Showing posts with label Steve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve. Show all posts
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Friday, 2 December 2011
Evaluative Commentary
R: We are group U1-47 and chose Kyle Rapps 'Hard Knock Children" to produce three products: a music video for the song, a digipak for the album and a magazine advert for the products.
Q1
L: After researching into similar music videos with the same genre we found that lots of video had a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. For example the line "If I had to go to a bank.." we showed the artist at Lloyd's TSB bank door. The audience would instantly recognise this as a bank and understand the link we were trying to show. From the research we found this relationship was common in rap videos and that the audience would be expecting this to happen throughout the video.
S: Music and visual relationships were very important in similar videos as well and we felt it necessary to fit the shot changes of our video to a beat or sound effect in the music. This added a great amount of fluidity to the video and constantly engages the audience.
C: Also in our research we found that the urban locations were regularly used in rap and hip-hop videos. We made sure that we chose suitable locations that the audience would recognise to be urban and from the genre. With this in mind we used street corners, a basketball court, a skate park and a deserted car park and we felt it communicated the genre well.
Q2
L: The reason why our products are so strong and work so well together is because we used a constant theme between all of them. The colours of the basketball which were red, white and blue were very strong and vivid therefore we used them to make the products stand out. We also used the iconic basketball and red basketball jersey as another theme to help link further link the products together.
R: The concept we were trying to communicate came from the song name 'Hard Knock Children'. The concept was school and what 'hard knock' children do after school. For example: hang out by the basketball court, skate spark or just hanging around the streets.
C: We tried to create an image of someone who is laid back, cool and dislikes any form of social control (e.g. school) like most rappers.
S: Most males from the age of 13-18 (teenagers) dislike school and like hip hop/ rap music. So this is our choice of target audience. The image of the artist, the song, and the three products will definitely attract attention from teenage males because Kyle Rapps is the kind of person they aspire to be, because he's cool.
Q3
L: We feel that our initial pitch hasn't changed that much when looking at our final products. However the changes that we did make were down to the feedback we received from peers and teachers.
R: Our initial pitch was to shoot at typical urban areas where school boys hang out. we were going to film some shots with the artist walking and rapping towards the camera which our peers liked the idea of. We were told by our peers to make sure we added enough cut-aways to make our video more engaging and not too boring. We hadn't thought so much about this so it was a very helpful comment. The audience also approved of our themes of basketball and locations but they felt it might be appropriate to find a new, different urban location to add an extra dimension to the video.
C: After taking on board all feedback at the pitch we filmed our product and created a rough cut of all the footage. This then led to more feedback from peers and teachers. Many thought that it was very much like they imagined it to be from the pitch we did, however we did receive some constructive criticism to work on. They felt that the second artist's performance was not as convincing or as well lip synced as the first artists performance. There were also comments about the locations we used and they felt that another one was important to add variety to the video. Finally it was brought up that we could use more cutaways to break up the lip syncing in the song. We took this all on board and made sure that in our second shoot we adhered to the feedback we received.
S: Before we uploaded the product we had one final lot of feedback. It was suggested to add effects and colour filters to the shots to create a more professional piece of work and to make it look less like footage just put together with a track over the top.
R: We defiantly feel tat the feedback received throughout the project improved our video greatly. It allowed our idea to progress into a quality video that suited the genre and target audience well. We have to remember that some of the feedback was coming directly from our target audience so it was vital to take it into consideration.
Q4
L: One of the most important parts to the success of our products was the research and planning we did. The Internet allowed us to gather all the information from professional products we needed to create our own. We used a wide variety of media technologies throughout the creation of our music video. For example: The HD camera we used for filming was simple to work with and provided us with excellent picture quality.
S: We used a tripod for the video camera to make sure the shots were steady - if we had not done, we might have risked the music video looking poor and unprofessional.
R: Final Cut was the program we used to bring all of our footage together and to edit each shot into place. The program allowed us to edit with mili-seconds of the lyrics, and it was easy to swap and change shots if we wanted. We worked in layers with out shots, so that each synced piece of footage ran under each other simultaneously, meaning we could choose which piece of footage worked best for a certain part of the song.
