Rough Cut Analysis

We received a lot of responses from our media teachers for our rough cut video including a lot of positive feedback. The choice of location for the performance was greatly admired by the majority of viewers as they thought it appeared grand and majestic while still being suitable in terms of relating to the lyrics of the song due to the fact the majority is indoors.
The range of angles was also positively commented on along with the use of effects which were applied when editing. This was enhanced by the fact that we applied the rule of thirds on a number of occasions. These made our rough cut video appear professional.
The plot narrative was clear and simple to understand for the viewers and we learnt that the entire video was generally very competent when put together.

However, we also received a lot of constructive criticism and realised we had things which we needed to improve upon. We are required to film the majority of the footage again in order to ensure it is all high quality. We believe it will be better quality if we film again as we are more organised now and realise what we can do to improve upon the previous footage. Choosing a day when the weather is appropriate is a vital aspect to relate to the 'dream' sequence of the plot as well as ensuring that lighting is suitable, we apply the rule of thirds and make sure that it is all in perfect focus. Therefore, we will film most of the footage again.
The lighting on some of our shots appears relatively dark and dull due to the unfortunate weather on the day of filming meaning it would look better if we applied a bright filter to the shots taken outside.
The zoom into the photographs turns pixelated as it moved closer towards the photograph. This is due to the fact that we used a zoomed transition between the two shots. However, we now understand that it will be of a higher quality if we use a manual zoom on the camera when we film so we are required to film this section again.

In terms of acting, there is not really an evident change in facial expression between the shots taken inside and outside whereas the concept of the video states that she should look happy when outside and unhappy when inside. We know that the actress is capable of achieving this so we will simply film some more shots and impose them into the video to show a change in emotions at the different locations. The performance actress also needs to improve in terms of her guitar playing. It is obvious that she is not really playing the guitar as she is not able to do this, however, this makes it look very unrealistic. Therefore, we will re-film the performance of the video when she will make an effort to make it look more realistic. Furthermore, we will ask someone who is able to play the guitar properly to do so and we will shoot some close-ups of her hands as she does this to make it appear more realistic.

Interviews

We have conducted a number of interviews amongst members of our target audience in order to discover what appealed to them, and what requires improvement within the rough cut of our music video. In order to present their responses, we have produced a short video with their answers to our questions.

Rough Cut Questionnaire Feedback

We presented our video to a focus group of members from within our target market in our media class and asked them to fill out a questionnaire in response to the video. Beneath are the questions we asked and the answers which we found more appropriate in terms praise and helping us improve out video.

What would you rate our video out of 10 and why?
9- Very good performance and lighting is good.
7- There is a wide variety of shots, locations, camera angles etc.
8- Strong narrative, needs a stronger performance.
8- really good idea that matches the song.
7- some really good parts. The narrative actress is good.
8- Good narrative. The zoom into picture shots look very good.
9- for a rough cut it is really well done and could pull off a final version due to lack of mistakes or clear problems.

Was the narrative understandable?
Everyone answered yes.

Did the ratio of performance to narrative work in the video?
- I think there should be more cuts to the performer as it would help define the artist.
- Yes, 50/50
- A little bit more performance would have been nice.
- Yes, really well!
- I think you need a stronger performance. It is currently 90/10 but needs to be 70/30.
- Yes, a good balance with slightly more narrative.

Was the mise-en-scene appropriate for the folk/pop genre?
- Yes, I thought it was quite modern with the house scenes.
- The outfits were very fitting to the genre.
- Yes, the performance was so good, love the setting, however, the wellies look a bit odd.
- Yes, I loved the use of locations and the performer looked simple.
- Yes but it was a bit too dark, lighter outdoors would look better.
- Most, apart from the house scenes. It looks a bit local and ammature, perhaps shoot somewhere a bit less residential to show loneliness.
-Yes, acoustic/indie.

For the final video, what changes should be made? Are there any sections you think need filming again?
- I think the performer should be in an open space somewhere that fits with the feel of the song/genre.
- Some performance didn't really match up with the lyrics.
- The beach, it is a bit grim. Film again on a sunny day.
- The singer should sing more dramatically and have more eye contact with the camera.
- Some of the shots are quite shaky instead of being still. I also think the shots in the house should be done again because the lighting looks a bit yellow.
- Have a stronger performance.
- Loved the time lapse and the zooming in of the pictures but possibly have better acting to convey emotions.

Overall, we will take into account most of the constructive criticism in order to improve our video.

Rough Cut Feedback Questionnaire

After finishing the rough cut of our video we need to get feedback from our target audience to see what changes should be made before the final cut of the video. So in preparation for showing our video to our class tomorrow we have put together this feedback form that will help us develop the music video and make improvements. 

