Video Evaluation

I choose to present my evaluation in the form of a video. I felt it was appropriate considering the task was to create a music video so to utilize the medium of film would be fitting. It also gave me the opportunity to give a more direct, personal responses and I believe it helped me engage more with the questions I was required to address. Those questions were...
-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms & conventions of real media products?
-How effective is the combination of your main product & ancillory tasks?
-What have you learned from your audience feedback?
-How did you use media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages?


We started using media technology in the research stages when we looked at many music videos, to look for inspiration and new ideas for our own project. We had an idea in mind about what we wanted to depict but we wanted to keep our options open and go into this project with an open mind therefore looking at all types of music videos from all types of genres was essential in assessing the effectiveness of the content band ratio between performance and narrative elements. I used media technologies in research, by looking at other music videos, also looking at album covers. We looked at iconic and contemporary album covers and compared the two to see what tips we could consider when constructing our own. I also looked at music blogs and other peoples blogs to get an idea of how to present our blogs, with what to include etc. For the planning we also looked at other music video to get inspiration and to see how they were constructed. To test the actors out on camera, we did costume and make up test shots. The inspirations behind the costumes came from existing films and print mediums such as fashion magazines. For example the “binary opposites” look of Daniel in dark colours and Mimi is light colours was inspired by the immensely popular movie franchise Twilight and it’s two main actors. For make up, the mood boards on various websites gave us further inspiration for how to construct our music video. Then as it was a music video we tried got Daniel lip-syncing. For construction we took pictures of the actors on set as we filmed for the purpose of using them for our ancillary tasks. These pictures, as previously mentioned, were put into a slideshow and posted on youtube and social networking sites like facebook in order to get some feedback from our intended target audience. I presented my video in a form of a blog. I also presented my first question of the evaluation in form of a video, but then due to unfortunate circumstances of loosing footage, I decided I can explain things better within the writing as I was unable communicate everything I wanted to say because of my own shyness. Also blogger was used to document all the above stages.

Audience Feedback to our Music Video

Album covers: front & back, Press Release advert

Audience Feedback for our Ancillory Tasks

A Successful Day of Filming

Lucy dressed in the costume of the younger girl....
Arranging the products on the dresser to look like a typical cluttered make-up table...

On Sunday 3rd January, Suela and I

Updates

Sunday 3rd of January will commence our two days of filming. In the evening we will be shooting Lucy in our flashback scenes. Suela and I have brainstormed so we are fully prepared for the day. Firstly we need to consider everything that makes up the mise-en-scene so we will look critically at the "set" and location. The room we are using needs to be cleared of any personal knick-knacks i.e. pictures, clothes, jewlerry- and replaced with what we need to make it look like a typical, immaculate, middle-class bedroom. The room is cream and the bedcover and pilllows match to allude to the matchy-matchy clear, concise way of life. It will undoubtedly be dark so we are not relying on natural light and we breifly contemplated lighting some candles so the glow and flicker will reflect on Lucy's face and will hopefully be contribute to the cinematography. We are aware of the possible negative ramifications of using candlelight so we are doing some very quick test shots of candles only/candles and lamps/lamps only to evaluate which would be best.

Contemporary Album covers

I have already looked at iconic album covers but to earn the status of "iconic" only comes with time so I will now take a look at some album covers of a selection of successful contemporary artists who cover a range of genres to compare and see what tips me & Suela can take away for our own cover and how it is representative of the artist. The artists I have chosen are all taken from the UK & International charts to contemplate their mass appeal as oppose to those bands with niche audiences who arguably rely less so on the marketing and image of their album cover...

Black Eyed Peas, "The E.N.D"

The fifth album from the Black Eyed Peas, titled, "The E.N.D", an acronym for The Energy Never Dies. The songs featured on the album have a very futuristic theme which is sustained to the album cover. In the video "Boom Boom Pow" this green model is featured so fans of the Black Eyed Peas can identify the image with the band. Using an image relating to the music video is something that Suela & I have definately considered for our digipack to sustain some continuity. With The E.N.D the band's logo is emblazoned across the forehead of the model and the green on black is a simple, effective tool for making the face the predominant focus and it's something alot of the iconic album covers used to make them stand out so they are not overly decorated.

Susan Boyle, "I Dreamed a Dream"

A successful product of Simon Cowell's reality machine. The marketing of Susan Boyle played a key part in elevating her success and her debut album cover would be the target focus that epitomised the image that she had portrayed to the public from the first time she stepped onto the stage for her Britain's Got Talent audition. The cover sees her in a glamorous sequined black gown which appears to act as a symbol for her "superstar" transformation whilst her coy "head-in-hands" stance and shy smile connote back to her humble beginings which will no doubt appeal to the millions that witnessed her journey from the begining. The image is another black&white shot which was probably chosen to make the gold font of her name stand out and, more likely, chosen to give the image a sense of timelessness. The frame around the image brings everything together to make it a successful album cover.

