Kate Kestell A2 Project

I constructed an interactive moodboard which can be found  here . 

  My uncle is currently studying for his PhD at Reading University, and is also a successful artist   alongside his wife, my aunt, also named Kate.  His children, my cousins, range from 5-10 years old. Evie, Theo and Stan will be the actors in my music video , which will feature them dressed as astronauts, playing in a cardboard model rocket, with projections of space over the top of them.  My uncle has access to many facilities at the university and his personal studio, so I am aiming to spend three or four days up in Reading in the August holidays. I have also emailed the Science Museum in London to ask if it would be possible to film some of their space exhibit after closing hours if I need extra footage to fill out my video and a Ms. Mitchison responded very promptly with the following:  'Dear Kate, I hope you are well, Thank you for your email and new enquiry to host an event at the Science Museum. I am more than happy to help. Ar...

I constructed a  survey  to gather information on consumer needs in regard to music videos. My survey primarily questioned readers on their age bracket and genre of choice, before further questioning them on their preferences with music videos, conventions they deem vital, gratifications they obtain, and films they favour in regard to intertextuality. Some respondents inability to answer certain questions is perhaps a strong reflection of my survey conducting skills; however, this may also be my fault for sharing my survey with an audience that is not so willing to take it seriously. E.g. My Facebook friends and Twitter followers. The survey did give me some indication as to who my audience would be- 10-20 year olds. As well as the genres and conventions they favour- indie music with strong narrative. Star Wars was a strong winner for my intertextuality objective, and fortunately I feel that should be relatively easy to ...

Theory: How it applies to my video: Semiotics: Roland Barthes. The study of signs and symbols as well as signifiers in words, images and sounds. The context of my song and video is centred around a space launch, therefore all of the imagery and references to space and other scientific symbols will reinforce the lyrics, signifying lines with suitable images. For example, cut to a shot of the mission control centre when the lyrics ‘it’s grown quite quiet here in mission control’ are said. Narrative: Todorov. How narrative structures work. Todorov’s theory recognises the narrative structure of equilibrium, disruption, recognition of disruption, attempts to repair disruption, and a restored equilibrium. This isn’t really relevant to my video, as I am using juxtaposition as a key feature of my narrative. However, in theory, the acting of the ‘mission control’ half of my structure should demonstrate ...

Here is my preliminary music video for this assessment project. My video features a lip sync narrative for the first verse and chorus of 'Foster The People, Pumped Up Kicks'. In regards to cinematography I was heavily influenced by the symmetry of Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick, and used notions such as looking and thought beats to relate to the song and engage the audience. I learnt from this experience that extra footage is always better than just enough footage, as I didn't have enough material to fill the long intro of the song, and consequently had to cut out the entire intro. Also multiple takes should occur when lip syncing, as even if you think it was okay, when it comes to editing the take may be painfully mismatched.