A2 Media

"I think the beat it really good and the lyrics are catchy so the video links in with the music"

"i dont really like it to be honest i think its quite boring but it was a good effort with the lip syncing"

"the actors actually look like there in a relationship so its really believeable"

"I like the setting that they used cos its not like its somewhere where no one knows, its just a park"

"im not exactly into this type of music so i cant really relate to it because i dont feel interested in it"

"i like the part where there like pulling faces at each other and been all cute, think it fits in with the lyrics really well"

"i prefered the poster and digipak to the song i think they both related to each other quite well but they didnt really link in with the actual video"

"When the video started i thought it was good cos they editing and cuts fitted into the beat really well and when the guy started singing the lip syncing was really good but after a while it got a bit boring and out of sync"

"i actually thought to say it was a fast paced song with a fast beat the editing and cuts were actually quite good and i thought the digipak was well worked up and matched really well with the poster"

"The posters better than the digipak i really like the poster it looks really good and like they spent a lot of time and effort on it. it works well with the video as well and i like how the beat matches in with the lyrics and movement"

I am evaluating my recent music video me and 2 other students have made. i will be making comments on audience feedback, criticism and the quality of my music video. The video was created using two actors acting to an unsigned band called Guilty Warfare, we based our music video on the relationship between the two actors we chose. As well as the music video me and my group did a lot of planning including storyboards location sheets and created posters and digipaks to advertise the band.

Question 1

With the Video i have chosen and my own video i am going to compare and contrast the lip syncing.

The Verve- Bitter sweet symphony.

Untouchable: Guilty Warfare (my video)

In my music video we treat Jack as the main character and the lead vocalist, this is because we couldn't include the rest of the band as they were not available.

The part i will be comparing is the lip syncing whilst walking. As in the verve's music video, there is only one person walking and singing at the same time, in my music video i did something very similar and used jack as the main character, he was dressed in casual clothes with his hands in his pockets and walking to the pace of the beat. In comparison to this the verve has done the same.
they are both set outside on some sort of street giving yet more comparison.
Our music video also fits in with the Andrew Goodwin theory. he suggested that there should be a relationship between the lyrics, music and what you see whether it is illustrating, amplifying or contradicting. He also said that people such as record companies as well as the audience would rather see close ups of the main artist to give them a feeling of been able to connect.
Although our video is not professional it has most of the elements needed to be a strong video with a bit of work.

Question 2

I have got a poster created for a band called Bon Jovi and will be comparing and contrasting it against a poster I created for a local band. The only differences between these two posters are apart from the obvious colour difference. Bon Jovi have used all their band members in their poster showing they all connect together and are a group where as in mine, i only have the two actors. Bon jovi have created a plain area where to write what they want to be seen straight away which i feel is a good way to catch the eye.

The similarities show that i have done my research and tried to make it look as professional as possible.

Firstly i have included the name of the band at the top of the page along with the name of the album. i have also put on the new hit single in bon jovi it is 'make a memory' in mine it is 'untouchable'

we also have a main picture to focus on and the title is bold and stands out so you know what your buying if you see it.

I decided to chose NME as the 'quote' to advertise the poster as when doing audience research that was the magazine most people said they would look at.

Question 3

We decided to create a music video that was more focused on narrative than anything else, we did this because we thought it would be a good idea to portray the band and the song without clashing with what the audience wanted.
when asked the question 'Music videos are often composed of narrative, this is where the video has a short storyline that features throughout the video, where as others focus on the musical artist[s] creating a star image. Do you prefer music videos that:
[Please circle one of the following]
[A] Focus on narrative [B] Focus on the musical artist[s] [C] A healthy mix'
our results were as shown below.

we also asked if dance routines appealed to the audience and very few said yes, therefore this is why we created a more visual and narrative based video.

During the audience feedback we noticed that most of what we did in creating the music video as a group we pleased the audience. although we did put in the elements they had suggested we still had feedback proving the audience contradicted themselves when asked if they liked the music video some of the audience said there could be some dancing in it or some form of routine, which shown above the majority did not want a routine.
As well as contradicting themselves we then asked the audience to give some honest feedback on what they thought of the video. most replies said it was good but could do with more work, but this has helped for future reference that we need to be careful and think more about filming. The editing could be better and a bit sharper and also one or two of our audience said that the lip syncing was out in some places which is an error that was very hard to avoid with so much footage to work with.

Audience Feedback Video

Question 4
I am going to now put on every technical bit i used and the construction of my music video.
Firstly we went out with an XM2 semi pro camera to get all of our footage.

This is the XM2 camera, overall it is very easy to use and satisfying to work with once you get the hang of its forms and what the camera is capable of doing without editing. the camera sits on a standard tripod like this one. the tripod allows you to tilt, pan, and move the camera smoothly creating a smooth footage that can then be used many times.

i used blogger to keep my work up to date and available for my group to access the group activities, i found it a successful way to have a visual profile that i can edit my work easily on.

After effects was used to import/export and edit the whole music video and also to add extra effects such as transactions and titles/credits

Me and my group found facebook an easy and simple way to keep in touch an arrange plans for filming and editing, also i helped us get in contact with the band and the actors starred in our video.

we used myspace to look at the profile for our band 'Guilty Warfare' we got to see how they described themselves as a group and individuals and was able to connect to the rest of their music and see what influenced them and what type of music they create.

Photoshop was basically the easiest way to create the poster and digi pak. if someone in the group knew how to use it it was simple to teach the rest so we shared the work out and found it was effective to help keep on top of our work.

Youtube was very helpful throughout the whole project. i used it to watch videos i needed to analyse in and out of class and also to look at previous videos that were professional to give me some inspiration towards my own video.

Overall i found making the music video quite fun and enjoyed working with my group to see what we could achieve.
Filming was mainly the easiest part and the hardest must have been the editing, as it can be out by a tiny bit but still make the whole video out of sync. it was very stressful making sure all the work was done for the deadlines but at the end it was an achievement and a relief to have it finished and out of the way.

Directors Commentary
This is my video with an audio commentary describing what i did in my music and the reasons why i used the camera angles/mise en scene/ and how we created the video.