Music Video

Dear Examiner,

Please find my final copy of my music video to Ellie Goulding's song 'How Long Will I Love You' below:

Ancillary Text - Website

Below is the link to a website I have made to promote my artist - Ellie Goulding and my music video for 'How Long Will I Love You'

http://bethany-hutson.wix.com/bha2ancillary

Ancillary Text - DVD Cover

This is my DVD cover for the realesase of my new media music video.

Evaluation Question 1

 In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

Below is a copy of a directors commentary to answer question 1:
 

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Please find a pod cast I have posted below to answer question 2 of my evaluation stage:

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To answert this question I have created a series of 7 question which I have asked a focus group to answer whilst watching my final media production. The questions were based around the effects the video had on its audience and their interpretations of what they saw: 

1. How well do you think the song fitted with the narrative? 
2. What do you think the message if the music video was? How did you interpret the video? 
3. How clearly was the message conveyed? 
4. Do you think the use of characters and location fitted well with the narrative? Why? Why not? 
5. Do you think the genre of music video (storyline) suited the song? (other genres: conceptual, dance, performance, animated/ special effects) 
6. Where would you expect to see this music video? (TV, online, cinema) 7. What other types of media would associate this music video to? 

I have also added some of these questions to a poll on my blog to allow me to get some auience feedback, please see the results of these bellow:
 

Below is the feedback I got from my evaluation questions: 

1.Very fitted and the symbolism bought the metaphor to life
Fits well with: key lyrics, tempo, emotion
Effective alternative to the original interpretation and music video
Relatable: adult to childhood
Emotive image connected well to the video
The song fitted with the clip and along with the visual image helped to convey the meaning of the song

2.How long love lasts despite death being a barrier
Reflective and reminiscence of the past, heartache and loss
Someone grieving for something they lost
Answers the key lyrics “How Long Will I Love You”
A mother’s love is never ending
Love is precious and easily lost but not forgotten

3.Imagery was used effectively to convey meaning but more aspects were left to audience interpretation
Message conveyed very clearly
It showed the development of their relationship

4.Yes – playing in the park loving and intimate – contrasts with death at the end, showing that love will endure
The use of key location and props strengthen the characters and their relationship to age of the characters was also key
Relatable settings character and key points making it personal, emotive and more powerful
It was a professional style of shooting and very realistic
It showed big important events that helped to create the relationship and love

5.The song told a story and painted a picture which the video reflected successfully
Suited very well

6.Online video website (YouTube)
Music channel – The Box/VHI
Artists own online site
Could be part of a film about a boy and a mother

7. Q Magazine
E4
Film 4
The Box/VHI
Website
Cinema
Music Channel 

Evaluation Question 4

To answer question 4 I have created a presentation to show the different types of technology I have used throughout my production and also recorded a pod cast to explain in detail how I have used those technologies and how they have helped me in my process. Please find both below:

DVD cover research

I have annotated a DVD case to see what basic conventions they have. The cover I have annotated has many similar conventions to other DVDs I looked at.

DVD cover research

For my second ancillary product I have chosen to make a DVD cover for my music video. I have researched some existing products to see the kind of things I should include on my own DVD cover. I looked at a variety of DVD cover images on Google and found that they all had very similar things in common. 

• Many of the DVDs include a variety of Videos for a whole album
• They all include a photo that either links to the band/artist or the album/songs
• Most have an age rating attached though a few don't
• A bar code 
• Some logos for companies/bands/advertisement
• Information about the production (director/editor etc)
  
  
  
  

  

DVD Cover

My original idea for my DVD cover was to have a picture of a young hand holding an older (signifying the young boy who's grown up and his young child). I also wanted to include the symbol of stars that runs right through my music video however, I couldn't think of a suitable picture that would include all aspects I wanted. I therefore changed my mind and decided to base my DVD cover around stars and fairy light as both images appear in my music video.

I cut out some paper stars and stuck them to string, I then hung them on my washing line at night and hung fairy lights behind them. I put a sheet behind to block any background objects. I then took a variety of photos from different angles so I could chose the best one to edit.

I changed the picture to black and white, which also complimented the theme that runs through my music video. I then blurred the vary lights even more (I had already manually changed the depth of focus slightly when taking the photo) and sharpened some of the colours and contrasts.

Below is the original photo compared with my finished one:

Reaserchning Existing Websites

For my ancillary text I have decided to do a website for my artist as one of my tasks. In order to get a template of the structure and personality of my website I have looked into existing products. Websites I have looked into are Birdy's, Lily Allen's and Passenger's. I haven't yet looked at Ellie Goulding as I didn't want to get influenced by her website and be tempted to copy some aspect; I'm ensuring my website will be all of my own, original ideas. I may look at her website at a later date to help me get information about her career and current life however, I will ensure all my deign elements of my website are complete first.

