Final Prelim| Taylor Swift- You belong with me

Here is our final production of the remake of our choice of song, Taylor Swift you belong with me. We had to create the first one minute of the song and make it as similar as the real video as we could. This is our final outcome.

Prelim: Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? 
 In my group I worked with Charlotte and Sarah. We all had different duties in this task. We all planned together and took care of prop list and timeline and arrange costumes, and we all confirmed a song together/ Sarah and Charlotte acted, whilst I filmed. And then Charlotte and I edited it all together and tried to make sure the lip syncing was as accurate as possible whilst matching it to the song. We also tried our best to make sure every shot was the same as the original music video and tried to make sure they all lasted for the same amount of time. When editing this we was aware this task was very difficult as in some circumstances we didn't film for long enough.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
To plan our sequence we went through the first minute of the Taylor Swift- You belong with me music video and added timeing and what she done so we could duplicate her idea. We analysed the setting and costumes so we could try and make ours as similar as possible. However, this was very hard due to the fact we had to do this in school so we were very limited on settings and props. We bought in our own costumes to ensure we looked as similar as Taylor does is each shot, but the setting for each shot was very hard to get but we made sure it looked as similar as it could. Then, we kept looking back at the original video to get the same shots and the same actions to make it look as good as we could.

3.  What theories could you apply to the video you chose?
Goodwins theory can be applied to the video that we chose. He stated that each video illustrate using the video to explain the genre and the lyrics of the song. Our video is a typical girly song about romance so the video explains this and relates to the lyrics very well. 'She wears short skirts I wear t-shirts' and the video shows Taylor in casual clothes and the girl she is singing about in a short skirt and more dressed out. Goodwin also empathised how important star image is. In the video Taylor is dressed very 'cute' and causal which may appeal to many people as it gives her the likeability factor, it is more relateable for her younger fans as she is not dressed in skimpy outfits.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
The technology we used is Adobe Premiere, camera and a tripod. We used the camera to film the shots, the tri pod to make all shots stable and not bumpy, and we used Adobe Premiere to edit all of the shots together and make it look like the real Taylor Swift music video.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning this video, we had to take into account all of the shot timings and make sure they all were there same in ours as they are in the original. When shooting, we had to take into consideration lip syncing and make sure the lip syncing matches the song and we also had to take into consideration the angles of the shots. When editing, we had to take into consideration the things we had to add over the top of the shots. For example we had to add windows over the top of ours to make it look like the real thing as we did not have access to these type of windows in school. We also had to add a green screen for the bedroom background, as yet again we did not have access to a bedroom in school.

5. How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?
Overall i think parts of our music video was good, however it did not look very professional due to the lack of things we had access to. Therefore, what i would do differently is to have better access to props and settings so it looked more professional so we don't have to add them ourselves. Other people said our production was good overall, however they also said that it did not look very professional and looked amateur due to not having access to the right setting.

6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
What I have learnt from this prelim task is that it takes a lot of planning to get it right. You have to analyse the shots and the timings and costume to make sure everything is right. Also what I noticed is that differently to making a film opening, the shots have got to be fast pace and cut quickly to make it effective. Also, I have learnt that it is best to over film rather than film for just the time you want as it is almost certain that you are not going to have enough footage. Also, for making my real music video I have discovered that we have to have the actor/actress singing the whole song in one shot rather than just get them to sing the lyrics that are in that shot due to the fact the lip syncing does not match as well.

7. How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?
When shooting a film opening, it is a lot easier and less time has to go into the planning than for a music video. Although it takes a lot of time to decide what shots you are going to include from what angle and what the film opening is actually going to be about, when you have an idea of what you are doing you can film to the storyboard and get each shot how you imagine. However, when it comes to a music video we don't have an accurate description of how long each shot is going to last due to the fact all shots have to be short and fast pace for the video to become effective. Whereas for a film opening, long shots can be effective as you are telling a story.

8. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?
I think my strengths as a group member is that I am very accurate and like things to be done to the best of my ability, therefore I am always willing to add extra work to achieve higher. I also am confident on Adobe Premiere ( the software used to edit our footage ) so I also think my strength is editing due to the fact I am very aware of a lot of the editing tools that are available. However, I think a weakness is that I am not a very good actress and tend to laugh a lot when being on camera, therefore I don't like being the main star in any piece of footage therefore I filmed and edited the work whilst Charlotte and Sarah acted and performed.

9. Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
The video I thought was the most successful was Joe Griffiths, Drea Bunce, Beth Brain and Jack Jordan's. I think this was successful because all of the shots were in perfect timing to the real music video and they made it look as professional as they could with the resources and equipment that were available to them. I also liked the split screen that they used, as I think it looked very much like the real Knock You Down music video.

