Wake Me Up Music Video rough cut

Rough cut is important to consider for the development of our music video as we gained a lot of feedback and critics from it. This allowed us to make changes when appropriate and to verify the parts that we did well.  It is important to consider audience feedback as it allows us to gain a relationship with our audience so that they have an input into what our music video contains and its ideas. Also, as our audience are expert in our genre, they can give good feedback on what the expect from a dance video and what they like and dislike about our music video. We could then edit it to suit their expectations. We also wanted another perspective on the video as after a long time of editing and making it, our opinions could be effected and probably biased. Therefore gaining opinions from our target audience has allowed us to gain some good knowledge.

We received feedback by the use of social networking site, Youtube which has millions of users and therefore we wouldn't be short of opinions. People simply commented underneath the video in the comments section giving us feedback and their opinion on our music video. We also conducted interviews where people watched the video and then we asked them questions about it. However, we made sure they were quite lose questions as we wanted our audience to speak flowingly about the video in detailed opinions. This would allow us to gain more from the task.

We received a variety of comments ranging from praise for the video to points at which our audience thought we needed to improve. One user commented on the editing, saying that we shouldn't use so many straight cuts. Therefore we added more of a variety of transitions such as a zoom shot and fades. Also our audience identified that there was not enough of a difference between the characters at the end, which relates to the concept of the video. Therefore we lowered the lighting of the poor character to represent how his life is going downhill, compared to his friend who had natural lighting relating to his happy, well-off lifestyle. From the interview, we received feedback from our target audience over a range of topics that our music video covers. One that was particularly focused on was the concept of our video, as this is something that we want to capitalise on by making it unique. However some critics said that the shots were too long so we went back and added shorter shots during the party.
Some of the comments we encountered included:

• 'I'd like to see more of a variety of transitions'
• 'I love this concept, very different!'
• 'Some shots seem to long when the characters are at the party'
• 'I love the entertainment value in this video'

Filming schedule

Filming schedules are very important in the procedure of making a video as they allow you to be organised and efficient with the meeting times and give a detailed idea into what is needed to be done for each shot. It allows the group to agree on a date and time (according to who is needed for that particular scene), the location where they must meet, the content of the shot and type of shot, the costumes needed for the characters in the shot, the iconography that is essential for the setting, the personnel that must attend and the equipment that must be provided in order to be able to get the perfect shot. 

Firstly we organised our schedule to film the party scene in our music video. This was the most important scene as it made up a large bulk of the video and we therefore needed to get a lot of high quality footage that we would later edit into the video. This went swimmingly well as we filmed it all at my birthday disco, making it the ideal opportunity to film realistic footage which would be portrayed so to the audience. We all attended the party and Amy filmed me and George in various shots as well as the party itself. The filming schedule was essential in the success here as it allowed us to get all the necessary equipment and costumes organised before going to the party. We didn't have to do much in terms of getting iconography as it was already there and was actually being used making it very realistic. For example the shot of the wine glasses was us improvising and it was very successful even though we didn't need to set it up. However, we did also spend time tweaking shots in order to gain the optimum outcome. For example we got a group of girls to bang their glasses together replicating a 'cheers'. We shot this from a high angle as it was interesting and different.

Our next scene was shot in London and the we worked well once again in an organised fashion. We followed the schedule in terms of content and managed to get the required shots. However, we ending up staying a lot longer than planned and this was the biggest downfall of the filming overall. We ending up staying 2 hours later as it took us a lot longer to find the correct setting for the scene than we predicted. We knew we wanted to do it on the London Embankment, however we did not specify exactly where we would go so we had to improvise. Also the weather conditions changed slightly as we were late on schedule to film, giving our scene a slightly darker lighting than we wanted. We did however come back with a lot of good footage that we could use in the music video and therefore we didn't have to re-film any of it, allowing us to spend the required time editing the footage. 

Our last scene was of the two characters houses. As there was no one disturbing us at either of the locations this was the easiest to film and we did it quickly and efficiently. This is because we were very familiar with the houses (as they we ours) and therefore could plan exactly how we wanted the scenes to pan out. We did this in detail before hand and then went to the houses and carried out exactly what we planned without having to improvise or change anything.

