Organised Footage in Premier Pro Evidence

Labelling throughout the editing process with multiple colours and groups to help the order of all the clips and arrange the correctly. As well as evidence of the individual shoots/clips being separated with bins in premier to make them easier to find when editing. Each clip was individually named in the order that they were filmed however they can be used in whatever order wanted. The clips are labelled by colour depending on the type of lighting used/ what makeup look was used.

Lyric to Shot

This is a plan for what I want the shots to look like when they sync up with the lyrics:

No sleeper seats, that's a mattress

No sleeper seats, that's a mattress (sleep)

You ain't stingy, split your tablets with me

You won't flinch when camera flashin', flashin' ----- I want the visuals to links with the lyrics so a flashing sequence will occur during these lyrics.

Not fake laid back, no, it's natural

And I think you made for the life I lead

I'm not fake patient, I don't fake sick

That kinda coffin don't need lean, rest in peace

Got this lust for life in me ----- I want the visuals to feature lots of colours, constantly changing to give a chaotic illusion, almost drug like.

Horny for the game, uh

First they kiss, then they bite soft, uh

Then that bitch wanna play it off, huh

Fuck it, I'm pretty still in a pit of snakes

While serpents shake some brand new scales

I need a new face, I'm tired of these weirdos

Acting familiar, took all the rock ---- Multiple different visual effects to show the decrease in their mental state as the lyrics get more and more insane.

And turned it to pop, he think that he Elvis

And he ungrateful, they don't say, "Thank you"

They don't say grace, not even for meals, not even for millions

Fuck it, I'm pretty still, look at my deal

Richard Mille, look at my ears, flooded with diamonds

Look at my skills, running through blocks like 49ers

Forty-nine diamonds, stuffed in my bracelet

That cost a whop, that cost a whopper ---- Multiple different visual effects to show the decrease in their mental state as the lyrics get more and more insane.

And it ain't new, I had a knot at John Ehret in my locker

Pretty still, it ain't no pretty pill, it's either real or real

Real easy on the eyes, green like a soccer field

Skin hot when they tried me like them poppers feel

Hands shaking, norepinephrine levels skyrocket, fuel

Rocket f-

Quit being violent with me (yeah, why, why) ---- Repeated lyrics will be mouthed out during the video to give a more direct effect on the viewer, giving more focus to the lyrics at that moment.

Quit being violent with me

Quit being violent with me

Make me violent ---- Use a lighter for dramatic effect at the end of mouthing the lyrics, used as a statement to represent the mental state during the song.

My room, my room, my room with me

Every night you were in my room

My room, my room with me

I guess I can't state my feelings too soon

I don't know you ---- At the end, lots of visual effects being used to make an insane look to the video, almost as if the end of the song represents how mental health can drive you to go insane if kept quiet.

My Music Video

 

My Music Video - 

This is my final result of my music video to the song "In my Room" by Frank Ocean. The filming style and editing style is heavily inspired by music videos shown in my inspiration presentation. 

When it came to how i applied what i learned from Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis's music video theory's. I had some actions such as the strobe lighting effect, appear in the music video when the lyrics "FLASHING" were being sung in the song. I also used the concept by Andrew Goodwin, Notions of looking, in my music video. The clips of the actor talking and staring directly into the lens of the camera and at the audience is when the words "Quit being violent with me, Quit being violent with me" and the "You make me violent" these lyrics were sung directly to the audience, making them feel a part of the music video and concerned for the actor as to why she's asking people or something to quit being violent with her. however hopefully throughout the next couple of clips i was able to give the impression that those words are all just in her head, tormenting her thoughts.

Pre planning allowed me to become even more creative when it came to the editing process, however you can never have enough shots! The multiple styles of makeup also allowed the similar style of shooting to appear completely different even if it was the same backdrop and model. Giving even more variety to my shots.

Weaknesses:

I tried researching multiple videos and websites to figure out how to get the effect where there was multiple people in the shot but i couldn't figure it out in time so i tried a few different techniques of overlaying different shots to make it appear that there was more than one person in the entire video. 

If i could go and redo this whole unit, i would have chosen a song that was better suited for more of a narrative music video as i believe it would have been easier to follow when editing, because this video had no story behind it so it got harder as i went on to get creative with how to create creative shots with limitations.

