UALab Media Diploma - Summative Evaluation

From the beginning of my unit 8 project, I took on the brief: Welcome to the Forest: Radicals, Makers, Fellowship. My task, was to use all the skills and knowledge developed throughout the previous units to create any type of creative media project of my choosing. As a response, I decided to embark this project with a music video. In order to ensure a successful outcome, it was essential to come up with a strong, unique and interesting idea. This is my final evaluation for my final project, within my contextual research i used primary and secondary research. I used secondary research to research the history of music videos and I discussed on how much music videos has changed over a period of time and how I can use this research to create my final project, the history of music videos helped me to create my final music video because it shows me how music videos were taken back in the 80s/90s and early 2000s, this meant that I had the chance to analyse old music videos and pick out the pros and cons of them, this has an effect on me because it helped me within pre-production, production and post-production. During pre-production I was a able to start off with writing down what was wrong with old music videos and what was good and how I can use some of the techniques during production, during my production work I was able to follow my plan within pre-production to create my music video, moreover during post-production I was also able to use my analysis on previous music videos and use it to edit with a good effect on the audience. Moreover I also used primary research to help develop an idea for my final project, my primary source was a book called 'Understanding popular music'. While researching I found some useful information about music, and music videos in general also many other sub genres.(Some sub genres are Music on the silver screen, The small screen, and music videos) from my primary research I found out that during the early 90s music was a very popular topic and how it was developing into a massive thing when years go by, during my research I concluded by saying I wanted to take all of my research and use it for my final project, what I wanted to take was that I could change the fact that my music video is not going to have the actual artist from the original music video, I wanted to do this because people in the 90s are used to expecting the artist to perform and sing, however I want to work around my research and change it and make my music video unique. This research helped me because it made me have a firm idea on what song I was going to do, this also meant that I didn't use a song that was created by someone I know because that would have meant they would have to feature in their own song and that's something I didn't want to do, for this reason I chose the song 'Rihanna' by Yxng Bane. 

Moving onto my Audience research, I chose my target audience to be working class people aged 13-26 that are into hip-hop and r&b music however that wasn't my primary audience, my primary audience was young teenagers that like to listen to hip-hop, the reason I chose that as my primary audience was because the song I picked has the same target audience and I wanted to have it both correlate together, Moreover my audience researched helped me a lot during pre-production and production, another audience research I done to help me with my work was I planned out a focus group, In my focus group I discussed my music video that I have roughly had edited out, I only had 20 seconds of my music video done to show my audience however I still got a good feedback to improve my work, the purpose of this focus group is to receive feedback and know what I needed to improve on to impact my target audience and what went well, from my feedback I was told that the editing is well done and not too complicated, however for improvement I need to change the colour of my clips, the reason for this is because it would help my video look more professionally done and it wouldn’t bore the viewers, I was told this because my target audience being teenagers that like hip-hop expect good music videos and my audience being roughly the same age would know what to expect, for example they pay attention to the editing in music video more than my secondary target audience being older people, I took all the feedback from this and I started off with colour correction, and towards the end of the video I had added more effects onto the music video, Another Primary source I used was first hand questions that I had asked, this helped me with my production and post-production, for example one question that I said was 'would you suggest any locations I could film at?' the reason I asked this is because my audience also being under the bracket of my target audience would know where to film and what to expect in a music video this genre, My audience gave me feedback saying I should film near central London due to it having nice lights and a nice scenery.

My Production research has impacted my work throughout the weeks of filming, my production research included me researching about equipment I would have required to film and researching about the Mise en scene of my music video, In my equipment research I mentioned about the main equipment’s I would require to use to create a music video, these were a DSLR camera, Tripod, Steadicam and a shoulder rig. While researching I found out that DSLR cameras are one of the best cameras to create a music video compared to a bridge camera, if it wasn’t for my research I may have used a bridge camera which wouldn’t be good due to its features and lack of camera settings on the camera compared to a DSLR. I used a DSLR because it was very helpful in terms of quality and time, it was really easy to set up and use, the only thing that i needed to change was the aperture due poor lighting other than that the DSLR camera impacted and help my work a lot. During my research I also compared the two cameras and wrote the pros and cons about the both. From my research online I found out that when the Canon 5D Mk II arrived in November 2008, with a function to shooting HD videos, it turned the world of independent filmmaking completely on its head. With its amazing capabilities at low light, ability to shoot with a really shallow depth of field and of course relatively cheap price tag (more on this later) the camera suddenly made it extremely easy and affordable for people to shoot stunning cinematic videos. This research had an effect on my final project because it helped me pick the correct camera to use while filming, more reasons on why I also chose a DSLR to record was because a DSLR has features that are better and really effective these are things like the Optical sensor, Interchangeable lenses, better zoom and macro capabilities. Interchangeable lens are important because it will help me record and find the perfect lens depending on my shot planned, for example certain lens would be good for wide shots and some would be good for close ups. All of these are only on the DSLR Camera and the bridge camera couldn’t do. Furthermore, the other equipments that I researched about were like a tripod and a Steadicam, although I done research on these I didn’t use a tripod however I did use a Steadicam, my research stated that I could use a tripod for time-lapses but I didn’t record any footage for a time-lapse because it wouldn’t have fit my theme and genre of music, but my researched help me, because I didn’t know what a Steadicam was actually used for and how it was used, what I found out was that using a Steadicam helps capture smooth footage, this means that I can capture footage without it detecting any shakiness. The effectiveness of this was that it was used to help me record footage of my two performers walking and I was able to capture smooth footage without any shakiness. From my research I found out that, the Steadicams were camera stabiliser mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. I also done research on post production software’s, the software’s that I already knew about were affect effect, final cut pro and premier pro. From my research I found out that most videographers and editors use premier pro and after effects, the reason behind this is because these programmes are more advanced with effects and other technical aspects, this helped me choose what programme to use because I wanted to create the best piece of work this connotes that I had to use the best programme, however I wasn’t comfortable with using premiere pro however I wanted to develop my skills within new programmes, and I believe this would help with future upcoming projects and jobs.

