Rough Cut Audience Feedback

WWW:
The narrative goes with the theme of the song showing the artiste with his friends when they are younger having fun and visiting a castle, as that is the main thing mention in the song within the choruses. Also, the lip syncing shots are timed well with the actual song to look as if the actor is actually singing the song himself.

EBI:
The music video could do with having some more performance in it as at the moment it is almost all narrative with only a couple of shots with lip syncing, which most conventional music videos wouldn't have. Also, the shots were too long for a music video, they need to be shortened with more cuts to go with the fast pace and move the video along a bit more so it doesn't get boring to watch.

Rough Cut

Music Video Rough Cut

This is the rough cut of my project after my first time filming using my original ideas. One problem with this version which I noticed whilst I was editing was that I didn't end up filming enough footage for the whole song, but as I wanted to edit the everything to fit the length of the song to be able to see clearer where changes and improvements needed to be made I made the most of what I had to edit together for a rough cut. Also, after watching the video through a few times trying to spot areas for improvement and getting advice from others I decided that the video would look more professional and enjoyable to watch with a mix of performance as it was mainly all narrative with bits of lip syncing involved. So based on this rough cut it has helped me decide to improve the video even more I am going to film and edit in some performance with a band too.

Editing Diary- 2

Once I filmed the performance footage for my video I decided to just start the editing from scratch so I could put the footage together as best I could as I went along through the song. So to begin with I added the song to imovie first so I would be able to match all the shots with it. Also, while I did the editing this time I had my rough cut open so I could keep watching back over it as there were some shots used in that one that I wanted to keep the same for my final cut.

I basically went about editing my music video the same way I edited my rough cut, except now I had all of the performance footage that I filmed as well to mix in with the narrative shots. I already had some shots in mind for where I wanted to place them in the music video and for the rest I just worked my way through the song adding the shots that I felt fit best in the video and make sure I synced up all of the performance parts correctly, which was a bit of a challenge finding some singing clips to fit at points as sometimes the singer forgot to words at points of the song, so I had to find the clips where they were correct.

Once all of the video was edited together how I liked, I had the final shot the same as my rough cut as I liked how I had ended it and I added the title of the song in the same place and font again over the castle to bring the video to an end.

Editing Diary- 1

The software that I used to edit my music video was imovie as that is what I had available and the editing software I am familiar with using, that I have used for projects in the past.

First I imported all of the videos off of my USB onto imovie ready to edit the video. Then to begin with I watched through all of my videos I filmed to sort which shots I was going to put in the video before I started editing to make it clearer for me. Then I added the song to the video first so I could make sure when I add all of the clips that they fit with the music and sync. Whenever I put in some shots with Rory singing the song that I wanted to be lip syncing I first muted the music so I could roughly get the clip with him singing the right line and then I unmuted the music to adjust the clip if needed so his lips were synced properly.

Then once I was happy with where all the clips were and the timing of everything I added the title of the song to the final shot over the castle as that is how I have seen a lot of music videos end and thought it would be a good way to conclude mine too.

Artise Interview

What do you want to get out of making the music video?
I want to have something that shows some of the memories I am writing about in the song so my fans can see more about me and what I am like as a person for them to be able to relate. I just want it to be something to entertain people that they can watch for an escape and to enjoy.

What was your favourite thing about filming the music video?
I enjoyed the whole process of filming the music video but my favourite part of it all would have to be the day when we filmed the narrative sections of the video as it was a good day filming with the other boys, having fun and it brought back some childhood memories which was nice to reminisce.
What was your least favourite thing about filming the music video?
I enjoyed doing all of the filming for the video but if I had to say something then maybe just the early starts we had to get out and start filming in the daylight before it got dark so we could achieve as much as possible in a day.

Equipment/ Lighting Decisions

Equipment:
The equipment that I used was my IPhone 5s and a steady cam. The IPhone 5s was what I used to film the whole music video as that is the only device I had available to film on and apple products are good for filming with their picture and sound quality. I used to steady cam for the performance shots as it helps keep the camera steady so the filming looks more professional and I chose to not use it for the narrative shots so it looked more handheld and natural to go with story as it is following the artiste looking back in old memories.

Lighting:
As all of the filming I did was outside I made sure I checked the weather ahead of me filming to make sure it would be light enough for the footage to be a good clear quality. Also, for the narrative filming I made sure I got that filmed first so it was done in the summer as that is when the weather would be the best and they relied on good weather the most as its meant to be looking back on happy memories, and having it sunny would reinforce this feeling.

Costumes

Costumes:

For the narrative shots in the music video I made sure the boys were all wearing casual clothes that still looked good, making them look like stereotypical teenage boys. They've got some brighter colours on the look fun and youthful, going with the atmosphere I wanted to be portrayed from the narrative. 

