Final Music Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jlj5NypCNc

Evaluation

Pre-production
We spent around 2 months doing pre-production for our music video. It took us a very long time to decide what song to use for the video, as we thought we would have a live band recording it for us and we were waiting for them to decide what song they wanted to do. In the end, we decided against using the band for the video and chose the song Mr. Brightside by The Killers. The song lyrics were very good for us to set up a narrative, however in the end our video didn't really have much of a narrative.

Production
We recorded our music video on the first day of half term as we wanted to get it out of the way so we could enjoy the rest of the holiday. We went to get the train to Birmingham at around half 10, however there was an issue with all the trains and the next one wasn't available until around half. Luckily, the issue was resolved quickly and we got on the train around 11 and was able to being filming. It only took us a few hours to get all the footage we needed, Jack filmed most of the footage however some of the time lapses, filmed on the GoPro, was filmed by me and Dylan.


Post-production
When editing the music video we used Adobe Premier Pro. I did most of the editing as it was something that I was looking forward to doing, however Jack and Dylan helped out a lot. We did have a plan for how we wanted the music video to go, however it didn't fit the song very well so we had to change a few clips around. We also realised we didn't have enough footage for the whole song, so cut the song shorter and decided at the end of the video it would play the whole video again in reverse and sped up. We did have a few issues while editing as we were new to the software we were using, however we soon learnt how to use it.


Inspirations
The idea for a music video based around a couple walking around a city was Jacks idea, inspired by a student video he had seen when we were trying to get ideas for our video. Though we would have prefered to do a video with more narrative, we were really struggling to think of ideas for the video and decided this would be the easiest thing for us to film.


Next Time
Next time I would want us to choose a song quicker as we didn't have much time to plan our music video, and in the end it didn't have much of a narrative. I also had a lot of time off so I got behind with the work, so next time I would make sure my attendance was much better so I would not fall behind.

Comprehensively explain the nature and purpose of music videos

Nature;

There are many different TV channels for broadcasting music videos, like MTV, 4 Music, Kerrang, Viva, Kiss, Classic FM TV and Vintage TV. They are broadcast on different Mediums like Sky, Virgin Media, Now TV and Amazon Prime. Sky uses a satellite system, whereas Virgin Media uses a cable system which is very fast fibre optic broadband. Things like Now TV and Amazon Prime are streaming apps.

There are so many different music channels, but they are all different as they show different genres of music. For example, MTV Base focuses mainly on things like R&B and Hip Hop whereas Kerrang focus on rock. Vintage TV shows older songs whereas Classic FM TV shows classical music. Online there are music video websites like YouTube and Vimeo, which show other things as well as music videos, and Vevo.

Vevo is a video hosting service that offers music from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Google and Abu Dhabi Media. It has over 50,000 videos available and has been ranked as the number one music platform on the web. Often artists have a contract with Vevo and earn a good amount of money from it.

Purpose;

Music videos exist so artists can increase their record sales. They may invest a lot of money into making a music video, but often the more eye catching the music video is the better the song sells, for example Thriller by Michael Jackson. Though the song itself is brilliant, without the famous music video it wouldn’t have done half as well as it did. People used to make videos to get people to go out to the shop and buy the song or album, whereas now things can be done by the click of a button but people still need the push music videos give to buy the song.

Artists try to achieve multiple things from making music videos. As I mentioned before, music videos are used to help increase sales of a song or album. Not only do they do that, they also create an image for the artist. For example, in all of Sia’s more recent videos she has Maddie Ziegler dressed like her dancing, which has become a signature thing for Sia. Music videos also can win awards now on things like MTV Music awards and the Grammys, which not only increases sales for the artist but also increases their fame.

The purpose, styles, conventions and techniques of music videos

http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/695121/History-Of-Music-Videos/

Unit 2 brief 1 - Extracting information from written sources

Historical Development of Film Editing

In 1895, the Lumiere brothers (Auguste and Louis) invented a device that combined a camera with printer and projector, and called it the Cinematographe (1). However, though what the Lumiere Brothers had invented was great, a man called Edwin S. Porter decided to create multiple scenes in a film instead of one long still in 1901 (2).  "The Life of An American Fireman" was the first film to ever feature any editing (3).  In 1915, D.W Griffith, an American film director, writer and producer (4), was the first person to ever use a range of different shots in a movie in his film "Birth of A Nation", where he used shots like close up shots. By 1924, editing had gone on to colour, which was done by colouring each shot by hand individually (5).

Before people began editing films on a computer (Digital Editing), Analogue Editing was used. Analogue editing is tape-based video postproduction, and was all done by hand. It was done by literally cutting and pasting different pieces of film by using a splicer, and then was put through either a Moviola or K.E.M (6). These are devices that allow a film editor to view a film while editing (7). Digital Editing is a software on a computer that allows you to edit video and audio (8).

