Note to Moderater

I have blogged my entire journey to creating my music video and ancillary tasks
in total I have 67 posts, 54 of which are research and planning posts. I have attempted to make it clear which posts were group posts as we worked together on some tasks. Thank you.

Question 1 Evaluation

 Directors Cut Script

Olivia

The opening to the music video is a title sequence featuring our stars name and the name of the song.

Jess

We have a title sequence which introduces the video in a minor amount of detail. It displays the name of the artist, ‘Frankie’ in a font which is also use on a prop throughout the music video, and also on our promotional package consists of this font too which brings synergy throughout the products.

Olivia

After the title sequence the next shot is of a countryside location featuring my star image Frankie twirling around merrily creating a representation of happiness. Todorov can be applied to this clip as it shows there is equilibrium at the beginning of my narrative.

Jess

The video is performance and narrative that I have produced, which beings with a long shot of the female model Frankie in my first countryside location. She is independent and twirling around being comfortable within her environment. Showing her as an independent woman creates a modern representation of women to the audience and creates a relationship with them.
The opening shot adheres to conventions as I layered onto the top of this shot a low angle of some trees which portrays the country genre by the symbolic signifier of the countryside. I changed the opacity of the shots so they both subtly show through. This shot portrayed that the music video would challenge conventions as it was a country genre song, and most music videos are filmed in urban areas

Jess

The following shot is a close up of Frankie singing into camera with confidence which adheres to the conventions of Goodwin. She is again located within the countryside which is a reoccurring location throughout the entire music video, which is a main element of how the synergy is built up. She sings into camera which shows Goodwin’s theory is applied and makes her come across as a strong character building synergetic personalisation with the audience. She has a huge smile across her face which connotes that she is happy in the time. This shows a sense of equilibrium relating to Todorov’s theory. Another convention fully adhered to was that the lyrics also match the visuals throughout many sections of the music video for example “Gotta love this field” which ties into the location as I situated Frankie in a countryside field.

Olivia

The next shot is a close up of our star image singing into camera [meeting Goodwin’s conventions] whilst smiling, I used a close up early in the music video in order to introduce to star image immediately as I aiming to launch a star. Having my star image smiling into camera gives the representation that she is happy, however towards the end of the shot you see  glimpse of Frankie looking down showing that she may not be as happy as she seems possibly showing the beginning of disequilibrium from Todorov’s theory.

Jess

The next shot is of a beautiful orange blossoming flower which links to the lyrics “Under blossom clouds though it’s late July” which again shows that Goodwin’s theory has been applied and conventions met.

Olivia

Over the lyric ‘blossom clouds’ i have an extreme close up of some vibrant flowers to match the lyrics, the bright colours of the flowers also match the happy tone of the song.

Olivia

The next shot blurs in with a transition to gently break up the shot of the flowers. This show features Frankie and Myles crossing paths in a wide angle shot.

Jess

The shot then cuts to an extreme long shot of Frankie walking through the woods, when our male model Myles walks past her and looks at her. This ties into Laura Mulvey’s theory in how women look good for the camera.

Jess

It then cuts back to the blossoming flower which is something I spent a long time producing. It is a layer up of two different flower shots with an adaption to the opacity, and it’s over cranked too which makes the flower look like its growing. This flower has connotations of a love that is blossoming between her. Also the flower was an iconical aspect of the music video that I used it in the promotional package.

Olivia

The next shot is a medium shot in one of my main repeating locations of a field, the use of this field gives iconic sing of a country song. I used ken burns to zoom out meaning the shot ends as a long shot. I also added a vignette mask over the top of this clip to warm the colours and make the clip look more summery.

Jess

The shot of Frankie in the countryside field has a Ken Burns which zooms out revealing the mise en scene of the shot. It shows the bright blue sky of the shot and the greens and browns of the countryside, all portrayed through the natural lighting making her stand out more. She is centre frame which makes the proxemics appealing and makes her the centre of attention, relating to Goodwin again.

