EPQ Practice

To begin my practise EPQ I will start off by writing a proposal. A proposal is where I can start to voice my initial thoughts and ideas. 

Proposal

This is a planning document where you outline, explain and justify your project. You are required to set your own aims and objectives for your project as well as key milestones, interim project deadlines and expected outcomes. 

Brief: Music video.  

Title of Project: N/A 

Brief Outline of Idea: Grungy/indie/indie rock/electronic/EDM 2000’s vibe. Inspiration from Shows and movies such as Skins, Misfits, My Mad Fat Diary, The inbetweeners, Spike Island. Can outline what teenagers get up to living in the rural countryside. Can show positives and negatives out outline issues such as underage drinking and smoking and the effect it has on teenagers. Teenagers with addictions is my contextual point and my technical focus is on my editing and video quality.  

Aims and Objectives/Rationale: A Proposal I want to outline what it is like being a teenager in an area with not a lot going on (rural countryside areas) and how easy it is for teenagers to fall into trouble due to lack of social options. I want to use inspiration from shows like Skins. How there is a large element of grungy 2000’s vibes and it also shows social issues like alcohol, drug and smoking addiction and how these can all lead to other issues. This would be my contextual focus – I think this could link to politics as well as social. My technical focus will be my editing and video quality as these are two hard skills I would like to grow and develop as I believe I have struggled with this over the last year. I want to use an indie/indie rock song  or a electronic/EDM song to match the 2000’s grungy, party vibe. If I chose the indie/ rock genre  this could be artists such as Arctic Monkeys, The Pidgeon Detectives, The Kooks, Green Day, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, The Strokes. The Libertines or anyone following this kind of vibe and that matches with the era. If I chose the electronic/EDM genre I could choose artists such as Example, Bodyrox, Mylo, Calvin Harris, The Streets, Ellen Allien. I would want to choose a song that does not have a music video so that it stands out and so that it is original. I have chosen this style of music/artist as I believe this matches well with the time and as something that could be understood by my target audience. My target audience would be teenagers and young adults as I believe they may be able to relate to this topic and will be around the same age as the characters as well as taking in media that is similar to what I am trying to create/follow the same codes and conventions of. One of my aims is to try and make people realize that in stories like Skins which are based in the city (Bristol) the same thing also happens in the countryside. I want the visual style of my music video to be quite grainy, grungy and vintage. As I want a 2000’s kind of vibe I want it to look like it would be from that era. This is also to do with the outfits as well as make up. Looking at the codes and conventions that are seen in teen dramas and comedies there is often the use of slow motion or time delayed shots, a form of conflict, atmosphere and mood can be told from lighting – for the drama side of things they may be darker colors and for the comedy side there would be lighter colors. This can vary so that it is clear to the audience what the overall mood and conflict is. Codes and conventions that would be seen in TV and films from the 2000’s era would be certain fashion trends like lots of eyeliner, potentially glitter, layered clothing, side parts. There may also me more grain (noise + cc vinegerette) to give it a more vintage feel. I may want to test if filming on a camera, a phone or a camcorder would be better to give this feel to the video. Thinking about cinematography I will need to consider a range of shots that may make the audience feel as though there is a element of fun, a element of danger, a element of worry and a element of feeling detached. This may be easy to show by using a range of static shots and handheld shots. This can help to link to the mind set the characters. 

Milestones: Thinking about my project ahead, I will need to conduct research when I look at and consider different factors of the music (how the lyrics may match the visuals, how I could edit my footage with the music, what the significance of the music is), of the filming quality (are the shots focused, do they make sense, what could I film on for the best quality, what each shot could infer to the audience ect.). I can ensure that I meet these needs by regularly evaluating my work as well as keeping a production log. By using these methods of evaluating, I can reflect on what I’ve done, how I can make it better and why those changes would be any better. My practice EPQ is a reduced version of my main EPQ. It is a smaller amount of work but I will have closer deadlines. I will manage these deadlines by establishing what timings I have to do tasks and how much of them I can do. If I feel as though I am short on time I can work in my free periods, go to plus time and work in the evenings as well. 

