Feedback Evaluation: Media Studies Teachers

We thought it would help us to get some feedback from our teachers and the course team leader. This will enable us to achieve a better music video, that is more successful, enjoyable and meets the marking criteria more strongly.

The general feedback was that the hotel scenes were strong, and that the artificial lighting had defintely assisted this. However, the rap scenes are weaker and reminiscent of "home movies". This is partly due to the natural lighting, the performance and the flat effect of some of the shots. But we have been given some advice that can greatly improve this.

We were shown Beyonce's new music video "Countdown", which has a very simple narrative yet is still engaging for the audience. You can see that the quick cuts, and the effect of returning to similar shots gives the video variety. The production team have also decided to use a wide range of special effects and transitions to break up the footage. Split screens, wipes, fades and other transitions all give the video variety.

After looking at this video we are able to see how a video can be made more engaging. If we can make our cuts quicker then this will give the video more pace and action. As we have a clear narrative we can use split screens to illustrate parallel events, this is an example of parallel editing. Even simple effects such as dissolves and fades will improve the general delivery of the piece. We have also been advised to use the colour wheels and hues to adjust the colours, this both improving the "home movie" effect which we have, and also giving some depth.

One area of improvement is the long note from Adele before the instrumental. We are currently just showing one shot of the Adele actress on the fencing, this is quite bland. George had the idea that we could do a flashback or rewind effect, where everything that has happened before this note will be shown in a quick rewind effect. This will give the impression that Adele is thinking over the argument and will link in well with the narrative, it also shows our editing skills as we will both use speed and rewind tools to create this effect. This flashback section could be in black and white, like earlier flashback clips. Below is a screenshot of this long note, to show how we will improve it.