Evaluation:
1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Aim: I will be assessing how my music video meets the documentary style.
Our music video 'Not At Home' by Peter Broderick has been shot in a documentary style.The typical convention of a documentary style video, is having amateur - looking footage. We have met these conventions through the use of a hand held camera, long shots, medium shots and close ups. As well as this, we have included only non - diegetic sound in order to keep the audience's focus and attention on the single mum and her little girl.
The storyline behind our music video is shown as a day in the life of a teenage mum and her three year old daughter. Although some of our shots have been staged for the camera, the use of mise - en - scene that has been applied to the video allows the audience to familiarise themselves with the surroundings, as well as the welfare of the characters due to their costume and 'naturalistic looking' performance. We used a variety of close ups, to allow the audience to build a relationship with our young characters and feel as though they can understand the struggle and emotion which these girls find themselves in. Through the use of close ups, the audience are able to understand the facial expressions and mood they are feeling at a certain time.
Aim: I will be assessing how my music video meets the documentary style.
Our music video 'Not At Home' by Peter Broderick has been shot in a documentary style.The typical convention of a documentary style video, is having amateur - looking footage. We have met these conventions through the use of a hand held camera, long shots, medium shots and close ups. As well as this, we have included only non - diegetic sound in order to keep the audience's focus and attention on the single mum and her little girl.
The storyline behind our music video is shown as a day in the life of a teenage mum and her three year old daughter. Although some of our shots have been staged for the camera, the use of mise - en - scene that has been applied to the video allows the audience to familiarise themselves with the surroundings, as well as the welfare of the characters due to their costume and 'naturalistic looking' performance. We used a variety of close ups, to allow the audience to build a relationship with our young characters and feel as though they can understand the struggle and emotion which these girls find themselves in. Through the use of close ups, the audience are able to understand the facial expressions and mood they are feeling at a certain time.
Although we have presented our music video in a documentary style, this piece could also be seen in the genre of a British social realism film due to the mise - en - scene in which we have incorporated. We have linked our video towards current issues arising within today's modern society, and represented this through different ideologies. Popular themes that can be identified through watching our music video are: teenage pregnancies, the struggles of being vulnerably housed and relationships.
The forms and conventions for social realism videos that can also be seen in our piece are the use of unknown actors to our audience. This largely supports the idea behind the social realism genre and therefore makes the storyline appear much more realistic as the actors could be anyone going through this situation.
In addition, we filmed our music video on a Cannon 550D, known for its impeccably clear image.
The forms and conventions for social realism videos that can also be seen in our piece are the use of unknown actors to our audience. This largely supports the idea behind the social realism genre and therefore makes the storyline appear much more realistic as the actors could be anyone going through this situation.
In addition, we filmed our music video on a Cannon 550D, known for its impeccably clear image.
2. How does your media product represent social groups?
The two main characters within our music video, a single mum and her daughter are vulnerably housed. We represented their living state to the audience through the use of costume. For instance, the young single mum is seen wearing a plain black top, blue jeans and a large winter coat. Daisy can be seen in a small brown dress, white tights, furry boots and a big coat. We felt that dressing our characters in these costumes would pull them away from stereotypical judgment of vulnerably housed people. We agreed on using actors aged three and sixteen, as this also deveates away from the stereotypical belief of a vulnerably housed person being drug abusers.
The two main characters within our music video, a single mum and her daughter are vulnerably housed. We represented their living state to the audience through the use of costume. For instance, the young single mum is seen wearing a plain black top, blue jeans and a large winter coat. Daisy can be seen in a small brown dress, white tights, furry boots and a big coat. We felt that dressing our characters in these costumes would pull them away from stereotypical judgment of vulnerably housed people. We agreed on using actors aged three and sixteen, as this also deveates away from the stereotypical belief of a vulnerably housed person being drug abusers.
