Final Cut

Here is my final cut of my music video. I have listened to my feedback and have taken into terms what needed to be added into the film and also what needs taking out, and also taking out.

Changes I made in my rough cut.

Before I published my final cut to be marked. I posted a "rough cut" (see post before this). I did this for two main reasons, one to gain feedback from my classmates who will tell me what I need to change before I post my final cut and two to show the differences between the final piece and my rough cut. I made 4 of my classmates watch my rough cut and told them to write down, what they like and what they think needs changing. I have analysed all 4 of my class mate’s feedback and here are the common problems they all noticed and also how I came up with and the solution to fix these problems and to make my final project as mistake free as possible.

One part of clip, the lip sync was not in time- The solution to this was to re-watch my video and pick up on where the lip syncing was not in time. I noticed it was not very much out of sync but the problem was noticeable. I solved this problem by knowing what was faster, the song or the clip its self. I initially realized the clip was faster than the song, so I slowed down the tempo of the clip from 100% speed to 97% speed and this made the difference.

Filter between flash back- There is a specific scene in my video which involves a transition to a boy in a car whilst a girl is getting in, this is indeed a flashback. This scene actually goes with the lyrics which are in fact "for someone that who has a car"

Black and White filter needs to be consistent- This bit of feedback was given to me by my teacher. When I went to re-watch my video, I instantly knew what she meant. The song goes 1 Minute and 45 seconds without any black and white filter. I then instantly include it for no particular reason; I include the black and white filter a few more times during the duration of this rough cut. This gave me two ideas; either includes more black and white filters to start with or scrap the black and white filters, and turns the brightness down a bit.

Too many transitions- This was a problem I myself and also my class mates thought about my project. The reason due to their many transitions is because they're many different cuts to different locations in my video, so if I did not place a transition before the shot changes, it looks very un-smooth and somewhat unprofessional. I have taking this feedback on board and have looked to eliminate the unnecessary transitions which I have applied to my rough cut.

All this feedback has been greatly appreciated and very much so taken on board. I have altered my final cut by tweaking these mistakes and hoping to achieve a professional looking, final cut.

Audience feedback.

Here is some feedback my class mates gave me on my movie, I will be taking this into consideration and be making changes to my video to produce my final cut.

Declan Prendergast-

Excellent story, clear outcomes and narrative throughout

Good angles and movement in shots

Great lip syncing

Some shots slightly dark?

Maybe a few more shots of the event

Favourite shot: Picking up flowers from the background.

Luke Mulligan- Good start, reflects the atmosphere, miss-en-scene is very good, lip sync is in time, on one shot it’s not really in time, song ending is too quick, filter between the car scene, maybe include another shot of Sophie and Simon.

Sam Davies- Like the starts, got an indie feel to both music and video, go hand in hand very stylish lead, great difference between shots and angles. Location is good and gritty, goes with the song, lip syncing is good but doesn't fit the person, the shots at home, and for example throwing the jacket over the camera is very good. Use of transitions is good but maybe too many, cut them down a bit, no need of flashback; lip sync doesn't fit "for someone who has a car".

Sophie McShane- Very good variety of camera angles and shots. Very good shots to present the narrative. Lip syncing all in time. Throwing the coat over the camera good. Good shots of day and night. Good storyline. Endings a little too quick. Overall very good.

Arron Scotney- Variety of camera shots is good. Lip syncing in time consistently, miss en scene introduced use of props e.g. bottle, paracetamol. Costume goes well with the song. Good shots of night and day. Ending seems to be quick and does not seem like the ending.  Good relationship between lyrics and footage.

Kieran Hayes- Enjoyed the storyline, relevant to lyrics. Nice transitions, especially the white fades, they're effective. Ending could do with being less abrupt, perhaps a shot afterwards, with no music. Good mise en scene. Lip syncing is very effective, very realistic singing, good acting! Very impressed.

Rough Cut

Here is the rough cut of my Music Video. This is not the final product. In this video, they're few minor problems through out this video which I will tackle to hopefully to produce a flawless finished product.

Analysis of Advertisment in magazine.

Here I analyze a few magazine adverts that advertise an artist’s upcoming album.

