Effective Ways to present and evaluate research methods

Before I began work on my music video, I thought it were best to learn as much as I can about the structure of music videos, by educating myself on different codes and conventions that they posses. I began by taking notes from a powerpoint that was designed to brief us on some of these codes and conventions. We where then introduced to two theorists, Carol Vernallis and Andrew Goodwin, whom specialise in film theory and understand what it is that makes a music video what it is.
They both had written books on their individual theory's, which I was able to utilise and make my own music video the best it could be. I primarily gathered information from the Goodwin's book, "Dacing in the Distraction Factory" as well as articles that he had written for major newspapers such as the Guardian.
I have never myself analysed a music video before, despite being an avid music video watcher myself. After reading material from both of these theorists I was able to expand my knowledge on how to derive the directors intention behind different music videos. It also allowed me to fully appreciate the different genres in which music videos had been placed in, which would later prove useful when planning my own music video.

I decided to analyse 3 different music videos and pick out their genre, codes and conventions. Due to the research that i had conducted previously which broadened my understanding of the different structures of music videos,  I was able to efficiently identify different codes and conventions without too much trouble. This also helped me pick out what genre my own music video would belong to. When choosing the song for my music video, I thought it were best to conduct primary research amongst my own HNC classmates. I played two example tracks and out of the both, the majority preferred the song "Corrine" by Black Honey and therefore I chose this track. This benefitted me extremely as I wanted to produce a narrative based video and this song, which contains familiar themes is extremely adaptable for just that.

I also produced a questionnaire which the public could fill out in order to get a better understanding on what people prefer to see in their music videos.I included questions such as:

What is your preferred format of music video? 

-Live performance (stage)
-liver performance (studio)
- narrative 
- experimental 
- non linear 
- conceptual 

What engages you the most in a music Video?

- Riveting narative 
- Relatable themes 
-Interesting visuals 
- Controversial themes 

The results of this survey helped me choose what kind of format and genre I would make my music video as well as what themes it would contain.

A

As you can see the majority of my audience  preferred the music video to contain a narrative which helped me make the decision to include a narrative which explores the themes that are presented in the lyrical content of the song.
In the end this genre music video was achieved and i was able to stay true to the primary research that I conducted.

The other question i asked was what engages you most in a music video? The top answer appeared to be "relatable themes" and therefore I decided to explore the themes of love and relationships in my music video considering the song itself is also a love song.

Conclusion:

Overall i felt that quantitive data gathering and research methods worked in my favour as it allowed me to make easy decisions regarding the format and genre of my music video. It also helped me come up with the themes in which i wanted to explore which ended up driving the narrative to what it is now. However my research methods didn't exactly give me a solid idea of what I wanted to do with the video as a whole. The information i gathered was fairly vague and didn't apply to every aspect of the video. This is because of the lack in questions that were put to the public in the questionnaire, if I were to have written more and more precise questions I may have gotten a better idea of where Wanted to take the video from the start. Instead I spent a lot of time storyboarding and visualising different shots when listening to the song itself. The research did in fact make it easier to choose how the video was going to look and what themes it was going to explore.
I also felt that qualitative research collecting such as the focus group with my class was also incredibly useful as a research method as it allowed me to talk directly to my audience and gather their opinions down which would further benefit the final outcome of my music video. The people involved with the focus groups were able to bounce ideas of off each other which proved extremely useful when brainstorming concepts.
What further expanded my understanding of the structure of music videos was researching the two film theorists Carol Vernallis and Andrew Goodwin by applying their theory to different existing music videos as well as my own. I searched online for different interpretations as well as additional notes on these theorists and their theories which helped broaden my understanding of their specialty. However I had to ensure these we sources were correct by reviewing the references section just in case.

Improvements:
To ensure that I gained as much qualitative data as possible I could have set up a camera and microphone during the focus group. This would have allowed me to revisit the footage and apply any opinions or information i could have taken fro the individuals involved.

- I should have also included more questions in my questionnaire to cover a wider spectrum of aspects which could have further improved my music video.

- I could have also staged a focus group with a higher amount of participants to ensure that a wide range of opinions could have been collected.

