Miah Harper-John
UAL extended diploma in Creative Media Production
Rationale
My final major project is about music videos and how I can use my research to create an interesting music video. My research centers around the question ‘what is it about the narrative that contributes to creating an interesting music video?’. This hypothesis allowed me to narrow my research to the topic that I am fully intrigued with; narrative. One thing that concerns me is that the question as a whole is too broad but I have overcame this concern by narrowing down the subtopics and by focusing on what specifically about the narrative I would like to learn more about. Additionally another concern is that as well as being too broad, the question could also be narrow because of how narrative is only one element to a music video. My concern was reassured by justifying the reason behind my hypothesis.
The topic should capture the audiences interest because narrative is a big part of a music video as it is what the audience is gathering from the visuals, what the artist wants the audience to gather from the visuals and that itself I believe is quite captivating.
Project Concept
The aim for the project is to create a music video that goes along with the song given. The concept I had for the music video was for it to be quite indie and folk as that’s the vibe the song gives off. I wanted the location and narrative to be quite simple with it mainly being at a beach as the song makes constant reference to the sea which ties in to my primary research that people like when the narrative relates to the lyrics. These ideas relate to the influences of Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’. This is because the song to me is quite similar to the one given for this project and I like the abstract narrative which actually relates back to the lyrics still. I researched the production crew behind the video and additionally the concept of the video. As well as researching a case study I also researched three different elements within a music video that I think communicates something important to the audience; cinematography, location and lyrics-narrative relation. My target audience is 18-35 (18+). I was able to do this research with the resources at college and additionally by incorporating my independent study and taking the initiative to work from home to create primary research.
Creating my concept for the video will be challenging because all the roles in the project will be divided equally between another student and I. This means I will be directing, producing and sharing the camera work as well as making sure the lighting and sound is at a high standard. I would also need to book equipment out from college for the production aspect of the project. I would need equipment such as a camera and tripod and then possibly lighting and sound gear. To book these out I could face issues such as all the equipment having already been booked out which would mean I would need a contingency plan.
Evaluation
As my project develops I need to be able to look back at what I have done, this means being able to identify what has went well and what hasn’t. I have done this by consistently doing weekly evaluations which enables me to look back at my progress as well as see what I need to do in the future. Furthermore I also have a tracker which aids me even more in keeping track of my progress.
My evaluations aid me in analysing my previous work and enables me to adapt my future work to what’s worked well in the past and if it hadn’t worked well, why it didn’t, what specifically was it that contributed to it not working/working. It enables me to be critical in the review of past work and to develop further in each project. This is how evaluations will guide me in the process of creating my concept and applying that to the music video.
Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography
Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend. 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
“BBC – GCSE Bitesize: Collecting Market Research”. Bbc.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
Gang Signs \U0026 Prayer”. En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.
Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Feat. Kimbra). 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
“Google”. Google.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.
HarryDenn1. “The Different Elements Of A Music Video”. Slideshare.net. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
Higgins, Kathleen Marie. The Music Of Our Lives. 1st ed. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2011. Print.
“Media Studies Narrative Theory Revision For Music Video And Fiction T…”. Slideshare.net. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me. 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
“The Truth About Vance Joy’s Song Riptide”. NewsComAu. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
Thecreativeindustries.co.uk. (2017). Digital music. [online] Available at: http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-facts-and-figures/digital-music [Accessed 21 Apr. 2017].
“Video Chats: Vance Joy On “Riptide” Directed By Dimitri Basil”. IMVDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
“Video Chats: Vance Joy On “Riptide” Directed By Dimitri Basil”. IMVDb. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
“Vance Joy”. En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
“Vance Joy”. En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
“Yougov Profiles LITE”. YouGov Profiles LITE. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
2011-2017, (c). “Quantitative And Qualitative Research Methods | Skillsyouneed”. Skillsyouneed.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.
