Diary 12

Over Christmas I have been working on my digipak cover. I have completed the front cover now and I am about to begin the back cover. I think that the front cover is similar to what I thought it would turn out like and I am happy with the end result. I did find that I had to edit it quite a lot to ensure that all the darker areas of my face were pure white and that my features such as eyes and lips were really black and stood out on the white background.

I am happy that the design I chose first of all was a success and I am excited to go on and create the rest of the digipak.

This is the finished product:

Editing My Digipak Cover

I have created print screens showing the stages that I underwent to edit the image that I chose for the front cover of my digipak. I started off with an image in colour which I changed to black and white using features such as gradient and levels. I added drop shadows to my text to make it stand out on the white background and give the cover some depth.

The final cover:





Filming/Editing Schedule

Below is a table that I created in powerpoint to display the tasks that I need to complete, in terms of filming and editing my music video, when I have put aside time to do these and the people that I plan on needing to help me do this. This post is merely for my own use so I have a better sense of organisation of when I will comlete my work.

Contact Sheet for Digipak Cover

Below is the contact sheet that I created on Photoshop of the images that I took last lesson to be used on the front cover of my digipak. After I planned my digipak with a variety of designs and thought that the close up shot worked better on the cover, I was able to know the exact shot type that I wanted and capture this easily. Planning helped me here as the process could've been a lot more time consuming had I not previously thought about the type of shot size that I was after.

Diary 11

In the past couple of lessons I have been looking at completing  all the planning tasks that I was given. These tasks have included analysing adverts in existing magazines similar to my own, planning for my digipak and magazine advert such as creating a proposed layout and writing a written structure of my music video. These planning tasks are essential in order for me to complete my construction tasks so I am not completely overwhelmed when I have to create the actual thing, using Photoshop and Adobe.

Although I still have a couple of planning tasks, such as photographs and raw footage of my location to complete, I am going to go on to creating my digipak now as I believe that this is a good way to be spending my time in lesson. I have already taken the images that I need for my front cover close up shot this lesson, so I will begin to put that together in the following lesson that I have.

Structure of My Music Video

I have created a written timeline for my music video because, although I have already shot some of the scenes for it, I think that having a a written structure of what shots need to go where will help me when organising the clips that I have in to the correct order. I created this on word and exported it with Scribd.

Structure of My Music Video

Magazine Advert Planning

I have also recently begun working on my magazine advert to promote my artists digipak. I feel it's essential to create a couple of drafts before creating the actual product so I have a sense of what the design may look like. When drafting my magazine advert, I looked at two designs. Having already researched into existing magazine adverts and the kind of conventions that they use, I found doing these drafts to be quite easy. Both of the designs are relatively similar with different images and layouts however they universally include the same information. These are my two designs:

The first design includes an image of my artist so the audience can identify themselves with her as little or any of her face will be shown on my digipak if I go by the designs that I have already chosen. I have though included an image of the album artwork on the advert so the audience can link the two together. Alongside this, there is the name of the album, where it can be purchased, its release date and pull quotes from reviews of it. I have also included the artist's website twitter name. I think that it is very conventional to find a twitter name on a magazine advert nowadays because social media is largely dominant. This way, as well as in keeping with the zeitgeist of social media, the audience can find out more about the star, in terms of her personality. I think that this feature will be a success for her bigger fans.

The second design was inspired by the digipak design of the tree and the setting that I intend to use for my music video. I've kept the layout fairly similar to the first design and the information displayed is the same except that I have also included the artist's website so the fans can find out more about her. All in all I prefer this design because it supports some cohesion between the video, digipak and the advert which is essential for the audience to be able to identify the artist with. 

Digipak Planning

As I am now beginning to create my digipak on Photoshop, I thought that it would be helpful to plan what I want the digipak to look like to make the process of craeting it easier. These drafts mean that I now have a clearer idea of what I want the digipak to look like. Below are the four draft drawings of possible designs for my digipak.