C: We were also able to add colour filters and colour corrector to create a greater urban effect. Which was recommended by feedback we collected, and it definitely did enhance our product.
S: We used Photoshop to create our ancillary products which was software we were all pretty unfamiliar with. The effects we discovered and used were 3D effects to the objects and we brightened up the colours in our photos to create a more clear image. The photos instantly became more appealing and noticeable.
R: Blogger was very important throughout our project as it allowed the whole group to constantly update and plan the work ahead. We could conduct research, post it on the blog, and everyone else in the group could read it and use this research to help with the construction of ideas.
C: I don't think the technology ever got in the way of our creativity. Because even though we were uploading everything through word document-style blog posts, if we wanted to draw something, we could just use the still camera's to take a picture of the drawing, and then upload it onto the computer.
Q1
L: After researching into similar music videos with the same genre we found that lots of video had a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. For example the line "If I had to go to a bank.." we showed the artist at Lloyd's TSB bank door. The audience would instantly recognise this as a bank and understand the link we were trying to show. From the research we found this relationship was common in rap videos and that the audience would be expecting this to happen throughout the video.
S: Music and visual relationships were very important in similar videos as well and we felt it necessary to fit the shot changes of our video to a beat or sound effect in the music. This added a great amount of fluidity to the video and constantly engages the audience.
C: Also in our research we found that the urban locations were regularly used in rap and hip-hop videos. We made sure that we chose suitable locations that the audience would recognise to be urban and from the genre. With this in mind we used street corners, a basketball court, a skate park and a deserted car park and we felt it communicated the genre well.
Q2
L: The reason why our products are so strong and work so well together is because we used a constant theme between all of them. The colours of the basketball which were red, white and blue were very strong and vivid therefore we used them to make the products stand out. We also used the iconic basketball and red basketball jersey as another theme to help link further link the products together.
R: The concept we were trying to communicate came from the song name 'Hard Knock Children'. The concept was school and what 'hard knock' children do after school. For example: hang out by the basketball court, skate spark or just hanging around the streets.
C: We tried to create an image of someone who is laid back, cool and dislikes any form of social control (e.g. school) like most rappers.
S: Most males from the age of 13-18 (teenagers) dislike school and like hip hop/ rap music. So this is our choice of target audience. The image of the artist, the song, and the three products will definitely attract attention from teenage males because Kyle Rapps is the kind of person they aspire to be, because he's cool.
Q3
L: We feel that our initial pitch hasn't changed that much when looking at our final products. However the changes that we did make were down to the feedback we received from peers and teachers.
R: Our initial pitch was to shoot at typical urban areas where school boys hang out. we were going to film some shots with the artist walking and rapping towards the camera which our peers liked the idea of. We were told by our peers to make sure we added enough cut-aways to make our video more engaging and not too boring. We hadn't thought so much about this so it was a very helpful comment. The audience also approved of our themes of basketball and locations but they felt it might be appropriate to find a new, different urban location to add an extra dimension to the video.
C: After taking on board all feedback at the pitch we filmed our product and created a rough cut of all the footage. This then led to more feedback from peers and teachers. Many thought that it was very much like they imagined it to be from the pitch we did, however we did receive some constructive criticism to work on. They felt that the second artist's performance was not as convincing or as well lip synced as the first artists performance. There were also comments about the locations we used and they felt that another one was important to add variety to the video. Finally it was brought up that we could use more cutaways to break up the lip syncing in the song. We took this all on board and made sure that in our second shoot we adhered to the feedback we received.
S: Before we uploaded the product we had one final lot of feedback. It was suggested to add effects and colour filters to the shots to create a more professional piece of work and to make it look less like footage just put together with a track over the top.
R: We defiantly feel tat the feedback received throughout the project improved our video greatly. It allowed our idea to progress into a quality video that suited the genre and target audience well. We have to remember that some of the feedback was coming directly from our target audience so it was vital to take it into consideration.
