Final cut express lessons

As part of our pre-summer work we had to record ourselves teaching different techniques on final cut express. The technique we were given was key framing. Unfortunately our footage was lost but we succeeded in learning how to use key framing which we have to use in our video, so it was very helpful. We also taught the rest of the class how to use key framing which confirmed our knowledge even more as well as being taught the other techniques by the rest of the class. They taught us how to manipulate colour, use green-screen and split-screening. We also have to use these in our music videos and so being taught these things by our peers helped to understand them a lot more than maybe we would have. So even though we lost our footage we were still able to take away something more valuable by knowing how to use technologies that we need to be able to use in the final music videos that we do.

Music video analysis - "Anaconda" Nicki Minaj (representation)

Analysis
This music video for Nicki Minaj's "anaconda" is a prime example of how women are sexualised within the music industry. The song itself is about sex, there's no denying it. And so it would only be fitting for the video to be all about sex as well, which it is. Throughout the video women are envisioned as a play thing for men. All the women are scantily clad and show off more than they probably should be, even to the point where they become whoreish, with Minaj as queen bee. In one shot we see Minaj bouncing another women's bum cheeks with her hands. This may suggest that women don't only use their bodies in a sexual manor to impress men but also to seek the acceptance of other women.

The majority of the females in the video are black, all but one. This itself may suggest either:

• A racial separation within the music industry, music made by black people is different to that made by white people.
• Or that black people have more of a sexual thrust than white people.

Either way there is a larger representation of black people in the video. There is also a majority female representation in the video. This could be suggestive that females are taking over the pop industry and increasing their control over the entire music industry. Even in one of the scenes we see Minaj giving big time pop star Drake a lap dance, showing that she has a large amount of power, which could also be seen as her showing how the music industry is being taken over by women.

This video is absolutely full of product placement. There are times where it is hard to ignore the amount of product placement. Compared to other video analysis I have done for other genres of music, it is obvious that this product placement is seen more frequently in the pop genre than others. Instead of this being a interpretation, what I take from this is that the pop culture has quite literally been changed into a money making machine, with no aim to achieving new feats in music but generating the biggest bonuses for the heads of the big six music labels. This is why no matter how controversial the video is, it has no meaning. It is controversial purely to generate hype and to bring in more money and does this quite successfully with nearly 310 million views on youtube. The pop industry is no longer about music, but like everything else, money.

Previous student work analysis - "Five years time" by Cristina Shaw

Strengths

• The video is very well done and finished off nicely which gives it a class and stands out over those whose aren't as well done.
• The video is a narrative one with bits of concept and fits in perfectly with the song. The video follows the lyrics and the mood of the song and this gives it an edge because the video is as happy as the song and brings a lot of emotion. 
• The shots are very well done and a very good quality. 

• The effects that she uses in her video work well with the mood and style of the video.
• The video is very enjoyable and to a very high level of quality. It is clear a lot of time and care was spent on it.

Weaknesses

• There was occasionally points where the editing was off paced with the song, but other than this I couldn't find myself any other weaknesses of this video.

Previous student work analysis - "Tongue tied" by Danny Hammond

Strengths

• The variation of shots is widely spread which I really like, that he has used so many different shots and it gives the video a lot of variety.
• He has suited the music and lyrics well to his video, applying them throughout. Watching the video feels like listening to the song.
• The video has lots of character and you can tell all his actors were enjoying themselves, which I think adds to the video because his song is very happy one.
• The video contains both performance and narrative, which works well and adds depth.

Weaknesses

• The people playing the music aren't musicians and don't know how to play the instruments which I think lets down the video a little because it looks as though they are faking it as well as being out of time with the song.
• The video feels at times that it was a bit unplanned and decided on in the last minute. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.
• There were occasional points in which the editing was a bit off which didn't fit in with the song so took away from the song.
• At points there wasn't enough development, for example in the car. A bit to much of the video was spent in the car and got a little bit boring at points.
• For such an upbeat song I think that the editing was a bit to slow paced.

Progress problems

I am still finding it hard to find people to be in my video because of where and when I need to film it. This leads to me still not having started filming yet which is a major issue. To solve this problem I have to decide whether to change my ideas for the video, but I'm lost on ideas for the song I'm doing other than what I have already planned.  This has lead to lots of difficulties, because it is unlikely that I will be able to find people to be in the video at the time and requirements I need to achieve it and have no ideas on how to change it. One option I see is that I have an idea for a different song in which I would be able to film more quickly and easily. I don't see a problem with changing my idea because I haven't been able to begin filming for the original idea, but I have yet to discuss this with Miss Hill.

