Learning Process

From this task I have learnt many things such as Bluetooth: I now know how to transfer a file from my mobile to the computer (and vice versa). Also it has allowed me to use final cut express in depth and I now feel confident that when it comes to editing my music video, I can do so easily.

When beginning our preliminary task I was oblivious to the fact that the lip syncing would be so difficult. Both Casey and Megan learnt the song before filming, which made the video look better as they did not need the lyrics in there hands. We also had to time when to start the song, when I should begin recording and when Casey should start singing. We played the song out loud on our mobile, this made editing easier as we could match the song we imputted to the lyp syning we recorded.

Overall, I think our video has good lip syncing but I feel we can still improve in that area.

Preliminary Task- 'Sorry mate'

This was a quick task to help us practice for our main music video and to insure the lip syncing looks convincing.



Enjoy!

Using Bluetooth!

Once we had finished editing our footage, we needed to transfer the song from our mobile (blackberry) to the computer so we could input it in our video, we did this transaction using ‘Bluetooth'. Once both the computer and blackberry Bluetooth’s were on, the next step was to pair up the devices and begin to send over the song.



Below is Casey and myself using the Bluetooth system:

Final Cut Express

Our school was privileged enough to have the latest editing software- Final Cut express. This is more advanced than iMovie and includes more editing styles which is an advantage for us as we can do much more to our music videos. However, this also means we must learn how to use the new software very quickly, the preliminary task helped us familiarise ourselves with what the software has to offer and allowed us to try out different things that we could later on include in our videos.

Below is Casey and myself using the Final cut express software:

An Answer + Lyrics

Great news, we just received an answer from Maxine letting us know we have permission to use her song for our music video, also a copy of the lyrics and a link to download the song:

Our next step is to begin planning and creating a basic outline for our video!

Analysis- 'Baby' by Justin Bieber

Mise-en-scene

The video begins with 'Justin' in a leisure park to set the scene of the video. The mise-on-scene is used to relate to the target audience (10+). He is dressed casual to highlight a relaxed and social mood. The location is moved to a bowling alley and the young girl is introduced. She is carrying a bowling ball and her friends are either on their mobiles or talking to one another. Justin is then joined with his group of friends in the bowling alley, this automatically shows the typical relationship of the boy (Justin) interested in the girl which makes it relatable to teens.

Cinematography

The video starts by showing a medium shot of 'Justin', then the camera does a 360 degree track around him. We then see a medium shot of Justin as he begins to sing which indicates he is the lead singer. The video is made up of quick shots to show the different events that are occurring.

Background research

His name is known by everyone around the globe but 'Justin bieber' began by posting videos of himself singing on ‘Youtube’. He shone into stardom when ‘Usher’ saw these videos and realised the talent Justin had. From then Usher became his manager and Justin has become a huge success worldwide. He’s video ‘Baby’ has currently got 339,610,521 views on Youtube and still counting! His image and music appeals to teenage girls and is now known as a 'teen sensation'.

Finding our SONG

When searching for our song we used the site 'wwww.unsigned.com', Here we found a song both me and Casey liked: 'Come on over' by Maxine Vauzelle. Keeping in mind the Copyright laws, our next step was to ask for permission, we did this by sending her an email, which stated:

Hopefully we hear from her soon!

Copyright law

Due to copyright laws, when looking for our song, we must only use unsigned artists who have given us permission to use their song. Below is direct quotes from 'The UK Copyright Service, Fact Sheet P-07: Music Copyright"

"Using the work of others
If you use samples of music by other authors in your work, ensure that you get permission to use the work before you attempt to publish or sell your work. Similarly, if you use loops or samples available via sample collections etc. ensure that these are licensed as free to use, or obtain permission first.

Obtaining permission
If you need to get permission to use a piece of music, normally the best place to start is with the last know publisher for the work. They will certainly know how to get permission to use the work, (as they must have permission themselves), so they will certainly know who you would need to contact."

This is the site I used to get the information:
http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p07_music_copyright

Purpose and Success Criteria

What is the Purpose of a Music Promo Video?



The first music video to be viewed on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. This led other artists to produce music videos for many reasons:

•Advertisement
•Draws attention to the music/song
•Illustrates the song
•Appeals to a visual audience
•Expresses an individual’s emotions
•Tells a Story
•Markets and image
•Promotes the artist/single/album
•Persuades audience to buy the CD or download
•Raises the audience awareness or profile of the artist/group
•To make an artistic statement e.g. “Once in a lifetime” by Talking Heads
•Product Placement e.g. Christina Aguillera advertised her new perfume in her video “not myself tonight”

How might we Measure the Success Criteria of a Music Promo Video?



Most viewing of music videos now appears to be online (YouTube) than TV channels like MTV. A way we can measure the success of a music video is through award shows e.g. VMA- Music Video Awards. Other ways we can do this is through:

•Sales of the song- downloads/ CDs sold
•Charts
•Word of mouth
•Newspaper articles/ TV reports
•How many times shown on TV- music channels
•Amount of Publicity

Analysis- 'Once in a lifetime' by Talking Heads

"Once in a lifetime" by Talking heads was a successful video as it used sophisticated technology in its time (80s). It is seen as a "piece of art" and is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The purpose of the video is supposed to be confusing, it baffles the audience which helped create a "buzz" around the video and gets people talking. The video became a huge success through word of mouth. David Byrne's performance in the video is very peculiar, the crazy dance moves are very different which help make the video extraordinary. The context is about being alienated by life, he is putting into question "is life just about money, cars and houses?". The mise-en-scene of the video is that he is dressed in a suit and bow tie, so when he begins his dance it is very unexpected and creates a contrast.