Here I look at Katy Perry's album "One Of The Boys" advert.  As you can see, the genre of this album is pop. We know this buy her Mise-En-Scene. We can instantly see her very bright and outrageous outfit which is a very stereotypical piece of pop clothing. We also have our attention drawn to the title which is in very girly, pink and white font, which again shows this album is pop and also shows Katy's innocence and that anyone from any age can buy this. The font again which introduces the album, "Includes the #1 smash hit" is in a very informal font which again also suggests this is a very light hearted, feel good album. The release date is very clear and in a white font to stand out again the relevantly dark back ground, this allows the date to stand out and grab the audience’s attention. The Mise-En-Scene again also plays a major part in the attraction; we see she’s standing with a 'love heart shaped' lolly pop whilst having one arm behind her back which again suggests innocence and also sort of mischievous. We also see her standing in front of a paddling pool which has rubbed ducks in which again supports my theory.

This is an advert to advertise Kasabian album "Empire". This advert is very different to Katy Perry's advert for a number of reasons. First foremost, Kasabian genre is Indie, and we can instantly tell this by due to photo. This photo would not be used in a children magazine for example "Smash Hits" whereas Katy Perry's advert most likely featured. The photo is very crude with a king holding a naked woman which instantly suggests this would be advertised in an Indie Rock magazine such as NME or Q. What makes this advert very unique is the way it is formatted. What I mean by this, it is published as it on a "King" playing card. Again suggest this advert would be shown in a Indie magazine due to reference to playing cards and gambling which usually refers to  over 18 year olds. The title is very eye catching and very unique. They have placed the title next to the unique photo to draw the audience’s attention. The album is named Empire and there is a solider next to the above the word to suggest these two are in fact connected. We also see the review written in red. The review has been given by such big magazines such as NME and Uncut; they are very good reviews which would make the audience want to buy this album.

Analysis of Oasis Defintely Maybe

This album is arguably Oasis most famous for two reasons. The music on the album and the album cover its self. This Oasis's best selling album and for goo  d reason. Here I will dissect there cover. Immediately you notice with this album is the title. Right at the top of the album cover, all in good eye sight for the audience to see and really sticks out against the somewhat "creamy" backdrop. What every good band should have is a consistent name title. What I mean by this is how the word "Oasis" is wrote on this album. This has always been the same design ever since their first album which in fact is Definitely Maybe which was released ever since to there last album "Dig Out Your Soul" which shows a remarkable consistency. 

There is a Manchester City footballer is framed in the fireplace. This highlight’s their Manchester heritage and is perhaps someone they idolise and who they wish to be as successful as. This associates them with other Mancunian famous musicians/bands such as The Smiths and The Courteeners. The red wine placed on the floor could reflect their rock-star life style but this also may mean it has a suggestion that they have "made it" by drinking a fairly expensive drink


On the other side of the room there is a cigarette packet on the floor. It is the B&H gold type which is often thought to be the 'working class cigarette' and is very strong. This could represent how Oasis recognize where they came from/their roots and haven't lost their heritage. 
Liam Gallagher is at the front of the album. His positioning suggest his importance in the band and the fact that he is the lead singer so therefore closer to the audience.Noel and Liam are smartly dressed than the others with Beatles like hair and glasses. Shows they are heavily influenced by the Beetles.The lighting is sunny. Maybe suggesting that the music is enjoyable.

Here is the back of the album cover.As you can see, it is almost identical (picture why's) as the front cover. As you can see on the back cover, we have the songs on the album printed down the left hand side in white lettering , this is the same colour as the "Definitely Maybe" is wrote in (on the front of the album" which again shows consistency. We also see a bar code which is usually shown on the back cover on most albums.
The picture as slightly changed on the back cover of the album. As you can see, the glass of red wine is still beside Liam, the two pictures either side of Liam are still there but the arrangement of the band member has changed. As you can see from the front of the album, the band members have 'changed positions' this equality in the band and that everybody is as important as everybody else.
What I also notice, is on the front cover, you see Noel Gallagher reaching out the grab the inflatable globe with all the band members looking in ore at it. Whereas on the back, Noel has the globe in his hand; this may suggest that they have literally "got the world in there hands" and that they initially made it, due to this being their first album, this could very well be possible.

Analysis of Courteeners Album cover- St Jude

My two very favourite albums are St Jude by The Courteeners and Definitely Maybe by Oasis. They also happen to be my two favourite album covers. Here I analyze St Jude by The Courteeners.

This album cover is different to the oasis album cover as it doesn’t include any of the band members.
However, it uses an iconic image of a woman wearing red lipstick which would immediately draw the eye of the audience as it is bold and stands out. The design also may suggest that the band are genuine and could also show that they are quite modern and different from other bands working in the same genre. The use of the colour red in the woman’s lipstick shows passion and could relate to the passion the band have for their music. The Courteeners are also Manchester United fans which also may suggest this. The use of black also suggests mystery and creates an enigma around the band and their music making the target audience want to buy and listen to the music. The title is simplistic and bold similar to the Oasis cover which could suggest the boldness of the band and the font used is also quite plain and classic which could also connote that the band is classic and original.
The album art was painted by band member Liam Fray of Audrey Hepburn.