Research Ideas: Different forms of research I will need to include primary research (research that I will conduct myself), secondary research (research I can find that has already been conducted), academic research (research done by someone with a degree) and practical research (practical research is when I can test different technical skills that can benefit my final product. Action research is a form of primary research but is more practical based). The balence of all of the different forms of research is useful as I am able to gather more specific data to do with the topic of my music video.  

Resources: Before beginning filming I will need to use a range of different resources for finding out information and facts. When conducting research, I may use a range of different articles and websites as these are a great way to conduct secondary research. These websites and articles may include ; news publications (BBC, The Guardian, ITV, Daily Mail) News publications are good to use as they will often highlight statistics, figures and facts meaning that my findings will often be factual. Another good resource would be YouTube. YouTube would allow me to look at different music videos to look into different editing techniques, different camera techniques, different genre codes and conventions and also gather inspiration ideas. YouTube is also great for looking into different tutorials for editing skills that I would like to learn and develop. Conducting surveys and questionnaires using websites like google forms or survey monkey can get more verbal information and opinions that is more detailed. Other resources would include my equipment. I will need to use a camera of some description (either a digital camera, a phone camera or a camcorder). I need to establish which one would be the best quality and the best fit for my project. As I am filming a music video I wont need a microphone however I may need one to conduct a lipsync test.  

Timeframe: I will need to work to deadlines efficiently. My proposal is due for the second of October. I will use two lessons to outline what I am thinking of making so that when continuing on I have a clearer plan of what I want. After finishing my proposal I will move onto my research. All of my research is due for the seventh of October. This gives me 4 lessons to work on different types of research that can also benefit my music video. I could spend each lesson working on each form of research (1 primary lesson, 1 secondary lesson, 1 academic lesson and 1 action lesson). I then have two weeks for production, editing and evaluation so that All of my work can be due in for the 21st of October. Over these two weeks I can work closely with my actors to find an available date to film. When it comes to the production section of my practise EPQ I can have more official timings and plans.  

Expected Outcome: I want my music video to provide the audience with a nostalgic feel but also makes them think. I want to get better at my video editing and also my use of effects. I want the quality to be good but also look older so have a bit of grain and texture to it. I think that these expected outcomes are doable I will just need to conduct a good variety of practical research to ensure I understand all of the different points I want to make.  

Research

There are a range of different forms of research I will need to conduct to ensure that the quality of my music video is the best. Research can make sure that my music video is relevant to what I am trying to outline and the message i am trying to give to the audience. My main message is that teenagers growing up in rural areas like the countryside have less options of things to do and end up in situations where they may be trespassing, taking drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking whilst all being underage. I want to outline this as adults are aware that this is the case but are not willing to do anything to change this. I will begin by conducting my primary research. 

Primary Research

Primary research is a form of research That I conduct myself. This involves using different websites, articles, videos, books and evaluating what the use of the information would mean for my music video. To start I will be looking into the three different genres of music videos. 

Music video genres

There are three main different types of music videos. These are concept, narrative and performance. I will be giving an example of these different types of music videos and the codes and conventions of what they are. 

In Nirvana's - Smells Like Teen Spirit, the whole video is centered around the band performing. There are the odd few shots where the focus is not on the band (showing cheerleaders or a school caretaker) however it mainly shows the band and how the audience is responding to the song. Having the crowd get up, dance around to the song, headbanging ect... 

When I was thinking about what video I could use as an example the first one that came to mind was Nirvanas - Smells Like Teen Spirit as in my opinion it is one of the most well known performance based videos. 

My mise en scene inspiration.

Choosing a song

As I have a couple of different genres I am thinking about using I will be doing some research into what this song will be. In my proposal I had outlined my interest in creating either a indie/rock music video or a electronic/EDM music video but I also wanted it to have a 2000's party kind of feel to it. After thinking about what initially comes to mind when thinking about my inspiration - the tv show Skins, I believe that a Electronic or EDM song would match this well and give my audience a better idea of what I am trying mimic and allude to. Preferably the lyrics need to be relevant to my contextual focus of teenagers not having lots of social options in rural areas leading them to taking substances for fun but if I am unable to find this in the limited time I have for research I will just use a song that I think would match the genre, time period and would fit well with the aesthetic I am wanting - this being inspired by skins. As I mostly would like to do a Electronic/EDM song I began by looking into this genre.