I would also improve my filming equipment as it was obvious that i wasn't in a studio, the backdrop didn't look professional at all so i think it just made the whole music video look very unprofessional. I also should have shot more shots as, when i got to the editing portion, i realised that i didn't have enough footage to cover the whole song so for part of it, there are some parts where i reused clips and edits to fill the whole song.

Strengths:

The variety of editing techniques I used throughout the entire music video and how I was able to overlap multiple effects onto each other to give even more intense illusions and visuals throughout. Filming on a tripod made it a lot easier for the shots to be at similar height as well as making sure certain angles were able to be captured.

Another strength of mine would be the camera/camera angle! i believe this was a strength of mine because I thought ahead of shootings and had multiple ideas planned out on how I wanted to edit the music video so I knew before hand that I wanted lots of shots that I could possibly use multiple times as well as shots where the actor is positioned at certain angles or certain positions from the camera so it allowed me to overlap clips while editing. Knowing all of this beforehand really helped while editing as I had lots of clips to experiment and work with.

I used as much lighting as I possibly could with the equipment I had on me at the time! This consisted of handheld lightings with red, blue and yellow filter sheets that could be stacked to create other colour options too, these were key to the video visuals as they added better visual aspects as well as more depth and meaning to the video too because the coloured used at certain times can be linked to moods throughout the video. I enhanced or diffused these clips with coloured while editing depends on what type of vibrance and style, i desired during that clip of the music video.

Moodboard Makeup Inspiration

 

This is just a quick visual mood board of the inspirations i used for the makeup look/styles that I used when preparing to shoot for the music video. I found all of these styles on Pinterest. I chose these styles because i wanted the makeup to really stand out in the music video as the whole video is shot on a face, so i wanted to make it interesting with different looks and designs.

For the first look i wanted the idea of glitter tears coming down from the eyes. A big inspiration for this look would be from the tv show 'Euphoria'. This style of makeup is used multiple times in 'Euphoria' as shown in the images, and was pretty easy to recreate with just the use of eyelash glue and glitter. The makeup artist for 'Euphoria', Donni Davy, states that the meaning behind the glitter tears is a way for the emotions of the characters in the show to be frozen in time. So with this being said, it can also be applied to the meaning behind the music video, capturing all of the emotion being displayed.

The second look is mainly just the use of eyeliner all of the face, going in all different directions, creating all different types of patterns all over the face. I wanted to go with something like this because it gives off a chaotic vibe, representing being mentally all over the place in a way. So for this looks it didn't really have a big inspiration behind it but i knew i wanted it to be crazy and dramatic with the use of eyeliner everywhere.

Media Theorist - Andrew Goodwin

 Andrew Goodwin Music Video Theory:

Goodwin's theory is made up of 8 key concepts, these being: 

1. Links Between Music and Visuals
2. Links Between Lyrics and Visuals 
3. Genre Characteristics
4. Intertextual References
5. Notions Of Looking
6. Voyeurism
7. Demands Of the Record Label 
8. Performance Based, Narrative Based and Concept Based Music Videos

Links Between Music and Visuals - The links between music and the visuals can be shown in a music video by for example having a slower sadder song, having longer more dramatic, darker lit shots. Then the complete opposite could be a really upbeat song, having visuals of people dancing around in the sunshine to represent how moods can be shown through songs and then presented in visuals too. This can be applied to editing too, faster editing can be used for the more upbeat song whereas less edits could be used for the sadder song.

Links Between Lyrics and Visuals - The concepts consists of when a word, place, item or even person is used as a lyric in a song and then in the visuals, the thing sung about appears in the music video, to reflect the lyrics of the song in the visuals. When the audience is watching the music video, they are able to make the connection from the object to the song, this can be a way to make something more memorable as well.

Genre Characteristics - This concept could be seen as stereotyping however it's used to identify different music videos to the genre of song so for example, a dance/hip hop song will typically have dance routines in it with some type of theme. Another examples would be that rap songs tend to have cars and money involved in the visuals as a way to flaunt their wealth to others, which is a big deal when it comes to rappers.

An Example:

Intertextual References - This concept is when music videos make references to other types of media, this could be books, movies or even other songs. An example of this would be Ariana Grande - "Thank U, Next" and in that music video she bases the whole music video off of four movies that meant a lot to her in her childhood/teen hood and they all have strong feminine roles that are very empowering to others. And empowerment was a great message to link all of them together as well as the song because the whole meaning behind the song is self love and how you don't need a relationship to be yourself and happy! These four are Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Bring it On and 13 going on 30.

