EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1



1

3

5

4

6

7

8

9

Still Frame 1 - Relationship of lyrics to narrative/visualsStill frame 1 is the first scene of our music video, this still frame shows the scrap book we used to show Mercedes' happy memories of a relationship she was missing. This scene is shown in time with the chorus lyrics 'Just A Taste' implying that the scrapbook shows 'a taste' of what they had together. This lyrics shows that the relationship has ended and that this is not what she wants. The scrap book is the entire basis for our video, we took some of the images in the scrapbook whilst we were shooting the scenes to strengthen the continuity. We increased the speed of this clip to make it more dramatic, as if she were ripping the photographs out in rage, we then slowed it back down as she came to the picture she sticks on the mirror as we wanted to show it was her favourite photograph, which provides a good basis for her reminiscing (the scenes from the rest of the video).

Still Frame 2 - Lighting
This still shows Mercedes sticking the photograph we previously saw her remove from the scrapbook, onto the mirror, next to her in the mirror you can see the image of her singing and playing her guitar. We used the green screen to achieve this, we wanted to edit this scene in such a way that we could incorporate both the narrative and performance aspects, this meant we had more lip-syncing scenes in our video. Good lighting is vital when using the green screen, due to the fact that if you don't place the lights correctly, there will be shadows on the green screen and you cannot achieve a successful green screen image. Due to the use of mirrors in this scene, we had to find a location in which the lighting naturally lit the area due to the fact we didnt want any reflection of light glaring into the camera. Throughout the video, we used the natural light that the weather gave us that day. This is because we wanted the video to be as true to life as possible and also use it as a pathetic fallacy. Because we filmed the video in autumn time, when the weather is fairly dark, the feelings we were trying to portray Mercedes' to have, were extremely well reflected.

Still Frame 3 - Mis-en-scene - costume, props, make-up, casting, expression
This still frame shows the scene which is Mercedes' memory of her and Jamie are playing at Newlands Corner with each other. Their body language and facial expressions in this scene fantastically portray the love between them that was vital to our whole video. We needed them to look completely relaxed and happy, I believe we achieved this brilliantly. The costumes we chose for this scene were simple as this was set in the daytime and we needed the costume to reflect this. Mercedes' T-Shirt says 'To be or not to be? That is the question' which is a famous Shakespeare quote. This ties in nicely with our video because this could be seen in the context of the relationship.. Will it last or wont it? I believe this was a very clever choice of clothing. In the green-screen scenes, in which Mercedes is playing her guitar, she is wearing a T-Shirt with a guitar on it and in the scenes with Liam (the new boyfriend), she wears a T-Shirt that says 'Behind the Scenes' implying there is more to the relationship than meets the eye and she is hiding her true feelings. We edited this scene to make it look like a camera recording, this reinforces the fact that it is a memory.


Still Frame 4 - Relationship of music to narrative/visuals
Still frame 4 shows Mercedes singing with her guitar with a sillouette of her playing her guitar next to her. We made this part of the video black and white, tying in with the lyrics (e.g. 'I know I'm a dick, I'm addicted to you' and 'what the fuck's going on? Just wanna go back to bed with you') to show that she is feeling extremely down about the situation. We used some green screen image to create the sillouette and edited it into the existing scene. Because we used a mid-shot you can see Mercedes playing her guitar, showing she uses her guitar to release her emotion.

Still Frmae 5 - Representation of artist/band with reference to record label's expectations
This still frame shows Mercedes in colour, playing her guitar, with black and white pictures of her and Jamie behind her. This is supposed to symbolise that her past is behind her, yet she is not over it. The record label 'Big Machine Records' sign similar artists (e.g. Taylor Swift) and so we used inspiration from the way she is represented in her videos to decide on how to represent Mercedes in our video.

Still Frame 6 - Genre of music and how it is defined
In this scene, Mercedes is seen to be sitting with her new partner, having a picnic. We faded a photograph of her and Jamie in for a couple of seconds to show that he is what is on her mind.
The use of the narrative genre means we can easily portray the feelings we want to show. It also ensures the audience can easily empathise with our character.

Still Frame 7 - Camerawork & editing - shot types, angles, movement, sfx and transitions
This still frame shows Mercedes runing through the woods, whilst the image of her and Jamie running together overlaps. This shows that life has moved on, but she still misses him and wishes she was still with him. To achieve this effect, we had to decrease the opactiy on one image in order to get the other one on top. These scenes overlap well with each other because in both scenes they are running and are both long shots. In one of our scenes between Mercedes and Jamie, we had a close up of them holding each others hands whilst walking and we panned across to follow their movement. We used increased speed at the start of our video and slow motion at the end of our video both on the scrapbook focused scenes.  
Still Frame 8 - Intertextuality or influence of other music videos etc
Still frame 8 shows a photograph of Jamie and Mercedes in flames, this idea came from Taylor Swift's video - Picture To Burn. 

This is a stereotypical scene from narrative music videos or romantic films. It is extremely common in media to use the image of someone burning a photograph to show the extreme emotion they are feeling. The video as a whole, was inspired largely by Katy Perry's video - Thinking of You.

Still Frame 9 - Setting/location
Still frame 9 shows one of the last scenes in our music video. Newlands Corner was where most of our video was filmed. It is where the story begins, and also where it ends. It is the key location in our video showing Mercedes here with Jamie and then bringing her new partner there in an attempt to replace the memory of her previous relationship with new ones with her new partner. By using the same location throughout most of the video, we had the same lighting throughout which establishes good continuity. We used the camera effect again and changed the colour effect to sepia to show again that these are memories.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2

 This is the front cover of our digipack. We decided on using the 4 different pictures with different colour effects because we wanted an eye-catching front cover that will stand out amongst other CD's. The Front cover shows 2 pictures of 'the band' and 2 of Mercedes on her own. The colours used, and the settings and props that we used represent our genre. This is especially depicted in the photograph of Mercedes playing her guitar, a very typical image of our genre. 

