Tuesday 30 March 2010
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Evaluation
For our Music Video Assignment we had to create our own song using Garage-Band and then design and film a pop promo for our song.
My responsibilities during the project were to draw the storyboard for our final group idea, prepare a call sheet, and write out a risk assessment for one of the locations which we filmed at, to get permission from the church which we filmed at to make sure they would let us film inside. I was also camera woman for the whole of the project which meant that I had to shoot a variety of shots form different heights and angles under the direction of Mark who was directing and being filmed in our promo.
Overall I think I did my jobs well and was organised and punctual to both days of our shoot. I also think that the shots I filmed on camera were of a good quality and contain a good amount of varied shots. If we were to do this project again I would like to keep the same high level of effort and organisation because this combined with teamwork was what made our pop promo successful.
From this project I have learnt how to set up lights and use a camera effectively. I am pleased about this as at the start of the assignment I wasn’t very confident about using a camera but as we progressed through the shoot I became more confident and started varying the shots I filmed a lot more. I also learnt how to do a proper risk assessment and call sheet which I wasn’t sure about at the start of the project. I also learnt how to use final cut properly and was able to edit our work well which I wouldn’t of been able to do before the project as my video editing skills weren’t very strong at the start of the project. On the whole, I think that my editing and camera skills have improved dramatically since the start of the project as I have been more hands on with the production work and got to grips more with the equipment and technology.
The final edit of our video is of a good quality as the images are very clear and the audio can be heard clearly. However, when we compressed our video to upload it to YouTube several frames of our video were skipped due to frames being dropped on Final Cut. This meant that some shots in our video were cut out making the narrative seen inconsistent. If we were to do the project again we would make sure that we batch captured our work properly so that frames didn’t drop on final cut so that our video would be uploaded to YouTube in full.
Our use of editing was very effective as we used a variety of jump cuts during the fight scene to make the fight seem realistic. Also, our editing was very quick throughout the whole promo as we had to keep the pace of the video at the same speed as the music. We used a wide variety of camera shots including close ups, extreme close ups, establishing shots, long shots, mid shots, POV shots and tracking shots which made our promo successful as were able to capture the audience’s attention by doing this. We used five locations during the filming of our promo which were; St Mary At Stoke Church, The Abandoned Railway near Cineworld, Chantry Park, Alexandra Park and Ipswich Docks. These all fitted in with the genre of our promo as we wanted our video to look gothic so used places where there would be a lot of shadows and dark areas. These locations looked quite effective in our final edit as we desaturated our video so that the picture wasn’t fully black and white but so it wasn’t in colour either. Our soundtrack was techno/rock and worked quite effectively with our video as we kept our editing fast paced so that people wouldn’t lose interest. However, because none of us in our group were musical, our vocals weren’t of a very good quality which meant that the lyrics seems inconsistent in some places. After reviewing our promo we discovered that the narrative of our video wasn’t very clear as there didn’t seem to be a reason for the guy in our video to be chased although it seemed clear that he was mourning the loss of someone when he laid the picture down at the grave.
I think that my ideas came across well in the finished piece as I wanted to have close up of the church tower and church which would be cut to the beat of the church bells at the start, which we used in our promo and it was very effective. During our brainstorm for our individual ideas for the pop promo we all designed storyboards which contained a church and a chase scene which was used in the final project. The only difference between my original indivual idea and the final group idea was that i had initially put zombies into my synopsis but when we discussed this as a group we realized that we would need to get some extras and buy costumes etc which would have been more complicated and expensive than the simple chase we decided to do.
If we were to do this assignment again we would make sure that the narrative is clearer so that people would understand what is going on in the video.
During the editing week, we shew the rest fo our class our final edit in order to get their responses to our work as our intended target audience was media student and teenagers.
Overall they liked the video and were impressed with the variety of camera shots and fast editing techniques we had used. However, some members of our class were a bit unsure about the narrative of our promo and didnt why our character was being chased. This wasnt helped by the fact that some shots had been skipped due to Final Cut and compressor because of dropped frames during the editing process. However they did think that the music and the visulas related to each other and that the lyrics were relevant although sometimes they were a bit unclear on the track. I think that we intended our video to be compressed and shown on youtube as this means that a larger audience would be able to view our work so we could get a wider variety of feedback.
Overall, i think the pop promo went very well as we got a large amount of footage and were able to edit it the way we wanted to. However, I am slightly disappointed that the narrative of our promo wasnt as clear as we wanted it to be however i think this was due to errors in the editing process.
When comparing our promo to professional music video's, i think that we did quite well considering we had no budget and only one camera to film with. I also think we kept in with the techno/rock style as most video's of that style are very random and abstract.
Finally, i think our pop promo was a success and that my group worked well as a team, however, if we were to do it agian i would make sure that our narrative was clearer and that our video was able to be compressed without dropping frames.
Video In Interactive Media
Video in Interactive Media
Over the past 30 years the use of Interactive media has increased dramatically. In the 1980’s films were only viewed at the cinemas and could only be bought on VHS. In the 1990’s the internet started to be used more but has only become really popular in the last ten years. In 2005, YouTube was launched which meant that people would be able to upload their own clips as well as watching music video’s and film trailers that would have only been watched on television before. As the popularity of downloading music and video increased, more and more content has become available online, so that we are able to watch films, television programme’s, music videos, adverts and film trailers at our computers. As media students, we need to be aware of Video in Interactive Media as we will have to think about the ways in which people will be able to watch our films and work.
Media Platforms in Interactive Media
Media Platforms are programmes or products which we can use to view and interact with video.
One of the most prominent media platforms in the world today is the internet as we can use websites such as YouTube, 4oD, ITV Catch Up and BBC I-player to watch the latest content from our favourite bands and TV shows. This is good for TV channels such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 as more and more young people are watching TV via the internet so by making their shows available online they are not losing viewers but gaining them. Websites such as YouTube and Myspace also give the opportunity for unsigned music acts and others to broadcast themselves daily worldwide in order to try and get signed by record labels and TV companies. For example, Andy McKee posted various video’s of him playing guitar on YouTube and was discovered by a record company who gave him a contract. You can know buy his album online. However these websites can also have a negative effect and artists can receive negative comments and abuse as anyone is allowed to comment on the content they have been watching.
Music and Video can also be shared using email attachments which gives us an opportunity to share content with anyone. However, email attachments can also be used by companies to send SPAM - which is unwanted content - and advertise their products to us. Email attachments have also been used to send viruses to computers globally which means people can be slightly apprehensive about opening attached content.
DVD’s have become a very popular way of watching video content as viewers can now watch their films in different languages or with subtitles as well as being able to watch deleted scenes and other extras all on the same disk, which is a huge development since VHS as you would only get the film in the language you had bought it in and would not be given any extra content. On the other hand, DVD’s are now slowly becoming less popular due to the release of blu ray, which are disks which can hold even more content than a DVD and are supposed to give viewers cinema quality. This shows that this type of Media platform will always be changing as companies such as Sony will want to make the public buy even more products that are of a high quality.
CD - ROM’s are used by schools so that students can learn topics by using interactive media. This means that the student has to make choices on the screen. This is a good way for children to learn as they can be more independent however, this method of teaching may not be as successful as sitting in a classroom as a computer cant help you as much as a teacher can.
In the last few years “Kiosks” have been placed in towns and cities to help the general public get useful information, such as bus times, cinema times, road maps, and other tourist information. They are a useful media platform as they give the public instant access to important information.
Presentations can also be used to share information with others. For example, you can use Powerpoint presentations to show text, video, audio and images to other by putting them on various slides and showing them in a slide show. This is a very good of sharing information as people can watch the slideshow and write down notes as well as watching video or listening to the audio without having to go to a separate website. There are also a variety of sites where you can upload a blog which means that you can share your work on the web giving you the opportunity to show your video’s and content globally. Overall this is a good way of sharing media content however, -like YouTube- you can receive negative feedback on blogs as well as receiving abuse as it is open to the public.
Over the past few years a “red button” option has been available on televisions so that viewers can ‘interact’ with the TV programme they are watching. This can include voting on shows such as X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent, but also being able to catch up on previous shows from that particular channel. This is a good way of making the audience interact with the programme as they can instantly vote etc without having to move from the TV, however, some interactive media using the ‘red button’ has to be paid for which means that only a small amount of people will use this media platform.
You can now also watch movies, listen to music, surf the net, and play games on mobile phones which mean that people can access a wide range of media on one electronic device. This is a very successful media platform as mobile phones has become an essential in modern life. You can also share the content on your phone with other via blue -tooth which means that content can be shared a lot quicker than using other media platforms.
Uses of Video in Interactive Media
I am now going to talk about the uses of video in interactive media and why people create different types of film.
Short films are made so that they can be compressed and posted on sites such as YouTube or blogs so that producers can receive instant feedback on their work as people will post comments on what they have just watched. They are an effective use of video content as they are short and appeal to YouTube users as they only want to watch video’s which are five minutes long as opposed to watching a 2 hour film. This is also a good way for amateur film makers to show their work globally in the hope of getting work from film companies. This is a good way of promoting your work however; you can receive negative feedback from the general public.
