Although all music videos are different, many of them follow along the same basic conventions. Most music videos typically use a large number of shots, many of which have fast cuts so that they add life to the video and keep the viewer interested. There is also a range of shots used; however there are predominantly close ups of the artist to show their emotion, mid shots to show their composure and their attire, and finally long shots to show the location they are in so that the viewer can get the full picture. Pan shots are also quite often used in music videos as they can make the viewer feel more involved as they are moving with the camera. Some videos also take this concept to the next level by having their whole video made up of one continuously moving shot. For most of the music videos, the editing is quite basic with most of the cuts being straight cuts as adding effects to them all can make a video too complicated for the viewer. For the audio it is mainly just the track that plays, however some videos can have sections where added dialect and sounds are added in, for example Lady Gaga’s Telephone video. Another convention of music videos is that the colour of the costume and location match the mood of the song, of if it is happy and upbeat the colours will be bright, and if the song is dark then the colours will also be dark. Colours can also reflect a genre as pop music often has bright colours and rock music usually contains darker colours. Most music videos contain the artist at some point performing the song; this is so that the viewer can clearly see that they are the artist and not an actor in the music video. Videos are often well lit, however for darker songs a low amount of lighting is used to set the mood. Mise en scene in a music video is usually used so that it can relate to the audience, or so it matches the lyrics and mood of the song. The final thing that nearly all music videos contain is a storyline. Mist music videos have some kind of message or story to portray, often which is matched to the lyrics of the song, and which keeps the audience watching.
In indie music videos, there are conventions that differ from other genres. In the majority of indie music videos, they include performances of the band playing the song. This is so the viewers can clearly tell that they are the band and can relate to them. It is quite rare that indie videos have just a narrative video; where as some pop songs go down this route as it is only the singer that can perform. In indie videos, the artist or band are shown throughout the video as it allows the audience to relate to them. A lot of indie videos are usually shot in clam settings and then as the songs builds up so does the video with an increase in noise resulting in an increase in action onscreen.
In the creation of my music video, there were many conventions that are similar to that of all music videos and specifically indie. As the track is in the genre of Indie-acoustic, it means that the song is based around love, and that is the storyline that I tried to portray in the video. My video consists of both narrative and performance as it shows shots of Adam singing and also shots of Adam and his other half. Close ups of Adam singing are used in the video as it shows that he is representing the artist and so that the viewers can relate to him. Parts of the video are also edited so that they are in black and white; this is because indie videos use them sometimes to show a change in time or to change the mood. We used it to show a change in time, as it shows a time when the couple were having fun. As in most music videos, the majority of transitions in the video are straight cuts. This is to make it look more natural and keeps the viewer interested. However a fade transition has been used to show a change in scene, this is used when cutting to the inside shots and then returning back into the woods. Pan shots have been used in the video to make the viewer feel for more involved and to add more life to the video by using movement. The final convention of indie videos that is included in my video is a hand held shot. This is used in the black and white footage and gives the impression that it is a home video being shot by the artist.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
For my first ancillary text, the website, I used a layout that made the things contained on the page stand out, so I opted for a black background. By using this background, it keeps it plain but unlike using a white background it looks less boring. The artist, Ed Sheeran, actual website colour scheme consists of black and orange so I have chosen to use this as it relates to the artist. For my first draft of my website I used an orange background with black text, however is chose to reverse the colours as the orange made it to bright and made it look unprofessional and aimed at a younger audience.
I have included the final version of the music video on the homepage of the website as this is a typical convention of bands as they want to promote it straight away to the people that view their website. I have chosen to display it at the top as it makes it easy for the audience to find and combines the website with the main music video product.
In the top right corner I have included a biography on Ed Sheeran. Most band websites include a bio, some have it on a separate page and some have it on the home page. I have decided to include a short one on my homepage as people who visit the site can instantly find out some basic information on the artist before they listen to his music or go through the rest of the site.
I have included a slideshow of images on the homepage showing shots of Adam as Ed, and some of the locations where we filmed the music video so that the audience know immediately what Ed (Adam) looks like and also can relate to the music video. The slideshow moves along automatically as it saves the user having to click to view the next picture.
On my homepage I have included blog updates for Ed Sheeran. Most artists have blogs, or leave messages on social networking sites, so I decided to add some blog updates based on news stories that have been about Ed recently and made it so that the viewers can find out updates about Ed including releases, tours and chart positions.