 I searched for different albums and artists that were popular within the EDM genre in the 2000's. I specifically started looking on apple music to find pre made playlists that followed the 2000's and electronic/EDM. 

This is "I Created Disco" - Calvin Harris

Music Video Theories

Music video theories are used to benefit the audience. This can be related to how the music and the visuals match and what the can mean and also how it makes the viewer feel. 

Andrew Goodwin is a music theorist and has outlined codes and conventions in music videos. These different types of videos can be based on genre characteristics (90's boy bands and girl groups may have dances to pair with the song which are featured in a video), performance videos often show people performing the song, narrative videos typically follow a storyline, there may be connection between the lyrics and the music video visuals, there may be needs or demands of managers and record labels for the artist to meet, reffering to looking (how women in music videos may be objectified), intertextual referencing to film and TV shows and what I am most interested in would be the relation ship between the beat, tempo and instruments with the visuals. 

Here are some examples of this in videos: 

Genre Conventions for Electric Dance Music

Codes and conventions for different music genres are what we typically see in different types of music. These are also related to media theorys. For example in EDM music videos there would potentially be a relationship between visuals and the beat/tempo of the song. We can see this in another music video for the same Calvin Harris album.

After looking into different music video genres, the song I will be using and the genre conventions of that song I have established that I will be creating a narrative video which uses the beat and tempo of the song to match the visuals. The storyline will follow teenagers getting ready for a house party in which it starts off going well, everyone's having a good time, their all dancing along to the music. It is alluded to the fact that drinking and taking drugs is occurring at the party. The characters dance and chat until worry starts to occur and we can see that someone is unconscious and not waking up this is when chaos begins. 

Lyric Analysis

Lyric analysis are used to match the visuals to what the artist is saying.  They are useful as I would be enable to look into what intertextual references I can use and also the mis en scene I can use. Having mise en scene that is relevant to the genre conventions as well as the lyrics and the context is important as it what helps my audience understand what I am trying to suggest. My music video is only suppose to be  a minute long as it is a condensed version. When I initially listen to the song the section that I would want to use would be the beginning as I could imagine my characters getting ready and preparing for a party (where they run into trouble) . However I will be conducting a lyric analysis as it is important to ensure the meaning of the song and what can be done with it. 

Action Research - Conducting a camera test, a lip-sync test and additional features such as post production editing techniques.

Action research is used to physically test practical skills that will be essential in my music video and music video editing. These factors effect the final product and the way it makes my audience feel. 

As I want a grainy, 2000's atmospheric vibe I wanted to test different cameras to see what quality each one gave me. I want to test a canon filming camera, a sony handicam and my phone. The look that I am wanting relies on camera quality, lighting and editing. I will be testing each camera with the same lighting set up and testing different colour filters that I may be interested in using. 

As well as testing different cameras, I have also thought about using images and effects in either Premier Pro or After Effects to illude to the fact that my charcters may be intoxicated through drugs and alcohol. Keeping with the 2000s theme, these images may be commonly used symbols that are accosiated with that time period. These may be coming from magazines, websites, adverts, brands ect. 

I will also be carrying out a lip sync test so that when filming I can have my performance element and have it look smooth and clear. 

Survey

A good form of primary research is to conduct a survey. Surveys are useful as you can gather data surrounding what percentage of people agreed or disagreed towards a point of your choice. I asked a number of different questions in my survey which will help my research. These were:

• Do you listen to EDM?

• How does EDM make you feel?

• Do you think that the 2000's were influential on todays media and trends?

• Do you think music videos are influential?

• Do you believe that the TV show Skins shows an accurate depiction of teenagers and their day to day lives? 

• Do you think that shows such as Skins and Euphoria glorify teenagers drinking, smoking and taking drugs whilst being underaged? 

• Do you think that teenagers in rural areas (the countryside) have less social options than teenagers living in city's? 