I chose the first design of an extreme close up of an eye to reiterate the title of the album, 'Wide Awake'. I think that the use of an extreme close up is very eye-catching and will make the album stand out on the shelves amongst others. It also makes the digipak look more iconic and recognisable to the target audience or to any members of other target audiences that may be looking to purchase it. However, I think that this shot would be quite hard to recreate as I would need to include a lot of post-production and editing in Photoshop to make the eye look perfect and bold as there would be a lot of detail to be included in the image. Nonetheless though, I really like this idea.

The second design is still a close up, however I have not centered the shot directly on just the eye. Instead I have chosen to include the whole face. I think that the lips would look good if they were painted bright or dark red to add to the impact of the shot. The use of a slightly wider shot allows the audience to identify with the artist as well as being able to see more emotion in the model's face. The sucess of this image and design would be heavily dependent on the amount of makeup on the model's face to add to the dramatic look and to highlight her features. I think it would also look good in black and white with her face washed out so just the dark and defined features remain. I have an image of what I believe that this design could look like and I think it is my favourite of the two so far.

The third design is, again an extreme close up, this time of the models lips. I think that the eyes and lips are the two main, bold features of the face that can really show emotion. I think that the lips will relate to the artists singing career and will make the digipak very recognisable. Additionally, I have chosen not to include the artists name on the cover of the digipak as I feel that having such an iconic and out-there cover will make or 'force' audience members to remember it. Also this isn't the first album that my artist will have released and, as she would be a household name, I don't think it's crucial for her name to appear on the cover.

Finally, the inspiration for the fourth design came from the setting that I have chosen for my music video; the woods. I think that the image of the tree with no leaves promotes an idea of emptiness, longing and eariness to the audience and these mysterious traits may prompt them to buy a copy. This cover will also represent some cohesion to the music video which will be globally known. I therefore didn't feel it was nessecary, once again, to include my artists name on the cover. Furthermore, I believe that this shot will look better in black and white as the tree's branches will stand out and be defined against the white background.

To conclude, my favourite designs out of the ones that I have drawn are the close-up of the model's face and the shot of the tree. Both of these designs have the potential to look really sophisticated whilst, at the same time, being minimalistic and representing the actual artist in some way. I will have to think carefully about which one I will persue.

Analysis of Magazine Adverts

Below is a Prezi that I have created to display a variety of different magazine adverts for albums. I have analysed each one by the methods that they have adopted to market the album  for example quotes from other people or magazines or references to the hit singles off the album that the artist is well-known for. Additionally, I have looked in to the other conventional aspects that I can see are present within all of the adverts so as to provide me with a template for my own advert. I have found this task to be especially helpful as I am now at a stage where I have begun producing my own advert and I can take inspiration from the ones that I have looked at to make my own appear more professional.

Diary 10

In recent weeks I have been extremely busy with the production part of my coursework. I started off by holding a photoshoot in which I took pictures of myself to be used on my digipak front cover. I then went on to creating, and finishing the front and back covers of my digipak's first draft. I am however waiting to hold my actual video shoot to take the remaining photos that I need. Additionally, I have been working on my magazine advert on Photoshop and trying to make visual links between the two products.


I feel that I have defined the style of the artist by choosing what fonts and colour schemes will be present throughout my work. Furthermore, I have a day in mind this week for filming my video as I was unable to do so last week, due to the poor weather conditions. Although this was a risk that I took into consideration during my risk assessment that could halt the production of my video.

Proposal

Here is a Prezi of the ideas that I have proposed for my main and ancillary tasks. I have discussed the cohesion between narrative and lyrics in my video as well as how I will dress my setting with props. Additionally, I have thought about the themes that I will look at incorporating in my work and how I will make these evident as well as many other ideas that have come to mind at this stage of planning.

