Blue skies & broken dreamspassport

Directors Commentary A2 Level

Blue skies & broken dreams

Band: Old Versus New

Directed by: Gemma Whitehead

In what ways does my media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Andrew Goodwin in his book “Dancing in the Distraction Factory” highlighted a number of common music video codes and conventions which are ‘Thought Beats (seeing sound)’, ‘Narrative & Performance’, ‘The Star Image’, ‘Relation to the visuals of the song’, ‘Technical Aspects of the music video’.

I have chosen to use cuts within my music video because it cuts to the beat of the song, it has a narrative as well as a performance the narrative in the video relates to the words (meaning) of the song.

Music videos that have inspired me are videos such as Green Day’s Video Wake Me Up When September Ends, Atreyu – The Theft.

The technical aspects within my music video are the use of editing to create a beat for the drum sections (quick cuts). The inspiration for the quick cuts within

my music video was Cute without the E by Taking back Sunday -’. Also there is a blur effect which I did by using manual focus to create a ‘bokeh effect’.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary

texts?The key elements within my main product is simplicity, as the band did not want to be futuristic or be to complex they just want people to relate to their music and overall buy it so that they make money.

I have maintained a consistent brand identity in my music video, Digipak and advert by including black, I asked the band to come dressed in black for the music video so it contrasted against the white background so that they would stand out and in the Digipak I chose white text throughout.

What have I learnt from my audience feedback?

From this feedback I found that most people really liked my music video and one person even said that they thought it was very professional. Some people said that there were no improvements to be made

My audience feedback to this question was unbelievable, many who I asked said that the most striking aspect of the timing with the tempo was synchronised well.

The people I asked thought the music video that they watched was well planned and structured and a non linear storyline was ideal so that they could create their own perception of what happens in the conclusion of the narrative.

A variety of people said that after watching this video they would seriously consider buying the bands album, which allows me to believe that i have created a music video that is good enough to help promote ‘Old Versus New’ as an up and coming band.

How did I use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used new media technologies within the research stage of my music video through the use of internet by researching various bands websites such as Green Day, Panic At The Disco, My Chemical Romance and how they promoted their music videos.

My video was mainly influenced by Green Day’s video ‘Wake me up when September ends’. I kept with the simplistic following of a couple. I also researched a lot of musicians and their use of love within their music videos this seems to be a common theme.

I also planned my DigiPak by looking on the internet for inspiration from various layouts of bands CD covers and sleeves inside.

The idea behind the music video was that the girls dreams had been shattered as her heart was broken by her long term boyfriend.

Initially I wanted there to be a tragic accident within the music video but decided against it so that the audience could make their own decisions as to why her heart had been broken and relate it to their own situations.

I discussed my ideas with the band and wanted their opinions on it. They came up with the idea of loss in some way and I developed my ideas from that. I thought that a clear contrast in colours from the narrative to the studio scenes was a good idea as it had been done by bands before that are successful. And it also reminds the viewer that it is a music video and it hasn’t happened in real life. (although the viewer may have been in a similar situation themselves.

Narrative.

I decided that I wanted to have a contrast from the narrative to the band in the studio scenes. I wanted to create a sense that the narrative has flashback and the girl was looking into the past which is why there are flashbacks in slow motion.

The mise en scene.(the ‘look’ of the music video)

Even though the fight scene is a very important part of the video I and the band chose to shoot it in a ‘Bokeh’ effect as it was a distortion of the amazing relationship they once had so the idea that the camera was distorting the image it makes the viewer feel like part of the action. In the first instance I was going to shoot the fight scene from the girls point of view but I decided against that as the surroundings wouldn't be in it so much and I wanted to capture the scale of the argument by having high and wide surroundings in shot. Also there is no dialogue so the audience doesn't know why they are fighting which again was intentional so that the audience can relate this story into their own lives and decide upon their own situations as to what happens.

As you can see the video slightly sharpens up to make it clearer but still blurred so the audience can identify that a fight is taking place but that her head is spinning and she is distressed.

I also chose to put the fight scene at the climax of the song to add meaning.

The fight scene.

The actors.

Interview with actress Charis Bailey(the main character)

Q: Hello Charis, Thank you for participating and being the main character in my music video. Have you been through a similar situation to your character?

A: Yes I have, they were very hard times. I think a lot of people have experienced those situations which makes your video so good because it connects with the audience.

Q: Did you enjoy working alongside Josh Adams?

A: Yes he is a lovely guy, it was a bit awkward at first as we weren’t that familiar with each other, along with both of us being in committed relationships at the time however both of those broke down soon after.

I used slow motion to add intensity to my music video, I discussed with the band the idea of having flash backs and they agreed that it would be a good effect to use within the music video.

I decided to also include in the last scene a slow motion piece of acting where Josh spins Charis round and then they hug, I purposely included this at the very end for the audience to make them feel as though they had gone back in time (flashback).

The use of slow motion.