Evaluation

For my final major project I was tasked with creating a music video for the Raindance film festival in
London. I chose to make a music video to the song Powerless by Rudimental since both me and Josh
(the person I was working with) could vision the same visuals when first listening the song for the
first time. Since we both decided we wanted to create the same video it made sense for us to
collaborate and do it together. The original idea for the video was to have two people who were
friends while they grew up, split apart and one to go into a life of crime and another to get into
boxing. After a few years an opposition boxer would put a hit out on the boxing character and his old
friend would end up killing him without knowing it was his childhood friend and then find out
afterwards. My role within the production was editing, writing storyboards and writing the shooting
script. Other than these three things me and josh both did all of the other Learning objectives
individually. We were told by Adam that we had too split up the roles in our production since we
were working in a group and luckily Josh said he would prefer to film and I said I would prefer to
edit, the only problem was that Josh did not have his own camera and had to borrow mine to film
meaning my camera and sd card have been with him in his car for a long time. Although this is not
ideal overall it is a minor problem but does mean it may have been easier if the roles were reversed.

The main problem with my final production is the lack of a clear narrative. Although the storyline
does become clear after being told what it is supposed to show a person watching it for the first
time would most likely not guess what the music video is supposed to be showing.

I sent out a survey asking classmates if they thought the storyline was clear and most of the
responses described the same storyline which was similar to the one I had planned apart from the
fact there was supposed to be an assassination. This means the video could’ve been planned better
in order to get shots that better showed the fact that they were friends and the criminal did not
mean to shoot his boxer mate. The main reason we did not get these shots is lack of planning exact
shots correctly. In order to avoid this in future I will aim to complete story boards for every single
shot with any significance to the story. I will also make sure that when drawing the story board I
have exact locations in mind so that I can go there when it comes to filming and make sure I have
the means to exactly recreate the shots I have in my head. Another way I will ensure this quality in
future is by shooting shots multiple times not only from different angles but also from the same
angle. This means I can ensure I get the perfect shot and don’t have compromise when it comes to
editing.
 In these two screenshots you can see comparisons between a scene from my music video and one
from a professional also for a rudimental song. The music video the second screenshot is from is for
the Rudimental song “not giving in” which was one of the main inspirations me and josh used when
creating our music video. This music video also features two friends who grow apart with one
choosing crime and another choosing dance. In some ways my music video is a UK adaptation of this.
The main differences between these two screenshots is the quality of the shots and although my
music video was filmed on a good quality dslr it does not compare to professional cinema cameras
used in the professional video. If I had spent more time editing however I would’ve been able to se
colour correction to achieve a somewhat cinematic look which I will defiantly try to do in future
since in my opinion it adds a lot of appeal to the video.

This is a scene from not giving

in featuring the criminal
character of the two hanging
out with the older criminals
who got him into the life. The
second screenshot is from a
similar scene in my
production but as I
mentioned before has been
adapted to fit the UK for
example the “oldesr” are

wearing tracksuits rather

than topless and covered in
tattoos like the Indonesian
gang members in the “not
giving in” video. The main
difference between these
two shots is the authenticity,
since the not giving in video
was filmed on location in
Indonesia with real people
living in the area whereas my
music video is filmed with
my friends in an estate in
Marlow
 I collected responses on a survey about
my music video in order to get
feedback on my production and help to
further evaluate. The first question I
asked was “do you think the video
matched the genre?” 100% of the
responses though that yes the video
did match the genre which is good
because the genre of hip hop/drum and
bass has certain codes and conventions
that mean the videos fit the genre. I
think the best way to improve the way
the video matched the genre would be
too use faster editing techniques and
characters that matched the narrative
better. The reason the video matched the genre so well is because Rudimental, although the genre is
technically drum and bass, have created so many music videos of this type that It has become part of
the codes and conventions of Rudimental music videos to have a small engaging narrative like this.
This is ty say that my music video would not really be part of the drum and bass genre so much and
more be classed as a Rudimental music video in itself.

The next question that I asked was about

the footage I used in my production and
what my classmates thought of the
quality. In my opinion most of the shots
where used correctly and were of a
decent quality however the production
would’ve benefited from clearer planning
so that we knew exactly what shots we
needed to take and how. Another way we
could’ve ensured higher quality of shots
could have been by shooting each shot
not only from multiple angles but also
multiple times in order to ensure a high
quality. This would eliminate mediocre
clips and mean we only used the best
quality footage. Despite this the feedback
on the footage was all positive and the
only piece of feedback from this survey
was that I could have used more of the footage that I had in the edit, this is true and the main reason
I didn’t do this is due to the amount of time I had to edit. In future I will make sure I am not behind
on work and therefore am able to start editing at the allocated time. When editing I found I did not
have all the clips and Josh had to go on and film other footage in order to finish the video.
 The style of my music video is narrative
rather than performance based. The reason
for this is because when watching other
Rudimental music videos during our research
phase we saw that the codes and
conventions of Rudimental music videos is to
follow a very similar small narrative as this
one. In all the videos there clearly is some
sort of narrative but often it is not clear what
this is. For example the original music video
for the song we created ours too clearly does
tell some sort of story but other than the fact
there are two characters who both box it is
hard to tell what it is. This meant that when
we were creating production we tried to
show the storyline as clearly as possible
especially when I was editing but production
quality was what we should’ve focused on. In future if I do a similar project I will focus on production
value in the filming and editing stage over narrative.