Key Practitioners

The Lumiere Brothers
Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas (19 October 1862 - 10 April 1954) and Louis Jean (5 October 1864 - 6 June 1948) (9) were the first film makers in history.

Edwin S. Porter
Edwin S. Porter (21 April 1870 - 3 April 1941) was an American filmmaker who invented the Simplex camera and pioneered new techniques in films like The Great Train Robbery (17).

D.W. Griffith
D.W. Griffith (22 January 1875 - 23 July 1948) worked as an actor and playwright before he created highly innovative filmmaking techniques when he turned to cinema. He was one of cinema's first directors and producers and was known for his innovations and for directing the 1915 film Birth of a Nation (16).

Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison ( 11 February 1847 - 18 October 1931)

Video Editing Techniques

180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is a basic rule of the on-screen spacing between two characters. It means that the camera should always be on a particular side of the invisible line of shot (the 180 degree line) with two people filmed in sequence. If the camera crosses the 180 degree line, it confuses the viewer as it looks like the characters have switched places (10).

Close Up
In a close up shot, a certain feature takes up most of the frame. A close up of a person usually means a close up of their face. Close ups are good for showing detail, and are often used to emphasise someone's emotions (11).

Long Shot
A long shot has the whole figure of the subject, from head to toe, in the frame. It makes the character become more part of the environment around them, and it shows more action rather than emotion (12).

Parallel Editing
Parallel Editing is alternating two or more scenes that happen in different places but happen simultaneously. It is also known as cross cutting (13).

Straight Cut
A cut happens when one shot instantly goes to another. It is the most basic and common type of transition and is used so much in movies they usually count thousands of them (14).

Dissolve
A dissolve is a gradual transition from one shot to another. A dissolve is usually used at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next (15).

Magazine Reference

Book reference 1



Book reference 2


Bibliography/Reference

(1) Earlycinema.com. (2016). EarlyCinema.com. [online] Available at: http://www.earlycinema.com/pioneers/lumiere_bio.html [Accessed 13 Sep. 2016].

(2) katierothery, (2012). History of editing. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/katierothery/history-of-editing [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].

(3) prezi.com. (2016). History Of Film Editing And Techniques. [online] Available at: https://prezi.com/b5amqqxqjh1o/history-of-film-editing-and-techniques/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].


(4) "David W. Griffith, Film Pioneer, Dies; Producer Of 'Birth Of Nation,' 'Intolerance' And 'America' Made Nearly 500 Pictures Set, Screen Standards Co-Founder Of United Artists Gave Mary Pickford And Fairbanks Their Starts.". The New York Times. July 24, 1948.

(5)  js1productionstm, (2012). The history of editing. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/js1productionstm/the-history-of-editing [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].

(6) profile, V. (2011). Analogue Editing SM. [online] Sokamahe.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://sokamahe.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/analogue-editing-sm.html [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].


(7) Wikipedia. (2016). Moviola. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moviola#cite_note-2 [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].

(8) Signvideo.com. (2016). What is Digital Video Editing Software?. [online] Available at: http://www.signvideo.com/dig-ed-softwr-rtcl.htm [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016].

(9) "Louis Lumière, 83, A Screen Pioneer. Credited in France With The Invention of Motion Picture.". New York Times. 7 June 1948. Retrieved 2008-04-29.

(10) Creativeglossary.com. (2016). 180 Degree Rule Definition - Creative Glossary. [online] Available at: http://www.creativeglossary.com/film/180-degree-rule.html [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

(11) Mediacollege.com. (2016). CU - Close Up Shot. [online] Available at: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/closeup.html [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

(12) Asu.edu. (2016). Video-Types Of Shot Sizes > Long Shot. [online] Available at: https://www.asu.edu/alti/ltlab/tutorials/video/basics/type2_ls.htm [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

(13) Moura, G. (2014). Parallel Editing. [online] Elementsofcinema.com. Available at: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/parallel-editing/ [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

(14) Moura, G., Moura, G., Moura, G. and Moura, G. (2014). Types of Transitions. [online] Elementsofcinema.com. Available at: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/types-of-transitions/ [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

(15) Wikipedia. (2016). Dissolve (filmmaking). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolve_(filmmaking) [Accessed 1 Oct. 2016].

(16) Biography.com. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dw-griffith-9321016 [Accessed 2 Oct. 2016].

(17) Biography.com. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/edwin-s-porter-21194085 [Accessed 2 Oct. 2016].

McDougall, J. (2008). OCR media studies for AS. London: Hodder Arnold.