Q4
L: One of the most important parts to the success of our products was the research and planning we did. The Internet allowed us to gather all the information from professional products we needed to create our own. We used a wide variety of media technologies throughout the creation of our music video. For example: The HD camera we used for filming was simple to work with and provided us with excellent picture quality.
S: We used a tripod for the video camera to make sure the shots were steady - if we had not done, we might have risked the music video looking poor and unprofessional.
R: Final Cut was the program we used to bring all of our footage together and to edit each shot into place. The program allowed us to edit with mili-seconds of the lyrics, and it was easy to swap and change shots if we wanted. We worked in layers with out shots, so that each synced piece of footage ran under each other simultaneously, meaning we could choose which piece of footage worked best for a certain part of the song.
C: We were also able to add colour filters and colour corrector to create a greater urban effect. Which was recommended by feedback we collected, and it definitely did enhance our product.
S: We used Photoshop to create our ancillary products which was software we were all pretty unfamiliar with. The effects we discovered and used were 3D effects to the objects and we brightened up the colours in our photos to create a more clear image. The photos instantly became more appealing and noticeable.
R: Blogger was very important throughout our project as it allowed the whole group to constantly update and plan the work ahead. We could conduct research, post it on the blog, and everyone else in the group could read it and use this research to help with the construction of ideas.
C: I don't think the technology ever got in the way of our creativity. Because even though we were uploading everything through word document-style blog posts, if we wanted to draw something, we could just use the still camera's to take a picture of the drawing, and then upload it onto the computer.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Evaluative Questions (STEVE)
1) In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In our music video we used a lot of conventions that would be used in professional media products. We tried to use a lot of Goodwin's theory throughout out our music video. We used a lot of 'visuals matching lyrics' and this is probably the strongest aspect of our product. Similarly, we edited the video to fit the music, for example: when a distinctive beat or sound effect occurs, we change the shot etc. When we started creating our product we did a lot of research into other professional music videos of the same or similar genre to ours. In the music videos we researched, we found that they were quite fast paced because the rapping and lyrics were at such a quick tempo. We were inspired by these professional media products, so we tried to create a fast paced music video too. Although our song was probably slower than most rap songs, it still needed to be fast paced to fit the genre. The locations we used in our music video fit the genre well also. We tried to shoot in urban areas, such as a basketball court, skate park and a car park. In the professional music videos we researched the locations were pretty similar to the ones we used.
2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I feel that our promotional package; music video, digipak and magazine advert, work very well together. The main theme we tried to convey through our products was basketball. It's apparent in our music video, on our digipak and magazine advert. There were other sub-themes such as the iconic red jersey that Kyle Rapps (the artist) wears throughout the products and just red as a themed colour.
The concept we were trying to communicate comes from the song name 'Hard Knock Children'. The concept of our music video was school and what 'hard knock' children do after school, for example: go to the basketball court, skate park or just hanging around the streets. He also describes his school experience throughout the song, for example: "First grade, second grade third grade.... walk out that door" referring to the daily anticipation of school ending. He also vents his frustration about school in the song. "Everything I know now I learnt back in Kindergarten." "Teach fake facts in my third grade class." So this is why we chose to base our concept on an anti-school teenager's life style. In the music video we tried to create an image of someone who is laid back, cool, and dislikes any form of social control, (e.g. school) like most rappers.
Most males from the age of 12-16 dislike school and like rap/hip hop music so this was our choice of target audience. I feel that the image of the artist, the song, and the three products will definitely attract a lot of attention from teenage males, because Kyle Rapps is the type of person they aspire to be, purely because he's cool.
