Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Evaluation question 2

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Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation question 4

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Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation question 1

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Lyrics Analysis

It would be nice to get away

Get on a train or plane and never look back.

Travel for days or weeks or months

Watch as the seasons change.

·         This is where I include my match of lyrics and visuals where the seasons appear to change as the little car drives past. The line before also refers to time, which is relevant.

But I could take you with me

Just ask and I’ll take you with me.

And you can see those seasons too

But from a different view.

·         This verse is very much about including someone else in the lyrics, which would usually mean it would include someone in the visuals as well, but as I chose to challenge Goodwin’s principals I chose to contrast it by keeping the toy car driving by itself.

And when we reach Japan or Rome

We’ll take our shoes off and dance

On unfamiliar soil.

I may have been to Amsterdam

I may have seen it before

But never with you.

·         This verse seems to be linking to stepping on ground that is not home, talking about other countries and cities which is relevant to the title of travel. It urges someone to join them, which is directly addressing the audience, drawing them in.

But I could take you with me

Oh please let me take you with me.

And you can see those cities too

But from a different view.

·        This final verse is slightly repeated from different other parts from throughout the song. The simple lyrics are what make this song so moving and inspiring to listen to.  

[Pause for vocals]

I want to get away with you.

I want to get away with you oh oh.

I want to get away with you oh oh.

I want to get away with you.

Final Video - Evelyn Burke, Travel Song

Here is my finished music video:

Evaluation Question 3

I was very happy with the feedback I received from my questionnaires after showcasing my work to a number of people who had not viewed it before. For my first question I mainly received the answer "I really liked the smoothness of the images" This pleased me in so many ways as I had tried my hardest to create a smooth flowing video. These may have been slightly predictable answers but as I had never shown this or attempted this in any way before I was not sure. 
For my second question I asked.. 'Do you think the different types of camera angles I included in this (that are not usually seen in stop frame animation) were successful?' 
I was very happy with the results of this answer from somebody, as they said "It is quite enthralling how you have used some shots that would be seen in video footage, in an animation of images." This answer surprised me but in a very pleasant way. 
My third question was 'Do you think the visuals matched the lyrics in a suitable way?' With this being a simple tick box answer I knew I would be able to get a percentage of the answers which would be helpful. The returns showed that 22 people out of 24 all ticked yes to this, which I thought was expected but still nice to see as I had worked hard to link my visuals to my lyrics with the use of Photoshop and other programs. 
My fourth question I wanted to find out a little more from what they really thought, so I left a comment box so the audience could really expand on their answers. I asked 'Was the use of a toy car a suitable object to use for my animation?' Some people simply replied just the answer 'yes' but others really expanded on their thoughts, and in one answer particular the audience replied, 'I thought the use of a small toy car was a simple but effective way of your clear relevance to travel throughout the whole of your work, all starting from the links between the lyrics; it has been seen before but you have given a different take on it that I really like.' 
Finally, my fifth question was a tick box, as this was a simple way of getting an answer from the audience. I asked, 'Did you feel drawn into the storyline of the video?' And again a very pleasing 20 out of 24 people replied 'Yes'. 

Ancillary Tasks

As I explained through my use of technology, I had to create ancillary tasks to back up my music video. 
This is the result of my magazine advert:

And here is my final CD covers: 

Audience Questionnaire

The questionnaire I put together specially for my music video included questions to get some audience feedback on my video from an independent set of people who had not seen my music video before. I believe this was the most successful way to achieve honest feedback with just a few simple questions. For example I decided to use a toy car for my stop frame, I asked them if another object would have been more suitable to show travel. 

1. What was your first impression when seeing the first 30 seconds of my video? 
2. Do you think the different types of camera angles I included in this (that are not usually seen in stop frame animation) were successful?
3. Do you think the visuals matched the lyrics in a suitable way?
4. Was the use of a toy car a suitable object to use for my animation? 
5. Finally, did you feel drawn into the storyline of the video? 

I had a total of 24 fully replied returns, which was a decent amount to be able to find averages and various answers to each question. 

