Video

Here is our finished music video for Frank Musik's song - "Gotta Boyfriend".



I am really pleased with how our video came out. Although it could be improved in certain places, I feel that being our first time, we created a good video, that fits the narrative of our chosen song. Below is a timeline for certain techniques and camera shots used in the video.

Timeline:

1 second: At the beginning of the video, we used a photo we took of some terraced houses in Brighton to act as an establishing shot.

2 second: As the first image was a photograph, when we were editing our video on "Final Cut Pro", we decided to edit the photo so that it would appear as if the camera was zooming into the top bedroom window of the house, this way the continuity of the video would allow the audience to follow the action.

6 second: As we enter the boys bedroom from the window, a quick panning shot from right to left takes place. This provides the audience with an understanding for where the action is now taking place. It is here as well that the Mise-en-scene falls into place, as props such as posters and accessories on the table indicate what sort of environment we are in.

7 second: This part of the song repeats the consonant sound of the letter 'B' numerous times. We felt that it would be a good idea if we were to include a reverse shot here of the boys sitting on the bed. Luckily it works really well with the beat of the music.

10 second - 12 second: I really like this part of the video. As you can see we zoom into the alcohol found on a shelf and just as we get really close to the bottle, it all of a sudden zooms out and we enter the girls bedroom. It almost acts as a portal from the boys room, into the girls.

16 second - 17 second: Here we use a mid shot to capture Jack on his computer. As this is an important part of the video, a close up shot of the computer screen, displaying his conversation is then used. Again, this allows the audience to follow the storyline more closely, giving them insight into our characters journeys.









24 second: This part of the video shows the girls leaving the house to make their way to Brighton. Like I stated before, as we would not be able to get these shots again, we had to film in order to have film to put into our video. This is why this particular section shows it being really dark outside, in comparison to other shots. This may affect the continuity of the video, however, I don't think the narrative of the video would flow as well, had we left it out.

37 second: Here an extreme close up shot is used to define what it is Jack is picking up. Had we not included this shot, the audience would be none the wiser as to what it was he picked up. This way we are conveying detail to our audience.

44 second: In order to compliment the tempo of the song, we decided to speed the footage up. This also breaks up the video and makes it more visually enhanced, rather than just sticking to one speed. We also used this technique as it features in a number of Frank Musik's already existing videos. "Confusion Girl", one I have already analysed is a prime example of this. This keeps our video consistent to his.

58 second - 1:01 second: Shot reverse shots are used briefly here, in order to show the points of view from both groups. We first see the girls point of view, as the boys drive past. It then quickly changes and we see the point of the view from the boys, as they capture the girls walking past. This is a key moment in our video, as it illustrates the first time both sets of groups actually see each other.

1:23 second: Here is a brief establishing shot of Brighton pier. The sun is quite bright in this shot and appears to be lighting up the Pier. This worked out quite well for us, as later on in the video, the Pier becomes an important setting, so its almost as if the sun is highlighting the importance of it.

1:35 second: Again, here we use a reverse shot, to compliment the repetition of the song. I think it works really well with the music.

1:47 second: I don't really like this part of the video. We forgot to change the White Balance on the camera, so it caused the footage to become very white. However, you can still work out what is happening in the frame, so we therefore decided to include it in the video. After we had filmed this scene, we realised what we had done wrong and adjusted the White Balance. We also adjusted the aperture, which controls the amount of light coming into the camera . After we had changed this, our footage was clear and precise.










1:51 second - 2:02 second: This 11 seconds of filming shows a range of establishing shots. This includes Brighton Pier and a double decker bus with the words "Brighton and Hove". We wanted to make it clear to the audience exactly where the video is taking place and feel that this achieved through these shots.

2:03 second: During this part of the song, the beat begins to slow. With the drumming becoming the prominent tempo. As you can see we have slowed our footage down in order for it to fit with the music. Again, this technique is evident in some of Frank Musik's videos. So thought it was a good idea to include it. It also allows the dynamics of the video to be more consistent.
Frank Musik video 'Confusion Girl'

2:30 second: By now the characters have all met up and it is at this point that we see the leading two characters (Jack and Becca), begin to flirt. These shots also include shot reverse shots, as they illustrate two different points of view, so that the audience can see the goings on.

2.52 second: Here, two close up shots have been used to identify two of the boys. The lyrics at this point in the song are "maybe we could, we could share, but I don't think that's very, very fair". This links well with our video as it highlights two of the boys that like Becca's character and gives the audience the chance to pick which guy they'd prefer Becca to choose. Jack make direct eye contact with the audience by looking straight into the camera, maybe this will give him more points?

2:56 second: This is the climax of our video. It presents Jack and Becca walking off down the Pier hand in hand. I really, really like this part of the video, as again, the music has slowed down, so we slowed the speed of the footage to compliment it.

3:06 second: This is the final shot of our video. As you can see, the shot begins as a mid two-shot. As Jack and Becca walk off, the camera focus zooms into the couple holding hands and forms a close up shot the pair walking off hand in hand. I am really pleased with this final shot. It illustrates the pair coming together and symbolises love, which ultimately is what the song entails.

Feedback:

In order to gain feedback for the video, I got a group of friends together and asked them to comment on it when they got via their facebooks. For some reason my it is not letting me upload the comments onto my blogger, so I will write the comments below instead.