Music video analysis - "coming down" five finger death punch

Analysis

The song "coming down" by five finger death punch is about suicide and how it effects people and the video represents the song perfectly. It is about two teenagers who suffer from different kinds of problems including bullying and depression and shows them killing themselves at the start of the video. But afterwards it shows a story in which they are tormented by depression but for both one person prevents them from killing themselves without even knowing that they were planning to do so.

In the opening scene we see a male and a female preparing to end their lives. The male plans to end his with a gun which may represent the way in which he is treated by others, which is also shown, with unnecessary violence. The female uses an overdose of drugs which can be seen to represent an easy way out of society because society has mistreated her.

During the video whilst the guitar solo part is playing in the song, there is an animated part in which I believe that depression is perceived as a physical being which I think is very well done. This physical being is a huge monster which chases them around during their lives. This well represents the monster that depression is and no matter how hard they try to escape they can't do it alone.

I think that the video is done so well, it brings lots of attention to the problem that depression is and brings it into peoples eyes and gives them a real life impression of what depression is like. At the end of the video they have put in the suicide hotline. This represents the bands feelings towards the problem and shows its a problem that can be helped.

Music video analysis - "When the sun goes down" arctic monkeys

Analysis
The video for the Arctic Monkeys song "when the sun goes down" is based around the life of a prostitute as is the song. The video itself is a narrative one and shows the day to day lifestyle of this prostitute and shows how she is controlled by a pimp, who is referred to in the song as 'scummy man'. When we first see her we get a mid shot of her standing in front of a tower block of urban flats, looking into the camera with a saddened expression on her face. This introduces her as someone who lives in the city and also lives in the poorer parts of the city. The weather is a dreary wet day and this sets up her life perfectly as shown in the video about how a poor life she lives.

In the next shot we see her leaning over into a car smiling whilst talking to a man. The smile could have been added to interpret her feeling that as each man she sleeps with she may be getting closer to escaping from the 'scummy man'. It also may be interpreted as her having to put on a false smile because she is so depressed knowing that she has to do what she is doing.

In one of the next shots we see her coming downstairs in a block of flats. The staircase we see her coming down is a spiralling one in which it can be interpreted to represent her life heading in a downward spiral as she become more dominated by the 'scummy man' and is pulled further into the lifestyle that she is now stuck in.

In one of the later parts of the video the women becomes a magicians apprentice and the 'scummy man' does not like the fact that she is trying to escape the lifestyle she is stuck in. He attacks the magician and takes her away but also makes her beat up the magician whilst he watches and laughs. This shows how much control he has over her and that even if she attempts to escape from this lifestyle he won't let her so there is no escape for her.

Why does love do this to me? - preliminary

For our preliminary task we had to do a quick music video for the song "why does love do this to me?" by The Exponents. We had a couple of weeks to film, edit and finish the task. We succeeded in finishing the task but unfortunately our footage was lost and we did not have the chance to redo it. Fortunately for us we still retained what we had learnt from producing all of our video. During the making of our preliminary task we used new technologies that we had never used before so we have benefited from this greatly. Firstly whilst filming we learnt a lot more of how to use the camera and get the best shots we needed for our prelim. Whilst editing we learnt how to better use Final Cut. We learnt lots of very good methods on how to edit our video to achieve what we wanted as well as all the techniques that we need to use in our final music video, E.g split screening. Even though we have nothing physical to take away from the task I feel like it has been a very valuable experience.

Planning for video - Mise en scene

Controversial music video

The Prodigy - Smack my b**** up

The music video for the Prodigy's "Smack my b**** up" is considered one of the most controversial of all time. Firstly the song itself is seen to promote domestic violence through its lyrics, which made the song itself controversial to transfer into video. The video itself depicts a person going out to a bar in which the person consumes alcohol and drugs as well as physical abuse, violence, vandalism and nudity. When it was released it was banned on most tv stations because of its controversy, which fit in with the song which was banned on many radio stations.

The video follows in first person a night out which starts slowly but quickly escalates into physical harassment of a woman, violence towards a bouncer and others as well as drug use and ends up with a full nude sex scene with a prostitute. In the final part of the video it is revealed that the person who the video has been following is a female, which was surprising because many presumed it was a man throughout because of the song.

The video was very controversial because of its content but was appreciated by a few because it raised awareness of domestic violence towards men which was a relatively unknown problem, so the controversial video had an upside.