Final Video Evaluation

In terms of media language, I feel that I successfully incorporated the enigma code (Barthes) into my music video due to the fact that the narrative is fairly slow paced and obscure. I feel this links to Todorov's narrative theory (which was also successfully applied to my music video) as there was a clear disruption presented where the actor is no longer happy throughout the video, with a 'climax' occurring when there is a quick edit of multiple flashbacks, leading to a new equilibrium, or otherwise known as resolution, when she appears in a brighter background at the end of the video. I think the slow pace builds tension along this narrative and also allows it to be left to interpretation, therefore conforming to Barthe's open narrative 'ball of string' theory.

I feel I addressed media representation in the way that I planned to with the use of a female artist who is present in both the video and across the website. I subverted Van Zoonen's ideas of patriarchy and spectacle as I did not present her in a sexual manner. There is an element of typicality, however, in mise-en-scene due to costume and makeup. I think that due to this, gender and age representation was portrayed successfully in this video, however, I could have improved on ethnicity as the video is fairly white-centered. 

I understood through my research that many successful music videos conform to a mixed genre of performance and narrative and therefore I incorporated this into my own shoot and editing. I originally wanted a video with the forefront performance being in one-take with more interesting elements occurring in the background, however, this wasn't as interesting as I originally expected in the storyboard, therefore I changed the idea to switch between performance and narrative. I also knew it was important to incorporate a sense of brand identity across the website and the video, therefore I ensured the use of green and courier font was established across both platforms. 

My intended audience was aged 15-25 and in socio-economic category C1-A. I feel that I targeted this audience through my performer being within this age category and therefore being relatable to an audience, however, my video could clearly also apply to adults due to the idea of a broken family and marriage being universally sad to all ages. In this way, it can also relate to the struggler (Young and Rubicam's 4 C's model) due to the music video offering relief at not being alone as well as escapism. In this way, the video can also

First Video Edits

PRACTICE EDIT --






FIRST EDIT --

Music Video Editing

This was provided by the tutor to help us with editing in premiere pro.

Premiere pro from elleguyan

Final Video

The Website

Production Timeline

First planned shooting - October half term 2017 (failed) - had to reevaluate

First shooting - 31st October 2017
Re-shoot - 10th November 2017
Bulk Editing - November - December

Received feedback so had to re-plan again. 

Further shooting - 19th December - 3rd January

Clip imports - 8th January 2019
Clip FINAL editing - 15th January 2019 - February

Changes and Development to my video

I have made a number of changes while making my video from my plan which I would like to document

-I originally wanted the actress to be singing in one-take with the camera while there is a story in the background. I decided that the narrative isn't always clear as a result of this, and sometimes it might work better to cut between her performance and a narrative. Although I am disappointed I couldn't achieve the full effect I originally wanted, I still think the new vision will work.
-I felt that the narrative wasn't clear enough with the original footage I took of somebody walking around upset like in my storyboard. Therefore I am planning on implementing clips that are stronger, such as perhaps a graveyard or clips of wedding photos
-I also decided to film some moving background shots to make the video more interesting to watch
-I filmed multiple old photos in order to add to the effect of nostalgia. I think this is very important to convey the song's meaning as it is about reflection and fairly sad.
-In my storyboard I also wanted to have a range of green screen backgrounds however I decided it would be more effective to have a simple black background throughout, especially due to intertextuality to other videos

Logo Design

Logo Ideas

 On the left are some ideas for logos that I designed. The first one (created in two different colour schemes) is fairly simple, and uses a bold serif font. Sometimes simplicity can be more effective as it doesn't make the layout seem cluttered, and it is easy to read.


The second uses two shaded boxes overlapping with the name. This didn't turn out exactly as intended so I do not plan on using it.






I still like the idea of overlapping A's however this logo is slightly too simple so I plan on developing it further in the future. I think I should use more colours in order to represent the brand of the female artist as opposed to darkness to represent the song. Most singers have a range of songs that they want to demonstrate on their website so I need to be open with my logo colour scheme.

More Logo Development

EDITING - I used the pen tool to sketch the outside of an A shape and coloured it in pink using drawing tools, then copied another version for an overlapping effect, and coloured it in purple. I wanted to try and create a gif so that the logo is more advanced, and can catch the viewers attention a lot more. I originally wanted pink and purple as it is a female singer and this is stereotypical, but I decided this didn't fit the branding of the video at all.
I chose the style of 'A' that I did because I wanted it to contrast with the serif style name that appears next to it on the website.

EVALUATION

The strengths of my logo are that the pink represents femininity and therefore can act as a stereotype. I do like my logo however I think it needs to be in a colour range of blue or green in order to fit with the branding of my music video. I also think it could use other developments such as being turned into a gif or having something other than just letters. 

I am also trying to develop a video version that can be implemented into my website or video somehow. 

Editing, effects and treatment

BEFORE AND AFTER

These photos show the progression  from no effects, brightness and contrast, three way colour corrector, luma curve, tint and a second luma curve to help blend.

GREEN SCREEN

I used a variety of editing techniques on this performance aspect of the music video.
For example, ultra key was used due to a green screen. We recorded the video against a greenscreen so that the effect of a dark background could be used.
I wanted to use a greenscreen originally so that the background could be changed and altered and disappear during the performance, however I decided I wanted to instead incorporate cuts and flashbacks so that it wasn't just one-take. Therefore the greenscreen better suited a purpose of a black background, which I think worked effectively.

COLOUR CORRECTION

I added a slight amount of brightness in order to enhance the white of her face. I felt this looked more dream-like and emphasises the soft box lighting that was used while filming.

