We were recently fortunate enough to have a session with Jake Wynne, who will be directing our whole year group music video for 'Everybody Get Up' in a few weeks time. Jake is a director and editor who has worked on many music videos, commericals and short films.
Key Advice that he gave us:
Show a selection of your skills
Include:
Perfomance
Choreography
Special Effects
An original Concept
One of the more mainstream videos he directed was Geri Halliwell's 'It's Raining Men', which includes many of these things (even special effects - watch closely, Geri isn't all she seems!)
In addition to this he gave us an eye-opening insight into his experiences in the media industry, which very much makes us look forward to working with him on our group perfomance of 'Everybody get up'
Featuring: Rebecca Black, Darren Criss, Kevin McHale, Hanson, Kenny G, Debbie Gibson and Corey Feldman
Producer: John Winter Production Company: Rockhard Films Director: Marc Klasfeld
Applying the 10 Features of effective Music Videos
Instant impact - The clip opens in a filmic style, indicating that there is going to be a clear narrative structure. The first time Katy Perry is introduced as 'Kathy Beth Terry' instant impact is achieved as she is styled as an unflattering 80s dork, in vast contrast to her other videos in which she traditionally is made to look as pretty as possible.
Non-linear editing - The video cuts between Katy on her bed, using her laptop to recount the night before, and the actual party. In addition, a 'sub-plot' is used, showing Kevin McHale and Katy Perry in a King Arthur style environment.
Repetitions - The repeated shots of Katy on her bed lip-syncing the lyrics are used in this case to create humour from her expressions, and to emphasise the party as a flashback.
Strong sense of artist identity - The funny costumes and the exaggerated facial expressions suggest that Katy Perry is not a 'serious' artist, but her obvious comfort in dressing like that indicates that she is confident in portraying herself in an unflattering light.
A Performance - The cameos by Hanson and Kenny G playing the musical instruments fulfills the definition of a performance, as does the dance sequence in front of the video game.
Visual Pleasures - The colour scheme is very bright and colourful, whilst the indicators of the night before such as the hen and the partiers tied up in gaffer tape create humour as well as suggest an interesting back story. The party itself is made to look amazing and enjoyable, relating to the teenage target audience.
Wow Factor - The first wow factor is the introduction as Katy Perry wearing the head brace, but the entire clip stands out through it's highly decorated location and numerous celebrity cameos.
Provoke a reaction - The shock of seeing several famous faces cast against type provokes a reaction - for example seeing the typically beautiful Katy Perry as a cringey awkward girl and the young, 'annoying' Rebecca Black as her cool best friend.
Works on different levels - Whilst the world of 'Kathy Terry' is initially set up to appear embarrassing, so that the audience pity the central character, as the video develops there is a change in tone so that by the end the audience want to be at the party.
Pop Culture - There are numerous references to pop culture in the video - the narrative is reminiscent of traditional high-school movies like 'Grease' in which the dorky protagonist learns to be popular, whilst several of the cameos are used to draw in extra viewers. For example, Darren Criss and Kevin McHale are from the very popular teenage show 'Glee', whilst Rebecca Black had recently released her own song virally on the Internet, called 'Friday'.
My Name is Olivia Cole, and I am candidate number 3165. Welcome to my A2 Level Media Music Video Blog! I'm really looking forward to this project and I hope you enjoy looking at the work I've been doing.