Analysis Of Previous Students Work

A2 Media, Music Video - 'Do my thing'
This students work achieved 60/60. 

According to OCR marking criteria I would award this candidate a level 4 because they had excellent shooting material appropriate to the task set. They had a sufficient camera, lighting, coloured back drops.

I would award the candidate a level 4 for their ability to framing a shot as each person is centred in the middle of the back drop. This is important as when shooting a music video, everyone has to be seen effectively.                  
They have used a variety of shot distances as appropriate, they have included long shots, close ups, mid shots. This is to capture the different movement and enthusiasm. I would award this candidate a level 4 using the mark scheme. 

I would award the candidate a level 4 for their use of variety of camera angles. For example, close up, mid-shot, establishing shot, birds eye view, high and low angles, wide shot and extreme long shots. These gave the student higher marks, as they have experimented further to include a variety of angles rather than just a few, to make their music video professional. 

They have used professional editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer. They have used bright coloured boxes outlining the singers which goes well with the back drops. They have also incorporated two different shots in the same scene, so two dancers and then a dancer with a different back drop next to it. I would give this candidate a level 4 as they have experimented with editing. 

They have used the typical mise en scene elements, they used the R&B style as they are wearing casual clothing and stereotypically R&B artists are usually people of colour. I would award this candidate a level 4 for their use of mise en scene elements. 

I would award this candidate a level 4 for their use of sound with images. Their lip-syncing is in sync throughout the video which makes the music video professional as there isn't any mistakes. 

A2 Media, Music Video - Daughter "Youth"  

This students work achieved 32/60.     
          
They had professional shooting material appropriate to the task set. They have used a sufficient camera and high-key lighting. I would award this candidate a level 4 for this category.

They are good at holding a steady shot as they do this throughout the video, for example, the tap, guitar, phone. I would award this candidate a level 3 for this candidate as they have used this technique professionally.


I would award this candidate a level 2 for their basic amount of camera angles used. For example, birds eye view, high and low angles, wide shot, extreme long shot.   

I would award the candidate a level 2 for their use of mise en scene elements. They have used a basic setting and they have used high key lighting. They used a black and white hue to reflect the man and woman which adds drama and emotion. They also used a blur effect on the black and white hue.

They have used professional editing as they have used a fade transition when it changes to the black and white scenes. They also used focus on certain parts, for example, the door knob. I would award this candidate a level 3 for their use of editing. 

I would award this candidate a level 4 for their use of sound with images. Their lip-syncing is generally good throughout the video as it is in timing.

A2 Media, Music Video - 'Disco lights'
This students work achieved 16/60
                  
I would award this candidate level 1 as they had poor shooting material to the task set. They had a basic camera and lighting which meant that it didn't look professional. They  also didn't have much equipment. 

They had basic knowledge of framing a shot. Which was shown throughout the video with little consideration into angle and distance.They used a poor variety of shot distances. Therefore I would award this candidate a level 1.They didn't use many camera angles. For example, birds eye view, high and low angles, wide shot, extreme long shot.  I would award this candidate a level 2 for their use of camera angles.                                                 
    

I would award a level 1 for their use of basic mise en scene elements, they used a few props for example hats, they had a basic setting which is at a house. 

I would award this candidate a level 2 for their use of sound with images. The lip-syncing is at times in sync however there are a number of occasions where it is out of timing. The track and footage generally work together as per Goodwins Theory that the video and music should accompany each other yet there are scenes that aren't necessary and don't link to the lyrics or the timings in the song. 

Target Audience Profile Research

Pop Fan

The typical target audience for pop is 12 - 25 year olds which made up of females and some males. Pop is one of the main genres which is portrayed over the internet, music channels and advertisements.

Name: Chloe

Age: 14

Occupation: School Student

Hobbies: Going to concerts, listening to music and watching music videos, hanging out with her friends, shopping, dancing round her room and at her dance class. 

Chloe meets the typical codes and conventions of a pop fan as she is wearing the merchandise for One Direction, she is really happy and she is a female teenager which is a stereotypical age and gender for a pop fan.

R&B Fan

The majority of R&B fans are teenagers/young adults roughly between the ages of 13-25. This could be because of the explicit lyrics in some of the songs, a majority of this age group are also females.  Females are attracted to R&B music because female R&B artists stereotypically make songs about being in love or heartbroken or because the male R&B artists will usually go topless in their music videos which attracts female attention.

Name: Anton
Age: 19
Occupation: Dancer
Hobbies: Dancing for large audiences, going out with friends, driving, going to the cinema, eating nandos and choreographing to his favourite music.