Using three way colour corrector was beneficial as it allowed me to create a cold tone. Blue's are emphasised in order to show the sadness and nostalgia.

Luma curve helped to adjust the brightness and contrast levels even further and I felt it had a big effect on the dream-like appearance that music videos should typically have according to theorists such as Kinder and Rubin.

A blue tint made a great difference, especially due to the key frames which meant that it gets less blue as time goes on. I wanted to do this so that there is clear progression until the end where everything is bright again - almost like a new equilibrium.

FLASHBACKS

I also edited flashback scenes in a dream-like way to separate them from the rest of the video.

For this clip I wanted to use the three way colour corrector to make the image warmer, to represent a happier time and create a huge contrast.

A slight blur was applied because this makes it stand out more as a flashback rather than current time.

BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLE --- 

Here I have added 3 way colour correction to make the image slightly more cold toned with blues which can be seen in this photo:

before editing, the picture looked like this:

ADDING RED TONES IN 3 WAY COLOUR CORRECTOR 

ADDING BLUE TONES IN 3 WAY COLOUR CORRECTOR

ADDING A BLUR EFFECT

I decided to further add a channel blur effect to the flashbacks, emphasising the red colour.

LOGO ANIMATION

At the beginning of the video I created an animation where 'Alyse Adler' the name turns into the logo that is seen on the website. This was important in order to develop the logo so that it is not static and simple.

Storyboard v2

Casting

Casting - 
I chose my original actress because she is not camera shy and willing to help - also fitting the age bracket.
I know I will still be looking for an actress as the song is covered by a female artist, as well as my website layout being stereotypically feminine with colours such as pink and purple which represents a female performer.
She will be wearing makeup which conforms to stereotypes of female appearance and it is likely that the video could become more geared to females as a result of such a focus on her, with no elements of male gaze.

Risk Assessment and Planning

Risks  -
Tripping over a cable - Make actors and anyone nearby aware of the cable and tuck it away wherever possible.
Tripping over tripod - Don't walk or run around the shooting area. Keep everyone aware of the tripod.
Knocking tripod over - Again, don't run near the tripod during filming. Be cautious around it
Knocking lighting over - Try to put lighting in a non-invasive place. Don't mess around near it.
Burning self on lighting - Turn off the light long before taking the bulb out. Don't let anyone get too close to it if they don't know how it works.
Electrocution - keep wires and lighting away from areas that it may get wet, such as by sinks in the kitchen where some scenes are being shot.
Tripping over outside objects - Settings in a public space such as a forest or a public house will have objects that cannot be controlled.
Paper cuts - Handling small photos could result in paper cuts if rushed. Don't rush.

Permission to Shoot

Permission -

I shot the majority of the video (the performance) in a family member's house. I printed a location contract as filming can take up space and disrupt activity and I needed to ensure it was okay to film.



Other locations were more public, such as the woods. I haven't obtained permission for these locations because it is not private land. Similarly, I filmed at a beach which is another public area.

The Webpage

Mindmap of possible artist names

I wanted to use unique names - either as a standalone name (e.g. Beyonce or Drake) or with alliteration to make a nice sounding full name (such as Foo Fighters); some call this an alliterative alias. For example, using the names I created, I thought Alyse Adler could be a good idea.

Research Into Websites

Attaching a photo until I know there are no improvements to be made, then I will embed the finished version

There are certain elements of the above webpages that I have tried to implement into my draft design. For example the header is permanent so it stays in the same position even when the user scrolls down the website. 

(The logo and photos will be changed to my own material)

I liked the dark element like in Coldplay as the song I am using for my music video is fairly nostalgic and sad in terms of mood therefore a colourful and vibrant website might not match the tone. However I liked the idea of cascading style sheets and unique fonts. 

Link to the my webpage

Creating The Website - First attempt 

PHOTO - I incorporated an image that is my own of a recording studio in order to add to the sense of professionalism. I feel this works because it adds an element of 'behind the scenes' and also can make the website appear more realistic if the audience can see performers.

COLOUR - I have been experimenting with colour schemes for my website that effectively match to the music video. I originally wanted a pink logo to represent the femininity of the singer, and decided to make the website match this. However I didn't like how it looked and felt it took away from the mood of the music video I have created. 

A white background looks sophisticated and could work, however I am unsure if it matches the video's mood yet again due to it being a sad song and dark video. I feel the pink/purple seems like a token representation of femininity rather than being genuinely suitable for the branding, therefore I want to reconsider my use of colours. 

New ideas - reinvention

COLOUR - I have decided to change my colour scheme to green, as this is fairly dark which can be connected to the sad song but also nature as the video has a lot of scenery. I feel green fits the brand much more effectively and is now much more convincing. 

FONT - I chose a serif font due to the fact that it appeares more traditional and formal, also looking sharp and adding to the idea that the music video is serious and sad. It is similar to the 'courier' font which is used in my music video, therefore this creates a sense of branding across the music video and the website. 

IMAGES - I chose certain images on my website due to the fact that I wanted it to appear as though she is a professional artist but with a personal touch. Young people nowadays enjoy being able to relate and interact with people they like (which is why YouTubers are so successful) therefore I wanted to create a sense of friendship rather than the idea that she is a huge celebrity. 

I included a photo from a recording studio as this creates an element of 'behind the scenes' and can therefore make the audience feel that they are getting a deeper insight into the making of the album, possibly building more excitement too. 

I also wanted to use a high quality image to create a sense of professionalism, and therefore it presents her as a successful artist who has been in photo shoots. In this image there is no direct address which is important as it still keeps it informal.