Below is an example of a short film which is from a website called shortfilms.com that lets amateur film makers post their work online.
http://www.shortfilms.com/video/565/BACKSTABBER--A-Film-Noir
Companies use promotional material to promote a certain music artist or film. A good example of this is Michael Jackson’s short film for his hit single ‘Thriller’ which went back into the charts after it was released and became a world wide success. Music video’s are a good way of helping artists to become successful as they can be shown on TV and posted on the internet which means that a wider audience will see it, and therefore will make the band well known.
Below is the “thriller” short movie which helped Michael Jackson become very successful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MuUcxHATo
Film Trailers are used by Directors and Producers to get feedback from the public to see if their new film release is going to be successful or not. This is a good way for film makers to communicate with the public to find out whether they think the film is going to live up to expectations, especially if the film is based on a comic or book as fans of that particular genre may want certain lines from the books to be included. This is a good use of video content as it summarizes what is going to be in the film and can give film producers feedback from the public via message boards and fan sites.
Below is the trailer for Alice in wonderland which received 6,619,586 views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMkNrX60mA
User Generated content is material on websites that is produced by the users of the website. For example YouTube is made up of User Generate Content as people view video’s and can upload their own work for other’s to see. There is also an opportunity for people to comment on the video’s they see, and become recognized by record and film companies.
Viral Marketing is where companies advertise their products on sites such as Facebook and Myspace by posting adverts which can influence users of the site to buy the products.This is a good way of advertising as it means that a large amount of people can see you advert quickly, however these adverts can also be sent via email, which means that viruses can also be attached to them. Videos are also posted on YouTube to advertise products. They are often pasted as video responses and people will click on them to see what they are therefore getting more views from the public.
Below is an example of a viral marketing video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPXGuRIXsA
Advertising is used all over the internet. Whether its video’s or pop up’s companies are always trying to persuade you to buy new things or try new products. A good example of advertising are pop ups which can sometimes play a short advert. These appear suddenly as you click on a website to immediately capture your attention and make you read about the product they are trying to sell. However, pop ups can be blocked by users which means that they may not be as successful as they were intended. Viral marketing tends to be more successful than advertising as they post small adverts on websites which will capture the attention of users more than pop ups.
Below is an example of pop up advertising.
Video games are now being used as extra’s on DVD’s so that we can interact with the fictional characters from the movie. These games, when completed can also unlock bonus footage on the DVD. This is a good way of getting people to interact with the media as they are being encouraged to earn bonus content.
Virtual reality tours are used to let users interact with a computer simulated environment which can reflect the real world or an imaginary one. This is often used in places such as museums or historical buildings to show tourists what life would have been like in a certain era in history.
The Internet has also started to be used for long distance learning courses. This means that students can study a degree online without having to leave their homes and ca receive support from tutors via email. This is a good way for students to learn as they only have to pay for the course which means that they will be in less debt than if they were to go to university. However, this method of education isn’t as interactive as being in a classroom as most of the work students have to do will be individual which may mean that they aren’t learning as well as they could be. Also, if E-Learning becomes really popular there may not be a need for teachers anymore which means that a lot of people would not have jobs anymore.
Video in Interactive Media Technologies
I am now going to talk about technologies which are used to show video’s in interactive media.
Video compression is used to make a video smaller so that it can be put onto websites such as YouTube or so that it can be embedded into a blog. This makes it a lot easier for people to share media content as they can upload it onto websites and blogs however the quality of the video can sometimes be bad when it is compressed and can become pixilated.
Streaming is when you can watch content that hasn’t been fully downloaded. In other words, video and audio can be streamed ‘as live’ across the internet which means that people across the globe can listen to your content. However, there can be problems with streaming as it can sometimes take a long time for the content to load, especially if there are loads of people watching or listening to the same thing at the same time.
There are four main types of interactive video formats which are MPEG, AVI, MOV and WMV.
MPEG or mp3 is a popular file format for audio. The pro’s of MPEG are that they are small and high quality and easy to send to people. For example a 8GB i-pod holds up to 2000 mp3’s.
AVI is a video file format which was created by Microsoft.
MOV is a file format used for quick-time player to play music and video.
WMV or Windows media video is a file format which is used on Windows Media Player to play video.
AVI,MOV and WMV can play a variety of different video’s which is why they are all so popular however, they do not work on all computers as you need to have certain codec’s to run them.
Data transfer rates are how quick your internet speed loads a video. If the file size is very large your internet will take a long time to download it whereas if the file is smaller it will be a lot quicker.
Frame rates are the amount of frames that are shown in each second which are usually 25 frames per second.
Screen Resolution is the quality of the footage you are watching. This is normally measured in pixels. For example on YouTube you can choose to play video’s in 360p, 480p or 760p
Picture ratios give you the option for how big or small you want to view your video file. For example, traditional televisions show 4:3 as the were a square shape, but these days televisions are wide screen, which means that we see video’s in 16:3. Film Makers and Music video directors take this into consideration when filming as they have to consider who will be viewing their work and what picture ratio they will be watching it in.
Digital Rights Management are the restrictions that the producers of the video can put on their work to stop people from downloading their content unless they are prepared to pay for it.
There are five types of Media Players that are commonly used to watch video in interactive media. These are DVD, I-Player, Quick-time, Windows Media Player and Real Player.
A DVD or digital versatile disk is a disc which can store a large amount of video and audio content on it by burning it onto it using a fine laser. This can then be played on a DVD player, computer and some games consoles. It is very popular way to watch video content as you can also watch interviews and behind the scenes footage which is also included on DVDs.
Below are the pros and cons of DVD’s;
Pros
The hold a large amount of high quality video and audio footage
They include bonus footage
They have extra’s which encourage us to interact and unlock bonus features
They also include trailer of upcoming films, helping to advertise movies which will be released later in the year.
Cons
They are becoming less popular due to blu ray
I-player was created by the BBC to enable its viewers to ‘catch up’ on programmes which they may have missed during the week. I-player ‘streams’ it’s content so that viewers can watch the video’s whenever they like. I-player is quite a successful media player however you can’t play any other files on it other than the ones that are provided which mean that there will be a limited amount of people who want to use it.
Below are the pros and cons of i-player
Pros
People can watch programme’s they have missed on TV
The BBC have gained a wider audience by making content available on the web
Cons
You can only play certain content on the players
You need a good broadband connection so that you can download more content easily
Quick-time is a media player which was developed by Apple, which can play video and audio. It is a very popular media player as you can play whatever you want in it as long as it is in a .mov format.
Below are the pros and cons of Quick-time
Pros
It can play a lot of different video’s
High quality playback
Cons
Video’s have to be in a .mov format to play on quick-time.
Windows Media Player can be used to store and play your music but can also be used to play video. These days, it is not very popular as people tend to use I-tunes for there music and Quick- time for their video’s.
Below are the pros and con’s of Windows Media Player;
Pros
Audio and video can be played on them
You can store music on it
Cons
It has become less popular since the launch of i-tunes
It can only play files in a .WMV and a .WMA format
Real Player is a media player that plays most formats of video and audio which is why it is extremely popular as you don’t have to spend time converting content.
Below are the pros and cons of Real Player
Pro’s
It’s a standardized format which can be run on most computers
Cons
It has become less popular due to QuickTime and other popular players.
Video’s can be ‘embedded’ into to blogs and websites which means that people can view your work without having to follow a link to sites such a YouTube as they are written into the page.
Video Tagging is when you can tag your video so that when someone types a certain word into you tube your video comes up as it is associated with that word.
Overall video in interactive media is successful because it’s a format that is easy to share, data can be created in days instead of months and feedback can be given immediately.
Over the past 30 years the use of Interactive media has increased dramatically. In the 1980’s films were only viewed at the cinemas and could only be bought on VHS. In the 1990’s the internet started to be used more but has only become really popular in the last ten years. In 2005, YouTube was launched which meant that people would be able to upload their own clips as well as watching music video’s and film trailers that would have only been watched on television before. As the popularity of downloading music and video increased, more and more content has become available online, so that we are able to watch films, television programme’s, music videos, adverts and film trailers at our computers. As media students, we need to be aware of Video in Interactive Media as we will have to think about the ways in which people will be able to watch our films and work.
Media Platforms in Interactive Media
Media Platforms are programmes or products which we can use to view and interact with video.
One of the most prominent media platforms in the world today is the internet as we can use websites such as YouTube, 4oD, ITV Catch Up and BBC I-player to watch the latest content from our favourite bands and TV shows. This is good for TV channels such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 as more and more young people are watching TV via the internet so by making their shows available online they are not losing viewers but gaining them. Websites such as YouTube and Myspace also give the opportunity for unsigned music acts and others to broadcast themselves daily worldwide in order to try and get signed by record labels and TV companies. For example, Andy McKee posted various video’s of him playing guitar on YouTube and was discovered by a record company who gave him a contract. You can know buy his album online. However these websites can also have a negative effect and artists can receive negative comments and abuse as anyone is allowed to comment on the content they have been watching.
