Focus group evaluation

Focus Group Evaluation

What did we do?

We showed 5 people a Chase & Status song and the video to go with it, the song was End Credits featuring Plan.B. We asked several questions to the group after they had watched the music video, which would help us gain information about what they like, dislike and what aspects they would like to see in our music video. We also filmed them whilst they were watching the music video to help gauge their reaction.

What did we show?

We showed the group a very strong video from Chase & Status-End Credits. The song served as the official theme for the film harry brown and featured in the British Comedy-Drama shameless. These two showcases give you the thought of what the videos content is portraying and what the theme will be like. Showing ‘hoodlife’ and streetlife footage from the film Harry Brown shows to the viewers that it is a very different and violent type of video in comparison to others.

What was the reaction?

We saw that the group noticed that the music video was very focused around the culture of ‘streetlife’ and that it is what you would expect to see from a music video of this genre of music. They also picked up on that the costuming blends well with the urban location helping support the idea of linking well to the culture of the video. The editing of the video linked very well to the tempo, lyrics and beat of the song very well but some of the group thought it would have been better if more live video such as live concerts was shown, so less narrative based.

What have we learnt?

We learnt that when the beat drops and the tempo is a lot faster, the audience would prefer to see quicker cuts but when the song slows down, reduce the pace of the cuts and focus more into the story side of the song. We also learnt that the lyrics are very important towards the narrative of the video and that the video should be more narrative based with no performance based clips shown.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Hazard	Who may be affected	Level of Risk Before	Control Measures	Level of Risk After
The objects that we are going to smash for slow motions shots, glass and sharp objects can cut people quite severely	Those who are doing the smashing and the camera operator.	High	All personnel must protect their eyes and be wearing shoes while smashing is done. Must be someone ready with brush and container to collect the broken pieces when no longer needed.	Low
Congestion in London, for time lapsed shot, cars and buses will be a danger to all.	Everyone	Medium	We are all aware of road hazards and safety which means we will be prepared for incidents which in turn reduces the risk of being hit	Low
Loss of Important equipment/filming	Camera man, laptops	Medium	We will back up all shots and filming onto a memory stick in case of laptop failure to avoid having to start all over again and fall behind schedule. Fragile equipment must be secured when moved, especially the cameras.	Low
Tripping Hazards	Everyone	Medium	Anything not vital to the shot will be moved into a safe place so no one injures themselves, especially the camera operator.	Low
Fire Hazards from electrical equipment and matches used for burning pictures shot	Everyone	Medium	The risk of electrical equipment causing fires is very low however we will keep liquids away at all times unless necessary when using the matches. All electronics will be kept in a cool place so as not to overheat.	Low

Timeline of an Electronic Music Video

Timeline of an Electronic Music Video

To come up with ideas on what shots and techniques to use we analyses a music video, making a timeline so we could see how a music video in our genre was put together. We Chose the Prodigy “Firestarter“.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

0:00- Opening Shot, tunnel with light at the end. Black and White, lights start to come on.

0:03- Long shot of two band members looking at camera, one on a step making him higher.

0:07- Extreme long shot of band at the end of a tunnel

0:08- Cut back to long shot of two members.

0:10- Extreme long shot of band, now the camera moves in.

0:14- Long shot of two members again, now the singer is dancing.

0:18- Long shot of band who run past the camera

0:20- Mid-shot of singer dancing, cuts to him from different angles

0:29- Cuts between singer mid-shot and two shot of band members.

0:31- Long shot of singer in tunnel, camera moves away

0:32- Shots of singer singing, camera moves in. Close-ups and Mid-shots.

0:37- Long shot of band member, camera pans.

0:40- Close-ups of singer

0:47- Head shot of another band member turning towards camera

0:48- Back to two shot of band members.

0:49- Long shot of singer in tunnel, light getting brighter.

0:51- Panning shots of tunnels

0:53- Long shots of singer, cuts between two shot and close-up of singer.

1:01- Long shot of singer in tunnel, light brighter still.