For the performance shots in the music video I made sure Rory was wearing an outfit that is stylish and current as many music artistes are trend setters and dress fashionably, but I also didn't want it to be too dressy so it was still a bit of a laid back look, so I feel the denim jacket and converse make it a bit more of a casual look and is a current good look.

Settings and Locations

Hadleigh Castle:

One of the main locations I decided to film in was Hadleigh Castle as the name of the song is literally 'Castle On The Hill' so it would make sense for the music video to feature a castle to go with the lyrics and narrative of the song.


My garden:

The second location I filmed in was my garden as I wanted to film some performance with a band for the music video and my garden was the best place I could set all of the instruments up in with good lighting.

Churchill Gardens:

The final location I filmed in was Churchill Gardens to film the performance, and I thought this location would be good as I wanted someone quiet and empty as the song is like the artiste is reminiscing.

Day 3 Shooting Diary

On my final day shooting I met Rory (actor playing Ed Sheeran) at 9am at Churchill Gardens. For this day I wanted to film some performance with just the artiste without the band as when I looked back on the band footage I wasn't happy with how it looked and feel like Ed Sheeran isn't the sort of music artiste that performs with a band.

I filmed in a few different spots in the location, with some long, medium and close up shots too mix it up and make the music video more interesting to watch, changing around with the shots a lot throughout. I used the steady cam to film everything on this day as I wanted all of the filming to be smooth and professional looking compared to my narrative footage which I wanted to look more hand held and natural.

Here are some shots that I filmed:

Day 2 Shooting Diary

For the second day shooting I got everyone to come to my house, as that is where the filming took place, at 9am so the lighting would be good enough to film with outside and there would be plenty of time to get the instruments set up and film before it started getting dark later on.

My plan on this day for filming was to get lots of shots of all of the boys playing instruments as if the artiste is performing the song with a band. These shots mixed in with the narrative shots for the music video should make it more entertaining and conventional to watch. 

Here are a couple of the shots that I filmed:

Day 1 Shooting Diary

On my first day of shooting I got all of the actors to meet at Leigh station at 10am on the 3rd September 2017. I wanted to meet fairly early to make the most of the day getting everything I needed in the first location filmed and needed to film everything before it got too dark.

We walked from Leigh station to Hadleigh Castle as that was the main location I wanted to do most of the filming for but also wanted to film different shots on the way to the castle so the video wasn't just all in one location and I could get the boys doing more things, for example we walked past a field that I had the boys run down to go with one of the lines in the song, "I was running from my brother and his friends".

Once we reached the castle I filmed some establishing shots of the location to set the scene more and for some transitions. I also filmed a variety of shots of the boys doing different things having fun together to go with the narrative of the song. Again I filmed some shots that linked to the lyrics of the song, for example "had my first kiss on a Friday night". I carried on filming as many different shots as I felt would be suitable for the video and until it started getting darker as I didn't want the lighting to change too much in the video.

Here are some of the shots that I filmed:

Casting/ Audition Information

To play the singer in my music video I decided to cast Rory O'Connor. I chose Rory as he is a performing arts student at collage and has lots of past experience in many performances, so I know he has good confidence character to be in the music video playing a confident pop artiste. He is also a fan of Ed Sheeran, the artiste he would be pretending to be while singing his songs, so he could be committed to doing the performance well and would already know the lyrics for the song, meaning I would be able to sync his singing with the actual song.

Inspiration

Ed Sheeran:

Ed Sheeran's music videos are one of my inspirations as I like how the artiste represents himself through the mix of narrative and performance. He tells a story in his videos that gets the audience more involved when watching and connect with the song in a deeper way.


One Direction:

One Directions music videos inspired me as they like to make them fun, showing them enjoying whatever the music video involves, making the audience enjoy it more. They also help give them a fun and happy image so people see them as relatable and likable.

Storyboarding

Risk Assessments

Hadleigh Castle:

Risk	Who is at risk?	Severity	How it can be prevented
Slipping when climbing the castle	The actors	Medium	Make sure actors are very careful when climbing, going slowly, and don’t go too high
Filming in an open set	The actors and members of the public	Low	Be aware of who is around when filming to make sure we don’t get in anyone’s way
Lip syncing shot in the middle of the road	Rory and me	Medium	Keep an eye for cars that may be driving recklessly to avoid them and keep in the middle where it should be safe for us to stand
Running down the hill and tripping	The actors	Medium	Make sure the actors run slowly and are careful to avoid the whole that was in the ground

My garden:

Risk	Who is at risk?	Severity	How it can be prevented
Slipping on the wet floor	Everyone	Low	Make sure everyone moves rounds carefully to ensure they don’t slip
Drop guitar on foot	James and George	Low	Make sure they are really careful and hold the guitars tightly as neither of them have straps
Tripping over the dog	Everyone	Low	Keep the dog inside while filming so he doesn't get in the way of anyone

Priory Park:

Risk	Who is at risk?	Severity	How it can be prevented
Filming in an open set	Rory and members of the public	Low	Be aware of who is around and make sure we don’t get in anyone’s way
Fall in pond	Rory	Low	Make sure he doesn’t move around too much when stood on the little bridge over the pond and keep an eye in case he gets too close to the edge

Viral Marketing Strategy

Definition of viral advertising-
'Viral marketing is any marketing technique that induces websites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect.'