Olivia

In this next shot there’s an image of a magazine featuring Myles on the front cover. Representations created through this shot are that Myles is successful and famous. As he poses in the image on the front cover this can be related to Dyers theory that a star is not a person but an image.

Jess

The shot was very creative, and actually tells a huge part of the narrative of the song. I created a shot here in the music video that consists of many different stages and skills. After shooting the footage, I took a shot of the male model Myles where he was stood individually against the wall. I took a freeze frame of the shot and took that image into Adobe Elements and produced a magazine of him on the front cover with the title “City Boy vs Country Girl” This use of cross media convergence developed the genre conventions within the music video.

Jess

Dyer’s theory can be applied here, as he said celebrities and stars are manufactures to have specific representations. Also during this there is a Ken Burns into Myles’ face on the magazine, and when it zooms out the shot changes to the moving image I took the freeze frame from so it appears the image comes to life and he walks out of camera.

Olivia

This shot zooms in from a close up to and extreme close up using Ken Burns, the image then flashes as though a camera took a picture making the picture come to life, Myles is shown to be walking away from the camera, this goes against Dyers theory as Myles does not pose for the camera but rather walks away.

Olivia

This shot goes from a country location to an image of Frankie and Myles sat on a bench not looking at one another but smiling, this image is meant to foreshadow the future as the image flashes on and off very quickly, it blurs back to the image of the countryside.

Jess

The following pan of the countryside, is an ongoing theme throughout the music video. Cutting into the pan is a shot of Frankie and Myles sat on a bench giggling together. This ties into Todorov’s theory of equilibrium. It then cuts back to the pan of the countryside which has sun rays showing through on it, making the lighting bright and quirky. It makes the shot glow and successfully indicates joy.

Olivia

The next shot in under cranked and moves very fast which represents how quickly things in Frankies life is changing relating to finding Myles, This relates to propps theory of character roles and gives Myles the role of the hero.

Jess

This next shot was also a match to the lyrics, where I positioned a hand held camera in a car, and drove through the countryside to the lyric “Through the countryside” It brought a “selected view of reality” to the music video, which is quoted by Raynor.

Olivia

This medium shot of Frankie singing into camera smiling matching the happy lyrics which relates to Goodwins theory on lyrics matching the visuals. The saturation of this shot was warmed up to keep the continuity of the previous shots in this location.

Jess

The shot in the repeating countryside location. In many of our other shots I actually captured the beautiful sun spots and glimmers however in this one I couldn’t capture it, so I decided to apply an effect on to it which maintained the synergy as we edited it which worked well. She also turns away from the camera in this shot and looks out into the vast countryside field. This is to the lyric “All the things that matter I forget a lot” which hints at the narrative that her true love for the countryside is often forgotten due to her city boy and therefore disequilibrium is established.

Olivia

This shot is cut very fast and this matches the music again relating to Goodwin as he also suggest the music and visuals should match.

Jess

There is a low angle shot of a city building which has short cuts to the beat and also a layer of bright clouds over the top matching the lyrics “I get so caught up in the city cloud”.

Olivia

This shot features Myles walking in an urban area, it is also layered with a clip of clouds which i turned the opacity down on to ensure Myles is visible, once again this matches Goodwins theory on visuals and lyrics matching as the lyric here is ‘city clouds’

Jess

As the cloud layer persists, when the building shot changes to a shot of Myles walking through the tall buildings. This ties to the narrative that she is caught up in city love.

Jess

Cutting then to a low angle shot from behind Frankie as she is feeding the ducks. A cut into this shot show Frankie and Myles walking past each other but not speaking, despite her turning and looking back.

Olivia

Heather feeding this ducks in this long shot clip is yet another iconic sign of country as ducks represent the countryside

 Jess

This is all to the lyric ‘But this place is my first love’ which shows she’ll always love the countryside.

