What music means to me

Childhood

When I was little my mother used to blast James through the house every weekend, and I'd sing it at the top of my lungs whenever we went out to the amusement of any fans, and we also went to see them live. I maintained that they were my favourite band until about age 10 and they still have sentimental value today - in the summer we were in a cafe in France with a band who did requests and played 'Sit Down' for us.

Early Teens




Although I can't remember ever not knowing this song, about 3 or 4 years ago a couple of friends and I went to an Irish festival that Bob Dylan was headlining, he was not fantastic of course but we'd had such a good day and we'd managed to get fairly close to the front of the crowd and he started playing 'Like a Rolling Stone' but almost very slowly rapping it and the whole crowd seemed to object and sang the version we all knew and he had to keep up with us.

Now

My best friend introduced me to the Cat Empire which she knew from her sister and this was our favourite song for ages and we'll still play it and sing along whenever we're together. Her boyfriend, another friend and I are taking her to see them for her birthday in fact, so hopefully she won't read this blog!

Prelim Evaluation

Question 1

I really enjoyed the workshop day. It was very interesting seeing the professionals in action and there was a good atmoshpere as everyone seemed to be having fun. Dancing was fun, although very hot, but the bits I most enjoyed were helping out the crew:

Runners:
Since the runners were very busy on shoot, we got asked to help out where we could. I helped on playback, showing the dancers their original bits so they knew what moves to do in the video, it was pretty simple but it was nice to have a minute to sit down whilst doing it.

Camera:


Laying out the dolly track

I did some cable bashing for the dolly, and it was interesting seeing how it works but even more fun actually pushing it along and getting some practical experience.



Adjusting the pink grunge lighting

Lighting studio:
My favourite part of the day had to be learning how to use the studio. We learnt about the monitors all over the school and how to control what was shown in the Seward studio as well as a little about the TV mixing capacities. The lighting panel, where you could  control the colour and intensity of the light was especially cool and I hope to learn more about it next year.

Question 2

Task 1: From analysing a music video myself I learnt more about the structure and conventions of music videos and put into practice what I'd learnt in class to heighten my understanding.

Task 2: When we created our lipsync, it helped our confidence in performing as well as helping us understand more how to synchronise videos with lyrics since we realised how much it helped to sing instead of miming.

This is the audition video we created to practise lipsyncing

Task 3: Learning the performance helped me realise how much effort is involved for just a short time of performance and how much you have exaggerate moves to look good.

Task 4: Planning the costumes showed me how much goes in to making just a single shot look good and how much is required for a whole music video.

Task 5: From the workshop I learnt about real roles on a shoot and how much time, thought and effort as well as different scenes and set ups go into what seemed at first like a really simple video. I also learnt what it feels like to be a performer so I know more about how to act/treat a performer next year.

Question 3

Overall I am mostly pleased with the edit. Given the details of the videos and sheer quantity of split second shots, it was difficult to get all the shots we needed and there are some discrepancies between the real video and our remake but I think the overall effect is good. As well as this, the video is much more complex than I first thought and so many distances and specific moves made it tricky to edit accurately and that is something I am a bit dissatisfied with. The quality of the lighting, especially in the individual shots is so good that we did not have to do much grading which made the edit much easier for all the individual shots except Perrie's. As Olivia and her background are so pale and she moves around the set, almost every shot needed individual grading which was very time-consuming. The group shots were similarly tricky because we moved around the set so much and there were so many of us. 

The lighting and size of the group set

Question 4


Group costumes and set  

Pink grunge: I'd like to be able to
recreate a similar effect

From the preparation leading up to the workshop, I will make sure I am very organised next year. There are so many aspects of mise-en-scene that I have decided to make sure I am not relying on anything at the last minute. I have also learnt about how much the pre-production phase is crucial; the more planning we do, the easier the shoot and the edit will be. I will also make sure we have a large variety of costumes and settings, since they add texture to the video, making it seem more professional. Lighting is also something I will consider more carefully, since the lighting was such good quality that little grading was needed for the edit which made it much easier. Another consideration will be who is in my group, we were lucky to have so many good dancers in the year, however depending on the strengths of my group next year I may choose go for a more narrative based idea rather than a totally performance based video since it seems best to use group members to star, given the time and complexity required for the prelim project.





DYM homework 1: Key Features of a Performance Music Video Analysis

For this homework, I have chosen to analyse the video for the music video of the song 'Roses', by Outkast.

