Final Music Video

A2 Music Video - Tasnim & Sarah from Tasnim Khanum on Vimeo.

Evaluation - Question 4

Evaluation - Question 3

Shown below are some short interviews I conducted with some of my peers in order to gain some feedback for my music video.

 This viewer seemed to thoroughly enjoy our music video, and understood the symbolism behind it. He commented on our use of black and white and how it made our video look more professional and 'dramatic'. He then commented on how the song matches the mood of the video and also the actions shown in the video. 

One improvement he mentioned we could have made is that we could have used a wider variety of camera angles in order to make our music video look more interesting. I agree with his point and would have used more creative camera angles in order for our music video to be more aesthetically pleasing if I could go back.

This viewer commented on how she loved that we cut along to the beat as opposed to cutting to the lyrics. This is something that took a lot of time and effort and her comment has taught me that the extra time put into editing was worth it and made a big impact on the finished product. 

 The viewer shown below pointed out that the content of the music video is 'typical' and 'expected'. I believe that this is a negative comment and is referring to the repetitive cycle of events shown in the music video. If I could change anything, I would possible include a wider variety of shots instead of repeating the same ones over and over again, however I also think that perhaps this viewer didn't fully grasp what we were trying to symbolise through our music video.

   

 This viewer commented on how the 'explicit content in the song matches the explicit content of the video'. By this, I think she means that the profanities used within the music video correlate well the content of the music video such as the dancing females, the lead female smoking and drinking etc. These are regarded as adult scenes and I am glad that the content we purposely included in order to portray the adult themes were received as we wanted them to be received. This proves to me how important every component of a music video really is and how viewers watch and remember specific things about music videos therefore, every minute detail, whether it's in the production or post-production stage, counts.

I have also received a range of feedback regarding my music videofrom various mediums such as tumblr, twitter, Hotmail etc. and found that mostof the feedback that I have received has been positive. The comment that wasrepeated often was that our music video looked ‘professional’ which could implythat we included enough conventions to produce a video of a high standard,however it could also mean that the camera quality and editing made the videolook sharp and like something you would see on the television, in comparison to‘home videos’.

Shown below are some examples of the feedback I received anonymouslyon Tumblr. From this image, you can see how our music video was received in anumber of ways by the global community. One person thought it was ‘crap’ whilstanother thought it was ‘amazing’, which could be due to the large audience whowere open to view our music video. The people who disliked it may not be a partof our target audience or may not enjoy our chosen genre of music and thereforedisliked our music video, however it could also be someone who fits perfectly into our target audience butsimply doesn’t like what we have created. Anonymous comments aren’t alwaysreliable but they’re often truthful therefore, I have learnt from thesecomments that our music video looks professional but isn’t what everyone likes.This is something I expected, however, in the future I would probably post moreof my ideas on websites such as tumblr where a global community can feedback onmy work or my ideas in order for me to create something that pleases R&Baudiences worldwide. 

The third comment down which states that maybe we shouldhave included splashes of colour indicates that perhaps this viewer didn’tcompletely like or understand the use of black and white within our music videoand would have preferred to have seen more colour however because this is theonly person who said this, I wouldn’t change our usage of black and white andwill put the comment down to personal preference.

I didn't want to limit my feedback only to my peers and teachers so I sent my music video to two family friends, one who has completed a degree in media studies and one who is a singer. Shown below is the feedback I recieved:

This comment mentions how the clips weren't always in time with the beat therefore if I could change anything, I would edit my video and try to make the transitions more sharp and make sure all of the clips change at the right time as I didn't notice this problem myself. The post-production process is something I personally spent a lot of time on therefore I feel let down by this comment but believe that the audience are always right as they are viewing my video with high standards as viewers of probably only professionally made videos.

This comment is mainly positive but the viewer has mentioned that we could have included more of a storyline, meaning a narrative. As a group, I believe that we could have perhaps spent more time structuring the music video better and planning it instead of putting so much emphasis on post-production. In the future, I would take care to spend an equal amount of time on each stage in order to make the best possible product.

My group and I also tried adhere to mavlows heirachy of needs by exploiting the different stages. For example, we tried to represent sexual intimacy through her provocative dress sense. Also, our theme of representing our lead female in a way that shows her at her worst may emphasise her self esteem as she is one thing for the outside world and another behind closed doors. These specific elements within our music video may help our audience relate more to the lead female and find our music video more hard hitting as it is representing real life.

The process of producing and editing a music video was extremely challenging and whilst there were times when we felt as a group that we simply couldn't create something that looked professional using no budget and no experience, there were other times when felt motivated and challenged ourselves to create something that no-one would expect us to be able to create. These comments, which has been predominantly positive, have taught me that however long and tiresome the process of creating a music video is, it is always worth putting time and effort into something if you want the end product to be good. The comments also made me realize you can edit for hours on end but still not get the timing of the clips against the beats right unless you are patient and are thorough. I will learn to be more thorough with my work next time and also plan more for our music video in terms of the narrative in the pre-production stage.

