Evaluation

For my Advanced Portfolio in A2 I created a music video using the song ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ by Adele and the genre is Pop/British Soul. Before I began creating my music video and ancillary texts I researched the history and conventions of music videos, magazine adverts for digipaks and website homepages and also the conventions of both Pop and British Soul genres.

Since the 1960’s soul music has been popular in Britain. A clear genre of British soul did not emerge until the 1980s, when a number of black and white artists who made soul their major focus began to enjoy some commercial success. Popular British Soul artists include Adele, Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Joss Stone. There are several subcategories in soul music such as my music video genre British Soul, Neo Soul and Motown.

By looking at the history of music videos I found out how music videos used to be distributed and how the Internet is used with websites such as Youtube and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook to watch music videos. Having music videos on these websites allows audiences to view them at any time, new bands to be discovered and allows audiences to tell their friends about it.

I chose my target audience by doing a questionnaire. I asked 10 females and 10 males whether they like British Soul music and 10/10 females said yes and 5/10 males said yes. I looked at the age range of who said yes and it was 16-19 year olds. I asked if any had part time jobs and 7/10 females worked in either retail stores or fast food chains and 5/10 males worked in either retail stores or bars. Overall I concluded my target audience would be females aged 16-19 years old.  

Looking at the conventions of music videos in general helped me decide what type of form I was going to choose for my music video. There are many different forms and conventions such as performance; this is when the artist or band is performing in one or more settings. A performance cliché is the artist walking down a street. It can be instrumental, song or dance performance. For example 'Nothing Compares to You' by Sinead O'Connor. It is only set in one location. Animation; this is when the video includes digital features such as flash. For example in the music video 'Californication' by Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this video they are taking part in a 3D game which is all animated. Narrative; this is when the song involves a narrative and the lyrics are acted out by the artist. For example 'Telephone' By Lady Gaga and Beyoncé as the narrative is following on from Lady Gaga's previous song 'Paparazzi' as Lady Gaga killed her boyfriend by poisoning him and got arrested. This is following on with Lady Gaga in prison and Beyoncé breaking her out. The lyrics fit with the narrative.

My music video is based on the conventions of British Soul rather than Pop. I have used both performance and narrative. The narrative of my music video is my artist remembering her ex-boyfriend and wanting to move on from her breakup. (See figure 1)

 

         

(figure 1 – example of the narrative)

This links with the lyrics which is conventional of music videos. For music video conventions in British Soul the video usually has a frequent use of mono-tone colour schemes to make the video look more realistic, low use of special effects, usually no backing dancers as the songs are slow paced, slow editing to match the song and a narrative which is to do with a love story e.g. a break up for example the song I have chosen. In my music video I only had one performer as it was a slow paced song so there wasn’t any need for back up dancers or other performers.

At the start of the year I analysed four existing music videos; ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele, ‘Who You Are’ by JessieJ, ‘Because of You’ by Kelly Clarkson and ‘You Lost Me’ by Christina Aguilera.The music video for the song ‘Someone Like You’ is the most similar to my music video. 'Someone Like You' was released in 2011 from the album '21' and the label is XL Recordings. The song for my music video is from the same album so it is sending the same message of losing someone you love. The video is set in black and white which suggests it is a memory. It is set in Paris which is seen as a romantic city so Adele walking there may be suggesting she used to be in love and now she is walking away from her relationship. Adele is wearing a long black coat and she has her hair tied back a bit and some of it down. The video starts with a tracking shot of Adele walking. This can connote she is walking away from her past and walking to a fresh life. In my music video I used tracking shots to connote she is trying to find a new life. 

I chose the costume carefully for my artist, she wore plain black leggings, a black top a denim jacket and a gold necklace for the chorus and East Park scenes. The costume was plain as it isn’t conventional to wear bright colours or sexually appealing clothing in British Soul music videos. The black connotes sadness and emptiness as she has just broken up from her boyfriend. In the house scenes she wore a plain black top and black leggings. This shows she is upset so hasn’t been dressing up. Originally I was going to have her wear a neck scarf which had pictures of chains on. This was going to connote she was being trapped by her grief. The artist/band of British soul music stereotypically look natural and wear fashionable clothing but not over the top. They usually have their own independent style for example Amy Winehouse with her beehive hairstyle. Also another example is Joss Stone as she is known to wear hippy style clothing. 