Risk assessment

I have created this risk assessment to display all of the possible problems that I may face during the production process of my music video. I have considered aspects such as personal injury, health and safety, damage to equipment and factors that may halt the overall production. Additionally, I have looked at what specific risks may occur and how I can minimise them. I think that by creating this risk assessment, I am now fully aware of the possible risks that I could encounter and the ways that I can avoid them.

Risk Assessment

Editing Software

I will be using various editing softwares throughout the post production phase of my project. These include Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Premiere CS3 and possibly Adobe After Effects CS3. I will need to use Photohop for creating my digipak and magazine advert as well as using it for editing the photos that I intend to use on them. I will need to use a variety of the 'tools' available on Photoshop to ensure that my images are of a professional quality and to make sure that my digipak and magazine adverts look well presented and are the best that I can create. 



Premiere will be the main software that I will use to edit my music video, in order to produce a final cut.
I will need to place all of the shots that I have taken on a timeline on premiere, alongside the song I have chosen, I will then proceed to cut from each shot at the appropriate times in order to make my video flow in a similar way to that of my animatic. I may also use After Effects to create a lightening strike effect in order to add to the gloomy scenes that take place in the video. 

Diary 9

Over the past couple of weeks I have been extremely busy with posting on my blog. I am starting to get into my planning posts now and I have just created my animatic after earlier creating my storyboard. The difference between the two is that the animatic is a moving sequence that plays the pictures that I drew for my storyboard with the music of the song that I have chosen. I really enjoyed creating this as I am starting to really imagine where I can place certain shots to fit in with the beat of the song and what the actual video might look like. 

I have also recently been researching into the equipment that I will need for my shoot as well as the props that I will need to collect. Additionally, I have analysed the lyrics to my song to broaden my understanding of their meaning and to help me interpret them in my own video. I have finally tried to contact my artist's record label to try and gain the right to use the song in my video. I am aware that the chance of getting a reply is slim but I also know that this form of address is essential in the music industry as the material that I plan to use does have copyright laws placed upon it.

Animatic

This is my animatic. It is a video that I created on Windows Movie Maker to display the images from my storyboard alongside the song I have chosen. This has helped me to decide on where I think it's appropriate to cut from one shot to another as well as allowing me to have a rough outline of what the sequence will look like. I am happy with the overall result and I believe that my drawings, as well as where I have placed them, are well suited to the song that I have chosen.

Props List

I am fast approaching the slot that I have to film my music video in. I have therefore been thinking about the props that I will need to supply and where I might be able to get hold of them. These are the props that I plan on including in my video:

·         Wedding dress

·         Heeled wedding shoes

·         Veil

·         Bouquet of roses

·         Engagement ring

·         Tiara

·         Red lipstick

·         False eyelashes

·         Polaroid photos

·         Fairy lights

·         Pastel bunting

·         Rain

 

I am using these props to create the look of a bride-to-be. I will use dramatic makeup on her eyes and lips as these will get ruined as the video runs and they will be more noticeable if they are bright and visible. Additionally, I will need the Polaroid photos, fairy lights and bunting to create nostalgic, imaginative setting in the woodland scene. I want it to look magical and the photos will be there to represent the couple’s relationship that she is running away from. I want the scenes in the woods to be the scenes where she’s realising that marrying her fiancé will be a mistake. I don’t want these shots to be showing her as angry as I will use the hill scenes for this where the rain will be ruining her costume. Obviously, props such as the wedding dress, veil, bouquet and ring are there to emphasise the state of her engagement as these are conventions of the day.

Contact with the Artist

I have decided to contact the record label that my artist is sign to, to ask for the right to use one of their songs in my video. I have print screened the email that I have sent and, although I will probably not get a reply, I understand that this is obligatory in the music industry as the song is under certain copyright laws. I have also linked another image of where I found the information to write to the label on their website.

