James Bolton - Evaluating Previous Students Work

At the very start of the planning stage, we evaluated some previous students work in order to determine whether it was narrative, conceptual, performance etc as well as writing down its strengths and weaknesses and giving it a mark out 40, based on the mark scheme.

Below is a more in depth evaluation of the two videos that I looked at. (Click the link to see video)

1. 'Mardy Bum' by Arctic Monkeys

This video is a narrative and performance video. The performance section is strong, because the musician they are using  can actually play the song, which makes the video look very authentic. Unfortunately, while the playing of the guitar is good, there is no lip synching in the video, which I think would have made the performance almost perfect. In the narrative they have the stereotypical 'boy and girl' story, but the chance of it being corny is avoided by the song's meaning. This means that the lyrics fit well with the visuals. Also, the video had a wide range of shots, which is a key section of the mark scheme. In addition, the image of the artist was correct, and the black and white colour scheme added a very indie feel.

Estimated mark - 33/40 (L4)

Actual mark - 29/40 (L3)

2. 'California' by The Kooks

This video is a narrative, conceptual and performance video. Again, this video follows the typical boy/girl narrative, but they have added a unique twist by painting faces on their stomachs, rather than seeing the person's faces. This is a quirky idea that fits with the indie genre and is a new take on the boy/girl theme which has been seen time and time again in music videos. The performance section was strong, as there was lip synching as well as the singer playing the guitar. However, the location for the performance is quite poor as it is just a room in front of a curtain. If they had found a better location, the performance section might have been more interesting. Also, there wasn't a massive variety of shots, and the video mainly consisted of medium shots of the stomachs, which probably let them down.

Estimated mark - 33/40 (L4)

Actual mark - 30/40 (L3)