This filming schedule was essential to us in creating this music video as it allowed us to make a detailed plan of what we wanted to do at each location before going there. This organisation meant that we always filmed the right shots and didn't have to go back and re film any of it. We were all able to communicate well through this as everyone could say when they were free to participate and we could agree on dates and times. The only disappointment from this is that we didn't plan the London scene thoroughly enough resulting in us wasting time in finding the perfect location. Overall however, I was extremely please with the way our grouped organised ourselves and it resulted in us gaining optimum time to edit all the footage and this was thanks to the filming schedule organising us completely. 

Final Music Video-Infinity

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Planning lighting and colour

Lighting and colours are important within a music video as they are used to provoke a certain emotion or create a certain effect on the audience so that they can relate to it and it is entertaining. Colour filters can be used to create a certain scene. This can be to show a scene from a certain date i.e. a smoky scene for a 60's scene. Also it can show the emotions that the artist is feeling. For example having a red filter shows that the character or artist is angry. This can relate to the lyrics, as it shows that they are angry about what they are talking about. The lighting can also represent emotions of the artists or if it is a performance-based then video it can represent what is happening in a scene. For example high-key lighting can show a happy scene in a park.

The colors we are aiming to use throughout the music video vary. Colors within the London scenes will simply this creates a more genuine effect which the audience can relate to as London is a very recognisable place due to the famous landmarks. We will also use colors during the party scene such as a green a pink flashing filter as these are the colors which our infinity symbol has and they will enhance the party scene experience for the audience. These are also bright, fun colors which would have a positive effect on the audience. These colors are often not seen in the dance genre and are therefore unconventional. However as the are unique, the audience will be able to recognise our own colors representing our artist. This will create awareness for Infinity. 

The first style of lighting we will include is natural lighting. We will use this style of lighting when our characters are waking up in London and finding their way home. This is so the setting looks realistic as they are waking up in the morning and we will film this scene at that time. This also contrasts to the pitch black scene party scene representing a good and bad place. The audience will be able to capture our story line due to this as the difference in light in the settings shows how the characters are waking up after the night before. Natural lighting of the sun rising will inform the audience that it is morning and the boys are waking up from falling asleep in the city. This lighting is not conventional to the dance genre as usually low key lighting is constantly used to represent the club scene throughout or artificial lighting such as lasers. Therefore we will be challenging these conventions slightly by using this type of lighting. However, it must be used to show our narrative. 

Another style of lighting that we will use will be low-key lighting. We are using this style of lighting as it portrays the party scene which will be the main bulk of the music video. This will therefore allow us to follow conventions of the dance genre as low key lighting represents the party scene as it creates a more vibrate, intimate atmosphere for the people involved. This will show friends socially enjoying themselves, which the audience will relate to. This will also connect the audience with the artists as they will see them enjoying themselves and want to do the same. Also it will be be more personal to the audience as they can relate to the artist. This will help to build a relationship between the two, which is good as it the artists are new and have to build a relationship in order to be successful. We will also use low key lighting at the end of the music video when the two characters split to go to their homes. The character who lives in a dirty, empty council flat (Me) will have the dark lighting. This will represent the life that this character has with no responsibility such as a family or ambitions such as a job. We will do this by darkening the contrast on Final Cut Express. This contrasts with the other character George, who has a big house, family and job. He has high-key lighting to show this positive lifestyle. Therefore the lighting will help build our concept that family and a job is more important than purely partying and having a good time. Although this low key lighting is unconventional as it is usually used for an enjoyable party scene, it still indicates our concept massively and allows the audience to understand the meaning behind the lyrics and visuals. We also want the audience to feel sorry for my character as I have nothing in terms of family and a job. 