In the bottom corner of the home page I have added a text field that allows the user to enter their email address and sign up to Ed’s mailing list. There is a submit button; however it does not add the email address to the website as it was too complicated to do. Most band websites allow fans to sign up to their mailing list so that they can keep them updated on news involving the band.
I have included an animated image that shows the logo for the main social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook and Twitter), which is promoting fans to follow Ed on his account so they can hear up to date news.
In the top corners of the page I have included 2 orange paw prints, Ed Sheeran’s logo, so that it is clear the site relates to him. Most bands have their own logo or symbol and include it on all of their products, so that is why I decided to include it on my website.
In the bottom corner I have included an advertisement for the store that I created including a t-shirt I made and the album cover of the digipack, this then links to the store page on the website. This is a convention of typical websites as bands are always trying to promote their stores.
The final thing I have included is a link to Ed’s websites email address at the bottom of the page so that people can contact him. This is typical as bands have contact details on their website so that fans can contact them and promoters can book them for gigs.
For my second ancillary text, the digipack, I have continued with a similar theme to my website by using a black background, and I have included darkened images over the top. For the front cover I have included an image of Ed (Adam) from a low angle shot with trees and a bright light behind him. I edited the colours of the image to make Adam stand out and look superior, showing that he is the artist. This is a key connotation as quite a lot of CD covers include either the singers or member of the band. I have included the title of the song and the artist over the top as this is a connotation of CD covers as it is clear to the audience who the singer is and what album it is. To make the text stand out I have has to add a white glow so that the black text stands out over the dark image.
The back cover of the CD I have made it very similar to the front so that it has a general flow to digipack and works as a whole product. I have included a barcode in the bottom corner, which is a typical convention of CD’s as they need a barcode so fans can purchase their music. At the top of the back cover I have included a track list which stands out from the image by using a glow around the text. This is a typical convention of a CD as the track listing is included on the back so that the viewer can see what songs are on the album before they purchase it.
The outside flap of the digipack is made up of a collage of images of Adam and the setting of the video. I have edited some of the images so they are darker and work with the rest of the album art. Using images of the band is a typical convention of most CD’s as it can show the audience what the artist looks like.
For the inside page I have included a basic image and then added the lyrics to the song over the top. I have used a basic image so that the lyrics clearly stand out and are readable. Most bands include the lyrics to their songs in their digipack so that the fans can read them; this is a typical convention of CD covers.
For the CD insert I have used a black background so that it continues with the dark theme and for the CD I have used and image of some leaves so that the woods theme continues through the digipack. I have also included the name of the artist and song as this is a typical convention for CD’s.
For the inside flap I have included an image of Adam in a field with mud clearly visible at the bottom of the shot. On this mud I have included text that says ‘with thanks:’ which includes Ed’s name for being the artist and me and Adam for making the video. This is a typical convention of CD covers as bands usually thank people who were involved in their music.
The similarities between my digipack and website include the colour scheme and the images that are used. The colour scheme is black all the way through my CD and website, this is so that they work as a group of products and the audience can relate them together, this is a typical convention used in promoting music. I have also used the same images from the CD cover on the website so that they look similar; this is a typical convention of music as they have pictures of the band so they can promote the image.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
For the video we received feedback throughout and as a result there were many drafts of the video until we decided on out final one. Feedback we received from the drafts was a mix of positive and negative. Positives comments that I received were that the setting of the video was good as the video had a calm and natural feel to it which matched the feel of the song.
Feedback we received that would help us improve the video came in very useful as we took them on board so that we could make a much better video that suits the target audience. An improvement that we received was to film Adam with him putting more effort into the singing so it doesn’t look like he is mining. We used this and now the video and lip syncing are much improved. Another improvement we received was to remove the shots of Adam running as they were poorly shot and didn’t make much sense. So in the final version, we replaced these shots with shots of the female actor Annie) messing around in the snow. The two main improvements that were suggested were to improve the lip syncing and to make the narrative more clear. On the final video the lip syncing so much improved and it looks like Adam is actually singing the song. Also the narrative makes more sense as it shows that they are as couple. The fact that they didn’t look like a couple was a problem in the first drafts, so when we re-filmed we made sure that they sat closer together so the viewers could see that they were actually a couple. The final problem that we discovered from the feedback is that Annie (female actor) was laughing in some of the clips, so when we re-filmed I had to make sure that she had a calm facial expression.
