evaluation 4 (unfinished)

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I put together this collage to show the icons of the websites and programs and equipment that I have used over the course of the project. 

We used Prezi to create a couple of presentations during this project, including the presentation for our initial music video pitch. This website was useful for creating suave and interactive pitches, and offers something different compared to normal presentation features such as 'paths'.

Google was a useful website during the research stages of our project as it allowed us to search for other websites such as the Atlantic Records website and Island records.

Photoshop was a vital tool in our process as a key program due to using it to add all the text and effects on the images for our digipak and the magazine advert.

Blogger was obviously a key website for us, as this is where our progress was tracked and all our tasks can be found at different stages of completion. Without Blogger it would be impossible to track our progress and there would be no forum to post our work.

Twitter is a website which became the spine for our market research Matthew used it to post the final cut of our video to his followers followers and request feedback via Youtube comments.This was then echoed via the use of my tumblr account to gage a wider response . This was a useful method to reach a large audience as many tweeters are active web users and are likely to have access to YouTube so they could comment.

 Youtube then became very useful as it was used it to upload rough cuts of our video and other key videos such as our director's commentaries. Youtube is popular due to its high quality streaming which is why we chose to use it, and the comments section allowed us to recieve easy and direct feedback.

Finally, the key program we used throughout this project was Final Cut Express. This program was essential for editing videos and we used it to create our rough cuts, our final cuts, our director's commentaries, and our audience feedback videos. All the effects visible in our final cut such as the earthquake effect and defocus effect, were added to clips via Final Cut Express.

The mac above was the source of the editing programs we used; Photoshop for our pictures, and Final Cut Express for our videos, including our actual final piece. It was a privelege to have such efficient software and equipment provided by our college.

We used a light reflector for some of our shots in order to improve the lighting and direct it in a specific way. The main scene we used this in was the scene of Josh rapping in his bedroom, as we directed the shine from the ceiling light onto his face for better effect.

The tripod was vital as it allowed us to get steady, professional looking shots, especially in the music booth, which is where we used it most, with handheld shots being appropriate for much of the rest of our video.

The dolly was not used much in our video, however it proved useful for the shot of Josh taking out his iPod in his house as he walked towards the camera, we were then able to do a great front on tracking shot. Using the dolly and tripod together meant that our shot could remain steady but also enabled camera movement.

The most important piece of equipment was the camera of course! We used a Canon HD video camera in order to record all of our shots, which we then uploaded to the Mac via usb, before log and transferring the footage into Final Cut Express. This piece of equipment was irreplacable and vital to our success. The camera was good because it was hand held with great focus, meaning it was easy to manouvere during quick take shots, and also the detachable piece of plastic seen on the bottom allowed the camera to be attached to a tripod when necessary. We also took pictures for our digipak on this camera, using the photo function. This gave the pictures a great definition, and were great quality compared to what most digital cameras are capable of.

video latest edit

this is our video after taking into account the feedback from the primary audience and with new footage to try and hit the new objectives.

narrative shoot

we decided to add a fresh sequence into our music video after the general consensus was that the scene in the booth was repetitive. Our response was to use one of the initial sequences from the planning part of the project which was 'the streets'. With artists such as Devlin and Wretch 32 developing there style from street video were they rap and interact with the camera we decided to mimic this.

feedback : music video

The audience who reviewed our rough cut of 'I'm 17' gave some valuable criticisms and some feedback about the sequence. The general response was that the main artist has good mise-en-scene as the costume and general presentation accurately represent the steroetype of a teenage boy. One criticism was that the lighting in the bedroom can cast too much shaddow on the artist's neck and parts of the face. We will look to address this by using a light  relfector if a re-shoot is done so that the light is not concentrated around the face and is more evenly distributed.

The camera angles in general had good reception as we used a range of shot including the over the shoulder low angle and high angle. The audience were particularly  impressed by the camera shock as we successfully managed to get the angle almost head on without capturing the camera in the mirror. One of the criticisms of the camera work was that the zoom were not taken out with the editing so that will have to be addressed in the final cut.

The performance  may reqiure some altering as some of the footage lacked energy and camera interaction. One of the suggestions was that a second performer could be added to create a different dimension and add to the performance part of the video. The feedback has all been taken into account and will be addressed in the next cut of the video so improve th final product.

video first draft

test shoot

on the 17/10/11 we plan to do a test shoot in two of our initial locations which is the school sixth form and the recording studio. We plan to run through the schedule to see work out how to set up for final shoot checking what camera angles work in the space given and if any lighting needs to altered. Shooting in the sixth form common room could cause some problems as we will have to consider who is on the location and could they disturb the shots. To make sure that all internal problems are avoided all equipment will be prepared before hand such as making sure the camera is charged and the lip sync track is available to be played on set.

Media Music Video Pitch

View more presentations from mananvekaria

video analysis

 This music video is an example of creating the illusion of many locations simply by adding and removing props to follow the lyrical narrative without taking away focus. The video features the main and supporting artist snoop dogg and pharrell williams and a number of "hip hop honeys" which is only to expected as the genre is rap.

This shot shows a close up of snoop but you cannot see his eyes so this draws focus onto him and you can see the rings on his hang which purposely shows his money and swagger . This adds to his mystique as the non-diagetic sound of the slow track perfectly fits the concept of him being a gangster.

 the second shot i have selected shows him doing the crip walk which is also associated with the hip hop scene. his slow dance is accompanied by the intro of the first lyrics which is simply a vowel sound. This shot almost announces his introduction to the track as we get more of a favour of the artist .

in this clip snoop is accompanied by the traditional sexualised women in very little clothing as the chorus kicks in. his slow movement is mirrored  by the background dancers to reflect the lyrics which are "park it like its hot" while they all do a slow wheel movement. This shows the coolness of the video and track as the slow beat and lyric speed is not over shot by excessive dance moves or flashy effects.

By this shot we have introduced to Pharrell and a number of expensive objects and we see the Bentley  which perfectly fits in with the mise-en-scene of the genre as we see rapper accompanied by attractive women and grand objects and showing little interest in either as he lays down his lyrics and plays it cool. This medium shots allows the focus to be split between the artist and the car to engage the target audience.

 This extreme close up of money further plays to the stereotype of hip hop videos as we have now been given the ingredients of cars girls and money. This simplicity of this extreme of close up of money being dropped on the table suggests possible illegal activity and the song itself refers to how behave if ever caught by the police in a suspicious situation.


This is clearly a concept video as there is no straight line narrative in either the audio or visual timeline and we see only the artists and a number of different items such as cars money and women which brings to the conclusion that the concept of the video is the stereotypical life of a gangster.