Music Video Analysis (3)

What is most significant in this music video is that the members of the band use the ribbons to amplify certain beats of the song. At the beginning of the song only one band member can be seen dancing, however more instrumentalists join in as the song progresses. This too both amplifies and represents how the song builds and builds as it goes further into its duration as more instruments are being introduced to build the sound.

The visuals however have no obvious relations with the lyrics themselves, it is only the rhythm of the song that is being represented visually in this instance.

The star image is of course maintained as all four members of the band appear in the video.
The genre of the video is purely conceptual however there is a very loose/brief narrative that could be interpreted as well.

The movement of the dance routine accompanied by the ribbon certainly enhances the songs structure and is a very inventive way of showing that.

Music Video Analysis (2)

The music Video Presents a very rugged hand made quality. This appears to be a device used to reflect how the artist feels about his music, being self produced and self released. This in itself can be viewed as an expression of star image.

The video uses a base track to refer back to which involves the artist singing to himself in front of a DIY background. This says to the audience that he's a un-superficial character and that he's letting us as an audience take a peek into his personal life through personal home recorded candid footage, as well as through the the lyrics of the song.

There is no particular cohesive narrative that can be followed, only returning to and fro certain clips that the artist himself recorded and decided to include into the video. The lyrics are amplified as the artist gives a very true performance of the song in a karaoke kind of style.The song itself gives off a very positive vibe which is amplified by visuals of the artist hanging out and having a good time with friends and fellow band members rehearsing. The cutting order seems to be very random and doesn't necessarily cut in tike with the song which gives the video a very rustic feel. 

Goodwin would suggest that this is a somewhat studio performance which includes different amplification elements which enhance certain aspects of the song. 

Music Video - Contextual Research

Carol Vernallis - "The Kindest Cut" : Functions and meanings of music editing.

Vernallis suggested that music videos rarely follow a cohesive continual structure as you would expect to find in most mainstream movies. This may be because it is often found that there is usually an underline "base shot" that is constantly referred back to,  that is present in most music videos, primarily in performance based music videos. This base track creates a foundation for which the structure of the music video can be based around. Because of this, the camera has more freedom to move around and capture different angles of the performance, following no particular order. Jump cuts are commonly used to speed up the events in order to edit it down to a 2-4 minute gap whist still remaining cohesive.

Because the continuity is not focused on, this may allow the audience to be able to focus more on the song itself, which can be seen as much more important than the video itself, which itself can be seen as just an accompaniment to the song. This explains the reasoning behind loose narrative structures which are very common amongst music videos.
The types of shots themselves, extreme close up, tracking etc are used to enhance different sections and elements of the music. Close ups are used as a focus point of the video which is commonly seen as the front member of the band. It is common for the front man/woman to make eye contact with the camera, (breaking the fourth wall) as the artist then makes an instant connection with the audience and the artist is no longer seen as the object of the video.

There are many different functions of editing a music video. Certain cuts are made on certain beats of the song in order to amplify that aspect. This also creates a nice rhythmic/ smooth feel to the transitional editing. Other common examples include, reflecting star image and illustrating the lyrics.
It is thought that what we hear in the song determine how we see the images whist watching a music video, but on the other hand, what we see and perceive in the music video will affect the way we hear the song that is playing. Therefore a harmony is created both the elements compliment each other.


References - Vernallis 2001, The kindest Cut: functions and meanings of music video editing. Oxford Press. 

Music Video Research

Before I could begin to brainstorm the concept of my music video, I conducted some research which would give me a better understanding of the commonly preferred music video styles/concepts in order to make this project as successful and well received as possible.
I thought the best place to begin was to analyse existing music videos, especially the more commercially successful ones. Whilst analysing these music videos I applied the theory of both Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis.
In doing this, I further understood and appreciated the different methods and styles of preparing a music video which would ultimately have a greater effect on the audience. This also provided me with a great foundation on which to base the structure of my own music video, having learnt what it is that constructs previously analysed examples.

As opposed to limiting myself to just one genre of music video, I analysed a wide selection which gave me a broader understanding of what was possible with this format. These included stop motion music videos, and how exactly they differed from fluid motion videos.

