Music Video Evaluation

For this piece of coursework, I had to create a music video in a short space of 4 weeks.

My idea was to use the song 'Who Am I by Starboy Nathan' and the storyline was going to be about someone who was by themselves, then they joined a gang and in the end, they realised that instead of hurting people, they could help people with their lives.

I didn't really like my idea in the end and I was very confident to use my idea, as I think it could of been a bit better. So we got into groups of our choice. I worked with Gloria.

She told me her idea and it was about a sad or abused girl who is very paranoid, but in the end she sees an opportunity to become what she's always wanted to be. I thought Gloria's idea was really good and I was more confident to use her idea for our music video, so that's what we done.

The song choice for our music video was now 'Diamonds by Rihanna'. We started planning and organising where the locations were going to be and all the props and equipment we that we needed. 

The song 'Diamonds by Rihanna' is about a relationship, saying that together, they are like diamonds. However, our music video is about a sad emotional girl. We didn't want our music video to be about a typical relationship, so using a different storyline was good and could be more effective.

In the video 'Diamonds by Rihanna', we see her running away, a few times, outside, so when playing the role of the sad girl, me and Gloria thought it would be a good idea for me to run away in some parts of the music video and relate it to the sad girl running away from her past. I also done some research on the music video 'Beautiful by Christina Aguilera'. This music video comes across as sad, so we wanted to make our music video seem a bit sad and emotional.
We also made sure that we had the name of the song at the end of our video to make sure that we wasn't doing any copyright.

I played the role of the sad girl in our music video, then Gloria started filming. The main problem we had was that the quality of the filming was good on the camera, but once I imported it onto the computer, the quality of the filming was very blurry, so we had to keep filming it over and over again. This took some time and it was getting quite frustrating, but we realised that it was just out of focus.

Once all the filming was complete, I was in charge of editing, so I imported the video clips onto the computer and started to edit everything on 'Final Cut Pro'. Editing the video was quite straight forward, but as the deadline for completing all our work was getting nearer, I wasn't able to edit certain parts that we wanted to. 

Overall, I think our music video was alright, seen as though we tried our best and I think the storyline was good and is quite clear to understand what's going on in the music video.

However, our music is amateur because of the quality and some editing parts.

Music Video Production

Chroma Key Effect

I had to use the green screen to make it look like I was somewhere.
Firstly, I recorded myself doing something for a few seconds. Then I went to 'Google' and copied an image of 'Big Ben'. I then opened up 'Final Cut Pro' and 'Imported' the short video clip onto it, then 'Imported' the image of 'Big Ben' onto it.

After that, I clicked on 'Effects', 'Video Filters', 'Key', and 'Chroma Keyer'. I then dragged that onto my video clip. I clicked on the 'Chroma Keyer' tab then I clicked on the 'Eye Dropper' and clicked on the background image. I done that a few times until most of the green was gone. I also used the 'Softening' tool and the 'Edge Thin' tool to make it look more smoother and to take away most of the green around the edges.

Once that was done, I 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'.

Cloning Effect

I had to make a clone of myself doing something. Firstly, my friend recorded me doing one thing on the left side, then my friend recorded me again, doing something on the right side.
Once that was done, I opened up 'Final Cut Pro' and clicked on 'File', then 'Imported' my video clips.

After that, I clicked on my first clip and then I clicked on the 'Motions' tab and cropped some parts of to try and make it be the same as the other video clip.

I then 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'.


When making clones, the 3 things we had to look out for were:
- Make sure that the lighting in the room stays the same.
- Make sure that the eye-lines were levelled and matched correctly.
- Use a tripod to make sure that the camera doesn't move.

I found it difficult and it didn't work properly as I couldn't get the lighting and the levels, of both clips, the same.

Annoying Orange Effect

I had to make my face be on an object. Firstly, I opened up 'Photo Booth' and recorded myself for a few seconds. I then went to 'Google' and copied an image of an apple. After that I opened up 'Final Cut Pro' clicked on 'File', then 'Imported' the short video clip onto it, then 'Imported' the image of the apple onto it.

After that, I dragged the image of the Apple on top of the video clip and cropped the apple to make sure it was the same length as my video. I then clicked on the 'Motion' tab and cropped some parts of the video image to make sure it was the same size as the image of the apple. I then clicked on 'Toggle Clip Overlays' at the bottom to lower the capacity so that I could match up my video clip to the apple.

