carol vernallis

carol vernallis is an editing theorist. in her work 'The kindest cut', she explores how editing in film and in music videos differ from each other. she talks about meaning, sound and visuals, editing as a whole, continuity and the star image.

she talks about four main categories: 

• camera - close ups are very common shots used in music videos to show the importance of the parts the band or artist is playing and the way that they look. establishing shots are also commonly used to show the location. the camera sometimes may move in time with the beat of the song. vernallis also argues that framing in music videos is very distinctive 

• editing - music videos tend to usually break the rules of continuity. an editing technique used in music videos is jump cuts, as music videos usually go straight from one thing to the next. the frames are mostly cut to the beat of the music

• narrative - the narrative is a visual response to the song as well as what the artist or band wants the meaning to be presented as. vernallis argues that the ending of a music video is not always clear which allows the audience create their own interpretation. sometimes music videos can be seen as disjointed or disconnected

• diegesis - the 'world' created within the music video. the diegesis is something that is slowly revealed throughout the music video. vernallis argues that music videos are sometimes left 'uncompleted', making the audience want to know what happens next 

gaant chart

 

promotional video analysis

cadbury dairy milk - aliens - canada 

cadbury dairy milk is a brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. it was introduces in the United Kingdom in 1905 and now consists of a number of products

when they run out of chocolate, they stop dancing. however when they find more chocolate, more aliens join them and they all start dancing. this creates a happy and uplifting atmosphere for the audience which could encourage them to buy a bar. 

this video sticks to the same colour palette throughout. the colours (browns and purples) fit into the product that is being sold which creates the perfect aesthetic. in this promotional video, the camera often zooms in and out when capturing the emotion an alien is feeling. when an alien eats a bit of the chocolate, the camera slowly zooms in showing the aliens smile. when the aliens are dancing, there is a 'pulse' type camera that zooms in and out subtly along with the diegetic music. 

this influenced my promotional video idea with the animated aliens and also colour palette and aesthetics.

I think one of the reasons they chose aliens is to show that their chocolate can appeal to anyone even aliens. 

 

john lewis christmas advert 2015 -man on the moon

this is the story of a young girl. looking at the moon through her family telescope one night, she is amazed at what she finds, a man on the moon. the girl watches on as our man goes about his chores, all alone up there. she becomes determined to get something to the moon, to send him a message and show him that someone down here if thinking of him

this promotional video is very story based that continues throughout. it keeps the audience attention to see how it ends. the non-diegetic music gives a magical and emotional feel to the video. throughout this advert there are many extreme close ups on the young girl and the old man. this can show that they are perhaps looking for each other or know that there is someone out there looking at them. the close ups also help to show their emotions to the audience. the young girl feels determined and the man feels lonely. 

this concept and the story behind this advert, I think people would be able to connect to as everyone has times where the feel lonely. this advert isn't really promoting one certain product but instead a whole brand that can make the audience feel welcome to shop with them. at the end of the video when the man receives a telescope and he can see the young girl, it makes the audience feel happy and emotional as the man and young girl finally connect after the young girl tries so hard to let the man know he's not alone. I think this advert could also encourage the audience to get in touch and check up on their family and friends as the Christmas time can be lonely for many especially the elderly. overall I think this advert sends out a meaningful message through a powerful and heart-warming story at Christmas. 

this influenced my promotional video with the emotional story that the audience can connect with.

storyboard and budget

 

I wanted to use the storyboard and aliens to create a comedic type promotional video so it can be enjoyable for different people. I think the storyboard shows how simple the app is to use from how easy and quickly the alien was reconnected with his family. 

my idea with my promotional video was for it to be comedic but to also have a slight emotional backstory as well as it starts with a lonely alien who spots other aliens on a different planet having fun which then makes him want to find his own which he is able to do through the app. I wanted the video to say that if an alien can use the app then anyone can use the app. 

voiceover script:

connect with your family past. find your ancestors and share stories with them. create your own family tree that goes back through generations. communicate with relatives from all around the world and learn more about your family's history all in one simple and easy to use app so you don't have to feel alone. 

download now and discover your own family history. no one is ever truly alone. 

budget/costs:

length - roughly 1 minute

for every 5-10 seconds of animation, it'll take at least a day 7.5 hours. 1 minute animation: 60 seconds = between 6-12 days. (extra days for amends, render time, final edit). 

