Role Model Task

In our group, we set Alice as our manager, and she created "Cara", who was half Mexican, half English, had green eyes, wore dresses, and loved travelling. She had a tattoo of the world map on her back, and she played in small venues like York Hall.

This task was really interesting, because as consumers, we generally consume what we're given, instead of creating things ourselves. It made us understand our audience in a different way, and consider what they would like to see in an artist, what is different from what we normally see and what there is a gap in the market for. Cara was half Mexican, which showed the big gap in the market for a music artist that is popular in the West, but is not Caucasian (as the only female, non-Caucasian artist we could think of was Selena Gomez). Our artist was also not sexualised, something that is extremely uncommon for a female pop icon in our generation.

For our music video, we want to have a range of people in our band that a variety of audiences would identify with. Our lead singer is Asian, but not stereotyped, which is fairly refreshing. Overall, this was extremely helpful for understanding our audience, and we will use this to shape our own band's identity.

Possible song choices

I liked the idea of having a female fronted rock band, but kind of challenge genres and are a bit different. It could have a fairly dark video, but I think there's a lot of scope for what we could do, and I just think it could make a great music video.

This is fairly different to the songs above, but again I think it could make a good music video because it works really well for cute love stories and the music video we could make could be something to do with wildlife (but of course that would complicate a lot of things).

This is quite slow, so it may not lend itself as well to music videos, but I had an idea of like the girl and guy in a completely white room and then throwing paint at each other, or something like that, but slowed down, but it's quite long and could get boring.

I had a weird idea of a girl like getting obsessed with a male celebrity to the point where she breaks into his house and sleeps in his bed and is really creepy





(I couldn't find the recorded version on YouTube so this will have to do)

"What music means to me" homework

Song from my childhood:


This is the first song I remember really clearly from my childhood, and it takes me back to when I was really little and I would learn the dance routine from the video with my sister and my cousin. It started my curiosity about music and made me watch music video channels, as I would wait for it to come on, and then I discovered the music world and the variety of genres and songs.

Song from my early teens:

For a really long time in my early teens, I was completely obsessed with the Jonas Brothers, and I remember seeing this song on Disney Channel and thinking that Joe & Nick were so good looking, and I loved how energetic the song was and how funny the video was. They were also the first band I saw live, and it got me to fall in love with live music. 

Song that means a lot to me today:


Whilst being bored and browsing music channels, I stumbled across this song when I was having a really rough time, and Young Guns became extremely important to me. They also introduced me to some other bands like The Swellers and Tonight Alive which I really love as well. Young Guns really helped me (obviously indirectly) when I was really struggling, and to be really cheesy, gave me hope and made me feel better about everything.

Prelim Evaluation

1) Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?

Me lipsynching

I really enjoyed the workshop day, although it was very long and stressful having one of the main roles. This did mean that I had a chance to see what making a music video was like for the performers and the crew. The best part of the day for me was the last dance shot, because it was really fun and the crew were all really supportive. Being one of the main band members was very out of my comfort zone, as I'm not a confident person at all, so it helped to build my confidence. It gave us all a unique experience that we would probably have never had without this opportunity, and will definitely help me when I make my own music video next year.

2) What have you learnt from participating in each of the prelim tasks?

Task 1: Analysing a performance video. Analysing a music video of our choice meant that we learnt the typical format for a specific type of video, so it would be easier to create our own.

Task 2: Making our lipsynch video

From our lip synch video, I learnt how to edit to music and how to perform to a camera, which were helpful whilst editing the remake. Making it with close friends was definitely a highlight, as we all had fun filming and editing it. It also taught me how to be more confident in front of a camera and how to make a lipsynch look believable.

Task 3: The workshop day. The actual workshop day was probably the most informative of the preliminary tasks, because I learnt how a real music video shoot worked, and how each role of the cast and crew was extremely important in different ways. Because I was a main band member, I also learnt how to direct a performer, because I now know how it feels to be on camera, and how to get a convincing performance out of a performer.