I then clicked on 'Effects', 'Video Filters', 'Matte', and 'Mask Shape'. I clicked on the apple and went to the 'Filters' tab and clicked on the 'Oval' shape. I then clicked on 'Invert' and used the 'Horizontal' and 'Vertical Scale' to make the circle the same size as my eye.I also clicked on the 'Center' button to make the size right.
I then clicked on the side where it says 'Mask Shape' and I copied and pasted that part so that I could do the other eye the same. I copied and pasted again and done the same thing for my mouth.

Once that was done, I went to 'Effects', 'Video Filters', 'Matte' and 'Mask Feather'. I copied and pasted again and where it says 'Soft', I made it '48'. After that, I clicked on 'Effects', 'Video Filters', 'Image Control', and 'Tint'. I then clicked on the 'Filters' tab then the 'Eye Drop', then clicked on the apple and it got the right green colour for it.

After all of that, I 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'. I didn't realise that I didn't crop out everything at the bottom though.

THE BBC

The History Of The BBC

The BBC stands for British Broadcasting Company. John Reith (1889-1971) was the founder of the BBC. He was its first general manager when it was set up as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922; and he was its first director general when it became a public corporation in 1927. It also took up home at Broadcasting House in London in 1932.

The BBC Television Service arrived on the 2nd of November 1936 - but was suspended at the outbreak of war in 1939. The BBC broadcasted TV in colour in 1967.
The current Director General is Tim Davie. 23,000 work for the BBC.
The BBC's on demand service is called iPlayer.

The BBC is funded by the licence fee. The BBC uses its income from the licence fee to pay for its TV, radio and online services, plus other costs.

• The TV is £7.96 per month per household.
• The Radio is £2.11 per month per household.
• Online is £1.40 per month per household.
• Other costs is £1.40 per month per household.

The BBC's Mission Statement:

• To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

The BBC's Vision:

• To be the most creative organisation in the world.

The BBC's Values: 

• Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest.
• Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.
• We take pride in delivering quality and value for money.
• Creativity is the lifeblood of our organisation.
• We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best.
• We are one BBC: great things happen when we work together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/mission_and_values/


The BBC's Public Purposes:

• Sustaining citizenship and civil society
• Promoting education and learning
• Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
• Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
• Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
• Delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services

Music Video: Production Schedule

Date
12/11/12- The 1st tasks were to look on The Internet and research about the History of music videos. I then researched the uses and purposes of music videos.
I made a Prezi presentation showing talking about The History of music videos and showing the uses and purposes of music videos.
We also had to talk about the terminology of styles and conventions of music videos. I included all of this onto the one Prezi presentation.

19/11/12 - For the 3rd task I made another Prezi presentation showing my individual ideas about what song I wanted to use for my music video, how I wanted my music video to look like and the narrative behind it all. 

21/11/12 - After that, we got into groups of our choice and made a decision to use one person in the groups music video idea.

26/11/12 - We then started putting our ideas together and made a Prezi presentation. The Prezi presentation talks about: The song of choice, our influences, the storyline for our music video and the senes that will take place in our music video.

28/11/12 - We continued doing our Pre-Production making sure that we was prepared to start filming on Monday the 3rd of December 2012.

3/12/12 - We started filimg a scene in the toilets, then on the stairs and one scene showing facial expressions.

5/12/12- We continued to shoot more scenes for our music video. We did a couple more scenes on the stairs and in the toilets to make sure we got the perfect shot and that everything was perfect, checking that camera was not out of focus.

10/12/12 - We then went on to shoot some senes outside in a park, near the College and some other Close- Up scenes and doe some Point Of View shots. Once that was done, I started editing our music video 

What Course Is Right For Me?

Cover Letter

144 Manor Road

    Baker Street        

London,  NW10 1BL

Tel:  07934721875

Chester Times Productions

24 Roland Street

London, W1B 2AP

5th December 2012

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to ask you if there are currently any opportunities to be a runner at Chester Times Productions. 

I accomplished a C In GCSE Media Studies and I am currently at City Of Westminster College studying BTEC Level 3 Creative Media. In my spare time, I like to put some of my video clips together and edit them to make a video. So I have some experience with editing videos.

I am a hard working and reliable student who is able to work very well, independently and when in a group. I work hard in order to be successful with anything that I do.
My punctuality and attendance is good as I like to make sure that I am not missing any work.

It would be a privilege to work for your production company.

