Analysing a music video...

Ed Sheeran - The A Team

The music video is unlike the norm to which we are exposed to. The video is shot entirely in black and white and is almost a 100% narrative with a short, two second shot featuring the artist, Ed Sheeran, himself. And even then, in the shot he isn't the main focus. And no lip-singing is seen.

The video is unique and really helps the audience understand the nature of the song.In class, 3/5 students had heard the song before without seeing the video and no one, including myself, actually understood the song was about hardship of living on the streets, prostitution and drugs. After watching the video, we all felt somewhat more intrigued about the song and artist. 

Year 13!!!

Yay. Media AS is OVER. Exam went well - I hope - and now on to Media A2...

MUSIC VIDEOS.



EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

We learnt a lot since completing our preliminary task. We learnt how to perfect camera angles and ended up using many of them in our opening sequence. However, we experimented and managed to use these shots in more complex ways. For example, when filming the interior shots - shown in the first still from our film opening - the space we had to get our shot was very limited. But in the end, with the knowledge we learnt from our preliminary task and using team work, we got the great shots we needed for our film opening.

We used a large variation in shots in both our opening sequence and preliminary task. Including, shot reverse shot, match on action, extreme close up and even kept the 180 degree rule.

In our opening sequence we use a lot of jump cuts. We filmed Katlyn standing in spooky locations and then filmed the Devil in the exact same place, same location but in his separate shot. We did this so it looked like the Devil is chasing Katlyn, controlling her thoughts. In each shot, both the Devil and Katlyn get closer and closer to the camera and as we see the final close up shot of Katlyn, she looks possessed and most importantly scared which again adds emphasis that she is being chased by the Devil. To this shot we added a special effect which made the characters appear even more dark and evil.

In both our preliminary task and our opening sequence Agnes acted in both, therefore she had less to do with the actual filming but however she had a lot of say in the conversation of which shots we were to use. Jo had a high contribution to film both our filming tasks. Moe wasn't in our group during our preliminary task, however, he really shone through when we were planning our movie and researching other movies. All together, everyone in our group worked very hard as a team and we managed to create a solid piece.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 Over the time period of filming our opening sequence I learnt to understand and work many different and new technologies...

1 - MAC - We used the MAC to upload and edit our movie. We also used it to design our own music and record voices. It was also used for a lot of our research on the Internet.

2 - TRIPOD - We used the tripod in almost every shot in our opening sequence. We used it to maintain perfect height and to steady the camera whilst filming.

3 - MIC - The mic was used to record whispering which was played over the beginning of our sequence. It was perfect for picking up only the voices we needed.

4 - CAMERA - We learnt how to record and play back our shots. Once we were convinced we had shot what we needed we plugged the camera with our tape inside into the MAC and downloaded our recordings.

We used many programmes on the MAC. They included...

 iMovie -

This is the software we downloaded our filming to and used to edit and put together our shots. It was hard at first to understand how to use the programme to its fullest, but once we figured out the basics we continued to make a great opening sequence with great special effects.

Garageband -

We used Garageband to record special voice overs for our opening sequence such as whispering and screaming. We also used Garageband to create our own music to upload to our credits.

iTunes -

After completing our own music in Garageband, we had to import it into iTunes to be able to apply it to our movie.

 

 Google -

Google helped us a lot with our research. We searched horror movies just like ours, typical conventions of the Devil, colours associated with horror and much more.

                                  IMDb -

We used the site IMDb to find out information about the inspiration to our main character, Katlyn. It supplied us with pictures and information about the main character from 'The Ring'.

Youtube -

We used Youtube to research opening sequences to movies to find inspiration for the way we wanted our credits set out. We also used it to watch videos for inspiration on our characters and settings.

                                   Blogger -

This current site, Blogger, has been used to record our research and upload updates requiring our opening sequence.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

The setting of the first scene in our opening sequence takes place in a teenage girls room. On the back wall are pictures of Katlyn, our main character shown above, with her friends, like any teenage girl would. This targets our audience of 16-25 year olds. Katlyn is a typical teenage girl who is aged 16 years old. This gives a sense of reality as the most likely age group watching the movie is around her age. We got this information from our questionnaires which said that this was the age group who are most interested in watching horror or thriller movies. In this clip from our opening sequence, Katlyn is seen wearing a white robe. Our inspiration for this costume came from the movie 'The Ring' and the main character Samara.

As our opening sequence moves on, and the credits beginning to roll we see Kayln living her normal, teenage life. Above, she is seen walking to school. She shows typical conventions of a teenager. For example the way she is dressed. Even as the credits roll, an upbeat piece of music plays over the clips which is usually listened to by the age group 16 - 25 year olds. We specifically chose an upbeat sound to play here so we relax our audience right before we shock. Our inspiration for this clip came from the opening sequence to 'The House of the Devil'.

Our class mates wrote evaluations after viewing the opening sequence to our film '666'. The main feedback we received was that our opening sequence was confusing. However, many popular horror and thriller movies receive reviews saying that the movie was a little confusing. However, these movies are usually are the ones which really make the audience think and use their imagination. A few of these movies include; 'Night of the Living Dead', 'The Exocist' and 'The Shining'.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4 - Who would be your target audience for your media product?

Rachel is our target audience. Rachel is a typical teenage girl. She loves to have her friends round on Saturday's for a movie night. Her favorite TV shows are Vampire Diaries, Misfits and The
Inbetweeners. She loves the thrill that comes with watching Vampire Diaries, but also loves the comedy aspect that comes with watching The Inbetweeners. Rachel has an Odeon card and loves going to see the latest movie releases. She loves movies which make her think and really gets her brain going.

Rachel would go see the movie '666' because it will keep her on the edge of her seat and give her the thrill she craves when watching movie and TV programmes. It will also make her think about what shes watching and really keep her interested.

In the opening 2 minutes of our movie there are scenes referring to murder and blood. As the movie would continue on the audience would be revealed to more violence and horror. Therefore our movie would be a certificate 15.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3 - What kind of media inatitution might distribute your media product and why?

Horror and thriller movies are extremely popular in the world of cinema. Movie goers love the thrill they get from watching these movie genres. We see a lot of horror movies around Halloween, however, they are popular all year round. Horror movies are widely loved, Sky even have a whole channel dedicated to this genre called Sky Movies Sci fi and Horror. Horror movies which have been shown on this channel include, Jennifer's Body, The Silence of the Lambs and Paranormal Activity.

Horror movies are also very popular at small film festivals. In the UK, the biggest film festival dedicated to the genre horror is the Film4 Frightfest. Now in its twelfth year, the five day festival is packed with premiers, previews and much more.

Currently, there are a lot of thriller films showing at my local cinema Some of these include, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, Unstoppable and The American.