My Evaluation

Street Lights Evaluation by tdriscoll8

My Completed Music Video

My Digipak Magazine Poster

My Digipak

All Of The Lights

Kanye West's 2010 song 'All Of The Lights' is first and foremost a wonderful creation that provided commercial success, as well as 2 Grammy awards. The video, however does divide opinion with some people saying they were fans of the visual styles and homages to different media including the 2009 French film 'Enter The Void'. However, some said it seemed rushed and didn't do the song justice, with many commenting on their disappointment considering it was directed by Hype Williams, one of the most celebrated music video directors of all time, particularly in hip-hop. Personally, I am a fan of the video but can see why people have negative opinions about it. I may potentially just be fan because I love the song, but I admire the use of fast paced editing and the use of titles in a way I have rarely seen before.

I admire the shot of the built up areas, which are probably the 'housing projects' because along with the use of the piano melody, it creates a strong juxtaposition between the hip-hop influence that Kanye provides (the urban 'housing projects') against the beautiful music that plays and the small girl being shown in black and white (the innocence and the purity).











I also like the first shot of the video, the shot of the board with a list of names on it. This resembles a board that could be seen at an airport or train stations, reflecting different destinations. I wanted to include a shot like this in my film, however I was unable to access anything that looked similar enough, which was a shame as my song talks about different 'destinations'.

The part of the video I like the most is the opening, where the prelude is played which precedes the actual song. The visual style is wonderful, as we see a little girl roaming the snowy streets of a big American city, looking lonely and potentially vulnerable.













The use of black and white creates a phenomenal mood, which I feel is synchronous to the music that plays (All Of The Lights Interlude) which has a subtle, classical feel to it. This is definitely something I have taken inspiration from and I have used something similar in my music video when the two main characters are involved in the argument, using a song (Avril 14th) that resembles the interlude and also using black and white to display a real drain of emotion.

Progress

Editing is going very well, in fact I am near enough finished and I'm ready to hand my video in. It has gone pretty smoothly, and I have learnt a variety of new skills from Final Cut, such as the way I can use fades effectively for both music and video clips. Also, I have learnt how colour can be used, changing the majority of my video to black and white to hopefully portray the emotion and mood I hoped to create. My flashbacks also provide an interesting use of colour, I raised the saturation to give a warm, happy feel to show the bond between the two main characters and how it contrasts to the black and white used throughout most of the video. I also decided to use some classical music and a quote which I hope reflects my overall narrative at the start of the video, to add some perspective and branching off slightly from the actual video.

I have received some feedback from some people who watched the video. Before I had changed the start of my video, Sarah and Emily, both 18, thought I should maybe take out the vocal acting, which I then did. Some other constructive criticism was from Megan, 18, who thought I should maybe changed the font of my '3 months later', which I'm thinking of changing. Some positive feedback was Emily and Sarah were big fans of the 'hand brush' scene, with Prince, 18 saying he liked the use of lights, especially the bus lights. Harry, 17, was a big fan of the video in general and Megan, 18, liked the transition between black and white to colour.

Overall, I am pleased with my progress and the feedback I am receiving, with the video reducing one observer, Airi, 18, to tears, which I took as a positive, which may sound harsh, but it shows my emotion is being portrayed well.

Editing

Editing seems to be going very well, I feel quite ahead of schedule, with my video verging towards a rough completion albeit for the few more shots I need to add. I have managed to grasp some vital Final Cut Express skills and I hope to learn some new ones as the process continues.

Frank Ocean

To say Frank Ocean is creative is an understatement. His songwriting ability has made him one of the most sought-after artists in the industry, penning songs for Beyonce ('I Miss You') and appearing twice on Jay-Z and Kanye West's platinum album 'Watch The Throne'. The fact that he is a member of the controversial hip-hop collective Odd Future, broadens his appeal between both the rap and r'n'b worlds. His debut mixtape, 'Nostalgia, Ultra' received superb critical acclaim, with many websites and magazine stating it as one of the best of 2011. Ocean's stunning yet rugged voice was clear to see, with his retrospective and 'nostalgic' storytelling apparent on songs such as 'Strawberry Swing'.

Due to the success of his mixtape, he released two visuals for the songs 'Novacane' and 'Swim Good'. Both directed by Nabil Elderkin, Swim Good was a particularly stand out for me. The video is dark to say the least, with Ocean's unpredictability breaking away from the conventional r'n'b mold. We see close ups of his blood drained sword, as he looks remorseless and cool in his samurai robe and hi-top trainers, would you expect to see that in a Jason Derulo video? The use of the 1970's Lincoln car adds to the retro feel of the song, with the setting alight and burning of the car providing an intriguing twist to the plot at the end of the video. I am a big fan of the slow-motion running that takes place around the 3:05 mark, just as the song breaks down. I feel this is a suitable editing technique, and something that I would like to incorporate in my own feel, as I think it gives a dramatic effect without being too corny or cliche. The video as a whole is very narrative based, something that I admire and wish to take inspiration from, with the lack of clarity and twisted cohesion providing a smart video to a delightful song.