Olivia

This clip of Frankie looking upset whilst flicking through a photo album, this is truly showing the disequilibrium in this story as when she throws the photo album down the camera zooms in to show a picture of Frankie and an ex boyfriend, as Frankie is upset the ex featured in the photo appears to be the villain according to propps character roles.

Jess

When Frankie throws the book down it is on time with the beat and there is a close up of the photo album using a hand held camera and a Ken Burns zooms into the photo of Frankie.

Jess

Using continuity there is a pan of her walking from the bed to her dresser where she opens up her macbook this intertextuality develops conventions and as McDougall said we are in an ‘online age’

Olivia

This medium close of Frankie singing into camera in a repeated location contains light spots in order to help keep continuity throughout the shots of the music video, there is a Ken Burns used here to zoom in.

Olivia

The next few clips are a montage of different types of people holding up a sign saying ‘lost and found’ to match the lyrics, the use of different types of people, e.g young, old, couples, groups shows that almost anyone can relate to this music video in some way.

Jess

These shots included our star images and the typography on the sign was the same as used in out promotional packages creating synergy through our products.

Olivia

This clip shows Frankie’s laptop with Myles’s social media on the screen, showing Frankie is interested in him, the use of a modern laptop is an iconic sign for a modern world, showing that Frankie is a modern woman.

Jess

This brings a huge element of intertextuality to the music video and it also ponders on the topic of how are our age and generation relies on social media.

Olivia

This next shot shows Frankie running toward a bus stop and is cut to show her running away from the camera then it cuts to a shot of her running toward the camera this enabled me to show a good use of continuity editing. Frankie running to a bus stop is giving a representation that she is ready to move on with her life.

Jess

These shots matched the lyrics ‘guess I need to run’ as she is running and ‘take me to bus’ which shows the lyrics and the visuals match as she runs to a bus timetable which supports Goodwin’s theory. In this shot there is also a large bin which is major negative on the mise – en – scene.

Olivia

This next clip shows Frankie singing into camera, the clip starts as a close up and I used Ken Burns to zoom out to a medium long shot.

Jess

An active audience would follow the lyric ‘but don’t let me go’ because she ran to the bus earlier but she changed her mind and an active audience would spot this. At the end of this shot she looks down at the floor looking sad showing she’s disappointed in herself for considering leaving the countryside.

Olivia

This clip again shows Frankie singing into camera with a Ken Burns used to zoom out, in this clip Frankie has her arms wrapped around herself to match the lyric ‘hold me tight’ once again following Goodwin’s theory on visuals and lyrics matching.

Jess

On these shots of her in this location we added a subtle black vignette which frames Frankie as the main object rather than the bright location.

Olivia

The following clips also contain good continuity editing of Frankie running into a house, the fact she is running is meant to represent how quickly her life is moving as a young person, i have used the same light spots in these shots once again to create even more continuity.

Jess

All of these shots were to the lyrics ‘of course I’ll stay’ which tells the audience that she’s battling her thoughts as a villain which shows Propp’s theory is applied.

Olivia

This shot shows a medium close up of Frankie smiling and singing into camera this starts to give the representation that equilibrium is being re-established relating to Todorov’s theory.

Olivia

This shot is a low angle shot this type of shot represents power, giving Frankie power gives her a representation of a modern woman and that she is taking control of her life once more to continue with the narrative of our music video.

Jess

This shot holds many messages we have a long shot of Frankie who is twirling in the countryside being herself and being happy. Whilst there is also a shot layered on top of her and Myles playing in the woods with leaves, the two layers portray that Frankie is in the same place suggesting that twirling in the woods with Myles is what her inner self wants.

Olivia

This is another medium close up shot of Frankie singing into camera again it is important to include plenty of shots like these as I am attempting to launch a new star which is conventional.