I reached out to the public to fill out a questionnaire that I composed to gather data on which different types of music video they prefer. This would give me a good understanding on which format/style would be more preferred/popular and therefore more successful in terms of audience reaction.

I included questions such as:

What is your preferred format of music video? 

-Live performance (stage)
-liver performance (studio)
- narrative 
- experimental 
- non linear 
- conceptual 

What engages you the most in a music Video?

- Riveting narative 
- Relatable themes 
-Interesting visuals 
- Controversial themes 

The feedback I got from the questionnaire supplied me with enough information to guide me in the direction that I'm going to go in with the video in terms of the format, content etc... 

On top of this I played two possible songs to a focus group. There was a clear preference for "Corrine" by Black Honey and so that is the song I ultimately chose to make a narrative music video to. 

Music Video Evaluation

Before filming could commence, I ensured that I ran a health and safety evaluation of every shoot that was to take place. This including taking into account all the possible dangers or hazards that could cause harm to the crew as well as other people we may come into contact with whilst filming. For example we used a step ladder as a prop for the video, so therefore we ensured that the ladder was perfectly stable on the ground that it was placed on before any member of the crew attempted to use it. We also made sure it was explicitly clear where everyone will be postponed during the shoot. This was done to ensure that no one could come into contact with any of the equipment, such as cameras on tripods which would subsequently result in it being knocked over and broken. On top of this, as we shot in a public place for the majority of this video, it was also made explicitly clear that everyone had to be mindful of their surroundings which would hopefully prevent anyone disturbing members of the public, such as accidentally walking in their way whilst filming.

During the scene in which the model pig was destroyed with a baseball bat, it became clear that the shards that resulted of this had the potential to either damage the equipment and the crew. Mindful of this, I used a telescopic lens which I could use to shoot a close up of the ornament at a far and safe distance.

In order to ensure I obtained more than enough footage than I needed when it came to the editing process, I took at least 5 or six takes of each shot. This also meant that I had more of a variety of different shots to choose from to make the final cut.

However there were issues we came across during the filming process. The main issue, as there were quite a few people involved in the making of this video, was organising a time in which we knew everyone was free. This was made apparent as the shoot stretched on past a week, due to everyones busy scheduals. In order to overcome this issue we scheduled a meeting so that we could all agree on a time that we were all free and available to film. This made the whole process much mire organised and simpler. What also helped was establishing an online group chat which allowed each other to be in close contact.

Another issue we encountered was the ever-changing weather patterns. As the majority of the shoot was outdoors, the weather would have to also be taken into account as it had a tendency to fluctuate during this particular season in which this video was made. If it were to all of a sudden rain, then the camera equipment would have been damaged/destroyed. Therefore we made sure we brought a protective canvas to put over the camera if it were to start raining.

Because we shot the footage in many different locations, inside and outside, it was essential that I brought a variety of lenses to shoot with which would be best adaptable for the surroundings. I brought a lens which allowed for a low aperture when shooting indoors, especially when the lighting was becoming more low key as the day went on.

I realised as the weather changed I had to adjust the settings of the camera so that the image won't be over exposed or under exposed. If the environment changed so that there was more sunlight  would have to lower the aperture, and visa versa.

As the editing process began, I organised different clips in categories of different locations (i.e where each individual clip was shot. This gave me a more vivid view of the structure of the video in which it will be edited as well as a greater scenes of cohesion. I could easily identify which clip belonged to which scene based on the location on which it was shot.

Also during the editing I used  the colour corrector which is available in premiere pro. As the weather tended to change, certain shots were not consistent with the tone of the previous shots.

Therefore this tool was used in order to make the colour tone consistent throughout the entire video which gives it more of a fluid feel. 

In the editing process I used genre specific cuts. When editing a music video, jump cuts are often very common as they are a effective way of portraying events to the audience in the small space of time that we are permitted (the duration of the song). I also cut the footage in time to the beat, which is a technique I learnt when we did the "editing footage to music" exercise. This amplifies certain beats of the song which supplies a greater impact to the audience. 

