We used media technologies in the research stage, as I
created an account on Survey Monkey and used the website to make an online
survey in which the survey takers are asked what their gender and favourite
genre of music are, and whether they regularly watch music videos. The
information gathered in this survey was invaluable in the decision-making
process for our own music video, as it gave us a clear idea of who was watching
these videos, what their gender demographic was, and what genres they enjoyed.
Of those who responded to my survey, 40% were male and 60%
were female, a near 50/50 split, meaning we would have to make a music video
that would appeal to both a male and female audience, in order to cover all the
bases. On the question of whether or not they watch the music videos, 100% of
the survey takers answered ‘Yes,’ showing that music videos have universal
appeal and a wide audience, giving us the freedom to choose what to do, rather
than tailoring it to a certain demographic. The favourite music genres widely
varied, as 20% of the survey takers responded to rock, 20% to pop, 20% to house,
20% to electronic, and 20% to classical, which shows that every genre has its
own audience and that whatever we choose will find its own audience. We chose
“Shine” by Years & Years due to its blending of two genres (electronic and
pop) and its appeal to both a male and female audience, thus reaching the
widest audience possible with the video.
We used the video sharing website YouTube to view real music
videos from such artists as Years & Years, whose song we were doing the
video for, Jess Glynne, Coldplay, and Bombay Bicycle Club, to get some ideas of
the conventions of music videos in this genre, and for shots we could use in
our own video.
We didn’t actually use the camera offered to us by the
school. Instead, we used Paddy’s camera which his older sister gave him upon
completing her own Media Studies course with it, as his has a larger lens with
a better zoom function that doesn’t distort the picture quality during a zoom.
It also has a greater resolution than the ones available at school, so it made
sense for us to use his instead. DSLR is typically used for taking photographs,
but it has a video recording function and it worked out great for us. There were
numerous other features which we decided utilise down the road, such as the
ability to reduce the shutter speed. This would increase the light exposed to
the shot, and give us Abrams’ signature lens flare, so we used that as a nod to
the geek behind The Force Awakens. If we have one concern, it’s that the zoom
is manually controlled using the lens, rather than an automatic zoom, so some
zooms were not be as smooth and became jumpy, though in some cases we found a
way to use that to good effect in the vein of the gritty, choppily edited Jason
Bourne franchise.
Our tripod was quite basic, with no enhanced features, but
it did as required and stabilised the camera during the steadier shots. We can
also move the camera with a handle, which depends on the steadiness of the user’s
hand. This handle can be set tighter or loose for handling, but if the user has
shaky hands, the movements aren’t going to be smooth.
We used the dolly briefly as a way of increasing the height
and manoeuvrability of the tripod. Dollies are very expensive bits of kit, so
we couldn’t provide our own and had to borrow one from school. The use of the
dolly, a platform on wheels, was to help diversify our choice of shots, which
it did as it allowed us to do otherwise complicated, smooth tracking shots.
This year has seen the introduction of a new piece of
equipment we’ve never used before, an artificial lighting rig, which allows us
to film in the dark and still see the focal point of the shot (in our case Luke’s
face). So far we’ve seen huge improvements. The project looks overall much more
professional. We had lighting problems in the dark during our previous project
last year, as we relied on limited sunlight and the focus of the shot was often
missed, causing further complications and a lack of professional appearance to
the film. This new project looks a lot better thanks to this lighting rig - as
well as this one missing my poor acting skills.
We edited with Final Cut Pro X, which is a popular film
editing software amongst independent filmmakers. Also, a number of major
Hollywood productions have been edited using Final Cut Pro, including: The Ring
(2002), Jarhead (2005), 300 (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), Burn After
Reading (2008), The Social Network (2010), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(2011), the latter two winning the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.
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