Finally my Mise en scene research included props, clothing, makeup and locations, (interior and exterior), this research had an effect on my music video the most because it was the core of my music video meaning if I didn’t have an idea of my clothing e.x.t, my music video may have failed, what I researched was what to include in music videos, I done this in my case studies and my contextual research, I noticed that in music videos there tend to be little props such as water bottles and mini handbags, little extra prop has a massive effect to the music video as it makes it less boring and plain, by adding things like props to music videos make it unique and effective to the audience. I took this into account I used little props in my music videos, the prop I did use was a little handbag which my female performer (‘Justine’) was wearing. The clothing I picked was effective to the audience, because I chose to use high end brands such as Billionaire boys Club, Mallet e.x.t, this connotes that my music video is formed and set up properly, this has an effect on the audience and is useful because it gives them a good first impression on my music video and they would expect a really good music video, also another reason for me selecting this type of clothing is because my target audience being teenagers that are into hip hop tend to pay a lot of attention to the clothes people wear rather than focus on the locations e.x.t. I know this because I can relate to be one of them as I also is a part of the target audience also my audience research proves this as I received feedback from them. (Feedback seen on image above) 

For my location I researched places which are also high end and different to what people would see every day, I wanted to use places like Canary Wharf, or areas in Westminster, I used Canary Wharf because it has amazing skyscrapers and an amazing view for filming, from my research I know that Canary Wharf is also a location where couple go out to eat, and go out on dates e.x.t and the effect on me was that it linked to the song I have chosen and also because the theme connotes that it would work well with the location due to it being fellowship. The location was useful because it was very easy to link this location to the theme as it a very diverse area, this meaning it’s an urban location and also very high end and this was what I was looking for during pre-production.

Moving onto my case studies, the two case studies I done was on two music videos, these two were Amelia Monet ft EO - Baddest and Youngboy Never Broke Again - Genie (Music video). These two case studies were really important case studies as they both helped me record my music video, my first case study compares to my work more than my second case study. The song ‘Baddest’ begins slowly and the audience are shown multiple b-roll shots of what locations it has been shot at. This is something I took into my music video and used, the reasoning for this is because the song ‘Baddest’ has the same genre and concept as my final music video this is because they both have romance and fellowship as a part of the idea of the music video. Another thing I took from that music video is the location, I saw that the videographer called ‘Suave’ chose to film at Canary Wharf, and I also saw this as a good idea due to the fact that the music video also with a couple and mine is similar. Moreover this Music video is professional filmed by a professional videographer this meant that I couldn’t do the exact same however I wanted to make my music video different as adding more than one location, this is because the music video ‘Baddest’ is only shot at one location which is Canary Wharf, compared to my music video, mine is filmed at Canary Wharf and also filmed at a place near Shoreditch. Finally within this music video I saw that the editing is done really with a lot of creative intentions, there were some really effective editing in this music video, for example I saw that there was cuts on each frame to match the beat to make it as a flicker effect, I also used this in my music video as its quick, easy and effective on the audience.