Taylor Swift, "Fearless"

The second studio album from American country pop artist, Taylor Swift was massively popular worldwide. The album artwork, however, was changed for International audiences. The American cover had a similar premise of her hair being swept back, only more ferociously and Swift is wearing a white dress and not looking at the camera. It conveys an image of an All-American strong young woman and the International cover does the same yet Taylor is looking directly at the camera with a look of self-assertion to perhaps show she is comfortable with who she is-aiding the "Fearless" title. I believe it was changed as Internationally, she is lesser known and not as established as she is in her home country so, despite this being her second album, this is their "official" introduction to her. The image is relatively wholesome and shows that she hasn't bought into the over-sexualised route to sell albums. It also works for appealing to her target audience as mothers would be likely to buy it for their pre-teen/teenage daughters and also maybe for themselves.

Kings of Leon, "Only by the Night"
The UK version of the massively successful Nashville four-piece rock band's fourth studio album depicts a hybrid of the bands faces and the features of an eagle to create a very direct, proud image. This is another image that relates to a music video. In this case the music vodeo, "Sex on Fire" follows the style of the washed-out green and the interception between the human and eagle eye. Their is a strong trend amongst contemporary album covers (which could arguably be applicable to album covers in general) to emblazon a face as the focus of an album cover-favouring the ratio of image over text. The font contributes to the theme and embodies the style that the album carries, not only artistically but lyrically.

Lady Gaga, "The Fame Monster"

Within just over a year she has already become a recognisable institution within herself and it's clear by this album cover that she knows how to market it to her advantage. It's useful to consider that The Fame Monster is a evolution on her album The Fame, not a follow-up album. The Fame album cover depicts her face with her trademark blonde hair and huge dark bejeweled glasses covering half her face with "The Fame" sprawled across the bottom left hand corner of one frame. The dark, oversized seemed to be parodying their merit as the symbol of celebrity so with The Fame Monster, Gaga appears to play on that the other way round so the collar of her black leather trench coat covers her mouth in and her eyes are left staring right at the camera from underneath her platinum blonde hairdo. The image is black & white also which is fitting as Gaga has said it deals with "The darker side to fame"...hence, "The Fame Monster". We also see her from the waist up so she is more exposed despite being engulfed in an oversized coat. Against a dark grey backdrop allows the image to be the predominant focus and allows her trademark bleached hair to pop out more.

Plans for Filming this Weekend

Further Updates

On Monday, Suela and I presented our presentation on what we have acheived so far in our music video project & ancillory tasks and what we have left to do. In the presentation we covered initial ideas & research, planning the concept, research into existing music videos, storyboarding, casting, locations, costmes and filming schedules. This was recorded

Updates on Progress- 14/11/09

Admittedly, our music project has been slightly neglected for the past couple of weeks in favour of pressing coursework matters in other subjects which required my undivided attention but I'm not going to let that happen again because I get out of the swing of things and me and Suela, as a team, are prohibited from moving forward in our aim of creating the kind of music video we envisaged. In the past week we have made some progress though and the video has always been on my mind when coming across images, video clips or other music videos which have influenced ours. Currently we are putting together a presentation on how far we've come and what we still have left to achieve on powerpoint with some screen captures of our individual and group blogs. The plan is to present this on Monday. Our presentation of the presentation will be filmed and we are hoping to put the video of this onto our blogs as a testament to the point we've reached in our project.

We've also finally managed to get some screen tests. With her new camera, Suela has recorded Dan lip-syncing to the track and experimented with different ways of filming it. I also plan to upload at least 3 of these screen tests up and comment on them. Upon seeing them, I was very pleased. We've worked with Daniel before but strictly as an actor and we weren't sure how well he'd adapt to the role of storyteller, love interest and, most importantly, artist. Personally I thought he was very natural in front of the camera, singing in an intense but meaningful manner and slouching against a wall to counter-act that so it's not too intense. Dan's learnt the lyrics to Vienna perfectly so I don't have any concerns about him not being prepared.

We're hoping to get everyone together one last time before we begin filming towards the end of November and begining of December so there's no confusion on the day and they know the story well and what role they are playing. I believe it's important for the actors to be well informed on the progress we've made as they are a vital part in carrying this narrative and bringing to life what we have only planned.

Media Narrative Theories

Costume & Props: ideas & connotations

The costumes the actors wear in the music video are extremely vital in contributing to the mise-en-scene. Everything down to the nail polish syas something about the character and carries connotations throughout the music video.