5-7 days for animation. 1-2 days for amends. 1 day for sound design. 1/2 days for final edit. 1-2 days conform. roughly 14 days altogether.  ecmstu.com

around £107 animation from small studio. studio charge £70-£140 per one minute of animation. authentic artwork and end-to-end service from studio. more expensive for higher quality so £140. medium.com

voice over work around £150

moodboard

 

I decided to use aliens for the main part of my promotional video in order to appeal to a variety of different ages. I thought the aliens could make the video unique and interesting. I wanted to also use bright colours that fit with the galaxy/space theme as its quite different and not something people often see in adverts. 

I wanted to use aliens for the advert to show how easy and simple the app is to use. I wanted my promotional video to be fun and weird so it can be enjoyable for a variety of different people to watch and understand the meaning behind the app. but I also wanted their to be an emotional backstory showing that no one is truly ever alone and that there are always people out there.

promotional video idea

story idea: animation, alien is alone on his planet, sees there is a family of aliens on a different planet laughing together and having fun, alien sees them and becomes sad. alien starts thinking about his own family wondering where they are. he notices a star in the distance, as he gets closer the star starts shining down onto his planet at an object. the alien finds a phone that the star was shining on. the ancestree app is on the phone. the alien uses it and finds family members that then join him on his planet.  

laura mulvey

visual pleasure and narrative cinema 1975

mulvey uses psychoanalysis to discover where and how the fascination of the film is reinforced by pre-existing patterns of fascination already at work within the subject. she uses the psychoanalytic theory as a 'political weapon' 

she argues that hollywood/mainstream/narrative cinema manipulates visual pleasure. it 'codes the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order'

scopophilia = pleasure/obsession in looking 

the most pleasurable looking is the human form

"woman as image, man as bearer of the look"

the image of the woman also carries a threat. there are two avenues of escape from fear of the femininity for the male spectator:

- investigate the woman, demystify her mystery

- deny castration by turning the woman into a reassuring fetish

scopophilia is the force driving the movements and positioning of the camera 

the gaze is male and the spectator is led to identify with his male gaze

the cinematic apparatus is not gender neutral

Jennifer's Body (2009) is a horror comedy film where a popular teenage girl, Jennifer, becomes possessed and feeds on her male classmates with her best friend, Needy, striving to stop her. this film was marketed as catering exactly this kind of visual pleasure, referred to as the male gaze. the film was mainly advertised to young, teenage boys when it was first released, with Megan Fox (who plays Jennifer) on the cover of its movie posters. Jennifer's Body was seen as the "Twilight for boys", an adolescent sex fantasy designed explicitly for heterosexual males. when it was first released, it was a failure. the film mainly focuses on best friends Jennifer and Needy. despite their different social statuses, they are inseparable. when Jennifer becomes possessed, she doesnt just go after the boys who tried to sacrifice her; she goes after boys, period. however, throughout the film there are occasional kisses and hand-holding between Jennifer and Needy. the way that gaze is deployed throughout the film is all about women looking at women, and men mainly existing to be a great source of protein. from the start it is implied that women have taken over as the viewers of other women as objects of desire. Jennifer, seducing boys, has always been destroying them for her own gain. though the boys think they're the ones "taking" Jennifer, it's actually she who has all the power. it is clear that Jennifer and Needy have the most meaningful romantic relationship in the film.

the male gaze gets all its power from the image of the woman, manipulating the picture of femininity for the pleasure of the male spectator. however in Jennifer's Body, they are confronted by a deceptive main female character who cuts up and consumes the men in her life.