Editing our Video.

We have recently began to edit our footage from our 2 filming sessions. To edit and produce our video we used the prgram iMovie HD. We have tried to include as many ideas from our storyboard as possible and I think this has helped us through the editing process smoothly and effectively.I think that the style of editing we have used has given our music video a slightly 'cheesy' feel because of our use of effects within the video. This has given our video a bit of a comic factor which i feel will help to attract the audience. We have used quite a lot of slow motion in places to emphasise what is happening in the shot and to keep a consistent surreal feel to the video. We have also experimented with the N-Square effect to give the video a retro and parody style feel.The main area we need to focus on is our timing with what's happening on screen and the audio that's playing. There are a number of times when the music is not in sync with what is happening on the screen but we are working to correct this ane ensure the music matches the visuals.

Trip to the CLC.

Over the past few weeks we have managed to finish filming our music video and recently we have began to edit our video using imovie hd.

We have also recently visited the state-of-the-art CLC (City Learning Centre) at Brislington to use the ICT facilities they had available to help produce our cd cover and sleeve. The four of us worked as a group effectively to help produce the cover and sleeve in the given time frame. We had already taken quite a lot of photos of what we wanted to use in our cover photos and middle pullouts so we just had to decide which five photographs to use. We voted as a group on which photographs to use and once we had decided then we started work on editing them to make them look how we wanted. As a group we then came up with the idea of our picture having all the colour taken out of it apart from the red which we felt that when left on its own in a black and white background was a very striking effect. We felt that this would catch peoples eye as it is intersting and different which is what our target audience wanted according to our questionnairre results.We stuck to our original plans to produce our end product which we were very pleased with.

Storyboarding our music video

In todays lesson we began to plan and storyboard our music video. We have drawn out the scenes which we wish to use. This will help us in making our video as we will have a plan to follow and wont have to make up scenes on the spot, although we may part from our original plan if we have different ideas. We tried to include a number of ideas from the feedback we recieved from our target audience such as making it a narrative based music video as we only had one person who felt a performance based music video was preffered. We decided that if our film was going to be narrative based then it should be set outside where we had easy access to parks and other open spaces where we could film our chase.

Analysis of 3 Music Videos

Arctic Monkeys- Fluorescent Adolescent (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9I9VBKPiw&feature=player_embedded)





I am analyising the song Flourescent Adoloscent. Flourescent Adolescent is By the Arctic Monkeys who are an English Indie band from Sheffild and is directed by Richard Ayoade. The video is for a song belonging to the genre of indie. The video shows caracteristics of being an indie video as it is a lot different from other videos in that it seems that it is completely of the Arctic Monkey own volition and not influenced by a record label or any other external sources which can be said for a lot of other Arctic Monkeys videos.

Fluorescent Adoloscent was really the main inspiration for our own music video. This is because we really liked the idea of people being chased by people in clown costumes and also using a handheld camera style which gives it the effect of being in real life. In this video we see an ongoing battle between the clowns and a gang of men and in the end it is the clowns who win. We also really liked the idea of special effects being used to blow up the car and if possible we would like to use this in our own video.
The mis-en-scene in this video is interesting. Costumes feature very heavily in this video, the clown costumes are all of varying colours and styles. But the colour red does feature quite heavily, I think the reason for this is that as there is a lot of fighting and i think the reason for the heavy use of red is to emphasise the violence in this video as red is the colour of blood and so is associated heavily with violence and fighting. props, lighting, etc.
A lot of the camera work in this video is done using a handheld camerawhich I think is a good technique to use for this particular video. The reason for this is because this video has a lot of fast movement by the characters and is a very fast moving video in terms of the editing so using handheld camera technique makes it seem as if the cameraman is running which adds to the notion that movement plays a big part in this video.