Question 1

We were asked to make a music video for our coursework using a song made already by an artist but with everything else different. We were told that we should all adopt roles and work together in order to create a video where we all contributed. We had to decide on a genre and within my group make an original and creative music video and two ancillary products to accompany it. We were allowed to use any song of our choice, however we had to inform the record company that we were using their song to avoid committing copyright crimes. The ancillaries were created in the form of a magazine poster and a digipak. This allowed us to present a more informative and well rounded music video which would give the audience extra knowledge. These different technologies meant that we could do this effectively. The song that we chose to use for our music video was Wake Me Up by Avicci. We chose to use this song as we felt that we could relate to the song as we are teenagers and this genre and target audience is us. Therefore we would be able to make a video that could relate to our audience better. This is because of the message that this song portrays; that teenagers face life changing decisions during this period and the stress and expectation place on them by society. If they are led to giving up and failing then a possibility is that they could end up with no job and being disowned by their family. The song’s lyrics “wake me up when it’s all over, when I’m wiser and I’m older” I can understand that teenagers do not want to have to make the choice, they want to stay a carefree teenager, enjoying themselves. From the song my group and I have been able to replicate this concept and we hope that we have shown a unique way to highlight and identify it. Our way of showing it was by presenting two friends who enjoy a night out partying (conventional to teenagers) and one goes back to their house, family and job and the other goes back to a council flat and has no family or job. As a group we are trying to promote our teenage audience to have a good time partying, however we also highlight to the audience the importance of taking education and career prospects seriously as these are the consequences that could occur if you dont. 


 A music video is a visual piece of entertainment combined with sound creating a link between the two for the audience to gain a full understanding of its concept. The conventions of a dance music video (which we did) include a mainly performance based video, with its aim to entertain the audience. Also there are often strobe lighting effects and a party atmosphere is a main theme presented throughout and it is aimed at 16-30 year old's. The stereotypical target audience for a dance genre song would be 16-30 years old's. As this is the age group which have least worries within society and they still should a have a stable family home to go home to if they are still living with their parents. The target audience my group and I have chosen to use for our music video will be age 16-25, as we feel the message of the song will be able to be best understood by this age group as this is the age group who do not know much about what they want to do in life, whether they want to go to university or start a job. I think that the song explains the different pathways that can be taken by the different types of teenagers, whether they chose to follow the media stereotypes or not.

 The dance genre usually focuses on giving positive vibes and makes the audience feel happy rather than explaining a concept which has a serious meaning behind it. Therefore many handheld and point of view shots are often used to make the audience feel like they are part of the scene and that they are partying with their idol. We followed these conventions in numerous ways when creating our music video. For the main duration of the video we used a party scene with many strobe lighting effects and items that are often seen at parties such as alcohol glasses. Therefore the lighting was very dark also so that the strobe lighting would have more of an affect. Our chosen artist, Avicii uses his logo in many of his videos and on album covers etc. 
We followed this idea by making our own logo for our CD covers. We also followed the genre by showing the artists throughout being the main character. Avicii does this in many of his videos where you can see him performing. And because these are new artists we did this intentionally so that our audience could build a relationship with them by seeing their characters and relating to them. We also followed the dance genre by our use of cinematography. We used a conventional setting being a club (although Avicii appears at his gigs in most of his music videos). The iconography was also very similar to a dance themed music video as we displayed alcohol, party clothing, a DJ, and glow sticks. These all are displayed in the club scene amongst teenagers making it relatable to our target audience resulting in them being more interested. The lighting was all mainly low key with flashing strobe lighting to replicate the club scene. The high key lighting then contrasts with this when the characters wake up to show that they are no longer at the party, representing a good scenario from a bad scenario. This follows the genre as these forms of lighting are often used for certain representations in dance music videos.  Overall, we focused on entertaining the audience as this is a theme that we massively followed from our genre, dance.

 We challenged the conventions of a dance music video by making it mainly a concept video. This is so it would be unique and have more of an impact on the audience. Our concept was that partying shouldn’t take over your life and that family is more important. We also didn’t include much of a performance element as we wanted our fans to get to know the artists more as they are new artists, which relates to Dyers theory. Overall our music video therefore challenges the dance music genre as we have used a concept as the main theme instead of entertaining, which most dance music videos do.

question 4

http://prezi.com/6rzgfn7iwvvp/our-ancillary-products-have-come-out-very-successful-overall/#

Question 2

http://prezi.com/_ry6ctoow6s4/firstly-we-were-asked-to-create-a-questionnaire-for-audience/