Task 4: Editing the video. Editing the video taught me how to edit to music, especially breaking out of continuity editing and starting discontinuous editing, which is crucial for a performance music video. It also taught me how to do certain special effects (such as the radial blur at the end of Jesy and Perrie's verses), which I may want to use for my own music video next year.

Me as Leigh-Anne

3) Are you pleased with your footage and your edit? Is this how you expected it to be?

I am very pleased with our footage, because I think each shot looks really similar to the original video, especially the sets and the costumes, and the footage looks very professional. The edit is very similar to the Little Mix video, and due to us working in a group of 7 people, we can all bounce off of each other's ideas and have more time to edit the video, so the editing process is a lot quicker. It is more professional and slicker than I expected it to be, but I am extremely happy with our final edit.



4) How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next year's music video coursework?

Emily learning how to use the track

I think it taught me what each person's strengths were, and how we can work to those strengths next year to create the best music video possible. It also gave me the experience of how a shoot works, so next year our shoot can be as efficient as it was on the workshop day. I also learnt how professional a music video can look with only a fraction of the budget that real artists get, and how to create and gather sets, costumes and props, so hopefully my music video will look more professional with the knowledge I have gained from this experience.







Here's our final edit:

Music Video Analysis

The video for "Bones" by Young Guns is the first single from their new album, so the video is very stylised and shows their band's identity by the style of the video, their costumes and the dark grading of the whole video. The band are seen performing the song with their instruments, which is typical for the rock genre. There is a lot of camera movement with the performance shots, which combined with the close up shots of the band & their instruments, immerses the audience into the video, and makes the video visually striking. The performance drives this video, but also includes a few narrative shots of 2 girls, but the main focus is on the band. The narrative shows a sense of development, as it shows the binary opposites of the girls being stressed and then finding solace in dancing. There are many close up shots of the lead singer, and the video has discontinuous editing. The video is also polysemic in nature, because it could be interpreted in different ways (e.g. empowering, depressing, etc.) and provokes a strong audience reaction as the video involves the audience, and can empathise with the girls and feel a connection with the band.

Preliminary exercise evaluation (BLK)

For our prelim task, we made this sequence and named it "The Return".
Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Mila and Shobnam, and we decided to split various tasks between us. For the initial idea stages, we all worked together, but for the planning stages we split the story board, shot list and shoot schedule, and the script between us. For editing, we took equal turns but sat and helped the person editing if they needed it, and we made our decisions together. Although we delegated tasks between us, we also discussed each part that we were planning, to make sure we all agreed on what each of us were doing.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

Because we knew the requirements for the exercise, we started off with a brainstorm to decide who the characters would be, and what they would be discussing. Once we had decided on an idea for a spy talking to the director of the company, we split the tasks of the script, story board, and shot list & shoot schedule between us, so Mila did the script, I did the the shot list, shoot schedule and props (with the input of Mila and Shobnam) and Shobnam worked on the storyboard. We wanted to have a clear sense of genre, so we also planned costume. Because the task was to test our continuity skills, we planned our shots extremely carefully to make sure they used the continuity techniques stated in the brief: match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

We filmed the sequence on Canon DV30, also using a tripod, and then edited our footage using Adobe Premiere Pro. We were all familiar with Premiere Pro, so editing was quick, because editing our footage didn't require any complicated effects or transitions.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

When planning our sequence, we had to think about using all of the continuity techniques stated in the brief, but also constructing a convincing narrative and having good characterisation. So we planned our script very carefully and decided to shoot the conversation twice, so we would have plenty of footage to edit. We also discussed shot types very carefully, because we wanted to vary our shot types, but still have our sequence flow naturally. We also planned where we were going to shoot first, and decided not to film the majority of our sequence outside, but film in the media office instead.
When shooting our sequence, we decided to shoot the shots that take place outside first, so the lighting would be consistent throughout the sequence, and then we didn't have to worry about the weather changing (meaning if it started raining whilst we were shooting or anything that would make shooting more difficult), and the lighting would be consistent. Also, because we were in a school, we were conscious of students walking past and talking, but we managed to avoid that by shooting mainly indoors. We also made sure that the shots were the same each time, for example when Mila opens the door at the beginning of the sequence, we made sure that she stood in the same place when I shot it both times, and also that she opens the door with the same hand.