1:03- Cuts to long shot of singer in darker tunnel

1:05- Cuts to shots of band on tube tracks, high and low angle shots.

1:08- Long shot on singer, camera still moving in but closer now.

1:10- Cut to same shot, but the band members appear running away from camera on screen

1:11- Close-ups of singer

1:16- Cuts back to long shot, now band running to camera. Cuts between close-ups and two shot from the beginning.

1:23- Cuts to band member, slightly off centre running towards camera which moves away. In a dark tunnel.

1:25- Cuts to long shots of singer, camera moves in

1:33- Shot of tunnel, now fully lit the camera moves down towards the light

1:34- Long shot of singer

1:36- Head and shoulders shot of band member.

1:37- Close-ups of singer

1:39- Band, silhouetted, running towards camera from bright tunnel. Possibly a fire. In-between are very quick shots of the singer making quick movements.

1:53- Cuts to back mid-shots and close-ups of the singer

1:57- Shot of band member taking electric saw to a train track, sparks fly which are the focus of the shot, very bright on screen. In between are shots of the singer.

2:00- Back to the singer dancing in bright tunnel

2:10- Shots of singer dancing, cut in with shots of the band member with the saw and stills of the singer looking straight into the camera.

2:16- Long Shot of band member walking towards still camera down a tunnel

2:18- Close-ups of singer, cut in with shots of lights coming on in tunnels

2:21- Cut in with long, mid and close-up shots of the singer are those of him dangling from ropes in mid air of a large tunnel. Other band members present watching.

2:30- Long shot of singer in dark tunnel, camera moves away

2:31- Cuts back to two shot of singer and other band member who is now moving around while the singer remains centre of the shot.

2:34- Back to shot of singer on ropes.

2:35- Close-ups on singer making manic movements.

2:41- Rising shot to another band members face, slightly off centre. Done as the music begins to calm down.

2:44- Shots begin to slowly fade into one another, of singer moving down tunnels. Camera follows.

2:54- When the music begins to pick up, back to close-ups of singer becoming aggressive again. Camera moves out and he follows.

2:56- Cuts between close-up of singers face with band member in background and the singer in ropes.

3:01- Long shot of entire band in dark tunnel. No movement by them but camera moves in.

3:03- Mid-shots and Close-up of the singer moving to and from the camera.

3:10- Close-ups of the singer making manic movements.

3:20- When beat drops, each beat is timed with the singer making a quick move.

3:28- Close-ups of singer cut with him in ropes.

3:35- As the music really begins to pick up, cuts become very quick. Of singer making very quick and manic movements.

3:40- Shots of tunnels lighting up.

3:44- Final shot is a low angle shot of the singer looking down on he camera. He is slightly off centre and sticks his tongue out.

The Prodigy- Breathe: video analysis

Analysis of The Prodigy’s “Breathe”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHDhAohJlQ

We carried out initial research of the electronic genre by analysing three other music videos in our genre. We decided to pick a wide range of videos, being either narrative or concept, from various artists to gather a lot of ideas that we may be able to use for our final product.

The Prodigy’s Breathe of the album Fat of the Land is a Concept video with elements of performance intertwined. The concept of the video involves the band members interactions with a run-down house while various creatures are filmed exploring including, at various points, an alligator. The two main band members are interacting with each other through a hole in the wall while they perform alone in their separate rooms. This element appears to have nothing to do with the meaning of the song but adds to the maniacal and fractured personality of the song. The constant dimming to brightening of the lights reflects the lyrics “Breathe with me” as it makes it seem like the house itself is breathing via the lights.

Location:

A run down, decaying house. The band members all occupy a separate section of the dirty and debilitated house in which the video is set.  The filthiness of the video reflects the underground popularity the group had at the time as well as being a reference to the genre of “grime” which the group were often called

Mise-en-scene:

The video is in many places, very stripped. The location is mainly empty, especially when the artists are in the shot. The proxemics of the artists suggest that the audience should focus on them as they are the dominant (if not only) object on screen being centre of the shot and taking up a lot of room on screen. However, cut together with shots of the artists are shots of cluttered, filthy and decrepit rooms such as a science lab and kitchen. This contradiction again resembles the manic and unpredictable features of the artist’s style of electronic music.