Music and Video can also be shared using email attachments which gives us an opportunity to share content with anyone. However, email attachments can also be used by companies to send SPAM - which is unwanted content - and advertise their products to us. Email attachments have also been used to send viruses to computers globally which means people can be slightly apprehensive about opening attached content.
DVD’s have become a very popular way of watching video content as viewers can now watch their films in different languages or with subtitles as well as being able to watch deleted scenes and other extras all on the same disk, which is a huge development since VHS as you would only get the film in the language you had bought it in and would not be given any extra content. On the other hand, DVD’s are now slowly becoming less popular due to the release of blu ray, which are disks which can hold even more content than a DVD and are supposed to give viewers cinema quality. This shows that this type of Media platform will always be changing as companies such as Sony will want to make the public buy even more products that are of a high quality.
CD - ROM’s are used by schools so that students can learn topics by using interactive media. This means that the student has to make choices on the screen. This is a good way for children to learn as they can be more independent however, this method of teaching may not be as successful as sitting in a classroom as a computer cant help you as much as a teacher can.
In the last few years “Kiosks” have been placed in towns and cities to help the general public get useful information, such as bus times, cinema times, road maps, and other tourist information. They are a useful media platform as they give the public instant access to important information.
Presentations can also be used to share information with others. For example, you can use Powerpoint presentations to show text, video, audio and images to other by putting them on various slides and showing them in a slide show. This is a very good of sharing information as people can watch the slideshow and write down notes as well as watching video or listening to the audio without having to go to a separate website. There are also a variety of sites where you can upload a blog which means that you can share your work on the web giving you the opportunity to show your video’s and content globally. Overall this is a good way of sharing media content however, -like YouTube- you can receive negative feedback on blogs as well as receiving abuse as it is open to the public.
Over the past few years a “red button” option has been available on televisions so that viewers can ‘interact’ with the TV programme they are watching. This can include voting on shows such as X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent, but also being able to catch up on previous shows from that particular channel. This is a good way of making the audience interact with the programme as they can instantly vote etc without having to move from the TV, however, some interactive media using the ‘red button’ has to be paid for which means that only a small amount of people will use this media platform.
You can now also watch movies, listen to music, surf the net, and play games on mobile phones which mean that people can access a wide range of media on one electronic device. This is a very successful media platform as mobile phones has become an essential in modern life. You can also share the content on your phone with other via blue -tooth which means that content can be shared a lot quicker than using other media platforms.
Uses of Video in Interactive Media
I am now going to talk about the uses of video in interactive media and why people create different types of film.
Short films are made so that they can be compressed and posted on sites such as YouTube or blogs so that producers can receive instant feedback on their work as people will post comments on what they have just watched. They are an effective use of video content as they are short and appeal to YouTube users as they only want to watch video’s which are five minutes long as opposed to watching a 2 hour film. This is also a good way for amateur film makers to show their work globally in the hope of getting work from film companies. This is a good way of promoting your work however; you can receive negative feedback from the general public.
Below is an example of a short film which is from a website called shortfilms.com that lets amateur film makers post their work online.
http://www.shortfilms.com/video/565/BACKSTABBER--A-Film-Noir
Companies use promotional material to promote a certain music artist or film. A good example of this is Michael Jackson’s short film for his hit single ‘Thriller’ which went back into the charts after it was released and became a world wide success. Music video’s are a good way of helping artists to become successful as they can be shown on TV and posted on the internet which means that a wider audience will see it, and therefore will make the band well known.
Below is the “thriller” short movie which helped Michael Jackson become very successful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MuUcxHATo
Film Trailers are used by Directors and Producers to get feedback from the public to see if their new film release is going to be successful or not. This is a good way for film makers to communicate with the public to find out whether they think the film is going to live up to expectations, especially if the film is based on a comic or book as fans of that particular genre may want certain lines from the books to be included. This is a good use of video content as it summarizes what is going to be in the film and can give film producers feedback from the public via message boards and fan sites.
Below is the trailer for Alice in wonderland which received 6,619,586 views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMkNrX60mA
User Generated content is material on websites that is produced by the users of the website. For example YouTube is made up of User Generate Content as people view video’s and can upload their own work for other’s to see. There is also an opportunity for people to comment on the video’s they see, and become recognized by record and film companies.
Viral Marketing is where companies advertise their products on sites such as Facebook and Myspace by posting adverts which can influence users of the site to buy the products.This is a good way of advertising as it means that a large amount of people can see you advert quickly, however these adverts can also be sent via email, which means that viruses can also be attached to them. Videos are also posted on YouTube to advertise products. They are often pasted as video responses and people will click on them to see what they are therefore getting more views from the public.
Below is an example of a viral marketing video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPXGuRIXsA
Advertising is used all over the internet. Whether its video’s or pop up’s companies are always trying to persuade you to buy new things or try new products. A good example of advertising are pop ups which can sometimes play a short advert. These appear suddenly as you click on a website to immediately capture your attention and make you read about the product they are trying to sell. However, pop ups can be blocked by users which means that they may not be as successful as they were intended. Viral marketing tends to be more successful than advertising as they post small adverts on websites which will capture the attention of users more than pop ups.
Below is an example of pop up advertising.
Video games are now being used as extra’s on DVD’s so that we can interact with the fictional characters from the movie. These games, when completed can also unlock bonus footage on the DVD. This is a good way of getting people to interact with the media as they are being encouraged to earn bonus content.
Virtual reality tours are used to let users interact with a computer simulated environment which can reflect the real world or an imaginary one. This is often used in places such as museums or historical buildings to show tourists what life would have been like in a certain era in history.
The Internet has also started to be used for long distance learning courses. This means that students can study a degree online without having to leave their homes and ca receive support from tutors via email. This is a good way for students to learn as they only have to pay for the course which means that they will be in less debt than if they were to go to university. However, this method of education isn’t as interactive as being in a classroom as most of the work students have to do will be individual which may mean that they aren’t learning as well as they could be. Also, if E-Learning becomes really popular there may not be a need for teachers anymore which means that a lot of people would not have jobs anymore.
Video in Interactive Media Technologies
I am now going to talk about technologies which are used to show video’s in interactive media.
Video compression is used to make a video smaller so that it can be put onto websites such as YouTube or so that it can be embedded into a blog. This makes it a lot easier for people to share media content as they can upload it onto websites and blogs however the quality of the video can sometimes be bad when it is compressed and can become pixilated.
Streaming is when you can watch content that hasn’t been fully downloaded. In other words, video and audio can be streamed ‘as live’ across the internet which means that people across the globe can listen to your content. However, there can be problems with streaming as it can sometimes take a long time for the content to load, especially if there are loads of people watching or listening to the same thing at the same time.
There are four main types of interactive video formats which are MPEG, AVI, MOV and WMV.
MPEG or mp3 is a popular file format for audio. The pro’s of MPEG are that they are small and high quality and easy to send to people. For example a 8GB i-pod holds up to 2000 mp3’s.
AVI is a video file format which was created by Microsoft.
MOV is a file format used for quick-time player to play music and video.
WMV or Windows media video is a file format which is used on Windows Media Player to play video.
AVI,MOV and WMV can play a variety of different video’s which is why they are all so popular however, they do not work on all computers as you need to have certain codec’s to run them.
Data transfer rates are how quick your internet speed loads a video. If the file size is very large your internet will take a long time to download it whereas if the file is smaller it will be a lot quicker.
Frame rates are the amount of frames that are shown in each second which are usually 25 frames per second.
Screen Resolution is the quality of the footage you are watching. This is normally measured in pixels. For example on YouTube you can choose to play video’s in 360p, 480p or 760p
Picture ratios give you the option for how big or small you want to view your video file. For example, traditional televisions show 4:3 as the were a square shape, but these days televisions are wide screen, which means that we see video’s in 16:3. Film Makers and Music video directors take this into consideration when filming as they have to consider who will be viewing their work and what picture ratio they will be watching it in.
Digital Rights Management are the restrictions that the producers of the video can put on their work to stop people from downloading their content unless they are prepared to pay for it.
There are five types of Media Players that are commonly used to watch video in interactive media. These are DVD, I-Player, Quick-time, Windows Media Player and Real Player.
A DVD or digital versatile disk is a disc which can store a large amount of video and audio content on it by burning it onto it using a fine laser. This can then be played on a DVD player, computer and some games consoles. It is very popular way to watch video content as you can also watch interviews and behind the scenes footage which is also included on DVDs.
Below are the pros and cons of DVD’s;
Pros
The hold a large amount of high quality video and audio footage
They include bonus footage
They have extra’s which encourage us to interact and unlock bonus features
They also include trailer of upcoming films, helping to advertise movies which will be released later in the year.