Thank you for reading my letter. I can be contacted on 07934721875 or via email chantelrhule@hotmail.co.uk.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Chantel Rhule

Looking For Work

Media Guardian Jobs Page:

Pros: 

- Anyone can use it
- It looks easy to use
- The layout is clear


Cons: 

- A lot of people are going to be applying for the same job
- You need to have good qualifications to get the jobs


Production Base/Websites:

Pros: 

- Its easy to use
- Has a lot of clear information
- Has different types of jobs


Cons: 

- You need to register online
- Need to have experience
- You need to pay for it


Facebook Groups:

Pros: 

- Its easy to access the groups
- Its free


Cons: 

- Anyone can can hack into it
- Might not have all the information you need
- Its difficult to find a job on there


Speculative Letters To Production Companies:

Pros: 

- You can write anything
- You can write about the job that you're looking for
- Its personal, so everyone won't have to see it


Cons: 

- Your letter might not be what they are looking for
- They might not receive your letter
- Your letter may come across as too desperate

Speech Package Analysis

Speech Package 1:

Name: PM Presenter By Eddie Mair
Topic: Clarks Shoes
Found On: Radio 4 pm
Date: 4th Of December 2012
Starts At: 49.10- 52:48

Purpose:
The purpose is to Inform, Educate and Entertain the audience about Clarks shoes.

Content:
The music playing in the background is 'Clarks- Vybz kartel'. This song is appropriate for this speech package.

Audience:
This speech package is for an older educated audience.

The topic is about Clarks shoes, talking about school children wearing the shoes to school and saying that most Jamaican's like Clarks shoes.
An Artist also represents Jamaica and talks about wearing Clarks shoes.

The reporter is a male and they add some humour into this speech package. This makes the topic interesting and entertaining to listen to.
It is also clear, when the reporter is speaking, as they talk in a medium pace so that the audience can understand what they are saying.

This speech package also talks about young men wearing Clarks shoes and gives us some history in the Caribbean.

Speech Package 2:

Topic: Nelson Mandela And The History Of South Africa
Found On: Radio 4 pm
Date: 1st Of December 2012
Starts At: 
History

Purpose:
The purpose is to educate people about Nelson Mandela's history and to educate people about South Africa.

Audience:
This speech package is for an older educated audience who's interested in history and finding out more about Nelson Mandela and South Africa. This speech package could also be for students who are studying and doing history.



Speech Package 3:

Name: PM Presenter By Eddie Mair
Topic: A Nurse Suicide Murder/A Prank Phone Call And The Duchess Of Cambridge
Found On: Radio 4 pm
Date: 10th Of December 2012
Starts At: 05.00-09.35
News

Purpose:
The purpose is to inform people about the prank call that was made, by two Australian DJ's who pretended to be members of the royal family and then this prank was received by a nurse, who then committed suicide.

Content:
An actuality sound is used and you hear the wind outside where the person is being interviewed.

Audience:
This speech package is for an older educated audience who listen to this Radio Station and want to find out information about what happened in connections to the royal family.

Speech Package 4:

Name: PM Presenter By Eddie Mair

Topic: Electronic Books

Found On: Radio 4 pm

Date: 5th Of December 2012

Starts At: 24:47

News

Purpose:
The purpose is to inform people about the new Library which will open up in Birmingham 2013. It also tells people about the disadvantages of having new technology because this causes libraries to go out of use.

Content:
A short advert is used in the background, with music and someone talking about a new project which is going to take place at Birmingham in 2013.

Audience:
This speech package is for an older educated audience and for people who are interested in reading books, going to the library and fore people who like to use ebooks.

The new library opens on the 3rd of September 2013. This library will have wifi and all the latest gadgets. It will be used to so that people can sell and borrow ebooks. 
In this speech package you hear some actuality sounds such as someone typing and sounds outside. The reporter is also a male and they speak in a clear, medium pace so that the audience can hear and understand what they are saying.


Evaluation:
The speech packages about Clark's shoes and Nelson Mandela are different because in Nelson Mandela's speech package, there are content sounds used and it is a simple speech package. The Clark's shoes speech package is more entertaining to listen to, as they use humour in the interview. The Clark's shoes speech package is to inform and entertain the audience, whereas, Nelson Mandela's speech package is just to educate the audience about the history. However, they both educate the audience.

The speech package about The Nurses' Suicide and The Electronic Books are both to inform the audience about things happening. They both have content sounds, however, the speech package on The Nurses' Suicide uses actuality sounds so that you can hear the surrounding's and atmosphere.

Therefore, the techniques that are used in all of these speech packages are vox pops, actuality sounds and content sounds. Actuality and content sounds are used so that you can hear the actual sounds that are in the background. Throughout the speech packages, the male reporter speaks in a clear, medium pace so that the audience can hear and understand what he is saying, during the interviews that take place.