What I would have done differently is create a shot list which not only displays what shot needs to be done but also where and when it would have been shot. Because I didn't conjure up a shooting schedule, the planning of the shoot was all over the place which led to continuity errors and late work. 

Recommendations: 

-Next time i'm going to storyboard excessively to ensure that no blatant continuity errors are able to occur.

- I am also going to create a shooting schedule where my actors can refer to to ensure that the shoot is tightly planned and everyone knows where they are going to be and where. 

- I am going to plan every scene in advance so that no time is wasted in looking for appropriate locations to shoot. 

Promotional Video - Analysis of existing promo videos

University of West London Promotional Video -

The Target Audience - Would be any aspiring students whom are looking for somewhere to further their academic studies. The majority of the audience would consist of the younger variety, however as university is not restricted to a certain age, the promotional video makes an effort to appeal to a universal audience which ranges from VIth form graduates to the middle age criteria.
Mode Of Address - This promo video is a compilation of moving visuals displaying the college and its students, accompanied by an upbeat, inviting soundtrack. It offers no spoken language, but written text which delivers important statistical information regarding the university's achievements, which they hope would convince you to enrol. The overall pleasing asthetic is an inviting platform to advertise West London's services.
Technical Conventions -The edits present in the promo video are quick and smooth, giving it a much welcome sleek feel to it. The quick cuts are used to maintain the audiences interest as if they were any longer the video would have been in danger of feeling over-dram and boring. The use of graphics are used to give the video a more modern feel to it, avoiding the danger of looking out-dated and therefore less appealing to a younger audience.
Brand Identity - The video opens with the University logo, immediately implanting the brand Identity on the audience. Furthermore the slogan for the university "Connected" also makes an appearance. The video uses statistics such as "94% of students are employed within the first 6 months of graduating" which also appear is items such as signs, and advertisement boards.
Narrative - There isn't a particularly present nor cohesive narrative. It is simply a platform for potential students to find out more information on the university. This avoids unnecessarily over complicating the video and makes the message as clear as possible.


New Music: Only Real Promotional Video -



Target Audience - This video is aimed at people who are interested in new music or whom are interested in this particular type of music. It is also for those who know of this artist and want to find out more about him. The age range would vary from teenagers onwards.
Mode Of Address - The language used in this video is fairly informal. It is spoken from the subject of the music video and therefore the star image of the subject would not want to be comprimesed by including a mode of address which wouldn't suit. For example, if he were to be given as script to read by someone else other than the subject of the video. The subject is filmed around his home town which allows the audience to get to know the artist and become more up close and personal.
Technical conventions - This music of the artist is played in the background of this music video. This gives an audience the idea of the genre/style of the artist's music.
The video consists of interviews with the artist in order for the audience to get to know the artist and the music he produces.
Brand Identity - The blog website which is presenting this video "Dummy TV"'s logo appears at the beginning of the video which establishes the brand identity
It also includes graphics displaying the artists name in block capitols so that the brand identity of the artist is clear and concise.
Narrative -  The narrative follows how he subject of the video started off making music. It is told from his perspective. This includes the songs he's made as well as the videos that accompany them. He also reveals to he audience how he became noticed on the internet when he uploaded a few songs to his blog.

Angel coffee House promo video -


Target audience - The audience would consist of lovers of coffee as well as people who are interested in finding new places to socialise around their local area.
Mode Of Address - There are interviews with regular customers describing how they feel about the coffee shop and their experience with it. This is backed up of well photographed shots of the coffee being assembled which would come across as very appealing to any fans of coffee. There are also shots of customers seemingly having a good time in the shop, which establishes a positive, inviting feeling towards the audience.
Technical Conventions - The video uses graphics to establish the brand identity. It also uses spectacular establishing shots to show the audience the type of area the coffee shop is located in. There is a sleek, slow, low-fi soundtrack that accompanies the visuals which makes the promo video all that more appealing. The sound track is so fanciful that it seems to make out the coffee shop as some sort of mythical location.
Brand Identity - The coffee house logo appears at the beginning of the video which straight away establishes the brand identity. Shots of the coffee shop sign appear in the video which not only establishes the brand identity but also reveals the appearance of the actual shop itself.
Narrative - there is no cohesive narrative however the customer interviews do give you a vivid idea of the atmosphere the coffee shop provides. However there are accounts of past customers, describing how they discovered the coffee shop and how it became a favourite of theirs from then on.