Analysis of key features:

1. Caroline's character from the song is introduced and later a rose is given to her during the chorus about roses.
   The play concept is used to match imagery to lyrics, such as the spaceship coming down for the line 'down to Mars'.
   The video is cut in time to the music.
2. Performance of the play showcases the artist's dancing talent.
   Interest is maintained with the high school story.
3. The lip sync is maintained till the last minute when it degrades to drive the narrative.
4. Andre 3000's high school character is related to his stage name by the yearbook.
5. There is singing and dancing on stage almost throughout, which showcases his talent.
6. High concept settings and interesting narratives keep the audience engaged throughout the video.
7. The high school concept is highly stylised.
8. Video is moved on by performance developping into a high school brawl to prevent the audience from getting bored.
9. There are references to the album the song was released on as well as the beginning which features an excerpt of another song from the album and yearbook photo caption links the video persona with the artist.
10. Use of CUs and yearbook photos showcase the performers.
11. Opposition is presented between the gangs, who represent the band members and album.
12. Although it has strong narrative aspects, it cuts discontinuously in several places, for example the cut from the girls to the cars to the stage near the beginning.
13. There is a clip where the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz is referenced.
    The typical American high school concept is recognisable to audience.
    References to the artist's own work are present.
14. The story narrates the lyrics as well as representing the wider message of the song about overvaluing appearances whilst incorporating performance with the stage.
15. Provokes audience to think as well as being humorous and entertaining.

Prelim Evaluation

Tom Trouble

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Ella, Alice and Alicia. Together to begin with, we began a brainstorm for ideas but quickly agreed on the a narrative. Immediately we wrote a script and mapped out a plan for our shots. Later, Ella and I drew out a storyboard and in the lesson before shooting we all planned our different setups and shoot schedule. Then we filmed: I was directing; Alicia was on camera and Alice and Ella were acting although we did all try and get a go behind the camera. For editing however, I worked only with Alicia, and we worked together cutting the sequence together and sharing the mouse-time.

Shoot schedule

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

We planned our sequence with scripting, scheduling and storyboarding which proved very useful in keeping track of what was needed in shooting and especially editing. When brainstorming, we picked the idea which had the potential to utilise the most continuity techniques effectively, as it was, afterall, a continuity task. We also tried to incorporate some narrative structure to our film: beginning (Ella revealing her love for Tom Jackson); middle/disruption (Alice telling Ella that Tom Jackson has asked her out) and end (Ella drops the diary in shock) leaving a cliffhanger and some enigma for the audience - will Alice read the diary?

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

Me editing

For the shooting we used a Canon DV30 camera and microphone as well as a tripod which worked well for our shots as they were mostly static or required a steady pan. It would have been overly ambitious to shoot manually and the tripod helped keep our framings tight and accurate. To edit, we used Adobe Premiere Pro. We used simple tools like the razor to cut our sequence up and layered alternate shots in different tracks as well as adjusting our audio suitably. Although I have used Premiere Pro before, it was over a year ago, so it was useful to refresh my memory before the final project.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

Our original script

There were several points to consider in the process of generating our film. In planning obviously we had to bear in mind time and setting constraints so we kept the idea short sweet and set in school and in shooting we had to work around the other groups for camera time in the lobby and watch out for technical issues. However the factor most prevalent in our minds was inclusion of continuity techniques. Working out how many techniques we could fit in was important in our planning and then making sure our plans worked logistically in shooting all built up to cutting the sequence together and constructing our parallel edits, eyeline matches etc. as planned. We had to diversify from our storyboard a little for example we had originally planned a shot of Ella in between Alice opening the door and coming into the room, however the match on action without Ella's shot in between worked so well that Alicia and I decided to go with that.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

Storyboard

Overall I am very pleased with our sequence. Our narrative was simple but effective and allowed us to include several continuity techniques. I thought the parallel editing with Ella writing in her diary and Alice walking was good because it built up anticipation that something was going to happen. We had to film several takes of each shots to make sure we got our continuity techniques right which paid off especially with the eyeline match when Alice comes into the room looking at Ella and Ella looks up at her to greet her. We also used shot reverse shot in the conversation and on some of the shots we trailed Alice's voice on to the shot of Ella's face, which I thought helped the sequence run smoothly. We also had to be careful with the 180 degree rule however we spent time working out if we had the shots from the right angles and ended up with a good conversation scene. There were, however, some changes I would make if I could do it differently. Firstly, when planning, we were convinced that we needed to alternate every shot between Ella and Alice, however, when it came to editing, we realised it worked better with some variation. Also, although we were very careful with our continuity techniques, there was a shot we had to take out because we weren't careful enough with continuity between shots and there was a door opening even though it should have been shutting.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

This task was very useful for learning about continuity techniques. I learnt a lot about planning and shooting bearing these in mind, especially about using angle rules. It was helpful because we actually got to put our knowledge into practice and it was a lot harder than we expected. It was also interesting constructing a sequence with a narrative, which we had not done in media before. I think for the remainder of our foundation coursework, I will put a greater focus on storyboarding, since unlike scripting and shot orders, storyboards actually give you a chance to envision what your sequence will look like edited together, and the task helped me realise how important this is in planning. I will also spend more time on my shoot schedule, as having a really well thought out shoot schedule would have helped us shoot more efficiently.

