MUSIC VIDEO EVALUATION

        Evaluation

Our brief to make a music video for a target audience of our own choice, who were young teenage girls. The song we chose was ''22'' by Taylor Swift. My role in the production process was to find a location, and to come up with the reason for why we chose the song. I also designed a mood board and wrote the narrative of our music video. The mood board was very useful because it reflected on the narrative of the music video. Furthermore, whilst we were filming for our music video I was acting in the music video. In lessons we did a lot of work to contribute to the research. We looked at other songs and T.V shows that link to our music video. In addition we looked at a lot of music video and said out opinions on them, and whether we liked them or disliked them.

The chose pop as our gnere because we know that it will be more appealing to pur target audience as they are young teenage girls. We kept to the conventions of the actors in the video to be young female teengaers as this will as this will attract out target audience easily because they are the same age. One music video that inspired ours was ‘Young’ by Tulisa and we used the idea of going around with your friends and having fun. This was effective because within her music video she reflected most of the things that a teenger would do and it helped me and group come up with most of our ideas.

When were filming we only went out one day due to the fact we left the filming really late. Therefore we were wearing the same clothes and most of the location was in the same area. Throughout the process of editing we faced a few problems. One problems we faced was that we new to iMovie, so it was hard to use however we got the hang of it eventually. We asked teachers and our peers to help us so we can do as much editing as possible. In addition we were only a group of two so it was quite hard to get most of the work done. Another problem we faced was cutting certain bits out of the filiming we did and flipping around the images. Eventhough we didnt have as much footage as we planned to have we used whatever we had.

Overall, I believe that we did a lot of work in making the music video however we didn't take advantage of the time we had as this prevented us from doing extra filiming and lip-synching which was necessary. I think that we left everything to late, therefore this led us to not exactly following our narrative. If I were to do this again I would take advantage of the time that I have.

MUSIC VIDEO EVALUATION

Our brief was to make a music video for a target audience of our choice. We decided that we would have a female target and chose to do the song ’22’ by Taylor Swift.   My part in the production process was to contribute to develop who are target audience was going to be, find a theory to our narrative, do a lot of research into other music videos and link it to intertextuality with other media texts, why we had chosen the genre we did, come up with a questionnaire and write up an artist biography.  We had done a lot of work in lessons to contribute to our research. We looked at other music videos and wrote up what we liked about them and disliked about them so when choosing our genre and song we had a clear idea of what we wanted to consist in the music video. I also researched movies to which I could link our music video to and inspire our music video.

We chose pop as our genre because we know that stereotypically, this is a female subjugated genre and we were a group of two girls so it worked. We kept to the conventions of the actors in the video being young as this will help appeal to the target audience as they will be the in the same age range. Another convention that we decided to include was the link between lyric and visual. At one point when she sings ‘it feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters’ one of the girls in the video has a hat on her head and is looking at other ones. This is not exactly her full dressing like a ‘hipster’ but linking lyric to the narrative.

 One music video that inspired ours was ‘We are Young’ by Tulisa and we used the idea of going around with your friends and having fun because our music video was supposed to be light and airy. To plan our video we came up with the narrative together and we made a story board and planned what locations we would go and film at. When we went to film it, it was okay but not the best. We managed to get some footage and some nice shots during the night. 

One thing we could have improved on is communicating more and going out to film more. We only went out one day so the footage was in the same clothes and there was no lip-synching on the video because we left all the filming too late. One problem we faced during editing was that we were new to iMovie and there were only two of us, but we got the hang of it quickly by asking our teacher and peers for help. Another problem we faced was some of the footage that we had filmed was on an iPhone so when flipped around there were black edges. We realised there was nothing we could do about this as we didn’t have enough footage so we just had to use what we had.

We decided that the video can be shown on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, etc. We also thought that our video can be shown on YouTube, as many teenagers watch videos on there and they find new music and videos on there. In some pop videos, not all, women are seen as sexual objects and we wanted to challenge that, as most of our targeted audience is young females, we didn't want to put anything like that in the video, but instead how good friends teenage girls can be and how they can have fun together. Overall I don’t think our music video was very good. There wasn't enough footage and there was no lip-synching, which was necessary. I think we left everything too late and we didn't put in enough effort. 

One of my favourite shots is when Tasnim and Amira are laughing and it fit with the lyrics because she was singing, ‘were happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time’ and it’s a nice shot of how both of them are happy and laughing and having fun. I think we did try to break pop conventions, as in the music industry there is very much a sexualisation of females by having them wearing very little clothing and I think we attempted to break the conventions by having two friends who get along very well and enjoy each other’s company and are going out together and having fun.

