We decided to look at previous examples of student work to establish the standards expected from a student group in the exact same position as us in terms of equipment, skills and time pressure. After choosing a blog at random to analyse from the list of the previous year's work, I ended up with 'Just another Coombe Media group' group [link to blog], and their video for the song 'Fallen' by their artist 'Emily Quinn':
- The first thing I noted was the genre difference between this song and our own. Whereas we are making a video for a fast paced male rapper, this is a slow pop song with a female vocalist (see my post on grain of voice), and it is clear that this genre definition influenced many of their decisions while making the video.
- For instance, the editing pace perfectly matches the tempo and withdrawn rhythm of the song, using several long-duration shots and a clear preference for soft dissolves instead of hard cuts when transitioning between shots, giving the film a suitably dream-like quality, demonstrating a clear relationship between the music and the visuals.
- I also like their obvious use of star image to appeal to their primarily female target audience, through careful consideration of costume and makeup to represent an empathetic image of purity and beauty , with respectful closeups rather than a sexualised, objectified, voyeuristic treatment of the star.
- Although their location choices are interesting and unique, and the composition of some shots provide specific pleasure(see two below examples of the frame-cut close up and the mirror), the reuse of similar shots (eg same locations and character position shot from the same angles) gets boring and repetitive as there is no real development or clear narrative, just performance. (The only exception being the fast montage at 3:04-308, which fits the beat perfectly.)
Their digipak [link] also fits many of the conventions of the genre, as well as fitting with the thematic elements of their music video. The colour scheme and use of leaves as backgrounds creates a sense of continuity within the product, and the personal message provides a unique form of dialogue directly to the fan community. The website [link] they created for the artist is also successfully identifiable as part of the same collection of materials for the one product (again through the use of repetitive images like leaves and also star focus), as well as fulfilling the conventions of artist websites, such as a list of upcoming gigs, unique photo albums, embedding promotional videos and a biography of the artist all for fans to engage with.