3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Most of the people we shared our initial concept with liked our idea of shooting in typical areas that school boys may hang out, so we went ahead with it. We got the basics of the music video sorted for our rough cut (e.g. lip syncing and transitions), took on board peoples thoughts and feedback and then started the more advanced editing. One of the most common feedback from our rough cut was that the first part of the video was good but then it drifted off and became quite sloppy as the the song progressed. So we had to focus a lot of work on the second part of the song for a couple of editing days. Some positives our peers liked were the good lip syncing throughout the music video, good variety and selection of types of shots, nice change in locations, good 'visuals matching lyrics' and the fast paced nature of the the video. It was said that it was clear we put a lot of thought and planning into the locations, shot placement and costumes. The main criticism from both teachers and peers was that we didn't have enough cut-aways, for example: shots of playing basketball rather than just rapping. I feel this is definitely true and could have been improved on. However, I feel that the large amount of lip syncing introduces the artist and makes him familiar amongst the audience. After all, this is his debut album.
4) How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
Obviously, we were familiar with using Final Cut Pro, but only because of our previous media assignments. We found it very easy to edit the film and get the video in sync with the music because of our practice music video we created last year. However, software that I was unfamiliar with was Photoshop. I had never really used Photoshop before, but i made the digipak - a DVD front cover, back and spine. I found it quite challenging using a pretty advanced piece of software for the first time. But I would definitely feel confident using it now if I was asked to make another digipak. We used Blogger to post our research so that everyone can see it and give feedback on whatever they liked.
We had used the HD camera's before and so our group was pretty comfortable using them. Clearly I didn't use the camera's too much, because I was in the shot most of the time. But I had to shoot a few shots when Reece was performing his parts.
With Final Cut you can make shots look more creative than they originally were, for example: if we feel a panning shot was needed, instead of re-shooting we can just zoom in and move the shot from side to side. So there is lots of freedom from mistakes to become more creative whilst using the technology we did for our three products. I don't think the technology ever got in the way of our creativity. because even though we were uploading everything through word document-style blog posts, if we wanted to draw something we could just use the still camera's to take a picture of the drawing, and then upload it to the computer.
In our music video we used a lot of conventions that would be used in professional media products. We tried to use a lot of Goodwin's theory throughout out our music video. We used a lot of 'visuals matching lyrics' and this is probably the strongest aspect of our product. Similarly, we edited the video to fit the music, for example: when a distinctive beat or sound effect occurs, we change the shot etc. When we started creating our product we did a lot of research into other professional music videos of the same or similar genre to ours. In the music videos we researched, we found that they were quite fast paced because the rapping and lyrics were at such a quick tempo. We were inspired by these professional media products, so we tried to create a fast paced music video too. Although our song was probably slower than most rap songs, it still needed to be fast paced to fit the genre. The locations we used in our music video fit the genre well also. We tried to shoot in urban areas, such as a basketball court, skate park and a car park. In the professional music videos we researched the locations were pretty similar to the ones we used.
2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I feel that our promotional package; music video, digipak and magazine advert, work very well together. The main theme we tried to convey through our products was basketball. It's apparent in our music video, on our digipak and magazine advert. There were other sub-themes such as the iconic red jersey that Kyle Rapps (the artist) wears throughout the products and just red as a themed colour.
The concept we were trying to communicate comes from the song name 'Hard Knock Children'. The concept of our music video was school and what 'hard knock' children do after school, for example: go to the basketball court, skate park or just hanging around the streets. He also describes his school experience throughout the song, for example: "First grade, second grade third grade.... walk out that door" referring to the daily anticipation of school ending. He also vents his frustration about school in the song. "Everything I know now I learnt back in Kindergarten." "Teach fake facts in my third grade class." So this is why we chose to base our concept on an anti-school teenager's life style. In the music video we tried to create an image of someone who is laid back, cool, and dislikes any form of social control, (e.g. school) like most rappers.
Most males from the age of 12-16 dislike school and like rap/hip hop music so this was our choice of target audience. I feel that the image of the artist, the song, and the three products will definitely attract a lot of attention from teenage males, because Kyle Rapps is the type of person they aspire to be, purely because he's cool.