Moving onto my other case study, Youngboy Never Broke Again – Genie, this music video compared to my music video is really different in most aspects, the song ‘Genie’ is different because the genre of music is different, the genre of that song is Rap but my song is Hip hop, within Rap the editing and camera angles and movement is different because it is more fast paced, as in hip hop its more calm and slow which my music video shows. On my case study I wrote about the background I saw that it was set at night and its was outside someone's house, I thought that it could be suggesting that this music video has a story behind it as its set at an old looking house in other words its set in the "hood". The fact that it is set in that location it shows me that compared to my music video it is very different as my music video is set at a high end location and more urban. Within this case study I also took some key features to use in my music video for example the editing, as I spoke about in my previous case study I mentioned about the videographer had key effect such as cutting on each frame/beat to fit the music, I also noticed the effect on this music video however more fast paced I compared it to my editing and I noticed that the reasoning for this was because of the music is fast paced and the genre was different as explained at the beginning. Furthermore the things that I can see that links the both two together is that I showed facial expressions and so does the music video In my case study, both music videos has a purpose to show the audience the story behind the music and both use facial expression to express the emotions. Finally from my case study I could have used the fact that it was set at night and use it in my music video, I believe this would have had a better effect on the audience to show the actual story behind the music video, also I noticed that they use more large props such as cars ex.t I believe I could have had shot in props like that due to the fact that my music video is romantic it would have created a good atmosphere for the audience, also it would have linked to the theme of my music video being fellowship.

My technical skills have developed quite a lot from my previous music video from last year, my pre-production work was far better meaning I had added things like shot list, recce, risk assessment, script, character profile and research, I think that the most important is that I had added a character profile this is because it gave the audience an idea of who my music video would feature, also this helped me within feedback as I had asked people if my two performers would suit the role of being in my music video, with my character profile I mentioned who they are suitable for the role and what’s their main features that would stand out to the audience, this gave me strong idea on how I can film because I could work around their persona. During production work my technical skills weren’t amazing as I wasn’t comfortable with a camera because I didn’t know what features a camera had that would help me film, throughout the year I had worked with cameras from a DSLR to a Bridge camera, soon after I had noticed that a DSLR was best, from the beginning of the year I had created multiple projects, these projects was to create a short advert, edit a scary film from raw unedited clips and finally creating multiple short documentaries. All of these helped me with my camera skills and so during production of my final project I was more comfortable with using a DSLR as I had gained experience in using it. But I also learned a lot during filming, these things were different type of camera angles that I didn’t know about I had used, camera movement that I experimented using. The equipment I had used like a Steadicam was hard to use at first because I didn’t know how to balance the camera and the Steadicam to create a stable platform to use it correctly, furthermore after research of on how to use it I learned from my practice shots and then perfected on using it. Finally during post-production I learned how to make a music video look more professional, this was by me receiving feedback on my blog of my focus group, the feedback I got was to use colour correction, I learned the ins and out of colour correction from researching on YouTube e.x.t, however I also asked for help within my classmates that knew or had an idea on how to colour correct, my colour correction can be seen on my final project.

My audience responses for my final product was mixed, i asked four questions to my audience these four questions were, Did you like my music video?, What do you like about my music video?, What the issues in my music video? and What could i have done to improve?, from my feedback i was told that everyone liked my music video as seen on the pie charts shown. People liked the fact i used good transitions in my music video, rather than the location, effects and camera movements. I also got feedback on what was bad, and from my feedback i can see that my location used was bad, i would disagree because i believe the location and my theme worked really well. 

My music video will be distributed all over social media as I do have a lot of followers on social media, social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. From my research I found out that a considerable number of consumers do use streaming audio services (37%), but it’s outnumbered by the 55% who frequently watch videos on YouTube. Therefore within this research I will be uploading my music video on YouTube because from the statistics 55% consume music from YouTube rather than streaming companies, however because my project is a music video it can only be viewed on YouTube but also listened on Spotify, Apple music, ITunes and Other Streaming companies. From this project I could receive income through many ways, for example YouTube, however within YouTube I will require a certain amount of Subscribers and Views for me to get paid, if my music video is successful on YouTube this would give me many other opportunities within many other projects, this can be done through contacting me through email e.x.t, another way that I can make money from this is by showing my work to small film companies and I may be lucky enough to work along with professionals and get paid. Finally I can independently or as a freelance worker and create other music videos for other people. Finally, My intended purpose was to sell the music and gain more streams for the song and help the artist gain more revenue, the meaning for this music video was to show how young teenagers live their lives in a relationship within this urban society, the intended atmosphere we planned on creating was an exciting atmosphere so the audience/viewers do not get bored of the music video.

To conclude, this project has taught me a lot from the technical aspect to others, this project taught me about key features on a camera such as aperture, iso, and shutter speed, which helped me create my final product. This year taught me that pre-production is very helpful and so is Research, the reason for this is because i realised that it made my project a lot easier to create, with research I received feedback from my audience meaning I can work on the pros and cons I get back from them to fit my target audience, and this is something I would like to take into next year as it’s a huge factor before production, I would also like to take all of my knowledge from this year and use it next year as I believe I have learned a lot, these things are like editing, adding effects and using key frame, which I’ve never used before, this year I found out that my Achilles heel has been on the editing side rather than filming, so next year I would like to take editing videos more seriously and perfecting this skill. Finally after I finish with college I would either like to go to university and learn more about being a editor, videographer or a journalist, however if university wasn’t my choice I would look into apprenticeships in big companies such as BBC, BT, SKY and ITV.