Evaluation - Question 2

Evaluation - Question 1

Evaluation Questions and Notes

• QUESTION/ONE: HOW DOES YOUR VIDEO USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE THE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MUSIC VIDEOS?

• QUESTION/TWO: HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

• QUESTION/THREE: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

• QUESTION/FOUR: HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION, RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

Additional notes:

• Representation of women - Laura Mulvey theory

• R&B - conventions of the genre - music videos

• Cupboard shot

• Slow motion

• Bed - turning the camera around 360 degrees

• Costume - slutty

• Bottles

• Body parts - girls

• Black and white

• Transitions

• Speed/Duration - slow? fast? 

EXAM DATE - JUNE 6TH

Evalutation - Question 2 Planning

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Music Video/Digipak/Advert

(will be made into a video)

I believe that the music video, digipak and advertisement were all appropriate for our target audience of roughly 16-25 year olds as it portrayed a rebellious and what is stereotypically known as a 'young and wild' lifestyle. This includes scenes of a sexual nature e.g. by having the camera linger of female body parts and showing close ups of such and also because of what was being represented e.g. a young female getting drunk and smoking. I believe that an older audience would possibly have too many responsibilities to be living a lifestyle like this in order to relate to the songs whilst a younger audience would possibly be more impressionable and therefore make this music video unsuitable for them. 

It fulfills the purpose as it aims to entertain our target audience by using popular conventions of R&B music videos such as women, alcohol, drugs etc, however we tried not to be too explicit within our digipak and advertisement because more people would possibly be able to come across them and we didn't want to put them off by including imagery that is too crude. In addition to this, the mise-en-scene used e.g. the alcohol bottles and the change of outfits all make the sequence of events being shown throughout the music video more convincing and aesthetically pleasing. 

 In relation to the Digipak, we kept the black and white effect consistent and also made the advert black and white as we wanted to create a brand image that made the artist stand out since we aren't showing an artist - the advertisement uses one of the same images as the digipak which makes them relatable however I would maybe have used an image that stood out more such as a woman smoking whilst her eye is in focus (one of our initial ideas) as it makes the advertisement controversial and therefore stand out. 

 

I believe that our ancillary tasks have been created to suit the music video in regards to the mise-en-scene and effects used, however the ancillary tasks could have been improved by using more striking imagery. This would possibly have made it look more professional, however at a risk of making it look like the female in the photo is the artist. We didn't use close ups of the female in the music video on the ancillary tasks because we wanted her to be portrayed as just a pretty female being used for promotional purposes. In regards to this, I believe we did achieve this to the best of our ability given the equipment we had on hand and the editing skills we had acquired.

 

Evaluation - Question 1 Planning

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• USE - same concept as real artist/album - not promoting the face of the artist but his voice instead - still focus on his name but mystery used to make it more unique and visually different to normal videos/digipaks where artist is always flaunted - but also CHALLENGE 'real media products' because we did not include the artists face which is a convention of music videos
• DEVELOP - we used the idea of having a girl in the video to play the narrative rather than the artist just singing/being part of the narrative - same as artist - however we decided to use marilyn monroe theme e.g. living the 'high life' and then going downhill behind closed doors - more of a down market/modern version
• USE - Laura Mulvey's male gaze - we are showing female body parts and kissing etc. which is a common convention of music videos - party scene - girls dancing in revealing/tight clothing
• CHALLENGE - no lip syncing used - purposely because no artist is being shown - want to make the song implicitely apply to the girls situation - not too obvious or 'cheesy' as artist is being portrayed as someone who is alternative and doesn't want to be judged on appearence
• MISE-EN-SCENE - clothing - when she's alone she wears comfortable jumpers and jeans etc. whereas when she is with friends/out she tends to wear more revealing clothing. 
• DEVELOP - we decided to create a black and white music video in order to make the music video more aesthetically pleasing in general and also to create a classy ambience.  Also, we used a border on the top and bottom of the music video for a more cinematic look which looks slightly like an old black and white movie.
• DEVELOP - whilst both the original music video and the one we have created are based around women and the media, the original one focuses more on a modern approach and use a lot of symbolism e.g. water representing alcohol. On the other hand, our music video, whilst including symbolism from time to time, is mainly an explicit sequence of events that lead up to the end result. The narrative in our music video visually shows people that the woman is drinking/smoking/partying etc. whilst the original video is set on a dessert and shows a group of women trying to survive in the harsh conditions taking the place of the media or the hollywood lifestyle.

Certification

Although music videos often do not have their certification identified when they are shown, we believe that the content of our music video would fit within videos rated '15'. We used official film certification guidelines to ensure that we were within boundaries, and they are shown below.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

The Weeknd - Covers

These are several mixtape/single covers by The Weeknd. As you can see, there are no images of the actual artist included in the imagery and I believe that this is because the focus is on the music rather than the artist and the image he portrays. Instead, Abel took a more diverse approach and