Social media-
Social media is websites or applications that people use to create and share content or to communicate with others online. The most popular social media platforms are; Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube.

Viral marketing is used by most artistes now as a main form of promotion for new music and music videos that they are releasing.

Instagram:

Twitter:

Intended Institution Analysis

I think the institution that would play my music video is MTV. It is a very popular, well-known channel that already plays Ed Sheeran on it. The channels main audience is teenagers/ young adults, ageing between 12-34 which is the similar target audience to Ed Sheeran's. MTV play a variety of music genres on the channel, but mainly pop and rap. This is as the channel plays trending music but popular music artistes.

When I looked at the schedule of the channel it is clear that they play similar music to Ed Sheeran, with the top songs and pop artistes playing.

Even though this is the institution that would mainly show the music video, music channels aren't watched as much as they used to be and now most people watch music videos on YouTube and that is where they get most of the views nowadays.

Focus Group

I conducted the focus group with people of the targeted age group, so both males and females between the ages 15-25. Doing this helped me to further my understanding in what the audience would want and expect in a music video to help give ideas for what I could do when making my own.

What do you think is the most important feature of a music video?
I asked the focus group this question to give me a further understanding of what the target audience thinks it needed and important to have in a music video. Overall the group agreed that the most important features of a music video is the artiste featuring in it as that is what the audience expect and the main reason why many people want to watch music videos. So when making my own music video based on what the focus group said I will make sure that the artiste features throughout the whole video.

Where do you think would be an ideal location for a pop music video?
I asked this to give me some ideas and inspiration for locations where my music video could take place at that would be conventional and go with the genre of the song. The focus group suggest locations like; beach, rich areas, big open spaces and secluded areas. This will help me with coming up with ideas for my music video with where to set it that would go with the music genre.

What do you expect to see in a music video?
I asked this to see what the target audience would expect to be in the music video so I can make sure that my video meets the expectations they have in order to look professional, entertaining and get good feedback. The focus group said things like; the artiste, lip syncing, storyline/ narrative and people looking fashionable. I will use these ideas to make sure that I include them in my music video to meet target audience expectations.


What do you think makes a music video successful?
I asked this as I want to make sure my music video looks like it could be a real music video that people would enjoy that it would be considered successful. The focus said that they think things that make a music video successful are; a mix of scenes to keep it interesting so it isn't boring, needs to go with the music and include the artiste in good light for the audience to see them. I need to make sure that I made the music video something that the target audience would enjoy to make it successful.

Questionnaire Results

1) What is your gender?

2) How old are you?

3) What is your favourite music genre?

4) What music artist do you prefer out of the following?

5) How do you hear about new music?

6) Why do you watch music videos?

7) What do you think makes a good music video?

8) What's your favourite music video?

Questionaire

Music Video Questionnaire

1. What is your gender?

Female

Male

I asked the gender of the audience so I could see if a mix took the questionnaire since Ed Sheeran's fan base is both male and female so I would want the opinions from everyone for mu music video.

2. How old are you?

<12

13-17

18-30

31-55

55<

I asked the age of the people answering the questionnaire as even though Ed Sheeran has a very large audience of all ages, his main target audience are teenagers/ young adults so these are the main people I want opinions from for the music video.

3. What is your favourite music genre?

Pop

Rock

Indie

Hip hop

Country

Rap

Other (please specify)

I wanted to see what is a popular music genre to make sure I have a mass audience to reach and target my music video to.

4. What music artist do you prefer out of the following?

Ed Sheeran

One Direction

Sam Smith

James Arthur

I asked which artiste was most popular out of the four I was considering to make the music video for to see which one would be most worth using with a mass audience for me to target.

5. How do you hear about new music?

Radio

TV

Social networking sites

Other (please specify)

This question should help me with when deciding a marketing strategy for my music video by finding out the main ways people hear about new music.

6. Why do you watch music videos?

To see the artist

To further your understanding of the meaning of the song

Entertainment

Other (please specify)

This question will help me understand more the main reasons why people would choose to watch music videos to help me think of ideas for how to present the song in it.