Software I used to create my music video

Software is equally important when it came to editing my Music Video and editing my digipak is well. As I mention in the pervious post about the "Hardware I used to create my music video" I briefly mentioned that I very much prefer the software on the apple computers to the standard Microsoft computers I used in GCSE due to the many things in which I will describe here.

Apple Software- The software I used on my computer is "Apple" I very much prefer using apple software due to the programs on the computer and also, I believe it is a lot quicker than a computer with Microsoft software on.  Here is the difference between Apple and Microsoft.









iMovie- The software to edit my music video is named iMovie. I became familiar with the editing software "iMovie" when I used this program to edit my AS media project. Before I started A levels, when students took media, the software they used was named "video studio 8" and in all honestly, was not the best. There was very limited resources on the program, which limited what the student could achieve, for example, it did not offer many transitions, the font was very limited and tacky, and the worst problem was it did not support high definition cameras which was a major blow. When I took A Levels, we was first introduced to iMovie, and at first it took a long time to get used to the program due it being brand new for me. As time went on I eventually got to grips with the program and instantly realized this is a lot better then Video Studio 8. You can compare the two differences between video studio 8 and iMovie just by these two pictures.


As you can see from the two photos, (video studio 8 on the left and iMovie on the right) the vast differences between the two editing programs. Instantly you can see iMovie is the much modern program, it is a lot more clearer and up to date, whereas video studio 8 is a very old program and you can see this by the graphic design. Another difference is the spacing of everything. In iMovie you can instantly see all your footage, there are filed to side of your footage, a very clear window on the right hand side and also the editing bar on the left, whereas as you can see on video studio 8, there is only 1 screen in the center which pretty much takes your whole area up.


Garageband- When I first started to edit my music video, I had everything planned, what I was going to do, when and where to film, transitions all of these I took into mind, only there was one problem, my song was to long. The original song which was given to me was over 8 minutes long, I would of loved to of made a video for them with the original song but I had to cut the song down to a reasonable time which would give me enough time to fit in all I want to film and also allows me to save time in the process. I used garageband to cut the song because of its simplicity to use.


Disc Label- Disc Label is a new program which I have not experienced before. This has been the first time using disc label but it was a very pleasant one. Disc Label has helped me to design the CD design for my Digipak  The simplicity of Disc Label is extraordinary, it is very easy to use and also very easy to pick up which is a an excellent addition to this program.

Photoshop- To create my Front and Back album cover, the front page of my leaflet and also the advertisement for my digipak I fact used Photoshop. Again this is a brand new piece of software for me to use, so this took me a while to get used to this program. But after playing around with software, and with help from a class mate, I quickly got used to using Photoshop and I must say it is a brilliant piece of software to use whilst editing pictures. Everything you may need to do whilst editing a photo, adding text on to the photo, cropping the picture, colour correcting and much much more you can do with Photoshop with ease. With my front cover of my album, I used a black and white filter on the picture, but I edit the photo, to make sure only the outside of my legs where in black and white, not in the middle. I believe I would not of been able to achieve this technique with a software such as paint for example.

Hardware I used to create my Music Video

Before filming my music video, I needed numerous equipment to film. Here is the equipment I used to film my music video.    ( Here is the camera I used for my A2 project.)

The camera- The camera I used is named a JVC Everio HD. This camera was not supplied by the school, my friend kindly let me borrow his. This camera is a handheld camcorder with 40x zoom and shoots in high definition. The comparrison between the camera I used for my AS project to my A2 project is a big difference. The main difference is that the camera I have used in my current project shoots in the 720p High Definition. This may be on the lower end of the High Definition spectrum but when uploaded the files are converted to 1080i defintion. The camera I used for my AS project did not shoot in HD and you can immediatley see the differnce between the two quality of videos. This the reason I opted to use my friends camera due to the fact I wanted to produce my music to its best quality, and by using a HD camera allows me footage to be a lot more smoother and the quality majorly increased.                                                                               (Here is the camera I used for my AS project)

                               

Tripod- A tripod is a basic equipment every student needs when filming their project. What a tripod does is very vital when you need that steady shot. What a tripod does, is you attach the camera on top of the tripod and this allows you to move the camera to be used in a stationary position without shake or any unsteadyness. I used the tripod numerous times in my video to establish that smooth shot. Unfortunately, this was the only filming equipment I had at my disposal. Before filming, I really was hoping to use a steadicam due to the fact there are numerous shots of the camera tracking me, and with using a steadica this would of allowed me to have an even smoother tracking shot but this was not to be.                                  

