BFI trip: Making Music Videos

So today our class was lucky enough to be able to sit and and listen to Tom Woodcock present to us how to make the perfect A2 music video. We began by learning the history of Music Videos and how we have grown to the stage we are at today. From the 1930s to today we noted how different advances such as scopitones, the establishment of artist image advertised through film and the launch of MTV on tv changed how we produce and film music videos. 

Woodcock also established 10 easy steps to creating a good music video:

1.Assess your resources: the technical kit, the performer, the locations and mise-en-scene.

2. Warm Up: do some testers such as a lip sync practice, photo shoot of the main protagonist, remake a music video etc

3.Recce: limited your locations, floor plan, lighting and power source

4.Pitch: if you cant explain your idea to someone then it remains an 'idea.' you could also create a mood board, production tasks etc. 

5:'Planning beats ideas.'

6:Plan everything and stick to it.

7:Shoot: shoot 10 times, include plenty of cutaways, record more than less and think of the lighting. 

8:Edit: make it sync, paper edit (animation)

 9:Evidence.

10.Evaluation. 

                                           

Practice filming.

 Because our music video is strictly a narrative piece of work, that means lip syncing is very sparse. Due to this we decided on a number of lines in which we can link with the visuals in order to include some lip syncing in our video.
For the line, "Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you" as a group we thought that line would perfectly match with a scene of Jan being intimidated by the conventional 'scary sergeant,' mouthing the words 'look me in the eye' whilst shouting in her face.
To get a feel of the framing and composition needed for these shots we filmed a couple tester shots using our friend Ertan to personaify the aggressive character.
The setting we used was simply the backfields connected to our school, making it a really easy location to get to.

Composition, rule of thirds and diagonal lines

COMPOSITION 

In cinematography, composition refers to the frame of the image and how the elements of the mise-en-scène appear in it. Composition guidelines must be observed when telling stories visually, as in filmmaking. Useful conventions are applied to make heroes stronger, villain ominous, generate anxiety and give the audience tranquility.

(Composition rules and conventions are older than cinema and photography. Most concepts have been used for thousands of years in painting. Filmmakers and photographers have borrowed many techniques from painters and used them as a springboard for new ideas and practices.)

RULE OF THIRDS 

Another basic composition principle is called Rule of Thirds. To follow it, you must imagine the frame with two vertical lines and two horizontal lines, as to create three vertical sections of the same dimensions and three vertical sections also of the same size. The result is something like this:

The intersections of the lines are points of interest, where important objects are often placed. These points of interest are comfortable to the eye, thus the middle portion of the frame are kept "empty" or clear.

USE OF DIAGONAL LINES

Diagonal lines generally work well to draw the eye of an image’s viewer through the photograph. They create points of interest as they intersect with other lines and often give images depth by suggesting perspective They also can add a sense of action to an image and add a dynamic looks and feel as well as leading the eye to your photograph’s main subject or point of interest.

(I found this video below incredible useful in explaining the rule of thirds)

Audience feedback from our storyboard.

The results of our surveys clearly indicate what demographics take an interest in the Indie genre, which will point us towards a target audience in which we can advertise too. 

It showed that the most popular age group for 'indie' music is 13-18 year olds, and actually it was recorded that no one over the age of 30 preferred the indie genre, instead favouring the rock genre. 

So now we know that our music video is definitely aimed towards a younger audience rather than an older one.

The results also points to a female audience rather than male, who as a demographic favoured the rock genre. However we can counter this by appealing to both genders by focusing on a more 'indie rock' genre.

The open questions we included in the questionnaire such as 'what makes a good music video' equipped us with some qualitative data rather than quantitative. This type of data allows us to study our audience feedback in depth, and being able to fully understand and incorporate the improvements and suggestions we have been given. 

Second filming location.

So earlier today my group began filming in our schools gym, we were able to access the equipment we needed, such as the rowing machine, the spinning bike, a skipping rope and some weights. We were able to capture some really nice action shots of Jan.  

STORYBOARD; paper version.

So below is our written up version of the storyboards, in total there are 44 individual shots to be filmed in around 13 separate locations. It took us more time than expected to complete the entire thing and the detail to each shot is a massive step up from that of AS storyboarding. However it is evident that the detail is vital whilst filming to ensure we're on the right track. Obviously we may adapt the boards as we film, and in that case we would have to alter the details. 

Day one of filming!

So today we took to Edmonton, one of our filming locations, to begin filming some landscape and running shots of Jan.
We filmed along the Lee Valley river and was able to capture some really good shots of Janadhi jogging along the canal from varied angles as well as being able to capture the sense of 'escapism.'

We were also able to boost Kelly and the camera up onto a kind of bridge/ kind of electrical cable pathway (as seen in the last picture)  in which we were able to film some really good landscape and running shots from such an unusual angle from above the river.

STORYBOARD; animatic

So here is our finished animatic storyboard, we decided to show it through editing together some secondary images off of google to the correct timings of the track with a descriptive caption.

(We used iMovie to construct the animatic)

 

Finished lyric annotation

Target audience.

An audience is an individual or a group of people who experience a product, whether it be watching a movie, listening to a radio podcast, reading a book or even using your phone, however for us, the audience will be the people who view our music video and purchase our 'digi- pack.'

Adapting your product to the correct target audience is vital in producing a successful media product, and if done properly will open the gate to free marketing and advertising through 'word of mouth,' my group and I have started to think about purposing our product for the correct target audience. We already have a gist of what we are expecting, (a 15-30 year old who enjoys listening to the indie/pop  genre) however to find out more details we plan to carry out a written questionnaire in which people can complete in front of us. We decided to focus on printed questionnaires rather than asking people to fill a survey out online as some questions may come across 'ambiguous' leading to the data being unviable.

Within our questionnaire we aim to include both open AND closed questions. Doing so will ensure we gain both qualitative and quantitate data leading to a wider and more credible target market.
We asked the following 10 questions; 

How old are you?

What is your gender? 

What is your ethnicity? 

Any hobbies/ interests? 

Favourite music genre? 

Do you have a favourite movie video? 

How do you consume music videos? 

What makes a good music video? 

Is the narrative clear in our storyboard?

Are there any elements you would change in the storyboard?

Justin Bieber: using the internet.

So last night Justin Bieber took to social media website Instagram, and began posting photos of graffiti works revealing the track titles on his upcoming album, Purpose.

By taking advantage of this source in which he shares with 42 million users he was able to publish and advertise his upcoming album simply by posting photos.

From New York to London, Paris, Sydney and more, he tagged in to major cities worldwide to illustrate just how global he can be.