Cons
They are becoming less popular due to blu ray
I-player was created by the BBC to enable its viewers to ‘catch up’ on programmes which they may have missed during the week. I-player ‘streams’ it’s content so that viewers can watch the video’s whenever they like. I-player is quite a successful media player however you can’t play any other files on it other than the ones that are provided which mean that there will be a limited amount of people who want to use it.
Below are the pros and cons of i-player
Pros
People can watch programme’s they have missed on TV
The BBC have gained a wider audience by making content available on the web
Cons
You can only play certain content on the players
You need a good broadband connection so that you can download more content easily
Quick-time is a media player which was developed by Apple, which can play video and audio. It is a very popular media player as you can play whatever you want in it as long as it is in a .mov format.
Below are the pros and cons of Quick-time
Pros
It can play a lot of different video’s
High quality playback
Cons
Video’s have to be in a .mov format to play on quick-time.
Windows Media Player can be used to store and play your music but can also be used to play video. These days, it is not very popular as people tend to use I-tunes for there music and Quick- time for their video’s.
Below are the pros and con’s of Windows Media Player;
Pros
Audio and video can be played on them
You can store music on it
Cons
It has become less popular since the launch of i-tunes
It can only play files in a .WMV and a .WMA format
Real Player is a media player that plays most formats of video and audio which is why it is extremely popular as you don’t have to spend time converting content.
Below are the pros and cons of Real Player
Pro’s
It’s a standardized format which can be run on most computers
Cons
It has become less popular due to QuickTime and other popular players.
Video’s can be ‘embedded’ into to blogs and websites which means that people can view your work without having to follow a link to sites such a YouTube as they are written into the page.
Video Tagging is when you can tag your video so that when someone types a certain word into you tube your video comes up as it is associated with that word.
Overall video in interactive media is successful because it’s a format that is easy to share, data can be created in days instead of months and feedback can be given immediately.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Lip Sync Production
Our Task was to create a video in which we would 'lip sync' to 'Could It Be Magic' By Barry Manilow. One of the first problems we had was trying to listen to the song outside as we were using James Mp3. We decided to buy some speakers to plug into the Mp3 Player but this turned out to be unsuccessful as the music was really quiet so we decided to use headphones instead. Our second problem was that the version of the song we had been given was ten minutes long whihc meant that we had to fill at least five minutes of instrumental time. We were also given the wrong lyrics for the song so we had to spend extra time re-writing them during our shooting time. The intiail filming of the lip sync went ok, and we managed to film all our verses reasonably well and the chorus was ok too even though we had had some problems wiht it because of the lyrics and the fact that the tripod we were given was broken. When we returned to college to edit our video, we realsied that the tape had been faulty and had rsulted in most of our work having stripes over it. This mean that we had to go film some more footage during the afternoon in order to make up for the original recordings that we had lost. In the end we managed to record most of the lip sync however it wasnt as good as we would of liked it to be. If we were to do the lip-sync again, we would like to get a better song and think of a better way of hearing the music so that our video would be of a better quality and also make sure that we were shooting in the correct size so that our video didnt play as widescreen.
Purpose Of Music Video's
Brief History Of The Genre
1960's
Bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones started experimenting with promotional short films back in the 1960's as they were growing tired of touring and wanted an easy way for thier fans to be able to see them performing thier latest realeases.At first the short films that were produced by the bands were in black in white, however in 1965 the Beatles produced thier second short film feature for "Help!" in colour which was a great success. Most of the video's by The Beatles were shown on Top Of The Pops.
In 1967, other artists such as Pink Floyd, The Who, The Loved Ones, Bob Dylan and The Small Faces started creating thier own promotional clips and soon many countries across the world started copying the music video trend.
1970's
The 1970's were the start of Music Television. In 1974 Australia started airing shows such as "Countdown" and "Sounds" which made music video's very popular nd also highlighted the importance of promoting cureent bands as well as new acts. In the late 1970's "Top Of The Pops" started playing music videos which helped many bands increase thier record sales and become number one in the charts. In 1975, Queen produced a video of thier song "Bohemean Rapsody" so that it could be shown on Top Of The Pops. The whole video was shot on video tape and is now one of the most famous videos in music history. In 1980, David Bowie had his first number one in ten years for "Ashes to Ashes" as the music video captured the attention of millions when it was shown on TV.
1980's
1960's
Bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones started experimenting with promotional short films back in the 1960's as they were growing tired of touring and wanted an easy way for thier fans to be able to see them performing thier latest realeases.At first the short films that were produced by the bands were in black in white, however in 1965 the Beatles produced thier second short film feature for "Help!" in colour which was a great success. Most of the video's by The Beatles were shown on Top Of The Pops.
In 1967, other artists such as Pink Floyd, The Who, The Loved Ones, Bob Dylan and The Small Faces started creating thier own promotional clips and soon many countries across the world started copying the music video trend.
1970's
The 1970's were the start of Music Television. In 1974 Australia started airing shows such as "Countdown" and "Sounds" which made music video's very popular nd also highlighted the importance of promoting cureent bands as well as new acts. In the late 1970's "Top Of The Pops" started playing music videos which helped many bands increase thier record sales and become number one in the charts. In 1975, Queen produced a video of thier song "Bohemean Rapsody" so that it could be shown on Top Of The Pops. The whole video was shot on video tape and is now one of the most famous videos in music history. In 1980, David Bowie had his first number one in ten years for "Ashes to Ashes" as the music video captured the attention of millions when it was shown on TV.
1980's
In 1981 MTV was launched in the U.S, making the demand for music video's much higher as this kick-started the era of 24 hour-a-day music in television. This enabled bands to have thier video's broadcast all over the world, and therefore increasing artist's success. Adam and the Ants and Madonna owe their success to the seductive appeal of thier music video's. It was mainly British acts however who created videos to be shown on MTV - hence the massive 'Brit Invasion' into the US charts in the 1980's.
Promotional
A music video is a visual representation of a song, which can be used to help the public to remember the music and go out and buy it. It also gives a further opportunity for the track to be heard and also helps to promote the artist and thier upcoming albums or singles.
Extension Of Income
Music video's help to keep the artist in the public eye for as long as possible, as thier video will still be shown months after the release of thier songle/album. This also helps to recoup some of the production costs involved in initially recording the music.
Extension Of Outlets
Music video's can be watched via a variety of Media Platforms. For example, you can watch music video's via MTV, Kerrang!, 4Music, Viva, Smash Hits and other music channels on TV. You can also watch music video's via the interenet on sites such as Youtube, VodPod and Videocure and finally you can also download video's to you phones or i-pods. This means that artists popularity can increase even more as everyone will be able to watch the video's.
Links To Films Or TV Programmes
Some songs can be used as part of a soundtrack for a film. When this happens, clips from the film will be shown in the music video as part of the narrative, which means that the band and film can be advertised at the same time. Programmes such as American Idol and X factor can boost an artists popularity as bands can perform live on results shows. In 2009, X Factor helped Lady Gaga reach number one with her single "Bad Romance" which she performed on the Sunday night results show. However, Music related TV shows can also help bands which havent been in the charts for a while regain thier status. For example, The Kings Of Leon came back into the chart with a re-release of "Sex On Fire" after it had regained popularity during an audition on X Factor. Also, Journey have re-released thier single after it appeared on X Factor last year and have also given the cast of Glee to release it as a single.
Producers Strategies
In the 1960's producer's tended to make the videos more performance based as bands used to perform in thier pop promos so that fans could see them on screen instead of them touring around the globe. However, this started to change in the late 1970's and early 80's as artist such as Madonna came on the scene which meant that music video's became more seductive as artists success became based more on sex appeal than performance. In the 90's music video's started to be more narrative as producers made video's have a story to them and tried to make them relate to the lyrics of the songs. Directors also started appearing on the credits on MTV which meant that music video's were seen as more of an art form than pop promo.
Textual Analysis Of Two Music Videos
Video One: Brick By Boring Brick - Paramore
The video ‘Brick By Boring Brick’ depicts the imaginary world of a girl who is trying to escape from reality.
Narrative
The story behind the video and the lyrics is that a girl is trying to escape from reality by going into her own imaginary world which she has created through the books she has read. In the end however, reality kicks in and she escapes from her imaginary world by burying her past and starting a new life.
The little girl in the story represents Hayley when she was little and we know this because they are wearing similar dresses in the video and it is as if Hayley is telling us about her past.
Mise-En-Scène
The Mise en scene in the video reflects the imaginary world of the little girl as there are rose petals falling from the sky, CGI magical flowers, a castle, a magical forest and fictional characters from famous children’s stories such as Alice in wonderland, The Secret Garden and Red Riding Hood. The backyard in which Hayley and Josh from Paramore are for the video was built up as part of the set as well as part of the magical forest however green screen was used to make rose petals from the sky and for some of the flowers and trees in the video. CGI was also used to change the sky from being a bright blue to a dark with thunder clouds.