• Do you think that teenagers living in rural areas are more likely to take substances due to lack of social options? 

• Do you think that if a music video addressed these issues, it would make more teenagers consider their actions if taking substances? 

I sent my survey out to my target audience (late teenagers and early adults) and these were my responses. 

social options. Majority said maybe with 46.7%. Next 40% said no and 13.3% said yes. I found this interesting as I thought there would be a larger amount saying yes however with most people saying maybe means that there could be a large element of yes they do but also un certainty. This benefits my research as I am able to back up my ideas and continue to ensure that it is relevent to my target audience. 

Actors and Costuming/Mise - en - scene

My performers are my main part of my music video. They are who will show the emotion and visually outline to my audience my theming and message. I began the search for actors by asking a group of people if they could all meet at my house on a specific day to film. I do not have specific character roles (a protagonist, antagonist, the princess, hero, helpers, false hero, villain, dispatcher and doner). My main protagonists would be the characters on screen and the main antagonist to would be the drugs and alcohol which is posing a threat to the characters. 

After asking a large group of people who would be available to film, I gained response from my friend's Georgia Mitham, Seren Prothero, Sophie Christy, Maisie Svennson, Erica Underwood, Grace Bonley and Joshua King. They all registered their interest in being apart of my music video. i explained the theming and context and my 2000's inspiration and they all loved it and was very eager to join in. 

I began by explaining what costuming and outfits would be beneficial to my mise en scene. Mise en scene is relevant to what can be seen in the shot such as outfits, make up, props and setting/location. For my outfits I am taking heavy influence from Skins and the 2000s. These are my costume  and make up choices. 

For my props I will need things that you would expect to see at a normal house party eg sparkle garlands and balloons but there will also be props that allude to the substances that the characters are taking for instance, bottles and cup as well as small plastic bags. This also related to my location as this will be filmed at my house. 

For my lighting I want to use different shades of purples and blues as I think these match the aesthetic I want to use well. The colour blue can represent feelings of tranquil, reliable, calm but also feelings of sad, depressed and passive behaviour. Purple cam represent being compassionate and mysterious but also immature, emotional and unstable. I like the balance that these colours giver and how it could infer to my audience that everyone is happy and having a good time until someone goes unconscious and then there is chaos and uncertainty. 

Secondary Research

Secondary research is used to find data and information that has been found by someone else. Secondary research is beneficial as it can save time and recourses when researching however it may be less specific and dated. For my secondary research I will be finding articles that may share the same views and opinions as my target audience and myself. 

someone getting injured but equally I want it to look fun for a certain amount of time until it all becomes real again. Making the audience think about the possibility's of drinking and taking drugs. 

Academic Research

Academic research is reased, created and written by someone with a degree in what they are talking about. It is good to use academic research as it enables you to get quality research that will benefit your project. I will be researching different topics using Google Scholar to find any response that may be relevant to my research. 

samples having at least one respondent who has ever used ecstasy was still increasing in 2001. Thus the drug is still diffusing to new communities, which may have been more than enough to offset the effects of the increase in perceived risk. Reported availability of ecstasy continued to rise quite dramatically, perhaps in part due to this diffusion process. The use of anabolic steroids increased significantly among 12th graders this year, perhaps reflecting a cohort effect, since steroid use had risen fairly sharply among the younger students in the prior two years. However, there was no further increase in steroid use among the 8th or 10th graders in 2001. ". Again this is not the most relevant but is good to see different statistics from the same time period to gain a better understanding. 

Pre production 

Pre production is used to outline what needs to be done before and during filming. This is so that less time is taken re doing shots if the director is unsure on what needs to take place. Having pre production means that crew and actors can just get to filming instead of having to establish what needs to be done. Pre production differs for different products however for my music video I will need to create a risk assessment, location recce, storyboard and shot list, 

I will be creating these documents and uploading them to my website. 

First is my location recce. 

Location recces are used to show the filming location/set and the needs that there may be. For me I needed dark areas to show it was a party taking place in the evening and so that my lighting choices can be well seen. I needed my set to have 2000's influence but my kitchen and dinning room where I will be filmed has remained the same since the 2000's so I believe this works well. You are also able to think about contingency's and resolutions to filming if any issues occur. 

