slashes across the letters all in capital. 
• As for SFX, the certain names which we did add them too were chosen only if the action taking place in that shot was not very distracting or busy. For example, on the name 'Arianna Tipper' which went over the coffee maker, we chose an effect that spun the letters round to mimic the coffee beans blending in the background. 

How does your re-edit compare to the original?

• The original used red text while we used white, I felt this was not a major difference as both fit the theme and were easy to read over all the backgrounds. 
• The original also included a lot more cast and crew credits (around 23) while we only had 11, this is probably due to all the restrictions and rules of who they had to include. Plus we had a strict time limit and so planned the maximum number of names would be able to create. 
• The original also used a different font and located some of the names differently. This is bound to be the case however we did have our names placed on a lot of the same shots as the original Dexter title sequence. 

Continuity Preliminary Evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

• My group consisted of Alex.E, Alex.S, Olivia and myself.
• We each decided to take equal responsibility of the whole task during planning: creating a script, shot list, storyboard, shooting schedule and proposal one by one as a team, discussing our ideas and views as we went along.
• During filming, Alex.E and Olivia took on acting roles whilst myself and Alex.S filmed. I was however included in a few short shots, and so at this time and whenever Alex.E and Olivia were not in shots, they filmed. This enabled us to share out the role of filming as evenly as possible and gave them a chance to work behind the camera too, and for me to take on acting for a bit.
• As for editing, me and Olivia worked together to create one final product, and Alex.S and Alex.E worked on our footage too to create their own finished clip. I feel me and Olivia worked very efficently on this section of the task, taking turns on the mouse and helping each other out where need be to finish well within our time limit. 

The rest of my team hard at work.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

• Our first task was to come up with an idea, so we brainstormed a few, then cut the ideas down to ones which we thought would be effective and practical, and finally took a vote on which was our favorite.
•  Next we began to create a script, followed by a shot list which translated onto our storyboard, and finally our shooting schedule and a proposal.
• We also decided as a group to visit our location and go through our sequence to see if everything would go to plan, and to check it would all make logical sense. This proved to be vital as we ended up changing our location due to space restrictions in the one we had originally plamnned.  
• We ensured to take into consideration Roland Barthes 5 codes and all of the film making conventions; especially when creating our script and shot list. Our clip's genre was comedy and so to portray this to the audience we created a humorous plot with funny dialogue.
• Whilst editing we tried our best to include and cut clips in order to follow and create the continuity conventions such as shot-reverse-shot, the 180 degree rule and matching actions.

What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

• For editing, we used Adobe Premier Pro. I had previously used this program for editing in my media GCSE studies however Olivia had not, so it was helpful for us both that i could teach her a few things and at the same time jog my memory on some of its features.
• Our clips had alraedy been captured before we started editing so all we needed to do was pick the best shots and crop them to size. We added in a title too and changed some of the volumes on our shots.
• For filming we used a Canon DV30 with a tripod. This enabled us to experiement with different angles and heights for our shots to create various effects. We altered the length of the tripods legs and adjusted the angle at which the camera was facing in order to do this.  

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

• When planning, we had to take into consideration the amount of time we had available- we couldn’t create a script that was too long for example, or spend too long pondering over one aspect of the task.
• We also had to take into account the locations that were available to us, since we were filming during school time and had to stay on the premises.
• When shooting it was important that we remembered the technology at hand, and also to budget our time as it was very limited.
• And finally, during editing, time was also an issue but as it was only two us working together we found it much easier to manage.

Me and Olivia at our edit station.

How successful was your sequence? Identify what worked well, and in hindsight, what would you improve/ do differently?