Cinematography
At the start of the video, an aerial shot is used so we get a panoramic view of the fictional world in which the video is set. Orange's and Red's have been used to give us the sense that the sun is setting and there are dark shadows cast from the trees which suggest that this 'perfect' world isn’t all that it seems . There are also rose petals falling from the sky which gives the video a magical feel to it. CGI was used to create this imaginary place as this enabled the director to be a lot more creative with the design as a studio can limit how creative you can be whereas CGI lets you have whatever you want. The aerial shot tracks through the trees and gradually zooms in on a little girl running through the grassland, she is wearing a white dress and butterfly wings. The butterfly wings are quite a significant prop in the video as they are also used on the cover of Paramore's album "Brand New Eyes". Butterfly wings also relate to the song as it says "She's ripping wings off butterflies" in the lyrics. The camera then cuts to Hayley (the lead singer of Paramore) on a swing. Hayley is wearing a dress similar to the little girl's which suggests to us that the little girl is Hayley when she was younger. The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of the little girl running through the trees and then to a wide shot of where Hayley is sitting on the swing and Josh (the lead guitarist in Paramore) is digging out a grave as the little girl runs past them. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of Hayley who is almost narrating a story by singing the lyrics in the video. There is then a low angle shot from the front of the little girl running and then a POV shot from her, showing that she is running towards a door which is hidden amongst the overgrown bushes. This idea was taken from 'The Secret Garden' where the girl finds a key to a garden and the door is hidden amongst the ivy and reflects the fact that the little girl has wrapped herself in a world of fictional stories. The camera then cuts back to Hayley who is now near the grave which Josh is digging. The camera then cuts back to the girl going through the door and looking round. The girl then looks back and the camera cuts to a close up of a key turning in a lock which then cuts back to a shot of Hayley and Josh. We then see a shot of the little girl looking back again. As she turns round the camera cuts to a shot of her feet, which tracks backwards as she walks down the path. A tracking shot of the path ahead is used so we can see where the girl is heading. There are lots of trees in the foreground near the camera but these are very dark, however in the distance you can see sunlight and everything looks a lot brighter. CGI was used for this as the trees in the foreground may have been built into the set but a blue screen has been used so that the director could make the path look longer than it actually is. The camera then cuts back to a mid shot of the girl walking down the path and looking around which then quickly cuts to a close up of a jar hanging from a tree. We then see a close up of the girl dropping her doll to the floor and then a mid shot of her opening the jar and watching a fairy fly out of it. The fairy then fly past the camera. This was also done with CGI and also reminds us that the girl is living in her won fictional world. The camera then cuts to a two shot of Hayley kneeling by the grave whilst Josh is digging. A crane is used for this shot as the camera then pans up and zooms in on Hayley. The editing becomes much quicker in this part of the song the director wanted to show more of the world as well as making sure that Hayley was on camera enough too as the main point to a music video is for fans to watch their favourite bands singing. There is then a mid shot that’s tracking backwards of the girl walking again. She looks to the left and we see a POV shot of a flower which in itself looks magical and then this cuts quickly to a medium close up shot of Hayley singing. This cuts back to the girl touching the flower which then immediately cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley singing . We then see a medium close up of the girl reaching up to touch a butterfly which is sitting on a branch. This again brings in the theme of butterflies in the song as well as being the main icon on the album cover. The camera then cuts back to wide shot of Hayley which quickly pans so that Josh appears in the shot. This then cuts to a medium close up of the girl brushing her hand against the flowers as she walks by. This quickly cuts to a wide shot of Hayley and josh again where the camera panning down. The next three shots are edited very fast and cut between close up's of the little girl and Hayley as the music starts to speed up. An establishing shot of the path ahead is then shown. The trees are flowers look very different now as they are all full of colour and everything is very bright. CGI was used to do this as the trees and flowers don’t look real, there are also lots of butterflies everywhere at this point which shows that the director was trying to be consistent with this theme throughout the whole video. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley who is dancing and then quickly cuts back to a close up of the girl which then cuts back to Hayley dancing again. We then see another establishing shot of the magical path ahead which the girl is walking down. It then cuts back to a two shot of Hayley and Josh. The camera is panning left whilst going up at the same time and then zooms in on Hayley. This then cuts back to the girl who is now in a whole new world which is bright and there are mushrooms everywhere. There is also gold glow around the girl. This has also been adapted from fairytales as there are always story's about magical places where there a large mushrooms and pixies. This then cuts to a mid shot of a knight standing amongst the mushrooms. Knights are also commonly used in fairytales which is why the director used this idea to show the little girl was in another part of her fantasy world. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley and then to a medium close up of the girl walking and looking around. It then cuts to a slow zoom into some fairytale characters, which are an old woman and a wolf. This has been adapted from little red riding hood. The characters and gesturing to the girl to come over which suggests that she is getting deeper into her fantasy. The camera then cuts to another fairytale character which is the Queen Of Hearts who is a character out of Alice in Wonderland. This is quite ironic as the little girl is quite like Alice who has entered a new world and is unaware of the dangers she may come face to face with. We then see a mid shot of the girl again looking towards the camera which then cuts to a pixie that is standing by a toadstool. This then cuts back to a mid shot of the girl who then runs out of the frame. This then cuts back to a Mid shot of Hayley who is kneeling on the ground, which then cuts back to a tracking shot from behind the girl who is running towards a castle. We then see a medium close up of Hayley which cuts back to a wide shot of the girl entering the castle. The camera then cuts back to a mid shot of Hayley which cuts quickly to the girl inside the castle where there are floating mirrors which has again been adapted from Alice In Wonderland. This has been done with CGI as it would have been very difficult to make mirrors looks like they are floating without being able to see the wires they are hanging from. We then see a shot of Josh digging the grave which pans up into a mid shot of Hayley. This then cuts back to the girl in the castle and then back to Hayley again. The camera then cuts to an Over the Shoulder shot of the little girl looking in a mirror and her reflection is moving when she is standing still. Her reflection is smiling and happy which is showing us how the girl wants to be when in reality she's not. We then see a shot of Hayley which cuts back to a mid shot of the girl looking worried and then a POV shot of a puppet dancing in the mirrors. This then cuts back to Hayley and then back to a shot of a scary woman in the mirrors. a wide shot of the castle is used and the bright sky outside goes and everywhere goes dark and a storm begins. I think that this represents reality kicking in as the little girls perfect world is slowly turning into the nightmare of her real life. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and then back to the girl again who is looking around very scared. We then see a POV shot of the mirrors where another scary character is looking at the girl. The camera then cuts between Hayley and the girl again and we see a wolf in the mirror. This then cuts to an over the shoulder shot and we can now see Hayley in the mirrors singing "if it's not real you cant hold it in your hand, you cant feel it in your heart, and I wont believe it" to the little girl as if she’s telling her to wake up from her dream. The castle then goes really dark and the little girl looks into her refection and see's herself transform into her normal clothes. The camera then cuts to Hayley then back to the girl looking at herself in the mirror and then it cuts to a robber coming out of the mirror which shows that the little girls world is slowly becoming more and more negative as she is imagining bad characters now. This cuts to the little girl tearing off her wings - which relates to the song lyrics "she's ripping wings of butterflies" - and runs out of the frame. We then see a medium close up of the girl looking scared which then cuts to a man with an axe coming out of the mirror. This then cuts to a wide shot of the girl standing by the exit to the castle which is very dark now. The place in the girls head which had once been so bright and cheerful has now become scary and dark. We then see a medium close up of the girl running out of the castle. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and Josh and then back to the girl running throughout the dark forest which then cuts to Hayley and back again. We then see a wide shot of the forest from which the girl came from. The trees are now all dead and everything is dark and bleak which is a massive contrast to when the forest as first shown to us in the beginning. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and Josh and then back to the girl who is running towards the door where she entered the world. The branches of trees and the ivy are catching on her clothes and legs as if trying to stop her from leaving the world. The girls fights them off and then falls over. We then see a wide shot of the world closing in on her which cuts to a close up of her picking up her doll and running out of the door. We then see a shot of Hayley which cuts back to the girl running out into the world in which Hayley and Josh are in. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and then into an aerial shot like the one that as used at the start of the video showing the girl running through the grassland, this then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley and the girl running into the shot from a distance. This cuts to a Medium close up of the girl running and then goes back into a wide shot as we see the girl fall into the grave. there is then a wide shot of Hayley getting up and throwing the doll which the girl dropped as she fell, into the grave and then she slowly walks away as Josh fills the grave up again. I think that this represents Hayley - as the older version of the little girl - throwing away her old life and burying it in order to start again. I think that the line "keep your feet on the ground when your heads in the clouds" means that even if you are dreaming of a different life, always remember what reality is.
Editing or Visual effects
At the start of the video the editing is at a moderate place and cuts with the beat of the music. When it gets to the chorus, the visuals start to be cut together more quickly and then carry on cutting quickly throughout the rest for the song as the pace of the music speeds up.