3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Most of the people we shared our initial concept with liked our idea of shooting in typical areas that school boys may hang out, so we went ahead with it. We got the basics of the music video sorted for our rough cut (e.g. lip syncing and transitions), took on board peoples thoughts and feedback and then started the more advanced editing. One of the most common feedback from our rough cut was that the first part of the video was good but then it drifted off and became quite sloppy as the the song progressed. So we had to focus a lot of work on the second part of the song for a couple of editing days. Some positives our peers liked were the good lip syncing throughout the music video, good variety and selection of types of shots, nice change in locations, good 'visuals matching lyrics' and the fast paced nature of the the video. It was said that it was clear we put a lot of thought and planning into the locations, shot placement and costumes. The main criticism from both teachers and peers was that we didn't have enough cut-aways, for example: shots of playing basketball rather than just rapping. I feel this is definitely true and could have been improved on. However, I feel that the large amount of lip syncing introduces the artist and makes him familiar amongst the audience. After all, this is his debut album.
4) How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
Obviously, we were familiar with using Final Cut Pro, but only because of our previous media assignments. We found it very easy to edit the film and get the video in sync with the music because of our practice music video we created last year. However, software that I was unfamiliar with was Photoshop. I had never really used Photoshop before, but i made the digipak - a DVD front cover, back and spine. I found it quite challenging using a pretty advanced piece of software for the first time. But I would definitely feel confident using it now if I was asked to make another digipak. We used Blogger to post our research so that everyone can see it and give feedback on whatever they liked.
We had used the HD camera's before and so our group was pretty comfortable using them. Clearly I didn't use the camera's too much, because I was in the shot most of the time. But I had to shoot a few shots when Reece was performing his parts.
With Final Cut you can make shots look more creative than they originally were, for example: if we feel a panning shot was needed, instead of re-shooting we can just zoom in and move the shot from side to side. So there is lots of freedom from mistakes to become more creative whilst using the technology we did for our three products. I don't think the technology ever got in the way of our creativity. because even though we were uploading everything through word document-style blog posts, if we wanted to draw something we could just use the still camera's to take a picture of the drawing, and then upload it to the computer.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Director's/audio commentary research
Director's/audio commentary research
Here are some examples of audio commentary over music video's:
- This is a perfect example of an audio commentary used to explain how exactly the director achieved some shots. The group/artist explain what the song is supposed to be about. But mainly they all are trying to be funny and give their fans a little bit of an extra insight into their group.
- This is just a single speaker audio commentary that goes over the whole track.
- Some audio commentaries are created purely to be funny and entertaining.
Here are some examples of audio commentary for TV series':
- Commentary by actor Neil Flynn talking about co-worker
- Commentary by the cast describing the scene in an entertaining nature.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Ancillary Products Theme/Concept
The brief given to us was to create a theme for all of our ancillary products, rather than using screen shots and cuts from our music video. After looking at Madonnas "Music" album, single and digipak, it became clear that we needed to create a strong theme from the video to use it as a more effective advertising campaign.
Our main idea before this was to use a screen grab of the first shot in our video, with Steve in the court with a basketball and the hoop in the background. We are now biasing our ideas on the theme of a basketball. We feel that this will be a strong, iconic object to use in all our products, and it could mean that whenever this object is seen, the audience will instantly think of Kyle Rapps.
We have a number of ideas for this theme for our Digipak Covers - these all involve a seperate photo shoot which we are going to complete next lesson.
1) We have an idea of just the basketball sitting in the middle of a court for our front cover. The colours will be emphasised with the editing on Photoshop, and we could possibly get a shot with sunlight creating a shadow on one side of the basketball - obviously this will be weather permitting. We plan to get a fairly close up shot of the ball, so we can write the name of the album on the side of the ball when editing it. Another idea is to get the hoop in the background - obviously the framing of the shot will need to be very low to create this effect. We will then take a frame of the iconic basketball and Clevland Cavilier basketball shirt on a hanger in the changing rooms for the back cover with all of the track listings around it.
2) Our second idea is to have a shot of Steve waist up with his iconic basketball jersey and basketball under his arm or in his hand. We will then take exactly the same frame, but from behind him to use as the back cover for the digipak. Of course we will have to be very careful to make sure the frames are exactly the same, otherwise the cover will not look very effective and continuity would fall. We would then use a basketball to cover the disc in the Digipak as the ball is circular like the disc. This would add the iconic object into the design well.