Furthermore, we felt the video would receive more attention and sympathy if the audience were to see how innocent the teenager and her daughter are, and the fact that situations like this are affecting many young girls within our society today. The locations we chose to shoot in were very ordinary and simple and those which are known for being occupied by vulnerably housed people. However, the ending location of the abandoned building helped establish the fact that these poor girls have no place to call home. Many young people who have been through early pregnancies, or even been left responsible for a person who is of a younger age than themselves will be on the same level as this teenage mum, and therefore hopefully be able to relate to her on-going struggle.
Unlike many other realist films, we did not present a negative portrayal of these girls, as we did not want the audience to create a wrong ideology/sterotype of people who find themselves in similar situations.
Unlike many other realist films, we did not present a negative portrayal of these girls, as we did not want the audience to create a wrong ideology/sterotype of people who find themselves in similar situations.
3. Why would your media institution distribute your media product and why?
Our music video 'Not At Home' by Peter Broderick would definitely benefit from being released and published on to social media sites such as Vimeo and Youtube, as these are sites that the public love to listen and watch videos on. It would also be very beneficial for our short film to be publicised on music channels such as MTV and Starzmusic as many youngsters nowadays spend hours on end watching all different music videos with different themes and story lines to them. However, ours would be particularly affective as I can imagine that many teenagers would be able to relate to the popular themes we display throughout the 4.08 minute video.
Our music video 'Not At Home' by Peter Broderick would definitely benefit from being released and published on to social media sites such as Vimeo and Youtube, as these are sites that the public love to listen and watch videos on. It would also be very beneficial for our short film to be publicised on music channels such as MTV and Starzmusic as many youngsters nowadays spend hours on end watching all different music videos with different themes and story lines to them. However, ours would be particularly affective as I can imagine that many teenagers would be able to relate to the popular themes we display throughout the 4.08 minute video.
Bella Union are a well known and respected record label for producing music under the category of 'Indie - rock' and 'alternative acoustic'. I think Bella Union would do well from distributing our music video as we have given justice to the song by Peter Broderick, and applied that to making an effective and realistic story line which will promote awareness of this subject to the viewers, and in turn entertaining as well.
We have cleverly juxtaposed the mood of the song to the overall mood of the characters until the end scene. I think we would bring a whole new target audience for Bella Union as young people going through horrible situaitons at home or by themselves would be able to turn to their music and enjoy the soothingness and 'lack of thinking' the music creates.
After researching other artists whose music has been produced by Bella Union, we feel that we have very similar conventions to the style their videos have been shot in. For instance, 'On and On' by Thousands has been shot in a documentary style due to the use of hand held camera, which is exactly how we have intended to film our music video like.
We have cleverly juxtaposed the mood of the song to the overall mood of the characters until the end scene. I think we would bring a whole new target audience for Bella Union as young people going through horrible situaitons at home or by themselves would be able to turn to their music and enjoy the soothingness and 'lack of thinking' the music creates.
After researching other artists whose music has been produced by Bella Union, we feel that we have very similar conventions to the style their videos have been shot in. For instance, 'On and On' by Thousands has been shot in a documentary style due to the use of hand held camera, which is exactly how we have intended to film our music video like.
4.Who would be the audience for your media product, and how did you attract this audience?
There are quite a few potential audiences for our music video. The focal one being, young people who enjoy music in the individual alternative style, as well as the music produced by Peter Broderick himself. Not only is the music that accompanies our video important to attract our audience, but also the age of the actors we have chosen to play in our music video, i.e the older girl who is potentially playing the role of a young mum. If teenagers are going through a similar situation to the story line we are conveying, then they will be able to relate to both the music and the characters. Not only this, this video would be a useful tool for PSHE lessons within secondary schools or youth centres, to highlight the 'unglamorous' and dangerous life that can come upon a teenager becoming pregnant at too young an age.
We attracted our audience through using 'young actors'. In order to make our piece look realistic, we gave our actors a brief description of the storyline we were trying to convey, as well as filling them in on the locations we would be shooting in. From there, as the cinematographer I would literally just follow my actors around in these specific locations and keep the camera on them throughout their activity. By doing this, they were able to relax and feel more comfortable in front of the camera, which resulted in realistic looking and non performance based acting.