Rough Cut Feedback Questionnaire

Out On My Own

What is your age? ________________________

What is your gender?

Male     

Female

What would you rate our video out of 10 and why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Was the narrative understandable?    YES/NO

Did the ratio of performance to narrative work in the video?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Was the mise-en-scene appropriate for the folk/pop genre?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the final video what changes should be made? Are there any sections you think need filming again?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

Rough Cut Video

Today was the deadline for the rough cut of our video, here it is. 

Rough Cut Editing

This week we have been focussing on editing the footage we have collected over the past few weeks. We had around an hours worth of footage and so our real task has been selecting the very best clips and making sure everything flows well. We've been using the editing programme Premier to put together the video and we've looking at different effects and transitions that can be applied to our video to create an overall more professional vibe.

Editing: Speed Alterations

When editing the music video we discovered that some of the footage appeared relatively slow to watch and we wanted to alter the speed to make it more exciting and dynamic for the audience to watch. Therefore, we used the programme, Adobe Premier, and increased the speed of a number of our clips, for example the boat clips. We also needed to edit the speed during the town segment of the video to create the time lapse by speeding up the clip.

Indoor Narrative Costume



For the costume for the house scenes, we wanted to take into account Levi Strauss' theory of binary opposites. We wished to show an evident contrast between the costume she wears indoors and the costume she wears outdoors. For the indoor scenes, we wished for the costume to appear relatively dark and comfortable to show that, although she is unhappy, she feels safe and comfortable in the comfort of her own home.

 

 

 

The first item of clothing was a dark coloured woollen jumper. This represents unhappiness through the use of dark colours and it also conveys a theme of comfort and safety.

 

We then decided the actress should be wearing dark coloured skinny jeans, again to have a similar effect.

 

The actress is also wearing tan coloured Chelsea boots which appear very basic and simple.

 

And she has her hair styled in a fishtail plait placed on the side to represent constrained and to suggest a lack of freedom in comparison to her free-flowing hair when she is outdoors.

 

This shows an evident contrast between her appearance when she is outdoors and when she is indoors and, overall, it presents her as an average young girl to allow the intended audience to have the ability to relate to the character personally.



Outdoor Narrative Costume

For the costume for the outdoor scenes in the forest, town and the beach, we further emphasised the theme of Levi Strauss' Binary opposites theory. Therefore, the costume decision outdoors contrasts in comparison to the costume for the indoor scenes. For the outdoor scenes, we wanted the actress to appear relatively innocent and presented in light colours to contrast against the dark colours of the costume worn indoors as she is finally feeling free and happy outdoors.








The actress will be presented in a white dress to portray a sense of innocence and freedom compared to the constraints of her indoor outfit. It is also white in colour which is light and, therefore, contrasts against the dark colours worn indoors conveying happiness.





She is also wearing wellies to add an enthusiastic and adventurous vibe to present her as being prepared to finally face the outdoors.

Her hair is down and flowing freely to show that she is free from the constraints of her home rather than being confined behind closed doors.

She is also wearing a necklace with a key on it as a hidden symbol. This is suggestive of the fact that it is the key she is using to escape from the confined location of her home. This is symbolic and a hidden message to suggest she is no longer trapped and has escaped into the outdoors.

Narrative Filming

This weekend we filmed the majority of the narrative for the video: the sections at the beach, town and Jesmond Dene. This went well however the weather was very bad particularly at the beach and so we may want to re-film some aspects in time for the final cut on the video.

Here are some photos from filming this weekend: 

 

Codes and Conventions

It is vital that our target audience appreciate the codes and conventions of our music video. Therefore, we asked them what features of camerawork, editing and mise en scene would appeal to them in a music video to discover what will engage their attention.

Camerawork
Smooth Footage
Using a Tripod
Range of Shots (Establishing/Close-up/High-Angle/Canted-Angle)
Range of Movement (Tracking/Panning/Handheld)

Editing
Lots of Cuts
Interesting Transitions
Fast or Slow Paced
Use of Filters
Suitable Colour Correction
Alter the Speed of Clips (Fast Motion/Slow Motion)

Mise en scene
Interesting Props
Suitable Appearance (Hair/Make-Up)
Relevant Costumes
A Range of Interesting Locations

Final Boat Making

In preperation for filming tomorrow the paper boats had to be made, we thought it would be best if we had a number of boats to use (in case they get ruined by the water) however this meant we had to make sure the lyrics match up on each boat. Therefore we wrote out the lyrics once and then photocopied it to make sure the boats would match.

Artist Name

To decide what name to give out artist we asked members of our target audience to do a survey, as a group we came up with 5 different possible names for the artist. We then asked 25 members of our target audience which name they thought would fit the artist best, we also showed them a photo we took whilst filming so they could get a feel for the artist’s identity and pick the name they thought worked best.