Anton meets the typical codes and conventions of an R&B fan as he is good looking, seems happy and dances which will attract female attention like R&B artists do.

Country Fan

The majority of country fans are males but females do enjoy country too. The typical age range for country fans is 18 - 50. As most of the fans are older, there are young country fans too who are fans of Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus whilst she was featuring in Hannah Montana.

Name: Billy-Jo
Age: 44
Occupation: Farmer
Hobbies: Caring for animals, socialising with friends and playing the guitar.

Billy-Jo meets the typical codes and conventions of a country fan as he is a farmer who enjoys playing the guitar. He also wears clothes which stereotypically a country fan or artist would wear such as a shirt or a cowboy hat.

Rap Fan
The majority of the rap audience is made up of males between the ages of 14 - 30. Rap fans usually dress casually and wear big statement jewellery pieces.

Name: Ashen
Age: 19
Occupation: Football student
Hobbies: Playing football with friends, socialising with friends and going out clubbing.

Ashen meets the typical codes and conventions of a rap fan as he is a footballer who is wearing casual clothing. Although he doesn't have any statement jewellery on in his image, I could imagine him suiting it if he was wearing it.

Rock Fan
There is a equal split divide between females and males who are ages of 14 - 40 and they are the audience of rock music. They stereotypically will dye their hair black or a unique unusual colour which they wouldn't naturally have. They also have piercings and wear a lot of leather.

Name: Pierce
Age: 23
Occupation: Drummer
Hobbies: Seeing friends, drumming and shopping.

Pierce meets the typical codes and conventions of a rock fan as he is dressed in leather, has bleach blonde hair which he probably wasn't born with and wears a bandana. He also is doing a hand gesture which is associated with rock. He also is a drummer which rock fans stereotypically do in their spare time.

Music Consumption Research

I have created an online survey with several questions about music consumption. I sent it out to my family, a range of the teaching staff at my school and some of my teachers forwarded it on to their lower year classes. This allowed me to get responses from different genders in different age ranges.

The questions that I have used are:

The responses that I got were:

The most popular age range that answered my survey was between the ages 16-18 and the majority of the sample were females which is gender biased but I think that stereotypically, females are most likely going to watch music videos rather than males who are more likely to listen to the music rather than watch the video. The majority of my sample only watch music videos 0-3 times a week which isn't a lot considering how many music videos dominate the charts. Youtube is the biggest source for music videos in my sample but most of them would prefer to watch TV music channels if Youtube didn't exist which suggests that they would rather watch them for free rather than pay for a video on iTunes.  The most watched genre from my sample is pop followed by 'other' and the majority of my sample believe that pop is the most shown genre. The elements of making a music video successful are very close in popularity as the most important elements to my sample are choreography and storyline.

Research Into Record Labels

Copy of Music Labels - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Special Effects Research

Green Screen:

I have researched how to use a Green Screen in Final Cut Pro X by looking at different youtube videos. On these clips they use a green screen to change their backgrounds on a bigger scale to emphasise a professional setting. 

Movies and videos use green screen as it is much cheaper to change the backgrounds than travelling to different locations.

The video shows that Green screen is quite simple to use. You can change the effect by dragging it to the footage which will get rid of the green background. There are many things on Final Cut Pro X which can make the footage look professional.  You can crop the video in order to get rid of any unwanted lighting, this will help the video look more professional. In order to create a professional background it is important to make sure the green screen doesn't have any creases in it otherwise it wouldn't work properly.

Looking at this clip will be able to help me for when I'm editing my own music video, as I will know exactly how to use green screen sufficiently and how to edit a background onto it. 

Slow Motion:

I have researched slow motion and how it is used to dramatise the scene. I have researched how you can do this in Final Cut Pro X. Looking at these clips have showed me that you must pick a good spot in order for the slow motion to work properly. You also have to cut the snippet of the clip where the slow motion will start and stop for it to work.  

You can go to the clip and right click and go down to retime and stretch the clip out for example 50%, this then means your clip is slowed down and conformed.   

I have learnt that when you create a slow motion it slows down the audio as well as the video, to prevent this from happening you must right click on the clip you have edited and click on 'detach audio' for it to not apply to the slowed down audio. You can also go on the same drop list and change the quality of your video to make it look more professional. 

This clip will help me to edit my music video If i decide to use slow motion and has taught me how to do something that I didn't know before.

Backgrounds:

I  researched backgrounds on YouTube. You can change it by going on Final Cut Pro X and going on generators and changing the background. This gives the music video a interesting effect and may fit with the genre you are doing.