• Overall I think our sequence was seccessful as we produced a clip which followed and demonstrated continuity coventions and rules within the allocated time- which was essentially what we needed to acheive.
• One thing that worked well for me was our group dynamics; we never encountered any major arguments or disagreements and almost always were on task. We listened to each others ideas and shared out all roles equally, playing even parts in the production of our sequence.
• Another thing that worked well was the timing of our piece, I feel the final product flows well and this is probably due to our tight cutting during editing.
• However, if I were to re-do this project, I would probably change the storyline of our sequence. We chose quite a simple idea and perhaps if we had gone with something more adventurous or from a different genre such as horror, we could have showed off more of our filming skills and techniques, such as tracks and pans and shaky shots by filming with hand instead of using a tripod.
• We also could have managed time slightly better when planning. Although doing each planning task as a team worked out, it could have been more efficient to asign people to certain tasks.

What have you learnt from completing the task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

• From this task I have learnt to always be aware of continuity when filming. I now know how to match shots and how important it is that sequences always flow and make sense to an audience.
• It helped to reinforce my abilities of using the media cameras and editing software, which will help again when we use them later on in the year.
• Also working in a team has been a big part of this project, and we will be working in a team later on in the year to complete our coursework. It has helped me to understand other peoples skills and know what they are good at. Communication is always key as is being able to divide up tasks and work together effectively.

Homework DYM: Title Sequence Sound Analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/stranger-than-fiction/

Dialogue 

A woman begins to narrate Harold's actions, and as he is tying his tie (0.53) she almost uses a mocking tone which highlights the obscurity of his strange ways. This also adds an element of humour to the title sequence, and effectively conveys the comedy genre aspect of the film. 

The last line of dialogue in the title sequence is 'On Wednesday, Harold's wrist-watch changed everything'. This is a powerful ending as it immediately creates a lot of enigma for an audience and poses many questions in their minds: How can a wrist-watch have such a large impact on a mans life? What happened to the wristwatch/what did it do? 

Music 

A very repetitive and simple tune chimes in around 0.50, sounding as if the same key is being played on a piano, this could symbolise the repetitiveness of Harold's life and enhances his boring and mundane morning routine.

At some points, another layer is added to the background music and this creates the impression of it almost resembling the musical tick of a clock. Since the title sequence plays a lot of emphasis on Harold's wrist-watch and timings, the constant drone of this is the background links to this and ensure we always remember it. 

Sometimes what Harold is doing corresponds to the rhythm of the music, and so even though it is    non-diegetic we as an audience gain the impression that he can almost hear it too. An example of this is at 1.13 when Harold is jogging for the bus and his footsteps match the beat of the piano. 

Sound Effects 

As we zoom in from outer space to Harold's bedroom, we hear general street noise such as traffic, dogs barking and chatter. This is accompanied with swoosh sound effects to emphasise the 'journey' we are taking. It also aids to establish the urban city setting. 

Many diegetic sounds accompany Harold's actions such as when he is brushing his teeth at 0.34 and when he is washing the dishes at 2.30. These sounds help to involve us in the narrative and make us feel closer to Harold as we are a part of his daily life. 

Homework BLK: Clip Analysis on Continuity

Clip from Love Actually (2003) 0.00 to 1.46

• A successful match-on-action is accomplished at 0.41 to 0.42 from two shots where Aurelia passes the phone over to Jamie. At first we are zoomed in on the hands and the first half of the passing of the phone takes place in a CU, then we are shown the second half from a slightly different angle in a MS and it appears to be one smooth seamless transaction.
• After this we have a change of scene, and to establish this new setting we are shown 3 very wide shots from the back, side and front of Jamie (master shot/ establishing shot). However this does not break the 180 degree rule and therefore the audience are able to understand Jamie's location in realtion to his surroundings which later on in the scene are used more.
• Cross cutting is also used a lot as Aurelia runs towards the lake and starts to undress, and Jamie is left behind yelling at her to stop. This creates the impression that the two events are happening simultaniously. 
• Similar master shots are re-used in order to establish the characters new positions and to highlight some of their actions (1.37 as Aurelia dives into the water and 1.18 as Jamie is climbing over the wooden beam).