3) The final concept we have for the front cover is to take a shot of the back of some high top Nike trainers and a basketball next to the pair of shoes. We plan to either shoot this in the sports hall, to get a feel of the wooden flooring. Or we could possibly take a shot of them underneath a bench - rather like the idea used in concept 2. The only slight problem with this is that Steve didnt wear Nike trainers in the video - this could ruin the iconic object slightly.
For our Magazine Advert we are still going ahead with the idea of Steve on the basketball court, in costume, with the the iconic basketball and most likely the hoop in the background. We feel that the magazine ad needs to show the audiences more about the artist than the Digipak does. We want to engage the reader and for them to associate the basketball, jersey and court with the artist we are promoting. We also feel we can then write the information on the location background around him and this would look very effective.
Our main idea before this was to use a screen grab of the first shot in our video, with Steve in the court with a basketball and the hoop in the background. We are now biasing our ideas on the theme of a basketball. We feel that this will be a strong, iconic object to use in all our products, and it could mean that whenever this object is seen, the audience will instantly think of Kyle Rapps.
We have a number of ideas for this theme for our Digipak Covers - these all involve a seperate photo shoot which we are going to complete next lesson.
 |
| Idea for back cover |
 |
| Idea for Disc Cover |
 |
| Nike High Top Basketball Trainers |
3) The final concept we have for the front cover is to take a shot of the back of some high top Nike trainers and a basketball next to the pair of shoes. We plan to either shoot this in the sports hall, to get a feel of the wooden flooring. Or we could possibly take a shot of them underneath a bench - rather like the idea used in concept 2. The only slight problem with this is that Steve didnt wear Nike trainers in the video - this could ruin the iconic object slightly.
For our Magazine Advert we are still going ahead with the idea of Steve on the basketball court, in costume, with the the iconic basketball and most likely the hoop in the background. We feel that the magazine ad needs to show the audiences more about the artist than the Digipak does. We want to engage the reader and for them to associate the basketball, jersey and court with the artist we are promoting. We also feel we can then write the information on the location background around him and this would look very effective.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Magazine advert - Planning
- The name of the artist: Kyle Rapps
- The name of the album: Hard Knock Children
- The release date: Nov 20 2012
- Website address: mayhem-entertainment.com/kylerapps
- Myspace address: myspace.com/kylerappsmusic
- Reviews and ratings of album: "Outstanding new artist, old school style" - UK Hip Hop magazine. "4 stars" - AKRecords
- Record Label: Mayhem Entertainment
- Possible pictures of the artist for magazine ad/digipak:
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Ancillary Products
Our deadline for the two Ancillary Products (Digipak and Promotion Magazine Ad) is the last lesson of the week 25th November. This means we have little time to think about what theme we are going to base the products around, and then produce them. We have thought that we could definitely use screen grabs from the video we have created. There are very good shots from the basketball court with Steve and Reece and we think that it would be a nice idea to use basketball as the main theme to our products. Shots such as when Steve is on the step with a basketball or when they are both playing basketball, could be a very simple but clever shot to use as a front page of a digipak or a magazine ad. We have considered the possibility of doing a separate photo shoot for the products, however you will have to take into the considerations of the weather (if we want to film outside), finding the costumes we used in the filming and finding the right photo to use. We have a lot of strong shots in the video, therefore it would definitely be best to use the shots we have already gathered. Photo shop will allow us to edit the photo's to a professional level and this will mean we can create an urban look to our screen grabs.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Amar And Andria's Feedback
After editing further after our rough cut and adding more shots we filmed on Thursday, we then got feedback from Amar (who is a professional music video producer) and Andria (our media teacher). They were highly impressed with most of the lip-sycning - mainly the first part of the video - however they felt because Steve's great lipsyncing, the second artists part is slightly outshone. We were told to try and pick out the best lines from Reece's part to use and then use cutaway's for the parts of the verse that aren't as good. At the beginning Amar felt that there should be a short cutaway before Steve started rapping to make the beginning more involved and engaging - we will make sure we do add something in here.