CGI is used in every scene of the video because every location in the video needs it. For example, in the backyard where Hayley and Josh are for most of the video the background is a yellow/orange colour with rose petals falling from the sky. The world which the little girl enters in the video uses a lot of CGI because it is used for the establishing shot of the path which the girl is walking down to make it longer. It is also used when the little girl is running towards the castle and for the sky as it changes from a bright sky blue to black with thunderclouds and lightning.
The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
"She lives in a fairy tale" refers to the world which the girl enters is a fictional world. We know this because it references fairytales and stories such as secret garden because she goes through a hidden door in the bushes into a magical garden/forest.
"Well go get your shovel And we'll dig a deep hole" is shown in the video as Josh is digging a grave through the whole video & the little
girl falls into the hole so it' as if Hayley is burying her past
"so one day he found her crying coiled up on the dirty ground" This links in to the visuals on screen as Hayley lies next to the grave when she sings this
"Well you built up a world of magic" is shown on screen as the setting for the video is the little girl's imaginary world.
The relationship between the music and the visuals
The visuals go well with the music because they cut in time to the beat and get faster and the tempo of the music increases.
Use of Intertextuality
The video refers to a lot of fairytale stories and other fictional childrens books as the lyrics talk about a girl who is living in an imaginary world. For example, in the video we see a wolf sitting with an old woman which refers to little red riding hood, a woman with hearts on her dress holding a plate of tarts which refers to the red queen in alice in wonderland, and the secret garden is also referred to as she enters the world through a secret door hidden in the bushes.
Genre characteristics of the musical style
Paramore's style is seen as 'alternative'. this type fo music tends to use a lot of guitar in the songs and Paramore defintely conform to this as they always have guitars, drums and bass in thier tracks.
How well the promo promote the image of the band
The promo promotes the band as being very artistic with their representation of thier work as they have used a varietry of visual effects in their video. It also promotes their indie/alternative rock image by being very unique and imaginitive with thier music.
Target Audience
I think the Target Audience for Paramore's video is teenagers as they are the peopel who are most likely to watch the video and Paramore's fanbase are roughly aged from 15-19 years old.
Video Two: Here In Your Arms - Hello-Goodbye
The video is about a geeky boy who is at summer camp dreaming of being wiht the girl he fancies. He goes to the "End Of Camp Dance" and decides to make his move on the girl and kisses her.
Mise en Scene
The video is set at a stereotypical summer camp so we see people walking round in polo shirts and really short shorts. The Geeks are very stereotypical and wear glasses and geekier clothes compared to the other people. There are at least four locations used in the video which are; the dorms, outside the camp, a field, and the 'end of camp ball' which is where the key scene takes place.
Cinematography
At the start of the video we see a wide shot of two girls carrying a tennis racket each walking by. They are wearing green shorts and yellow polo shirts. In the background there is a sign which says "camp holadios" which tells us that they are at a holiday camp. The camera pans right, flollowing them as they walk and stops at the entrance to the camp where they walk in. We then see a close up of a shoe being tied, the camera slowly pans up the person and we see that it is a geeky guy (the lead singer). He is stereotypically geeky as his clothes dont match and he is wearing big glasses. They guy is looking to the right so we then see a point of view shot, of a summer camp dorm. The dorm looks like a log cabin and there are a few teenagers in there playing with a ball and chatting. The camera then cuts to a close up of the geeky guy putting sunglasses in the top of his t shirt which then cuts to a close up of him putting a comb in his pocket. The camera then cuts to a guy sitting on the end of a bed. At the top of the bed there is a couple kissing. We then see a medium close up of the guy looking depressed as the boy and girl kiss in the background. This then cuts back to the lead singer who is looking at a picture of a girl which then cuts to a mid shot of a poster saying "End Of Camp Dance Tonight". The camera then cuts to a wide shot of a guy sitting on the porch of the cabin and a geeky guy comes out to see him. At this point the drums kick in in the music and the editing is done so each cut is cut to the beat. The guy opens the briefcase and the geeky guy grabs loads of condoms for the case. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer looking at the photo of the girl, then two of his mates come into the frame and one of them takes the photo off him. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of a guy and a girl standing under a tree, this then cuts to an medium close up of the guy and girl. As the guy goes to kiss the girl , the camera cuts to a two shot of a boy ad girl who throw a ball at the guys face using a sling shot. The camera then cuts back to the boy and girl under the tree so we see the ball hit the guys face. We then see a wide shot of the cabin, and the lead singer and his two mates come out of the cabin and walk out of the frame. This then cuts to a fat boy eating cake and then cuts to two guys playing a game and the popular uy wins. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of the lead singer dancing which then cuts back to the popular boy celebrating his win over the geek. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of the lead singer dancing again, then back to the popular boy celebrating again. We then see a wide shot of the main hall where the "end of camp dance" is being held and the lead singer and loads of other teenagers rush in. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer dancing, and then cuts to a wide shot of the inside of the hall. Theres then a shot of the lead singer approaching two girls and then they walk away, there is then a wide shot of two people kissing. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer eating and then a shot of the table where he has made the name "kate" out of parety food. There is then a shot where the lead singer turns round and we see a point of view shot of the girl he fancies. There is then a shot of the lead singer walking through the crowd, putting on his sunglasses and tapping the girl on the shoulder. He then offers her a piece of gum and theres a shot reverse shot between the girl and the lead singer. They then kiss.
The editing in the video speeds up as the tempo of the music increases however the editing is quite simple and now jump cuts or transitions were used. There are no visual effects in the video as the narrative is simple and doesnt include any CGI.
Intertexuality
The characters in the video are based on peopel's stereotypical thoughts fo geeks and jocks at a summer camp. The geeks are made to look disgusting and the jock's to be cocky.
Genre Characteristics of the musical style
HelloGoodbye are seen as a 'power pop' group as they use a lot of synthesizers and keyboards in their work
How well the pop promo promotes the band
The pop promo suggests that the band are geeky and dont follow the trends of normal bands.
Target audience
I think the target audience for this kind of video is teenagers as they would eb able to relate to the narrativ emore than adults would.
The video ‘Brick By Boring Brick’ depicts the imaginary world of a girl who is trying to escape from reality.
Narrative
The story behind the video and the lyrics is that a girl is trying to escape from reality by going into her own imaginary world which she has created through the books she has read. In the end however, reality kicks in and she escapes from her imaginary world by burying her past and starting a new life.
The little girl in the story represents Hayley when she was little and we know this because they are wearing similar dresses in the video and it is as if Hayley is telling us about her past.
Mise-En-Scène
The Mise en scene in the video reflects the imaginary world of the little girl as there are rose petals falling from the sky, CGI magical flowers, a castle, a magical forest and fictional characters from famous children’s stories such as Alice in wonderland, The Secret Garden and Red Riding Hood. The backyard in which Hayley and Josh from Paramore are for the video was built up as part of the set as well as part of the magical forest however green screen was used to make rose petals from the sky and for some of the flowers and trees in the video. CGI was also used to change the sky from being a bright blue to a dark with thunder clouds.
