Analysis of the video

Analysis of the video

As our first attempt at moving image the recreation of the H&M close the loop advert was a reasonable effort considering the period of time we were allocated and the variety of settings, props and cast needed. In our team I believe that we worked well and equally shared the job allocations. The unison of the group led to our successful product. The roles were allocated as so:

Rebecca Timson- Director 

Ben Black- Camera Operator

Luke Castle-Jordan- Producer 

Olivia Maclean- Sound manager 

Throughout our video we used the non-diegetic music which was the original version of the song used in the H and M video titled 'Son of Fylnn' by Daft Punk. H and M slowed this track down however iMovie would not allow us to alter the track due to copyright reasons. We then recorded Ben for the voiceover which he used an american accent for, mimicking the voice of Iggy Pop. 

Train Shot:

In our interpretation of the train driving by we have used Narborough train station. We have chosen to use this train image as it was the only train station that we could access.
In the original video the train is on an underground train station. Also only the top part of the train was recorded to make this short clip. In our video we used a shot that is further away and not at the same angle. We had to take the shot at a safe distant, which meant that there was multiple restrictions. We filmed the shot on iphone 7 camera to be consistent with the whole of the video. In the original video it was filmed using a camera/ camcorder. We used ambient lighting as we had no access to stage lighting/ professional lighting. The ambient lighting left a yellow/pink tone on the video. Our footage was sped up and therefore the people walking over the bridge looked unnatural. 

Sign post shot:

When we recreated this sign shot we had limited access to different road signs that would look similar to the original piece. The original shot is a road sign that looks to be from another country. Also the camera angle is different and the sign is clearer than our video. Again we have used an iphone 7 phone camera to take this shot. The original video has used a camera/camcorder. We have used ambient lighting to try and imitate the original video, however our image is not as clear.

'Wear brown shoes after 6'

Compared to the original close the loop advert our scene has lots of differences which overall damages the effect of mystery that is trying to be presented in the scene. Firstly the background lighting seems to be an orange colour in our video however on the H&M video the lighting adopts a blueish tinge, this gives the impression that the man who is stepping out of the car is confident, intelligent and stable, as these are connotations of blue. 

The angle of the camera is also not right in our scene as the camera is a lot closer and at a higher angle in the original H&M advert this helps hide the background which helps create a sense of mystery of what the background is and where the man is, this is later revealed in further scenes but in ours the location is already given away. this prevents any sense of mystery being formed which does not create the same effect as the advert does. 

The mise-en scene of the scene is fairly similar as in both of the scenes the model steps out of a car wearing brown brogues and a navy suit. However there are small differences which include the model not wearing socks and and the model steps onto the kirb instead of stepping onto the road which is in our scene, this can easily be corrected for future scenes by carefully analyzing the setting of each scene and making sure that everything is as close to the advert as it can be. The model not wearing socks is used to show that it is okay to break the 'rules of fashion' as many people believe that is a necessity to wear socks with a suit. This matches the running theme of the advert that to be different is okay. 

'Wear a hat indoors':

There are many improvements that could be made to our shot compared to the actual shot, however we did manage to get a red hat and the way we positioned our model it looks like the model on the right in the actual video, although we didn't manage to get two models and the location wasn't the best as it wasn't a public area where other people could see. Also our model isn't wearing sunglasses which makes it less rebellious as it seems like the two female models are rebelling against the norms by wearing a hat indoor as well as sun glasses. Another way it look like the models are rebelling is from the way they are standing, one is standing on a chair and the other is sitting down, there facial expressions also show that they don't care about what they are doing, whereas our model looks awkward and uncomfortable giving the opposite effect. On the other hand we did manage to replicate the clothing well as we have a red hat and leather jacket the only other thing we are missing is sunglasses and if we where to copy it perfectly we might get a nose ring as well. The lighting in our shot is similar to the actual shot as it highlights the red hat but due to the white background of ours the model is the only thing you can see other than her shadow, the reason for the shadow was because we used stage lights. 