We were given credit for the walking and rapping we used in the video - however it was felt that there was not enough of this. We will be looking through our footage to find more shots like this as they are seen to make the video look less simple. The pace of the editing was good, however they also felt that some of the shots needed to be tweaked to make sure the lip-syncing (especially in the third verse) was as good as it could be.
Finally we all thought that effects and filters could be added to make the video look more urban. Although we were praised for our use of costumes, props and locations to create and urban look, it was still felt that to make the piece more professional that filters and effects should be added. We have decided to add these in right at the end, when we have finished all of the editing of the shots.
We were given credit for the walking and rapping we used in the video - however it was felt that there was not enough of this. We will be looking through our footage to find more shots like this as they are seen to make the video look less simple. The pace of the editing was good, however they also felt that some of the shots needed to be tweaked to make sure the lip-syncing (especially in the third verse) was as good as it could be.
Finally we all thought that effects and filters could be added to make the video look more urban. Although we were praised for our use of costumes, props and locations to create and urban look, it was still felt that to make the piece more professional that filters and effects should be added. We have decided to add these in right at the end, when we have finished all of the editing of the shots.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Feedback Reflection and Action Plan
After both positive feedback and some constructive criticism, we feel this peer review will definitely help us improve our music video greatly. Firstly due to the "excellent" lip syncing in the first section of the video, many felt that the second half needed to be improved or perhaps redone. We all feel that this is the case and we will be re-filming the second artists part of the song, to make sure the lip syncing is as good as the first artist. We were also slightly criticised for our use of plain shots such as mid shots. Therefore we will most likely have to film a greater variety of shots for both artists - for example using side shots, close ups and possibly zoom ins from the camera.
For the editing of our film, we were told to try and make the video seem more "urban'. It was suggested to use lighting or the editing software to saturate the video. We feel that we could possibly try to use the software to create a more visual edit - or perhaps film at night, maybe under street lights, to add a good effect.
Another idea raised was the use of shots without rapping, to break up all of the lip syncing shots. This will make the video more engaging and will create a more proffessional piece of work.
We are planning to film in next Thursdays lesson (3rd Nov) and then at night. We will then be filming a variety of shots on the basketball court - with both artists and then some street shots at dusk/night to create a more urban effect. We will be bringing a different costume for the street view and may have to take into account lighting when filming in the dark.
We feel there wasn't enough use of props. Therefore, when we next film we'll try to bring in more props that relate to our genre, eg: skateboard n' cigarettes etc
For the editing of our film, we were told to try and make the video seem more "urban'. It was suggested to use lighting or the editing software to saturate the video. We feel that we could possibly try to use the software to create a more visual edit - or perhaps film at night, maybe under street lights, to add a good effect.
Another idea raised was the use of shots without rapping, to break up all of the lip syncing shots. This will make the video more engaging and will create a more proffessional piece of work.
We are planning to film in next Thursdays lesson (3rd Nov) and then at night. We will then be filming a variety of shots on the basketball court - with both artists and then some street shots at dusk/night to create a more urban effect. We will be bringing a different costume for the street view and may have to take into account lighting when filming in the dark.
We feel there wasn't enough use of props. Therefore, when we next film we'll try to bring in more props that relate to our genre, eg: skateboard n' cigarettes etc
Friday, 14 October 2011
Final Cut - So Far
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| This is our final cut project so far in its entirety. |
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| These are the shots we've filmed so far. |
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| One of our low angle shots to make the artist look superior and cool. |
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| We will use this shot, or a shot like this, in between breaks in the song |
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| This is what we've got in the editing mix so far |
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Mise en Scene - Research
Mise en Scene of 'Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)' By Nas
Location:
The setting used in this Rap/Hip Hop music video are usually urban locations. For example, a Jail, a dark alley, the streets of New York and briefly a basketball court, which are all similar to our production. The locations are very genre typical.