I made this mood board to illustrate my collective ideas for Mimi's costume and make up. She'll have a simple white dress that was once clean but is now slightly ripped, a faded leather jacket and some scruffy converses. Her eye make up will be very heavy and dark with plenty of eyeshadow, mascara and eyeliner with two streaks down her cheeks where the make-up has run to show she's been crying. Her hair will be loose and in a kind-of bed-head style. This costume should indicate her beginings (the dress), her current situation (the leather jacket and the shoes), and how she got there (the rips and the running make-up). All these things are relatively easy to obtain and we're planning on doing some costume tests, along with the screen tests, to see how the costume works on each actor, if they are able to move in each costume and whether any changes needs to be made.

As I've previously mentioned, icons such as James Dean and Bob Dylan were major sources of insiration when it came to Daniels costume. A mixture of soulful artistry and simple but sharp black shirts. Daniel wearing black on the beach will be a nice contrast to Mimi's white dress. In some ways Daniel is embodying Billy Joel as he is the artist in the video. During the begining he will wear some Bob Dylan- style shades to create a bit of mystery around him. His main costume will compile of a Black shirt, black trousers, black coat and a scarf in the scenes outside. We want it to be smart but not stuffy and make him look a little older than he really is.

The child will be dressed up. The dress will most likely be in pink. She'll have ribbons in her hair, which will be in tight ringlets. Even though she'll be about 10, she'll have a mother who dresses her like a 6 year old going to a wedding. Her face will be free of any make up as she will then smear her mum's cosmetics onto her face.

Possible Locations

The important thing about the locations was that they had to show aspects of two different worlds: one "the Girl" is runnning away from and one she is running to. So the two locations we decided upon had to juxtapose against each other to represent this clash. We contemplated a third locations such as metropolitan London with the Girl static admist crowds of passers by, all with a direction whilst she is without one. Although it would have made for excellent cinematography, it presented a number of problems such as the amount of commuting and the cost, operating camera equipment in a busy place like London would be very difficult and the background noise may present many problems so ultimatly we decided against it, drawing to the conclusion that two prime locations (with snipets on a mode of transport such the train or bus) would be enough for telling the story we wanted to tell in relation to the song.

Suburban household

The other main location is the ordinary Suburban house which made the Girl into what she is today. We wil be filming these bits with Lucy and we'll most likely use a room in my house as it's a typical kind of house that you would find in the Suburbs of Southern England. It's very mediocre and it's quite simple which is fitting for presenting this idea of a washed-out existance. Below are some pictures I took a while ago with a friend of mine substituting as the Young dreamer, bored with her shelterd life. It's an easy room to film in and has the right vibe.

Character Ideas & Inspirations

In the planning for our music video we needed to put alot of thought into creating fitting 3- dimensional characters that carry the narrative and ideas about location, costume and props that are responsible for the semiotics that contribute to the mise-en-scene. For each of the characters we had a number of initial ideas, drawing insiration from existing material as we brainstormed the character traits individually and looked at them in relation to each other.

"The Child": On the surface she is a picture of youth and innocence but beneath that dollface-facade lies a confused young girl full of questions, which is what leads her to take her mother's pills...the ones that looked just like candy. She is a dreamer strangled by overbearing parents. It reminded me of Kirsten Dunst's character in The Virgin Suicides. A free-spirit in a cage of expectations. The challenge is finding the middle point between avoiding making a 2-dimensional cardboard cut out or a far-too complex Freud example. There's an element of "Blair Waldorf" to her... i.e. a pretty girl dressed in pretty clothes to cover up her insecurities.

"The Girl": The teenage incanation of the Child. The girl is a teenage runaway. Sad, lonely, scared and incapable of trusting anyone. We didn't want to make her the typical emotional rebelious teen. When me & Suela were discussing the character, I thought of characters such as Pippa Lee from various movies. She'll be the one who doesn't quite know where she's going among all the people heading in different directions, getting on with their lives. It's fitting to the lyric, "Slow down, you crazy child". If the girl's worried or concerned then she'll find her sanctuary by the end of the video.

"Billy": He's the narrator, the performer and the protective sheild of the Girl. People such as James Dean and Bob Dylan inspired this character. Soulful and serious and concerned for her safety. The lyrics in the song call for a male vocal and it ties in with the possibility of a love story that could emerge. Towards the end the Girl will notice him and they will meet on the beach. He will represent her "Vienna"...i.e. her sanctuary. Even though it's her story, he will be the one telling it so in a way he is our protagonist.

Updates on progress so far...

