Preliminary Task Evaluation.

In our prelim task I worked with James Braddy, Katylin Jarvis and George Brewer. Early on it was decided that we would be recreating 'Situations' by Escape The Fate. We would each help with the preparations for the shoot, help with the film and be equally included in the process.

To make it easier for ourselves we decided to 'screen grab' the original video and annotate what/who was in the shot,the duration of the shot and the angle of the camera. This would make it easier and quicker for us to shot instead of always referring to the video.


To film the sequence we used SONY AVCHD HandyCams. For some static shots we used a tri-pod, and in others we used hand-held  where the camera is moving backwards with the actor or panning - a steadycam would have been most effective to stabilise such shots. We then used Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 to cut and edit the footage, along with the original video in the corner of the screen to synchronise them together.

When planning, shooting and editing we had to consider a number of different factors. When planning we had to assess when we would shoot specific sequences for example alot of the other groups needed the classroom for shots in thier video so we had to work out when it was avalible for us to use-in the end we shot the classroom scene in two different sessions. When shooting we had to ensure that whoever was lip-synching knew the lyrics to their part well and could lip-synch them effectively whilst acting similarly to the vocalist in the video, this proved very difficult as we seemed to over exagerated some words making it almost impossible to synch some words together. We therefor had to re-shot some parts; because of this, we were moving back and forth between shooting and editing to create the best possible re-production of the video with the time and budget given( we have no money.)
Overall, I think that our video is successful in capturing the general spirit and style of the original music video. We took it in turns to portraying the vocalist of the band, wearing make-up, wigs and bandannas, we have created an almost 'spoof' take on the original video. In reflection, we would definitely take more care when filming as some shots were spolit where the actor goes off-screen - some of these were shot again but we could not re-shoot some others, which are very noticable.
We also should of created an avaliblity table because some people where off on various school trips leaving only two people to continue with the work.
In comparison to creating the opening for a film ( our A/S final production), I found this music video task alot more difficult; when creating an original film opening, we benefitted from creating a storyline and characters, using what we've got available i.e. props and costumes, whereas with re-creating a music video we were working as hard as possible to replicate someone else's choice of costumes, props, shots and actions when they had a huge budget and months to plan where as we only had a week with no budget.

For this task George put himself as team leader and took over most aspects of the task, with leaving the rest of the group to try and work around him. George has many skills that are well suited towards being a team leader, but as both myself and George have strong personalites so we clashed on multiple occasions but sorted it out promptly. It also brought George a great deal of pressure when people where not in, which effective group productity greatly.
In conclusion I think this task went well and we worked well as a group however next time I would try and have everyone work on the same level instead of having one team leader telling everyone what to do.

Preliminary Task Video 'Situations'

Preperation for Prelim

In preparation for shooting the shot for shot music video re-production, we have gathered the lyrics to the first one minute of the song/video, collated a list of props and who is responsible for them, and taken 'screen-grabs' from the video to create a storyboard. George has written up the prop list and Becky the story board using screen grabs.

Escape the Fate-Situations

Analysis of Pour It Up

This video is in line with some of Rihanna’s other music videos, particularly in its use of sexual display, Rihanna portrays herself as some kind of hooker/pimp. She dresses in a way that leaves little to imagination, she is an Exhibitionist in the highest form.

The video starts with Rihanna walking in shallow water, in a long fur coat and what appears to be stilettos covered in dollar bills. This first image allows the viewer to have an idea of Rihanna’s power, someone who has ‘money shoes’ is often perceived as rich, and in this day and age rich is powerful. Notice that the first close body shot is still as she slides into the chair she leans forwards so her chest is the focus of the shot, with the silver material sparkling in the light it brings even more attention to her chest and as the shot is in some degree of slow motion the shot lingers on her chest until her face appears and then cuts to another ‘scene’ which indicates the audience should focus on her body and not her face.

The next shot is a full body shot of a stripper dancing round/on a pole, they are surrounding by a green mist and because the camera is a lower angle we focus on their body rather than on their faces, and we therefor see them as a sex symbol/object rather than a person. The different shots of the dancers continue for several seconds which reinforces the acceptance of male gaze, the woman are there for you, the audience, to look at.

The shots between Rihanna and the woman thrusting in the water are both quick shots which allows the male gaze to continue, notice how Rihanna is wearing blacked out glasses which again allows the audience to see Rihanna as a sex symbol rather than a person because her eyes are concealed by glasses. The close up of Rihanna slowly pans down her body and again lingers on her chest and then dissolves into a long shot of Rihanna’s whole body and then quickly again to the lady thrusting in the water, who’s back is to us so we only see her bottom rather than her facial features.

The video then continues to show shots of Rihanna thrusting against her chair, and the female dancers in the water, the point of the video is clear, for people to lust over and envy Rihanna by the display of perfect bodies thrust into the audiences faces.