Things I liked:


-Hyperlinks to the artist social networking site and advertisement areas (sound cloud, Twitter, YouTube channels)
- Navigation bars that include extra bits about the artists life (merchandise store, videos, discography)
- A 'News' section keeping their fans and readers up-to-date with their lives
- Links to the artists new releases and music videos - encouraging downloads (typically off iTunes) and keeping fans current
- 'Subscribe' links allowing fans to get further in sites if they wish
- A quirky and personalised aesthetic to the web page to ensure the site is special to the artist and creates an appropriate feel (often linked to the newly released album cover from the artist)


Birdy - http://officialbirdy.com/
Lily Allen - http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/
Passenger - http://passengermusic.com/



Cast and Location

Character:

My music video is based around 3 main characters (a daughter, her dad, and his mum) however, it shows different stages of the three character's lives and therefore, I have had to use a range of cast members for my music video.

For my mum I am using Ellie Bunce, she is a high grade, a level, drama student with much experience in acting. She is also an a level media student, this will be helpful when filming as she will understand the pressure of creating your own production and therefore cooperate well.

For the young son I will be using a doll, I decided this would be the best option as it may be hard to keep retaking shots with a very young baby without upsetting him.

The young toddler will be played by Daniel Hutson, a 3 year old, who like Ellie has blonde hair and blue eyes, therefore making the relationship aesthetically believable. I will also be using Daniel for the older school child, I will make him look older by changing his costume and shooting in such a way that you can't see his feature in detail.

I haven't yet decided who I will use for the adult boy, I will most likely chose once I've started the rough edit so it's clear what sort of character I am looking for.

The young daughter (child of the grown up son) will also be played by Daniel Hutson however his costume and once again the filming, will allude that he is a girl.

Location:

I will be using my own bedroom as the setting for the small baby's bedroom as it is white and therefore will have very pure connotations

Daniel's bedroom will be used for the shot of the toddler as it already has the right aesthetics for a child of his age

Woodstock CofE primary school will be used for the school shots

A local park, church will be used for the other shots

Seeking Permission From The Record Company

I sent a letter to Polydor Record Label to seek permission to use Ellie Goulding's 'How Long Will I Love You'. Below is a copy of the letter I sent.

After sending this letter on the date stated in the above screen shot I have no recieved a reply and so I am using the track anyway. 

Preperation For Filming

Before filming I broke down what I wanted to catch on camera to make sure I got all shots that I wanted and ensure I was organised during the shooting to ensure it went smoothly. Below are copies of my 'Scene Breakdown' and my 'Shot List'.

Poll Results

I have created a poll to see what genre of music video people think my song will fit best. Below are the results:

From the results I can see that a Storyline genre is clearly the most popular genre to use (70%). The 2nd most popular was Dance at 35% and 3rd Performance at 29%.

I asked a class of media studies students aged 16-18 to vote on my poll. This groups fits inside my target audience for the song. My audiences were informed about a previous post I had posted that they could use to help them chose there answer. The post outlined what each music video genre was. (http://bethanyhutsona2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/music-video-genres.html)

• I think conceptual scored the least amount of votes dues to it's quirky nature. I think a song with a slightly unclear message and more of a feel-good song. This type of video would be unconventional with less of a message. 
• The second choice (special effects) is likely to be to have a low score for similar reasons as conceptual. Special effects videos are often quite abstract and don't follow a particular path. This type of video wouldn't have fit well with a mainstream song.
• An animation video also scored low however, I believe that this type of video could have fitted well with the song. A story could have been told through the animation however, it may have given it a slightly less serious feel to the song, something I don't think would have worked with the approach I wanted.
• A performance video would have worked however, for my a-level project lip syncing and finding the appropriate cast that would have fitted that place of the artist may have been hard. Also, finding sufficient shots for the video would have had obstacles. Therefore, whilst this would have worked for the song as a whole, for my a-levels it may have lowered the standard of my video.
• The second highest score was for a dance video. I believe that this should have scored slightly higher as many successful dance videos are up-beat with a fast tempo to create a feel-good factor and I believe this song is perhaps a bit too slow. However, with the right effort, a slower dance could have been made successful.
• Storyline, the genre of music video that I chose to use for my project, scored the best. I think this genre fits most suitably because the lyrics allow for many different interpretations of the song and therefore by creating a storyline music video you can easily show your interpretation.

Storboard

After organising and expanding my ideas I started to create my storyboard. I used post-it notes so that I could re-arrange my shots if i decided a different order would be more effective whilst drawing. Below is a basic idea of my shots and the order, i may add in some shots to make scenes more effective or to lengthen the video but below are the foundations of my music video:

Music Video Idea

When listening to 'How Long Will I Love You' I started to think for some ideas for my music video. I had the idea that I would show the journey of a single mum bringing up her first baby on her own. I thought about showing the significant stages in life (walking, talking, school, graduation, marriage etc.) at the end I was going to show the death of the mum and the child's heart ache. The song lyrics would reflect the video: 'how long will I love you/as long as the stars are above you', showing that the son would always need his mum.