Kasabian- Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd0Y1Sko7hA&feature=player_embedded)

This song is called 'Fire' and is by the band Kasabian. In this video we see a gang of robbers rob a bank using their guitars as weapons. At the start of the video a member of the band is singing and looking at himself in the mirror. This gives a visual representation of the song being performed by the band. Much of the filming is done by the use of c.c.t.v and filmed in black and white as we see the gang walk into the bank and take the money. I think this idea of filming using c.c.t.v is effective because it is different to how a music video is normally filmed and in this way it is an interesting approach and it is also appropriate for the video as the audience are witnessing a robbery take place. During the robbery we see the band using guitars as guns and i feel this brings a comedy feel to the video. The gun shots were hear in the video are a contradiction of using guitars as guns and these sounds are editted into the video and are not in the song alone. I think that the music and the visuals match the tempo of the track. At the beginning of the video we have the build up to the song and the story line which is very slow, in this slow tempo we see the lead singer of Kasabian singing along. However as the tempo speeds up so do the visuals as we see the band members moving frantically to finish the job.

Kasabian- Club Foot

This video is partly set in a recording studio as we see the band playing the song we are listening to. The only colours used are black and white which i think is simple but actually very effective. We see a number of war movie clips such as soldiers dressed in uniform and army vehicles. I think the idea of using the revolutionists helps potray the bands image of being rock stars/ rebels. This video gives off feelings of sadness and depression as it is all about the Hungarian Revolution where thousands of people lost their lives. The props and set of the video add to the sad, depressing and anti war effect as the start of the video before any real music starts concentrates on the derelict buildings, the ragged clothes the people are wearing the empty streets that give off a cold, ghost town looking effect, the life less trees and the poverty people are facing by showing them eating food straight out of a can. They do this to show people how bad war can be. Also the climax of the video shows the death of a women and this also adds to the audience's feelings of sadness. In this video we are again left with the message that war is a negative thing and more peaceful methods should be used to overcome a clash of opinions and i feel this really helps to show off some of the bands political views.

Our Questionnaire

This is an image of our questionnaire that we handed out to fellow students in our sixth form to get an idea about the types of music video people like and dislike.

CD cover Analysis: The Prodigy- Warriors Dance.

THE PRODIGY- WARRIOR'S DANCE
FRONT COVER:
The cover is very high tech. The cover is simple and using only three colours makes sure that the cover appeals to the audience. Black and red would usually make the audience think of danger however in this case it draws your attention. The image is unusual however links to the title of the song and the music video for this single which uses animation. The bands name is in the centre of the cover and the white bold font stands out against the black background and draws the audiences attention immediately. This would help the audience identify the bands cd easily if they were looking for it in a shop. All of the writing on the cover is in bold capitals and this helps it to stand out. I think that the characters and the writing on the cover give a real sense of speed and i think this helps to represent the pace of the music. In a way it links to the genre yet in another unless you know the band or know the style of this then you probably wouldn’t know that this is from the genre of dance.Although aimed at both genders, the image would predominantly appeal to males as the images are almost aggressive looking. The use of these strong, aggressive images suggests that the music will be that with a strong, heavy beat. We are able to get a good idea of the genre of music from this.

CD cover analysis

Kasabian:




'Kasabian' -2004 album .

This is the band Kasabian's debut album realeased in 2004. This was one of our main influences for our own CD Cover. The genre of this CD is Indie Rock, this is the same genre as the song whih we have made our music video for.
This CD uses just 2 colours, black and white, which contrast well with each other. Although there is only 2 colours used, i find this to be very effective as the white image of the persons face really stands out against the black background and helps to grab the audience's attention. I feel that the image of the persons face is mysterious as it only shows half of their face and they are also partly covered by a scarf. I think this gives the buyer to the idea that the album may be quite mysterious itself and i feel this could make the buyer want to know more about the band and the album and therefore make them go out and buy it. I also feel that this album cover is very serious as we see the person with a scarf over their face in almost military style and i think this could be carrying a political message of anti war as this is then backed up in a number of their songs such as 'club foot'.
The band have decided to present the albums name in white bold and in capitals i think that this, again, is very striking and stands out against the black background and would immediately grab the buyers attention if they saw it in a shop. Also using the bands name as their album name could be a very clever marketing technique especially if it is their debut album or just simply to let the buyer know straight away who the album is by.