Technology used

Obviously as my music video is going to be sent off digitally and filmed using a high resolution camera I would need a digital program to be able to stich all these images together. For this, I used iMovie which can be found on an Apple iMac. The program is simple enough to use, and as I have had previous experience with it I can easily navigate around it using all the features possible to add idfferent effects ot my images. Firstly I knew I had to import my images and put then into an order, so to do this I imported them into iPhoto and then into iMovie from this. In doing this I knew I had a backup so if anything went wrong with loss of images they would be backed up on my personal computer and on the Mac. After many hours of work on the Mac, stringing together my images and putting them into the correct order, I had to then make small changes to things like the timing and framing. The fastest flicker of an image that was possible on this particular program was 0.04 of a second, which was just fast enough to what I both needed and expected. Most of my images have been flashed for this amount of time, apart from a select few where I needed to slow them down so the audience would be able to see the effect for a prolonged period of time. This was the main digital program I used, alongside an image manipulation program named Photoshop CS3. As I also study photography I have had an extensive experience of using this and so decided to put it to use for a small series of images. The small clip I used this for was my effect of speeding up time, making it seem as if the seasons were changing. How I did this was relatively simple but I tried my best to execute it successfully. I firstly set up my camera, being careful to place it on a tripod and framing it up, and not moving it after I had made this decision. I composed my frame with a clear shot out of a window and no other clutter that could distract the viewer. I then looked through older images I had taken, something which had a tree in it, and obviously being outside. I found a suitable image and then made a template of that so for every frame my little car moved I would replace the exisiting outside view with this. And every frame I moved along I would change the overall colour of this image, adding more reds and browns to it from the originally green image. I would also change the colours of the leaves, using a tool in the program called 'Paintbrush', which you can make settings to, scattering it to different shapes, which is what I did to create the illusion that the colours of the leaves were changing. Having access to be able to do this has really helped my music video as it has sparked ideas that can help to make my video more unique and different. Finally I used my dslr camera as I knew this would bring the highest quality imagery possible to include. I also realised that this type of image quality does use a lot of memory in megabytes and so all I ever did was transport it straight to the iMac via an external hard drive. I knew the desktop would be able to handle it better so that is why I decided to use it.

Challenging Goodwin's Principals

Obviously after I changed how my video is going to be executed I knew I would have some other titles and rules to change, including either my compliance or challenging of Goodwin's theory in music videos. As stop frame animation isn't too popular for a music video I gathered there will be a few things I will be challenging, but other things I will also be complying. To start off, I didn't have any real people in my video as this would not have fit in with my idea; in turn meaning I could not include what he says is essential: close up shots. I could obviously use some of the toy car but it would not have the same effect as what he says should be included. I also challenged the notion of looking as this would be harder to show with the use of a toy car, and I believed I would not need to include this for my idea. I think my video will be more successful without the use of Goodwin's principals because of how my lyrics match my visuals already quite strongly. 

3rd and Final Animation Shoot

After creating most of my video and fitting it together in digital programs I made a start on the final pieces of my video.This included the final shots of the car and camera panning across the wooden floor together, it going into the shoe, and driving over the paper, as if it were writing 'The end'. I found that with more patience, it was a lot easier to achieve a successful panning technique, including moving the camera along with the car. As this is a stop frame animation that type of shot is very tricky to attempt but I am happy with how I executed it and its results. The very last shot I had to do was one of my most creative, with the car appearing to drive over a plain sheet of paper, but revealing the words 'The End..' This was relatively simple to execute, moving the car as usual in every frame, but also behind it just building up the words. I am very fond of this last shot, and that it only took one attempt to create the idea I really wanted. No other problems occurred which was also helpful.

2nd Animation Shoot

For my second animation shoot I knew I had more types of shots that needed to be challenged if I wanted my animation to result in a successful wow factor. So for this I researched how I could attempt different techniques on my dslr like panning with the subject and also zooming in and out a little with every frame. The most important and creative shot I included in this section is where it relates the lyrics to the visuals with the words 'watch as the seasons change.' For this I needed the use of an image manipulating program Photoshop to create a sense of speeding up time in these 15 frames. I also shot the car falling down the stairs and purposely included a frame where the car would blur, giving the sense or realism that the camera is too slow to keep up with it, as we see so many times in real video. I also filmed a panning shot where the small car appeared to climb up the bottom of a door and back down again. I didn't have any problems when filming these shots as I did them one after the other, checking that the lighting would be the same throughout. 