 I think we presented the social groups of teenage girls well because the video consists of them going shopping and that’s what ‘stereotypically’ teenage girls ‘love’ to do. I think we sort of reached our target audience as people in our class could see the clear femininity in the video but I don’t think we were that successful in reaching them. However some of the feedback was on how bad it looked because there was no clear narrative and we didn’t include the things we wanted to, like at the beginning of the video we were going to have girls in school looking bored sitting in class and then when they leave school they forgot about all the stress of school but instead go out to have fun. Whereas the video just starts with the two actors going shopping straight away so that’s another thing i think we could have improved, by adding more footage.

If I were ever to do this again I would put a lot of time and effort into it. I would focus on having a schedule and filming more and having clear instructions and narrative. Also I would have everything down in order and know what was happening at all times and planning effectively. 

Farhana Kadir

MUSIC VIDEO NARRATIVE

 

At the start of the music video we will be in school trying to have fun as we are young female teenagers who are in school and extremely bored. In order to show this we are going to have shots of our heads down with books open looking really sleepy and tired because we're bored. 
We then want to show a group of students leaving the school and they all look happy because school is finally over. Then a group of girls are running out of school and showing that they are happy. The start of our video fits with Todorov's theory as it shows a state of equlibreium where everything is normal and in a clam state. It is then shown that they decide to go out shopping in places like Camden Lock, and shopping centres like Oxford Street and Westfield.
Whilst they're at the shopping centres they will be trying on new clothing and coming in out of the changing rooms in the shops. It shows a transition to where things were in a state of normalcy to them going around shopping and having fun which defies the sterotypes of a female group of friends because stereotypically they are meant to not get along, which can be seen in typical high school movies, which conform to the convention of groups of friends that are thought to not typically get along. 
They will then make their way out of the shopping centres with a lot of shopping bags in their hands and their facial expressions will show that they're having a lot of fun and enjoying their time together. After that they make their way to McDonalds to eat. This is because it is supposed to show the audience that they enjoy eating in places, and as a teenager myself I would  definitely go places like there to eat. This is when the narrative refers to Todorov's theory as this is the part of recognition where they realise they cant spend their time shopping because they have to go to school and they have to worry about what they are doing.
The last location will end on the girls back to school sitting in the classroom which they were in at the start at the start of the video. This is supposed to show that they cant run away from school and they are left with no choice but to face reality. Moreover the locations which we have chosen throughout the whole video are all effective because the target audience will recognise them straight away and every time they see a new one, it makes them more curious about the next. This grabs their attention and keeps them interested throughout the video.
The video ends in a circle, as a loop as it shows that being in school is whats normal and what they need to do.

TODORIV THEORY & GENRE AND CONVENTIONS

TODOROV THEORY:


In our music video we use Todorov's theory in which our music video is constructed with our narrative.

1. Equilibrium: Our music video starts with a group of female teenagers in school looking bored and tired with their school work. There are close up shots of all the girls showing their facial expression so the audience have a clear understanding of how the girls feel. This fits with Todorov's theory of equilibrium of everything being as it should be be. For example students are stereotyped to always be tired and bored of school work so this fits in with the equal balance of powers. Everything is as it should be these group of teenagers are in school, learning even if they are bored.

2. Disequilibrium: A disruption of the order that things should be in happens. For instance the next part in our music video is that suddenly all the girls start packing up their things and start to leave school. There would be a long shot to show the girls are in a classroom and then showing the audience that the girls are packing up and planning to leave the school. Their then would be a birds-eye view shot from above the school of the girls all leaving the school. This is the disruption in the narrative where the main characters are placed outside their normal social framework.

Our music video doesn't follow an exact step by step of Todorov's theory but key points of his theory. For example in,

3. Recognition: the characters don't realize that they can't spend their whole time shopping and enjoying times with their friends so instead they are seen leaving the shopping centre with bags and laughing and enjoying being with each other. This would be shot in a long shot showing the girls leaving the shopping centre with bags and making their way to a place to eat.
4. Reparation: As there is no recognition in the disorder that has occurred in the video there is no actual transformation shown, where there is a clear indication of reparation as there is no identification to the characters that a disturbance has occurred in their usual state of balance, that occurs in their everyday life. So instead they are shown to just carry on enjoying their day out together.
5. New equilibrium: The end of the music video displays a unexpectedness to the audience as the characters end up making their way back to school showing that the new equilibrium is similar to the equilibrium at the start however at this point the characters come to their own sort of recognition that they can't spend their lives in shopping center's and eating and hanging out, but in fact that they have to actually go to school and can't run away from their school lives no matter how much they want to and do actually have to concentrate on school.
Our narrative is driven by attempting to try and get the audience to understand that the characters understand that they have to go back to school and that also the narrative involves a transformation of the characters themselves understanding that they have to be grown up and face the stress of their exams and school work head on and not run away from it, so there is also a display of the characters transformation through the situation and disruption.