This is the music video for comparison:

Another example of storytelling in music videos would be:

The story behind this music video made by Hayley Kiyoko is about a third wheel who soon gains the affections and attention of a neglected girlfriend, drama occurs once the boyfriend finds out. Multiple shots that show tension make the music video feel like a short film.

Notions Of Looking - The notions of looking is a technique used to create a connection between the audience and the artist, actress or whoever is on the screen. They look directing into the camera lens and make the audience look them directly in the eye, this technique is used so the audience feels as if they are a part of whatever is happening in the music video, and not just watching from the sidelines.

Voyeurism - This concept is when the visuals are recorded to be seen sexually, this could be shots of body parts or certain clothing being worn. Camera angles work well into this as normally to capture these types of shots, the camera angles are all over the place.

Demands Of the Record Label  - The Demands of the record label is pretty simple to understand, it's basically pre requested shots from the record label themselves. So this could count as certain shot styles, angles or items to be in the music video.

Performance Based, Narrative Based and Concept Based Music Videos - Performance based music video are music videos that are shown as live performances, or like a montage or clips from a tour of the artist performing. Narrative based is when a music video will follow a narrative/storyline or the artist is trying to sent a message across to the audience through the art of a music video narrative. Concept based is when the idea of the video is described/displayed through the props and surroundings such as mis en scene, and these don't have to be related to the music whatsoever.

Referencing:

Bacon, C., 2018. Advanced Media Portfolio. [Online] 

Available at: https://chloebaconmediaa2.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/andrew-goodwins-music-video-theory/

Media Theorist - Carol Vernallis

 

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis is the first person to articulate a theory of how music, lyrics and images can be placed in relation. She also provided detailed analyses of individual videos that show the parameters of sound and images at work in a temporal flow. (Vernallis, n.d.)

She has written two books that link to music theories, the first one being 'Experiencing Music Video' that theorise the genre of music from moving image and sound. Her second book being called 'Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema'

Her theory is made up of four concepts, these are : Narrative, Editing, Camera Movement/Framing and Diegesis.

Narrative - Carol Vernallis's theory suggests that the music video is a visual response to the narrative of the song. Resulting in whatever occurs in the video, reflects the lyrics of the song somehow. She follows her point by saying that the narrative may not always be complete so the narrative can be disconnected and only show a glimpse of the narrative throughout. However even with glimpses of a narrative, a music video has to have something making it continue to be enjoyable so this isn't always the narrative, it can be the music itself or the artist on screen.

Editing - For editing, carol's theory states that the editing of a music video can break the normal convention/rules of editing. This is stated because the editing in music video's doesn't have to be hidden like in movies, as continuity is key in movies and editing mistakes can take distract you from the movie. However music video's have more freedom when it comes to editing as most people pay attention to the song, and the video just being a fun creative way to express the lyrics even more, so there are less rules. Some rules frequently broken in music videos would be the 180 Degree rule, jump cuts, extreme change in pace of the editing style.

Example Music Video:

It is very obvious and clear from the beginning of this music video that it has been heavily editing, the majority of the video is sped up so feel more energetic and flow well better with the upbeat music. Throughout cuts are made to make Beyonce's movements hit the beat perfectly with the beat of the music.

Camera Movement & Framing - In Vernallis's theory for this concept she states that the establishing shots are one of the key camera features of a music video, they are used very frequently, as well as close up shots. Saying this, it can have a huge variety because the style of video can result in many different style of videos. In some cases the camera's movement may flow in time with the lyrics.

Example Music Video:

There are lots of close up and extreme close up shots throughout this entire music video because the focus of this video is all about Rhianna. It shows her vulnerability and with the camera being so up close and personal with her like this, it really adds to the feeling of being isolated and alone.

Diegesis - When it comes to music videos, diegesis is known as the constructed world made around the music video. In Vernallis's theory she explains that in music video's the diegesis is shown slowly, and repeatedly throughout a video. Some of these frames will appear more important than others due to the way they are shot but it all adds up together to create a type of backstory or surroundings of the area of the music video, making it more realistic.

References:

Vernallis, C. (n.d.). Music Stanford. Retrieved from Stanford University : https://music.stanford.edu/people/carol-vernallis

YouTube Clip 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4YRWT_Aldo

YouTube Clip 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF8BRvqGCNs

Music Video Pitch Presentation

 

My example of a questionnaire