LO4: Evaluation

Our brief for this unit was to create either a music video for a local band of a film trailer, in which we chose a music video. Our music video was based around the song Eclipse from the Ashfield's who we sourced from using social medias and contacting them via email to ask if we could meet up with them to create a music video for one of their new songs. Using a band with a following base was good as we already had an audience which were mostly young teenagers- therefore we needed to create a suitable narrative for the music video. Our audience genre around a C2DE class because of their young age- which at around 14-25. Also as our client who is The Ashfield's are young is bases itself around the idea of ideal self or ideal partners by a young audience, which is great to do a promo for as it will gather a wider following for that specific audience. The genre of the band are Indie Rock which is why we chose them for the music video, as we all like to listen to that particular genre and can spot the conventions of an Indie rock video, therefore it was easier for us to have an idea of a suitable storyline. 

The editing and camera work matches my promo as it suits the genre of Indie Rock with the amount of shots and angles we used. Having medium long shots in were to get the characters costume and props in which are common to that stereotype. We also used low angles of the couple together hugging, this has a connotation of happiness. The use of the low angle connote the power we are looking at them being together having a strong relationship.

When editing we used Adobe Premier which is what is used in the professional industry. We used a lot of speed up effects which were helpful in producing our music video as we wanted it to match with the beat and lyrics of the song which was fast paced. We also used the razor tool when editing our clips to make them shorter due to thow long our clips were we needed to cut them down so it wouldn't get boring and the shots would move on as fast as the song but showing the narrative through them. The razor tool also came in handy because we cut footage into different pieces and matched them up to make the video jump together which shows more excitement for the promo, but also matches with the genre of Indie Rock.

When planning my ideas in the beginning we used the ideas which we came up with at the beginning of the unit and carried them throughout finishing our script, wit on l altering a few things to suit the purpose of educating our target audience and meeting the brief to create a local based music video or a film trailer   

For our narrative we chose to base it around the positives and negatives between two main characters and their relationship. We chose this because after analysing the lyrics that's the connotations we got and thought about when the writer wrote the song. Eclipse which is their name of the song is the bands new upcoming single, therefore we thought it would be great to  create a music video for it to help promote their songs and band itself. Throughout the video we go against the theory of women being objects and the male gaze which is theorised by Laura Mulvey as both characters are seen as equal to each other and not one point the male protagonist is seen as higher up than the woman. 

Based off the feedback we got the narrative we portrayed was relatable and easy to understand as it shows clear conventions of the ups and downs of a relationship. We also added live clips in some scenes of our music video which helped the audience know what the band looked like- it is also more interesting for the audience as they get to see a sense of how they perform when they are on stage and what kind of atmosphere they are to expect. We also show the conventions of an indie rock genre through these live clips with having a look at the equipment they use when playing and the costumes they wear for example all of them where wearing doc martens this is one of the main conventions of an indie rock based band due to the research we did and our own knowledge. Through the post production stage in editing we made surer to edit the live clips of the band performance to a monochrome filter which allows the audience to tell the narrative from the performance easily.

For our promo we used a lot of medium long shots when filming the actors this was for the audience so they were able to see the body language they showed and expressions- in order to connote the situation the actors were in as they is no dialogue to tell them what's happening- this is also shown through matching the lyrics to the shots too which tell the narrative. We also captured close ups a lot through the promo to show the facial expressions which was to allow the audience to set the mood of the scene.

Through the editing stage we used Adobe Premier this is because it is used in the professional industry and when exported can we viewed by anyone. We used tools in that software for example the speed up effects within the narrative so that it matched with the audio being fast paced and upbeat. We also used the razor tool a lot which was to cut pieces of the footage up and then were able to jump the, together which was more visually pleasing for us and the audience as it matches the audio.

In conclusion, we faced some weaknesses of our music video for example one being that we did not plan our time as well as we could have leading us to have a lot of tasks to do at once and underestimating how long the video takes to edit to get it t match the audio. If we was yo do this task again I would make sure to create more production plans and meeting minutes and following them throughout making the promo.