GENRE AND CONVENTIONS:


The genre we have chosen is pop because we feel that we are close in age with a lot of our target audience and as we are girls we understand the appeal teenage girls have towards the pop genre.
We followed through the conventions of the pop genre as we have artists in a lot of fashionable and stylish clothes. The characters in our music video wear a lot of casual clothes but stylish at the same time because we wanted to portray them as quite girly as the song we have chosen, 22 by Taylor Swift, the main lead is very femineine in the video and we wanted to portray that through the clothing.
Another convention is that we wanted to portray the characters as happy and enjying themselves and life in the video. We did this by starting the video with the girls packing up their things loooking bored with their life, but when they go out and hang out with their friends, they look content with their lives.
A lot of pop genre is nowadays associated with having teens in clubs and partying and alot of the imagery is based on sex or partying as this is what is stereoypically what society assumes teens do these days. We however did not follow through with these conventions and instead kept it more girly and less grungy.
We did not have the characters in excessive make up even though this this said to express the artists feelings we instead kept it minimal because we felt that they are still teens and we wanted it to be more about them feeling content and enjoying themsleves in the music video because we felt this was the best way for the characters to express themselves and that is what the wole song is about, having fun.
We wanted to create a loud and lively atmosphere yet simple like it was years ago because these are still young girls, just having fun and enjoying themsleves. They are not worrying about school.
We end the video with them going back to school because we wanted to show that reality hits in and that they can't always just be having fun all the time.

TARGET AUDIENCE & SONG DECISION REASONING

TARGET AUDIENCE:

For our music video we have chosen females between the age of 14-18 as our target audience. This is because the female teenagers within that age range are usually at school and doing exams and we want to reflect this in our music video as it is based on teenagers who supposed to be not worrying about school work and ''forgetting deadlines''. Therefore when the audience are watching the video they will understand what female teenagers are like as it will include: shopping, going out, going to cinemas. Furthermore I am the same with in the same age range as the target audience we have similar hobbies, likes and dislikes, therefore are video will appeal to them.

SONG DECISION:


The song we have chosen is Taylor Swift 22. We have chosen this song because it’s a popular song by a female pop/country artist that many people admire.  In addition the song is very catchy and upbeat therefore the target audience will feel more attracted to it. In addition to that the main theme is ‘’forgetting deadlines’’ and school work, therefore this will make it more appealing to the target audience because young people in general like to have fun and go out all time.

Furthermore when you’re a teenager you don’t just want to be working at school or revising all the time because it is hard to concentrate on things like as they don’t know what the adult life is really like. Therefore our target audience is the perfect range because when your 14, its like the start of your teenage life and when your 18 it kind of the end of your teenage life and you will begin to see the adult world. However the message we are also trying to get across to the target audeince is, as much as they love going out and having fun, they have face reality and that's why at the end of the video we have chosen to make them go back to school.

LOCATION, CUSTOME & PROPS

Location of Music Video

The location at the start of our music video is in school and its supposed to show the audience that teenagers are tired and not really not that bothered with school. this then leads onto when the school bell rings and the students rush out of school like they're really desperate to leave - this is also supposed to show the audience that what they feel about school on a day to day basis. Then when the chorus of the song comes in the group of teenagers get on a bus making their way to a shopping centre and that will be in Westfield. They all be trying on different clothes and they walk out of the shops with many shopping bags. The location is a popular shopping centre therefore it's supposed to show that's teenagers enjoy it and that's where they would go for shopping. In addition it also shows that they're all happy and enjoying their time together. After they leave the shopping centre they go to eat in McDonalds. This is because it matches to what our target audience as that location is somewhere which teenagers would go to eat. You wouldn't exactly find then in coffee shops and I know this because I'm a female teenager and I would usually go there to eat with my friends. Finally the last location will be the girls making there way back to school and this is effective because they cant run away from school and their education, they will just have to face reality.

Costumes
The types of clothing we will use is casual clothing as our music video is for teenage girls and in the video these girls are out and about having fun with their friends, so we didnt want to have them dressed up so much because we didnt want them to look older than they are and we wanted them to be young girls out enjoying themsleves. The style of these characters is casual, and quite girly. Because our target audience is towards female teenagerw we will have them dressed this way as it will be more appealing to them. It will be appealing to them because it will draw them in as they will like girly outfits and casual clothing. Ideologically girls are supposed to like bright colours and girly, casual clothes so our target audience will be attracted to the fact that they are of similar age to the character's and how their likes are similar.

Props
In our music video our characters willl use props such as mobile phones, because they are teenagers and it is believed that teenagers spend a lot of their times on their phones which is true so the character willl be talking on the phone and texting showing that they are in contact with their friends and that they are sociable with their friends.
We will also use props such as shopping bags to show the characters shopping and to show what teenage girls like spending their time doing on a day to day basis. Girls are often associated with being 'shopaholics' and since our video is about girls hanging out together, having fun we wanted to show that shopping is a big thing that girls like to do so we had the characters go out in our music video to a big shopping centre, try on some clothes and leave with shopping bags showing them going out and enjoying their time with each other.

CAMERA ANGLE SHOTS EXAMPLES