Project Action Plan and Timetable
| Project Action Plan and Timetable |
| Week |
Date WeekBeginning |
Activity / What you are intending to do – including independent study |
Resources / What you will need to do it – including access to workshops |
| 1 |
26th April |
Start interactive portfolio booklet |
Microsoft is the essential resource needed because this is the software that the portfolio is on. I will also need access to the internet and library for resources. |
| 2 |
3rd May |
Complete interactive portfolio booklet |
Microsoft is the essential resource needed because this is the software that the portfolio is on. I will also need access to the internet and library for resources. |
| 3 |
10th May
|
Plan for production |
Check that the actors are available. Make sure that the production sheets are complete such as health and safety, recce and storyboard sheets. |
| 4 |
17th May |
Production Week |
Will need resources that are available at Canterbury College for example the equipment such as camera and tripod. |
| 5 |
24th May |
Production week |
Will need resources that are available at Canterbury College for example the equipment such as camera and tripod. |
| 6 |
31st May |
Post production week |
Need software such as adobe to complete the post production and editing. This is provided at Canterbury College. |
| 7 |
7th June |
Evaluation and finish up work |
For these last bits I would need software such as Microsoft as well as adobe in case I need to go back and tweak a few things. |
| 8 |
14th June |
Deadline week –(all work to be completed by 16th June) |
|
Interest/Topic/Theme and its Importance
My hypothesis allowed me to narrow my research to the topic that I am fully intrigued with; narrative. This is why I have focused my research around discussing narrative in a music video. This is evident by the variety of primary and secondary research I have done. Furthermore I have researched narrative theories to gather a deeper understanding of the structure of a music video. I also filmed an interview style video of myself doing a music Q&A which meant I was aware of why I had an interest in music and chose the topic for my final major project. The video mentioned revealed that it was the consistency of music that fueled my interest. The fact that I had grew up with music and for me its like you can find a song that relates to any emotion im feeling or any experience im going through. I additionally researched the three main elements to a narrative that I liked; location, lyrics and their relation to the narrative and cinematography.
Expanding on my thoughts about music videos shared above, I also believe the topic is very intriguing because music is universal. Kathleen Higgins (Higgins 2) stated ‘music moved people between linguistic boundaries’ and discussed how ‘over time the idea that music could speak to everyone became a piece of common wisdom’. (Higgins 2). I think its that understanding that gives music that importance.
Introduction
I am currently finishing my final year in Creative Media Practice (UAL extended diploma). This portfolio is a for my final major project. The project centers around music, more specifically, how to create an interesting music video.
The background of my project
The influence behind my chosen topic choice is my career aspiration. In the future I aspire to be a video editor or in a career that involves films and television. At the moment I have discovered I very much enjoy editing videos and this is where the desire to create a video piece that I can edit ties in with my final major project. As for the music side of creating a music video, I believe that music is very universal and that its something that I feel relates to what I’m feeling or experiencing and that is why I wanted to create a music video. Not just because of the practical side but additionally because I would like to expand my knowledge on music videos and research narrative within music videos.
Who Am I?
This link shows a video of me answering a music Q&A. Questions that reveal my relationship with music.
What did I learn on my course?
Throughout my course I have undeniably learnt a lot, the skills I have learn’t ranged from practical to technical. From a practical side I now know how to edit a video using a variety of tool on Premiere Pro and can manipulate images and text on Photoshop. I additionally have developed my camerawork skills further from my film studies course. On a more technical side of things I have mastered how to set up a tripod and camera which I had no understanding of before this course.
My research questions
My project started with one hypothesis; ‘what is it about the narrative that contributes to creating an interesting music video?’. This is because, to me, narrative is a fascinating element to a music video and I thoroughly enjoy discussing the topic. This hypothesis then uncovered a few more questions that I felt I wanted to answer too. What does the editing communicate to the audience? Do the majority prefer having a music video with narrative or not? and ultimately how do I make an effective and successful music video?
Research Design
The main topic I researched is narrative within music videos and this is what I have designed my research around. Although throughout my research I have discovered there are other topics that interest me such as cinematography and there are additionally a few questions that I would like to find out within that specific topic. My target audience is 18+ which although is quite broad, I believe is justified according to statistics stated in my previous research. Additionally as I myself fall into the target age bracket I think it would be give me an advantage because I am aiming to create a music video that attracts my own age. To create the research I have used both primary and secondary research and analysed research methods to understand which methodology would be the best to use and why.