Olivia

This shot of a modern phone with a text message on is another indexical sign for a modern world and a modern woman, perfectly representing Frankie.

Jess

This shot shows intertextuality and a Ken Burns zooms into this shot.

Jess

This next shot is a pan, portraying the beautiful location and then Frankie who is singing into camera.

Olivia

The shot pictures Frankie looking happier than she has ever looked with the wide smile and passion in the way she sing, she is once again twirling around.

Jess

There is a long shot of Frankie twirling around looking happy relating that she has made her decision however it remains a mystery to the audience showing that there is an enigma.

Olivia

This shot features confetti flying towards the camera from Frankies direction of the camera the use of party poppers is an indexical sign for celebrations, giving the representations that Frankie now has something to celebrate and is happy once more, confirming the idea that the equilibrium of the narrative has returned as Todorov suggests

Jess
The party poppers may also connote a big decision has been made.

Olivia

Once again this shot is a low angle shot showing Frankie has power featuring this shot after the return of representation that equilibrium had returned was important as it shows that Frankie has gained control as she smiles in this shot whilst singing into camera

Olivia

In this shot Frankie walks confidently whilst the camera pans with her, this confidence shows that Frankie is comfortable in herself and over the past of her previously featured ex the villain according to Propp’s theory on character roles.

Jess

This shot is a conventional shot of Frankie walking towards the camera on a path, the camera pans as she moves.

Olivia
In this low angle medium shot Frankie sings into camera with a great deal of passion more than previously shown in shots this is to represent her new found happiness.

Jess

This shot shows her grabbing the air and pulling down to match the lyric ‘nothing will brng us down.

Olivia

In the beginning of this shot Frankie throws leaves in the direction of the camera, this is an attempt to represent the original loss of the equilibrium in the story line, however the shot is then reversed and the leaves return to Frankies hands showing how although the equilibrium was lost for a while but it has now returned.

 Jess

We over cranked the shot of Frankie throwing leaves into the camera which is then reversed and edited straight after which plays on the countryside theme

Olivia

This shot is a long shot of Myles walking down the same road which Frankie was shown walking down a few seconds earlier, he walks with a modern swanky walking giving representations of his success.

Jess

As this was the same path Frankie walks down the audience will assume they are going to meet. Continuity meets the two together.

Olivia

This final shot of Frankie and Myles finally meeting bring many representations, first it proves Todorovs as it is clear the equilibrium of the narrative has returned, It also supports Propp’s theory of character roles and confirms that Myles is the hero of this story.

Digipak Advert

My digpak advert was conventional to exisiting media products in order to ensure that is was clear that this was a digipak advert.

I adhered to the convention tohave my stars name clear, centred and at the top of he page, I have previously seen this on the existing media on a Kings of Leon digiak advert.

Another convention I have adhered to is the convention of having the name also large and clear on the digipak advert which was also on the existibng media product of the Kings of Leon digipak.

It is convenional to feature where the album will be available to the public, which I have ensured by including iTunes, Spotify and tubidy.

I have also adhered to conventions by including the title of the album on the advert, which is also featured on the digipak, in identical font.

Question 2 Evaluation

This screen capture from my music video links in with the digipak and digipak advert as I have mentioned due to the location being the same. This is also a high key sunny shot and I tried to use this lighting effect on the ancillary products. I believe this successfully highlighted her sunny, positive character and star image.

This screen capture from my music video shows the same costume as featured on the front of my digipak advert, this again creates synergy between the two.

  This is also a centre frame medium long shot and it is clear there is effective synergy between this shot and the advert.

This font is used as the main font of Frankie's name and album name therefore creating synergy, the only difference being the use of red font in my music video. I think this was the right decision to make as the red stands out and it also connotes love.

This is once again a location that links with the digipak features on a back pane of the digipak which is also featured in the music video as shown by this screen capture.

This image relates strongly with digipak advert as it the same location and costume as featured in this image of Frankie singing into camera.