Slow editing is conventional of British Soul so I made sure that during the editing process I kept this is mind. I used the video transition dip to black for the chorus scenes and I also used cross and additive dissolves. I didn’t want to use loads of transitions as the song is slow paced and I wanted it to link with the narrative so if I used constant cuts it wouldn’t match the soundtrack. I used lip synching for the beginning for the lyrics ‘I let it fall’, the chorus and the door scene. I found it hard to get the lip synching in time however I kept practising and managed to do it in the end. I matched the lyrics with the narrative for example while the door scene linked with the lyrics ‘Sometimes I wake up by the door….’. This is conventional in music videos.

The mise en scene in my music video was conventional of British Soul music videos as I used mono toned colours and different props to make the video look realistic. For example in the kitchen scene I created a scenario where it looked like my performer had made dinner for her and her boyfriend yet he didn’t turn up as they have split up. I used a close up on the full glass to show the audience that the boyfriend won’t be showing up and the performer will be alone. The candles linked with the lyrics of the song as they symbolised fire. The also represented the artists relationship burning away. In the bedroom scene I used photographs of my performer and her boyfriend and placed them on the bed. They were in black and white to connote the past. (See figure 2). The photographs are post-modern as they are an example of a simulacrum. I used an over the shoulder shot so the photos were clearly shown to the audience. It also lets the audience feel they are there with the performer. (See figure 3). At the beginning when my performer is sat on the rock near the pond she throws a rock in the water while the lyrics ‘I let it fall, my heart’ are playing. The rock she throws represents her heart, cold and like stone as she has been left heartbroken. Throwing it connotes she is no longer in love and the relationship has ended. This is conventional as I am linking the lyrics with the narrative.

(figure2 – photos were used to create a more realistic narrative)

(figure 3 – over the shoulder shot to let the audience see the photos)

Location was important to me as its conventional in British Soul music videos that the location is memorable and intriguing as the video isn’t fast paced so the audience won’t be looking at dance routines they’ll be looking at the location. I chose East Park as the scenery was nice and it was a nice area for my performer to walk. It was also easy to do tracking shots as it was mainly all pathways. The locations in East Park I chose all had specific connotations. For example when my performer is lip synching the chorus she is standing in front of giant rocks. The rocks represent coldness, hurt and sadness, all the feelings my performer is feeling (see figure 4). For the other scenes I chose to film in a house. This suggests the house is personal to the artist. The bedroom in particularly, when she is ripping up the photos makes the audience realise she is hurting as the bedroom its self is representing their past. When my performer is sat by the door, it is connoting she is waiting for her ex boyfriend to come. The door is white which connotes freedom, so its there for her to walk through and start a new life.

 

 (figure 4 – the rock location connoting hurt and pain)

I used a range of different shots such as high angles, close ups, long shots and tracking shots. The use of the tracking shot suggests the performer is walking away from her past life/memories and walking towards a new life. I used a high angle when my performer was sat on the bench and also sat at the dinner table. This connotes she is vulnerable and sad. I zoomed in when my performer was stood on the bridge to make sure the audience could see her emotions. The bridge connotes the performer has a journey to fulfil, in this case the journey is to get over her breakup and get on with her life. The scene when my performer is walking away down the long road suggests she has been let free to live her life again. For the final scene I learned how to repeat footage. My performer is holding a flower which is representing her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and she is throwing it to the ground. I repeated this to show she is finally getting rid of him in her mind. The final shot is a close up of the flower on its own, showing she has left her past relationship there and is now moving on. I have used the conventional cinematography for British Soul music videos.

I wanted my ancillary texts to be conventional so I did some research on the conventions of both magazine advertisements for digipaks and for website homepages. First of all I analysed three magazine advertisements for Katy Perry, La Roux and Gwen Stefani. I tried finding British Soul or Pop artists so it could influence me for my texts. The one I liked best was for La Roux’s album. I liked how it was simple but very appealing to audiences. I liked the fact there is light shining onto her face which can connote she is going to be a shining new star. I wanted to make sure there was some light on my artists face to connote she is a shining new star and also to show she has got light back into her life however the lighting wasn’t very good and the photo came out dark. My advertisement has the colour scheme of pink, white and black which matches the website homepage. This shows continuity and audiences will recognise they are promoting the same artist. The colours are not over the top and bold which is conventional. I created a digipak to put on the advert as this is conventional. It allows the audiences to see what the album looks like so they can decide if they will buy it.

I then analysed the website homepages for the singers Adele and Duffy.  I looked at these websites to see if they used the conventions of website homepages. I liked the Duffy website as it was black and white which gave it an old fashioned look. My website has the conventional features such as; menu bar, links to other websites, photos and a blog. I print screened my music video from Youtube and placed it in the ‘video section’. This would let audiences view the music video while browsing the homepage. I took separate photos and placed them in the ‘gallery section’. I also took a photo for the ‘blog section’. She is happy in the photo which gives a good feeling about the artist. This also shows the artist is part of the website, it’s not just ran by someone else. I included little links of social networking websites so word can be spread to promote the artist. I created a small music player where audiences can listen to Lydia’s songs.