Yesterday was the first meeting we called with all of the cast and crew. It was a major breakthrough in our progress of creating our music video as it was the first time everyone was together to compile and negotiate our plans and it was a chance for Suela and I to exchange ideas with the group. The roles have been cast: Suela and I are to film (naturally) and Suela will also take some promo pictures as she also does photography so her skills will crossover; Daniel Mija, Suela's brother (chosen because of his intense method acting style as a drama student and was not out of nepotism or convenience) who also starred in our practice short film in the summer term, will star as the singer to bring the performance and narrative elements of the video together and be one half of the love story that emerges towards the end. The other half is "The Girl" whom we haven't named because we feel this will add to her mystery and indicates her lost identity. There is no spoken dialogue and she will not be addressed directly, so either way it is of no resonance. This role has been given to Mimi Naran, a girl in my English literate & language class who is wonderfully expressive and we have no doubt that she will play the part to perfection. We were very lucky with finding the younger version of the girl. As it would be a young girl we wanted someone who would be dedicated as well as a good actress. Me and Suela approached my drama teachers and asked them to announce whether anyone was interested in their year 8 classes. Mrs Mundy got back to us with 6 girls who wee interested. We had not anticipated so many girls being interested so we were very pleased as it allowed for more choice and decided to hold informal auditions to cast the role. I met with the girls and gave them each a sheet of paper with a small monologue relating to the storyline as audition material. After a few moments as they looked over the dialogue, they auditioned one-by-one and after I answered any questions they had. From assessing their acting skills and their possible resembelance to Mimi we chose a girl named Lucy who is very mature for her age yet still is able to embody that little girl persona...she also has the same bright blue eyes as Mimi which will be handy when we go to a flashback. We got her parent's permission and in the meeting it was a chance to answer any queries and co-ordinate schedules so everyone was in full understanding of where we were in the process. Our next step is to do some screen tests with Daniel lip-syncing or singing over the track.

Our Actors & Costume Tests

We have now cast the actors to appear in our music video and we are very satisfied with the ensemble. When selecting the actors/actresses to appear Suela & I acknowledged that we needed to think pragmatically as well as artistically so considering factors such as availability, reliability and work ethic was vital to contemplate alongside physical appearance, chemistry between the actors (also continuity between Lucy and Mimi as they portray two different stages in life of the same person) and their abilities to elevate and contribute to the performance and narrative elements to create our visual interpretation of the song.

On Tuesday Suela & I held a meeting in order to explain the set up, schedule and storyline to all three actors and it gave an opportunity for all of us to come together so any issues or concerns could be raised and answered. We started by thanking them for their participation, introducing them to each other (although they vaguely knew each other already) and explaining the story we hoped to depict. Then to familiarise them, we played the song (which they thought went well with the storyline) and we showed our Summer task short film "Home", in which Daniel also starred to show them the kind of camera skills and editing features we would like to develop on. The meeting was very successful and we discussed availability for shooting. We estimated that Lucy's scenes would take a few hours of work to polish whereas we'd take a whole day of filming to Daniel and Mimi. Daniel also is currently learning the lyrics to the song for the performance elements of the music video and Suela is planning to record the lip-syncing attempts for us to look over. Daniel is Suela's twin brother so I have no concerns about his reliability and I am pretty confident in both Mimi and Lucy for being on time when we start shooting. We are lucky to only enlist the services of three actors as other groups are having difficulties bringing many extras together. Overall if we keep focused, everything will hopefully be on track.

24th March:

Since originally posting I have added pictures of the actors during our costume & make up tests...

Mimi: "The Girl"

In this photograph Mimi is wearing a cream-printed minidress with a white silk bow around the waist so it isn't too floaty. Her hair will be more wilder (hopefully the wind will aid this for the camera) and she will be wearing a jacket over the dress with knee-high grey schoolgirl-style socks and worn out trainers. To juxtapose the lightness of the dress and to contribute to that "Teen Runaway" look he make up with be pale for most of her face with a predominant focus on the eyes. Thick dark kohl-rimmed eyes with smokey eyeshadow and plenty of mascara. We will also smudge the eyeliner so when we shoot an extreme close-up, it will give the illusion that she has been crying.

Lucy: "The Child"

We used the same dress for Lucy. They are both have the same body type and blue eyes so it worked out well and the fact that Mimi is a little taller, her hair is a little longer and her make up is darker all adhere to the development of the character. The point of the young girl is to be the epitome of youthful curiosity struggling against sheltered innocence and one of the main sources of inspiration for souring a costume to portray that was the eponymous Alice from Lewis Carrol's, Alice in Wonderland. Although not entirely visible from this photo, she wears a white silk Alice band amongst her soft curls and in the video she will wear dainty lace-trimmed white socks.
Daniel: "Billy"

Daniel plays against the colour palette for Mimi and Lucy. Suela & I decided we wanted him dressed in sleek black from head to toe apart from white trainers to give him a more contemporary feel. We contemplated giving him a black fedora hat but dismissed the idea as it seemed to cliched, as if we were tying to copy Billy Joel's look altogether. Daniel's hair is also quiffed up with hairspray to give him a kind of James Dean "leading man" type edge against Mimi's "lost schoolgirl" image. This relates to the ideas Todorov explores about binary oppositions in a narrative.