This was the tripod I used for my project.

                                                   This is a basic steadicam I was hoping to use.

iMac Computer- This is the second most important bit of equipment every student needs when editing their project. A good computer for editing. Fortunately our school recently invested in Apple iMac computers two years ago. This is a major positive for me and my class due to the fact we used iMac's for our last project so we have became accustomed to using macs which means when it came to editing my recent project it did not take us a long time to figure out how to edit so we got on with it straight away. Apple Macs are very well known for there editing programs they offer, this is the opposite to using desktop computers what use Microsoft software. I my self experienced this change. When I started to edit my horror film for horror trailer for my GCSE project we in fact used a Microsoft computer which are not really ideal due to the fact their purpose is not for editing, so when it came to using Mac computers for the second year running it was a huge relief.

Original idea for CD album covers

Before I took the photo of my Album cover, again, I looked at some inspirational covers which inspired me in a way in which I want to produce my CD cover. Again, I came with a numerous ideas for the CD cover, some which can work, so will not work and some I will incorporate into my final photo.

The first major idea I had when I thought about a photo for a CD cover is a picture is to put a black and white filter over the picture. (explained in inspirational cd covers post) this is a particular favourite filter of mine due to its simplicity but also works on many different levels. So using a black and white filter is a definite for my photo. 

When watching the Arctic Monkeys video, "Leave Before The lights Come On" at the start of the video, there is a scene where there is a woman standing on top of a high building. This shot gave me an idea to shoot my picture on top of a high building, in black and white. For Example <

I was really looking excited and looking forward to shooting this shot and also believed it would work really well, but there was one main flaw in my idea. Finding a tall enough building to take this shot. I attempted to go to a car park and take this shot but coincidently the top floor of car park was shut for an unknown reason which flawed me attempt at doing this shot.

Another idea I am contemplating enforcing for my album cover is having a photo in two different colours. I came across this idea when downloading photoshop to edit my photo. This is the photo. As you can see, the photo is split into two. On one half, a black and white and on the other the original photo. I believe this shot is very unique and also gives two sides to the story, which is also relevant to my video. One half of the video is a very depressing and a very gritty part of the video, in the second part of my it is a lot more brighter and shot in the day. This shows that the boy is very depressed due to it being shot at night, but then feeling better in the day, due to the fact it is shot in day. This is why I feel shooting my picture, then having one half in black and white and one half in colour to show the different contrast what has partaken in the video.

Original music video ideas

Before I went on to film my music video, I had thought long and hard for some ideas in what I initially wanted to incorporate into my video. To start with, I had a number of idea's in what I wanted to achieve. Some have made the cut some have had to be scrapped.

To start with, I really wanted to create a lighthearted video such as "The Kooks She moves in her on way" that sort of video, just the band, enjoying a city, messing about and having a good time. I had to scrap this idea because of the fact my song is a lot more slow and is about "relationship problems" so this idea had to be scrapped. I then had an idea to film the my whole video film and then edit my film and put a black and white filter over the video to give it that gritty and dark sort of look, this also gives it an olden times look as if it was filmed a long time ago. I got this idea from watching the music video "Supersonic"By Oasis, and they do this very well, not the whole video is shot in black and white, just the majority of it, with vague moments of colour which really gives the video and interesting effect. With two ideas that wouldn't of worked, I went and listened to the lyrics and analysed them. Once I did this correctly, I realised the song is about a boy and a girl breaking up. So originally I thought, my video would portray a boy and a girl going with brake up, so I thought I would show them arguing, fighting and so on. Again this idea would not work due to the way the song is sung. The song is sung in a way in which the singer, is singing the song about the girl not infact to her face. The idea of this opened up a number of oppotunities to me. So due to this, I started watching number of music video about heartbreak, love and romance; for example, Oasis-Songbird Bruno Mars- Grenade, just to name a few.

These two songs are infact about break ups, but only very briefly or not at all; show the girl the artists are singing about. I believe this to be a very good idea due to the fact it leaves the audience guessing on what the girl looks like and also if you get a small glimpse of the girl, it instantly makes you want to keep watching to see if the girl is in the video again. This idea was used in the Bruno Mars Grenade song, it shows the girl who Bruno is talking about only once, and that is a very quick glimpse.