Evaluation

 Planning

I believe the planning aspect of my production is very strong, before producing anything I first researched and analysed 3 different music videos whilst linking them back to both the theorist Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis. I analysed all music videos to the best of my abilities by analysing the meaning behind the lyrics, how they link the lyrics to the video, how they have used editing in the videos, how they linked to their genres and how the video represents the artists brand image. As well as this to make the planning aspect of my video meticulous I have analyses the lyrics of my own song and wrote next to it what shots I could use in each situation to either illustrate, amplify or juxtapose the lyrics of the song. I have also analysed the codes and conventions of music videos within the indie/rock genre in order to find out what mise-en-scene of indie/rock videos is as well as shot types most commonly used. Once I had analysed all media texts thoroughly, I created a shot list which I then used as a guide for my storyboard, when creating my storyboard so that I could decide on the individual shot length of each shot I had the song playing in the background so I cold map out the beat of the song so that I could synchronise my visuals to the beat. I believe one way in which the planning of the video could have been improved is by further analysing the 3 music videos, although I put a lot of effort into analysing all the lyrics in relation to the visuals, I don't believe I linked it back to Goodwin's and Vernallis' theories. Furthermore, I believe I could have gone into more depth in the storyboards, although they give you an idea of what I am trying to produce I feel as though I could have been more specific with the types of editing techniques that I wanted to use, when consulting my storyboard later in the editing stage I found that it helped me create the video however, it did not offer me enough information on what type of editing techniques I should be using therefore, I had to think about it harder in the moment rather than having everything pre-planned. I found that my storyboard was most helpful when I was shooting the footage as it offers me information of the length of shot, camera angle, shot type, mise-en-scene and any actions taken in the shot.

Organisation 

To help me organise the project and keep on top of everything I created a Gannt chart, this was very helpful as it gave me a visual timeline which showed me how long I have to produce the work. I found that the only issues with the timeline where that I felt as though I didn't give myself enough time to edit the video together however, this problem was overcome as I had left myself an extra few days at the end of the production in which I didn't have anything planned, I did this on purpose as part of a contingency plan to make sure that if any part of the production did run lightly over I could push everything back a few days without causing any scheduling problems or having too much work to complete right at the end before deadline. I believe that throughout I have been very organised, instead of creating one long blog post for music video I have create multiple small posts all which were named at the start so that I always had an idea of what needed to be done. On almost every post I have uploaded at the bottom there is a small evaluative paragraph in which I wrote about what I have done and any problems that I had and how I overcame them for example in my first focus group I found that it was very poorly structured making the evidence gathered from it inconclusive, to overcome this I first wrote about the issues on my blog and then proceeded to make a new post in which I completed a second focus group later in the production which came out a lot better and had more structure to it. I believe one way in which I could improve the organisation on the project is by adding a checklist on my blog, if I had a checklist I could constantly keep track of what I have done and what I haven't, I have this belief as when completing the project I kept forgetting what had been done, what needed to be completed and what hadn't be done at all, if I had a checklist post as I was completing a post I could tick it off to help me keep track easier. Another thing that could've helped improve the organisation of the project is if I had added a progress bar to my Gannt chart, using percentages I could have added a section in my Gannt chart which showed me how much of each task has been completed, this would definitely improve the organisation and would help me complete the work faster and easier.  

