Studio Practice

We had a quick practice in the school gym at practicing angles for our "studio" performance. Here's what we made..

Framing and Composition

Rule of Thirds



The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photographyand design.The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.


Headroom
Headroom refers specifically to the distance between the top of the subject's head and the top of the frame, but the term is sometimes used instead of lead room, nose room or 'looking room' to include the sense of space on both sides of the image. The amount of headroom that is considered aesthetically pleasing is a dynamic quantity; it changes relative to how much of the frame is filled by the subject. Moving images such as film and video cameras have the same headroom issues as still photography, but with the added factors of the movement of the subject, the movement of the camera, and the possibility of zooming in or out. Headroom changes as the camera zooms in or out, and the camera must simultaneously tilt up or down to keep the center of interest approximately one-third of the way down from the top of the frame. The closer the subject, the less headroom needed. In extreme close-ups, the top of the head is out of the frame,but the concept of headroom still applies via the rule of thirds.

Practice Filming

Today we got given our camera's to film, so during our lesson time we managed to have a quick go at filming, to see how the lip syncing would fit. We stayed local, in and around the school, and actually filmed some great shots! We filmed 15 minutes all together of footage which Sophie and I stayed after school to edit and produce a practice version of our music video.

Here's how it looks!

Questionnaire

1.How old are you?
12 – 16 []
17 – 19 []
20 + []

2.Gender?
Male []
Female []

3.Do you prefer a music video which is…
Funny []
Serious []

4.Do you prefer abstract videos or ones that go with the lyrics?
Abstract []
Goes with lyrics []

5.Do you prefer music videos that include special effects/animations etc?
Yes []
No []
Why? _______________________________________________________

6.What aspects of a music video make it more interesting for you to watch? ____________________________________________________________

7.Do you prefer…
Calm/slow music videos []
Lively/fast music videos []

8.Do you like to see dance routines?
Yes []
No []

9.What’s your favourite music video? _____________________________
Why?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10.What’s your least favourite music video? ________________________
Why?_____________________________________________________________________
11.What charts do you go by? (radio 1, kiss 100, UK top 40)?_________________________________

12.Do you prefer to watch narrative or performance video’s? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our moving storyboard

We decided to to creative and inventive and draw and film our storyboards to make our filming easier and more reliable instead of written directions. We feel as a group, that this way is a lot easier as it fits in time with the music, so when it comes to filming we will be able to see what scenes we are at easier.

Lip Sync

During our free periods, Sophie and I decided to give lip syncing a go to see how hard and accurate we need to make our music video. Here is a mini video we edited off different songs for you to enjoy, hope you like it!

Andrew Godwin

Andrew Godwin writing in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (Routledge 1992)

1. Music video's demonstrate genre charecteristics. For example, stage performance in metal video/ dance performance for a boy/girl band all need their set stage directions.

2. There is a relationship between music and visuals; either illustrate, amplify, contradicting.

3. There is a relationship between music and lyrics; either illustrate, amplify, contradicting.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work ( a visual style)

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens telescopes) particularly voyeurism treatment of the body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv, music)