Props/Costume
The costume in this music video include flat caps and parker jackets. The music video includes props such as fake blood to look like a bullet wound.
Lighting
The lighting in this music video is usually quite dark, during day time it's usually shot in an enclosed area such as a jail. When it is shot during night time there are a lot of artificial lights such as street lamps, New York shop lights and electric billboard. Again enhancing the urban theme for this hip hop music video
Test Shots
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| Medium shot, showing the basketball players in the background |
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| Close up through the wire fence |
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| Close up through wire fence |
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| Close up with basketball in the background |
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| Walking on basketball court |
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| Walking on basketball court |
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| Walking on basketball court |
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| Walking on basketball court |
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| We decided a close up on the step would fit well with our genre so we may possible use it in our video |
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| Walking and rapping on the street (not actual location) |
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| Walking and rapping on the street (not actual location) |
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| Walking and rapping on the street (not actual location) |
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| Walking and rapping on the street (not actual location) |
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| Our first shot, close up of basketball shot, no music will be played at the point |
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| Shot of two characters |
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| Low angle close up shot of artist |
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| Side on shot, we could switch between a variety of shots |
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| Another low angle shot. |
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Shot List
This is our shot list. Similar to our storyboard but the shot list tells us how to frame the shot and what props to bring.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Storyboard.
Whilst the others were doing blog posts, I was working out and drawing the storyboard. I achieved this in the same way I imagined any auteur, like Spike Jonze who we researched, would. I listened to the song over and over again and tried to picture where about would be a suitable and effective place to switch between shots. I also did the same thing to see how the song made me feel and what I imagined the music video has to include. I came to the conclusion that the music video had to involve an urban theme, a basketball court/skate park were a couple of ideas for a central location/theme. I used Goodwin's points to help to decide what to include in the video, for example: Music/visuals - when Kyle Rapps says about going to a bank, we're going to film our artist outside a bank. and there are many more examples of music/visuals. I feel that because I spent quite a lot of time on the storyboard that we will stick to it for a reasonable amount. However, obviously I understand that whilst filming we may find some inspiration and change it and we may find a better way to put a couple of shots together.
All in all I felt it was crucial to have a good plan of our music video to use as a guide, I believe it will make things go a lot more smoothly when it comes to filming.
All in all I felt it was crucial to have a good plan of our music video to use as a guide, I believe it will make things go a lot more smoothly when it comes to filming.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Background Research
Indie Photo Shoot (Research)
From our mood board we have found out various relationships and themes for Indie bands and artists.
Firstly we have noticed that a few have low down shots, showing them not looking at the camera, but looking thoughtful or just chilling out. You also notice that there are a few pictures which show the band in a forest, which we feel shows that their band is natural and “stripped to the bone”. It can show they are a simple band that only use their natural music – no auto-tune or garage band loops etc.
Despite most bands scruffy look, you can notice that most are still wearing smart clothing making them look fresh and cool. You can see that the clothing style ranges from white tops with denim jackets, to duffle coats and denim shirts. We like the use of the shirts preferably denim, with the top button done up. We like the coats worn by most of the artists. None of the artists in our mood board wear bright or really vibrant clothing; it’s mostly plain or stripy shirts. The indie genre styles we’ve picked out for our mood board are quite plain and serious – smart casual.
For our photo shoot we’ve decided we’re going to use the low angle shot seen in our mood board. We’re also going to shoot it in the forest; Hopefully the sun will be out and we can recreate the effect from one of our mood board images. We hope to create this effect by catching the rays through the forest treetops almost giving a blurry effect. Our artist will be wearing a simple denim shirt with a casual jacket, un buttoned. He’ll also be wearing beige chinos and smart casual shoes. The artist will not be looking directly into the camera, as most of the artists we researched were not doing this either. He’ll be looking thoughtfully away from the camera as a way of representing the Indie look.
Props: Denim Shirt, Black Coat, Chinos, and Smart Shoes - Reece
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