Preliminary Task

Task Outline
Your task is to shoot and edit a shot by shot copy of a real music video (about 60-70 seconds). You will need to chose your track from the choice below depending on available actors in the group. All members of the group should be involved in singing, filming, directing and editing. You should upload a small version of the real video to the corner of your screen to help you edit. All work should be blogged.

Planning
We chose One Direction's Little Things and we immediately jumped into filming. We didn't think we needed to do a storyboard as you can just copy the the original shot for shot. We chose to film it in the music rooms as they are similar to the studio in the original video, and we sent an email to a music teacher to see if it was available. Furthermore, we chose clothing that was similar to the clothing worn in the original, so we could match it. During planning, we also picked actors that look similar to the ones in the original, and we made sure they were free during the periods we were filming. 

Filming
Overall we spent just under 3 hours filming, which I thought was quite good. In the first session we filmed all my parts (Liam) and Sams parts (Harry) in the studio and the piano room. In the second and final session we filmed the group shots and brought in the other actors to film these, and we also filmed Bens parts (Zayn) in the studio. The only setback that we couldn't match the settings precisely as the original video is filmed in a professional studio, and we don't have one at college.

Editing
After filming we encoded down the clips so we could edit them on Adobe Premiere Pro. We decided as a group to edit 1/3 of the clips so it would be fair, however due to problems with the software, we struggled to upload the clips. So Sam in our group decided to go home over the weekend and edit at home as he had the software, Sony Vegas Pro 13.

Contribution
Hours of contribution: 2 hours 50 mins
Sections I filmed: 0.08-0.10, 0.11-0.12, 0.18-0.22, 0.28-0.30, 0.52-0.53
Sections I lipsynced: 0.35-0.52, 0.55-0.57
Sections I edited: N/A

Evaluation
How professional is it?
I believe our prelim task was very professional for the time we were given to shoot and edit as we matched it shot for shot and almost every shot was the same. We used the same black and white editing used in the original and the acting was quite good, but we could have put more emotion into it to make it more professional. We also tried to match the clothing as well to make it as professional as possible.

What are the short comings?
Some of the short comings in our video are costume and continuity. For the costume we could only use the clothes that we had at home so it was hard to match what they were wearing, plus the clothing changes slightly throughout the video. In addition, in the first day of filming we used Jack and Joe, but they weren't available on the second day so we used Jim and Matt. If we had more time we could have planned out what actors we were going to use and make sure they were available for both days to minimise short comings.

How useful was it?
Creating the preliminary task made us realise that a large amount of complex shots are needed in music videos, and they require a lot of editing to put the shots together. Also, I learnt that it is quite tricky to act with emotion in a music video, so I will probably get a better actor/actress for the real thing. The prelim task also made me think about time saving, as we only had 4 hours to film it, so I will be more time efficient in the real thing.

Task 3 - Kendrick Lamar Poster Analysis

• The title is big and bold which draws the audience in and tells them the iconic Kendrick Lamar is on tour
• Kendrick is pictured on his own which further focuses the audience on him and exaggerates the fact he is on tour
• It also states the name of his album 'Good Kid, Maad City,' which acts as marketing as more people will see it and buy his album
• The date and setting of the gig is also on the poster in French, which aims at people in France and shows that his music is liked worldwide

Task 3 - Kendrick Lamar Music Video Analysis

Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta

• A lot of slow motion shots and handheld camerawork is used throughout the video with the handheld camera mainly focusing on Lamar adding to the 'star image' which is used for marketing
• A lot of the slow motion shots reflect life in Compton, such as the shot of the motorbikes 3.12, which shows the unity and outgoing lifestyle the people live, and this contrasts with the more serious, political views in the shot at 3.03 showing Martin Luther King
• Camera movement is used to show the fast tempo of the song, and the hand held camera is normally bouncing with the beat and the Compton locals 
• The video is set in Compton, and it makes the audience see urban life in Compton and the area, along with the sense of community, that Lamar grew up in 
• The editing is also very quick showing the energetic atmosphere in Compton and the fast tempo of the song

Indie Rock Research

Task 3 - Kendrick Lamar Digipak Analysis

To Pimp a Butterfly

The front sleeve of Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly' shows the aftermath of a black revolution on the White House Lawn. The image is shot in striking monochrome with the quality of a vintage Polaroid, and it features a large group of mostly shirtless black men and children – plus one baby, cradled by Lamar himself and, possibly, one woman – arranged in a victory tableau on the lawn in front of the White House. This image possibly challenges the level of black society in America and Lamar expresses these political views in other songs on his album such as 'Blacker the Berry' and has followed on from other artists such as Marvin Gaye and Bessie Smith.






The back cover of To Pimp a Butterfly shows the tracks listed in Kendrick's handwriting which exaggerates to the audience that it his own genius creation. Also, the simple black on white colouring gives it an urban feel and I believe has a good effect.





The lone image of the butterfly links with the title To Pimp a Butterfly which itself is a riff on Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Also, butterflies symbolise hope, which could be used to show Kendrick's hope for equal rights for black people.

Task 2 - Research into another students work (Jake Maud)

Research
Strengths-

• Lots of in depth detail and research, great analysis of the 'Stan' music video using mise en scene, and good comparison between the editing in 'Stan' and 'Arabella' by Arctic Monkeys 
• All the blogs in this section were written, no faults with grammar and punctuation
• Good use of pictures and makes it appealing to read

Weaknesses-

• Only analysed 3 music videos, maybe shoyuld have done more to get full knowledege about music videos

Planning
Strengths-

• Good use of pictures and videos for the different locations used in the video
• Use of pictures of the outfits - overall good and clear planning 

Weaknesses-

• Doesn't list the positives and downsides to his ideas
• Maybe should have analysed each outfit, props and locations with more detail

Music Video
Strengths-

• Quality variety of shots, camerawork and editing
• Good actors who are not camera shy, and an understandable narrative which fits well with the song

Weaknesses-

• Very similar to 1975-Robbers, some of the shots are basically the same 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyy3YOpxL2k

Digipak
Strengths-

• Good editing and black and white picture gives it an urban, creepy feel
• Very professional

Weaknesses-

• Not sure how the picture of the woman relates to the narrative of the video

Magazine Advert 
Strengths-

• Editing in black and white links well with the Digipak 
• Good picture with the cigarette in focus and the woman out of focus

Weaknesses-

• Again doesnt really seem to link with the video/music

Evaluation
Strengths-

• Good use of Prezi, Slideshare and videos to evaluate the video and interest the viewer
• Blogs are again well written with little or no mistakes

Weaknesses-

• Could have maybe added more analysis

Task 1 - Shot Count Analysis

Track: Feed The Mantaray                                              
Artist: Slaves                                   
Director: Youth Hymns                                 
Release Date: 23 February 2015
Length of video: 3.23
Number of shots in entire video:162
Average length of shot: 1.25 seconds


Number of shots in 30 second segment: 10-40 seconds - 23
Within the 30 second segment there are:
Number of CU: 10
Number of ECU: 4
Number of LS: 4
Number of MS: 3
Number of panning shots: 2
Number of tilts: 0
Other shots:

Shows the high number of shots that is needed in music videos and as Slaves are a punk rock duo, there are a lot of close ups and extreme close ups to add energy and allow the audience to immerse themselves in the music. I now realise from this analysis that I will need to include a lot of shots to keep the audience immersed.