New Shooting Shedule

Here is my updated version of my music video:

1st Animation shoot

In my first shoot for my animation I did the first three shots that would appear in my video. This was the opening shot of the car driving past the camera, the match on action where the camera turns around and the car drives from behind it and falls off the ledge; and another match on action where the car appears to fall from the top of the ledge into the frame and drive away. These shots were relatively easy as they wouldn't require the camera to move with every frame as well as the toy car. There was a problem with the lighting, which meant I had to re-shoot one of the shots, as the lighting had changed over time. This meant I had to develop my understanding and use artificial lighting to create the same results. I had no other problems during this shoot which I was happy with, I had to use a mini tripod for one of the shots, so that it could stand off the ground a little more, as too much carpet was in the frame. 

Creative ideas

For my animation I knew I had all these creative ideas that I wanted to include that would all help to make my music video unique and effective. All of these ideas had mostly occurred to me as I saw other inspirational work but I had written them down to include in my video. Here are some that are included into my video:

• Someone's foot narrowly missing the car, to give a sense of scale for the car and danger. 
• 'Driving' past a window with a view of the outside, and the scenery changing seasons (alongside the lyrics of 'watch as the seasons change..')
• A knife being stabbed down nearly hitting the toy car in the kitchen area
• A tub of sweets that fall down from a cupboard and spread out, making the car dodge them. 
• Near the end driving into a shoe and the shoe travelling out of the door.
• And finally a sheet of paper appearing to write out 'THE END' as the toy drives over  a plain sheet. 

I believe little ideas like this included in my video will help it to be more unique than any others. 

New Setting For Video.

After changing the idea for my video I realised that I couldn't take my toy car on the same journey that the audience would have been going on with the person. So I downsized my total setting to the confinements of my house. This still proved to be more than enough as I new I had plenty of tasks for my car on his adventure. I have added in some of the setting shots here so you can see the space I used to frame up my shots. 

Camera

Knowing my definite final idea and how I want every shot to be framed and timing I could start shooting with a clear vision in my head. This was a very helpful task to complete before starting off making any of my stop frame animation. So I needed to decide on my use of a camera. As being a keen photographer I have access to various still cameras including small, compact cameras up to DSLRs with very high resolutions. I knew I wanted to create the most realistic type of animation and so needed something with professional levels of resolution, depth of field and speed. So I decided for my Sony DSLR which I knew would be capable of writing the images to the memory card quicker than any other camera I had access to. I had a small test shot sequence which I then replayed in action on my screen and found that this would be the most suitable camera. I also tried out a more compact camera but found I didn't have total control over the aperture and flash, resulting in poor quality images. The best thing about using this particular camera was that I had total control of how the images turned out; meaning if a particular scene was darker than expected I could change some settings that would fix the problem immediately. 

Stop Frame idea continued.

As I briefly mentioned in the previous post my stop frame animation idea is going to be including a small toy car, just 1-inch long. This car is going to be the  main character of the video, even though it is obviously an inanimate object. I want to try and make the difficult connection with this and the audience as the small toy goes along a journey through the song. I am hoping to take around 700 images as I know this will create a successful animation running relatively smoothly so the car seems like it will be travelling by itself. The car will start off from a black screen of the titles, moving along a worktop side, and appearing to fall down off the edge, then it will cut to a shot from the floor where the car will emerge from the left of the screen, as if it fell down near the camera and landed. After analysing many different ideas and executions of a stop frame animation I knew that to make it as realistic as possible I would have to include certain aspects in my work. The first, would be to include shots as f we would see them being shot in a real time video, so shots like close ups and panning shots would need to be present. Another thing would be not to move the camera at all, keeping it still is key to making the car look as if it moving realistically. To do this is knew I would have to use a tripod in all of my shots. I had control of two tripods,  a mini version, which stood just a few inches off a surface, or a traditional one that reaches a total height of two metres. If for some shots a tripod was too tall I would rest the camera on another solid surface or the floor. The final thing as I have already mentioned is lots of photos. 

Idea rethink

After some very serious re-thinks about my music video and all of my footage and idea, I decided to change the idea I have about the presentation of the piece. The idea is still the same, just executed differently. I have decided to go down the route of stop frame animation as a main source rather than point of view shits. I will still be incorporating the effective landscape shots sped up to create a blurred sense of reality but this will be working alongside my images. I am aware that the sudden change has been quite late but I believe I have a stronger idea to fit the song by doing it this way, as the small car that will be used to travel around will be in contrast to the huge atmosphere and scenery of some of the sped up London shots.