We attracted our audience through using 'young actors'. In order to make our piece look realistic, we gave our actors a brief description of the storyline we were trying to convey, as well as filling them in on the locations we would be shooting in. From there, as the cinematographer I would literally just follow my actors around in these specific locations and keep the camera on them throughout their activity. By doing this, they were able to relax and feel more comfortable in front of the camera, which resulted in realistic looking and non performance based acting.
This scene by the bus stop was completely improvised by the young girl we had chosen to play the young daughter. After a long day shooting and in the pouring rain, Daisy actually fell asleep on Ella. This worked perfectly for the next couple of shots, especially the one showing a reflection of cars and Daisy's eyes closed.
I think many teenagers from the age of 15-18 will be able to relate to the themes we are conveying in our piece, as these are situations which are happening all the time within our modern society, and I feel people need to be made aware of just how much these young girls are struggling to maintain a secure place for their young ones.
Our original idea had been to use a teenage boy to play Daisy's older brother, however, he did not turn up to one of our filming days and therefore we had to quickly substitute that role to be played by a girl. Originally we had planned for the teenager to be the sibling to the child, however once we received audience feedback, many adults were advising that the older girl should represent a 'teenage mum' to the youngster as they said this would be a lot more touching and make the storyline more tragic, as many parents would see this video and imagine their own daughter having to experience this. Consequently we changed the role to a single mum and this has been very beneficial as we have now widened our target audience from having been mainly aimed at teenagers, to now being teenagers, school/youth workers and parents.
Our original idea had been to use a teenage boy to play Daisy's older brother, however, he did not turn up to one of our filming days and therefore we had to quickly substitute that role to be played by a girl. Originally we had planned for the teenager to be the sibling to the child, however once we received audience feedback, many adults were advising that the older girl should represent a 'teenage mum' to the youngster as they said this would be a lot more touching and make the storyline more tragic, as many parents would see this video and imagine their own daughter having to experience this. Consequently we changed the role to a single mum and this has been very beneficial as we have now widened our target audience from having been mainly aimed at teenagers, to now being teenagers, school/youth workers and parents.
5. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The main technology used within this process has been of course my camera. It has enabled me to shoot anything from close-ups, medium shots, long shots and wide shots. As well as giving me the chance to be inventive in creating a particular mood either by blurring the image or keeping it focused. It has been exciting to stretch my understanding of the camera and helped me be more creative when it came to shooting in different locations.
The main technology used within this process has been of course my camera. It has enabled me to shoot anything from close-ups, medium shots, long shots and wide shots. As well as giving me the chance to be inventive in creating a particular mood either by blurring the image or keeping it focused. It has been exciting to stretch my understanding of the camera and helped me be more creative when it came to shooting in different locations.
Additionally, having a tripod to hand gave more freedom when directing my actors' movements and spacing. Through the use of a tripod I was able to produce static shots. When not using my tripod I turned to using my hand held camera, this enabled me to produce amateur looking footage, which can be identified at many stages of the video and therefore fits the convention of a documentary style.
6. Looking back at your test shoot what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Now looking back at our test shoot, I as the cinematographer have been able to see just how much I have progressed and succeeded when it comes to using the camera. In our first shoot there were quite a few techincal problems which arose, for instance the camera wouldn't always be focused on the characters, and the clarity and depth of the image was not of the level of quality we were aiming for, as well as the level of saturation not being of a good standard. This can be seen in this image below:
Now looking back at our test shoot, I as the cinematographer have been able to see just how much I have progressed and succeeded when it comes to using the camera. In our first shoot there were quite a few techincal problems which arose, for instance the camera wouldn't always be focused on the characters, and the clarity and depth of the image was not of the level of quality we were aiming for, as well as the level of saturation not being of a good standard. This can be seen in this image below:
Below is the deleted scenes that we reluctantly had to omit from our final video as they were other did not support the documentary shoot, and were limited to a certain amount of time that could not be exceeded.
I learned from my mistakes and was able to rectify them in my final music video. I hope that you enjoy the music video we have produced as well as being challenged by the themes and ideologies we have tried to convey.