MD5317 Music for Moving Image - Critical Evaluation of Audio-Visual Composition (Loving Me) and Restrict
For the evaluation of both pieces of work, one will be breaking them down into two individual parts for the sake of simplifying the process in which one made them with, and also for the sake of ease. I will start with the Audio-Visual piece ‘Loving Me’ and then move onto the set brief ‘Restrict,’ after which one will conclude the evaluation.
Audio-Visual Composition ‘Loving Me’:
This part of the assessment was particularly enjoyable as one had enlisted help from one’s significant other, which helped to make the footage that much more real and believable for the audience.
The idea for this music video was the result of finally giving in to the question “when are you going to make a song for me?” after nearly two years. One chose to use the perspective of ‘point of view’ partly because of one’s attempt at interpreting the ‘Observe’ concept, but also a stylistic choice of trying to put the audience in the eyes of the person behind the camera. This was actually very difficult to achieve as the only way one could obtain such footage was by using a ‘Gear VR’ headset not intended to be used in such a fashion, in junction with one’s phone camera (Samsung Galaxy S6) meaning that one not only looked quite ridiculous but also to some degree was walking essentially blind whilst doing so.
The footage was taken all in one go whilst taking a stroll at night down an urban path to Pitville park in Cheltenham. The shooting of the footage at night was intended to highlight how sometimes relationships can have their hard times due to external forces at play. The visual emphasis of the journey to the park was also intended to represent a couple's journey together through life. One also made a conscious effort to present to the camera one’s hands from time to time, to further reinforce the perspective of the ‘point of view’ shot. This, therefore, gave the opportunity to show to the camera the holding of hands which helped to promote the narrative further.
After the shooting of the footage, one then went about the creation of the audio to accompany it. It was important to try and capture the emotions of love, while also trying to keep the music upbeat. To do this one used vocal samples that literally use the words ‘I love what you do girl’ as well as using vinyl samples of Fender Rhodes electric piano which gives it a warm feeling of reminiscing on good memories. One also used two synth bass-lines, bass drum, rim shots, hats, rides and sampled bubblewrap sounds as part of one’s stylistic and creative choices towards the making of the music. To do this one used ‘Ableton Live 9 Suite Edition’ as this DAW is very effective for the manipulation of audio samples and a great software for creative workflow. One then exported the audio into ‘Logic Pro X’ where the mixing of the audio was done, then finally mastered using ‘Izotope’s Ozone 8.’
Once one was happy with the audio, one then started the process of stitching the two together using ‘Adobe Premiere Pro’ as the editing tool of choice. Having had some experience using this software, as well as the stylistic choice of the video recording made cutting the footage to the music incredibly easy. The main way one edited the footage to fit the audio was the use of simple cut transitions on the beats of the music, these tended to be on either the hit of the bass drum or the hit of the rim shot. Where the vocal samples mention ‘Love’ one purposefully inserted footage that clearly reflected that and when the chorus section starts for the first time, cutting the footage of dancing to mirror the energy at this point. The second chorus section has the footage sped up extremely fast in reverse to highlight the journey took together and also to rouse the feeling of reminiscing about good times that came before. This sped up effect also has interesting ways of interacting with the music in terms of the tempo and beat.
One did some research into ‘point of view’ recording (aka ‘POV’) and used the video (link to youtube) below as a reference to how it can bring the desired effect to the composition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRPUZuFhd8
Set Brief ‘Restrict’:
The Restrict Video one fond much harder to work on than the Audio-Visual composition as one was not given the freedom to create the visuals, as well as having to be mindful of the director's intentions of the scenes. In an effort to remain sensitive to the visual production and also to help ones creative flare to proceed, breaking the scene down into sections was important.
The opening till 00:53 one used a pad build-up and high formant choir that sounds dreamy to reflect the sleep state of the character, then 00:59-01:56 celestial pads and choir slightly pitch bent to enhance the emotion one may feel when waking to an unusual place lost and confused. One also used a percussive sound when the character turns her head swiftly because one felt that she was reacting to some sound which one then decided to use further from 01:56-02:49 accompanied by staccato bass strings as a suspenseful build-up with a little xylophone as well.
At 02:49 when the other character appears one used a shrill bowed bouzouki for the shock straight after which a low formant choir starts then soon after some emotional strings which then feature through to the end then accompanied by flute near the very end.
All these instruments one chose for the characteristics they bring when trying to build suspense and also enhancing the sad, confused and also sometimes horrified nature that is shown in the scene as it progresses.
I used the following as research material for this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQK01Mm7M_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q88lLOL2dI
One feels that the way both projects were approached was done so carefully and methodically, this isn’t to say however that they could not be improved upon given more time. However, that being said, there will almost certainly be time limits to uphold, such as this assessment for example, if this were to be done for a company or as a line of work. So time management is vital, as is the ability to get the job done well and professionally.