Editing

Overall, I found the editing process the most trying, I found that it took a lot longer than I had originally hoped and also found that when I had used a lot of repeated frames for the pre-chorus and the chorus it became quite boring. If I was to have re-edited my video I believe that I would have definitely changed the footage used for the second pre-chorus and chorus to give the video some variation making it more engaging to watch for the audience. As well as this I also found that it was very hard to understand why I used the VHS effect, although it looks creative and I think it will keep the audience engaged the reason I used the VHS effect isn't clear enough for an audience to understand, I have noted multiple times on my blog why I have used the VHS effect however, an audience isn't all going to read my blog before watching the video therefore, they wouldn't fully understand the meaning of it in my opinion. I found areas that I did well with was keeping the video synced up to the beat of the music throughout, it works really well with the beat and sort of speeds the song up in a way. I found that being able to research the theorists first offered me a lot of information on how to shoot a music video, I found that Vernallis' theory had a big influence on the edit style used within the music video, she influenced me to edit with the beat, repeat master shots and close up and the use of jump cuts. Although I had a few things which I would change if I was to produce the video again, overall the edit isn't bad it shows creativity and it would definitely keep an audience engaged, other than having scheduling flaws and having used a VHS effect which didn't exactly match the editing process was successful and almost perfectly stuck to the plan outlined in my storyboards. 

Shooting Footage

Overall, I believe shooting the footage was successful and well planned, I encountered a few problems however was able to overcome them. I found that my storyboard was very helpful at helping me visualise the shot therefore, allowing me to shoot the footage efficiently following the plan set. I found that I hadn't planned to shoot enough of a variation of shot types which made it much more difficult in post production as I felt restricted with the footage I had. I feel like if I  had made a post researching how females are presented in music videos through the variation of shot types, camera movements, and editing techniques it would've helped inform my ideas a bit better as I struggled acting as the main characters conventional "love interest" in a music video. I feel as though I was restricted with recent weather conditions whilst shooting forcing me to shoot all my footage inside however, I do believe I have been able to use the space creatively to make a great music video. If I was to shoot the video again I would vary my shot types more. 

Final Product

Overall, I believe the final video was successful at engaging the target audience, effectively follows music videos conventions to create an effective production and it also reflects the image of the band and the genre of indie/rock. I feel as though the pre-chorus and the chorus were repeated too often which made it quite boring therefore, if I was to re -do the production I would maybe change the footage used the second pre-chorus and chorus to change it up and keep the content being showed to the audience fresh and exciting. One thing which I found worked really well in the video was the illustration of lyrics through the visuals, for lyrics such as "Simmer down and pucker up" I illustrated the lyrics with a shot of a kettle simmering and then a close up of puckered lips, this was a light hearted spin of the metaphorical meaning of the lyrics. Another thing which I think could be improved upon was the use of the VHS editing style, I intended to use the editing style to link to how women are represented as sexual objects in the media for the viewing pleasure of a male audience, male characters and male producers. The music video started with a male flicking through misogynistic VHS movies on the TV and suddenly his life turns into a VHS like old homemade movie in which he is infatuated with a female and therefore the camera sees this female in the same scopophilic way females are looked at in films. This is a difficult concept to grasp in a music video and it is also something which isn't easy to effectively portray within 4 and a half minutes. I don't feel as the meaning was clear enough and therefore although the effect is visually appealing to an audience maybe not make much sense. I feel as though if I was to shoot the production again I would try to plan a concept which is easier to create within the time constrains. Something I found very effective in the video was synchronised cutting with the beat of the song, I kept it synchronised throughout which made the video flow quite smoothly; as well as this I found that doing my research on Carol Vernallis really helped influence my consideration of shot types conventionally used in music videos, I used a lot of intimate close ups however I feel as though the video was lacking some establishing shots however, as I was shooting in a flat the whole time this was made fairly impossible. Overall, I believe the video was a success, I believe it followed conventions of music videos and of the indie/rock genre, the mise-en-scene of the video (Clothing (Male) - Black skinny jeans, black top, black vans, Props - alcohol, shot glass) matched the brand identity of the band. There are few things I would have changed if I was too do again such as having a larger variety of shots to choose from and making the meaning more clear to the audience and finally I would have also tried to edit the dream sequences a bit better so that they looked more dream like for example warping the image to look more surreal or changing the colour to something more out of this world. Although there were some changes which could developed my idea further I still believe my music video is a production which demonstrates creativity, links to the bands image and genre conventions, and it in my opinion would still keep an audience engaged throughout.