The music video, magazine advertisement and website homepage I produced, all work together to promote the artist. I have kept the same colours for both my website homepage and album advertisement. I used pink, white, black and grey. The pink connotes love as the album is about the artist’s relationship and the black connotes her sadness due to the breakup. In my video, I have used pink/red mise en scene which connotes romance such as the sheets on the bed. This is keeping with the theme of relationships. For my ancillary texts I have used the same fonts which show it is consistent and allows audiences to recognise both products are promoting the same artist. I tried keeping both ancillary texts minimal and plain to keep it in the theme of British Soul as conventionally it isn’t over the top like the pop genre. I asked 5 people whether they liked or disliked the ancillary texts and 5/5 liked them. I also asked whether they worked well together with my music video and 4/5 said they did. Some comments made were ‘the fonts are consistent which makes me remember the artist’ and ‘the colours used can represent love which is what the song is about’.

I created a poll on my blog before production to find out audiences views on music videos.  I found that 3/6 people voted that they preferred performance videos rather than narrative, abstract and animation. Because of this I chose to create a performance based video with narrative as 2/6 people voted narrative. I found 20 people to watch my music video and fill in an audiencefeedback questionnaire which I made. I wanted to know whether the audience understood the narrative as there was only one performer so I thought it may have been hard to however all 20 answered ‘yes’ they did understand. When asked to ‘explain the storyline’ all the answers were similar for example ‘it is about a bad break up’, ‘her boyfriend cheated on her’, and ‘the woman is going through a hurtful break up’. I was pleased with these responses as its showing that the message of losing someone you love is being clearly portrayed. I asked ‘what type of genre is my video’ and 17/20 said ‘soul’. This shows that I followed the conventions of soul music videos and they were clearly portrayed. I asked ‘what needed improving’ some responses were 5/20 said I should have included more lip synching and 2/20 said I should have used another location.

I used the website ‘Blogger’ to post all my coursework which included research, production work and post production work. Using this blog allowed me to learn how to upload photos of my work for example the different costumes my artist was goingto wear. I also learned how to upload videos and create a poll. When uploading photos onto Blogger I had to make sure I changed them into .jpg files. Using Blogger was beneficial as other students and teachers were able to view my work and give me feedback. The poll allowed anyone to use it and it helped with audience research. One problem with creating the poll is I didn’t put it on for very long which meant that I didn’t get a lot of responses. Another web 2.0 site I used was ‘www.youtube.com’ to upload my final video. This allowed others to give me feedback.  I also used Youtube in the pre-production stages as I used the website to watch existing music videos and analysed them. For both my ancillary texts I used Adobe Photoshop CS5 to create my website homepage and my magazine advert which promotes my artists album. I was familiar with this programme however I learned how to use some of the tools such as the quick selection tool. I also used the programme Picasa 3 to edit some of my ancillary text photos by using edits such as sharpen and warmify. In the pre-production stages I used the website ‘Prezi.com’ to create an electronic spider diagram for my props and first ideas. I learned how to change the colours, add text and change fonts, add shapes, images and videos. This allowed me to show my ideas in a different and more interesting way. I used Microsoft Movie Maker to create my animatic as I was familiar with this programme and learned how to import it onto my blog. Originally I used Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 on my own laptop to edit my footage however I had difficulty with it as it kept crashing and not letting me open files. I changed to a college editing suite and used an older version of Adobe Premiere Pro. I used this one to create my final music video. I learned how to use different dissolves, add music and text and also how to fade out music.  For my production work I used a camera with a DV tape to capture my footage. The camera was easy to use and had many different functions such as zoom. For my ancillary texts I used my own Kodak digital camera to take photos as I was familiar with this camera and I knew how to upload photos. For my ancillary texts I used the website ‘Dafont.com’ to get different font styles. This was a useful website as it had a range of fonts and the suitable one for my media production.

If I had the opportunity to do this project again I would do a few things differently. First of all I would film earlier to make sure that any footage which needs re shooting there will be still time to do it. Filming early has many benefits such as being able to practise editing beforehand and getting a feel with the editing suites. I would also choose a different song from another genre because I feel that I ran out of ideas. I also would have put out adverts asking for volunteers as I would like to have had more performers involved. However overall I am pleased with the final result of my music video as it was the first time I had used the editing suites and the video cameras. 

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