Here are the results: 

As you can see the most popular name was Mia Harper, with Ruby Lewis coming second. Mia Harper received 11 out of the 25 votes and so we have decided to listen to our target audience and choose this as our artist name. 

Here is the picture we showed our target audience to help them decide on a name: 

Further Photos From Seaton Delaval Hall

Whilst filming at Seaton Delaval Hall we thought the natural, old world setting would be a good location for some photos. Furthermore within our video we are using a key necklace as a hidden symbol, we thought that the key could be a nice cover for the digipack and so took some photos around the grounds that we figured would look good within the folk/pop genre. 

Our particular favourites are the first and fourth as they are very simple but effective images. 

Paper Boat Making

In our video we had the idea of having the narrative girl putting a paper boat with the lyrics of the song into a river, fitting with the lyrics 'I'm happy just to float wherever this river flows'. However none of us knew how to make a paper boat so today we attempted to make some in preperation for filming this weekend.

Jess' boat.

Anna's boat.

Vicky's boat.

 After looking at all of our boats we thought it would be best if Vicky was put in charge of making the boats for filming.

Performance Photographs

Whilst we were filming the performance aspect of our video at the weekend we took some photos of the artist as these could be used in our advert or digipack later on. Our particular favourite is the first photo as we like the natural lighting and think it is very in-keeping with the genre. 

 

Communicating on Facebook

As a group we have found the best way to communicate outside of lessons was through using a group chat on the social networking site Facebook as this made it easier to liaise with each other on details concerning our project and helped us when planning for filming arrangements. The most useful quality of using social media was that it allowed to instantly message everyone in the group to keep us all up to date and constantly involved in decision making. 

Artist Accessories

After deciding on the dress we needed to pick out what else would go with it to complete the artist's look. We selected these boots as they work very well within the pop/folk genre, as many other young female artists such as Pixie Lott and Gabrielle Aplin wear boots similar to these in their music videos and performances.

 

 

Costumes: Jacket Decision

Although we had already decided on the rest of the costume for the performance aspect of the video before shooting, we couldn't decide which jacket would be best. So we took three options with us:

As a group we decided the first option worked best as we thought that it was more appropriate to the folk/pop genre.

Artist Costume Decision

After doing research into the types of clothing that would be appropriate for the artist to wear, we knew we had find a short, floral style dress. We had these three options and decided that we liked the pink dress best as this was a similar style to other artists we have seen in the genre. 

Filming Schedule for Rough Cut

Before we begin filming it is important to have an organised schedule to make sure we get everything done before the rough cut deadline. After consulting the people who will be in the video to find out when the best times to film are, we came up with this filming schedule. 

Casting Decision

After we confirmed through our target audience research that two different actresses would be preferred for our video we decided to start thinking about who to cast. The people that we decided on were: Jess Rootham for the performance and Nuala Schweppe for the narrative. Here are the reasons for why we selected them for the parts:

We chose Jess for the performance as she is very confident in acting and singing and therefore can perform in front of the camera without getting self conscieous. She also has really nice long hair which works well within our chosen genre of folk/pop.

We chose Nuala as the protagonist because yet again she has a lot of acting experience and so can follow direction well, making our job easier when it comes to filming the video. We also thought she would work well as she has quite a pale complection and therefore asthetically suits the role of someone who is afraid to be outside.

Another key factor in our casting of Jess and Nuala was that they both have completely contrasting hair colours which we thought was important as we really wanted to establish a distinct difference between the narrative and perdormance aspects of our video.

Audience Research - Performance

In our animatic we didn't include any details in the performance shots as we were still unsure of the location for it. Therefore we thought we should ask our target audience, we did this through showing several members of our target audience some screenshots of performances from music videos and asked them which their favourite was. Here were the options:

Lawson - Brokenhearted

Ellie Goulding - Burn

Laura Marling - Master Hunter

Gabrielle Aplin - Panic Cord

Passenger - Let Her Go

Birdy - Skinny Love

Here is what they said:

As you can see the popular performance shots were the more simplistic styles and often focused on interesting lighting. We will use this information to help us whilst filming our performance shortly.

Animatic

After making our storyboard, we created this animatic to get an idea of how the video fits with the song.

Artist Identity: Costume Research

In preperation for fiming the performance aspect of our video, we need to create an artist identity. Before deciding what outfit the artist should wear we thought it would be good to research other young female pop artists to see what kind of clothing they wear. As you can see above dresses are very common in this genre, in particular lighter more floral designs, furthermore boots are also very genre appropriate. We will incorprate this research into our final decision of the artist's outfit for the video.