Comment 1: "I think the video goes really well with the beat and lyrics of the song. I really like the bit where you zoomed onto the keys to show what he was picking up. It was a clever idea. I think you could have added a bit more of the girls though, as it sometimes got confusing as to where they were. Other than that, really good!"

Comment 2: "I like the video. The song is a bit cheesy, but it has a good beat to it. I like the video because it is clear what is going on and you don't get confused watching it. I like how you did the point of view bits for the girls when the boys drove past and vise versa. You could maybe have slowed the whole thing down though, as some of the shots don't last for very long and also I don't understand the white image in the middle of it."

Comment 3: Wow! your video is really good for the first time of doing it! I love the song and think the video fits it perfectly. I really like how you slowed it down in certain areas to fit the beat of the music, that was really cool. I think I have seen something like that on one of Frank Musik's videos. Good good good :) ."

Comment 4: "Good video and good camerawork. My favourite bit is when the camera zooms into them holding hands right at the end. Good touch. It definitely suits the song and as I'm a Frank Musik fan, I think it suits his style of music and his 'target' audience. Well done."

From reading these comments I have been able to see just what my target audience think of the video. The majority of the people I showed it to were of a similar age to myself and it was crucial that I received their feedback as they are my groups target audience. I have found this feedback really useful and constructive and will 100% take their comments on board.

Evaluation

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have learned a lot from my audience feedback. As stated above, the majority of the people I showed it to were are target audience, so their comments meant a lot. In regards to comment 2, I asked them what they meant by the 'white image' and after re-showing them the video, found that they were referring to the white balance composition 1.47 seconds into the video. I fully understand why this segment may be confusing, as it isn't very clear as to whats happening. However, you are able to make out the characters in it, so we therefore opted to use it. From this comment, I have learned that with a little bit more time and effort, we could have re-shot this particular segment, so that we got the composition correct. This has allowed me to see where we could improve.

I am relay pleased that comment 4 mentioned the similarity between our video and others of Frank Musik and that it would be liked by his target audience, (after all this is our main goal). It has given me confidence in my work and I now feel like are video was a success, when considering who its target audience is.

I have also learned that it pays off to try different camera shots, i.e the extreame close up shot of Jack picking up his keys. We were aprehensive at first to try a variety of shots, but am now really glad we did, as it has provided me with postive comments highlighting specific camera shots.

I fully take into acount the comment about adding more shots of the girls. These are limited in our video and what we have included are very short clips. I have learned from this that we should take more time when deciding on what shots to include, as we want an equal balance so that the sotry flows well.

Overall I am extremely happy with the comments. I have recieved both postive and constructive critism and feel that I can improve on these in future projects!

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

To help me with my research, I first used a computer that allowed me to research an already existing Frank Musik video, I chose 'Confusion Girl'. This really helped me gain ideas as to what sort of elements feature in his videos and I was able to incorparate some of these into our video, i.e slow motion and reverse shots to fit the beat of the music. As our song changes beat quite regulary, this worked really well and made the video more visually exciting and original.

The second piece of media technology I used was a digital camera. I used this so that we could take pictures for our animatic, which of course was the foundations for our video and helped us constuct and plan what the video would look like. In addition, we used one of the photos in our video (the very first shot of terraced houses). The picture happened to be exactly what we needed, so we therefore included it in the video. I think the picture works really well and could easily be mistaken for live footage.

The third piece of media technology we used was the Mac programme "Final Cut Pro". This allowed us to edit and construct both the music video and the animatic. This programme has allowed us to do amazing things to our video, which without it, we would not have been able to do. For example, reverse certain shots and change the speed of the footage. "Final Cut Pro" was really challenging to use at first, but after practise, became a lot more user friendly. I am really pleased I got the chance to use this programme, as it has enabled me to learn new skills and techniques that I can now use for a variety of different projects.

Possibly the most important media technology we used, was the video camera. This was my favourite part of the whole project as I want to have a career in the media industry and camera work is a great skill to have. I learnt so much from using the camera! Especially in regards to the different camera settings, i.e White Balance, Manuel Focus and Aperture. The video camera helped construct our video hugely. It allowed us to capture our footage and at the same time, see whether or not we needed to re-take a scene. Without the use of this media technology, our video would have been mereley impossible to create.

In order to help me with the evaluation stage, I used Facebook to gain general feedback on the video. This helped me a lot, as it allowed me to see what others thought of the video and from this I became aware of what things were liked and what things we could have possibly changed in order to enhance the video.

I am really gratful that I got the chance to experience all of these different media technologies. I feel that from using them, I have become more aware as to what standard of effort is needed in order to achieve a high quality project and feel that I now have skills that will only aid me in future events!

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

When comparing our video to other electro-pop videos, I think it uses many of the same elements. When I was researching Frank Musik's 'Confusion Girl' video, I noticed he liked to use a lot of different effects in his video and so we thought it would be a good idea to convert some of these into our video. This also keeps our video consistent to his! Other electro-pop/dance videos often have a narratve to go along with their lyrics. This is also evident in Frank Musik's videos, but also in artists such as Basshunter and Lady GaGa.

I wouldnt necaserally say our video challenges any forms and conventions of real media products, but definately think it uses a vast amount of effects and compositions that we see in many electro-pop videos today. This making our video current and appealing to followers of electro-pop/dance music.