Next is my risk assessment.

Creating a risk assessment is again good for outline any problems that may occur when filming. These can be anything from safety hazards such as falling, slipping or tripping or risks along the lines of technical aspects eg running out of memory card space. Risk assessments can again highlight contingency's towards what will need to happen if one of these risks does occur. 

Next is my storyboard.

Storyboards are useful as they can go into detail of what the director or producer wants the shots to look like. This can show images and ideas of each shot that can then be coppied when filming. For example, I started off by showing different shots of my character walking into her house and then pressing play on the CD player for the song to begin playing. It is then followed by close up shots of each character getting ready. I can use my storyboard to look back on when filming as this can help me get the accuracy of my ideas out. 

Next is my shot list.

Shot lists are created to reiterate the ideas from a story board and go into further detail regarding weather they are shot outside or inside, if the camera moves, have a description of the shot and any further notes regarding the shot. 

The final form of pre production are my release forms. 

Overall Research  Evaluation

Overall I believe that the research I have conducted is beneficial to my music video as it has enabled me to outline the atmosphere of my video, the storyline I want my narrative video to follow and the codes and conventions of EDM videos. For example, I have looked into 2000's skins costumes ect. This will help my music video as this is relevant to mise en scene which can help my audience understand that my video is set in the 2000's.  I have been able to outline the party culture that is often seen in media (TV shows and movies) and how my music video can relate to this but point out the negatives that may not be clearly seen.  I also think the research I have into codes and conventions of EDM videos. This has shown that in media theory's, music videos can often have visuals match the beat and tempo of the music, this is what I will be using in my video. Overall I think that the research I have done is all relevant to my technical focus and my contextual focus but there is definitely room for growth within in my research which I am sure I will learn during the filming and editing of my music video. 

My music video:

Evaluation

Project overview

To begin my practise EPQ I outlined that my aims were that I wanted my music video to be to either a indie/indie rock or electronic/dance song, and wanted it to be themed around the 2000’s era, taking main inspiration from the TV program skins. I wanted my main technical focus to be my editing as this was something that I struggled with last year and felt as though my work was lacking in quality because of it. My contextual focus was to show how teenagers in rural areas do often turn to drugs and alcohol from lack of social options. I think that my contextual focus and my technical focus worked well together as I believe I was able to get very creative.

I do think that my aims were achieved as I researched into the different factors of my music video these being inspiration from skins, 2000’s inspiration, and songs of these genres from the 2000’s without music videos. Skins often used electronic/EDM songs during party’s or gatherings, so I went with a EDM song. This was Calvin Harris – I Created Disco. This fit the 2000’s vibe as it was released in 2007 and when listening to it I could picture what I wanted my video to look like. I also investigated different editing and filming techniques that I think would benefit my video. When editing I did further research just by searching for effects on YouTube and adding them to my shots. An aim I don’t think I achieved was following my idea of it depicting teenagers in the countryside. When watching the video, it seems more just like a party that goes wrong. I am not unhappy about this as it still outlines the teenage behaviour that can often result in injury, imprisonment and even death which is more what I wanted to show. I think that I did show the negatives that aren’t always shown and seen on TV when teenage party behaviour is often glamorized. In my main EPQ I will either stick to exactly what I outlined or adapt what I want my video to look like based on later research and findings.

