Evaluation Questions : Q4

Evaluation Questions: Q3

Evaluation Questions : Q2

Evaluation Questions: Q1

Music Video Final Cut + Summary Of Changes + Filming Process

Thank God I Don't Believe In God

Douglas Loscalzo's A-level music video production.

Written and sung by Accidental Hero.

The video above is the final cut of my music video. I've made subtle changes in transition-music synchronization, and edited the color toning of certain scenes. This is alongside other small changes and various general polish.

I'm pleased with my music video production. The area I am happiest with is the colour theme that is present throughout the song; stumbling onto the vivid orange look when experimenting with some of the video editing options, I was immediately hooked by the idea of having this colour present throughout my music video as part of a theme - a unique style that would allow my music video to grab the viewers attention and set itself apart from other videos as far as its aesthetic is concerned. Using the same method that allowed me to create the orange colour filter, I created several filters that are tied to different areas of the song, like the rapid guitar strumming scenes in my video - these scenes are red with heavy silhouette definition -

The variance in colour toning allowed me to better separate different scenes so that their contents can be more easily understood or more appreciated. These changes in colour tone also increased the diversity of scenes that appeared in my music video - or at least, gave the illusion of diversity. Regardless, I understood that I needed to maintain audience interest; varying colour toning was one of the key factors in achieving this as my music video is intended to be heavily stylized.

The Filming Process

One of the most challenging issues throughout this process was the choice of filming location, and indeed its maintenance and access in some cases; My initial vision involved the priest character singing on a stage behind an alter/lectern. At first I intended to include shots of him addressing the people sitting below him, but it quickly became apparent that I didn't have enough step-in actors that would have been available when I needed them. The area I wanted to film in was not private and could not be booked; It was therefore subject to change when I wasn't filming there (Scenery items that were a vital part of my miss en scene were moved on occasion, i.e. religious items. Even the chairs below the stage were moved frequently, so often I found myself asking for help in placing 50 or so chairs in a room at set positions in order to retain continuity).

These difficulties led into making a number of simplifications that ultimately changed the nature of my video. With regards to the stage scenes, I decided to have the camera only recording everything within the frame created by the outline of the surrounding curtains.
This allowed me effectively maintain my area of filming with minimum interference from its use by other people, as the scene was relatively simple to construct but nonetheless effective. The act of eliminating the lower half of the room from my music video's footage reduced my work load and thus allowed me to work more efficiently when time was of the essence.

Moving away from the indoors scenes of my music video, I felt that the field scenes were an effective change in scenery and increased the diversity of shot locations of my music video. It was here that I feel I filmed most effectively, gathering all the footage I needed for the rest of my music video in one filming session.



From past experiences from earlier filming sessions prior to these scenes, I had realized that the most effective way to film and the most lucrative with regards to editable footage, was filming and acting out the entire song several times with the camera at varying stationary positions with the actors doing different things each time; For example, with one run of the song, the priest is holding a guitar. In another, he is not. In both however, he is acting as if he is still singing; this enables me to pick and choose from a massive variety of footage, with all of it tending to the same point and thus being easily interchangeable. Essentially, I had the same lyrics sung by the priest several times, with him acting/doing something different each time so that I could select the most contextually appealing footage.

I found the filming process for my A2 music video to be far more extensive than my AS-level thriller opening sequence. The focus on detail and mise en scene was particularly acute this year, and I found my self filming and re-filming on several occasions on the account of minute discrepancies in footage, such as items and props that appear out of place, or reduce the carefully crafted veil of production value of my music video. (Indeed, I found myself discarding footage and scene direction entirely for this very reason).

Audience Feedback - Rough Cut

The following feedback was in response to my rough cut music video, shown below:

Pros

• "I like the colour editing; the vivid yellow/orange filter effect is quite striking"
• "You've edited your video in time with the music, the cuts match bursts of pace in the song"
• "The devil-guy in the background looks good. His scenes are quite strange. He matches the weirdness of the song."

Cons

• "Perhaps a little more variety is needed. Not enough strangeness. It needs to be more odd."
• "Lip-syncing is a little off at the beginning."
• "Perhaps some unnecessary zoom-out cutting when the priest is singing beside the cross; it doesn't look as effective as the other parts of the song where you've done this effect."

Suggestions

• "I think some form of spanish dancing would go well with this song. Have you thought about adding some form of dance act in your video?" - I agree, and I like this idea. I will certainly look to arrange some form of dance act in my video.

Music Video Rough Cut

The Following is the rough cut production of my music video. 

I'm happy with my production so far. I feel as if only minor tweaks and changes need to be made; lip-syncing issues must be addressed, and perhaps an additional scene should be added to the final music video to add more variety to the video. 

My Rough Cut and Goodwin's Theory

With regards to Goodwin's theory on music videos, my music video conforms to many of his predictions; most obvious of all is the direct link between the main actor's singing and the lyrics of the song - no conventions are broken in this respect, as we can see that the lyrics of the song are coming directly from the main actor's mouth on-screen. There's a contradictory link between the visual content and the lyrics when considering the character direction, but a link nonetheless; in my music video we see a priest singing about his gratitude to God for "not believing in God". Having a priest sing this is clearly ironic, and it is because these two concepts contradict each other it is therefore yet another compliance with Goodwin's theory on music videos, where the visual content of a music video will usually relate to or directly contradict the lyrics heard.

My music video contains a high degree of focus on the main artist; this is another item of Goodwin's predictions, where the main artist is often focused upon to better create/push the artist/band's brand identity so that the consumer can immediately distinguish the brand from other artists of similar genre.  In my music video we see several close-up shots of the main singer and artist; his identity is clearly established and is focused upon.

There's a naturally eccentric nature to the song; I've attempted to reflect this through my music video's direction.This I believe, coupled with my choice of having a rural setting and acoustic guitar appear in my music video, has me conform to the typical imagery of the folk-indie-country music genre. This is yet another prediction of Goodwin's - the theory that most music videos usually display their music genre through their direction as a means of being more easily received by consumers who enjoy the respective genre of music.