Between my first draft of my website and my final one, there was a vast change in design and content. The first piece of feedback I received was to change the orange background of the website as it was too bright and didn’t look very professional, so I decided to change it to a black background and have some orange items, so that it still kept with the original colour scheme. Some more feedback I got was the lack of images and other items on the page. So I have added a picture slideshow as well as the music video and a text field that allows the user to enter their email address and sign up to the mailing list. The final improvement I got told to do was to improve the text on the page, so I decided to add a blog at the bottom of the page showing news about Ed Sheeran.
For my first digipack draft I created a very bland one with little images as I was running out of time. But when it came to the final version I spent a lot of time working on it to make the best one I could. An improvement I got told to do was to add better quality images and more of them, so I took more pictures that were relevant to the video by taking them in the woods. This makes the digipack work well and also provides a flow between the products. The other improvement I got told to make was to change the background colour to black as the grey didn’t work well and it didn’t match the website, so I changed this to make my products look similar.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
As new technologies are always becoming important, I have used many of them throughout this project whether it be in the research, planning or the production of my video, digipack and website. By using these I was able to increase the quality of my products, distribute them in a better way and be able to research on the internet before I decided what I wanted my video to look like.
For the research section of my project, the internet played a very key role as it helped with many things. A few months before starting the project I had been listening to a relatively unheard of singer songwriter called Ed Sheeran, and as I like his music very much I decided that I would like to use one of the songs off his album as the track for my music video. I used the internet to find his website, and once on there I filled in a message in the ‘contact’ section and got a reply a few days later from the person who runs the site saying that I could use one of his songs.
Ed Sheeran - One Night by DJDeeKay
With YouTube making video sharing so easy it played a key role in my research. I viewed 2 music videos, Spanish Sahara by Foals and Weightless by All Time Low. By viewing them on YouTube it meant that I could watch them whenever I want, how often I want and can pause it so I can take notes. This helped me realise how many shots music videos actually contain. Part of my research was to do a questionnaire asking my target audience what they would like a music video to look like for the track. Once I had the results I use Microsoft Excel to create pie charts displaying the data and then copied the charts onto my blog so that it was clearly visible what the majority of people wanted the video to look like.
For the planning of my products new technologies came in handy, especially when it involved my blog. Once me and Adam had created the storyboard, it was scanned onto a computer as images so we could then add them to out blogs and refer back to them whenever we needed to, meaning that it was more easily accessible. When I was creating a mock design for the digipack I used Microsoft PowerPoint to design it in. This was because it is easy to use basic shapes to create images and to show a rough layout.
When producing the music video, technology was very key as a digital camera was used and the editing was all done using computer software. For the first draft of the video we used a basic digital video camera that used a tape, we then captured the footage and edited it in Adobe Premier Pro and exported it to YouTube. For the second draft however, Adam had recently purchased a HD camera, so we opted to use that to see if we could get better quality footage. As there was no tape involved and the files were too big, it couldn’t be edited in Premier Pro so it had to be done on the software that came with the camera which did not work very well. For the final draft we returned back to the original camera and rerecorded it. The editing then took place in Premier Pro, which is a key new technology as it allows the shots to be manipulated and duplicated so that good products can be made. Once the video was finished, YouTube came in handy as it is where the video was uploaded. The benefit of putting the video onto YouTube is that it allows anybody to watch our video and leave comments which we can then use for feedback. Also as we have uploaded it to YouTube, the video can be embedded, meaning that it was put in my blog and also in my website that I created.
With the internet playing such a key role in general life these days, websites are becoming increasingly easier to make. For my website I made it in Dreamweaver, which allows me to import images, videos, animations, and link pages together. On my home page of the website I have embedded the final version of the music video which can be played straight off the website, meaning that it can promote my video without people having to search for it on the internet. I have also included images that I took and then edited using Fireworks. These images were then made into an animation on Fireworks which shows them running in a continuous loop so that it looks like a slideshow. With the internet being so key in life, one of the most popular things that people go on are social networking sites, so I have created an animation showing the main logos of the networking sites so it promotes people to go and follow the artist.
With technology improving it means that the ways digipacks are designed and made can have a lot of variation, which is why my digipack is a six panel product instead of the standard four. I created my digipack in fireworks as it allows me to edit images that I can import from a camera, add effects to them so that they look perfect. It also makes the layout of the digipack easy to control by moving them around and my inserting text over the top so that it shows detail about the artist and song. Once finished my product can be exported as images, which means I am then able to add them to my blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment