Change of song

My original song was Jill Zimmerman - Souls to fuse, This song was quite slow and had hints of guitar and piano but was mainly vocal. I tried to take test footage in my chosen location(see previous blog posts) but when I tried I had no inspiration, I had asked the artist for their ideas on what the music video would be like but when it came to filming it myself I found it incredibly hard, I didn't know what to film and how I would edit it.

I then found another artist on Jamendo.com who's songs were mainly electro-pop, listening to these I had a wider idea of what I could film for this song and it gave me more inspiration. I still like the original song I chose but think I would prefer it as a backing song for a video and the new song I have chosen has sparked more ideas for a music video.

I will now need to change some of the previous work I have done to fit with this new song and new style of music. And older posts will no longer be relevant to this song.

Experimental Filming

Our media teacher gave us an excercise to practise our filming and editing skills before we started filming for our actual video, we had to try and include as many examples of camera angles as possible and use continuous editing to make it look like we came out of different doors.
This was a challenge for me as I had never done something like this before, I was the model and so had to make my actions look realistic but I found it hard to match up the actions of leaving one door and entering into another. 
I feel like I have learnt from filming this small scene and editing it that I will not use continuous editing in my final video as it is something I struggle with and may take up a bit of my time trying to edit it.
Another thing that I need to improve is camera work, I didn't film this video as I was the model so another student was behind the camera filming me, because of this I didn't get much experience of filming and when it came to editing some of the shots I hadn't seen fully, I have learnt from this and before I film my actual video I am going to shoot test footage to get used to the camera I am going to use and edit the footage all by myself so I can create the product how I would like my actual music video to turn out like.
But a strong point from filming this was the way I got to use different camera shots for example; 

 I would say this is an establishing shot as it shows everything in the scene and establishes what door I am going into. 

 High medium close up, draws attention to where I am going and that I am in the lift.

 Another medium close up, we filmed me walking to link up with the next scene but I don't think it works very well and would've been something I would change.

                                                                       Long shot

Director Study

3) Music Video Director
Jake Nava is a English music video and film director, he lives in London and studied at the University of Westminister.
Jake has directed a number of major music videos which we all know and love to date. Some examples of his work are;
Adele - Someone like you,

Beyonce - Single Ladies, Crazy in Love and Baby Boy

and also Britney Spears - If you seek Amy, Kelis - Milkshake and Shakira - She Wolf

Nava's music videos are normally created for mainstream pop stars who are/were in the charts at the time. Most of the videos he has created are up beat and catchy and the corresponding music video copies this with the videos (especially Beyonce's) having quick and fast cuts and a range of camera angles to keep up with the beat of the music. An exception for this is Adele's Someone Like You, the whole video is in black and white which gives a sense of sincerity which works well with Adele's style of music, the camera movement is slow which links with the song as it isn't upbeat and keeps the rhythm going. However Adele does still fit into the general style of Nava's work, as although she doesn't create fast, up beat pop tunes, she is well known and makes it into the charts. 
None of the above music videos are live performances which is typical of the pop music style. Pop music videos need to work and give an overview of what is happening in the song, and the use of a live performance wouldn't work with this style of music because of how mainstream it is, and the audiences expect a great music video with a great pop song. It would be normal for an underground music director such as ............ to use live performances as the music video as they work with artists who more regularly use instruments and have an acoustic touch to their voice and a live performance enhances this.
I like Nava's work because although I'm not a fan of pop music, some of the videos he has created are music classics which I still listen to because they are some of the greatest tracks in my life time (Beyonce - Crazy In Love), meaning that I like the video as I can remember it and they are good to look back at to see how the artist has changed in music style, Beyonce in particular.

Definition of a music video

- A music video is a set of moving images that has been created to be played along with a song. The moving  images normally represent the song some way, whether its a live performance by the band(performance), or a story being told by an actor(narrative) or even just coloured shapes moving in time to the beat of the song(concept).

- A music video is very important to the song, it can add a deeper story line and can help the viewer understand the story better than just listening to the music.

-It is also a chance to include the artist, normally this would be by a performance but can also include a type of acting or visual art performance like dancing. 

-Music videos are a way of advertising and promoting the band/artist. Sometimes the music video will be uploaded before the single is released to get the consumers excited for the song. 

-Music videos can be seen as works of art, People such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas and Duran Duran have one Grammy awards for their music videos. 

-It has almost become a competition in music videos to who can create the quirkiest or original idea which sometimes takes the emphasis of the actual song, showing that music videos can represent the song in both positive and negative ways.

- There are many theorists who also give definitions and ideas about music videos, Andrew Goodwin identifies 5 key aspects in music videos.

 1. Thought Beats/Seeing the sound
This means seeing the sound in your head, the voice can be seen as an instrument and all voices are unique, you need to be able to understand and interact with the song. Goodwin also says that songs can be made to be like stories so the song can be a two way communication, the artist telling us the story and us listening to it.

2.Narrative and Performance 
Songs tend to fail to give us the complete narrative, we only get a slight idea of the meaning of the song but then interpret it our different ways. 
Narrative and performance work together as it makes it more entertaining for the audience to watch again without getting bored.
The audience need to be able to believe the performance being put on, this is why it is often the artist lip syncing etc as they can make it more believable as they normally have a better understanding of the song. 

3. 'Star Image'
The star image is a way for an artist of band to look unique in the industry, their star image can develop over time but is a major influence towards their music video. It is simply certain aspects of an artists style that are easily recognisable to the audience.
Examples of Star Images are;
Elvis Presley-quiff and signature phrases.
Michael Jackson-glove and trilby hat and also iconic dance moves
Some artists are even known just for their hair style e.g Jessie J and her signature black bob and fringe.

4.Relation of visuals to the song.
-Illustrate; Images included in the video are used to reflect the lyrics and meanings of the song, this is very common.
-Amplify; Meanings and effects have been manipulated and are drummed into our heads so we remember them, usually to portray a significant message.
-Disjuncture; Where the meaning of the song is completely ignored in the video.

5.Technical Aspects 
How the music video has been created e.g camera work, shots and angles, mise en scene, special effects, editing, cutting and camera movement. 
Mise en scene is vital, the music video needs to look as professional as possible, this is done by mise en scene which includes anything in shot of the camera e.g costumes, props and actors.

Planning and Research; How to Insert a title sequence

As a planning and research task for my music video I was testing out things I would want to include in my video, this post will be about how I learnt to include a title scene. I also learnt about making the background of the title scene transparent (in this scene it is black) but this will be included in a new post with test footage.

Firstly I clicked on the tab 'Title'

 Then chose to just use a 'Default Still' instead of a rolling title as I think rolling would give an impression that it is a film.

Here I opened a New Title and left the name as the default 'Title 02'

I decided on what I wanted to include in my title, for this example I just used 'Title Testing' but in my real video I will use the song name and possibly my information.

Here I changed the font, size and space between the words to suit the style I wanted. I have circled where I clicked to do this.

After I had added all the finishing touches I added the title scene to the editing bar, I haven't added any footage yet but I could move the title scene to be first, last or inbetween footage. 

Digipak research

A digipak is a case for a CD or DVD that is usually made out of card rather than a standard jewel case. They can be limited edition and are usually purchased by 'hardcore fans' who collect all the merchandise of an artist. 
Because they are made out of card they can get ruined easier than a standard jewel case would, this showing that they are seen more as collectors items for fans of an artist who want to support them in any way by purchasing all their merchandise.

Here is an example of a digipak by Rhianna, It is made of three sections and there is space for two disks.
The image of Rhianna runs across all three and keeps with the house style of red (her hair, lips and the roses)
Key elements of a digipak are normally that they have 2,4 or 6 folds but can occasionally have more.
They also normally include a track list, lyrics to the songs, publisher and institutional information,  social media information and thanks and acknowledgments.

 Same size as a standard CD case

 Similar to a standard CD case, the lyrics are presented on the back so it is easier for the customer to read.

 Two folds, and three square sections.

 This Billy Bragg digipak contains two different versions of the album, this is used in some digipaks as it offers the consumers a different version of the songs in a different version of the album (in this case the digipak)

 Inside the digipak were two CD's and a booklet

 The booklet includes lyrics and pictures of the artist, also information regarding the producers etc

 Band Members on the back of the booklet

Kanye West Digipak

 This digipak is similar to the above, they are both made from 3 sections but this one has a very different house style

 You can see that because they are made of card they get ruined very easily where the card has come away.

This digipak has continuous images of an animated town and bears, this doesn't really relate to the style of the music but gives an example of how the same style and images can be continued through the different sections similar to the Rhianna digipak.

Very  worn - hard to maintain the original state

Booklet includes information about each track, who wrote it and who produced it etc.

List of tracks on the back of the leaflet like a standard CD case

Only one CD in this case even though it has the same amount of sections as the others. This CD only has one version. A benefit of only having one CD and using a digipak is that they don't take up as much space and are lighter than a standard jewel case.