26 Mar 2011

Editing Process

In order to make our final music video me used a variety of different editing techniques.

  • Split Screen Colour - We used a green screen to be able to change the colours of the background on the chorus. This worked well as we split the screen into 4 with a person singing a line in each screen.
  • Chroma Key (Green Screen) - We used Chroma Key to remove the green background and also used a spill suppressor to smooth the edges around the person.

  • Stop Frame Animation - We used this on the bridge, walking backwards and the band spinning along the steps. It was hard to do and get right but the finished effect looks really good. We also used stop frame animation to create the band spinning across the amphitheatre.
  • Band Performance - For the band performance we filmed each verse several times from a fixed camera point and moved the band around, we then cut together the shots to give the video a jumpy feel. We have used colour corrector to raise the whites and the saturation to give the shots a brighter feel. We added stripes on the screen during the performance to keep the colour theme running thought the video.

  • Mexican Wave - For this we filmed it as three separated videos from a fixed camera point, we then cropped each video and put then in sequence to play simultaneously.
  • Stripes (Between the Lips) - between the lips we have used key frame animation to show stripes moving across the screen, every other stripe moves across the screen from left to right and visa versa. We uses the stripes to link keep the theme of the colours going throughout the video.
  • Text - for the lines in the song 'Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!, Ay! Ay! Ay!' we decided to show its visually on the screen as text and shapes flying in, in time with the lyrics.
  • Gradient Wipe - at the start of our video we have used a gradient wipe as a transition from our stop frame animation into the band performance, this works for this part of the video because it is where the tempo of the music changes and shows a change in the visual in time with the music. For the gradient wipe we inserted an image from one of our shooting locations.

22 Mar 2011

Representation of the People within our Music Video


Our music video focuses on the band performance and the lips with the colourful background so we don't focus on the representation of the people heavily. Although we tried to represent the band using a typical indie style.

A typical indie look would be wearing skinny jeans and shoes like plimsolls or converse, we portrayed the band in an 'indie light' with the clothes they wore. All the band wore skinny jeans which is a stereotypical symbol of indie bands. Furthermore, the different types of footwear the band are wearing are plimsolls and Converses which are items also commonly associated with the 'indie' genre. We tried to use colour throughout the video therefore we decided to get the band to wear bright coloured tops.

Another way our music video offers a representation of people is the stop motion narrative we include of the girl slapping the boy. Both the actor and the actress's clothing can stereotypically be seen as 'indie'. Also they are both teenagers this is because we tried to represent our target audience using the actor and actress.

20 Mar 2011

Analysis of CD Covers

Take That CD Cover

I have chosen this album cover to analyse as the centre image relates to the name of the album. The movements are all in unison, along with the colours being the same, but different tones are being worn by different band mates. This is a good way to show the different personalities within the band yet still keep the bond. Photoshop would have been used to create the Background, of the sky. There is a good use of font, as it does not take anything away from the picture, yet is still noticeable. As Take That is a world wide known band, the image would be the most recognisable thing to create the audience to know straight away who the band are. We took inspiration from this album cover to link in with our band name.


Zola Jesus CD Cover

I like this album cover as it is very basic but effective. The centre image is actually a woman, covered in chocolate, but the final outcome has created a deeper mood. A dark scarier outlook has took place within this final cover. The pure white background contrasting with the dark covered face draws the audiences attentions straight to the centre image, which is what the band would have wanted, as this is the most interesting part. This cover has an almost 3D effect occurring within it, this is done with the blues and reds placed around and within the subject. I like the fact the audience would question what the image is. I feel the theme that the band editors were trying to achieve is a star wars effect. The text font used is narrow and serious, using juxtaposition as the image of someone covered in chocolate could be seen as funny, whereas this band have managed to make something funny, serious. This has inspired my group to make out cover a bit different.


All Time Low CD Cover

This single cover has a cartoon effect added to the people in the shot, which suits the band’s genre of pop punk. The title “Put up or shut up” is reflected in the people in the background looking like they are keeping quiet and then the attention is on the middle person with no face who seems to be rebelling, signified with the colour in the shirt and no face. The 3D effect on the bands name ‘All Time Low’ continues the ‘cartoon’ theme of the overall cover as it looks like the block capitals are drawn in. Also as the centrepiece of the cover the audience immediately can recognise the artist. Putting the song title on the t-shirt is a subtle but clever way of introducing the song, which also looks like it has been scribbled on. Within our own CD cover we hope to implement the cartoon effect of the people, demonstrated here.


Mystery Jets CD Cover

The colour of the artist name is multi coloured, which really suits their indie genre. Along with this the material tied round her legs is also quite colourful, keeping a trend. The photo of the feet does not give much away about the song. We like how the bands name, Mystery Jets, is in a multi coloured font and are going to use something similar to this in our own cover as it suits the genre of song we are doing.


Kids In Glass Houses CD Cover
This CD cover by Kids in Glass Houses show how the song title can have a lot of relation to the image on the cover. The “Easy Tiger” goes well with the legs in the air, along with the short skirt that shows the playfulness. The positioning is done well, with the song title fit snugly between the two legs and the red font of the easy tiger signifies a hot-blooded woman who is playful. The painting effect of the picture ties in well with the painted name of the song, as it keeps to the trend of the cover of the song.

18 Mar 2011

Construction of the Mise-En-Scene in Our Music Video

Mise-en-scene doesn't play a huge role in our music video but it does contribute to our band performance hugely. The inclusion of the two Ukulele's and the Bongo Drums added to the realism of the band performance. This along with the singing of the lead singer is the construction of the mise-en-scene in the band performance throughout the music video.

Furthermore, in the band performance we have included props such as pom-poms and the multi-coloured umbrellas, we decided to include these props as they work well with the chorus as a lot of our music video is based around colours thus there is the construction of mise-en-scene here, which we have used a transitions to link the shots together.

The locations that we chose were the roman amphitheater for the band performance and The Grange which is the park where our narrative was set.

The reason why we chose the roman amphitheater for the band performance is because we thought it looked professional and it was perfect for changing the composition of the shot as we changed the positioning of the band in every shot. It also adds a different aspect of the band performance because of the unusual location which is outside. This contributed to the construction of the mise-en-scene as it adds to the band performance.