Lyric Analysis

I have analysed the lyrics to the song that I have chosen to help me understand their original meaning. I have analysed my interpretations of the lyrics and what I think they mean to help inspire me for ideas for my video. I believe that the lyrics describe a break-up and the comeback that the girl plans on taking now that she's over her heartbreak. I will follow a similar story in my own video so the storyline can illustrate the lyrics.

Equipment Choices

I will be shooting my music video with one of the school’s cameras. This will be a Canon 550D and I will need to book a time slot for which I can use it because there are only a limited number available for the amount of students in my class. Additionally, I will be using this camera for shooting the photo shoot for my digipak and magazine advert. I will therefore also have to attach a flash to the camera to give my shots better quality lighting.

Furthermore, I want to include a few close-up shots of my artist in a dark room with her face illuminated by a spotlight so I will need a spotlight to create this effect. Also, I will be frequently using shots with no camera movement so I will need to employ a tripod to ensure that I can achieve these steady shots.

Storyboard Images

These are the original images that I drew for my storyboard. I have scanned them so I can easily place them on the storyboard template however I thought that I would put them on another post individually so they can be viewed separately.

Storyboard

Below is a copy of my finished storyboard for my music video. I am aware that I might change some of these shots when it comes to actually shooting the video but, for now, I am happy with the sequence. I have also decided to repeat some of the same shots in the chorus' as I found that this was a common convention in the other pop music videos that I analysed. I have included a variety of shot types and camera movement as well as a couple of different edits to illustrate my understanding of the equipment that I'll be using. I will be creating my animatic shortly and I will also upload all of the images that I drew in the next post so the details in them can be clearly seen.

Initial Planning Ideas

Below is a video of me presenting my initial ideas for my music video. These are my spontaneous views of what I envision my music video to look like. I have considered the locations, costumes, lighting and props for my mise-en-scene and I have also thought carefully about the theme that I want for my video and how it fits in with my interpretation of the lyrics to the song. I found that doing this has defined my idea and what I want my video to look like a lot more and I can really imagine what certain scenes will look like.Below is a video of me presenting my initial ideas for my music video. 

Diary 8

In the past couple of weeks, I have been focusing on my planning work in class. So far I have created my initial planning ideas on a video that I need to upload to my blog and I have now started working on my storyboard and the animatic that follows that. I am also now using any free time at home and at school to complete my research tasks and I am hoping that I will fly through the majority of the planning tasks. I have just researched into a previous student's A2 coursework from my school last year and I found this to be very insightful and helpful as I have now begun to think of how I want my digipak and magazine advert to look and how I am going to link it to the pop genre and with the ideology of the artist that I have chosen.

Analysis of Previous A2 Work: Digipak and Magazine Advert

I have now analysed Amy's promotional work including the digipak and magazine advert that she created alongside her music video. I was able to pink apart this work and discuss why she used the methods that she has. i also found this particularly helpful as I am currently deciding how I want my digipak to look. I now an starting to think of whether or not I want it to be simplistic of cluttered and what types or images and fonts I should use to best relate to the pop genre of the song and the type of artist that I have chosen.

Analysis of Previous Students A2 Work

Analysis of Previous A2 Work: Music Video

I used Windows Movie Maker to analyse a music video directed by Amy Bartlett, a media studies student from last years music video. I assessed the use of location, props, camera angles, editing and post-production techniques and found this task to be incredibly helpful as I can draw inspiration from it in my own piece. Also, looking at work that another student has produced has made the project seem more achievable for myself and I'm looking forward to the construction phase even more now. I have place my analysis in the video as a caption so pause the video to read it before continuing.

Diary 7

During the previous week, I have begun looking at producing some research into my target audience. To do this, I produced a mood board of their hobbies, interests and overall style as well as calculating their demographics and phycographics. This will help me to design my initial ideas for my music video as I have a better understanding of the needs of my audience and how to market my video effectively through the magazine advert, as well as having some ideas of what to include in my digipak. I have also created another mood board that promotes the general tone and theme of my music video. I chose to include images of possible locations, props and colour schemes as well as some lighting effects that I could use.

