EDITING OUR MUSIC VIDEO [trial 2]

After carrying out two more filming sessions, me and Chris felt it an appropriate time to begin editing again. As stated in a previous blog post, we were required to convert all of our clips to MP4 files as this was required for them to work on the iMacs. Another key thing we had to do was add in the appropriate music choice as this was required before we began attempting to match Sam lip-syncing with the original singers voice. Luckily, I had spent some time the previous evening downloading an MP$ file of ‘How to save a life’ and saved the said file to my memory stick for easy access within school. When we uploaded the file onto Final Cut Pro it appeared the intro to the song, where it was just silent because the song had not yet started, was very long so therefore we chose to cut the beginning of the song slightly shorter in the hope that this would result in us having less filming to do. Although we did shorten the song, we still left a slight intro at the beginning as this fitted well with the idea we had for the beginning of our music video.

Once again we started by watching all of our footage and discarding of any unsuitable or unwanted clips. This made it much easier for us to know what clips we were using and which we weren’t so that we did not have large lists on Final Cut Pro. Once we had the correct footage for us we watched what we had edited last time to see where we should began. It was apparent that we should not jump straight into the lip-syncing so decided to add one of the clips we did not feel we would use due to the lack of lip-syncing, this was followed swiftly by a close up of Sam lip-syncing. Although we were not using many effects at this given time, we planned to play about with this type of thing after the main bulk of the music video was complete. We used many jump cuts to switch between different angles of Sam lip-syncing, although like the plan had stated, we only carried the lip-syncing out for so long before it was time for us to start adding the filming we would carry out in the house. Due to us not yet filming these particular scenes we had to leave the editing suite and carrying on with editing other aspects such as our promotional poster and return when we had the appropriate footage.

PROMOTIONAL POSTER RESEARCH

Due to time constraints, my research into promotional posters was much more limited compared to my other research but I still felt it crucial that I considered the reasoning behind such posters and particular conventions. Some of the basic designs I looked at are shown below in the print screens. As these two examples show, the comparison between the poster and the digipack is to a high extent so we want to ensure that this happens in our own product. Although we have not yet began planning our poster, I am already fully aware that we will use the exact same image that we used on the front cover of our digipack as our main image of our poster. We also considered the information which is present on these posters, including telling the comsumer where to purchase the song and also featuring a record label. These particular examples include a selection of tour dates for the bands/artists although at present I am not sure if I will include this information as I wish to create a poster to promote the song not the tour. I personally feel that these two examples are very plain due to the lack of colour, and also this may of worked for the digipack, I feel a poster should be much more colour so that it is eye-catching and appealing to the target audience.

The main things which I have discovered about the conventions of promotional posters, from not only considering different examples, but reading magazine articles such as NME and considering different posters which I had seen through my own research across the internet, I have acknowledge the conventions stated below:

• If the band who is being advertised has any upcoming tour dates then these are included to show the ‘movement’ of the band. This was surprising to me as I had planned not to include this information but I now will to show the wide diversity of my chosen band/song.
• The name of the artist/band and the song title is crucial as this is what the consumer will be looking for to understand what the advertisement is about.
• A selection of posters include reviews from critics and reporters to strengthen their star image so more people are influenced to listen/buy the song.
• Usually an altered image from the album cover is used in the advert to so cross convergence of media. This was shown in the above examples although I feel I want to challenge this convention and mke our image more eye-catching.
• Recommended popular singles which are related to the band/artist are sometimes included.
• It is key that the audience is told where they can purchase the song as this will make their mind up on whether or not to buy the song. This could involve using a logo of HMV or iTunes, whichever we feel will be more suited to our target audience.
• The record label logo will also be included as a way of branding.

This research will lead to us including the above conventions in our own promotional poster although the possibility of us changing/challenging certain things is high because I do not agree that certain conventions are necessary.

Welcome to A2 media

This is my second blog for A-level media and will record my A2 coursework and the final stages in completing my two-year course. In my final year, we explore the musical endorsement involved within the music industry.

I will undertake a range of planning and research tasks which will lead me to produce:

• A music video of a song of my choice
• A CD cover to suit my published music video
• A webpage for my chosen artist/band

The main use for this blog will be to record the stages I carry out including research, planning, filming and editing. To ensure that I make the best possible product I will begin by research what makes a ‘good’ music video, what is a music video and also what genres are most popular and how the particular genre of a film edits the style of music video.  It will also allow me to evaluate my progress and my finished products.

Welcome to the diary of A2 media coursework. Enjoy