Costume:

While the colour of the the artists clothing is very dark, the outlandish and casual clothes they wear are similar to the “raver” outfit. The Prodigy were huge on the rave scene in the 90s and the video references this as the artists were baggy clothes or even shirtless with vibrant body art and hairstyles on display.

Camera Angles:

Tilted shots are used frequently throughout the video when not focused on the band members to give the impression they bring sanity to the situation which contrasts with their manic and aggressive movements on camera. When the artists are on screen close-ups and fast zoom-ins are used to disorientate the audience.

Chase & Status Website Analysis

Pendulum- Showdown: Video Analysis

Pendulum’s Showdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6BKBIOtRXw

This narrative video depicts the life of a female who is forced to fight others for men’s entertainment and her eventual escape. The video depicts males very negatively as captors and users of women who strive for freedom.

Location:

A gritty, run-down industrial estate. Many shots are long and incorporate a lot of the jagged and sharp silhouettes of the metallic location of the music video. The director has done this reflect the sharp and heavy sound of the music. A focus on decay and dirt as a lot of the scenery is collapsed sections of the warehouse the fights are taking place and shots of rubble and broken glass are used in the background.

Mise-en-Scene:

The narrative of this music video is heavily character led and so, the female lead is frequently centre shot. In the second half of the video, where she escapes, she is often seen interacting with the gritty location, this reflects electronic music’s transition from underground to mainstream. In the first half of the video, shots often start with nothing in focus, and the characters then move into the shot. There are also many shots of the angry men in slow motion to highlight their thuggish behaviour.

Costumes:

Very simplistic and dark costuming has been used as the focus is more on the story being told then how the characters look. However, one key difference between the female character and the males is that her clothes are wasting away and are filthy where as there is very high end, well looked after outfits. This fits in with the narrative of the video, she is the male’s prisoner and as such, looks that way.

Camera Angles:

The camera often tilts to disorientate the audience and reflect the distortion of the music Pendulum produces. High angle and low angle shots are incorporated into many sequences to display which characters have dominace over others. For example, in the opening few shots, the camera is tilted down to the female and up to the males to show she is literally owned by them.

Nero- Promises: Video Analysis

Nero’s Promises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llDikI2hTtk

A concept video with aspects of performance that depicts a dystopian society where young people are drugged and encouraged to become identical in every way. The main character decides to break away from the group, reflecting the roots of the electronic genre, and become unique.

Location:

A clean, bright/vibrant and technologically advanced facility where the characters are kept prisoner. The setting is very bright, with most of the scenery being white or heavily lighted. The characters (apart from the singer of the group who has nothing to do with the story) are all dressed in black to contrast with the location. The location serves as a contradiction of the chaos the young woman causes by being different as it is so clean and organised.

Mise-en-Scene:

The scenes are very stripped to match the bright and clean location of the music video. Only people fill the shots so the audience are encouraged to focus on them instead of the background scenery. The band can frequently be seen in the background of many shots, suggesting they are orchestrating the events of the video. This would reflect the new wave of electronic music that Nero work in (Dubstep) and carve an image for the group.

Costuming:

Every character, bar the lead singer who is dressed in white, is wearing black which contrasts heavily with the white location. This is done to make it seem like the characters don’t belong, and as this is an electronic music video it would suggest that this genre of music doesn’t belong in the clean and stripped environment of the video. Another reference to electronic music’s underground roots.

Camera Angles:

A constant use of close-ups and mid-shots to highlight characters on screen. Two shots are also used to give an impression of a connection between the main male and female characters. A new technique is the focus on body parts, namely hands. Many shots of the female singer’s hands and the sequence where the teens are “dancing” focus on hands. This reflects the rave scene of the early electronic music days were arm movement was integral to the dance patterns.