'Wear a short skirt after 40':

In our video of 'wear a short skirt after 40' we have used a model that it over 40 however, her characteristics are not as similar to the original video as they could have been. The model in our video has long brown hair, where as in the original video the model has short grey hair. We have used the same setting for our shot: a bed. The other models in our video are a young man and a dog. In the original video there was a young man wearing a suit and a young girl. They used both of those models to represent the age differences. The models are in a similar stance to the original models in the h&m video. Ceiling lights were used our video. Whereas professional stage lighting would have been used in the h&m video so that you can see the actors face and outfits more clearly without it being too dark. 
The location of the video was shot at a house in a bedroom, as was the original video. We used an iphone 7 camera to take this shot. We used this piece of equipment as we didn't have access to another camera. In our interpretation of the video you could not see all of the man's suit. Where as in the original clip you could see all of the suit. The girl model in the original video was replaced by a dog in our clip. 
From reviewing our footage i think that there are some parts of our video that could have been changed so that it did match up to the original video. 

'Wear a short skirt if you are a man':

In our interpretation of the 'wear a short skirt if you're a man' includes Ben Black as our male model on a white plain background. Our model is shown to be wearing typical male clothes on the top half of his body then a skirt on the bottom half which is unconventional to male gender norms. The model is facing forward mirroring the stance in the actual advertisement. The model is facing forward to enable the clothes to be shown off, particularly the skirt. Ben's facial appearance is also similar to the models as they both show a plain expression.

A problematic factor on the recreation shot is the lighting. Natural lighting appears to have been used on the actual advert however in our recreation we used stage lighting. We took the video without noticing the large shadow on the right hand side and the light reflection on the left hand side. Ben's face therefore was not fully lit up in the shot, shown by the shadow.

The stance of our model and the model in the advert has been recreated well as they are both holding the accurate sign in a similar way. The location of the shot is also fairly accurate as both have been taken inside.  

We used a phone camera to take the images, we have used this because it was easily accessible and the images have a professional look from using the phone camera. In the original image the models all stayed in the same position, so therefore the camera angle was easy to match and create a similar to it.

There are many possible improvements that could've been made to our recreation. One of which is the costume and setting. Ideally a checkered shirt should've been used on the top half of Ben to match the model in the advert and the setting should've had a blue tone with windows and quadrilateral qualities. And as previously mentioned the lighting is an issue however it is understandably hard to recreate an image perfectly. 

'Try to hard':

In this recreation of the 'Try too hard' scene there is obviously major differentiation between ours and the original however we intended to keep the initial message of 'try[ing] too hard' in our own version with mise en scene. In the original clip a woman is shown walking through a supermarket aisle with a vast quantity of jewellery and rich attire. The location was an issue in our version as the weather prevented us to film in a large variety of places, so instead we changed the location to a bedroom with the model doing her makeup in the mirror. By doing this we attempted to get the 'try to hard' message across as the model is trying to adhere to beauty standards by doing her makeup and is shown to be wearing multiple accessories and a sparkly top, which arguably could be trying too hard. I believe that the use of the accessories matches the extent of jewellery in the original as both clips portray a prodigious pride and confident character.

'Don't try at all':

This shot has been changed quite a lot as we struggled to get a young model. This subsequently changed the costume of the model as we wanted to avoid sexualising the older female model which could've lead to elements of the male gaze. Having a 16 year old female in minimal pyjamas would have been problematic so we therefore chose to wrap the model in the blanket to portray comfort and the act of not 'try[ing] at all'. We also failed to incorporate the bike helmet into the shot as we could not get one in time to film. As a whole however, the message of 'don't try at all' was still portrayed.The model is shown to be covering her face up in a tired manner mirroring the action of the original version.  

The background in our recreation is a bedroom in the daytime showing the natural light from the window. By using the bedroom as a representation of laziness and relaxation we have conveyed the message of not trying at all.