Prelim: Prop List

• Phone
• Card board and pen x2
• Book 
• Glasses
• Mirror
• Top with writing (signed shirt)
• Head band
• Denim jacket no sleeves
• Pink top
• Black eyeliner
• Black jacket
• Checked shirt
• Bomber jacket
• Tartan PJ bottoms
• Hairbrush

Prelim: Timeline

You're on the phone with your girlfriend—she's upset,            00:08- 00-11
She's going off about something that you said                         00:12- 00:15
'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do.                           00:15-00:21

I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night.                           00:23 – 00:26
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like.                   00:26- 00:30
and she'll never know your story like I do.                               00:30- 00:36

But she wears short skirts                                                        00:37: 00:39
I wear t-shirts                                                                           00:39- 00:42
She's cheer captain                                                                  00:42- 00:43
And I'm on the bleachers                                                         00:43- 00:45
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find                00:45- 00:47
that what you're looking for has been here the whole time.       00:47- 00:51

If you could see                                                                       00:51 – 00:52
that I'm the one                                                                        00:52 – 00:54
who understands you.                                                              00:54 – 00:56
been here all along.                                                                  00:56- 00:58
so, why can't you see—                                                            00:58 – 1:01
you belong with me,                                                                 1:02- 1:05
you belong with me?                                                                1:05 -1:07

Essay

Mariah Carey- Touch my Body

This video shows the dominant female. At the beginning of the music video, there is an establishing shot which makes the audience aware of where the car is going that was in the previous shot. This shot allows the audience to be aware that where the car is going, is to an upper class persons house therefore the person pulling up in a car with a sign saying ‘Compute NERD’ is going to have a lower status compared to the person that lives in the house. The car then pulls up on the drive and you can see the contrast between the cars that is pulling up with the car that is already parked on the drive. The car that is already parked appears to be either a Rolls Royce or a Bentley, which is a very expensive car and someone with a lot of money will only be able to afford this.

For sound, when the door opens, the man ringing the doorbell gasps. The diegetic sound has been enhanced so that the audience can be aware the girl on the other side of the door is attractive. This has been done by the director Brett Ratner to make the audience aware that Mariah Carey is to be known as a sex object in this video, and that she will be looked at as superior over anyone else. You hear this gasp before you actually see Mariah herself, therefore it gives you a previous instinct that the girl is going to be attractive and sexy. For the dialogue, when the door opens Mariah states ‘okay, I gotta go somewhere. So can we make this quick?’ This suggests that she is much more superior over him as she is giving him instructions and making sure he does his job quickly because she has to go out. She also says ‘this way’ which is also giving him instructions, as he will not know where to go in her house so she is telling him what to do which tells the audience she is at a much higher status than him.

For mise-en-scene, the costumers worn are appropriate and signify the power levels for each character. Mariah is wearing her underwear and stockings, which shows that she is more important as she obviously feels a lot more comfortable around the man that has come to her house to sort out her computer. In contrast to him wearing a work uniform showing that the only way he would be in contact with she is through him working. This was done so that you can compare the two jobs on each person and make a judgement on who is more successful. Mariah Carey is well known for her figure and ‘sexy’ music videos, so her wearing next to nothing against a man who is in his work clothes shows the audience their careers and their power. She changes her outfits regularly throughout the music video, and each costume is very revealing and this makes Mariah look like a sexual object and this music video contains a lot of voyeurism. A prop that is used in this video is a unicorn, and this shows that the boy in the video looks at Mariah like she is so perfect that she could be from a fantasy land, just like the unicorn is known to only be real in fairy tale stories. So this shows that the boy is looking at his experience like a fairy tale as he would never has expect this to happen when he first turned up at the job because she is a dream girl.

At 1:03, she sits him down at the computer that she wants fixing, and there is a two-shot included. He is sitting down, but she is standing up. You would think that this is done because he has to sit at the computer desk to fix the computer, but it is actually done to show the status of the two. It shows that Mariah is a much high class and status to him as she is looking down on him and he is looking up on her. Near the end of the video there is a close up of the boy sitting at the computer desk which shows to the audience that the whole thing he just witnessed was actually a dream and none of this actually happened. This makes us feel sorry for him as you can see his emotions and tell that he was very disappointed to find out that none of it happened.

The pace of the shots are all quite long, to show that the boy in the video does not want this to ever end so he wants to drag it out as far as he can so he can feel this way forever. He knows he will never get this opportunity again therefore he wants it to go as slow as possible.