Additionally, I have recently designed a rough idea for the costume of my model as well as the make up that I intend to use. I have also just finished one of the last few research tasks that I have to complete. I have looked at how my artist is represented across a variaty of differing magazines and this has proved helpful as I have developed an understanding of how I want to represent my artist and how I can go about doing so effectively.

Katy Perry in Magazines

I have created a Prezi illustrating the variety of ways that Katy Perry has been represented throughout different magazine covers. I have found this to be dependent on the type of magazine it is as well as the audience it is trying to reach.  I have looked mainly at styling and body language as these say the most about how Katy appears to the reader. I will hopefully be able to take some inspiration from this research, whether it be poses or looking into other representational issues when designing my digipak and magazine advert promoting my artist.

Audience Mood Board

I have decided to create a second mood board, this time based on the interests and needs of my target audience. I have thought about material needs as well as social hobbies and other photos that I can relate to the audience of my video. They are all quite 'girly' and reflect a theme of love and youth, however I think that by doing this, I have broadened my understanding of my audience and I may be able to incorporate some of these themes into my video, for example through clothing or technologies.

Audience Mood Board

Audience Demographics & Psychographics

I think that the target audience for my music video is likely to be females aged 15-25. This is because the storyline for the video will be about love and relationships and I think that by the age of 15, girls are likely to have experienced a 'crush' or a relationship with a guy. I think that the concept is more fitting to a female audience because the story is being told from the point of view of a female and is biased towards their feelings. The lyrics are about overcoming heartbreak and I think that a female audience is likely to find this very inspiring and will feel as if they can relate to the artist through personal experience.

As the target audience is mainly young adults, they probably won't have much experience of the world of work and were social classes come into play, and would therefore be students or just coming out of education such as university. However I would imagine that the parents of my target audience would fit into the social classes B-C2 with skilled, authouritive and managerial positions. I think that the parents would have a very busy schedule and this would leave the children to seek advice about love and heartbreak through the lyrics of the song I have chosen. I think that at a young age, they would need a role model and that the artist in my music video would be just that.

I can imagine that the music video and song would appeal to the majority of young girls as well as many girls at the older end of the audience I am targeting. As the song is of the pop genre, deriving from 'popular', the artist is going to have mainstream success and likability. Therefore the psychographics of my audience would be 'mainstream' and I think that they would be very conscious of the type of music that is topping the charts as well as keeping up with trends. I feel that my target audience would have a need for status as well as being materialistic. I want the video to reflect current trends through costumes and colour schemes to in-keep with the personality of the audience and I might consider incorporating intertextual references in the video to create personal identity with the audience, thus applying the Uses and Gratifications theory.

Artist Styling & Costume Planning

Below is a rough sketch of my model's costume for my video shoot. As I'm planning on basing my video on a dream about a wedding, my model will need to wear a wedding dress, which I plan to buy from a charity shop. I have also considered that the dress may get muddy of damaged during the shoot. I intend for the model to progress to looking worse and worse as the video goes on, so any marks on the dress will add to the effect. Obviously if I have to re-shoot any scenes, I will have to get the dress cleaned. I have thought about some accessories, including an engagement ring, a bouquet of flowers, a veil and a head band made of daisies, all which should be readily available for me to buy and should be reasonably affordable. I will need the model to wear heeled shoes as I plan on incorporating a shot where she is running through a clearing in the woods before the heel breaks.

I have also thought about the kind of makeup that I want the model to wear. As I am quite keen on makeup, I will be applying this myself and so I printed of a M.A.C face chart from Google and experimented with a look that I think is suitable. I have gone for natural eye shadow to match the hair colour of my model but I will be applying a generous amount of mascara as I want to smudge this to make it appear as though the model is crying. I have gone for a dramatic red lip and will define the face with highlighters and contour.