Cinematography
At the start of the video, an aerial shot is used so we get a panoramic view of the fictional world in which the video is set. Orange's and Red's have been used to give us the sense that the sun is setting and there are dark shadows cast from the trees which suggest that this 'perfect' world isn’t all that it seems . There are also rose petals falling from the sky which gives the video a magical feel to it. CGI was used to create this imaginary place as this enabled the director to be a lot more creative with the design as a studio can limit how creative you can be whereas CGI lets you have whatever you want. The aerial shot tracks through the trees and gradually zooms in on a little girl running through the grassland, she is wearing a white dress and butterfly wings. The butterfly wings are quite a significant prop in the video as they are also used on the cover of Paramore's album "Brand New Eyes". Butterfly wings also relate to the song as it says "She's ripping wings off butterflies" in the lyrics. The camera then cuts to Hayley (the lead singer of Paramore) on a swing. Hayley is wearing a dress similar to the little girl's which suggests to us that the little girl is Hayley when she was younger. The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of the little girl running through the trees and then to a wide shot of where Hayley is sitting on the swing and Josh (the lead guitarist in Paramore) is digging out a grave as the little girl runs past them. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of Hayley who is almost narrating a story by singing the lyrics in the video. There is then a low angle shot from the front of the little girl running and then a POV shot from her, showing that she is running towards a door which is hidden amongst the overgrown bushes. This idea was taken from 'The Secret Garden' where the girl finds a key to a garden and the door is hidden amongst the ivy and reflects the fact that the little girl has wrapped herself in a world of fictional stories. The camera then cuts back to Hayley who is now near the grave which Josh is digging. The camera then cuts back to the girl going through the door and looking round. The girl then looks back and the camera cuts to a close up of a key turning in a lock which then cuts back to a shot of Hayley and Josh. We then see a shot of the little girl looking back again. As she turns round the camera cuts to a shot of her feet, which tracks backwards as she walks down the path. A tracking shot of the path ahead is used so we can see where the girl is heading. There are lots of trees in the foreground near the camera but these are very dark, however in the distance you can see sunlight and everything looks a lot brighter. CGI was used for this as the trees in the foreground may have been built into the set but a blue screen has been used so that the director could make the path look longer than it actually is. The camera then cuts back to a mid shot of the girl walking down the path and looking around which then quickly cuts to a close up of a jar hanging from a tree. We then see a close up of the girl dropping her doll to the floor and then a mid shot of her opening the jar and watching a fairy fly out of it. The fairy then fly past the camera. This was also done with CGI and also reminds us that the girl is living in her won fictional world. The camera then cuts to a two shot of Hayley kneeling by the grave whilst Josh is digging. A crane is used for this shot as the camera then pans up and zooms in on Hayley. The editing becomes much quicker in this part of the song the director wanted to show more of the world as well as making sure that Hayley was on camera enough too as the main point to a music video is for fans to watch their favourite bands singing. There is then a mid shot that’s tracking backwards of the girl walking again. She looks to the left and we see a POV shot of a flower which in itself looks magical and then this cuts quickly to a medium close up shot of Hayley singing. This cuts back to the girl touching the flower which then immediately cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley singing . We then see a medium close up of the girl reaching up to touch a butterfly which is sitting on a branch. This again brings in the theme of butterflies in the song as well as being the main icon on the album cover. The camera then cuts back to wide shot of Hayley which quickly pans so that Josh appears in the shot. This then cuts to a medium close up of the girl brushing her hand against the flowers as she walks by. This quickly cuts to a wide shot of Hayley and josh again where the camera panning down. The next three shots are edited very fast and cut between close up's of the little girl and Hayley as the music starts to speed up. An establishing shot of the path ahead is then shown. The trees are flowers look very different now as they are all full of colour and everything is very bright. CGI was used to do this as the trees and flowers don’t look real, there are also lots of butterflies everywhere at this point which shows that the director was trying to be consistent with this theme throughout the whole video. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley who is dancing and then quickly cuts back to a close up of the girl which then cuts back to Hayley dancing again. We then see another establishing shot of the magical path ahead which the girl is walking down. It then cuts back to a two shot of Hayley and Josh. The camera is panning left whilst going up at the same time and then zooms in on Hayley. This then cuts back to the girl who is now in a whole new world which is bright and there are mushrooms everywhere. There is also gold glow around the girl. This has also been adapted from fairytales as there are always story's about magical places where there a large mushrooms and pixies. This then cuts to a mid shot of a knight standing amongst the mushrooms. Knights are also commonly used in fairytales which is why the director used this idea to show the little girl was in another part of her fantasy world. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley and then to a medium close up of the girl walking and looking around. It then cuts to a slow zoom into some fairytale characters, which are an old woman and a wolf. This has been adapted from little red riding hood. The characters and gesturing to the girl to come over which suggests that she is getting deeper into her fantasy. The camera then cuts to another fairytale character which is the Queen Of Hearts who is a character out of Alice in Wonderland. This is quite ironic as the little girl is quite like Alice who has entered a new world and is unaware of the dangers she may come face to face with. We then see a mid shot of the girl again looking towards the camera which then cuts to a pixie that is standing by a toadstool. This then cuts back to a mid shot of the girl who then runs out of the frame. This then cuts back to a Mid shot of Hayley who is kneeling on the ground, which then cuts back to a tracking shot from behind the girl who is running towards a castle. We then see a medium close up of Hayley which cuts back to a wide shot of the girl entering the castle. The camera then cuts back to a mid shot of Hayley which cuts quickly to the girl inside the castle where there are floating mirrors which has again been adapted from Alice In Wonderland. This has been done with CGI as it would have been very difficult to make mirrors looks like they are floating without being able to see the wires they are hanging from. We then see a shot of Josh digging the grave which pans up into a mid shot of Hayley. This then cuts back to the girl in the castle and then back to Hayley again. The camera then cuts to an Over the Shoulder shot of the little girl looking in a mirror and her reflection is moving when she is standing still. Her reflection is smiling and happy which is showing us how the girl wants to be when in reality she's not. We then see a shot of Hayley which cuts back to a mid shot of the girl looking worried and then a POV shot of a puppet dancing in the mirrors. This then cuts back to Hayley and then back to a shot of a scary woman in the mirrors. a wide shot of the castle is used and the bright sky outside goes and everywhere goes dark and a storm begins. I think that this represents reality kicking in as the little girls perfect world is slowly turning into the nightmare of her real life. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and then back to the girl again who is looking around very scared. We then see a POV shot of the mirrors where another scary character is looking at the girl. The camera then cuts between Hayley and the girl again and we see a wolf in the mirror. This then cuts to an over the shoulder shot and we can now see Hayley in the mirrors singing "if it's not real you cant hold it in your hand, you cant feel it in your heart, and I wont believe it" to the little girl as if she’s telling her to wake up from her dream. The castle then goes really dark and the little girl looks into her refection and see's herself transform into her normal clothes. The camera then cuts to Hayley then back to the girl looking at herself in the mirror and then it cuts to a robber coming out of the mirror which shows that the little girls world is slowly becoming more and more negative as she is imagining bad characters now. This cuts to the little girl tearing off her wings - which relates to the song lyrics "she's ripping wings of butterflies" - and runs out of the frame. We then see a medium close up of the girl looking scared which then cuts to a man with an axe coming out of the mirror. This then cuts to a wide shot of the girl standing by the exit to the castle which is very dark now. The place in the girls head which had once been so bright and cheerful has now become scary and dark. We then see a medium close up of the girl running out of the castle. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and Josh and then back to the girl running throughout the dark forest which then cuts to Hayley and back again. We then see a wide shot of the forest from which the girl came from. The trees are now all dead and everything is dark and bleak which is a massive contrast to when the forest as first shown to us in the beginning. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and Josh and then back to the girl who is running towards the door where she entered the world. The branches of trees and the ivy are catching on her clothes and legs as if trying to stop her from leaving the world. The girls fights them off and then falls over. We then see a wide shot of the world closing in on her which cuts to a close up of her picking up her doll and running out of the door. We then see a shot of Hayley which cuts back to the girl running out into the world in which Hayley and Josh are in. The camera then cuts back to Hayley and then into an aerial shot like the one that as used at the start of the video showing the girl running through the grassland, this then cuts back to a wide shot of Hayley and the girl running into the shot from a distance. This cuts to a Medium close up of the girl running and then goes back into a wide shot as we see the girl fall into the grave. there is then a wide shot of Hayley getting up and throwing the doll which the girl dropped as she fell, into the grave and then she slowly walks away as Josh fills the grave up again. I think that this represents Hayley - as the older version of the little girl - throwing away her old life and burying it in order to start again. I think that the line "keep your feet on the ground when your heads in the clouds" means that even if you are dreaming of a different life, always remember what reality is.
Editing or Visual effects
At the start of the video the editing is at a moderate place and cuts with the beat of the music. When it gets to the chorus, the visuals start to be cut together more quickly and then carry on cutting quickly throughout the rest for the song as the pace of the music speeds up.
CGI is used in every scene of the video because every location in the video needs it. For example, in the backyard where Hayley and Josh are for most of the video the background is a yellow/orange colour with rose petals falling from the sky. The world which the little girl enters in the video uses a lot of CGI because it is used for the establishing shot of the path which the girl is walking down to make it longer. It is also used when the little girl is running towards the castle and for the sky as it changes from a bright sky blue to black with thunderclouds and lightning.
The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
"She lives in a fairy tale" refers to the world which the girl enters is a fictional world. We know this because it references fairytales and stories such as secret garden because she goes through a hidden door in the bushes into a magical garden/forest.
"Well go get your shovel And we'll dig a deep hole" is shown in the video as Josh is digging a grave through the whole video & the little
girl falls into the hole so it' as if Hayley is burying her past
"so one day he found her crying coiled up on the dirty ground" This links in to the visuals on screen as Hayley lies next to the grave when she sings this
"Well you built up a world of magic" is shown on screen as the setting for the video is the little girl's imaginary world.
The relationship between the music and the visuals
The visuals go well with the music because they cut in time to the beat and get faster and the tempo of the music increases.
Use of Intertextuality
The video refers to a lot of fairytale stories and other fictional childrens books as the lyrics talk about a girl who is living in an imaginary world. For example, in the video we see a wolf sitting with an old woman which refers to little red riding hood, a woman with hearts on her dress holding a plate of tarts which refers to the red queen in alice in wonderland, and the secret garden is also referred to as she enters the world through a secret door hidden in the bushes.
Genre characteristics of the musical style
Paramore's style is seen as 'alternative'. this type fo music tends to use a lot of guitar in the songs and Paramore defintely conform to this as they always have guitars, drums and bass in thier tracks.