Alpha Romeo - Promo Video


Target Audience - this video is made for anyone interested in buying a new car as well as fans of cars in general. It is also aimed at fans of this particular car manufacturer. As the entire video is focused on the car, it would be enough to please any fan of Alpha Romeo cars.
Mode of address - the video just consists purely of diegetic sound coming from the car as well as a classical soundtrack. This gives the video a very classy feel as if to say to the audience that this is a product of luxury, if you're to buy one you would be seen as very sophisticated.
Technical Conventions - The use of slick quick and smooth cuts reflect how they wish to portray this car, as a slick and quick as well as a smooth ride.
Brand identity -  The brand identity is carried through the shots of the car. The alpha romeo logo is visible on the front of the car. This particular car also has a very distinguishable look which establishes the brand identity by itself. The logo also appears at the end of the promo video as well as text in a fancy italic font which further pushes the sophisticated look.
Narrative - There is no particular cohesive narrative. The shot types simply tell the story of how the car can be seen as an exhilarating, smooth ride if you were to purchase one.

Music Video Analysis (1)

1. Her Morning Elegance - Oran Lavie



This music video is constructed out of several different still photos which create the effect of movement, otherwise known as stop motion animation. This is a distinctly unique video as it uses the stop motion technique on real life objects and people as well as creating surrealist imagery in doing so, using different common household items to represent different things. In that regard this music video is very conceptual.
The concepts that this video presents are very unique and inventive. This implies that the video contains elements of experimental movie making. Qualities such as the aforementioned use of common household items representing different things through movement. For example the use of pillows cleverly positioned underneath the woman's feet can be perceived as a flight of stairs. The combination of the movement of the woman's walking pattern and the movement of the pillows creates the illusion that she's walking down said flight of stairs.

The video maintains a simple feel as it is staged simply in one space, captured at one angle. It flows well as different occurrences in the video occur at different audio cue's, such as the violin appearing when the strings in the song are introduced. This is an example of illustration in music Videos.

There is a running theme in this video which is the setting seems to change overtime the chorus kicks back in. First its on the train, then in the clouds and then in the sea etc. This technique is used to amplify these sections of the song.

As the song progresses the events seem to pick up the pace and transition much more quickly. This is all to do with the pacing of the video which gradually builds until the subtle climax at the end.
This video is set in a very intimate location. Bedrooms are always seen as very personal so therefore to set a music video in a bedroom would suggest that the topic matter is very personal to the artist.

New Wave Film Planning: "Beer Goggles"

Making Effective Judgements 

Originally, plans were made to travel to different urban areas to shoot footage that could potntially make it into my New Wave Film. The first destination was in Manchester where I planned to shoot footage of built up streets which would incorporate nicely into my film concept. The concept being a drunk individual wandering the streets trying to find his way home whilst questioning his concept of reality as he starts to see bizarre images and creatures along the way. Therefore some establishing shots in this built up metropolis would have worked very well. In the film I wanted the character to be portrayed as 'lost' in a sense, and the complex layout of Manchester made it much easier to convey.

However It was then decided that we would visit the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. It was in here where I figured i could get some fairly abstract shots of different art pieces and settings which would match the tone I was looking for. The idea was to transpose this footage onto the footage that I was yet to shoot of my actor portraying the drunk person walking home. This was to make the film seem more surreal. I decided on establishing the tone of the film as surreal after watching example films of the Czech New Wave which I have been studying for this unit.

