Prelim evaluation

 1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?  

In my group there was me, Phoebe, Holly and Jamie. Once we had been told the task, we as a group took a couple of lessons to look at different styles of music videos. We each put forward our ideas for what style of music and video we felt would work well. We eventually choose the song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson. I felt comfortable to play a main role in the music video therefore I took on the role of Carly Rae Jepson. Within the group we worked well together everyone was assigned a role and they fulfilled this role. Jamie was in charge of editing and me, Holly and Phoebe was in charge of keeping up to date with blog posts and the filming and ensuring we had the right props, costumes, setting, etc. Everything ran smoothly and everything was kept up to date, including the production diary. As a group we planned when we was all free and where and when we was going to film so we could stay on track for the task.

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? 

To plan our sequence we used a storyboard, designed this on Emaze I was in charge of taking the screen shots of every different shot up until 30 seconds We then put these in order and wrote down what type of shot was used. We then used this to create our video. We used this method because it showed us clearly what shots we needed to shoot and how long each shot lasted. We also used a shooting schedule. The shooting schedule helped us keep on track with the organisation of filming and helped us get the right settings. 

 3) What theories could you apply to the video you chose? 

Our music video could apply to Carol Vernallis's theory which states there is 4 key concepts creating a music video which is Editing, Narrative, Camera and Diegisis. Our music video for Call Me Maybe heavily relies non the concept of Narrative, which Vernallis's suggests the video is a visual response which reflects the lyrics and overall purpose of the song. The visuals of our song often portray the lyrics which therefore links Carol Vernallis Theory to our music video. 

 4) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?  

For filming we used an iPhone. We used this because it was a really high definition which is what we wanted for our video. The iPhone was also portable which was really good for when we had to go to different sites to film. For the editing, we used Premier. We used this because it is quite simple to use but produces a high quality finish. Which allowed us to blur out the background and match the editing effects used in the actual video. 

 5) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

The factors that had to be taken into account were: locations, props, camera, actors and time. In the 1st minute of the video there are 3 main locations - the house, the garden and the garage. We had to travel to a couple places to film. We had to take 2 cars to get all the equipment there. We had to set up the locations for our video once we got there. We thought that the locations would be difficult to sort out but they were not. Everyone lived fairly close by to the school so there weren't any long journeys and the setting up was fairly simple. For the props we had to have a drum kit, keyboard, guitars and a microphone. We had to transport all of these from the school to the locations and then set them all up and in the right places. With help from multiple people this went fairly straight forward. We had a 2 week deadline that we had to stick to. We met this deadline and sent in the prelim.

 6) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production? 

Overall the music video copy went really well. The main thing that worked well was the actors involved in the video. All the actors were dedicated and gave up time to ensure the video was shot and was finished to a high standard. The main actress was me as I looked the most like Carly Rae Jepson, which worked really well in the final finish. As a group we put a lot of effort into the camera work to ensue that we matched the scenes ad cuts as best as we could. If we were to do it again we would probably choose a video that needed less people. In the video there was a whole band and a singer and we found it difficult to get enough actors and a camera man for the shooting of the video. These particular shots were also difficult to match as it was hard to get only certain people in the shots. The main feedback we got from the video was that it was really good. They said the camera work and actors matched the original music video really well. The only thing we could improve on was the colour correcting. The original music video was a light, warm colours. We attempted to recreate this but it proved to be quite difficult so the colours don't match exactly. Especially as it rained the day we decided to film outside which made it almost impossible to look like the summers day in the actual music video.

7) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think

In the future this task will help to prepare me for my final music video as I am now aware of how much planning and time must be dedicated to the actual music video. From the task I have learnt that a shooting schedule and the plan of the music video is essential.

8) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?  

The music video filming was very difficult compared to the film opening as I found there were more cuts and more editing involved such as matching up the lip sinking which proved to be hard. There was also more angles used and quicker shots so it was important to get these right in order to look in time and match the original music video.

9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?  

As I played the main role in the music video I felt that my strengths was being confident and taking on the character of the artist and portraying her song which I felt went really well, especially as this was my first time taking on an acting role. I was also good at keeping organised and up to date with how our progress was going and what we had to do next. However my weakness as a group member was the editing of the video, I am not very confident with the programme so left most of the editing to Jamie who was very skilled at editing, I felt like this was the right thing to do as we all played to our strengths and each had a role to play. Next time I would involve myself in the editing.

10) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why? 

I think we was a very successful group, but the group that done the song Kathleen were also very successful the camera work was almost identical to the actual video and the editing was amazing especially as it had some hard effects that they needed to recreate.