How well the promo promote the image of the band
The promo promotes the band as being very artistic with their representation of thier work as they have used a varietry of visual effects in their video. It also promotes their indie/alternative rock image by being very unique and imaginitive with thier music.
Target Audience
I think the Target Audience for Paramore's video is teenagers as they are the peopel who are most likely to watch the video and Paramore's fanbase are roughly aged from 15-19 years old.
Video Two: Here In Your Arms - Hello-Goodbye
The video 'Here In Your Arms' is about a nerdy guy being in love with a girl.
NarrativeThe video is about a geeky boy who is at summer camp dreaming of being wiht the girl he fancies. He goes to the "End Of Camp Dance" and decides to make his move on the girl and kisses her.
Mise en Scene
The video is set at a stereotypical summer camp so we see people walking round in polo shirts and really short shorts. The Geeks are very stereotypical and wear glasses and geekier clothes compared to the other people. There are at least four locations used in the video which are; the dorms, outside the camp, a field, and the 'end of camp ball' which is where the key scene takes place.
Cinematography
At the start of the video we see a wide shot of two girls carrying a tennis racket each walking by. They are wearing green shorts and yellow polo shirts. In the background there is a sign which says "camp holadios" which tells us that they are at a holiday camp. The camera pans right, flollowing them as they walk and stops at the entrance to the camp where they walk in. We then see a close up of a shoe being tied, the camera slowly pans up the person and we see that it is a geeky guy (the lead singer). He is stereotypically geeky as his clothes dont match and he is wearing big glasses. They guy is looking to the right so we then see a point of view shot, of a summer camp dorm. The dorm looks like a log cabin and there are a few teenagers in there playing with a ball and chatting. The camera then cuts to a close up of the geeky guy putting sunglasses in the top of his t shirt which then cuts to a close up of him putting a comb in his pocket. The camera then cuts to a guy sitting on the end of a bed. At the top of the bed there is a couple kissing. We then see a medium close up of the guy looking depressed as the boy and girl kiss in the background. This then cuts back to the lead singer who is looking at a picture of a girl which then cuts to a mid shot of a poster saying "End Of Camp Dance Tonight". The camera then cuts to a wide shot of a guy sitting on the porch of the cabin and a geeky guy comes out to see him. At this point the drums kick in in the music and the editing is done so each cut is cut to the beat. The guy opens the briefcase and the geeky guy grabs loads of condoms for the case. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer looking at the photo of the girl, then two of his mates come into the frame and one of them takes the photo off him. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of a guy and a girl standing under a tree, this then cuts to an medium close up of the guy and girl. As the guy goes to kiss the girl , the camera cuts to a two shot of a boy ad girl who throw a ball at the guys face using a sling shot. The camera then cuts back to the boy and girl under the tree so we see the ball hit the guys face. We then see a wide shot of the cabin, and the lead singer and his two mates come out of the cabin and walk out of the frame. This then cuts to a fat boy eating cake and then cuts to two guys playing a game and the popular uy wins. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of the lead singer dancing which then cuts back to the popular boy celebrating his win over the geek. The camera then cuts back to a wide shot of the lead singer dancing again, then back to the popular boy celebrating again. We then see a wide shot of the main hall where the "end of camp dance" is being held and the lead singer and loads of other teenagers rush in. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer dancing, and then cuts to a wide shot of the inside of the hall. Theres then a shot of the lead singer approaching two girls and then they walk away, there is then a wide shot of two people kissing. The camera then cuts back to the lead singer eating and then a shot of the table where he has made the name "kate" out of parety food. There is then a shot where the lead singer turns round and we see a point of view shot of the girl he fancies. There is then a shot of the lead singer walking through the crowd, putting on his sunglasses and tapping the girl on the shoulder. He then offers her a piece of gum and theres a shot reverse shot between the girl and the lead singer. They then kiss.
The narrative of the music video is that a young, nerdy, boy is in love with a girl, but hasnt said anything to her. At the 'end of camp dance' the nerdy boy decides to take a chance and goes over to the girl and kisses her. The editing, is quite fast in some places but generally goes to the beat of the music.
Editing or Visual EfftectsThe editing in the video speeds up as the tempo of the music increases however the editing is quite simple and now jump cuts or transitions were used. There are no visual effects in the video as the narrative is simple and doesnt include any CGI.
Intertexuality
The characters in the video are based on peopel's stereotypical thoughts fo geeks and jocks at a summer camp. The geeks are made to look disgusting and the jock's to be cocky.
Genre Characteristics of the musical style
HelloGoodbye are seen as a 'power pop' group as they use a lot of synthesizers and keyboards in their work
How well the pop promo promotes the band
The pop promo suggests that the band are geeky and dont follow the trends of normal bands.
Target audience
I think the target audience for this kind of video is teenagers as they would eb able to relate to the narrativ emore than adults would.
The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
I dont think the visuals really relate to the lyrics until the point where the lead singer kisses the girl because the lyrics talk about how the boy loves to be around the girl, and he isnt with her until the end of the video.
The relationship between the music and the visuals
The shots are cut so that the visuals match with the music, for example each shot is cut to the beat of the song and the cuts increase and decrease when the song does.
Intended Target Audience
I think that the video was intended for teenagers as they are more likely to listen to pop music and the video takes the mick out of geeks which i think would appeal to younger generations.
Research Of Music Video Director - Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American Director who specialises in music video's, film, adverts and television.
Career
Jonze has done a variety of work over the years including adverts for companies such as Adidas, Miller Beer and The Gap. He was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Commercial" in 2005 by the Directors Guild Of America. He has also produced shows for televison such as 'Jackass' and also co created 'Jackass The Movie' in which he directed some of the segments.
Jonze has also done some work with magazine's. He became co founder and editor of 'Dirt' magazine and wa salso the editor for 'Grand Royal Magazine'. Jonze has also done photography work for magazines such as 'Transworld Skateboarding'. Jonze has also shot skteboarding video's for a skateboard company called 'Video days' and assisasted in directed a film called 'yeah right!' for a company called 'Girl Skateboards'.
In 1999, Jonze adopted the persona of his fictional character Richard Koufey which he used to star when he directed fatboy slim's music video for 'Praise you' in which he and his 'dance troupe' performed a dance routine. The video was so successful that 'Koufey' and his troupe were asked to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards later that year.
Since 2007, Jonze has been involved with VBS.tv which is an online TV channel that is funded by MTV. Jonze works as a creative director for the company. Last year Jonze directed 'Where the Wild Things Are' which is a movie that has been adapted from the book by Maurice Sendak.It recieved six nominations including 'Best Picture', 'Best Director' and 'Best Adapted Screenplay' at the Chicago Film Critics Association.
Work
Jonze's video's tend to be more performance base than having a narrative.
Career
Jonze has done a variety of work over the years including adverts for companies such as Adidas, Miller Beer and The Gap. He was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Commercial" in 2005 by the Directors Guild Of America. He has also produced shows for televison such as 'Jackass' and also co created 'Jackass The Movie' in which he directed some of the segments.
Jonze has also done some work with magazine's. He became co founder and editor of 'Dirt' magazine and wa salso the editor for 'Grand Royal Magazine'. Jonze has also done photography work for magazines such as 'Transworld Skateboarding'. Jonze has also shot skteboarding video's for a skateboard company called 'Video days' and assisasted in directed a film called 'yeah right!' for a company called 'Girl Skateboards'.
In 1999, Jonze adopted the persona of his fictional character Richard Koufey which he used to star when he directed fatboy slim's music video for 'Praise you' in which he and his 'dance troupe' performed a dance routine. The video was so successful that 'Koufey' and his troupe were asked to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards later that year.
Since 2007, Jonze has been involved with VBS.tv which is an online TV channel that is funded by MTV. Jonze works as a creative director for the company. Last year Jonze directed 'Where the Wild Things Are' which is a movie that has been adapted from the book by Maurice Sendak.It recieved six nominations including 'Best Picture', 'Best Director' and 'Best Adapted Screenplay' at the Chicago Film Critics Association.
Work
Jonze's video's tend to be more performance base than having a narrative.
For example, in the video for Fat Boy Slim's single 'Praise You' Jonze created a fake dance troupe that he took to a real location, and filmed them dancing to the track and peoples real reactions as they walked by. The video was filmed in the style of a documentary as the story behind the video is that the "Torrance Community Dance Troupe" were asked to perform Fat Boy Slim's single at a shopping mall. The video has a "home-made" feel to it as a handheld cam was used to feel the vid and the lighting in the video isnt great because only the house lights in the shopping mall would have been used. The people in the video are wearing very simple clothing which are all bland colours. I think Jonze wanted to portray real people in his music video and for it to be a realisitic as possible as these days most video's are unrealistic and fictional.
Intended Target Audience
Most of the feedback on Youtube is positive however there is an occasional bad comment on there. Overall I think Youtube is a good way of directors getting feedback from audiences, as a variety of people of all ages go on there, which means they will be able to find out what the general public think of thier work instead of a specific age group.
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