Speed Ramp Effect

I had to slow parts down and speed things up using this video clip.
Firstly, I opened up 'Final Cut Pro', then I 'Imported' this video clip. After that, I went to the 'Tool Palette', clicked on the 'Slip Tool' and clicked on the 'Speed Tool'.
I then clicked on the 'Toggle Clip Keyframes' button on the bottom left corner and I clicked onto parts of the video clips and added 'Control Points' to it. I then dragged the 'Control Points' so that they were further apart from each other.

After that, I went to the 'Tool Palette' and clicked on the 'Selection Tool'. I double clicked on the video clip and then I clicked on the viewer window and clicked on the 'Motion' tab. I then went to the part where it says 'Speed' and I right clicked on the line to smooth it out a bit.

Once that was done, I 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'.

How To Keyframe

I made a keyframe using an image of my choice.
To do this I went to 'Google' and copied an image of my choice. I then opened up 'Final Cut Pro', then clicked 'File', then 'Imported' my image.

After that, I put my image in the middle and clicked on the 'Add Motion Keyframe' button. I then clicked on another part of the image clip and dragged the image around and done that a few times.

I then 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'.

CV

Chantel Rhule

44 Manor Road, Baker Street,

London NW10 1BL

Mobile: 07934721875

Tel (Home): 020 - 8352- 9425

Email: chantelrhule@hotmail.co.uk

Nationality: British Citizen

Age: 19                                       D.O.B: 17.03.94

Atributes: I'm an honest person and a good listener. I'm creative as I'm able to write my own songs and I play the piano. I have very good presentation skills.

Education

Qualifications:

2005- 2010:                              Sydenham Girls Secondary School

Religious Education
Media Studies
English Language
English Literature
Citizenship Studies
Digital Apps (ICT)

2010- 2011:                              Christ The King Sixth-Form College

AS Media Studies

Currently at City Of Westminster College Doing BTEC Level 3 Creative Media


Skills:                                       Microsoft Word, Power Point and Song Pro.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

11th- 22nd May 2009:

As part of my work experience in year 10 at Sydenham School, I worked at Sailsbury Primary School in East London. It was a fun and interesting experience as I intend to become a primary school teacher in the near future. 

I gained very good retail experience, working with my Auntie in Central London, during a closing down sale.

HOBBIES:

I’m a member of the New Testament Church of God in Deptford and as a volunteer, I’m responsible for media. I present information using PowerPoint onto large screens. I show short films and I give out announcements. Using the software called Songs Pro; I project songs so that the congregation is able to sing.

In my spare time, I play the keyboard and sing/rap. I’m familiar with the software Cubase, GarageBand and Logic Pro, which enables me to produce music that can then be played on CD. I also enjoy going out and spending time with family and friends.

Pleasantville Effects

I had to film a short clip of something, making sure that one bright colour was standing out in the video clip. Firstly, I recorded a short clip opening a book which has the colour yellow in it.
I opened up 'Final Cut Pro', clicked 'File' and 'Imported' the video. After that, I clicked on 'Effects', then 'Colour Corrector 3-way' and dragged that onto the video.

I then clicked on the 'Colour Corrector 3-way' tab and opened the 'Limit Effect' bar. I then clicked on the 'Eye Drop' tool and clicked on the yellow colour on the paper. I then un-checked the 'Luma' and the 'Sat' box and brought the 'Sat' bar down.
After that, I clicked on 'Invert Selection', then I held down on 'Shift' and clicked the 'Eye Drop' tool again, then clicked on the yellow paper. I also opened up the colour bar a bit, so that the yellow colour could stand out more.

Once that was done, I 'Rendered' everything and clicked on 'File', then 'Exported' it as a 'QuickTime' movie then to put it on 'Youtube'.

Music Video- Script

Music Video: Equipment List

Equipment Needed For Our Music Video:

- SD Card

- DSLR Cannon Camera

- Normal Clothes for the actress to wear

- 1 Leaflet

- Felt Tip Colours

- Pen And Paper

- A Microphone

- Headphones

Music Video: Risk Assessment

If the camera runs out of memory or has no SD card:

1. We can prevent this by checking to see if there is an SD card inside the camera.
2. Check, before we start shooting, that the camera has enough space in it.

Camera switching off in the middle of shooting because of low battery:

1. Make sure the camera is fully charged.

Scenes which involve running:

1. Making sure the person that is acting that scene does not get hurt and that there is nothing in the way when running.
2. Practise to see if the person is comfortable and to see if there is a risk before hand.
3. Try and do this scene when no-one is walking by.