DYM Dexter Title Re-Edit Evaluation

This is my evaluation of our remake of the Dexter opening sequence. We had to insert our own credits for the show without watching the real opening first, using only our knowledge of the show and the genre.

Relevant Title Sequence Conventions
We tried to make the creation of our credits coherent with the following appropriate conventions used in title sequences:

• Synergy between titles, credits and branding with font and colour
• Appealing/unusual visuals
• Titles/credits in sync with images

Planning

For initial planning we watched the sequence without titles to get an overall impression of the sequence and mood and our first ideas for where to place the titles. We then came up with a list of the cast and crew we needed to credit in congruency with what we felt were appropriate points in the sequence to put titles. After this we tested out different fonts, colours and effects on our first credit and decided where on screen to place them and then put in all the different credits we could in the time once we had worked out the style.

Creative Decisions

We chose the credited people based on our prior knowledge of television opening sequences, however, unusually we decided to put the lead actor as the last credit, since we wanted it to come when the audience first sees Dexter's face. The other credits came in when the shots cut to a slightly different camera position or suddenly to a new shot. We chose similar fonts and colours to the 'Dexter' title for synergy with the title and brand and also because we felt it best represented the crime genre and matched the violent undertones of the sequence. The effects we chose were a sudden static appearance to match jerky editing of the sequence and to catch the eye of the viewer and we inserted the fade out at the end so the titles weren't jarring and disappeared subtly and so they seemed more professional.

Comparison with Original
Our choice in credits were fairly similar to the those of the original title sequence. For one thing, the font was similar as well as the dark red colour - reminiscent of blood and the 'Dexter' title. Where we chose to place them was also similar since the original credits also appeared when shots cut suddenly. The originals also appeared suddenly on screen however some of their shots jumped around the screen a little whereas ours were static. Additionally the originals simply cut out of the screen without effects whereas ours faded out. Overall though we were pleased with having a majority of similarites with the real sequence.

BLK Reflections on Film Still

Representation of the Genre and Achieving the Effect
My film still is of the horror genre. Several factors went into representing this:

• Lighting and setting: Shadowy lighting and concealment are often used in the horror genre. I used a harsh light from a low angle to create shadows on the character's face and darkness in the background. For this I used a PAG light and shot in the basement which is an ominous setting and one in which I could turn the lights off.
• Character: The girl in the shot is angry and seen from a low angle, making her seem imposing to the audience. She could be a horror villain or perhaps possessed. She is looking into the camera so the audience sees from the victim's perspective.
• Costume: The girl wears a black wig which makes her look dark and slightly manic, which reinforces her role as villain or antagonist. She wears all black which makes her blend into the background, creating almost a floating head effect which you would mostly expect to find in the horror genre.

Successes of the Shot

Overall I would say the shot is fairly successful. The lighting is effective in making the girl look unnerving - the way her body blends into the darkness would make the audience uneasy as well as the unflattering effect on her face. The black background creates mystery around where she is coming from and has dark, scary connotations. The POV perspective is also successful in making the audience empathise with the victim: they would feel as if she was coming from them themselves and her manic face makes her look as if she is possessed, the unnaturally black, askew hair only adding to this effect.

Improvements

Although the overall effect was good, there are a few things I could improve if I did it again. For one, although the actress' facial expression is scary, it is also slightly comical so perhaps I would redo her expression. Additionally, she has a tag sticking out of her top which is of detriment to the effect of her body blending into the background and a little bit of the top she's wearing under the black is visible. It is also slightly blurred so I would make sure I got it in focus if I did it again. Also, since her face is so close I would make it even more low angle so it would seem like she was right over the audience.

DYM Sound Analysis

Serenity Opening Sequence

The film opening I chose to analyse was Joss Whedon's sci-fi film Serenity (2005). The film starts silently with the title 'SERENITY' which transforms into the 'SERENITY' written on the side of the ship. With this transformation the music begins. The opening commences with a zoom out to a master shot of the spaceship static in the galaxy, the music is calm and peaceful until the engines start and the engine sound effects come in. Subsequently it becomes faster and louder as the camera pans across the spaceship to the window at the front. The scene cuts to inside the ship and the music cuts out. The sound is now diegetic - only engine sounds and dialogue, creating a contrast between the fantastical space setting and the real people inside. Mal and Wash argue about the engines failing and crashing and rumbling sounds follow, creating tension for the audience. Mal goes to the infirmary and is given an injection by Simon, we hear the sound of the fluid going in slightly too loudly which could make the viewer uneasy. As they enter the main room of the ship, the sounds echo, giving us a sense of the immensity of the space. The music comes in at the end when the scene cuts outside the spaceship again and they are landing on a sunny day, which has the effect of changing the mood from inside the ship and moving the sequence along.