The outfit:

The Makeup:

Mood Board

After being a bit optimistic of how my initial idea might turn out, I decided to create this mood board of images of my actual locations as well as others that I might take inspiration from. I have looked into locations, props and costumes as well as choosing other images that reflect the story line of the video.

Mood Board A2

Diary 6

This week I have expanded on my research of music videos and pop music in general by looking at videos that influence me or inspire me, tracking a pop artist throughout their career and analysing existing digipaks. Looking at videos that influence me really helped me to come up with even more creative ideas that I could incorporate into my own video, such as using some animated creatures in some woodland shots as I saw in Of Monsters and Men’s ‘Little Talks’ video. Also, by looking at specific shots that I personally love, I have thought of more creative ones that I could adapt myself.

I decided to research Demi Lovato when tracking an artist throughout their career as I knew that she had started in the industry from an early age and has dealt with various, personal struggles. I was keen to see how she overcame this and has now become a role model as well as being an award-winning pop artist.

               

Lastly, I analysed three existing digipaks. From this research, I was able to take into account certain conventions that are normally found within digipaks as well as looking at how the style changes throughout the different genres. I looked mainly at pop music digipaks including Katy Perry and Rihanna as I will be producing one for a pop artist myself. I found that they are very bright and consist mainly of images of the artist in various settings along with a leaflet from the artist including lyrics to their songs and a ‘thank you’ message, as well as additional images. In general, I believe that I have has a productive week.

Analysis of Existing Digipaks

I have researched existing digipaks to help me when I design my own. I intend to look at how they are structured as well as the conventional information that is found on them and how they appeal to their audiences.

This is the first didgipak that I looked at and it is for Imogen Heap's album 'Speak for yourself'. After researching Imogen as an artist, I found that she is an electronica/alternative artist. I think that this digipak reflects that genre with its bright, vibrant and eye catching colour scheme as well as the type of images that are used. Imogen pays homage to her home city of London with a photo of here, riding her bike over on of it's bridges with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. This way, the audience can assume that she is from London and that she admires her city. There is a consistent pattern of polka-dots throughout the digipak that I believe gives it a futuristic look. Imogen is presented in the form of a 'pop art' drawing on the front of the digipak surrounded by a minimalistic background so the audience's attention lingers on the image. 

The side where Imogen is seen riding a bike in the yellow background can be removed to present the audience with a speech from the artist, thanking them for buying the album and crediting everyone who helped to produce it. This creates a relationship between the artists and the audience as every individual person who bought a copy, feels that they have impacted Imogen's life in some way. The digipak also consists of a leaflet in which all the lyrics to the songs are displayed along with additional pictures of the artist. 

The polka-dots that appear on two of the sides have a shiny finish in comparison to the matte finish of the rest of the digipak and show different settings. They are also very bright and reflect the tone of the music as well as inspiring the audience. Overall, this digipak is fairly crowed and there are many things for the audience to look at and read. It does, however, comply to the main conventions of other digipaks as it features a thank you note and the album listing inside.

Secondly, I looked at Rihanna's 'Loud' digipak. This one is very different to the previous one I looked at as it takes on a more simplistic approach. At this time, Rihanna has red hair and this is reflective in the colour scheme of the whole digipak from her red lips to the red roses that surround her in some of the images. The album looks very feminine and roses connote femininity which suggests that the artist herself is feminine and that the majority of her target audience is as well. 

Unlike the previous digipak where each side has a different image of purpose, the three 'inner' sides of this digipak make up one big image of Rihanna. There isn't a vast amount of text on the actual digipak other than the track listing on the back. However there is a leaflet inside with the lyrics to the songs on the album, along with a small note from Rihanna thanking her fans for buying it, making it more personal. The actual images of Rihanna are very dominating over the digipak and one of her tattoos, 'rebelle fleur' is present in the main image. This tattoo illustrates that Rihanna, although trying to be feminine, isn't always as good as she looks.

