Amateur Vs Professional 2

Amateur Music Video

We decided to do some comparisons between amateur and professional films, as this will give us a form of guidance in what makes an effective music video.

For the amateur film I looked at a past students work for the song 'Just Give Me A Reason'. The overall narrative behind the music video did match that of the song itself, as the theme used was love. However, this theme seems to be over used and the students could have explored with their ideas and perhaps used a more creative idea. The song is by Pink and therefore the music video should comply with the pop genre. As the genre is pop the music video needs to be appealing and standout to attract the young target audience. As this music video is a amateur music video and was made by students the overall quality is quite bad as professionals have access to better filming equipment. This is the obvious biggest difference between amateur and professional music videos, and due to this the students music video does not have the same bright and attractive look to it which is expected for pop music videos as the lighting is quite dull as they have relied upon natural lighting. To improve this they could have chosen to film on a more brighter or sunnier day to give them a much more 'pleasing' look in their music video which would give them the more typical upbeat atmosphere usually portrayed in pop music videos. 

Another aspect that makes it clear that this video is an amateur music video would be due to the actual camera shots. This is because the shots are very basic as they mainly use mid to long shots of the two characters who are standing there miming to the song for the majority of the music video. The scenes of the performers lip syncing are very basic as the two characters are just standing their and also lower the overall effect and quality of the music video as it has been done in such a way that makes the music video look quite 'cheap' and 'cheese' and has taken the audience attentions from the good aspects of the music video. 

Some good points about this music video would be, in terms of mine-en-scene, the choice of locations is very effective. This is because they have used a variety of different locations that are interesting and help to tell the story and also keep the audience attention engaged in the narrative of the music video. For example, they have used shots inside a library type place and also have scenes inside a cafe. These locations are simple, but are ones thats people can relate to and help to tell the typical love tale that these students were trying to portray in their music videos. Another good aspect of this music video would be that they have used an effective balance of both narrative and performance which keeps the audience engaged in the music video so that they can understand the story that is being told with the use of acting, which is also quite effective.

Another area in which these students could have improved in would be editing. This is because editing is very basic as they only use simple cuts from scene to scene, that do not follow a particular beat, with no use of any effects such as transitions like fades. 

Professional Music Video

When looking at the official music video for 'Just Give Me A Reason' by Pink is very clear to see what video is the amateur and what is the professional. Straight away the music video gains the viewers attention as the use of a set and lighting creates a dramatic scene that proves the music video with quite interesting and dramatic shots that draw in the audience attention. The music video starts of with a tilt up which is quite suspense full and makes the audience wait for the performer (Pink) to be shown which really captures the audiences full attention and makes them involved in the narrative form the very start, which the amateur video failed to do.