Keeping equipment safe:

1. Making sure the camera doesn't drop when running

The Environment:

1. Making sure that we are filming in a safe place outside.

Music Video: Pre- Production Call Sheet

Song Title For Music Video: Chantel & Gloria's Music Video To Diamonds By Rihanna

Style Of Song: R&B

Time For Shooting All Clips: 2 Hours

Duration Of The Music Video: 2:28

Shoot Dates:
- Monday 3rd December 2012
- Wednesday 5th December 2012
- Monday 10th December 2012

Director/Camera Operator: Gloria Jemimah

Editor, Actress & Camera Operator For The Point Of View Scenes: Chantel Rhule

Equipment Needed For Our Music Video:

- SD Card

- DSLR Cannon Camera

- Normal Clothes for the actress to wear

- 1 Leaflet

- Felt Tip Colours

- Pen And Paper

- A Microphone

- Headphones

Locations:

- City of Westminster College, Paddington Green, W2 1NB

- In The College Toilets

- The Corridor

- The Seating Area

- The Staircase

- Outside in the park near College

Camera Editing Task

To do this task, we had to get into groups and film a short scenario. This scenario was about someone breaking up with their partner.
This task showed us what it's like to film something and not be able to edit anything. All the recordings you do has to be done at one time without any re-takes.
When doing this, you have to try and make it look good as you can't edit parts out or make it look neat.
Also, when doing this, you have to make sure that the background noise isn't too loud, as you're unable to take the parts, that you want to take, out of it.

Music Video: Individual Ideas

The History, Uses And Purposes & The Styles Of Music Videos

Mini Doc- Pioners Of Editing

Mini Doc- Pioneers Of Editing Notes

Part 1

What contribution did Edwin S. Porter have on film editing?

• He became a director-cameraman for a lot of Edison’s company work
• He started with simple one-shot films (Kansas Saloon Smashers [1901])
• He then progressed rapidly to films with special effects (The Finish of Bridget McKeen [1901]) and short multi-scene narratives based on political cartoons and contemporary events                                                       http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/471087/Edwin-S-Porter

What contribution did D.W Griffiths have on film editing?

• With the release of his first film, 'The Adventures of Dollie', in the summer of 1908, a new, decisive chapter in cinema history began.
• For the next five years, Griffith refused to publicize the names of its talents, directed hundreds of mostly one-reel films for Biograph that reshaped the very language of film. 
• He worked in partnership with his good cameraman, G. W. "Billy" Bitzer
• He then started developing previous experiments in camera effects and movement, lighting, close-ups, and editing into a coordinated cinematic technique.
  

Part 2

Quentin Tarantino

What is he most famous for?

• Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, actor, and Oscar winning screenwriter.
• He rapidly rose to fame in the early 1990s as a stylish auteur
• He is the most famous of the young directors behind the independent film revolution of the 1990s
• He's well-known for his public persona as a motor-mouthed, geeky hipster.

What was the importance of the technique he developed?

• The importance of the techniques he developed was so that he didn't have to do, the rest of the film he does, independently.

What key films did he work on and what editing techniques were used?
Reservoir Dogs (1992)

• Quentin Tarantino wrote this script in three and a half weeks and once it was complete, it got sent to a director called Monte Hellman.
• In this film two shots were used during conversations that took place. Wide shots were also used when this man was beating this man up.
• At this time in the fihen the man was going to cut off the man's ear, the camera moves around slowly and then the camera stops at an area where we are unable to see the man cut off the other man's ear.
• We only hear the sounds of the man screaming and the man cutting off the other man's ear.
• This makes the audience curious to find out how he actually cut off the man's ear.

Kill Bill (2003, 2004)

• Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed this film.
• It was released as two films, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
• Once he done these films, he was then credited as Special Guest Director for a film called Sin City.
• In this film, a lot of close-up's were used to show their facial expressions/reactions on their faces.
• In one of the fighting scenes, wide shots were used to show the surrounding's of where the person was thrown on to the ground.

Who else has been influenced/used this technique in their films?

• He has influenced Actor Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi described Quentin Tarantino's different style of film making as 'bursting with energy' and 'focused'.

• Edwin S. Porter influenced film making as he usef film techniques such as; cross- cutting, double exposure, camera movement and on location shooting.
• Cross-cuts were a new, sophisticated editing technique. 

Making A Bin

I created a a 'Bin' so that I could put all my footage into that folder and so that it would be easier to find my work. I created this by opening up 'Final Cut Pro', then I right clicked and chose the folder called 'New Bin'.

I then created 2 more folders and renamed them.