The CD's that are inside are covered entirely with an image of a rose with a different opacity level to the rest of the images, making it look faded. However, it shows continuity with the floral theme of the whole digipak and adds to the colour scheme which is quite simply red and pink with small amounts green and white appearing on some of the other images.

The third, and final digipak that I looked at was Katy Perry's 'Teenage dream'. Straight away the style of the artists and her music is shown through the colours and general theme of the digipak. The two CD's in the pack have been designed to look like two sweets, making the idea fun and interesting. This theme is likely to appeal to Katy's younger audience as well as stereotypically representing music from the pop genre. The theme of 'sweets' is also illustrated through the track listing on the back as some of the letters have been made into sweets similar to the pattern of the CD on the right. They are also in red to stand out from the background, corresponding the names of the various writers and producers in blue below. 

The main image of Katy, laying on a cotton candy cloud is quite suggestive but playful at the same time. It creates an imaginative tone to the album and comes across in the artists personality. Although this level of nudity normally wouldn't be viewed as acceptable, the contrast with the fluffy pink clouds make it seem somewhat innocent rather that provocative. The main content of the digipak is image based, similar to the one previous, to promote Katy's eccentric style but there is a leaflet inside containing lyrics and a personal note to her fans as is conventional throughout all three of the digipaks.

In various images on the other side of the digipak, Katy is seen wearing a cupcake holder and posing in the style of Marilyn Monroe. Katy's hair and makeup are very dramatic and she looks almost like a pin-up girl in her appearance and with her poses. She accessories with a sweetie necklace and crown, signifying that she is the 'queen' of pop and her overall look makes her appear fun and carefree to her audience.

Tracking an Artist Through Their Career

I chose to research Demi Lovato as she has influenced pop music in many ways, including having her own 'pop rock' sound that is unique from others. She is a well known and successful pop star and hasn't had the easiest career but she has a loyal fan base and a great voice so I thought, as I am making a pop video, I would research a successful pop star.

Tracking an Artist

Videos I'm Influenced By

Onerepublic - Good Life

I absolutely LOVE the idea of this video. Everything from the quick edits that complement the fast drum beats to the way the shots of the band look so authentic and like a canvas painting. I love that sometimes you can see 'creases' in the shots and it looks like an animated picture. Also, even though the video is vastly performance based, the fact that the posters are travelling throughout so many different locations creates a sense of narrative. One scene I especially admire is at 1:13 where the members of the band are seen walking from one poster to another. In addition, the fact that the posters are a different opacity to the locations they are being shown in, emphasises the contrast in settings. During the bridge of the song, the video turns more performance based but I love the narrative as it suggests a journey from the band traveling, to then arriving to a secluded spot where they can perform.

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

The thing I like most about this video is the mixtures between animated and real. I love that when the characters are walking through the scene, they move to the beat of the song and when they encounter various creatures along the way, at 1:50 for example, they appear to sing the 'HEY!' lyric. I think that the black and white creates an authentic look and love the splashed of colour throughout the video. I admire the imaginative settings and the whole video reminds me of am adventure film. I am actually considering adding some animated creatures to a woodland scene in my own video.

Newton Faulkner - Clouds

I adore the simplicity of this video. I love the frequent use of aerial shots to represent the clouds that accompany the lyrics "stop looking down at the ground" along with the use of slow motion shots when there is a break in the lyrics. I think that the use of natural locations like the beach and streets really works with the style of artist he is. I also think that the opening scene reminds me of Lego toys and the whole video carried a feel of nostalgia. 

Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

I love how colourful this video is. I love how narrative and performance are mixed in this video with the lyrics of the song appearing in different forms in various locations as well as being performed by the band. I admire the scene where the band are performing in a dark room with the glow in the dark paint and I personally can recognise some of the album artwork on the walls. The video is very happy and makes me feel happy when I watch it and that is one of the things I love most about it. I also like the the use of repeated shots one after the other as it compliments the beat of the song.