The characters in my production were chosen so that they suited the role the best they could. An
example of this is when showing the character Brad and Max played transitioning from a badly
behaved young person to a much older and more serious criminal. The way we showed this
character transition was through clothing and showing
the characters smoking. This made the character look
as if they were a realistic criminal who would do these
things. When filming me and Josh also made sure all
the characters changed clothes between shoots that
were supposed to be on different days in order to
make the characters more realistic. This would help to
show the passing of time. We also made sure the
character that Joe and Alfie played didn’t dress like a
roadman” and dressed more like someone who goes
to the gym a lot. This meant he fitted the character
much better. If I was to do this production again then I
would make sure the younger versions of the
characters where dressed more like their older
versions and also that they looked much more like
them. The main problem with my production at the
moment is the fact that Brad and Max are supposed to
be the same person. Despite this the survey responses
did say that they thought the characters did look
realistic.
 In my production I tried to show use of editing
techniques in order to help me get a higher grade
but I feel as though I have not succeeded in adding
effective amounts of different techniques into my
production. The main reason for this is because
aside from cutting to the beat and using colour
grading I did not think visual effects would match
the tone of the video. Most of the feedback I got
this other than one person who commented saying
with the footage available I could have added more
effects to the editing to give it higher quality. In
future I will make sure that I plan ahead and
complete work on time in order to unsure I do not
miss deadlines and have enough time to fully edit
my production. I also asked people in my surbvey
what they thought of my technical qualities
specifically my cutting to the beat. All
responses were positive with two
describing it as very effective. This is
good because whilst editing I put a lot
of thought into making sure that both
the narrative and the edit fitted to the
beat of the song. For example at 2:02
the video cuts from black and white to
normal colour to show that time has
passed, this not only happens on the
beat of the music but also as soon as
the characters shake hands.

The colour grading in my production

could’ve been improved during the
parts where the video is not in black
and white and I also could’ve used my
knowledge on lighting in order to
create a more dramatic production in
certain scenes and in future I will make
sure I am able to do this. This would’ve added more production value to my final major project.
 My penultimate question was about the
aesthetic qualities of my production and
whether or not my classmates liked them.
All of the people who answered said they
did like the aesthetic quality of the video
which is most likely due to the small
amount of colour grading that I did during
the first half. Despite this positive
feedback I feel that there are many ways in
which I could improve my video in terms of
look and feel. For example I think the
footage looks pixelated and blurry At times
which could be due to the fact we were
using a DSLR to film with or maybe
something to do with the way I exported
the edit, in future in order to avoid this I
will research into creating a more
cinematic look using the resources
available to me in order to increase
production value and make my video look like that of a professional;. This high production value was
one of my main criteria that I wanted to full when creating my final major project but due to lack of
planning and time I feel as though I have not succeeded in doing so.

The final question of my survey was

about the creative qualities of my
production, this is just asking how
creative my production is. The
feedback I got on this was all positive
and although my narrative wasn’t very
clear I am pleased with how it turned
out and think that the storyline is
somewhat creative. However I think
there is room for improvement in
terms of creativity, for example using
shots that we had planned too like a
shot tracking shot of the actors
running we had planned but never
shot. This would’ve been a creative
use of our resources since we were
going to have the camera man sat in
the back of josh’s car filming in front of
Brad and Alfie running. I also had the
idea of using a really fast panning shot
to cut between scenes of the boxer as a younger and then growing up rather than the handshake
shot I ended up using. This means I do think my production was creative but if I had planned shots
better and made sure the camera man Josh got these shots it could’ve been more so.
During my production the main things that went well would be the editing process which was
efficient and was done within the time it was supposed to be meaning this was the most successful
part of my whole production. Other things that went well would be the planning since we had a
rough idea of all the shots we needed to get and although we only got the main ones we needed
rather than the much more creative shots that weren’t essential, we still managed to film a whole
edits worth in the allocated time. This meant although there were many occasions both me and josh
were behind on our work the most important things were finished in time which meant we could go
on to the next thing. However I do feel as if I could’ve used my time better in order to make sure I
completed entire learning objectives rather than the majority then missing out on smaller parts of it,
an example of this is whilst writing this I still have not completed all of the weekly blogs or compiled
my brief. Although these are both things I know I am capable of doing and had plenty of time to do I
have allowed them to be pushed to the back of my priorities and have dragged me down during the
whole unit? Next time I will make sure I am doing all of the work at the allocated time ad working on
Mondays and outside of lessons the entire year rather than just at the end of the unit. I will also try
to attend all of the workshops next year since these will enhance my technical skills and make sure
that I am able to produce a production that I am finally satisfied with fully. The main problem with
me for this unit is the fact that I do not feel as though my production is the best that I could’ve made
it and because of my lack of work and amount I need to catch up on I am not able to go back to the
editing phase and change this.

I think with a bit of hard work and dedication I would be well suited to the media industry because I
am able to get a lot of work done when I put my head down and when I really want something I am
able to put all of my effort into it and make sure I succeed. Often when professionals explain what
makes someone suited to the media industry they say that patience and perseverance are key since
it is an extremely competitive industry meaning the only way to get anywhere is to be the best. I
think that when I put my mind to it I am able to seen the long term goals in front of me. However at
this moment in time I’m not sure if I want to go into the media meaning that I wouldn’t currently be
suited for the media industry. This may change as I developed a better ideas of what I do want to do
but at the moment I don’t think this is the direction that I want to go.