Shooting Plans

So after extensive discussion with my teacher, I have decided to make a narrative music video as it includes many elements which help in signifying the theme/themes more effectively to the audience. Also, the problem when making a performance video is that it only attracts attention if the band being shot is really famous. Furthermore, the audience of a performance video is niche compared to a narrative one, which is more widely viewed when compared.

Now that the problem is resolved, I have finally decided to start work on this project immediately, which is why I have set certain dates, and have noted certain requirements to ensure my music video's success.

I plan to shoot in the middle of October, probably after the 15th. And the reason is because, the weather will be more stable. And it will be more sunny to provide natural lighting for my music video, which I have decided to use as well, other than artificial lighting. Later on, after I have finalised my script, I shall put up a copy of my Shooting Plan so that I am all organised and set beforehand, so as to avoid time wastage.

Album Art- the codes and conventions involved

Okay so after researching a bit, here are the codes and conventions I came across:

1- The album art is supposed to represent the main theme/song of the album (for example Linkin Park's- a thousand suns) or the band effectively.


Here is Linkin Park- A Thousand Suns' album cover:

And here is the album cover's backside:

2- It's aim is to draw the target audience' attention by employing techniques like vibrant colors or text which will manage to address them.

3- It is meant to establish the album and artist/artists' name, along with their produced style or genre of music.

4-It should have persuasive elements like a promotional offer to attract the audience to a greater extent.

5- It should be creative in approach using imagery through text and a few artistic elements.

6- Lyrics should be included on the album's back cover along with other necessities like price, band name, list of songs in the album, genre, etc.

Here is the Linkin Park-A Thousand Sun's CD:

*Note: All these pictures have been picked from Google whose rights are therefore reserved on them.

Okay so I decided to make a survey on a website-surveymonkey.com which is user-friendly and more reliable for making a professional survey, as it provides tips and tutorials as well. I can send the link to the audience in question so that it can be available on a broader basis and hence generate more responses to help me proceed with my media project-which is to make a music video.

Click here to take survey

Questionnaire

Age:

Gender:

Q1: Do you like music (Because if you don’t, then filling out the rest of this questionnaire is unnecessary)?

A:

Q2: What genre/genres of music do you prefer listening to?

A:

Q3: Do you like watching music videos?

A:

Q4: What types of music video (e.g. narrative-one which has a progressive story) have you watched so far?

A:

Q5: How long do you feel a music video should be (e.g. 3-4 minutes)?

A:

Q6: According to you, is having performer/performers in a music video a significant inclusion?

A:

Q7: Do you like concert halls? Have you ever been in one?

A:

Q8: As a viewer, what elements do you feel are necessary for a music video?    

A:

So, after looking at several performance videos, I picked up one whose style seemed easier to copy because of the restricted camera movements, but nevertheless ensured effective emphasis on significant detail as per the audience' expectations. Here is the music video I picked. It's made on a song by the famous South Asian band Jal. The song's name is Dil Harey:

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And here is the cover my band mate and I did of the song:

It is quite evident that the background, despite  its colourful texture doesn't go along with the song. Also, the fact that the main vocals are slightly inaudible ruins the main aim of the music video-which was to ensure maximum attention to the song as it is the priority for any cover being done on the original. It is to be noted however, that like the original, the performers have been included and the camera primarily focuses on their movements, and expressions. For example, during the beginning of the song the camera zooms onto the main vocalist's guitar fretboard to signify that he is indeed the main performer of the song. It cleverly moves the secondary performer out of the picture and thus effectively manages to tell as to who is the main performer in order to avoid confusion for the audience as the secondary performer also seems to be singing (as a backing vocalist that is) and since the camera movement is restricted, it might lead to confusion for the audience and they might fail to know as to who is the main vocalist here. However, many fine details have been missed in this low quality music video unlike the original one. No close-ups have been done on the performers, and the background has not been brought more clearly in focus. No change in camera angles has occurred, and panning from varying sides has not been done. Also, the names of the performers as it appeared in the original with each extreme close-up of the performer has been excluded. It is quite understandable that this is merely an option, however in the case that the video might be put up on YouTube, it is essential for the people to know more about the band (be it professional or amateur) and base their criticisms according to the level being represented.

Though it should be noted that towards the end,  slight close-ups (though not sequential) have been done, this detail should have been evident throughout the play. It does not manage to effectively convey the mood as compared to the original one and the bad song quality does little to help. It seems that I will have to improve and refine the shooting techniques I am accustomed to in order to make a more professional music video with the resources available to me.

Amateur Performance videos

 

Okay so here is a rough performance video I made for a song I composed with a friend. Us (the performers) being shown signifies the fact that this song has been sung and composed by us. There is no camera movement, nor a change of shots in a sequential pattern-of which I am well aware. However, since the target audience mainly comprised of fellow students, they did not mind the exclusion of these major components, and enjoyed watching us perform our new song. No significant editing has been done as it wasn't consider essential by me at that time. This is perhaps one of my very first performance videos, which is why I felt it necessary to have it posted in order to realize my current technical level, and hence try my best to enhance it with the continued passage of time.

Here is another performance video, and it is much better than the first one considering the fact that slight panning on both the performers (that being my partner and I) has been effectively done to signify who the main vocalist is, and the instruments involved. It does well to address the audience as to what the musicians were feeling when composing this song, as emphasis on their expressions during the video has been done in order to convey the mood of the song as shown by the performers in question. However, the camera maintains it stationary position for quite long periods of time, giving enough reason for the audience to believe that effort has not been put into making the video, making it thoroughly amateur.