7. What do you think makes a good music video?

This question should give me ideas of what the target audience wants to see in a music video so I can put some of these into my video to appeal to them even more.

8. What's your favourite music video?

I have asked this so I can watch videos that people like to give me some inspiration and ideas for what sort of things I could use in my own music video so people will like it.

Intended Audience

My Intended Audience Slideshare

Textual Analysis of Past Students Music Videos- 2

Save You by Matthew Perryman Jones (A Grade)

Lyrics:

The video illustrates the lyrics with the use of the narrative that is shown. The storyline in it emphasises and brings out the lyrics about losing someone you love and if you could save them. The lyrics are very heartfelt and emotional which tells a story people could empathise with.

Music:

The song is sung over just the sound of a piano at quite a slow tempo to make it feel more emotional and emphasise the lyrics more. The cinematography in the video moves along with the music making the video look professional and the transition between shots smoother.

Genre and mise en scene:

The song is a pop ballad following quite an emotional and serious story. The two actors in the music video are a boy and girl that are playing a couple and they show a lot of emotion in their facial expressions, especially the girl, to help tell the sad story that is being portrayed in the music video so the audience feels empathy and will relate to the song even more. The costumes used are a 40s style to illustrate the era that the video is meant to be set in. The use of lighting in the video is effective as it i light but also had a lot of shadowy shots to show that even though part of it is showing a happy story, that it is also tragic and emotional. There are props used like old books to again reinforce the era the video is set in and a photo which is in black and white making it look fitting with the era and also to add to the story being told.

Cinematography:

The video has a mix of shots to make it more gripping and cinematic. There is the use of close ups to show the characters emotions so the viewer feels empathy for them and the story being told.

Editing:

The editing and cuts have been done in time with the music of the song. There is continuity editing as you don't notice the cuts while you are watching the video making it easy and professional looking to watch.

Intertextuality:

This is one piece of intertextuality with the book seen at the beginning of the video, 'Tales from Wonderland' which is an old book that goes with the era the music video is set in.

Narrative:

There is no performance in this music video, just narrative so the audience gets caught up in the story that is shown along with song. The fact that there is only narrative means that it isn't clear about whether the artiste is in the video or not.

Star image/ brand:

As there isn't any performance it is unclear as to weather the artiste is in the video or if it is just an actor. However, even if the artiste doesn't feature, the music video shows that they are sensitive and relatable based on the story they are telling which a lot of fans will connect to and feel closer to the artiste because of this.

Voyeurism:

The whole video is watching the woman and looking back on memories of her and her partner. We are drawn in by the video being set in the 40s which was a glamorous era and also from the heartbreaking story being shown.

Textual Analysis of Past Students Music Videos- 1

Ben Norris A2 Media Studies Music Video G324 (Sax Rohmer)

Lyrics:
The lyrics play a part to the visuals as there is the line "coming home to you" and the whole video is of the boy walking home.

Music:
The tempo of the music fits with the genre and speed of the editing, plus the visuals in the video. 

Genre:
The genre of the song is singer- song writer which can be seen not only by the song itself but by the fact that the locations are quite bare and minimal props.

Cinematography:
The lighting reflects the mood, atmosphere and meaning of the song. It seems that after then beginning of the video, the filming then gets a but lazy with shaky shots where the camera isn't on a tripod or steady-cam and the lighting is poorer, possibly where the filming was done a bit too late in the day.

Editing:
The editing is in time with the song and consistent throughout apart from when the continuity editing used in the music video is broken where one of the transitions is a fade/ dissolve which makes the edit noticeable and the video looks less professional and random with that edit in.

Intertextuality:
There is a couple bits of intertexuality in this music video. First, the home screen on the phone in the video is of 'Rabbit Proof Fence' and then the boy goes onto the Spotify app, showing post modernism.

Narrative:
This music video only has narrative in it, there is not performance or lip syncing at all which is unconventional for most music videos. The narrative for the video starts well with the text message and music beginning after he has put his headphones in for a bit of story to go with the video. However, the rest of the narrative is just of the boy walking to go with the song saying about going home but more could have been done with the story and been a bit more creative.

Star image/ brand:
The star image isn't shown very well in this video as the majority of it is just him walking and also the audience don't see his face much as there is a lot of filming from behind or the side which isn't the best thing for a music video as people want to see more of the artiste.

Voyeurism:
We are watching/ following the artiste on his journey walking home which may make us feel empathy for him as his dad has cancelled and therefore he had to walk home alone in the cold.

Lyrics Wordle

I made a wordle of the lyrics of the song to make it cleat to me the words that appear more often and I should try to emphasise with the narrative of what I'm showing in the video.