Research and Influence: 

Whilst researching the Czechoslovakian new wave, I viewed 3 example films which really stood out to me and made a massive impact on how i perceive Cinema. There films were "Dasies" 'Valerie and her week of wonders" and "Morgiana" I took inspiration from all three of these films and decided to take elements that are present in each of these films and incorporate them into my own New Wave film. The idea of magic realism which was inspired by "Valerie" was planned to make an appearance in the final film. This related to the creatures that the character of my film was going to witness during his journey home. I was in need of shots of bizarre creatures and contemplated modelling my own and shooting them to appear larger than they actually are. However an area in Birmingham next to the Custard Factory in Digbeth presented presented large sculptures that I was able to include. These included a large lion's head as well as a giant tree man.

                                           

Witworth Art Gallery 

In regards to inspiration from Daisies, the different colour filters to express different emotions is the aspect that influenced my film. I used different digital effects in post production in order to produce the desired effect. I took inspiration from "Morgiana" in regards to the shot types, for example the introducing shot which was captured from the point of view of the dog. This emulates the shot in which the cat "morgiana" enters the room and jumps up onto  chair next to one of the sisters.

Methods/Techniques 

I ensured that the shots were filmed handheld in order to give it a disorientated feel which reflects the current state of the main character. This was also the only way to ensure it was possible to capture the majority of the shots effectively as well as practically, for example the point of view of the dog. I encountered issues with exposure whilst shooting, more namely the white-balance caused the shot to present an orange tint to the image due to the lack of lighting. Any other setting resulting in underexposure. Therefore I came to a compromise in which I added coloured filters to reflect the mood of the scene as well as distracting away from the poor white-balance effect. The colour filters were also influenced by the colour filters used in Daises in which they appeared fro time to time. This effect also gives the film a much more surrealist feel. I ended up shooting the film chronologically in just one day giving the single actor a very loose idea of what he is required to do. This was in hope that he appeared even more lost and disorientated. I contemplated on both the actor as well as the camera person to get drunk together before shooting to give it that genuine performance as well as off -putting disorientating and frustrating camera movement and angles. I also ensured that influences from new wave cinema would be identifiable in both the filming and editing process.


The result of all this can be seen in my final video entitled "Beer Goggles". I included many jump cuts in the final edit of the film as the takes could be seen as a little over-stretched which had the potential to bore the audience and become uninteresting. Luckily this suited the tone as well as the context of the film as it it gave it a more disorientating feel. Jump cuts were also used in the majority of the films I studied in this unit, most notably "Daises" (1966) in which the film would seem almost careless with the amount of sudden scene transitions without any explanation
or clearly apparent reason. This technique is also one of the main reasons that Daises appeared to have a very loose narrative structure. One that I wanted to replicate in this film. There is no existing diegetic sound within the film as I wanted to completely remove as many senses from the audience as I possibly could in order to emulate the condition of the key character of the film. I chose a song that felt very slurry and slow sounding to fit in with the context of the film.

Updated Design Brief 

I encountered many problems during the production of this film. As mentioned before I chose to film some footage at various art museums. These shots included very vague locations and meanings which would have not only added to the films ascetic but would have also given it more of a theatrical feel. However I simply ran out of time when editing the film and therefore could not incorporate this into my footage. However I did take it upon myself to edit a very short draft including some of these clips. in this draft, the images make no cohesive sense however it was simply a playground for experimentation with ideas that could have potentially made it into the film. The aforementioned concept of the main character witnessing strange creatures as he stumbles home drunk was also scrapped as the footage I took of the "creatures" was incoherent with the setting of the film, for example the shots of the creatures were filmed during the day whereas the shots of the character walking home were shot at night, which obviously meant the shots contained completely different levels of exposure and would not have worked as a whole.

Challenges I Faced 

I had a serious problem with exposure during the shooting of this film. I completely incorrectly calibrated the white balance during some of the shots which gave the film a horrible orangey look to them. This was also due to the fact I didn't bring an LED  light which would have massively helped with the exposure of the shot. However I found a solution within the colour grading/correcting tool during the editing process. I attempted to manipulate the i age to remove the orange tone from the hot however this did not completely satisfy. The image still unnatural and too heavily edited. Then I came to another solution which included using different coloured filters for certain shots so the orange looking shots wouldn't look out of place. The different coloured filters were inspired from Daisies which contained many different shots with many different colour filters, which can be seen in the image posted above. Therefore i emulated this technique.