For editing, we all worked together to make sure that shot order looked natural, and the scene flowed easily. We also thought that we would have straight cuts rather than any shot transitions, because shot transitions would slow the scene down, and with the dialogue that we have, shot transitions wouldn't fit easily into our sequence. We also worked extremely hard on making sure that the shots made sense, so when Mila is walking outside towards the door, that when the shot changed it looked like she was in the same place in the previous shot, so the sequence looked natural.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what you would improve/do differently?

Overall I think our sequence was successful, we managed to stick to all of the continuity techniques that were mentioned in the brief. For example, when Mila is walking towards the door and the shots change, we used match on action, which worked. Also during the conversation between Mila and Shobnam, we used shot/reverse shot throughout, and we didn't break the 180 degree rule because the conversation was shot from Mila's left side and Shobnam's right side. 
If I were to change anything, I would probably make sure that the lighting was consistent. Because we shot on two different days, the natural lighting from outside had changed, which affected how the inside of the room looked. I would also make the shots transition a bit more naturally, which I didn't notice until I started editing the footage. Our first shots go from a close up of Mila's shoes to a long shot of Mila walking. If I were to re-shoot, I would go from a close up to a mid close up, rather than have such a large gap between the different shots. Also, we didn't have a master shot, which means that we used the same two shots for the conversation for too long. This means that the audience didn't see the entire room and get a sense of where the characters were. I would have also changed the last shot at the end of our sequence, which is a high angle close up. Doing this made our sequence look quite strange, and didn't fit with the genre that we had decided on. If I were to re-shoot, I think I would make the shot just a close up, so we can see her face fully, rather than having both a close up and a high angle. Despite this, I still think our sequence went very well and according to plan. 

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I have learnt how to use different continuity techniques, and how to make a scene flow naturally. I also learnt how to edit match on action, and also how to shoot a conversation and then edit between two pieces of footage. I also learnt how to set up shots, and what order to shoot in. I think this preliminary task was important, because for the film opening that we will make later, continuity will be extremely important, and the preliminary task is a practice for that. I think learning how to apply these for this sequence as a practice was extremely useful, so that for our other foundation coursework, it will have less mistakes and be slicker than our first sequence.

Dexter title sequence re-edit - Evaluation (DYM)

1. Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task.
For our re-edit, it was important that we stuck to the conventions of colour schemes, different titles for different shots (meaning that one title didn't hang over too many shots). We also tried to make our titles legible in each shot and tried to make the titles convey the genre of the programme.

2. How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (Consider timings, industry requirements, etc).

We decided to have the cast first, because that is a convention of most title sequences, and have the titles long enough so that they can be read in time. We also decided to have the director, producer and writer's names after the cast names, also because it is a convention of title sequences. For timings, they needed to be long enough to be read, but short enough so that they weren't on for too long and we could fit the other titles in. So we thought that having a different title per shot was the best way to go, because the most of the shots were the right length.

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

We decided to have the titles red, to have the same branding as the "Dexter" title at the beginning of the sequence. We also decided to use a sans serif font, also like the "Dexter" title. We also felt that a sans serif font would be better and fit the genre of the show more. We had the titles fade in and shake a little bit, to emphasise the horror genre of the programme.

4. How does your re-edit compare to the original?

Our re-edit is fairly similar to the original. In the original they also have red titles, although the red in the original titles is a lot brighter, because we decided to use a fairly dark red. The titles also used a different font, also sans serif, but the design was a lot more spaced out, because the font we used was quite narrow. The original titles were also a lot simpler, because they didn't have any identifiable transitions, apart from a slight fade. Overall our edit was not very different to the original.