 This is the inside part of our digipack, we used this to add our special mentions on. The use of quotes through out our didgipack is also typical of our genre. The picture of the band lying in the road, symbolises their 'journey' we gained inspiration for this in our research stages. The colour effect we put on this image shows that this music is not particularly up-beat and, again portrays the nature of our genre effectively.

This is the CD section of our digipack, the image shows Mercedes looking through a heart shape, made by hands, we used this in our music video and so it links in well, helping with continuity. We used a black and white effect on the hands, this is supposed to symbolise that it is a memory, with Mercedes sitting in a pile of leaves, which shows that the leaves have fallen from the trees, showing the Autumn/Winter season which fits in well with our music video as it was shot in the same season, again helping with the continuity. 

     

This is the back of our digipack. On this, we have the names of the songs on the album, a simple image of Mercedes leant against a plain wall with her guitar. We decided that it would be extremely effective if we were to have the image black and white, except for her dress which we made sure was bright red. This is eye-catching and makes you want to look at it. We also have our record label on the back (the one most common in our genre) and the barcode for our CD. The title of our music video is on the songs list on the back. 

This is our magazine advertisement. We used a whole image as the background for it. We made the colours in it fairly dark intentionally as it depicts the genre and nature of the album effectively. We wanted it to be a very simple advert as this makes it more intriguing. We added one review, the band name, album title, record label, release date and website address. The image links closely with our music video as it has a very similar setting and Mercedes is dressed similarly too.

This is our music video:

Overall, our ancillary products and our music video link very closely with one another, ensuring that continuity is there, that viewers will realise that the two are related. Combined with each other, we have a strong set of products that are well researched, and effectively produced.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4

A camera tripod was vital to our filming as it kept our shots steady and meant we could pan easily. Without the tripod our shots would have been shaky and we could not have achieved the important professional  look that our video has. 

We used google in the research stages of our project. To find pictures of artists from our genre and to find information about other artists within our genre. Also, we used google to begin searching for an unsigned artist. Without this search engine, our project would have suffered majorly. 

 Final cut express was crucial to the making of our video, because this is the technology we used to edit the entire project. We were able to add transitions, effects and most importantly, organise and edit our green screen footage. Using final cut, we were able to integrate green screen footage with some existing footage to create interesting and technical scenes for our video. 

 We used a blackberry to take some of the photographs used in our video, we used this because it is realistic in the way that the characters would take photographs on their mobile phones a lot, as they are more convenient to carry with you.

 We used ITunes to import our music onto our video. Without this programme, we would not have been able to add our song to the video!

We used Glogster to create a moodboard in the research stage of our project, we put together numerous images of props and locations we would be using in our project. 

 We used YouTube to watch videos of other artists in our genre in the research stages of our project. We also used YouTube to upload our music video once we had finished it in order to add it to our blogs.

 The video camera was of course the most vital part of our project, without it, we would not have had any footage. We used this in conjunction with our tripod to gain the images we needed for our video in the most effective way possible.

 We used photoshop to create our Ancillary products, this included our magazine advertisement and digipack. We inserted the images we wanted to use, manipulated the colours and sizes of them, and added the font we decided on using.

 In the research stages, we created a Prezi presentation on music videos. This technology meant the presentations created were especially effective and taught us how to use different technologies.

A digital camera was used to take some of the photographs we used in our music video (the scrap book) the pictures are clear, which means when filming them, they are more visible than photographs taken on a mobile phone.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3

Rachel Hawker and the Remedies- 'Just a Taste' Lyrics.

She lights up another cigarette,

Hopes that the smoke will mask her regret,

Sometimes it's best to forget,

She burns through another chapter in her life,

Just longing for an answer and a light and,
Friday night and she's practising her lines,
No valid reason, just passing the time,
She knows what she's got to say,
But can't find her voice,
Sometimes it's so hard to see that there's a choice,
That there's a choice,


So lace me with poison and feed me your lines,
I'm craving your toxins so spare me sometime,
I know I'm a dick, I'm addicted to you,
So give me just a taste,
Just a taste to see me though,
Now she's back home, she walks through her old school,
Blood, glass and needles surround the empty pool,
I don't know what to do she says 'How'd it end up like this?'
'How'd I end up like this?','Dont wanna be me, don't wanna be you,
Just wanna break free, just wanna break through!'
Then she looks up and she looks in the mirror and says,
'What the f***'s going on ?' Just wanna go back to bed with you,
I don't know what it is but I'm crying out for more,

I'm longing for the answer but I'm running for the door,

I'm running, I'm running, I'm running,

So lace me with poison and feed me your lines,

I'm craving your toxins so spare me sometime,

I know I'm a dick, I'm addicted to you,

So give me just a taste,

Just a taste to see me though,


So lace me with poison and feed me your lines,

I'm craving your toxins so spare me sometime,

I know I'm a dick, I'm addicted to you,

So give me just a taste,
Just a taste to see me though,
Just a taste to see me through,
Just a taste, just a taste,
Just a taste, Just a taste, Just a taste,
To see me through.

Representation of Christina Aguilera- Prezi presentation.

Goodwins Rules

1- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

(e.g. stage performance in rock video, dance routine in hip hop)

2- There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

(the words are interpreted visually either through a narrative, or figuratively through signs and symbols)

3- There is a relationship between music and visuals

(the editing of the visuals is closely linked to the rhythms of the music)

4- The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work

(a visual style)

5- There is frequently reference to notion of looking(screens within screens, telescopes, mirrors etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body

6- There is often intertextual reference

(to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)