'Dress like a girl':

This recreation of 'Dress like a girl' is very successful in conveying the message. The only issue we faced with this scene was finding a room with a reflective wall however a plain white background seemed to work fine when we used the coloured lights. 
In our recreation we used three different shots to portray the model dressing like a girl. The first shot was a medium close up of the model doing her hair with a green and blue light in the background. We took this shot as we tried to recreate the original shot where the model looks into a mirror however we had no access to a mirror so this shot was used instead. For the next shot we turned the lights off completely other than the red disco light and used a tracking shot of the model coming closer towards the camera similar to the original scene. By turning the lights out there was more focus on the disco lights however the model was not very visible so we consequently turned the lights back on for the last low shot of the model and we used the same green and blue lights. 
We chose to dress the model in a sparkly and jewelled white top which reflected the colours showing them up clearly. The style of the top conveyed the message of 'dress like a girl' as it is stylish and stereotypically feminine in the sense that it has a lot of detail with sequins and lace. Blue eye shadow has been used on the model to blend in with the lighting choice in the majority of the shots. We also styled her hair with low plaits to mimic the pigtails  on the original clip. We did not use pigtails as they did not work as well as the low plaits and looked messy. 
If we were to take this shot again I would possibly turn the lights out completely for each shot to link with the original more. I would also change the hair style of our model and use reflective material in the background. 
Again we used an iPhone 7 camera to take the video. If we had used a newer model of iPhone or the camcorder we may have gotten more detail in the shot with the red lighting however overall I do not believe it is an issue. 

'Dress like a man':

Both models are wearing similar clothes although our model is wearing blue jeans instead of black trousers, but out model is wearing a black blazer and a white shirt, although our model is wearing exactly the same we managed to copy the clothes as best we could. The setting is what differs most from ours to the actual clip due to the fact that it was snowing a bit earlier so there is snow in the background and on the path our model is walking on, we didn't manage to take the picture on a road so we took it on a path with the school field in the background but thanks to the clothes and the camera angle they look very similar. What makes our shot so similar to the actual H & M shot is the positioning of the model and the camera angle, both models are walking from right to left of the camera and like the clip in the advert we got our model to turn her head left for a second to replicate the clip. The main difference is the lighting, although like the actual thing we used natural lighting due to the snow in the background it makes the picture look brighter but this means the model stands out even more. Next time we take a photo like this we would make sure we took the photo closer so that it is the same distance as the actual photo. Over this short clip the narrator says 'dress like a man', and it shows a woman with short hair wearing male clothes, we tried to replicate it best we could but due to the snow it was going to have a massive difference, next time if we had to take the same shot we would do it closer and on a main road as the snow wouldn't be as bad but also the actual shot was taken on a man road.

'Dress like a teen':

In our interpretation of the 'dress like a teen' scene we have used a teen model wearing similar clothing and riding a bike down the street. in the original video they have used a middle aged man wearing 'teen' clothing to show the representation of being able to wear teen clothing whether you are a teen or not. We have used ambient lighting in this scene as we felt that it best fit with the original shot. In the original shot they have used ambient lighting however, i think that stage/ professional lighting was used. We have used an iphone 7 camera to take this shot. The original video was filmed using a high quality video camera (either a camcorder or a professional movie camera). Both of the models in the videos are wearing  ahat and a trainers however, their outfits are not the same. In our image we have used dark jeans and a dark long sleeve jumper. Where as in the original clip the model is wearing a light grey t-shirt and light coloured shorts. In our shot we have not used the same motions as the original video did as our model only rode the bike straight along the road, where as in the original video the model rode the bike in a swift manner as they went over on to another street. We had struggled to find a model that was over 19 to show that they can 'dress like a teen'. However we think that we have shown the representation of dressing like a teenager.