Another Frank Ocean video I applaud in terms of it's creativity and feel is 'Acura Integurl'. The song is beautiful, with a stunning piano melody running parallel to Ocean's remarkable vocal performance. The video has a similar feel and ambience that I wish to use in mine, with the night time setting, the lights of the car and the street and the close up of the singer himself, as well as some nice editing effects such as the rotation of the screen, creating a short yet succinct visual.

Frank Ocean is certainly a man to watch, as his unique and retrospective take on modern music will potentially create critical and commercial acclaim.

Storyboards

Filming

Filming took place one night after sixth form and went along without any hitches. All 3 of my actors were very easy to work with and I got some superb shots that I can work with. The setting was also how I expected it, with the lighting adding the 'dusk' feel to the shots, which with my black and white editing will look very nice. I need to do one more day of filming to show the couple in various situations as a couple, with the filming expected to be wrapped up some time next week. Here is a picture from the set:

(Left to Right): Prince (Nicole's New Lover), Nicole (Girl at centre of the story), Myself and Jack (Nicole's Old Lover)

Shot Lists

The good thing about my music video is the narrative is quite effective yet simple, therefore I didn't need too many different locations and more importantly characters. (The list is in chronological order of how I will film them)

• Location - Town Centre (Bury St Edmunds)
• Characters - Nicole, Jack and Prince
• Time - Dusk/Early Evening
• Costume - Warm (reflecting the cold time of year), smart/casual clothes.

Shot 1 - Firstly, shot of Jack eating food in the Fish and Chips shop, both a mid shot and a long shot to establish location, and I will wait until he is the only person in the shop to reflect his loneliness.
Shots 2, 3, 4, 5 - Mid shots of Jack walking down the street, slowly with a slight lack of direction, as if he is just roaming around. We follow him as he makes his way down the hill.
Shot 6 - Nicole appears for the first time, walking up the hill with her head down.
Shot 7 - The shot where Jack and Nicole collide for with each other. I will aim to get this from a variety of angles and lengths such as a close up of the hands brushing, particularly from the other side of the road which I think will produce a fine shot.
Shot 8 - Similar to the mid shots of Jack earlier, we see Jack continuing his walk down the hill.
Shot 9 - We see a mid/close shot of Jack realising his love for the girl, which provokes his decision to run after her.
Shot 10 - Mid shots of Jack running back up the hill.
Shot 11 - Probably the most intriguing shot of the video, a long shot that sees Nicole reaching the top of the hill and turning left round the corner, when over her shoulder we can see Jack racing after her.
Shot 12 - We see another male, Prince, waiting casually for something which we soon discover is Nicole as she comes into shot.
Shot 13 - Prince and Nicole walk off arm in arm and as the walk towards the camera out of shot, we see Jack appear with a horrified look on his face.
Shot 14 - Jack walks back down the hill, a lot slower than before looking upset and lonely as he walks away from the camera.
Shot 15 - This shot will be at the start of the video, and it involves Jack in the back of a car (which is meant to be a taxi) looking out of the window and thinking.

• Location - A typical, modern village house (Woolpit)
• Characters - Nicole and Jack
• Time - Evening
• Costume - A variety of clothes which reflect the transition in time

Shots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 - Various shots involving an argument between the couple. I did not script any dialogue as I wanted it to be spontaneous, and also I may potentially play music over the scene. After the argument has finished, Jack storms out of the door and as he does so looks back, which is followed by a shot of Nicole slumping down next to the front from the inside.
Shots 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 - These shots will all be placed in the flashback sequence, which will show various occurrences of when the couple were together. This will include them sitting around, talking on the phone to each other, making food, going out for the night, Nicole wearing Jack's coat when it is cold and other examples.

• Location - Town Centre (Bury St Edmunds)
• Characters - None
• Time - Evening
• Costume - N/A

As well as the shots with the characters, I am also going to use various shots which involve light, to coincide with the name of my song 'Street Lights'. This will include various shots of street lights, traffic lights, car lights and I also aim to find locations where there is a variation of angles, such as the top of the multi-story car park, where I can get some high angled shots.

Storyboard

I am yet to complete my storyboard, as I am going to add images that I will take when filming. This will give a visual element to my already completed descriptions of each scene, so at the moment I feel my shot list is adequate. Filming should be commencing this weekend, I had planned to film over the Christmas holidays, however I am some problems with my actor, which has now been sorted.