The biggest success in my music video would either be my mise en scene or my editing.  I was so thrilled with how my costuming, props, lighting and set looked. My cast were really passionate about matching the moodboards and the influences I was using to give my music video the feel and atmosphere that I wanted. In shows such as Skins, Euphoria and movies like Thirteen there is often a heavy influence on lighting, often using shades of blue, purple, grey or yellow. Blue can infer peace and relaxation but can also infer feelings of fragility, depression and sadness. I used a blue colour filter over a light for majority of my filming as I felt as though I could use the colour connotations to match the feelings of my characters on drugs (showing everyone having a good time and then the chaos is caused and the mood drops). I really love how the lighting looked when reviewing my footage. Another aspect of my mise en scene that worked well would be the props that I used. I tried to be very recyclable as it was only a practise EPQ I did not want to spend too much money.  I used fake paper cigarettes which I had used for a Halloween costume years ago, red plastic cups as these are often seen in TV house party’s, I used small plastic bags to infer the use of drugs, these came  from buying earrings and jewellery online which I had kept them in to not lose the jewellery, I used typical party props such as balloons and shredded tissue paper for the table, I think these really added to the party vibes and these only cost me £2 together. In one scene, one of the characters eats a gummy bear which is inferred to be “drug infused”. I had bought lots of different sweets to say thank you to my friends for helping me so this just came from a packet of Haribo. I also used bottles of alcohol to make it clear to the audience that the characters were drinking. Overall I think the use of the costumes, props and lighting really did make my mise en scene really strong.

Another big success and a skill that I needed to use and develop in my project would be my editing. Last year I really struggled with my editing and often felt like I had great ideas and great footage but couldn’t put the two together as I found software such as after effects really confusing and difficult to use. My main aim for year 2 is to get better at editing as it really does make so much difference within work. I knew that I wanted to use effects to further infer to the audience that the subject of the video was based around drugs and alcohol. I did research into what after effects, effects I could use to show this and I used “Echo” and “Wide Time” through my video. This has definitely benefitted my music video and has made it more visually pleasing and intriguing to the viewer. This is a super important skill to develop and use as if the viewer is uninterested, they will find the video boring and will not take anything from it, if they viewer finds it boring then I have not been able to successfully outline the context points I needed to as I want my work to leave people questioning things and wanting change. I am very happy with the difference of my editing in this project from my last FMP and I hope that it is something I can continue to grow and develop over the course of this last academic year.

Overall, in my project I am extremely happy with the outcome of my video and the techniques that I have experimented with using. I think that I have worked well to meet deadlines and do my work to the same quality as my work from last year. I always aim high with my work as I love being creative and making projects that I find interesting and that I hope can interest others and I hope that that Is what my music video has done. I think that I have worked well to match the ideas I initially outlined and have personally exceeded my expectations within my music video.

Project Challenges

During the filming and editing of my project I faced a couple of different issues which I had to work through. One of these problems when filming was that the SD card on the camera I was using was only 1GB and it only had around 9 minutes of storage which was gone quite quickly. This meant that when filming I had to stop, get my laptop, upload the footage, delete the footage off the camera and then begin filming again. This was disruptive as I had to stop what everyone was doing and sort it out. Another challenge that I faced would be that when exporting from Premiere Pro, a lot of my quality that I had, worsened. I had worked really hard on making my video to a good quality and in some clips did like the blurry quality that it gave as I felt as though it added to the chaotic vibe of the video and also matched the 2000’s quality however the shots that had a really good quality are now lower due to exporting off premiere. I did 3 exports testing different export settings and each one lacked the quality that I initially had.

In the future I would see if I was able to use a different SD card which would enable me to just continue filming as much as I needed to without stop. This would be more efficient for time as I could just get on with it and continue working. For the loss of quality, in my EPQ and later FMP I may do different tests to see the camera quality and then what export settings is the best as this does affect the final product.

An aspect of the project that I think could have gone better would be my research. During the production and editing I felt as though there were more things that I could have investigated that would benefit my video and also save me time when editing. I think that the action research I had conducted was definitely useful and did help me make choices surrounding my video however I could have done more after effects testing as this was my main aim with my video to get better at.

A resource that would have been important to my research would be finding more on music video theory and Andrew Goodwins research. I had already looked into different theories in my last FMP so had some understanding but there is actually not that much about Andrew Goodwin on the internet and the stuff that there is isn’t the best quality so have to look through lots. In the library I could not find anything on Andrew Goodwins theory so more resources on this would be ideal for later projects.

I think during facing these challenges, I was quite effective at over coming these problems however I was feeling frustrated. I was frustrated with the SD card issues as it was just a disruption and a bit of a faff to deal with but I delt with it quickly and with it not being too much of an issue. I think that I was definitely effective by trying different exporting settings as I just wanted my video to look better but as it did not really resolve anything this is something I need to look further into.

