Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire

1. Select your age group

Select your age group   10 or below  11-14  15-18  19-25  25 or above

2. What is your gender?

What is your gender?   Female  Male

3. What genre of music do you typically listen to?

What genre of music do you typically listen to?   Hip-Hop  Pop  Folk  Indie  Country  R&B  Classical  Dance

Other (please specify)

4. Do you watch music videos?

Do you watch music videos?   Yes, always  Sometimes  Rarely  Never

5. What aspect of a music video do you consider most important?

What aspect of a music video do you consider most important?   Narrative  Special effects  Characters  Lighting and filters  Costume  Editing

Other (please specify)

6. What is your preference in relation to music videos?

What is your preference in relation to music videos?   Choreographically based  Narrative based  Both

7. Which do you prefer videos to be...

Which do you prefer videos to be...   Dance and action  Romance  Symbolic  Humorous  Ironic

Other (please specify)

8. How many characters involved in the video do you prefer?

How many characters involved in the video do you prefer?   One  A couple  Several  Large group

9. Which location do you prefer? (Select all that apply)

Which location do you prefer? (Select all that apply)   Countryside  Rural town/village  Urban town  City  Hall  Warehouse  Beach  Domestic setting

Other (please specify)

10. What's your favourite music video and why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Questionnaire Link

Following a meeting with our teacher, we decided to carry out a questionnaire to variety of audience members in order to gain an understanding of the needs and expectations required of a music video. We  distributed digital and physical copies of the survey.

Link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C29MZJL

Preliminary Task

We carried out a preliminary task to familiarze ourselves with different camera techniques, angles and editing, required for making a successful music video.

Featuring:
Samiul, Lijo, Sean, Sophie, Sophie, Leah and Marko

Taylor Swift ft Ed Sheeran - Everything has changed analysis

The song was written by both Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, from her fourth studio album 'Red'. Both artists feature as cameo parts in the video itself, this helps to illustrate the everlasting friendship that the narrative and the lyrics center around.

This video maintains the stereotypical American elementary childhood ideology with the use of the typical yellow school bus, dressing the leading girl in while to convey innocence, using natural sunlight with bright colours, familiar settings and shots of light through tree leaves that have connotations of summer etc. The camera pans a lot, capturing the sunlight reflections, which is an effect that makes the shots almost seem reminiscent. Panning also makes the video more enjoyable to watch as it is not made up of still shots.

Varied shots such as close ups to allow the audience to focus on specific actions or objects that are significant (such as the wooden iphones that are a comment on generational changes and for the audience's amusement) alternated with long shots to show the characters in context make the narrative of the video flow smoothly and the audience are unlikely to lose interest.

There are several scenes with dimly lit, warm lighting is sourced from torches and fairylights beneath a tent the protagonists have constructed - creating in an intimate atmosphere.

The shots cut between a variety of moments, settings and actions but still follow a narrative - despite cutting back to scenes throughout the video - lasting only a few seconds each, which keeps the audience interested and creates a montage of the character's everlasating friendship. 
The camera pans upwards to show a low angle shot of the protagonists, this separates them from the other children playing below, which is a feature that is maintained throughout the video, to show that the love and friendship they have, sets them apart from everyone else.

Ed Sheeran - Give me love analysis

Synopsis:
The video deals with the idea of Cupid -  she is seen watching over couples, using her bow and arrows to ignite people's passion for each other. So after watching many human intimate displays through her work, Cupid becomes overwhelmed with the need to find someone of her own to love and for them to love her in return. She becomes obsessed by love and  literally builds and creates the kind of person she wants to love and when that’s not enough she goes out looking for it wherever she can find it. When all her attempts fail she is broken, done with finding love, it kills her she shoots herself believing that she’ll be by herself forever. but when she least expects it, Love finds her, literally awakens her and opens her eyes.

The song was released as the sixth and last single from Sheeran's debut album '+' in november 2012.

The obsession in which the protagonist (Cupid) expresses over love, is amplified through the use of mise-en-scene. The use of blue, desaturated filters convey the cold and lonely emotions she feels towards the idea of love, which is further enhanced by the distorted effect created by the smoke and blur in which she is concealed by. Her clothes she wears are plain, colourless and bland which may reflect her view on life, they also appear torn in a mid close up shot, which could suggest that she is damaged and broken herself. Use of harsh, bright artificial lighting emphasizes that the lack of warmth and happiness in her life, which reflects the narrative.

By utilising close up shots, the audience can clearly see her emotions expressed, which evokes empathy from many audience members. The close ups focus on significant objects, such as the wooden mannequins, help to illustrate the plot line for the audiences.
Structurally, at the beginning of the video, the shots are longer and use slow panning and dolly shots. However, when the song reaches the climax, the shots are much shorter with rapid editing, which builds suspense. The cuts between the different shots, appear random and are not in sync or in a particular rhythm, which also conveys her disillusion and confusion.
The beginning, establishing shot shadows the ending of the song, and therefore, is a non-linear structure.
As the camera zooms out from the establishing shot, it cuts to insignificant, material objects such as a fan, and an old kettle, this is used to show that this is all she has and that her life is pretty empty. The only love she seems to have is framed pictures of strangers in love. 

Gabrielle Aplin - Panic Chord Analysis

Gabrielle Aplin is an English singer-songwriter from Wiltshire. Aplin gained a following online after publishing acoustic covers of songs by bands such as Paramore and You Me At Six on Youtube. She signed to Parlaphone in 2012.

The Mise-en-scene throughout this video is consistent with her previous music videos (such as Please Don't Say You Love Me, Home and The Power Of Love) and makes use of warm and natural lighting that emphasises the almost hazy, vintage filter that is used. The outfits worn by the artist and her co-actor who plays the role of her love interest have connotations of a cosy, country life - with the knitted jumpers and understated clothing. 

The video makes use of rather rapid editing with fast cuts between shots that last no longer than five seconds, alternating between various angles of the same scene. The camera angles used are mainly close ups or extreme close-ups. The camera movement is fairly uneven at times, giving the impression that the shots are natural and spontaneous. It moves in and out of focus to help illustrate the narrative.



Several shots seem to be from an outsider perspective, showing the couple with a doorframe/panelling in the front of the frame. 
The music is in synch with the narrative, showing clips of Aplin playing the guitar and miming.