'Stand out':

In this recreation of the 'Try too hard' scene there is obviously major differentiation between ours and the original however we intended to keep the initial message of 'try[ing] too hard' in our own version with mise en scene. In the original clip a woman is shown walking through a supermarket aisle with a vast quantity of jewellery and rich attire. The location was an issue in our version as the weather prevented us to film in a large variety of places, so instead we changed the location to a bedroom with the model doing her makeup in the mirror. By doing this we attempted to get the 'try to hard' message across as the model is trying to adhere to beauty standards by doing her makeup and is shown to be wearing multiple accessories and a sparkly top, which arguably could be trying too hard. I believe that the use of the accessories matches the extent of jewellery in the original as both clips portray a prodigious pride and confident character. 

'Blend in':

In our interpretation of this scene we have used three models to show that they are 'blended in'. Ambient lighting is used for this image, this is done so that the models do not stand out and so the image look natural. If stage lighting was used it would create an unnatural theme to the image and make the model stand out too much against the background. In our image all of the models are facing forward, this is so the audience can see their clothing clearly. The Model on the left is has no blazer on, and is wearing a purple shirt and tie. He also has his hands in his pockets, this is done so that you can see the outfit clearer. The model in the middle is wearing a navy suit, pale blue shirt and a pink tie, his hands are crossed in front of him, as does the model on the right. This clothing shows business attire and also shows how they would stand out individually however, with multiple people they blend in. The camera angle in the original photo shows their full bodies, whereas the photo that we have taken does not show their feet and legs. The shot used on the original photo is used so that the audience can see their full outfits, and can understand what the advert is about. Our image also has all but one of the models facing forward, where as in the original image the models are all facing towards the camera with blank expressions. In this clip there is only non-diegetic sound from the narrator, which says 'blend in'. Our costumes were appropriate, and similar to the ones in the advert. To improve our shot,we could use more models to show that they are blending in, and we could use full body shots like the original image is like. The actors we have used worked well in front of the camera, they held a similar stance to those of the original image. This could be improved by all of the models facing the same way. We used a phone camera to take the images, we have used this because it was easily accessible and the images have a professional look from using the phone camera. In the original image the models all stayed in the same position, so therefore the camera angle was easy to match and create a similar to it.

'Wear mixed prints':

In video that we recreated we used a different background to the original video. Our model wore mixed prints that showed the theme of the scene. The mixed prints that were worn by our model were scarves and they did not stick to a certain theme. The outfit that the woman wore in the scene created by h&m was a top and trousers that held no similarities to each other. We used professional stage lighting so that you could clearly see the outfit and see the interpretation of mixed prints. In the video filmed by h&m the scene is shot at a train station, as there is a train that goes by, where as in our video we could not access a train station, therefore we had to use the white room. We have cut off half of our model, where as in the original video none of her us cut off. Both of the models are facing the same way and  in a similar stance. An Iphone 7 phone camera was used to take this shot. Where as the original shot would have been taken professionally on a high quality video camera.

'Mix pink and red':

In our interpretation of 'mix pink and red' we used a male model wearing pink clothes and glasses stood against a red background. Where as in the original video they had used a model wearing red and pink clothings stood against a pink wall. We used a close up shot to show the initial idea of 'mixing pink and red'. The iphone 7 camera was also used on our video. Were as in the original video a camera/ camcorder. The lighting we used for this shot was ceiling light. The lighting in the original video looks like it was a mix between ambient lighting and stage lighting to create the correct shadow effect on the wall and on her fact. The scene was also shot outside where as our scene was shot inside.

Our scene was only one shot, where as in the original video they used a zoomed out shot and then a close up so that you could see the pink and red. They have also done this to show the models made up and a close up of the pink and the red.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Overall I believe that as a group we worked well and managed to successfully recreate the video despite some issues of which we overcame. In the process our creative minds were put to the test even though we were recreating a video. This was because in some of the shots the exact recreation was very hard to match and the location was an issue due to the snow. This is evident in the 'try too hard' and 'dress like a man' clips as the locations are both different. In this project we have developed a multitude of skills that we can use in our next project. As a team we have learnt videoing skills and how to plan thoroughly for the project. As a whole we worked on editing the video then went over how to do certain things individually in the parts we were unsure of (for example trimming a clip).