Consideration for future projects

In later projects I would like to do further planning and preparation to help me feel more confident and aware of the next steps of my project. This could be surrounding having more contingencies in technical issues, such as the SD card and the quality. By having contingencies, I can try to reduce any challenges that I face being a issue. This would give me a better final outcome as my video would have better quality and it wouldn’t feel so rushed.

A key lesson I have learnt from this project would be to do further action/practical research. I do think that the research I did was beneficial, but I would express the need for more research on using different effects and the properties of them as I was learning how to use these whilst editing. This wasn’t an issue as I felt like my music video formed well in the moment of editing however having experience in using these would work well.

Another key lesson would be to make sure I have a better idea of what export settings are needed. As I have previously mentioned I worked hard to have the quality of my video better than anything I had ever done and ensured this by conducting camera tests, using proper lighting, and trying to film all shots in focus (unless I wanted a bit of blur for affect). I used YouTube videos to work out what export settings there were and if they were beneficial for my music video but when tested, they quality did not improve. I want to work around this for later projects.

A final key lesson would be to make sure I only use equipment needed. I had got a tripod but when I filmed using it I decided that I much preferred a more hand held vibe as I thought it gave more atmosphere to it being like a house party and a piece from the 2000’s. This isn’t an issue, it just meant that I had an extra piece of equipment to account for and also potentially waste someone else opportunity of using a tripod.

A skill that I have gained from this project that will later benefit me in other projects would be the development of my editing skills. This was what I had set out to improve in my video and I am thrilled with how my editing has improved and how my final music video looks. I want to continue to grow my editing skills in my upcoming EPQ and FMP as editing quality pieces is a hard skill I would love to be able to say I am good at.

Overall, I am so happy with how my music video looks and how it has matched my initial aims and objectives. There are definitely things that I would have done or would have done differently but I am pleased none of these have affected my final music video too much.

Production Log

1 October - 2 October

I have started my practise EPQ and have begun outlining my initial thought and feelings as to what I want my music video to be. I have begun by using a proposal structure template. The first thing I filed in was my aims and objectives and shared that my first ideas would be to create a 2000's inspired video, using skins as a inspiration and having a contextual focus on teenagers using drugs and alcohol and a technical focus on getting better at my editing and to use After Effects more than I do. I have gone into further detail as to what I want my video to include and the mise en scene it may follow. I have gone into detail with what my plans are, what I want to represent, what my milestones are, research ideas, resources, timeframes I need to work to and my final expected outcomes.

2nd October - 7th October

After completing my proposal I am now making a start on my research. 

• Thursday 3rd: Beginning by looking into different music video types. I researched into pre existing examples of narrative, concept and performance videos. I have given an example of each and discussed what features each of these videos have that make them that genre. I also looked into my mise en scene inspiration. This is where I have looked into my initial ideas and how I can match these with my props, set design, make up and lighting. I looked into the aesthetic and then what I would want my finished video to look like. I represented this by using canva moodboards. Another thing I needed to research was my song choice. When I started my proposal on Tuesday, there was not an initial song that came to mind that I wanted to use so I have looked into the genre of choice and the era of choice (2000's EDM). After completing my research I have chose Calvin Harris - I Created Disco.

• Friday 4th: Today I looked into Genre conventions for EDM videos. I looked into another Calvin Harris song off the same album to see what inspiration I could taken from that. I also looked into Darude - Sandstorm as this was an example of a instrumental electronic song. I thought that this would be a good one to look at as the section of I Created Disco I wanted to use had no lyrics. The next task I completed was a lyric analysis. Lyric analysis' are used when making music videos to establish the connection between the music and the visuals. Through looking at the lyrics of I Created Disco in depth I could finalise the decisions I was going to make on what section of the song I will be using. As I liked the sound of the song and felt there was no real connection with my contextual focus and the lyrics so matching the beat and tempo of the song would be better. After completing my lyric analysis I moved on to my action research. For my action research I want to test what camera would give me the best quality, a lip sync test, what lighting filters would look like and also editing techniques. I tested lots of different things in one go, I put all the camera clips together so that I could look at them and make a decision. 

• Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th: Over the weekend I did a couple of different forms of research. One of these would be creating a survey, My survey asked questions regarding 2000's trends and influences and then went into detail about drug/alcohol and party culture in media. I have waited to see the feedback so that I could gather more feedback. I then again went into further detail regarding my mise en scene and the aesthetic. I again created more mood board as I found this was a great way to represent my ideas. I moved on from my primary research and started my secondary research. For my secondary research I have looked into a number of articles discussing my contextual focus. One of these were about influence in party culture from Euphoria and one was about the impact of Skins. I fount both of these interesting to look into. The last form of research I looked into was academic research. Academic research is done by someone who has a degree in the subject that they are researching. The article I looked at was about drug use in teenagers. This isn't the most accurate article as it was American and also from the 2000's however it was interesting to see these statistics but also would help my music video research as mine is set in the 2000s so the findings would be more specific. 

• Monday 7th: Having finished my research, I had established that I will be filming tomorrow so today I have focused on completing my pre production. As it will be set as a house party I will be filming in my house. Then I have done my risk assessment, I have outlined a couple of potential risks. Then I have made a storyboard showing the opening sequence shots. From here on I have created a shot list.

Wednesday 9th

Today I filmed my music video. I had everyone arrive at my house from 6 onwards and we filmed until 8 o clock. I uploaded all of my footage on my laptop and put it all in a google drive. 

Thursday 10th - Thursday 17th

Over the course of a week I worked on my edit. I was off one day due to having a cold so this did set my edit back slightly but I made up for it by attending an empty lesson and also attending one of my teachers other lessons where there was a spare computer. I was surprised how long my edit took for just over a minute of footage but I was experimenting with different effects which I had not used before so this may have been what took me longer. 

Friday 18th 

During Fridays lessons I completed my evaluation of my project to finalise my video. This is where I reflected on what I have done, what my thoughts on this were and what I would do differently in the future. 

References

• Become better creators — together. (2022). Music Videos | 5 Main Types & Best Examples of Each | Wedio. [online] Available at: https://academy.wedio.com/uk/types-of-music-videos-2/.

• Nirvana (2009). Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Official Music Video). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg.

• ‌Taylor Swift (2009). Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw.

• The Beatles (2018). The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtUH9z_Oey8.

• Calvin Harris - Topic (2016). I Created Disco. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ_sEaIuTdA [Accessed 5 Oct. 2024].

• ‌Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80’s (Official Video). (2009). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOV5WXISM24 [Accessed 3 May 2020].

• ‌Genius. (2024). Calvin Harris – I Created Disco. [online] Available at: https://genius.com/Calvin-harris-i-created-disco-lyrics [Accessed 6 Oct. 2024].

• ‌Addiction Center. (2022). Does ‘Euphoria’ Encourage Teen Party Culture? [online] Available at: https://www.addictioncenter.com/community/euphoria-teen-party-culture/. 

• Rhew, I.C., David Hawkins, J. and Oesterle, S. (2011). Drug use and risk among youth in different rural contexts. Health & Place, 17(3), pp.775–783. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.02.003. 

• Johnston, L.D., O’Malley, P.M. and Bachman, J.G. (2003). Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings. FOCUS, 1(2), pp.213–234. doi:https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.1.2.213. 

• Robbins Entertainment (2007). Darude - Sandstorm (Official Video). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erb4n8PW2qw [Accessed 8 Oct. 2024]. 

• Harris, C. (2024). Calvin Harris - I Created Disco (practice EPQ). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/r9aLEm6CsoA [Accessed 17 Oct. 2024]. 

• My Site 1. (2018). Research | My Site 1. [online] Available at: https://arn202300396.wixsite.com/my-site-1/research [Accessed 21 Oct. 2024]. 

• Monkeys, A. (2013). Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (Official Video). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM. 

• Faithless - Insomnia (Official Video). (2015). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8JEm4d6Wu4. 

• The Prodigy (2020). The Prodigy - Firestarter (Official Video). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw.

•