Research Design Evolution
Everything on the research design evolution is within the project report. Furthermore the Production research is all linked here.
Final Project Evaluation
I have created a music video to accompany the song ‘Turquoise’ by the David James Rumsey Band.
I believe one of the strengths within the final design is the lighting. This is because the lighting enables the shots to be bright and clear. This was because the filming was done during the day time on a sunny day. Furthermore there wasn’t any clouds so the sun wasn’t obscured and the beach didn’t have many places for shade. This altogether enabled the sun to provide good lighting for filming. I additionally believe that another thing that went well was the strong relation between the narrative and the song lyrics. The song mainly focuses on the words ‘sailing away’ which gives the interpretation that the two have drifted apart and I feel that the audience can interpret my video as that. This can be seen by the way the boy looks back at the photo as if hes reminiscing and additionally the use of black and white should make the audience feel as though those particular parts are in the past. I feel that one thing that let the music video down was the relation between editing and the pace of the song. I found it increasingly difficult to match the editing to the pace of the song as the song is predominately slow with some aspects becoming more upbeat. I believe this leads some parts of the video to not match the tempo of the music correctly. For example at 2.20 the song gradually builds tension and gets a bit more intense yet the video doesn’t match the same level of intensity. Additionally more close ups could have been used to show the couples emotion more. To show the audience how in love they were and how even after that they still drifted apart. Although I did originally intend for the music video to be predominately long shots as this shows the location and their body language which can also be very helpful in aiding the audience in establishing the two cast’s relationship. I believe these strengths and weakness’s enable me to take on board feedback and then be able to apply this to my next project. For example I gained feedback from a tutor who suggested that the video could be in colour for the first and last initial parts of the video to really emphasis the idea that its gone from present to past and the back to present again (the past represented by black and white). This feedback was then taken on board and I experimented with the colour a bit before doing exactly that.
Before creating the music video I was mainly inspired by the workings of Vance Joy. As a big fan of his work, I recognised that his music videos mainly feature rural locations and this encouraged me to choose only one location; the beach as the my filming location. I also choose Vance Joy as a case study of sorts for research, featured here.
I did trial shots before the actual shoot day which enabled me to understand where exactly I wanted to film and gave me the chance to envision what I wanted to do before shooting. Furthermore this helped me develop the shots I wanted to feature in the final video. Here the trial shots taken can be seen.
Looking back at my project proposal I can see that my initial aim was to create a music video that ‘goes along with the song given‘. I believe from my interpretation of the song and the idea that sailing away is a metaphor for drifting apart that I did achieve my aim. Another aim was for the location and narrative to be ‘quite simple‘ this again I believe it is by the fact that one location is used and the narrative is quite straightforward where it isn’t abstract but it isn’t in chronological order. From reevaluating my project proposal I can see I did achieve and follow through with what I initially aimed to achieve.
After showing my work to various tutors and peers I was able to gain extensive feedback from different perspectives. One response was that the narrative really came across to the audience and that the viewer was quite responsive to the emotion within the music video which was helpful as I wanted the audience to be able to empathize with the music video. Another reaction showed that the shots sometimes lingered too long which after watching the video I agreed with and this led me to reconsider some of the shots length. Furthermore another response stated that there wasn’t much conflict within the narrative which I considered but then decided against adding conflict into the video because my initial idea was to create a video that wasn’t about conflict but about reminiscing on an old memory. A few comments were that the shots shown in the music video were nicely shot, with the beach as the background and the cast against it. Before taking the comments on board I wasn’t entirely happy with the rough music video copy. I believed that it was missing something and I couldn’t figure out what it was but after reevaluating the comments and looking back at the music video I believe I have improved it from the rough draft beforehand and am happier with the finished copy.
The rough draft can be seen here as well as the finished copy for comparison.
Miahamber Media Productions 