When talking to Mr Buckmaster he told me to revaluate doing it in a linear fashion and so I changed a few of my initials ideas but I have kept with the basic idea of showing the relationship between a single mum and her son and their dependency on each other.

 

·      I will start my video with the death of the mum, and then tell the story of how it gets to that shot through the music video. I had the idea of have a shot of the mum's eyes closed and then a perspective shot of the baby opening his eyes to see his mother standing above him.

·      I am then going to have shots mirroring each other. The video will show the journey of the boy growing up and the journey of the mum getting ill and dying. It will show the mum helping the boy learn things and grow up and then the boy helping his mum when she is ill; i.e. the mum feeding the boy and then the boy helping his mum eat. This will reflect that they both need each other as much as the other

·       At the end I wanted to show the boy revisiting a significant place for him as and his mum, which will be seen earlier on in the video, and have a shot of him there looking sad and then his own daughter and family running towards him, signifying that the story has already started over again.

Below is an example of a shot I am thinking of using:

Song Choice

After deciding that I wanted to create a hard hitting music video I started to look at different genres and artists; I then started to narrow down what style of music I wanted to use. I decided I didn't want anything with overpowering instrumentals, I felt that by choosing a track with only one or two instruments in the background it would take the focus away from the music and the audience would concentrate more on the lyrics which will help to convey the message.

When listening to the tracks on YouTube I also made sure I didn't look at the videos because I wanted to make sure I interpreted the songs in my own way and wasn't influenced by the artists video; this has resulted in me taking a different approach to the song I have chosen compared to the artist.

To try to find my song I searched for 'controversial songs' and 'songs with a message'; although it came up with some suggestions the only result that I found useful was the VMA best social message nominees. 'Same Love' by Macklemore would have been a perfect example of controversial song with a hard impact on it's audience however, I have already seen the video many times and I would have been influenced too much by the original music video when planning my own production.

I then asked people in my class if they had any recomendations for songs I could use. This resulted in me listening to songs such as Daughter by 'Medicine', The Temper Trap 'Rabbit Hole' and concrete gold wu lyf. whilst all these songs had a sad feel to them wehn listening I couldn't imagine a video that had the right feel to compliment the songs.

Finally, Mr Buckmaster told me to look at the song Ellie Goulding sang for Children In Need 2013; 'How Long Will I Love You'. I listended to the song twice in a row and immediately I began to imagine the kind of music video I could create to go with the song. After brainstorming I told Mr Buckmaster and we both developed my idea and he helped me to expand on what I was thinking of. This is the song I have chosen to use for my production.

Looking into Similar Products

After deciding I wanted to shoot a video that was a bit more true to life and more about the harsh reality of the society we live in I decided to start looking at music videos with similar story lines. Not only would these videos give me ideas for shooting styles and themes for my own video but they may also lead to to artists who produce music with the right feel that I'm looking for.

The first video I looked at was 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. It follows the life of a homeless female that turns to prostituion to make money; when she gets the money she then spends it on drugs leading her into a downwards spiral. The video starts with a young girl crying over a dead body the end is poignaint because the audience realise that the girl lying on the floor at the begining, dead is the girl we follow through the video and it is her spirit that is looking over the body after she dies of a drug overdose.

Another song I looked at was You're Too Young by Lucy Spraggan. The song is about a young girl who takes the wrong path in life, getting kicked out of shcool, involved in crime and getting into a relationship with a 'bad boy' who is into drugs and has many relationships at one time. The song is about the journey to her death after she gets into a fight with another female and ends up getting stabbed by her. The girl that stabs her is actually her dates girlfriend. The video visits the harsh reality of choosing the wrong path in life.  

Shooting Styles

At the weekend I saw the Sainsburys 2013 Christmas advert; 'Christmas in a Day' The advert, like the music videos I have been watching, had a big emotional impact on it's audience. The advert was directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald.He created a 45 minute festive film for Sainsbury's to be released on YouTube week comensing 18.11.13. Macdonald collected various christmas home videos from across the UK and collated them to create a short film - he also created a 3 minute teaser advert before the film was released.

The 3 minute teaser includes emotive footage; including, a man eating Christmas dinner alone and a dad coming home from Afgahnistan to surprise his children on Christmas day. This realtes to the theme I want for my music video becuase it has a hard hitting, realistic, emotional impact on the audience.
 

It wasn't just the theme and the impact of the advert that attracted me but also the style, I like that they were home videos included in the filming and clearly not set up situations; this gave it a much more realistic feel increasing the emotional impact.
Read more: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-sainsburys-christmas-day-will-bring-tears-your-eyes-153935